Software & Apps - Page 117

Yesterday I was poking around and looking for news when I came across a rather disturbing story. It was disturbing to me because I see it as a pattern of what is wrong with many of the companied we chose to buy from.

It seems that yet again Microsoft has been dragged into court over the bundling of IE with Windows. This time Mozilla (the makers of FireFox) get to chime in and be a Third Party consultant to the hearing committee.
With this new status Mozilla will be given access to confidential documentation and be able to voice objections in the EC's hearing over IE.

Now here is where it gets disturbing; Microsoft is in court for bundling IE, but I do not see Apple sitting next to them for Bundling Safari.
FireFox and Opera claim that by bundling IE Microsoft is attempting to kill competition and consumer choice. So how is Apple not guilty of this also? And given the fact that FireFox is the primary default browser for most Distros of Liux how are they not guilty of the same thing they accuse MS of? I also find a comment made by Mitchell Baker (From Mozilla) very funny. She states in her blog "I've been involved in building and shipping web browsers continuously since before Microsoft started developing IE," now correct me if I am wrong but Mitchell Baker did not get hired by Netscape until November 1994 (and then in the legal department covering IP Protection) MS began development on IE from Spyglass Mosaic in the summer (June - July) 1994. It seems like someone got their timelines wrong.

To me the problem seems to stem from companies wanting to beat down other companies, bad press, FUD (fear uncertainty and doubt) are the methods I see being used more often than simply making a better product and letting people know about it in a positive way. I am not making any statements that one browser is better than the other, as in the end it really boils down to personal taste and need.

I hope that we will see this turn around in the future but with everyone pulling out the lawsuits lately I have my doubts.

Read more here at Mitchell Baker's Blog.

Another Build of Windows 7 Beta has been spotted and photographed.

The new build number is 7022 (the Original Beta 1 was 7000) and offers very little under the hood improvement but has some GUI changes. The Home Group has received a new Icon, the Control Panel has been dulled down as well as other minor changes to the looks for the OS.

Microsoft has declared that Windows 7 is feature complete so the next few builds will really be nothing more than UI refinements and bug fixes. The next public release should be RC1 around April; this puts us in line for an early 2010 release.

Read more here.

A quick heads up for those of you who haven't nabbed a copy of the Windows 7 public beta yet but would like to give it a run and see if you like where Microsoft are going with it.

Brandon LeBlanc from the Windows Blog has posted up a new blog post today that takes a closer look at the upcoming Windows 7 SKUs.

He explains at launch, Microsoft will put the most emphasis on Windows 7 Home Premium (Recommended Choice for Consumers) and Windows 7 Professional (Recommended Choice for Enthusiasts and Small Business Customers).

These will be the box copies that you will be able to choose from on store shelves. They will also be the W7 versions that Microsoft puts its marketing efforts into the most.

The gang over at Gizmodo had the chance to try out Windows 7 on an HP TouchSmart PC to see if the new touch features are any good.

Gizmodo ran a good number of tests and filmed each one to show the actual performance. They even played a quick game of touch air-hockey. In all they found the performance of Windows 7's touch functions to work well on the TouchSmart.

I am wondering what will happen now that Apple has a patent on Multi-Touch. Will this mean the death of Multi-Touch in Windows 7? Or will we just see a rise on the cost of Windows 7 to pay Apple for the "right" to use it.

Read more here

With the first Beta of Windows 7 having just been released to the public, in usual fashion many expected the next milestone for W7's development would be Beta 2, but Microsoft's Engineering Windows 7 blog page says that's not the case this time around. The next big step will be the move to a near-final version, otherwise referred to as a Release Candidate (RC).

Microsoft has just made available the first release candidate (RC1) of Internet Explorer 8 which brings some interesting new features such as web slices and Accelerator as well as a bunch of security related enhancements. It can be installed on both 32-bit variants of XP and Vista as well as Windows Server.

When Microsoft launched Vista there were complaints of compatibility problems galore. People claimed that everything from their printer to their favorite game did not run right under Vista.

With Windows 7 on the near horizon many people are wondering the same things, will my apps and games work. Extremetech has taken a look at 22 games from old to new and has the scoop on just how much compatibility you can expect from Windows 7 if you are a gamer.

Read more here.

Brandon LeBlanc over at the Windows Blog has announced that February 10th will be the cut off day for Windows 7 BETA downloads.

Internet Explorer 8 is the next browser from Microsoft. I will come packaged with Window 7 and is available as a standalone BETA (BETA2) or part of Windows 7 BETA1.

This Beta has been out for sometime (I installed it last year in November). And not much has changed. I still get the odd lockup as well as some render issues when I leave a window minimized for too long. You would think by now we would know what the next step is.

Well you need wait no longer. Dean Hachamovitch, General Manager, Internet Explorer has posted on the IE 8 Blog about what is to come.
Unfortunately it is not really anything.
He says that now is the time to download and install IE8 Beta 2 and test it out. There will be one more public release in Q1 2009 (as a release candidate) and follow up with the final and many patches after that.

Read more here

It had to happen sooner or later. Someone has had...*gasp* a BSOD in the new Windows 7 Beta!

The unfortunate people to receive this life changing screen were the gang over at Gizmodo. They seem to feel that MS should revamp the BSOD and make it a little more informative.

However the issue they show in the screen is easily found; a quick search on Google and a load of information pops up everything from Logitech Keyboard issues to ATi drivers.

A funny thing though, it looks like they had at least an iPod plugged in perhaps it is not 7 to blame but iTunes...;)

Read more at Gizmodo.

With the new Windows 7 Public Beta now being freely distributed to millions of people until Jan 24 when they pull the plug, Ars Technica has provided a full insight which talks about its features, progress and overall characteristics which should help many of you determine whether or not you'd like to grab a copy yourselves and give it a whirl.

As we reported yesterday Windows 7 Public Beta 1 has gone live today.

Well sort of live; as with many eagerly anticipated things there have been some difficulties. Many are reporting that they servers are slow, or not responding at all. Others can get the page to load but do not see the Download links.

But speaking as someone that grabbed it from a Technet account (last night) I can see hang in there it will be worth it.

Read more here.

Grab it from the CPP directly here.

Windows 7 will officially make its Beta debut tomorrow. Although the new Beta has been available online from many download sites MS will push it out the door to the rest of the world in its CPP (Consumer Preview Program) One thing that has been noted with the leaked version is a lack of a 64 bit version of this new Beta (Build 7000). The Official MS download will have both X86 and x64 versions.

Microsoft has been quietly pushing Windows 7 as the next big thing. While many online sites seem to have shifted from hating Vista to loving Windows 7 despite their being built on almost the exact same code base.

I have played with the new Beta and while it offers a few new items there are many issues and is far from ready. So tomorrow head over and grab a copy but once you have it make sure you let MS know what you like and dislike (instead of just complaining on the web) so MS can make the needed changes to mold Windows 7 into a better product.

Windows Seven Developers Blog here.

Windows 7 Beta 1 was leaked to the torrent net this weekend, with the usual suspects hosting the files.

Windows 7 has caused quite a stir and has received more positive press than just about any other OS in MS history at this stage. Personally I find it very funny as 7 is nothing more than a Vista Kernel with a new GUI and a few basic improvements. Which makes me wonder where all of the anti-DRM fanatics are? This crowd lambasted Vista for its DRM and HDCP inclusions which are still present (and even more locked down) in 7 yet they are silent or praising 7.

To me it sounds like some hypocrisy is going on.

Theo Valich has more info on his blog here.

There is nothing like having your Anti Virus decide that a Windows system file is a virus as certain XP users of AVG8 found out on Tuesday.

It seems that when coupled with the Dutch, French, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish language versions of Windows XP AVG 8 would tell the user that they had a Trojan and recommend removal of the offending bug.
Unfortunately this left most system completely unusable either in a reboot loop or unable to boot at all.

AVG did release a fix quickly to correct this

Read more over at CNET

During the Professional Developers Conference (PDC2008) this week Microsoft has given much more of an insight to their upcoming mainstream operating system; Windows 7.

No doubt for the majority of you who moved over to Vista, the words "User Account Control" (or UAC for short) was quick to raise its ugly head and give you a sour experience; until you found out the pesky and overly domineering 'security' feature could be turned OFF, that is.

The successor to Windows Vista may hit Beta status before the turn of the year, according to this report from ZDNet.

Apple's WWDC 2008 is well underway and the live coverage from Gizmodo and others is coming in thick and fast.