July 27, 2007

Microsoft’s Next Era of Electronics - 2008

Microsoft's Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer’s reveals in his presentation at Microsoft Show and Tell (Financial Analyst Meeting the direction they are taking towards consumer electronics. With Apple's new direction on focusing also on Consumer Electronics, you can see why Microsft wants to improve the user experience making more exciting and adaptable products that work with other technologies. The interaction between your latest gadget and what is mainstream and commonly used is what consumers are looking for, but how is Microsoft going to do it?

One way Microsoft plans to gain market share over competitors such as Apple would be by becoming a Advertising Powerhouse and concentrating on becoming a devices company with various business models according to each type of competency (windows Mobile , Zune, Xbox and so on) while making partnerships with hardware manufacturers such as Motorola and Samsung to provide the hardware.
The roadmap Microsoft has planned (taken from the presentation) shows the focus on Windows Server 2008 (codename Longhorn) and diverifying its portfolio. What will consumers reluctant to pay the high price of a Windows OS do? Who is this really for? At first look here it seems the focus on selling OEM, Corporate Installations and Server units. though Windows Vista Service Pack 1 and Entertainment and Devices are listed they don't really stand out as much.
This begs the question, is the new era of Microsoft consumer electronics truly going to gain momentum? or are they expecting that in 10 years time a device such as the Microsoft Surface will be a part of the general household? If we look at the numbers and try to add up what makes sense the cost for these new electronic devices would have to come down considerably (the Surface is said to cost at minimum currently $5000) and operating systems for the consumer such as Windows Vista need to be more reliable and be well supported by hardware manufacturers.
If Microsoft wants to get ahead it is my opinion they gain credibility in the software field before they move into the hardware devices arena, meaning release Vista Service pack in 2007, deliver quality products and not just try to get caught up with what is cool or the fad.

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July 26, 2007

Windows XP Updates Ending Soon














As with each version of Microsoft's OS's there is a end of life, specifically when it comes to "officially" supporting it with updates. I remember when Windows NT reached the end not too long ago. Next its Windows XP. Yes dont turn a blind eye, before you know it there will be no more Windows XP support, maintenance software and updates will dwindle eventually. So whats next Vista? Well with the anxiously anticipated release of Vista's Service pack 1, many have opted to stick with XP for now, but how much longer can you hang in there?

With windows XP going off the market early 2008, this means that probably in 2009 Microsoft will stop releasing non-security software updates, which means you would want a supported OS , next in line is Vista.
If Microsoft continues to face delay after delay then some may contemplate moving over to Mac's OS X or Linux Ubuntu distribution which is free. While Windows Vista may not be a pleasant option for Windows users, the next Windows 7 isnt due for around 3 more years which kind of puts users in a tight spot when it comes to a reliable supported Windows OS.


July 20, 2007

Tweaking Windows Vista - Get more performance fast

maintenance software
Here are a few obvious and not so obvious tweaks you should be doing to your Windows Vista if you are finding performance to be a problem. If you dont want to install 3rd party tweaking utilities, maintenance software or you just want to do things manually yourself then follow these suggested tweaks.

Explorer Performance Tweaks

1. Click Start, right click on Computer, and click Properties.
2. Click Advanced System Settings.
3. Click on the Advanced tab. Under Performance, click Settings.
Uncheck these options:

Fade or slide menus into view
Fade or slide tooltips into view
Fade out menu items after clicking
Show shadows under menus
Slide open combo boxes
Slide taskbar buttons
Use a background image for each folder type
Close the Performance Options & System Properties dialogs.

Disable DEP / NoExecute Protection
DEP, otherwise known as NoExecute, is a piece of technology in Windows that prevents processes from being altered in live memory. This lowers the frequency of certain attacks, but it can also have some adverse effects and cause certain things not to run.

Due to the way Windows Vista™’s boot editor has been created, it is now harder to disable DEP / No Execute Protection.

Click Start, All Programs, Accessories, right click on “Command Prompt”, and click “Run as administrator”.
If asked for permission to run Windows Command Processor, click on Allow.
At the command prompt, type in “bcdedit.exe /set {current} nx AlwaysOff” (without the quotes).
You should receive a message saying “Operation Completed Successfully”.
Restart the computer, DEP / No Execute should now be disabled.

Disable User Account Control (UAC)
For The Administrator Account Only
NOTE: Depending on the version of Windows Vista, you may not have access to step 3.
In that case Watch my alternative video tutorials

1. Click the Start Button
2. From the Start menu, Click All Programs followed by Accessories, then Run
3. In the Run dialogue box type: secpol.msc and then Click OK
4. User Account Control will prompt you for the necessary authorisation. Click Continue button
5. The Local Security Policies window now opens. This window is divided into a Left and Right hand pane
6. In the Left Hand pane look for the Local policies option and Click the > button to expand the list
7. From the expanded list, Click on Security options
8. In the Right hand pane you should see a list of available options (this is rather a long list)
9. Scroll towards the bottom of the list until you come to 'User account control: behavior of the elevation prompt for administrators in admin approval mode'
10. Right Click on this option and Select Properties
11. In the Properties window, Click the drop down menu arrow and, from the available list, Select the 'Elevate without prompting' option and then Click OK
12. A warning message will appear in the notification area warning you that UAC has been turned off. This message will appear ever time you boot your PC unless you turn off the option to be notified of security alerts in the Security Center of Control panel
13. Finally, Close the Local security policy Window

Bypass The Vista Log On Screen
1. Click the Start button
2. On the Start menu click Run
3. In the Run dialog box type ‘control userpasswords2’ (without the quotes) and press OK
4. The User Account properties window will now appear
5. Remove the check mark from the ‘users must enter a user name and password to use this computer’ option
6. Click Apply
7. A new window will now appear
8. In this Window enter the Name and Password you wish to be used to automatically log on to your pc
9. Once you have entered the details click OK to exit the new user name and password dialog window and then click OK on the User Properties box

Get TweakVI for Vista to access easily more tweaks and performance increases, click the image below for details
Tweak Vista with TweakVI for Vista

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July 10, 2007

Virtual PC 2007 - Free download by Microsoft

maintenance software
Microsoft has released for its windows users Microsoft Virtual PC 2007, a free download. Before you run off to get it lets review the desktop virtualization capabilities of this tool, you decide if its for you. First off ask yourself these questions and see if you agree with any or all.

Microsoft has released for its windows users Microsoft Virtual PC 2007, a free download. Before you run off to get it lets review the desktop virtualization capabilities of this tool, you decide if its for you. First off ask yourself these questions and see if you agree with any or all.

1. You going to run multiple operating systems at the same time on the same physical computer.
2. You are going to use virtual machines to run legacy applications
3. You want to emulate other environments for testing purposes
4. Your Host PC will be either Windows XP Pro or Vista (Excluding Home editions)

If you answered yes to these questions then you probably want to know the pros and cons I found.

What you need to know...

My first thought was running Linux within Windows XP. I was really hoping there would be support for having a guest operating system other than previous versions of Windows. Yes there is support for virtualization of OS2 Warp , but who uses that anymore? So I was stuck without the option to setup a Linux guest environment (I will use my dual boot setup instead for Linux), and install Virtual PC 2007 on Windows Vista Ultimate as the host.

If you have a 64bit hardware platform like I do (Dual Core PC) take a note of the following:
· 16-bit applications and 32-bit drivers are not supported on 64-bit versions of Windows Vista.

· Automatic registry and system file redirection is not supported in the 64-bit environment.
These changes require that 64-bit applications must adhere to a stronger set of Windows Vista application standards.
Having said that, I was able to run Virtual PC 2007 on 64-bit versions of Windows Vista. This means you can run 16-bit operating systems (as far back as Windows 98 SE) which are not supported natively on 64-bit versions of Windows Vista.

Once installed and you launch the Virtual Manager you will notice the small options window with only a few menus with options.

vpc2.jpg

Setting up a virtual machine is simple enough just follow the setup wizard, choose your options and how much power you want to allocate.

Keep in mind how much memory you want to allocate to the virtual machine. I have 2Gigs of Ram installed so I used 512Megs of it for the Virtual PC for Windows XP for example

vpcmemory.jpg

My conclusion is, you cant really complain, I mean you get what you pay for, and since Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 is free and supports Windows Vista, its not a bad choice at the moment if you looking to run a Windows OS within a Windows OS, but if your looking for Linux support its not really there your on your own.

Windows Servers should come with a built in Virtual Machine that will be compatible with Linux if you can hang in till then...

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