This article was written on January 11, 2006 by CyberNet.
Thanks to
News Source: BentUser
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This article was written on March 05, 2008 by CyberNet.
Every time I write about the Vista Ultimate Extras it feels like I’m beating a dead horse, but for one reason or another there seems to be a lot of news surrounding the nearly non-existent add-ons. There is even more news regarding the Ultimate Extras today, but I don’t think you’re going to like what I have to tell you.
First…
No, Microsoft is not ditching the Vista Ultimate Extras although at this point no one would really be able to tell the difference. Do you remember all of those language packs that Microsoft said was eating up so much of their time last year? They’re coming back to haunt the Vista Ultimate users once again. It turns out that most of the language packs are not going to be ready for the mid-March launch of Vista SP1. According to the Vista Blog users trying to install SP1 will receive this error message:
Windows Vista Service Pack 1 cannot be installed on your computer because the language of Windows Vista you have installed is not supported or you have installed a language pack that is not supported.
Windows Vista Service pack 1 can only be installed on computers running the English, French, German, Japanese and Spanish versions of Windows Vista or computers running only those language packs.
That’s just what we need. Now the Vista Ultimate Extras team (if such a team exists) will likely be tied up trying to get the language packs working again.
Second…
Microsoft has created yet another website to help promote Vista Ultimate called UltimatePC.com. Not only does the site highlight the few Ultimate Extras that are available, but it also talks about “Ultimate Exclusives”:
Lastly and most importantly, UltimatePC.com will keep you up to date on Ultimate Extras – new and helpful features of Windows Vista Ultimate that we’re able to deliver directly to your PC using Windows Update. We’re also offering a new benefit to Ultimate customers on UltimatePC.com called Ultimate Exclusives. Ultimate Exclusives are one-of-a-kind offers that are not only available to Windows Vista Ultimate customers for free or discounted software, PC hardware, and services or access to industry events.
Microsoft has really let Ultimate users down with the lack of Extras that everyone was expecting, and now they’ve introduced something else? I’m speechless.
Original image taken from chaos.org.uk
Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com
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This article was written on August 17, 2007 by CyberNet.
Everyone wants their computer to restart as fast as possible, and I for one am always looking to shave a little time off of that number. As it stands right now my laptop (running Vista) can bootup and become usable in about 45-seconds, but a fraction of that time is spent loading the BIOS.
You can supposedly bypass the reloading of the BIOS during a restart by holding the shift key down. Here’s how you do it:
Windows Vista: Select Start, then hover over the right arrow that is to the right of the padlock icon until the pop-up menu appears that contains “restart” as one of it’s choices. Hold down the SHIFT key while clicking on the “restart” choice.
Windows XP: Select Start. Select “Shut Down…”. Change the drop-down combo box under “What do you want the computer to do?” to “Restart”. Hold down the SHIFT key while clicking on the “OK” button.
Unfortunately I couldn’t get it to work for me. What this is supposed to do is wipe your memory clear and reload windows, but without loading your BIOS again.
What I would have really liked to see make it into Vista was a feature that Jim Allchin described back in December 2005:
If a part of an application, or the operating system itself, needs to updated, the Installer will call the Restart Manager, which looks to see if it can clear that part of the system so that it can be updated. If it can do that, it does, and that happens without a reboot. If you have to reboot, then what happens is that the system, together with the applications, takes a snapshot of the state: the way things are on the screen at that very moment, and then it just updates and restarts the application, or in the case of an operating system update, it will bring the operating system back exactly where it was.
Now that would be really cool to have! Maybe in the next version of Windows.
If your able to get the Shift+Restart trick above to work be sure to let us know in the comments. I’m guessing that it might somehow depend on your hardware, so it probably won’t work for everyone.
Source: CodeJacked [via Digg & Lifehacker]
Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com
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Ready to revamp your company’s computer systems once the summer’s heat is a mere memory? Come this October, Lenovo’s letting loose its 20-inch ThinkCentre M71z all-in-one desktop, priced starting at just $599 to keep those expense reports low and your interest piqued. Better yet, you’ll be able to deck it out if you’re ready to rack up some points on the company credit card. Around the outside, you’ll find six USB ports and a DisplayPort connection, but it can also be equipped with a multi-touch screen as well as a two megapixel webcam — fantastic for those 10-way Skype or Google+ meetings. If you’re hungry for performance, the desktop can be maxed out with an Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of DDR3 RAM, WiFi and either a 1TB HDD, or 160GB SSD capable of 15 second start-ups with RapidBoot. For good measure, the M71z comes bundled with Windows 7 Professional along with a wireless mouse and keyboard — the latter of which is flood spill-resistant. Please excuse us while we get back to the business of blogging, but you’ll find the full PR past the break.
Continue reading Lenovo’s ThinkCentre M71z business desktop keeps your productivity up for $599
Lenovo’s ThinkCentre M71z business desktop keeps your productivity up for $599 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Aug 2011 01:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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This article was written on June 01, 2011 by CyberNet.
Windows only 
There are so many free screenshot utilities out there that it can be overwhelming trying to find the one that fits your needs, which is why we try to cover many of them. Cropper is one that we can’t leave out because it keeps things simple, but lets you extend the functionality with a variety of plugins that have already been created.
For starters I would grab Cropper and take a look at the controls on the products homepage. Some of the keyboard shortcuts are really nice, such as being able to use the arrow keys to nudge the area selector by one pixel. This is a screenshot utility that keyboard junkies will surely love.
Once you’ve got the controls under your belt you can move on to downloading plugins that extend the functionality of Cropper:
On my system Cropper uses very little resources (under 3MB of memory), but unfortunately there isn’t a portable version which would be the cherry on top for me.
Cropper Homepage (Windows only; Freeware)
Cropper Plugins Homepage
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If you can’t beat ‘em, undercut ‘em.
It’s the new slogan of tablet and smartphone manufacturers trying to push products into an already packed space.
Companies are attempting to compete in today’s crowded tablet market by slashing product prices to undercut rivals. The iPad, the front-runner in the field, set the entry-level price for tablets at $500. It’s the price to beat.
And many companies are trying hard to beat Apple. Toshiba’s recently debuted Thrive tablet starts at $430, while Acer’s Iconia Tab A500 costs $450. As recently as last week, HP announced steep discounts on its TouchPad tablet, which was originally priced at $500. TV manufacturer Vizio announced a new tablet today priced at $300, one of the cheapest Android tablet options to hit the market.
It’s the latest attempt by Android tablet manufacturers to combat the problem that essentially all of them face: differentiation. With some exceptions, many of today’s Android tablets offer microSD card slots, HDMI output, 3G connectivity and other common attributes. Essentially, they all do the same thing. And beyond customizing the user interface to make the tablet’s operating system look different than others, there’s not much the manufacturers can do.
“As the devices become more and more alike, manufacturers will do anything they can to differentiate themselves,” Gartner analyst Ken Dulaney told Wired.com in June.
Ports, UI tweaks and connectivity options aren’t enough. Now they want to lure you in with a bargain-bin price tag.
It’s a similar story for smartphones. Samsung recently debuted the Conquer 4G, one of the first low-end Android phones to run on Sprint’s WiMax network. ZDNet reporter Mary Jo Foley reported that Microsoft may be working on its own low-end Windows Phone operating system, codenamed “Tango.” And of course, we’ve had feature phones available to consumers for a long time, made specifically for those who don’t want to shell out wads of cash on the latest and greatest mobile device.
Despite the growing adoption of smartphones, most of the global population still thinks cheaper is better — for phones, at least. Nielsen research claims over 55 percent of U.S. mobile phone owners have low-end phones.
Tango isn’t much more than a rumor circulating in tech circles at this point. Yet in the wake of Nokia announcing it would move away from pushing its low-end Symbian operating system on North American low-end phones (as reported earlier today by AllThingsD), the Tango rumors begin to make a certain amount of sense. Especially considering Nokia’s big bet on Windows-based phones this year.
But there’s a difference the smartphone and tablet markets that manufacturers aren’t yet taking into account. Phones are an integral part of how our society functions today. We use cellular devices on a daily basis, relying on them more and more as they’ve grown “smarter.”
Tablets are a different story.
“The tablet market, though growing, is not mass-market yet,” Gartner analyst Phillip Redman said. “Buyers today are still early adopters and are less concerned about cost versus functionality.”
Few manufacturers outside of Apple are broadcasting tablet sales widely, which suggests sales of non-Apple tablets aren’t as high as manufacturers would like. And yet, as Redman said, it’s an emerging market, one that is still forming with each new tablet release. It’s far too early to tell whether or not the low price strategy will pan out.
But one thing is certain: Even with all the discount tablet options currently available, many people are willing to pony up $500 for Apple’s tablet. In the company’s last earnings report, Apple announced it sold close to 10 million iPads over the past three months alone. Compare that to the 440,000 Xoom tablets Motorola shipped — not sold, but shipped to retailers — last quarter, and the picture becomes pretty clear.
This article was written on February 22, 2008 by CyberNet.
Microsoft must be extremely unhappy with the “quality” of the cracks available for Vista right now. Earlier this month we showed that the Vista OEM BIOS crack is still alive and kicking in Vista SP1 despite claims by Microsoft that those types of cracks had been patched. I would mark that up as an “oops” by Microsoft.
The Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) team is flexing their muscles at all of the hackers out there right now though. Later this month Microsoft is going to release an update (via Windows Update) for both the RTM and SP1 copies of Vista that will notify users if they are running a pirated copy of Vista:
Gold and SP1-installed systems [will] detect the presence of the Grace Timer and OEM BIOS exploits then alert the customer of their presence. The dialog box (shown below) also provides customers with guidance about what they can do to fix it and provides a Web link for more details, so that customers can learn about the particular exploit and learn how to disable and remove it. If they are a victim of software piracy, the linked Web pages will provide information on how to get genuine software.
They then go on to say what the users will experience that are running Vista with one of the activation workarounds installed:
The timing of when customers will first see the “Activate Your Copy of Windows” message can vary depending on what exploit is running on their system. Customers whose systems have the OEM BIOS exploit, for example, may not see anything for 15 days due to the way activation was set up for our OEM partners. Systems that have the Grace Timer exploit will be immediately prompted to activate once SP1 is installed.
The update will not uninstall or disable the exploits that it finds, but a separate tool will be available to users who wish to do so. They expect that the next release of the exploitation analyzer will include the tool needed to remove the any of the activation workarounds. From what I gather the tool will not deactivate the system nor will it mark Vista as not genuine, but it’s possible that I’ve misunderstood just how this is going to work.
What I’m left wondering is whether Microsoft has plans to push out a new update to Service Pack 1 that is able to detect some of the additional OEM BIOS cracks that are out there. Those of you who are running pirated copies of Vista better tread lightly because Microsoft is coming after you! 
Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com
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This article was written on February 20, 2007 by CyberNet.
Windows Vista has a feature included that ranks your hardware on a scale from 1 to 5.9. It is called the Windows Experience Index (WEI) and the better your hardware is the higher your score will be. It analyzes your processor, memory, graphics, gaming graphics, and primary hard disk to provide you with your overall score.
The overall score, which is referred to as the base score, is only comprised of the lowest subscore from the items mentioned above. A post was started in our forum a few weeks ago asking what everyone’s Windows Vista Experience Index was, and from the looks of it the highest value you can get is 5.9. As OldManDeath pointed out in the forum the maximum WEI score will continue to increase as better hardware makes its way to the market:
Considering how often computer technology changes, you may wonder how rating values will change as new hardware capabilities become available. So that the score you see today has the same meaning at any point in your computer’s lifetime, Microsoft will increase the top end of the rating scale as new hardware innovations become available. For example, the top end of the WEI score range by this time next year might be 8.0 instead of the current 5.9 to accommodate the availability of more advanced computer hardware. So, if I happen to still be using the same computer at that time without having made any hardware changes, my base score would still be 2.2.
Microsoft has a set of benchmarks that it obviously follows when testing your hardware to rank it. Better performance will result in a higher WEI score. What if you could know what hardware ranks up at the top? This might help you pick out hardware the next time you’re in the market to purchase a video card or processor.
ShareYourScore.com is a site where you submit the file that Windows creates when analyzing your system’s hardware performance. The file that Vista creates is a simple XML file that could be modified by anyone to provide false information, but the cool thing is that the file includes the name of your video card and processor so that they can rank them. You can also lookup your current graphics card to see what detailed statistics have been received by other submissions.
Right now there doesn’t seem to be a lot of software that makes use of the Windows Experience Index, but I’m sure they will start to emerge. Games can especially benefit from this because they will be able to know what a user’s hardware is capable of handling, and adjust the quality to optimize the performance. Give it some time and I think this could turn out to be a great thing.
Source: Connected Internet
Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com
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This article was written on September 06, 2006 by CyberNet.
Microsoft has officially released Windows Vista RC1 to the public. You can either go to their download page if you want to install their download manager or you can download it using your Web browser with these direct links. They apparently aren’t allowing people to directly link to the file now so you have to go to the site.
After you download the file you can verify it using the hash:
32-Bit
MD5 hash: 22486e815a38feffd9667317dfeec55a
SHA1 hash: e00b4ebbc81fb420cf047973b95a9cfb7cdf51b7
64-Bit
MD5 hash: f3a385aae6e4dea9226e31d9f1148b56
SHA1 hash: 8e4de7a72c828a3543ff1663243eb0836da07eea
So, who’s up for trying it? I’m about to download it and I can’t wait to see the results. Up until now I have been using Vista Pre-RC1 5536 and it is stable enough for me to use everyday…so it can only get better, right?
| Update: | As far as getting a key goes I was looking at the Customer Preview Program site and I didn’t see anything. Your Beta 2 keys should still work but I’m not sure how newcomers are supposed to get a key? Am I blind? |
| Update 2: | Yay, a compatible version of Avast is expected on Friday! This just keeps getting better. |
| Update 3: | According to the CPP site: “the CPP will open to new participants in the coming weeks.” Guess I was just blind. |
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This article was written on July 29, 2008 by CyberNet.
Windows only
One of the things that I think all operating systems lack is a universal way for applications to display notifications. Yes, there are those pesky popup balloons on Windows, but using that to display notifications for things like new emails or messages is flat out wrong.
I’m not sure why all of the operating systems aren’t coming equipped with notification systems yet, but third-party developers are starting to take it upon themselves to create easy-to-use universal notification systems. Growl on Mac OS X started this whole idea, and it looks like something similar is making its way over to the Windows side. It’s called Snarl.
What’s nice about programs like this is that they provide a central location to enable and disable notifications for all applications that use the system. Right now Snarl ships with several different types of system notifications, and extensions can also be downloaded to add additional functionality. These extensions add compatibility for programs like Firefox, Pidgin, Songbird, Thunderbird, and more.
Unfortunately there aren’t a lot of supported programs at this point, but that’s because they partly rely on developers to take it upon themselves to add support for Snarl. There’s a developers section on the site dedicated just for that purpose, and hopefully in the future extensions for popular apps like Outlook will be available.
Snarl Homepage [via Lifehacker]
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