IObit Security 360 Beta June 10, 2009

Hey guys,

Recently, the well established and well known company, IObit, has released a new app that goes along nicely with their already excellent set of FREE software. Their acclaimed Advanced System Care Free is an excellent choice in PC maintenance as well as their Defrag software and lets see if their latest App can live up to the rest.

IObit Security 360 BETA was released out on 9th June to the general public. This is supposedly IObit’s effort to allow PC users to eliminate malware in general from their PC’s.

Here’s what IObit has to say:

IObit Security 360 is an advanced malware & spyware removal utility that detects, removes and protects your PC from various of potential spyware, adware, trojans, keyloggers, bots, worms, and hijackers. With the unique “Dual-Core” engine and the heuristic malware detection, IObit Security 360 detects the most complex and deepest spyware and malware in a very fast and efficient way. IObit Security 360 has a real-time malware protection and frequent automatic updating for prevention of zero-day security threats. IObit Security 360 can work with your Antivirus for a superior PC security.

IObit also likes to show the key features of IObit Security 360 in this list of ‘Key Features and Benefits’:

Complete PC Security Care

Antimalware, antispyware, anti-adware, anti-Trojan, anti-bots, and more. There will be no antivirus and firewall functions in this version, but we can help your Antivirus defend any tricky and complex threat.

Currently, there is not any solution that offers a 100% effectiveness rate for detecting viruses and malware. You may become a victim of misleading advertising, if you buy such a product under those premises.

1-click Solution and Very Easy to Use

Traditional Advantages of IObit. We love simple and automatic style.

Very Fast and Light

Thanks to the unique “Dual-Core” anti-malware engine, complicated analysis can be made faster now.

Finds the Deepest Infections

We use DOG (Digital Original Gene), a novel heuristic malware detection method, to find the most complex threats.

Automatic and Frequent Updates

IObit Security 360 Team is ready now.

Work with All Antivirus Products

Everyone needs a qualified antivirus software, And IObit Security 360 will surely be the best mate for your current Antivirus.

Free for Home/Non-commercial Use

Scan & Remove is free, and real-time protection is free too. You will love this small but powerful free anti-malware.

Due to it being fairly new in the market, so to speak, there hasn’t been any extensive testing of the software to see just how effective it is. However, trusting IObit is something I have done for a long time now and I doubt they’ll disappoint this time.

Just remember that this is still BETA software so there may be some bugs and some features that are not yet fully functional.

So, if you are willing to add another anti-spyware to your PC security I find no harm in installing this app!

IObit Beta Software Page [link]

Bye!

Auslogics Disk Defrag V2 Beta! June 4, 2009

Hey guys,

Auslogics has released  a new beta version (v2.0.0.12) of their Free Disk Defrag software.

I have posted about this software before stating how pretty darn amazing it is, alongside its competitors, but this time I think they have added in features that were lacking before and now make it an even better contender.

It has full support for x64 OS’s as well as Windows 7 and comes with small but useful features, not to mention a 30% speed increase on the rate of defragmentation.

Visit http://www.auslogics.com/ and see the other products that they have for many everyday computer needs.

Bye!

Opera 10 Beta! June 3, 2009

Hey guys,

I frequently post about the latest browsers that are launched into the market and as the title shows, a new one is about to emerge, or rather a new iteration of a distinguished browser.

Opera has been around for ages and has been classed as a small underdog against the likes of Firefox, IE and even Chrome even though that has been around for far less time.

I have dabbled in and out of the Opera pool and every time I found at first that I loved the ‘different’ features but then find out I hate the browser, but this time things have changed. Opera seems to be extremely fast – to the likes of Chrome dare I say?

I think this time I will be sticking with Opera for a while alongside using IE, FF and GC.

Opera not only has a long history in the field but also has a full 100/100 in the Acid3 test and has extremely handy features such as SpeedDial (which can be found as extensions for FF and is similar to the home layout of GC), also it has Opera Turbo that is extremely useful for people who are on slow connections i.e. dial-up.

Anyways, I really recommend this browser to you guys out there if you wish to experiment, or you may wish to wait until the final RTM has been released.

Bye!

Windows 7 Testers – Beta to RC April 12, 2009

The latest post on Microsoft’s Engineering Windows 7 blog outlines what existing Windows 7 beta testers will have to do in order to be able upgrade to the release candidate.

Two words: Clean install.

“We’ve also learned that many of you (millions) are running Windows 7 Beta full time. You’re anxious for a refresh. You’ve installed all your applications. You’ve configured and customized the system. You would love to get the RC and quickly upgrade to it from Beta. The RC, however, is about getting breadth coverage to validate the product in real-world scenarios. As a result, we want to encourage you to revert to a Vista image and upgrade or to do a clean install, rather than upgrade the existing Beta.  We know that means reinstalling, recustomizing, reconfiguring, and so on.  That is a real pain.  The reality is that upgrading from one pre-release build to another is not a scenario we want to focus on because it is not something real-world customers will experience. During development we introduce changes in the product (under the hood) that aren’t always compatible with what we call “build-to-build” upgrade.  The supported upgrade scenario is from Windows Vista to Windows 7. [emphasis added]“

This was to be expected. After all, given all the changes since the Beta 1 build and the RC build, it’s unrealistic to expect to be able to upgrade and guarantee no problems. However, given that the Beta 1 build was released early January, and it’s now early April, beta testers have had three months to set up their systems and get comfortable. Back when Vista was being beta tested, testers had access to new builds regularly, so test systems were always in a state of flux.

However, if you really want to avoid carrying out a clean install, Microsoft has offered a workaround:

1. Download the ISO as you did previously and burn the ISO to a DVD.
2. Copy the whole image to a storage location you wish to run the upgrade from (a bootable flash drive or a directory on any partition on the machine running the pre-release build).
3. Browse to the sources directory.
4. Open the file cversion.ini in a text editor like Notepad.
5. Modify the MinClient build number to a value lower than the down-level build. For example, change 7100 to 7000 (pictured below).
6. Save the file in place with the same name.
7. Run setup like you would normally from this modified copy of the image and the version check will be bypassed.

Personally, I wouldn’t do this because there’s a good chance that you’ll end up having to do a clean install anyway.

It’s also worth repeating Microsoft’s warnings on playing it safe:

“ALWAYS BACK UP YOUR MACHINE before running any OS installation and NEVER TEST AN OS ON YOUR ONLY COPY OF ANY DATA. Testing a pre-release product means just that—it is testing and it is pre-release. Even though this is a Release Candidate, we are still testing the product. We have very high confidence but even if an error happens once in 1,000,000 we want to make sure everyone is taking the precautions normal for a pre-release product.”

Good medicine.

Windows 7 beta testers aren’t the only ones who will find themselves having to carry out a clean install in order to go up to the release candidate (or final release) of Windows 7. XP users will also find themselves unable to upgrade.

“Speaking of the real world, many have asked about upgrading from Windows XP. There’s no change here to the plan as has been discussed on many forums.  We realized at the start of this project that the “upgrade” from XP would not be an experience we think would yield the best results. There are simply too many changes in how PCs have been configured (applets, hardware support, driver model, etc.) that having all of that support carry forth to Windows 7 would not be nearly as high quality as a clean install.”

So if you gave Vista a miss and hoped that Windows 7 would be an easy upgrade, you’re outta luck. That said, I’ve never found upgrading to be the easy option in the long run and nothing beats a clean install.

Credit – http://blogs.zdnet.com/

Windows 7 is MINE! January 11, 2009

Wahey!
Well, I’ve just reconfigured the whole setup of my PC!
I repartitioned into three parts:
50Gb Vista
50Gb Windows 7
520Gb Storage!

I have to say, WINDOWS 7 RULES!

Just thought I’d shout that out

Early, real, every day tests on Windows 7 Beta = IMPRESSIVE! January 2, 2009

Hey all,

Its the 2nd of January and I hope that 2009 is going well for you all so far.

Anyways, a quick update on how Microsoft’s next iteration of its Operating System – Windows 7 – is going in the 1st Beta Build.

This build (build 6.1.7000.0.081212-1400) has been out and about on the internet for a couple of weeks now as it was somehow leaked. Many speculate that this is the exact same build that will be released to the public in the coming weeks of this month, however some people say it isnt. Either way, Adrian Kingsley Hughes of ZDNet.com has tested out this version of Windows 7 in 23 everyday life PC tests and has also done the same tests on Machines running Windows XP and Vista. He tested them on two different machines (One of a higher spec and the other of a fairly decent spec)

The tests are as follows:

1. Install OS – Time it takes to install the OS
2. Boot up – Average boot time to usable desktop
3. Shut down – Average shut down time
4. Move 100MB files – Move 100MB of JPEG files from one hard drive to another
5. Move 2.5GB files – Move 2.5GB of mixed size files (ranging from 1MB to 100MB) from one hard drive to another
6. Network transfer 100MB files – Move 100MB of JPEG files from test machine to NAS device
7. Network transfer 2.5GB files – Move 2.5GB of mixed size files (ranging from 1MB to 100MB) from test machine to NAS device
8. Move 100MB files under load – Move 100MB of JPEG files from one hard drive to another while ripping DVD to .ISO file
9. Move 2.5GB files under load – Move 2.5GB of mixed size files (ranging from 1MB to 100MB) from one hard drive to another while ripping DVD to .ISO file
10. Network transfer 100MB files under load – Move 100MB of JPEG files from test machine to NAS device while ripping DVD to .ISO file
11. Network transfer 2.5GB files under load – Move 2.5GB of mixed size files (ranging from 1MB to 100MB) from test machine to NAS device while ripping DVD to .ISO file
12. Compress 100MB files – Using built-in ZIP compression
13. Compress 1GB files – Using built-in ZIP compression
14. Extract 100MB files – Using built-in ZIP compression
15. Extract 1GB files – Using built-in ZIP compression
16. Install Office 2007 – Ultimate version, from DVD
17. Open 10 page Word doc – Text only
18. Open 100 page Word doc – Text and images only
19. Open simple Excel doc – Basic formatting
20. Open complex Excel doc – Including formula and charts
21. Burn DVD – Win 7 beta 1 .ISO to disc using CDBurnerXP
22. Open 10 page PDF – Text only, using latest Adobe Reader 8
23. Open 100 page PDF – Text and images, using latest Adobe Reader 8

The results of all these tests are as follows:

The way these are scored is that the OS with the best results is awarded the mark ‘1′ and second best is awarded a ‘2′ and third place is awarded ‘3′. Therefore the lower the final score, the better!

From these results its conclusive that Windows 7 is FAR better than its predecessors Windows Vista and XP. Also, it is evident that Windows 7 works well on both hardware configurations as there was a marginal difference of one point between the two.

So, for a Beta build it is clear that Windows 7 is on the right track and should hopefully become a lot better in its final RTM Code.

Hope this was useful!

WyzoMan