Windows XP Continues to run, And Run, And Function

Posted by signup

After Windows Vista the operating software was launched, each one expected a reduction in popularity and consequently, a stop of production for the Windows.xp veteran. Surprisingly, after more than six years of activity and new and improved versions available, continuous operating software to being put at the use.The decision taken involves the use of XP on the ultra GCV at reduced price (ULCPCs) and will remain effective until June with 30, 2010, or up to one year after Microsoft presents new Windows 7 – any date will come initially. The reffers of segment to the systems below $400 and is regarded as very good and advantageous investment. One expects that the systems play an important part on markets of PC all around the world, for students and purchasers for the first time of PC in the incipient markets and the world in the process of development, in the countries such as India and China.

The general presentation of ULCPCs include a smaller size of screen and a flash-basé storage, also including/understanding slower and low-actuated processors. The XP proved to be the best alternative for these computers, considering that great applications, such as Vista, the need much that more resources than of the GCV at reduced price can offer.

considerable quantity of the There by buzz around this probable category and it to sell a wouldn’t of Microsoft of fate please miss outside on this market, stated Roger Kay, president of associated technologies of final point, and to be added: With INTEL putting much behind [ the segment ], Microsoft realized that much dash could collect behind him and the didn’t want to miss it. It is their best proposal, and XP is probably better, of option like city by TechNewsWorld.

Windows Live search: No longer indexing Google ads

Posted by multippt

Whew, sounds like Microsoft didn’t anticipate that it’s own crawler will be indexing Google AdWords ads. And no, don’t get the idea that it will help just because your ad link “gets more exposure” (oh wait, it does help). It’s pretty interesting to note that even those ads can rank up fairly well for certain terms.

The problem is this: In an attempt to increase the relevancy of the search results, Live search now includes links pointing towards pages blocked by even robot.txt files (well, it only told it to not crawl the page, but didn’t tell it to not count the stuff inside the links pointing to the page). Again, it shows that Microsoft ain’t following the robot rules completely, because those ads are only present in Google search results, which are disallowed to be indexed by the robot.txt file. Let’s hope other ads won’t pop up as well. Though, this wasn’t the first time it has happened before… :)

Well, at least those ads stopped appearing in the results for now.

Google, Yahoo,… what about Windows Live?

Posted by multippt

Google and Yahoo has always remained in the big picture. However, there is one big giant standing in the shadows. Windows Live is probably much better compared to its older precursor, MSN search, and is possibly comparable to the 2 top giants.

Though, Windows Live was not as well-known compared to Google and Yahoo. Rather than word-of-mouth, Microsoft decided to incorporate it into Internet Explorer 7 as the default search engine, which probably did not work as well as compared to Internet Explorer dominance in 2002.

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Windows service packs release dates

Posted by multippt

It’s great to know that Microsoft is going to release service packs every now and then. These service packs add bug fixes that would ruin anyone’s experience at Microsoft’s products should they come out Here are some preliminary dates mentioned by Microsoft.

Prior to Windows 2000: No longer supported, so no updates.
Windows 2000: No planned updates.
Windows XP: Currently at SP2. SP3 update scheduled at first half of 2008. Annouced on 2006. Beta available to some.
Windows Vista: SP1 update scheduled at first quarter of 2008. Beta available to some.

Where Linux fails

Posted by multippt

Linux is touted as a possible replacement for Windows. However, with every great thing comes great flaws.

Finding software for Linux can be as difficult as finding a needle in the haystack. Most software on the market are “built for Windows”, probably hampering the adoption of Linux. While Linux recognises Windows executables, Linux cannot run them without an emulator. However, there are some software that can run on Linux without any emulators, like OpenOffice and Adobe software.

Free is certainly great. While this is the main feature of Linux, free does come at a cost. While implementing Linux features, user friendliness was compromised. Tell a person who have no knowledge of computers to use Linux, and you may get unexpected results. Linux is built for those who read manuals, unlike Windows which is built for those who want to get on with it in a hurry. Sure, there is Ubuntu, but Ubuntu isn’t as user-friendly as Windows XP (and can’t be compared to Windows Vista).

Talk about command prompt. Windows users never get to touch that black window until they feel veteran enough. Linux has this great feature as well (a.k.a. command line), though, it is a must for most users to know it while installing some software. In fact, some Linux users may even memorize some commands.

Linux is highly secure, probably may more secure than Windows. However, high security does not mean it is immune. Linux does not support most Anti-Virus softwares, so protection in Linux if a virus does get in is lax. Of course, that is if a virus does manage to penetrate the tough shell of Linux.

Well, that’s some main flaws in Linux, but unlike Windows, open source patch up its quirks quickly.

Microsoft working to get Windows on XO laptops

Posted by signup

Microsoft has made progress in getting its Windows software to work on a low-cost laptop computer for poor children that currently runs on rival Linux software, an executive said on Thursday.

The world’s largest software company is now working to adapt a basic version of Windows XP so it is compatible with the nonprofit One Laptop Per Child Foundation’s small green- and-white XO laptop.

“We’re spending a non-trivial amount of money on it,” Microsoft Corporate Vice President Will Poole said in an interview on Thursday.

“We remain hopeful with our progress to date, we still have significant work ahead to finalize our analysis and testing processes,” he said. “At the end of the day, there’s no guarantees.”

The One Laptop per Child Foundation, a spin-off from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, plans to start producing the $188 machines in China next month and eventually manufacture millions a year for elementary school children in developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

The foundation is also selling the machines in the United States and Canada for $400 apiece through a fundraising campaign.

The laptops were designed specifically to run Linux programs. If the machines run only Linux, Microsoft will lose an opportunity to expose tens of millions of children worldwide to its Windows system.

“We’ve made progress,” Poole said.

If the foundation is able to meet its goal of producing millions of laptops for school children around the world and they are all loaded with Linux software, then they would end up being more comfortable with those programs than with Windows, said Wayan Vota, who publishes a blog that monitors the project.

“People will realize there is an alternative to Windows and they might like it better,” Vota said.

But the new laptop uses some technologies developed by the foundation that haven’t previously been used in personal computers, Poole said.

“We still have plenty of work to do in determining if the highly constrained performance, power, and memory in the first generation XO laptops will be compatible with Windows and popular Windows applications,” he added.

Originally dubbed the $100 laptop, which is the group’s target price for the machine, the XO features a string pulley to charge its battery, a keyboard that switches between languages, a digital video camera and wireless connectivity.

The laptop’s designer, Mary Lou Jepsen, said in an interview earlier this month she expects the price to drop in the first quarter of next year because prices of memory tend to fall dramatically during that period.

The computer requires just 2 watts of power compared with the typical laptop’s 30 to 40 watts and does away with hard drives, relying instead on flash memory and four USB ports to add memory devices.

The XO laptop’s component makers include Advanced Micro Devices and Marvell Technology Group. Software maker Red Hat helped develop the device. Quanta Computer will manufacture it.

The foundation will start taking orders for its Give 1 Get 1 campaign on November 12 at laptopgiving.org.

PHP + IIS7 = Memory leak

Posted by multippt

Looks like Microsoft should have sticked to the good old IIS6. PHP and IIS7 (in Windows Vista) do not make good parthners. When together, expect an error message in 1.5 hours time (IIS process worker crash). Of course, other than that error message that seem to pop up every now and then, your computer will start losing a lot of usable memory (RAM) each time you see that message. More »