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Microsoft talks DVD, Media Center support in Windows 8 and why most won't miss it
If you have to issue an explanation to follow up an explanation, then it's pretty safe to say the first one wasn't clear enough, and it's under those circumstances that Microsoft's Steven Sinofsky and the Windows 8 team are returning to the subject of Media Center and DVD movie support. After addressing both a few days ago, the internet backlash was (predictably) quick to finding out that Media Center would be available only as an upgrade to the Pro version of the OS, and that without it Windows wouldn't natively play DVDs. What many may not know however, and the new FAQ points out, is that this is not an entirely new thing -- Windows XP did not have support outside of specialized editions or add-ons, several versions of Vista did not play DVDs and on Windows 7 the Basic and Starter editions lacked the add-on. Of course, for most users this doesn't matter in the least since brand new PCs tend to ship with third party software to play DVDs (or Blu-ray movies where applicable, which no version of Windows has or will natively support). Answering the question we had of what this means for users upgrading their own computers, they'll either need to see if they have existing third party software to play DVDs that is compatible with Windows 8, or acquire Media Center post-upgrade.
Microsoft Flight reinvents itself as free-to-play simulator (video)
Microsoft's Flight Simulator has long prodded gamers to splash out on hardware upgrades and insane joysticks. Like Madonna, it's reinvented itself for the 21st century as a single-named free-to-play game for those who want to zoom around the skies of Hawaii. The company will make its money by selling premium add-ons including new aircraft and "adventure packs." The game is now ready for download (at the source link) and, if it proves popular, Redmond should expect a nice gift basket from AMD and NVIDIA this Christmas.
Windows support will last forever (almost), thank you Microsoft!
Just when you needed one more reason to carry on loving Windows Vista, Microsoft has gone and increased its customer support period. An extension has also been granted to Windows 7, which will get a full ten years of support instead of the usual five. There's been no announcement or fanfare, except for a brief communication from Microsoft Japan that sets out the new end dates. XP's support will stop in 2014, Vista's will shut down in 2017 and Windows 7's will come to a close in post-apocalyptic 2020, at which point call center staff will no doubt throw a party on Europa. [Thanks, Abhishikt] [Happy elderly couple photo via Shutterstock.]
APK puts Windows 95, 98 and XP, plus Linux on the EVO 3D
And here you thought Microsoft bringing Windows 8 to ARM was big news. Turns out, a member of the xda-developers forum has managed to make an APK that puts a variety of Redmond's x86 operating systems on the HTC EVO 3D and its 1.2 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon silicon -- Windows 95, 98, XP and even your favorite flavor of Linux are all available for the three dee-equipped handset. All you need to do is install the Bochs Pentium emulator APK and the OS disk image of your choice, modify a couple files, and you'll be doing yesteryear's desktop computing on a handheld in no time. Feeling nostalgic? Detailed instructions how to do it yourself and the necessary files can be found at the source link below, but all we want to know is: does it do the blue screen of death or the force close dance when things go awry?
Windows XP turns 10, enjoys its golden years and slow transition into retirement
It's hard to believe that it was ten years ago today that Windows XP first hit retail shelves. It's even more astonishing when you realize that it was still the most popular operating system in the world until the beginning of this month. The sun may finally be setting on the stalwart OS that has powered countless home and business PCs (it crossed the 400 million mark way back in 2006), but it's still number two -- right behind it's youngest brother Windows 7 and well ahead of the black sheep, Vista. Sure, our relationship with Microsoft's OS has had its ups and downs, but it's clear we've developed an attachment to the ol' bird. After all, consumer demand kept it shipping on PCs until late 2010 and Redmond has pledged to support it until April 8th of 2014. If nothing else, XP will be remembered for its incredible resilience. [Thanks, Jacob]
Windows 7 overtakes XP globally, Vista found weeping in a corner
According to StatCounter, it's taken roughly two years for Redmond's latest to surpass XP and become the world's most popular operating system. October 2011 marks the first time that Windows 7 has overtaken XP globally, with a 40 percent share of the market versus the latter's 38. As for Vista, it's been holding steady at around 11. Not that it's much of a surprise, as in North America, Windows 7 took the crown back in April of this year. Rounding out the top five, are OS X (though it's not clear whether that captures all of Cupertino's beasts) and Linux, which come in at 7 and 0.82 percent respectively. But don't take our word for it, hop on over to the source links and get your interactive chart on. [Thanks, Pipera]
Study finds Macs account for 11% of corporate computers, Windows XP dominates
After 27 years of existence, the Mac may finally be getting some respect in corporations. According to a study by research firm Forrester, Macs have jumped from 9.1% of all computers in enterprises in April, 2010 to 11% in March of 2011. The study looked at 400,000 computers from 2,500 companies that accessed the Forrester.com website. Why the big leap in acceptance? Forrester's Ben Gray noted that some companies are yielding to pressure from employees who want to use their own machines at work. This trend is referred to as the "consumerization" of the enterprise, and Gray mentioned that "Empowered workers attracted to BYO [bring your own] device programs are quickly coming to expect Mac and iOS support." There was no mention of the so-called Apple "Halo Effect" being at work, although anecdotal evidence points toward many iPod, iPhone, and iPad users later embracing Macs for work and home. This could be a factor in why workers are beginning to take their Macs into the workplace. While Mac OS X use in the enterprise is climbing, Windows XP -- which Microsoft will officially drop support for in April, 2014 -- is still the primary OS in use in big business with close to a 60% share of the installed base. Windows 7 powers about 21% of corporate computers, with the remaining share being divided between Linux and Windows Vista. [via MacWorld UK]
Microsoft to malware: your AutoRunning days on Windows are numbered
Beware, malware. The Windows AutoRun updates for Vista and XP SP3 that Microsoft released in February have so far proven successful in thwarting your file corrupting ways. Although Windows 7 was updated to disable AutoPlay within AutoRun for USB drives -- freezing the ability for a virus to exploit it -- the aforementioned versions had remained vulnerable up until right after January. Fast-forward to the period between February and May of this year, and the updates have reduced the number of incidents by 1.3 million compared to the three months prior for the supported Vista and XP builds. Amazingly, when stacked against May of last year, there was also a 68 percent decline in the amount of incidents reported across all builds of Windows using Microsoft's Malicious Software Remove Tool. There's another fancy graph after the break to help illustrate, and you'll find two more along with a full breakdown by hitting the source link down under.
Windows XP users will finally need to upgrade to enter the iCloud
This got a bit lost amid all the WWDC 2011 hubbub earlier this week, but Apple quietly delivered a bit of bad news to steadfast Windows XP users with its iCloud announcement. Unlike its MobileMe service and recent versions of iTunes, which have somewhat surprisingly supported Windows XP all this time, use of Apple's iCloud service on a PC will require either Windows Vista or Windows 7. Of course, XP users shouldn't feel too bad about being left behind -- as TUAW notes, Apple's only extended support for the Mac version of iTunes 10.3 back to OS X 10.5, which was just released in 2007 (when Windows XP was already starting to tell other upstart operating systems to get off its lawn). [Thanks, Stephen]
Galaxy Tab 10.1 Limited Edition not seen in Android File Transfer, Windows usability is spotty
You know what's cool? Handing out 5,000 Android tablets to your most loyal developers at Google I/O. You know what's not cool? Handing out 5,000 Android tablets that can't have files loaded onto them. Believe or not, that's exactly what happened at this week's I/O conference, where hordes of developers were handed a Galaxy Tab 10.1 Limited Edition that cannot currently interface with OS X, and has a whale of a time doing so with Windows 7. During our initial preview of Music Beta, we noticed that our MacBook Pro (OS X 10.6) wouldn't actually recognize the tablet, even after installing Android File Transfer. Given that we didn't actually need that functionality for the purpose of said article, we threw it on the backburner. For those unaware, Android File Transfer is a small app that's required to transfer content between OS X and Android 3.0. Avid users of Froyo and Gingerbread may be appalled that any Honeycomb device they buy will require a piece of software to interface with it, but hey -- there it is. At any rate, it seems to us that the latest build of Android File Transfer doesn't include the device ID for Samsung's heretofore unreleased Tab 10.1; if you'll recall, the standard edition of this thing isn't slated to hit consumer hands until June 8th. Regardless of what tricks we tried (installing a Mac version of Kies Mini, for example), we couldn't get a single Apple in our stable to recognize the thing. In one instance, a Mac viewed the device as a "Samsung Modem" within the Networking pane -- that's as close as we could come to getting the two to mingle. AllThingsD's Ina Fried said her Tab 10.1 LE was merely recognized as a camera-like device within Aperture. Over on the Windows side, things are only marginally less awful. We've had a couple of Wintel boxes outright refuse to play nice with this "mysterious USB device," while others required multiple reboots and driver searchers to finally mount it as an external storage device -- and only with USB Debugging disabled. The upside is that those with patience (and a Windows 7 rig) can look forward to a single method of transfer, but it's certainly less than ideal. We're surmising that Google's cooking up a new version of Android File Transfer as we speak that'll take care of the compatibility issues, hopefully long before consumers start seeing these in early June. But for developers in the here and now? Stop wasting your afternoon trying to figure out why your Mac just won't cooperate, and give that Win7 system a little love. Update: After a bit of additional digging, we noticed that it's possible to access the Tab's file system from a Mac or Windows PC by using the Android SDK, putting the tablet in USB debugging mode, and running ddms. It's not the most convenient solution if you want to quickly and conveniently transfer some content to / from the device, but it should work until AFT sees an update. Alternatively, we're hearing that XNJB -- an older open source project originally built for Creative Nomads -- enables files to be transferred whenever it's in a good mood.
Windows 7 closes gap with XP, is poised to steal top market share this month
As recently as a year ago, Windows XP was the kingpin of PCs in the US with 43.1 percent market share. But that's rapidly changing. StatCounter shows that while Mac OS X is creeping up slightly and Windows Vista continues its death march, Windows 7 is on the rise, steadily closing the gap with trusty ole' XP. Last month, XP's share sank to 32.17 percent, while Windows 7's edged up to 30.84 percent, leaving the latter poised to overtake XP -- something the much-maligned Vista never did. And if early numbers are to be believed, it's already happened: StatCounter says that for the first week in April Windows 7's share (among desktops, at least) totaled 31.71 percent, compared with XP's 31.56. Either way, it seems Microsoft has convinced consumers that it's finally safe to upgrade.
Charting the upgrade path from DOS 5.0 to Windows 7 (video)
If you're old enough to remember tweaking your Autoexec.bat and tackling IRQ conflicts, days when launching Windows required typing "win" at a command prompt, prepare for a blast of nostalgia. YouTuber Andrew Tait (aka "TheRasteri") took a freshly minted VMWare instance and spent what looks to be a full day running through every version of Windows starting with DOS 5.0 and Windows 1.0, which was basically just Explorer paired with one heck of a crummy text editor. From there he dutifully leads us on a crazy upgrade path all the way up to modern times, charting interesting things like how long a version of Doom installed in DOS ran (failed in Windows 2000, but worked again in Windows XP) and when color settings made in Windows 2.0 were finally overwritten (also in 2000). It's 10 minutes in length and is probably the most interesting video you won't watch today.
Microsoft rolls out long, long-awaited Windows update to disable AutoRun for USB drives
It's already changed the behavior in Windows 7, and Microsoft has now finally rolled out an update for earlier versions of Windows that prevents a program from executing automatically when a USB drive is plugged into a PC. That behavior has been blamed for the spread of malware in recent years -- including the infamous Conficker worm -- and Microsoft had actually already made it possible to disable the functionality back in November of 2009, albeit only through an update available from its Download Center website. It's now finally pushed the update out through the Windows Update channel, though, which should cause it to be much more broadly deployed (particularly in large organizations). As explained in a rather lengthy blog post, however, Microsoft has decided to simply make it an "important, non-security update" rather than a mandatory update, as it doesn't technically see AutoRun as a "vulnerability" -- it was by design, after all. That means you'll have to look for the option in Windows Update and check it off to install it -- if you choose, you can also re-enable it at anytime with a patch.
Alter-Ego: Using a controller with DC Universe Online on PC
This week I'm actually going to detour slightly from the game and instead feature one of my favorite hacks for playing DC Universe Online. Well, OK, not a hack -- more like a fun project for the nerdily inclined. Part of the reason I've decided to detour is an email I received earlier this week from Rusty, who asked: "I am very interested in trying the controller on my PC and would welcome your opinion on the best way to accomplish this. I'm leery of downloading software to make this happen. Would you mind sharing your experience?" As such, this week I'm dedicating my column to helping my fellow PC fiends get their controller on in DC Universe Online. Depending on your personal level of hardware nerditry, your extant pieces/parts, and your budget, this can range from incredibly inexpensive on up to ridiculously awesome. Hungry for more? Join me after the break!
Mac OS X 10.6.6 introduces subtle changes to Boot Camp
MacNN cites two tips they received noting changes made to Boot Camp in Mac OS X 10.6.6. The first suggests that Apple has dropped support for Windows XP. When setting up a Windows partition, Boot Camp requests an "...authentic installation disc of Windows 7 Home Premium, Professional or Ultimate." XP isn't mentioned. Also, users are discouraged from using software from a Mac OS X install disc or another computer in an attempt to find drivers and the like. Instead, Boot Camp will prompt you to download "additional software designed specifically for each Mac" to get your keyboards, etc. working. Just as MacNN speculates, we agree that this measure is meant to ensure that users have the latest software, helping to eliminate future troubleshooting.
Windows XP partially re-created in LittleBigPlanet 2, ups the stakes for gamer ambitiousness (video)
We've seen an CHIP-8 emulator and even a virtual CPU built inside games, but we've yet to encounter a game recreation of Windows. Thanks to a quartet of industrious LittleBigPlanet 2 beta players, though, we can now finally check that off in our copy of 100 Geeky Projects You Must Witness Before Dying. As the video above shows, major Windows functions they've emulated to date include a working start menu and mouse cursor, multiplayer support for a variety of bloatware games, and even the good ole' blue screen of death. That's pretty impressive stuff from an ambitious platforming title that won't officially ship until mid-January. Needless to say, once the full version arrives, we expect to see a working copy of Lion running stat. You heard us folks -- we're setting the bar that high.
Windows XP, LittleBigPlanet 2 edition
Operating systems aren't particularly the most exciting things to play. But when they're recreated within the confines of the LittleBigPlanet 2 creation tools, we take notice. "Windows LBP Edition" won't replace your copy of Windows XP, but it's a heck of a lot cuter.
Hitachi ships Deskstar 7K3000 and 5K3000 HDDs, 3TB XL external drive
Three. It's a magical number, you know? Hitachi GST sure feels that way, and the company is today introducing a trio of three terabyte storage solutions. First up is the 3TB Deskstar internal HDD kit, which apparently shatters the 2.2TB capacity limit on 32-bit Windows XP systems without any extra hardware required. For those who've graduated to more modern systems, there's the new 3TB Hitachi XL USB 2.0, an external archive solution designed to be sat horizontally or vertically and operate with both PC and Mac platforms. Lastly, the company is finally shipping the 7K3000 and 5K3000 internal hard drives to OEMs and channel partners, but the 3TB version of the latter won't hit until next quarter. As for pricing? All's quiet on the western front... save for that XL, anyway -- that one's going for $249.99 (3TB), $169.99 (2TB) and $99.99 (1TB).
ITG xpPhone on sale at long last!
Feel like stretching the very definition of "phone" for the sake of functionality or sheer bravado? You get to be friends with us. We've always had a soft spot for ITG's bizarrely conceived xpPhone, which does indeed run Windows XP, albeit the Embedded version, and the monstrous thing is now on sale after almost two years of teasing. It's running for a mere $798 PayPal Bux in its 3G incarnation, $732 for 3G-free, and $666 (yes, that 666) for the 3G-less version with DOS instead of Windows. We could go on all day listing specs for this thing, so we recommend you hit up that source link and feast on them for yourselves -- just make sure to have your PayPal login handy for when the irresistible nerdery of this thing reaches out and grabs you and never ever lets go. [Thanks, Eman Z]
Dell lays down the law: no more Windows XP shipments after October 22nd
Microsoft already informed its most moneyed partners that no more systems could leave their labs after October 22nd with Windows XP, but given that the proverbial boy has cried wolf before, we were inclined to think that we'd eventually face yet another push back. We guess there's still a few ticks of the clock left between now and that fateful day, but there seems to be little hope for XP to live on in any significant form beyond the aforesaid date. Dell has just published a report noting that they will stop offering XP on new machines later this month in preparation for October's cutoff, though they're quick to point out that Microsoft will continue Windows XP driver support until December 2012. For the average consumer, that means you've got just over a month to get whatever XP-equipped systems you want from Dell; for select "qualified customers," they will still be able to snag XP machines post-October 22nd through the company's Custom Factory Integration service. Hit the source link for all the details, and feel free to pour one out for a waning OS. We can shed a few more tears next month.
