FileZilla Portable is the normal FileZilla program, but it doesn't require installing. To install FileZilla Portable extract the RAR file to a folder of your choice on a flash drive or burn the files to a CD or DVD. Start the FileZilla by double-clicking on filezilla.exe and use FileZilla normally.
FileZilla Client is a fast and reliable cross-platform FTP, FTPS and SFTP client with lots of useful features and an intuitive interface. It is a powerful FTP-client for 32-bit MS Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 for file uploading and downloading to and from your FTP site, server, or host.
The program lets you transfer files and navigate among folders, Web sites, and your computer. This software enables you to perform multiple file transfers simultaneously. FileZilla is open source software distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License. It has been designed for ease of use and with support for as many features as possible, while still being fast and reliable.
Download:
FileZilla Portable 3.3.1
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Mozilla Firefox Portable 3.6 RC1
Portable Firefox is a fully functional solution of Firefox optimized for use on a USB key drive.
Portable Firefox has some specially-selected optimizations to make it perform faster and extend the life of your USB key as well as a specialized launcher that will allow most of your favorite extensions to work as you switch computers.
Portable Firefox will also work from a CDRW drive (in packet mode), ZIP drives, external hard drives, some MP3 players, flash RAM cards and more.
Download:
Mozilla Firefox Portable 3.6 RC1
Portable Firefox has some specially-selected optimizations to make it perform faster and extend the life of your USB key as well as a specialized launcher that will allow most of your favorite extensions to work as you switch computers.
Portable Firefox will also work from a CDRW drive (in packet mode), ZIP drives, external hard drives, some MP3 players, flash RAM cards and more.
Download:
Mozilla Firefox Portable 3.6 RC1
AVG Anti-Virus 9.0 Build 730a1834
Essential protection that won’t get in your way! If you use your computer every day, you need protection that’s always there, constantly keeping you safe. With AVG Anti-Virus, you get hassle-free protection against today’s most sophisticated threats, online and offline. AVG Anti-Virus includes our unique LinkScanner® to prevent you from accidentally visiting harmful sites. It’s faster, smarter security that won’t slow you down.
AVG Antivirus is one of the most complete programs we have found to date. It includes many new options to make it one of the most effective virus scanners on the market. It is still plagued by horrible slowdowns at times. Even things so simple as just typing an IM can be stopped for several seconds for some reason. If you can get passed the occasional slowdowns of your computer, the scanning functionality of AVG Antivirus is top of the line. With the rewrite of the scanning engine, AVG includes multi-processor support.
• Enjoy consistently high speed scanning performance with our NEW enhanced virus scanner
• Surf, and search with confidence, with LinkScanner® checking web pages at the only time that matters – right before you click that link
Surfing and searching the web, social networking
• LinkScanner® Active Surf-Shield Ensures every web page you visit is safe – even before you go there
• LinkScanner® Search-Shield Applies safety ratings to your Google, Bing/MSN and Yahoo search results
• NEW Superior Phishing Protection Checks to make sure web pages really are what they appear to be
Emailing, chatting, and downloading
• Web Shield Lets you download and exchange files without risking virus infections
• E-mail Scanner Keeps you safe from dangerous attachments and links in your e-mail
Whether you’re online or offline
• Anti-Virus Makes sure you can’t get or spread a virus, worm, or Trojan horse
• Anti-Spyware Prevents unauthorized information access by spyware and adware
• Anti-Rootkit Ensures even the toughest and most sophisticated threats are kept off your PC
• Game Mode Keeps you safe without interrupting your game-play
• Update Manager Makes sure you’re always protected against the latest threats – automatically
When you install AVG Anti-Virus, every one of these features is fully-functional – there’s no need to do a thing. But if you want to tweak your settings or find out more about how each component works, everything is accessible through the easy-to-use interface.
Download:
AVG Anti-Virus 9.0 Build 730a1834
AVG Antivirus is one of the most complete programs we have found to date. It includes many new options to make it one of the most effective virus scanners on the market. It is still plagued by horrible slowdowns at times. Even things so simple as just typing an IM can be stopped for several seconds for some reason. If you can get passed the occasional slowdowns of your computer, the scanning functionality of AVG Antivirus is top of the line. With the rewrite of the scanning engine, AVG includes multi-processor support.
• Enjoy consistently high speed scanning performance with our NEW enhanced virus scanner
• Surf, and search with confidence, with LinkScanner® checking web pages at the only time that matters – right before you click that link
Surfing and searching the web, social networking
• LinkScanner® Active Surf-Shield Ensures every web page you visit is safe – even before you go there
• LinkScanner® Search-Shield Applies safety ratings to your Google, Bing/MSN and Yahoo search results
• NEW Superior Phishing Protection Checks to make sure web pages really are what they appear to be
Emailing, chatting, and downloading
• Web Shield Lets you download and exchange files without risking virus infections
• E-mail Scanner Keeps you safe from dangerous attachments and links in your e-mail
Whether you’re online or offline
• Anti-Virus Makes sure you can’t get or spread a virus, worm, or Trojan horse
• Anti-Spyware Prevents unauthorized information access by spyware and adware
• Anti-Rootkit Ensures even the toughest and most sophisticated threats are kept off your PC
• Game Mode Keeps you safe without interrupting your game-play
• Update Manager Makes sure you’re always protected against the latest threats – automatically
When you install AVG Anti-Virus, every one of these features is fully-functional – there’s no need to do a thing. But if you want to tweak your settings or find out more about how each component works, everything is accessible through the easy-to-use interface.
Download:
AVG Anti-Virus 9.0 Build 730a1834
AVG Internet Security 9.0 Build 730a1834
Complete protection for everything you do! With AVG Internet Security, our most advanced protection, you get a worry-free online experience every time. This award-winning product gives you unbeatable internet security by protecting against viruses, spyware, hackers, spam and malicious websites. AVG Internet Security is a reliable and easy-to-use solution for home and small office users which is trusted by millions of users worldwide.
AVG Internet Security's multiple layers of protection mean you don't have to worry about identity theft, spam or viruses. And it'll even prevent you from accidentally visiting harmful sites. It's faster, smarter security that won't slow your computer down. With AVG Internet Security you also have access for the first time to AVG Identity Theft Recovery Unit that will help you get your life back in order if you ever become a victim of identity theft – online or offline.
Unique Internet security thanks to new technology - Only AVG gives you real-time protection against malicious websites thanks to our new LinkScanner technology.
• Safely bank and shop online without fear of identity theft thanks to AVG's new Identity Protection technology
• Surf, and search with confidence, with LinkScanner® checking web pages at the only time that matters - right before you click that link
Additionally, Internet Security pulls together elements of AVG’s firewall, identity protection, and anti-virus signature detection capabilities to deliver the most accurate detection of new and unknown threats. This enhanced protection level makes use of cutting-edge technologies like application white-listing and “in-the-cloud” automated testing for tell-tale signs that indicate the presence of a new threat.
Download:
AVG Internet Security 9.0 Build 730a1834
AVG Internet Security's multiple layers of protection mean you don't have to worry about identity theft, spam or viruses. And it'll even prevent you from accidentally visiting harmful sites. It's faster, smarter security that won't slow your computer down. With AVG Internet Security you also have access for the first time to AVG Identity Theft Recovery Unit that will help you get your life back in order if you ever become a victim of identity theft – online or offline.
Unique Internet security thanks to new technology - Only AVG gives you real-time protection against malicious websites thanks to our new LinkScanner technology.
• Safely bank and shop online without fear of identity theft thanks to AVG's new Identity Protection technology
• Surf, and search with confidence, with LinkScanner® checking web pages at the only time that matters - right before you click that link
Additionally, Internet Security pulls together elements of AVG’s firewall, identity protection, and anti-virus signature detection capabilities to deliver the most accurate detection of new and unknown threats. This enhanced protection level makes use of cutting-edge technologies like application white-listing and “in-the-cloud” automated testing for tell-tale signs that indicate the presence of a new threat.
Download:
AVG Internet Security 9.0 Build 730a1834
How to Minimize Windows 7 Media Player WMP12 to Taskbar as Mini Toolbar
In Windows Vista with Windows Media Player 11 (WMP11), user can choose to enable Windows Media Player toolbar on Windows Taskbar as a mini toolbar or Taskband or Deskband, where user can directly access WMP controls and view song or music currently been played.
With the new programming directive from Microsoft for Windows 7 where icons replace buttons on Taskbar (which also makes MSN Windows Live Messenger does not minimize to notification tray), Windows Media Player 12 (WMP12) in Windows 7 does not have such an ability to minimize to mini toolbar in Taskbar.
Many people resorts to downgrade to Windows Media Player 11 from WMP 12 in Windows 7 in order to get back the WMP toolbar in Taskbar. But thanks to Justin Buser, who had posted a solution on WinMatrix forum, now Windows 7 users can get back the Windows Media Player toolbar for WMP12.
Here’s hack to re-enable Windows Media Player 12 toolbar in Taskbar of Windows 7, and how to enable the Windows Media Player 12 mini toolbar. Unfortunately, WMP icon or button does not hidden and made disappeared from Windows 7 Taskbar to replace with just a mini toolbar, although the toolbar itself already comes with play, pause, forward, backward, volume adjustment and other controls. Thus, it makes the toolbar for WMP12 kind of redundant.
1. Obtain a copy of wmpband.dll from Windows Vista at following location. wmpband.dll provides functionality of WMP toolbar or Taskband on Taskbar.
%ProgramFiles%\Windows Media Player\wmpband.dll
The file should be copied from a comptuer with the same operating system type or architecture, i.e. 32-bit versus 64-bit. Alternatively, just download the following pre-extracted wmpband.dll from the following ZIP archive:
32-bit: wmpband-x86.zip
64-bit: wmpband-x64.zip
2. Copy the wmpband.dll into %ProgramFiles%\Windows Media Player\ folder of Windows 7 (with WMP12).
3. Go to Control Panel -> System and Security -> Administrative Tools, and open Services panel.
4. Stop the Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service.
# Open a command prompt as administrator.
# Run and execute the following command:
regsvr32 “%ProgramFiles%\Windows Media Player\wmpband.dll”
# Restart the Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service.
# Start Windows Media Player 12.
# Minimize the window of Windows Media Player.
# Right click on Windows Taskbar, and select Toolbars, and choose Windows Media Player from the list (a tick will appear beside it on subsequent view).
# The Windows Media Player toolbar will appear close to notification area (system tray).
# For user facing the following error message, just click on “Yes” to continue:
The Windows Media Player toolbar isn’t compatible with this version of Windows
If you continue, the toolbar might appear incorrectly. To check for an updated version, go to the software publisher’s website.
Do you want this toolbar on your taskbar?
Tip: If there is problem enabling the Windows Media Player 12 toolbar in Windows 7, try to perform the steps above again after a clean reboot and before running Windows Media Player.
source: mydigitallife.info
With the new programming directive from Microsoft for Windows 7 where icons replace buttons on Taskbar (which also makes MSN Windows Live Messenger does not minimize to notification tray), Windows Media Player 12 (WMP12) in Windows 7 does not have such an ability to minimize to mini toolbar in Taskbar.
Many people resorts to downgrade to Windows Media Player 11 from WMP 12 in Windows 7 in order to get back the WMP toolbar in Taskbar. But thanks to Justin Buser, who had posted a solution on WinMatrix forum, now Windows 7 users can get back the Windows Media Player toolbar for WMP12.
Here’s hack to re-enable Windows Media Player 12 toolbar in Taskbar of Windows 7, and how to enable the Windows Media Player 12 mini toolbar. Unfortunately, WMP icon or button does not hidden and made disappeared from Windows 7 Taskbar to replace with just a mini toolbar, although the toolbar itself already comes with play, pause, forward, backward, volume adjustment and other controls. Thus, it makes the toolbar for WMP12 kind of redundant.
1. Obtain a copy of wmpband.dll from Windows Vista at following location. wmpband.dll provides functionality of WMP toolbar or Taskband on Taskbar.
%ProgramFiles%\Windows Media Player\wmpband.dll
The file should be copied from a comptuer with the same operating system type or architecture, i.e. 32-bit versus 64-bit. Alternatively, just download the following pre-extracted wmpband.dll from the following ZIP archive:
32-bit: wmpband-x86.zip
64-bit: wmpband-x64.zip
2. Copy the wmpband.dll into %ProgramFiles%\Windows Media Player\ folder of Windows 7 (with WMP12).
3. Go to Control Panel -> System and Security -> Administrative Tools, and open Services panel.
4. Stop the Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service.
# Open a command prompt as administrator.
# Run and execute the following command:
regsvr32 “%ProgramFiles%\Windows Media Player\wmpband.dll”
# Restart the Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service.
# Start Windows Media Player 12.
# Minimize the window of Windows Media Player.
# Right click on Windows Taskbar, and select Toolbars, and choose Windows Media Player from the list (a tick will appear beside it on subsequent view).
# The Windows Media Player toolbar will appear close to notification area (system tray).
# For user facing the following error message, just click on “Yes” to continue:
The Windows Media Player toolbar isn’t compatible with this version of Windows
If you continue, the toolbar might appear incorrectly. To check for an updated version, go to the software publisher’s website.
Do you want this toolbar on your taskbar?
Tip: If there is problem enabling the Windows Media Player 12 toolbar in Windows 7, try to perform the steps above again after a clean reboot and before running Windows Media Player.
source: mydigitallife.info
Fix Windows Vista SP2 Stop 0×000000FE BUGCODE_USB_DRIVER Error
Recently we had covered two fixes for Windows Vista one blue screen of death and another one Black screen of death. Now here is yet another issue uncovered on Windows Vista Sp2.
User who have upgraded from Windows Vista service pack 1 to service pack 2 are facing repetitive crashes with following error message,
Stop 0×000000FE (parameter1, parameter2, parameter3, parameter4) BUGCODE_USB_DRIVER.
Usually occurs on computers that have NVIDIA chipsets. Additionally, this problem may occur when you perform very basic operations, such as plugging in a USB keyboard,
Unfortunately the update is not available but you can download hotfix to fix Vista Sp2 crashes Stop 0×000000FE BUGCODE_USB_DRIVER.
Fix Windows Vista SP2 Stop 0×000000FE BUGCODE_USB_DRIVER Error
User who have upgraded from Windows Vista service pack 1 to service pack 2 are facing repetitive crashes with following error message,
Stop 0×000000FE (parameter1, parameter2, parameter3, parameter4) BUGCODE_USB_DRIVER.
Usually occurs on computers that have NVIDIA chipsets. Additionally, this problem may occur when you perform very basic operations, such as plugging in a USB keyboard,
Unfortunately the update is not available but you can download hotfix to fix Vista Sp2 crashes Stop 0×000000FE BUGCODE_USB_DRIVER.
Fix Windows Vista SP2 Stop 0×000000FE BUGCODE_USB_DRIVER Error
How to Uninstall and Re-Install Windows Media Player 12 (WMP12) in Windows 7
Windows Media Player 12 (WMP12) is the default and factory-installed media player that comes with Windows 7, and WMP12 does not have standalone setup installer available for free download.
As such, Windows 7 users cannot uninstall and install Windows Media Player 12 manually. In fact, there is no entry of WMP12 in “Programs and Features” that allows uninstallation or removal.
There is chance that user may need to uninstall, remove and then re-install Windows Media Player 12, such as to fix WMP corruption (possibly due to attempt to downgrade or convert WMP12 to WMP11), or to reset and re-configure Windows Media Player.
For WMP 12 in Windows 7, here’s the steps to uninstall or re-install Windows Media Player and Windows Media Center (which will be removed if WMP is removed as it relies on WMP).
1. Click on Start button, and open Control Panel -> Programs -> Programs and Features.
2. Click on Turn Windows features on or off in the left pane.
# Expand Media Features.
# Uncheck (untick) check box for Windows Media Player.
# Click Yes to continue when prompted with dialog box saying:
The following Windows features will also be turned off because they are dependent on Windows Media Player. Do you want to continue?
Windows Media Center
Other Windows features and programs installed on your computer might also be affected, including default settings
Click OK to remove WMP and WMC, and quit.
7. Restart computer.
To re-install Windows Media Player and/or Windows Media Center again, follow these steps:
1. Open Turn Windows features on or off again.
2. Check (tick) the checkbox for Windows Media Player and/or Windows Media Center.
3. Restart computer.
4. Windows Media Player 12 will be reinstate and reset. Launch Windows Media Player, and re-initialize the program.
Tip: If for some reason the re-installation of WMP and WMC is not clean, once uninstalled, try go to %ProgramFiles% (and %ProgramFiles(x86)% for 64-bit OS) folder, and delete the Windows Media Player folder.
source: mydigitallife.info
As such, Windows 7 users cannot uninstall and install Windows Media Player 12 manually. In fact, there is no entry of WMP12 in “Programs and Features” that allows uninstallation or removal.
There is chance that user may need to uninstall, remove and then re-install Windows Media Player 12, such as to fix WMP corruption (possibly due to attempt to downgrade or convert WMP12 to WMP11), or to reset and re-configure Windows Media Player.
For WMP 12 in Windows 7, here’s the steps to uninstall or re-install Windows Media Player and Windows Media Center (which will be removed if WMP is removed as it relies on WMP).
1. Click on Start button, and open Control Panel -> Programs -> Programs and Features.
2. Click on Turn Windows features on or off in the left pane.
# Expand Media Features.
# Uncheck (untick) check box for Windows Media Player.
# Click Yes to continue when prompted with dialog box saying:
The following Windows features will also be turned off because they are dependent on Windows Media Player. Do you want to continue?
Windows Media Center
Other Windows features and programs installed on your computer might also be affected, including default settings
Click OK to remove WMP and WMC, and quit.
7. Restart computer.
To re-install Windows Media Player and/or Windows Media Center again, follow these steps:
1. Open Turn Windows features on or off again.
2. Check (tick) the checkbox for Windows Media Player and/or Windows Media Center.
3. Restart computer.
4. Windows Media Player 12 will be reinstate and reset. Launch Windows Media Player, and re-initialize the program.
Tip: If for some reason the re-installation of WMP and WMC is not clean, once uninstalled, try go to %ProgramFiles% (and %ProgramFiles(x86)% for 64-bit OS) folder, and delete the Windows Media Player folder.
source: mydigitallife.info
Windows Mobile Gets a Smarter Look with Version 6.5.3
Those who have been playing around with windows mobile 6.5 will definitely know the difficulty in navigating through it.
Yes, with windows mobile 6.5 having the small “Start” icon placed at the top, is a real pain in the ass especially for those using Pocket PCs with resistive touch screens. Chill!!
The Windows mobile version 6.5.3 Build 23091.5.3.0 believed to be way better than its current version was displayed at CES 2010 with Toshiba TG01 mobile phone running it. Though the changes are minor, with the 6.5.3 update Microsoft wants to put an end to the long standing complaints of them using not so user friendly interface.
In this version 6.5.3, they have moved the “Start” button to the bottom of home screen which almost looks like Internet Explorer Mobile app navigation icons.The Qwerty keyboard used for text inputting also gets a cooler look and sliding features.
Features of Windows mobile 6.5.3
1. Good looking larger icons ( Start, close etc )
2. Touch support gets a boost
3. Better visual enhancements ( Qwerty keyboard gets smarter )
4. Navigation becomes easier even without stylus on resistive touch screens.
Yes, with windows mobile 6.5 having the small “Start” icon placed at the top, is a real pain in the ass especially for those using Pocket PCs with resistive touch screens. Chill!!
The Windows mobile version 6.5.3 Build 23091.5.3.0 believed to be way better than its current version was displayed at CES 2010 with Toshiba TG01 mobile phone running it. Though the changes are minor, with the 6.5.3 update Microsoft wants to put an end to the long standing complaints of them using not so user friendly interface.
In this version 6.5.3, they have moved the “Start” button to the bottom of home screen which almost looks like Internet Explorer Mobile app navigation icons.The Qwerty keyboard used for text inputting also gets a cooler look and sliding features.
Features of Windows mobile 6.5.3
1. Good looking larger icons ( Start, close etc )
2. Touch support gets a boost
3. Better visual enhancements ( Qwerty keyboard gets smarter )
4. Navigation becomes easier even without stylus on resistive touch screens.
Windows 7 RTM Eats Desktop Shortcuts
Windows 7 RTM can eat up some of the desktop shortcuts created by end users, Microsoft explained.
Customers running the latest iteration of the Windows client have reported that in certain scenarios shortcuts that they placed on the desktop disappeared altogether. According to the Redmond company, this is expected, by design, behavior in Windows 7. At fault is the System Maintenance troubleshooter that will delete all shortcuts from the desktop as long as they are considered broken.
“The System Maintenance troubleshooter performs a weekly maintenance of the operating system. The System Maintenance troubleshooter either fixes problems automatically or reports problems through Action Center. When there are more than four broken shortcuts on the desktop, the System Maintenance troubleshooter automatically removes all broken shortcuts from the desktop,” Microsoft stated.
According to the software giant, the System Maintenance troubleshooter has a certain limit that triggers it to delete broken shortcuts. Microsoft informs that keeping the number of broken shortcuts on the desktop to no more than four ensures that they won’t be touched. But place five broken shortcuts on the Windows 7 desktop and they will be deleted.
“If you must have more than four broken shortcuts on your desktop, you can disable the System Maintenance troubleshooter. If you disable the System Maintenance troubleshooter, all the maintenance tasks that it performs are disabled. To disable the System Maintenance troubleshooter, follow these steps: click Start, and then click Control Panel. Under System and Security, click Find and fix problems. On the left navigation pane, click Change settings. Set Computer Maintenance to Off,” Microsoft added.
The Redmond company explained that users could frequently create Windows 7 desktop shortcuts that were broken. “For example, a desktop shortcut for a USB device may be regarded as broken if the USB device is not connected when the System Maintenance troubleshooter performs its maintenance,” the software giant explained. This behavior is by design, as already mentioned, so users should not expect a fix.
Customers running the latest iteration of the Windows client have reported that in certain scenarios shortcuts that they placed on the desktop disappeared altogether. According to the Redmond company, this is expected, by design, behavior in Windows 7. At fault is the System Maintenance troubleshooter that will delete all shortcuts from the desktop as long as they are considered broken.
“The System Maintenance troubleshooter performs a weekly maintenance of the operating system. The System Maintenance troubleshooter either fixes problems automatically or reports problems through Action Center. When there are more than four broken shortcuts on the desktop, the System Maintenance troubleshooter automatically removes all broken shortcuts from the desktop,” Microsoft stated.
According to the software giant, the System Maintenance troubleshooter has a certain limit that triggers it to delete broken shortcuts. Microsoft informs that keeping the number of broken shortcuts on the desktop to no more than four ensures that they won’t be touched. But place five broken shortcuts on the Windows 7 desktop and they will be deleted.
“If you must have more than four broken shortcuts on your desktop, you can disable the System Maintenance troubleshooter. If you disable the System Maintenance troubleshooter, all the maintenance tasks that it performs are disabled. To disable the System Maintenance troubleshooter, follow these steps: click Start, and then click Control Panel. Under System and Security, click Find and fix problems. On the left navigation pane, click Change settings. Set Computer Maintenance to Off,” Microsoft added.
The Redmond company explained that users could frequently create Windows 7 desktop shortcuts that were broken. “For example, a desktop shortcut for a USB device may be regarded as broken if the USB device is not connected when the System Maintenance troubleshooter performs its maintenance,” the software giant explained. This behavior is by design, as already mentioned, so users should not expect a fix.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Windows 8 Is Next for Windows 7 105-Frame Startup Animation Creator
With Windows 7 out of the way for over a month now, Microsoft is starting to shift all of its focus and resources onto the next iteration of Windows, which, as far as unofficial clues from the company reveal, is in planning stage under the codename Windows 8. Asked “What's next for you at Microsoft?
The creator of the Windows 7 105-frame startup animation noted “The next version of Windows.” In all fairness, neither Rolf Ebeling, nor any other Microsoft representative has confirmed officially that Windows 8 is the label for the successor of Windows 7.
The Windows 7 boot animation is Ebeling’s brainchild, and it is essentially created out of no less than 105 separate frames, which in swapped in rapid succession frame create the startup animation for the company’s latest Windows client. At the bottom of this screen, you will be able to see the Windows 7 boot animation from Build 6956 of Windows 7 via the embedded video.
"We never lost sight that we wanted the boot-up to be faster, but thought, 'Well, if people are going to be there we should make it attractive and something that inspires confidence,'" said Ebeling, a senior user experience lead for the User Experience Design and Research Team for Windows, Windows Live and Internet Explorer.
Ebeling joined Microsoft in 2008, and just four months later he had been put in charge of developing a new start screen for Windows 7. And the self-taught designer managed to pull off his assessment splendidly. "It has been an eye-opening 18 months, as you might imagine," he added. "It's a lot to learn. I keep hearing that fire-hose metaphor—it felt like multiple fire hoses."
At the start of this year, Microsoft opened up on the evolution of the Windows 7 boot. Essentially, the successor of Windows Vista comes to the table with an overhauled boot mechanism. The actual startup animation is the surface-level of the Windows 7 boot process, because as it is displayed on the desktop, the operating system's kernel and critical device drivers are loading into memory in the background.
“I can't lie—seeing a few seconds of the boot animation in a snappy, fun Windows 7 commercial for a Sony touch-screen PC was really exciting. Long term, I'm hopeful those swirling lights and their glow will remain a welcome start to someone's time on a computer,” Ebeling added.
The creator of the Windows 7 105-frame startup animation noted “The next version of Windows.” In all fairness, neither Rolf Ebeling, nor any other Microsoft representative has confirmed officially that Windows 8 is the label for the successor of Windows 7.
The Windows 7 boot animation is Ebeling’s brainchild, and it is essentially created out of no less than 105 separate frames, which in swapped in rapid succession frame create the startup animation for the company’s latest Windows client. At the bottom of this screen, you will be able to see the Windows 7 boot animation from Build 6956 of Windows 7 via the embedded video.
"We never lost sight that we wanted the boot-up to be faster, but thought, 'Well, if people are going to be there we should make it attractive and something that inspires confidence,'" said Ebeling, a senior user experience lead for the User Experience Design and Research Team for Windows, Windows Live and Internet Explorer.
Ebeling joined Microsoft in 2008, and just four months later he had been put in charge of developing a new start screen for Windows 7. And the self-taught designer managed to pull off his assessment splendidly. "It has been an eye-opening 18 months, as you might imagine," he added. "It's a lot to learn. I keep hearing that fire-hose metaphor—it felt like multiple fire hoses."
At the start of this year, Microsoft opened up on the evolution of the Windows 7 boot. Essentially, the successor of Windows Vista comes to the table with an overhauled boot mechanism. The actual startup animation is the surface-level of the Windows 7 boot process, because as it is displayed on the desktop, the operating system's kernel and critical device drivers are loading into memory in the background.
“I can't lie—seeing a few seconds of the boot animation in a snappy, fun Windows 7 commercial for a Sony touch-screen PC was really exciting. Long term, I'm hopeful those swirling lights and their glow will remain a welcome start to someone's time on a computer,” Ebeling added.
Windows 8 GUI/NUI, the Evolution Continues
Undoubtedly, a key aspect of the evolution from Windows Vista to Windows 7 is the new graphical user interface of the operating system.
At least equally important, if not even more so, is the way in which, with Windows 7 Microsoft is bringing natural user interfaces to the mainstream. And the Redmond company will continue to push onward with the evolution of the GUI and explore new boundaries for NUI beyond multitouch. Obviously, the best candidate for the next generation of NUI/GUI to come to life is the upcoming iteration of the Windows client, Windows 8
According to Microsoft, Windows 8 planning is already underway, and this is also valid for the user experience aspect of the operating system. Moreover, it appears that the software giant’s efforts are multifaceted, and not only internal, as the company has tapped UX and UI guns for hire.
“We are the Seattle based Human Computer Interaction Specialists. Give us a try and you will see why Microsoft has chosen us to be involved with Windows 8 planning,” reads the description of an NUI and UX Designer, Ron George who left Microsoft to start his own design outfit. (via MSFTKitchen)
Windows 7, under the lead of Julie Larson-Green, corporate vice president, Windows Experience, has reached a new apex in terms of the Windows Aero graphical user interface with a complete overhaul of the Taskbar, and essentially a revamping of the way end users launch, switch, and revisit Windows applications. At the same time, Windows 7 brings to the table native multitouch support and the necessary application programming interfaces (API) to allow all software to take advantage of the NUI.
Microsoft is not yet ready to talk Windows 8, no matter how scarce the details would be. Actually, despite the fact that employees refer to the Windows 8 project constantly, the company has yet to even confirm the validity of the codename.
Still, it is clear that the software giant has started preparing for Windows 8, and it is also clear that GUI and NUI efforts are integral part of the planning process. In addition, it’s worth mentioning that NUI goes beyond multitouch, and that the company has officially expressed the position that voice/speech might be the new touch.
“I have never worked on the core Windows Team. I did lend a hand in Windows 7 with the Touch Pack while I was at Surface. I am also currently involved in Windows 8 (I know that answer perks your ears up, haha). When I think back about 15 years to when I started doing this, Windows is where I wanted to land,” George added for MSFTKitchen.
At least equally important, if not even more so, is the way in which, with Windows 7 Microsoft is bringing natural user interfaces to the mainstream. And the Redmond company will continue to push onward with the evolution of the GUI and explore new boundaries for NUI beyond multitouch. Obviously, the best candidate for the next generation of NUI/GUI to come to life is the upcoming iteration of the Windows client, Windows 8
According to Microsoft, Windows 8 planning is already underway, and this is also valid for the user experience aspect of the operating system. Moreover, it appears that the software giant’s efforts are multifaceted, and not only internal, as the company has tapped UX and UI guns for hire.
“We are the Seattle based Human Computer Interaction Specialists. Give us a try and you will see why Microsoft has chosen us to be involved with Windows 8 planning,” reads the description of an NUI and UX Designer, Ron George who left Microsoft to start his own design outfit. (via MSFTKitchen)
Windows 7, under the lead of Julie Larson-Green, corporate vice president, Windows Experience, has reached a new apex in terms of the Windows Aero graphical user interface with a complete overhaul of the Taskbar, and essentially a revamping of the way end users launch, switch, and revisit Windows applications. At the same time, Windows 7 brings to the table native multitouch support and the necessary application programming interfaces (API) to allow all software to take advantage of the NUI.
Microsoft is not yet ready to talk Windows 8, no matter how scarce the details would be. Actually, despite the fact that employees refer to the Windows 8 project constantly, the company has yet to even confirm the validity of the codename.
Still, it is clear that the software giant has started preparing for Windows 8, and it is also clear that GUI and NUI efforts are integral part of the planning process. In addition, it’s worth mentioning that NUI goes beyond multitouch, and that the company has officially expressed the position that voice/speech might be the new touch.
“I have never worked on the core Windows Team. I did lend a hand in Windows 7 with the Touch Pack while I was at Surface. I am also currently involved in Windows 8 (I know that answer perks your ears up, haha). When I think back about 15 years to when I started doing this, Windows is where I wanted to land,” George added for MSFTKitchen.
Internet Explorer 9 - IE9 Early Preview Demo
Much to everyone’s surprise, Microsoft shared details about Internet Explorer 9 very early on in the browser’s development process.
Dean Hachamovitch, general manager, Internet Explorer, explained that the first IE9-related information offered via official channels was simply the Redmond company joining the discussion of browsers. The software giant choose its Professional Developers Conference 2009, in Los Angeles, to showcase a preview of IE9, but no bits were released as the browser is merely just weeks old.
“The topics that we’re going to talk about pretty much choose themselves, when you look at the conversations that happened throughout IE8,” Hachamovitch noted. More specifically, Microsoft touched three topics, in particular, standards support, performance progress, and the introduction of graphics hardware acceleration.
You will be able to watch the first public demonstration of Internet Explorer 9 via the video embedded at the bottom of this article, courtesy of Microsoft. Obviously the company did not single out the content focused only on IE9, so the video covers the entire PDC 2009 Day 2 Keynote, featuring such Microsoft executives as Steven Sinofsky, president, Windows and Windows Live Division, and Scott Guthrie, corporate vice president, .NET Developer Platform. It will be Sinofsky demoing IE9, as along with the Windows project, the Microsoft president is also responsible for the development of the next iteration of the Internet Explorer browser.
As far as I’m concerned, the entire PDC 2009 Day 2 keynote is well-worth watching, but I do realize that you have to dedicate a consistent portion of your time in doing so, as the video goes on for about two and a half hours. So, for those that just want to skip directly to the IE9 demo, just go ahead and jump to minute 40 in the presentation and take it from there (spoiler alert – IE9 has no GUI as of yet).
Acid3 is one of the tests designed to assess the browser performance when it comes down to standards support. At the time of this article, Internet Explorer is lagging rival browsers in relation to the Acid3 test score, being inferior in the level of modern standards adoption. With the advent of Internet Explorer 8 Microsoft choose to simply ignore Acid3, and focused exclusively on acing the Acid2 test, arguing that it would not provide support for standards that were incomplete at the time such as HTML5 and CSS3.
The IE9 demo indicates that Microsoft has now had a change of heart and that it considers passing the Acid3 test one of the priorities in developing the next version of Internet Explorer. Already, IE9 is faring better than IE8 in the Acid3 test, obtaining a superior score. “Developers need not just a strong platform that’s got great performance and great capabilities, but they also have expectations around how the code will work,” Hachamovitch noted.
With Internet Explorer 8, Microsoft lost the race on performance, simply because it failed to play the same game as its rivals. While Mozilla and Google were running to benchmarks such as the SunSpider test, the Redmond company attempted to convince the world that benchmarking results are in no way representative of actual browser performance. Instead, the software giant argued that its approach, to target IE8 performance to real world scenarios, and to increase IE8 speed in situations most common for its end users, had delivered superior results to Firefox and Chrome. Needless to say the world failed to agree with Microsoft.
Consequently, the Redmond company will, with IE9, play the same game as competitors, namely pour additional horsepower into the next version of IE’s script engine, and ensure that script performance for IE9 is at least on par with rivals, if not even better. Nothing short of an excellent move from Microsoft, the IE9 performance boost needs to be not only consistent, but also continually updatable. The Redmond company has to understand that performance, much like standards support and interoperability is an ongoing effort, but one that requires fast pace upgrades.
Dean Hachamovitch, general manager, Internet Explorer, explained that the first IE9-related information offered via official channels was simply the Redmond company joining the discussion of browsers. The software giant choose its Professional Developers Conference 2009, in Los Angeles, to showcase a preview of IE9, but no bits were released as the browser is merely just weeks old.
“The topics that we’re going to talk about pretty much choose themselves, when you look at the conversations that happened throughout IE8,” Hachamovitch noted. More specifically, Microsoft touched three topics, in particular, standards support, performance progress, and the introduction of graphics hardware acceleration.
You will be able to watch the first public demonstration of Internet Explorer 9 via the video embedded at the bottom of this article, courtesy of Microsoft. Obviously the company did not single out the content focused only on IE9, so the video covers the entire PDC 2009 Day 2 Keynote, featuring such Microsoft executives as Steven Sinofsky, president, Windows and Windows Live Division, and Scott Guthrie, corporate vice president, .NET Developer Platform. It will be Sinofsky demoing IE9, as along with the Windows project, the Microsoft president is also responsible for the development of the next iteration of the Internet Explorer browser.
As far as I’m concerned, the entire PDC 2009 Day 2 keynote is well-worth watching, but I do realize that you have to dedicate a consistent portion of your time in doing so, as the video goes on for about two and a half hours. So, for those that just want to skip directly to the IE9 demo, just go ahead and jump to minute 40 in the presentation and take it from there (spoiler alert – IE9 has no GUI as of yet).
Standards
“The primary focus for our team is providing rich capabilities, the kind that developers really want and use in an interoperable way,” said John Hrvatin, program manager for the IE team.Acid3 is one of the tests designed to assess the browser performance when it comes down to standards support. At the time of this article, Internet Explorer is lagging rival browsers in relation to the Acid3 test score, being inferior in the level of modern standards adoption. With the advent of Internet Explorer 8 Microsoft choose to simply ignore Acid3, and focused exclusively on acing the Acid2 test, arguing that it would not provide support for standards that were incomplete at the time such as HTML5 and CSS3.
The IE9 demo indicates that Microsoft has now had a change of heart and that it considers passing the Acid3 test one of the priorities in developing the next version of Internet Explorer. Already, IE9 is faring better than IE8 in the Acid3 test, obtaining a superior score. “Developers need not just a strong platform that’s got great performance and great capabilities, but they also have expectations around how the code will work,” Hachamovitch noted.
Performance
“So there’s performance, and we’re going to talk about the progress that we made. Everybody cares about performance, everybody benefits from performance improvements. And performance is a super complex problem. I mean, there are so many subsystems in the browser,” Hachamovitch said.With Internet Explorer 8, Microsoft lost the race on performance, simply because it failed to play the same game as its rivals. While Mozilla and Google were running to benchmarks such as the SunSpider test, the Redmond company attempted to convince the world that benchmarking results are in no way representative of actual browser performance. Instead, the software giant argued that its approach, to target IE8 performance to real world scenarios, and to increase IE8 speed in situations most common for its end users, had delivered superior results to Firefox and Chrome. Needless to say the world failed to agree with Microsoft.
Consequently, the Redmond company will, with IE9, play the same game as competitors, namely pour additional horsepower into the next version of IE’s script engine, and ensure that script performance for IE9 is at least on par with rivals, if not even better. Nothing short of an excellent move from Microsoft, the IE9 performance boost needs to be not only consistent, but also continually updatable. The Redmond company has to understand that performance, much like standards support and interoperability is an ongoing effort, but one that requires fast pace upgrades.
Dual Screen Netbook PC with Windows 7
Check this netbook out. A dual screen netbook has emerged onto the scene from a Japanese manufacturer company called Kohjinsha, and it has been named as Kohjinsha DZ series. This netbook features dual 10.1 inches widescreen displays with each having 1024×600 resolution, and 2048×600 resolution when combined. These two screens slide out left and right, resulting in an extra long centered display.
This dual screen netbook runs on a 1.6GHz AMD Athlon Neo MV-40 processor with S780MN chipset and ATI Radeon HD 3200 integrated graphics card. And, Yes it is powered by Windows 7, the latest OS sensation from Microsoft. Detailed specifications of this netbook are listed as follows.
Kohjinsha DZ Series Specifications
The dual screen notebook, also known as DZ6KHE16E has the following specs.
* Dual 10.1 inch LCD screen
* 1.3 megapixel camera
* 1.6 Ghz AMD Athlon Neoprocessor
* 1 GB RAM (with maximum support for 4 GB RAM)
* ATI Radeon HD 3200
* 160 GB harddisk
* WiFi
* Bluetooth 2.1
* Ethernet
* Battery life:4.5 hour
* Weight: 1.84 kg
* OS: Linux or Windows 7
This dual screen netbook runs on a 1.6GHz AMD Athlon Neo MV-40 processor with S780MN chipset and ATI Radeon HD 3200 integrated graphics card. And, Yes it is powered by Windows 7, the latest OS sensation from Microsoft. Detailed specifications of this netbook are listed as follows.
Kohjinsha DZ Series Specifications
The dual screen notebook, also known as DZ6KHE16E has the following specs.
* Dual 10.1 inch LCD screen
* 1.3 megapixel camera
* 1.6 Ghz AMD Athlon Neoprocessor
* 1 GB RAM (with maximum support for 4 GB RAM)
* ATI Radeon HD 3200
* 160 GB harddisk
* WiFi
* Bluetooth 2.1
* Ethernet
* Battery life:4.5 hour
* Weight: 1.84 kg
* OS: Linux or Windows 7
Transform Windows XP into Mac OS X with Leopard-X
In past we had covered Mac OS X transformation for Windows vista & Windows 7 now here is Leopart-X Theme for Windows XP which lets you to transform Windows XP in to Mac OS X.
Leopard-X will offer you the possibility to customize the appearance of your XP computer and apply it a Mac style. Leopard-X includes Leopard-X visual style (4 variations), Leopard-X styler, Leopard-X Mac search skin, Leopard-X Dock skin & Wallpapers.
Download:
Transform Windows XP into Mac OS X with Leopard-X
Leopard-X will offer you the possibility to customize the appearance of your XP computer and apply it a Mac style. Leopard-X includes Leopard-X visual style (4 variations), Leopard-X styler, Leopard-X Mac search skin, Leopard-X Dock skin & Wallpapers.
Download:
Transform Windows XP into Mac OS X with Leopard-X
Windows 7 DirectX 11 Direct3D, Direct2D and DirectWrite
Although word of DirectX 11 has been around for over a year, with Microsoft sharing actual details with developers and partners, Windows 7’s graphics technology will only from now come into play.
With the latest iteration of the Windows client available for purchase for a little over a month, customers worldwide can start taking advantage of the successor of DirectX 10, by leveraging Windows 7 computers in concert with DirectX 11 graphics cards. At this years’ Professional Developers Conference, the Redmond company share additional details related to DX11 in no less than two sessions.
Less fortunate devs that were unable to attend PDC 2009 can still access conference content from Microsoft, with video available on both DX11 sessions. Developers interested in Direct3D, Direct2D, and DirectWrite can watch “Modern 3D Graphics Using Windows 7 and Direct3D 11 Hardware” and “Advanced Graphics Functionality Using DirectX.”
“With the onset of new Direct3D 11 hardware, gain practical knowledge to help you push graphics to the limit. Learn about the new tessellation stage in Direct3D 11, which enables an unprecedented level of rendering quality by dynamically generating geometry on the GPU. In addition, see how the multi-core improvements in the Direct3D 11 runtime can help you scale your application to take full advantage of all of the cores on a machine. Finally, learn about Direct3D 10 Level 9, which enables Direct3D 10 applications to run on pretty much every computer in the market today, and WARP, our new software rasterizer that lets your application use high-quality graphics even when there’s no graphics card available,” reads the synopsis for the D3D talk.
The “Modern 3D Graphics Using Windows 7 and Direct3D 11 Hardware” is embedded below, but it is also available for download and offline viewing as an MP4 Video, PPT, Windows Media Video, Windows Media Video (High). For some reason, Microsoft is not allowing the embedding (I’m sorry about this, it was confusion on my part, this video is now also embedded) of “Advanced Graphics Functionality Using DirectX” so those interested can either view it at the source or download it via the following links: MP4 Video, PPT, Windows Media Video, Windows Media Video (High).
“The number of PC configurations is exploding. With the onset of netbooks as well as high-end desktop systems using the latest in graphics hardware, creating an application that can target all of these systems is getting harder every year. Join us as we explore the many options available in Windows 7 to facilitate graphics development across all different hardware configurations, from low-end integrated to top of the line discrete GPUs. Learn advanced performance and rendering techniques for Direct2D and DirectWrite, and the interoperability of Windows 7 technologies for making slick, high-quality graphics for your applications of the future,” reads the description of the talk for D2D and DirectWrite.
With the latest iteration of the Windows client available for purchase for a little over a month, customers worldwide can start taking advantage of the successor of DirectX 10, by leveraging Windows 7 computers in concert with DirectX 11 graphics cards. At this years’ Professional Developers Conference, the Redmond company share additional details related to DX11 in no less than two sessions.
Less fortunate devs that were unable to attend PDC 2009 can still access conference content from Microsoft, with video available on both DX11 sessions. Developers interested in Direct3D, Direct2D, and DirectWrite can watch “Modern 3D Graphics Using Windows 7 and Direct3D 11 Hardware” and “Advanced Graphics Functionality Using DirectX.”
“With the onset of new Direct3D 11 hardware, gain practical knowledge to help you push graphics to the limit. Learn about the new tessellation stage in Direct3D 11, which enables an unprecedented level of rendering quality by dynamically generating geometry on the GPU. In addition, see how the multi-core improvements in the Direct3D 11 runtime can help you scale your application to take full advantage of all of the cores on a machine. Finally, learn about Direct3D 10 Level 9, which enables Direct3D 10 applications to run on pretty much every computer in the market today, and WARP, our new software rasterizer that lets your application use high-quality graphics even when there’s no graphics card available,” reads the synopsis for the D3D talk.
The “Modern 3D Graphics Using Windows 7 and Direct3D 11 Hardware” is embedded below, but it is also available for download and offline viewing as an MP4 Video, PPT, Windows Media Video, Windows Media Video (High). For some reason, Microsoft is not allowing the embedding (I’m sorry about this, it was confusion on my part, this video is now also embedded) of “Advanced Graphics Functionality Using DirectX” so those interested can either view it at the source or download it via the following links: MP4 Video, PPT, Windows Media Video, Windows Media Video (High).
“The number of PC configurations is exploding. With the onset of netbooks as well as high-end desktop systems using the latest in graphics hardware, creating an application that can target all of these systems is getting harder every year. Join us as we explore the many options available in Windows 7 to facilitate graphics development across all different hardware configurations, from low-end integrated to top of the line discrete GPUs. Learn advanced performance and rendering techniques for Direct2D and DirectWrite, and the interoperability of Windows 7 technologies for making slick, high-quality graphics for your applications of the future,” reads the description of the talk for D2D and DirectWrite.
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