Saturday, October 31, 2009

Totally unrelated to computers: Stranger In Moscow - By Micheal Jackson

This video is not the normal released version, rather its a remixed version called “Beautiful Version”. Thank you Michael…

see original version here

-KennyS

"Stranger In Moscow"

I was wandering in the rain
Mask of life, feelin' insane
Swift and sudden fall from grace
Sunny days seem far away
Kremlin's shadow belittlin' me
Stalin's tomb won't let me be
On and on and on it came
Wish the rain would just let me


How does it feel (How does it feel)
How does it feel
How does it feel
When you're alone
And you're cold inside


Here abandoned in my fame
Armageddon of the brain
KGB was doggin' me
Take my name and just let me be
Then a begger boy called my name
Happy days will drown the pain
On and on and on it came
And again, and again, and again...
Take my name and just let me be


How does it feel (How does it feel)
How does it feel
How does it feel
How does it feel
How does it feel (How does it feel now)
How does it feel
How does it feel
When you're alone
And you're cold inside


How does it feel (How does it feel)
How does it feel
How does it feel
How does it feel
How does it feel (How does it feel now)
How does it feel
How does it feel
When you're alone
And you're cold inside


Like stranger in Moscow
Like stranger in Moscow
We're talkin' danger
We're talkin' danger, baby
Like stranger in Moscow
We're talkin' danger
We're talkin' danger, baby
Like stranger in Moscow
I'm live in lonely
I'm live in lonely, baby
Stranger in Moscow


[KGB interrogator - Russian to English Translation]
"Why have you come from the West?
Confess! To steal the great achievments of
the people, the accomplishments of the workers..."

Friday, October 30, 2009

Microsoft mulling 128-bit versions of Windows 8, Windows 9

 

According to a supposed Microsoft Research employee's LinkedIn profile, Microsoft is working on 128-bit architecture compatibility with the Windows 8 and Windows 9 kernels. Consequently, the company is also forming relationships with major partners, including Intel, AMD, HP, and IBM.

Microsoft mulling 128-bit versions of Windows 8, Windows 9Believe it or not, Windows 7's successor(s) have been in the planning and early development stages for a while now. We haven't posted anything about any of them yet, but we've been watching closely to see if anything really interesting turned up. Exactly two weeks ago, it did. A LinkedIn profile, which has already been taken down, for a Robert Morgan, Senior Research & Development at Microsoft, has shone a sliver of light on the possibility of 128-bit support coming to Windows 8. According to the LinkedIn page, which has been removed since, Morgan has been with the software giant since January 2002, but we're more intrigued with what his profile (first paragraph) and his status (second paragraph) before they disappeared:

Working in high security department for research and development involving strategic planning for medium and longterm projects. Research & Development projects including 128bit architecture compatibility with the Windows 8 kernel and Windows 9 project plan. Forming relationships with major partners: Intel, AMD, HP, and IBM.

Robert Morgan is working to get IA-128 working backwards with full binary compatibility on the existing IA-64 instructions in the hardware simulation to work for Windows 8 and definitely Windows 9.

Windows 8 News found Morgan's profile first and immediately started trying to get in contact with him over LinkedIn. When we saw this, we leaned back and waited to see if they could get a response from him. They did. The site claims it has managed to get an exclusive interview with Morgan and is letting its readers to ask questions. The deadline is October 11, 2009 so head on over and post your queries.

This news is interesting because we always thought Windows 7 would be the last release that had 32-bit and 64-bit versions. This was brought on by the fact that Windows Server 2008 R2, the server version of Windows 7, was the first Windows Server release to be 64-bit only. The next client version of Windows should therefore follow suit, but apparently Microsoft is going to prepare it for 128-bit as well. We're not saying Windows 8 will definitely come in 64-bit and 128-bit flavors, but Microsoft is moving down that path, and at the very least, Windows 9 just might.

Via : KezNews.com

Microsoft to ease Windows 7 upgrades to netbooks with USB key solution

 

http://techmirage.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/install-windows-7-from-usb-flash-memory-drive.jpgRemember the rumors earlier this year that Microsoft was going to deliver Windows 7 on a thumb drive? Well, the rumors were correct — sort of…

On October 22, Microsoft announced it will enable netbook users who want to upgrade from XP (or Vista) to Windows 7 to use a special version of Windows 7 preloaded on a USB stick.

(I have no idea whether this has any connection to the rumored “StartKey” project I wrote about back in 2008. StartKey, the way it was originally portrayed to me, was more of an initiative to put Windows and Windows Live settings on a USB stick.)

Microsoft officials confirmed to News.com that it will make available an online tool, starting on October 22, “that will walk users through the process of moving a downloaded copy of Windows 7 onto a USB drive, be that a memory stick or portable hard drive.”

Microsoft officials sent me the following statement when I asked for more details on the new tool:

“A recurring question is whether we’re going to provide any special tools to help customers install Windows 7 on PC’s that lack a DVD drive, such a netbook PC. Today, Microsoft is announcing the upcoming availability of a free tool to help our netbook PC customers (without DVD drives) install Windows 7. Once a customer has purchased and downloaded their copy of Windows 7 from the Microsoft online store, they can use the tool to create either a bootable USB drive or a DVD using the download. This new resource, known as the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool (WUDT) will be freely downloadable from the Microsoft Store as well as the Microsoft Download Center beginning on October 22nd.

“This tool will be available to support localized versions of Windows 7 including Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, and Brazilian Portuguese. Customers who want to learn more about the USB/DVD Download Tool can visit www.microsoftstore.com/win7usb.”

Via : ZDNet

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Windows 7 32-Bit (x86) Direct Download Links

 

windows7_thumb[4]_thumb[2]_thumb[2] Windows 7 has been officially launched, but Microsoft never makes available official download links that allow retail customers to download setup installer or ISO image of Windows 7, despite digital downloads have been the sole distribution channel for many that purchases from online store or on MSDN or TechNet subscriptions.

Many mass general public who requires a Windows 7 installation DVD or ISO image has to rely on BT torrent to download Windows 7 ISO from MSDN or TechNet Subscriber Downloads, and it carries the risk of getting fake, incorrect, malicious or infected images instead.

Now the direct download links to the Windows 7 operating system purchased online have been leaked. The installation files of Windows 7 is hosted on the server on domain msft-dnl.digitalrivercontent.net owned by Digital River, one of the delivery partners for Vista and also the brain behind Windows Marketplace e-commerce store. The Windows 7 installation files are meant as a way of ESD (Electronic Software Distribution).

Unlike Windows Vista, each editions of Windows 7 has its own different and separate download links. The Windows 7 setup installer package comes in 3 parts, which is an executable that starts the extraction or unpacking and installation process, plus setup1.box and setup2.box. After extracting all content to a folder named ExpandedSetup, the installation files should be the same with what contains on a DVD.

Windows 7 Direct Download Links

32-bit Windows 7 Professional x86 http://msft-dnl.digitalrivercontent.net/msvista/pub/X15-79643/Win7-P-Retail-en-us-x86.exe
File Size: 69.78 MB
MD5: 204D02EA3AB587B70621A7EC99B3F1B8
SHA-1: 60BA243A05261AA7A3AF9A3ADF509E8069B6E891

http://msft-dnl.digitalrivercontent.net/msvista/pub/X15-79643/setup1.box
File Size: 2.04 GB
MD5: D5CC1E45D6EB57B8500DBCF622F39637
SHA-1: EDAA9BA294EA7E49D4FE731E81CDD1E3C6168F51

http://msft-dnl.digitalrivercontent.net/msvista/pub/X15-79643/setup2.box
File Size: 137.59 MB
MD5: FAB28838A97E875D27E4E7239F42131C
SHA-1: 78D8ED22DF4FCDA102B72D41420D9854DC0DF7B4

Note: If you have corrupted files or incomplete files, try to use a download manager to download manager, as the server seems to close connection once the size reaches 2 GB.

Also available is 64-bit (x64) Windows 7 ESD setup installer downloads.

After downloading the files, simply double click on the executable, e.g. Win7-P-Retail-en-us-x86.exe to start unloading the box and to install Windows 7. Note that 3 files must be put together in the same directory. You still need a product key to activate installed Windows 7.

And there is hack to create or make bootable Windows 7 DVD ISO images out of downloaded files.

And hack to change the edition of the Windows 7 installation files in order to use it to install other editions that the one downloaded, such as Windows 7 Ultimate and Home Premium.

Via : My Digital Life

Vista to Windows 7 Upgrades Kill Access to OEM Recovery Applications

 

windows7_thumb[4]_thumb[2]_thumb[2] Users that upgrade Windows Vista OEM computers to Windows 7 might find that the recovery applications set in place by the original equipment manufacturer are no longer accessible.

This scenario is valid for some OEM machines that were acquired with Windows Vista pre-installed, the Redmond company explained. OEMs, in certain cases, will preload the Windows Recovery Environment inside the operating system. In this regard, users would be able to benefit from the System Recovery Options right in the graphical user interface (UI) and help topics.

“You have a computer that is preinstalled with Windows Vista by the computer manufacturer. After you upgrade from Windows Vista to Windows 7 on this computer, you notice that manufacturer-specific recovery applications are no longer available on the System Recovery Options menu,” Microsoft explained.

It is not uncommon for OEMs to customize the System Recovery Options. Original Equipment Manufacturers will in fact tailor Windows platforms to their specific needs, and always present custom build copies of the operating system along with their new computers. In this context, the Windows RE tools are customized in accordance with different OEMs. Customers will only be aware of the fact that Windows will come with manufacturer-specific recovery applications included by default. The general rule is that the apps will be offered through the Windows RE tools menu.

Upgrading from Windows Vista to Windows 7 is an action capable of cutting off access to OEM recovery apps. “When these systems are upgraded to Windows 7, the manufacturer-preloaded Windows RE option will be replaced with a Windows 7-compatible Windows RE,” the software giant added.

There is no hot fix or update from Microsoft to resolve this issue. The Redmond company only recommends that in order “to obtain the manufacturer-specific recovery applications for Windows 7, contact your computer manufacturer.”

Via : SOFTPEDIA

Kindle for the PC Announced – and it’s awesome!

 

Amazon announced “Kindle for PC” – a free application that let’s readers enjoy reading books purchased from the Kindle Store right on their Windows PC. Today the Kindle Store has over 360,000 books to purchase, download and read. That’s a lot of books. We showed off Kindle for PC for the first time at our New York City Launch Party for Windows 7.

kindle1_5F00_40CAF9D7

 

kindle2_5F00_46A59D70

The beta for Kindle for PC will be available as a free download in November. You can sign-up here to receive an email when Kindle for PC Beta is available.

Kindle for PC takes advantage of key Windows 7 features such as Windows Touch for zooming in and out with a pinch of the fingers and turning pages with the swipe of a finger. It also includes integration with the Windows Taskbar through a Jump List. I’ve been playing with it for the last few days on my HP TouchSmart tx2 and it’s wonderful.

Kindle for PC will also run on PCs running Windows XP and Windows Vista as well.

kindle_5F00_PC_5F00_jumplist_5F00_2C65344C

The Kindle for PC application also uses Amazon’s Whispersync technology. This allows the application to sync bookmarks and the last read page across PCs (and other devices such as the Kindle and Kindle DX).

Here is a demo of Kindle for PC in action!

Via : www.windowsteamblog.com

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Microsoft: Trojans like USA, worms prefer Brazil!

 

Following the public release of Microsoft Security Essentials a few weeks ago, Microsoft has combed its data and released an interesting set of results showing how different infections apply across the 19 countries in which the software is available. This is how the breakdown of threats fell across those countries:-

msetelm3

According to the data, trojans come up as the number one detection in the USA, worms affect Brazilians the most, and China is mainly affected by potentially unwanted software threats.

msetelm4

Breaking the results down into particular threat families, the Wimad trojans and FakeXPA trojan are the top culprits when it comes to infection in the USA. Brazil is mainly infected by the Conficker worm and the Taterf worm, and China's software exploits include Shellcode and IFrameRef.

msetelm5

In total, around 4 million threats were detected on the 500,000 machines the survey included. This equates to around 8 detections per machine, suggesting that most machines had multiple threats.
Interestingly, 44% of machines that use Microsoft Security Essentials are running Windows 7, which isn't due for release until October 22. Of those, about one-third are running in 64-bit mode.

The most detections were found on machines running the ageing Windows XP, and the least on Windows 7, which Microsoft suggest follows the typical trend of seeing fewer threats on newer operating systems.

Microsoft Security Essentials is currently available for download for Windows users at http://www.microsoft.com/Security_Essentials/

Via : neowin.net