Vista Start Menu
Vista Start Menu is the convenient alternative to the plain Start menu you find in Windows XP and Windows Vista.
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11.9.2008 Vista Start Menu 2.1 PRO
Vista Start Menu has been in development as an attractive and efficient alternative to the Start Menu in Windows XP and Windows Vista for one year.
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28.1.2007 Windows 7 Start Menu
Windows 7, the successor of Windows Vista, is set to bring to the table an overhauled graphical user interface.
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26.2.2008 From Windows 95 to Windows Vista SP1 RC1 - the Evolution of the Start Menu Button
From Windows 95 to Windows Vista Service Pack 1 Release Candidate 1 one item of the Windows operating system is a virtual landmark in the platform's graphical user interface landscape: the Start menu button.
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6.1.2008 Retrieve CD Key/Product Key From Windows Registry with Product Key Finder
You must keep CD Key/Product key of any software or application at handy place since you may not know when you will need that key again.
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9.7.2009 Remove or Restore New Briefcase At Right Click Menu of Windows 7 and Vista
Briefcase is an ancient feature in Windows operating system, existed since Windows 95. Briefcase works as a special folder that supports two-way file synchronization with another folder on local disk or external USB/FireWire drive and network drive.
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13.6.2009 Start++ 0.3.2 for Windows Vista
Users of WDS on XP may recall the Deskbar Shortcuts functionality that allows you to create little aliases between words or characters with commands and searches.
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24.2.2007 Microsoft: Fast start for Vista in businesses
Microsoft is predicting that Windows Vista will be adopted by companies at twice the speed as its predecessor, Windows XP.
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1.10.2006 Update on the Microsoft Windows Vista Start-up Sound
Windows Vista Start-up sound was designed to move beyond the boundaries of a basic audio alert, reflecting the operational status of the system. As an embedded sound, it has a core concept of a trademark segment of media, initializing, personalizing and reflecting the Windows Vista brand and Experience.
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24.9.2006 Vista upgrade invalidates your XP key
If you choose to purchase an upgrade version of Windows Vista to upgrade XP, you will no longer be able to use that version of XP.
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30.1.2007 Intel waiting for key update before going Vista
If it's not good enough for Intel, is it good enough for you? We're talking Microsoft's Windows Vista, which the chip giant's CEO, Paul Otellini, this week indicated has not won the backing of his technology experts.
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7.3.2007 Windows 7 Product Key Checker to Verify Windows 7 Product Key
Windows 7 official release is set on October 23 and soon you will be able buy your own copy of Windows 7.
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9.9.2009 Microsoft releases key Vista developer technologies
Microsoft on Wednesday gave developers access to a key piece of Windows Vista, months ahead of the operating system's release.
The company posted near-final versions of two software development technologies that are part of WinFX, the underlying programming model being introduced with Vista, which is slated to ship late this year.
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20.1.2006 Vista Hands On #4: Clean install with an upgrade key
I've been reading
the breathless reports this week about the "Vista upgrade loophole." Most of it is typical echo-chamber stuff, and most of the reports I've read so far have gotten the basic facts wrong.
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19.2.2007 Vista License and Product Key Terminology Part 1
First part of mini serial of articles about Vista Licensing from
Steve Jobs blog.
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4.6.2007 Vista License and Product Key Terminology Part 2
Second part of mini serial of articles about Vista Licensing from
Steve Jobs blog.
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7.6.2007 Vista License and Product Key Terminology Part 3
Next part of mini serial of articles about Vista Licensing from
Steve Jobs blog - Vista Certificate of Authenticity (COA).
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Vista License and Product Key Terminology Part 4
Next article about Vista Licensing from
Steve Jobs blog - this is about Microsoft Product Activation (MPA).
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16.6.2007 Rearming Vista SP1 to Live 120 Days with No Product Key
With Windows Vista, Microsoft brought to the table an entirely overhauled activation architecture compared to Windows XP.
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10.1.2008 Start Windows
Something old is new again in Microsoft marketing: Start.
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17.2.2009 Disable and Remove Half-Open TCP Connections Limit (to Unlimited) in Windows 7 and Vista SP2 with EnableConnectionRateLimitin Registry Key
Officially, the incomplete half-open outbound TCP connection attempts allowed at any one time is now unlimited by default in Windows Server 2008 and Vista SP2 (Service Pack 2), and Windows 7. Actually, the ability to limit or restrict number of half-open outgoing TCP connections system can create or establish is built into Windows Vista SP2 and Windows 7, however its disabled by default.
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8.6.2009 Is Microsoft Going to Start a Linux War?
With software, the idea is to create some sort of code that is jammed into Linux and whose sole purpose is to let some proprietary code run under Linux without actually "touching" Linux in any way that would subject the proprietary code to the GPL.
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8.11.2006 Should Microsoft start paying for vulnerabilities?
Hackers are starting to agitate for Microsoft to start paying for information on security flaws found in its software products.
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16.3.2007 A Quick Start with ASP.NET
ASP.NET is a server side technology from Microsoft that allows you to create dynamic websites and web applications that run mainly on Windows web servers.
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29.12.2007 AT&T to start sending copyright warnings
AT&T Inc., the nation's largest Internet service provider, will start sending warnings to its subscribers when music labels and movie studios allege that they are trafficking in pirated material, according to an executive.
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28.3.2009 Security Tab Fixer for Windows XP - Activate Security Tab Under File, Folder Property Menu
Unlike Windows Vista & Windows 7, Window XP do not show Security tab under file or folder properties dialogue box.
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28.6.2009 Xbox 360 Off to Slow Start in Japan
Microsoft may have to try a little harder in marketing the Xbox 360 to Japanese consumers if initial reports coming out of the country Saturday are correct. According to several press outlets, reaction to the new console from Japanese customers appeared to be somewhat apathetic.
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11.12.2005 Activate Windows 7 Pre-Beta 6801 with Vista Beta or RC Product Key without Crack
Already download and install Windows 7 Pre-Beta build 6801? You probably have to leave the product key field blank during installation in order to complete the setup of Windows 7.
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1.11.2008 Microsoft to Start Charging for Office 2007 Beta 2
The tester count for Office 2007 Beta 2 is now at more than three million. Given "how dramatically the beta 2 downloads have exceeded (Microsoft's) goals.
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30.7.2006 HP and Acer Start Netbook Price War
Hewlett-Packard and Acer have lowered prices of their netbooks as the back-to-school sales season kicks into gear in the U.S., offering bargains for users.
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26.8.2008Death to the Start Menu Part I
Viral Tarpara: So I have been playing around with Vista SP1 RC and so far it has been a much more enjoyable experience from a usability perspective.
The number UAC prompts are down, network performance regarding file sharing is now what it should have been at release time and stability is much
better. I always thought the UI in Vista was better than its predecessor though it did take a few weeks getting used to especially with the initially
annoying Network and Sharing Center. Since switching to my Mac for personal use a few years ago prior to joining Microsoft, Ive had to go through the
pain of using the Start Menu again *learned a lot about usability in the process*.
Start Menu, pain? Surely you jest, you might
be thinking. Actually, it is my opinion that the Start Menu is one of the most outmoded concepts that makes Windows, well umWindows...
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27.12.2007Microsoft feedback survey: Windows 7 start menu (concept). Here, let me show you it.
Long Zheng: Ah, product feedback surveys, what will we ever do without you? You share your most intimate secrets and future product ideas with
complete strangers all in the name of marketing research. Thankfully Microsoft surveys are no exception.
Windows 7 Start menu
searchAn anonymous tipster pointed out to me in a recent (private) Windows feedback survey sent out by Microsoft, asked how often users use the Start
menu search functionality, was a screenshot highlighting the aforementioned feature but not of Windows Vista and certainly not anything weve ever seen
before.
The most logical explanation would be of course, this is a mockup of Windows 7...
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26.02.2008Vista Desktop Search Annoyance
I thought people might find this fix interesting because it annoyed the hell out of me when I first started using Vista. In the XP days, I was a huge
Windows Desktop Search (WDS) fan, and like many WDS fans Vista search wasn't that exciting because of new features but rather, it gave visibility to
mainstream windows users that desktop search would change the way they computer.
When I used WDS I typically indexed my whole
C: and I carried that practice over to Vista's indexing service. That's when I started having issues. I wanted to to search all my content on
the machine, but when I would search for any files in the Start Menu, I would never get any results returned on a search unless they were
applications. For example, if I was to search for an excel file, it would not return in the Start Menu even though it was located in "Documents" --
it was very frustrating.
As it turns outs, the quick fix was to change the start menu settings so that the search bar is set to
"search entire index" instead of the default "search this user's files." The problem arises due to the user changing the "indexed locations"
to include all of the "C:" when the Start Menu is set to "search this user's files." This is a known bug and will be fixed in Vista SP1.
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05.09.2007Three Really Cool Vista Visual Tweaks
Andreas Verhoeven has released three really great Windows Vista tweaking
applications, designed to improve some of the visual decisions Microsoft made in Vista without much effort on your part. Download them and load
shortcuts to them into your startup folder (only one of them will do it for you) and you should really enjoy the results.
Glass
Toasts replaces the balloons that come out of your system tray with something a bit more ostentatious, a glass balloon that is too flashy for most
users. Then again, that is probably the point.
3D User Picture takes the picture that appears atop the Start Menu, makes it 3D,
and has it rotate. This means that your user picture, plus all the icons in the Start Menu that go up there when you select them, all get this cool
effect, and the effect only uses system resources when the Start Menu is open (so theres little cost to actual use of the computer.
Thumbnail Sizer lets you dramatically increase the size of the taskbar preview thumbnails, increasing seperately the height or the width (so if
you want wider, but not necessarily taller, thats easy). You can even slow down the fade in/out animation so you can enjoy that more.
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04.09.2007Review: Vista SP1 Release Candidate targets performance, reliability, security
The just-released Windows Vista SP1 Release Candidate (RC), like the previous beta, does more to improve the internal plumbing of Windows Vista than
it does to make any major changes to the interface. SP1 RC targets performance, reliability, and security, leaving the operating system's features
and functionality largely intact, with the exception of allowing users to substitute an alternate search tool for the one built into Vista, and
removing the Search link from the Start menu.
When the final version of SP1 (currently slated for next year) is released, the big
news will be the death of the so-called Kill Switch, which Microsoft prefers to call "reduced functionality mode." Whatever you call it, though, the
elimination of the switch will be good news. Currently, if you don't activate your retail copy of Windows Vista after 30 days, your desktop turns
black, and your icons and the Start menu vanish. You can't open your files (although you can copy them). You're able to use a Web browser for only
an hour before you get logged off.
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07.12.20073 Really Cool Tweaks for Windows Vista
Andreas Verhoeven has released three really great Windows Vista tweaking
applications, designed to improve some of the visual decisions Microsoft made in Vista without much effort on your part. Download them and load
shortcuts to them into your startup folder (only one of them will do it for you) and you should really enjoy the results.
Glass Toasts
replaces the balloons that come out of your system tray with something a bit more ostentatious, a glass balloon that is too flashy for most users.
Then again, that is probably the point.
3D User Picture takes the picture that appears atop the Start Menu, makes it 3D, and has it rotate.
This means that your user picture, plus all the icons in the Start Menu that go up there when you select them, all get this cool effect, and the
effect only uses system resources when the Start Menu is open (so there's little cost to actual use of the computer.
Thumbnail Sizer lets
you dramatically increase the size of the taskbar preview thumbnails, increasing seperately the height or the width (so if you want wider, but not
necessarily taller, that's easy). You can even slow down the fade in/out animation so you can enjoy that more.
neowin.net -
05.09.2007Command Line Tips for Non-Geeks
Sarah Perez: The command line doesn't have to be the sole domain of uber-geeks. With a little know-how, anyone can use the command line to perform
simple tasks on their computer. Below is a short list of command line tips that I've found useful in the past. These steps are easy to follow and you
don't have to be a computer nerd to use them. The commands I've listed work on Windows XP or Windows Vista. To use the command line, just go to
Start --> Run, and the type in "cmd" (without the quotes) and hit "Enter" on your keyboard. On Vista, you can just type "cmd" (again, without
the quotes) and "Enter" from the Search box on the Start Menu. Vista will know what you mean.
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15.12.2007Sam's Tip of the Week #4 - Controlling audio in Mac OS X
The real goodies in Mac OS are the ones that aren't obvious. I'll go over some things about adjusting audio in this tip so convenient that you
will end up wondering how you lived without them.
All of these tips only work in Leopard or later except the last one which requires Snow
Leopard. There isn't much to say here, so I'll just run down with a list:
Adjust volume without the 'blip' sound - Hold down the shift
key when using the volume buttons on your keyboard. Note that there is a setting in the Sounds preference pane that is permanent.
Adjust
volume more granularly - Hold down both the Option and Shift keys while using the volume buttons on the keyboard. Instead of the volume increasing by
one "block" on the HUD, each "block" will take 4 key presses to fill or empty, giving you a much finer control.
Quickly open the Sounds
preference pane - Press any volume key on the keyboard while holding down the Option key. For Leopard users, this is the most convenient way to
change audio sources.
Change volume sources from the menu bar (Snow Leopard only) - Hold down the Option key when clicking the volume icon
in the menu bar. This lets you change the audio input and output devices and has a button to go to the Sounds preference pane.
I hope you
find this tip useful! To contact me for comments, questions or suggestions, just email me: sam -at- scj -dot- me.
..
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06.09.2009PowerPlaylist for Windows Vista Media Center released on CodePlex
As
announced last
night on the Media Center Sandbox blog, a new application for Windows Vista Media Center has been released. The application, named PowerPlaylist,
adds a custom strip to the Windows Vista Media Center start menu with up to five tiles. Each tile represents an audio, slideshow and/or visualization
combination which will start when the tile is selected. PowerPlaylist is configured via an XML data file, and the application includes an editor to
customize the information in the data file, including the title of the custom Start Menu strip and the name, image, audio source, slideshow folder and
visualization for each tile.
PowerPlaylist has been released on CodePlex, and you can download x86 and/or x64 MSI-based
installers if you want to try out the application. You can also download source code (licensed with the Microsoft Permissive License) if you want to
see how the application works behind the scenes, modify it to add features, fix bugs, etc.
Here are some links for more
information about PowerPlaylist:
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03.10.2007Clearing up the confusion on Vista licensing and key management
Since Windows Vista has been released to the public, there has been a lot of confusion and hype surrounding some of the licensing decisions and
restrictions with which Microsoft Corp. saddled the operating system and its many versions. Additionally, there's a new type of product key and a
volume key management system that you might not know about. In this article, I'll take a look at five distinct points about Vista licensing and key
management and give you the most current answers to what I've found are the most common questions about those topics.
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02.11.2007Get Vista's Best Features in XP
Despite the fact that most of you
prefer XP to Vista and would rather
Microsoft extended XP's shelf-life, several new and improved features
available in Vista would be great to have in XP. This new functionality may not be enough to get you to switch to Vista, but that doesn't mean
you're out of luck. Let's take a look at a few ways you can incorporate Windows Vista's best features into your current XP PC for free.
We're going to focus on Vista's small and large features that are missing from XP, separated into three categories: applications,
functional, and aesthetic (e.g., transparency is aesthetic, the new start menu search is functional). This list is not exhaustive, but it does cover
the features readers feel make Vista worth it.
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14.05.2008Windows Vista Grace Period Extended to 120 Days
Every Vista DVD includes the
ability to install any edition
of Vista without a product
key. When you install without
a product key, you get an
automatic 30 day evaluation
period. This probably isn't
news to anyone.
What may be news
to you, however, is that you
can easily extend the 30-day
Windows Vista grace period to
120 days. No hacks required.
This is an official, supported
operation directly from
Microsoft.
To extend the grace period
another 30 days, simply start
a command prompt as
Administrator, and issue this
command:
slmgr -rearm
Reboot for the
change to take effect, and
voila, you have 30 more days.
You can only extend three
times, so the total grace
period for a Vista evaluation
is 120 days.
jcxp.net -
01.02.2007Microsoft integrates Windows
Live into Vista
Microsoft-Watch reports that
newer Windows Vista builds,
5506 and up, include
references to Windows Live
software by default in various
locations throughout the OS.
It is unknown yet if the
concerned products are
installed with Vista or if it
only contains download links
to it.
The
Welcome Center in Vista is the
place where most references
are found. In build 5506, it
contains icons for Windows
Live Messenger, Windows Live
OneCare, Windows Live Toolbar
and Windows Live Desktop Mail.
Additionnally, the Start Menu
apparently contains a Windows
Live Messenger icon.
Though this is only
speculation, this may mean
that Microsoft is finally
removing Windows Messenger
from its Windows products,
using instead Windows Live
Messenger.
jcxp.net -
17.08.2006Google adds More Shortcuts to Gmail, trick to check them all
Everyone loves things that save them time. Seeing the success of the current shortcuts, Google has decided to add even more Gmail shortcuts to its
email service - the only problem now is remembering them all. Never fear! Google has also added a help key for shortcuts: “?”. Whenever
you are logged in, simply hold shift and hit the forward slash button on your keyboard to bring up the shortcut reference menu. Then, click anywhere
in Gmail off of the menu to close it. The feature is only available in the latest version of Gmail, which only works for English IE7 and Firefox 2.
Sorry Opera users, you got shafted again! If you have them off, enable shortcuts in Settings ("?" is a shortcut itself).
Read full story.....
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18.12.2007Microsoft outlines Vista desktop search changes
Microsoft on Wednesday outlined the changes it plans to make to the desktop search feature in Windows Vista to satisfy antitrust concerns.
The software maker agreed in June to make the alterations to the way desktop search operates in response to concerns from rivals,
particularly Google.
The changes are coming with the first service pack to Windows Vista. Microsoft is launching a beta version
of the update in the next couple of weeks, with a final version expected early next year.
The search changes mean that, "in
addition to the numerous ways a user could access a third-party search solution in Windows Vista, they can now get to their preferred search results
from additional entry points in the Start Menu and Explorer Windows in Windows Vista with SP1," a Microsoft representative said in an e-mail to CNET
News.com.
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12.09.2007Microsoft Submits Test Version of Vista SP1 to DOJ
Microsoft Corp. has submitted a test version of its Windows Vista operating system with features that make it easier to use non-Microsoft programs to
search PC hard drives, according to a report issued by the Justice Department Friday.
The report, a regular update on
Microsoft's compliance with a 2002 antitrust settlement, said the Redmond, Wash.-based company was on schedule in other areas, including the massive
task of rewriting documentation it provides to licensees of its technology.
Microsoft agreed to make changes to Vista in response
to antitrust complaints from Google Inc., which in June said Microsoft's hard-drive search program was interfering with Google's own tool.
The Justice Department said preliminary testing shows the new version, which will let Vista users set a competing search program as their
default and see it in the Windows Start menu, works as expected. The changes will be available in Service Pack 1, a package of upgrades and fixes
expected in the first quarter of 2008, the department said...
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01.09.2007Modifying the All Users profile in Vista or Windows Server 2008
Peter Fitzsimon: Ok, so I just spend a few whistful hours trying to work out how to modify the "All Users" profile on a Windows Server 2008 system.
I wanted to add a program to run at login (e.g. in the Start Menu|Programs|Startup directory) for all users that login, but things are now a bit
different with Vista and Windows Server 2008.
I have found quite a few people asking similar questions on the Internet but no one
seems to have offered a solution that works so I thought I'd post my findings.
Firstly, for those who haven't hit this before,
the "C:Documents and Settings" directory where user profiles are stored in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 systems has changed to "C:Users"
in Vista and Windows Server 2008. (I regularly encounter XP users who have upgraded to Vista getting confused by this one)
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24.02.2008Windows 7 M3 Build 6780: Pictures and Videos(soon)
ThinkNext: Yes, new post about latest Windows 7 M3 Build 6780. Background:
Ive
reported prior Windows 7 versions before.
Start
Menu: the visual design of search box and shutdown/lock buttons are changed. The right panel is simplified.
winbeta.org -
20.09.2008Microsoft's Vista 'Family Discount' Troubles
In the past, early adopters of
new Windows versions have had
some small hurdles to
overcome. Such hurdles may be
software incompatibility, or
lack of driver support. These
sorts of things are almost
expected with each new Windows
launch. But what would you do
if you bought Windows Vista
and your product key didn't
work. What if Microsoft had no
solution and was unwilling to
issue you a new key?
Many (if not all)
users who took advantage of
Microsoft's Vista Family
Discount have been issued
invalid installation keys and
cannot install Windows Vista
Home Premium. Microsoft
confirms that the keys are
indeed valid, but not for
Windows Vista. The CSR I spoke
with was unable to tell what
the key was for, but it did
appear to be a valid key, for
something.
Microsoft says, This is a
known issue and has been
escalated to the program
manager. When asked what could
be done I was told, I can take
your name and number and call
you back when there is a
solution. If that is not
acceptable, I can cancel your
order and issue you a refund.
I was also told, There is no
expected time period for a fix
at this time.
jcxp.net -
01.02.2007Nintendo's Releases Wii System Menu 4
jcxp.net - 26.03.2009
