Dell No Longer Supports Vista x64...and Other Rants

Let me step onto my own personal soapbox for a minute. I've always been one of those do-it-yourself, "hardcore" PC guys. I believed that the only good desktop PC was one you built yourself, and that's just what I've done for the last 10 years.

Then I found an incredible deal online through Dell last September. I realized that for under $1000 I could spec out and build a machine that would cost me a few hundred more to build myself. At that point I should have remembered the old adage, "if it's too good to be true..."

However, being the sucker that I am for a good deal, I ordered the PC. A Dell XPS 410 with Intel Core2Duo E6600 (x64 CPU, this will come into play later), 3GB of RAM, 500GB of HD space, and all the usual other accoutrements. The Dell site stated that the estimated ship date for the item was late September. Great, a 2-week lead-time shouldn't be a problem.

Then came the order detail e-mail. In the e-mail I was told that my order was to be delayed by a month. The earliest ship date was now mid-October. So I e-mailed Dell wondering why their site shows one date, yet their instant Order Confirmed e-mail showed yet another.

The response I received was as follows:

Quote - "Thank you for contacting Dell Online Customer Care.

I understand from your e-mail that you want to check the credit status of your order I would like to inform you that the order lies in the hold status as the authorization from the dell prefered account is still pending. I would request you to kindly wait for 24 hours so that status will change."

My question at this point is who is reading my e-mail? I had asked why the site shows one status and the e-mail another. Never did I ask anything regarding my account. I wrote support another e-mail trying to be more clear. Once again I received a somewhat canned reply:

Quote - "I would like to inform you that I have checked your records and found that your shipping date for this order is Wednesday, October 11, 2006"

Now I'm really wondering if any at Dell Support reads anything before they reply. I already knew the estimated shipping date. My issue was why their site was still giving false dates for shipping newly ordered systems. I wrote Dell a few more times and they ended up giving me a $100 Dell coupon & upgraded my shipping. The system ended up being delayed one last time, but finally shipped on October 13 and arrived on October 18.

Why all the fuss over a simple PC you ask? I test software for multiple companies and needed a testbed for both 32-bit and 64-bit software. To me this was a mission critical PC and Dell was failing to deliver, especially since the XPS line is supposed to be their top end systems.

Now before anyone gets upset and states that I should have ordered from the Dell Small Business site I'd like to point something out. The Dell Dimension 9200 & the Dell XPS 410 are the same machine with a different label on the top. The XPS systems are supposed to have the top-tier support out of all of the Dell systems.

Now flash forward almost 1-year. I haven't had a single issue with this system until August 2007. It seems the DVD-Burner has decided to stop working properly. It randomly drops out of Explorer, and sometimes doesn't show up during POST. I run through the usual diagnostics (checking my connections, changing power leads, etc.) and it still doesn't work.

At this point I decide to call XPS Support and they make me re-run through the diagnostics while I'm on the phone with them. The XPS Support tech thinks a firmware flash will fix the issue. So I do the flash and sure enough, the drive is alive again, for a month.

source: neowin.net


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Seamonkey 1.1.5

SeaMonkey is a free, open source, and cross-platform Internet suite. The SeaMonkey project is a community effort to deliver production-quality releases of code derived from the application formerly known as "Mozilla Application Suite".

Whereas the main focus of the Mozilla Foundation is on Mozilla Firefox and Mozilla Thunderbird, our group of dedicated volunteers works to ensure that you can have "everything but the kitchen sink" — and have it stable enough for corporate use.

Whereas the main focus of the Mozilla Foundation is on Mozilla Firefox and Mozilla Thunderbird, our group of dedicated volunteers works to ensure that you can have "everything but the kitchen sink" — and have it stable enough for corporate use.

Changelog:
* MFSA 2007-36 URIs with invalid %-encoding mishandled by Windows
* MFSA 2007-35 XPCNativeWrapper pollution using Script object
* MFSA 2007-34 Possible file stealing through sftp protocol
* MFSA 2007-33 XUL pages can hide the window titlebar
* MFSA 2007-32 File input focus stealing vulnerability
* MFSA 2007-31 Browser digest authentication request splitting
* MFSA 2007-30 onUnload Tailgating
* MFSA 2007-29 Crashes with evidence of memory corruption (rv:1.8.1.)
* MFSA 2007-28 Code execution via QuickTime Media-link files

Download Seamonkey 1.1.5 for: Windows | Linux | Mac OS X

source: mozilla.org


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The Vista wow becomes a whisper

I wasn’t a big fan of the “Wow” campaign around Windows Vista. But its newest incarnation — “100 Reasons Why Everyone’s So Speechless” — might be even worse.

The new site (which Microsoft officials just told me has been on the Web since January, though I have to admit I never saw until today) lists 100 reasons users should take a closer look at Windows Vista. No. 1 is “It makes using your PC a breeze.” No. 100 is “Because your network is the backbone of your business (Network Diagnostics and Troubleshooting).”

“Seeing Windows Vista for the first time may leave you searching for words. Many people just say ‘Wow.’ Here are 100 reasons why,” the site says.

When Microsoft launched Windows Vista in January, execs knew they needed a succinct way to explain why users should upgrade to the new OS. Not a list of 50 reasons. But something that would roll off the tongue of salesclerks and PC makers in a 30-second pitch.

For a while, Microsoft tried bucketing Vista’s new features into three “C’s”: Clear, Confident and Connected. When asked for just one reason why users should upgrade, company execs, for a while, were emphasizing security.

But now Microsoft’s taken a step backwards and done not a Top 5 or Top 10 list, but a Top 100. Sure, it’s tempting with Apple running around claiming Leopard will have 300 new features, to go for bigger numbers. But sometimes less is more.

We’re heading into the first real holiday season of Vista availability (given that Microsoft missed Holiday 2006 and launched Vista in January 2007). While it’s true that retail is a comparatively small contributor to the 60-million-copies-sold number that Microsoft bandies about for Vista, it’s the part of the market that is most visible to the public. And it’s where Microsoft has taken the biggest hits with Vista so far.

What do you think of the new “Speechless” campaign for Vista? Is it going to dilute further Microsoft’s marketing message? Or do you see some value in it I’m missing?

source: blogs.zdnet.com


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Windows automatically updating itself: Case closed?

It’s time for the latest — and possibly final — installment of the seemingly never-ending saga of “Why is my copy of Windows automatically updating and rebooting itself?“

In the last episode, the Windows Update Product team stated on its blog on October 12 that neither Automatic Update (AU) nor the bunch of patches that Microsoft rolled out on October 9, Patch Tuesday, were responsible for reports from Windows users earlier this month that their machines were automatically updating without their approval.

The Product Update team continued to investigate. At some point (I’m not sure exactly when, as the time stamp does not reflect the post update time/date) the team updated its blog again, suggesting a few possible causes for the reports by certain Windows users of their machines updating automatically. On the team’s list of possible reasons that AU settings can be (re)set or changed:

* “During the installation of Windows Vista, the user chooses one of the first two recommended options in the “Out of Box Experience” and elects to get updates automatically from Windows
* “The user goes to the Windows Update Control Panel and changes the AU setting manually
* “The user goes to Security Center in Windows Vista and changes the AU setting
* “The user chooses to opt in to Microsoft Update from the Microsoft Update web site
* “The user chooses to opt in to Microsoft Update during the installation or the first run experience of another Microsoft application such as Office 2007.”

In short, Microsoft’s explanation was that users were knowingly or unknowingly changing their own Automatic Update settings and complaining about the results.

I went back and asked some of the many readers who complained in the comments on my blog post, as well as the additional ones who sent me e-mail, about both Vista and XP automatically updating even after they had indicated they did not want automatic updates to take effect automatically. I showed them Microsoft’s explanation. To put it politely, many did not feel Microsoft’s explanation was adequate. Here’s one reader response from a user who said that his XP machine rebooted itself this month, despite his AU settings being set to off:

“I’m not buying their explanation. I — for several years — have always shut off Windows update. I don’t want anything installed on my computer unless I know about it. If something is done on my computer, installations or whatever, I want to control it. I don’t allow any software vendor to update my software unless I’m aware of it. This includes Sun, Firefox, Thunderbird and others. I’m a computer tech and am keenly aware of how software changes can have adverse effects on a computer. I especially don’t trust Microsoft. Why and how Microsoft made changes to my computer very much concerns me and makes me more wary of MS than ever.”

Another reader astutely replied that he thought that the users might be experiencing the problem noted my ZDNet blogging colleague David Berlind back in August. Berlind documented how Vista could force unwanted and immediate reboots on users. Microsoft’s explanation, at that time, was that users running in non-admin mode might be subject (knowingly or unknowingly) to the whims of their administrators. Microsoft’s explanation to Berlind:

“Because an administrative user had configured the machine to automatically stay up to date, the reboot is not postpone-able by a non-admin. Allowing a non-admin to override an admin’s wish is not the right default for security sake. This behavior is also controllable by policy to allow a non-admin user to interact with Windows Update. So yes, what [you] experienced is by design and justifiable as it does not allow a non-admin to go against the wishes of the administrative user. And again if running as a non-admin is his normal mode of operation, then there are policies which can be set to tweak behaviors more to his liking.”

source: blogs.zdnet.com


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Microsoft simplifies switching between Windows Live IDs

To simplify switching between multiple Windows Live IDs you can now link them together, with the Linked Windows Live ID service.

Instead of logging out and logging back in, once the accounts are linked, a simple click from the menu on the top right of most Windows Live pages will now do the trick. To link your accounts up, head over to the Linked Windows Live IDs section of the Windows Live Account page. Once they’re all added, you must sign out and then sign back in.

However, there are two problems, one a potential security issue and the other more of an annoyance. The former is that it now only takes one password to break into multiple linked accounts. The latter is if one of your accounts is set to have you change your password regularly, or if one of the sites you visit requires a strong password, it will require that you change your password on each linked account.


source: thespacecraft.spaces.live.com


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Microsoft slashes Xbox 360 price in Japan

TOKYO - Microsoft is slashing Xbox 360 prices in Japan by about 13 percent as the price war among video game consoles heats up around the world ahead of the key year-end shopping season.

The Xbox 360 console will sell in Japan for 34,800 yen ($304) beginning Nov. 1, down from 39,795 yen ($348), the U.S. software maker's Japan unit said Monday in a statement.

A more basic version of the machine now selling for 29,800 yen ($261) will go for 27,800 yen ($243), according to Microsoft Corp.

Last week, Sony Corp. cut the price of its PlayStation 3 game console in the U.S. It had already announced similar price cuts in Europe and Japan.

The top-line PlayStation model, with an 80 gigabyte hard drive, now costs $499 in the U.S., down from $599. That effectively eliminates the lower-end model, which has a 60-gigabyte drive and sold for $499. A new low-end model with a 40-gigabyte drive will go on sale Nov. 2 for $399.

The big winner in game consoles recently has been Nintendo Co. with its Wii machine, which has a wandlike remote.

Nintendo, the Kyoto-based manufacturer of Pokemon and Super Mario games, has not announced any price cuts for the Wii, which is already cheaper than Xbox 36o or PS3.

The Wii now sells for $250 in the U.S. and 25,000 yen ($219) in Japan. The Xbox 360 costs $350 in the U.S.

Nintendo has chosen a different strategy from Sony and Microsoft, with their more expensive machines, and has been trying to woo novices with brain teasers, sport games and virtual pets, instead of the usual shooter and role-playing games.

Since Wii went on sale late last year, Nintendo has shipped 9.3 million units around the world, with supplies barely keeping up with demand. By the end of this fiscal year in March 2008, Wii global shipments are expected to reach 22.3 million.

So far, Sony has sold 5 million PlayStation 3s. The game console went on sale late last year in Japan and the U.S. and in March in Europe.

Microsoft has sold 11.6 million Xbox 360 machines in the last two years.

source: news.yahoo.com


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Executor 0.96.6b

Executor is a launcher that is a more powerful and customizable version of Windows Run. The program originated as I was sick of spending too much time searching for programs through my ever growing windows start-menu and also found myself using windows run more and more frequently.

There was of course already programs like this available, but each had it's annoyance or missing features or too( !! ) geeky. So I decide to code my own app to rid me of using the windows start-menu and windows run.

Many features like: customizable keywords, history, auto-completion (keywords, history, file system), drop-down or vista like list, start-menu importer, skinable, very customizable, url and email detection, one keyword can launch multiple keywords/files/urls/programs etc, optional icon and program title display, customizable hotkey, a number of special commands and parameters, filesystem autocompletion, optional sounds, intergrated calculator and more.

Download:
Executor 0.96.6b

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