VMware Workstation 6.0 Officially released

VMware, Inc., the global leader in software for industry-standard virtualized desktops and servers, today announced the general availability of VMware Workstation 6, the sixth generation of its desktop virtualization software product. VMware Workstation 6 delivers groundbreaking advances in virtualization technology while offering numerous new features such as Windows Vista support, as well as industry-first support for multiple display monitors and USB 2.0 devices, making it highly appealing to IT administrators, developers, testers and other technical professionals and enthusiasts.


Introduced more than eight years ago, VMware Workstation enables pre-production testing of desktops and servers in virtual machines, rehosting of legacy applications, rapid provisioning and resetting of multi-tier environments and accelerated software development and testing. With an advanced feature set and broad support for x86 operating systems, VMware Workstation continues to be the “gold standard” virtualization product for desktop and laptop computers.

Source : Ossn.net
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UK To Propose Banning Plasma TV's

The Conservatives in the UK will propose banning plasma screens and other energy-guzzling electrical goods in a report to be unveiled next week. The proposals target white goods like fridges and freezers, as well as TVs, personal computers and DVD players that use too much energy or operate on stand-by. The ideas come from a Conservative group set up by David Cameron to develop policies to protect the environment and although the measures to make household electrical appliances more energy efficient are not binding on Mr Cameron, they are thought likely to be warmly received by the Tory leader.



The group will also suggest scrapping Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as a measure of the nation’s success in favour of a model that measures people’s happiness drawn up up by Friends of the Earth. Under the proposals, a cap could be set on the energy use of each electrical appliance, and those exceeding limits could be banned from sale in the UK. A new labelling requirement could be introduced to inform consumers of products’ annual energy consumption compared with other similar appliances. And there could be a ban on electrical goods with stand-by lights which can stay on indefinitely. Some 2 per cent of Britain’s total electricity use is currently taken up by appliances left on stand-by rather than being switched off.

The proposals are set to be unveiled on Thursday in the final report of the Tories’ Quality of Life Policy Group, chaired by former Environment Secretary John Gummer and green activist Zac Goldsmith, a Conservative spokesman confirmed. Prime Minister Gordon Brown has already announced his ambition to “eliminate” the stand-by function on appliances, which was blasted by the Government’s energy review last year as a waste of electricity. The report is expected to focus on plasma-screen TVs as particularly wasteful of electricity, and it is thought that many models would fall foul of proposed energy cap unless dramatically more efficient technology is developed.

Householders are also expected to be offered tax cuts potentially worth thousands of pounds to make their homes more energy-efficient. Mr Gummer warned: “We live in a joined-up world and yet we organise our lives in silos. The imperative of global warming demands that we change that approach utterly - not just governments, but businesses, groups and individuals.”

Source : Neowin.net
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ATI Radeon HD 2600XT vs Nvidia GeForce 8600 GTS

Looking for the best mainstream videocard...
While Nvidia remains quite dominant in the high-end segment, a much larger battle has taken place to offer the best mainstream graphics product. Currently the two leading mainstream cards are the Nvidia GeForce 8600 GTS and the ATI Radeon HD 2600XT, both of which are priced well under $200.

Today we will be comparing these two mid-range graphics cards head to head using a 512MB VisionTek Radeon HD 2600XT and a 256MB ASUS GeForce 8600 GTS. While neither product features overclocking out of the box, the Radeon has an obvious advantage in that it sports twice as much video memory. And while this may appear to be unfair, we have found that the average 512MB Radeon HD 2600XT graphics card retails for just $140, while the average price of a GeForce 8600 GTS sporting 256MB of memory is $160.

View: ATI Radeon HD 2600XT vs Nvidia GeForce 8600 GTS @ TechSpot

Source : Neowin.net
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Paint.NET 3.0

Paint.NET is image and photo manipulation software designed to be used on computers that run Windows. It supports layers, unlimited undo, special effects, and a wide variety of useful and powerful tools.

It started development as an undergraduate college senior design project mentored by Microsoft, and is currently being maintained by some of the alumni that originally worked on it. Originally intended as a free replacement for the MS Paint software that comes with Windows, it has grown into a powerful yet simple tool for photo and image editing.

Latest Changes:

* Simple and intuitive tab-based multi-document user interface
* Now available in 8 languages: English, Chinese (Simplified), French, German, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese (Brazil), and Spanish
* Interactive Gradient Tool that makes it very easy to draw and then fine-tune placement and coloring of a gradient
* User-definable color palette (as opposed to just the color wheel)
* New effects: Clouds, Median, Unfocus, Outline, and an improved Sharpen
* More intuitive and more powerful toolbar
* Generally improved and cleaner user interface
* History files are now compressed to save disk space, reduce disk activity, and improve performance
* "Merge Down" layer command

Link Download: Paint.NET 3.0


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China: We're Being Spied On Via Net

Just a week after it was revealed that the Chinese may have been behind a cyberattack on the Pentagon in June of this year, the Chinese are now claiming "massive damage" from spying on its own computers.
Several "core, vital departments" have apparently been infiltrated. Chinese Vice Minister of Information Industry Lou Qinjian said that the government will counter with a tough response, including new censorship and Internet controls.

The timing of Lou's statements is somewhat dubious: the US government recently pointed blame for a June cyberattack on the Chinese Army, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel has complained to Chinese premier Wen Jiabao over suspected hacks of its government systems.

Lou told the state-run Cadres Tribune magazine that "in recent years, party, government and military organs and national defense scientific research units have had many major cases of loss, theft and leakage of secrets, and the damage to national interests has been massive and shocking."

Claiming "spying" may just be a ruse to allow China to slip in new restrictions on Internet use by its citizens, experts say. Missing from Lou's statements were any specific cases of data loss, or evidence for that matter, either.

The country already has one of the most elaborate Net censorship systems in the world, and frequently jails citizens for various types of Internet "subversion." Lou blames US technology companies for leaving "holes" in their systems which allow the US government and others to spy on the country.

He further claimed that Chinese users were being "perverted" by objectionable content on the Internet, and urged the government to adopt stricter controls.

Source : Betanews
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Windows Vista Service Pack 1 and Windows Server 2008 will be made available for download next week

New test builds of Windows XP Service Pack 3, Windows Vista Service Pack 1 and Windows Server 2008 will be made available for download next week.



Microsoft is currently readying the first full beta versions for Windows XP SP3 and Windows Vista SP1. Additionally, the Redmond company is preparing to take Windows Server 2008, formerly codenamed Longhorn out of the extensive Beta 3 phase and into the first Release Candidate stage.

Microsoft offered official confirmation, through the voice of Nick White, Product Manager, that Windows Vista SP1 will be delivered for download to some 10,000 to 15,000 testers. "A Beta release of Windows Vista SP1 is slated for availability in the next few weeks. A small group of testers has been putting a preview of the SP1 Beta through its paces to help prepare for broader release. We made the choice to start with a very small group of testers because we think it’s better for both our customers and for Microsoft to keep the beta program small at the start. A later pre-release of SP1 will be available to a larger group of testers via MSDN and TechNet subscribers," White stated on August 29.

Jon DeVaan, Senior Vice President of the Windows Core Operating System division at Microsoft confirmed the scenario revealing that "we’re making a beta available to more than 10,000 people in the next few weeks – that’s a critical step for us on the road to release, and we’re looking forward to the feedback we’ll get," also on August 29. Moreover, the company has started sending out invitations to the current participants in the Windows Server 2008 beta program to access the downloads for Vista SP1 beta.

In addition to the first beta for Vista SP1, Microsoft will also go live with XP SP3 Beta and also the following week. Just something to look for. However, the release of XP SP3 is yet to be confirmed officially by Microsoft and more of a leaked detail. Still the company did make a habit of synchronizing the releases of Vista SP1 and XP SP3 so far. The beta of XP SP3 will also be delivered to MSDN and TechNet subscribers.

And last but definitely not least, Microsoft will evolve Windows Server 2008 out of beta 3 and into Release Candidate phase, as stated by Andy Malone: "Windows Server 2008 – RC0 - Great news for Beta Testers. Microsoft has finally made available the latest 2008 build to TAP customers. If you registered for the Beta program you can download it at the usual source. For non TAP customers it won’t be long before a download will be available to MSDN. I am sure announcements will be forthcoming. RC0 represents a feature complete version of 2008, which includes some enhancements to roles and features. A full report will be forthcoming."

The Redmond company did offer an insight into its plans to synchronize the Windows client and server updates, and in this context we are merely witnessing Microsoft's new strategy in action. "With Vista SP1 and Windows Server 2008, for all the components shared between client and server, we actually made them the same," said Bill Laing, General Manager of Microsoft’s Windows Server Division, as cited by Mary Jo Foley. "With Windows XP and Windows Serer 2003, we forked the code and so had two different sets of code. Even the modules with the same names weren’t identical. That meant things had to be fixed twice."

source: news.softpedia.com

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IEPlus is an add-on for Microsoft© Internet Explorer

IEPlus is an add-on for Microsoft© Internet Explorer, which brings you more convenience for plain Internet Explorer(features like browse history management, super drag and drop, etc.) and thus to make your surfing fun and more comfortable, with only minimum resource requirement.


IEPlus is an add-on for Microsoft© Internet Explorer, which brings you more convenience for plain Internet Explorer(features like browse history management, super drag and drop, etc.) and thus to make your surfing fun and more comfortable, with only minimum resource requirement.

IEPlus will enrich your browse experience with features like close tab when double clicked, super drag and drop, browse history management, multi-proxy management, mouse gesture, ads block based on URL and content, URL shortcuts, enhanced crash recovery, hotkey and a powerful plugin system ready to be extended. It works both for the newest IE7 and Vista, and also for the mainstream IE6 and Windows XP. Since IEPlus does not need to re-invent the wheel time and again and depends on Internet Explorer's standard interfaces, it thus is more stable and better than most third party multi-tab browsers based on Internet Explorer core.

Requirements:

IEPlus is fully compatible with Internet Explorer 5.5/6.0/7.0 (features relevant with Tabs are only available in Internet Explorer 7) and Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista, and we recommend you to use it in Internet Explorer 6 or later. IEPlus is small, easy to use and consumes minimum resource. During your use of it, you will gradually feel how much convenience IEPlus can bring to you.

Key features:

* IE Enhancements
* Super Drag & Drop
* Ads Blocker
* Mouse Gesture
* Extensible Plugin System
* URL Shortcuts
* Browse History Management

Download:
IE7Plus

Source: Keznews.com | Continue Reading..