Huge Windows Error In London [pics]

as reported on MacFormat

Canadian reseller to hawk unlocked iPhones

“…Canadian reseller Puremobile, a firm that specializes in selling iPhones not available for sale in Canada, has announced plans to peddle unlocked iPhones in that will work on the Rogers Wireless network, apparently with the full, welcome blessing of the latter. The company says it has partnered with George Hotz, the 17-year-old hacker who initially posted an unlock process for the device, so that it works natively on Rogers Wireless and Fido cellular networks.” Read the full article on MacNN

A glance at Puremobile’s website shows that the price for an unlocked iPhone in Canada is a completely absurd $3,000 (So much for that.)

Microsoft Still a Monopoly, 7 State Attorneys Say

“…Seven states are pushing back against the Department of Justice’s assessment that the landmark antitrust settlement between the United States and Microsoft has removed the anticompetitive obstacles created by the software maker and resulted in more competition in the middleware market. In fact, according to attorneys for California, Connecticut, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, the commonwealth of Massachusetts and the District of Columbia, known as the “California Group” of plaintiffs, “Microsoft’s market power remains undiminished and … key provisions of the final judgment-those relating to middleware- have had little or no competitively significant impact.” Read the full article.

Opinion: What’s wrong with Mac OS X?

“…Paul Venezia bamboozled me into buying a MacBook Pro back in January, and I’ve been using it semi-daily ever since. And yeah, overall, I’ve been pretty happy. Of course, the only reason I was willing to buy one at all was because Parallels made it so easy to run Windows. But while my initial usage ratio was 85% Parallels, 15% OS X, over the past six months, that’s changed dramatically to 45% Parallels, 55% OS X. Yup, the Orchard does slowly assimilate you.” Read the full article.

Yelvington: I hate Windows Vista

…She managed to find Google, run a search for Firefox, and click on all the right link to make the download happen. But Vista won’t let her install it, popping up an alert that it’s not digitally signed by Microsoft.

Signed by Microsoft?

As has been noted, that’s not security. It’s business terrorism — frightening the user in order to protect Microsoft’s business interests. Read more.

Migrating to a new Mac – say hello to a Mac Switcher

Other than needing to install keyboard and mouse drivers for my (gasp) Microsoft keyboard and mouse, I have yet to find anything that doesn’t just work. I’d like to accuse all you long-time Mac types of keeping this secret from Windows users, but the truth is that you have been telling us, and we haven’t wanted to hear it. My biggest fear when getting my first Mac was that I didn’t want to become an elitist Mac snob – they drove me crazy. But now I realize it’s not their fault; when your computing platform is so noticeably better than Windows, it’s hard not to get a bit full of yourself. Read the full post on TUAW.

Windows Authentification meltdown raises doubts about MS reliability

The 19-hour blackout of the Microsoft Corp. servers that identify copies of Windows XP and Vista as legitimate or counterfeit shows that serious flaws exist in the process and raises questions about the reliability of Microsoft’s services, analysts said Monday. Read more.

Vista equals Edsel?

Imagine that you make cars. You are the biggest automaker in the world and you more or less own the market, particularly the corporate fleet segment. Because almost everyone has one of your cars, if you want them to keep paying you money you have to come up with a better car. The answer, you think, is not to improve what you have but to spend a huge amount of money and time and roll out a new design. This design is based on the previous design (it still carries people and goods around) but it has a new dashboard layout, new tire design, new door mechanisms — pretty much everything has been upgraded or at least tweaked. You ramp up production and sell, sell, sell. This is the way forward, the future of your company. Read more.

Partners “Fix Up” Office 2007 and Windows Vista

Microsoft flagship products feature new user interface elements so innovative that other developers have introduced products to undo the changes. Read more.

Gabe Newell: DirectX 10 for Vista was a mistake

Gabe Newell, president of Valve Software, said that Microsoft made a terrible mistake releasing DirectX 10 for Vista only and excluding Windows XP. He said this decision affected the whole industry as so far only a very small percentage of players can use DirectX 10. Read more.

Bill Gates Raves about the Mac (1984)

Back when Macs were new and Windows hadn’t been invented made by Microsoft yet, Bill Gates was interviewed at length about his thoughts on Macs. What did Bill have to say about them? You’d be surprised.

It’s kinda like those old razor ads that had the president stating: “I liked them so much I bought them company” but without the buying the company part. Read more.

Bonus: Video Clip

Microsoft Responds to Vista’s Audio/Network Slowdown Problem

Microsoft has responded to the discovery of Network Slowdown in Vista while playing music.

“Please note that some of what we are seeing is expected behavior, and some of it is not.  In certain circumstances Windows Vista will trade off network performance in order to improve multimedia playback.  This is by design.”

Apparently they believe an almost 90% drop in networking performance is ’slight,’ only affects reception of data, and that this performance trade-off is necessary to simply play an MP3.”

I feel better now. Don’t you? Read more. [via Slashdot]

Microsoft’s Windows Genuine Advantage System Craps out.

On the Windows Genuine forums, frustrated users are reporting that their non-pirated copies of Windows are being marked as “non-genuine.” They are encountering problems when attempting to download patches, fixes and other software that requires a WGA check before the download is permitted. So far, the only seemingly official response from Microsoft was relayed by “Doug in Singapore,” who posted the following note in the Forums:  “I’m sorry to inform you that the Windows Genuine server might be down for a few days. I have escalated the issue to our Genuine team, kindly try to validate again on Tuesday 28 Aug 2007. Thank you for contacting Microsoft Technical Support.” Read more.

Vista: “You’re Not Genuine Enough.”

The U.S. software piracy rate—according to Business Software Alliance, some analyst studies and Microsoft data—is less than 25 percent. Presumably, the percentage is much lower for Windows, since most people obtain the software on new PCs. For argument’s sake, let’s say the U.S. Windows piracy rate is around 20 percent (and I think that number is too high). That would mean Microsoft penalizes eight out of 10 users by assuming everyone is a crook. The presumption of the check is guilt—otherwise why validate? Read more.

PC Mag Editor Throws in the Towel on Vista

Maybe it was something in the water? I’ve been a big proponent of the new OS over the past few months, even going so far as loading it onto most of my computers and spending hours tweaking and optimizing it. So why, nine months after launch, am I so frustrated? The litany of what doesn’t work and what still frustrates me stretches on endlessly.

I could go on and on about the lack of drivers, the bizarre wake-up rituals, the strange and nonreproducible system quirks, and more. But I won’t bore you with the details. The upshot is that even after nine months, Vista just ain’t cutting it. I definitely gave Microsoft too much of a free pass on this operating system: I expected it to get the kinks worked out more quickly. Boy, was I fooled! If Microsoft can’t get Vista working, I might just do the unthinkable: I might move to Linux.

read more | digg story

Vista Error [pic]

iPhone unlocked! (Rest of the world rejoices.)

It’s high noon, Apple and AT&T — we really hate to break it to you, but the jig is up. Last night the impossible was made possible: right in front of our very eyes we witnessed a full SIM unlock of our iPhone with a small piece of software. It’s all over, guys. Read more.

20+ Windows Vista Features and Services Harvest User Data for Microsoft

Are you using Windows Vista? Then you might as well know that the licensed operating system installed on your machine is harvesting a healthy volume of information for Microsoft. In this context, a program such as the Windows Genuine Advantage is the last of your concerns. In fact, in excess of 20 Windows Vista features and services are hard at work collecting and transmitting your personal data to the Redmond company.  Microsoft makes no secret about the fact that Windows Vista is gathering information. End users have little to say, and no real choice in the matter. The company does provide both a Windows Vista Privacy Statement and references within the End User License Agreement for the operating system. Combined, the resources paint the big picture over the extent of Microsoft’s end user data harvest via Vista. Read more.

Music Slows Vista Network Performance?

Over the months since Vista’s release, there has been no doubt about the reduced level of network performance experienced compared to Windows XP. However, some users over at the 2CPU forums have discovered an unexplained connection with audio playback resulting in a cap at approximately 5%-10% of total network throughput. Whenever any audio is being sent to a sound card (even, several users report, while paused), network performance is instantly reduced. As soon as the audio is stopped, the throughput begins to climb to its expected speed. It’s a tough one for users – what do you pick, sound or speed? So much for multi-tasking.” Read more. [via Slashdot]

Apple Polishes Spreadsheets With Numbers

Macworld says that iWork ’08’s Numbers changes the spreadsheet paradigm. Mac guy Merlin Mann says Numbers is like the Excel librarian who ditches her horn-rims, opens a button and shakes her hair. We decided to give Numbers a test-drive ourselves to see if it really deserves all the praise. In fact, while Numbers isn’t a revelation, it does for spreadsheets what the iPod did for MP3 players. Read more.

Apple seeing “unprecedented” surge in MacBook demand

An early August study that canvassed 3,665 of the financial research group’s existing members’ buying habits has revealed that nearly one sixth, or 17 percent, of respondents who had bought a notebook in the past three months had chosen one of Apple’s MacBook or MacBook Pro models. The gain was an “unprecedented” jump from 12 percent in June and eclipsed the Mac maker’s previous record of 15 percent set in January. Read more.

Microsoft Releases MSN Messenger for Mac v6.0.3

Messenger for Mac 6.0.3 makes it easy to take advantage of the full power of instant messaging, and it is a Universal application built to run on both PowerPC-based and Intel-based Macs. Read more.

If Not Vista Enterprise, Then What?

I had wondered if the steep cost of Software Assurance would drive some businesses to adopt Linux or even Mac OS X as alternatives. Vista Enterprise includes crucial networking and security features not available in Vista Home, Premium or Business versions. Additionally, essential Vista deployments are now only available through Software Assurance.  Read more.

17.6 percent of all laptops sold are Macs

While they’re only the third strongest seller of computers in general, nearly one out of five laptops out there have that signature Apple logo riding the back of the display. When you think about it, Apple’s laptop offerings are, dare I say, quite common. It’s also an homage to the masterful transition to Intel chips. Where would Apple’s laptop business be if PowerPC chips still powered them? In the toilet. Read more.

Does Microsoft Game Studios not trust the Windows API?

Microsoft Game Studios‘ Combat Flight Simulator 3 (CFS3) does not in general run properly on dual core computers running XP or Vista. The reason appears to be that the code by-passes the functionality in the Windows Application Programming Interface (API) for sharing out processing tasks between CPUs. In my case it was a little known AMD utility that saved the day. Read more.

Can Vista SP1 help polish Vista’s tarnished image?

Call it complaining. Call it whining. The end result is the same: Windows Vista’s image is tarnished. And it’s corroding more and more rapidly as the weeks are going on. Microsoft has dismissed much of the Vista criticisms as coming from hard-core and hard-to-satisfy techies who always want more and better. But even some of Microsoft’s biggest customers and closest developers are going public with their reasons why a number of things in Vista that are just plain bad. And these are people who have been working with Vista builds for years, not those feeling panicked when confronted with the new and unfamiliar. Read more.

Install uTorrent (and other Windows apps) on a Mac

The popular BitTorrent application uTorrent may be Windows-only at the moment, but weblog Simplehelp has a step-by-step guide for installing uTorrent in OS X using freeware application Darwine (the Mac port of the Wine project). The guide walks through what’s actually a very simple process, and when you’re finished you should be able to use uTorrent for all of your BitTorrent downloads. Read more.

USA Today: New iMacs Mac-nificent

Apple’s svelte iMac computers always turn heads. But I’m also smitten with the Mac’s rock solid OS X operating system and top-shelf iLife software suite — programs that tame pictures, videos and more. Last week, Apple (AAPL) unveiled beautiful new iMac models. And it introduced the iLife ‘08 lineup that is preloaded free on those machines (or sold separately for $79). Apple trotted out the new computers and software a mere two months or so before releasing the next version of OS X, dubbed Leopard. Read more.

A Security Switcher Story

I got a shocker yesterday. My wife’s die-hard, Windows-using relatives are going Mac. Security is the reason. The relatives had it with Windows security, a situation that is really too bad. They never had a chance to see if computing life could have been better beyond Windows 98. The family has replaced both Windows 98 PCs with a Mac mini. The dad said that he was sick of Windows security problems—and he expressed his dissatisfaction with quite a bit of venom. Apple released Mac mini with Windows switchers in mind—a low-cost alternative for which they could use their keyboard, mouse and monitor. The family is virus-free since switching the main family computer to the Mac. But Windows still has a foothold. Read more.

Networking a Windows XP PC and Mac

Mac OS X or Windows? Nothing gets a flame war going faster than that old debate. But these days, many people are using both of those operating systems on a network. Maybe you have a Windows PC in the home office, but you’ve got an iMac for video editing and a Mac Mini for serving digital media in your living room. One big happy family? Hardly – Macs and Windows PCs can’t see each other on a network right out of the box, preventing you from sharing documents, photos, videos, music and even printers among your flock of computers. Luckily, the ability to share files among all of your computers on your home network is well within reach. Read more.

iMacs Quantities. Selling too well in U.S. for other Countries?

It seems that some Canadian retailers recieved word from Apple yesterday not to expect any new Mac hardware until October. A store manager for London Drugs – One of Canada’s largest authorized Apple retailers had this to say:

Vista Blue: A User’s Frustrations.

I’ve spent about 15 hours trying to install a $100 Vista “upgrade” on two different machines. If I spend 2 more hours, I would have been better off working at McDonald’s for $7 per hour and throwing this crap out. Read more.

Editor’s note: Doesn’t Bill Gates own McDonalds?

Forrester: Businesses still saying no to Vista

Software incompatibility, the need for hardware upgrades, and comfort with existing versions of Microsoft Windows are all causing businesses that once planned to roll out Windows Vista as fast as consumers to put off their deployments, according to Forrester Research. According to a report published last week and publicly released on Tuesday, Forrester says “most” of the 45 IT managers it spoke to this spring are waiting for the release of Vista Service Pack 1 early next year before starting to “seriously consider” upgrading to Vista. Read more.

Off Topic: Bill Gates and McDonalds

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates disclosed on Tuesday his foundation holds stakes in McDonald’s Corp. The filing revealed that the trust holds 740,000 shares of McDonald’s, the world’s biggest restaurant company. While this isn’t really relevant to computers. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to use this All your base picture. Read more.

Review: Microsoft Outlook to Mac Tool

Michael Kaye at SwitchingToMac.Com has posted a review of an inexpensive little utility designed to migrate your PC’s MS-Office content (mail, calenders, contacts, etc.) over to a Mac. Definately something you’ll want to do if your new work machine is a Mac. Read more.

ATI + Vista = Insecurity

It’s bad enough that there aren’t enough Vista drivers for all peripherals. Now, having some of those drivers is worse. Apparently, preinstalled ATI drivers can open the Vista kernel to arbitrary memory writes. The problem isn’t limited to 32-bit Windows Vista, but also affects the 64-bit version, which kernel is supposed to sacrosanct. The buggy ATI [driver], while signed, is flawed in such a way that criminals or hackers could load unsigned drivers directly to the kernel Read more.

MacOffice Supports Office 2007 Formats

Mac Office announced the immediate availability of MacOffice Professional on Wednesday. MacOffice Professional is a business suite for Mac OS X that is compatible with Microsoft Office, and supports the new file formats used in Office 2007 for Windows. It includes tools for word processing, spreadsheet, presentations, relational database development, equation editing, charting and drawing. It also supports converting PowerPoint-compatible presentations into Flash .SWF files. Read more.

Apple’s Mac Set to Soar

When we do, eventually, look back—and a decade or so from now, we will—we’ll try to pinpoint the moment when Apple’s Macintosh and OS X began to pick up significant steam. Was it when OS X first launched, or the arrival of the first all-in-one, flat-panel iMac? Perhaps it was the moment when Apple chose Intel (and maybe Intel chose Apple)? Maybe it was the lackluster launch and sales performance of the Microsoft Windows Vista operating system? I’d say all of these elements share credit (some might say blame). In fact, it’s the confluence of these and other events that make this the perfect time for Apple’s market share to creep up past 10 percent to 15 and then 20 and then, well, beyond. Read more.

Sun/Google and Adobe now gunning for Microsoft Office

Whether Google Docs & Spreadsheets is a full-fledged Microsoft Office competitor is up for debate. But StarOffice, Sun’s desktop-productivity suite, is definitely a head-to-head Office rival. And StarOffice distributed by Google? There’s no way anyone could claim that isn’t meant to be a direct shot across the Microsoft Office bow. Read more.

Windows Vista mail protects you from Microsoft’s phishing. [Picture]

File this one under irony. Vista’s e-mail program analyzes an e-mail from Microsoft and warns the recipient that the sender (Microsoft) is attempting what is known as a phishing scam. Have a look.

John Dvorak : Striking Out with Live.com

…So what is the point of this crummy product? Is it done just because Google has something like it (albeit the Google version seems more adult and useful)? The problem I’m seeing with a lot of these new ideas from Microsoft is that they are indeed simpler, but they lack power to the point that they are useless. Building products that are simple to use but useless is not a good formula for success, yet it seems to be the mantra at Microsoft. Read more.

Vista Prevents Users Playing High-Def Content

Content protection features in Windows Vista are preventing customers from playing high-quality video and audio and harming system performance, even as Microsoft neglects security programs that could protect users, computer researcher Peter Gutmann argued at the USENIX Security Symposium in Boston Wednesday. “If there was any threat modeling at all, it was really badly done,” Read more.

Apple Beats Microsoft at its Own Open XML Game

Apple Inc.’s release of iWork ‘08 this week is “embarrassing,” an analyst said Friday, not for its maker, but for Apple’s rival, Microsoft Corp. Tuesday, Apple rolled out a refreshed iWork that added a spreadsheet, dubbed Numbers, to the earlier mix of a word processor/page layout Pages and presentation maker Keynote. But it was iWork’s ability to handle the Open XML file format — the new native format for Microsoft’s own Office 2007 application suite — that Michael Gartenberg of JupiterResearch talked about. Read more.

Corporations Eye iMacs

While Apple hopes its revamped iMac desktop line will continue to grow the company’s consumer computer business, it may be indirectly making inroads into the enterprise space. Read more.

Vista Capable of Misleading Customers

I can think of many reasons not to buy Vista, but why should I? After all, Microsoft has been doing a great job of that all by itself. Take, for example, the fact that U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman just ruled that a proposed class action lawsuit accusing Microsoft of what amounts to deceptive advertising can go forward. And what does it say Microsoft did that was deceptive, you ask? Read more.

Broken Windows

Not since Windows ME or Mac OS X 10.0 have I observed a more troubled consumer operating system. This is a difficult post to write, because I really don’t want to beat on Microsoft about Vista yet again. But yesterday’s continuation of the Windows Vista Capable lawsuit and several conversations I had today are reasons to look at what Microsoft got wrong and why the company should make things right. Simply put: Windows Vista is a train wreck, but it didn’t have to be. Unfortunately, my “Wow” moment was accepting Windows Vista for what it is. Read more.

Top 5 Things About Windows Vista That Still Suck

Is Vista the operating system you love to hate, or the one you hate to love? Those conflicting thoughts surfaced as I followed Ed Bott’s provocative post on whether Vista scare stories are distorting user perceptions. My take: Vista wouldn’t be my primary OS if I didn’t really like it, but it’s still got issues. Five in particular stick in my craw. Here they are: Read more.

Olympics organizers reject Windows Vista

The organizers of the 2008 Olympic Games have snubbed Windows Vista in favour of Windows XP, while wireless networking won’t even play a supporting role in at the event in Beijing. The Olympic Games require mature, stable technologies, said Yang Yuanqing, chairman of Lenovo, during a briefing in Beijing. The Olympic Games aren’t a place to try new technologies due to the size and importance of the event, he said. Everything must work smoothly. “If it’s not stable, it could have some problems,” he said.  Read more.

SwitchingToMac.Com: Getting your PC Files over to your Mac

If you’re making the switch from PC to Mac then one thing is for sure, you’re going to need to move your PC Files and Documents over to your new Mac at some point. The good news is that in almost all cases the same files that work with you PC programs will usually work with the Mac equivalent Applications. Read more.

Apple to sell record 2 million Macs this quarter, says firm

“Updated iMacs further affirm our outlook for stronger Mac/iPhone momentum [over the next two quarters], based on forecasts from RBC’s Technology Adoption Panel, with 2.0 million Macs expected [during the current September quarter],” lead analyst Mike Abramsky told clients in a research note Wednesday. For Apple, such sales would represent a more than two-fold increase in fiscal fourth quarter Mac sales over the same period just three years ago. During the September quarter of 2004, the Cupertino-based firm managed to sell just over 800,000 systems, which pales in comparison its current momentum in the PC business. Read more.