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Microsoft and Google Should Join Forces.
May 15, 2008 - 4:17 PM - by Digital Dave
Okay... enough! I am so sick and tired of every time I open up a news site (except mine of course) the fight between Microsoft and Google seems to be getting worse and worse and to be honest, I don't get it. Seriously, I don't.

I’ve always thought these two would somehow get into bed with each other but alas… I guess that is not going to happen (at least from what I can tell) but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t at least consider it.

Now just for fun lets say someone up in Redmond and some at “The Google” decided “hey, that’s not a bad idea!” here's would be my Top Three Reasons why Microsoft and Google need each other.

1 - World Domination

I'm not joking here folks. The combination of these two powerhouses could literally rule everything from the desktop, to the PDA, all the way back to the hosting services provider. You cannot deny both of these companies have some of the best talent in the world working for them. Both of them would bring expertise to both sides of the fence: Windows and Linux. If you combine all that talent and all the knowledge and merge just the existing product lines there would be NO player on the planet who could compete. Period!

2 - Microsoft Needs Google and Google Needs Microsoft

Before I get scathing emails advising me how much of my brain power I seemed to have lost hear me out.

Let's start with Microsoft - We all know Microsoft has a glaring hole in the search market and is falling more and more behind Google damn near daily. If Microsoft and Google joined forces obviously Microsoft would immediately plug a glaring hole in the company backside but it would also allow both Google and Microsoft to merge “Live” and “Google” code making whatever the new search tool was renamed to (I'm fond of Micro-Google) immediately a non-stoppable powerhouse destroying any and all other search engines. No one… NO ONE would be able to beat them.

So what would Google get? - Easy no competition. Google gets the paltry amount MS has now PLUS there is no way Yahoo, or Ask, or any of the other search providers survive. Google could set a price point no search engine could match since it could now make it up with Microsoft revenue on the backside. Once Yahoo and the rest of the search folks are either bought for pennies on the dollar “Micro-Google” (I really like that name) could then charge whatever they want, kind like what IBM does. I know, I know, “anti-trust” and my response to that is “Hey... that's why we have Judges.” Nobody knows what the ruling would be plus, with all the other companies being actually bought who's going to file the complaint?

3 - Money, Power, Big Ass Airplanes...

These two could buy elections if they wanted to. Micro-Google would be worth so much money and become so powerful they could literally dictate specifications across entire product lines. Hell... [Read More]
0 Replies | 142 Views
Windows XP SP3 Causing Worldwide Panic… and other stuff from the past week.
May 12, 2008 - 10:35 AM - by Digital Dave
So, if you read all the crap floating around the “internet’s” XP SP3 is causing global warming and massive panic for a lot of people. Seriously… that’s just stupid.

Windows XP SP3 is a service pack and if you are one of the folks who tried to put it on without doing a backup first… well, you reap what you sow .

Now Microsoft has made with VERY clear with an article titled “Steps to take before you install Windows XP Service Pack 3” this SP is not a download and slap on. Everyone who is even thinking about installing SP3 should read the document. This is a service pack and just because a lot of people are having great success installing it, doesn’t mean you will. Read the document and follow the recommendations. It may just save you a ton of time and problems.

You should also remember you can uninstall it. Simply go to Add\Remove Programs and select SP3 for removal. Uninstall it, reboot, and all should be fine.

Now I get the fact that some people are having issues with the service pack and that’s not good in anyone’s eyes, but the fact remains that if you didn’t follow the guidelines, hey… that’s not Microsoft’s fault.

Vista SP1 Rolls Once Again.

Ahhhh… Vista SP1… can you think of anything better than getting your grubby little hands on this bad boy? Yea… neither can I.

I’m sure as you all know by now Microsoft has re-released Vista SP1 to the masses and it looks like people are starting to take notice especially the real money player (that would be the corporations… they have HUGE wallets). From what MS is saying, more and more corporations are starting to roll Vista now that SP1 is available and has fixed a lot of issues some companies were seeing especially in the networking arena. I’m starting to roll it to the field (Sales folks) with some success. They like it but some of the older software is still not quite up to speed and I’ve had to upgrade some packages to get it Vista compliant. Might as well do it now cause Windows 7 is based on the same code base as Vista is, so pay or pay later.

I also wanted to mention the infected webpage we all seemed to have run across this past weekend over on Redmond.com. It looks like the page was hacked big time and as soon as I saw it (thanks to all who posted about it) I removed the link to the page.

This type of problem should serve as a reminder to us all. Protecting our own computer security is a vital part of keeping the bad guys out of our networks. If you think just a simple AV will do it for you, you’re wrong. Bad guys want your data and they want it bad. As soon as I was aware of the problem I checked all the systems in my house just to make sure they were protected and all the security measures I had put in place were still working as they should (and they were).

That’s about it. I’ve been playing catch-up at work and still have some... [Read More]
1 Reply | 290 Views
Fedora 9 - an OS that even the Linux challenged can love
May 17, 2008 - 8:50 AM - by Digital Dave
I'm Linux challenged! Seriously... I am.

Fedora 9, the latest release from the Fedora Project, goes up for download on Tuesday. The ninth release of Fedora ushers in a number of changes aimed at making the venerable distribution a more newbie-friendly desktop, but longtime users needn't fear a great dumbing down; version 9 packs plenty of power user punch as well.

Fedora is a community-driven distribution sponsored by Red Hat and, while Fedora may be best known as a popular server OS, most of the changes in Fedora 9 are aimed at making the system friendlier for desktop users.

Full Article Over on theregister.co.uk
0 Replies | 35 Views
xpy 0.10 (Windows XP NO call home utility)
May 17, 2008 - 8:48 AM - by Digital Dave
If your into not having XP make "phone" calls home... you might want to look into this software.

Small tool which disables the default threats of a Windows XP installation. Besides disabling Windows and some of its components to communicate with Microsoft servers, xpy improves privacy settings and your systems security.

Download from majorgeeks.com
0 Replies | 39 Views
Firefox Ingores Vista's Parental Controls
May 17, 2008 - 8:09 AM - by Digital Dave
Hey, you can interpret this anyway you want.

If you are using Vista and have young kids around then we recommend fiddling around with parental controls to block certain websites and/or media content but if you want it to be blocked you had better make sure you are using IE7 instead of Firefox.

That’s right, when it comes to Firefox on Vista, it will not block the sites you have set to be. It will happily allow everything to be loaded. So if little “Jimmy” wants to look up nude pictures of his favorite actress, he will be able to do so using Firefox.

Full Article Over On Vista.blorge.com
0 Replies | 32 Views
The Battle Rages: Asus vs. Gigabyte
May 17, 2008 - 7:59 AM - by Digital Dave
"I'll sue you!"

"Oh yea... we'll I'll sue you first!"


There is a new battle brewing in Taiwan and this time it is Asus that is bringing out the big guns against its rival Gigabyte: Gigabyte claimed in a recent presentation in front of journalists that Asus is **flat-out** lying about power savings and power efficiency of its EPU motherboards. Asus responded saying that Gigabyte is lying and is now threatening to sue Gigabyte as well as websites “spreading” Gigabyte’s claims.

Gigabyte apparently used an event last week in Taipei to tell journalists from hardware websites what it found out about Asus’ EPU motherboards. According to Gigabyte, Asus claims that its physical Energy Processing Unit, short EPU, can achieve power savings of about 80%, while Gigabyte said that number is closer to 59%. And, Gigabyte launched a widely publicized attack on Asus, alleging that the EPU is a pure marketing term and that Asus did not change the design, firmware or packaging of these motherboards.

Full Article Over On tgdaily.com
0 Replies | 41 Views
Bill O'Reilly's Producer... what really happened...
May 16, 2008 - 1:17 PM - by Digital Dave
If you haven't seen the Inside Edition Bill O'Reilly tirade your about to but this time you are going to see the entire story.

This is freaking hilarious! I've watched it like 5 times already. Oh god... I'm crying I'm laughing so hard.


Bill O'Reilly's Producer... what really happened.
0 Replies | 114 Views
Laplink PCmover Happy Birthday Giveaway Update
May 16, 2008 - 12:32 PM - by Digital Dave
Just an FYI... if you missed out on the download yesterday due to the site being hammered for most of the day, you can still get your free copy.

Due to overwhelming demand, customers visiting www.laplink.com may have encountered difficulties in downloading their free copy of PCmover.

Laplink wants to ensure as many people as possible have the opportunity to receive a copy of PCmover and qualify for the prize giveaway; therefore we have decided to temporarily extend the promotion.

Thank you for your coverage and birthday wishes for Laplink's 25th anniversary.

Laplink.com
0 Replies | 67 Views
Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1 Update
May 16, 2008 - 11:25 AM - by Digital Dave
This is SP1 for the folks using Virtual Server 2005 R2.

This update for Microsoft Virtual Server R2 SP1 includes support for the following additional Host and Guest Operating Systems

Additonal Guest Operating System support:
- Windows Vista® Ultimate Edition with Service Pack 1 (SP1)
- Windows Vista® Business Edition with Service Pack 1 (SP1)
- Windows Vista® Enterprise Edition with Service Pack 1 (SP1)
- Windows Server® 2008 Core
- Windows Server® 2008 Standard
- Windows Server® 2008 Datacenter
- Windows Server® 2008 Enterprise
- Windows Server® 2008 Small Business Server
- Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 3


Additional Host Operating System support:
- Windows Vista® Ultimate Edition with Service Pack 1 (SP1) (non-production use only)
- Windows Vista® Business Edition with Service Pack 1 (SP1) (non-production use only)
- Windows Vista® Enterprise Edition with Service Pack 1 (SP1)(non-production use only)
- Windows Server® 2008 Core
- Windows Server® 2008 Standard
- Windows Server® 2008 Datacenter
- Windows Server® 2008 Enterprise
- Windows Server® 2008 Small Business Server
- Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 3 (non-production use only)

Download from Microsoft.com
0 Replies | 63 Views
Release Notes for Windows XP Service Pack 3
May 16, 2008 - 11:18 AM - by Digital Dave
This just came out.

These release notes provide important information that you should know before deploying and using Windows XP SP3. You should familiarize yourself with all of the known issues in this document prior to installing the software.

Get it from Microsoft.com
0 Replies | 68 Views
Windows PowerShell Scriptomatic 2.0
May 16, 2008 - 11:15 AM - by Digital Dave
Powershell users... rejoice.

A new utility that writes Windows PowerShell scripts that harness the power of WMI (Windows Instrumentation Management) for use in system management and administration. This tool was created by Microsoft consultant and author Ed Wilson.

Download from Microsoft.com
0 Replies | 60 Views
Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 SP1
May 16, 2008 - 11:05 AM - by Digital Dave
New stuff has been added.

- Additonal Guest Operating System support:
- Windows Vista® Ultimate Edition with Service Pack 1 (SP1)
- Windows Vista® Business Edition with Service Pack 1 (SP1)
- Windows Vista® Enterprise Edition with Service Pack 1 (SP1)
- Windows Server® 2008 Standard
- Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 3


- Additional Host Operating System support:
- Windows Vista® Ultimate Edition with Service Pack 1 (SP1)
- Windows Vista® Business Edition with Service Pack 1 (SP1)
- Windows Vista® Enterprise Edition with Service Pack 1 (SP1)
- Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 3

Download from Microsoft.com
0 Replies | 56 Views
Mozilla Firefox Beta (Gran Paradiso) 3.0 RC1
May 16, 2008 - 10:52 AM - by Digital Dave
Now... now it's time to get it.

Mozilla Firefox is a fast, full-featured browser for Windows that makes browsing more efficient than ever before.

Download from Major Geeks.com
0 Replies | 77 Views
Microsoft Silverlight Now Has An Open-Source Competitor
May 16, 2008 - 6:40 AM - by Digital Dave
Let the games begin...

The Novell-led Mono project this week made the first, though incomplete, public release of Moonlight, an open-source implementation of Microsoft's Silverlight, a browser plug-in that competes with products such as Adobe Flash, Adobe Flex, Adobe Shockwave, JavaFX, and Apple QuickTime.

Full Story On News.zdnet.co.uk
0 Replies | 81 Views
Microsoft blames users for Vista infections
May 16, 2008 - 6:38 AM - by Digital Dave
Oh good lord...

Software giant Microsoft has claimed user "complacency" is to blame for malware infections, and denied that its Vista operating system is less secure than Windows 2000.

The claim that Vista is less secure than Windows 2000 was made last week by security vendor PC Tools, which said that over the past six months Vista had suffered 639 unique threats, whereas Windows 2000 has suffered 586. PC Tools's research was conducted by collecting data from customers using its ThreatFire behavioural detection software.

Full Story On News.zdnet.co.uk
1 Reply | 78 Views
Microsoft extends support for Windows XP Service Pack 2
May 16, 2008 - 6:36 AM - by Digital Dave
And just so you know, you MUST have SP2 installed. If you don't you get no updates.

Microsoft plans to offer free patches for vulnerabilities it classes as security critical for Windows XP until at least 2014. The snag – as for all Microsoft products – this only applies where the latest Service Pack is installed. In this case this means SP3, which should be the last Service Pack for XP. Users still using an older Service Pack will no longer have access to support. Support for SP1 has already been withdrawn.

According to the original schedule, Microsoft was to have continued supporting SP2 for a further 12 months following the release of SP3. However due to large volumes of enquiries from customers, Microsoft has now extended this period to 24 months. Support policies for service packs have also been standardised. This change applies to all products from the Windows range, whilst for all other products only 12 months support will be offered for service packs prior to the current pack.

Full Article Over On heise.de
0 Replies | 63 Views
Free Fix for XP SP3 'endless reboot' from a surprising source
May 16, 2008 - 6:14 AM - by Digital Dave
Believe it or not, a former Microsoft employee has come up with a fix.

A former Microsoft Corp. security manager has published a tool designed to detect and fix PCs that may be susceptible to "endless reboots" if updated to Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3).

Jesper Johansson, once a program manager for security policy at Microsoft and currently an MVP (Microsoft Most Valuable Professional) who works at Amazon.com, posted a link to the tool on his blog yesterday, beating his former employer and Hewlett-Packard Co. to the draw. Neither company has yet come up with a fix or patch for the weeklong snafu.

More Over On Computerworld.com
0 Replies | 76 Views
Businesses Consider Skipping Vista
May 15, 2008 - 4:52 PM - by Digital Dave
Wow... the news just gets better and better doesn't it.

The bad news just keeps on coming for Windows Vista . First there was the "Vista-Capable" class action lawsuit. Then IT advisory firm Gartner claimed Windows may be collapsing under its own weight.

Now Business Week is reporting that a number of large businesses are considering closing the door to Vista, opting instead to stick with XP until the release of Windows 7, due sometime before 2012.

General Motors is the latest large company to publicly consider skipping Vista, citing hardware demands and software vendors who still haven't guaranteed complete compatibility with the OS. Alaska Airlines and Transco Railway Products are two other companies likely to bypass Vista, according to Business Week.

Full Article Over On extremetech.com
2 Replies | 86 Views
HP tells AMD desktop users to sit tight on SP3
May 15, 2008 - 4:51 PM - by Digital Dave
Well now... I guess we all just wait.

Anyone who happens to be the (proud?) owner of an AMD based HP desktop computer would do well to wait for a fix patch before attempting to install XP SP3, a HP spokesperson warned.

A rather unfortunate hiccough in the driver means that the unlucky user who attempts to install a Windows XP SP 3 could send their computer into frustrating freeze mode or even worse, a never-ending reboot cycle.

Full Article Over On theinquirer.net
0 Replies | 83 Views
10 IT Problems You Might Not Know You Have
May 15, 2008 - 4:46 PM - by Digital Dave
Hmmm... Interesting problem list.

From overly chatty WLAN systems to IT consultant shenanigans, some of the worst IT problems facing companies are the ones they don't know they have.

There's no shortage of tough problems that jump right in the faces of IT administrators, but some of the worst IT problems facing companies are the ones they don't know they have. In this story, eWEEK Labs identifies 10 cost- and productivity-robbing problems that might be lurking in your infrastructure and offers IT admins guidance on how to overcome them before it's too late.

Full Article Over On eweek.com
0 Replies | 78 Views
VMware Workstation 6.5 Beta 1 Refresh
May 15, 2008 - 4:05 PM - by Digital Dave
Updated package if you are interested.

What’s New in VMware Workstation 6.5 Beta 1 Refresh:

- Performance enhancements to VM Record and Replay — Enjoy faster performance with our advanced VM Record and Replay technology. Record your entire VM execution and replay it with instruction-exact precision. A graphical interface lets you browse, add markers to and edit your recording so you can easily monitor and analyze your virtual environment.

- Unity for Linux Guests — Enjoy seamless integration of your favorite Linux guest applications with your host. You can launch, access and run guest applications alongside host applications! Unity for Windows Guests is already supported in the previous VMware Workstation 6.5 Beta release.

- Easy Install Option for Linux Guests — Save time and simplify Linux guest operating system installations with the Easy Install Option.

Download from vmware.com
0 Replies | 89 Views
Drive Mapper 4.0.0.1
May 15, 2008 - 6:23 AM - by Digital Dave
Map multiple drives from a single screen.

Download from freewarefiles.com
0 Replies | 86 Views
Force Disk Cleanup to delete all temporary files.
May 15, 2008 - 6:10 AM - by Digital Dave
A little registry hacking for a Thursday morning.

If you’ve ever run the Microsoft Windows XP’s Disk Cleanup utility, you probably discovered that your temporary files occupy a significant amount of space. You might select the Temporary Files check box in order to allow the Disk Cleanup utility to delete the files in the Temp folder, but the Disk Cleanup utility will not remove all of the files. The reason for this oddity is that the configuration for the Disk Cleanup utility does not allow deletion of files accessed in the last seven days.

How To Over On Techrepublic.com
0 Replies | 98 Views
May 2008 Security Releases ISO Image
May 14, 2008 - 10:23 PM - by Digital Dave
Download now...

This DVD5 ISO image file contains the security updates for Windows released on Windows Update on May 13th, 2008. The image does not contain security updates for other Microsoft products. This DVD5 ISO image is intended for administrators that need to download multiple individual language versions of each security update and that do not use an automated solution such as Windows Server Update Services (WSUS). You can use this ISO image to download multiple updates in all languages at the same time.

Download now from Microsoft.com
0 Replies | 83 Views
Five Misunderstood Features in Windows Vista
May 14, 2008 - 10:20 PM - by Digital Dave
I caught this over on Bink.nu and after reading it (especially the Vista "performance" section) I thought some of you might want to also.

We‘ve heard some of you say that Windows Vista runs slower than Windows XP on a given PC. So what‘s really happening here? First, we need to avoid comparing apples to oranges—Windows Vista is doing a lot more than Windows XP, and it requires resources to conduct these tasks. That said, it is important to make sure a PC running Windows Vista has enough horsepower to function properly, especially for older PCs running a minimal amount of RAM, since the Windows Vista footprint is larger, bottlenecks will occur.

Download and View the document.
0 Replies | 167 Views
Realtek High Definition Audio Drivers - Vista\ 2K\XP\2003 v1.92
May 14, 2008 - 4:49 PM - by Digital Dave
Updated drivers...

Realtek High Definition Audio for 2K\XP\03 1.92
Realtek High Definition Audio for Vista 1.92
0 Replies | 130 Views
Free Stuff Tomorrow...
May 14, 2008 - 3:03 PM - by Digital Dave
Yea that would get my attention also.

I just received an email from the folks who make the Laplink Software and it seems they will be celebrating their B-Day tomorrow and wanted to invite you all.

As part of their B-Day celebration they will be giving away a free copy of their famous PC Mover software (they say it's a $50.00 value) tomorrow only, to everyone who visits their web site. No purchase necessary, no strings attached, and no gimmicks.

I find that rather cool of them.

They also state the following: "In addition to free copies of PCmover for everyone, many other products are free or nearly free including; free Gateway laptops, free Targus laptop bags, free Microsoft products, free Laplink 2 GB USB sticks, products like Spy Sweeper, RegistryBooster, PerfectDisk, and more. (Visit www.laplink.com for a complete list and applicable rules and restrictions.)"

Hey free software and steep discounts on other software... hell, I'm there.

Just wanted to pass this along.

Laplink.com

Later - Digital
0 Replies | 149 Views
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