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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.
Wasteland Diaries: Faction interaction
The factions in Fallen Earth are a diverse bunch, each one bent on dominating the other five. They all have their reasons to want to impose their will upon the inhabitants of the Grand Canyon Province. They are all also very narrow-minded in their approach to rebuilding society. They are all very intolerant of the other factions and will impede and harass them at every opportunity. Some factions (those on the opposite side of the wheel) espouse downright hatred of their diametrically opposed faction and kill its members on sight. The factions also have sub-factions which usually straddle the beliefs of an allied faction. Each faction in Fallen Earth has one arch-enemy, two enemies, and two allies. The two allies are sometimes called the shoulder factions due to their position on the faction wheel. The allied factions, however, are enemies to one another. This can complicate relations in multi-factional task forces. It can sometimes lead to fighting one allied faction to appease the other. Sometimes the ally of yesterday becomes the enemy of tomorrow. Yes, it makes for some intriguing politics and some excellent canonical roleplaying situations. But when players are interjected into the politics, it can get downright confusing. After the cut, I'll describe the faction mechanics in more detail and the players' effect on the wheel as well.
Wasteland Diaries: The battle of Haietta
There are new PvP objectives in Fallen Earth. Well, the objectives are the same, but the means of achieving those objectives are now different. Conflict towns remain largely unchanged, but the taking and holding of one is now dramatically different because of a few subtle changes. No longer are the non-timed towns captured by doing repeatable missions. Timed conflict towns haven't changed at all. But the other towns had a silly mechanic: having the PvPers do PvE missions to control a town. The attackers and defenders would roam about doing missions and possibly run into one another and fight. More often than not, there was little fighting. The new system concentrates the action on a certain point -- actually, three points. The Faction Control Points (FCPs) are placed near or in the town. They are now the key to controlling the town. Of course you can still do it the old-fashioned way, but it's much quicker to control all three points at once. Controlling all three points will give the controlling faction a steady stream of faction points toward its cause. Each tower held contributes 2500 points to the controlling faction about every five minutes.If you've ever done the missions in a conflict town, you know this is a much faster method. PvP is rampant in Fallen Earth right now. Well, in Haietta, it is. After the cut, I'll give a first-hand account of what I've seen on the front lines.
British government confirms nine EVs eligible for £5,000 rebates, but there are really only six
Buy an electric vehicle in the US, like the Nissan Leaf, and you can expect to get a nice boost to your tax refund: a $7,500 federal subsidy. Now the UK is getting in on the cash back game, with a programme program starting on January 1st to offer a 25 percent discount on EVs purchased -- up to a maximum of £5,000. Nine cars have been declared eligible for this decidedly choice bonus: Mitsubishi i-MiEV Peugeot iOn Citroen C-Zero Smart fourtwo electric drive Nissan Leaf Tata Vista Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid Vauxhall Ampera Chevrolet Volt Sure, the first three and the last two cars are effectively the same models, just with different bits of chrome stuck on the front, but a little badge engineering never hurt anybody.
Icon Notebook: textual communication avenue for the Microsoft Word averse
It looks like a document. It's chock-full of documents. But not Microsoft Word documents. Only documents that could dream of one day being scanned in and converted to a Word document. It's the Icon Notebook, brought to you by the brilliant minds at Brigada Creativa, and it's on sale now for €6.95 ($9.34) direct from Spain. Which is a whole lot cheaper than a Word license, no matter the font you're talking in.
CE-oh no he didn't!: Microsoft's Kevin Turner says iPhone 4 might be Apple's Vista
While not technically a CEO, Microsoft chief operating officer Kevin Turner is not immune to a certain amount of executive level foot-in-mouth. Speaking at Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference in DC and chatting up his company's upcoming slate of Windows Phones, he couldn't help a little iPhone bashing: "It looks like the iPhone 4 might be their Vista, and I'm okay with that." Should we point out to Kevin that attempting to criticize your competition by comparing it to your own flagship products is usually counterproductive, or leave him to figure it out on his own during some early morning magnificent moustache contemplation session?
Firefox 4 Beta 1 now available for download
Whoa, Nelly! Is that a Firefox 4 download button we're looking at? Why yes... yes it is! We can't think of a much better way to wrap up one's workday than by finding out that Mozilla's own Firefox browser has finally made the official leap to 4.0, with Beta 1 going live for the adoring public today. It's ready to be sucked down and installed for those with Windows, Linux and OS X-based machines, and the changelog itself is far too lengthy for this space (though it's linked below for your perusal). You'll obviously notice an overhauled look hitting you front and center, with a new add-on manager, support for the new WebM format, improved privacy settings and crash protection headlining the "big chart o' features." Give 'er a download and toss your thoughts on the new build down in comments below, cool? P.S. - Be warned that this may very well not work with your stable of add-ons right away, so we'd keep that stable 3.x.x build installed as a backup!
Wi-Fi Sync now compatible with Windows and iPad
Wi-Fi Sync is quite the gem (at least we think so) but it had some limitations -- namely, it only worked on OS X for desktop, and only with iPhone / iPod touch. Developer Greg Hughes pinged us earlier today to let us know he's thrown the gates off such restrictions. The jailbroken app now works for both iPads and Windows -- XP, Vista, and 7. The desktop client is free to download but it still cost just a hair under $10 for the appropriate mobile device. Worth the price of breaking free from wires? Your call.
MaComfort brings a little Mac back to your PC
Let's face it -- as much as we love our Macs, sometimes you've got to use a PC, whether that be for work or at a friend's house, or just for playing some games. But when you absolutely must use Windows, maComfort can make the transition easier. It's a free Windows application (with some premium options) that brings all of the nice software things you appreciate on your Mac back to your PC. It's got a QuickLook-style feature, translates the Windows key to all of your Command hotkeys, and even replicates familiar Mac features like one-button volume control and Spaces and Active Corners. And the app also has a add-on system, so you can download extra features like homemade Docks and shadows just like on your Mac back home. Of course, it's not perfect -- QuickLook only works in Explorer, not everywhere, and obviously all of the less-superficial features on the Mac (like Terminal and Stacks) will stay in OS X. But if you have to use a PC away from home and are frustrated that hitting what's supposed to be the Command key keeps popping up the Start menu instead, try a little maComfort. The app is a free download with limited functionality, or $20 for full use. [via LH]
Windows 7 way hotter than Vista off the line, now more popular than all OS X versions
We learned back in November that Windows 7 was having a much (much!) better first few days in retail than Vista did when it launched, but now that the system has had a full quarter and change to make an impression, it looks as if that growth isn't slowing down. According to new figures from Net Application, Win7 is achieving a higher level of market penetration in a faster amount of time than Vista did; after a month, Vista was stuck at 0.93 percent, while Win7 nailed the 4 percent mark. After two months, Win7 jumped to 5.71 percent, while Vista was barely over 2 percent after the same amount of time. 'Course, the newest version of Windows had a holiday season to help it out right from the get-go, but there's still no denying that people are flocking to the system even now. What's most interesting, however, is that the overall market share of Windows 7 alone has now surpassed all OS X versions that are being tracked (10.4, 10.5 and 10.6), so put that in your pipe and smoke it. Smoke it long and hard.
Chevy Volt gets its own song and dance, humanity weeps aloud
And you honestly thought you'd see a decent return-on-investment from bailing these guys out.
Boot Camp Drivers update 2.2 for Windows available
Earlier today, Apple released version 2.2 of Boot Camp drivers for Windows. Installation requires Boot Camp 2.1 to have been previously installed as well as Service Pack 2 for Windows Vista. Boot Camp is included with Leopard and Snow Leopard and lets you install Windows on an Intel-based Mac. Shops or individuals who want to go Mac despite an unavoidable Windows-only application should consider Boot Camp along with virtualization options like VMWare and Parallels. For full information on installing Boot Camp as well as upgrade instructions, manuals, troubleshooting tips and more, look here. Please note that Boot Camp Drivers Update 2.2 is for Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard only.
Microsoft manager admits to copying 'Mac look and feel,' MS denies
We've been saying it for years, but everyone thought that we Mac-heads had a chip on our shoulder from the once-sour relationship with Microsoft. Finally, however, the truth has come to light; a group manager from Microsoft has gone on record and admitted the source of some of Windows 7's prettier bits and pieces. Simon Aldous sat down with PCR for an interview and when he was asked to comment on the agility of Redmond's latest operating system, he had this to say: "What we've tried to do with Windows 7 – whether it's traditional format or in a touch format – is create a Mac look and feel." While I am glad that people at Microsoft are finally accepting the superiority of OS X, it still stung a little when Simon started to backtrack saying that Vista was more stable than OS X. Update: It looks like the Windows team had a few things to say about Simon's earlier remarks, noting that "his comments were inaccurate and uninformed." It is, in my opinion, difficult to deny that the OS X Dock has had a positive impact on how people use their computers -- whether they be PCs or Macs. That being said, I'm glad Microsoft didn't take this one lying down. [via Engadget]
NPD: Windows 7 sales 234% higher than Vista's first few days
Looks like Windows 7 is off to a much stronger start than Windows Vista, with the NPD Group claiming the first few days of sales saw a 234% increase over Vista's start. Part of that can be attributed to special deals and low-cost pre-sales -- total revenue was only 82% higher -- but it's hard to deny people are stoked for Windows 7. Interestingly, the PC hardware growth was actually stronger for Vista than 7 (48% year over year compared to 68% year over year), but there are enough variables at play there to make sure Microsoft won't lose sleep over it. In fact, 7's biggest threat seems to be Microsoft's other products, since Windows 7 PC sales were up against 20% of PC sales being comprised of Vista and XP computers, compared to the 6% of non-Vista PCs sold during that launch.
Intel's SSD Toolbox, firmware update promise boost in performance
We won't say that we love products leaving the oven before they're completely done, but we do adore gratis firmware updates that better a product even after you've purchased it. That being said, we're actually stoked that Intel has decided to out its second major firmware update for the second-gen 34nm X25-M SSD, and unlike the first, this one has the potential to put smiles on lots and lots (as opposed to a few) faces. The newfangled SSD Toolbox includes an SSD Optimizer for the aforementioned device, which promises to help users "more effectively monitor and manage the SSD's health." It also offers a performance boost to sequential write speeds by delivering up to 100MB/sec on the 160GB model, which represents a rather substantial 40 percent uptick over the existing firmware. The best news of all? Intel's doing more than just blowing hot air, as the benchmarking gurus over at Hot Hardware found out. Hit the read link for their eye-opening analysis. Update: Down for more benchmarks, including ones focused on TRIM testing? Good!
Windows 7 student upgrade installer not working for many
The Windows 7 launch seems to have gone off mostly roses and sunbeams, but we're hearing today that quite a few people have had issues installing the downloadable $29 student upgrade edition on 32-bit Vista -- apparently the file doesn't unpack to an ISO, but instead to an executable and two bundles that don't function properly, and eventually the process errors out with a 64-bit app trying to launch on 32-bit systems. It's possible to create an ISO using some hackery, but the install process seems to be 50/50 after that -- we've heard of both success and further crashes. For it's part, Microsoft says it's looking into things, so hopefully a newly repackaged download will be forthcoming -- every party has its ups and downs, right? Update: Our friends at DownloadSquad have a handy guide to making the ISO, in case you're interested -- and they say the installer does work in the end. Update 2: We just got a tip that Microsoft is offering refunds to users who are having issues. [Thanks, Christopher] [Thanks, Tom] Read - Original thread Read - Microsoft response
Apple welcomes Windows 7 the only way it knows how, with a new commercial (video, updated)
Can't argue with a wig like that, right? Video after the break.Update: Two more added. Are these still fun?
Analysts: Windows 7 may boost Mac sales
Most electronics industry analysis is obvious at best and misinformed at worst, but this one made us chuckle. Analyst firm Broadpoint AmTech has released a report that claims that, rather than diminish sales of OS X, Microsoft's impending release of Windows 7 may actually help sell Macs. They cite the chart above, which seems to show a boost (especially after Vista) in Mac sales right after Microsoft releases a new OS version.Now, even they admit they're making connections here that probably aren't there -- there are tons of factors involved in both sales of Windows OSes and Mac computers (we'd just mention that Windows 7 seems to be getting fairly good reviews so far, and while no one would argue that Vista wasn't a disaster, I'd argue that iPods and iPhones were much better "Mac sales helpers" after 2001 and 2007 than Windows would ever be), and there's no real evidence here that Microsoft's releases have any bearing at all on their competitors' numbers.But it is a nice thought for us Mac faithful to hang on to anyway -- in the next few weeks, as Windows users vibe on their new and shiny and have their super fun release parties, we can know that if we just wait, Mac sales will eventually have their day.[via Apple Insider]
Software firm finds Windows 7 doesn't boot faster than Vista
There's no question that Windows 7 promises plenty of improvements over Vista, with one of the biggest being faster boot times. While that's certainly been the experience for some, Iolo Technologies (a maker of PC tune-up software) found some significantly different results in their long term tests, which they say show that Windows 7 isn't faster than Vista at all in real world use. Specifically, they found that while Windows 7 actually got to the desktop fairly quickly, it took a full minute and 34 seconds to actually become usable, compared to a minute and 6 seconds with Vista. They also unsurprisingly found that things got worse over time, with a three-month old Windows 7 install adding a full minute to the boot time, although in that case it did actually fare somewhat better than Vista. Of course, we are talking about complete reboots here, and it's a different story when Windows 7 is simply coming in and out of sleep mode. Details on the tests are otherwise a bit light, but Iolo is promising to release its complete findings next week.
