ReviewsMicrosoft Sidewinder X5
Posted 08/29/08 at 02:00:00 PM by Will Smith
Sporting an ever-so-slightly trimmed-down shape compared to the original Sidewinder gaming mouse, along with a stripped down featureset, the Sidewinder X5 delivers great performance at a very reasonable price. Like the original Sidewinder, the design works great for gamers who use either a claw or a standard grip (or who like to change between them), but it’s not particularly comfortable for people with small- to medium-size hands. After a couple of hours of play using a standard grip, our hands cramped.
Missing from this updated Sidewinder are the original mouse’s adjustable weighting system, the interchangeable foot pads, the sensitivity display, and the weighted cable anchor. While we especially miss the cable anchor, extra features (like the one that have been omitted) aren’t something we’d expect in a mouse that costs $60.
NewsA Closer Look at Windows 7's Approach to System Performance
Posted 08/29/08 at 10:44:02 AM by Mark Edward Soper
The Engineering Windows 7 (aka "e7") blog at MSDN is providing us with a useful look at how the performance of Windows 7 is being analyzed in this week's blog post. So, what are the major subsystems being analyzed? Some of them include:
- Memory usage: trying to balance time versus space (disk, memory)
- CPU utilization: keep it as low as possible to improve multi-user scenarios and reduce power consumption
- Disk I/O: reading, writing, paging performance for both traditional and solid-state drives
- Boot, Shutdown, Standby/Resume: working with system vendors to make these operations as fast as possible
- Base system: balancing "on-demand" loading of resources with the need to keep performance at as high a level as possible
- Disk footprint: working with the space demands of device drivers, help system, optional components, diagnostics, and logging information
To learn more about how Microsoft is performance-testing Windows 7, and how your comments can help shape Windows 7, join us after the jump.
NewsMicrosoft, MySpace Dominate Online Display Ad Rankings for June
Posted 08/28/08 at 04:52:06 PM by Pulkit Chandna
MySpace might have quietly slipped to the second position, behind Facebook, on the social-networking charts but it remains a stellar performer when it comes to online display ads.
MySpace emerged as the leading U.S online display ads publisher for the month of June with 51 billion ad views, according to data released by comScore Ad Metrix. Yahoo was a distant second with a shade over 34 billion ad views. The search ads behemoth Google occupied the 5th spot with 5 billion ad views.
As for the top advertiser, the honor went to Microsoft. The company's 5.5 billion display ad views came courtesy its Windows Live Search promotional campaign.
NewsWindows Updates WGA Notifications for XP Pro
Posted 08/28/08 at 12:29:13 PM by Paul Lilly
Starting this week, Microsoft will update the way its Windows Genuine Advantage behaves. The first change will come in how WGA keeps itself updated, with MS saying "in this release we've also added the ability for future updates to WGA Notifications to have both the validation logic, as well as new forms of notifications, installed without additional steps."
But the biggest change comes to how WGA handles installations that fail to pass validation. Taking somewhat of a cue from Vista, users sporting a copy of Windows flagged as non-genuine will be greeted to a plain black background. Users will still be given the ability to change the background to whatever it was before, but every 60 minutes the desktop will go back to black until Windows passes validation.
In addition, Microsoft plans to add a "persistent desktop notification." Similar to a watermark, the non-interactive notification will appear permanently over the system tray as a reminder that the copy didn't pass validation. Users won't be able to click, move, or otherwise manipulate the notification, but it will be translucent over desktop items, and stay hidden under open windows.
Will this latest effort curb software piracy, or is WGA a bad idea to begin with?
NewsRumor: Microsoft Plotting Blue Laser Mice?
Posted 08/27/08 at 01:50:59 PM by Paul Lilly
Come September 9, 2008, Microsoft says it will be time to "Say Goobye to Laser." The ad on Microsoft's Hardware website hints that this un-named successor will work better on a variety of surfaces, but the company is saying little about it and showing even less.
That's okay, because it looks like one attentive surfer may have uncovered what Microsoft has in store after stumbling upon the MS Explorer Mini Mouse with "Blue Track" technology. The discovery was made over on Amazon.de, but has since been taken down after Engadget snagged a couple of pics and posted a link to the product. The site says Blue Track is to be based on a blue LED combined with a wide-angle lens, giving the new mouse the ability to work on more surfaces than both laser and optical. With Microsoft remaining tight-lipped, we'll have to wait and see, but the good news is September 8th is less than two weeks away.
NewsMicrosoft Now Owns "Page Up" and "Page Down"
Posted 08/24/08 at 04:19:55 PM by Paul Lilly
Lest there be any lingering doubt that everything in the free world can be patented, Microsoft has managed to add 'Page Up / Page Down' to its portfolio. Specifically, US Patent 7,415,666 states:
A method and system in a document viewer for scrolling a substantially exact increment in a document, such as one page, regardless of whether the zoom is such that some, all or one page is currently being viewed. In one implementation, pressing a Page Down or Page Up keyboard key/button allows a user to begin at any starting vertical location within a page, and navigate to that same location on the next or previous page. For example, if a user is viewing a page starting in a viewing area from the middle of that page and ending at the bottom, a Page Down command will cause the next page to be shown in the viewing area starting at the middle of the next page and ending at the bottom of the next page. Similar behavior occurs when there is more than one column of pages being displayed in a row.
We're computer enthusiasts and not legal beagles, but that sure sounds like Microsoft owns the Page Up and Page Down functionality on your keyboard, perhaps paving the way for some interesting royalty demands if the patent goes unchallenged. Think about the number of keyboards, both already sold and those currently being manufactured, and it's easy to see why granting such an obvious patent is troublesome.
Anyone know if the arrow keys have been patented yet?
FeaturesMac Users Are Whiny Losers. Love, Maximum PC
Posted 08/22/08 at 01:00:00 AM by Paul Lilly
We don't like taking on the role of enforcer, nor do we like bullying those ill equipped to defend themselves. But sometimes, for the greater good of all involved, as PC users we feel obligated to step in and lay the smack down when our Mac brethren come asking for it. In a way, we feel like Billy Madison did when he told a bunch of first graders "Now you're all in big, big trouble" before proceeding to pummel them in dodgeball.
Well, Mac users have come asking for it, courtesy of our friends over at MacLife (Maximum PC's sister publication) who this week posted 25 Reasons Why Non-Mac Users Should Shut Their Damn Pie-Holes. To borrow from Billy Madison, now you're in big, big trouble.
Hit the jump to read our retort.
NewsMicrosoft Live Labs Photosynth Brings 3D Imaging Power to Everyone 
Posted 08/21/08 at 11:57:17 PM by Mark Edward Soper
Microsoft Live Labs, where Microsoft is helping to create the future of online information, released its Photosynth 3D imaging service yesterday, CNet reports.
Photosynth enables you to create a freely-navigable and zoomable 3D space by combining hundreds of photos with overlapping data, but unlike panorama-stitching programs, you get better results if you shoot your photos from a variety of different angles and zoom settings (or different focal-length prime lenses).Photosynth isn't for photography snobs, either. It works with all types of digital camera images, even from camera phones.
To sign up for Photosynth, you need a Windows Live ID (a free Hotmail account will work). After you sign up for Photosynth, you download free software for viewing synths (Microsoft's term for the 3D images you create with Photosynth) and for creating them. For best "synthiness," you'll need to shoot at least 100 pictures, and many of the examples you can view on the Photosynth website include 200 or more images. If you ever wondered why you need a 4GB or larger flash memory card for your camera, wonder no longer. A thorough Photosynth session can use up every bit of space on your largest memory card.
To learn more about Photosynth, and to give us your comments on this new imaging tool, catch us after the jump.
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