XP
Latest
Dell raises cost of Windows XP downgrade option to $150
As you've no doubt noticed, the deadline for the Windows XP downgrade option keeps getting pushed back and back, and it looks like it's now also getting more and more expensive, as Dell has now tripled the cost of the option on its consumer laptops and desktops to $150. As TG Daily notes, this latest move follows a similar increase to $99 on Dell's more business-minded Vostro laptops and desktops which, for the time being at least, seem to be remaining as is. Of course, you can always put that $150 towards a Windows XP-equipped netbook instead, which seems to be fast becoming the primary home for the venerable OS.
Trigem's Atom-based LLUON Mobbit crashes below the $500 UMPC sweet spot
You know what we could really use right now? A chunky slab of XP running on a device that is simultaneously too big for our pockets but less functional than a netbook. Oh, what's that Trigem, you've got that? Suweet. Meet the LLUON Mobbit PS400, an Atom Z520-powered UMPC MID with a 4.8-inch (1,024 x 600) touchscreen LCD, 2 megapixel camera, 1GB memory, choice of 30GB hard disk or 16GB SSD, WiFi, and Korean WiMax (WiBro) and digital television (T-DMB). Here's the interesting part: the price. According CNET, it will cost "around" $411 (600,000 won) when it ships in January -- that's a lot of kit for that price (the similarly-speced R50A from ASUS costs over $1,800). If true, then the Mobbit looks to have finally achieved the pricing goal set by Microsoft and Intel for these UMPC-class devices way back in early 2006. Add the RAM- and touch-friendly Windows 7 OS and we might finally be home... albeit 3-years (too?) late.[Via Akihabara News and CNET]
Encrypted Text: On our way to the top, part 1
Every Wednesday, Chase Christian of Encrypted Text invites you to enter the world of shadows, as we explore the secrets and mechanics of the Rogue class. This week, we'll be talking experience of leveling from 70 to 80 in Northrend.Blizzard recently announced that December 16th would be the official start date of Arena Season 5. At just over 1 month from the launch of WotLK, it sounds like it's their expectation that a large number of players will be at the level cap and ready to PvP when the Season hits. While the numbers may make it seem like a daunting task, leveling in Northrend is easier than ever before. Rogues have it pretty good when it comes to questing and grinding. We're finely tuned killing machines with the defensive capabilities to prevent unnecessary deaths and the offensive capabilities to turn those Group quests into solo outings. I've been fielding several questions from other Rogues about where to level, questing tips, and gear choices. After the cut, I'll break down the first couple levels of the trek to 80 and share what I've learned so far.
ASRock's Instant Boot: 0 to Vista in 4 seconds
ASRock has a ploy to sell more of its motherboards: Instant Boot. The BIOS update for select MoBos promises to boot XP or Vista systems 10 times faster than standard PCs -- in other words, about 3 to 4 seconds from a full shutdown. ASRock achieves this minor of miracles through manipulation of the Advanced Configuration and Power Interface that Microsoft manipulates for its sleep and hibernate modes. At the risk of oversimplification, ASRock appears to add the processing baggage to the backend of the shutdown process, essentially rebooting the OS and then dropping it into a suspended state ready to instantly pop on the next time you hit the power button. Pretty smart actually. Here's the catch: the system you're using must be limited to a single user account without any password protection -- a definite no-no for corporate environments. See what happens when Hugo and George steal Dad's camcorder after the break.[Thanks, Daniel]
Ask a Beta Tester: The past meets the future
We only have one or two days of Ask a Beta Tester left, ladies and gentlemen. Very soon, it will be no more. Who will care about beta questions? We'll have the expansion in our hot little hands! Forget the beta, we'll have the real deal. We've actually had a lot of fun doing this for you guys though, and we're kind of sad to see it go. I like to think you guys have had fun with it, too. You know, beyond drooling over the Wrath screenshots and information.With that in mind, I'd like to ask all of you a question: Would you like to see something similar to this continue past Wrath's launch? Obviously it wouldn't be about just Wrath's beta, it would be more about the game in general. Leveling, patches, content. Short questions that can be answered in a paragraph or two. I don't know what we'd call it. Ask a Guy Some Stuff has a ring to it, though. %Poll-22189% jared.daniels asked...I won't be getting the WOTLK expansion for a few days after the launch. What do you suggest I do until I can get the DVD?
Funcom implements PvP XP rollback in Age of Conan
Funcom has sent a clear message to the number of Age of Conan players who've been exploiting a flaw in the PvP XP system: START OVER. Oliver 'Tarib' Kunz, Senior Community Manager for Age of Conan, addressed Funcom's recent decision to roll back the experience gained by some players who unfairly saw a meteoric rise in gains, as confirmed in a player-by-player investigation. Kunz stated, "We have then taken what we consider to be appropriate action against those players by reducing their PvP Levels to what they were before it was possible to take advantage of this flaw and removing all PvP Gear." Of course, Kunz says, Funcom is open to discussing the removal of experience and gear from those who believe they were unfairly targeted, and have stated that if they've misidentified an exploiter, the character(s) in question will be restored to their former status. Having fun in Conan's homeland? Make sure to check out all of our previous Age of Conan coverage, and stick with Massively for more news from the Hyborian Age!
The Lord of the Rings Online's Welcome Back Weekend event starts tomorrow
With The Lord of the Rings Online's Mines of Moria expansion slated to hit store shelves on November 18th, Turbine is taking extra measures to entice old players to come back with another Welcome Back Weekend. This has been done a couple of times before, so you might know the drill, but in case you don't here goes!From tomorrow through November 17th, all former subscribers in good standing can play for free, no commitment required. During that period, everyone -- former subscribers and current -- will receive 25% extra experience from monsters, which will stack with rested XP. These are pretty simple incentives, but if they're enough to bring you in, you can download either the standard or high-resolution client and get started tomorrow.EDIT: We read wrong! While the XP gains push through the 17th, the free play period only lasts through the 10th. Thanks, Bissrok.
Ask WoW Insider: Wrath and the pre-60s
This week, Keyra of Farstriders has a question about a group that's been a little left out of the expansion excitement so far: midlevel folks. Here's what she is asking you, our readers:With all of the focus on Wrath, there seems to be a conspicuous absence toward those who are of lower-to-mid level and it's beginning to become irritating. Not everyone is level 65+! Some of us are still below level 40 and many of us are just starting out. So, here's my question: What can we who are mid-level expect to see from the expansion, if anything? Is it even worth the trouble to purchase since we can't benefit from the higher-level quests, items and what-not? And what would you suggest to speed our leveling so that we may enjoy what Wrath has to offer?KeyraThe fact is that most of the marquee features in the expansion pack are, yes, aimed at the higher levels. And most of the things that will affect lowbies -- Inscription, the faster leveling, and achievements, are already in the game anyway.So there are two questions here: if you're pre-60, why should you care about Wrath? Or should you at all? And Keyra also sounds like she wants leveling suggestions. My suggestion? Do quests, and lots of them. Do every quest in your log, in order, and then when you're out, go to the next town over and do all of those. The rewards will be good, it'll go as fast as leveling goes (even faster, now that Blizzard has added more XP to the mix all the way to 70), and you'll always have a clear goal: just do the next quest in your log. You might have to skip over group quests, but just keep doing quests and eventually you'll be 70 before you know it.What say you to Keyra, readers? And if you have a question you'd like to ask the (frankly, rowdy but loveable) readers of WoW Insider, just send it along ot ask AT wowinsider dot com, and you might see it up here next week.Previously on Ask WoW Insider...
ASUS: $200 Eee PC in 2009
Finally, the promise of the $200 Eee PC is, uh, promised again. Jerry Shen, apparently in a meeting with analysts, said that ASUS will launch an Eee PC priced at US$200 in 2009. He also said that 7- and 8.9-inch Eee PCs will be phased out of the market to be replaced by 10-inch models. Although that sounds like it opens the possibility for a 10-inch Eee PC for $200 we're not counting on it. Shen also noted that 70% of all Eee PCs are now loaded with XP (a latecomer to netbooks) and hard disk drives compared to 30% with Linux and SSDs. Microsoft, you win again.
Confirmed: Kids like Sugar better than XP
It's hardly a scientific test, but when a Cnet editor's 8 year old daughter was given the choice between an OLPC XO laptop running Windows XP or the Linux-based Sugar UI, Sugar was the winner. As Cnet points out, either OS when properly incorporated into the teaching curriculum should serve the children of developing nations equally well. Only one, however, promises to prepare our youth for middle management. P.S. Amazon's Give One, Get One program will be limited to Linux according to Cnet and confirmed in the OLPC Wiki -- no dual-boot for you Santa.[Thanks, Justin G.]
LotRO announces a second bonus XP weekend
In preparation for Lord of the Rings Online's upcoming expansion on November 18th, Turbine has announced a second bonus weekend for current and former players from October 30th through November 3rd. This weekend mirrors a previous event at the beginning of October which offered the same incentives. For former players, you're invited to come back to Middle-earth to experience the loads of new content an prepare yourself for Mines of Moria. All players can expect a +25% bonus to their XP, which should help to get those characters just high enough to enjoy some of the new high-end content in Moria. Check out the official announcement page for more information on downloading or patching the client and getting back into the game.
The Daily Grind: When is a grind not a grind?
According to a history documentary this blogger remembers watching some time back, 'the daily grind' was originally a literal grind; the processing of cultivated grain to make flour for bread, which people would do on small stone wheels. In their thatch roof cottages. Before the Trogdor came in the niiiiight.But in the context of MMOs, such as Scott Jennings' recent criticism of Warhammer Online for being grindy, what exactly makes a grind? It's easy to come up with a rough definition: doing the same thing over and over with little variation and modest but predictable reward, a bit like grinding little stone wheels to make enough flour for one family sized loaf. However, given that pretty much everything you do in an MMO is a task carried out for some sort of reward or other, what stops it all from feeling like one big grind - variations in quest type, changes of scenery, or changes of mob type? What features work best - and worst - to break up the monotony? What makes the difference between feeling like you're playing and feeling like you're grinding?
World of Warcraft players will earn experience points in PvP
We almost missed this major revelation on our sister site WoW Insider -- we might not have caught it if Eurogamer hadn't. Deep within WoW Insider's excellent liveblog of the World of Warcraft PvP panel at Blizzcon, you'll find that Blizzard reps let slip that players will soon be able to earn experience points in addition to honor in PvP.That's already possible in WoW's new competitor Warhammer Online, in which it is essentially just as viable to level up to the cap in PvP as it is in PvE. The WoW devs are likely responding to the competition, knowing that they might lose big fans of PvP to WAR. In that vein, they're also ensuring that daily PvP quests are available from levels 10 - 80.It's hard not to look at this as a good change. The only argument against it we can think of is that if a player levels from 10 - 80 entirely in the battlegrounds, he or she will not have the necessary experience to run instances and raids at later levels if a change of course is desired. But that seems like a fairly minor criticism of a long-needed addition to the game.
How to uninstall the PTR client
A minor but important point: do not run the uninstaller to remove the Public Test Realm (PTR) client, just delete the PTR folder. Most people can find the PTR client inside the "WoWTest" folder, which resides in the "World of Warcraft" folder. More specifically, you should be able to locate the WoW Test folder in "C:\Program Files\World of Warcraft" or "C:\Program Files (x86)\World of Warcraft\". If you have MacOS X the "WoWTest" folder is stored in "Macintosh HD::Applications::World of Warcraft".Other people can find the PTR client inside of the folder "C:\Users\Public\Games\World of Warcraft Public Test" in Windows Vista and "C:\Program Files\World of Warcraft Public Test" in WindowsXP. MacOS X users can find the files in "MacintoshHD::Applications::World of Warcraft Public Test".This important bit of information came from blue poster Maaven on the official forums today. With Patch 3.0.2 being released tomorrow, the PTR client is useless and came be safely removed. But be sure that you remove it the way Maaven suggests.WoW Insider will have a lot of 3.0.2 coverage tomorrow. We'll also be keeping the light on tonight and will get you the patch notes as soon as they appear.
Windows XP downgrade deadline extended to July 31, 2009
Microsoft wasn't quite ready to comment when rumors about yet another reprieve for Windows XP first starting circulating late last week, but that now seems to have changed, with a spokesperson for the company reportedly confirming in an email to InformationWeek that it is indeed pushing the cut-off date back six months, all the way to July 31st, 2009. According to the spokesperson, that's being done to ensure that customers moving to Vista are "making that transition with confidence and that it is as smooth as possible," adding that, "providing downgrade media for a few more months is part of that commitment." Or, you know, it could have something to do with the fact that some folks don't want to move to Vista at all. Take your pick.
Microsoft may extend Windows XP "downgrade" deadline by six months
First off, we'll warn you that these reports are currently unconfirmed by the suits in Redmond, but word has it that Microsoft is working with at least one OEM to have the Windows XP "downgrade" deadline pushed out from January 2009 to at least July 31, 2009. That's according to an e-mail sent from Microsoft to an unspecified partner company, which purportedly details a plan to work with other buddies in pushing that deadline out another half year. Given the results thus far, we suppose we're not too surprised to hear that firms are still clamoring for the XP option, but one wonders when this madness will ever end. Will folks really be opting for XP on new machines after Windows 7 is out? [Via Download Squad]
Free play/bonus EXP weekend welcomes back lapsed LotRO players
If you're a former The Lord of the Rings Online subscriber who's thinking about returning to Middle-earth, or just looking for a way to kill a weekend, then you'll be interested to know that Turbine is hosting a "Welcome Back Weekend" event in the game.All former subscribers will be able to play for free between October 2nd and 6th. Additionally, everyone (old players and new alike) will receive 25% more experience during that period. This is obviously intended to re-hook veterans so they'll buy the Mines of Moria expansion when it comes out. Nothing wrong with that, we suppose.Oh, and it also uncoincidentally coincides (you see what we did there?) with the annual Fall Festival. We already asked you guys a while back what you thought of LotRO. Some of you expressed interest in returning to see what's new. Here's your chance, eh?%Gallery-32889%
Beta patch possible today with changes to XP, Storm Peaks, and premade characters
According to Tigole, Blizzard will "try to patch" the Wrath of the Lich King beta today. Storm Peaks will open back up and should not crash the sever. No word yet if Naxx will be introduced in this patch. The servers should be up between 4:30 p.m. PDT and 6:30 p.m. PDT.The XP required to level will also be reduced by 10% this beta patch. Things should go faster for all you playing around with leveling.Finally, there will be a new beta realm opening up named Murmur. Tigole mentioned that the premade characters should not have been made available on the existing realms. He tells us that "they are being removed." There is no indication as to whether or not current premade characters will be moved to the new realm or just outright deleted.
Amazon to offer OLPC's Give One, Get One Program later this year (update: possibly dual-boot)
Now that OLPC has met its One Laptop Per Child goal (in uh, Niue) it's time to go whole-hog retail. According to Matt Keller, OLPC chief in EMEA, OLPC will resurrect its Give One, Get One XO program in late November with the help of Amazon's big retail guns. Prices haven't been disclosed nor has the nimble Sugar or poky XP OS selection. But if history serves, we'll be looking at $399 for the Sugary pair just like last year.Update: As it turns out, OLPC says that a dual-boot XP and Sugar OS XO will be shipping in the "next month of so." Happy pappie?
Breakfast Topic: Skippable quests
Shellyw has a good question on the forums: what quests do you always skip? Blizzard is pretty good about the rewards system -- even if a quest is a pain to get through, they'll usually make the reward worth it. But there are quite a few quests in the game that just don't have anything you want, and just aren't worth the time putting into them.Green Hills of Stranglethorn is mentioned early on in the thread, and I couldn't agree more -- any of those collecting quests I usually just give up on, as it's usually easier to just sell the pages off inside that zone to someone who is actually doing the quest. I often skip a lot of group quests as well, especially while leveling. While the rewards for those are usually very good (and they're often the end of long chains, which means both XP and items that come from them are great), it's often tough to find a group, so they usually sit in my quest log until grey and then get abandoned.And occasionally, especially when I need space in my quest log for newer quests, I just plain skip anything that doesn't give an item that I need. If there's a choice of quest rewards, and none of them fit my class or spec, I'll just abandon the quest entirely to replace it with a quest that works better for me. What quests do you find skippable? How do you do triage on quests when your log fills up?
