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This is just not true at all. VC-1 is not on the level of MPEG-4 in the upcoming HD market, and most content providers are using H.264 (since it beats VC-1's quality and space). And H.264 has been on the rise over the web, catching up to WMV and Real.


In your context, I assume you believe you are correct.

However you should check out both the HD-DVD and Blu-Ray Codec requirements for High Definition. VC-1 is a REQUIREMENT, and VC-1 is WMV...

Also WMV/VC-1 has been doing full 1080p HD for SEVERAL years now, even before other formats were supporting it. Especially when you add in the 5.1/7.1 Audio that WMV/VC-1 can do.

Here are a couple of links to help your quest for information. Also remember T2-extreme edition released 'several' years ago, was HD content on a DVD, and it was only in WMV format, because that is the only 'standard' codec of the time that fully supported HD resolution and 7.1 Audio.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/musi candvideo/hddvd/default.aspx

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/musi candvideo/hdvideo/hdvideo.aspx

I don't care what 'movie studios' release their 'low quality - as in they are no HD' trailers in. This is as much 'marketing hype' and deals with Apple and Sony than any 'superior' format quality being offered.

WMV is designed to do 1080p and has been doing it before the MPEG4 standard was finalized. You can even watch 1080p content from the MS site that is 'several' years old if your computer is 'capable'.

Get it?

So now we can get back to the original topic, that WMV is VERY relevant in the upcoming HD markets, even if Mac zealots don't realize their new HD-DVD or Blu-Ray player is using WMV(VC-1) to play their HD Discs....

A 64 bit CPU and operating system in the early nineties was a huge deal and it's hard to understate just how innovative it was at a time when mainstream computers were just making the transition to 32 bit CPUs and the operating system that ran on them was DOS/Windows 3.1.

Hey, I found an old computer magazine while clearing up the other day that had an article entitled "Does business really need 16-bit?" :-) It was full of great comments like some prototype CPUs such as the 32016 (32-bit CPU - unimaginable power!) being able to address up to 4Mb of RAM (I think - can't remember how many address lines it had), which was 'clearly ludicrous'.

But I digress. My point is that it's an obvious thing to do - go to 64-bit. Is a 128-bit OS a few years down the line going to be shockingly innovative? No, not really.

Which, importantly, is not to denigrate good engineering. As an example, look at the new Mac Pro enclosure. Nothing in there is innovative per se - we all know that good layout and design is something to strive for, it's just that Apple actually went ahead and did it for a change. Similarly with the original move to 64-bit OS - I'm sure there was lots of good engineering in there, but it wasn't something that surprised many people, I'm sure. As a whole, I mean. As you mention, I'm sure there were bits of innovation in there too. To take another example: ClearType - an anti-aliasing font engine was not new at the time. To use the horizontal RGB pixel layout of the LCD panels to increase horizontal resolution was innovative (in that I believe it hadn't been done before, and it wasn't that obvious).

As I said, it's the whole "We've just released a 64-bit OS - aren't we great? How come no-one else thought of this before? We must be so cool!" attitude that bugs me about stuff like this (esp. when in Apple's case, it was done ages ago, as you say. Or even look at the photocopier boys).

In summary: you kids, get off my lawn! I know your Dad!

It is not possible for a program to analyze another program and find all the bugs; see halting problem .

Wrong. It is quite possible to analyze a program and find all the bugs that violate the language constraints (null pointers, buffer overflows, etc.). That's what program verification is for. For some programs, you can't tell whether a bug condition will occur, so you treat that as a bug.

Automated program verification is a good idea that went away because C and C++ have such ambiguous semantics. It's hopeless for those languages. The "pointer equals array" concept alone makes it very tough, because the language has no idea how big an array is. Worst idea in the language, and the root cause of buffer overflows.

Good verifiers were written for Pascal (I headed one of those projects), a good one was written for Java (at DEC, just before DEC went under), and Microsoft is working on one for C#.

We often blame Microsoft but have to keep in mind that real mess is created by ugly third party drivers.
Oh, bullshit. I am so tired of this lame argument. Microsoft has been dictating to the hardware vendors for years. They have a very tight relationship with Intel, telling them exactly what features they want in the next round of chips.

And what the hell do you think WinHEC is for? The DDKs are there for anyone who wants them.

i think the hardware guys are doing the best with what they've got. And what they've got is Microsoft's buggy code to work with. After all, it's up to the OS to decide if a bad driver can bring down the whole system.

Even CoreAnimation is not beyond the "copying" argument. Microsoft shipped DirectAnimation years ago. Here's a link to the press release.

But this entire argument is completely useless. There are a number of skills at play when it comes to building and shipping any techology. First, a company needs to see an opportunity. Then, they need to design the right product for the market. Then they need to implement the product so that it can be easily used and make sure it's flexible enough that users can mould it into their products. Finally, the technology must be correclty marketed.

Fail at any of these, and you'll end up with a technological dead end. But that doesn't mean that somebody else didn't see the need as well, or that somebody else might not implement a better framework. That's supposed to be the beauty of our industry. There is room for competition and innovation, and no two products will hit the exact same sweet spot with a user base.

It doesn't matter who did it first. It matters who does it best for you. If I'm forced to code only on Linux, then I can tell you that CoreAnimation is not the technology for me. So I'll be looking for some competition. If I get to use OS X, I'm sure CoreAnimaiton will be useful. And if I'm on Windows, welll, DirectAnimation is dead. So I guess I'm screwed.

I don't care who was first, or who copied who. I need techology, and the capabilites of any library or feature I can use are highly dependent on the capabilities of the platform itself. If my OS provider can keep rolling out new features that help me write better software, I'm all for it. Even if they are copying somebody else. Where would any art form we have today be without the copying of features? Music, painting, storytelling; all art relies on a shared context. Great art works from there and pushes the boundaries. And I believe that coding can be an artistic expression. So I expect great programmers to borrow from each other, and then push those ideas in new directions.

We can argue which company's new direction we like best. But who is copying who? I don't care. I only care who is making the technology that I can use to write my software.

Adding desktop sharing is indeed a major feature.

Yes it is... and Windows XP shipped with it. It's called the "Remote Assistance" feature and it's part of Windows Messenger. It's designed so that people can "chat with you, view your screen, and with your permission, work on your computer".

Here is a Microsoft tutorial, which dates from 2001.

Congratulations for catching up, Apple.

Go listen to "Don't Drink the Water" by the Dave Matthews Band (sorry I can't include a link to the audio file, you know how it is, but the text is on-line) and think about how the words apply here. Chilling.

In linux it's generally a 1-3Gig split... 1Gig for kernel, 3 gig for user

When I saw the list of patches my machine had downloaded the other day, I thought "this one's going to be trouble. Maybe we'll see a blaster-style worm based on this one."

However, the vulnerability I was looking at was MS06-041 (remote buffer overflow in DNS client), not MS06-040 (remote buffer overflow in server) which I figured most people would have firewalled/disabled anyway.

I mean, DNS client? The best the "mitigation" section of the advisory can say is that an attacker would have to make your machine issue a DNS request to a domain they controlled in order to exploit it. Which wouldn't exactly be hard, would it?

When I saw the list of patches my machine had downloaded the other day, I thought "this one's going to be trouble. Maybe we'll see a blaster-style worm based on this one."

However, the vulnerability I was looking at was MS06-041 (remote buffer overflow in DNS client), not MS06-040 (remote buffer overflow in server) which I figured most people would have firewalled/disabled anyway.

I mean, DNS client? The best the "mitigation" section of the advisory can say is that an attacker would have to make your machine issue a DNS request to a domain they controlled in order to exploit it. Which wouldn't exactly be hard, would it?

Windows 2000 is in extended support until 2010. So....no.

Here is the actual patch page for every version of Windows and further information.

Yes, because Linux == KHTML. That's all Linux is. And KDE doesn't run on any other platform but Linux. Those stupid Mac users, how can they hate Linux when the rendering engine of one of the browsers for their OS is Linux!

(Here's a small sampling of platforms that KDE either runs on or is being ported to.)

Well, we could post articles with inventive links to see which servers we can overload. A kind of slashdot nerd powered DoS with a game behind it.
Of course coming up with suitable text to get enough people to follow the links would be the hard part of the game.
I think I have a start on some rules at www.knifey.org. :-)

Are you sure? According to Microsoft, RMS is a DRM system.

Microsoft has released nothing to date that is a Universal Binary. They are currently promising a universal version of Messenger 6.0 later this year, and a free universal version of Remote Desktop Client. There isn't a date set on the next version of Office. Virtual PC and Windows Media Player for Mac have been cancelled.They are currently promising a universal version of Messenger 6.0 later this year, and a free universal version of Remote Desktop Client

Microsoft isn't planning to release a UB of Media Player for Mac. Their site links to a free UB version of the Flip4Mac QT plugin. I replaced Messenger with Adium and RDC with rdesktop.. Adium supports 12 different account types along with MSN Messenger which is a huge advantage. As for rdesktop it requires Apple's X11.app and you have to launch it from the command line but at least it allows you to open multiple connections simultaneously.

Microsoft actually has discontinued development of the Windows Media Player (if that's the program you mean). The last version (WMP 9) was released for OS X in 2003. Microsoft has also discontinued development of Internet Explorer for the Mac (last version was v5) and Virtual PC now that Parallels has beaten them to the punch. What you might be referring to is Flip4Mac, which recently released a Universal binary of their Quicktime plugin that allows windows media to be played in OS X (although not always well).

http://www.microsoft.com/mac/otherproducts/otherpr oducts.aspx?pid=windowsmedia

Intellitype and Intellipoint 6.0

Just go to http://download.microsoft.com./ Select advanced search. Choose the Security & Updates category. Sort by release date. Voila. You can now manually download all the security patches as they are released without needing to use WGA or automatic updates.

Nothing special, just a routine monthly security update like the ones we have come to expect.

Hmmm...like the monthly and now routine and also now quite supicious Windows Genuine Advantage updates?

Say it ain't so, Billy boy, say it ain't so!

But here's a question regarding Activation: What happens in a few years when Microsoft discontinues Activation support? 10 years from now? Will the activation servers run forever, or will Microsoft quit activating the software? I should download the VLK edition of Windows XP just to ensure that I can still run XP when they decide to not allow activations any longer.

Will Microsoft use activation to force me to upgrade? In other words, will Microsoft ever stop giving out activation codes for any of the products that require activation?

No, Microsoft will not use activation as a tool to force people to upgrade. Activation is merely an anti-piracy tool, nothing else.

Microsoft will also support the activation of Windows XP throughout its life and will likely provide an update that turns activation off at the end of the product's lifecycle so users would no longer be required to activate the product.

That's not what this table from MS says along with several other references to PAE on Microsoft's site.

From the PR notices: http://www.microsoft.com/genuine/downloads/whyVali date.aspx

Confidence and Peace of Mind
Your software is authentic, properly licensed and supported by Microsoft or a trusted partner.

Ongoing Improvements
You will get access to updates, enhancements, and innovations that help you protect and do more with your PC.

Capabilities You Expect
Your system will deliver the features, options, and performance you need to maximize your productivity and enjoyment.

Greatest PR/Marketing campaign ever. Don't you feel the Love?

Enjoy,

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtualpc/downloa ds/sp1.mspx

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0789734044/ref=pd _sim_b_4/104-7384389-8873557?ie=UTF8 - Upgrading and Repairing PCs (Scott Mueller)

I had to buy this book for my CS pre-req "Introduction To Computer Technology" course at college. You would be surprised just how invaluable a book like this is for things like POST codes, the base 1MB memory map, peripheral IRQs and addresses, OS boot sequences, etc. If you work (as in tech) with PCs at all you should probably know this stuff.

I honestly can't think of anything that is better than experience, but this book comes very close for PC basics. As for XP specific books, I'd look at the MS Press book Windows XP Inside and Out Deluxe Edition: http://www.microsoft.com/mspress/books/7109.asp

Inevitable...

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1. Go to Display Properties, Appearance, Effects and select ClearType under "Use the following method to smooth edges of screen fonts".
2. If you have an LCD monitor you must set it to it's native resolution. Anything else will cause text to look distorted. Google for "native resolution" and your monitor's model number if not sure.
3. If fonts appear too small at the native resolution go to Display Properties, Settings, Advanced, General. Change the DPI setting from Normal Size (96 DPI) to Large Size (120 DPI) and reboot.
4. Fine tune ClearType using Microsoft's online tuner.

I know it would be a big problem esp because there IS an official version for OSX

...here

Microsoft has Adobe very firmly in it's sight. It is bringing out technology to compete with Adobe. XAML is Microsoft's silver bullet for Flash. Vista and all future releases of Windows will include support for XAML, support for legacy window systems will be facilitated via service packs.

XAML will have all the features of Flash, including tools for graphical designers plus the power and ease of development of Visual Studio .NET.

If this doesn't bite hard into Adobe's market over the next 2-3 years I would be very surprised. I think Adobe is currently riding at it's peak right now, I see only a downhill path for them from here.

I thought that too, but then I double-checked Microsoft's FAQ: Effective April 19th, 2006, all Visual Studio 2005 Express Editions are free permanently. This pricing covers all Visual Studio 2005 Express Editions including Visual Basic, Visual C#, Visual C++, Visual J#, and Visual Web Developer as well as all localized versions of Visual Studio Express.

We'll see if they ever update it, though.

But yeah, this sounds like Borland is trying to compete with MS tools. Good for them! I'm all for companies giving a hand to folks who want to learn their tools... especially if we get free stuff out of the deal. :)

Oh that one is well known:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/default.mspx

Please make sure to update your "Genuine Advantage" first.

Now go away or learn what an "extension" is and why it MAY need to be updated.

Windows Backup is not installed on the Home Edition of XP that ships by default on 90% of users' new computers. Plus if you order from Dell or somewhere nice like that, they don't give you an installation CD to install the program (which on the MS website they tell you to hunt down Ntbackup.msi on the CD and run it to install). Plus it does back-up's by folder (which means knowing where the obscure stuff is if it's not in your My documents). Plus it doesn't do selective registry backup and restore... etc.

In otherwords, it's good for saving your "My Documents" folder after you've bothered to install it.

The Virtual Desktop Manager Windows Powertoy works alright, still not as nice as the Linux one, and it does use a little more resources than I would like, but that is MS is it not?

True, the DLLs in the first diagram are documented, but some in the last one aren't. Search for example for documentation on msoert2.dll or msasn1.dll on Microsoft's MSDN. The external DLLs and open source package dependencies do affect security, because an implementation error in them can create a security problem in the browser. You're right about not showing an SSL library for Mozilla, it wasn't listed as a dependency in its port, because it is part of the operating system base platform. A similar case could be made for some of the IE components.

Despite what SAS, Oracle and everyone tells you, many key business processes boil down to VB macros in Excel spreadsheets.

True. But most of those places don't use macs, nor are ever going to consider it.

Secondly, it is often speculated that Excel errors cause millions of lost revenue because of rounding problems and user error.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/78113/

So yeah... Thats a feature. Not a bug. If you really want to do serious work on mission critial finacial spread sheet data entry... You need something other than a microsoft product like Oracle, and SAP says.

However, if you are a small company and don't need something that accurate or redundant (you know like only 4 people are going to be working on the data at a time instead of thousands) then Excel is quite a good product.

But those small houses don't really need VBA unless they can't get their data into a pivot table or an Access report.

However, VBA is really useful for automated tasks such as data manipulation and repetative tasks. Which most people that I see working on Macs do not do much off since they are really small houses or doing desktop publishing.

'It's challenging for partners to build competencies to support Linux, because you never quite know what you're going to be supporting,'

Like how? Since when does a customer demand SuSe or Redhat. It's a decision for the distributor what base OS to use. The customer doesn't even know or care what that is.

'You don't get that repeatable [development] process to build your business over time.'

Same flawed logic here. The developer sells the same basic system (with minor modifications) to a number of customers. The same as Windows is sold over and over again.

"One of the beauties of the open-source model is that you get a lot of flexibility and componentization. The big downside is complexity,"

Flexibility does not equate to complexity. Is Windows simpler to develop on because it is closed.

"We had to learn .. different versions .. to meet the demands of customers." Lim Han Sheng, IBS Synergy

Has anyone reading this ever had a customer ring up and specifically demand a particular Linux OS. I'm talking about a new installation and not upgrading an existing one. When I see someone quoted on the fastFUD web site I tend to suspect their impartiality. Lets see some more quotes from IBS:

"because Linux was keeping the company from charging for services rendered or charging less"

Has Malaysia gone communist and told no one about it?

"When a problem needed to be solved, Lim explains it was usually a case of having to ask friends or associates for advice"

Why didn't you ring up the Red Hat support desk?

"the tools available for MySQL were made by different companies, poorly integrated, and offered limited functionality"

"the difficulties IBSS encountered with Linux as a server .. relating to the display of fonts and font sizes, and the instability of the X .. IBSS could not integrate stored procedures into MySQL as it could with SQL Server 2000"

"IBSS is exploring the integrated innovation inherent in the Microsoft operating system"

ha haa haaa ...

... Microsoft acquired VirtualPC from a third party (Connectix? I can't remember.) They also have an Intel virtualization which could be used as a foundation for a Mac OS X Intel version. The statement that moving the Mac version to Intel would be a rewrite is undoubtedly true, but Microsoft could probably enter the market if they wanted. The issue is undoubtedly one of competition and egos. And between parallels and bootcamp an offering from MS here isn't necessary.

You are right it's not System Restore.

It's Shadow copy for desktops. Shadow Copy can restore individual files, however they have to be stored on a Windows Server 2003 server network share for this to work.

Simple way to boycot:
if IE --> Download Firefox Link
else --> Welcome visitor!

Why not give users feedback about their browser or the browser compatibility of sites? I think it would be nice if Google would tell IE users with Active X on that a site they're about to visit contains Active X and may be a threat to their system.

Better yet, consider standards compliance and accessibility when ranking pages.

If Google wants to use their position to police the Internet, why stop with Spyware. Test whether people have a secure browser and tell them when they don't:

"FYI, your version of IE is 3 years out of date. Please go here to upgrade it, or go here to replace it."

They could fix a lot of the problem right there.

Impi - Diplomatic Corp, South Africa

The ongoing war against PHP by the GNAA has finally produced results that are a step in the right direction. GNAA have been aggressively involved in a campaign to educate the public at large about the tremendous control that MOSSAD has over the development of PHP and the subsequent clandestine information gathering technology that has been implemented by Jewish developers.

The co-founders of Zend, the PHP Company, Zeev Suraski and Andi Gutmans are known Israeli MOSSAD agents; they were recruited by MOSSAD during their formative years at the Israel Institute of Technology.

On Friday, 28 July 2006, Jani Taskinen, aka _sniper_ resigned from the PHP development team. FYI: I don't care at all what anybody thinks about me. I'm going to be openly anti-Israel from now on. This was the last straw for me. Fuck you Jews. I will also quit this project. As long as it's backed by some Israel company, I don't want to have anything to do with it. Good bye.

This was a direct result of the ongoing war against Hezbollah which has been backed by the USA and primarily been driven by the information gathering technologies embedded in PHP by Zend.

Several GNAA members who were also part of the PHP development team have also resigned in solidarity with Jani Taskinen.

timecop, the glorious president of the GNAA has reacted in the wake of these events by extending an invitation of honorary lifetime GNAA membership to _sniper_, for having courage in his convictions.

GNAA official website, located at http://www.gnaa.us/ is powered by Microsoft Internet Information Services and ASP.NET, running on INTEL hardware.

About Zend

Zend is an Israeli funded body that is controlled by MOSSAD.

About PHP

Crap.

About GNAA:
GNAA (GAY NIGGER ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA) is the first organization which gathers GAY NIGGERS from all over America and abroad for one common goal - being GAY NIGGERS.

Are you GAY ?
Are you a NIGGER ?
Are you a GAY NIGGER ?

If you answered "Yes" to all of the above questions, then GNAA (GAY NIGGER ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA) might be exactly what you've been looking for!
Join GNAA (GAY NIGGER ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA) today, and enjoy all the benefits of being a full-time GNAA member.
GNAA (GAY NIGGER ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA) is the fastest-growing GAY NIGGER community with THOUSANDS of members all over United States of America and the World! You, too, can be a part of GNAA if you join today!

Why not? It's quick and easy - only 3 simple steps!

• First, you have to obtain a copy of GAYNIGGERS FROM OUTER SPACE THE MOVIE and watch it. You can download the movie (~130mb) using BitTorrent.
• Second, you need to succeed in posting a GNAA First Post on slashdot.org, a popular "news for trolls" website.
• Third, you need to join the official GNAA irc channel #GNAA on irc.gnaa.us, and apply for membership.

Talk to one of the ops or any of the other members in the channel to sign up today! Upon submitting your application, you will be required to submit links to your successful First Post, and you will be tested on your knowledge of GAYNIGGERS FROM OUTER SPACE.

This is the break they have been waiting for. Maybe it will fit on a disk now!

"I know I know. I'm probably trolling"

You probably are ..

"people will just put pirate copies of XP on it"

Straight from fud.central. I see both you and Allchin hold this view.

"Once they get the hardware home, however, that Linux OS is quickly erased and replaced with a pirated copy of Windows -- often within 24 hours .. Allchin calls the practice of replacing the default OS with Windows flipping

But can we believe someone who once said this?

"If you're going to kill someone .. you just pull the trigger .. We need to smile at Novell while we pull the trigger" Sept 18, 1993

"Do not be foolish .. do not archive your e-mail." May 2004

What is a Naked PC?

"A Naked PC is one sold without an operating system .. That exposes you to legal action, software viruses and endless technical troubles"

piracy_nakedpc has been blocked by the site owner via robots.txt.

In the 90's, Linux advocates used "stability" as their main argument against Windows. Microsoft took that argument away with XP (regardless of the idiotic BSOD comments tossed around these parts).

Sure. If you don't mind rebooting your servers monthly. Ten OS patches out next Tuesday remember!

From 2001 to now, Linux advocates have used "security" as their main argument against Windows. Microsoft is in the process of taking that argument away.

Like securing Vista by rewriting the relatively mature TCP/IP stack?. There are a lot of security enhancements in Vista - e.g. Address Space Layout Randomization to mitigate buffer overflow issues. But don't expect anyone who cares to be deploying it in security-critical places until it's proved itself in the field.

I would never describe myself as a graphic artist so I will neither agree nor disagree with you.

However, for the web impaired here is a direct link for the web developer version only (which you can get to by clicking the big download picture on the right hand side of each product specific page and then clicking "Download" in step 2).

And as long as I am providing overly simple instructions to trolls, I guess I'll point out that ATLAS does not come installed with Visual Studio. You have to download it from atlas.asp.net (hint: there is a big download icon at the top of the screen).

And if you would like a demo of how easy it is to create ajax applications with atlas, there is current a video on the front page of someone creating a database backed todo-list application in 18 minutes (the express version of Visual Studio comes with a lightweight database and web server for development. I think you can probably repeat this demo with the free tools).

I would never describe myself as a graphic artist so I will neither agree nor disagree with you.

However, for the web impaired here is a direct link for the web developer version only (which you can get to by clicking the big download picture on the right hand side of each product specific page and then clicking "Download" in step 2).

And as long as I am providing overly simple instructions to trolls, I guess I'll point out that ATLAS does not come installed with Visual Studio. You have to download it from atlas.asp.net (hint: there is a big download icon at the top of the screen).

And if you would like a demo of how easy it is to create ajax applications with atlas, there is current a video on the front page of someone creating a database backed todo-list application in 18 minutes (the express version of Visual Studio comes with a lightweight database and web server for development. I think you can probably repeat this demo with the free tools).

The trouble with most of these tools is that they're aimed at local coding style issues, not global problems.

Typical global problems that are potentially machine-checkable before execution are:

• Object re-entry Object A calls object B, which calls object A again, entering object A with the object not in its stable state. This is a constant problem with callback-oriented GUI systems. Microsoft research has addressed this in their "Spec#" effort, which is worth a look.
• Unlocked access This is more of a C/C++ issue. C and C++ don't give any language-level help in organizing threaded programs, and the language doesn't know which locks protect which data. (In Java, locking is class-oriented, which helps some.) Tools for detecting shared access to data without locking are needed.
• Data size trouble Mostly a C (not C++) issue. The size of an array isn't carried along with the array in C, which is the root cause of most buffer overflow problems. Probably the biggest single problem with C programs. (A good first step - put in an include file with lines like "#define strcat USE_STRNCAT_INSTEAD" to catch the usual suspects.)
• Uninitalized pointers Some projects require that any pointer passed to a function must be checked for NULL. If you're sure it's non-null, use a reference. That's worth enforcing.

Those are the kinds of things you need tools for. What we're seeing are tools that check for the easy-to-check but less important stuff.

You forgot step zero: Download the free version of Visual Studio Express.

And in the interest of full-disclosure, I recently started working for Microsoft on Visual Studio features directly related to AJAX and ATLAS. So now this post is just ordinary spam instead of a sneaky shill.

You are absolutely correct. Just because he's not going to leave until July 2008, and just because he is giving up his day-to-day activities while remaining chairman of the board and "advisor for key development projects" doesn't mean he should still be considered at all a leader of any kind over at MS right now in August of 2006.

Microsoft has an academic developer program, where they give all kind of software for free. I downloaded Windows XP Professional, Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition and some other software as well. You get an ISO image and your own serial code for the software by downloading from this website with an unique login. Other software that I remember being available was the Visual Studio and SQL server. I don't remember the specifics, as I rather use my Mac. Microsoft Office could not be downloaded.

I believe this is just a way for them to try to keep new developers using Windows, rather than switching to Linux or OS X. Some membership fee is paid by the school, but I don't see any of it.