You probably knew that a lot of dissatisfied WIndows Vista users had downgraded -- some might say "upgraded" -- to Windows XP. It was never clear exactly how many people took that step, but it was enough that Microsoft extended the shelf life for XP for a while. Now we have a number, thanks to a survey by Devil Mountain Software: nearly 35% of new Vista machines are being downgraded.

The survey used data from PCs that have been shipped in the last 6 months, and included machines that were downgraded by vendors before delivery or by users after the fact. The Register seems to think that Microsoft is shifting focus away from Vista, and instead increasing the marketing effort for its next major OS release, Windows 7. I hardly think these numbers spell doom for Microsoft, but they hopefully provide some incentive to look at why customers are ditching Vista and address their concerns.

Reading and writing to a Mac formatted drive from Windows couldn't be any easier than selecting the samba file sharing option in Leopard. This works great if you have 2 physical computers but what if you only have a Mac running Boot Camp? Since Leopard isn't running getting to that document on the Mac partition from Windows would be difficult unless you installed MacDrive.

Once installed, Windows Explorer is able to mount the Mac drives right along side your standard Windows formatted drives. You are free to access them like any other drive.

If you're worried that you may accidentally delete files off your Mac partition just tick the option to mount the drives in "read only" mode, thus preventing any accidents. MacDrive's options can be access by double clicking it's icon in the system tray. But once you have tailored it to your work flow you'll rarely have a need to access the options.

In our testing we found no noticeable performance drops while accessing standard office documents and music files. And even if there were any drops in performance, the benefit of being able to access files created on the Mac partition from within Windows more than makes up for it.

So if you have your Mac set to dual boot you may want to consider MacDrive in order to swap your documents back and forth.

Need to reinstall Windows but you misplaced your driver disks? Not sure you have everything you need? DriverMax has you covered. Backing up and reinstalling your drivers couldn't be easier.

After installing DriverMax, go into Driver Operations and click on Export drivers. A list of all your installed drivers will be displayed and you can pick and choose which ones to export, or simply export the whole lot in one go. Once you've reinstalled Windows, go back into Driver Operations, click on Import drivers, and point to the folder containing your saved drivers. The import can take a while, but in comparison to manually installing each driver individually, this is a walk in the park.

DriverMax is also useful even if you don't need to perform a complete reinstall - you can use the program just to make sure that your drivers are up to date or export a list of your installed drivers as an html or text file.

DriverMax is compatible with Windows 2003, XP and Vista and you have to supply your email address in order to receive a registration code.

So you're thinking, "Hey, I want to be totally irresponsible with my computer and load it up with crapware!" Really, isn't everyone getting tired of having to be so stinking responsible on the Internet all the time? We certainly are. We're ready for system protection that isn't afraid of our reckless browsing, indiscriminate downloading, and general apathy towards good computer usage habits.

...Which is why we love Windows Steady State. It creates a cache file in which your operating system operates, meaning any harmful changes can be undone by simply emptying the cache. After downloading it's a snap to install - just a few obligatory clicks and the usual EULA mumbo-jubmo and you're set.

Our first test was pretty a pretty low-intensity workout. We surfed, bookmarked, set up a POP account and downloaded a few messages, and cluttered up the desktop with a dozen or so hilariously named folders. After issuing the old Windows - U - R we waited anxiously for the system to reboot.

There it was, just as it had been before - no trace of any of our activity. The desktop was still tidy, no favorites or emails were anywhere to be seen. So far so good, but let's try some real abuse!

We are a little bit disturbed. Not in a "We just watched a David Lynch movie" sort of way, but still, it is a little unnerving to think that our last post on Ulteo hinted at a world domination plot... and now it seems that goal is within their reach.

It is also a little unsettling to eat our words. We read about Ulteo's Virtual Desktop and its claims to run Linux apps quickly and smoothly under Windows. And we thought, "Yeah, right." We've used embedded Linux on Windows before. It works in a pinch, but it's not terribly responsive. It's also a little disorienting to be working in Linux, and then need to manually perform some key combination or mouse gesture to get to a Windows application.

Like andLinux, Ulteo's Virtual Desktop (often referred to with the rather misfortunate name UlteoVD) runs off a coLinux base. There is no virtualization software involved. But we'd especially recommend UlteoVD for those pondering whether a Linux switch could work for them, for a number of reasons.

If you've got Windows XP SP2, you might want to check the good ole Windows Update page today. A week after delaying the launch of Windows XP SP3, Microsoft today released the update through Windows Update. That means even if you don't go out of your way to download it, there's a good chance you'll wind up downloading the service pack in the next few days if your computer is configured to install automatic updates.

The reason Microsoft pushed back the launch for a week was because the company found an incompatibility with its Dynamics Retail Management System. If you're a business owner using that software, Microsoft has added a filter that will keep your system from automatically downloading SP3.

Most of the changes in SP3 are under the hood, meaning you may or may not really notice any changes once SP3 is installed. But along with a few new features like Network Access Protection and Black Hole router detection, the service pack includes pretty much every important security update and hotfix since SP2, so we'd highly recommend installing it. If you want all the gritty details, you can check out Microsoft's overview of all the major updates included in SP3.

For the last week or two we've been telling you that Microsoft planned to release Windows XP Service Pack 3 through Windows Update today, meaning most Windows XP users would download and install it automatically. But then Microsoft decided to go and make liars of us, by holding off on the release.

ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley reports that Microsoft discovered a compatibility problem that the company wants to solve before pushing out the update to all users. The problem is with Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management System, and affects Windows XP SP3 and Windows Vista SP1. And we can't for the life of us figure out why Microsoft would delay pushing out SP3 to all of its retail customers for a compatibility issue that will only affect customers who use a niche business oriented application from Microsoft.

If you're tired of waiting, you could always just download Windows XP SP3 the old fashioned way, by finding a link someone dug up and posted on a web site. If it makes you feel any better, the download link points to a Microsoft server.

Microsoft has released Windows XP SP3 to manufacturers, which means it should start making its way to OEM and enterprise customers. What that means for you the consumer is that pretty soon you'll be able to purchase computers running Windows XP SP3 instead of SP2. That is, if Microsoft lets companies continue selling machines running Windows XP after the original June cutoff date.

As expected, the final version of Windows XP SP3 will also be available to existing customers through Windows Update on April 29th. The company will also update all of its Windows XP online documentation at that point.

If you can't wait that long, you can go ahead and download the latest release candidate of SP3, which has been available for almost a month now. We've been running it for a while now and it seems pretty stable.

[via ZDNet]

Sure, Windows tweaking applications are a dime a dozen. Cheaper really, since you can pick up a few excellent ones for free. But we're always a fan of any application that lets you customize your operating system without mucking around in the Windows registry manually. Nothing ruins your day as much as changing a few registry settings only to realize that you can't remember how to restore them when things go horribly wrong.

That's why we're pretty impressed with TweakNow, a Windows tweaking tool that gives you control over a ton of hard to find Windows settings. Probably the coolest feature of TweakNow is that the free program automatically backs up any changes you've made. So you can undo changes you've made by clicking the "Restore Now" button. The restore function isn't quite as robust as we'd like. And the program's help file helpfully includes installation instructions and a changelog. That's about it.

But TweakNow does let you do some pretty cool things like change the title bar text on Internet Explorer, show or hide Control Panel modules, hide programs from the Add/Remove Programs dialog, disable the Windows registry editor, disable prefetching, and hide drives from Windows Explorer.

TweakNow is free for home use and works with Windows XP and Vista.

[via gHacks]

A few weeks ago we could have sworn that Microsoft was getting ready to release the final build of Windows XP SP3 by the end of March. But today Microsoft released Windows XP SP3 RC2 refresh, which basically means it's a slightly modified version of the release candidate made available in February.

There aren't really many new features or surprises in the latest build. The refresh basically has a different build number, includes all previous updates, and includes support for HD audio and fixes some Windows Update issues. But today's release does indicate that Microsoft is still tinkering, which leads us to believe it'll probably be at least a few more days, weeks, or months until the final version of Windows XP SP3 is released.

In order to download the 120MB service pack from Windows Update, you need to add a registry key by downloading and installing an executable application from Microsoft.

[via CNet]

Come June, computer makers are supposed to stop offering Windows XP on prebuilt systems. Microsoft will continue to support the operating system for a while, but the goal is to phase XP out and phase Vista in. But Microsoft has already extended XP's lifetime due to widespread concerns over Windows Vista.

CNet has an interesting article suggesting that Microsoft could give Windows XP another extension. Why? Because of the Eee PC, XO Laptop, Everex Cloudbook, and other low cost ultraportable laptop computers. Hundreds of thousands of these low cost notebooks have been sold over the past few months, and millions could be sold by the end of the year.

Right now, many of these computers are running Linux because it's cheap and it functions well on slower computers with tiny amounts of storage. There's no way you could cram Windows Vista onto most of these machines. But if Microsoft wants to avoid a world where computer users start to think of Linux as a viable alternative to Windows, the company needs to provide software that will run on these machines. And Windows XP fits the bill. Asus already ships a Windows driver disc with the Eee PC, and plans to release a model preloaded with Windows XP in the next few months. But what happens if Microsoft pulls the plug on Windows XP just as computer makers start to ramp up production of machines that are incapable of running Vista?

So the more we think about it, the more we agree with CNet. Either Microsoft will extend the life cycle for Windows XP again, or it will release a custom build of Windows 7 optimized for devices with slow processors, 512MB of RAM or less, and 2GB of storage. Something tells us Microsoft's going to go with option A.ee

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!]

Pretty soon you'll be able to run Windows on pretty much any PC you buy, no matter how small. Thanks to Boot Camp and Parallels you can run Windows on a Mac. And thanks to an aggressive push by Microsoft, you can run Windows on Asus's low-cost laptop the Eee PC (while the first units are shipping with Linux, they include instructions for loading Windows XP and Asus plans to sell units with XP preinstalled soon).

Microsoft also plans to bring Windows XP to the diminutive XO laptop, of One Laptop Per Child fame. Microsoft released a statement yesterday announcing plans to begin testing XP on the XO in January in the hopes of making a final version available by the second half of 2008.

One problem Microsoft is dealing with is that the XO laptop includes just 1GB of storage, while Windows requires at least 2GB. So Microsoft insisted that an SD card slot be included in the XO, and is developing a version of XP that will run off of a removable storage card. There are no plans to make the custom, low-cost version of Windows available in the US or other developed countries.

Now, the folks over at the Eee User forum have demonstrated that you can indeed run Windows XP with less than 2GB of storage by removing the page file and using nLite to slim down your installation. But 1GB would still be pushing it.

Love the look of Windows Vista, but don't want to spend hundreds of dollars on to "upgrade" your operating system and potentially slow down your computer's performance? Vista Transformation Pack 8 gives you most of Vista's visual candy without the operating system's security enhancements, user account control, or power management features.

We first looked at Vista Transformation Pack last year when the utility was still in its infancy. But now it's all grown up, and this week version 8 was released with a bunch of features that make XP look even more like Vista:

• Added TrueTransparency 0.8.5 to bring Aero glass-like transparency effects
• Added WinFlip 0.42 to emulate Vista Flip3D
  
• Added CPU speed to welcome center
• Updated Vista Sidebar to version 2.3 Lite

You'll probably want to create a system restore point before installing Vista Transformation Pack, since it will alter settings. In the past, some users have reported that they're missing icons after uninstalling, so proceed with caution.

[via makeuseof]

As NASA starts to wind down their Space Shuttle activity in the next three years, the space agency's effort to return to the Moon has been ramping up quietly in the background. With their new Orion/Ares space vehicle combination, crew automation will definitely be on the top of software priorities for NASA. But with a much smaller budget and shorter timescale than the last lunar attempt, would NASA and its contractors embrace new approaches and techniques so our tax dollars are better spent? Can Dan Goldin's "Faster, Better, Cheaper" approaches be finally achieved?

A couple of months ago I was fortunate enough to join ThoughtWorks, a company that advocates the use of Agile software development practices (Extreme Programming, Scrum, TDD, etc.) to bring business value to our customers. I have been using Agile practices on my previous project for over three years and it had proved to be highly successful. And ThoughtWorks' experience in this area proves that Agile can also be applied successfully on large enterprise software projects. But can Agile be used on a highly mission-critical software project such as the one for the Orion spacecraft?

Over ten years ago my first programming job was for small software company developing real-time, safety critical software for controlling railway trains. The work we did was the embodiment of the Waterfall model. The system requirements were collected and analyzed. The model was designed and validated. Then we mere programmers set out to write code to realize the model. Huge amount of unit tests and integration tests were created to make sure our code did what the model said it should do. All the while, the project manager kept track of our progress to ensure that, hopefully, we delivered the product on time and on budget.

At first glance, Agile sounds like a good fit with this type of project where requirements are generally very well defined and correctness are paramount. Short iteration and test-driven development will ensure features are delivered often and proved to be working by the unit tests. Continuous integration means there will be fewer surprises as multiple systems are joined up to work with together. The costs of requirement changes will be reduced and can be implemented quickly, rather than in the next version.

But would the world of safety /mission critical software development, dominated by engineers and scientists, be receptive to the less rigid world of Agile development? Would they feel that without the top down approach, its highly structured development process, and the tightly prescribed set of delivery artifacts, the project delivery cannot be guaranteed?

I would love to hear from people who have more recent experiences in this area of software development with regard to Agile. Is it being used, is it being used widely, and how effective it has been?