Windows Vista Betas to expire today

Posted by multippt

The Windows Vista betas would expire today, 31st May 2007.

 If you want to save your data, you would need to upgrade/reformat your betas. Windows Vista Beta 2 requires a clean install, Windows Vista RC1 and RC2 could use an inplace upgrade (if you upgrade to Windows Vista ultimate) or clean install (you get to save about US$200) with the Windows Vista upgrades in the final release (RTM).

The in-place upgrade preserves all your data, while clean install will erase all your files and “repair” all settings [if needed].

Note that after this day, users of these betas would only be able to log in for 2 hours at any time to retrieve/backup data. After the 2 hours, the computer running the beta will shut down (without providing the opportunity to save data). During this period of time, you might be able to upgrade your beta to the final copy of Windows Vista (but, it is recommended that you have already upgraded the operating system earlier than the 31st of May). The 2 hour login sessions would be available for a while after the 31st of May for a limited amount of time (up till the 28th of August 2007).

Windows Vista Aero glass sucks up batteries juice

Posted by multippt

Aero Glass is touted as on of Windows Vista’s most wanted feature. Yet, there is a price to pay when you want this feature. It has been found that using Aero Glass on Windows Vista drains out the battery’s juice much more faster than compared to using Windows XP on the same notebook.

However, if Aero Glass is disabled on Windows Vista, the computer actually lasts longer compared to Windows XP using the same battery [unplugged to the mains].

Although Windows Vista has been touted as having better power management, having Aero Glass on doesn’t make this convincing. This probably lies within the defaults, and if the settings were tweaked, the power hog problem won’t become too much of an issue. Microsoft even encourages PC makers to tweak the power settings.

However, Windows Aero Glass doesn’t seem to put too much load on the computer, since even if Aero Glass was disabled, the computer still runs as fast as with Aero Glass active. Thus, the problem could be due to the inefficiency of power management when Windows Vista deals with Aero Glass.

This power hog issue was not something new. The problem was aready apparent during the Windows Vista betas, and while Windows Vista now performs much better compared to it’s historical betas, it still has a long way to go before it can be said as being “more power efficient than before”.

While PC makers would help create power-efficient hardware, Microsoft for it’s part, would release updates and tweaks to improve Windows Vista’s battery life and performances.

Windows Live Hotmail?

Posted by multippt

Hmm… here’s something I’ve never noticed before… Windows Live Hotmail. This version of Hotmail is still in beta [probably was made available since Feburary earlier this year].

What’s so different from the original Hotmail?
First of all, it has a nice disk space of 2 GB [Hotmail plus members get this amount as well], 1 GB up from the original Hotmail. It also dons a nicer look [similar to Office 2007], plus allows you to change the theme. It claims to have increased security as well.

If you have a relatively old account, you can upgrade your account at the Windows Live Hotmail page. Some user accounts have already been upgraded automatically.

Windows XP to be phased out by next year

Posted by multippt

While Windows Vista has already been released (plus all of those nice “Windows Vista” campaigns), not all users of Windows XP are willing to make the switch. For one, it could be because of the many issues (especially in the software compatibility area) Vista have that users come across, and it turned them away.

This slow switch could also be partly influenced by the fact that PC makers are still shipping OEM copies of Windows XP (pre-loaded operating system). Another possible reason could be the price, seeing that a decent version of Windows Vista costs almost more than 1.5 times that of Windows XP (not to mention hardware support to get the most out of Windows Vista).

Microsoft has decided that by 2008, it would stop producing OEM copies of Windows XP (just like retail copies of Windows Vista, which was already done earlier this year), and that computer makers would have to get Windows Vista instead. This move would get more users to switch to Windows Vista, especially those looking for a new computer.

Via APC magazine

Patch Tuesday: Windows Vista 0-day exploit fixed

Posted by multippt

Looks like Windows Vista has a few loopholes of it’s own.

Some of these fixes involves Microsoft Agent, the successor to “Clippy” (the sometimes annoying paperclip), the Client/Server Run-time Subsystem, and some other vulnerabilities.

Microsoft has tagged the update as “important” (one level lower than “critical”).

Is your computer (Windows) Vista “premium” ready?

Posted by multippt

Yes you have heard of Windows Vista, the new generation of Windows that will make its debute next year, 2007. By then, I’m sure you have heard of numerous guides to preparing your computer for Windows Vista. Some of this guides show guidelines to enable your computer to be Windows Vista ready. Of these, some of them go a step further and prepare them to be Windows Vista “premium” ready. However, this guide you are reading is different from those guide. This guide will show you the minimum requirements for your computer to be Windows Vista “Premium” ready, and yes, this means your computer should be able to get those nice Aero glass effects if you follow this guideline.

Processor
Your processor needs to have a processor speed of at least 1.4 GHz (to be safe, though 1.0GHz is the minimum for Windows Vista “premium” ready computers), which is quite common in new computers. However, if your computer have a processor speed lesser than that, chances are, you would need to replace the processor with a more powerful one, or get a new computer.

RAM (Random Access Memory)
Large amounts of RAM is very useful for an operating system that will utilize the computer resources fully (in this case, Windows Vista). 1GB of RAM is recommended. Of course, the more the merrier. 1GB of RAM is quite common in computers available in the market at the moment. In case your computer do not have this amount of RAM in your computer, you can choose to upgrade the RAM (since RAM is the most easiest hardware component of the computer to upgrade compared to the rest).

Graphics
You need a relatively powerful graphics card (specially for Aero glass). A video card with 128MB of graphics memory should be quite adequate for those who have a resolution of 1920 by 1200 and lesser. Video cards such as ATI Radeon 5500 and above, NIVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 and above, and Intel GMA 950 and above should give the much needed memory. However, if your computer screen resolution is as much as 2560 by 1600 may need up to 512MB of video memory. Other than that, your graphics card needs to support DirectX 9.0 (or above, though DirectX 10.0 enabled graphics cards will be available by next year, 2007), video card 3D acceleration, WDDM support, and pixel shader 2.0.

Hard Drive
This shouldn’t be a problem if your computer has at least 15GB of free disk space (for installing Windows Vista). However, it is recommended that you have at least 40GB of total hard disk space.

DVD Drive
This is needed to install Windows Vista, since Windows Vista only ships on DVD.

Windows Vista activation cracked

Posted by multippt

Recently, several hackers have found alternative ways of activating the corporate version of Windows Vista. A file has been distributed online that contains a VMware machine (a virtual machine) which consist of a KMS (Key Management Service) server.

A KMS server is needed to activate copies of Windows Vista (for businesses) to allow the operating system to be used. The official KMS server is usually given to companies that have 25 or more computers running Windows Vista. The copy will need to be reactivated every 6 months in order to continue to use the system.

Of course, please do not use the circulated file to illegally activate a copy of Windows Vista.

Via Yahoo! news