Windows 7 RTM Safe from Vista and XP Critical Vulnerabilities
When it launched Windows Vista back in January 2007, Microsoft made sure to emphasize added security as part of the Wow.
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12.8.2009 Firefox improved on Vista, but still no protected mode
Since our last article on Firefoxs problems with Vista, considerable progress has been made to improve the browser for Microsofts newest operating system. We caught up with Mike Schroepfer, VP of Engineering at the Mozilla Foundation, to bring us up to date.
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4.7.2007 Windows 7 Performance Tools - Performance Tools Kit 4.1.1
Internet Explorer 8 will be not only an apex of performance, but also the next major iteration of the Windows client, according to Microsoft.
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1.9.2008 Windows 7 M1 Reduced Functionality Mode Just as Vista RTM
Windows 7 Milestone 1 features Reduced Functionality Mode, jut like Windows Vista RTM. With the advent of Service Pack 1 for its latest Windows client, Microsoft scraped the anti-piracy mitigation from the operating system, going back to the behavior of Windows XP when dealing with pirated, unactivated or expired copies of the platform.
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16.6.2008 Microsoft Makes Vista Migration Tools Available
Microsoft offers six free tools for corporate users to assess, plan, test, and deploy Windows Vista.
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24.2.2007 20 Hidden Windows Vista Tools
The default installation of Windows Vista weighs in at approximately 8 GB. In fact, Microsoft's latest operating system won't even install with less than 15 GB of space available on the hard drive.
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30.9.2007 12 Hidden Windows Vista Network Tools
Thanks to Steve Jobs for this article. Windows Vista delivers an impressive line up of network tools that can be used to keep the operating system connectivity on a short leash. The total of 12 command-line tools can be used to manage all aspects of Vista networking.
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4.6.2007 Fixing Windows Vista 3 - Top Troubleshooting Tools
Do you think Windows Vista is slow, crash-prone, or unreliable? Join the crowd. Over the past year, reviews of Windows Vista by mainstream media outlets, the technical press, bloggers, and ordinary users have been, for the most part, scathing.
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7.5.2008 Vista System Tools Survived into Windows 7 M1
Microsoft already confirmed that Windows 7 will have Windows Vista as its foundation. Like it or not, Windows 7 will be nothing more than an evolution of the current Windows client.
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27.6.2008 Microsoft Remote Server Administration Tools - RSAT for Vista Released
Microsoft Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) enables IT administrators to remotely manage roles and features in Windows Server 2008 from a computer running Windows Vista SP1.
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25.3.2008 Microsoft Delivers Final Versions of Free Deployment Tools for Windows Vista
Microsoft Corp. today announced the availability of six new deployment tools that will help expedite businesses migration to Windows Vista. The recently released tools are the Microsoft Solution Accelerator for Business Desktop Deployment (BDD) 2007, the Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT) 5.0, Windows Vista Hardware Assessment 1.0, the Volume Activation Management Tool, the Key Management Service for Windows Server 2003 and Virtual PC 2007.
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20.2.2007 Download Windows 7 RTM UI Accessibility Tools and Automations for Vista SP3
Following the general availability of Windows 7, Microsoft has started backporting bits and pieces of its latest Windows client to previous releases of the operating system.
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2.11.2009 Sleeping mode
Microsoft Releases XP Mode to Manufacturers
October 1, 2009, Microsoft has released its final version of XP Mode. XP Mode is a virtualization application that can be used on Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate.
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1.10.2009 Windows 7s XP Mode Will not Run on Some CPUs
oping to use Windows 7's XP Mode on your new laptop? Better check your specs, because many big-name, Intel-powered notebooks including Asus, Dell Studio, HP Pavilion, Sony Vaio, and Toshiba Satellite models may not have what it takes to run Windows 7's XP mode.
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7.5.2009 Microsoft releases XP mode RC for Windows 7
Microsoft has released updated bits of Windows XP Mode for Windows 7.
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4.8.2009 Windows XP Mode RTM via MSDN and TechNet
Having released Windows XP Mode and Windows Virtual PC to manufacturing at the start of this month, Microsoft is currently offering the two Windows 7 features for download.
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8.10.2009 Microsoft discusses Windows 7s XP mode in-depth
Earlier this month we reported that Microsoft was on the verge of announcing something major regarding Windows 7, and on April 24th our friend Paul Thurrott finally revealed what we were all waiting for.
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29.4.2009 How many Intel CPUs will fail the XP Mode test in Windows 7?
Some of the most popular PCs on the market today, equipped with fast and powerful dual- and quad-core CPUs, wont be able to use the vaunted Windows XP Mode in Windows 7.
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4.5.2009 Windows 7s XP Mode will only work on select Sony Laptops
Windows 7s XP Mode will not work on all Sony laptops that have hardware virtualization capability, despite being equipped with fully capable Intel Core 2 Duos.
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11.8.2009 Installing and Configuring Away Mode for Windows Media Center Edition 2005
Away mode is a new feature included in Update Rollup 2 for Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 that allows the computer to appear off to the user while it continues to perform tasks that do not require user input.
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9.4.2006 Windows 7 RC New Features in the Spotlight: XP Mode and Virtual PC
Windows 7 Release Candidate, although virtually at an apparent standstill in evolution since the release of interim Builds 7048 and 7057, does manage to take it up a notch with the secret features Microsoft confirmed to have tucked away since the public Beta Build 7000 in January 2009.
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10.5.2009 VOATK TOOLS V2.0 Final
Thanks to maxdata for this download. Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Business Enterprise and Ultimate for Windows Vista 32bit and 64bit.
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18.5.2007 Ballmer: Enterprise Tools Market Ours For the Taking
It's not often that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer talks development tools. But Ballmer is all fired up about the pending Visual Studio Team System and future potential enterprise tool revenues.
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20.11.2005 Microsoft July Security Patch Tools
The Extended Security Update Inventory Tool is used to detect security bulletins not covered by MBSA including MS04-028 ..
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13.7.2006 Microsoft Delays Virtualization Tools Rollouts
In a blog posting this morning, Microsoft general manager for virtualization strategy Mike Neil revealed his company will be pushing back some milestone dates for some of its key virtualization products.
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12.4.2007 PC Tools ThreatFire 3.0.0.15 Beta
ThreatFire is an easy-to-use application designed to protect your computer against malware such as trojans, spyware, rootkits, keyloggers, and buffer overflows by intelligently detecting and blocking behavior consistent with that of malware.
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19.8.2007 Top 10 Windows Freeware tools for 2005
As we head into 2005’s home stretch, I thought I’d do a round-up of my top 10 pieces of Windows Freeware for 2005. Some of these aren’t new, but certainly what I’d consider essential. Some on the other hand, are new. I’ve tried to avoid the instantly popular ones like Firefox and Opera, although I did give way to Winamp and Konfabulator in the end. But hey, it’s my top 10. If you don’t like it, post your own.
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Google offers Web Analysis Tools for free
Google is offering webmasters full-featured, powerful analytics package from Urchin to determine how many people are visiting their sites, to view the source of referrals to your site and what they're clicking on.
In March, Google acquired Urchin Software and promptly lowered the monthly cost of the company's hosted Web analytics service, Urchin On Demand, from $495 to $199. Today, the search company is re-branding Urchin under the name Google Analytics and making it available to everyone for free.
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14.11.2005 Microsoft tools keep bad Office files at bay
Microsoft released a pair of tools on Monday that help protect computers from Office 2003 files containing malicious software code.
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23.5.2007Why Windows 'Safe Mode' Isn't So Safe
Windows has, for many years, come with a special mode you can load at boot called Safe Mode. The idea is that non-essential services and software
don't load in safe mode and so it can be useful in diagnosing system problems.
You might assume that it can be useful in fixing
malware infections and you'd be right, but not in all cases. As McAfee's Avert Labs points out in a blog entry,
it's possible for
malware to set itself up to load even in Safe Mode.
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18.03.2009Microsoft: Run Word in 'Safe
Mode'
Microsoft has advised users of
Word to run the application in
Safe Mode in order to protect
against "zero-day"
attacks. The recommendation
comes after the discovery of a
serious flaw in the word
processor that could result in
code execution...
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24.05.2006Vista To Shed Some of its Dark Side
Thanks to rev23dev for
the heads up on this one...
If you're like me,
you've played with almost
every build of Vista/Longhorn
you could get your little paws
on. The last build I had a
chance to use was RC1, and
several of my top 'Vista
annoyances' were still
present:
- My unsigned
(and rather awesome) kX
drivers no longer work
properly with my Audigy sound
card
- Daemon
Tools/Alcohol 120% still
didn't work. (Thankfully the
folks over at Daemon Tools
recently fixed that)
- I
couldn't stand the dark
looking UI for more than 3
days. (I'm going to miss
patching my uxtheme.dll so
very much. kol, bant,
StefanKa, and b0se have kept
my XP install looking awesome
for years)
Well looks
as though Microsoft has
listened to some of the 'dark
UI' cries and released the
following statement on their
'shell:revealed' blog:
"In the end, we
decided that we like the black
and think it is the right
thing to do, but we want to
respect the user's color
choice for users who bother to
make a change. So -
starting in today's build, we
have significantly backed off
the amount of black that is
mixed in with the user's
color for maximized
windows. This is not
particularly noticeable with
the default color, but with
the more intense colors like
Red and Orange, you will
appreciate the
difference."
Hopefully this will result
in an improved UI experience
for everyone.
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04.10.2006Family Safe Computing & Microsoft
Nick White has taken a short
break from his
Vista
Coach Tour to hook up with
David George, Director of
Trustworthy Computing for
Windows Vista. A short blurb
from the article and link
below:
Hi all:
I'd like to introduce you to
David George, Director of
Trustworthy Computing for
Windows Vista and one of the
individuals responsible for
the Family Safe Computing
initiative. David in this
article gives an overview of
the new Parental Controls and
also a little insight into the
philosophy behind their
design. I hope it gives you a
good idea of the span of
control now available in
Windows Vista and helps in
putting the new features to
work for you. --
Nick
As both a
Microsoft employee and a
parent, I am impressed with
the focus on safe computing
for families that Microsoft
has adopted across our product
platforms and services. With
the release of the consumer
versions of Windows Vista,
Microsoft will have parental
controls tools, family
settings, or content controls
across all of our major
platforms (Windows Vista, Xbox
360, Xbox On-Line, Windows
Live/MSN, MSTV, & Zune).
In my job as a
Director of Family Safe
Computing, I am lucky to have
the opportunity to interact
and work with child safety
experts, law enforcement
agencies, governmental
leaders, family safety
software providers, parents,
and many private concerns on a
global basis. Most believe
that the family safe computing
tools we already have released
will have a very positive
effect on empowering parents
to manage their home computing
environment based on their own
family values, and will have
the net effect of providing a
safer computing environment
for children.
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18.01.2007Meet Firefox private mode
As
announced some time ago, the latest Firefox 3.1 nightlies
(Shiretoko) now feature a Private Browsing mode, where all user activity traces including history, cache, download history, saved passwords, searches,
cookies, and others, are removed as soon as the user returns to normal browsing mode.
To enter Private Browsing, select Private
Browsing in the Tools menu...
winbeta.org -
05.11.2008Security Bonuses for Vista Programmers
Microsoft has designed new ways to crash Windows Vista, and this is a good thing.
In this era in which software, especially
prominent software, must be presumed to be under attack, you need the best tools to defend yourself. Much has been made of security features built
into Windows Vista, such as IE Protected Mode, which accrue to all users. However, programmers can easily gain new security defenses for their
applications if they code Vista-specific sections in them.
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16.06.2008Hidden Vista tools
If Sven Hallauer ever has a moment to reflect in his Redmond office, he can feel quietly pleased with himself.
As the release
manager for Vista, he had overall responsibility during the development period for the success of the Most Secure Windows Ever project.
For Hallauer, however, the flexibility of the new operating system is just as important as the security features. In particular, Vista is
equipped with far better admin tools than previous versions. Previously, administrators were forced to add tools from Resource Kits, but now Vista
comes with a lot of tools already on board, as well explain later.
You can tell just by looking at the increased minimum hardware
requirements that theres a lot more in the new version of Windows. It used to be possible to keep an installation of Windows 95 under 200MB, but Vista
requires 40 times more hard disk space. Even in comparison to Windows XP, Vista needs five times more space.
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27.09.2007Kati Kim and Kids Found Safe,
CNET Editor is Next
For nine days, Kati Kim -- the
wife of CNET senior editor
James Kim -- kept her
four-year-old and
seven-month-old daughters
alive and safe, burning their
station wagon's tires for
warmth, while their husband
set out on foot for help. Mrs.
Kim and her two children are
now safe, as the search for
their husband and father may
be near the end we hoped for...
betanews.com -
05.12.2006Microsoft to beef up anti-piracy checks in Vista SP1
Microsoft will change the user experience of its automatic anti-piracy checks in Windows Vista and also make it harder for hackers to bypass the
system in the first service pack for the OS due out early next year. Once Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) is installed on a PC, that computer will
no longer go into limited functionality mode if a user or administrator fails to activate Vista on that system in 30 days, or if the system fails
Microsoft's Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) validation, which checks to see if a version of Vista is pirated or counterfeit. In Vista, WGA is
called the Software Protection Program feature.
In limited functionality mode, a computer will shut down after 60 minutes and then allow
only browser use. Now, instead of going into that mode, a version of Vista that has not been activated in 30 days will start up with a black screen
and a dialogue box that gives users the choice of activating Vista now or later, said Alex Kochis, a group product manager at Microsoft.
Read full story.....
neowin.net -
04.12.2007Does your password pass the test?
Do we all need to be that careful about our passwords? Probably not. But passwords are one of the web's most important security tools. Whether it's
for your Google account, your banking center, or your favorite store, choosing a good password and keeping it safe can go a long way toward protecting
your information online.
So how do you choose a good password, and then keep it safe? A few of these tips can help...
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05.06.2008Microsoft uses green tactics to push Vista
Briony Smith: <...> In a pro-Vista move, the company commissioned a report from Info-Tech Research on the power consumption of Windows XP versus
Windows Vista, which was released today, and announced Vistas energy-efficient supremacy over XP when it comes to sleep mode. The default settings of
Vista put the system into sleep mode much faster and automatically than XP triggers its own standby mode.
Jennifer Colasanti, a
research consultant with Info-Tech Research, said that tests were run on two different laptops and two different PCs in several different states. The
advanced default settings had a definite impact on power consumption. If your business is running a fleet of Vista PCs, then you can reduce your
carbon emissions by half, she said.
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21.02.2008Vista SP1 goes live on Automatic Updates, but gradually
It's apparently safe to try this now: Microsoft stated this afternoon it's going forward with plans to deploy Windows Vista Service Pack 1 via
Automatic Updates...
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24.04.2008Microsoft Delivers Final Vista Deployment tools
Microsoft Corp. today
announced the availability of
six new deployment tools that
will help expedite
businesse's migration to
Windows Vista. The recently
released tools are:
-Solution
Accelerator for Business
Desktop Deployment
2007.
-Application
Compatibility Toolkit
5.0.
-Windows Vista
Hardware Assessment
1.0.
-Microsoft
Volume Activation 2.0
tools.
-Virtual PC
2007.
Windows Vista was built from
the ground up to simplify how
people work together, find
information, reduce IT costs,
improve security and enable
mobile environments, said
Shanen Boettcher, general
manager of Windows Client
Product Management at
Microsoft. With the
availability of these new
tools, there is nothing
holding back businesses from
making the move to Windows
Vista and immediately taking
advantage of those
benefits.
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22.02.2007A kid-safe service scours the Web for good content
A new service aims to enable kids to browse the Internet while also keeping them safe. Although it's joining an already crowded market for fun and
education, KidZui hopes its own browser will differentiate it from the competition...
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20.03.2008Boost to anti-piracy check in Vista SP1
Microsoft will change the user experience of its automatic anti-piracy checks in Windows Vista and also make it harder for hackers to bypass the
system in the first service pack for the OS due out early next year.
Once Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) is installed on a
PC, that computer will no longer go into limited functionality mode if a user or administrator fails to activate Vista on that system in 30 days or if
the system fails Microsoft's Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) validation, which checks to see if a version of Vista is pirated or counterfeit. In
Vista, WGA is called the Software Protection Program feature.
In limited functionality mode, a computer will shut down after 60
minutes and then allow only browser use. Now, instead of going into that mode, a version of Vista that has not been activated in 30 days will start up
with a black screen and a dialogue box that gives users the choice of activating Vista now or later, said Alex Kochis, a group product manager at
Microsoft.
winbeta.org -
04.12.2007Windows Driver Foundation 1.7 slated for April 15
Windows Driver Foundation (WDF) is a set of Microsoft tools used to develop drivers for Windows. It is available in two flavors: the
Kernel Mode Driver Framework (KMDF) and the
User-Mode Driver Framework (UMDF). WDF 1.7 is the latest version of the tools and it
supports the largest number of operating systems yet: KMDF 1.7 supports Windows 2000 SP4, Windows XP SP2, Windows Server 2003 SP1, Windows Vista SP1,
and Windows Server 2008, while UMDF 1.7 supports the same list with the exception of Windows 2000 SP4.
winbeta.org -
04.04.2008IE8 - Standards Mode and IE7-Compatibility Mode
As you all know, the Internet Explorer team has been working hard to make IE8 the most standards compliant browser around. Unfortunately, not all web
sites confirm to these standards today. If you have concerns about your web site rendering correctly in IE8 standards mode, then there is some help
for you out there...
winbeta.org -
28.08.2008Installing and Using the Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) for Vista
There are some things in life that will always be the same. Taxes will be due April 15 (in the US). The United States of America will always celebrate
Independence Day on July 4th. Grant will always be buried in Grants Tomb. And, Microsoft will continue to make decisions and provide solutions that
make us all shake our heads. If you run Windows Vista, you were shaking your head and in many cases, very upset about the situation of not having the
proper tools to perform administration of your Windows Server 2003 or Windows Server 2008 network and Active Directory environment. Now, with the
recent release of the Remote Server Administrative Tools (RSAT), the wait is over. This article describes some idiosyncrasies, installation steps, and
tools that are available in the new RSAT for Windows Vista.
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20.08.2008User Accounts: The Foundation
of a Safe and Secure Windows
Vista System
Columnist Dan DiNicolo
explains how to implement user
accounts and Parental Controls
in Windows Vista for better
security and a safer online
experience...
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08.09.2006Coming Soon Final Release of Windows XP Mode
Brandon LeBlanc: Thanks to everyones feedback, were happy to announce that Windows XP Mode has RTMd today. We expect to make the final release of
Windows XP Mode available via the Microsoft Download Center on October 22nd. OEMs will be able to offer Windows XP Mode on their PCs based on their
manufacturing schedules...
winbeta.org -
01.10.2009
