Extreme Tech takes a look at the specs needed if you want to build a decent Vista-compatible PC today :
First, we’ll assume that people will want the full Aero Glass treatment, with 3D effects, transparency and so on. Secondly, users will want to use Vista’s compositing engine, which enables more robust typeface handling. Finally, we’ll also assume people will want reasonably good performance, though that’s somewhat determined by your usage model. An office workstation won’t have the same performance requirements as a multimedia powerhouse.
24.Jan.06 
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That’s right folks. Windows Vienna is the new codename for Windows Blackcomb the successor to Windows Vista.
Not much is known about Blackcomb officially and Microsoft is not ready to talk about it yet. However, Microsoft’s blogging guru, Robert Scoble confirmed in a thread reply to a channel 9 video, “since this video was shot the codename for Blackcomb has indeed changed to Vienna. I haven’t gotten the story on this yet, though.”
While Windows Vista is intended to be a technologies-based release, with some UI changes (in the form of the Aero set of technologies and guidelines), Vienna is targeted directly at revolutionizing the way we interact with our home and office PCs.
Source
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23.Jan.06 News Read more Comments (0)
A feature of ie7 announced on the ie blog is a new improved way of clearing your browsing history called ‘Delete Browsing History’. At the moment this process can take a while and hog your pc resources, this will be improved in ie7 by showing a cancellable dialog box showing the progress and will run in the background.
Why would you want to do this ? the ie blog has this to say :
So you’re trying to buy a gift for your loved one and you know how important it is to keep this mission secret. You’re aware of every site you visit but your machine is aware of even more; the stuff you type, the information you read, even the cookies requested by the site where you eventually buy the gift. You realize how important it is that your loved one never gets hold of any of this information. So you do what we all would, you try and cover your tracks. Now back in IE6, you would have to spend a lot of time looking through various places on your computer to get rid of all the relevant information and possibly still miss some critical information. Now with the ‘Delete Browsing History’ feature, we are giving every person the ability to clear all their browsing information from one location with a click of a button and, the peace of mind that the job was done right.
Allvistaworld thinks this is very valiant, and wouldnt like to suggest other types of website you may not wish your loved one to see 
20.Jan.06 General Read more Comments (0)
Information Week has an article called “Five Things You Didn’t Know About Windows Vista” as follows :
- What’s the official Windows Vista launch Date?
- Want to work on Vista?
- What’s a quick way to learn to write Vista-aware code?
- Where are the games?
- Did you know that Microsoft isn’t the only entity that’s registered ‘Windows Vista’ as a trademark?
Read the full article here
16.Jan.06 General Read more Comments (0)
Another smart move Microsoft, every version of Vista will ship complete with all the operating system versions in one image. Customers will then be able to upgrade if they wish from say, the home version to the professional version by logging onto the Microsoft website.
“No matter which edition you buy you get all the bits and a key to unlock it. Everyone will have all the bits,” said one source familiar with Microsoft’s plans. “Right now we maintain master images for each version of Windows XP and it’s a lot of work. Now there’s just one master image.”
Having a master Windows Vista operating system means customers that buy PCs preloaded with one Vista SKU, Home Basic, for example, will be able to punch their credit card into a Microsoft Web site to unlock Vista Home Premium and more speedily deploy media center features without an on-site visit or requiring a wipe and reload of the system.
The impact on the channel will be “huge” since partners will no longer have to support multiple Windows images for each customer or do reloads, sources familiar with Microsoft’s plans said this week. It will also make up-selling much easier and vastly expand channel opportunities, the sources said.
Source CRN
16.Jan.06 News Read more Comments (0)
Microsoft has redesigned the vista website.
It appears more in-keeping with the look and feel of the operating sytem :
12.Jan.06 General Read more Comments (0)
Download the full set of official vista icons here :
vistaicons.zip
12.Dec.05 Icons Read more Comment (1)
A new font has been created for windows Vista and Office12 to replace the old favourites of Tahoma and Verdana :
With the UI changes happening in Windows Vista and Office 12, we felt like it was time to commission a more modern UI font, designed specifically to take advantage of ClearType. In addition, we wanted a more humanistic, friendly font that would seem less “computer-y” than Tahoma. Most importantly, we wanted the font to take advantage of the research done in Microsoft Typography over the last decade in specifically creating fonts that are easy to scan and read on-screen. These guys know their stuff, and we knew it would make a positive difference in the user interface.
The result is a font called “Segoe UI” which will ship in both Office 12 and Windows Vista. It was conceived, designed, and totally optimized for ClearType, and I think it’s beautiful at both small and larger point sizes.
The result :
06.Dec.05 News Read more Comment (1)
Microsoft have released a new product for photosharing called “Max”.
Its built on Win FX, which is the technology going to be used in Vista.
Here’s what the site has to say :
Microsoft® Codename Max is not like any other product. That’s because it’s not a product—it’s your opportunity to try an exciting new user experience from Microsoft. Max is built on the next-generation WinFX Runtime Components technology that will drive the development of Windows Vista® applications. Today Max lets you make lists of your photos and turn them into beautiful slide shows to share with your family and friends. Tomorrow…who knows?
With just a few clicks, you can create lists of your favorite photos, arrange them in the layout of your choice, and express them in beautiful views. Preview your photo lists as you build them until your presentation is perfect. You can even use our super hot 3D Mantle View™ to really show off your work!
Download Max now or read about it on The Max Blog
29.Nov.05 Downloads Read more Comment (1)
I personally dont like the sound of this, there is too much advertising around us as it is without it appearing in our OS as well :
Recent reports claim that Microsoft is thinking about giving away software for free and basing its revenue on a model that was made famous (perhaps even created) by its archrival Google.
The reports claim that Microsoft could be looking at releasing ad supported versions of products like Microsoft Money, Microsoft Office or perhaps even Microsoft Windows.
The reasons for this strategy on Microsoft’s part could be many, but one of the critical ones could be that software upgrading by consumers is not really happening at the pace at which software is developing.
Full article at CoolTechZone
23.Nov.05 General Read more Comment (1)
