Windows Search 4.0 Preview

WS4 lets you perform an instant search of your computer. WS4 helps you find and preview documents, e-mail messages, music files, photos, and other items on the computer. Please refer to the Knowledge base article KB940157 for a full description of the technology.

Note The WS4 installation process automatically upgrades previous versions of Windows Search technologies.

Download: Windows Search 4.0 Preview for Windows Vista x86 | x64 Edition
Download: Windows Search 4.0 Preview for Windows Server 2003 x86 | x64 Edition
Download: Windows Search 4.0 Preview for Windows XP x86 | x64 Edition

Pink Windows Vista

A special promo – only in Japan!

This upgrade version of Windows Vista Home Premium is bundled with a year’s subscription of Windows Live OneCare and a copy of a Vista tips and tricks book.

Linux unbeaten in hacking contest

Three candidates for hacking. All are road warriors. All are patched. The targets are:

• VAIO VGN-TZ37CN running Ubuntu 7.10
• Fujitsu U810 running Vista Ultimate SP1
• MacBook Air running OSX 10.5.2

First it was the Macbook air, hacked in 2 minutes. Charlie Miller used an undisclosed Safari flaw to break into the MacBook Air through the OS X operating system, and took home $10,000 cash prize.

Then on the third day of the contest, Vista was finally cracked. Shane Macaulay with a little help from co-worker Derek Callaway, used a few hacking tricks to break into the Vista box.

Under contest rules, Macaulay and Miller aren’t allowed to divulge specific details about their bugs until they are patched.

The contest ended with Linux running on the Sony Vaio remained undefeated.

‘Kill switch’ dropped from Vista

Microsoft is to withdraw an anti-piracy tool from Windows Vista, which disables the operating system when invoked, following customer complaints.

The so-called “kill switch” is designed to prevent users with illegal copies of Vista from using certain features.

But the tool has suffered from glitches since it was introduced with many Windows users claiming that legal copies of Vista had been disabled.

Microsoft says its efforts have seen a drop in piracy of its software.

In a statement released by the company, Microsoft corporate vice president Mike Sievert, said: “Users whose systems are identified as counterfeit will be presented with clear and recurring notices about the status of their system and how to get genuine copies.”

Full story: BBC News 

Next IE Named

Microsoft founder Bill Gates has finally named the successor of Internet Explorer 7. The news was revealed on IE Blog over at MSDN.

The new name is surprise, surprise – Internet Explorer 8! lol

But before the IE Team decided to go with IE8, here’s the list of possible name they looked for the product as listed on the blog:

• IE 7+1
• IE VIII
• IE 1000 (think binary)
• IE Eight!
• iIE
• IE for Web 2.0 (Service Pack 2)
• IE Desktop Online Web Browser Live Professional Ultimate Edition for the Internet (the marketing team really pushed for this one
• Ie^2.079 (we might still use this for the Math Major Edition)

I think it’s better if the IE Team before deciding for the final name should have made the list available to the public. Then let the public decide through voting which is the best name. IE 1000 sound pretty cool to me. What’s yours?

HyperSpace Fast-Boot

Its kinda like a house without windows and only doors

How long does it take for Windows to boot? On a newly installed PC, it is around 1 to 3 minutes depending on the system specs. Then as you install softwares and games, it will take a while for Windows to boot. A little more time if Wi-Fi is installed.

Enter fast-boot with HyperSpace, developed by Phoenix Technologies, the same company responsible for most PC’s BIOS.

This program is actually an operating system that sits on top of BIOS. This allows most Windows software to run without Windows. Phoenix says all you need to do is press F4. HyperSpace can load most used apps like web browsers, e-mail and media players.

Phoenix is currently in talks with most major PC manufacturers, with the notable exception of Apple.

Turning-on a PC will soon be like turning-on a TV.

Windows 7 and MinWin

Windows 7 is the next version of Windows after Vista. It was recorded on video along with MinWin – an internal project to build the most efficient Windows kernel which will in turn be used in Windows 7.

Presented by Microsoft’s distinguished engineer Eric Traut, the whole presentation (WMV) goes for approximately 1 hour and includes a very deep look into hypervisors.

Video link: here

Try Windows Home Server for 120 days

Can’t wait to centralize and showcase your family’s memories and media? Order the Windows Home Server 120-Day Evaluation Kit today. You’re just a few clicks away from a new digital life. What will you receive?

• Windows Home Server Installation DVD
• Windows Home Server Connector CD
• Home Computer Restore CD

To install the Windows Home Server 120-Day Evaluation Kit, you need:

• Computer with 1 GHz Pentium III (or equivalent) or faster processor
• 512 MB of RAM or more
• 70 GB or larger ATA, SATA, or SCSI hard drive as the primary hard drive and any number of additional hard drives of any size
• DVD drive—your home server must be capable of booting from this drive
• VGA or higher-resolution monitor for software installation
• Keyboard and Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device (needed only during initial home server software installation)
• 100 Mbps or faster Ethernet network interface card

To run Windows Home Server, your home network must meet the following minimum requirements:

• Internet broadband router/firewall device with a 100 Mbps or faster wired Ethernet connection for your home server
• Windows Home Server assumes that your home computers get their IP address from the router/firewall device on your home network
• Broadband connection (fees may apply)

Order link: here

Hack the registry to download Vista SP1 Beta

Vista Service Pack 1, still in beta, has been released to selected beta testers. If you can’t wait for the final Service Pack (I don’t care what’s your reason), here’s a tip to get it. This is from ghacks.net, and several site reports that this simple registry tweak is fool proof at the time of writing this post – unless MS finds a way to fix it.

Downloading Windows Vista Service Pack 1 from Windows Updates:

• Download Windows Vista Service Pack and unpack it to your system.
• Run SP1Beta_Hack.cmd with administrator privileges and Windows Updates afterwards. It should show KB935509 which you should download and restart afterwards.
• Run Windows Updates again, it should display KB937287. Download and restart your PC afterwards.
• Run Windows Updates for a third time. Download the now appearing KB938371, restart your computer.
• Finally, visit Windows Updates again and you should see the Service Pack 1 Beta for Microsoft Windows Vista available for download.

Removing the Evaluation Copy message:

• This is fairly easy to accomplish. Run watermark_fix.reg first
• Rename user32.dll.mui to user32.dll.mui.old in C:\Windows\System32\en-US\
• copy user32.dll.mui from the archive to that location
• Reboot Windows Vista

Warning: Do not blame me or this blog if something bad happened to your system. I’m just posting what I’ve digged on the net.

Vista “Out of Memory”

According to ZDNet, the Vista “out of memory” error pops up when a user tries to copy 16,400 files or smaller groups of files that add up to 16,400 between reboots.

After that, a range of other errors can occur such as menus and tabs disappearing within the Windows environment and even reboots and BSODs.

The problem is common to users running Kaspersky security products though the root of it is the kernel leak. Both Microsoft and Kaspersky know the issue for months and only now Microsoft issued the patch to solve the problem. You have to request online just to obtain the said patch.