QUOTE
Relying on oft-criticized ActiveX technology, Microsoft hopes to fix security hole by the end of next month
By Eric Lai
August 21, 2009 07:52 AM ET
Computerworld - Windows Live Hotmail users have been venting their frustration at Microsoft Corp. for the past month since the software maker suddenly removed a popular feature because it created a security hole.
The "Attach Photo" feature allowed users to directly add photos, images or graphics into e-mails. Users are allowed to quickly edit and add captions to the photos, which are automatically compressed by Hotmail, enabling users to attach more images per e-mail. It is distinct from Attach File, which still works and lets users attach photos to e-mails without compressing them or giving users the ability to edit them first.
Users, such as Carl Creed, a retired system administrator in Leiston, England, say they first noticed Attach Photo was missing about three weeks ago.
He and other users have complained on the Windows Live Help support forum about Microsoft's failure to warn them beforehand and the "wasted hours" they spent trying to debug the feature on their own.
"If Microsoft had just told us end users that they were planning to remove this feature before they did remove it, we would not be so upset in the first place," Creed said in an e-mail.
In a posting updated Thursday at the Windows Live Help forum and also posted at the Windows Live blog, Microsoft said it removed the feature after finding an "incompatibility with Internet Explorer that caused a security flaw with photo uploads ... The Hotmail team takes security very seriously and we expect to bring back the photo upload feature by the end of September."
By Eric Lai
August 21, 2009 07:52 AM ET
Computerworld - Windows Live Hotmail users have been venting their frustration at Microsoft Corp. for the past month since the software maker suddenly removed a popular feature because it created a security hole.
The "Attach Photo" feature allowed users to directly add photos, images or graphics into e-mails. Users are allowed to quickly edit and add captions to the photos, which are automatically compressed by Hotmail, enabling users to attach more images per e-mail. It is distinct from Attach File, which still works and lets users attach photos to e-mails without compressing them or giving users the ability to edit them first.
Users, such as Carl Creed, a retired system administrator in Leiston, England, say they first noticed Attach Photo was missing about three weeks ago.
He and other users have complained on the Windows Live Help support forum about Microsoft's failure to warn them beforehand and the "wasted hours" they spent trying to debug the feature on their own.
"If Microsoft had just told us end users that they were planning to remove this feature before they did remove it, we would not be so upset in the first place," Creed said in an e-mail.
In a posting updated Thursday at the Windows Live Help forum and also posted at the Windows Live blog, Microsoft said it removed the feature after finding an "incompatibility with Internet Explorer that caused a security flaw with photo uploads ... The Hotmail team takes security very seriously and we expect to bring back the photo upload feature by the end of September."
Continued
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/913...e?taxonomyId=89