Microsoft through the Sysinternals team has released Windows Desktops, which provides Mutiple Desktops within Windows XP and Windows Vista. Sysinternals created quite a few applications and utilities for the Windows Operating System that Microsoft evntually acquired them.

Those pesky little compatible stickers on all of the machines at work and your laptop can finally be removed. Coming to a install Linux Distribution PC near you, Vista Incapable stickers!

I am definitely going to to print these out and paste them all over the PC's I own and even the ones I don't :D

I stumbled upon a little application called "evtsys" that was created by some Computer Engineering folks at Purdue University. The program runs on Microsft Windows 2000/2003/Vista 32-bit or 64-bit version and sends eventlog messages to a networked syslog server. You can then have syslog either print out the alert or write to a file.

Have you ever wanted an easy way to view all of your folders sizes, without have to Right Click and select Properties on each one. This application integrates with Explorer in Windows and provides a column that shows the folders size on disk. This is very useful if you're trying to find where a big file or if you're trying to free up disk space. An excellent download and a must need for System Administrators/Power users.

I haven't really heard of many RealPlayer exploits, however this zero day one is a nasty. This is an Internet Explorer exploit only, so if you're using FireFox you're in luck.

Microsoft is pumping out more free software for the masses. I've never heard or seen Windows Live Photo Gallery, but I thought about downloading and installing this application to give it a whirl. During the install, I asked to install a bunch more Windows Live applications. Specifically the Mail component, since my MSN account is attached to my Hotmail. After installing everything, I ran the Windows Live Photo Gallery, and it was pretty amazing.

LifeHacker has a review up on their site about a little application called 'mRemote'. This is quite a piece of software and you can tell that the developers have spent some time on it. I have always been an advocate of being more organized and efficient. With mRemote everything that you need is in one screen, and everything that was left out with Microsoft's Remote Desktop Connection Client is in mRemote. Tabbed windows, supports RDP, VNC, SSH2 and telnet protocols. There is also a connection manager, so you can setup all your connections and then point and click to connect.

LifeHacker Has a walk through of how to customize Microsoft Windows XP with Tweak UI, with included screen shots.

Customize Windows XP with TweakUI - One of the best tools for fine-tuning Windows XP is the free TweakUI PowerToy utility from Microsoft. TweakUI digs deep into Windows' settings and can customize its behavior dozens of ways, from how many icons appear on the Alt-Tab dialog to Explorer context menu choices to what your program shortcuts look like. TweakUI's been around forever and we've mentioned it here and there throughout the years at Lifehacker, but it's high time we gave it the full walk-through it deserves. After the jump, take a gander at 15 useful adjustments you can make to your XP system with TweakUI.

It looks like Red Hat isn't going to allow Microsoft to bully them into paying for Patent Protection. Microsoft has stated that linux is infringing on multiple patents and intellectual property. Red Hat provides an enterprise Linux operating system, when you're more or less purchasing continual and automatic updates and the option for Technical Support from RedHat directly. Red Hat previously provided their Variant of Linux for free, and then discontinued it. They now provide a free desktop version called Fedora there are also other variants of Fedora like CentOS which is more of an enterprise operating system very much like Red Hat but not affiliated with Red Hat directly.

Microsoft agrees to release a patch to fix some of the security issues but not all in Internet Explorers URI Handler. I don't understand why Microsoft has such a lazy stance on security, I want to use Internet Explorer just as securely as any other browser. One mis-typed url after a fresh install of Windows could cause malicious software to gain entry to me desktop.

Microsoft changes mind, agrees to fix IE's URI handler - Microsoft has stated that they will be releasing a patch to fix some, but not all, potential security flaws resulting from third-party applications being fed maliciously malformed URI requests.Read More...

Microsoft agrees to release a patch to fix some of the security issues but not all in Internet Explorers URI Handler. I don't understand why Microsoft has such a lazy stance on security, I want to use Internet Explorer just as securely as any other browser. One mis-typed url after a fresh install of Windows could cause malicious software to gain entry to me desktop.

Again Microsoft is trying to bully open source distributions and projects to buy into their patent protection that Novell has already sank money into.

Microsoft Offers Further Open Source Patent Threats - An anonymous reader writes "Via Groklaw comes comments from Microsoft's Steve Ballmer at a UK event, in which the company once again threatens Linux distributions that haven't signed up with their program. '"People who use Red Hat, at least with respect to our intellectual property, in a sense have an obligation to compensate us," Ballmer said last week ... Ballmer praised Novell at the UK event for valuing intellectual property, and suggested that open source vendors will be forced to strike similar deals with other patent holders. He predicted that firms like Eolas will soon come after open source vendors or users. Microsoft paid $521m to settle a patent claim by Eolas in August.'"Read more of this story at Slashdot.
[Slasdot]

Windows Vista SP1 and Windows XP SP3 due in Q1 '08 - The first service pack for Windows Vista is on its way, and PC Magazine has a preview of an early private beta version. [Digg Main]

Microsoft knows that XP will still be alive on desktops for the next 2-3 years before hardware will be put in place to utilize Vista. Therefore they have made available some of the features within Vista, in a new service pack for XP. At this point, Vista is really buggy and crashes often. I've even reverted back to XP after continued nightmares with Vista. I hope the new service for Vista brings some stability to the operating system that was originally slated to replace XP, but hasn't done so quite yet.

I can't believe this is happening, twice in a week two Microsoft proposed changes to allow more functionality and portability are squashed like a bug. This is not going to make consumers happy, and will drive some of them into Apple's arms, and possibly Ubuntu's.

Microsoft flip-flops again: now no Vista Home on Macs - Filed under: Desktops, LaptopsWe've seen our fair share of flip-flopping in the past, and Microsoft is yet again adding its name to the frowned upon list by retracting previous intentions to allow Windows Vista Home and Home Premium operating systems to run under virtualization. After reportedly stating that it would "change the EULA after listening to customer feedback on the issue," it appears that the suits in Redmond have thought better of said decision. Now, the firm has "reassessed the Windows virtualization policy and decided that maintaining the original policy announced last Fall" would be best. Ben Rudolph, Parallels director of corporate communications, noted that he was "obviously disappointed" in Microsoft's change of heart, but if the two-faced Mac users out there can persuade Google to take their side, we're sure this little spat could be cleared up in no time.[Image courtesy of ElliottBack] Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsOffice Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

[EnGadget]

Google says Vista search changes not enough - Google reacts to Microsoft's joint filing with the DOJ, calling for more changes to the way Vista works with third-party search products. Microsoft's changes fall far short of Google's requests.Read More...

[Ars Technica]

I still think that the PS3 will come back to haunt us all. Although I'm not a console gamer, but rather strictly a PC Gamer I have always loved the PS titles I played at my friends house. But I have see the graphics for the Xbox 360 and they look just amazing. Wait for the new GTA and THPS to see if the PS3 will rise from the grave it has been placed into by the console community.

Sony's back: shifting from "recovery to profitable growth" -- 380 new PS3 games - Filed under: Cellphones, Digital Cameras, Displays, Gaming, HDTV, Home Entertainment, Laptops, Portable Audio, Portable Video

var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/playstation_3/380_PS3_games_announced_by_Sony_return_to_profits'; Howard Stringer -- Sony Corp's CEO and man with the plan -- just exited stage-left from Sony's annual shareholder meeting in Tokyo. To say that the 6,000 attendees were skeptical of said plan would be an understatement given a year of fiscal losses, job cuts, PS3 under-performance (with an eventual Kutaragi dismissal), and an embarrassing and dangerous recall of some 10 million batteries among other missteps. Still, Howard stood strong, assuring investors that Sony has made the swtich from "recovery to profitable growth" and will be a "dominant company" in the digital age. So what's the plan?Continue reading Sony's back: shifting from "recovery to profitable growth" -- 380 new PS3 games Permalink | Email this | CommentsOffice Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

[EnGadget]

Wow, Hey Bill Gates your OS sucks, please send a Service Pack. K Thx.

DOJ Pushes Microsoft to Produce Vista SP1 Beta in '07 - It's unusual, but confirmation of the availability of Windows Vista's first service pack came Tuesday not from Microsoft Corp., but from the U.S. Department of Justice. Tucked into the government's 27-page joint status settlement report released late Tuesday was evidence that Microsoft will put the beta of Vista SP1 into users' hands before the end of the year. The report also confirmed Windows XP SP3, but did not specify beta or final release dates, although it said some code would be finalized this summer.Microsoft has been loath to talk about either service pack, but has been particularly mum about Windows Vista SP1, a widely-anticipated bug update that some enterprise users are waiting on before deploying the new operating system. As recently as April, when Intel Corp.'s CEO Paul Otellini hinted that Vista SP1 would likely release in October or November, Microsoft refused to confirm any schedule. "We will continue to take customer feedback from programs like the TAP [Technology Adoption Program], and will ultimately determine an official delivery date as the service pack is nearer to completion," a company spokeswoman said at the time. View: Full Story News source: PC World Read full story...

[NeoWin-Main]

No virtualization for home or premium? Is a ploy to take more money back from the consumer to buy the "super-duper-more-expensive" version so that you can do virtualization?

Microsoft ditches about-face on virtualization restrictions at 11th hour - Microsoft this week was about to relent and allow the (legal) virtualization of Windows Vista Home Premium and Home Basic. Then the company pulled the plug on the announcement, but there are signs that a change is still possible.Read More...

[Ars Technica]