Hasta La Gadget!

This article was written on April 04, 2008 by CyberNet.

Last year Microsoft decided that it would be smart to continue offering Windows XP for sale until June 30th, 2008. That way consumers and businesses who didn’t want to be an early adopter of Vista had an alternative available. As that deadline approaches a petition was started by InfoWorld earlier this year to save XP again, and as of last week it had accumulated over 106,000 signatures. But Microsoft made it clear yesterday that in just a few months Windows XP will be cut… kind of.

Windows XP will be no longer available after June 30th, 2008 with the exception of ultra low-cost personal computers (ULCPC’s). These computers are becoming rather popular (such as the Asus Eee PC), but they don’t have enough requirements to run Vista. Here’s what Microsoft had to say about it:

Customers and partners have made it clear to us that Windows is the preferred operating system for ULCPC buyers, just as it is for mainstream PC users.  That’s why we are extending direct OEM sales of Windows XP Home for ULCPCs so that they can preinstall Windows on these devices through the later of June 30, 2010 or one year after the general availability of the next version of the Windows operating system.  While Windows Vista provides many benefits, including an easier and more secure user experience, Windows XP Home provides an effective solution on these devices from a performance and cost perspective.

You’ll notice that Microsoft made sure to say that Windows XP Home will be the only version offered to the OEM’s to put on their machines. This is obviously a push to keep new Windows XP machines from entering the corporate world.

So how do the requirements stack up between Windows XP and Vista? Well, there was such a huge time gap between the two operating system releases that the minimum system requirements differ quite a bit:

It makes sense that Windows XP will still be available on the ULCPC’s looking at the system requirements. In particular the hard drive space is drastically different when comparing XP to Vista. Most of the ULCPC’s wouldn’t have the space needed to run Vista.

Now the question is whether you buy as many retail copies of XP as you can, and then sell them on eBay after June 30th? 😉

Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

Copyright © 2013 CyberNetNews.com

No matter what you think of Windows 8, it’s certain that Windows is both iconic and significant in the evolution of personal computing. It’s a series of operating systems, of course, but it’s also been a concept, a way of thinking, an influencer, and a touchstone for 30 years since Bill Gates introduced it on November 10, 1983.

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This article was written on August 08, 2007 by CyberNet.

Last week there were some updates leaked for Windows Vista. These updates promised to cure the problems that have plagued many Vista users, including the slow file transfer times and slow resuming from standby.

Microsoft must have decided that it would just be best if they released the updates to the public instead of holding them back any longer. So here are the links you’ll need to download these packages:

Windows Vista Performance Pack (KB938979):

• x86 Homepage (Direct Download) – 9.9MB
• x64 Homepage (Direct Download) – 14.1MB

Windows Vista Compatibility Pack (KB938194):

• x86 Homepage (Direct Download) – 2.1MB
• x64 Homepage (Direct Download) – 3.6MB

Note: You’ll notice that the direct download links still retrieve the files from Microsoft, but bypass the WGA check.

These updates are the same as the ones that were leaked, so if you had already installed those there is no need to download these. Microsoft also said that they will be distributing the patches via Windows Update, but did not give a date as to when. Many people are speculating that it will be happening next Tuesday, August 14th which is when Microsoft will unleash their Windows patches for the month.

I’ve been using these updates for almost a week now and I have to say that they make a tremendous difference in Vista’s performance. File transfer times are lightning fast, it doesn’t take forever for the "time remaining" to be calculated, resuming from standby is much more prompt, and a number of other things have been fixed. Microsoft is extremely smart for releasing these patches now and satisfying their current customers, rather than bundling the fixes with SP1 just so that they can boast a more powerful service pack.

Here’s a detailed list of what issues the individual packs address:

Windows Vista Performance Pack:

• You experience a long delay when you try to exit the Photos screen saver.
• A memory leak occurs when you use the Windows Energy screen saver.
• If User Account Control is disabled on the computer, you cannot install a network printer successfully. This problem occurs if the network printer is hosted by a Windows XP-based or a Windows Server 2003-based computer.
• When you write data to an AVI file by using the AVIStreamWrite function, the file header of the AVI file is corrupted.
• When you copy or move a large file, the "estimated time remaining" takes a long time to be calculated and displayed.
• After you resume the computer from hibernation, it takes a long time to display the logon screen.
• When you synchronize an offline file to a server, the offline file is corrupted.
• If you edit an image file that uses the RAW image format, data loss occurs in the image file.
• After you resume the computer from hibernation, the computer loses its default gateway address.
• Poor memory management performance occurs.

Windows Vista Compatibility Pack:

• The screen may go blank when you try to upgrade the video driver.
• The computer stops responding, and you receive a "Display driver stopped responding and has recovered" error message. You can restart the computer only by pressing the computer’s power button.
• The computer stops responding or restarts unexpectedly when you play video games or perform desktop operations.
• The Diagnostic Policy Service (DPS) stops responding when the computer is under heavy load or when very little memory is available. This problem prevents diagnostics from working.
• The screen goes blank after an external display device that is connected to the computer is turned off. For example, this problem may occur when a projector is turned off during a presentation.
• A computer that has NVIDIA G80 series graphic drivers installed stops responding.
• Visual appearance issues occur when you play graphics-intensive games.
• You experience poor playback quality when you play HD DVD disks or Blu-ray disks on a large monitor.
• Applications that load the Netcfgx.dll component exit unexpectedly.
• Windows Calendar exits unexpectedly after you create a new appointment, create a new task, and then restart the computer.
• Internet Connection Sharing stops responding after you upgrade a computer that is running Microsoft Windows XP to Windows Vista and then restart the computer.
• The Printer Spooler service stops unexpectedly.
• You receive a "Stop 0x0000009F" error when you put the computer to sleep while a Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) connection is active.

Thanks for the tip CoryC!
Sources: All About Microsoft, Windows Now, and Ars Technica

Copyright © 2013 CyberNetNews.com

Panasonic showed off a crazy concept device at CES earlier this year: a 20-inch, 4K tablet. But now, that device is going on sale—for a price.

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This article was written on August 22, 2008 by CyberNet.

Panoramic photos seem to be becoming more common these days as people carry cameras with them wherever they go. In the past we’ve shown you tools like AutoStitch and Windows Live Photo Gallery that make assembling panoramic photos effortless, but the free Hugin program is much more customizable.

Hugin will attempt to find points on the images that match up with each other, or you can manually specify control points. It can take some time to get used to because of all the manual settings available to configure, but with these tutorials and a little spare time this weekend you should be all set.

There are over 8,000 images on Flickr that have used Hugin for assembling some amazing panoramic shots. Once you get the hang of using the program you’ll be able to create shots using Hugin like this that started out with this typical panoramic.

Get Hugin for Windows, Mac, or Linux

Copyright © 2013 CyberNetNews.com