Microsoft to avoid transparency with Windows 7
Glyn Moody hits the nail on the head with his critique of Microsoft's proposed approach to Windows 7: Say little so that the market expects little.
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1.6.2008 Vista's Transparency Is Good News
eWEEK visits with Jim Allchin, head of Microsoft Windows development, to discuss strategy for the new operating system.
I will start by stating flatly that I like Jim Allchin, who runs Microsoft Windows development. A lot. When he retires at the end of the year, the company will have lost one of its all-time great technology leaders and a very decent guy.
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29.1.2006 Border Skin - Enable Aero Glass Transparency Effects in Windows XP
Ever wondered how could you get the famous Aero Glass experience on your Windows XP machine? komalo of deviantArt has released a skin for Windows XP users called Border Skin which will give you Aero Glass UX from Windows 7 and Vista right on your PC running Windows XP!
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30.7.2009 Vista SP1, and then Windows 7, Windows 8 and Non-Windows Midori
2008 saw the release of Windows Vista Service Pack 1, Windows XP Service Pack 3 and Windows Server 2008, but Microsoft's journey on the Windows path is far from over.
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5.8.2008 Windows 7 RC Brings Windows XP Mode Beta and Windows Virtual PC Beta
The Release Candidate of Windows 7 will bring with it the first Beta development milestones for Windows XP Mode and Windows Virtual PC.
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29.4.2009 Windows Reactivator 2.0 - Backup & Restore Activation Status of Windows XP with Windows Reactivator
Every time you reinstall your windows XP you need to reactivate it online using your product key & worst if you lost your Windows XP product key.
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3.6.2009 Windows Vista SP1 vs. Windows Vista RTM vs. Windows XP SP2
Feb 26th, 2008. Principled Technologies has released two Microsoft commissioned reports on Windows Vista SP1 performance. In these tests, Principled Technologies measured responsiveness of Windows Vista SP1 vs. Windows Vista RTM vs. Windows XP SP2 when performing a set of common business and home tasks.
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28.2.2008 Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 9 1 Billion and Counting
Is Windows dead? Or, at least, is this the beginning of the end for Microsoft's proprietary operating system?
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15.9.2008 Week in Microsoft: Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 9
This week in Microsoft, we covered 128-bit support possibly coming to Windows 8 and Windows 9, Windows 7, Windows Mobile 6.5, Bill Gates, Office 2010 Starter, Microsoft MVP status, Windows Live Hotmail, the EU, and Microsoft Security Essentials.
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10.10.2009 Windows Vista Build 5231 and Windows Media Player 11 Leaks!
Windows Vista Build 5231 has leaked to the web. The new build is said to include Windows Media Player 11 included. View the screenshots below! This is a Main branch build that was released on September 12th, 2005 at 8:20PM.
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Windows Vista SP1 and Windows XP SP3: Official Release Dates
A French website, PC Inpact, has posted the official Microsoft product change request forms for Vista SP1 and Windows XP SP3.
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6.2.2008 Download Free Windows Vista and Windows XP SP2 Straight from Microsoft
Via the Internet Explorer Application Compatibility VPC Image. That's right! Microsoft is offering access to free downloads of Windows Vista and Windows XP SP2.
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6.3.2008 Windows Vista SP1 outperforms Windows XP SP2 in file copy
"Its interesting that people seem to think that Vista under performs in every area of the system which is quite an incorrect perception.
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27.5.2008 Windows Fiji Has RTMd as Windows Media Center TV Pack 2008
Microsoft officially confirmed that Windows Fiji has been released to manufacturing.
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18.7.2008 Windows 7 Beta Doesn't Play Nice with Windows Azure Cloud OS Tools
The promise for Windows 7 is that it will deliver an evolution when it will come down to stretching into the Cloud compared to its precursor, Windows Vista.
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16.1.2009 Internet Explorer 8 MUI packs for Windows XP, Windows Server 03
As detailed in our previous blog post, the following Internet Explorer MUI packs shipped today.
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17.5.2009 Windows Home Server Power Pack 3 Beta adds Windows 7 support
Microsoft announced the release of Windows Home Server Power Pack 3 Beta, along with news that it will feature Windows 7 support.
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20.7.2009 Check for RAM Error or Defect in Windows 7 and Vista with Windows Memory Diagnostic
Memory or RAM is one of the most important electronic hardware component on a computer systems, not only in term of speed or clock frequency and size, but also the reliability of hardware ecosystem of the RAM sticks or memory modules and its subsystem.
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1.10.2009 The Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 98 Threat Mitigation Guide
Well, Microsoft still puts effort in old Windows versions...
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31.3.2006 Windows Vista comes with 19,500 drivers on DVD more on Windows Update
Ever needed to find a driver for a product and wished Windows would either just have the driver in it, or that their Windows Update service could provide it? With Vista, it can and new features and updates will be forthcoming too. Its about time!
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20.11.2006 Windows XP Home No Longer Qualifies for Windows Vista Upgrades
Windows XP Home Edition no longer qualifies for Windows Vista Business Upgrade or Upgrade + SA through Volume Licensing.
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17.10.2007 Microsoft Offers a Complex Windows Vista vs. Windows XP Perspective
A new standard of security is an integer aspect of the evolution puzzle represented by the move from Windows XP to Windows Vista.
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3.11.2007 Windows XP SP3 to Drop Concomitantly with Windows Vista SP1?
Yes, it's time for every Windows user's favorite obsession: Windows XP Service Pack 3. The third and final service pack for Windows XP has been quite elusive for the past three years.
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25.11.2007 Windows Vista vs. Windows 9x/Me, NT Server, 2000 and XP
If at just a couple of weeks short of the first anniversary since Windows Vista hit the shelves you are still looking for reasons to upgrade to the latest Windows client, then Biplab Paul, Partner Technical Consultant with Microsoft India, has an impressive, and exhaustive list of features that are bound to tilt the balance in Vista's favor.
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14.1.2008 Free Windows Vista Business and Windows XP SP2 on Parade
Free Windows... Not a concept you would expect from Microsoft. With a business strategy focused on proprietary software, the Redmond company is by all means at the opposite technology spectrum from open source and free software.
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9.3.2008 Microsoft Presents the Lost Comparison: Windows Vista vs. Windows XP
With both Windows XP and Windows Vista being available concomitantly on the market, Microsoft is doing nothing more than inviting the consumers to compare the two operating systems.
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20.4.2008 Windows Server 2008 = Windows Vista SP1 Minus the Pain
Windows Server 2008, formerly codenamed Longhorn, is essentially intimately connected with Windows Vista Service Pack 1, to the level in which the RTM version of Microsoft's latest server operating system features the
SP1 label
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6.5.2008 Windows Embedded NavReady 2009 - Latest Windows Platform from Microsoft
The latest Windows operating system is available for download as of June 16, 2008. And no, it's not a new release of Windows 7, nor the first taste of Windows 7 Server.
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16.6.2008 Free Windows for Supercomputers Available for Download - Windows HPC Server 2008
Microsoft made the latest iteration of its Windows operating system for supercomputers available as a free download.
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23.9.2008 How to Install Windows 7 or Windows Vista on Physical Machine Without DVD Media
A lot of Windows Vista and Windows 7 license has been sold media-less nowadays, where buyers only receive a piece of authenticated certificate with a genuine and legitimate product key printed on it.
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23.12.2008Microsoft to avoid transparency with Windows 7
Glyn Moody hits the nail on the head with his
critique of Microsoft's proposed approach to Windows 7: Say little so that the market expects little.
It's
not an unreasonable approach, and Microsoft did get burned for actually warning the market about what it would be providing, only to have to endure
the consequences of not living up to the expectations it set, but I'm not sure it can afford to go back. Stating that it will be "more careful"
with Windows 7, Microsoft's representative noted:
"We know that when we talk about our plans for the next release of Windows, people
take action,"
said. "As a result, we can significantly impact our partners and our customers if we broadly share information that later
changes."
Well, yes. But that's the whole point behind transparency. As Glyn notes, it's not that easy to do in practice, but
it's increasingly critical in the opening 21st Century.
neowin.net - 01.06.2008
Windows chief talks '7'
Since taking over the Windows development reins from Jim Allchin, Steven Sinofsky has chosen to fall almost completely off the public radar.
It's not that he hasn't been busy getting Vista Service Pack 1 out the door and starting work on Windows 7. It's just that Sinofsky doesn't want to
talk about products until they are well along in their development. Last year, Sinofsky penned a blog to his Windows unit co-workers, explaining his public
silence and urging them to follow his lead.
"I know many folks think that this type of corporate 'clamp down' on disclosure is
'old school' and that in the age of corporate transparency we should be open all the time," Sinofsky wrote. "Corporations are not really
transparent. Corporations are translucent. All organizations have things that are visible and things that are not."
winbeta.org - 27.05.2008
Microsoft Publishes ODF Implementation Notes for Office 2007
Q&A: Doug Mahugh: Microsoft demonstrates commitment to transparency, industry collaboration, interoperability, and customer choice with delivery of
ODF implementation notes...
microsoft.com/presspass - 16.12.2008
Microsoft's LucidTouch: a multi-touch display with pseudo-transparency
From Apple's iPhone to Microsoft's Surface, multi-touch user interfaces are becoming all the rage. The only trouble is that our fingers are both a
tool and a hindrance; whatever we're interacting with on the display is momentarily blocked by our finger and our hands.
Microsoft, Mitsubishi, and the University of Toronto are working on a solution, and it's called LucidTouch. Ars spoke with Daniel Wigdor, one of
the researchers at the Mitsubishi Electric Research Labs (MERL), to get the inside scoop on what LucidTouch is, what problems the team has run into
along the way, and what's coming in the future.
LucidTouch is currently the name for a prototype device that allows users to
interact with an 800x480 pixel screen without having to touch the front surface. Instead, users can choose to manipulate objects by touching a sensor
pad on the back of the device; this allows users to resize images and text, as well as navigate around any graphical user interface without their
hands getting in the way of the display.
winbeta.org - 06.09.2007
Watching the stimulus at work
It's not through Congress yet, but if and when the new stimulus package is ratified, it'll be one of the first items to get the new transparency
treatment. The White House has reserved and posted a preliminary message on recovery.gov encouraging visitors to "check back after the passage of
the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to see how and where your tax dollars are spent."..
betanews.com - 29.01.2009
Microsoft Unveils Its Developer Strategy for the Next Generation of Windows Phones
Microsoft Corp. today announced new details about how developers can build and sell applications for Windows phones through Windows Marketplace for
Mobile, the recently announced application marketplace available with the Windows Mobile 6.5 operating system. In its commitment to helping developers
create new and exciting applications, Microsoft will provide developers with 70 percent of the sales revenue of their applications from Windows
Marketplace for Mobile, transparency throughout the certification process, and guidance and support from the stage of development to the final sale to
the consumer. Developers can get the tools to begin developing for Windows phones at http://developer.windowsmobile.com.
winbeta.org - 11.03.2009
Behind the Scenes at Microsoft's Secure Windows Initiative
eWeek Security Watch Editor Ryan Naraine recently spoke with Jonathan Ness, the lead software security engineer on the SWI Defense team, about how
software vulnerabilities are rated and the ups and downs of working with third-party researchers.
Microsofts Secure Windows
Initiative unit has emerged from the shadows, promising a new level of transparency, as well as details of software vulnerabilities and security
bulletins.
SWI, tasked with maintaining and managing all aspects of Microsofts mandatory SDL (Security Development Lifecycle),
has launched a new blog that provides customers with technical details on security vulnerabilities, mitigations and workarounds.
winbeta.org - 19.02.2008
Free the algorithm: Wikia launches open-source search engine
Wikia Search, the Jimbo Wales-backed open-source search project,
officially launches today after a year of development. Wales, a Wikipedia co-founder, wants to "do cool stuff" by launching the project, but he also
hopes to make "a political statement about transparency and openness." Ars spoke with Wales about Wikia Search, taking on Google, and the fact that
even algorithms are editorial statements.
Wikia Search was announced at the end of 2006, but it wasn't clear at the time how the system would work (the for-profit Wikia is not affiliated
with Wikipedia). There was much talk about "openness" and "user control" and "transparency," but the details were elusive. In July 2007, the
project came into some focus when Wikia acquired the Grub
indexing system and released it under an open-source license. But only in the last few weeks has Wikia Search entered even a "pre-alpha" state
suitable for limited user testing.
winbeta.org - 07.01.2008
Nick White on Aero and battery life
Nick White, Vista's Product
Manager, has responded to an
article entitled "Vista,
Aero, battery life . . . and
Doom" by Dwight Silverman,
the tech reviewer at the
Houston Chronicle, regarding
the impact that the Aero theme
has on battery life and
performance. White emphasizes
that to fully maximize battery
life, window transparency is
turned off when the machine is
put into a power-saving
profile but Aero is not
because " in the end, doing
so is not going to save you
much more power ".
White agrees with
Dwight (yeah, I had to make it
rhyme) that the Aero theme
makes the GPU work harder and
therefore uses more power.
However, he states it's
" really not that much
more " noting the power
needed for a notebook's
display (15-25% of the
battery) to Aero's (1-4%). He
believes that saving the extra
power is not worth losing
" the cool features that
make Windows Vista fun to use,
such as Flip 3D, taskbar
previews, window transparency
and so on ".
White mentions that battery
life varies widely depending
on the workload the machine is
running. He also underlines
that testing the impact of
software features on battery
life is exceptionally tricky,
even by benchmarking
standards. He claims this is
because the charge a battery
requires can vary on a
multitude of factors,
including the battery
technology, how recently the
battery was power-cycled, how
old the battery is, and even
the temperature of the battery
when it was charged.
neowin.net - 15.05.2007
ICANN to undergo transparency review
A U.K. governance organization
will review The Internet
Corporation for Assigned Names
and Numbers (ICANN) as it
tries to increase transparency
after criticism of its close
U.S. government ties. The
report from One World Trust
will be made public when it's
completed next year, said Paul
Levins, ICANN's executive
officer and vice president of
corporate affairs. ICANN, a
private, nonprofit
organization that controls the
administration of the DNS
(domain name system), is
reworking its accountability
practices, Levins said.
"Frankly, the
community has told us this is
an issue we need to deal
with," Levins said. In
October, ICANN started a
consultation to develop new
management operating
principles, Levins said. ICANN
also plans to document its
board meetings better and
revamp its Web site to make
its 12,000 pages more
accessible. The organization,
based in Marina del Ray,
California, falls under the
oversight of the U.S. Commerce
Department, which has led to
criticism that the U.S.
government wielded too much
influence over the Internet's
development. In September, an
existing agreement between the
department and ICANN
neowin.net - 19.12.2006
Windows Live Messenger 9 to have WPF effects
You may have already
heard that, along with the rest of Windows Live wave 3, the next version of Windows Live Messenger (version 9.0) will have a new user
interface.
After being tipped off by an unaffiliated yet trustworthy source who – naturally – doesn't want to be
identified, Messenger Stuff can now reveal that the new interface will use the graphics effects available through WPF , where
supported.
To put it simply, this finally means that we will see transparency effects in the various windows of the program,
possibly similar to those already seen in Yahoo! Messenger for Vista. We are
led to believe that the actual design has not changed much but the WPF effects have been integrated well in what is bound to be a popular new
addition.
neowin.net - 07.08.2008
EU Council refuses to release secret ACTA documents
The EU Council of Ministers refuses to release secret Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) documents. The Foundation for a Free Information
Infrastructure (FFII) had requested these documents to make public and parliamentary scrutiny possible. After the Council's refusal, the FFII sent
in a confirmatory application, for the EU Council to review its position, as allowed by Article 7(2) of the regulation dealing with public access to
such documents.
ACTA's secrecy fuels concerns that the treaty may give patent trolls the means to extort companies, undermine access to
low-cost generic medicines, lead to monitoring all citizens' Internet communications and criminalize peer-to-peer electronic file sharing.
The EU Council refuses to release the secret documents stating that disclosure of this information could impede the proper conduct of the
negotiations, would weaken the position of the European Union in these negotiations and might affect relations with the third parties concerned.
The FFII reaffirms its application stating that the legislative process in the EU has to be open. If the agreement will only be made public
once all parties have already agreed to it, none of the EU's national parliaments nor the European Parliament will have been able to scrutinise
its contents in any meaningful way. To prevent this from happening, it may be necessary to renegotiate ACTA's transparency.
The
FFII's confirmatory application letter questions ACTA's secrecy in no uncertain terms: "The argument that public transparency regarding
'trade negotiations' can be ignored if it would weaken the EU's negotiation position is particularly painful. At which point exactly do
negotiations over trade issues become more important than democratic law making? At 200 million euro? At 500 million euro? At 1 billion euro? What is
the price of our democracy?"
The Canadian government released documents under the Access to Information Act that provide additional
insights into the secretive nature of the negotiations.
If the EU Council again refuses to release the secret documents, the FFII can take
the case to the European Court of Justice. An earlier case on transparency of EU legislation took 6 years. By that time ACTA may long have entered
into force.
Ante Wessels, FFII analyst, says: "We do not have so much time. The only solution we see is that the parliaments of Europe
force the Council to publish the texts by making Parliamentary scrutiny reservations."
neowin.net - 11.11.2008
Pentagon admits to having spy satellites
The Pentagon has gone on record to officially say that they do have satellites that spy on other satellites. The Mitex micro-satellites, which were
launched in 2006 have been flying around in the geostationary ring and have made observations of the DSP 23. DSP 23 is a satellite that can monitor
missile launches but went offline shortly after reaching orbit. The UN was particularly upset about the idea of satellites that can track and in
theory destroy other satellites. The UN also pointed out that China may be interested in the news as the US has criticized the country and its
leaders for a lack of transparency.
Read
full story.....
neowin.net - 26.01.2009
Obama launches Recovery.gov
Obama has used technology like no other president in the past. From his YouTube addresses to websites, he is always embracing technology rather than
resisting it. With the signing of the "The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act" he has also launched a new website, Recovery.gov. As promised
in his campaign, he vowed for transparency and this website is the fruit of his labor. The website promises to help the American taxpayer track
where his or her money is being spent, how it is being spent, and when it will be spent. No other president has used the internet in a similar manner
to promote ideas and responsibility.
Read full
story.....
neowin.net - 18.02.2009
Get 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.
winbeta.org - 14.05.2008
Carbonite updates Neowin about their Disclosure Policy
Neowin reported earlier today that, an annoyed Carbonite customer who wanted to write reviews in Amazon.com regarding his experiences with Carbonite,
found out that the high level employees of carbonite gave positive product reviews disguised as normal users. The Carbonite group later replied back
to me via Twitter: It looks like they have updated their disclosure policy now. Carbonite's CEO Dave has stated that the company did not have
specific policies in place regarding employee engagement in reviews earlier but now these policies are put into place to reflect their commitment to
disclosure and transparency online.
Read full story.....
neowin.net - 29.01.2009
Facebook giveth, Facebook taketh away
Without rhyme, reason and with no recourse, the social networking site Facebook has taken to purging the ranks of its members, blackballing them for
the most petty breaches of its terms of service.
Facebooks actions are startling because they go against the unwritten laws of
cyberspace, that users of free service sites have the freedom to express themselves in whatever way they like. And users dont usually get booted from
a site unless they commit a serious cybercrime.
Coupled with a lack of transparency about why certain users are expelled from the
site and not others, and with little or no avenue for appeal, the consequences of being banned from Facebook can be quite devastating.
winbeta.org - 29.10.2007
Facebook to charge developers for verifying applications
Developers of applications for Facebook's social networking platform were left upset on Monday, when Facebook unveiled an optional verification
service for developers. The new verification process aims to improve the quality and trustworthiness of applications on Facebook by reviewing
submitted applications for their transparency and trustworthiness as well as how useful they are. However, developers looking to have their
application verified will have to pay $375 per application submitted, although the fee is reduced to $175 for students and non-profit
organisations. If the application is verified, the verification will last just one year, requiring that the developer re-submits their application to
the process, and pays the fee, on an annual basis.
Read full story.....
neowin.net - 19.11.2008
German court rules against Google's terms
A German court has ruled that Google Inc. must change terms of service that could be interpreted to compromise a user's rights, a decision the
consumer advocacy group that brought the suit welcomed Monday as a victory for online transparency.
The suit filed by the
Federation of German Consumer Organizations charged that the terms of service for opening an account through Google Mail, Google Documents and other
programs could be interpreted as giving the Internet search giant the right to review and even delete a user's information.
winbeta.org - 31.08.2009
Mary Jo Foley: This is why Ill always remain a Microsoft skeptic
Mary Jo Foley: As its leadership has changed, so, too, has Microsoft. But I am never going to stop being skeptical of Microsoft’s motives.
Microsoft Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie may profess
that the company’s top priorities are transparency, standards and interoperability. But regardless of these kinds of pronouncements, the
Softies seem to believe that insisting their actions are altruistic and customer-motivated even when they are really motivated by lawsuit threats
and other, less-palatable reasons will fool its constituencies.
winbeta.org - 11.03.2008
