Windows Archive

Audio Stack in Vista To Move Out of Kernel Space

Thom Holwerda 2005-09-19 Windows 57 Comments

In previous Windows releases, the entire audio stack ran in Kernel space. Vista will put an end to this. "The first (and biggest) change we made was to move the entire audio stack out of the kernel and into user mode. Pre-Vista, the audio stack lived in a bunch of different kernel mode device drivers, including sysaudio.sys, kmixer.sys, wdmaud.sys, redbook.sys, etc. In Vista and beyond, the only kernel mode drivers for audio are the actual audio drivers (and portcls.sys, the high level audio port driver)."

What if Microsoft Gave Away Vista?

Adam Scheinberg 2005-09-19 Windows 89 Comments

The news has been around, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer says the development process at Microsoft has to change after Windows Vista. The time between releases is just too long, and Microsoft has to show profit to keep shareholders happy. Some say the Redmond empire is due for a slow collapse, but I think there exists an amazing opportunity.

Workflow, Tomorrow’s Application Logic

Eugenia Loli 2005-09-18 Windows 16 Comments

At the PDC last week, Microsoft announced Windows Workflow Foundation as a key component of WinFX in conjunction with Windows Communication Foundation and Windows Presentation Foundation. This chapter describes the motivation behind Windows Workflow Foundation and provides an overview of its features

Shedding Light on Windows Server 2003 R2

Thom Holwerda 2005-09-16 Windows 4 Comments

Bob Muglia, Microsoft's senior vice president for Windows Server, on Thursday shed some light on the upcoming Windows Server 2003 R2 release during his keynote address at the Professional Developers Conference here. R2, which is due later this year, would bring features such as Services for Unix, the WS-Management standard, along with the next generation of the management console, MMC 3.0.

Microsoft Invests in Cross-Platform Development, Vista Server Security

Thom Holwerda 2005-09-16 Windows 27 Comments

Vista's development tools use cross-platform standards, so you can use them to write normal apps that will run on multiple platforms or Web-based apps with multiple browser support. Also, new security features planned for the Vista version of Windows Server will include an automatic patch check and a file system that can fix itself, Microsoft said. Watch some videos of Vista here.

Windows Server 2003 Compute Cluster Solution Beta

Eugenia Loli 2005-09-16 Windows 10 Comments

Windows Server 2003 Compute Cluster Solution brings together the power of commodity x64 (64-bit x86) computers, the ease-of-use and security of Active Directory, and the Windows operating system to provide a secure and affordable high performance computing (HPC) solution.

Windows Media Center Updates for XP, Vista

Thom Holwerda 2005-09-15 Windows 2 Comments

According to many blogs and the Microsoft OEM site, Microsoft is due to release Windows Media Center Edition Update (codenamed Emerald) soon. The update dubbed "Update Rollup 2" will be released in approximately a month. The update will be released to OEM's within the next week. In the same link you will find information on MCE's future.

Office 12 Beta 1 in a ‘Couple Months’; Dev Toolbar for IE

Thom Holwerda 2005-09-15 Windows 26 Comments

Again, more news from the PDC. Microsoft senior vice president Steven Sinofsky took the stage Wednesday to discuss Office 12, which he said would hit Beta 1 within a "couple months." Betas of the Open Office XML format schemes are available starting today. Also, more screenshots of Vista build 5219 can be found here, shots of IE7 here. MS also announced a developer's toolbar for IE 6 and 7. The toolbar would allow the developer to see how pages would look in various screen resolutions, validate HTML and CSS code, and perform numerous other functions that Web designers would find useful. You can read transcripts of the various keynotes here.

Windows Workflow Foundation

Thom Holwerda 2005-09-15 Windows 6 Comments

In PDC related news: "Windows Workflow Foundation is the programming model, engine and tools for quickly building workflow enabled applications on Windows. It consists of a WinFX namespace, an in-process workflow engine, and designers for Visual Studio 2005. Windows Workflow Foundation is available (currently in beta) for both client and server versions of Windows."

Fixed Windows 2000 Update Released

Thom Holwerda 2005-09-14 Windows 14 Comments

Microsoft issued an update to its final Update Rollup for Windows 2000 on Tuesday, correcting issues with the initial release. While there seems to be yet more glitches still not fixed, the company says those will be addressed in individual patches.

Submitted by DigitalDame 2005-09-13 Windows 89 Comments

This week, Microsoft is handing out Vista build 5219 at its Professional Developers Conference in Los Angeles. PC Magazine was able to get their hands on it, trying out a number of new features and observing some slick-looking interface enhancements, such as true 3D windows views (with properly skewed video), thumbnail views for desktop apps, and a semi-transparent Taskbar. Take the guided tour to witness some of these new features in build 5219.

Vista’s Sidebar, Gadgets Unveiled; MS Releases Max, Monad Beta 2

Thom Holwerda 2005-09-13 Windows 73 Comments

Lots of news from the first few hours of the PDC. First off, in the first CTP of Vista, the sidebar has been revived. "The Sidebar will be populated with "gadgets" and will feature an open platform for developers to create their own mini-applications. Sidebar gadgets can be dragged onto the desktop, and interact with standard Windows applications." Also, "Microsoft Max lets you make lists of your photos and turn them into beautiful slide shows to share with your family and friends. Max is the codename for Microsoft's flagship application based on WinFX and Microsoft's new user experience." Images from the PDC here, and you can watch Bill Gates' keynote here. Also, MS released beta 2 of Monad.

Microsoft Expands Vista Testing, Releases CTP

Thom Holwerda 2005-09-13 Windows 19 Comments

The company is launching a "community technology preview" program for Vista, offering interim updates of the operating system in between its official beta releases. Microsoft has increasingly been using such previews as a way to offer more frequent test builds to developers. The first CTP was released today at the PDC. Elsewhere, ActiveWin has obtained screenshots of this latest Vista pre-release.

Microsoft Taps Canon to Bring Vista Into color

Thom Holwerda 2005-09-13 Windows 12 Comments

Microsoft is expected to announce Tuesday that it has partnered with Canon to include an all-new color matching system as part of the new operating system. The Windows Color System is designed, among other things, to help make digital photo prints that better match the images that appear on the screen.

TabletPC: Mobile Vista Introduction for Tablet PCs

Thom Holwerda 2005-09-11 Windows 16 Comments

"Although a relatively new platform, Tablet PC continues to revitalize and broaden its appeal to developers. By expanding existing features, adding new investments, and simplifying deployments, developing for Tablet PC becomes even more alluring with Windows Vista. There are some interesting PDFs available on what Windows Vista has in store for the Tablet PC."

Review: Windows XP N Editions

Thom Holwerda 2005-09-11 Windows 119 Comments

More from Paul Thurrot today, as he reviews the N editions of Windows: "If you're wondering what the XP N Editions are like, wonder no more. I got my hands on both XP Home N and XP Pro N this week and gave them both a spin. The results were pretty uneventful. I can't recommend the XP N Editions per se, but I can report that you shouldn't be afraid of using these products at all. They're not crippled or broken in any way I can see."

Submitted by kellym 2005-09-11 Windows 61 Comments

"Two days before the start of Professional Developers Conference 2005, I've received exclusive insider information about the product editions which Microsoft intends to create for Windows Vista." Secondly, Microsoft has made available for download a preliminary vesion of the Vista User Experience Guidelines. Lastly, Brian Proffitt thinks Vista will be free. As in beer, that is.

An Introduction to Windows Mobile 5.0

Thom Holwerda 2005-09-07 Windows 6 Comments

Windows Mobile 5 sports many new features and enhancements making it a very worthwhile upgrade. Perhaps the most important feature that everyone will love is persistent memory. Your data won't be lost if the battery runs completely dry; a new concept for Pocket PCs, and an old one for MS Smartphones and some Palm brand PDAs such as the LifeDrive and Treo 650 (and the Tungsten E2). Read more for an in-depth look at this new Windows version.

Review: Archive Tools for Windows

Submitted by jr mouser 2005-09-06 Windows 22 Comments

Here is a very long and comprehensive comparison of archiving tools for Microsoft Windows. Three awards are rewarded for best commercial, best freeware, and best open-source archiver.

Microsoft Speaks DirectX10

Andrew Youll 2005-09-04 Windows 51 Comments

Seems MS has had a change of heart over the name of its nextgen API, previously called "Windows Graphic Foundation", and has decided on the more logical name "DirectX 10".