PCIncubator aims to help you find the right parts at the right prices to build your dream PC.

We've all built a PC at some point. It's fun, isn't it? Pick our your case, the mother board, memory, GI Joe Stickers.

What?

The pain in the neck part of the process is finding the right parts that you need and not paying too much for them...or buying really crappy parts as a default because you don't want to break the bank.

The parts are all out there, the internet is vast, but PCIncubator keeps tabs on the stuff that you need, the prices that are right, and does so very nicely if we may say.

They use NewEgg which is the geek chic place to shop for parts. They also keep a price history of all items so you can wait for prices to go back down if they go up. It's kind of like shopping for airline tickets. It also gives you that Dell and Apple builder feel

Once you've picked your perfect PC parts, you can toss them all into a NewEgg cart and away you go!

Too bad that you can't get Windows XP anymore :(

Please let us know in the comments if you have found this site helpful.

July 1 will go down in history as the day that major PC manufactures can no longer sell Windows XP preinstalled. This news hasn't gone unnoticed; InfoWorld created a petition to save the aging OS.

The question is why?

Truth of the matter is that there are millions of reasons why one would want to stay with XP just like there are good reasons to upgrade to Vista. Each of them have their merits and it would be pointless to try to disprove any one of them.

But what's going to happen when its time to get another computer and the only option is Vista? Is the lack of an XP option enough to sway you to Ubuntu or OS X? According to Microsoft sales of Vista have reached 140 million copies world wide so it doesn't appear that most computer buyers mind upgrading to Vista.

But for those die hard XP users out there what are you going to do? The Grim Reaper has come for your OS.

Parallels for Mac, the crazily popular utility for Mac users to run Windows on their Apple computers in...a window has said the product's user base has hit 1,000,000 users.

That's a really nice pace for a piece of software not blessed by Mr. Jobs himself we'd say.

Right now the company's running a special where you can get 2 copies for $129. Kind of cool if you have multiple Macs around the house like a lot of you do.

Our question is this though:

Do a lot of people get Parallels and run Windows because they want to, or because they have to? Do people secretly love Windows XP (or egads Vista) but want to feel like a cool kid by having a shiny sexy Apple product?

Tell us what you think in the comments, if you're one of the 1,000,000 users of Parallels, why do you run Windows at all anymore?

Live video is all the rage with the kids these days. Some of us even hop onto the webcam. It feels like 1998 all over again. But Videoskin has tossed a wrinkle or two in there.

So you know about Camtwist, right? It is an application that lets you add effects and elements to your live video. Neato stuff. But Videoskin is more about fun and presentation and also has advanced technology that Camtwist lacks.

Videoskin lets you basically "skin" what you're showing to the web, and they've put out some free skins for you to try too.

Want to have a business meeting while in the Matrix? No problem.

The program can add a type of "blue screen" effect that removes you from the foreground and background and then tosses in some nifty animations. All on the fly.

You don't need a blue screen though. There's an intellectual algorithm that splits the video image into three parts and separates you from your environment automatically.

VideoSkin warns that the "blue screen" effect is very CPU intensive, but then says that the CPU stands idle a lot, so it shouldn't affect performance. We're not entirely sure what that means, but your experience will probably depend on what type of computer you're using.

Right now Videoskin is only available for Windows on XP or 2000. Good call, don't waste time on Vista.

Sounds super complicated to us, so let us know what your experiences are. Give it a download!

Microsoft has released Release Candidate 1 of Windows XP to it's official site. Anyone can now download this eagerly awaited update to the world's most popular operating system.

This update is sure to be a hit with consumers and professionals who have been less than enthused with Windows Vista. As we have previously covered, there is still a huge demand for Windows XP, despite the fact that it's successor has been in production for several months now.

The final release of Windows XP SP3 isn't expected until next year, but in the mean time, users who like to live on the wild side can feel free to install it now.

[Note: this is a bit of rehash from here, sorry about that!]

Jim Louderback leaves PCMag and Ziff Davis after 16 years as an editor and on his way out tells us what he really thinks of Microsoft Vista. In his words, "The litany of what doesn't work and what still frustrates me stretches on endlessly."

Need new computers for your small business but are unsure what OS to put on them? Take a hint from Dell. For a while, Dell pushed Vista but after hearing customer feedback, is now offering XP machines again. The sound and fury of Microsoft ceasing support of XP in early 2009 may make you quake in your virtual boots; however, that seems to be myth and support will continue until at least 2014. See Microsoft's Support Lifecycle Policy and their backtracking on short-support for Windows XP Home (XP Pro is in a different product category and enjoys longer support).

But what if you need machines now? Which OS can you choose and be safe?

Dell's new business machine, the Vostro line, is offered with either XP or Vista operating systems (talk about listening to your customers!). Offered for businesses who don't want Vista – or for whom Vista doesn't work with their required software applications – Vostro boasts not what is on it but what was left off: trialware. It comes with a 30-day money back guarantee with no restocking fee, a 1-year online backup system and North American telephone tech support [some features cost extra]. It sounds like someone is reading those Dell consumer surveys we fill out and good for them.

You can make your hardy XP machine Vista-like with cool cursors and enjoy the experience without upgrading. After doing a Vista Business upgrade on a pretty darned fast Windows Home machine and watching the % meter for 20 hours inch forward, I am pretty against upgrading at all; do a clean install because you're going to have to reload a bunch of software anyway (hey, Adobe/Macromedia, what IS it with Dreamweaver 8 running under Vista?).

When clients inquire about Vista (often when staff starts buying home computers with Vista and want it at work as well), we dissuade them unless the entire office moves to Vista and MS Office 2007, which is, I guess, what Microsoft wanted in the first place. For many customers, we're planning 2008-2009 tech upgrades for everything, including operating systems, office apps, and yes, server software (SBS 2007 has to come out some day!). Because many computers need upgrades to handle the new OS, the cost is significant, especially for small businesses.

We have a short list of guidelines for small businesses moving toward Vista:

1. Take an inventory of your machines and determine which have to be replaced and which can be upgraded to use Vista.
2. Seriously consider not buying OEM copies of Office or Vista from the hardware manufacturer and buy managed licenses instead. If your current old computer has Office 2003 OEM from, say, Dell, you can't install it on a new computer. It's considered part of the machine. Your lawyer may vary; check into it.
3. Upgrade all machines to at least 1Gb of RAM. Consider more. Check out the video card at the same time: does it work with everything Vista offers?
   
4. Will your current network software support Vista machines? (Trust me, we have NT networks that we still work on.)
5. Do you NEED or WANT Vista now? What are you going to do with (or what will it do for you) that makes the pain of cost and planning worthwhile?
6. Don't try to push a doorstop of a computer onto the receptionist so turning the machine on takes 12 minutes and opening Word takes another 15. That's not a technology plan.
7. Got any Macs in the house?
8. Office 2003 works fine under Vista. Office 2007 is way cooler (but doesn't create .doc files unless you've got a savvy user so sharing files is a daily frustration). It takes a good long time to upgrade from 2003 to 2007 so consider formatting all machines and then clean-loading Vista and Office 2007 and wait for all those users to complain about their missing software, license codes and other crying-jag inducing moments.
9. Have a technology upgrade plan. Hire a professional. This isn't your father's upgrade.
10. Lock 'em down. Don't let small business users start tweaking or you won't be able to support the mess of machines on your network. The business owner owns the computers. Let folks change colors but that's enough for a while.

Small businesses facing a technology upgrade should proceed with caution, take their time and consult professional computer engineers who do this every day. You'll learn a lot (and save unexpected costs) from their experience.

We're big fans of little applications that let you tweak your Windows system settings without mucking around in the registry. Stardock's TweakVista has a pretty comprehensive set of registry hacks, but only some are available in the free version. And it's kind of nice to have a tiny file that works with no installation required.

While XdN Tweaker doesn't offer as many options as the free Vispa, XdN Tweaker weighs in at just 516KB. It supports Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, and Windows Vista and has a handful of tweaks including:

• Enable or disable the User Account Control for different users
• Enable or disable right-click Windows Media Player context menus
• Restore the file menu in Internet Explorer 7
• Change the default number of folder views (personalized settings for how to view folders) that Windows remembers
• Add a "take ownership" option to Vista right-click menus that lets you change files that read "you need permission to perform this action."

As with any of these tweaking programs, it's possible to achieve most of the same results with a few registry hacks. But XdN Tweaker is a lot more user-friendly than the Windows registry. And more importantly, most of the hacks can be undone from within the program's interface.

[via gHacks]

It's not secret that a lot of folks are less than pleased with Windows Vista. And while Windows XP has been on the shelves for more than 5 years, Microsoft's longest-reigning operating system still suits the needs of computer users.

But it turns out that there's a downside to having an operating system that's been as popular as XP for as long as 5+ years. You eventually start to run out of working product activation keys.

Microsoft has created a new build of Windows XP Professional called SP2c. It's virtually identical to Windows XP Professional SP2. But it includes new product activation keys. SP2c will be available to computer makers and resellers within the next month, and will help support the availability of Windows XP Professional through January 31, 2009.

There's no word of updates for Windows XP Home, Media Center Edition, Tablet PC edition, or Professional 64-bit edition.

[via Computer World]

Got a big hate on for Windows Vista and afraid of what will happen when Windows XP disappears forever? You aren't alone. Many people are weighing the advantages and disadvantages of Windows Vista and finding out that it doesn't make sense for them. Some switch to Linux but, what if you don't want to take the open source plunge just yet? Computer World has a bit to say on how to keep our Windows XP machine running in tip-top form for years to come.

With ways to add transparency to your windows, security protection, a deskbar and more, it's a good starting point to keep your tried and true XP machine running along for a little while longer.

I'm going to let you in on a little secret. A 3.5-inch screen is much smaller than a 15.4-inch screen. I know it's shocking, but there it is.

Forget the processor, the memory, the battery life, and all the other things that make your PDA or smartphone different from a notebook computer. One of the biggest reasons PalmOS and Windows Mobile are designed to look the way they are is because you need to fit the most vital information on a tiny screen.

Good, now that we've got that out of the way, let's take a look at some ways you can make your Windows Mobile PDA look more like a full desktop operating system. Under the hood, you'll still be running Windows Mobile, which means you've got the advantages of instant on/off and long battery life (compared with a laptop). But your friends will think you've got Windows XP or Vista on your phone.

Microsoft has released two new Virtual PC images featuring Windows XP SP 2. One includes Internet Explorer 7, and the other has Internet Explorer 6.

The images should come in handy for anyone running Windows Vista who wants to see how their web page look in Internet Explorer under Windows XP. Of course, you could also run the disc image inside of Virtual PC if you want to try installing new software without risking any damage to your host operating system.

The disc images are under 500MB and expire on August 17th, 2007. The images are pre-activated, and include no product keys, so you can't grab a key from these images and use it to activate a full version of Windows XP.

These images will not work under Virtual PC for Mac.

[via CyberNotes]

Sure, you can install Linux on pretty much anything with a chip these days, but what about Windows XP? The official minimum requirements for an installation are a 233MHz processor and 64MB or RAM, but for some those are just guidelines.

Over at winhistory.de, a couple of enterprising users with way too much time on their hands decided to push the limits. It turns out that the processor doesn't matter as much as the RAM. If you try installing Windows XP on a system with a 75MHz processor, but 64MB of RAM, it will work, just slowly. If you try anything with less than 64MB of memory, you'll get an error message. But, once XP is installed, you can remove RAM and the system will still boot (unless you remove too much).

After installing XP on Pentium-based systems, the guys continued removing RAM and underclocking their CPUs to find the slowest working configuration. The winner was a system running at 8MHz with 20MB of RAM (it might actually be 18MB, it's a bit hard to tell from the description).

It takes 30 minutes to boot the system. Even though you'll start to see icons pop up on the screen it'll take another 17 minutes before you can click on them. And the CPU is at 100% all the time, but just think how low your energy bills would be if you were running this machine?

[via Slashdot]

PC Pro is reporting that Microsoft will be extending support for Windows XP beyond 2010. It had originally intended to discontinue support for the operating system at the end of January 2009, two years after the launch of Windows Vista, but has pushed back the date in response to customer appeals. Now it says that "mainstream" support for XP will cease in April 2009 but "extended" support will continue for an additional five years, but only for Windows XP Home and Media Center editions. Extended support includes fixes for security holes but excludes warranty claims and "non-security hot-fixes or design changes." You can read more about Microsoft's lifecycle policy in the official FAQ.

Information Week reports that Microsoft could be unnecessarily eliminating support for Windows 2000 and older systems from new software releases.

A number of new Microsoft programs, such as Office 2007 and the new Zune software won't install on Windows 2000 systems. While some programs are truly designed with newer operating systems in mind, it appears Microsoft has intentionally blocked some programs from running on older systems.

For example, Windows Defender won't install on Windows 2000 systems. But if you futz a bit with the installer program, it appears that Defender checks to see what version of Windows you're using. If you're not using XP or a newer operating system it won't install. But some users have reported that you can modify the installer, and Defender actually runs quite well on Windows 2000.

It shouldn't come as a surprise that Microsoft no longer supports Windows 2000. The company only provides 5 years of support for most consumer software. But it's a step further to intentionally cripple software compatibility, presumably to convince users to upgrade their operating system every five years -- even if they're not experiencing any problems with their existing OS.

[via Slashdot]

I've got a bit of a stumper on my hands. Tomorrow, UPS willing, a brand new hard drive (and a couple other choice upgrades) will be arriving on my doorstep. The new drive is a 250GB SATA number--not a monster, but much bigger and much faster than the ancient 80-gigger I've relied on the for far too long, so the new drive is taking the throne as my system drive ASAP. Here's the stumper: Should I be lazy and just transfer the contents of my C: partition over to the new drive, or should I put a daisy-fresh Windows XP install on it and go through the dance of installing all my apps and tweaking all my settings again? With the former I'm up and running again in a matter of hours right where I left off, which is both good (everything is exactly where I left it, including all my settings and shortcuts) and bad (everything is exactly where I left it, including my bloated registry and debris all over my system folders). With the latter I blow the weekend on installing and configuring stuff and doing the inevitable troubleshooting, and the next two months tweaking it until it feels comfortable again. So which is the lesser of two evils?

Or is there a third option I'm not considering? Oh, I could take the easy way out and install Ubuntu or Vista RC2, but I'd still lose days and weeks on tweaking--even more, since both are less familiar to me than good old XP. Sorry, but I'm sticking with XP until now (though be assured I'll be rocking the VMware a lot more with my newfound hard drive space). At any rate, I want to hear about DLS readers' best kung-fu hard drive swapping and/or Windows reinstalling techniques. Pipe up in the comments below!