Hackers exploited the 3 major browsers on day one of Pwn2Own.  As expected,  IE8, FireFox and Safari were all penetrated within minutes of the competition starting.

Most impressively, Peter Vreugdenhil, was able to exploit a vulnerability in IE8 on Windows 7 allowing him to bypass  the operating systems DEP (Data Execution System) security mechinism designed to stop this sort of attack.  Vreugdenhil, a first time Pwn2Own participant, earned a $10,000 prize for his efforts.

The only browser left standing after day one was Google Chrome.

[via ComputerWorld]

This video demonstrates a new orientation feature in Firefox 3.6.  Right now it’s only supported on some new Macs and Thinkpads that have the hardware and drivers to expose the information.

I’m sure it won’t be long before other systems with Accelerometers, like HP laptops with “ProtectSmart”, will get some support.

Rather than ship a stripped down version of Windows to European users, Microsoft has opted to go the “ballot” route.  The ballot screen in Windows 7 will offer information and download links to many IE rivals such as FireFox, Safari, Chrome, Opera and others.

In the wake of last week’s developments, as well as continuing feedback on Windows 7 E that we have received from computer manufacturers and other business partners, I’m pleased to report that we will ship the same version of Windows 7 in Europe in October that we will ship in the rest of the world.   –David Heiner, Vice President and Deputy General Counsel for Microsoft