If you're currently using DivShare to store, host and share files you should be pretty excited about this new feature. And if you don't use this DivShare's free service, it could make you want to start.

DivShare launched a Power Uploader application that adds simplicity to the whole uploading process. This new tool provides users with a drag and drop interface with folder tree and file previews for quick and effective uploading of up to 10 files at once.

The uploading tool is a Java Applet and ActiveX Control that provides a pipeline between your hard drive and your DivShare account. Setting for the uploader can be accessed in your main Account page.

Still pondering whether or not to get Windows Vista on Tuesday? I'll give you 10 reasons why you shouldn't from APC Magazine. Expensive! Lousy drivers! UAC! DRM! Case closed! Er, not quite. Here's 10 reasons why you should... also from APC Magazine. Multimedia! Better drivers! Search! Undelete! DirectX 10! Case closed! Uhhh... I'm not making this any easier for you, am I?

While you ponder that imponderable, I'm going to move on. It seems that government officials in South Korea--one of the most wired nations on Earth--are recommending that the citizenry not upgrade to Vista. Why? Because, apparently, South Korea is mad for ActiveX, the proprietary browser plug-in technology that powers much of the country's web services, from online banking to stock trading, shopping, and gaming, and apparently many of those services cease to work in Windows Vista (presumably because of UAC). More than a reason not to upgrade to Vista, this seems like a fantastic demonstration of how stupid it is to build web services on proprietary technologies. The irony, of course, is that ActiveX is Microsoft's own proprietary invention.

In gaming news, FPS luminary John Carmack--you know, the Doom and Quake guy--says he's not exactly chomping at the bit after Vista or DirectX 10 just yet. "Personally, I wouldn't jump at something like DX10 right now," he says. "I would let things settle out a little bit and wait until there's a really strong need for it." For now he's quite satisfied with Windows XP and accuses Microsoft of "artificially" forcing gamers to upgrade with DX10. "Nothing is going to help a new game by going to a new operating system. There were some clear wins going from Windows 95 to Windows XP for games, but there really aren't any for Vista. They're artificially doing that by tying DX10 so close it, which is really nothing about the OS ... They're really grasping at straws for reasons to upgrade the operating system. I suspect I could run XP for a great many more years without having a problem with it." He calls DirectX 9 "quite good" and also praises the Xbox 360's graphics API.

Phew. To catch up on the previous four days of our Vista Countdown, hit the archive.

Yahoo! fixed a little flaw this week in Yahoo! Messenger for Windows that could have been used by hackers. The flaw was in the ActiveX control and allowed hackers to crash a chat session and Internet Explorer. Worse, it could have executed malicious code on the victim's machine. The initiation could have taken place if hackers prompted users to view HTML code that linked to a web site with malicious code.

Not to worry, though--Yahoo! has this "highly critical" bug all fixed, and is recommending that users who downloaded Yahoo! Messenger before November 2nd to install the new 8.1 update.

What a long, boring, and annoying trip it's been. For those who don't remember, way back in 1999 a little Chicago company called Eolas sued Microsoft for infringing on their patents regarding embedded content in a browser. Whoopdidoo, right? Microsoft, however, could not crush the little company. So, sparing the gory details reversals and counter-reversals, MS is now required to make changes to IE that will handle stuff like QuickTime, Real media, Flash, Java— you know, the kinds of things you use every flippin' day. MS still has to pony up some $560 million now, and it looks like the changes, starting today from a place in the MS Download Center, will gradually appease the "David"s from Eolas (as opposed to the Goliaths at MS). Unfortunately, this is a situation where the consumer may lose. If changes disrupt the browsing experience, it will make it difficult for web developers to do business as usual. In fact, this update will mean users have to click one more time to initiate ActiveX controls. Luckily, MS has a handy page on MSDN for developers, and how they can work around this in their pages. Either way, I'm still strongly against our current software patent system. While Microsoft should have paid something, I don't think that every web surfer or web developer should be punished, years later, for something so basic to the browsing experience.

[Via BetaNews]