If Operating Systems Were Houses

What if Unix, Windows, Linux and OSX were houses?

UNIX is the old Victorian Mansion that was the first of it’s kind and set the standard for all things to come.

It is still considered one of the most solid and stable houses ever built since it was build by compliant construction practices.

It’s incredibly solid foundation allows it to be expanded upon and added to. This foundation has led to many other houses being built the same way and with the same compliance and care.

Windows is the government housing.

The houses are built quickly, cheaply and go up anywhere and everywhere.

Unfortunately since they were all built so cheaply, you end up spending twice as much later to keep the place standing.

The foundation is shaky at best and anytime you hang a picture, you worry about knocking the entire house down.

You constantly have to call the exterminator to keep the bugs out and everytime you remove a piece of furniture, there are always parts of it left behind.

OSX is the modern day mansion.

It’s built from the ground up using the same sturdy foundation as the Victorian Mansion.

When you look inside, every room is the exact same and is in pristine condition. The floors are so clean there is a mirror reflection of every item in the house and the lights are positioned perfectly to make everything look just perfect…just the way the owner wanted it, so don’t touch!

Once the builders were finished with the house, the owner had the front door locked, the doorknob removed and put bars on the windows so no one could get in to touch or move anything because that’s not the way he intended. If you don’t like it? Go screw yourself because he doesn’t care what you think.

Government housing owners start looking at other options and stumble on the mansion. They are awed by it’s beauty and blindly follow. Once they get their house, they realize it’s designed for handicapped people. They can’t get in the house because the owner doesn’t trust anyone using his design because he already designed everything just the way he wanted it and can’t imagine how anyone could possibly think it should have been done differently.

…but of course, it’s for your own good……you retard.

Linux is the carpenter/designer’s dream house.

The foundation is rock solid and is inspected every year by thousands of the best carpenters all over the world.

The house is everything you want, if you know what you’re doing. It’s all there for you. The doors, windows, walls and roof. You ‘get’ to assemble it yourself any way you like.

Once it’s finished, you rarely have to repair anything and will never have to tear it down and start from scratch. It’s designed in a way that allows it to be built upon until it’s turned into a skyscraper or left as is.

Everyone on the block is envious and wants to know how you bought such a beautiful house so cheaply. After you explain to them that you built it yourself, they leave in disgust and never talk to you again because you’re one of “them”.

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Top 51 Free & Useful Downloads

Once upon a time you actually had to pay for great software or use illegal cracked versions. The scenario has totally changed today. Luckily we are out of that world now. If you want to make your PC more productive, secure, informative and entertaining, try these softwares listed below. We've compiled a list of the most useful softwares available for download - and they don't cost even a cent!

Tweaking Windows XP

• Fresh UI - Configure and optimize your system, hardware, and Windows application settings.
• Microsoft Power Toys For Windows XP - PowerToys add fun and functionality to the Windows experience. PowerToys are additional programs that developers work on after a product has been released.
• Tweak & Tune - Access hidden Windows system settings.

Tweaking Windows Vista

• Tweak VI Basic - Tweak hundreds of hidden features of Windows Vista.
• VistaBootPRO - Featured in PC Magazine, Microsoft's Tech Net Magazine, and hundreds of online articles worldwide.
• EasyBCD - Modify, back up, and restore configurations of Windows Vista bootloader.

Security Tools

• Ad-Aware SE Personal - Scan your system for ad-supported software components and remove them.
• Avast - Scan your computer for viruses, worms, and Trojan horses.
• ZoneAlarm - Protect your Internet connection from hackers and other security breaches.
• AVG Anti-Virus - Protect your computer from viruses and malicious programs.
• SMAC - View, change, and validate MAC Address.
• Microsoft Windows Defender - Remove spyware from your PC and prevent unwanted software from being installed without your knowledge.
• Spybot Search & Destroy - Search your hard disk and Registry for threats to your security and privacy.

Registry Cleaners

• TweakNow RegCleaner - Remove obsolete entries from your Windows Registry.
• CleanMyRegistry - Clean your Windows Registry.

System Information

• Belarc Advisor - Plug a PC audit into your browser with details on hardware and software.
• SpeedFan - Monitor fan speeds, temperatures, and voltages in computers with hardware monitoring chips.
• M2 Information - Get your system specifications quickly for easy reference when filling in technical-support questionnaires.

E-mail Clients

• Thunderbird -View e-mail and news the way you want it, with intelligent junk controls and personalized themes.
• Eudora - Send e-mail to and receive it from friends and coworkers.
• Spamato - Add-on for Microsoft Outlook, an extension for Thunderbird and Mozilla Mail, and as a stand-alone proxy component.

File Sharing

• AllPeers - Share anything with people you choose
  
• Pando - Bypass e-mail attachment limits when sending big files.
• uTorrent - Manage BitTorrents for Windows with scheduling and other features
• Skype - More than just talk
  
• Yahoo Messenger - Communicate instantly with your friends on YIM and Windows Live using custom avatars, PC-to-PC calling, and lively emoticons.
• Trillian - Chat and share files with all your friends on mIRC, AIM, ICQ, MSN, and Yahoo Messenger.
• Google Talk - Talk share with your friends for free.
• Microsoft Windows Live Messenger - Connect and share instantly on the worlds most popular IM network.

Desktop Search

• Google Desktop - Search your hard drive for e-mail, files, and your Web and IM histories.
• Copernic Desktop Search - Search files, e-mails, and popular multimedia formats on your PC's hard drive.
• Windows Desktop Search - Search your computer for virtually any kind of information.

Office Suites & Word Processors

• OpenOffice.org - Take an open-source approach to office productivity.
• Easy To-Do - Manage important tasks at home or in the office.
• NoteTab Light - Edit text and HTML documents of any size.
• Crimson Editor - Edit programs in HTML, C/C++, Perl, Java, and other languages.
• EditPad Lite - Try a general-purpose Notepad-like text editor.

Backup & File Synchronization

• Everyday Auto Backup - Automate your file backup routines.
• Microsoft FolderShare - Find, access, share your files anywhere
  

Video Players

• VLC Media Player - Play audio and video files with this cross-platform media player and streaming server.
• iTunes Foobar2000 - Listen to music with an audio player that supports several popular audio formats.

Image Editing

• Google Picasa - Find, edit, and share pictures faster.
• IrfanView - View and edit most graphics formats available today in a fast and simple way.
• StudioLine Photo Basic - Import, manage, edit, and share your digital images using e-mail, slide shows, and Web galleries.
• Microsoft Photo info - View and change metadata properties for digital photographs in Windows Explorer.
• FastStone MaxView - View, edit, and manipulate your images.
• GIMP - Create and alter photos and graphics manually or via scripting.
• Paint.net - Create and alter photos using layers, effects, and other tools.

Audio Players

• Nullsoft Winamp - Play and organize a variety of audio and video files.
• iTunes - Create MP3 playlists, burn CDs, and download music with this top-rated jukebox.
• Audacity - Edit your digital audio files.

Microsoft has released Virtual Machine Additions for Linux

Virtual Machine Additions for Linux are designed to improve the usability and interoperability of running qualified Linux operating systems as guests or virtual machines of Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1.

Now with support for SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 10

Microsoft is committed to testing and supporting many third-party operating systems for use as guest operating systems on Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1 virtual machines. To help make sure that you have a favorable experience when you run third-party guest operating systems in Virtual Server 2005, Microsoft Product Support Services (PSS) has created a product support model for these third-party guest operating systems. This support model is consistent with the support model that is used for Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1. Product support for the Virtual Machine Additions will be provided through the normal support channels available for Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1.

Virtual Machine Additions information

To improve the interoperability between virtual machines running Linux guest operating systems and Virtual Server 2005 R2, Virtual Machine Additions are available for Linux guest operating systems. You can install these Virtual Machine Additions components in your Linux guest operating systems to improve the following operating system capabilities:

Guest and host synchronization for time synchronization, for heartbeat generation, and for coordinated shutdown operations
Mouse driver
Display driver
SCSI hard disk emulation

Note: The SCSI hard disk Virtual Machine Additions component requires Virtual Server 2005 R2 Service Pack 1 (SP1).

Qualified Linux guests:

Enterprise distributions

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1 (update 6)
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 (update 6)
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4
SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 9
SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 10

Standard distributions

Red Hat Linux 7.3
Red Hat Linux 9.0
SuSE Linux 9.2
SuSE Linux 9.3
SuSE Linux 10.0

Linux group calls Microsoft's bluff

The head of the Open Invention Network (OIN) has dismissed Microsoft's claims that Linux violates over 200 of its patents.

OIN chief executive Jerry Rosenthal said that Microsoft's assertions are simply an attempt to undermine the open source movement.

Rosenthal added that it is time for Microsoft to reveal the patents that are supposedly being infringed, or to drop the claims.

"The FUD is clear. If you have a patent that you are proud of, then disclose it," he said.

"If your patent is a good patent then you are not worried about revealing it before going to court because you would be confident of success."

Rosenthal believes that, if there are grounds for patent infringement, there would either be easy workarounds or the open source community would find 'prior art' which would invalidate the patent.

Rosenthal pledged to continue the work of the OIN as a protective measure until Microsoft stopped such tactics.

OIN buys patents on the open market and makes them available to companies royalty free, so long as those companies pledge never to use their own patents to attack open source code.

The organisation was set up by IBM, NEC, Novell, Philips, Red Hat and Sony and has a war chest of millions of dollars.

Mark Taylor, president of the Open Source Consortium, agreed with Rosenthal and described Microsoft's tactics in damning terms.

"We say show us the patents," he said. "This has been the strategy against open source all along. It's precisely the same tactics as SCO used: implied threats and mafia techniques. This is just FUD. It's smoke and mirrors. "

Taylor added that Microsoft is sorely mistaken if it hopes that its actions will slow down the spread of open source.

Laurant Lachal, open source research director at research firm Ovum, said: "Microsoft is too easy a bogeyman in this kind of situation.

"It is true that Microsoft is using FUD to attack open source, but the software industry has traditionally used FUD as a tactic. It is a normal way of doing business. IBM started it back when it was the powerhouse."

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Microsoft Announces Online Storage for Documents

It was only going to be a matter of time before Microsoft took a step towards bringing their Office Suite online, and yesterday they made that first step by announcing Microsoft Office Live Workspace. It’s described as the online companion to Microsoft Office and for now, only pre-registration is available. They have yet to release it into beta, but once it is, only a limited number of people who have pre-registered will get the chance to try it.

Unlike web-based office suites that allow you to author documents from your web browser (like Zoho or Google Docs), the Office Live Workspace is really only going to be used for online storage for documents and collaboration. While a user will be able to control who can view, comment, or edit documents, they can’t author any documents inside the browser. If you want to author or edit documents, it must be done on the desktop version of Office. This factor alone is probably the biggest disappointment and limitation of Office Live Workspace.

So how would this service be useful? Well, it eliminates the need for emailing yourself documents or carrying around a flash drive wherever you go. As long as you have an Internet connection and a web browser, you’ll be able to access the documents that you have saved to your workspace. This workspace will open and save files right from Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, but you can also save images and PDF’s as well.

The fact that users can’t author documents inside a web browser means that this is by no means a free alternative to Microsoft Office. You’ll need to pay the price for the Office Suite software if you want the Office Live Workspace to be of any use to you. While they currently don’t plan to let users author documents from the browser, that doesn’t mean that it won’t happen in the future. According to Todd Bishop over at SeattlePI, the senior product manager for Microsoft Office, Eric Gilmore says that Microsoft hasn’t ruled out the possibility that users would be able to author documents online - but it would require that they integrate ads to make revenue off of it.

While this sounds like it could certainly come in handy at work, school, or even home, there’s no word on when Microsoft intends to release Microsoft Office Live Workspace into beta. Todd Bishop points out that the media wasn’t given the opportunity to try a working-version of the service, so for all we know, this could end up on the Vaporware list - or the list of a highly anticipated technology products or services that are promised, but never delivered.

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New Hotfix to Improve Vista’s Performance

Microsoft has wordlessly release four updates for Windows Vista which will improve the performance and reliability. As of now, these hotfixes haven’t been offered through Windows Update, and it’s not clear whether Microsoft plans to send them on October 9th’s Patch Tuesday or will hold back until SP1.

The first update (KB941649) is said to improve the battery life and stability of Windows Vista, at the same time it also speeds up the start up and recovery time after Vista is left inactive. Here’s a detailed list of improvements included in this hotfix:

• It extends the battery life for mobile devices.
• It improves the stability of portable computers and of desktop computers that use an uninterruptable power supply (UPS).
• It improves the reliability of Windows Vista when you open the menu of a startup application.
• It improves the stability of Internet Explorer when you open a Web page.
• It improves the stability of wireless network services.
• It shortens the startup time of Windows Vista by using a better timing structure.
• It shortens the recovery time after Windows Vista experiences a period of inactivity.
• It shortens the recovery time when you try to exit the Photos screen saver.
• It improves the stability of Windows PowerShell.
• A compatibility issue that affects some third-party antivirus software applications.
• A reliability issue that occurs when a Windows Vista-based computer uses certain network driver configurations

You can download this hotfix (32-bit or 64-bit) from its homepage, but it appears that Microsoft is still testing this hotfix and recommends you to install, only if you are experiencing issues which will be resolved by this hotfix.

Other three hotfixes are not so crucial, but are still worth checking out:

1. KB941229 – This update address several issues in Vista Media Center
2. KB941600 – Resolves some reliability issues in the USB core components.
3. KB941651 – Homepage of this hotfix isn’t available, but according to Carlos on techarena.in, this update improves the reliability of Windows Media Player 11 for Windows Vista. You can download 32-bit or 64-bit version of this hotfix.

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Zune 2 to be released in November

As we all anticipated, Microsoft has unveiled three new versions of Zune, which are expected to hit the stores in November. Nothing much has been changed in the hardware, except for bigger hard drive and flash versions of Zune. There is a new 80 GB version of Zune, which has been named as Zune 80. Two smaller, flash based versions of Zune have also arrived in 4GB and 8GB storage.

Both the flash versions of Zune will ship in pink, green, black and red, whereas Zune 80 will only be available in black. Brown colored Zune has been faded out. The latest generation of Zune will also include a new hardware feature called "Zune Pad". It’s a touch sensitive pad with up, down, left and right buttons.

Microsoft has redesigned the interface in the new version, but early adopters shouldn’t be worried too much, as Microsoft plans to deliver the new interface to the owners of the classic Zune 30 users via software update. These are the new features to be included in the latest generation of Zune:

1. Watch Recorded TV Shows on the go: If you use Windows Media Center to record television shows, you can now import them to Zune and watch them while on the move.
2. Wireless Sync: Zune will now wirelessly synchronize over the owner’s home network. The syncing process will start whenever Zune is kept in its dock or plugged for charging. Alternatively, the syncing process can also be manually started.
3. Improved Wireless Sharing: Users can wirelessly share music, podcasts with other Zune owners and they can play it upto three times. Prior to this, there was a three day sharing DRM, which prevents music from playing after three days.

Zune 80 with 80GB storage will sell for $250. 4GB and 8GB flash versions of Zune will be put on the market for $150 and $200 respectively. In other related news, Zune Music Store will be going DRM free with over 1 million mp3s for download. Check out this video uploaded by Engadget, it shows you the new Zune:

Initial reports are very positive. Microsoft did a great job increasing the screen size of hard drive Zune from 3 inchs to 3.2 inchs, but flash based Zunes still fall behind iPod nano in terms of screen size. Flash Zunes feature 1.8 inch screen, whereas iPod nano now comes with 2 inch screen.

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Windows Live Hotmail with Custom Domains for Indians

Microsoft India has announced the availability of unique email address attached with the Windows Live Hotmail Service. The custom domain service has launched on coolhotmail.com, and users can pick any one of the 250 custom domains for free.

Coolhotmail.com gives you all the features of Windows Live Hotmail with 5 GB of storage, improved spam protection and customizable design, but under a distinct email address. Microsoft believes that uniqueness of email address matters, and reflects the identity of the person who uses it.

Custom domain names have been categorized into 5 different groups – Where I live, Who I like, Who am I, What I like and I Don’t fit. For instance, if you live in Bangalore, you can sign up for an email address like yourname@bangalorerocks.in. Or maybe, if you are a soccer fan, you can sign up for yourname@ilovesoccer.in.

Microsoft is making every possible endeavor to beat other email service providers in India. I’m not sure whether Microsoft will be successful in luring the Indian crowd, but I disagree with the fact that postfix (@xxx.xx) of any email address has anything to do with the identity of any individual. If anybody wants a true unique email address, they just have to buy a domain name and sign up with Google Apps for free. I think, that’s a better option, if you are so mad about uniqueness of your email address.

Microsoft Reveals Windows

In response to customer demands Microsoft announced that instead of patching bugs and improving features of Windows Vista in the next service pack release, they would just install XP.

"We're focused on giving the customer what they want, and want they want is to just go back to XP," said Microsoft Development Chief Greg Elston.

Elston said not only will the move improve customer satisfaction with Vista, but will allow the company to focus resources on the next operating system instead of the flailing Vista. "We can move people off of Vista development now, and move them to Windows 7 development," said Elston. "That should allow us to only delay Windows 7 by thirteen months past its scheduled date instead of the planned eighteen."

Customers have had many complaints about Vista, so it wasn't surprising the response to the move was mostly positive. "Ever since I install Vista I've wanted to go back to XP," so microsoft is providing a patch to degrade vista to XP....

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Vista Compatibility and Reliability Pack Leaked

Transferring large files under Windows Vista is awfully slow compared to other operating systems. Neowin has leaked the performance and compatibility pack for both 32-bit and 64-bit version of Vista which will resolve this issue along with several others.

This patch isn’t officially from released from Microsoft, but that shouldn’t hold you down from installing these because it’s leaked and I’ve already installed it. I’m not sure if Microsoft has decided to officially deliver this patch via Windows Update System or if they are planning to hold it until Vista SP1.

938979 Vista Performance and Reliability Pack
This update resolves a number of individual issues which may be affecting some computers running Windows Vista. These issues have been reported by customers using the Error Reporting service, product support, or other means. Installing this update will improve the performance and responsiveness for some scenarios and improves reliability of Windows Vista in a variety of scenarios. Some examples of the improvements contained in this update are:

• Improves performance in resuming back to the desktop from the Photo and Windows Energy screensaver.
• Resolves an issue where some secured web pages using advanced security technologies may not get displayed in Internet Explorer on Windows Vista.
• Resolves an issue where a shared printer may not get installed if the printer is connected to a Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 system and User Access Control is disabled on the Vista client.
• Resolves an issue where creating AVI files on Vista may get corrupted.
• Improves the performance in calculating the ‘estimated time remaining’ when copying/moving large files.
• Improves performance in bringing up Login Screen after resuming from Hibernate.
• Resolves an issue where synchronization of offline files to a server can get corrupted.
• Resolves a compatibility issue with RAW images created by Canon EOS 1D/1DS Digital SLR Camera which can lead to data loss. This only affects RAW images created by these two specific camera models.
• Resolves an issue where a computer can lose its default Gateway address when resuming from sleep mode.
• Improves the performance when copying or moving entire directories containing large amounts of data or files.
• Improves the performance of Vista’s Memory Manager in specific customer scenarios and prevents some issues which may lead to memory corruption.

938194 Vista Compatibility and Reliability Pack
This update resolves a number of individual issues which may be affecting some computers running Windows Vista. These issues have been reported by customers using the Error Reporting service, product support, or other means. Installing this update will improve the reliability and hardware compatibility of Windows Vista in a variety of scenarios. Some examples of the improvements contained in this update are:

• Improved reliability and compatibility of Vista when used with newer graphics cards in several specific scenarios and configurations.
• Improved reliability when working with external displays on a laptop.
• Increased compatibility with many video drivers.
• Improved visual appearance of games with high intensity graphics.
• Improved quality of playback for HD-DVD and Blue-Ray disks on large monitors.
• Improved reliability for Internet Explorer when some third party toolbars are installed on Vista.
• Improved Vista reliability in networking configuration scenarios.
• Improved the reliability of Windows Calendar in Vista.
• Improved reliability of systems that were upgraded from XP to Vista.
• Increased compatibility with many printer drivers.
• Increased reliability and performance of Vista when entering sleep and resuming from sleep.

File transfer time has significantly dropped to almost half of the time required prior to installing this patch. Before installing this patch, you must remember that it’s not officially released and may contain some bugs. I so far had no real problems on my 32-bit system, but if you are running on 64-bit you must disable driver signing each time your computer starts. If happen to be using Rivatuner, atitool and/or Peerguardian under Vista 64-bit, you’ll have to use F8 key during boot process to disable the driver signing requirement.

Download Links: 64-bit and 32-bit

source

Run Linux and Windows at the same time

A quick search on Google for tutorials regarding Linux and Windows interoperability, will reveal a lot of guides on how to install (emulate) Windows on a virtual machine inside Linux or how to migrate from Windows to Linux or how to dual boot Windows and Linux, but what I was really looking for was a way to run Windows and Linux at the same time, on the same machine; sharing the same desktop, working with the applications from both operating systems at the same time, without having a virtual machine window open or God knows what else.

So, does your business require for you to work on both operating systems? Why having two monitors, two computers when you can have Windows and Linux running on a single computer like they were born together? Imagine you can open Microsoft Word, write some text and then copy/paste this text in a Linux application, or you can share files between the two OSes or probably you're a web designer and you have to test your websites on both operating systems: wouldn't this be a life saver? Well, today I am happy to announce you that all this is possible and it will take about 30 minutes to setup everything in order to have Windows and Linux running at the same time on your computer and to share all the applications from these operating systems without hassle.

I've tested this guide on a Ubuntu machine with KDE as the default desktop environment and with Windows XP SP2. I am sure that this tutorial will work flawlessly on any other Linux system out there. Take a look at some screenshots:

Enlarge picture Enlarge picture Enlarge picture Enlarge picture Enlarge picture

Install necessary software:

You have to install two applications:

· VMware Server
· rdesktop

But before you install these application, it's a very good idea to get a serial number for VMware Server software. The serial number is FREE of charge and it will not expire. To get yours, click on the following link:

http://register.vmware.com/content/registration.html

Fill up the form and you'll receive a serial number immediately after you click on the submit button. Note the serial number somewhere because you'll need it later.

· If you are a Debian/Ubuntu user open up Synaptic Package manager (System -> Administration -> Synaptic Package Manager for GNOME users and KMenu -> System -> Synaptic Package Manager for KDE users), search for vmware-server and rdesktop and install them.

· If you are a Fedora/openSuse/Mandriva user, open the default package manager, search for vmware-server and rdesktop and install them.

IMPORTANT: The VMware Server installation will ask you for the serial number, so paste the 20 digit code you have received earlier, otherwise the installation will fail.

Prepare VMware Server to run Windows

The VMware Server application will be installed in the System Tools category, so open it from Applications -> System Tools -> VMware Server Console if you are a GNOME user or from KMenu -> System -> More applications -> VMware Server Console if you are a KDE user. When it starts, it will ask you to select the host that you want to connect to. So:

1. Select Local host and click the 'Connect' button.
2. Click the 'Create a new virtual machine' button.
3. On the new window, click Next.
4. Select Typical and click Next.
5. Then select Windows XP Professional from the drop down list and click Next.
6. Give your virtual machine a name and click Next
7. Select "Use network address translation (NAT)" and click Next
8. And on the last step, click Finish.

It will take a few minutes until the virtual machine is created. When it's done, insert the Windows XP Professional CD in your optical drive and power on the virtual machine. The CD will be detected and the Windows installation will start. I guess I don't have to explain you how to install Windows.

Setup Windows

When the Windows installation is over you must do a few little tricks:

1. Go to Start -> Control Panel, click the "Switch to Classic View" on the left side and then double click on the System icon. Go to the Remote tab and check the second box, where it says "Allow users to connect remotely to this computer". Click Apply and close the window.
2. Go to Start -> Run, type regedit and hit enter. The Registry Editor will open, navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER -> Software -> Microsoft -> Windows -> CurrentVersion -> Policies -> Explorer, right click on the right side, select New -> DWORD Value, name it NoDesktop, double click on it and set the Value data to 1 instead of 0. Click OK and restart Windows.
3. Go to Start -> Control Panel, double click the "User Accounts" icon, click on your username and then on "Create a password" link. Create the password and close the "User Accounts" window.
4. Still in Control Panel, double click the "Network Connections" icon, click the "Local Area Connection" icon and in the left side you will see on the Details area the IP address of this virtual machine. Note the IP address somewhere because you'll need it later.
5. Download SeamlessRDP software from here and extract it in C: (make sure it creates a folder called seamlessrdp).
6. Release the mouse from the virtual machine by pressing CTRL+ALT keys at the same time, go to VM -> Install VMware Tools. An installer window will appear in your Windows machine, follow the steps to install VMware tools application. When finished, a reboot will be required.

When you get back to Windows, log off and close the VMware Server Console window.

Final arrangements

Create a shortcut on your desktop in order to easily start Windows every time you need it. So, right click on the desktop, go to Create New -> Link to Application if you are a KDE user or Create Launcher if you are a GNOME user, name the shortcut, select a nice icon for it and paste the following code on the "Application/Command" field:

rdesktop -A -s 'c:seamlessrdpseamlessrdpshell.exe c:windowsexplorer.exe' Windows' IP address -u your Windows username -p your Windows password

IMPORTANT: replace Windows' IP address with the Windows IP address that you've noted earlier and the your Windows username and your Windows password with the username and password you've created in Windows (e.g. rdesktop -A -s 'c:seamlessrdpseamlessrdpshell.exe c:windowsexplorer.exe' 172.192.56.123 -u marius -p nestor).

IMPORTANT: Make sure you disable any running firewall on your Linux machine.

Now double click the shortcut you've just created and the Windows taskbar should appear on your Linux desktop. Right click on it, uncheck 'Lock the Taskbar' option and drag it where you want. Now you can use Linux and Windows at the same time without hassle.

Share files between Windows and Linux

To share files between the two operating systems make sure you install Samba (server and client) on the Linux machine and on Windows all you have to do is to right click on a folder that you want to share with the Linux OS, go to Properties, Sharing tab and check the "Share this folder on the network" and "Allow network users to change my files" options. Now open Konqueror and type in the address bar:

smb://the Windows IP (replace 'the Windows IP' with the IP address from the Windows machine. e.g. smb://128.56.123.25)

Take a look at some videos that demonstrate the Windows/Linux interoperability:

This example demonstrates that I can copy/paste a text between Windows and Linux applications:

This example shows that I can run Compiz Fusion, Windows and Linux at the same time:

IMPORTANT: Remember that every time you restart your computer, the virtual machine that runs in background will close, so you'll have to open VMware Server Console and start the Windows machine before you can connect to it through the desktop shortcut.

ICSA Labs certifies Kaspersky Internet Security 6.0 for Windows Vista

Kaspersky Internet Security 6.0 has passed certification testing conducted by the US laboratory ICSA Labs, a respected research lab.

Kaspersky Lab, a leading developer of secure content management solutions, announces that Kaspersky Internet Security 6.0 has been certified under both Desktop/Server Anti-Virus Detection and Anti-Virus Cleaning Criteria for Microsoft Windows Vista.

To be awarded an ICSA Labs certificate, a product should detect and remove all malicious programs from the test set without any false positives and without damaging any files that it disinfects. The tests conducted by ICSA Labs experts on a 32 bit version of Windows Vista prove that Kaspersky Internet Security 6.0 meets the highest standards of antivirus protection by detecting and removing all malicious program samples on the infected computer.

ICSA Labs, formerly known as the International Computer Security Association, is one of the most respected bodies specializing in developing standards and providing certification for IT security products. Kaspersky Lab products have traditionally passed ICSA certification since Kaspersky Lab was founded in 1997.

"We are glad to see that such a respected organization as ICSA Labs has confirmed the effectiveness of protection provided by our flagship product for platforms based on Microsoft’s latest operating system. The ICSA Labs certificate is further proof that Kaspersky Lab solutions are an optimal choice for Windows Vista users,” said Alaxey Tal, Kaspersky Lab certification manager.

Microsoft's own antivirus fails to secure Vista

Microsoft's own antivirus software, Live OneCare, is unable to fully protect Vista users against viruses, and one of security firm McAfee's antivirus software packages also fails to protect users, according to independent research released Friday.

Security news site Virus Bulletin, backed by a team of security researchers based in Oxfordshire, U.K., tested 15 antivirus software packages used by businesses and designed specifically for Vista, Microsoft's newest operating system. The packages were released to businesses two months ago.

The researchers tested whether each of the antivirus products would stop a set of viruses known to be currently circulating. In order to be awarded a pass, the software had to detect all the viruses with no false positives.

But out of the 15, four failed: Microsoft Live OneCare 1.5; McAfee VirusScan Enterprise version 8.1i; G DATA AntiVirusKit 2007 v17.0.6353; and Norman VirusControl v5.90. The other 11, including software from CA, Fortinet, F-Secure, Kaspersky, Sophos and Symantec, detected all the viruses.

"With the number of delays that we've seen in Vista's release, there's no excuse for security vendors not to have got their products right by now," said John Hawes, technical consultant at Virus Bulletin. "In these days of hourly updates, it's always a surprise and a disappointment to see major products missing them (viruses). Vista cannot fend off today's malware without help from security products. It certainly looks like people upgrading to the new platform are going to need additional security solutions."

Joe Telafici, vice president of operations for McAfee's Avert Labs, told ZDNet UK that, in his opinion, Virus Bulletin had not used its latest antivirus updates, causing the failure. He said McAfee would issue further results with the updated software.

Microsoft pledged to improve Live OneCare. "We are looking closely at the methodology and results of the test to ensure that Windows Live OneCare performs better in future tests and, most importantly, as part of our ongoing work to continually enhance Windows Live OneCare," a company representative told ZDNet UK.

On the subject of Vista, the Microsoft representative added: "It's important to remember that no software is 100 percent secure. Microsoft is working to keep the number of security vulnerabilities that ship in our products to a minimum, through our Security Development Lifecycle process, and that work is paying off. The release of Windows Vista is the first Microsoft operating system to use the Security Development Lifecycle from start to finish and was tested more, prior to shipping, than any previous version of Windows."

source:zdnet

Windows Server 2008’s Best New Features

Just as there were plenty of changes in Windows Vista, there are also signficant changes in Windows Server 2008 (formerly codenamed Longhorn). And there seems to be plenty of anticipation over the new product. According to Microsoft, the new Beta 3 version of the software was downloaded more than 100,000 times in its first three weeks of availability. That’s nothing to sneeze at.

During his WinHEC 2007 keynote address in mid-May, Microsoft’s own Bill Gates demonstrated first-hand how Windows Server 2008 administrators can spend less time on day-to-day tasks and more time adding value to their businesses with Windows Server 2008 Security and Policy-Enforcement features that work together to provide advanced access, control and protection at the network, application and data layers. I’m sure that got the attention of a fair share of server admins.

Gates seems utterly convinced that Windows Server 2008 is a key component to the next wave of hardware innovation, which includes support for virtualization, multicore processors and 64-bit applications. Windows Server 2008 offers enhanced features such as the Server Core installation option, Server Manager, Internet Information Services (IIS 7.0) and inclusion of Windows PowerShell

If you check out the product specs, you can see how Windows Server 2008 aims to help alleviate pressures on IT pros by adding enhancements to further automation of daily management tasks and tighter security. Windows Server 2008 aims to provide a more extensible platform for hosting and Web applications, improve efficiency, and increase network availability.

When Microsoft releases Windows Server 2008 to manufacturing later this year, it will include the first widely distributed beta of the new hypervisor-based virtualization technology.

As you can see, there are plenty of new features. But which ones are the most critical? Is it the self-healing NTFS file system? the Parallel session creation? the clean service shutdown?

Operating System Showdown - Ubuntu Vs. Vista

The Names

* Ubuntu - It’s an African word that means “Humanity for others.” Embraces the spirit of the open source movement, but it’s a bit corny.
* Vista - It’s what you would see looking through your Windows (or outside if you weren’t wasting time on your computer). Clever.

Vista

Vista 1 - Ubunta 0

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Domain Names

* Ubuntu.com - Lands you at the home page for the Ubuntu distribution. Choosing a name like Ubuntu means the domain will be available.
* Vista.com - Takes you to the page for a company that provides “online services for businesses.” That’s what you get for choosing a common word as product name.

Ubuntu Logo

Ubuntu 1 - Vista 1

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Vowel-to-Consonant Ratio

* UbuntuUbuntu - 50%
* Vista - 66%

Ubuntu Logo

Ubuntu 2 - Vista 1

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Google Fights

The best two out of three wins…

* Vista has every driver you will ever need - 1,110,000 results
* Ubuntu has every driver you will ever need - 554,000 results

For driver support Vista is the clear winner.

* Vista is Rubbish - 800,000
* Ubuntu is Rubbish - 208,000

* I’m in your Vista killing your processes - 958,000
* I’m in your Ubuntu killing your processes - 254,000

Ubuntu triumphs in security.
Ubuntu Logo

Ubuntu 3 - Vista 1

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Ice Cream Flavor

If the only two flavors left at Ben and Jerry’s were Ubuntu or Vista, which would you eat?

* VistaUbuntu - With that name, the brown chunks might be zebra droppings. Might not be the best choice.
* Vista - It’s green and minty fresh. If you can get over the grass clippings, you’ll enjoy it.

Vista Logo

Vista 2 - Ubuntu 3

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Completely Made Up Category

Which operating system needed a completely made up category to give it a victory, so the competition appeared fairer?

* Advantage: Vista
* Virtual Coin Flip - Best of 11

The virtual coin flipper was used at random.org. I chose the Swiss Franc 1 to maintain neutrality.

* UbuntuUbuntu - Heads
* Vista - Tails

Results: H-T-T-H-T-H-T-H-H-T-H
Ubuntu Logo

Ubuntu 4 - Vista 2

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Conclusions
Ubuntu is the Winner!
Ubuntu Logo

Ubuntu beats Vista by a score of 4-2. It looks like Microsoft’s perch at the top might be coming to an end. Ubuntu wins our Technical Award of Excellence.



Source: http://www.bbspot.com/News/2007/04/ubuntu-vs-vista.html

Windows XP SP3 Coming Later this year

Although Microsoft’s Service Pack roadmap page shows Windows XP SP3 to be released somewhere around the first half of 2008, it seems like they’ll released it by the end of this year. This news was hinted in a recent press release regarding their partnership with Juniper Networks. Here’s an excerpt of that press release:

Microsoft is announcing that Windows Vista supports this protocol today and Windows Server® 2008 and Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) will support it as well later this year. The Juniper Networks UAC solution is expected to support the new TNC standard in the first half of 2008.

Certainly a positive news for those running Windows XP, however, I don’t think it’ll be as exciting as SP2 mainly because Microsoft is now focused towards Windows Vista and they want us to switch over to the new operating system. All the bug fixes and patches would be integrated; hopefully even Windows Media Player 11 and newer version of other applications from Microsoft will also be integrated. Don’t expect the shiny Vista Interface to be added to Windows XP in SP3

source:TechBuzz

Microsoft Windows and Office violate 532 patents?

Came across this is sm other blog,

• Windows core operating system: 132
• .NET framework: 91
• Windows/Vista GUI: 83
• Microsoft Office: 159
• Other: 67

tats the number of patent violations
lol