Vista Revisited » News

Vista Service Pack 2 Beta Now Available for Download

Kevin — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 15:01:45 +0000

Windows Vista SP2 Beta is now available for public download from the Microsoft download center. Keep in mind this is a Beta service pack and may cause instabilities in your system. Also you must have SP1 installed first.

If you’re willing to give it a try I would make sure you have a good backup in place first. You will also have to uninstall this beta version when the finished version ships in or around April.
I have been running it for a few weeks now and it seems to be pretty stable so far.

Here are some of the improvements listed.

Adds support for the 64-bit central processing unit (CPU) from VIA Technologies, which adds the ID and vendor strings for the new VIA 64-bit CPU.
Integrates the Windows Vista Feature Pack for Wireless, which contains support for Bluetooth v2.1. Bluetooth v2.1 is the most recent specification for Bluetooth wireless technology and Windows Connect Now (WCN) Wi-Fi Configuration.
Improves performance for Wi-Fi connection after resuming from sleep mode.
Adds new capabilities to Direct X Graphic display reliability. The graphics experience has been greatly improved for users, such as gamers, running applications that require a lot of graphics processing.
Includes updates to the RSS feeds sidebar with improved performance and responsiveness.
Improves audio and video performance for streaming high definition content.
Includes ability to record data to Blu-Ray media.
Windows Search 4.0 builds on Microsoft�s search technology with improved indexing and search relevance. It also helps find and preview documents, e-mail messages, music files, photos, and other items on the computer

Vote Now! “Best Windows Customization Website” Quarter Finals

Kevin — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 22:14:40 +0000

Place your vote now for the Best Windows Customization Website over at http://vote.mintywhite.com I have had the pleasure of serving as one of the judges for the first round, So check out the sites and cast your vote.

Windows Tools, Help & Guides and Windows Forums is running a competition to find the “Best Windows Customization website”.

The applicants have entered their sites and the judges are now deciding their four choices in order. The top eight (8) sites, by points, will be entered into the final rounds.

The final rounds will begin with a random slot assignment (1-8.) Two sites will go head to head at a time (think of the world cup finals.) The public will vote for the best site in each “match” and the winner will go on to the next round. Polls will be held here on the main website; you do not need to register to vote.

Get Firefox 3 Today

Kevin — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 08:44:07 +0000

Download Firefox 3 today and help Mozilla set a Guinness World Record for the most software downloaded in 24 hours.

With more than 15,000 improvements, Firefox 3 is faster, safer and smarter than before.

New Features:

Firefox 3 sets the innovation bar very high with exciting new features, including one-click bookmarking, the smart location bar and lightning fast performance.

Security:

Keeping you and your personal information safe is our top priority. Firefox 3 includes phishing and malware protection, plus our new instant site ID info.

Productivity:

With features like built-in spell checking, session restore and full zoom, Firefox 3 makes it possible to work faster and more efficiently on the Web.

Customization:

Your taste and needs set you apart from the rest. With Firefox 3 you can choose from over 5,000 add-ons that help you customize your browsing experience.

In Memory of Our Honored Dead

Kevin — Mon, 26 May 2008 11:37:50 +0000

The muffled drum’s sad roll has beat
The soldier’s last tattoo’
No more on life’s parade shall meet
That brave and fallen few;
On Fame’s eternal camping ground
Their silent tents are spread;
But Glory guards with solemn round
The bivouac of the dead.

By Theodore O’Hara, 1847

A New Look for Vista Revisited

Kevin — Sat, 03 May 2008 16:45:58 +0000

While I have been away on hiatus I’ve been working on getting a new theme setup. I choose the iPhone Theme from All 4 Wordpress. I’m slowly working out the bugs and adding more features so if you experience anything funny please leave a comment and let me know.

Thanks
Kevin.

Vista SP1 Released to Manufacturing Today

Kevin — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 03:05:34 +0000

Vista SP1 was released to manufacturing today 2-4-08 Expect to see a customer release in early March.

From Microsoft:
Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) was released to manufacturing today and will start being available to customers in March, starting with Microsoft Volume Licensing customers. Windows Vista SP1 includes quality improvements that help enhance reliability, security and performance. SP1 also includes changes focused on improving the performance of Windows Vista in areas that impact the customer experience the most. For instance, with SP1, copying or moving files around your PC, your home network or your corporate network should now be much faster — up to 50% faster in some scenarios (according to our internal tests). In addition, on many kinds of hardware, resuming a Windows Vista-based PC from sleep is faster on Service Pack 1.

Here’s the timing for SP1 availability for current Windows Vista users:

In mid-March, we will release Windows Vista SP1 to Windows Update (in English, French, Spanish, German and Japanese) and to the download center on microsoft.com. Customers who visit Windows Update can choose to install Service Pack 1. If Windows Update determines that the system has one of the drivers we know to be problematic, then Windows Update will not offer SP1. Since we know that some customers may want to update to SP1 anyhow, the download center will allow anyone who wants to install SP1 to do so.

In mid-April, we will begin delivering Windows Vista SP1 to Windows Vista customers who have chosen to have updates downloaded automatically. That said, any system that Windows Update determines has a driver known to not update successfully will not get SP1 automatically. As updates for these drivers become available, they will be installed automatically by Windows Update, which will unblock these systems from getting Service Pack 1. The result is that more and more systems will automatically get SP1, but only when we are confident they will have a good experience.
The remaining languages will RTM in April.

Download Vista SP1 RC Refreshed

Kevin — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 02:17:37 +0000

Here’s a download link if you want to install Vista Service Pack 1 Release Candidate Refreshed version. It was released 1-11-08

If you have a previous version of SP1 installed you will need to uninstall it first.

Here’s the link

Windows Vista Service Pack 1 RC Refresh Public Availability Program

Public Test Next Week For Vista SP1

Kevin — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 09:36:09 +0000

Microsoft on Tuesday said that it has reached the “release candidate” with the first service pack for Windows Vista, with plans to make the test software available publicly next week.

It is releasing the test code this week to the 15,000 or so people who have been beta testing SP1 already, and will also make it available on Thursday to those in the MSDN and TechNet developer programs.

From CNet News. Read More.

How to Hack Windows Update To Download Vista SP1 Beta

Kevin — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 15:49:18 +0000

ITsVISTA found a way to get Vista SP1 Beta from Windows Update, just follow his directions and you too can get it. Also check out his site, Its a Excellent resource for Vista users.

Update 1-18-08

Get the direct download here

By now you probably know that Vista SP1 Beta is available to a select few testers. If you?re somewhat savy, you may know how to find it on the P2P sites, where it is available for download. But did you know that you can get it directly from Microsoft, through Windows Update, with only a very small, simple hack? Click here to see how it done.

Microsoft update improves the compatibility and reliability of Windows Vista

Kevin — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 11:21:36 +0000

From the mouth of Microsoft. Get the update here

This update resolves some compatibility issues and reliability issues in Windows Vista. By applying this update, you can achieve better reliability and hardware compatibility in various scenarios.

This update resolves the following issues:

The screen may go blank when you try to upgrade the video driver. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
932539 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/932539/) The screen may go blank when you try to upgrade the video driver on a Windows Vista-based computer

The computer stops responding, and you receive a “Display driver stopped responding and has recovered” error message. You can restart the computer only by pressing the computer’s power button.

The computer stops responding or restarts unexpectedly when you play video games or perform desktop operations.

The Diagnostic Policy Service (DPS) stops responding when the computer is under heavy load or when very little memory is available. This problem prevents diagnostics from working.

The screen goes blank after an external display device that is connected to the computer is turned off. For example, this problem may occur when a projector is turned off during a presentation.

A computer that has NVIDIA G80 series graphic drivers installed stops responding.

Visual appearance issues occur when you play graphics-intensive games.

You experience poor playback quality when you play HD DVD disks or Blu-ray disks on a large monitor.

Applications that load the Netcfgx.dll component exit unexpectedly.

Windows Calendar exits unexpectedly after you create a new appointment, create a new task, and then restart the computer.

Internet Connection Sharing stops responding after you upgrade a computer that is running Microsoft Windows XP to Windows Vista and then restart the computer.

The Printer Spooler service stops unexpectedly.

You receive a “Stop 0×0000009F” error when you put the computer to sleep while a Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) connection is active. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
931671 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/931671/) Error message when you put a Windows Vista-based computer to sleep while a PPP connection is active: “STOP 0×0000009F”

Vista Service Pack 1 Beta Due in Mid July

Kevin — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 08:21:36 +0000

Mary Jo Foley of ZD Net is reporting of the launch of SP-1 Beta to be delivered by mid July and a final version in November. Read her article here.

http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=559 Microsoft is expected to emphasize that SP1 is more about fixes than new features. Most of the elements of SP1 are expected to enhance or supplement features that are already part of Vista, sources said.

Help Save Net Radio

Kevin — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 23:41:57 +0000

If you’re like me and listen to net radio or music streamed over the net please read the post below if we all act on June 26 and call our Representatives maybe we can continue to enjoy free music on the web.
The future of Internet radio is in immediate danger. Royalty rates for webcasters have been drastically increased by a recent ruling and are due to go into effect on July 15 (retroactive to Jan 1, 2006!).Click the banner at the top of the page to get the phone number of your Congressional Representatives today.

To protest these rates and encourage the millions of net radio listeners to take action and contact their Congressional representatives, a national Day of Silence will be held June 26. Webcasters across the country will observe this day of silence in a number of ways, including dedicating entire programs to the campaign to save Internet Radio and broadcasting complete silence. For an updated list of the participants in this national day of silence, visit http://www.kurthanson.com/dos/. Webcasters who would like to participate in the day of silence, place contact the SaveNetRadio coalition at dayofsilence@savenetradio.org. Net radio listeners, please excuse the interruption of your normal programming and take action to ensure this silence is not permanent. Click the banner at the top of the page to get the phone number of your Congressional Representatives today.

A little of the back story.
On March 2, 2007 the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB), which oversees sound recording royalties paid by Internet radio services, increased Internet radio’s royalty burden between 300 and 1200 percent and thereby jeopardized the industry’s future.
At the request of the Recording Industry Association of America, the CRB ignored the fact that Internet radio royalties were already double what satellite radio pays, and multiplied the royalties even further. The 2005 royalty rate was 7/100 of a penny per song streamed; the 2010 rate will be 19/100 of a penny per song streamed. And for small webcasters that were able to calculate royalties as a percentage of revenue in 2005 – that option was quashed by the CRB, so small webcasters’ royalties will grow exponentially!
Before this ruling was handed down, the vast majority of webcasters were barely making ends meet as Internet radio advertising revenue is just beginning to develop. Without a doubt most Internet radio services will go bankrupt and cease webcasting if this royalty rate is not reversed by the Congress, and webcasters’ demise will mean a great loss of creative and diverse radio. Surviving webcasters will need sweetheart licenses that major record labels will be only too happy to offer, so long as the webcaster permits the major label to control the programming and playlist. Is that the Internet radio you care to hear?