Microsoft chair Bill Gates today
noted at a European news conference that sales of Windows Vista have reached 140 million copies worldwide. The update is the first since the company crossed the
100 million mark at the start of the new year, although Gates doesn't clarify when the company reached the newer threshold. This demonstrates that Vista continues to sell at a "very rapid" rate, according to the Microsoft co-founder. If tracked between January and April, the number represents about 10 million copies of Vista sold per month in the first third of 2008 and signals a slight increase in the sales rate for the operating system, which averaged at just over 9 million copies sold per month in 2007. However, the sales rate is half that of the Windows update's initial results in the first two months of its launch, when it sold as many as 20 million copies per month to cater to early demand.
Most of Microsoft's Vista sales are commonly thought to stem from licenses for new computers as part of users' regular upgrade cycles rather than interruptions spurred by specific demand for the new OS. Last year, Vista was pre-installed on
less than half of all new PCs despite being on sale for all but one month.
Via [
Electronista]
Written by ShaDow on May 9th, 2008 with no comments.
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Recently, I reinstalled the software on our testbed for another long run of benchmarks. Amongst those software were some DirectX 9 and DirectX 10 games. After installing them, I realized that one of the games, BioShock did not work. Whenever I tried loading BioShock, it would just hang with a black screen.
At first, I thought it was the new version 1.1 patch because the other DirectX 10 games I installed worked. So I reinstalled BioShock without applying the patch. Still no go. It still hung when I ran it. Once again, I did an intense search online that didn't really reveal much. Take-Two Interactive's support site claimed it was the driver, so I tried a different driver. No success there either.
Read More @ TechARP
Written by ShaDow on May 9th, 2008 with no comments.
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For most people using a computer means using Windows and over the years Microsoft’s operating system has become easier to use.
However, there is always room for improvement, so in this feature we have compiled 50 of the finest tips for Windows XP and Vista. These can help to make Windows even better, easier to use and faster. Most don’t even require you to install any extra software, so if you want to make your copy of XP or Vista better, it’s possible to get started immediately.
- Access My Documents from the Taskbar (XP and Vista)
Right-click an empty section of the Taskbar and select toolbars, then New Toolbar. Navigate to the My Documents (XP) or Documents (Vista) folder and click the OK or Select Folder button. In its default position to the far right of the Taskbar, the toolbar provides menu access to the entire contents of the folder.
- Extra speed with Readyboost (Vista)
Plugging in a USB memory key is one of the easiest ways to speed up Vista. When the Autoplay menu appears, select ‘Speed up my system’, or right-click the drive in Computer and select Properties. Move to the Readyboost tab, tick ‘Use this device’ and use the slider to choose how much space should be given up. Not all USB memory keys are fast enough to provide this boost.
- Save folders after a crash (XP)
If you have lots of folders open in Windows XP, when one of them crashes, they will all close. This can be avoided by using a hidden option. Open the Control Panel, then choose Folder Options. Move to the View tab and scroll down through the list of options until you get to one called ‘Launch folder windows in a separate process’. Place a tick next to it, then click OK.
- Disable Aero Glass (Vista)
Vista’s Aero Glass transparency effects may look great, but they also drain a computer’s processing power. To speed up a struggling computer, right-click the desktop and select Personalize. Click the link ‘Window Color and Appearance’ at the top of the screen and untick the ‘Enable transparency’ box before clicking OK.
- Save memory (XP)
When you run programs, Windows XP stores files known as DLLs in memory. When you close the programs, it usually leaves them there for later use but this can slow down the computer. If you are fine editing the Windows Registry, this can be fixed – but make suitable backups first and take great care. Click Start, then Run, type regedit and press Enter.
More Tips @
ComputerActive
Written by ShaDow on May 9th, 2008 with no comments.
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Discussion of some of the cool devices that are ‘Certified for Windows Vista’, including cams, printers, motherboards, sound cards, keyboards, etc.
Post from: ITsVISTA
The Windows Experience Blog : Looking for the Logo: Update on Certified for Windows Vista
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Written by Joe on May 9th, 2008 with no comments.
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When you ask the debugger to set a read or write breakpoint,
the breakpoint fires only if the address is read from or written
to by the address you specify.
If the memory is mapped to another address and modified at that
other address, then your breakpoint Read More......(
read more)
Written by The Old New Thing : Code on May 9th, 2008 with no comments.
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I use firefox web browser every where, at my office pc, on my home desktop pc and as well on my laptop.
I always wanted to sync up my firefox on all these locations automatically, including my firefox bookmarks, browser settings ,add ons so I don’t have to configure my firefox at all these places etc.
So. I decided to google out the ways for syncing up my firefox browser with my google account.
Basically there are certain things which needs to be in sync like firefox settings , its bookmarks, browsing history etc.
Let’s cover them one by one
Following are the firefox extensions required in order to sync up your firefox with your google account.
1. Google Browser Sync - It is a Firefox is an extension that continuously synchronizes your browser settings – including bookmarks, browsing history, browser cookies, and saved passwords – across your different computers where you use firefox.
Note: It also allows you to restore open tabs and windows across different machines and browser sessions. So, it works restore the opened tabs any where you use firefox but the only precondition is google browser sync extension has to be installed.
But ?
Are you worried of using your google account in firefox ? then don’t worry as this extension is provided by google itself which gives the option of encrypting of all the information you share across all the web browser locations.
Encryption option is checked by default under settings of the extension(as shown in the image above).
Still if you are not willing to to use this extension but would like to sync up your firefox bookmarks only at all the locations, then some other options are given below.
2. Foxmarks Bookmark Synchronizer - This is again a firefox extension which allows you to sync up your firefox bookmarks and it will work silently in the background to keep your bookmarks synchronized.
You can also log in to my.foxmarks.com to manage your bookmarks from any computer.
3. Sync up using Microsoft Folder Share - To know more about how can you sync up using Folder Share. See this post on lifehacker here.
If you find more ways for syncing up firefox in a better way, let us know through comments.
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Written by Jason on May 9th, 2008 with no comments.
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Ever have the need to open more than one program or application at the same time?
Say it’s the beginning of the month and time to pay those dreaded bills. You know you need Excel, Windows calculator and Firefox or Internet Explorer open. Instead of opening them up one by one, you can easily create a batch file that will open all three programs at once.
And while your at it, why not have Excel open the spreadsheet file you use for tracking your budget and the browser open to your Bank’s home page. Here’s how to do it…
First let’s take a look at a batch file I created that will just open Excel, Calculator and Firefox:
NOTE: Examples and file paths are from Windows Vista. XP paths will probably be different for some programs as well as for MS Office (Office 2007 is used in the example).
start /d C:\Windows\System32\calc.exe
start /d “C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox” firefox.exe
start /d “C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12″ EXCEL.EXE
Pretty simple.
The above command, start tells Windows to open a separate window to run the specified program.
The /d switch tells start command the path of the program. For starting Excel and Firefox, notice that the paths are in quotes, which is needed when there is a space in the file path.
Now it’s great that all three programs open, but since it’s time to pay your bills, you need to have Excel open that budget spreadsheet and Firefox open to your Bank home page so you can log on and access you checking account.
Here’s how the commands look in the batch file to do this:
start /d C:\Windows\System32\ calc.exe
start /d “C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox” firefox.exe https://www.bankofamerica.com
start /d C:\finance\spreadsheets budget.xls
To open Bank Of America home page with Firefox, just add the URL to end of the command as shown above using https://www.bankofamerica.com.
To open the Excel spreadsheet, budget.xls you don’t need to first open Excel. budget.xls can be opened directly using the start command, as long as the extension or file type is associated to the program.
If you need Firefox to open more than one URL, say to Google, just add the URL like this (make sure you use a space in between URL’s):
start /d “C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox” firefox.exe https://www.bankofamerica.com www.google.com
Now you’re probably saying “that’s great, but how do I create a batch file?”.
That’s the easy part.
* Just open up Notepad or your favorite text editor.
* Copy the commands from above and modify them to use which ever program or Office files you want open. Make sure when you copy file and folder paths that have spaces, to use quotes.
* Then save the file with any name and a .bat extension (make sure it’s not saved using .txt as the file type extension)
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Written by Jason on May 9th, 2008 with no comments.
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I caught up with Deryl McCartney, Marketing Manager for the Windows Vista Logo Program, to get a general update on Certified for Windows Vista product as of today.
Just to re-cap: Certified for Windows Vista products are products that carry the above logo. This logo represents a group of applications and hardware that have gone through an extensive certification process that means they work great with Windows Vista. We want users who are looking for devices, applications, or PC components to easily be able to identify the ones that will give them the best experience in Windows Vista today. When I go into a store looking for something for my PCs I always "look for the logo".
As of April, we currently have over 5,000 products that are Certified for Windows Vista. Since last July, the amount of Certified for Windows Vista products has almost doubled! As you can see - we've seen quite a bit of growth with new Certified for Windows Vista products entering the market.
Deryl is very excited about some of the new Certified for Windows Vista products hitting the market today and wanted me to share a few with you:
He also tells me that there is a special section off http://www.windowsvista.com/ designed to showcase all the great Certified for Windows Vista products (right-hand side) worth checking out.
And there is even a Sidebar Gadget for you to add to your Windows Vista desktop that keeps you up-to-date with all the Certified for Windows Vista products and lets you search for specific products to see whether they are certified or not. Download the Gadget here.
I've covered my experiences with several Certified for Windows Vista devices here on the Windows Experience Blog recently:
I expect to be talking about some hot new Certified with Windows Vista devices in the very near future. And of course I expect to get regular updates from Deryl too!
And stay tuned as I have something else planned in regards to Certified for Windows Vista I think you'll like as well.
Written by Brandon LeBlanc on May 9th, 2008 with no comments.
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I caught up with Deryl McCartney, Marketing Manager for the Windows Vista Logo Program , to get a general update on Certified for Windows Vista product as of today. Just to re-cap: Certified for Windows Vista products are products that carry the above Read More......(
read more)
Written by Windows Vista Team Blog on May 9th, 2008 with no comments.
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When you buy your desktop computer, various questions will surely be asked. Capacity and required storage and speed are sure to be among them. Video cards are likewise asked for people who may want something higher than the default video cards. Today, we would usually be offered a 64KB to 128KB video card which is more than enough to accommodate our needs depending on where you will use your computer.
Video cards can go up as much as 256 to 512 KB capacities. Reason for this is that some software like gaming and photo or video editing requirements would need the higher specified video cards. Pixels and optimized performance are the normal reasons why a person would want these high-end video cards. In short, if a person really has something in mind, it is normal that video cards will also have its share of preference for consumer buyers in the market today.
With that in mind, only the professionals really have much preference for video card requirements. There are others who play Mr. Know-it-all. They invest immediately on these high-end video cards since in the event that they would want to try out these games or software, they are deemed ready for them.
Others would forego this and just cross the bridge when the time comes for them to change their video cards. To most, this may prove to be costly since it would mean upgrading through buying these cards eventually. With that in mind, wouldn’t it be better to buy them now if it is only a difference of a couple of hundreds?
Written by PC Freak on May 9th, 2008 with no comments.
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