More info on Windows Mobile 6
Loke is blogging from Barcelona. He beat me to posting the announcement, however since I am going to bed and he is likely just waking up, you will find all updates for the next few hours on his blog.
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12.2.2007 Office XP SP3 Info
Office XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) provides the latest updates to Microsoft Office XP. SP3 contains significant security enhancements, in addition to stability and performance improvements. This service pack applies to any level of Office XP.
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Windows Live Folders beta - more info
The folks over at LiveSide have put up and detailed walkthrough of Microsoft's latest Live product, Windows Live Folders.
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15.5.2007 Windows 7 build 7025 screenshots leak with versions info
Microsoft released Windows 7 Beta few weeks ago and the only version that was released during this beta was Windows 7 Ultimate. However, a select testers were invited for a separate Windows 7 Home Premium Beta program.
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25.1.2009 Windows Mobile 7 info 1000 engineers working on project
Microsoft has confirmed that the current team of 1,000 developers, working on Windows Mobile 7, are planning to feature social networks as a key element of Windows Mobile 7.
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17.9.2009 Microsoft can't afford to support OEM Vista?
Microsoft might have $7.6 billion in spare cash in the bank, but when it comes to supporting users who purchase Vista on a new machine, the software giant is all too ready to cry poor.
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15.5.2007 Microsoft Windows Vista OEM Preinstallation Kit available
The Windows Vista Release Candidate 1 (RC1) OEM Presinstallation Kit is now available. Microsoft's Worldwide System Builder team would like system builders to experience the updated OEM Preinstallation Kit (OPK) tools which will be used to preinstall Windows Vista.
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16.10.2006 OEM versions of Vista Ultimate available for pre-order
hardgiant spotted over at overclockers.co.uk that Windows Vista Ultimate 32/64 OEM discs have been added at just 114.99, which when converted to USD comes to $262.750 plus tax. The full retail version costs 352.49 a whopping $685.235 after tax.
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4.1.2007 Vista OEM 'Express' upgrades stuck at the gate
Europeans who bought a new PC in time for Christmas and were persuaded that they would get a Vista upgrade soon after the rollout by redeeming a voucher, are learning that demand for the upgrades far outstrips "supply".
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18.2.2007 Vista Oem Activation Tool Kit 0.5 Beta
Thanks to Steve Jobs for this download. This is Vista Oem Activation Tool Kit 0.5 Beta by Steve Jobs @ Keznews forum
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22.3.2007 Vista Oem Activation Tool Kit v1.5
Steve Jobs update his Vista Oem Activation Tool Kit For Vista 32bit and 64bit to version 1.5. Vista will be 100% genuine, all downloads will work.
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3.4.2007 Vista Loader 2.2.0 OEM BIOS Crack Emulator
This is New version of Vista Loader 2.2.0 from Chinese hackers. With this you can force a bios emulation and let Vista think it's installed on a OEM machine.
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20.5.2007 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.
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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.
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21.5.2007 OEM Logo and Information for Windows Vista - Auto Patch
Thanks to Steve Jobs for this post in forum. You have successfully activate Windows Vista instantly in OEM style by using hardware-level BIOS ACPI-SLIC mod, or one of the two software based OEM BIOS emulator such as softmod SLIC BIOS bootloader and Paradox OEM BIOS Emulation Toolkit.
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20.3.2007 Microsoft Confirms Windows Vista OEM BIOS Crack
Microsoft confirmed the fact that hackers have developed a valid Windows Vista crack designed to exploit the operating system's OEM BIOS activation.
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11.4.2007 Vista to Windows 7 Upgrades Kill Access to OEM Recovery Applications
Users that upgrade Windows Vista OEM computers to Windows 7 might find that the recovery applications set in place by the original equipment manufacturer are no longer accessible.
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9.10.2009 Dell, HP, and Sony OEM Certificates Used in Windows Vista Activation Crack
The latest trend in Windows Vista cracks is to utilize OEM certificates in order to bypass the activation process of the operating system. Via the OEM crack for Windows Vista, original equipment
manufacturer versions of the operating system are illegally activated through a process that involves patching the BIOS of the motherboard.
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26.2.2007 How to Downgrade from Windows Vista Business or Ultimate OEM Edition and Install Windows XP Professional
A lot of users still dont getting used to Windows Vista. A lot of reviews have been labeling Windows Vista as bloated, hard to use, tons of compatibility issues, inconvenient, not user friendly, not stable and etc.
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22.8.2008 What about Windows 7 OEM pricing?
Microsoft still has yet to go public with its Windows 7 price list. But that hasnt stopped customers and partners from publicly hoping for the best (cheaper than Vista) and fearing the worst (any kind of increase over the cost of Vista).
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16.6.2009 Windows Live to Get First OEM Bundle
Microsoft will imminently announce its first PC-bundling deal for Windows Live.
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14.3.2007 Windows 7 OEM Pricing Emerges
Windows 7 is set to be launched on the market in about three weeks from now, and those people considering choosing it as the platform on their computers are certainly interested in the costs the migration will imply.
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30.9.2009 OEM licensing confusion starts at Microsoft.com
Last week, in the wrap-up for a post about WGA, I offered five suggestions Id like to see incorporated into Vista and especially into Windows 7.
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9.9.2008 Microsoft: The Windows OEM License Dies with Its Computer
Licenses for Windows come in various flavors from Retail to Volume, but perhaps the most common of all is provided by original equipment manufacturers together with operating systems preloaded on new computers.
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17.6.2008 XP OEM Licensing Extension Is Urban Myth
Contrary to all the blog buzz, Microsoft hasn't extended OEM Windows XP "downgrade" licensing by another six months.
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8.10.2008 Get an Insight into the Windows 7 OEM Pre-installation Kit
Here is your chance to get an insight into the OEM Pre-installation Kit (OPK) that Microsoft will offer for Windows 7.
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24.5.2009 Windows 7 OEM Named Partner RTM Information
Here is the correct current information as available for OEM's. Thansk to our fiend for report.
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22.7.2009 Want Windows 7 for 50 Percent Off? Order an OEM Copy
Missed out on the early preorder discounts? Popular retailer Newegg.com has listed the OEM prices for Windows 7, which will be offered at less than half what Microsoft will charge for a retail copy.
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26.9.2009 First OEM Boxes of Windows 7 RTM Build 7600.16385
Last week, just days after Windows 7 was released to manufacturing, Microsoft started handing the gold bits to original equipment manufacturers.
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27.7.2009 Windows 7 Ultimate cracked and activated with OEM master key
Hackers cracked and permanently activated Windows 7 Ultimate RTM Final Version. Once again hackers wins the cat and mouse battle game from the Redmond giants.
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29.7.2009MS: It's Okay to Buy Vista OEM Software
Microsoft has given the go
ahead for users to buy the
low-cost OEM copies of Windows
Vista now appearing on sites
like Newegg.com; however, they
would be expected to adhere to
the licensing terms just like
any other computer
manufacturer...
betanews.com -
30.01.2007Windows 7 Ultimate cracked and activated with OEM master key
Windows 7 has yet to even be released officially to the general public, and already the dodgy folk on the Internet have fully cracked and activated
the Ultimate version, with help from a leaked Lenovo OEM DVD .ISO file. The news comes from website My Digital Life who state that you can already
pass Windows Genuine Advantage validation offline, OEM style. The leaked .ISO was originally posted on a Chinese forum, which was then downloaded in
order for people to get hold of the boot.wim, and in turn retrieving the OEM-SLP key, plus the OEM activation certificate. Microsoft uses the same
digitally signed OEM certificate, which has an .xrm-ms extension, as that in Windows Vista.
Read full story.....
neowin.net -
29.07.2009Microsoft can't afford to support OEM Vista?
Microsoft might have
$7.6 billion in spare cash in
the bank, but when it comes to
supporting users who purchase
Vista on a new machine, the
software giant is all too
ready to cry poor.
Conventional wisdom
holds that if you feel the
urge to upgrade to Windows
Vista, buying it pre-installed
on a new machine is the best
way to go. The advantages are
allegedly twofold: there
should be fresh and functional
drivers for all the built-in
hardware, and you get OEM
pricing (much lower than the
retail $400-$700 price range)
for your new OS.
That
discount pricing comes with a
nasty twist, however. Because
you've purchased an OEM copy,
Microsoft won't extend to you
the courtesy of a 90-day
support period for Vista,
which it does offer to
customers who struggle through
the upgrade process on their
existing machines. Instead, it
will direct you straight back
to your hardware manufacturer...
winbeta.org -
15.05.2007Consumer Versions of Windows Vista Available Early
The official launch of Windows
Vista is planned for January
30. Some online retailers
have, however, made the
operating system available
early. mwave.com states that
it has Vista 32-bit Home Basic
OEM for $89.90, Vista
32-bit Home Basic OEM 3-pack
for $268.90 and Vista
32-bit Business OEM for
$139.90, all in stock and
ready to ship. Vista Home
Premium and Vista Ultimate are
currently unavailable.
Customers are limited to two
copies of Vista Home Basic OEM
or Vista Business OEM and they
must be purchased with
hardware for licensing
reasons. You can probably get
away with ordering a really
cheap piece of hardware and
still saving a lot over the
retail price of Vista.
Overclockers UK has previously
also started listing OEM
versions of Vista.
neowin.net -
22.01.2007Sam's Tip of the Week #2 - The "Get Info" Inspector
This week's tip is for OS X users:
If you're like me, you use the "Get Info" pane a lot. It's great, but after looking at a few
files I end up with 10 Get Info panes on my screen, causing lots of unneeded clutter.
If you use the Option-Command-I keystroke rather than
plain old Command-I, you will see the Get Info Inspector. This is one "Get Info" window which will stay present and change to whatever file or
folder is selected in the Finder. Just click on an item while it is open, and the inspector will change. (Bonus tip: the arrows on the keyboard work
well for items in the same location.)
jcxp.net - 21.08.2009
The Problem with Bundling
Joe Wilcox: On Friday I spoke with two product executives from a major OEM about some forthcoming new PCs and notebooks. During the conversation, I
asked about their Windows Media Center strategy. The OEM no longer has one, and Vista integration is the reason.
The response is
surprising, because Media Center integration into Vista was supposed to benefit Microsoft, its customers and partners. But that's not how this OEM
sees it. Reasoning: The discreet SKU's disappearance makes Media Center differentiation more difficult among OEMs, so there is no real competitive
advantage. The product executives expressed concern that Media Center promotion for the OEM's products might benefit competitors.
The conversation was a broad indictment of Microsoft's whole Vista SKU strategy. Rather than differentiate products around Vista SKUs, the OEM
has instead returned to emphasizing performance metrics and made product design a greater priority. That's opposite the intention of Microsoft's
Vista SKU strategy, which was supposed to encourage greater differentiation around operating system capabilities.
winbeta.org - 10.12.2007
Windows Vista SP1 Update Available via Microsoft OEM site
It looks like Microsoft has posted the final Vista SP1 bits to their OEM site which is accessible to anyone that registers. The file is a 1.13GB .img which combines the 32-bit and 64-bit update
executables into one image:
Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) is now available for download. Windows Vista SP1 will deliver
improvements and enhancements to existing features that significantly impact customers, but it does not deliver substantial new operating system
features.
Download Windows Vista SP1 here. The download contains Window Vista SP1 for five languages: English, French, German,
Japanese, and Spanish. Note Additional languages will be available soon.
Once you download the Windows Vista SP1 package, you
will need to extract the appropriate .exe file for the language you wish to install.
winbeta.org -
12.02.2008OEM Microsoft Office and OEM Microsoft Windows licensing
OEM Microsoft Office and OEM
Microsoft Windows licensing is
a topic that seems to again be
generating questions and there
are plenty of people out there
who are illegally taking
advantage of others to trying
to make a quick profit by
selling counterfeit or
unlicensed software.
Here are the facts
and answers to many of the
points of confusion around OEM
Microsoft Office and OEM
Microsoft Windows licensing so
you are informed and can
protect yourself from the
scammers out there...
winbeta.org -
02.08.2007Vista Home Premium: $86 Shipped
Good deal at Micro Center: The OEM version of
Windows Vista Home Premium for a mere $80, 1/2 or 1/3 of the retail price and $22 less than Neweggs normal price. With $6
shipping you can be enjoying Vista on the cheap. Just remember that, as an OEM version, it can only be installed on one computer and cannot be moved
to another PC later on.
winbeta.org -
02.10.2007Consumer Versions of Vista Available Early
mwave.com lists several
editions of Windows Vista as
in stock and ready to
ship
Although the official launch
of Windows Vista won't take
place until January 30, that
hasn't stopped some online
retailers from making the
operating system available
early. mwave.com is listing
three Vista SKUs on its
website that are in stock and
ready to ship.
The OEM versions
of Vista listed on
mwave.com's website are
significantly cheaper than the
retail pricing for Vista
listed below:
* Windows Vista Home Basic,
$199/$99.95
* Windows
Vista Home Premium,
$239/$159
* Windows
Vista Business,
$299/$199
* Windows
Vista Ultimate,
$399/$259
The editions available
include Vista 32-bit Home
Basic OEM (Microsoft Part
Number: 66G-00576) for $89.90,
Vista 32-bit Home Basic OEM
3-pack (Microsoft Part Number:
66G-00613) for $268.90 and
Vista 32-bit Business OEM
(Microsoft Part Number:
66J-02289) for $139.90. As of
today, there were no listings
for Vista Home Premium or
Vista Ultimate on the
site.
jcxp.net -
22.01.2007Microsoft recruits Altech for OEM distribution in Australia
Microsoft has struck an OEM distribution agreement with Altech Computers for its Windows Vista, Microsoft Office and Microsoft Server products lines.
The OEM partnership is the vendor's first in nearly 10 years.
Microsoft SME and partner director, Pip Marlow, said the two
companies had partnered closely over recent years.
The new relationship would expand its scope and enable Microsoft to deliver
more support to the local system builder market, she said.
"Altech is the destination for small system builders - they do a
phenomenal job supporting that part of the channel," Marlow said. Altech now shares OEM distribution rights with Ingram Micro and Synnex.
winbeta.org -
12.11.2007Microsoft sends harsh reality check to OEMs
Last week, Microsoft sent
certified letters to its OEM
partners regarding Vista's
anti-piracy technology -- or,
more accurately, what happens
if they dare ship a system
with a "non-genuine" copy of
Vista.
The answer:
The system is crippled for 30
days, then hosed entirely
until you pony up for a
license. This is apparently
what Microsoft means when it
http://oem.microsoft.com/downl
oads/public/US/wgavista/genuin
e.pdf>warns of a "diminished
user experience."
This would be fine if
Microsoft were a reasonably
competent organization and
Windows Genuine Advantage
worked flawlessly. True
pirates deserve to be
punished. But Microsoft isn't
and WGA doesn't at least,
judging by the many letters I
got from Cringesters who
bought legit OEM copies of XP
from major manufacturers, only
to have WGA label them as
pirates. ..
winbeta.org -
04.06.2007Live ID sneaks in Info Card right under our noses
We've been telling you about
Info Card for quite a while,
but in all the excitement (and
a few bugs to iron out)
surrounding the new Live ID
associations with LiveSide
Community Server log in, it
took us a minute to notice
that Info Cards are live and
working, and right here on
LiveSide!
A note on the naming (hey
it's Microsoft, you knew this
was coming, right?): The
current name for the cards
seems to be "Information
Card", formerly Info Card,
and while we and others
noticed a name change to
"CardSpace", that seems to
be the name of the Information
Card manager.Live ID sneaks in
Info Card right under our
noses
winbeta.org -
17.08.2007Numbers Behind Windows 95, Vista
Here is a rundown of some
quick statistics comparing
Windows 95 and Windows Vista.
All prices are in USD. All
figures for Windows 95 seem to
be verified and although there
are sources for the Windows
Vista figures, Microsoft has
not officially confirmed them.
Windows 95 contained 11.2
million lines of code while
Vista is believed to be at 50
million. Windows 95 had
approximately 200 programmers
while Vista supposedly had
2,000, according one Microsoft
developer's blog.
The common retail price of
Windows 95 was $89.95. The
lowest amount you can pay for
Vista (Home Basic Edition) is
$99, and that's an
upgrade - the full retail
version is more than double
Windows 95's price, $199.
At the other extremity there
is Windows Vista Ultimate
Edition, ranging from $259
for the upgrade and $399
for the full. This of course,
doesn't consider OEM prices,
but I decided to do a little
hunting. At mwave.com, Home
Basic is priced at $89.90
while an OEM copy of Windows
95 is currently going for
$19.95, but that isn't
exactly a fair comparison.
Anyone remember the OEM price
for Windows 95 when it was
released?
neowin.net -
24.01.2007Windows 7 OEM prices unveiled, 50% off list price
ComputerWorld is reporting that online retailer Newegg.com has unveiled Windows 7 OEM pricing. Newegg.com has priced the OEM version of Windows 7
Home Premium at $99.99 which is a price reduction of 50% down from the recommended retail price of $199.99. Other savings are available for
Windows 7 Professional and Windows 7 Ultimate at $134.99 and $174.99, respectively. This is a saving of approximately 50% on each version from
the list price. OEM editions are priced lower as you typically do not get retail packaging, little official support and you're not able to
transfer the operating system license from one PC to another.
Read full story.....
neowin.net -
29.09.2009Keepers of .info TLD move to clean up its act
The much-abused .info top-level domain may be making a renewed bid for respectability with policy changes announced this week, in an effort that may
make the TLD a little less meaningless...
betanews.com -
09.10.2008Microsoft Responds to Reported OEM BIOS Hacks
The WGA team have finally
provided a written response to
the reported OEM BIOS Hacks
regarding Vista:
I
know many of you are aware of
reports of hacks that attempt
to exploit our OEM BIOS based
activation. We're aware of
this type of hack and I wanted
to take a minute to describe
how these work and how we plan
to respond.
First, what is OEM BIOS
based activation?
Here's a little more
information on how OEM BIOS
based activation works. This
form of product activation is
also known as OEM Activation
or just OA, which is how
Microsoft refers to it and how
I will refer to it in this
post. Back at the launch of
Windows XP when Microsoft
introduced Windows Product
Activation, we recognized that
as easy as end-user activation
is, it still represented an
extra step.
neowin.net -
12.04.2007July 1: No more Office 2003 for OEMs
Its only been six months since
Microsoft launched Office 2007
at retail. But as of July 1,
2007, Microsoft wont be
making the OEM version of
Office 2003 to its PC
partners, aka "OEMs."
Eric Ligman, Senior
Manager of Small Business
Community Engagement with
Microsoft, reminded OEMs and
customers of the pending
cut-off date in a blog posting
dated June 18:
"After June 30, 2007 ,
OEM
Microsoft Office 2003 will no
longer be availble from
Microsoft. Some authorized
OEM Microsoft distributors may
have some remaining inventory
left for a short time after
June 30th; however, Microsoft
will no longer be shipping OEM
Microsoft Office to
them." ..
winbeta.org -
18.06.2007Microsoft 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.
winbeta.org -
21.02.2008Microsoft block Windows 7 OEM key hack
Microsoft’s Windows Genuine Advantage team
have responded to this week's news that a Windows 7 Ultimate
licensing hack had been identified.
After a Lenovo OEM Windows 7 image leaked and was used to extract a license key, Microsoft have worked with the manufacturer to blacklist the rogue
key and replace it - on genuine Lenovo PCs bought with the new OS - with a working version.
winbeta.org -
31.07.2009
