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This is nothing new. Ask Everquest players. by greyfeld · 2006-06-29 07:16 · Score: 2, Insightful · on WGA Turning Off PCs in the Fall?

With the one of the recent updates in Everquest, Sony updated the EQ code to take advantage of DirectX 9.0c. Well that was fine, because most gamers already have this on their machines as I did. Problem was that it required the April DirectX build at a minimum. Guess what, if you haven't registered your copy of Windows, you can no longer download DirectX without Microsoft checking your copy to see if it is legitimate. Don't believe me, go check for yourself.

So if you were playing EQ on a pirated copy of Windows, you just went into Evercrack withdrawal because EQ wouldn't load at all. That's a quick way to boost their sales. Most hardcore EQ players would sell their first born to keep playing. This is extremely annoying to say the least. I wonder what it will do to game companies that bundle the latest DirectX with their games to make sure you can play it on install. I can hear the tech support phones ringing now!

Re:Win2k by sottitron · 2006-06-29 06:39 · Score: 1 · on WGA Turning Off PCs in the Fall?

Q: Does the genuine Windows offer include other Microsoft products, such as Windows 2000 and Office 2003? A: The genuine Windows offer is limited to Windows XP at this time. http://www.microsoft.com/genuine/downloads/faq.asp x

Plus it doesn't work by ehaggis · 2006-06-29 06:20 · Score: 1 · on WGA Turning Off PCs in the Fall?

Non-admins may get the euphemistic warning of possessing pilferred software, http://forums.microsoft.com/Genuine/ShowPost.aspx? PostID=370244&SiteID=25/ Notice the MS solution, delete this, open up all permissions on that (good idea?), read, write, execute, delete for everyone! Or pay-up to get your copy of MS Winders to shut it up.

Time to reinstall Win2k by twells5150 · 2006-06-29 06:13 · Score: 1 · on WGA Turning Off PCs in the Fall?

Since WGA only applies to XP, it might be time to reinstall Win2k. However, if you're still running Win2k, then no worries, as the WGA doesn't apply according to Microsoft - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/921914#appliesto

Didn't MS already tell us how to disable WGA? by tmach · 2006-06-29 06:07 · Score: 1 · on WGA Turning Off PCs in the Fall?

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/921914/

If so, they're telling us how to turn it off but threatening to shut down our PCs if we follow their own instructions??

Or does that support article not really mean what I thought it meant? I'm so confused!

Re:Windows Successor? by onebuttonmouse · 2006-06-28 18:45 · Score: 1 · on Microsoft Ponders Windows Successor

Of course, you realise that NT is at least partly POSIX compliant?

Microsoft Singularity might come to the fore by Heir+Of+The+Mess · 2006-06-28 18:04 · Score: 2, Interesting · on Microsoft Ponders Windows Successor

Micorsoft singularity http://research.microsoft.com/os/singularity/ has been going on for a while. Has some interesting things about it that make it more multicore friendly, although completely infriendly in the current environment. For example it doesn't allow DLLs, but rather your libraries load up as seperate processes, and use pipes to communicate with each other.

It also has the goal of being a fully managed operating system, so it should be possible to host it on a variety of devices.

When it comes to a point where they have to abandon the windows code-base or sink under the weight of it, I wonder if they will turn to Singularity?

Re:Know what would be funny? by jeswin · 2006-06-28 17:18 · Score: 2, Interesting · on Microsoft Ponders Windows Successor

Comparison between Vista and OSX are pretty subjective. Here are some counters: 1. 64-bit support in OS X is still an after thought. While it is Vista's primary target. 2. The new audio and video driver system in Vista ahead of any other OS. 3. .Net platform is now driven into the heart of the OS. If you have written code in a "managed" environment, you already know why this is better. Of course Java exists, but the depth of the integration with the OS varies. You will never write Photoshop in Java, while .Net aims to there eventually (Paint.Net?). 4. OS X sucks in developer support. The stuff they are doing with Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF), Communication Foundation and Workflow are amazing, although I have strong reservations about platform dependency. Unless... 5. Performance? After writing this, I guess we were both trolling. :)) The discussion was about next generation Operating Systems. That is not Vista, and it is not OSX, too. Singularity might be.

Re:If they want to do some long term research by Thundersnatch · 2006-06-28 16:50 · Score: 2, Insightful · on Microsoft Ponders Windows Successor

...work on the stability and security of an operating system...

MSFT has been doing just that for several years, and it's a pretty impressive project. It's called Singularity.

Re:A successor to Windows by Osty · 2006-06-28 16:46 · Score: 5, Interesting · on Microsoft Ponders Windows Successor

And hey, if they move what they can to .Net and emulate Windows, then they'll have the flexibility to move to a different processor architecture if they want, without the compatibility problems that Apple is going through with that.

Speaking of Windows, different multi-core processor architectures, Virtual PC, and .NET, have you looked at Xbox 360 lately?

It uses a triple-core PowerPC derivative processor
It's powered by a PPC-ported version of the Xbox operating system, which itself was a customized version of Windows 2000/XP
It runs many Xbox games via emulation at "native" (to the original Xbox's 733MHz/64MB architecture) speed. While I assume that this is purpose-built emulation and not an Xbox 360 port of Virtual PC/Virtual Server, it's not hard to believe that the virtualization and emulation domain knowledge that came with the purchase of Connectix made this possible
It's one of the core components of XNA, which includes support for Managed DirectX (and thus, a port of .NET to Xbox 360)

As much as I love my Xbox 360, I have no illusions of it taking over all (any!) of my general-purpose computing (nor do I expect or want the PS3 to do so, Kutaragi!). However, when you look at the bullet points it's pretty easy to come to the conclusion that Xbox 360 may just be an incubation project for future hardware architectures and operating systems.

Re:NT architecture not even utilized by Osty · 2006-06-28 16:32 · Score: 5, Insightful · on Microsoft Ponders Windows Successor

What I think is odd about this is that the NT architecture has never really even been fully utilized, at least on the consumer side of Windows. In a lot of respects, NT is a pretty clever system, including highly individualizable security for files, processes, etc. It also supports multiprocessing well, contrary to the implication of the article. Point being, I'm not so sure the solution for Microsoft is to throw out NT and move on to something else (Singularity, or whatever it may be). I would suggest they instead look at the features already in place with NT and look at ways to actually enable and present them in a reasonable way in their consumer OSes.

I think the key point to keep in mind here is not that Microsoft is looking for a successor to Windows, but that these statements came from "a program manager for external research programs in the Microsoft Research group". This is what Mirosoft Research does. They come up with blue-sky ideas like replacing Windows entirely, and then the product groups integrate those ideas into real, shippable products. As an example, the "Drivatar" AI used by Forza Motorsport came directly out of MSR. The researchers had grand plans for the technology (get real motorsport "legends" to generate drivatars based on their driving style, learn from the player as he's playing, etc), while the implementation in Forza was more practical (the main AI was based on pre-release training and didn't learn from watching the player, there were no "professional" drivatars, the player had to actively train his drivatar in specific sessions rather than having it learn while he plays, etc). That's not a bad thing, and it's still a damn sight better than most other racing game AI out there (Gran Turismo, I'm looking at you. Damn retarded bumper car AI ...). Researchers are good at coming up with crazy ideas and sample implementations that don't take into account the rest of the system (back to Forza, there's only so much processing available in an Xbox to handle all of the physics and AI, which means that real-time drivatar training wouldn't be feasible). If you know what to look for, you can see many Microsoft Research contributions in shipping products (speech, grammar checking, natural language processing, etc in Office; anti-phishing in the MSN/Windows Live Toolbar and IE7; pretty much the entire backend for MSN/Windows Live Search; and so on), but it's only bits and pieces. Go poke around, look at the many areas of research going on at MSR. Take a look at their sample code. And then remember that when you see a similar but less-grandiose feature 5-10 years from now in a real, shipping product.

Note: I'm neither a Microsoft researcher nor a Forza developer, so all of the information above is what anyone can deduce from the sources I cited.

The other thing I'd like to see Microsoft do is separate out the kernel-level framework (NT system, drivers, etc) from the UI framework, so that it would then be possible to treat those two elements separately, in the same way that Linux has the kernel and X/Window Manager stuff totally separated out.

Microsoft has already done this to a fair extent with Terminal Server. The main thing to keep in mind is that the main bits in kernel space really are drivers, not the UI framework (and even that's changing with Vista). Terminal Server is very much Microsoft's X. Do you remember the "Fast User Switching" feature in Windows XP? Yeah, that's Terminal Server, and what it really means is that every time you use the Windows UI (in XP and 2K3) you're actually interfacing through a local Terminal Server session (just like X!). Of course, TS will have its little differences when running over a network, like not supporting video overlays or 3D acceleration, but in most case

Re:NT architecture not even utilized by Osty · 2006-06-28 16:32 · Score: 5, Insightful · on Microsoft Ponders Windows Successor

What I think is odd about this is that the NT architecture has never really even been fully utilized, at least on the consumer side of Windows. In a lot of respects, NT is a pretty clever system, including highly individualizable security for files, processes, etc. It also supports multiprocessing well, contrary to the implication of the article. Point being, I'm not so sure the solution for Microsoft is to throw out NT and move on to something else (Singularity, or whatever it may be). I would suggest they instead look at the features already in place with NT and look at ways to actually enable and present them in a reasonable way in their consumer OSes.

I think the key point to keep in mind here is not that Microsoft is looking for a successor to Windows, but that these statements came from "a program manager for external research programs in the Microsoft Research group". This is what Mirosoft Research does. They come up with blue-sky ideas like replacing Windows entirely, and then the product groups integrate those ideas into real, shippable products. As an example, the "Drivatar" AI used by Forza Motorsport came directly out of MSR. The researchers had grand plans for the technology (get real motorsport "legends" to generate drivatars based on their driving style, learn from the player as he's playing, etc), while the implementation in Forza was more practical (the main AI was based on pre-release training and didn't learn from watching the player, there were no "professional" drivatars, the player had to actively train his drivatar in specific sessions rather than having it learn while he plays, etc). That's not a bad thing, and it's still a damn sight better than most other racing game AI out there (Gran Turismo, I'm looking at you. Damn retarded bumper car AI ...). Researchers are good at coming up with crazy ideas and sample implementations that don't take into account the rest of the system (back to Forza, there's only so much processing available in an Xbox to handle all of the physics and AI, which means that real-time drivatar training wouldn't be feasible). If you know what to look for, you can see many Microsoft Research contributions in shipping products (speech, grammar checking, natural language processing, etc in Office; anti-phishing in the MSN/Windows Live Toolbar and IE7; pretty much the entire backend for MSN/Windows Live Search; and so on), but it's only bits and pieces. Go poke around, look at the many areas of research going on at MSR. Take a look at their sample code. And then remember that when you see a similar but less-grandiose feature 5-10 years from now in a real, shipping product.

Note: I'm neither a Microsoft researcher nor a Forza developer, so all of the information above is what anyone can deduce from the sources I cited.

The other thing I'd like to see Microsoft do is separate out the kernel-level framework (NT system, drivers, etc) from the UI framework, so that it would then be possible to treat those two elements separately, in the same way that Linux has the kernel and X/Window Manager stuff totally separated out.

Microsoft has already done this to a fair extent with Terminal Server. The main thing to keep in mind is that the main bits in kernel space really are drivers, not the UI framework (and even that's changing with Vista). Terminal Server is very much Microsoft's X. Do you remember the "Fast User Switching" feature in Windows XP? Yeah, that's Terminal Server, and what it really means is that every time you use the Windows UI (in XP and 2K3) you're actually interfacing through a local Terminal Server session (just like X!). Of course, TS will have its little differences when running over a network, like not supporting video overlays or 3D acceleration, but in most case

Singularity by ozmanjusri · 2006-06-28 16:28 · Score: 4, Funny · on Microsoft Ponders Windows Successor

Microsoft should release the source for their Singularity OS http://research.microsoft.com/os/singularity/ under one of their shared source initiatives for study purposes.

Then maybe a clever student, frustrated because the license won't allow him or her to modify it, will re-impliment a new OS out of Singularity. If they allow a lot of other people to contribute, it could get big really fast...

Microsoft going open source? by Anonymous Coward · 2006-06-28 15:31 · Score: 0 · on Open Source Could Learn from Capitalism

Even microsoft is moving toward open source, and it even seems like they're trying to copy sourceforge: http://www.microsoft.com/resources/sharedsource/de fault.mspx

Re:Security Skin by DrSkwid · 2006-06-28 04:17 · Score: 4, Informative · on Dealing with Phishing

Certain colors have common associations in society, such as red with warning or green with go. Use these color associations to illustrate your point, but proceed with caution, because these associations can differ depending on the nationality of the audience.

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/assistance/HA010 120721033.aspx

Microsoft broke Visual Studio 6.0 with latest SDK by Emetophobe · 2006-06-28 04:15 · Score: 1 · on The People Behind DirectX 10

The latest version of the DirectX 9 SDK (April 2005) pisses me off. You can no longer use Visual Studio 6.0 with it, Microsoft forces you to upgrade to a newer version of Visual Studio. I downloaded the free Visual Studio 2005 Express Edition which is actually pretty good, but it still pisses me off that I can no longer use my legit copy of Visual Studio 6.0. The free express version doesn't come with a resource editor.

It is possible to get the latest DirectX SDK working with Visual Studio 6.0, but it's a pain in the ass. Here is a website that goes into detail on howto get it working.

Here are some of the steps you have to go through (involves installing/uninstalling multiple different DirectX SDK versions):

1. Download the April 2005 DirectX SDK (scroll down the page to the "Older SDK Releases" section
2. Download the April 2005 MS Platform SDK (scroll down the page and download PSDK-x86.exe)
3. Go to Keith's site and download the April or June DirectX 9.0c D3DX Only Installer Download
4. Assuming that you are using the Summer or October 2004 DirectX SDK, go to the Lib folder and copy the Dxerr9.lib and Dinput8.lib files to a temp folder.
5. Uninstall the current DirectX SDK.
6. Install the MS Platform SDK (assuming you don't already have the latest version installed)
7. Install the April 2005 DirectX SDK
8. Install the D3DX runtime files you downloaded from Keith's site
9. Reboot
10. Go to the Lib\x86\ folder where you installed the April 2005 SDK and backup the Dxerr9.lib and dinput8.lib files
11. Copy the Dxerr9.lib and dinput8.lib files from your previous Summer 2004 or October 2004 into the \Lib\x86 folder.

And here is the reason why DirectX is now broken with Visual Studio 6.0

In the case of the Dxerr9.lib file, the reason for this is that MS compiled that library (don't ask me why they did this with only this file) with buffer overrun/security checking (as they do with all their .Net libs now, hence the reason VS6 no longer works with DX) and any library function which makes calls to that library (e.g. to DXGetErrorString9) will cause linker errors

Also:

In the case of the dinput8.lib file, you will get this error when compiling a debug app. For some unGodly reason, this file seems to contain corrupt and/or incorrect debugging information. So you will see something like this if you don't use the older version. Incidentally, when comparing these legacy files, in April 2005 SDK, MS decided to include versions that are older than those in the October 2004 Update. Don't ask.

They broke Visual Studio 6 on purpose to force developers to upgrade to a more recent version of Visual Studio (with .net no doubt).. Luckily for a poor person (student) like myself, Microsoft offers free Visual Studio versions (Express Edition), which you can download here.

Re:When I hear OO ... When I hear Java by mdielmann · 2006-06-28 03:37 · Score: 1 · on Is the Google Web Toolkit Right For You?

I wrote a VB 6 app in a couple hours that not only notified me of the amount of free space in a given folder (including the root folder), but displayed it in a chart so I could easily pinpoint where all my hard drive space went. Not counting the VB Form, I used two objects: the chart object (crappy, but all I needed) and the filesystemobject object. It took about two hours to get it to where I needed, and I was doing it as a semi-useful learning task (elements of the filesystemobject that I hadn't used before). I imagine it could be done more easily in VB.Net, but I haven't bothered to try.
I'm not saying there aren't better tools than VB out there, or that it is easier to do what you were looking for in VB, but don't pass off your lack of knowledge as fact.

High Definition DVDs by Xesdeeni · 2006-06-27 04:04 · Score: 1 · on DVD Format War Already Over?

There are at least FIVE DVD players capable of playing high definition video from regular red laser DVD*Rs in MPEG-2 (including ATSC/DVB-T), DivX, WMV, and MPEG-4 (some models), in addition to standard DVDs. Street prices range from about $250 to $430:

IOData AVeL LinkPlayer2
Buffalo LinkTheater
JVC SRDVD-100U
DVICO TVIX-HD M-5000
Zensonic Z500

Most have DVI or HDMI, and all have digital audio outputs.

Most interestingly, these players all have networking included (this is why Fry's has theirs in the network section instead of the DVD section), and some include wireless. So you can play your streams directly from your PC (for example, if you have an ATSC/QAM tuner card) without burning anything!

Inexpensive players! Plentiful burners! Cheap media! Networked playback! HD!

Who needs HD-DVD or Blu-ray!?

Xesdeeni

Re:Divx is much lower quality by TheNetAvenger · 2006-06-26 17:36 · Score: 4, Interesting · on DVD Format War Already Over?

Well, the Divx HD profile is 1280x720 and only 5.1 audio at best

Ok, not everything is Divx (The bastard offspring of the Microsoft MPEG4 codec from 1998.)

VC-1 has been doing full 1080p and fitting on a standard DVD for years now, including support for 7.1 surround without artifacts (Even when viewed on a native 1080p rear DLP projector with a 20' screen size.)

The problem is that studios had initially planned on using this format for the next generation DVD content, but the DRM promises of HD-DVD and Blu-Ray made them wait for the new medium.

There have been a few movies released in the VC-1 format in HD on standard DVDs, but not many. Go buy T2 Extreme at Walmart for an example of a movie in this format that is 3 years old now. (You can also download sample movies and clips in this format from: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/musi candvideo/hdvideo/hdvideo.aspx

Just an FYI to everyone, VC-1 is one of the HD-DVD and Blu-Ray codecs, but it is also known formally as Windows Media 9 Format (WMV9), VC-1 is the name adopted after it was approved as a standard format.

Re:Not necessarily... by sangreal66 · 2006-06-26 04:43 · Score: 0, Troll · on Belgian Gov't requires ODF From 09/2008

With the need to upgrade just to be able to read other people's documents removed, nobody is ever going to buy a paid-up copy of MS Office again.

The problem with your theory is that you don't need MS Word to read other people's documents. Microsoft offers for free the MS Word viewer for this purpose.

Competition by Ajehals · 2006-06-25 02:49 · Score: 4, Interesting · on Google Bundles Toolbar With Adobe Apps

Microsoft looks like it could be getting into bed with Yahoo (to compete with Google apparently) whilst adding technology that mimics PDF functionality (XPS the XML Paper Standard (that competes with Adobe)) into the core of its next OS. Now Adobe gets into bed with the company that is giving Microsoft a headache over search and online applications. This could be a very clear case of the enemy of my enemy is my friend....

Hmmmm, This is either simply Google bidding the most for their tool bar to be bundled with some very widely used software, or the battle lines within the IT sector are getting a little more defined.

Personally I would prefer to be able to download and install an application that does whatever the job is I want doing; without installing any other "useful" application's - regardless of which "well selected" partner it comes from. However from a non technical perspective this may well become interesting.

Now to me it is starting to look as though Microsoft are feeling less in control of their ability to "lock" users to their software. This appears to be the reason for the plethora of new proprietary file formats that they can force into the main stream with Vista. It will be interesting to see if there is any fight against the formats or if the rest of the software industry will carry out its own embrace and extend exercise... After all this time round they are not providing "new" functionality but rather revamping existing standards and encroaching on other companies areas of expertise.

Google should add a decent dedicated document search feature that is purely an index of ODF, PDF, Rich/Plain Text etc.. and exclude XPS until it sees mainstream use at least, and offer links to - the original document - html version - adobe acrobat / open office. Im not certain if Adobe will or even should, but I would also like to see adobe and open office support the XPS standard for reading, if not necessarily for export.

Re:Yes by ben+there... · 2006-06-24 19:10 · Score: 1 · on WinFS Gets the Axe

Quartz 2D Extreme = actually shipped
WinFS = never shipped

Quartz 2D Extreme = shipped turned off over a year ago.
WinFS = shipped in Beta almost a year ago.

What were you guys arguing about again?

Resource forks sound like NTFS streams by ben+there... · 2006-06-24 18:42 · Score: 1 · on WinFS Gets the Axe

How to Use NTFS Alternate Data Streams

Re:What choice do they have by jkrise · 2006-06-23 23:19 · Score: 1 · on Microsoft's New Linux-Based Wireless Network

NT/embedded is used all over the damned place.

NT embedded support ends next month! If it's all over the place, and suddenly the manufacturers discover they need to license and upgrade to Windows Embedded instead.... hell will break loose all over the place!

Tried it. by PhrostyMcByte · 2006-06-23 16:19 · Score: -1, Troll · on Inkscape 0.44 - Faster, Bigger, Better

I tried Inkscape but was ultimately disappointed at the SVG it produced, and went for writing mine in a simple xml editor.

I've found Expression Graphic Designer to be pretty awesome, though it doesn't produce SVG so its usefulness stops after making exportable graphics and stuff to stick in XAML.

Re:Does it really matter what it runs ? by realcoolguy425 · 2006-06-23 13:21 · Score: 0 · on Microsoft's New Linux-Based Wireless Network

I'm sorry, did you just say linux has a lower TCO? get the facts dude, get the facts!

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver/facts/defau lt.mspx/

Re:Perhaps it's their real strategy... by Honig+the+Apothecary · 2006-06-23 10:41 · Score: 1 · on Microsoft's New Linux-Based Wireless Network

Because you really want to put 5000+ pieces of network equipment (a router none the less) designed for the home into an enterprise network. I find it amazing that companies the world over have not gone that route and replaced their managed Cisco wireless access points with unmanaged d-links from Office Depot.

/sarcasm

What I find intresting is that Microsoft do not even list that Router/AP on their hardware products page anymore: http://www.microsoft.com/products/info/default.asp x?view=22&pcid=c250fb0a-1613-4550-983d-ba203f35769 8

Looks like Microsoft a) does not make a enterprise level access point & b) does not even make a home/home office level router/ap anymore.

This is non-news. Good for Microsoft, they made a business desision to buy hardware capible of serving the needs that they have. Whoopity-Do it runs Linux.