Switching operating systems on Sony Vaio

I purchased a Sony Vaio around the holidays, and it runs the Vista operating system. I can't stand this OS; I have thousands of dollars' worth of software and utilities that are virtually useless on this system. My question: Is there any easy way to downgrade to Windows XP without messing up my entire computer?

Microsoft officially discontinued retail sales of XP on June 30. However, it is still widely available, including at Amazon, and judging from its Web site, odds are good that XP will work with your system. But there's a catch: In some cases, newer components aren't directly supported by XP. You may be able to download necessary drivers, but in rare cases you may not. Check the Sony Web site for your specific model.

Readers should note that Sony is recalling 440,000 Vaio laptops because of a wiring flaw that could cause overheating. For details, call 888-526-6219 or visit sony.com/support.

From : http://www.newsday.com/

Microsoft Works to Perfect Windows Vista

An advertising blitz intended to help Microsoft polish the tarnished brand of its Windows Vista operating system began this week with a head-scratcher of a commercial.

The ad features Jerry Seinfeld flexing some new shoes, Bill Gates adjusting his shorts and no mention of Vista. Microsoft says the ad is meant to get people talking, and that other parts of the marketing campaign will actually get into what its software can do.

But the advertising, which will cost hundreds of millions of dollars over several years, is really just “air cover,” according to Bill Veghte, the Microsoft executive who is responsible for sustaining Windows, probably the most lucrative franchise in history.

For more than a year, Mr. Veghte and his team have been developing ways to transform the experience of buying and using personal computers that run Microsoft software.

Corps of Microsoft engineers, for example, have been dispatched to tweak hardware and software to make Vista PCs faster and less crash-prone. Microsoft has stepped into the world of PC retailers in a way it never has before, offering training and advice — and even paying to put hundreds of “Windows gurus” in stores.

By now, Microsoft insists that most of the frustrating technical problems with Vista, which was introduced in January 2007 after repeated delays, have been resolved — and many industry executives and analysts agree.

Yet Vista’s image problems have opened the door to alternatives to Windows as never before. Windows still commands more than 90 percent of the market for personal computer operating systems. But Apple’s Macintosh operating software — which runs only on Apple machines — is gaining ground, especially in the United States.

Microsoft’s stumbles have also given momentum to the shift of software away from the PC and onto the Web. Web-based programs for e-mail, spreadsheets and other tasks can be run in a browser, undermining the value of the underlying operating system. Indeed, Google’s entry into the browser market this week is an implicit declaration that the browser is increasingly supplanting the PC operating system as a strategic computing gateway.

Microsoft makes much of its living from Windows, and a very good living it is. In the year ended in June, Microsoft’s Windows group generated revenue of nearly $16.9 billion and operating profits of more than $13 billion, a phenomenal 77 percent margin.

To keep that business humming, Microsoft needs to have consumers and corporations upgrade to new versions of Windows — something that has not been so easy with Vista.

“What we’re seeing with Vista is that for the first time some significant portion of consumers and business customers have decided it’s not worth upgrading,” said David B. Yoffie, a professor at the Harvard Business School. “If they don’t, the end of the franchise is at hand.”

The main problem with Vista, Microsoft said, was that given the delays, uncertainty and significant changes in the software, the rest of the industry was not ready when Vista finally arrived. There are one billion worldwide users of the various versions of Windows. Hundred of thousands of hardware devices and software applications run on it, and they need connecting programs, called drivers, to work smoothly with it.

Vista represented a big shift from its predecessor, XP, so it required a lot of new drivers — and Microsoft did a poor job of communicating how much work was needed. Often, Microsoft said, an older driver still worked with Vista, but it slowed down the PC or made it crash unpredictably. Today, 77,000 hardware devices and components are compatible with Vista, more than twice the number when Vista was introduced.

“We are in a very different position with Vista than we were even six months ago,” said Mr. Veghte, senior vice president for Windows strategy and marketing. “And there are a lot of people holding forth with criticism of Windows Vista that have not used Vista, or not recently.”

Just after Vista shipped, Steven A. Ballmer, Microsoft’s chief executive, tapped Mr. Veghte, 41, to move to the Windows business. In his 18 years at Microsoft, Mr. Veghte has had a wide-ranging career in sales, marketing and software development (he holds two patents).

Vista’s troubles were seen within Microsoft’s management ranks, characteristically, as an opportunity. Mike Nash, who had worked with Mr. Veghte before, signed up to join him. “There was so much we could do better,” said Mr. Nash, who is vice president for Windows product management. “Our task was to shake things around and make the Windows business much more sustainable over the years.”

From : http://www.nytimes.com/

Will Vista Have Its Day?

I'm sorry to announce that this is the final edition of Community Scoop. I have enjoyed reading all of your comments, and I hope that you will continue making the PC World Community a great place.
Are you feeling sneaky? We've got a list of 12 sly Web tricks, and not everyone is happy about them. Are these cool tricks, or irresponsible pranks? Join the discussion.
Comcast is capping monthly broadband usage. Is this something for the everyday user to be concerned about?Let us know what you think.
Will Windows Vista have its day? Only time will tell, but our readers do have their opinions. Share yours with us.
Our most recommended stories this week include sly Web tricks, tech habits to improve your life, and Google Earth add-ons. To vote for your own favorites, click one of the thumbs-up icons on an article's page.
We end with product reviews from users like you. Have you gotten any new high-tech goodies recently? Let us and your fellow PC World readers know what you think of them. Go to PCW Shop & Compare to search for your gear and add a review.
Note: To use our interactive features, such as adding comments to discussions and contributing your own product reviews, you must be signed in to the PC World Web site. (Not registered? You can sign up online.) However, you can view the discussion threads and poll results without being signed in.

12 Sly Web Tricks That Put You In Control

Kilme says:: I must admit, the Upside-Down-Ternet is hilarious. I just encrypted my own wireless connection, and wish I had found this sooner. I may give it a try someday.
Publicmenace says:: "Spoof you e-mail address" probably won't work. Most, if not all ISPs use SMPT authentication these days to prevent spammers from spoofing e-mail addresses and using the ISP's servers as open proxies. There are open proxies still available on the Internet, but not through legit ISPs.
Housknecht says:: Maybe I am getting too responsible as a middle-aged adult, but these "tricks" are entirely irresponsible, especially to have been published by a heretofore reputable entity. You are just feeding the fires of trouble that immature people create on the Internet already. You should be ashamed.
Metaphor says:: I absolutely agree! It's also appalling that so much emphasis is put on avoiding legitimate work. All those who aren't self-employed should keep in mind that some hapless employer has actually bought a good chunk of your time and every one of those hours belongs to the organization paying you. Play on your own time! Be glad you have a job--and be very glad you're not a supervisor with a staff of immature people who think these tricks are cool. Hmpf.
Read the posts in this thread and contribute your own opinion.

Critics Question Comcast Broadband Caps

kelmerp says:: My only concern is whether or not this will affect my Hulu/Netflix InstantWatch addition.
Danthalls says:: This is not only unfair to Comcast's "unlimited use" customers, but it hurts future advancement of things like high-def streaming video, games, VoIP, and any other technology out there that relies on high-speed internet. It will hurt everyone if they are allowed to get away with it.
Shasta says:: As a major distributor of pay per view programming, isn't it a little disingenuous for Comcast to place download caps so that you will have to pay to view their offerings? I don't know many people who have Comcast Internet who don't have Comcast cable as well. It's a good way to limit competition, if you ask me.
Mjd420nova says:: As a longtime Comcast customer, this doesn't really bother me. I've measured my download usage: Seldom does it go over 150GB in a month; if it does, it's usually by about 5GB. I think these throttle controls are mainly aimed to stop or limit the spammers that have proliferated throughout Comcast's system.
Read the posts in this thread and contribute your own opinion.

Vista May Still Have Its Day

glassmaster says:: Finally a tech article that sees the current Vista-slam as it really is: simply a repeat of XP's entrance into the mainstream that most of us have forgotten long ago. Good article!
AZITguy says:: I think Microsoft should be paying all of us for beta testing their crappy Windows software.
Tenney67 says:: I could never understand all of the bad press for Vista. I replaced one of my home computers with Vista on a HP computer nearly a year ago and never had any problems with it. Meanwhile my XP computer hangs up every once in a while.
MAcUser21 says:: The problem is that Microsoft has announced a new OS coming in 2010 called Windows 7, so people question whether they should buy Vista.
Read the posts in this thread and contribute your own opinion.


From : http://www.pcworld.com/
Continues : http://www.pcworld.com/

Desktop virtualization promises easier management for IT and an optimal experience for users

Spurred by the business benefits gained from server virtualization, enterprises now are embracing desktop virtualization for many of the same reasons: flexibility, lower costs and ease of management.

The latter has been huge for the University of Maryland in College Park, says Jim Maloney, network applications manager at the school, which has been using desktop virtualization since November 2007. The university hosts 50 -- soon to be 250 -- virtual PC images on two VMware ESX servers running the Sun Ray Server Software and Sun's virtual desktop software. Users access the images from Sun Ray terminals. "Overall, we've saved 30 hours a week in management time -- practically one full-time employee," he says.

Others look to desktop virtualization as a hedge against the cost of future PC upgrades. "Compared with traditional desktops, virtualization is a no-brainer," says Kunal Patel, IT manager at Nina Plastics, a packaging manufacturer in Orlando. Nina hosts 50 virtual PC images on two ESX servers using Pano Logic's Virtual Desktop Solution software. Users access the hosted images from a specialized hardware-only device into which they plug their mice, keyboards, displays and network connections.

"We were spending between $700 and $1,000 per desktop, whereas the Pano device costs just $300. And an actual PC eventually becomes obsolete and has to be replaced. With the Pano, if we want to upgrade the entire company's desktops, we just upgrade the few servers we have and we allot more memory or faster speeds to the images. It's a concrete dollar savings," Patel says.

Plus, users get unprecedented flexibility: They can

access their desktops from virtually any device residing anywhere, as long as they have good network connections. Instead of sharing centrally hosted applications, they access their full desktop images complete with familiar applications and customized wallpaper -- the final fulfillment of the thin-client ideal.

One, two, three approaches

Desktop virtualization requires a hypervisor, such as VMware ESX, Citrix Systems XenServer or Microsoft Hyper-V, running on a data-center server to host the desktop images. Vendors differentiate themselves by the overlying desktop virtualization-management software that brokers the connection between the virtual PC image and the actual client, be that a Macintosh, Linux or Windows PC; thin client; RDP

Continues : http://www.networkworld.com/

Microsoft: IE losing ground, Vista can’t get off it

Microsoft is losing ground after Internet Explorer lost seven percent of its hold on the web browsing market in the last year. This adds to the pressure of Windows Vista, which is only used by less than 15 percent of PC users, according to Internet research groups.

Jand the IT Productivity Center recently released a white paper finding that IE’s marketshare fell to 58.5 percent in August versus 65.48 percent last August and about 83 percent in 2005.

Mozilla’s Firefox browser remained a distant, yet rising second with almost 19 percent of the market. Google Desktop has captured about 4 percent, and some Netscape users remain, despite the fact that AOL dropped it months ago.

“Both Vista and Netscape show that large companies make huge blunders in technology,” said Victor Janulaitis, CEO of Janco. ”In the case of Microsoft, they no longer count on moving users to new products as quickly as they want.  Time Warner’s short-sighted decision to abandon Netscape shows technology decisions are long-term ones, and companies that want to create value in that market need to look beyond quarter-to- quarter earnings.  But the real story is the continued erosion of Microsoft’s market share.”

A summary of Janco’s browser market share data can be found on their website and the IT Productivity Center’s website.

From : http://blastmagazine.com/

Windows XP Ready for OLPC XO; OLPC To Revisit Give 1, Get 1 in November

We reported months back, to the dismay of many Linux and Sugar lovers, that One Laptop Per Child had officially teamed up with Microsoft to port over Windows XP to the OLPC XO. According to ZDNet, Microsoft has finally now released to manufacturing the version of Windows XP that it has tweaked to run on the One Laptop Per Child XO computer.

JkonTheRun put up a single shot of the OLPC XO running the customized XP (see an enlarged picture below). We don’t have many details at the moment on how the XP interface has been tweaked but we do know that it will run many of the programs that were designed for the Sugar operating system. The system hardware has also had to be changed to run the Microsoft OS and now includes more RAM. But rest assured, we will be getting a peek at the new XP for the green system in the coming weeks.

Foley of ZDNet reported that Microsoft has no plans to make Windows available for individuals who bought an XO in last year’s Give 1 Get 1 program. The program allowed U.S. and Canadian consumers to buy the XO laptop, but only if they bought one to donate to a developing nation.

It looks like the public will have to wait until this year’s Give 1 Get 1 to get an XO running Windows XP. According to Nicholas Negroponte, the non-profit will ramp up its next Give 1 Get 1 in November of this year. He tells us that he is trying to have dual-boot machines, running both Windows XP and Sugar, ready for the new G1G1.

From : http://blog.laptopmag.com/

Microsoft quietly offering ad-funded Works

After years of exploring the matter, Microsoft has finally started offering an ad-funded version of Microsoft Works in some countries.

Users who run the software see a small ad as they are writing their document or editing their spreadsheet. Although the program has the ability to update its set of ads online, today it runs mostly ads for Microsoft and a few partners, all of which ship with the product itself.

Works SE (which stands for Sponsored Edition) is free to PC makers, though they don't get a cut of the ad revenue. Large computer makers typically only pay a buck or two for the low-end version of Works, though.

The ad-funded Works falls into a category of several products the company is exploring, rather than a significant new source of revenue, said Microsoft Vice President Chris Capossela.

"This is a trial," he said. "This is a pilot. This is a 'Can we build software that will do this?' "

Microsoft has been considering such a product for some time, with many inside the company arguing that Microsoft could make significantly more money for Works by selling advertising than it gets in revenue from computer makers for the product.

Capossela said the early response to the free product has been positive. "People have liked the price," he said with a laugh, adding that it has also not been perceived as that intrusive, something Microsoft had worried about.

Last August, Microsoft said that it would start piloting Works SE, but the company gave few details on where or how the product would be offered.

Microsoft remains cagey on the details of where you can find Works SE. The company has been testing Works SE in 5 countries: The United States, France, Canada, Poland and the United Kingdom. It is available only through select computer makers and Microsoft won't say which computer makers those are.

According to its Web site, Packard Bell offers the software on some of its models in the United Kingdom. Using the same sleuthing technique (a search engine), it appears Sony is one of those offering it in the U.S.

Capossela put Works SE in the same category as several other new approaches, including the Albany subscription service that Microsoft detailed this week. Also in that camp would be the prepaid Office cards that Microsoft has been selling in some countries for more than a year now.

Response to that last product, which sells Office in six-month increments for around $20, has been mixed. The cards were a hit in South Africa, but bombed in Mexico.

None of these areas are significant new channels as yet.

"There's no business here yet," he said. "These are all experiments."

The one area where Capossela said Microsoft has seen significant sales is the download and purchase of Office over the Web. Customers either download a trial version of Office directly from Microsoft or get it with a new PC. After 60 days of use, they are prompted to buy a full version from Microsoft or a partner (partners typically sell the product cheaper than Microsoft).

Microsoft was not quick to seize on selling directly over the Web, Capossela said.

"We're late," he said. "If you look at Symantec and Intuit, they have huge businesses here."

Capossela also stressed that Microsoft is focusing its efforts on new ways of selling Office and creating online products that complement Office, not replicating the suite on the Web. He said that Microsoft still doesn't see much competition from Google Apps.

"We haven't seen them yet," he said. "We've seen a love affair in the press. We haven't seen customers embracing Google Apps."

As for Albany, Capossela said the main idea is to try and have a product that can be pitched by the Geek Squads of the world when people buy a new PC at retail. Tech benches, as these services are known generically, have become an important avenue for consumer software sales.

"This is designed for a certain sales motion and if that sales motion didn't exist, this product probably wouldn't exist," he said.

That said, Microsoft has yet to sell the product to those retailers or determine how much it will charge for the subscription product, which combines Office 2007 Home and Student Edition, Windows Live OneCare security, and other free Windows Live services.

Have you seen the ad-based Works on a PC? If so, drop me a note at ina dot fried at CNET dot com and let me know which model.

Form : http://www.news.com/

Simple Ways to Speed up Windows XP pt.1

Please note I think its pathetic to even have to do this…..But its worth it.

First you are going to want to rid your hardrive of unwanted startup items.

so open up open up "C:\documents and setting\<username>\start menu\programs\startup\"
(replacing <username> with your computer username)

In the startup folder go ahead and delete everything you don't want/need.

Then open up "C:\WINDOWS\Tasks"
In this folder delete all unwanted/needed scheduled tasks.

Second, Windows can look pretty hot without slowing down your computer's performance.

• 
  
  Right click "My Computer" and select "Properties"
  
  


• 
  
  Select the "Advanced" Tab and click "Settings" in the "Performance" box
  
  


• 
  
  Out of the bubble boxes select "Custom" and only check the following values:
  
  
  
  
  1. 
     
     Show Shadows under Menu
     
     
  
  
  2. 
     
     Show Shadows under Mouse Pointer
     
     
  
  
  3. 
     
     Use drop shadows for icons labels on the Desktop
     
     
  
  
  4. 
     
     Use visual styles on Windows and Buttons
     
     
  
  
  
  

Third, Windows has many components that most people do not use, and
of course they slow down your computer so heres what you do:

Open Start Menu and click "Control Panel"
From there click "add/remove programs"
Then to left there are four buttons click the third one down which is Windows Components

A window labeled "Windows Component Wizard" should pop-up.
un-check "Indexing Services" then anything else you don't use.
I have everything unchecked except for "accessories and utilities"

Fourth, Windows has various services many in which you don't need and obviously slow you down.

So we need to get rid of them. Open up your Start Menu and click "Run".
Then type in "services.msc". A long list of services will pop-up, to disable them right click them and click
"properties" then change the drop down menu for "Start-up Type" to "Disable". The Following can be Disabled:

• Alerter


• Clipbook


• Computer Browser


• Distributed Link Tracking Client


• Fast User Switching


• Help and Support - (If you use Windows Help and Support leave this enabled)


• Human Interface Access Devices


• Indexing Service


• IPSEC Services


• Messenger


• Netmeeting Remote Desktop Sharing (disabled for extra security)


• Portable Media Serial Number


• Remote Desktop Help Session Manager (disabled for extra security)


• Remote Procedure Call Locator


• Remote Registry (disabled for extra security)


• Remote Registry Service


• Secondary Logon


• Routing & Remote Access (disabled for extra security)


• Server


• SSDP Discovery Service - (Unplug n' Pray will disablethis)


• Telnet


• TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper


• Upload Manager


• Universal Plug and Play Device Host


• Windows Time


• Wireless Zero Configuration (Do not disable if you use a wireless network)


• Workstation

Hope it will help you!
It sure helped me! =)

http://yourtechtoday.com/

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