• The wait for Microsoft’s delayed Windows Vista could be even longer than expected, according to a research report issued this week by research group Gartner Inc. A Microsoft spokeswoman however claims that everything is on schedule with its march announcement.

    Vista is the first major overhaul of its operating system, which sits on 90 percent of the world’s computers and accounts for nearly a third of Microsoft’s total revenue, since Microsoft rolled out Windows XP nearly five years ago.

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XP and Vista to get new media player

wmplayer11

Microsoft plans to jazz up its music player in Windows Vista, the company’s next operating system. But at least some of the new features will debut much sooner. The software, which will be built into Vista, is designed to offer better synching with portable devices, make it easier to scroll through long libraries of music, and be tightly integrated with Urge, a new subscription and download music service co-developed by Microsoft and MTV Networks. Microsoft is on track to release a Windows XP version of Windows Media Player 11 before the end of June, the company confirmed last week. Microsoft has said the XP version won’t have all the features of its Vista sibling, but the company won’t say which features will be excluded. The company also has yet to offer a public test version of the software. Check more details.

Windows on Mac finally !

‘Boot Windows XP on an Intel Mac’ contest was over and the solution has been released. People at OnMac.net have verified the solution provided by some genius and it was released to public yesterday. This drives me to go for a new Intel MAC. Download the zip file from OnMac website and give it a try.

Microsoft unfolds “Origami”, reveals on-the-go PC

Microsoft Corp. on Thursday unveiled its ‘Origami’ project, a paperback-book sized portable computer, which is a hybrid between a laptop PC and a host of mobile devices that the world’s biggest software maker hopes will create an entirely new market.

The Ultra-Mobile PC is a new kind of computer. It combines the power of Windows XP with mobile-ready technologies that make it easy to access and use your software on the go. With small, lightweight, carry-everywhere hardware designs, you can connect and communicate, accomplish any task anywhere and at any time, and be entertained and informed wherever life takes you.

Lighter than two pounds (0.972 kilograms) with a seven-inch (17.78-centimetre) touch-screen, the new “ultra-mobile” PCs (UMPCs) use microprocessors from Intel Corp. and run a modified version of Microsoft’s Windows XP Tablet PC edition.

Hidden Windows Applications

To run any of these apps go to Start > Run and type the executable name (ie charmap).

WINDOWS XP HIDDEN APPS:

1. Character Map = charmap.exe (very useful for finding unusual characters)
2. Disk Cleanup = cleanmgr.exe
3. Clipboard Viewer = clipbrd.exe (views contents of Windows clipboard)
4. Dr Watson = drwtsn32.exe (Troubleshooting tool)
5. DirectX diagnosis = dxdiag.exe (Diagnose & test DirectX, video & sound cards)
6. Private character editor = eudcedit.exe (allows creation or modification of characters)
7. IExpress Wizard = iexpress.exe (Create self-extracting / self-installing package)
8. Microsoft Synchronization Manager = mobsync.exe (appears to allow synchronization of files on the network for when working offline. Apparently undocumented).
9. Windows Media Player 5.1 = mplay32.exe (Retro version of Media Player, very basic).
10. ODBC Data Source Administrator = odbcad32.exe (something to do with databases) Read More »

How To: Mp3 ripping in windows Media Player 8 in XP

To enable Mp3 ripping in windows Media Player 8 in Xp , you need to make small changes to the registry. Enter the following in the registry :

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftMediaPlayerSettingsMP3Encoding]
“LowRate”=dword:0000dac0
“MediumRate”=dword:0000fa00
“MediumHighRate”=dword:0001f400
“HighRate”=dword:0002ee00

This corresponds to 56, 64, 128 and 192 Kbps.

You can change this to your liking using the following dword hex values :

320 Kbps = dword:0004e200
256 Kbps = dword:0003e800
224 Kbps = dword:00036b00
192 Kbps = dword:0002ee00
160 Kbps = dword:00027100
128 Kbps = dword:0001f400
112 Kbps = dword:0001b580
64 Kbps = dword:0000fa00
56 Kbps = dword:0000dac0

thats it enjoy :)