Looks like my war with CableCARD might be over. CableLabs has gone official in saying that CableCARD no longer has to DRM all recordings made on a PC… even those that have not been copy-protected by the provider. As I’ve covered in-depth on my blog, again and again, it made absolutely zero sense that TiVo […]
At launch, Live Mesh wouldn’t talk to Windows Server. This especially rubbed salt in the wounds of Windows Home Server users, who even with Power Pack 1, won’t be able to remotely access Windows XP Home and Vista Home systems. But, now, times appear to be changing. As of the latest update to Live Mesh, […]
This one really has me ticked. Microsoft has released a Media Center “TV Pack” (similar to a Power Pack or Service Pack). The update/upgrade enables Clear QAM support for Windows Media Center inside of Vista SP1. This is important because? Well, it means that you can now watch HD programming over cable, without the need […]
Live Mesh got an update today. While Microsoft hasn’t said it yet, I just put it to the test… and you don’t need User Account Control to use Live Mesh anymore. Now, here’s the catch… the installer may be out of date. So, you may need to enable UAC in Vista, reboot… then install Live […]
Windows Search (formerly Windows Desktop Search) has now reached version 4.0. Gone are the days of it being in beta status. I’ve been a tester since day one, and I have to say, it’s one of the few betas I deployed on all of my systems. Windows Search 4.0 dramatically improves the performance of file […]
Microsoft keeps coming up with creative marketing to sell Windows Vista on customers. Now, I actually have far fewer complaints than most about Vista. In fact, all my primary PCs run Vista. But, this marketing line is definintely a new one. In their latest TechNet email, Microsoft decided to use it pitch Vista to IT […]
It’s been awhile since the Xbox team did something stupid. Fortunately, this week they did something stupid… with gusto! In a nutshell, in case you haven’t heard, Microsoft has announced that they have tenative plans to stop selling certain Xbox Live Arcade games which both have low review scores, and have a low “conversion rate” […]
I decided for once to attend a Microsoft Expert Zone Chat. These chats are buried in the old Windows XP area of Microsoft’s site (for some strange reason). They offer a rare chance for Microsoft leadership (engineers, product managers, etc) to chat right with customers. I wanted to get the straight answer on CableCARD’s DRM […]
Microsoft posted a couple of days ago on the WHS Team Blog about a hotfix for fixing a PC Backup issue. Essentially, backups may fail if the drive uses NTFS Compression. This is not to be confused with compressed files (like ZIPs or RARs), but compression at the file system level. Most people don’t use […]
About a day before Microsoft promised to make it available to the public, you can download Service Pack 3 at the link below. Windows XP SP3 (Microsoft Download Server)