Hasta La Gadget!

Just because Windows 7 is right around the corner doesn’t mean Microsoft intends to immediately sweep Vista under the rug and forget about it. After some confusion around the ‘nets today, a company spokesperson confirmed with PC World that its policy is to back an OS for at least four years from launch, meaning January 2011 here, but also said it plans to cut ties and drop mainstream support for the three consumer models within three years, before April 2012. Despite the minimum, most Windows variants have seen longer lifecycles — XP, for example, had mainstream support for eight years after launch. Business and Enterprise users will still receive security updates until April 2017. Sure, it’s good to see people will still have the option for Vista further down the road, but we don’t expect a lot of OEMs or consumers will be opting for it once 7 goes gold.

Read – Vista’s fading support
Read – XP’s support lifecycle

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

Microsoft to distribute Vista until at least January 2011, ending mainstream support by April 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 May 2009 01:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This article was written on April 08, 2008 by CyberNet.

Time Saving Tuesday

How often do you open and save files on your computer? I’m sure that even the most casual users will do it several times throughout the day. Whether it be adding an attachment to an email, uploading a photo to a website, or simply saving a document you’ve been working on… opening and saving files is a part of our computer-driven lives.

Now the question of how to speed up the process comes into play. Most of the time spent opening or saving files is probably navigating through hierarchy of never ending folders on your computer that you’ve meant to cleanup for months. We’ve all been there, and luckily we have some excellent solutions for the Windows users out there!

–Vista Favorite Links–

First off Microsoft has made a valiant effort of addressing this problem in their latest Windows Vista operating system. When you go to open or save a file in Vista you’ll likely see a screen similar to this:

(Click to Enlarge)

Along the left side I’ve highlighted a section labeled Favorite Links. The Favorite Links is designed to serve as bookmarks for the folders you use the most on your computer. Vista ships with common bookmarks to the desktop, documents, music, pictures, and more, but you can add or remove them as you please.

If you come across a folder that you want to add just drag it into the Favorite Links. The order for the shortcuts can be changed at any time simply by dragging and dropping them where you would like. And if you want to remove one of the shortcuts just right-click on it, and select the Remove Link option. Nice and simple… just the way I like it.

–Direct Folders (Homepage)–

This is actually the application that sparked us to write this article. It wasn’t until a few weeks ago that a free version of Direct Folders emerged, and there has been quite a bit of buzz about it around the Internet. The free version will be more than enough for most of you, and it’s actually quite slick as to how it works. Once you have it installed just double-click with the left mouse button in an empty area of Windows Explorer (or an Open/Save dialog):

(Click to Enlarge)

You should see a menu popup, and at first glance there isn’t much there. What you need to do is go through all of your favorite folders and add them to the list. You can do this by navigating to a folder that you want to add, double-clicking in an empty space with the left mouse button, and then choosing the Add here option.

The nice thing about this is that there are no buttons that clutter the interface, which is something many of you will appreciate. The one thing that I don’t like is that it’s sometimes a hassle to find an “empty space” to double-click.

–FileBox eXtender (Homepage)–

This is an open source project that I’ve used off and on again for the last few months. It has several advanced configuration options that power users will love, and even has a few features that almost any application will be able to benefit from.

This program works a little differently than the Direct Folders previously mentioned. FileBox eXtender adds a few buttons to the Titlebar of Windows Explorer and the dialogs. The folder icon with the heart is the one you want to look for because it’s where you can store your favorites:

(Click to Enlarge)

Next to the heart folder is another button with a clock, and that menu will contain folders that you’ve recently accessed through the open and save dialogs. That’s pretty smart since you’ll likely be pulling up the same folders over and over again.

There are two other icons you’ll see in other applications aside from just Windows Explorer:

• The up arrow will roll up the current window collapsing it down to merely the Titlebar. It’s just like WinRoll.
• The pin button will force a window to remain on top regardless of whether it is the window currently in focus.

Any of these buttons can be removed from the Titlebar by going through the configuration options, but it’s nice knowing that you’ll get some additional features that can be used outside of the Explorer windows.

–Overview–

Now we want to know about any tricks you use to make opening and saving files a speedy process. Drop off your tips in the comments below.

Copyright © 2009 CyberNet | CyberNet Forum | Learn Firefox

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This article was written on May 06, 2008 by CyberNet.

We knew it would come sooner or later, and from the looks of it widespread 64-bit computing might be on the horizon. Just yesterday we posted the results of our poll asking whether you’re running a 64-bit operating system, and only about a quarter of you are. That could be changing as more PC manufacturers start to push 64-bit machines.

TG Daily noticed that Gateway had started to ship consumer PC’s that are running a 64-bit version of Windows Vista Home Premium. They dubbed Gateway the “first large PC vendor” to make this move, but after looking around I noticed that others are doing the same thing. HP is offering a 64-bit Vista option on many of their laptops and desktops, and some are as low as $449… nearly half the price of Gateway’s cheapest 64-bit computer. A little more digging revealed that some ASUS notebooks are also shipping with a 64-bit version of Vista.

Now we’re just sitting back waiting for other manufacturers to start adopting the technology. It’s definitely nice to see the transition to 64-bit starting to take place, and hopefully by large vendors like HP jumping on board some of the compatibility issues will be eliminated for those adopting 64-bit.

The next time you go shopping for a PC don’t be surprised if you’re walking away with a 64-bit operating system!

Copyright © 2009 CyberNet | CyberNet Forum | Learn Firefox

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This article was written on February 19, 2007 by CyberNet.

I’ve been waiting for Microsoft to release Virtual PC 2007 and it looks like they finally have. I still remember the day that Microsoft started making Virtual PC a free application, and they are super smart for doing so. It allows users to install other Windows operating systems to test out new software, or more importantly check for software compatibility issues on the new Windows Vista. What’s the catch? Well, if your installing XP or Vista you will have to activate the operating system just like you would when installing it on your computer. It is just another opportunity for Microsoft to earn money off of selling Windows’ licenses.

Using Virtual PC 2007 you will be able to install Vista and all of your favorite software while still using your current operating system. This will let you see if Vista is right for you, or whether you should hold off until more developers get around to providing updated software releases.

When using a virtual PC there are two terms that you should become familiar with, host OS and guest OS. The host operating system (OS) is what you actually have the Virtual PC 2007 application installed on and a guest OS is the operating system that runs within the Virtual PC program. This will surely be helpful when reading about features or looking through documentation.

Here are the features that virtual PC has to offer:

• Drag and drop copying – drag files and folders from your virtual PC to your PC and visa-versa. This is really useful for trying out software before you take the risk of cluttering up your PC.
• Integrated mouse – makes it easy to move your mouse between the guest operating system and the host operating system.
• Time synchronization – synchronize the time between your PC and virtual PC.
• Folder sharing – easily share files and folders between your virtual PC and PC.

Once you have Virtual PC 2007 up and running you will be able to install any of these operating systems:

• Windows 98: 64MB memory and 500MB disk space
• Windows ME: 96MB memory and 2GB disk space
• Windows 2000: 96MB memory and 2GB disk space
• Windows XP Home/Pro: 128MB memory and 2GB disk space
• Windows Vista Enterprise, Business, and Ultimate: 512MB memory and 15GB disk space

If you want to see more on how the Virtual PC 2007 works along with some of the features make sure to watch the demo. That should cover just about everything that you need, and then you can head on over to download the 32–bit version or the 64–bit version.

Copyright © 2009 CyberNet | CyberNet Forum | Learn Firefox

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This article was written on February 12, 2007 by CyberNet.

Vista’s Successor, Windows Vienna is currently planned for release in 2009.  Originally, Windows Vista was planned for release in 2003, and was to be a “stepping-stone” between XP and Vienna. Instead, Vista was set-back over 3 years, and actually ended up with many of the features that Vienna was to have.

Microsoft has had Vienna in the works for quite some time now, so a release date in 2009 may actually be realistic and attainable. Rumors are already floating around about what will be the next “wow” feature of the next version.  Ben Fathi who is the corporate vice president of development with the Windows Core Operating System Division was talking with PC World and says, “We’re going to look at a fundamental piece of enabling technology. Maybe its hypervisors, I don’t know what it is, maybe it’s a new user interface paradigm for consumers.”

According to Download squad, Vienna will have a new file system, as well as a new user interface which would eliminate the start menu and toolbars. If those features are really part of Vienna, this would make it the most unique, re-defined version of Windows yet.

Just a few thoughts: First, don’t get too excited over 2009, afterall, it could end up being 2012. Secondly, if it really is just a  few years until Vienna, is it worth making the upgrade to Vista?

Sources: PC World, Download Squad

Thanks for the tip CoryC!

Copyright © 2009 CyberNet | CyberNet Forum | Learn Firefox

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