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Filed under: Internet, Video

How to add Hulu Desktop icon to Windows Media Center

Hulu MCE
Hulu Desktop is a pretty nifty application that lets you find and watch Hulu video content on a home theater PC using a media center remote control without a keyboard. But if you already have a home theater PC connected to your TV, you may want to integrate Hulu Desktop with your other media center software. Here's a little trick that will add a Hulu icon to Windows Vista Media Center that makes it easy to launch Hulu Desktop. When you close the application, you'll also be returned to Windows Media Center.

Basically what you need to do is download and install Chad Dyess' modified Media Center Launcher Configuration Utility. This tool lets you add a shortcut for practically any program to Windows Media Center. Next, you'll want to make sure Hulu Desktop is installed. Finally, run the configuration utility and point it to the HuluDesktop.exe file.

That's pretty much all there is to it. You can also create a graphic for the program icon if you want and select which section of Windows Media Center the shortcut will appear in. You can find a more detailed set of instructions at tech-recipes.

Filed under: OS Updates, Windows

Microsoft releases Windows Vista SP2

Windows Vista SP2 download
Microsoft has released Service Pack 2 for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008. The update adds support for additional hardware and standards, including 64 bit processors from VIA. It's also designed to make it easier for IT professionals to deploy the operating system, and it includes all of the security updates and hotfixes released since Vista SP1.

The update also includes Windows Search 4.0, which is the latest version of Microsoft's desktop search client, plus improved WiFi performance after resuming from sleep mode.

In order to install Windows Vista SP2, you'll need to have Service Pack 1 installed. Microsoft indicates that it might take an hour or more to install the update, and after you're done some hardware (like your sound card) might not work until you install updated drivers.

You can download Windows Vista SP2 for 32-bit or 64-bit processors. Or check out the release notes for more information.

Filed under: Internet, Video, Windows, Microsoft

Microsoft launches Netflix for Windows Vista Media Center

Netflix Windows Vista Media Center
People have been hacking together ways to watch streaming videos from Netflix using Windows Media Center since early last year. But now Microsoft and Netflix have rolled out an official Netflix application for Windows Vista Media Center.

In other words, Netflix subscribers can browse through the 12,000 streaming titles available in the Netflix "watch instantly" library and watch them from the comfort of a couch using Microsoft's 10 foot interface and a media center remote control.

Users can also manage their DVD rental queue from Windows Media Center. The feature is powered by Microsoft Silverlight, so you'll need to have that installed on your media center system. It won't work with Media Center Extenders, but you can continue to stream movies via an Xbox 360 if you have an Xbox LIVE Gold membership.

Filed under: Windows, Microsoft, Windows x64

Microsoft: Vista to be available until 2011, officially

Earlier today, Richard Francis of Microsoft Asia-Pacific stated that he wasn't sure if Vista was going to be available to OEMs following the upcoming release of Windows 7. He went on to say that it looked like updates for all Vista editions would end in April 2012.

Microsoft responded quickly with the official word: they haven't decided yet when to pull the pin on Vista. According to internal policy, operating systems are made available until at least four years after their introduction. In Vista's case, that would put the earliest date at January 2011.

Historically, Microsoft has allowed about a six month licensing overlap when a new OS is released. Pulling Vista prior to that amount of time could be a colossally bad PR move, as it would no doubt be interpreted as yet another sign that even Microsoft didn't think Vista was all that hot.

As far as Windows updates are concerned, consumer editions will stop receiving "mainstream updates" after April 10, 2012 (you'll still get security patches). Here's another small slap in the face to anyone who ponied up for Vista Ultimate: that includes you, too. Vista Business - though much less expensive to license - will be fully supported for an additional five years.

[via ComputerWorld]

Filed under: OS Updates, Utilities, Windows, Freeware, Beta, Windows x64

XDN Tweaker offers simple Windows 7, Vista, XP tinkering


Like many tweaking utilities, much of what you can accomplish with XDN Tweaker is possible with a little registry hacking. If you'd rather not poke around in there, however, the free app is a fast, easy way to make a few adjustments to your system.

XDN doesn't offer as many adjustments as Ultimate Windows Tweaker, but it covers the basics. It can hide/show the right-click send to menu, add context menu options for take ownership, move to, and copy to, disable hibernation, and more. On Windows 7 systems, XDN can currently disable drag from maximize or all arrangement features and change the delay when displaying taskbar previews.

While the application itself is portable, the .Net 2.0 runtimes are required - only an issue if you're using XDN on a Windows XP system.

[via Freeware Files]

Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Freeware, Windows x64

Free app creates System Restore points with a single click


Creating system restore points in Windows XP requires far too many mouse clicks. The process has been greatly simplified in Windows Vista and Windows 7, and it's just about as simple as it can get. Just about.

Single Click Restore Point does what its name implies. Launch the executable, wait a few moments, and a confirmation window appears to let you know that your point has been created. My apologies for the nondescript screenshot, but there's really nothing to see apart from the notification.

The program is less than half a meg in size and totally portable, so it's handy app to keep on your trusty USB flash drive if you do any repair work.

SCRP's only downside is that you can't enter a description for your new point. Then again, if you could do that it wouldn't be "single click." Although most of us are probably using the default double-click in Windows, so technically it's still not really a single click. But it is dead simple.

You can find the download on both the author's site and Softpedia.

[via Life Rocks 2.0]

Filed under: OS Updates, Utilities, Windows, Microsoft

Access Windows 7, Vista exFAT partitions in XP

Since a lot of you weren't (and still aren't) too excited about Windows Vista, you might not have noticed the exFAT file system before.

It's the heir apparent to FAT32, and it can finally cope with large files and drives. What's new? For starters, exFAT has been tweaked to provide faster access and allocation, adds support for UTC time stamps, and provides increased compatability with flash media.

Gone are the 32gb drive and 4gb file size limitations. The only problem is that exFAT isn't native to Windows XP - which the vast majority of you are probably still running.

Problem solved. Microsoft has released KB955704 to address the issue. Download it from their site and install it, and you'll be able to seamlessly work with exFAT partitions in XP.

[ via gHacks ]

Filed under: OS Updates, Hardware, Windows, Microsoft, Windows x64

Vista sales, Windows 7 should be good news for 64-bit computing

According to Microsoft sources, over 25% of all Vista sales in Q4 2008 were 64-bit. Bargain basement prices on DDR2 memory modules played an important role. After all, getting the most out of the multiple gigs of dirt cheap ram in your system means running a 64-bit OS that knows how to handle it.

Several OEMs quietly shipped laptop and desktop models during the holiday season running Vista x64, much to the surprise of many retailers (and technicians like yours truly). Driver availability still remains a hurdle, but if Windows 7 can improve on Vista's good 64-bit base we should see a big move to 64-bit installs.

Windows 7 is expected to be Microsoft's last native 32-bit version - Server 2008 R2 has already moved to 64-bit only. Here's hoping hardware manufacturers and software publishers respond and start releasing native 64-bit versions of their applications.

I've seen a very good performance increase in Photoshop CS4 since making the switch and would love to be running more native apps.

Trouble is, they're not available yet for the most part. Here's hoping a little more time and a new OS can help change that.

[ via Daily Tech ]

Filed under: OS Updates, Windows, Microsoft

Windows Vista Ultimate RED edition coming next week

Windows Vista Ultimate Product RedMicrosoft is set to release the (PRODUCT) RED version of Windows Vista Ultimate on December 15th. Dell has been selling computers preloaded with this special version of the OS for a few months now, but starting next week you'll be able to to buy a standalone copy.

So what makes Windows Vista Ultimate (PRODUCT) RED different from plain old Windows Vista Ultimate Edition? First, it comes in a red box and includes a few extra wallpapers, screensavers, sidebar gadgets, and a Dreamscene moving background. Second, a portion of the proceeds from sales will help buy and distribute AIDS medications to patients in Africa.

Amazon appears to be selling it for about $70 more than the price of the vanilla edition of Windows Vista Ultimate, which means either that those wallpapers (which you can probably find online for free) are really awesome, or Microsoft or Amazon are jacking up the price a bit in order to support the charity.

[via iStartedSomething]

Filed under: OS Updates, Windows, Microsoft, Beta

Windows Vista SP2 beta now publicly available

It's December 5, 2008 and - as promised - Microsoft has made the Vista SP2 beta publicly available. Early adopters can install it now and take advantage of improvements like 10% better power saving, reduced resource consumption in sidebar gadgets, Windows Search 4, and a long list of security and bug fixes.

According to Wired's post, you should be aware that you'll have to uninstall the beta in order to install SP2 final once it's released. Currently Microsoft is anticipating doing that some time in April 2009.

If you're looking for more details before grabbing the file, check out PC World's article Vista SP2: Six Things You Need to Know.

Downloads for both 32 and 64-bit users are available at the Microsoft Download Center. Instructions are also available here for users wanting to install SP2 through Windows Update.

So far, I'm glad I ran the update. Overall my x64 Ultimate install seems a bit more responsive than before, and I've yet to encounter any annoyances. If you've upgraded, share your thoughts in the comments!

[ via Wired ]

Filed under: News, Windows, Macintosh, Linux

Windows market share reaches new low - 89.6%


Windows Market Share
If you gauged the market share of various operating systems by counting the number of Macs vs PCs you see in the typical urban coffee shop, you'd probably believe that Apple and Microsoft were duking it out like Republicans and Democrats in a close US presidential election.

But the truth of the matter is that Microsoft is the dominant company when it comes to consumer oriented computers. In fact, according to Net Applications, a company that tracks these things, Microsoft had more than 90% of the market share. Until last month, anyway.

In November, 2008, Microsoft's market share dipped to 89.62%. Which is to say, Microsoft's Windows operating systems still dwarf the nearest competitors, Mac OS X and Linux. But a slightly smaller percentage of people who visited web sites tracked by Net Applications in November were using the operating system.

Net Applications reports that OS X has also seen a slight jump in usage, and that Windows Vista use is up while Windows XP use is down. More than 20% of computer users were running Windows Vista for the first time in November.

[via Computer World and Slashdot]

Filed under: OS Updates, Windows, Microsoft, Lists

3 alternative ways to get Windows updates

Not everyone wants to let Windows handle downloading and installing updates. If you prefer the DIY approach, here are three ways to keep your system up to date without Windows helping out.

1. Windiz Updates provides an experience that's as similar to the original as its name. The twist is that this service won't work in Internet Explorer - you'll need Firefox and the Windiz addon. It doesn't collect any personal information, and IE doesn't even need to be installed on your system to use it.

It's an intelligent system and won't download old updates that have been superceded by newer ones. Windiz also won't install updates that have potential security issues. New updates with It can even provide updates for Microsoft's golden oldies like 95 and NT.

Read more →

Filed under: News, Windows

Should you be paid for the time it takes to boot your computer?

Windows Vista boot screenThere's no question that we all want computers that boot up and shut down more quickly. While a fresh install of Windows XP might boot as quickly as 30 seconds on some computers, the more applications you load onto your computer, the slower it will boot. Things get even worse with Windows Vista which loads about as quickly as paint dries. While Microsoft and other OS makers are working to cut boot times, if you're using a current generation operating system, odds are you spend at least a few minutes every day waiting for your computer to startup and shut down.

Now here's the big question of the day - if this is your work computer we're talking about, should you be paid for that time? Apparently employees at seveal companies including AT7T and Cigna have filed lawsuits alleging that they weren't paid for the time it took to turn their computers on and off each day, a process which they claim takes 15 to 30 minutes.

The employees say they should be paid for their time, because they're doing other work related activities while the computer loads, while employers argue that just as often, they aren't. But you know what? It's not like the employees are lying in bed sleeping at home. It's hardly their fault their bosses installed software that takes for-friggin-ever to boot. Not that I'm taking sides in this dispute.

What do you think? Sound off in the comments.

[via TaxProf Blog and Gizmodo]

Filed under: OS Updates, Windows, Beta

Microsoft to start testing Windows Vista SP2 Beta next week

Vista SP2
It looks like the rumors were true. Microsoft is hoping to roll out Windows Vista SP2 before Windows 7 is publicly available. How soon? We don't know for sure. But the company is delivering the first beta version of Vista SP2 to a handful of Technology Adoption Program customers on Wednesday, October 29th. Depending on how things go, we could see the beta or a final version rolled out within a few months. Or maybe it'll take longer to work out the kinks.

You won't notice any major changes to the Windows Vista interface in SP2. But there are a few under the hood changes, including integration with Windows Search 4.0, a Bluetooth 2.1 Feature Pack, native support for burning Blu-Ray discs, and support for UTC timestamps in the exFAT file system which helps synchronize files across time zones. There's also a new utility called Windows Connect Now that should simply WiFi configuration.

The same service pack will also be available for Windows Server 2008.

Filed under: OS Updates, Windows, Microsoft

Windows Vista SP2 will be available before Windows 7

Windows Vista SP2?
Windows 7 may be grabbing all the headlines these days, but that doesn't mean Microsoft has forgotten about Windows Vista. ZDNet reports that while Windows 7 is due out next year, Microsoft plans to release at least one major update for Windows Vista before launching Windows 7.

In fact, a beta version of Windows Vista SP2 may already be in the hands of some Microsoft partners. Microsoft also plans to release a service pack called SP2 for Windows Server 2008 before Windows 7 drops. If you're feeling like you must have missed something, no there was never an SP1 for Windows Server 2008. But since the OS is built on Windows Vista SP1, the first service pack will get the SP2 treatment. Not that I have any problems with the way Microsoft names things...

There's no real information at the moment about what actual changes we'll see in the service packs. In related news, the first public beta of Windows 7 could be available as soon as mid-December.

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