Windows Archive

Will Vista Say No to Old DVD Drives?

Andrew Youll 2006-01-02 Windows 31 Comments

I recently saw a post on Neowin which said that Vista will no longer allow the use of region-free DVD drives for movie playback; I found this strange considering in some nations region-coding DVDs is illegal as it goes against consumer rights. Neowin also links against an MS developers blog, where he talks about MS lacking any region-free drives to test legacy code on, and this may lead to lack of support for those drives. So where does this leave consumers who have region-free drives? Well you'll be able to still use DVD-data discs you just wont be able to play encrypted/region-coded DVDs anymore.

MS Confirms WMF Flaw, Variants Spread

Thom Holwerda 2005-12-31 Windows 80 Comments

Microsoft acknowledged late Wednesday the existence of a zero-day exploit for Windows Metafile images, and said it was looking into ways to better protect its customers. Even worse, by the end of the day nearly 50 variants of the exploit had already appeared. One security company said the possibilities were endless on how the flaw could be exploited. 'This vulnerability can be used to install any type of malicious code, not just Trojans and spyware, but also worms, bots or viruses that can cause irreparable damage to computers,' said Luis Corrons of Panda Software.

Think You Can Guess the Vista Launch Date?

Andrew Youll 2005-12-31 Windows 38 Comments

MS is holding a contest in Europe & Pakistan, in which you have to guess what date MS will launch their long awaited next version of Windows. All legal residents of Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Switzerland, and the UK who are 18 years of age or older have the chance to win from 1 of 3 prizes available in different prize bands; 1st Prize: Be live at the Launch Event in the USA: the full package with entry, flight and 3 nights in a 4-star Hotel, 2nd-4th Prize: New XBOX 360, 5th-10th Prize: XBOX Core System. NOTE: It seems to require IE to sign up, as it doesnt work in Safari, it may work in FF however.

What’s New in Windows Presentation Foundation

Thom Holwerda 2005-12-30 Windows 2 Comments

"In December 2005, Microsoft released a Community Technology Preview of Windows Presentation Foundation, the new presentation subsystem for Windows that unifies development of documents, graphics, and applications into a common platform. In this article, we take a brief look at some of the new features that are part of the December CTP as well as the changes that have been made since the previous releases."

Submitted by DigitalDame 2005-12-29 Windows 40 Comments

"Microsoft's free Shared Computer Toolkit lets you configure a PC that can be used to search the Internet, look up resources, and run approved programs; it also stops users from making permanent system changes, running arbitrary programs, or introducing malware. Administrators on domain-based PCs have long been able to do this; the toolkit offers a similar level for any PC. You don't need an IT degree - the kit leads an administrator through the steps of locking down a system."

Windows Vista Hardware: What to Buy

Thom Holwerda 2005-12-28 Windows 131 Comments

Microsoft has published a set of guidelines on which decisions to make now, so that your computer will be ready to run Windows Vista. They claim that any mid-range AMD or Intel processor will do, and even low-end ones will pack enough power to run Vista. 512 MBRAM is advised, but for more advanced users, 1GB is recommended. As for graphics card: "If you are building or buying PC today, you probably want to avoid the low end of the current GPU range and make sure you get a GPU that supports DirectX 9 and has at least 64 MB of graphics memory." My take: I can confirm that the Windows Vista December CTP, with all the effects turned on, runs more than fine on my aging AMD Athlon XP 1600+, 512MB SD-RAM, Ati Radeon 9000 128MB DDR-RAM (DirectX 8 compatible card, so not a DX9 card). Just so you know.

Review: Windows Vista December CTP

Thom Holwerda 2005-12-24 Windows 67 Comments

Love-him-hate-him Paul Thurrot has released a four part in-depth review of Vista's December CTP. "I think people are going to be surprised by how good the Windows Vista December 2005 Community Technical Preview (CTP, or build 5270) really is. After years of painful delays and an uncertain couple of months since the last CTP, Microsoft shipped a near-feature-complete Vista build to testers this week, and the prognosis is extremely positive. From what I can see, Vista has turned the corner. The December CTP is an exciting release, stable and full of new features. In this review, I'll examine those new features, and the features that have changed since the previous CTP, build 5231" Part 1 | 2 | 3 | 4.

Submitted by CPUGuy 2005-12-24 Windows 36 Comments

MSDN has posted a video interview with Rob Short, the MIcrosoft VP in charge of the team that "architects the foundation of Windows Vista," and members of his team. The interview goes deep into kernel development, and they even ask the question that's on everyone's mind: "do you ever wish the registry had never been developed?"

Watch Out with Metadata in Vista, Analysts Warn

Eugenia Loli 2005-12-23 Windows 29 Comments

Windows Vista will improve search functionality on a PC by letting users tag files with metadata, but those tags could cause unwanted and embarrassing information disclosure, Gartner analysts warned.

Submitted by jonsmirl 2005-12-22 Windows 62 Comments

"The current Win32-based Windows UI graphics subsystem, found in Windows XP, has been around for nearly 20 years. It's aging and limited, and as a result, user interface development has been somewhat, well, constrained at best. The Windows Presentation Foundation, which is built on the .NET Framework, provides new techniques for developing applications, and makes better use of current hardware and technologies. In this article, we'll show you 10 of the most significant advances that make WPF superior to its Win32 forebears." In related news, here are shots of Vista server.

Scripting with the Microsoft Shell

Thom Holwerda 2005-12-21 Windows 23 Comments

"Welcome to the Script Center portal for the Microsoft Shell (also known as MSH or Monad), Microsoft’s next-generation command-line and scripting environment. We’ll be adding new content and scripts periodically - so check back with us every once in a while. We’d like to be sure we’re continuing to meet your needs, so let us know what you’d like to see here."

Windows Server ‘Longhorn’ Updated

Thom Holwerda 2005-12-20 Windows 2 Comments

Alongside the December CTP of Windows Vista, Microsoft has released build 5270 of Windows Server 'Longhorn'. Both operating systems are available on the same DVD image. Although development is currently in line with the client build, the next Windows Server won't be ready until 2007.

Vista Build 5270 (December 2005 CTP) Screenshots, Features

Thom Holwerda 2005-12-19 Windows 90 Comments

The December CTP of Windows Vista has been released. ActiveWin has published screenshots, and a list of features, of the latest CTP of Windows Vista. Key areas of improvement in this CTP are security (Windows Defender, parental control, enhanced firewall, control over installation of device drivers, and more), performance, power state transitions, and the user interface ("evidence of Aero's progress in the December CTP includes the translucent 'glass' appearance of open windows, smoother transitions between windows and a re-designed start menu").

Bug-Hunting Tool for Vista Developers

Submitted by George bullock 2005-12-19 Windows 2 Comments

Microsoft is crafting a tool dubbed LUA Buglight that will call out potential software conflicts with a security feature in Windows Vista, related to the new Least User Access, or LUA that lets people run the operating system with fewer user privileges.

Cleartype Team – Typography in Windows Vista

Eugenia Loli 2005-12-18 Windows 90 Comments

Channel9 met with Bill Hill and the ClearType team again and see what's the latest with the fonts in Windows Vista. They talk about trends in display resolution, research done in aesthetics and quite a few other things.

New Windows Vista Test Build Expected

Thom Holwerda 2005-12-17 Windows 49 Comments

Windows testers will get a new beta version of Windows Vista, dubbed the December Community Technology Preview beta build, just before next week's holidays, according to tester scuttlebutt. New to the December release, testers say, will be a number of features and user-interface tweaks. a new defrag module; tight integration of Windows Defender (formerly known as Windows AntiSpyware); and a functional parental-controls filter are all rumored to be in the December Vista build.

Submitted by mono 2005-12-17 Windows 41 Comments

"TechWorld is reporting that Microsoft plans to move graphics outside of the Windows Vista kernel by pulling the Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF, formerly codenamed 'Avalon') out of the Vista kernel. MSWatch asked Microsoft for clarification. Here's the official statement: "Because WPF is largely written in managed code on the common language runtime, it never ran in kernel mode."

Submitted by mlauzon 2005-12-16 Windows 145 Comments

"Microsoft will move the graphics for its next version of Windows outside of the operating system's kernel to improve reliability, the software giant has told Techworld. Vista's graphics subsystem, codenamed Avalon and formally known as the Windows Presentation Foundation, will be pulled out the kernel because many lock-ups are the result of the GUI freezing, Microsoft infrastructure architect Giovanni Marchetti told us exclusively yesterday."

Windows XP, Server 2003 Get Independent Security Certification

Thom Holwerda 2005-12-15 Windows 46 Comments

Microsoft on Wednesday clinched Common Criteria security certification from the US government's National Information Assurance Partnership for six versions of its flagship Windows OS. At the Security Summit East here, Microsoft announced that all the products earned the EAL 4 + (Evaluation Assurance Level), which is the highest level granted to a commercial product.

Mr LUA Goes to Washington

Thom Holwerda 2005-12-15 Windows 19 Comments

The gospel according to LUA (least-privileged user account) took center stage at Microsoft's Security Summit East here with a pair of Redmond consultants pitching the idea of a well-funded security deployment repository to help developers create applications for non-admin users. The LUA principle, which promotes the use of accounts with fewer access rights than Administrator accounts, has been largely ignored by end users, but if Aaron Margosis and Shelly Bird have their way, code writers will have a central place to get tools and training to create least-privilege applications.