Science and technology news blog

Ever since I bought my Dell Inspiron 6400 I have had consistent problem with the laptop’s internet connection dropping off for no real reason. At first I was under the impression that this was happening because of my laptop going to sleep/hibernate. But then it started happening when it was idle for a long time (I changed the power setting to stop it from going to sleep when its plugged in).

Anyway so I decided to contact Dell, as it was no point contacting Microsoft since they would have referred me back to Dell. After a week or so of emailing, not their fault I was busy with work, the Dell rep told me that she is arranging for my wireless card to be replaced. And yesterday the news came out that Microsoft was releasing two important patches on Tuesday. One of them was to fix the TCP/IP problem when the computer returns from Sleep/Hibernate mode. This got me very interested.

I emailed them back (still waiting for a reply as I just sent the email about half an hour ago) letting them know that I am going to wait till Tuesday for the update to come so I can try out. If it works then I don’t have to let my laptop being replaced as I don’t trust these service guys. They would just go ahead and reinstall the OS and I would end up losing all my settings, documents and all my installed applications. So at the moment all my hopes are pinned on this update that Microsoft is going to release. And that is saying a lot, as not many people hope for Microsoft to come through.

Microsoft has released the Windows Home Server operating system to manufacturers on Monday. With this release Microsoft aims to ease home users of the pains of managing all their digital data stored in different places. Microsoft claims that the software will enable users to manage all their files stored on their PCs, Zunes, or Xbox consoles.

HP’s home server is called HP MediaSmart Server, which will offer centralized storage for up to 10 PCs, automated backups of multiple PCs on a network, and file sharing both from within and outside a home’s network. HP will also offer its own software applications such as Photo Webshare for photo sharing.

Microsoft claimed yesterday that they would be making changes to how Vista users search for files. After an official complaint from Google that disabling Vista’s built-in search is next to impossible, Microsoft has made an announcement that when Vista SP 1 is released by end of this year, it will be much more easier for users to switch to a third-party desktop search engine such as Google’s Desktop Search.

This from an article on Ars Technica:

Microsoft here is splitting the difference, somewhat, as the company will retain Vista’s built-in search results in the upper right hand corner search box present on most explorer windows. The document explains, “Microsoft has agreed, however, to add a link that, if clicked, will launch the default desktop search program and display search results from that program.” 

Indians have created a virtual web based windows operating system that can be accessed from anywhere in the world. Nivio, as its called, has been in beta testing in the UK. According to Sachin Duggal, Founder & CEO, Nivio, “Desktop stresses have always been a concern for all computer users. Loss of data, spam & virus attacks have taken peace out of our lives. I have always believed that the world would change if computing would be simple. Originally named myremoteworkstation, I dreamed of a desktop that was anywhere and nowhere; that was stress-free and fault-less. And Nivio was born.”

Nivio’s owners plan to raise $5 million to fuel expansion. And they are targeting 100,000 users by end of this year. The first month is free and monthly subscription costs Rs 399. They have also priced it at Rs 199 per month for students. You can visit the following website for more information – Nivio.com

Just have a look at this video, matches vista’s tagline perfectly:

http://www.uvouch.com/video-Windows-Vista-crash-337128

Looks like old habits die hard.

The world’s second-largest computer firm, Dell, will start selling desktop and laptop PCs with the Linux operating system pre-installed.

The US-based company made the announcement on Thursday morning.

Dell said it has decided to offer Linux on its computers in response to consumer demand.

A recent survey carried out by Dell revealed that 70 per cent of those questioned said they would use Linux.

“Dell has heard you and we will expand our Linux support beyond our existing servers and Precision workstation line,” the firm said in a statement.

“Our first step in this effort is offering Linux pre-installed on select desktop and notebook systems.

“We will provide an update in the coming weeks that includes detailed information on which systems we will offer, our testing and certification efforts, and the Linux distribution(s) that will be available.

“The countdown begins today.”

Currently the firm only sells desktop and laptop PCs running Microsoft Windows.

Linux, which runs on about 5 per cent of the world’s PCs, is a free open-source operating system based on Unix.

This means that its underlying source code is available for anyone to use, modify, and redistribute freely.

Linux is predominantly known for its use in servers.

eEye Digital Security released a custom form of protection to immediately address a critical exploit circulating via a flaw in Microsoft’s Windows Operating System. The flaw would allow a remote attacker to take complete control of an infected system. Additionally, eEye confirmed that Blink, the award-winning Internet client security solution, provides proactive protection against this flaw. To proactively protect Windows users around the world, eEye has released a temporary patch that prevents the flaw from being exploited. For individuals and organizations interested in receiving eEye’s temporary zero-day patch, a copy can be downloaded at http://research.eeye.com/html/alerts/zeroday/20070328.html.

“Almost a year ago to the day, we released one of the first third-party patches, proactively providing Windows users temporary protection against a serious zero-day vulnerability; we are doing it yet again,” said Marc Maiffret, eEye’s co-founder and chief hacking officer. “Unlike last year’s JScript Vulnerability, there are no immediately effective means of mitigation for this zero-day vulnerability. As a result, we encourage all Windows users to take advantage of our free patch until other means of protection become available. Alternatively, users may install Blink Personal Internet security or Blink Professional Unified Client Security, which also provide protection without the need for security patches.”

Click here for full article

It might look like it from reactions such as the Mini-Microsoft blog, which complained in its headline: “Stop Him Before He Speaks Again!” What Ballmer was actually trying to do was lower the financial expectations of some Wall Street analysts, who were being “overly aggressive” about Vista’s impact on Microsoft’s profits. “We’re driving it hard, but I think some people have gotten a little overexcited,” he said.

Ballmer was speaking to a group of financial analysts in a hotel in New York, but an undeniable side-effect was that Microsoft’s shares took a beating, falling by 2.4% in a day. That was never going to please the folks back home in Redmond, especially employees with stock options.

Expectations have been buoyed by market research group Current Analysis, which reported that PC sales by US retailers for the week ending February 3 were 67% up on last year, and 173% higher than the previous week. Also, Current Analysis reckoned that Windows Vista Home Premium had 70% of sales, compared with 22% for Vista Home Basic. (On notebook PCs, it was 76% to 59%.)

Click here for full article

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has already proclaimed that there is “More where that came from” when it comes to operating systems. According to PC World, 2009 is when we can expect more “wow” from Microsoft. During that year, Microsoft is expected to release the follow-up to Windows Vista which is codenamed Vienna.

Microsoft doesn’t want another repeat of the 5-year drought between the release of Windows XP and Windows Vista, so the company is accelerating its plans for its next generation operating system.

The time and effort that should have been exerted on Windows Vista were instead diverted to getting Windows XP SP2 out the door. “Then when we came back to it, we realized that there were incremental things that we wanted to do, and significant improvements that we wanted to make in Vista that we couldn’t deliver in one release,” said Ben Fathi, a corporate VP in Microsoft’s Windows Core Operating System Division.

Click here for full article

We may not have seen tent cities forming in from of Best Buy in the week before the launch of Windows Vista, but first market reports indicate that the operating system made a huge splash in U.S. retail. Compared to the same week of 2006, PC unit numbers were up more than 60%, revenue surged more than 50%.

The PC industry has seen growth around 10% over the past year, what appears to be solid, but substantially less than in previous years. Some analysts had mentioned that one of the reasons for sagging growth could have been the wait for Vista and consumers that were putting off new purchases until the availability of the new operating system. Current Analysis appears to be offering the first evidence for this thesis, at least for the consumer market.

Click here for full article

A new version of Windows Mobile with mostly minor interface and productivity enhancements will begin appearing on smart phones by midyear, Microsoft executives say.

Windows Mobile 6—previously known by the code name Crossbow—will make its formal debut at 3GSM, a major cell phone trade show that begins Monday in Barcelona, Spain. But details are already being widely reported.

A number of key improvements in Windows Mobile 6 will only benefit enterprise customers whose businesses invest in Exchange Server 2007. For example, with Windows Mobile 6 you search your Exchange 2007 mail folder remotely.

But Microsoft has also tried to make e-mail management easier for all Windows Mobile users. Setting up an e-mail account requires fewer clicks than ever, as you can begin the process from the main Messaging screen. A number of e-mail commands have been streamlined into shortcuts. You can also view a history of your activity with any of your contacts.

You can easily apply flags to messages, and address book entries show a history of your contact with them.

Click here for full article

Apple is recommending that iTunes users stick with Windows XP for now. The iPod-maker is warning that its music store software might not be compatible with Vista, Microsoft ’s latest operating system.

Those who own iPods depend on the software to synch music stored on their computers with their MP3 players. Apple is suggesting that, although iTunes 7.0.2 might work with Windows Vista on many typical PCs, customers should wait to upgrade Windows until after the next release of iTunes. The company said the upgrade would be available in the next few weeks.

According to Tim Deal, a senior analyst with Pike & Fischer, Apple has a strong incentive to respond to the issue quickly: the possibility of losing revenue. “Apple has been relatively quick to respond to compatibility issues in the past,” he noted. “The quicker the better because if users get frustrated they could switch to another digital music player.”

Click here for full article

Windows Vista was officially launched on 30 January, 2007 after a five year gap between operating systems. Vista boasts several new features including the much-hyped “Aero” interface, enhanced parental controls and an integrated search tool.

As well as new features, Microsoft announced several new partnerships with media outlets, including Sanity Online for a new type of “music rental” service, and BigPond Movies for downloadable rental movies.

Windows Client Business group director of Microsoft Australia, Jeff Putt, said Sanity was chosen because it was a strong brand in Australia: “We’re really looking to do an Urge (the US online store) only in Australia, and I think we’ve really ‘knocked it out of the park’ so to speak. We went through quite an exhaustive tender process, and we were delighted they chose to respond and respond as well as they did.” He added that the service was due to go live in April.

The BigPond Movies service, however, is available now, with most movies costing AU$5.95 or less. While not all new movies are available on the service, Putt believes this method of content delivery is the way of the future.

“I’ve been playing with the BigPond service for the last couple of weeks. It’s just red-hot. You’re home on a Saturday night, there’s nothing on TV. You can’t be arsed going down the video store and when you do you never get it back on time”, Putt said.

Click here for full article

Microsoft is very excited to release Windows Vista, the next in the five-year cycle of new operating systems. We are seeing it coming installed on many new computers but you will have a decision to make if you are upgrading your operating system. That is if it will actually run on your system as many hardware manufactures are scrambling to release driver updates for their products.

The next decision will be of which version of Vista you are going to go with. That depends on your computer usage style. Are you just using your computer for word processing and email, business, surfing the web and downloading music and videos, or are you a hard-core gamer? Or maybe a combination of all of these kinds of users? Well there is a version of Vista that is right for you. You don’t have the simple choice of Home or Pro versions this time as you did with XP, but there is Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, or Ultimate and even Enterprise, usually sold to big companies.

Most will gravitate toward Home Basic or Premium. All versions will have the new and exciting Vista look, and all will have the security of Windows Defender and Windows Firewall and Instant Search and Windows Internet Explorer 7. Home Premium, Business, and Ultimate versions will share features such as Windows Flip 3D navigation, enhanced Windows Mobility Center and Tablet PC support, and Windows Meeting Space.

Click here for full article

The Open Source Developer Labs and the Free Standards Group, two groups trying to standardise and steer Linux, have merged in an effort to increase their influence.

The new group is called the Linux Foundation, the companies plan to announce today. “It made sense to combine two organisations that serve a similar function and have a lot of similar members,” said Jim Zemlin, who had been executive director of the Free Standards Group and now is leader of the foundation.

Both groups possess a prestigious list of corporate sponsors, but neither attained the influence of industry players such as Red Hat, which dominates the commercial Linux market and whose version of the open-source operating system is something of a de facto standard.

But it’s possible the foundation could be stronger than the separate groups it replaces, said Ideas International analyst Tony Iams—in particular if the technical relationships from OSDL could be used to bolster the FSG’s standardisation work. Standards work is becoming more important as customers’ needs for stability bump up against the free-wheeling developer community that often sets the Linux agenda.

“The backwards-compatibility issue is starting to rear its head with new (Linux) releases coming out,” Iams said. “If you look between the lines, you will start to see cracks showing up in terms of running older applications.”

Click here for full article