Sep 30

Windows 7 User Interface to be a Drastic Change?

Posted in: Microsoft, Screenshots, Software, Today's Chili, Windows

This article was written on July 24, 2007 by CyberNet.

Julie Larsen-GreenThe next Windows milestone, currently dubbed Windows 7, could very well be sporting a huge user interface overhaul. Now what makes me think that? Julie Larsen-Green (pictured to the right) is leading the Windows 7 area that is focused on "end-user interaction design and overall experience." You may not have heard of Julie before, but she is the one who pushed for the Office 2007 interface redesign which was a drastic move away from the menus and toolbars we had been familiar with for nearly 20-years.

I think that Microsoft would be smart for making a big change in the Windows user interface because Linux is quickly catching up. It’s just like how OpenOffice was on the verge of being a clone of Microsoft Office, but when Office 2007 was released there was a strong difference established between the interface of the two office suites. As users become more familiar with how Office 2007 operates it will be increasingly difficult for people to switch to the free OpenOffice.

So what could Microsoft do to drastically distinguish themselves from competing products? I’ve been wondering that for awhile now, and I’m sure Julie has some great ideas up her sleeve. One thing that I would really like to see is an efficient an customizable implementation of pie menus. I’ve talked about this before, but I think that using pie menus would offer increased productivity over the traditional right-click menu.

The other idea that is floating around the Internet is that the Taskbar will be replaced with a sidebar. This is seen in almost all of the Windows 7 concepts drawn up including the nice set by OSBeta. Here is a preview of one of their concepts:

Windows 7 Mockup / Concept

It’s actually kind of fun to see what people come up with, but in the end it is Microsoft’s decision as to what the consumers will receive. Do you think Microsoft’s vision of Windows in 2010 is a little far fetched from where we currently stand? Is it time to ditch the Taskbar?

Source: APC

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Sep 30

Customize Your Mouse Buttons

Posted in: Freeware, Software, Today's Chili, Windows

This article was written on June 11, 2010 by CyberNet.

customize mouse button.png

arrow Windows Windows only arrow
I’ve always been a rather keyboard-oriented person myself, but mouse lovers can enjoy their own kind of shortcuts. X-Mouse Button Control is a free Windows app that lets you customize all the various buttons on your mouse so that they are a bit more useful, and the best part is that you can customize it on a per-app basis. For example, in your web browser you may want to use the extra buttons on your mouse to navigate back/forward through your browsing history, but maybe in Microsoft Word you want those buttons to perform copy/paste operations.

This app will let you do all of that and more. Here’s a rundown of the more useful operations you can choose from:

  • Copy/Cut/Paste
  • Volume Up/Down/Mute
  • Media Player control
  • Send a custom keystroke sequence
  • Launch your email (or any other) application.
  • Capture screen (or active window) image to clipboard.
  • Click-Drag [Sticky Buttons].
  • Save and restore desktop icon positions.
  • Vista (and Windows 7) support including some Vista/7 only featurs such as ‘Flip 3D’.

The “layer” support I didn’t quite get at first, but then realized how it could actually be useful. How it works is you can designate different actions on each layer, and you can then choose which layer is active from the System Tray. It’s almost like having profiles for your mouse buttons.

Note: If you make a mistake in your mouse button configuration, you can disable X-Mouse Button Control any time it is running by holding Ctrl+Alt and double-clicking the right mouse button. To re-enable after this, right-click the icon in the System Tray and uncheck Disable X-Mouse Button Control.

X-Mouse Button Control Homepage (Windows only; Freeware)
[via ShellCity]

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Sep 30

Windows Vista Update Available to help Application Compatibility

Posted in: Software, Today's Chili, Windows, Windows Vista

This article was written on March 23, 2007 by CyberNet.

Last week Microsoft released a Windows Update for Vista users to help address some of the application compatibility issues. I haven’t had a bad experience with compatibility lately because many of the programs I use have all been updated. However, some users (particularly of previous editions of Photoshop) may find this update to be useful.

Here are some of the more popular applications that are said to work properly now:

  • Adobe Creative Suite CS2
  • Adobe Photoshop 7.0.1
  • Adobe Photoshop CS 8.0
  • Adobe Photoshop Elements Version 4.0
  • Macromedia Fireworks MX2004 7.0.2.295
  • Microsoft Age of Empires III
  • Microsoft Money 2006
  • Microsoft Office Outlook 2003
  • Opera 9.02
  • Roxio Easy Media Creator 7.5

There are also many other programs on the list, but those were the ones that caught my attention. The update can be received by performing a Windows Update which is located in your Control Panel. The update should reference number KB932246 and as you can see in this screenshot I installed it last week:

Vista Updates

 

Microsoft has also updated their list of programs that are compatible with Vista. It is very very long list now so you’ll need to give the page quite some time to load.

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Sep 30

Nokia passes off Symbian and 2,300 employees to Accenture

Posted in: cellphone, cellphones, Microsoft, mobilepostcross, nokia, Phones, smartphone, Smartphones, symbian, Today's Chili, Windows


After placing all bets on Windows Phone, Stephen Elop announced that Nokia would slowly phase out its OG operating system, Symbian. Today, it’s officially passed the torch, handing over all Symbian-related duties to Accenture, a consulting and outsourcing firm. 2,300 former Nokia employees will also be repurposed, getting a new name on their paycheck as they tend to the ill-fated OS. The Finnish mainstay says the arrangement will last until at least 2016, and plans to continually roll out updates during this time. Not everyone is hanging on another five years though, as it seems that at least 500 employees have jumped ship or found new gigs within the company since the original announcement predicting 2,800 reassignments. Head past the break to find the full (and very terse) press release.

Continue reading Nokia passes off Symbian and 2,300 employees to Accenture

Nokia passes off Symbian and 2,300 employees to Accenture originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Sep 2011 11:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink mocoNews  |  sourceNokia  | Email this | Comments

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Sep 29

New Updates Increase Vista’s Performance

Posted in: Microsoft, performance, Software, Today's Chili, Windows, Windows Vista

This article was written on October 03, 2007 by CyberNet.

Vista Update Microsoft has quietly released four new updates for Vista that improve on performance and reliability. As of right now it’s unclear as to which of these updates, if any, will be made available on October 9th’s Patch Tuesday, but they are currently all available for individual download.

The first update that I want to mention really caught my attention. It is said to improve battery life, increase stability, and much more. Here’s a list of the more prominent things that it is supposed to improve, as well as some of the issues it is supposed to solve:

  • It extends the battery life for mobile devices.
  • It improves the reliability of Windows Vista when you open the menu of a startup application.
  • It improves the stability of Internet Explorer when you open a Web page.
  • It improves the stability of wireless network services.
  • It shortens the startup time of Windows Vista by using a better timing structure.
  • It shortens the recovery time after Windows Vista experiences a period of inactivity.
  • Resolves a compatibility issue that affects some third-party antivirus software applications.
  • Resolves a reliability issue that occurs when a Windows Vista-based computer uses certain network driver configurations.

The homepage for the update (KB941649) is here, and there are both 32-bit and 64-bit flavors available for download. It appears that this update is still in testing though, and Microsoft recommends that you do not install it yet unless you’re experiencing issues that it resolves:

This hotfix may receive additional testing. Therefore, if you are not severely affected by this problem, we recommend that you wait for the next service pack that contains this hotfix.

Meh, that makes it sound like it’s not coming out until Vista SP1 is released so I installed it anyway. :) Things do seem to be chugging along a bit faster than they were.

The other updates aren’t quite as important in my opinion, but are still worth mentioning:

  • KB941229 (32-bit or 64-bit) – Update for Vista Media Center which resolves several issues.
  • KB941600 (32-bit or 64-bit) – Fixes critical USB issues.
  • KB941651 (32-bit or 64-bit) – Improves the reliability of Windows Media Player 11, but the homepage for the hotfix isn’t available so we’re not quite sure what it’s for.

Source: Techarena

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Sep 29

ScreenToaster: Fast, Free & Easy Screencast Creation

Posted in: Freeware, Linux, Mac, Software, Today's Chili, Web Sites, Windows

This article was written on April 03, 2009 by CyberNet.

screentoaster.png

For a lot of users creating screencasts is too much of a pain, and so a lot of people will avoid them. This is especially true if they see software like Camtasia Studio that has a pricetag of $300, which is overkill for what most people are looking to do.

ScreenToaster is an awesome alternative that uses Java through your browser, and doesn’t make you download/install anything. You’ll need to register for an account, but it’s completely free. After you get done making your screencast they’ll let you download it as a .mov file, upload it to their own site (free hosting), or upload it to YouTube in HD quality. The choice is yours, but you should be aware that they will place a watermark in the bottom-right corner so that people will know you created it with their service. That’s really the only trade-off that I found though. Heck, you can even add subtitles, record from a webcam, and include audio in your screencast.

I’m not a huge fan of tools that use Java, but in cases like this it is kinda nice. Since it uses Java this tool is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux users. I had never really found a good screencast utility for Linux that was easy-to-use, but something like this would be perfect for most of my situations… especially if i’m just trying to show a friend how to do something real quick.

If you’ve got something easy and free that you use for screencasts let us know in the comments.

ScreenToaster Homepage [via WebWorkerDaily]

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Sep 29

How to Quickly Share Screenshots

Posted in: Freeware, Mac, Screenshots, Software, Today's Chili, Windows

This article was written on July 07, 2011 by CyberNet.

Puush screenshots

arrow Windows Windows; Mac Mac arrow
There are a multitude of screenshot utilities out there, but the nice thing with Puush is that it really only focuses on one thing: sharing screenshots. This is your kind of app if you’re the type of person that merely snaps a screenshot and immediately sends it to someone.

What Puush does is take a screenshot of the current window, your desktop, or a manually selected area of your desktop. It will then automatically upload the file to the Puush site, display a popup with the URL, and copy the link to your clipboard so that it can immediately be shared. What’s awesome is that the link you send out points directly to the screenshot rather than a page where the screenshot is just a small thumbnail.

So where do they make their money? The app requires that you sign up for a free account, and with that you get 200MB worth of storage. That amounts to a lot of screenshots, but the good news is that it’s extremely easy to clear out all of the screenshots you’ve taken to make room for new ones from the account management section on their site. For that reason most of you won’t have to worry about upgrading once you’ve hit the quota.

Puush Screenshots Homepage (Windows/Mac; Freeware)

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Sep 28

OWC updates its Mercury Extreme Pro 3G SSD lineup, offers 30GBs for just $68

Posted in: mac os x, MacOsX, minipost, solid state drive, SolidStateDrive, SSD, Today's Chili, Windows
Say hello to Other World Computing’s latest 2.5-inch SSD, the 30GB variant of its Mercury Extreme Pro 3G series (3Gb/s, of course). This SandForce-driven SSD may not have loads of storage, but priced at a wallet-friendly 68 bucks, it’s certainly tempting if your optical drive’s been gathering dust. Whether you’re running an ungodly amount of Firefox tabs on a Mac or Windows machine, you’ll be covered with “sustained data rates of over 275MB/s,” keeping your tasks speedy. Ready to ditch the beach balls and hourglasses? It’s available now from OWC and you’ll find more info in the PR past the break.

Continue reading OWC updates its Mercury Extreme Pro 3G SSD lineup, offers 30GBs for just $68

OWC updates its Mercury Extreme Pro 3G SSD lineup, offers 30GBs for just $68 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Sep 2011 01:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceOther World Computing  | Email this | Comments

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Sep 28

Create Panoramic Screensavers & Videos

Posted in: Freeware, Photos, Software, Today's Chili, Windows

This article was written on June 27, 2008 by CyberNet.

arrow Windows Windows only arrow
Panoramic images have been something that I’ve been trying to do more often, and a lot of that is due to how easy it is to stitch together multiple photos. Plus the new Windows Live Photo Gallery is capable of taking multiple photos and stitching them together to form a full panoramic shot as well. Once you have taken a marvelous panoramic photo you have to do it justice by showing it off. That’s where the free WPanorama software comes into play.

WPanorama is a panoramic photo viewer that can animate your images to make it seem like you’re standing in one spot looking around. It can then transform this animation into an AVI video or even a screensaver that will play on your computer. The screensaver can also be configured to rotate through dozens of different panoramic images if you’d like.

wpanorama.jpg
This is WPanorama showing off a panoramic shot that I took in Ames, Iowa

When you fire up the program and load an image it should initiate the auto scrolling right away. This will give your photo a more life-like effect, and it will bounce back and forth as if you repeatedly turned your head from the left side to the right side. If you have a 360 degree panoramic photo you can go to Config -> Advanced options -> Auto reverse, and select the Off option so that the photo will be treated as a 360 degree image. That way when WPanorama is scrolling through the image it will wrap the photo around so that the two ends join together.

If you’re not in to taking your own panoramic shots then you can find some refuge at WPanorama’s 700+ photo gallery (top 20 can be found here), and don’t forget to check out Panoye.

Get WPanorama
Thanks Radu for the tip!

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Sep 28

CyberNotes: Create a Shortcut to Launch Multiple Programs

Posted in: CyberNotes, Software, Tips and Tricks, Today's Chili, Windows

This article was written on January 17, 2008 by CyberNet.

CyberNotes
Tutorial Thursday

In the past we’ve shown you how to create batch files for synchronizing two folders, and today we’re going to demonstrate how they can be used to launch your favorite applications. If you’re like me you probably start the same applications every morning, such as your feed reader, web browser, and your calendar. If that’s the case then you’ll be in love with what I’m about to show you. In under a minute you can create a batch file to launch several applications, documents, files, and more in a single click.

What some people don’t realize is that you can also use this method to reduce the startup time of your computer! It’s likely that you have at least a handful of applications that startup with Windows which you don’t need immediately. Things like an instant messenger or email checker. You can place all of those applications into a single batch file, remove them from the startup list, and then just run them when you’re ready.

Update: Be sure to checkout how you can use a batch file to close multiple programs as well.

You may think that doing something like this is a tedious process, but it’s actually rather easy:

–Instructions–

  1. Open Notepad (Start Menu -> Accessories -> Notepad):
    Notepad
  2. Get the paths for the programs you want to start. The easiest way to do this is to right-click on each of the existing shortcuts, choose the Properties option, and then copy the Target path.
    Target Properties
  3. Enter the paths for each of the programs into Notepad, one per line. Be sure to put

    start "" 

    at the beginning of each line, and put a space after it to separate it from the application path. If the path of your application has a space in it, you’ll need to surround the entire path with quotes. It should look something like this:
    Multiple Shortcuts in Notepad

  4. Save it as a .BAT file by manually entering in the extension at the end of the file name.
    Save BAT
  5. Double-click on the new file that you just created to test out the results.

–Examples–

There are all kinds of things that this can be used for, especially since you can throw parameters onto each of the applications. Let’s say you wanted to open our website in Firefox, one of the lines would look like this:

start "" "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" "cybernetnews.com"

You can also have it open a document by providing the path to it, like this:

start "" "C:\Users\Wagner\Documents\CyberNet.doc"

In the end you can create several different batch files each for different tasks. Batch files are powerful tools that can greatly enhance your productivity, and this is one of the ways they do that.

Thanks to Tim for asking us how to do something like this!

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