Windows XP SP3: No, Really, It’s Not Ready

By Michael Santo
Editor-in-Chief, RealTechNews
Rumor was that Microsoft was set to release Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) this week, but that’s obviously not going to happen. Tuesday Microsoft announced another refresh of the software, a Release Candidate 2 (RC2) refresh (what, not RC3?).
As before, you have to use an application to enable Windows Update [...]

Sony Says Give Us $50 More and We’ll Make Your New Computer Run Better

By Jimmy Daniels of Windows Tips
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews
I couldn’t believe this when I read it this morning, but apparently Sony Computers has a new Fresh Start option, where they remove all the free trial software they install, Sony Vaio applications and games from your new computer, to free up valuable hard drive space, conserve memory [...]

Windows Vista SP1 Now Available Via Windows Update

By Michael Santo
Editor-in-Chief, RealTechNews
I wrote earlier that Windows Vista SP1 would ship this week, and it’s here, at least via Windows Update. We still need to wait and see if Amazon.com’s publicized March 19th release from retail still takes place.
Additionally, you can download the whole package from Microsoft’s Download Center. Remember, however, that [...]

Windows Vista SP1 to Ship This Week

By Michael Santo
Editor-in-Chief, RealTechNews
I actually wrote about this in early March, as a footnote to a story about the price drops seen after Microsoft announced its post-SP1 release pricing structure. At that time Amazon was taking pre-orders for Windows Vista with SP1 included, and the announced availability date, as you can see, was - [...]

P4P Aims to Speed Peer-to-Peer File Transfers, Reduce Traffic

By Michael Santo
Editor-in-Chief, RealTechNews
I’m guessing I’m not the only one who’s never heard of P4P. That’s because it’s still being developed. The Distributed Computing Industry Association and its “P4P Working Group” is working on a new peer-to-peer protocol, called Proactive network Provider Participation for P2P or P4P. It’s described as a “carrier-grade [...]

Microsoft Opens “Office Live Workspace” to the Public

By Michael Santo
Editor-in-Chief, RealTechNews
I first wrote about Office Live Workspace when pre-registration opened in early October. At the time it was a very limited beta open to select few registered participants, but as of late Monday it was opened up to the general public.
Go to the Office Live Workspace site to sign up.
Still in [...]

Microsoft Cuts Vista Prices in Hopes of Spurring Adoption

By Michael Santo
Editor-in-Chief, RealTechNews
As we close in on the public release of Windows Vista SP1, Microsoft has taken what’s likely an unprecedented step: it’s cut the prices of many of the retail versions of the OS. The timing is obvious: Microsoft has been betting heavily on SP1 as many corporations have been waiting to [...]

Microsoft Halts Distribution of Troublesome Vista SP1 Prerequisite

By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews
You may recall I wrote earlier about the troubles people were having with the prequisite updates that Microsoft said were required in order to get Windows Vista SP1 in March. In a “mea culpa” moment, Microsoft has stopped distribution of the update that seems to be at the heart of [...]

Netscape Gets a One Month Stay of Execution

By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews
In late December AOL indicated it would end support for Netscape on February 1st, but it’s now extended that date to March 1st. If you check the announcement blurb at the top of their webpage, you’ll see it’s changed to March 1st, although the informational post still says February 1st.
There [...]

Lotus Notes Coming to the iPhone?

By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews
According to AP, those of you corporate types who’ve been holding off buying an iPhone because of a lack of corporate email support may find that reason vanishing soon. IBM is poised to announce a version of Lotus Notes e-mail for the iPhone at its Lotusphere conference in Orlando, Fla., [...]

Asus Outlines Eee PC Windows XP Roll-Out Plan

By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews
Is it sufficient to say “woo-hoo”?! Many have been jonesing for an Asus Eee PC with Windows XP for some time, not just in terms of the upcoming new models, but also because the first-gen Eee PC could supposedly support it as well. Wednesday, in an emailed press release, Asus outlined [...]

UK Education Agency Report: Don’t Upgrade to Vista, Office 2007

By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews
The British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (Becta) has completed its report (.PDF) on Windows Vista and Microsoft Office 2007, and the conclusions it reached shouldn’t surprise critics of Windows Vista and Office 2007.
In January 2006, Becta announced that it would conduct a review of Microsoft’s Windows Vista and Office 2007 [...]

Cyberlink PowerDirector v6 First Look

By Martin Regtien
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews

Recently I bought a JVC Everio HDD camcorder which came bundled with some CyberLink software for editing video.
This OEM version of PowerDirector Express was easy to work with for a neophyte such as me but ultimately would be rather limited.
Subsequently I acquired the full version of PowerDirector v6 and checked it [...]

Amazon.com Quietly Opens Software Download Service

By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews
Amazon.com has launched a software download section in their software store. While the product selection is small - meaning, limited to TurboTax products - the fact that they built a software downloader application means that this is not the end of the story.
Install the downloader (in the sidebar on [...]

Intuit Warns QuickBooks Bug May Reoccur at Public Hot Spots

By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews
You’ll recall the issues Mac QuickBooks owners had in mid-December, when a bug could cause QuickBooks 2006 owners to lose their Desktop folder when updating the product. Intuit believed they had fixed the issue with a patch issued on Dec. 29th, but it appears they missed one little thing.
According [...]

MacOS Market Share Hits Record at 7.31%

By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews
According to Net Applications’ December 2007 market share data for operating systems, MacOS has hit a new high in terms of usage with 7.31%. At the same time, the iPhone OS hit a high of .12%. These were up from 6.80% and .09%, respectively, in November.
Check out the iPhone [...]

End of an Era: Netscape Browser Development to Cease

By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews
It’s a sad day and the end of an era. Development is to cease on the Netscape browser, which at one time held the largest market share of all browsers, and was the first browser to gain mass popularity.
However, it had been evident for a while that this move was [...]

Antivirus Program Labels Windows Explorer a Virus

By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews
Linux users might actually agree with this “false positive”. On the other hand Microsoft breathes a sigh of relief, as for once the antivirus software in question is not Windows Live OneCare.
Kaspersky Labs, a smallish but well-respected (in fact, many believe it to be the most effective AV solution) [...]

Vista Kernel Elevation Vulnerability Could Allow Complete Takeover of Systems

By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews
The ability of processes to elevate their own privilege level was supposedly impossible in Windows Vista, but Microsoft has acknowledged that there is a vulnerability that could allow processes in both the 32- and 64-bit versions of Windows Vista to elevate their own privilege to administrator level.
A Microsoft security bulletin [...]

IE Gets “Nag-Less” with “Click to Activate” ActiveX Removal Preview

By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews
As I indicated earlier, with the settlement between Microsoft and Eolas Technology, Microsoft is finally going to be able to remove that “Click to activate and use this control” message you see on some websites with ActiveX controls.
In fact, in early November Microsoft indicated a trial called the “Internet Explorer [...]