Miscrosoft, another great new feature of XP

[mairving]

Why I am starting to despise Microsoft

Windows XP has a new feature, which hasn't yet been made public, allows Microsoft's Internet Explorer Web browser -- included in Windows XP -- to turn any word on any Web site into a link to Microsoft's own Web sites and services, or to any other sites Microsoft favors.

In effect, Microsoft will be able, through the browser, to re-edit anybody's site, without the owner's knowledge or permission, in a way that tempts users to leave and go to a Microsoft-chosen site -- whether or not that site offers better information.

THE FEATURE, called Internet Explorer Smart Tags, wasn't in the widely distributed second public beta of Windows XP issued in March. And it isn't easy to find, even in later "builds" that have had much more limited distribution.

Microsoft officials stressed that the feature may still undergo modifications to make it more palatable. But they defended it as a useful tool.

"Smart Tags represent another step in personalizing the Web and helping bring it to life for individuals by allowing them to get the information they want in the way they want it," says Chris Jones, vice president for Windows XP development.

Here's how the Internet Explorer Smart Tags work: On a PC with Windows XP, when you open any Web page, squiggly purple lines instantly appear under certain types of words. In the version I tested, these browser-generated underlines appear beneath the names of companies, sports teams and colleges. But other types of terms could be highlighted in future versions.

If you place your cursor on the underlined word, an icon appears, and if you click on the icon, a small window opens to display links to sites offering more information. For instance, in the new browser, a Washington Post Web article on Japanese baseball players was littered with eight Microsoft-generated links that the Post editors never placed on their site.

In the beta version, most of these links weren't functional yet, but Microsoft officials confirm that they will send users to Microsoft Web properties or to other properties blessed by Microsoft. One of the links did work: It launched Microsoft's mediocre search engine, which is packed with plugs for other Microsoft services.

ONE MICROSOFT OFFICIAL says the feature will spare users from "under-linked" sites. But who decides if a site is "under-linked?" It's up to a site's creators to decide how many, and which, terms to turn into links, where those links appear, and where they send users. It's part of the editorial process. In the case of the Washington Post article, the editors included plenty of links but chose to list them at the bottom of the article and in a box to the side of the text. Microsoft decided otherwise.

Microsoft says the Internet Explorer Smart Tags feature, which is similar to a Smart Tag feature in the new Office XP, will be turned off by default in the final release, and that users will have to consciously choose to enable it by activating a setting buried in the browser's menus. In addition, Microsoft says, it will provide a free bit of programming code, called a "meta tag," that site owners could use to bar any Smart Tags from appearing on their sites.

But if the feature is so benign, why is Microsoft hiding it and offering sites a way to block it?

Microsoft also says that other companies, besides itself, will be able to create and distribute add-ons for the browser that will launch their own Smart Tags all over the Web, directing users to their sites. But these tags will be far harder to obtain than Microsoft's. And they will merely allow more companies to invasively re-edit others' sites. Ford would be able to impose its own links on Chevrolet's site, and Republicans could insert links on Democrats' sites. Once the hate groups, the spammers and the junk marketers on the Web get their hands on these Smart Tags, they'll be plastering their links on everything.

Microsoft's Internet Explorer Smart Tags are something new and dangerous. They mean that the company that controls the Web browser is using that power to actually alter others' Web sites to its own advantage. Microsoft has a perfect right to sell services. But by using its dominant software to do so, it will be tilting the playing field and threatening editorial integrity.

[mairving]

Couple this with Netscape's demise, I am sure that in future releases of their browsers, IE will be imcompatible with any site not made in Frontpage.

[jet_rider]

Well I guess it is time to start looking into Linux. I find more reasons everyday! Got any good getting started sites for Linux and which flavor is good for starters?

[mairving]

The most popular Linix distros are Mandrake, SUSE & Redhat. Mandrake is almost always the easiest to install. It also lives a bit more on the cutting edge of things. Forget most of what you learned in Windows and be prepared for a sometimes steep learning curve. A few months ago I installed about 10 different distros. I timed them for how long the install took and how long it took before I was on the Internet. They all installed pretty easy on my system (with a blank HD). Mandrake in this case bombed out at X-windows. The quickest was RedHat 7.2.

[SARGE]

But mairving, Gates gives $ to charities, to help the little chilluns who are unfortunate. Why would they make an OS that's so, so, so... they wouldn't. Your facts are wrong

[Floppyman]

Microsoft's Internet Explorer Smart Tags are something new and dangerous. They mean that the company that controls the Web browser is using that power to actually alter others' Web sites to its own advantage.

Wouldn't surprise if this brought about another lawsuit, guess we'll see...

Now where did I put that copy of linux....

[SARGE]

Flop, can I borrow your copy? Why, oh why, when someone starts from scratch like MS, invests and build 3.1, 95, 98, W2k, and becomes immensely successful, do they always become snotty. I know a man with a 3rd grade education and couldn't read and write. He became financially wealthy, BUT never forgot from whence he came.

[Statica]

Yeah isnt that always the fly in the soup .. I guess the reason is cos they all try to be financially wealthy .. not morally/ethically.

Oh well .. I knew there was a reason I am called a Nixer and smile

Originally posted by SARGE Flop, can I borrow your copy? Why, oh why, when someone starts from scratch like MS, invests and build 3.1, 95, 98, W2k, and becomes immensely successful, do they always become snotty. I know a man with a 3rd grade education and couldn't read and write. He became financially wealthy, BUT never forgot from whence he came.

[Great_One]

[mairving]

Still another reason not to like XP, Steve Gibson of www.grc.com thinks there are problems.

[SARGE]

Mairving, thanks, I needed that. I won't bother asking why MS does what it does, but why not make a product that works, iron the bugs and wrinkles out, then leave it alone? Why do folks have to constantly change something that works? Boredom I suppose. I still have my '70 VW bug and '72 Cheyenne. Bugs ironed out many moons ago and they just purr along.

[RJ]

why not make a product that works, iron the bugs and wrinkles out, then leave it alone? Why do folks have to constantly change something that works?

That's what I asked myself often enough, and I still can't understand it.
M$ changes because "a new version has to have changes", and I don't see the reason for this.
Sometimes I think because changes mean new bugs, and because there will be never a perfect version people keep going to buy a newer product because it might be better so then M$ gets more money for selling them.

RJ

[Statica]

Mairving: Could u post the link to your article, wouldnt love anything better to fire up ye old bulkmailer to send a few mails to some of those M$-head-acquaintances I have (I have NO M$ head friends )

[mairving]

Statica, you don't think that I came up with that myself. I edited it so gracefully and all. The reason that I didn't post the link was because it was on the Wall Street Journal Subscription site. I didn't post the link because it was on the subsciber section which costs money. I didn't see it on their free site either. They also sometimes post the article on MSNBC. This one has a snowball's chance of making it there. So I saved it as a html and text file and rolled into a zip file as an attachment here.

[Statica]

Gotcha .. thanx

Oh it was very well written Mairving

[troysvihl]

you guys are really blowing this all out of proportion. This smart tag thing is a nonissue. If you don't like it, you'll be able to switch it off, just like pretty much any other tool in IE.

Geeze, this smart tag issue is getting even bigger than all that crap about XP not running non-MS Media Players or rippers.

[mairving]

you guys are really blowing this all out of proportion. This smart tag thing is a nonissue

Out of proportion, I think not. Turning it off is not the problem, turning it on is the problem or even having it is the problem. Basically you are editing (by inserting smart tags) the content that someone else has created. I don't think that Dok would be very appreciative if there were little squiggly lines underneath the posts here that would take you to other sites.I have some problems with this. I have also have problems with the fact that it is turned off by default now, but who knows about future versions. Who knows they may code it into the OS so that it can't be turned off.

[Paul Victorey]

Not to mention, this is quite illegal.

Web pages' content can be, and often/usually is, copyrighted material. As such, modifying copyrighted material, which is of a creative nature, without the permission of the author, for the purpose of making a profit is against the law.

It's not just that they SHOULD not do it (yet another reason to never use IE in my opinion) but that it's probably ILLEGAL for them to do it, as well.

[troysvihl]

from the descriptions I've heard, I highly doubt it's illegal. It sounds as if the page itself isn't changed, but that the viewer causes a hotlink to appear whenever the mouse is dragged over a word.

[Paul Victorey]

It is changing how the content is presented, which is the same thing.

Say your local bookstore tried to raise money by taking the books they bought, and putting advertisements in the margins. It doesn't alter the content of the book (the story is unaltered), but it alters the presentation, in a way that is designed to make a profit for the people doing the alterations.

[Floppyman]

Originally posted by RJ That's what I asked myself often enough, and I still can't understand it. M$ changes because "a new version has to have changes", and I don't see the reason for this. Sometimes I think because changes mean new bugs, and because there will be never a perfect version people keep going to buy a newer product because it might be better so then M$ gets more money for selling them. RJ

I agree. If M$ made the perfect operating system who would bother to buy the upgrade if everything works? If however the OS is buggy and people hear of an upgrade with bug fixes they go out and buy it, resulting in more $ for M$. I'd really like to ask Bill Gates sometimes if he actually makes M$ OSes buggy on purpose..hehe