Category: Vista

Windows XP To Stick Around Until 2010

Microsoft has announced that they are going to be extending support for Windows XP because many of the computers in the market today are incapable of running Windows Vista.

Microsoft had previously set the date for the end of XP on June 30, 2008 but since there are so many computer that still can’t run Vista they have decided to push that back to June 30, 2010. Oddly enough this is also around the same time that Microsoft is expected to ship Vista’s successor, Windows Seven.

I’m glad that Microsoft decided to extend support for XP, but it seems odd to me that Microsoft has spent such a long time on Vista and yet it still hasn’t made the impact that Microsoft has really wanted it to, not to mention the backlash from consumers, some of which are boycotting Vista and sticking with XP.

Windows XP to get prolonged shelf life [TG Daily]

I’m Moving Back to Windows XP

No, it isn’t what you are thinking, my primary computer is still going to be my MacBook, but what is going to change is my secondary computer. My PC that usually just sits in the corner and is either off or is encoding away at the latest Netflix DVD so that I can watch it wherever I want, is now going to be running Windows XP.

The reason I’m switching back to XP isn’t because there is a certain program that doesn’t work under Vista, I’m not having driver issues, and I actually like the look of Windows Vista, I’m moving back to XP because I need something a bit faster. Windows Vista runs pretty fast for the amount of extra stuff it is capable of doing, but since the primary purpose of this computer is to just sit and encode DVDs into H.264 for my AppleTV, I don’t need it to do all that extra stuff.

So what I’ve decided to do is move back to Windows XP and use a combination of DVD Decrypter, DVD43, and Handbrake to backup all of the DVDs so that I can watch them where I want (this is fine under fair use, since the DVDs that I backup I either have payed for or are from Netflix and are deleted once watched).

I want to make it very clear however that I’m not doing this because I don’t like Windows Vista, I’m simply moving back because XP better suits my needs, if my PC was my primary computer I’m sure I would really enjoy many of the features that Windows Vista has and XP doesn’t, but since I am using a MacBook as my primary computer, XP works just fine.

Windows Vista Crack Released

A pirate group named Pantheon has just released a crack that would allow any non-activated instillation of Windows Vista (Home Basic, Premium, or Ultimate) to be properly activated and made fully-operational.

Unlike cracks that have been released in the past this crack doesn’t just replace activation files with beta files or do a timestop crack, this one actually makes use of the activation process.

It seems that Microsoft has allowed large OEMs like Dell to ship their products with a pre-installed version of Vista that doesn’t require product activation, it seems that end users would find it too inconvenient.

But does anyone really want it, many people have been hoarding copies of XP like its canned food and a tornado is coming, people don’t really seem to want Windows Vista and I don’t think that a crack is going to move people along, not even the pirates.

XP SP3, Facebook Code, Vista SP1, all Leaked

I’m not going to talk much about all of these leaks because I think that too many people are talking too much about it. All you need to know is that Windows XP service pack 3, Facebook homepage code, and Windows Vista service pack 1 have all been leaked.

This is very surprising to me that all of this has been leaked all within just a few days of each other. Obviously they are not related but it is strange that they show up so close to one another.

If you want to read a little bit more about them you can check the links below:

Windows XP SP3 leaked – Download Squad
Facebook Home Page Code – Facebook Secrets
LEAKED: Vista SP1 analysed in-depth – apc mag

Get Some of the Great Vista Features in XP with Vista Transformation Pack

I use Windows Vista on my home computer but when I go over to my friends and families houses they only have Windows XP. I really miss some of those great features from Vista. Now I can let them all know that for free they can add a lot of that functionality with the Vista Transformation Pack. Version 7 just came out and here are the some of the added features:

  • default system font option for recovery
  • Docking support for preview and taskbar replacement
  • DPI auto-detection in Machine Configuration
  • Hiding menubar option for Vista (Styler) toolbar
  • Information about KB925902 hotfix issues and solution on startup
  • Memory requirements checking for 3rd-party applications
  • Resetting DPI options and some extra information in Machine Configuration
  • Screen resolution auto-detection
  • Setting cleartype font automatically after the transformation
  • Vista transformation “Express mode” (Make an appropriate setup configuration in single page!)
  • ViStart (Vista Start Menu port for Windows XP/2003 with glass UI and search function) (Available as a standalone app here)


Click to enlarge

Check it out and let me know what you think of it.

[via KylesCove]

244 Copies of Windows Vista Sold in China

According to newlaunches.com only 244 genuine copies of Windows Vista have been sold in China. The software piracy in China is so rampant that almost all of the copies of Vista that have been sold are pirated. In some places you can find Windows Vista on the streets for as low as $1.

I don’t really have much to say other than that I don’t understand why no one has just switched to Linux instead of Windows. It seems like Linux would be perfect for countries with high piracy rates because for one thing they can stop doing something illegal and for another they can still have a good stable operating system.

I guess the only thing really stopping them would be the PC game support is not on the Linux side but on the Windows side.

Newlaunches

iTunes 7 updated to 7.1 but no Vista support yet

iTunes was updated to 7.1 yesterday but it still doesn’t have full support for Windows Vista yet.

The update that has fixed some of the problems that occurred with Windows Vista along with some other bugs, but most notably added a full screen CoverFlow view along with support for the AppleTv.

If you are running Windows Vista and would like to use iTunes because of an iPod or a large collection of music/movies/TV shows you seem to still be out of luck for at least another couple of weeks, but I’m sure many coders at Apple are hard at working getting Windows Vista running smoothly with iTunes, it will come soon.

The coverflow feature does look really good but I still can’t think of any practical uses for it other than those few times you tell your friends and family “hey, check out what this program can do!”

Download page
One of the many Vista compatibility issues

The Wow has started now!

Well many of you out there have seen Vista and maybe have been playing with it for the past few months, well I booted a Vista PC, it was my own, I probably played with it for about 2 minutes before I realized why it looked like crap, I didn’t have drivers for my graphics card. I quit playing with it after that. Yesterday I recieved in the mail my copy of Windows Vista Ultimate 32-bit version. It really is a much better operating system than Windows XP. I’m using it right now as a HTPC and its great. I have Juiced downloading all of my podcasts and then I click the little Start button on my remote control and Media Center pops up. It works great.

I haven’t had any problems with it crashing at all (not that I had problems with XP). I really like the look and feel of the OS, I don’t think I like the new start menu but I haven’t had too much time to play with it and get used to it.

I do have a fairly fast machine, here’s what I’m running:

Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Soc. 939
2GB DDR 400 Memory
160GB SATA HDD
Geforce 7800GT
EVGA nForce 4 SLI Motherboard

I don’t think that it runs any slower than XP did for me so that whole arguement is a little dumb.

I’m now on to installing it on a bit of a slower machine, the one I’m building for my mom and I’ll let you guys know how it runs on that.

Weekly Picks

These are the things that I wanted to buy this week. There wasn’t very many products that I wanted this week so there are only two of them. I might not actually buy them but I do want them.

The Orange iPod Shuffle. Even though I have the silver first rev one I want the orange one because it looks cooler and it comes with the newly designed headphones, really cool!

Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate. I know that many of you have been hating on Vista but I think its a great operating system and I plan to use it for my HTPC in the living room, that Media Center interface is beautiful and its more secure.