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Windows 7 XP Mode Release Candidate Released

admin — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 01:06:20 +0000

Information Week reported today that Microsoft has released a release candidate for what they are calling “XP Mode”. XP Mode allows users to run applications within a virtual Windows XP installation so that it runs without any compatibility problems whatsoever.

This feature is aimed at business customers who need to be able to run their business critical applications in the older XP environment. If they can run their critical applications they will find Windows 7 a feasible upgrade on all of their PC purchases.

XP Mode needs to work flawlessly if Windows 7 is going to find wide spread success in the business world.

Original article found from: http://www.informationweek.com/news/windows/operatingsystems/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=219000227

Apple vs. Google Voice

admin — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 00:53:53 +0000

Google Voice is an amazing service. It completely changes the way its users think about phone service. One can dial a Google Voice phone number and without their knowledge, your cell phone and home phone both ring. If they choose not to answer the call, they go to voicemail where the caller’s message is transcribed and sent via a text message to the receivers phone. I have had the service now for 2 weeks and I could not be happier with this free service.

Not everyone seems to be as enthusiastic about this service as Apple has rejected an application that would allow iPhone users to access all the information contained in their Google Voice accounts. The reason for this is because it “duplicates” functionality already on the iPhone.

However this is likely not true at all. Along with this service you get free text messaging. This is likely going to cut into the profit margins of AT&T since those will no longer have to charge insane fees for unlimited text messaging.

The FCC is looking into this to make sure that AT&T is not meddling in the affairs of Apple’s iPhone too much. This could be an unfair trade practice. In my opinion it is about time the FCC stepped in to examine the relationship between Apple and AT&T. These kinds of relationships hurt consumers since we are not permitted to have the phone we want on the network we want without breaking the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

MySpace Mail

admin — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 15:30:58 +0000

PaidContent.org is reporting that MySpace is going to be launching an email service July 22 (tomorrow) and rolling out through the end of the year. So all users would receive an email address @myspace.com

Let’s be honest. This is a hail marry pass to get people back to MySpace. Most people have moved on to Facebook and really do not need this. If they had done this a few years ago this might have been groundbreaking, but it really is too late.

Personally I’ll check it out but I’ll be keeping my GMail.

(Story found from http://paidcontent.org/article/419-myspace-mail-slated-to-launch-thursday/)

YouTube Hopes To Make IE6 Go Away For Good

admin — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 08:00:47 +0000

It looks like YouTube may be ready to officially drop support for Internet Explorer 6. Those out there that are still on Internet Explorer 6 will start getting a message saying that they should upgrade to a more modern browser. Honestly, I feel that this should be Microsoft’s job to force people to upgrade but it is nice to see websites encouraging its users to upgrade. Really Microsoft should just force it as the same type of upgrade that a high priority security update so that the world wakes up one day to IE 8. It may be a small PR problem for a few days, but the world will be much better off in the long run.

As a member of the web development industry I have to jump for joy. While I am not the one responsible for making sure things work in IE6, I have to think about the pain. Really you almost have to wonder why we still support IE 6 at all. Supporting IE 6 would be like Microsoft supporting Windows ME along with Windows XP and Vista. Windows ME is old and in the past and supporting it is not in anyone’s best interest.

With the overall internet using IE 6 below 10% you have to wonder if supporting it is really worth it. With the advancements in the web since IE 6, are you holding back 90% of your users to make sure all is the same for the other 10%? It probably is not worth it.

Frankly if you are using IE 6 willingly, you deserve to have a worse experience on the internet than the rest of us. You have gone out of your way to make you are not using a modern browser. Please upgrade. If you feel that you cannot upgrade due to a corporate policy, then install Firefox on a flash drive and run it that way. That way you at least know you are not contributing to one of the largest problems with the internet today.

Sources:

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/07/14/youtube-will-be-next-to-kiss-ie6-support-goodbye/

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/07/05/since-march-internet-explorer-lost-114-percent-share-to-firefox-safari-and-chrome/

http://gs.statcounter.com/#browser_version-US-monthly-200807-200907

Windows 7 Upgrade Was Almost Too Easy

admin — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 01:30:06 +0000

Microsoft was very close to making Windows 7 nearly perfect in every single way. It was going to be Vista, but a more polished version that would run faster. It’s going to run on netbooks without any troubles. They made it super affordable to upgrade (if you pre-ordered it). Heck, they were even giving it away free for a year if you wanted to be apart of the release candidate.

But alas, Microsoft dropped a bomb saying that the Upgrade check will not just be inserting a disk from your old version. You have to have a fully installed and activated version of Windows installed in order to qualify. To most people this may not seem like a big deal. You have it installed anyways right? Well there are those of us out there who reload their operating systems multiple times per year and to force us to install an operating system (which takes about an hour in itself) just to nuke it immediately so we can upgrade is very inconvenient. What is more inconvenient is the fact that my copy of Windows XP has been installed so many times (on only my computer) that I now have to call Microsoft and ask their permission in order to activate it now.

Now this is not a total and complete disaster. All it requires is a little planning on our parts to make this wonderful again. All one has to do is make a hard drive image of the fresh Windows 7 install that is activated and you should be all set. That way when you need to reload your system, you just restore the activated image and keep going.

In the end it is not a huge deal, it is just inconvenient. I still am very excited to get Windows 7 in October.

(story found from http://www.maximumpc.com/article/news/windows_7_upgrade_edition_will_require_activated_copy_verification_each_time_it’s_installed)