Winner of $100,000 Microsoft Office Live Workspace Sweepstakes Selected

The Microsoft Office Live Workspace team presented David Austin with his $100,000 grand prize today, as part of the Office Live Workspace sweepstakes that kicked off when the service launched on March 3, 2008. Participants entered for a chance to win by signing up for their own Workspace, and earned up to two bonus entries for uploading their first document to their Office Live Workspace account and the first time they shared a document or Workspace with others. The winner could choose to use the grand prize to fund a favorite charity, an education or build a business.

Read More at Microsoft.

Microsoft Released - Windows Feature Comparison (XP vs Vista)

No more wondering about what new features Vista SP1 got. Microsoft just released the Windows Feature Comparison (The White Paper). It is a pdf file which helps you to compare the features of Windows OS. You can check the capabilities of Windows XP with SP3 and Windows Vista with SP1. Capabilities like security, management, deployment, mobility, and productivity.

Download

Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 SP1 Now Available to Download

Microsoft just releases the Virtual PC 2007 SP1 and is now available to download for free. Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 lets you run multiple operating systems on a single machine. You can switch between virtual machines with one click. Use virtual machines to run legacy applications, provide support, train users, and enhance quality assurance.

The Virtual PC requires a 400 MHz Pentium-compatible processor (1.0 GHz or faster recommended), and requires approximately 35 MB of disk space.This Virtual PC runs on Windows Vista Business, Windows Vista Enterprise, Windows Vista Ultimate, Windows XP Professional, or Windows XP Tablet PC Edition, Windows Vista SP1 (Enterprise, Business, Ultimate), Windows XP SP3.

via: WinBeta

Microsoft Released another Version of Windows XP SP3

Microsoft on Tuesday released another version of Windows XP Service Pack 3, but the software remains in the testing phase.

"Windows XP SP3 RC2 Refresh was made publicly available today via Microsoft Download Center," Microsoft said in a statement. "We've made this release candidate available in order to receive further user feedback prior to the release of Windows XP SP3."

[via: CNET]

Download Windows Vista SP1 Product Guide

A comprehensive feature-by-feature guide to Windows Vista with Service Pack 1. With contributions from people who actually worked on the product, this is the definitive resource to learn about Windows Vista. The Windows Vista Product Guide is available in XPS and PDF formats.

Download the product guide in the file format of your choice. It is available as an XPS (25.0MB) or PDF (18.9MB). If you want to use XPS format you will need to install the XPS reader first (which is included in Windows Vista)

Download Windows Vista SP1 Product Guide [via Winbeta]

Windows Vista SP1 available to Download

Today, Microsoft has released the Service Pack 1 for Windows Vista. You can download standalone installers for x86 and x64 systems. Both updates will be in 5 languages English, French, Spanish, German, and Japanese.

For those people who happy to wait - The SP1 will start arriving to their PCs automatically in mid-April. The second release of Windows Vista SP1 will be available in the remaining 31 languages. The second release of Windows Vista SP1 is scheduled for later in April.

What Microsoft say about this release -

"Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) is an update to Windows Vista that addresses feedback from our customers. In addition to previously released updates, SP1 will contain changes focused on addressing specific reliability, performance, and compatibility issues; supporting new types of hardware; and adding support for several emerging standards. SP1 also will continue to make it easier for IT administrators to deploy and manage Windows Vista."

Download: Windows Vista SP1 Five Language Standalone (x86) (x64)

Blue Screen Of Death screensaver from Microsoft

photo by blue98xp

What is BSoD

BSoD - Blue Screen Of Death is a error screen, totally blue colored. This screen pop-ups on an NT system whenever something has gone terribly wrong. That's why people say One of the most feared colors in the NT world is blue.

Bluescreen is a screen saver by Microsoft that not only authentically mimics a BSOD, but will simulate startup screens seen during a system boot. Virtually all the information shown on Bluescreen's BSOD and system start screen is obtained from your system configuration - its accuracy will fool even advanced NT developers.

This Bluescreen runs on Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 and Windows 9x (it requires DirectX).

So, use Bluescreen to amaze your friends and scare your enemies!

Download Bluescreen

Internet Explorer 8 is available to Download

Microsoft has released the public beta of their next-generation browser Internet Explorer 8. On this release Chris Wilson, IE Platform Architect says

This release contains some great advances in Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and layout, programming model, performance, reliability, usability and service integration. We are eager to ensure that the transition to Internet Explorer 8 is seamless for you and your audience, and to give you a head start on using many of the new features with your sites and services. We encourage you to test your sites and services, and our platform implementation, and give us feedback!"

The beta is now publicly available for download.

Download Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1

Click on the above link, choose your operating system and that's it.

IE8 supports Microsoft Windows Vista^® Service Pack 1 (SP1), Windows Vista, Windows XP^® Service Pack 2 (SP2), Windows Server^® 2008 and Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2 (SP2).

Here is the screenshot of Digital Passion on IE8 Beta 1

Websites doesn't appear accurate, nearly all websites has some problem with it. In the above Digital Passion screenshot, you can see the search box is not appearing properly and the bottom of this site is also missed its background.

The Internet Explorer Crashes so much when I try to open my blog, but the new feature Automatic crash recovery recovers it immediately. It stops loading my blog. If you face any problems handling Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1, If you handled it, share your experience with us.

I will be in touch with you about latest release of Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1.

Windows Live Messenger Library Beta Released!

 

The Windows Live Messenger Library is a JavaScript client library which allows third parties to securely provide web based instant messaging to their users. Developers can build presence-enabled instant messaging applications that web site visitors can use to interact with each other as well as with Windows Live Messenger client users. They can define the look & feel to create their own IM experience.

The Windows Live Messenger Library securely authenticates users, therefore their Windows Live ID credentials are safe.The library exposes the core text-based messaging functionality, contact list and presence management. WLML works cross browser and cross platform on Windows and Macs.

Key Takeaways

• End Users can now interact and share experiences with their Messenger contacts in more places (more securely than other libraries).
• ThirdParty.com can increase stickiness by delivering immersive, differentiated experiences and can increase reach by leveraging their user’s social relationships from Windows Live Messenger.
• Developers can use JavaScript (which they already know) or C# (via Script#) to fully define the messaging experience cross-browser without needing to develop their own messaging platform.
• Microsoft can increase the overall value of the Windows Live network and provide a safer alternative to rogue web Messenger libraries.

Vista SP1 accidentally released yesterday

ZDNet reports, Yesterday some people got a surprise - Windows Vista SP1 coming down the Windows Update pipes. Turns out someone at Microsoft flipped the wrong switch.

..Today, a build of SP1 was posted to Windows Update and it was inadvertently made available to a broad group. The build was intended only for our more technically advanced testers, and was meant to only be offered to those with a specific registry key set on their PC. For general availability, we are still planning to make SP1 broadly available in the mid-March timeframe.

To get Vista SP1 you have to wait until mid-March. You were lucky if you got it in yesterdays accidental release.

Microsoft launches Wireless Laser Mouse 6000 and 7000

Microsoft just announced a new pair of Wireless Laser Mouse 6000 and 7000. The new 6000 wireless mouse offers 2.4 GHz wireless technology with up to 30-foot range. The Wireless Laser Mouse 7000 sacrifices a bit of portability for a rechargeable batteries -- with a horizontal charging dock to host the mouse when times are rough and juice is scarce.

Both mice include Microsoft's HD Lasers and a few Vista-friendly buttons. You can pick them up in March for $50 and $70, respectively.

Source: engadget