Posted 11/20/09 at 03:06:30 PM by Bart Salisbury

You curiosity can now be slaked: Google’s Chrome OS is now ready for download and review. The bad news is you’ll need VMWare to run it. The good news is you can run it on OS X, Linux, or Windows.

But will it be worth the effort? If it’s something you really, really got to do, then yes, it will be worth the effort. For the rest of us, with episodes of The Colbert Report to catch up on, maybe not. Our colleagues over at Engadget have tried it out and report Chrome OS is “really a browser with an OS attached rather than vice versa.”

Chrome OS is browser-like in its construction, and Internet oriented. There are minimal app launcher options. And the more interesting apps, says Engadget, required a Google.com account to access. Without one you will be stuck playing with Gmail and Calendar (which Engadget reports suffer from “significant lag and choppiness”).

Still, with a Thanksgiving weekend to kill, Chrome OS might give you an option other than family, food, or football. You’ll find a download link for Chrome OS at gdgt.com.

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Posted 11/11/09 at 12:00:00 PM by David Murphy

Everyone wants a piece of the direct-download pie. With apologies to our gaming columnist for inching onto his beat just a tad, I think that some intrepid gamer - or, better, an intrepid gamer-businessman - needs to put his finger in the swelling dike of direct download services before it bursts all over the Web and ruins us all.

Dramatic? Perhaps. The description is no less dramatic than my growing frustration at the inability to manage my downloads, multiplayer experience, and cash across the many platforms that exist on the modern-day "Gamer's Internet." In a perfect world, the various game publishers would band together and come up with a common solution-a universal iTunes, if you will-by which all could contribute core content, extras, add-ons, and share the costs of bandwidth, UI development, and communal matchmaking.

As you might expect, that's hardly the case.

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Posted 11/11/09 at 11:45:50 AM by Paul Lilly

Microsoft has decided to yank its Windows 7 USB/DVD Tool from its Website following allegations that the utility makes improper use of open source code, CNet reports.

"Microsoft is looking into this issue and is taking down the [Windows 7 updating] tool from the Microsoft Store site until its review is complete," the company said in a statement. "We apologize to our customers for any inconvenience."

That's bad new for existing netbook owners and anyone else without an optical drive and hoping to upgrade to Windows 7. Before it was taken down, the tool made it possible to take a downloadable copy of the OS and create a bootable drive.

But according to Rafael Rivera of the "Within Windows" blog, the tool may violoate several GPL terms and conditions. Rivera says the source code was "obviously lifted from the CodePlex-hosted (yikes) GLLv2-licensed ImageMaster project" without the author's knowledge. He also contends that Microsoft neglected to provide source code for their modifications to ImageMaster or their tool.

We'll have to wait to see how this one unfolds.

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Posted 07/30/09 at 10:07:47 PM by Pulkit Chandna

Last week, Microsoft disappointed members of its invitation-only Windows 7 Technical Beta Program by announcing that they were not eligible for a free copy of Windows 7 Ultimate. But it has now made amends by announcing a complimentary copy of Windows 7 Ultimate for each one of them.

Microsoft will allow them to download the final build of Windows 7 Ultimate along with a key, beginning August 6, 2009. Those eligible can also opt for a boxed copy, however, such boxed copies are said to be limited in number. The complimentary boxed copies will become available after October 22, 2009.

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Posted 07/30/09 at 06:54:21 PM by Pulkit Chandna

DRM protection has been a bone of contention between content owners and anti-DRM activists. The latter party’s contentions seem to be becoming quite popular with content providers, with many music download services, including the august iTunes, opting for DRM-free music. However, DRM hasn’t been eliminated as a lot of downloadable content, including streaming/downloadable videos and streaming music, is still fettered by DRM protection.

The Copyright Office is currently deliberating upon allowing fresh exemptions to its rules that forbid DRM cracking – enshrined in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Steven Metalitz, a DC-based lawyer, who represents Big Content – a collective term for DRM-loving individual content owners and their organizations like MPAA and RIAA, reckons users should not be allowed to crack DRM protection even if an online store shuts down its authentication servers.

“We reject the view that copyright owners and their licensees are required to provide consumers with perpetual access to creative works. No other product or service providers are held to such lofty standards. No one expects computers or other electronics devices to work properly in perpetuity, and there is no reason that any particular mode of distributing copyrighted works should be required to do so,” he wrote in a missive addressed to the Copyright Office’s top legal advisor.

It is quite unrealistic to expect online stores to perpetually maintain their DRM servers. But it is ludicrous to assume that shutting down of an authentication server or the whole online store is reason enough for the user to surrender his ownership rights.

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Posted 06/24/09 at 03:33:23 PM by Andy Salisbury

For those of you still enjoying the Windows 7 beta (build 7000), know that your free time is coming to a close.

On July 1, 2009, those of you still running the beta will be told to install a released version of Windows, followed by your PC shutting down automatically every two hours. If on August 1, 2009 you’re still on the beta, your license will expire and the non-genuine lifestyle will be at your doorstep. That means you’ll lose your wallpaper and “This copy of Windows is not genuine” will be displayed in the lower right hand corner above the taskbar (the fiends!).

However, if you’ve already moved onto build 7100 (as I’m sure many of you already have), you’ll be in good shape until March 1, 2010. If you haven’t though, make sure to get it soon – downloads will be halted on August 15, 2009.

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Posted 06/16/09 at 10:00:06 AM by Paul Lilly

Through a partnership with Universal, Virgin Media said it plans to launch an unlimited music download subscription service. The well timed announcement comes just one day before a British report hits the public eye detailing how the creative and telecom industries should go about bumping up digital sales to cope with lost revenue due to online piracy.

"We listened to our customers, our fans, and our artists and we think that this is an opportunity to bring music to a wider audience," said Lucian Grainge, Universal Music chairman and CEO.

According to Reuters, people familiar with the service said it would cost around $16 to $24 per month. Both sides are describing the service as a world first, which would allow Virgin Media broadband customers to both listen to streaming tracks and download however many tracks and albums they want.

Unlike other unlimited subscription services, the downloadable MP3s won't come with any DRM shackles, which means the tracks can be transferred to and played from any MP3-capable device.

"This is really high stakes, if this can't work then what will," commented Mark Mulligan, an analyst with Jupiter.

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Posted 06/15/09 at 05:25:41 PM by Andy Salisbury

Call it a gimmick, call it what you want, but it looks like Microsoft is doing some good by helping out those in need via their Internet Explorer 8 advertising.

Along side their Dean Cain commercials that went live earlier this month, they’ll be donating the equivalent of eight meals to the Feeding America Network for each completed download of Internet Explorer 8.

Make sure that you download soon though; this promotion will only run from June 10th to August 8th. So, if you’re not downloading IE8 for yourself, download it for those in need! You’ll feel better tonight knowing you did.

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