Pirate Bay has plenty of torrents seeded by millions for both 32 and 64 bit version. Get your hands on one and try it out before Microsoft officially releases it. When the major eventually does it, the best expression would be - it would be carrying coal to New Castle.

The Chinese company recently came into limelights featuring the “world’s cheapest laptop” bearing a price tag of merely $130!!

What’s more, now it is even releasing an updated version TNX-9500, which has much better specifications.

The significant difference amongst the prior and the latest one is their processing capability!

The Linux based NPX-9000 relied on the Marvel X-Scale 400MHz CPU which couldn’t really amuse the public. But the Windows XP based TNX-9500 incorporates a more powerful 1GHz VIA processor, and has the following specifications!!

Specifications:

• 7″ digital TFT screen
• 1GHz VIA processor
• max 16GB flash storage
• 512MB SDRAM
• Built-in stereo speakers
• 802.11g wireless
• 3x usb 2.0 ports
• SD card reader
• 80 key keyboard + touchpad mouse
• Windows XP operating system

The Windows XP version is not on sale yet, but official claims have been made to make it available to the public with a price tag of well under $200!! Let’s wait & watch the show with Windows XP getting showcased in its cheapest form!!

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1. Mozilla Firefox 3.0 with Google toolbar: One of the best web browsers with loads of plug-ins giving you a great web browsing experience with RSS feeds and bookmarks.

2. AVG Anti-virus 7.5 freeware: An anti-virus that saves your PC from thousands of malicious attacks is a must have for any one and every one, and what could be better if you get it for free! I would recommend AVG 7.5 free edition, however I don’t like the updated version 8.0

3. Google Earth: An amazing application from Google allowing you to trace the smallest part of the world in an instant! I simply love discovering the nooks and corners of my city with this…

4. SQL Server & Management Studio 2007 - It took a little while to get used to it VS Query Analyzer/Enterprise Manager but I like it now so much better.

5. CrapCleaner - A must have to easily keep your PC running smoothly and not letting crappy temp files cog your memory.

6. Visual Studio 2005 - I do all my .NET work out of here, I also just installed SP 1 and have found it to speed things up.

7. Gaim - I have an AOL account but this thing is so much nicer and less resource intense

8. Win Zip/Win Rar: The best fool for compressing and storing/mailing huge files.

9. Zune Theme for XP - I have Vista as a dual boot but when I am in XP I prefer for it to look this way.

10. FireWorks - I’ve never found Photoshop to be intuitive, I much prefer FireWorks for web work in terms of how things are cut!

It is most likely to be released by the next year end or probably starting of 2010!

It has been reported that Windows 7 has been made available to the key partners of Microsoft already. It would include the new version of Windows Media Center including new gadgets being integrated into Windows Explorer, a Gadget for Windows Media Center, the ability to visually pin and unpin items from the Start Menu and Recycle Bin.

It will also have improved media features, with the XPS Essentials Pack being integrated, and a multiline Calculator featuring Programmer and Statistics modes along with unit conversion and much more!

What’s more? It is expected to provide better versions of notepad, WordPad, MSpaint and its featured applications in the lower version along with improved network connection tools might be included.

Check this out! Windows Security Center gets a new name - the Windows Health Center, and focuses on monitoring the complete health status of the computer in a central location.

The sizzling hot new windows operating system is featured with multi-touch, including a virtual piano program, a mapping and directions program and a touch-aware version of MSPaint, something which can be considered to compete with the capabilities of the so far unrivalled Apple’s iPhone!

Apparently, a minimalist variation of the Windows API and core libraries, known as MinWin, are supposedly designed as a part of the Windows 7 architecture, aimed towards componentizing the Windows libraries and reducing their dependencies, with a view to carving out the minimal set of components required to build a self-contained system. It would be based on the same NT kernel as the rest of the Windows family.

All the features and the dependencies are consolidated into MinWin and what is not needed is removed at the code level itself. As a result, you would be able to compile the code even without any extraneous components by building a stripped-down self-contained OS image.

The new Windows 7 would be capable of creating, mounting, performing I/O operations on, and dismounting virtual hard disks! Just imagine your self being able to mount a virtual hard disk on any Windows machine, do some offline servicing and then boot from that same, or perhaps, taking an existing one you currently use within Virtual Server and boost performance by booting natively from it! Doesn’t it sound simply amazing?

Well there’s more to it, as the Windows 7 is also considered to be the big step towards the speech technology and handwriting recognition when has never been experienced before!

So fasten your seat-belts and prepare yourself for a fascinating ride into a whole new world of Windows 7!!

2. If Internet Explorer’s Information Bar also annoys you, you can turn it off (again) in the Group Policy Object Editor (gpedit.msc) through Local Computer Policy / Computer Configuration / Administrative Templates / Windows Components / Internet Explorer / Security Features. In the rightmost pane, double-click “Internet Explorer Processes” and set it to Disabled. Hallelujah!

3. I’ve just mentioned two tweaks that are buried inside the Group Policy Editor. Jim Allchin pointed out that there’s a Group Policy Settings Reference spreadsheet available. Makes for great weekend reading.

4. Read the Background on Backgrounds if you’re a performance junkie. Don’t set your wallpaper through Internet Explorer ever again! Now that Windows supports JPG wallpapers, there’s absolutely no need (or excuse) for using BMPs anymore.

5. If you insist on keeping UAC (User Account Control) turned on for yourself, you might care to make the elevation prompts a bit less visually jarring. Brandon told me about this one, even though I have UAC turned off. Launch the Local Security Policy manager (secpol.msc), and navigate through Security Settings / Local Policies / Security Options. In the rightmost pane, scroll to the bottom and double-click “User Account Control: Switch to the secure desktop when prompting for elevation.” Disable it, and you can keep UAC turned on without getting turned off by the embarrassingly craptacular Aero Basic theme.

6. Vista can send you emails! The Computer Management tool can still be accessed by right-clicking “Computer” and selecting “Manage” from the menu. However, now you can attach a task to any event. Try navigating through System Tools / Event Viewer / Windows Logs / Application. Now, go ahead and select an event - then look to the rightmost pane and click “Attach Task to This Event.” Name it whatever, describe it however, click through the next step, then in the Action step, you’ll see the “Send an e-mail” option.

7. The Windows Task Manager gives you a lot more troubleshooting information in Vista. Flip to the Processes tab, and in the View menu, click “Select Columns” and add Description, Command Line, and Image Path Name. Moreover, when you right-click a process, you can select either “Go to Service(s)” or “Open File Location.” These are all long overdue options.

8. This one’s interesting. Open up the Date and Time Control Panel applet. Flip to the “Additional Clocks” tab. There, you can configure two more clocks from different time zones. They’ll appear in the tooltip when you hover over the Taskbar clock. No additional software (or silly sidebar widgets) necessary.

9. Applicable in other versions of Windows, I’m going to throw it in here for good measure. Create a shortcut to RegSvr32.exe in your SendTo folder. To get there quickly, enter “shell:sendto” in the Run command dialog or Start Search field. Now, when you wanna register a DLL or OCX file with the system, you can select it/them and “Send To” the RegSvr32 shortcut.

10. I figured I’d round out my first set of Windows Vista tips and tricks with a tiny bit of eye candy. It doesn’t beat Picasa, but the Windows Photo Gallery is better than nothing. Once it’s indexed all your photos, click the icon next to the Search field and turn on the “Table of Contents.” That’s kinda nifty.

Article submitted by Gary Hiddins

Fire up the Windows Explorer and navigate your way to the %SYSTEMROOT% \ INF folder. What the heck is that thingy with the percentage signs? It’s a variable. For most people, %SYSTEMROOT% is C:\Windows. For others, it may be E:\WinXP. Get it? Okay, on with the hack! In the INF folder, open sysoc.inf (but not before making a BACKUP copy first). Before your eyes glaze over, look for the line containing “msmsgs” in it. Near the end of that particular line, you’ll notice that the word “hide” is not so hidden. Go ahead and delete “hide” (so that the flanking commas are left sitting next to one another). Save the file and close it. Now, open the Add and Remove Programs applet in the Control Panel. Click the Add / Remove Windows Components icon. You should see “Windows Messenger” in that list. Remove the checkmark from its box, and you should be set. NOTE: there are other hidden system components in that sysoc.inf file, too. Remove “hide” and the subsequent programs at your own risk.

Just months before Windows Vista’s release, Microsoft has come out with the pricing ranges for their new operating system. Windows sits on most PCs around the globe and the security has always been the issue with Windows. Microsoft is out to set the record straight this time round with Vista where security has taken center stage.

Microsoft has set the retail price for Vista at between $199 to $399, ranging from the basic version to the top-end “ultimate” edition. For customers upgrading from Windows XP, Vista will cost between $100 and $259.

Interesting enough, the Vista prices are equivalent to the XP predecessors. Windows users needn’t pay a whole lot more for the Vista equivalent. But, what is interesting is the time consumed by the software manufacturers to upgrade their softwares to work on Vista. Many companies might not want to make the switch until they are sure that the applications that go on their system work on Vista as well.

Via Reuters

The news is that Microsoft has released at least twelve security bulletins on the 8th of August of which nine deal with critical vulnerabilities in Outlook and Powerpoint.

eWeek reports that Ten of the dozen security bulletins addressed issued by the Redmond, Wash.-based software maker include patches for its flagship Windows operating system, including the seven labeled as critical, Microsoft’s highest severity rating.

This isn’t the first set of critical patches. This is actually the third one in the past three months. Microsoft is really gearing up to combat the malwares and hackers.

eWeek further reports : Among the critical Windows flaws, Microsoft issued a cumulative bulletin for its Internet Explorer Web browser, which promises to resolve several vulnerabilities that could allow outside attackers to take over a device running the software via remote code execution attacks.

Read the rest.

Windows Vista Beta 2 has come out, leading to much fevered speculation about its prospects, but predicting the future is still a fool�s game.

There are countless examples of flawed prognostication. Some people thought the United States would be a province of the Soviet Union by the 1990s, and made careful preparations for a guerilla-based rebellion. A man named Paul R. Erlich predicted a worldwide famine would strike by 1985 due to population growth. In the 19th century William Miller, an evangelical preacher, predicted with absolute certainty and conviction that Christ would return on October 22, 1844.

Yet as of June 15, 2006, the United States has yet to succumb to the Soviet menace, the world has had many local famines but no world-wide collapse, and Rev. Miller�s prediction of the Second Coming of Christ has been off by one hundred and sixty-four years and counting. The people making these predictions were certain, were knowledgeable, and were wrong, wrong, wrong.

So I�m not going to predict whether or not Windows Vista will flop or fail. Microsoft has had enormous successes in the past (Windows 95, the Office suite, and XP), and some pretty hideous failures, as well (Windows ME, Microsoft Bob, and God help us, Clippy the Office Assistant). Instead, I�d like to take a look at possible futures, what might happen, and the potential consequences.

Vista is a smashing success:

After five years of toil, setback, and failure, Vista comes out at last, and is a major hit for Microsoft. The improved user interface, increased security, and enhanced multimedia features lead to widespread adoption. Furthermore, the multiple versions of Vista, scalable to various users� needs, lead to further adoption that would have happened otherwise.

What does this mean for Microsoft? For the past five years, Microsoft has been in an increasingly precarious situation. Their flagship product, Windows, runs on most of the computers in the world. Yet that product has not received any significant upgrades for almost six years, and open source competitors have been picking away at Microsoft�s market share. Firefox put a dent in Internet Explorer�s domination, OpenOffice.org became a viable challenger to Office, and Apple, flush with iPod revenues, has made something of a resurgence. The success of Vista will rejuvenate Microsoft�s stranglehold on personal computer OS, perhaps for another ten years.

Apple and Linux will not go away, but the success of Vista will put a serious hamper on their ability to grow and compete with Microsoft. Needless to say, this is the outcome Microsoft wants very badly.

But on the other hand, Vista could fail catastrophically:

Vista�s development cycle has suffered some serious, well-documented problems. Group projects with that many internal difficulties and delays rarely turn out well. To make matters worse, many features that were to be included in Vista, such as the WinFS file system, were cut. Add that to Vista�s high system requirements, and many users might decide not to buy the expensive new hardware needed to run an expensive, unproven operating system, especially one with such widespread developmental woes. The tech world has changed drastically since the days of DOS and Windows 95, and it may no longer be possible for a single company to enjoy near-ubiquity in all aspects of computing.

What does that mean for Microsoft? If Vista flops, Microsoft�s monopoly will not vanish; sheer inertia alone will see to that. But it will erode at an increasingly rapid rate, especially if aggressive contenders, like Ubuntu Linux and Boot Camp-equipped Intel Macs, can make inroads. The failure of Vista would not doom Microsoft-Office alone would see to that-but Microsoft might well suffer a serious loss of power and influence.

So is Windows Vista a coming triumph for Microsoft, or a catastrophe in the making? Which potential future do you see coming true?