Tag: microsoft

Vista Upgrade Advisor Beta Released

Post ImageWondering if your computer can run Windows Vista? Now you can find out. Microsoft has launched a beta version of its Vista Upgrade Advisor tool that will help you decide what version of Vista you can run.

The Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor is a small beta application that you can run on your current Windows XP-based computer to find out if it’s ready for an upgrade to Windows Vista. When you run the Upgrade Advisor, it will scan your computer and generate an easy-to-understand report of any known system and device compatibility issues, along with recommendations on how you can get your PC ready for Windows Vista. Microsoft plans to add functionality to Upgrade Advisor, such as checking how your software applications will run with Windows Vista.

I haven’t tried it out yet because the Internet here in the expedia.ca cafe at Pearson isn’t all that fast (but it’s free, so thats good) but I will when I get back. They have also released the minimum requirements for Vista.

Read: Microsoft.com

Microsoft: Buy a Wii with your 360

Post ImageAh you gotta love Microsoft sometimes. They hate Sony so much that they are willing to side with another competitor, that being Nintendo. Dickson and I have long planned to buy a Nintendo Wii (used to be called Revolution) simply because we don’t expect it to cost very much. Microsoft VP Peter Moore agrees:

“Tell me why you would buy a $600 PS3?” Peter Moore, a Microsoft vice president, said in an interview. “People are going to buy two (machines.) They’re going to buy an Xbox and they’re going to buy a Wii … for the price of one PS3.”

“People will always gravitate toward a competitively priced product — like what I believe Wii will be — with innovative new designs and great intellectual property like Mario, Zelda and Metroid,” Moore told Reuters.

He makes a good point. Super Mario Galaxy looks like a pretty cool game, especially with the Wii’s very innovative controller. I hope they announce pricing for the Wii soon!

Read: Washington Post

Windows Vista gets thumbs up from DOJ

Post ImageIt turns out that I’m not the only one who though Google’s whining about Internet Explorer 7 was dumb. The Justice Department has reviewed many parts of Windows Vista, including the new search box, and has found no problems:

While criticizing Microsoft for its implementation of its existing antitrust accord, regulators appear satisfied with the software maker’s plans for Windows Vista, including a new search box that is part of Internet Explorer 7.

As part of its status report on Microsoft’s antitrust compliance, the Justice Department said that it had reviewed the search box and concluded that Microsoft’s implementation “respects users’ and (computer makers’) default choices and is easily changed.”

Thank goodness the government has gotten something correct for once! Apparently they have also approved the “first-boot” experience for Windows Vista, after having reached an agreement with Microsoft that gives flexibility to computer makers.

So what does it all mean? Essentially, it means the only thing holding Windows Vista back now is Microsoft itself.

Read: CNET News.com

PS3 Pricing Announced

Post ImageSony announced pricing for its upcoming PlayStation 3 gaming console yesterday, and as generally expected, the console will cost more than Microsoft’s Xbox 360. Though not nearly as much as I expected! The system comes in two options, though the only difference between the two appears to be a larger hard drive:

Sony, which unveiled the specs and pricing of its PlayStation 3 at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles on Monday, will charge $499 and $599 for the consoles when they arrive in November.

Many people seem to think that it will all come down to Blu-ray. I am not so sure. I don’t exactly have a strong desire to own a Blu-ray device, though I admit the PS3 is by far the cheapest such device available. The $499 model comes with a 20 GB hard drive, making it more similar to the higher end Xbox 360 console. Who knows what kinds of controllers or other extras the PS3 will come with though.

Does anyone else think it’s stupid to charge an extra $100 for 40 GB of space? I can buy a 300 GB hard drive for just over $120 CDN for crying out loud! Unless there’s something extra, that $100 is a complete rip off.

Oh, and the sexy controller in the picture is not what the final controller looks like. Nope, the real one is much more mundane.

Read: CNET News.com

Kudos Symantec

Post ImageI’d be remiss if I didn’t give props to Symantec today. It seems that Google, Sun, and many of Microsoft’s other so-called competitors could learn a thing or two from the security firm. Instead of whining to the government, Symantec plans to innovate and compete with Microsoft:

John Thompson vowed that it would put more resources into research and development over the coming the year, speaking to reporters at the Symantec’s annual Vision conference here.

“Our strategy is to out-innovate Microsoft. We know more about security than they ever will,” Thompson said.

How refreshing to hear that a company is going to compete against Microsoft for once!

Read: CNET News.com

Browser Extensions

Post ImageAs I mentioned before, I have been testing Internet Explorer 7 Beta 2. As part of my testing, I have been using it almost exclusively. Turns out, some pages simply do not render in IE7! Sometimes this is because the rendering engine has changed so much, other times its because of crappy programming on the part of the web developer. In any case, I found that I needed to load these pages in Firefox (sounds eerily familiar to when I started using Firefox way back when and had to view pages in IE).

I have had the IEView extension for Firefox installed forever – it lets you right click on a page or link and display it in Internet Explorer. Today I came across FirefoxView, which as the name suggests, lets you right click a page or link in IE to display in Firefox. I love it! The only strange thing? It’s a Firefox extension that adds things to IE – go figure!

I am starting to think my friend Kevin was right. We chatted last week about the two browsers and he remarked that unless IE had extensions like Firefox, there was no reason for him to switch. I have to admit, I wish IE had extensions like Firefox.

Grow up Google!

Post ImageSometimes companies do things that just leave you baffled. There’s lots of commentary out there that suggests Google is taking the evil away from Microsoft, and the latest bit of news seems to support that. Apparently Google is not happy with Microsoft’s new browser and the way it features MSN Search:

“The market favors open choice for search, and companies should compete for users based on the quality of their search services,” said Marissa Mayer, the vice president for search products at Google. “We don’t think it’s right for Microsoft to just set the default to MSN. We believe users should choose.”

So now they are lobbying the government, expressing concern about competition in the search business. Are you kidding me? First of all, it’s dead easy to change the default search provider in IE7 to Google (or anything else for that matter). Secondly, are they totally forgetting that they made a deal with Firefox to be the default seach provider (and start page too) in that browser? Or that they pay a lot of Mozilla’s employees? I mean seriously.

If you’re going to complain about something, at least make sure you’re not doing the very thing you’re complaining about. All too often Microsoft’s competitors run to the government. It’s kind of sad, really.

UPDATE: As this post explains, MSN Search is not the default search provider after all!

Read: CNET News.com

IE7 Beta 2 Released

Post ImageMicrosoft has released the latest test version of the new Internet Explorer 7 browser, this one titled simply Beta 2 (what the heck was with that Preview anyway). From the official IE blog:

We acted on a lot of the feedback and bug reports from the previous public releases. In particular, I feel good about changes we made based on reports from web developers around some CSS behaviors, application compatibility feedback, reliability data (yes, we do analyze the information that comes when you click “Send Error Report”), and user experience feedback. People on the team will post additional details about changes over the next few days.

Unfortunately you have uninstall any previous IE7 releases before installing the new one, but this is the last release that you’ll need to do that for. Apparently the rendering engine is now complete, which means that the way pages look in this release is how they’ll look in the final release too.

Most of the UI is the same as older releases, but it’s funny how small things make a big difference. The tabs now have a gradient that I didn’t notice before, and when you open a new tab, there is a “help” page displayed which is great for new users. A couple other things I have noticed:

  • If you right click a link and choose “Open in New Tab”, the new tab opens right next to the current tab, even if you have a bunch of tabs. Makes it easier to organize them which is nice!
  • When you press CRTL-T to open a new tab, the address bar does not receive focus which is incredibly annoying. I want to open a new tab using the key combo and then immediately start typing the address!
  • I still don’t get the “multiple home pages” feature.
  • I really love that the menu bar and stuff auto-hides when you enter full screen mode (F11).

So far, I quite like IE7. This release still uses quite a bit of memory, but that’s not really an issue at the moment considering Firefox ALWAYS uses more.

Read: Internet Explorer

Windows on a Mac arrives!

Post ImageOn Sunday I referenced a post at Engadget that suggested the Mac would soon have the ability to run Microsoft’s Windows operating system. Well today Apple released software called “Boot Camp” that allows Mac owners to do just that:

The software, which will be included in Mac OS X 10.5, called Leopard, is available for download now on Apple’s Web site. Apple will also preview Boot Camp in August at its Worldwide Developer Conference, the company said.

“Apple has no desire or plan to sell or support Windows, but many customers have expressed their interest to run Windows on Apple’s superior hardware, now that we use Intel processors. We think Boot Camp makes the Mac even more appealing to Windows users considering making the switch,” Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide product marketing, said in a statement.

Apparently the software only works with Windows XP for now, and there are no plans to support Windows Vista (yet). First they switch to Intel processors, now this. Are OS X’s days numbered? Is Apple going to take my advice and become just a hardware company? The argument is becoming easier and easier to make!

Read: CNET News.com

Imagine Cup Canada 2006

Post ImageIt’s getting to be that time of year again! Microsoft’s annual Imagine Cup programming competition is starting to heat up, with thousands of students from around the world already registered. If you’re a Canadian looking to enter the Software Design Challenge, time is running out:

The Software Design Challenge is the most high profile Imagine Cup competition. This year, teams of young technologists are challenged to create the an innovative, impactful, and elegant piece of software to help people live healthier lives.

Register your team for the Software Design Challenge – you can register until April 7, 2006. Create your executive summary and submit it using the required submission template to ICcan@microsoft.com by midnight April 7, 2006. THIS is all you need do to secure your team a place in the most high profile category of Imagine Cup 2006.

Having competed in the past, I can honestly say that the Imagine Cup is an excellent experience for students who want to do some .NET programming (as in my experience, most schools do not teach .NET or C# or anything related). In addition to the Software Design invitational, there are also invitationals for IT, Short Film, Algorithm, and Interface Designer, plus the Project Hoshimi Programming Battle. Lots of ways to participate!

I think Dickson and I will be entering a team again this year, as it is our last year of eligibility and we think we have a great idea too. Of course, it is related to podcasting, but that’s all I’ll say for now.

Read: Imagine Cup Canada