Hey guys,
As we all know, passwords are used in almost all internet activities nowadays. So it is essential that one not only has various passwords for different online accounts, but ensures that these passwords are pretty much hackproof.
I came accross this online tool from Microsoft (free!!) that will help in creating a good, solid password.
So, go on, make yourself a good password!
Bye!
Engadget has posted up a video which shows how Microsoft envision the future of computing to be. No specifics regarding the year etc.. but it seems very nice if it were true.
Although… is technology going to be that frighteningly depended upon?
LINK: http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/02/microsoft-shows-a-glimpse-at-the-future-of-computing-and-the-peo/
Hey all,
I know its been a while, but something has been bugging me lately that I think I think I need to vent out.
As the title of the post hints, the question is aking if your computer that you are using right now has more than one core in its processor.
Most computers nowadays are shipped with dual core systems. Some power users even customize them to reach 8 cores, i have a middle number of 4 cores.
Now its great that technology has advanced for us to have this technology allowing for much better computer performance and many more possibilities, however there is a bone to pick. Firstly let me just mention that this has probably been brought up numerous times in many other blogs etc, but let me give it a shot.
What my argument is that although we have these resources available, why is it that we cant have any control over it? What I mean is that why can’t we allocate the power of the different cores to different applications in order to have our system running more efficiently? Agreed most operating system developers i.e. Apple & Microsoft are striving to allow better allocation automatically, but its still taking A LOT of time to develop. And also I can agree that many software developers are trying to allow their applications to utilise different cores, but again its taking a LONG time for the effects fully to be seen.
There is no doubt that having more cores does inarguably enhance the PC or Mac experience, its just that for power users etc, it would be great to have just that little bit more control.
In Windows, in the task manager there is an option to set the affinity of which cores can be used by certain applications, but that is very temporary as it only lasts that ONE time that the application is run and you have to repeat the process again every time you use that app. Why can we not have the option in the softwares themselves to register to different cores?
Agreed that this should be used with care as overloading can occur from the ‘average Joe’ of PC’s, but it would be great for power users.
If that doesnt appeal to people as a good solution then why not just make the applications better at utilising cores? I know its extremely hard to write the code for this sort of thing, but it is a step forward that is now due to happen.
One prime example of software producers that have begun to effectively take a step forward are those that produce security solutions for the PC. AVG have advertised this the most in their most recent version of AVG 8.x.x.
Anyways, thats my two pennies worth. I guess all I can do is wish.
Bye
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:
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
As you may know, the next wave of Windows Live was being pushed forward slowly, gradually being released to different countries. Well, it has now become official in the UK!
At first, it seemed quite odd, but Microsoft has promised upto 70% faster load times and I can agree on the most part. They’ve thrown out the clunky old mess and have introduced a nice, cleaner feel to the whole webmail experience. They’ve also thrown in a few customisable themes which are quite nice, although some people may wish to have solid colour options too.
I think that this whole change is heading for a big controversy like the new Facebook look – some people like it, some hate it. But Microsoft have claimed that they have made adjustments according to the feedback from us, the users.
Overall I give it a thumbs up. Nice work Microsoft, now lets see how you can revamp you blogging tool, windows live messenger etc.
Let me know what YOU think by leaving a comment!
I was recently browsing on one of my sources – http://www.KezNews.com/ – and i came across a new article on Windows 7 which has ‘wowed’ me more than Vista has.
It seems as though Microsoft has jumped in with the GUI changes and i must say from the small shots that i’ve seen, it looks quite promising. I’ve also seen some of the few features, and again – promising.
Microsoft seems to have taken after Apple and is becoming more innovative with their features, seems like Apple will have some real competition this time!
For more information, visit the actual article:
http://keznews.com/5011_Introducing_the_Windows_7_UI
Enjoy!
Microsoft made it official on April 3: There will be no new reprieves for Windows (other than on Ultra Low-Cost PCs).
As Microsoft officials announced on April 3, makers of ULPCs will be allowed to continue to preload XP on ULPC machines until June 30, 2010, or one year after general availability of the next version of Windows, whichever comes first, according to Microsoft.
(Microsoft has said that its target delivery date for Windows 7, the next version of Windows, is some time in 2010.)
The majority, if not all, ULPCs are not capable of running Vista, with its higher RAM and graphics requirements. But they can and do run Linux. That proved to be a good incentive for Microsoft extending the XP cut-off deadline for those low-end machines.
For plain-vanilla PCs, Microsoft is holding fast to its June 30 preload cut-off for XP. (In September, Microsoft granted PC makers a five-month extension, allowing them to continue preloading and selling at retail Windows XP until June 30 of this year. ) As Microsoft noted previously, users still will be able to get XP preloaded on new machines from white-box vendors/system builders through January 31, 2009. And Vista Business and Ultimate customers with volume-license contracts can still get XP via their “downgrade” rights.
Microsoft will still provide mainstream (free) support for XP until April 2009. Extended support (free for security fixes and paid for other help) ends in 2014.
What’s your take? Did Microsoft make the right decision in holding fast to the June 30 XP cut-off date?
NB: Sourced from http://www.KezNews.com/
Microsoft is indeed offering free copies of Windows, and not just XP SP2, but also Vista. I know that the hottest downloads, at this point in time, are related to Windows Vista Service Pack 1 and Windows XP Service Pack 3, but I also know that you will jump at the chance of grabbing the two Windows clients completely free. The sole downside is the fact that both copies of the operating system come as Internet Explorer Application Compatibility VPC Image. Which means that they are essentially VPC Hard Disk Images designed for test driving websites in both Internet Explorer 6, Internet Explorer 7 and Internet Explorer 8 on Vista and XP SP2.
“A VPC hard disk image containing a pre-activated Windows XP SP2 or Windows Vista, and IE6, IE7 or IE8. This VPC image will expire on July 3, 2008. You will need a minimum of 1.5 Gig hard drive space free to expand the VHD file. Once you have completed the download, double-click file to expand the VHD file. Start Virtual PC and create a new VPC, and point to the files you just expanded,” Microsoft informed.
There are no less than six downloads available completely for free, including IE6_VPC.EXE (435.1 MB); IE7_VPC.EXE (434.3 MB); IE7-VIS1.exe (700.0 MB); IE7-VIS2.rar (700.0 MB); IE8_VPC.EXE (438.6 MB) and IS7-VIS3.rar (590.5 MB). Of course, for all you will need Virtual PC 2007, available here. The images can be grabbed here on Softpedia or here from Microsoft.
Well earlier on in February, full subscribers to TechNet [£300+] and/or MSDN [£600+] were able to get their hand on the first service pack for Vista [SP1] before any other Vista users. Unless you count in all those who got an accidental release from Microsoft or the ones who hacked Windows Update in order to get it.
Well anyways, it seems as though these rich subscribers yet again get the upper hand as now not only can they get the Update, but they can get the SlipStream version allowing them to make their very own Vista SP1 DVD’s.
For those of you who do not know what this is, let me explain.
When updating to a new SP, some people prefer reinstalling the whole of their OS and then installing the SP as it seems to be a much ‘cleaner’ process. However, it is a little bit long winded if they have to reinstall their OS [clean install] and then download the update and then install that. What slipstreaming allows people to do is rip their Vista DVD onto their computer and then with the Slipstream download, they can install the upgrade into the folder where they ripped Vista in the first place. Once this is done, they can burn the patched version of the ripped vista onto another DVD and there you have it, your very own slipstreamed Vista SP1.
Coming back to the initial point, we regular folks have to wait until the public slipstreamed image is available, which might me another couple weeks or so. =[
Adrian Kingsley-hughes of ZDNet blogged a benchmarking test of bothe Vista RTM and SP1 when trying to run various tasks in Office 2007 Professional using scripts [from OfficeBench].
He used a pretty good computer with high specs:
- Phenom 9700, Radeon 3850 graphics card, 2GB of RAM
which shows that the machine is not incapable of running Vista or Office.
The results are as follows:
| Time to execute test scripts (sec) -No load | Time to execute test scripts (sec) -Load | |
| Vista RTM | 265.83 | 271.06 |
| Vista SP1 | 273.76 | 273.97 |
It seems as though SP1 has brought quite a significant slow down when using Office with no-load as there is an 8 second delay, but Adrian assures us that this will not affect the everyday user of Office. We also see that SP1 remians fairly consistent as it takes roughly 273 secs both times which isnt a bad thing.
So, for those of you who were scared SP1 may slow down your Office running times, dont worry and for those of you who had hoped for a better performance, tough luck.
N.B. In the second set of results for both RTM and SP1, the ‘load’ was just a small video running in the background by the script.
