SuperSite Blog

September 2008 - Posts

• Windows 7 sessions at PDC

  Those interested in the next version of Windows can find a few clues to its contents in the descriptions of the Windows 7 sessions planned for next month’s PDC in Los Angeles. These include: Windows 7: Web Services in Native Code Windows 7 introduces a new networking API with support for building SOAP based web services in native code. This session discusses the programming model, interoperability aspects with other implementations of WS-* protocols, and demonstrates various services and applications built using this API. Windows 7: Extending Battery Life with Energy Efficient Applications A single application can accidentally halve battery life for the average laptop. This session demonstrates best practices for designing energy efficient applications and shows utilities for diagnosing common application battery life problems. Learn about how Windows 7 makes it easier for developers to design energy-efficient applications which do not negatively impact mobile PC battery life. Windows 7: Developing Multi-touch Applications In Windows 7, innovative touch and gesture support will enable more direct and natural interaction in your applications. This session highlights the new multi-touch gesture APIs and explains how you can leverage them in your applications. Windows 7: Writing Your Application to Shine on Modern Graphics Hardware This session centers on the new enhancements to DirectX that enable Win32 applications harness the latest innovations in modern graphics hardware. Learn how to use the Windows 7 graphics infrastructure to enable your applications to display graphics content on different generations of graphics hardware, across multiple displays and on a remote desktop. Also learn how you can test your application for DPI awareness, what to look for, and how to make it provide the best experience on high-DPI displays. Windows 7: Unlocking the GPU with Direct3D Learn how to use the latest version of Direct3D to unlock the rendering and computing power of the GPU and to target the wide variety of hardware used by your customers. Learn techniques for integrating this high-performance 3D graphics pipeline within your Win32 applications. Windows 7: Building Great Communications Applications TBD Windows 7: New Shell User Experience APIs TBD Windows 7: Benefiting from Documents and Printing Convergence Discover how updating your printing infrastructure to XPS allows your application to seamlessly bridge across both electronic and physical paper and benefit from new document workflow and interoperability scenarios. Windows 7: New APIs to Find, Visualize, and Organize TBD Developing for Microsoft Surface This session introduces the newly available Microsoft Surface SDK. Hear about the unique attributes of Microsoft Surface computing, dive into vision-based object recognition and core controls like ScatterView, and learn how the Surface SDK aligns with the multi-touch developer roadmap for Windows 7 and WPF. Additionally, learn how you can become a part of the expanding partner ecosystem for Microsoft Surface and leverage your existing investments in WPF and Visual Studio to build engaging end user applications. Attendees will receive access to the Microsoft Surface SDK. Windows 7: New Text and Graphics APIs TBD Windows 7: Designing Efficient Background Processes Inefficient background activity has a dramatic impact on system performance, power consumption, responsiveness, and memory footprint. This session demonstrates best practices for background process design and dives deep on the capabilities of the Service Control Manager (SCM) and Task Scheduler. It also covers how to use new Windows 7 infrastructure to develop efficient background tasks. Windows 7: Design Principles for Windows 7 Together, we can increase customer enthusiasm, satisfaction and loyalty by designing user experiences that are both desirable and harmonious. In this session we introduce the Windows User Experience Principles approach to shipping software. Along the way we share stories and lessons learned along the journey of designing the user model and experience for Windows 7, and leave you with a set of principles that you can apply as you build your applications for Windows. Windows 7: Integrate with the Windows 7 Desktop Taskbar This session dives into new APIs that enable integration with the latest Windows desktop features. Learn about new extensibility methods to surface your application's key tasks. Discover how enhancements to the taskbar, Start Menu, thumbnails and their desktop elements provide new ways for you to delight your users. This talk is a must for application developers who wan to provide the best user experience for their applications on Windows 7. Windows 7: Welcome to the Windows 7 Desktop The Windows desktop is evolving--is your application ready to evolve also? This session sets the stage for exciting enhancements to the taskbar, Start Menu, and other desktop elements. Windows 7: New APIs for Building Context-Aware Applications TBD Windows 7: Deploying Your Application with Windows Installer (MSI) and ClickOnce If you are a developer involved in the creation of application deployment packages using Windows Installer (MSI) or ClickOnce, this session is for you. Learn how you can take advantage of new features in Windows 7 to shorten application installation times, reduce UAC prompts, write less custom code, take less time to write installations for complex packages, and much more! Windows 7: Deep Dive: What's New with user32 and comctl32 in Win32 Hear about the lowest level user interface components (user32, comctl32) that appear in almost every Windows application. Learn about "recent" changes and enhancements in these subsystems, plus be subjected to some philosophical musings on how foreground activation is like love. (No really, it will actually help you write better software.) Windows 7: Programming Sync Providers That Work Great with Windows Learn how you can enable your application to synchronize with other applications that use the Microsoft Sync Framework. This session covers how to implement sync for contacts and other PIM data, how to package sync providers for distribution and installation, and how to register sync provider for use on Windows. Windows 7: Using Instrumentation and Diagnostics to Develop High Quality Software Learn how to enhance the quality and supportability of your software during developing and deployment using the Windows 7 instrumentation and diagnostic platforms. This session focuses on key aspects of the event and performance counter infrastructures, and discusses best practices around adding instrumentation to your code. We introduce the new Windows PowerShell-based diagnostic platform, and how it enables you to easily monitor multiple data sources to empower the end user and IT pro to detect and resolve software problems. Windows 7: Best Practices for Developing for Windows Standard User The application development requirements in Windows 7 for UAC-compatibility are exactly the same as in Windows Vista: Vista-compatible applications will interact with UAC in Windows 7 without any modification. No new APIs are required or provided. The UAC improvements for Windows 7 will impact the user's experience but not the application interface. Logo requirements regarding UAC compatibility are the same as in Vista. Windows 7: Writing World-Ready Applications This session centers on globalization features for Windows 7, including sorting and string comparison, locale support, and coverage for new languages, with an eye to helping developers extend their applications to a global user base. This session introduces the Extended Linguistic Services API, the next step in the evolution of globalization support for Windows developers. This session also covers the Multilingual User Interface (MUI) technology inside Windows 7 and .NET, and walks you through an end-to-end look at how to make your application MUI-enabled so that you can easily take your application worldwide and extend your customer base into new language markets. The number of TBDs in there is sort of interesting. My guess is that this is a secrecy thing, though the general language used in some other session descriptions suggests its possible to describe something without describing it at all, so why not just do the same for all of these? Posted Sep 30 2008, 10:53 AM by pthurrott with 33 comment(s) Filed under: Windows 7

• New Windows Live Hotmail arrives…

  … just not for everyone. Apparently, Microsoft is rolling it out in phases because of the enormous size of their user base. Here’s a post from the folks at Windows Live Wire (the official Microsoft Live blog) describing the update, which does indeed look sweet: Hotmail update coming soon It’s late September already, and time for that inevitable question: what did you do on your summer vacation? Well, this summer, the Hotmail team and I were hard at work on a new version of Hotmail, and we’re super excited to start rolling it out to you very soon. Here’s a sneak peak at some of the changes. A great new look – We’ve done a little remodeling, and we think Hotmail looks much, much nicer and is easier to use. We did a lot of testing around the world to see what people liked and didn’t like. We’re really excited about the final results, and we hope you like it too! There’s also a whole new set of vibrant themes that replace our old color schemes. Classic & Full, together at last! – Our clever developers figured out how to take the performance of the Classic version of Hotmail, and combine it with features of the Full version, in a single experience. Now everyone gets the same features. You don’t have to trade off speed for functionality or decide which version is better for you. If you have been using the Full version, you’ll see much faster page load times, and if you have been using Classic, you now get to use the reading pane, drag & drop, and other features formerly limited to the Full version. A contact list that’s more than just contacts – Our contact list is now much more useful. Besides a new layout and improved look, we added features that are both fun and time-saving. Fun - If your Messenger contacts have a display picture, that picture will appear in your list. Time-saving - When you view a contact, you can see recent e-mail they’ve sent you, send them a message from right in the contact page, and view items from across Windows Live that you’ve shared together. Now THAT’s something to write home about! – We completely redesigned the experience of composing a new message. We have brand new auto-complete functionality for e-mail addresses, and a new contact picker that even detects commonly misspelled addresses. There is a new way to attach files and a new spell-checker that we think are much easier to use (especially if you were using Classic – no need to go to a new page to attach files anymore!). The text editor is completely rewritten, and we fixed a bunch of bugs – right-click now works! Updated Calendar beta – If you aren’t using the Calendar beta yet, now’s a great time to try it. Calendar sharing, an automatically generated birthday calendar for people in your contact list, a holiday calendar, iCal subscriptions to public calendars, to-do lists, and much, much more await you. Go to http://calendar.live.com, or go to Hotmail and click Calendar under “Related places” to sign up. There is more to this release that I haven’t yet mentioned, including greater speed and more powerful spam fighting, and even more improvements coming soon (but I’ll save those for a later post that my boss is going to do.) If you haven’t used your Hotmail account in a while, check out the changes at http://mail.live.com. You can also sign up for a new account from there. I think this version is a big improvement in both appearance and performance, so I hope you love it! - Mike Schackwitz, Lead Program Manager, Windows Live Hotmail Microsoft has been working on combining the "Classic” and “full” Hotmail experiences for years; in fact, their goal was to do so in the original revamp from a few years ago. But they got a lot of complaints from Hotmail old-timers. My guess is this won’t end. Still, it looks great. I just wish I could use it. Posted Sep 30 2008, 10:19 AM by pthurrott with 20 comment(s)

• Xbox Live, Zune services down today

  And for some reason, the conspiracy theorists are out in force. But there’s nothing to it, really: Microsoft says it is just updating its infrastructure to support the November launch of the new Xbox Experience. (Zune and Xbox run on the same back-end.) Here’s the Zune perspective (via email): The Zune service will be down for scheduled maintenance on Monday, September 29, 2008 from 12:01am Pacific Time, for up to 48 hours. During the downtime, Zune Social, the forums on Zune.net, and all of Zune Marketplace will be offline. We apologize for any inconvenience this might cause you. Please check back soon. We look forward to sharing our picks, plays, and recommendations with you in the Zune Social and in Zune Marketplace shortly! Sincerely, Your Friends at Zune And from the Xbox guys: Xbox Live Service Maintenance On Monday, 9/29/2008 from 12:01 AM PST for up to 24 hours, Xbox Live will be offline for maintenance. As a result, Xbox LIVE and the ‘My Xbox’ section of Xbox.com will be unavailable, and the Xbox forums will be in read only mode (you won’t be able to post.) The remainder of Xbox.com will be available with limited interruptions. This service maintenance is in preparation for the new Xbox experience which will be available later this fall. Let me reiterate: When the service returns, you will not have any new features and you will not have the new Xbox experience update. That will happen later this Fall. Nothing to see here, in other words. Posted Sep 29 2008, 03:24 PM by pthurrott with 58 comment(s) Filed under: Xbox 360, Zune

• Halo 3 updates

  So a year after Microsoft shipped Halo 3, its developer, Bunjie, is teasing people with information about a just-released Title Update 2 (TU2), which adds a number of new multiplayer-related achievements to the game, and an upcoming new mini-campaign, which has yet to be named. Here’s the info: TU2 FAQ There are a lot of common questions surfacing in our forums in the wake of the recently released title update. In an effort to address these queries in one fell swoop, here is the official TU2 FAQ.  We will update this with new information as needed. Q:  Bungie only talked about 10 achievements and 250 gamer points but Xbox.com shows many more achievements for Halo 3 now and a total of 750 new points to earn. What’s up with that? A:  The work for the Halo 3 Title Update and the new achievements began long, long ago. At that time, we had one view of the future of Halo 3 and a general plan for how, when and where some of the remaining multiplayer maps would get released.  Those plans have since changed. We do have new maps still coming to Halo 3 but the release specifics are still being worked out with our partners.  We didn’t want to delay the release of TU2 as there are still a lot of cool things about it that do benefit players immediately so we decided to forge ahead.  The downside is that you now have to stare at mysterious achievements with no context until all is revealed at a later date. Rest assured though that they aren’t going anywhere, they will still be there, ready to be earned when the time is right. Teaser Trailer We hope you haven't dedicated too much time and stress to this 12-hour long countdown event. We're excited to finally share this with you. Enjoy this CG-teaser. Um. OK. Posted Sep 26 2008, 04:31 PM by pthurrott with 1 comment(s) Filed under: Xbox 360, Halo 3

• The Cell Phone Wars

  Slate has an interesting comparison of Apple’s very closed model with the iPhone and Google’s very open model with Android: In the two months since the App Store's launch, Apple has rejected several programs for seemingly arbitrary reasons that it won't disclose. Developers havegrumbled about this capriciousness, but until now they've had no real alternative—iPhone and iPod Touch owners have already downloaded 100 million apps through the App Store, making Apple the Wal-Mart of mobile software. And then along came Sergey Brin and Larry Page. On Tuesday, the Google founders unveiled the G1, the first phone based on Google's new mobile operating system, Android. The phone, which will go on sale in late October, is manufactured by the Taiwanese company HTC and is being offered exclusively through T-Mobile, but Google's software will soon make its way to other phones and other carriers across the globe. Google says that Android embodies principles of "radical openness." Unlike Apple, the company will let developers create any mobile apps they please. Google has also persuaded carriers to allow users to run any apps they like—including voice-over-IP software like Skype, which carriers have traditionally resisted because it lets you make calls without running up cellular minutes. Watching Google and Apple carve out space in the mobile business, one can hardly avoid thinking that history is repeating itself. In the 1970s and '80s, Apple created the first great personal computers. But because Apple closed its platform, it was IBM, Dell, HP, and especially Microsoft that reaped the benefits of Apple's innovations. The Mac's operating system ran only on Mac computers; Windows ran on lots of lots of different companies' hardware. This made non-Apple computers both cheaper than Apple's machines—competition between hardware manufacturers pushed down prices—and more useful, as third-party developers flocked to write must-have programs for Windows. Apple seems to be following a similar restrictive strategy with the iPhone. Google's Android OS is "open" in two distinct ways. First, Google has released the software under an open-source license, allowing hardware manufacturers to customize Android for different phones. Second, Android is open to third-party apps; Google and the carriers will make sure that apps do not violate the law or harm people's phones, but other than that, they promise to impose few restrictions. There's [nothing] defensible about Apple's rejections of iPhone apps. It got rid of I Am Rich, a $1,000 program that did nothing, and Pull My Finger, a fart-joke app, for "limited utility"—which would be understandable if so many iPhone Apps weren't pretty limited. (How did Apple decide that a program that turns your phone into a flashlight is more useful than a program that turns your phone into a whoopee cushion?) Apple also rejected a comic book app called Murderdrome because its contents were too violent—even though it offers extremely violent movies in the iTunes Store. And it blocked an e-mail client because it competed with the iPhone's built-in e-mail app, a transparently anti-competitive move. Apple seems to be pursuing a strategy of just-open-enough—permissive enough to keep programmers writing code and to keep customers buying software but still locked-down enough to let Apple control the platform's larger direction. It’s hard for me to defend Apple on this one, mostly because they’re not being transparent about what is and is not allowed. And the anticompetitive nature of not allowing a third party email application should be obvious to anyone, even the iCabal. That’s just not right, no matter what your concerns are. I certainly don’t want to be locked into Apple’s disastrous MobileMe/Mail.app/iTunes system. Who would? The Android platform, of course, is interesting specifically because there are no restrictions. It’s even doubly interesting to me personally because I happen to use a lot of Google services, but let’s be honest here: Android will be a better platform for all non-Apple services, specifically because Google won’t move to block a Hotmail-compatible native email application like Apple will, or whatever. Of course, this is all slice-in-time stuff. I’m not switching to T-Mobile just to get a G1. But I do see an Android phone in m future, unless Apple-or Microsoft—wakes up and does this right thing. Posted Sep 26 2008, 11:47 AM by pthurrott with 90 comment(s) Filed under: iPhone, Windows Mobile, Internet, Smartphone, Mobile, Cloud computing, Developer

• Expression Blend 2 Service Pack 1

  Microsoft is updating its Expression Blend product to support Silverlight 2. Here’s the info: Expression Blend 2 Service Pack 1 will directly and seamlessly patch the previously installed version of Expression Blend 2 to utilize the newest designer/developer technology and enhance overall user experience.  This will be a free of charge service pack for Blend 2 that will provide full authoring support of Silverlight 2. Customers who have been using either the Expression Blend 2 Trial or Expression Blend 2.5 Preview will receive an additional 60 days to test Expression Blend 2 once the Service Pack has been installed. This Service Pack will provide, at no extra cost, full support of Silverlight 2, similar to the authoring environment that Expression Blend 2.5 Preview users have been experiencing.  In addition, the Service Pack will not disrupt developer or designer workflow, and will continue to support current Windows Presentation Foundation and Silverlight authoring. By leveraging the full power of the desktop and Web, Expression Blend 2 Service Pack 1 will allow developers and designers to work together to deliver big-impact, high-performance Web user experiences that drive brand recognition and repeat use. To find out more about Expression Studio 2 and Expression Blend 2, please visit the Expression Studio website at:www.microsoft.com/expression. Posted Sep 26 2008, 11:40 AM by pthurrott with 4 comment(s) Filed under: Cloud computing, Developer

• Virtual Earth 6.2

  Microsoft sends word of a new version of Virtual Earth: Microsoft released some updates to the Virtual Earth platform and Live Search Maps today. For more information, you can visit Virtual Earth Technical Evangelist Chris Pendleton’s blog post: If you follow Microsoft Virtual Earth I'm sure you've picked up some blog posts that posted some of the features for this release, but those posts mysteriously disappeared. Information leaked out and you wondered, "Was that real?" Well, finally the definitive source on the new Virtual Earth Web Service and the new Virtual Earth Map Control 6.2 I deliver to you. If you want to skip the descriptor and just get coding you'll be happy to know the Virtual Earth AJAX Control SDK on MSDN, as well as, the Virtual Earth Interactive SDK have both been updated. New Mobile Support Users can now build mobile applications with Virtual Earth, which offers more features and enhancements to support mobile platforms such as, Windows Mobile, RIM Blackberry and Apple iPhone. Rich imagery creates immersive mobile end-user experiences that bring location-based information to life. Enhanced International Opportunities This latest release of Virtual Earth provides more support and more detail for more countries around the world. Enjoy the functionality and features of Virtual Earth in a broader range of countries. Richer Data: See More in the Platform The Virtual Earth platform is designed for the enterprise and public sector user, from features to support. This 6.2 release enhances the platform infrastructure with new geocoding and parsing improvements, as well as more detail revealed in relevant ways. Enhanced Functionality: Do More in the Platform The latest release of the Virtual Earth platform offers a richer user experience and more intuitive functionality. There are more ways for customers to search for more types of mapping information, in ways that are tailored to their individual needs. Posted Sep 25 2008, 01:20 PM by pthurrott with 3 comment(s) Filed under: Windows Live, Cloud computing

• HP MediaSmart customers can add RAM without voiding warranty

  Huge announcement from HP today, at least for those who have first-generation Windows Home Server-based MediaSmart Servers, which ship with 512 MB of RAM. HP is allowing customers to upgrade the RAM, an involved process that involves delving into a pretty tight and intricately-packed space, without voiding the warranty. This is a big deal because if the past year has proven anything, once you start installing add-ons in WHS, RAM becomes a serious issue. Here are the details: HP customers can now upgrade the memory on HP MediaSmart Servers without voiding the HP warranty. Based on customer feedback, HP will now offer a path for consumers to upgrade the memory on the HP MediaSmart Server without voiding the hardware warranty. HP customer feedback and research shows that some customers are installing multiple add-ins and/or additional software to the MediaSmart Server, which can lead to a need for additional memory. Details Upgrading the memory, in and of itself, will not void the warranty on the MediaSmart Server.  Damage to any part of the MediaSmart Server during the upgrade may violate the warranty, however, leaving the cost for repairs the responsibility of the customer.  Customers should perform a backup to an external device before adding additional memory. HP is only providing information on a customer memory upgrade path at this time, and customers will not be able to send their MediaSmart Server to HP to perform the upgrade. Customers may be able to find technical assistance for the memory upgrade, however HP is not recommending or training authorized resellers to conduct the memory upgrade on a MediaSmart Server.  HP has not qualified any particular DIMMs, but compatible memory includes 1GB or 2GB - DDR2 667 MHz DIMMs.  Customers should not upgrade beyond 2 GB of memory. Other than disk drives, HP does not support any other hardware upgrade paths, such as processor upgrades, on the MediaSmart Server. Posted Sep 25 2008, 12:49 PM by pthurrott with 4 comment(s) Filed under: Windows Home Server

• Slimmer Xbox 360 spied in the wild? Sorry, but no

  So I was amused to see an Engadget story today about what appears to be a slimmer new Xbox 360 in the background of a photo I took of a Microsoft Arc Mouse. (I was actually just trying to show how small the mouse was, but whatever.) Anyways, here it is... We received an interesting tip that we thought we'd share with the group. Windows expert and all-around bon vivant Paul Thurrott recently previewed Microsoft's new Arc mouse on his personal blog, detailing the device with a handful of photos. In the final shot of the series, what appear to be two Xboxes side-by-side can be seen in the lower right-hand corner... but one of those consoles looks thinner than the other. The appearance of what might be a slimmer Xbox 360 has (needless to say) sparked a debate amongst our editors here. Some say it's nothing -- a matter of angle -- while others argue that this could be just the scenario in which you'd see a leak of a new form factor. Either way, you can't simply brush off the differences here, and a little Photoshop matching on our end proved that these edges are decidedly different in angle. So we put it to the Engadget reader: is this a sign of things to come, or just our imaginations running wild? Oh, I wish this were a slimmer Xbox 360, I really do. But it isn’t, sorry. And I can prove it, since nothing has changed down on the floor of my office since I took that original photo (including the MU, which is still sitting on top of my red-ringed 360). Here are the same two Xbox 360s from a different angle:   But thanks for the kinds words. Posted Sep 25 2008, 11:19 AM by pthurrott with 93 comment(s) Filed under: Xbox 360, Video games, Personal

• VMware Server 2.0 and VMware Workstation 6.5 RTM

  If you’re of the VMWare persuasion, you will be interested to know that the final versions of VMware Server 2.0 and VMware Workstation 6.5 are now available for download. You can find both releases on VMWare’s Download pages (Workstation | VMWare Server). Thanks to Yogesh S. for the tip! Posted Sep 24 2008, 05:41 PM by pthurrott with 5 comment(s) Filed under: Virtualization

• STAR WARS The Force Unleashed ... for the iPhone??

  So I’ve begun playing STAR WARS The Force Unleashed on the Xbox 360 and will review it soon, hopefully. But I noticed the other day that there was a version of the game for the iPhone and, since I’m an idiot STAR WARS fan, I thought, what the heck. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting much. (The Xbox 360 game, so far, seems average. But it nicely advances the STAR WARS storyline in excellent fashion.) Well, go figure, but this game is pretty amazing. The graphics are excellent. It actually supports the accelerometer fully, so you can play it in either portrait or landscape mode, your choice, and you can switch on the fly at any time. Obviously, the game can’t duplicate the full game play of the console versions. But I like what they’ve done. Essentially, you use certain finger swipes across the screen to control various Force powers. It’s decent, and it’s a neat example of fitting an existing title into the form factor and processing restrictions of a very different platform. In some ways, it’s quite a bit more impressive than the console version. Here are a few shots.       OK, I realize these are just introductory screens. But seriously. I’d love to see someone try that on a Windows Mobile device. It’s pretty impressive. Posted Sep 24 2008, 12:27 PM by pthurrott with 52 comment(s) Filed under: iPhone, Video games

• Microsoft actually updates Ultimate Extras (Updated)

  It must be a full moon or something because Microsoft actually updated Windows Vista Ultimate Extras today for the first time in, well, forever. There are three updates: Microsoft Tinker – A new game Ultimate Extra Sounds from Microsoft Tinker – A new sound theme based on the game Windows DreamScape Content Pack #4 – Three new animated backgrounds I’ll be back in a second when I know what this junk is. :) But my guess is, yeah, it’s junk. Update: Tinker is a game. Here’s a shot:   And if the game isn’t lame enough, that DreamScape content pack includes three almost identical backgrounds. Geesh. They look like this: OK, everyone. Back to sleep. :) Sorry about that. Posted Sep 23 2008, 04:52 PM by pthurrott with 56 comment(s) Filed under: Vista

• How to set up a new PC in one easy session

  Ed Bott takes on the task of starting off fresh with a new PC and, always, offers up some great advice. This is one to file away for that eventual do-over. Over the years, I’ve done this process dozens of times for business clients, family members, friends, and neighbors. I’ve got the process down to a series of checklists, all built around some core principles. First, this is a great opportunity to get rid of clutter and get a fresh start. Second, the best way to transfer data from the old machine to the new one is by physically attaching the old hard drive to the new PC. And finally, spending time upfront figuring out what needs to be transferred and what doesn’t can save hours of time and headaches later. Trying to do large-scale data transfers with USB flash drives and cables can be problematic, especially on old, slow, problem-plagued machines. Why spend hours moving tens or hundreds of gigabytes of data from the old machine to a USB drive only to have to do it again with the new PC? Skip the two-step and do what I do: bring along a SATA/IDE-to-USB converter. Newegg sells Syba’s version of this device for around $20 including shipping. I own a couple and can recommend them without hesitation. An external power supply feeds the DC connector on the drive, and a two-headed adapter lets you connect any SATA or IDE drive directly to a USB port on the new PC. While the contents of the old computer are transferring to a folder on the new PC, you can tackle other tasks. That tidbit alone is worth the price of admission. Good stuff! ... This [entire process] rarely takes more than a few hours, and when I’m done the client has usually learned some important skills along the way, making it more likely that they’ll be able to steer clear of trouble in the future. Exactly. Anyone who makes more of this is just wasting their time. I have to continually re-install PCs because of all the testing I do, and while certain tasks (installing Windows, apps) do take some time, that’s not something a typical user will do very often. This isn’t as painful as people make it out to be. Posted Sep 23 2008, 10:57 AM by pthurrott with 45 comment(s) Filed under: XP, Vista, Commentary, Hardware

• Microsoft announces PDC details

  PDC 2008 is going to be awesome. The latest example of why comes courtesy of Microsoft’s Channel 9, which notes that PDC attendees are getting a 160 GB hard drive full of software: Okay, okay, maybe we’ve been a little too tight lipped about what we’re going to announce at the PDC this year.  We’ve dropped a few hints with some of our recent guests on the show, but folks want to hear more. What news will we have around the Live Mesh application platform and associated services?  What about the future of the client platform, including .NET and Silverlight?  And how is our services platform relevant to enterprises and ISVs who cater to enterprises?  And what about Windows 7?!?  Watch this video and get some really big clues. Plus……we’re announcing the very special gift that all PDC attendees will receive:  a 160GB external USB2 hard drive with all of the bits!  Could “The Goods” get any cooler?  They just did! His comments in the video echo comments I made recently in Windows Weekly, that this PDC is really about Live Mesh (i.e. “Software + Services”) and not about Windows 7, though of course whatever Windows 7 announcements they make at the show will be the big news. Here’s some other info from the video: Ray Ozzie “and crew” are going to surprise people (“including bloggers and tech reporters”) with some announcements Microsoft will announce a comprehensive services platform, “big, paradigm-shifting news” Windows 7 will be well-represented with over 20 “deep technical, architectural, and strategic sessions” Tools (presumably Visual Studio v. Next) for developing software but also solutions based on this new services platform The size of that hard drive suggests that Microsoft will be providing virtual machines of the Windows 7 build, but the host of the video does say, “you can install it on your laptop, or install it in a virtual pc,” suggesting that normal installs will be possible as well. Looking good. I can’t wait. Posted Sep 23 2008, 10:52 AM by pthurrott with 11 comment(s) Filed under: Windows 7, Windows Live, Travel and events, Cloud computing, Developer

• Microsoft Phone Data Manager Beta

  Now, this looks interesting. It’s unclear what this is, sort of, as it’s apparently separate from all the Windows Live stuff going on right now. But still … could be important. Microsoft Phone Data Manager Beta is an application that is designed to take away the worry of losing data on your phone - specifically contacts, music, pictures and videos. It does that by synchronizing your phone contacts with Microsoft's Windows Live Contacts store in the cloud, or by helping you download files from the phone to your local computer. Contacts: Microsoft Phone Data Manager Beta synchronizes the contacts present in your phone with your contact store on Windows Live Contacts, which is the same store that your Hotmail contacts uses. This way, your phone contacts are always present on the internet, accessible via the contacts link on Hotmail. If you lose, or simply change your phone, all you need to do is to synchronize the contacts using Microsoft Phone Data Manager Beta, and all the contacts that you stored in your Windows Live Contacts store will be downloaded to your phone. You can synchronize your contacts as many times as you like so that the changes you make (edits, additions or deletions) on your phone, or on the computer on Windows Live Contacts are always reflected on both your phone and the Windows Live Contacts store. Music, Pictures and Video: In its current form, Microsoft Phone Data Manager Beta will download the music, pictures and videos present in your phone to a local folder on the computer you are using this application on Communication with your phone: Microsoft Phone Data Manager Beta can communicate with your phone via a wireless standard known as Bluetooth, or via a USB cable. In order for you to synchronize contacts, you will need to have a Windows Live ID (any Hotmail ID is a valid Windows Live ID). If you do not have one, you will be prompted to create one while you use the application. Thanks Rafael. Posted Sep 22 2008, 09:10 PM by pthurrott with 22 comment(s) Filed under: Windows Live, Cloud computing