windows

Microsoft plans to start pushing its Internet Explorer 8 ( IE 8 ) browser to consumers who have Windows Automatic-Update feature turned on. Last month, Microsoft released IE 8 for download and said it planned to start notifying users of IE 6 or IE 7 ... on Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003 or Windows Server 2008 through Automatic Update beginning on or about the third week of April this year. It's worth noting that new versions of software are inevitably buggy and prone to incompatibility problems with other software that has not been discovered and/or documented. Therefore it is not ... (view more)

Microsoft may end up needing to keep Windows XP -- support for which has recently ended -- around a little longer. According to a recent study, the vast majority of corporate IT departments won't think about implementing Windows 7 until at least ... 2011. Despite early enthusiasm for Windows 7 by beta testers, a new survey reveals that 83% of responding IT professionals have no plans to upgrade their existing Windows systems to Windows 7 in the next year. (Source: zdnet.com ) Additionally, 42% said their organizations plan to deploy Windows 7 within 12 to 24 months of its release, 24% plan to ... (view more)

Microsoft has cut the price of Windows by almost 80% for the special netbook edition. However, the price is for manufacturers, meaning consumers won't necessarily see all of the savings. Until now, computer makers normally had to pay around $70 to ... include Windows on their machines. Microsoft has now started offering Windows for just $15 to firms making netbooks. Of course, there's no guarantee manufacturers will pass all of those savings on; depending on how competitive the market is, they may attempt to keep back some of the $55 reduction for themselves. Microsoft feels the price cut is ... (view more)

A day after Microsoft revealed that it would make Windows 7 downgradeable all the way back to XP, a new poll suggests it's unlikely anyone will really want to do that. Apparently, Windows 7 is gaining popularity after all. The poll is courtesy of ... ChangeWave Research, which has been keeping tabs on Microsoft's operating systems for a while now. Two years ago it polled users shortly after Vista's much-anticipated launch, only to find that just 10% of all users felt "very satisfied" with the OS. A couple years of serious griping later, and here we are with what most hope will completely redeem ... (view more)

Optimize Usb Drives As purchased, most USB drives default to a FAT (File Allocation Table) partition. To enable NTFS (Windows NT File System) which features vastly greater performance, follow this guide. This is a handy tool for getting the best ... possible speed out of your brand new USB storage device. http://www.zenosys.com Windows Service Configurations This Windows Service Configurations tool includes explanations of each service and advice on which services you can safely disable. Discussions of Win 2K, XP, Vista and Windows 7 are all included (scroll the left side of the website). http:// ... (view more)

Rumors suggest that Hewlett-Packard (HP) is considering to use the Google Android operating system in their netbook computers . If the rumors are true, the Linux's 10 percent market share could grow faster than ever before. If the Linux-based ... operating system (OS) is considered the underdog in this battle, it should be noted that Linux is simply trying to reclaim the same figures that Microsoft once usurped. Some early netbook models offered a pre-installed Linux-based OS, but when Microsoft slashed the price of its Windows XP Home OS, Linux fell by the wayside. (Source: mashget.com ) Now the ... (view more)

Microsoft has revealed more about Windows 7 and its support for touch screen technology. The system sounds impressive, however, reports suggest it appears to have a high error rate. The Redmond-based company originally considered setting up a ... completely separate interface for software which used touch screens, similar to the way Media Center works. Instead, Microsoft opted to build everything into the main Windows 7 experience in order to cut down on switching back and forth between two interfaces. When Windows 7 is used with a touch screen, there will now be some slight tweaks to make it ... (view more)

Make Windows Shut Down Faster One of the biggest annoyances in Windows XP is waiting for what seems an eternity while it shuts down. In order to take care of this, the folks at How-to Geek have a couple of registry tweaks to help force Windows to ... shut down more quickly. http://www.howtogeek.com FSL Launcher If you are tired of dozens of icons on your desktop, try this simple but powerful and intuitive launcher to organize your shortcuts. Shortcuts management for applications, documents, URL links, folders path and more! http://www.fsl.sytes.net Today's fresh software picks were provided ... (view more)

A computer running Windows 7 stayed secure for longer than a Mac in the "PWN2OWN" hacking contest this week. But the challenge showed that Internet Explorer 8 -- just released today -- is still vulnerable. The contest, dubbed PWN2OWN, takes place at ... the annual CanSecWest security conference. Participants have to find a way to breach security on one of several computers, each running a different browser and operating system which have been fully patched with all currently available security updates. The winner this year took just 10 seconds to compromise a MacBook. It's bad news for ... (view more)

Could this be the end of the storied relationship between Internet Explorer and Microsoft's Windows operating system? That may just be the case with recent rumors suggesting Microsoft may terminate the popular browser. According to reports surfacing ... last night, Microsoft may make Internet Explorer 8 the last in a long line of dominant browsers. Some are clearly happy about the possibility of a new Microsoft browser, one built from the ground up with, ideally, constant consultation between the software company and users (not unlike the Windows 7 beta). Montreal tech consultant Gerhard Mack is ... (view more)