The more I look at listen to Windows Vista, the more I like its new sound mixer.
It really is refreshing to crank up some music without also cranking up the annoying sounds from an IM program. Being able to control sounds individually is a good thing.
And although the fuss and secrecy over the sounds (created by Robert Fripp) was ridiculous, the sounds themselves are very soft and subtle and cool in a smooth jazz kind of way.
With Windows Vista, Microsoft is about to release the most widely distributed piece of shareware ever.
Oh, I know they’re not calling it shareware. In fact, Section 8 of the Vista license agreement specifically says you may not “lend the software.” But there’s nothing that technically prevents making copies of the Vista DVD, and you can install that copy on any computer without a product ID, with no activation required for 30 days. At the end of the 30 days, your copy of Windows Vista will shift into “reduced functionality mode,” at which point you can wipe it out and start over, or pay Microsoft or one if its partners for a license.
That sure sounds like “try before you buy,” doesn’t it?
I certainly don’t recommend this strategy to anyone. But I won’t be surprised if a lot of people, especially enthusiasts, “borrow” a copy of Vista and try it out for 30 days. Microsoft might be betting that when the month is up, enough people will be pleased enough that they’ll pay up.
Well, sort of. It’s been released to manufacturing, and will be available for retail sale and on new PCs at the end of January.
Does it work? What’s in it for you? Is it worth it? I tackle all three of those questions over at ZDNet in Will Windows Vista be worth the wait?
I’ve also got a detailed image gallery, if you want to see exactly what the final RTM build looks like.
James Kendrick says Spybot Search and Destroy eats Tablet PCs.
If you have a Tablet PC, better look at this one.
Mary Jo Foley leaves Microsoft Watch and Jim Rapoza takes over. Big redesign. Content? Oh, we’re supposed to actually write interesting things?
This review of Windows Media Player 11 is going to give last week’s contender a serious run for Worst. Review. Ever.
Unsubscribed.
Long Zheng looks at the latest Microsoft research on counterfeit software and piracy and turns the numbers on their head.
Does that mean 75% of websites accessed offer[ing] counterfeit product keys, pirated software, key generators or crack tools did not attempt to install malicious software? And are in theory, safe?
[…]
Does that mean an astounding 89% of key generators and crack tools downloaded from web sites were also safe?
[…]
Does that mean 41% of key generators and crack tools downloaded from P2P networks were also safe?
And apparently 76% of counterfeit copies passed activation, too.
This is purely satirical commentary, Long hastens to add. And they’re just hypothetical questions, too.
So over the weekend I installed a nice shiney RTM build and the sounds have been upgraded from the ones in XP to the new creations by Robert Fripp. I’d thought I would share some of these with you and I’ve compiled them in this mp3 which you can download and listen to below.
I have to admit, I was blown away. Even the new puppy stopped chewing on his squeaky toy to listen.
My newest post on ZDNet is up.
Last month, I published 10 tweaks for Windows Vista RC1. It got a good response, but it also drew some complaints. “Too basic,” said some critics. “And hey, those aren’t all tweaks.”
OK, fair enough. To satisfy the critics (you know who you are), I present 10 expert tweaks for Windows Vista RC2. No beginner-level stuff here, and I’ve clearly labeled which are tips and which are tweaks.
To see the entire collection of tips and tweaks in order, start here. Or, if you’d prefer to jump directly to whatever interests you, see all 10 on a single quick list and jump directly to the ones that interest you.
I’ve been noticing a lot more spam getting through my server-side filters and also passing through my client-side filters lately. It’s apparently not my imagination:
A significant rise in the global volume of spam in the past two months has security analysts worried that bot nets are increasingly being used by spammers to stymie network defenses erected to curtail bulk e-mail.
[…]
While bulk e-mailers have, in the past, sent unwanted messages from a single server, increasingly the spam emanates from networks of compromised PCs, known as bot nets. The level of junk e-mail has increased almost in lock step with the number of compromised systems used for spam, said David Hart, the administrator for Total Quality Management.
“What is most alarming is that new clients–Internet addresses that we have never seen before and which could be new infections–have tripled since June,” said Hart, who posted a chart tracking the growth on his Web site this week.
The chart is fascinating:
It looks like the surge started on June 11.
Hmmm. Couldn’t have anything to do with this, could it?
Microsoft’s Mike Torres, who works on the Windows Live Spaces team, offers up some thoughts about the frustrations of being a technology enthusiast in a world where people expect dogmatic allegiance to companies and platforms:
I’m beginning to realize how hard it is to be a Microsoft blogger. When you talk about stuff you love from Microsoft (Office 2007, Windows Vista, Windows Mobile/Motorola Q, Live Writer) it sounds like you’re cheerleading. When you talk about stuff you love from the competition (MacBook Pro, iPod nano, iTunes, Flickr) you run the risk of pissing off co-workers/executives. Ditto when you talk about stuff you totally loathe from Microsoft (no comment). And when you talk about stuff you dislike from competitors, it looks like you’re being defensive (uhhh… didn’t we ship that already with Live Search Macros?) Oh well, it’s still fun.
That’s true of people outside Microsoft as well, Mike. People get very confused when they read my reviews and reporting of Microsoft’s products and policies. The idea that someone could like some things and be critical of others is just alien.
In the middle of that post, Mike passes along this tidbit:
There are lots of totally subtle but totally cool Spaces enhancements on the way that I can’t talk about.
I hope that one of those changes is a way to flip the default order of comments on a Spaces site. On Mike’s site, the most recent comment appears at the top of the list below the main post. The first comment is at the very bottom of the list. So in a long comment thread you get to see all the the replies, usually without any context, before you see the comment or question that inspired the reply. That’s just wrong.
Ed Bott 