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Windows 7 Will Support Third-Party Codecs

Microsoft has offered official confirmation that Windows 7 will support third-party codecs, programs designed to make media players play nice with digital data stream or signal when it comes to encoding and decoding tasks.
windows - comments - 5.4.2009

Windows 7: Build 7057 blocks third-party video codecs

Something we love about Windows 7 is that it has much better native codec support, like H.264 and AAC. But the price might be high: It looks like Windows 7 might block third-party video decoders.
windows - comments - 26.3.2009

How to Install Vista Language Packs MUI on all versions of Vista + video tutorial

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic, Vista Home Premium, and Vista Business versions of the Microsoft licensing restrictions can only preserve a language!
download - comments - 23.9.2008

The Vista Built-in Super Administrator Account Has Survived in Vista SP1

Windows Vista Service Pack 1 is designed to evolve the RTM version of the latest Windows client from Microsoft, made available in November 2006 to business customers, and in January 2007 to the general consumers.
windows - comments - 15.2.2008

Vista SP1 Is Out, XP SP3 Old News, the Pink Edition of Vista Is In

Windows Vista Service Pack 1 is now nothing more than water under the bridge, now that the service pack was released to manufacturing on February 4, 2008, shipping to general users on March 18.
windows - comments - 27.3.2008

Tell Hasta la Vista to XP - Time to Upgrade to Vista SP1

Like it or not, this is the right time not only to upgrade to Windows Vista Service Pack 1 but also to tell hasta la vista to Windows XP.
windows - comments - 30.6.2008

Instant Change Vista Product ID with Vista ProductID Changer

In past we have reviewed number of application to recover product key like Product Key Finder, WinGuggle, Windows product Key Finder.
download - comments - 1.11.2009

Vista SP1 RC1 Flies Past Vista RTM and Windows XP SP2

Despite the fact that Microsoft has expressed its official position regarding testing Windows Vista Service Pack 1 ahead of its finalization, there is simply too much of a hunger for the service pack.
windows - comments - 27.12.2007

Vista SP1 Won't Resolve the 4 GB RAM Limitation of 32-bit Windows Vista

32-bit Windows operating systems, and Windows Vista makes no exception whatsoever to this rule, are limited in terms of the amount of system memory that can be addressed to no more than 4 GB.
windows - comments - 4.1.2008

Vista Loader 2.1.3 - Windows Vista Activator 2008 Support SP1 with No Boot String

Vista Loader is one of the most successful Vista activation crack available to date, second only to physical modify (hardmod) the BIOS to include SLIC table to make BIOS Vista activation-compliant.
download - comments - 15.5.2008

x64 Vista SP2 JPG Rendering Performance Inferior to x86 Vista SP2's

The JPG rendering process on 64-bit flavors of Windows Vista Service Pack 2 is inferior to that on the 32-bit variants of the operating system.
windows - comments - 10.6.2009

Microsoft to Kill the Grace Timer and OEM BIOS Windows Vista Cracks with Vista SP1

With the advent of Windows Vista, cracks also became available being designed to bypass the activation process of the operating system.
windows - comments - 4.12.2007

New Vista OEM Activation Hack - Vista Boot by gkend

Thanks to Steve Jobs for this article on his blog and to our forum members to clecha, Nighthief and fitterphil120 for most of the findings. One again the “Chinese” come up with a new method to trick out the Vista Activation. We have seen Softmode and VistaLoader, however “ Vista Boot by gkend” does promise even more.
download - comments - 21.5.2007

Windows Vista on Super Nintendo, As Real As Vista on PSP

We're puzzled and confused... How can a console that's at least ten times less powerful than the acclaimed PSP cope with Windows Vista's requirements?
windows - comments - 15.8.2007

Vista RTM vs. Vista SP1 - Office 2007 benchmarking

Enough with benchmarking the OS - let’s see if Office 2007 is any faster on Vista SP1.
windows - comments - 26.2.2008

Microsoft Says Vista SP1 Needs to Speak the Same Language as Vista RTM

Microsoft says that Windows Vista Service Pack 1 needs to speak the same language as the RTM version of the latest Windows client. Otherwise there's no game.
windows - comments - 2.4.2008

Vista SP1 to Cure the Vista RTM Wow Hangover

When Windows Vista was unleashed in January 31, 2008, Microsoft was promising performance, security, innovation, all wrapped up under an umbrella of a Wow user experience.
windows - comments - 11.4.2008

Vista-For-Free coupon with Vista ready PC's

Microsoft and the world's leading PC vendors have reached an agreement to promote the long-awaited Vista OS by offering PC buyers worldwide a free upgrade coupon, as a way of encouraging them to buy a Vista-capable PC as early as possible, according to market sources, citing information leaked from Taiwan-based PC makers.
windows - comments - 11.10.2006

Can Vista SP1 help polish Vista’s tarnished image?

Call it complaining. Call it whining. The end result is the same: Windows Vista’s image is tarnished. And it’s corroding more and more rapidly as the weeks are going on. Thanks to pacpis for this news.
windows - comments - 21.8.2007

Vista SP1 Features the Same Sins as Windows Vista

Windows Vista Service Pack 1 comes with the same sins as Windows Vista. The service pack is not even out the door, and is already putting users at risk.
windows - comments - 16.1.2008

Will Vista SP1 Go Where Vista Never Went? Even with XP SP3 and Windows 7?

Throughout 2007, it became painfully clear to Microsoft that the main competitor for Windows Vista was not Apple's Mac OS X or even the open source Linux operating system but Windows XP, and, in fact, specifically XP SP2.
windows - comments - 1.3.2008

New Vista AutoPatcher - Vista update toolkit Alpha

Vista Update Toolkit Alpha (Windows Vista Updates Downloader) is a FREE program which downloads updates directly from Microsoft. All files are very useful with vLite!
download - comments - 26.9.2008

Vista SP1 – Microsoft Could Not Have Given Less – Vista SP2 Anyone?

Microsoft had the chance to position the first service pack for Windows Vista as a panacea for the operating system, giving the platform nothing less than a fresh start and another take at the Wow.
windows - comments - 3.10.2007

Vista SP1 Rolling Over for Vista SP2

Vista SP1 did not do the trick for your RTM copy of the operating system? While such a scenario is highly unlikely, Microsoft is getting closer and closer to taking Windows Vista to the next level, again.
windows - comments - 7.12.2008

Vista SP1: Indictment of Vista 1.0?

Microsoft’s announcement that it is preparing a Vista Service Pack 1 beta in two weeks is curious on many levels. Although Microsoft delivers improvements via service packs I can’t help but consider Vista SP1 a do-over.
windows - comments - 30.8.2007

Vista RTM vs. Vista SP2

We are all well aware of the limping start of Vista on the OS market. Despite the fact that its launch had been highly anticipated for a good while, contrary to all Microsoft expectations, Vista was received with great reluctance and unwillingness on the part of XP fans.
windows - comments - 13.12.2008

Microsoft: Vista! Vista! Vista!

Microsoft has a single generalized answer to all life's problems, but especially end user protection, and that answer is of course Windows Vista.
windows - comments - 14.8.2007

Windows XP SP3 Twice as Fast as Windows Vista – Leaves Vista SP1 in the Dust

Forget about Windows Vista. And forget about Windows Vista SP1. Microsoft's latest Windows client has been quite sluggish to begin with. This in both consumer adoption and in terms of the performance it delivers.
windows - comments - 27.11.2007

Windows Vista Wow! Forget about Vista SP1, XP SP3 and Windows 7!

That's it, forget about Windows XP Service Pack 3, about Windows 7, the next iteration of Windows and even about Windows Vista Service Pack 1.
windows - comments - 1.2.2008

PC buyers: 'Vista Capable' machines weren't Vista capable

How misleading was Microsoft's "Windows Vista Capable" campaign? Misleading enough for a judge to approve a federal trial.
windows - comments - 9.8.2007

Windows 7: Build 7057 blocks third-party video codecs

The latest beta of Windows 7 blocks the usage of third party video decoders from Windows Media Player and MCE. Albain, a DirectShow (ffdshow) developer explains in his own words what he encountered when he was testing the multimedia pipeline of Windows 7 in the latest build 7057. "Microsoft has locked mpeg4 and h264 codecs into Media Foundation, the replacer of DirectShow (even if directshow is still supported).There is no way to override those codecs, even if you develop a Media Foundation version of your decoder, because Microsoft maintains a list of preferred codecs (their codecs) into the registry (HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT and HKLM \MediaFoundation\Transforms\Preferred), and this registry key cannot be modified, even in admin mode.

Read full story.....
neowin.net - 27.03.2009

TiVo software supports more codecs

TiVo has slowly been expanding the scope of its service to include content the Internet has to offer. Today, the company announced an update to its Desktop Plus software that supports common "Web video" codecs...
betanews.com - 19.03.2008

Microsoft and Nikon ink deal around digital, perhaps wireless, cameras

After teaming up on Windows Vista, HD Photo, codecs, and wireless technologies over the past few years, Microsoft and Nikon last night unveiled a cross-licensing deal involving digital cameras and still unnamed additional products...
betanews.com - 29.08.2008

VIA and QSound Labs, Inc. Bring Superior Sound Systems to Windows Vista

VIA Technologies, Inc., a leading innovator of high performance audio silicon, and QSound Labs, Inc., a leading technology developer of audio and voice software solutions, today announced the delivery of a superior sound system for Windows Vista based multimedia, personal and laptop computers. QSound's QHD technology is now available on VIA Vinyl High Definition Audio codecs and controllers.



VIA's advanced codecs and controllers combined with QSound's QHD technology enable consumers to experience high definition audio the way it should be heard with content like movies, music, games and even TV programs. Powered by VIA Vinyl Audio hardware, QSound QHD combines several audio technologies to deliver a top quality audio experience while still addressing the unique demands of multi-format audio playback typical of a multimedia-rich device such as a PC. Small speakers found in today's computers will now sound significantly larger and richer with a more natural intensity regardless of the source of the content.



"VIA delivers a broad range of world class PC silicon solutions for the international PC and multimedia computer market and our combined technologies provide the consumer with an unmatched audio quality experience," said David Gallagher President and Chief Executive Officer of QSound Labs Inc. "We are very pleased to be enhancing the Vista audio experience by working closely with a strong Windows partner like VIA."..
winbeta.org - 26.09.2007

Windows Imaging Component Code Samples and Tools

This download includes sample code that demonstrates how to use the WIC APIs to create WIC-compliant CODECs and WIC-enabled applications. With this information, ISVs will be able create CODECs that are registered in Windows and will be automatically recognized by WIC-enabled applications. This download includes both the source code and compiled binaries for the included samples. Both x86 & x64 version of the binaries are included.



The samples included in this download are:



- WICExplorer “ An application which utilizes the WIC API to load still images and read their metadata.



- AITCODEC “ A custom CODEC that demonstrates how to create a WIC-compliant CODEC. This sample includes documentation on the custom AITCODEC.



- WICGrinder “ An application used to test WIC-compliant CODECs. This sample includes documentation on using WICGrinder to customize tests.




winbeta.org - 27.11.2007

DivX to be Added to PlayStation 3

DivX said Tuesday that its codecs will be added to Sony's PlayStation 3, allowing the device to play back videos in the format...
betanews.com - 13.11.2007

Linspire Releases 2.0 Version of Free OS

Linspire on Wednesday released the second version of Freespire, the community-based operating system based on Canonical's Ubuntu Linux distribution, enhancing it with its own proprietary software, drivers, and codecs...
betanews.com - 09.08.2007

Windows 7 to support DivX natively

One of the new features announced at the recent Windows 7 Reviewers Workshop in LA is that Windows 7 will natively support a number of popular media formats, so that users don't have to worry about finding, installing and downloading third-party codecs. This is an evolution in media support which is similar to the inclusion of native MPEG-2 playback in Windows Vista, providing the DVD playback functionality which was missing in Windows XP. News source: Source

Read full story.....
neowin.net - 04.01.2009

MobiTV Announces Microsoft Deal

MobiTV said Tuesday that it had partnered with Microsoft to bring its service to Windows Mobile based devices, as well as Windows XP computers. The company will use Microsoft's digital rights management and codecs along with Windows Media Player to deliver its content...
betanews.com - 05.04.2006

Windows Imaging Component RC1

Thanks CoolCatBad for posting this in Back Page News on our forums.

The Windows Imaging Component supports discovery of new and proprietary (e.g., Raw) image formats. Any application that uses WIC can take advantage of new image formats as soon as their CODECs (encoder/decoders) are installed on the computer. WIC includes updated CODECs for JPEG, TIFF, GIF, PNG, & BMP that are more secure than previously released CODECs for these formats, and also supports a new high-performance image format called Windows Media Photo. Additionally, WIC provides metadata readers and writers for common image metadata formats, and enables applications to preserve their own metadata inside image files so they don't need to create "sidecar files".


neowin.net - 05.10.2006

Alcatel-Lucent Victory in MP3 Dispute Signals Trouble for Digital Audio

In the first of a series of patent disputes regarding its claims to rights to technologies used in MP3 audio codecs, French telecommunications firm Alcatel-Lucent -- which now owns the IP first conceived by Bell Laboratories -- was awarded $1.5 billion in a jury verdict against Microsoft in a federal district court in Seattle this afternoon...
betanews.com - 23.02.2007

Vista SP1 Offers Power Efficiency Enhancements

Most if not all the attention surrounding Windows Vista Service Pack 1 has been around performance, reliability and compatibility, but you probably didn’t know SP1 also makes short strides in terms of Vista’s power efficiency. And by short, I really do mean short because we’re talking about improvements in the magnitude of only a couple percents. That in the context of 5 hours battery life is a mere additional 6 minutes. Having said that, some is better than none.

The first of two improvements is in the display subsystem. Starting from SP1, the VSync in the Desktop Window Manager (DWM), intended to give a glitch free experience, no longer runs continuously. Instead, the interrupts are disabled after a short timeout period where no screen updates has occurred. The catch is that a screen update can be anything from a blinking cursor to a flashing network icon, so the chances of a screen idle might be a lot less than you would imagine. The second improvement is in the audio subsystem and only concerns those with HD Audio codecs. Whereas in the RTM, the sound card would never idle even if there was no activity, in SP1, the default idle timeout for has been changed to 30 seconds; after the time, the OS will switch the audio device to a D3 power state, meaning the device should not consume any energy at all.


neowin.net - 23.02.2008

Vista SP1 Offers Power Effiency Ehancements

Most if not all the attention surrounding Windows Vista Service Pack 1 has been around performance, reliability and compatibility, but you probably didn’t know SP1 also makes short strides in terms of Vista’s power efficiency. And by short, I really do mean short because we’re talking about improvements in the magnitude of only a couple percents. That in the context of 5 hours battery life is a mere additional 6 minutes. Having said that, some is better than none.

The first of two improvements is in the display subsystem. Starting from SP1, the VSync in the Desktop Window Manager (DWM), intended to give a glitch free experience, no longer runs continuously. Instead, the interrupts are disabled after a short timeout period where no screen updates has occurred. The catch is that a screen update can be anything from a blinking cursor to a flashing network icon, so the chances of a screen idle might be a lot less than you would imagine. The second improvement is in the audio subsystem and only concerns those with HD Audio codecs. Whereas in the RTM, the sound card would never idle even if there was no activity, in SP1, the default idle timeout for has been changed to 30 seconds; after the time, the OS will switch the audio device to a D3 power state, meaning the device should not consume any energy at all.


neowin.net - 23.02.2008

Wi-Fi helps college students get better grades, survey says

Can Wi-Fi make you smarter?



College students seems to think so. Nearly 75% of the students who took part in a recent poll said Wi-Fi access on their college campuses helps them get better grades.



In fact, college students like Wi-Fi so much that 48% said they would give up beer before giving up Wi-Fi, according to the survey, which was conducted by Wakefield Research for the Wi-Fi Alliance. A total of 501 U.S. college students from both large and small schools were given the survey in September, the organization said.




winbeta.org - 07.10.2008

Halo effect: Xbox 360 tops Nintendo Wii in September

Microsoft's Xbox 360 surpassed Nintendo's Wii in U.S. unit sales in September, according to statistics released today by the NPD market research firm. The Sept. 25 release of "Halo 3" is being credited with spurring Xbox 360 sales for the month. Here's the rough breakdown for the month among the current-generation consoles:



- Xbox 360: 528,000

- Wii: 501,000

- PlayStation 3: 119,000




winbeta.org - 19.10.2007

Google releases new Android SDK

Google released a new version of the software developer kit for its Android mobile open development platform on Wednesday.

The new SDK has a new user interface, a geocoder that lets developers search for businesses as well as translate an address into a coordinate and vice versa, support for new media codecs, and code that lets developers create layout animations. One thing missing is change to the telephony package, laments one developer on the Android Developer discussion on Google Groups.


Read full story.....
neowin.net - 14.02.2008

Buy More Vista Licenses, Save 10%

Microsoft has launched the appropriately named Windows Vista Additional License program, which will enable customers to save a bit of money if they want to install Windows Vista on multiple computers. Before, users had to purchase a completely new copy of Vista...
betanews.com - 28.03.2007

Improved Windows interoperability in Ubuntu

A proposal has been created by Scott Richie, an Ubuntu MOTU, that Wine be included in the Main repository of Ubuntu. This does not mean the Wine would be installed by default but instead that, on clicking an executable file, the user would be prompted if they want to install Wine. An automatic install would follow, similar to what is already done for codecs in Ubuntu. The proposal comes after realising that only 37% of Ubuntu users had installed Wine with only a third of these using it according to PopCon. Having previously been too unstable in its beta versions, Scott Richie believes Wine is now mature enough for inclusion in the distribution.

Read full story.....
neowin.net - 15.12.2008

Vote For The Best Windows Vista Website!

WinVistaClub, in association with 'Windows Vista - The Official Magazine', has organised a contest to recognise some of the Best Windows Vista Blogs and Websites.

The following 10 websites have been being declared by the Judges, as the Top 10 Vista websites and have been put up for a public vote.

MintyWhite Windows Guides
Vista Revisited
Windows Vista Update
Windows Vista For Beginners
Tweaking With Vishal
MaximumPCGuides
Windows Vista Forums
The Road To Know Where
Windows Vista Weblog
Vista & XP Media Center Support Community

Click HERE to cast your vote for your favourite Windows Vista Website, and in the process also get to know some other real good ones !

Read full story.....
neowin.net - 02.09.2008

Will touch drive Microsoft Surface sales or will Surface drive touch?

Mary Jo Foley: The demo applications Microsoft has shown so far for its Surface touch-tabletop system ordering drinks, sharing photos by dragging them and finger painting have left me cold.



But at the Consumer Electronics Show this week, Microsoft is discussing and demonstrating some different Surface application prototypes that seem somewhat more compelling.



During his CES keynote, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates showed off a snowboard-customization demo that indicates the kinds of interactive retail applciations which might shine on Surface multi-touch systems. Microsoft issued some talking points about the demo, claiming it “provides a clear solution to common consumer pain points,” including (according to Microsoft)...




winbeta.org - 08.01.2008