Computer stuff...
Microsoft Fix it has been updated to version 2.5. For those who don’t know what this is yet:
Microsoft Fix it troubleshooters help you automatically diagnose and repair common computer problems, and provide you with the next steps to take if your problems aren’t fixed.
You can see / download all Fix it apps here. I recommend this only for advanced users.
Home users should check out the main Fix it page here.
Microsoft has released the IE9 Release Candidate. RC usually means it is the last step to the final version.
Below are the links of interest.
Need some help. MS changed a few things from the Beta involving the placement of the bars up top. For moving the menu bar up top the old itbar7position tweak doesn’t seem to work. Anyone figured this out?
Download IE9 RC (Vista, 7, 2K8 only. Not XP.)
Internet Explorer 9 Release Candidate Product Guide
Internet Explorer 9 Release Candidate – New Features Summary
IE Blog – Acting on Feedback: IE9 Release Candidate Available for Download
Log in to your account for the update.
Don’t have TI yet? Get $15 off now!
Release notes for Acronis True Image Home 2011
Release date: 04.02.2011
Build: English UK, English USA, French, German
Downloadable basic: 6696
Installation procedure
The installation procedure is straightforward. Please, run the downloaded executable file and follow instructions.
List of fixed issues
* When selecting a backup destination Acronis True Image Home 2011 tried to access locations which weren’t selected. This caused a long response time of the application.
* If a trial version of Acronis True Image Home 2011 is present in a system, TrueImageNonregisterInstallMenu_standard crashes after installer launch.
* Acronis True Image sets up a wrong backup name if a user clicks Browse for Destination during creation of an Image Backup Task.
* The “Failed to back up file or folder” error message is displayed if a scheduled Mail backup runs with open MS Outlook. The backup cannot be recovered.
* DELL OEM partition can’t be recovered with Acronis True Image Home 2011.
* After upgrading Standalone Acronis Online Backup Client to Acronis True Image Home, the Online Backup icon disappears from True Image Home.
* It is impossible to recover incremental and differential backups by partition if the backed up disk is GPT Dynamic.
Flash Player 10.2 delivers beautiful HD video, faster graphics rendering, and high performance on mobile screens and is designed to take advantage of native device capabilities — enabling richer, more immersive user experiences.
-Internet Explorer 9 hardware accelerated rendering support
-Native custom mouse cursors
-Support for full screen mode with multiple monitor
Download it from Major Geeks or update from within the program (Help > Check for Updates).
Release Notes:
Feb 8 2011
10.0.1
Numerous security fixes as well as improvements to Protected Mode, QTP support, Flash, and support for SCCM via newly released SCUP catalogs.
Winrumors had posted earlier that Windows 7 SP1 would be released to the public on Feb. 22, 2011. A Microsoft blog now confirms it.
*edit – The above Windows Team blog says final build number is 7601.17514.101119-1850 (see reply #4 in that blog). This matches the build I had installed (see below).*
Now most tech pundits will tell you Windows 7 SP1 is no big deal. Certainly for the home user it contains no useful additions. It is simply a collection of security updates, bugfixes (publicly available and not).
I’ve done a little testing with the SP1 that has been floating around (wzor). Here are some screenshots and notes for those who are interested.
[Read more…] about Windows 7 SP1 Release Date
Got Windows? Then you got updates. Microsoft Security Bulletin Summary for February 2011
The purpose of this article is to introduce the average PC user to VirtualBox. Terminology may be simplified to make it easier to understand for the non-Geek.
This article contains 3 sections and covers installing VirtualBox Hosts and Guests under Windows and openSUSE.
VirtualBox is virtualization software that runs under most modern operating systems. What this means in layman’s terms is that you set up an environment that pretends to be an actual computer, this is a “virtual machine” ( VM for short). With that virtual machine you can run another operating system in a window just like you would run another program. For instance, if you are using Windows 7 you could run Ubuntu in a window at the same time (see screenshots below for examples). To be clear, only the machine (computer) is virtual, you are actually running this other operating system.
The advantages of using virtual machines are many. For the home user these would include trying out new operating systems and the ability to run programs from different operating systems.
You can run many Windows games under Linux, or use Microsoft Office. You could try the latest Windows 7 SP beta, test new programs, tweaks, and configurations. You can try the latest Linux distros in an environment that is more realistic than a Live CD.
My favorite way to use VirtualBox is to run Windows under Linux. More specifically, I run Windows XP and 7 under openSUSE 11.3 (more on this later).
Security is also an advantage. The main operating system is separate from the one running on the virtual machine. For the most part viruses, malware, crashes, bugs, etc. are all contained inside the OS running in that VM. This of course does not relieve you of the responsibility of using safe computing habits. Lets say you download a file that contains a virus while under an Ubuntu VM and then run that file in Windows you could get infected.
The Android Market is now accessible and searchable via browser.
The Samba Filesharing app I wrote about over 2 months ago has made it to the market. Good to see!
The original article has been updated to reflect that.
