Archive for Software
Oct
17
Snow Leopard Beats Windows 7 In Almost Every Count on Mac Hardware
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CNET has spent some time testing 64-bit Windows 7 and Snow Leopard on a MacBook Pro, currently the only machine that officially supports both of them natively. Snow Leopard wins in all accounts except one: Gaming. Of course, you can argue that Windows is not as optimized as Mac OS X in that machine. On the other side, Apple’s Intel-based hardware is really not that special. This shows in the gaming test, where Call of Duty 4 squeezes 5 more frames per second in Windows 7:
In other tests, however, Snow Leopard consistently beats Windows 7 running on this machine. Especially painful is the battery life test:
This one, however, can really be attributed to bad drivers, since the author of the tests says that he “was able to get just around an hour and a half with Windows 7 with general usage on the same machine” running Boot Camp 2.1 instead of the 3.0 version he used for the test.
Oct
17
Windows 7: 64 Bit. Windows 8? Try 128 Bit
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We’re big on 64-bit OSes, ’cause ours computers eat memory like this Obama eats children’s dreams, but Microsoft’s thinking about going 128 bit as soon as Windows 8, and most definitely by Windows 9.
That’s the scoop gleaned off the LinkIn Profile for Robert Morgan, Senior Research & Development at Microsoft, anyway:
Working in high security department for research and development involving strategic planning for medium and longterm projects. Research & Development projects including 128bit architecture compatibility with the Windows 8 kernel and Windows 9 project plan. Forming relationships with major partners: Intel, AMD, HP, and IBM.
Robert Morgan is working to get IA-128 working backwards with full binary compatibility on the existing IA-64 instructions in the hardware simulation to work for Windows 8 and definitely Windows 9.
Ars has a ton more super-nerdy tidbits about what’s possible in Windows 8 that’s worth checking out, if you’re a supernerd, anyway.
Aug
21
Run Windows 7 Without Activating It For 4 Months
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Say you’ve bought a legit copy of Windows 7, but you don’t want to enter that activation code. A common situation! Well, there’s a simple trick for extending that free limbo period for four months. All you’ve got to do is enter “slmgr -rearm” into the command prompt at the end of every 30 day period, and you’re set. You can do it three times, extending the whole deal to 120 days. The same trick worked on Vista, and it’s nice to see Microsoft allowing the little trick to keep working on 7. You know, for those of us who hate entering activation codes.
Aug
11
The Real Cost of Upgrading to Windows 7
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The good news is that upgrading to Windows 7 is going to be cheaper than previous Windows releases—but before you buy, you better check your situation and plan the right move, money-wise.
You may have a few questions: Am I eligible for a cheap upgrade? How about a free upgrade? What’s this about family packs? Should I be shopping for a new computer? Not to worry, will help clear things up. First, let’s start with the basics.
Aug
06
Official Windows 7 Upgrade Chart Is Ridiculous
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This is seriously Microsoft’s Windows 7 upgrade chart, and it’s ridiculous. It manages to highlight the insanity of shipping multiple OS versions while totally minimizing the good news: most Vista users will be able to upgrade in place to the corresponding 32- or 64-bit version of 7. That should cover the vast majority of people running Vista, but if you’re still on XP or you’re trying to do anything out of the ordinary you’d better get ready for some pain: all those ominous blue boxes require you to back up, wipe your drive, and reinstall a totally clean copy of 7. You heard that right — the Windows 7 installer won’t even try to retain your data and programs if you’re not updating from the corresponding version of Vista. Pretty lame move, considering Microsoft is currently selling millions of copies of XP on netbooks and will sell XP downgrades until 2011 — sure, we get that most netbook owners aren’t going to spring for 7, but it’s insane that you can’t just pop in a disc and upgrade. Of course, now that 7’s been released to manufacturing and the final bits are available there’s not much to be done, so let’s all just take a moment to contemplate the fact that Ed Bott at ZDNet managed to totally outdo Redmond’s infographics people with a much friendlier chart with “about an hour” of work — check it below.
Read – Original chart at AllThingsD
Read – Ed Bott’s revised chart
Aug
05
Mac OS X 10.5.8 Now Available
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Apple’s just unleashed its latest 10.5 update on an unsuspecting (well, totally suspecting, actually) crowd, so go ahead and fire up Software Update and see if Cupertino’s left you any 10.5.8-flavored presents under the tree. We bet you didn’t expect Wednesday to be this amazingly, incredibly awesome, now, did you? Follow the break for the full changelog.
- Upgrades Safari to version 4.0.2.
- Improves the accuracy of full history search in Safari 4.
- Resolves an issue in which certain resolutions might not appear in the Display pane in System Preferences.
- Dragging an Aperture image into Automator now invokes an Aperture action instead of incorrectly invoking an iPhoto action.
- Resolves an issue that could prevent importing of large photo and movie files from digital cameras.
- Improves overall Bluetooth reliability with external devices, USB webcams and printers.
- Addresses an issue that could cause extended startup times.
- Improves iCal reliability with MobileMe Sync and CalDav.
- Addresses data reliability issues with iDisk and MobileMe.
- Improves overall reliability with AFP.
- Improves overall reliability with Managed Client.
- Improves compatibility and reliability for joining AirPort networks.
- Improves Sync Service reliability.
- Includes additional RAW image support for several third-party cameras.
- Improves compatibility with some external USB hard drives.
- Includes latest security fixes.
Jul
31
Windows 7 Family Pack Pricing Confirmed at $149
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In case you’re interested in upgrading to Win 7 (you should be, BTW), and want to get the rest of the family in on that action, know that the Windows 7 family pack will offcially cost $149.
The Family Pack upgrade will net you three copies of Home Premium edition for legal consumption—BUT WAIT…there’s more! Also know that single license upgrades from Starter to Home Premium will run you about $80, Home Premium to Professional will go for $90, and if you ACT FAST and call in the next FIVE MINUTES (just half the time it takes to upgrade!), going from Professional to Ultimate will cost $140.
These prices are all in the ballpark of what was rumored earlier in the month, though no mention has been made of a pre-release promotional discount.
Jul
29
Windows 7 Activation Already Cracked With Lenovo’s OEM License Key
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In less than a week since Windows 7 was released to manufacturing, the first crack for the Ultimate edition of the latest iteration of the Windows client is already available in the wild. The Windows 7 Build 6.1.7600.16385 Ultimate crack is capable of activating the high-end SKU of the operating system indefinitely. The product key comes from the only source possible, an OEM, as original equipment manufacturers are the first and for the time being the last group to receive the gold bits of the operating system from Microsoft. Together with the RTM development milestone of Windows 7, the Redmond company has also supplied OEM partners with activation product keys, one of which was extracted from a leaked OEM image of the platform.
Reports from various forums and websites (which I will not link to because they offer the proof-of-concept of the Windows 7 RTM Ultimate crack, along with the activation product key, which is illegal) indicate that the cracked client can bypass Windows genuine Advantage validation with no problems whatsoever. A Windows 7 Ultimate OEM DVD ISO from Lenovo has reportedly made the hack possible. Leaked on a Chinese forum, complete with the download links, the ISO allowed for hackers to grab the OEM-SLP (System-Locked Preinstallation) product key as well as the OEM certificate for Windows 7 RTM Ultimate via boot.wim.
The bypass designed for Windows 7 RTM involves abusing OEM activation 2.1, and in this regard the circumventing process is nothing more than an OEM hack. Via OEM activation 2.1, namely SLP 2.1, Microsoft allows OEMs to pre-activate Windows 7 for distribution preinstalled on new computers. In this context, the activation bypass process leading to the hacked Windows 7 RTM needs to be based on a BIOS (SLIC) hack first of all.
The procedure is by no means new. Hackers have managed to crack Windows Vista much in the same manner. In fact, the Windows 7 RTM Ultimate activation crack also relies on an OEM certificate from Windows Vista in order to function. At the time of this article hackers have made available in the wild SLIC 2.1 BIN harvested from
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computers on the market, as well as the genuine OEM certificate digitally signed by Microsoft, which automatically brings to the table the Private Key and the OEM Public Key as well as the OEMID (from SLIC in BIOS). Together with the leaked OEM SLP master product key Windows 7 can be hacked and the activation process bypassed. The result is a cracked copy of Windows 7 RTM Ultimate permanently activated.
It also seems that the crack is not limited to Lenovo machines. The activation process can also be circumvented on HP, Dell, and MSI computers according to reports. Because of the OEM product key, the crack is limited to the Ultimate edition of Windows 7 (useless for all other SKUs, Home Basic, Home Premium, Professional), but can be used on both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the operating system.
