dude, classic isn't a theme, it's under themes, but when you select it, it's basically windows xp dethemed, there's not much to do there.

3/21/2009 12:54:06 AM

^^hahahahaha dude.... seriously agentlion?

When you select "classic" it is no theme. The only different between classic and literally stopping the themes service is you still can have drag&drop and shadows.

It's a Microsoft guideline, both internally and externally to respect the OS theme the user picks. If you choose classic, it's fucking stupid to override that with some slick-willy skin. This is one of my few gripes with Safari.

3/21/2009 5:25:05 AM

I use Windows XP as a virtual machine using VMWare Fusion. I keep it in Unity mode, and keep the TaskBar docked to the right side of my Mac desktop (opposite my Mac Dock on the left side). As such, I want it to take up as little space as possible, and I don't want garish colors like bight green and blue in my face all the time. So I use the Windows Classic theme because it's the least distracting and the most simple, and, maybe, uses a bit less RAM than the default theme, and certainly less than any add-on theme.

I don't actually use IE7 (or plan on using IE8), but just commenting that in that mode IE7/8 is especially ugly. IE6 was always ugly, i guess, but it basically "fit" that theme (or lack of theme or whatever you want to call it). I'm not suggesting that it gets "skinned-up" for Classic View, but still, as such, it looks stupid - it has the new back/forward/refresh/search buttons, but the tab bar looks like it's out of the 1990s and is hideous, the bookmarks bar sits up there in a weird space all by itself, the status bar has very large, unnecessary borders with several strange, seemingly random partitions, etc.

So, yes, fine - i should theme XP if I don't want the default skin. At my old employer, though, many people had to use a Windows 2003 citrix server to run Windows, and it was defaulted to this (no-)theme as well. people like that don't get that option i guess.

[Edited on March 21, 2009 at 8:09 AM. Reason : .]

3/21/2009 8:00:58 AM

^you got it.

Running without theme's is just supported, it's not the standard. It's kind of the fallback mode, so I wouldn't expect it to look anything special.

But really, it's not UGLY. Plain, yes. But apparently you haven't delved into the bins of Windows applications. For the ridiculous design restrictions in "Classic", I think it looks pretty okay... it's almost identical to Firefox.

If you care about the prettiness, why don't you turn on themes, and skin it to match OSX?

3/21/2009 11:26:47 PM

Anybody know anything substantial about this yet?

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/03/20/microsoft_crash_tool/

Quote :

"Microsoft on Friday released an open-source program designed to streamline the labor-intensive process of identifying security vulnerabilities in software while it's still under development. As its name suggests, !exploitable Crash Analyzer (pronounced "bang exploitable crash analyzer") combs through bugs that cause a program to seize up, and assesses the likelihood of them being exploited by attackers. Dan Kaminsky, a well-known security expert who also provides consulting services to Microsoft, hailed the release a "game changer" because it provides a reliable way for developers to sort through thousands of bugs to identify the several dozen that pose the greatest risk. "Microsoft has taken years of difficulties with security vulnerabilities and really condensed that experience down to a repeatable tool that takes a look at a crash and says 'You better take a look at this,'" Kaminsky told The Reg. "What makes !exploitable so fascinating is that it takes at least the first level of this knowledge and packages it up into something that can be in the workflow." Over the past five years, Microsoft has made a fair amount of progress hardening its operating systems and applications against the most-common security threats. Protections such as Address Space Layout Randomization and cross-site scripting defenses have been added to later versions of Windows and Internet Explorer, respectively. And the company has generally managed to exorcise its programs of dangerous vulnerabilities before they can be exploited by attackers. Now, Microsoft wants to help secure third-party applications that run on top of Windows. Last year, the company released a threat-modeling tool and other resources designed to help software developers kick-start secure development lifecycle programs in their organizations. The idea was to package the security experience Microsoft has attained so it can serve as a sort of template for other companies. The release of !exploitable, which was announced at the CanSecWest security conference in Vancouver, British Columbia, is a continuation of that effort. It's a Windows debugger extension that's used during fuzz testing, when testers test the stability and security of an application by throwing unexpected data at it. It's expected to be available soon at this link as an open-source program on CodePlex. Because the majority of crash-inducing bugs don't result in security vulnerabilities, there can be a fair amount of internal debate when they're discovered during development. Delaying the release of a product to fix a crash bug that's most likely not exploitable needlessly drives up development costs. An even worse outcome is ignoring a flaw that later results in an application being exploited. "It's all about signal-to-noise ratio," Kaminsky said. "Nobody has the time or resources to learn all the obscure tricks we have in the security industry, let alone to build that into the process.""

3/22/2009 1:20:09 PM

I blame Steve Jobs for infecting so many people with an obsession for industrial design.

[Edited on March 23, 2009 at 10:13 AM. Reason : ``]

3/23/2009 10:09:48 AM

thank you
thank you
thank you
microsoft!

http://www.neowin.net/news/main/09/03/24/windows-home-server-power-pack-2-now-available-for-download

3/24/2009 12:01:04 AM

Designing the Windows 7 desktop experience:

http://videos.visitmix.com/MIX09/C26F

Really great talk by a UX designer at Microsoft. He shows off a lot of internal design process, sketching and ideation that traditionally never makes it to the public eye. He also spends a little time answering the critics common comments "Stolen from Apple, Vista sucks, it's nothing new, etc".

3/24/2009 7:28:53 PM

His vest and tie sets the tone for his talk.

3/24/2009 7:33:08 PM

he's a damn euro-pean, what can I say?

3/24/2009 7:46:34 PM

Shake it and bring it back.

<3 MS

[Edited on March 24, 2009 at 8:02 PM. Reason : /]

3/24/2009 8:00:49 PM

46:17 is awesome.

[Edited on March 25, 2009 at 3:27 PM. Reason : /]

3/25/2009 3:26:40 PM

Quote :

"Designing the Windows 7 desktop experience: http://videos.visitmix.com/MIX09/C26F"

i don't get it.... he was demoing flashy features of a new OS, but the audience wasn't gasping and clapping every 30 seconds!

3/25/2009 4:27:39 PM

Maybe they were trying to listen carefully and they may have thought he had very strict time block?

3/25/2009 5:09:25 PM

^lol

3/25/2009 5:10:21 PM

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/03/31/breaking-internet-explorer-81-eagle-eyes-leaked/

IE8.1 Due out this summer (speculation).

Key Features:
*Full Firefox Extensions support
*Full CSS 3 compliant - 71/100 Acid3
*JSE Javascript engine - Joint Venture with Google Chrome - Fastest JS engine in any browser
*Built-In render switching from IE7/8, Gecko and WebKit (Safari, Firefox rendering in the box)
*Server-side code decompilation
*Client-side website skinning
*Much improved SmartScreen filtering
*Webslices

All I can say is

[Edited on March 31, 2009 at 7:12 PM. Reason : gotta love the day]

3/31/2009 7:08:11 PM

That would be pretty awesome.

3/31/2009 7:23:04 PM

boner boulevard

3/31/2009 7:27:22 PM

Quote :

"Server-side code decompiler If you’ve ever wished to know how sites and web applications work, Eagle Eyes (the name is fitting in this context) will let you view the server-side source code of a web page. We didn’t explore this feature much, but from basic tests, the server-side code decompiler was able to tell us how the Mixx promotional algorithm worked."

wait wut?

Quote :

"Internet Explorer has always been the leader of executing client-side scripts, but that didn’t stop Microsoft from continuing its thirst for excellence by including a completely new JavaScript engine called JSE, which stands for JavaScript Speedy Engine."

wait wut?

Quote :

"IE 8.1 kicks major butt in the Acid3 Test scoring 71 out of 100, passing with flying colors."

wait wut?

i dunno call me skeptical but i'm starting to wonder about this article

[Edited on March 31, 2009 at 7:41 PM. Reason : oh i guess i should read the comments. APRIL FOOLS]

3/31/2009 7:40:03 PM

What day is coming up?

3/31/2009 7:42:00 PM

THE DAY OF DEATH

3/31/2009 7:52:54 PM

http://www.istartedsomething.com/20090516/windows-7-native-virtual-wifi-technology-microsoft-research/

Quote :

"In any case where you’re connected to an existing wireless access point and want to connect to another network whether that be a separate access point or even set up an ad-hoc connection, Virtual WiFi will allow you to do just that. But perhaps the scenario that is more appealing is the idea of a mesh network. In a mesh network, every client becomes a repeater, growing the network organically as more clients connect. Virtual WiFi enables this, since every client can become an access point too."

5/18/2009 9:38:32 PM

Sounds like a nice way to distribute viruses to a targeted group of people.

5/18/2009 10:32:17 PM

Vista: 94 Vulnerabilities, 3 Unpatched - 2 DoS, 1 Escalation of privileges (requiring 3rd party software to also be installed, namely Apple's GearASPI driver)
OSX: 934 Vulnerabilities, 4 Unpatched - 4 DoS, 3 Escalation, 1 Remote System Access + Escalation
Debian 4: 1391 Vulnerabilities
Fedora 9: 632 Vulnerabilities

Really, the whole "Windows is insecure" bit is a little old. EVERY consumer OS requires continual patching and security updates.

5/19/2009 4:08:29 AM

srly guys, you should just bow out of this segment as quietly as possible
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2009/05/inside-the-zune-hd-a-new-hope-for-microsoft.ars

Quote :

"HD: Zune HD has an OLED 16:9 touchscreen with a resolution of 480x272. That sounds sweet, but it's not high-def. The "HD" in the product name refers to support for HD radio on the one hand and, on the other, support for outputting HD video to TVs over an HDMI connector. "

Zune HD means "HD Radio"
hhhhhahahahahahahhhhaaaaaaa

[Edited on May 27, 2009 at 2:16 PM. Reason : .]

5/27/2009 2:14:52 PM

Honestly, the idea of HD video on a 3-4" screen is a little ridiculous anyway unless you're planning on viewing it from closer than 12 inches.

5/27/2009 3:31:08 PM

^Wow that wasn't a biased post

This is the first Microsoft hardware device I will likely own. I got to see this in Feb, on an engineering sample and it's fucking SWEET. Comparing this guy to an iPod Touch is like putting a Hyundai up against a Porsche.

And it's absolutely beautiful.

The HD means High Definition, not HD Radio exclusively. It supports 720p video output + audio (doesn't look like the audio specs have been released, so I'll keep mum on that). It has the same PPI as the iPhone/iPod, but with OLED (better contrast, color, response, brightness, battery life).

And the E3 announcements should really shed light on how damn cool this thing is.

5/27/2009 3:55:25 PM

i want one.

5/27/2009 4:00:08 PM

Quote :

"Comparing this guy to an iPod Touch is like putting a Hyundai up against a Porsche. And it's absolutely beautiful."

you do realize that using that comparison, you just called the zune a hyundai and the ipod touch a porsche, right?

5/27/2009 4:00:17 PM

Quote :

"Zune HD means "HD Radio" "

that's not what they said.

OLED, iTouch will most likely add this and be just as competitive in the screen/battery life area
HDMI video out, iTouch will likely not have this
HD FM receiver, iTouch doesn't even have FM and probably won't add it, though rumor is they'll add an FM transmitter.
Wireless, iTouch already has it, except the Zune HD will be able to stream music over Wifi (along with Wifi sync) two things the iTouch doesn't have (w/out 3rd party app support)
Apps, Microsoft will not likely reach the same level of support as the Apple App store, but we'll see.
Games, Microsoft has a huge opening in online media with Xbox Live, though not official on whether the Zune will support it or not, but they are moving to a Zune platform i'm guessing to expand on interoperability.... something Apple again can't do.

[Edited on May 27, 2009 at 4:18 PM. Reason : .]

5/27/2009 4:03:15 PM

^^ A:B B:A, just to be clear sweetie

5/27/2009 4:12:06 PM

Noen is like the Golovko of MS

5/27/2009 4:31:40 PM

http://www.zune.net/en-us/mp3players/zunehd/default.htm

5/27/2009 4:45:30 PM

Quote :

"The HD means High Definition, not HD Radio exclusively. It supports 720p video output"

yeah, kind of

Quote :

"HD video: If you thought getting that HD video (720p max) off the device and onto a TV would be cheap and easy, you're half right. The HDMI connection needed to do this will only interface with an external Zune dock, which is sold separately (and if history is any indication, at outlandish prices)."

it just seems bizarre to me to turn a handheld into an HD-output device.

what's the end-game here.... buy the special dock to put next to your TV, then use the Zune to buy/download HD content from your computer, then use the Zune to play that content on your TV? just seems like a couple extra unnecessary steps there

5/27/2009 6:43:41 PM

Think of it like a portable apple tv.

5/27/2009 6:45:54 PM

^exactly. No need for an xbox 360, or other media extender. Zune + Dock = total media station that you can put in your pocket and take wherever you go.

5/27/2009 7:41:23 PM

i just seem to think that that feature is a solution in search of a pretty non-existant problem

i see this device as an evolutionary product but not revolutionary, and certainly not leaps and bounds better than an iPod Touch

i really liked the barb ilounge threw at the new zune:

Quote :

"It should look a lot like the iPhone and iPod touch screens that debuted almost two years ago, minus of course Apple’s interface, and apparently the ability to fit the whole word Marketplace on screen at once next to an icon. So where’s the HD here?"

[Edited on May 27, 2009 at 7:51 PM. Reason : .]

5/27/2009 7:51:00 PM

^^unless the dock costs $400 and weighs 67 lbs

[Edited on May 27, 2009 at 7:52 PM. Reason : @Noen]

5/27/2009 7:52:34 PM

Quote :

""It should look a lot like the iPhone and iPod touch screens that debuted almost two years ago, minus of course Apple’s interface, and apparently the ability to fit the whole word Marketplace on screen at once next to an icon. So where’s the HD here?""

complete ignorance.

it's 16:9 (480:272) OLED, so i dunno how it could look like the iPhone/iPod touch screens considering they are 480:320 LCDs.

the HD sentiment has been covered, it supports HD output to HD devices including HD radio, again things iPhone/iPod touch DO NOT HAVE, granted i still wish it had the HTC Touch HD screen (480:800)

[Edited on May 27, 2009 at 10:29 PM. Reason : .]

5/27/2009 10:28:03 PM

Quote :

"Think of it like a portable apple tv. exactly. No need for an xbox 360, or other media extender. Zune + Dock = total media station that you can put in your pocket and take wherever you go."

i hook up my iphone to my tv all the time without an xbox360 or other media extender. in fact, i'd rather have used my xbox360 to stream live tv and recorded video from my media server, but it crashes every time i attempt to set it up and i've given up trying (and i've been trying since MCE2005)

the new zune looks interesting from a technology point of view, and i'll probably play with one for a few minutes at best buy when it comes out, but i have zero expectation that i will ever want to buy one, or that it will gain any significant market share

[Edited on May 27, 2009 at 10:45 PM. Reason : .]

5/27/2009 10:45:18 PM

^this is the point. You don't need a computer. You can BUY and STORE all of your content on the zune. I realize everyone in tech talk has 14 computers running in their homes with NAS setups and such, but your average joe can't even begin imagining hooking their computer up to their television.

And streaming anything from Media Center to your 360 should work fine (especially Vista, and now Win7 the MCE has gotten a hella lot better). Now if you are talking about "media server" as in non-microsoft product... it's never been supported anyway.

5/28/2009 2:16:21 AM

Quote :

"your average joe can't even begin imagining hooking their computer up to their television."

i'm not sure they're gonna do much better hooking up their zune to their tv, if they even realize it's an option. and plugging it into your tv is pointless without a remote, right? so how many people are going to drop an extra $50-100

Quote :

"streaming anything from Media Center to your 360 should work fine "

5/28/2009 7:42:56 AM

Quote :

"so how many people are going to drop an extra $50-100"

i would. in fact i have the home dock for my 30gb zune w/ video&audio out to my HDTV and love it.

Quote :

"Now if you are talking about "media server" as in non-microsoft product... it's never been supported anyway."

Windows Home Server... with PP2 there was significant improvements made to utilize it as a media server.

http://www.mediasmartserver.net/2009/03/23/microsoft-releases-windows-home-server-power-pack-2/



i use this along with VMC and it works flawlessly, a couple minor tweaks here and there to enable HD DVD support & H.264 support, but with Windows 7 this is a non-issue

[Edited on May 28, 2009 at 11:22 AM. Reason : .]

5/28/2009 11:21:11 AM

MS is ditching live.com for search and announced their next upcoming search engine - bing.com

Quote :

"You probably didn't wake up today expecting an entirely new search experience. But — Bing! — here it is."

5/28/2009 1:43:41 PM

first thing that came to mind when I heard this:

5/28/2009 1:48:04 PM

BING IT ON

"Since Yahoo turned down our $47,000,000,000 takeover offer, let's revamp our engine and spend $100,000,000 to advertise and market it!!!1!!!"

5/28/2009 2:02:43 PM

well i guess that's what they decided to do with their farecast.com purchase

5/28/2009 2:04:07 PM

http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/28/exclusive-steve-ballmer-demos-the-zune-hd-for-engadget/

5/28/2009 2:14:13 PM

Been using "bing" against my will for a while... and it's massively better than the current live.com.

I actually put in on par with google now, at least with what I search for. The image search is still not as good (not even close), but the interface for it is way better than google's. It's to the point that whichever site is setup as my default, is the one I use.

5/28/2009 4:48:09 PM

BREAKING NEWS
NOEN USES MS PRODUCT

j/k

ibthaters

5/28/2009 4:51:37 PM