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Written by Dustin
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Thursday, 29 July 2010 08:49 |
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Microsoft was going to stop the offline installer for the newest version of Windows Live Essentials, but for those with slow internet connections or none at all, it just wasn't fun. Thankfully, Microsoft has given in and released a list of offline installer links to help you out.
With the previous Windows Live Essential version it was possible to download the full installer file e.g. on a memory stick and install Windows Live Essentials without or slow dial up internet connections.
Windows Live Essentials Wave 4 Beta offline installer links are now available for the current Beta languages:
| Languages |
Code |
Link |
| English |
EN |
http://g.live.com/1rebeta4_all/en/wlsetup-all.exe |
| Spanish |
ES |
http://g.live.com/1rebeta4_all/es/wlsetup-all.exe |
| French |
FR |
http://g.live.com/1rebeta4_all/fr/wlsetup-all.exe |
| Japanese |
JA |
http://g.live.com/1rebeta4_all/ja/wlsetup-all.exe |
| Dutch |
NL |
http://g.live.com/1rebeta4_all/nl/wlsetup-all.exe |
| Portuguese (Brazil) |
PT-BR |
http://g.live.com/1rebeta4_all/pt-br/wlsetup-all.exe |
| Chinese (Simplified) |
ZH-ZN |
http://g.live.com/1rebeta4_all/zh-cn/wlsetup-all.exe |
Please copy and paste the download link of your choice into your browser address bar and press ENTER.
This will download wlsetup-all.exe to your PC where user can install Windows Live Essential Beta offline, without internet connection.
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Written by Dustin
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Thursday, 29 July 2010 07:36 |
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We have posted a new review on a book today, this time going through the Windows 7: The Missing Manual. Check it out! We are also giving the book away to one lucky winner in this thread in our forums! Sign up for the forums (very easy) and post a reply to be in it to win it!
Microsoft has had a poor track record when it comes to documentation coming with their operating systems. Last I remember, Windows 3.11 had a decent manual included, but starting with Windows 95, they got smaller and smaller until they are non-existant with Vista and windows 7. They expect users to know what they are doing, or buy a book to show them the way. For a lot of users, this isn't much of a problem. But, for others, it is a necessity.
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Written by Dustin
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Wednesday, 28 July 2010 17:06 |
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BetaNews says Steve Ballmer has one last chance to save his job from the guillotine.There is a lot of negativity around Microsoft lately, and it hasn't been the stability of it's operating system in question these days. Windows Mobile has lost it's umph, if it ever had any. I've been a fan, but that's when it's only competition was from PalmOS. Now that the iPhone and Android have hit the market, and hit it hard, there is little reason to go with mini-Winny (or Windows Lite, if you prefer). If Windows Phone 7 is all it promises to be, there may be some light at the end of the tunnel, if it isn't too little, too late. Office 2010 may be awesome, but sales aren't. In fact, they claim that Office has reached its peak in customer appeal. Steve better bring his A game to the investors and pull a rabbit out of his magic hat. Microsoft needs something other than Windows 7 to bring it back to life.
July 29, 2010 may be remembered as the most important day in Steve Ballmer's career at Microsoft. Tomorrow, the company hosts its annual Financial Analyst Meeting, or FAM. How much Ballmer and his core leadership team spend concretely talking about the future, rather than the past, will foreshadow how long the chief executive can remain the big boss. Nearly as important: Which executives will make presentations.
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Written by Dustin
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Wednesday, 28 July 2010 17:00 |
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Most people have played with Google Maps Street View, or heard about it in the news with it's privacy issues. Now, Microsoft is visiting the same area, this time with Street Slide View. Similar to Google Street View, but a lot more fluid and allows more freedom. Personally, I see Google coming back with a comeback punch very soon. As least Google isn't the only one in town anymore with it's very accurate maps and imagery.
With Street Slide, the researchers took the best aspects of the “immersive bubbles” and transformed them into multi-perspective strip panoramas. You can actually slide out of a bubble to see the street from a different perspective – a strip that’s viewed from a greater difference. When viewed in this mode, the empty space above and below the strip could be used for business logos and building numbers (addresses), or even ads.
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Written by Dustin
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Tuesday, 27 July 2010 05:29 |
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Microsoft is pulling all the punches with its newest Internet browser, Internet Explorer 9. Look at the images at the MSDN site, and how IE9 renders the text so it is actually readable. Firefox isn't bad, but it is still a very noticeable difference. Last place definitely goes to Apples Safari, I can barely read that text!
Recently, I’ve been spending time on an upcoming project for my good friends at MIX Online (just down the hall from me in building 24). The project involves working with the HTML5 canvas element, and I’ve been performing most of my tests with IE9 Platform Preview 3. This weekend, I decided to run some of my test files (HTML and JavaScript) with the latest versions of Firefox, Safari, and Chrome. Honestly, I didn’t expect to find many differences. So imagine my surprise when I saw these results (in alphabetical order):
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Written by Dustin
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Monday, 26 July 2010 15:57 |
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Mozilla has a bounty of $3000 for finding bugs in their Mozilla Firefox 4.0 beta, and Microsoft with it's nearly endless R&D budget is offering: infamy in a knowledge base article and patch! No cash reward, though. While I wouldn't do it for the fame or cash, an extra few thousand in the ol' bank account wouldn't hurt!
Now if you are just dead-set on being paid for finding a bug in a Microsoft product, there is one possibility that the company holds out for you. Microsoft's Jerry Bryant says, "While we do not provide a monetary reward on a per-bug basis, like any other industry, we do recognize and honor talent. We've had several influential folks from the researcher community join our security teams as Microsoft employees." So perhaps the free work that you give to Microsoft is just your ticket to a job in Redmond. Then again, perhaps not.
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Written by Dustin
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Monday, 26 July 2010 15:55 |
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Mintywhite has just posted an article to educate you about Virtual Memory and what it does for you and your system. A good read for everyone to further understand VM.
I was reading a newsletter the other day that was using he words Swap File, Paging File and Virtual Memory, interchangeably. Now this confused me and I realized that this might be a great topic for an article. I’ve been around computers since the age of 7, and I still find those things rather confusing.
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Written by Dustin
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Monday, 26 July 2010 13:46 |
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Mashable has a few facts about Microsoft that you may not have known about. There are a few surprises in there for me, but most of them have been previously circulated. I would love to work there... Just have to finish my BS degree, and I'm going for it!
“So, back in the mists of time, some people dumped a bunch of rapidly reproducing pet bunnies — leftovers from kids’ Easter gifts — on a grassy knoll near the MSFT campus,” Jolie said. “The bunnies started doing what bunnies do best, that is, making more bunnies.
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Written by Dustin
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Thursday, 22 July 2010 16:58 |
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There is a new scam going on right now, this time involving real people making phone calls that trick you into installing their virus software, and even paying them to "fix" your computer. Beware!
The scam always starts the same way: the phone rings at someone's home, and the caller – usually with an Indian accent – asks for the householder, quoting their name and address before saying "I'm calling for Microsoft. We've had a report from your internet service provider of serious virus problems from your computer."
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Written by Dustin
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Thursday, 22 July 2010 16:53 |
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It's hard to believe that one year ago today, Microsoft finished Windows 7, sending it to RTM state (Release To Manufacture). It was released to the public on October 22nd, however. But, how has 7 fared though its first year? Microsoft has posted some good gains though it's fourth quarter earning statement, released today. 175 Million licenses in one year? That's pretty darn great! Those with MSFT stock saw a healthy jump today, up almost 3% to 25.84.
Product momentum continued during the quarter with the successful launch of Office 2010 and strong performance from existing products including Windows 7, which has sold more than 175 million licenses to date, Windows Server, Xbox, and Bing, which achieved its 13th consecutive month of share gain.
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Written by Dustin
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Wednesday, 21 July 2010 15:54 |
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Microsoft Live Mesh is being phased out to become Live Sync. If you decide to update to the newer version, you can only have one installed on a machine at a time. for those that have files online through Mesh, they will be available for 6 months after they officially switch over.
Q: What is happening with Live Mesh?
A: Customers wanted to know why we had two services - Windows Live Sync and Live Mesh beta - with similar features. Responding to feedback, we built the next version of Windows Live Sync on Mesh technology - combining the two into one simple, easy-to-use product that brings you the best of both.
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Written by Dustin
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Wednesday, 21 July 2010 07:56 |
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It's been 30 years since Steve Ballmer joined Microsoft. While I've had mixed feelings about Ballmer over the years, he has earned a lot of respect for helping Microsoft become what it is today. The car salesman lilke CEO of Microsoft had him speechless at the event when they brought out his family to the stage. I've had some mixed feelings about Bill Gates, as well, but have to admit that he does a much better job at the helm than Steve. Oh well, I'm sure we'll be saying the same about the next successor to the throne at Microsoft. One thing to look forward to for MSFT investors: quarterly and fiscal year end earnings report on Thursday. Windows 7 has been doing extremely well, and I'm sure their earnings should be up.
Sentiment aside, the timing is very interesting. Ballmer has seen criticism of his leadership rise over the past year, despite the turnaround of the flagship Windows business, as Microsoft's share price has remained stagnant and the company has struggled to keep pace against Google and Apple in the mobile phone business.
Some shareholders would no doubt like to interpret the tribute as a retirement montage, but in the context of the Microsoft rally it was more along the lines of a show of support. Assuming he's not ultimately forced out, Ballmer said as recently as 2008 that he's planning to stick around until his last kid goes to college, around 2018.
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Written by Dustin
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Wednesday, 21 July 2010 06:23 |
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Microsoft has recently issued a security advisory for an issue that affects most systems from Windows XP to Windows 7. They released a Fix It workaround until a patch can be released. Make sure and get your systems patched up to prevent even bigger problems!
To implement the workaround that disables .LNK and .PIF file functionality automatically on a computer that is running Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, or Windows Server R2 click the Fix this problem link under Enable workaround. To undo the workaround, click the Fix this problem link under Disable workaround. In either scenario, click Run in the File Download dialog box, and follow the steps in the Fix it wizard.
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Written by Dustin
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Tuesday, 20 July 2010 20:34 |
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Dell has been coming out with some of their own software (Dell Dock) to put on PC's to help their users. While most of the bloatware is crap (ok, all of it is!), the Dell Dock is decent and gets a lot of good press. Again, they have brought out something to make computing easier, or safer anyway. The new browser from Dell, KACE, is based on Firefox, but is designed to be a lot more secure than a base Firefox installation. I'm sure it will save a lot of users from getting an infection. Most of this stuff should be included in basic browsers, anyway. I'm not sure why it would take someone like Dell to release this, while Microsoft and Mozilla haven't yet released something similar. You do need to input your name and email to download, but it is available for anyone to download. Check it out, and leave your experiences in the comments or in our forums! Edit: It's a 74MB download for those that are on slow connections, beware!
The Secure Browser uses virtualization technology to provide a safer web experience to users and organizations. When using the Secure Browser any changes or malicious files inadvertently downloaded from the Internet are contained within the secure browser, keeping the underlying OS and computer secure from hostile changes. Any changes resulting from browser activity may be quickly and easily reset to effectively “undo” such changes and return it to its initially installed state. This makes it much easier to clean a system and bring the user back to full productivity. Secure Browsers also offer the option of specifying “white” and “black” lists to control what processes may be started or what sites may be visited. Limiting browser use to specific sites can control usage and protect from cross site scripting attacks. By specifying which sites are to be blocked, it makes it easy to keep users away from known bad sites, and thereby limit their exposure to attacks. In controlling what processes may be started, the browser will not run programs or plug-ins without permission to do so, which allows for the prevention of many attacks before they can even be initiated.
- Provides a virtualized and contained Firefox v3.6 Browser with Adobe Reader and Flash plug-ins
- Rapidly reset any changes made during normal use back to their initial state, enabling easy recovery from infections or attacks
- View statistics related to the number of processes detected and blocked
- Set white and black lists to limit access to known good sites, or prevent access to known bad sites to further limit the risk of attack and infection
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Written by Dustin
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Tuesday, 20 July 2010 18:11 |
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A recent Microsoft Security advisory says that there is a vulnerability with the AutoPlay in Windows 7. It also states that AutoPlay is disabled by default (which is incorrect). A temporary solution is to disable AutoPlay on your machines.
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