Laptops sporting Intel’s new Atom processor have finally broken cover at “day zero” of the Intel Developer Forum in Shanghai, and if the claims over their price are to be believed, Asus’ Eee PC is in serious trouble.

As well as two Intel designs based on a reference chassis which will be made available to OEMs, a gorgeous-looking laptop with Apple-esque curves and a 10in screen was sitting unobtrusively on one of the showcase shelves.

Full Article – http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/183279/the-stunning-laptop-that-undercuts-the-asus-eee-pc.html

In my post about Windows 7 back in January (“Windows 7 = Vista Release 2″), I ended with a statement that deserves some follow-up:

Those who are predicting that Windows 7 will include some radically stripped-down kernel (the so-called MinWin project) or a new file system are missing the point completely.

Many of the articles and blog posts I’ve read about Windows 7 in recent days mention MinWin, usually following up with the observation that it’s the new lean kernel that’s going to be at the heart of Windows 7. That misinterpretation was widely reported in October, when this story first appeared, and it’s become conventional wisdom since then. Australia’s IDM, for example, included this authoritative-sounding statement in a March 17 report:

Full Article – http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=418

Windows Help (WinHlp32.exe) is a Help program that has been included with Microsoft Windows versions starting with the Microsoft Windows 3.1 operating system. However, the Windows Help program has not had a major update for many releases and no longer meets Microsoft’s standards. Therefore, starting with the release of Windows Server 2008, the Windows Help program will not ship as a feature of Windows. If you want to view 32-bit .hlp files, you must download and install the program (WinHlp32.exe) from the Microsoft Download Center.

Download Link – http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=0468fefd-b54f-4c57-8340-c6dd2ec20c0a&DisplayLang=en

BT has issued details of the first 868 exchanges to get its next-generation 21CN broadband service.

The 21CN network offers speeds up to a theoretical maximum of 24Mb/sec, although actual throughput will be significantly slower for many customers, according to BT’s own figures.

82 exchanges will be switched on to BT’s new Wholesale Broadband Connect by the end of April, covering roughly 5% of the country. BT has already enabled 39 of those exchanges, a full list of which can found on http://www.samknows.com/broadband/search.php

With Microsoft Corp.’s aggressive strategy to build out its Software-as-a-Service capability to online storage—even as physical, hardware-based storage remains ubiquitous and competitive—some businesses may find it tempting to allow employees and workgroups to jump into Microsoft’s SkyDrive for some limited purpose.

SkyDrive, Microsoft’s Office Live storage arm, is a free, Web-based service that is loosely integrated with some Office applications and, because of how it’s organized, outflanks its biggest rival, Google Inc., in online storage. The Test Center has taken a look at SkyDrive, formally launched last month after a short beta run, in the ever-expanding shadow of high-powered NAS, SAN and desktop storage solutions.

Full Article – http://www.crn.com/storage/206905860?cid=customFeed

With Microsoft Corp.’s aggressive strategy to build out its Software-as-a-Service capability to online storage—even as physical, hardware-based storage remains ubiquitous and competitive—some businesses may find it tempting to allow employees and workgroups to jump into Microsoft’s SkyDrive for some limited purpose.

SkyDrive, Microsoft’s Office Live storage arm, is a free, Web-based service that is loosely integrated with some Office applications and, because of how it’s organized, outflanks its biggest rival, Google Inc., in online storage. The Test Center has taken a look at SkyDrive, formally launched last month after a short beta run, in the ever-expanding shadow of high-powered NAS, SAN and desktop storage solutions.

Full Article – http://www.crn.com/storage/206905860?cid=customFeed

You shot it — now do something to it. Make it pop. Make it impossible to ignore. Upload, sort, polish, and store up to 2GB of photos. All for free. Resize, tint, distort, and more — add your mark to all your images. Then show them off on Adobe® Photoshop® Express or your Facebook page.

Adobe has released a beta version of its online Photoshop program.

link – http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshopexpress/?promoid=CBTVM

Microsoft Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) enables IT administrators to remotely manage roles and features in Windows Server 2008 from a computer running Windows Vista with SP1. It includes support for remote management of computers running either a Server Core installation or the full installation option of Windows Server 2008. It provides similar functionality to Windows Server 2003 Administration Tools Pack.

Download Link – http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=9ff6e897-23ce-4a36-b7fc-d52065de9960&DisplayLang=en

The Windows Vista Service Pack 1 management tools for the Hyper-V release candidate are now available. This update package installs the Hyper-V remote management tools on a computer that is running Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1). This package includes the following:

• The Hyper-V Manager. The Hyper-V Manager is a Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-in that provides management access to a Windows Server 2008-based server that uses the Hyper-V role.

• The Virtual Machine Connection. The Virtual Machine Connection is a remote connection tool that you can use to establish an interactive session on a virtual machine

Link – http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=949758

It’s no secret that those futuristic demos at the Consumer Electronics Show each year don’t always turn into real, live products. But when Microsoft showed a working version of the “GroupShot” photo-editing tool at CES last year, there seemed little doubt that it would be released as promised as part of the Windows Vista Ultimate Extras program.

That’s not how it turned out. More than a year later, GroupShot hasn’t yet been released as an Ultimate Extra. As explained in this story in today’s newspaper, that’s one of the ways that the Ultimate Extras initiative has fallen short of original expectations. But what happened to GroupShot, in particular? I asked Microsoft’s Barry Goffe that question when I spoke with him for the story.

“The thing that we showed at CES was real, live code … but it wasn’t really up to snuff, it wasn’t something that I would have felt good about shipping to millions of customers,” Goffe said. The company had to make “some tough choices, and one of the choices was we’re not going to ship that one right away — it was too much work to get it out.” He said the company may still decide to ship it as an Ultimate Extra in the future.

A version of GroupShot, from Microsoft Research, is available for download on this site. [See correction below.] It takes similar photos and assembles them into a composite image that reflects the best qualities of each.

See today’s story for more on the Ultimate Extras initiative.

Correction: As noted by reader “Kubla Kant” below, the program is actually no longer available for download. The download link on the GroupShot page leads to a page that says the beta period has expired, although they’re “currently considering several options” to bring it back.

Full Article – http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/microsoft/archives/134952.asp?source=rss

A day after I threw in my XP SP3 date-projection towel, Microsoft has released yet another new, public test build of its forthcoming collection of fixes and patches for Windows XP.

A company spokeswoman e-mailed the following update on March 25:

“Windows XP SP3 RC2 Refresh was made publicly available today via Microsoft Download Center. We’ve made this release candidate available in order to receive further user feedback prior to the release of Windows XP SP3.”

(Note: I don’t see the new RC2 refresh on Download Center yet. I guess it is on its way….)

It turns out this new refresh is not entirely “new.” Via the TechNet forums:

“The purpose of RC2 Refresh is to validate improvements to the Windows Update experience with Service Pack 3. Therefore, this beta release will be available only on Windows Update, in English, German and Japanese. Beyond fixes for common Windows Update issues and the inclusion of support for HD Audio, there are no substantial differences between this beta release (build 5508) and XP SP3 RC2 (build 3311).”

Microsoft released the first of is RC2 builds in early February. Instead of calling the newest test build RC 3 (or 4 or whatever number we are really up to now), Microsoft is calling the build released Tuesday RC 2 Refresh.

And when is that elusive final XP SP3 release? No update there. Microsoft is still saying first half of 2008. Some sites are projecting that by mid- to late-April, Microsoft will deliver the final build.

Article – Zdnet

Does a Microsoft-Yahoo deal make sense? Probably. As separate companies, Microsoft and Yahoo duplicate systems and staff. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said a merger could save $1 billion annually. According to industry observers, the time is right because Yahoo’s stock is down, and the company hasn’t improved its results even after co-founder Jerry Yang took over as CEO in the middle of last year. Plus, Microsoft’s offer, initially 62% over Yahoo’s share price, is a very good deal for Yahoo shareholders.

Full Article – http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9071478

Does a Microsoft-Yahoo deal make sense? Probably. As separate companies, Microsoft and Yahoo duplicate systems and staff. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said a merger could save $1 billion annually. According to industry observers, the time is right because Yahoo’s stock is down, and the company hasn’t improved its results even after co-founder Jerry Yang took over as CEO in the middle of last year. Plus, Microsoft’s offer, initially 62% over Yahoo’s share price, is a very good deal for Yahoo shareholders.

Full Article – http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9071478

Sometimes, deciding which IT course to follow can feel like a U.S. presidential election cycle: You never have more than two options, and neither one seems quite right. You find yourself wishing there was a viable third-party candidate, if only to keep the two front-runners on their toes.

Fortunately, in the case of Windows XP versus Vista, a third way has indeed emerged. Thanks to the musings of a (hopefully still employed) Microsoft engineer, some disaffected Vista users have discovered that Windows Server 2008, properly configured and tweaked to be more Vista-like, makes a killer workstation OS. In fact, recent benchmark testing shows that Server 2008 runs circles around Vista (up to 17 percent faster) at a variety of business productivity and client/server computing tasks.

Full Article – http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9070658&source=rss_topic125

IIS 7 Mobile Admin lets you remotely administer a IIS 7 Web server right from your mobile phone. I do like the fact that this is a web application and not a smart/thick client running natively on the phone. Nothing stops you from even borrowing your friend’s iPhone (I assume you use a Windows Mobile 🙂 – feedback on how it looks on an iPhone or any other phone to sukesh) and go about administering your web site from anywhere.

Read more on Sukesh’s blog at http://www.awesomeideas.net/page/IIS7-Mobile-Admin.aspx

Sukesh has also shared the source code on Codeplex, if there is a feature you’d like to contribute towards, you can find the project at http://www.codeplex.com/IIS7MobileAdmin/