Security for Windows 7

Security for Windows 7

Author JoeDigital | 21.01.2009 | Category Windows

Even as the Beta version is being downloaded, Microsoft is already following through, enlisting a collaborative effort with several security vendors to get ahead of the game for antivirus solutions. So far, there are four choices available, Symantec Norton 360 3.0 Beta, AVG Internet Security, AVG Anti-Virus and Kaspersky Anti-Virus for Windows 7.

Remember, too, that Windows 7 is based on the Vista design, so there is little development required for compatibility issues.

“It’s really going to be a similar situation to Vista. It’s a pretty similar technology,” said Nathan Ware, CTO of Rain Networks, based in Bothell, Wash. “The software packages that were successful in running on Vista, I would expect those same ones to run on Windows 7.”

And before you get too concerned about security products, remember that Windows 7 is currently a beta version, an is very likely to undergo major change before the final release. Many companies will wait until a final release has been planned before becoming too involved. Remember, after all, that when it comes to operating systems, a new release can be delayed between unveiling and an official release. Since the beta copies don’t expire until August, it’s a safe bet to say security options will begin to increase around May or June.

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LIFEBOOK Q 2010

Author JoeDigital | 21.01.2009 | Category Computers, Consumer Electronics, Japanese Technology

If you’re looking for the sleekest, slimmest notebooik on the market, take a look at the new LIFEBOOK Q2010, from Fujitsu. It has every you need for work on the road, provides a groundbreaking embedded UMTS — independent of any “hotspot,” which will allow you get connected in places you never could before. And of course it’s bluetooth and wireless n compatible.

Do you want an extra secure UMPC? How about built-in biometrics, in the form of fingerprint scanning, to make sure that your are the only one to access your files.

And the best part f all this is that it only weighs one kilgram, and is super thin, weighing only a single kilogram.

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Windows 7: Netbook Challenge

Author JoeDigital | 20.01.2009 | Category Windows

Windows 7, if it hopes to be a competing force in the emerging mobile market, will have to operate effectively on netbooks and other UMPCs, many of which have minimum resources available for the operating system to squander.

And the competition is going to be fierce, with Google Android already being ported to various netbooks, and a couple of Linux builds gaining ground. In fact, the battle for marketshare on netbooks and cloud computing devices may be one of playing catch-up for Microsoft, which has spent so long manipulating the development of machines. In cloud computing, they are left with examining what is working for others, and modeling it into a new environment.

Windows 7 installs quickly, and operates more efficiently than Vista, that much can be stated forthright. How well t will do as the preferred operating system for that market is yet to be seen, but at least it’s off to an eye-opening start.

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Windows 7: The New Taskbar

Author JoeDigital | 19.01.2009 | Category Computers, Windows

By and large, Windows 7, understandably, looks a lot like Vista. Yes, it’s got a cool new front-end theme, but anyone can change the theme these days, so that’s not exactly a major change. But then you eye catches the taskbar, and that’s when differences become noticeable.

The quick launch bar is now one and the same with the taskbar, for starters, and that taskbar acts more like a launch bar, providing customized access to files and folders that are frequently used, as well as managing open applications.

Another nice feature is that if you have multiple instances of a program open, Firefox, for example, and one of them crashes, the crash is now managed so that it will not affect the other instance(s) running. This is very similar to the the way Google Chrome isolates tabs, treating each one as a separate instance, which creates more stability, and greatly enhances security.

We’ve already mentioned the changes that have been made to the notification area (commonly misrepresented as the system tray), but those changes merge well with other modification to the taskbar, and add a lot of usability to what has always been a rather stagnant portion of the desktop.

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Music Piracy More Popular Than Downloads

Author JoeDigital | 19.01.2009 | Category Computers, Gadgets, Telecommunications, World Wide Web

The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) has shown that up to ninety-five percent of music downloaded online is illegal. For artists and music companies, this means big bucks that are being lost in fair sales, and the report starts off making the situation look dire indeed.

And while the illegal trading of music is a problem, the report goes on to show that music sales online have increased by around 25%, despite an overall market decease in 2008 of 7%. This increase in sales is recognized by many as the recouping of monies that would otherwise have been lost, if music companies had not undertaken a aggressive approach to online marketing, using social media sites such as FaceBook and Myspace to promote legal music downloads in ways that had never been imagined.

Analysts estimate that the digital music business has an overall worth of around $3.7 billion, which is not small matter. As company pundits and politicians debate how to regulate the illegal music trade, it like so many other Internet reform concerns, seems detined to solve itself, as responsible people gravitate towards legitimate methods of acquiring their music online. The focus has always been on getting the music, after all, it wasn’t a distaste for buying it. Music companies, now that they are providing methods of online sales, are regaining the customers they criticzed for abandoning them.

Oddly, the other side of that coin see the online community welcoming the music companies, and wondering why it has taken them so long to catch up with the 21st century.

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Economic Uncertainty Fuels Social Networking Growth

Author JoeDigital | 18.01.2009 | Category Technology Viewpoint, World Wide Web

Social media sites seem to be coming to the rescue for many people, during these uncertain economic times. MySpace reports that the average minutes a user spends connected has gone from 1 minute a year ago, to 7 minutes in the most recent reporting period. The figures, which were released a few days ago, show the 21-34 age group visiting the site has almost completely doubled from last year, at more than 160,000 now, and only 83,500 then.

Angela Courin, of MySpace, says they’ve seen almost a threefold overall increase in traffic. She went on to say that the site has never experienced such dramatic increases in the past.

As the financial meltdown has progressed, MySpace’s job site has seen a marked increase, along with another popular social networking site, LinkedIn, whose membership is at 31 million, up from 18 million at the start of 2008. People are looking for job openings, and to start new relationships with people that may be able to further them along their quest, and social network sites are meeting their needs, and thriving in the usage.

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NetBooks: Windows 7 Vs Linux

Author JoeDigital | 18.01.2009 | Category Computers, Windows

Linux has spent the past year looking forward to dominating the mobile OS market. Conventional OS’s, such as Windows Vista, were too big and resource hungry for small NetBooks and UMPCs. But some would say that Windows 7 is being released to compete with Linux, before the battle is even well under way.

Microsoft has not made it a secret, they ar targeting portable computers for Windows 7. On the other hand, Linux hasn’t been quiet either, and has made considerable inroads into the mobile computing market. For Linux this is not a good sign. Linux developers had hoped for a few more months to build a following among tech-savvy laptop and netbok users, but the release of a beta version of Windows 7 has them concerned about the competition again.

While some of the leading makers of netbooks, including Asus and Acer, are already supplying Linux on approximately 30% of their machines, and that is a market share Microsoft wants a part of, with ts new OS.

Product Managing Director Parri Munsell, “Windows 7 has been optimized
and engineered to run on anything, from the smallest notebook to the
most loaded laptop or desktop.” This is a major step for Microsoft, that was caught almost completely off guard when netbooks and ultraminiature personal computers began to emerge as major growth areas in 2007. Vista, known for its resource greedy operation, was not an option for many users of netbooks, because ti simply wouldn’t operate as well as other OSs that have a smaller resource footprint.

Originally, Linux was the only choice for netbooks, which allowed the Linux market to take root. But recently, new competition has shown its face, first with Google’s Android OS, and now with the latest from microsoft.

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Install WIndows 7 Without LiveDVD

Author JoeDigital | 17.01.2009 | Category Computers, Windows

In a simple manner, (in less than 30 minutes), Windows 7 can be installed directly from your current desktop alongside an existing Windows XP operating system (but on a different partition) without burning a DVD. Even more, all applications that are currently installed on the Windows XP will work on Windows 7 without the need to reinstall them (you will just have to create shortcuts to the executable file). At the boot phase, you will be able to select the desired operating system: Windows 7 or Windows XP.

First, you will need to download the Windows 7 DVD ISO file corresponding to your computer architecture: 32bit or 64bit, as well as a virtual CD drive manager like MagicISO. (related article: Unlimited Downloads And Evaluation Times For Windows 7 Beta). An available partition of your hard drive with enough disk space for Windows 7 installation (about 7 GB for the default options) is also required.

After you run the installer and finish the setup for the MagicISO application, right click its corresponding icon, mount the Windows 7 DVD ISO image and then click the Browse CD option from the same context menu. By double clicking the installer icon (it has a green color), the Windows 7 installation process will begin directly from the Windows XP (the computer reboot is not required in this phase).

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Windows 7 Begins The Patch Process

Author JoeDigital | 16.01.2009 | Category Computers, Windows

Microsoft, the Champion of OS patches, released the first patch for Windows 7 on Thursday, correcting a problem with editing a music file’s meta data resulting in the deletion of a portion of the file itself, among other things.

The patch, titled “KB961367,” fixes quite a few problems with the newly devised Media Center, and expansion of Microsoft’s tried and true Windows MediaPlayer, which is still a working component of the new OS.

The corruption flaw occurs every time when metadata is edited in an MP3 file, triggering to permanent loss of several seconds at the beginning of an MP3 track; however, the deletion is more prominent when the header size exceeds 16KB.

In addition, Microsoft also addresses some of the other issues with this patch, including improper functioning protected tuning sources, inadequate working of MHEG (iTV) in Europe, problems in performing recording operations by Windows Media Center, etc.

Furthermore, the patch also addresses recording issues for the systems that have been upgraded from Windows Vista, and problems in Windows Vista DVR-MS recordings that don’t play back in Windows Media Center or Windows Media Player.

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The Blackberry DroidBerry

Author JoeDigital | 16.01.2009 | Category Consumer Electronics, Telecommunications

Blackberry, not one to be left out of the buzz about Google’s mobile operating system, Android, has taken what may be an unusual step to blend in, despite the fact that the two devices look nothing alike. For Blackberry users, don’t get alarmed, your blackberry is doing fine, and not being put out of use by Android yet, but the popularity of the Android UI (User Interface) has caused even big players to take notice.

As you can tell from the name, DroidBerry is modeled on the Android user interface. It is a fully functional theme that can be applied to a BlackBerry, and includes five user customizable home-screen icons. And you may find it cute at first, but including the Android clock as part of the theme would have made more sense if they had worked in a working clock instead of simply the image of one.

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