Latest news about Microsoft? Well, it's "hasta la vista" for Vista, as it seems from signals you can see everywhere, or simply by talking to at least 4-5 Vista users. Internet Explorer 8 and a bunch of other interesting products are on the way, but nobody knows when they'll drop by, and since I am not really into dealing with Microsoft shares, I think this is exactly what we should be talking about next - latest news about Microsoft products!

Since I mentioned Internet Explorer 8, you should know the Beta 2 is already available for the masses. Finally, anyone can play with this cutie, as long as they have the guts to try Beta releases(from Microsoft!). The official IE8 download page is here, so get in and give it a spin. I don't have the courage to do it just yet, but it seems Microsoft is getting closer to the truth, from what I've heard...

According to Steven Sinofsky, "performance and compatibility will be a big focus for Windows 7." Of course, they were always targeted by Microsoft, but they escaped almost every time. Let's hope they'll get'em this time!<-180x150 Small Rectangle - right->

New WGA update! If this sounds like something new to you, then let me put things as simple as possible: new update, apply it, then Windows XP starts screaming that your version is a pirated one...that only happening if it really is that way, of course! Even more, they claim this new update aligns XP's WGA with the one in Vista SP1, whatever that means.

Windows Live Wave 3 is already available to Butterfly testers, with more expected to be invited this week. In the meantime, various builds of the Windows Live Messenger 9.0 are floating around, but I have to ask - who is still using that thing???

According to some details regarding the next version of Windows Live Hotmail, there are a lot of speed improvements coming up. Since nothing official was heard yet, I rest my case here and conclude that the latest news about Microsoft show they really need some inspiration...

Yahoo, and Mash, two things that seem to have nothing in common, since if you simply hear about them, you'll instantly think about the MASH TV series - at least that what I just did...but the reality is quite different, since Yahoo! Mash is a social network service released in early September, 2007. What's so special about it? We'll see that right away, but now let me say just this - Yahoo got Mash'ed this time!

Smashed, mash'ed, crushed, call it as you wish, because Yahoo! tried to compete with other social networking sites by offering "mashups" of existing online services packed inside a single user interface. While the idea doesn't sound bad at all, it seems their try failed, since they just announced all its Mash subscribers they only have one month left until their world is going to be pounded into dust.<-125x125 Button - right-> Sad, but true. That's life, what else can I say?

Oh, yeah - one of the answers to the questions regarding the mystery surrounding Yahoo! Mash is that this social network was in a private beta stage since its release until now, so most Internet users didn't have any chance to check it out. Unfortunately, now all comes to an end, as I said. Why?

Yahoo needs to concentrate on areas that are really working, and it seems Mash was simply a victim of redirecting vital resources from projects that "could" work to the ones that "do" work, and by that, I understand "making money," or at least "almost making money," like Flickr, for example.

I don't know why, but I think successful innovation is not something to happen with big companies like Yahoo or Microsoft. See this case, see Vista, and judge for yourselves. If you get to any conclusion, don't forget to drop your comments below, of course!

Could you believe that "We remove Vista/We install XP/We repair notebooks" was used on a sign placed in front of the A&D Computer repairs, upgrades, and custom built computer store? Even more, this proved to be one of the most successful signs in the last two years, according to the shop manager, who also added that "A lot of people didn't like using Vista, and a lot of the manufacturers forced people to go up to Vista." Anyway, this is only a drop in an ocean, as we're going to see right away...

What happens in the small town of Milford could be easily extrapolated to an entire planet, if I think well, and this is what is all about, since the A&D Computer website says the following about Vista removal: "This service is offered as a way to give customers a choice in the operating system that they want. <-336x280 Large Rectangle - right->It is primarily for systems not purchased at A&D, as all of our systems are offered with the choice of Windows XP, Vista, or without an O/S (so that the customer may install his/her own.)

Big-box stores, however, have decided to force customers up to Microsoft's latest OS, Windows Vista, whether they like it or not. Only a few, select, "business" class systems can be found with the option of XP as an operating system.

A&D Computer has decided to gives these customers the choice of sticking with the mature operating system of Windows XP. If you are a customer forced into Vista and believed that you had no choice, A&D staff can evaluate your computer to see if it is XP compatible, backup any requested files, and revert back to Windows XP from Vista. Our staff can also explain the pros and cons of going back to XP (of which cons there are very little.)"

The funny part of the entire Vista experience is that PC makers are trying to make it look like...Mac OS X! In this article, you can read about the modifications made by HP or Sony to Windows Vista, but do you know what's the funniest part of it all?

...in an email from Lauren Moynihan, a senior product manager at Microsoft, these PC makers are encouraged to build their own custom apps "on top of Windows Vista that enhances the customer experience." From here on, I think the next stop for Microsoft would be to recommend Windows users switching to Mac OS X or Linux!!!

About a decade ago, in those dark days when I had no Internet connection and all my software was coming from friends(on floppy disks, of course) and computer magazines shipping together with a CD, Winamp was the one and only media player to use. Oh, there also was that early version of Windows Media Player available in Windows 95, if I can call it "media player," since it was only the shadow of a media player's idea... Slowly, I began experimenting with a lot of new media players and CD grabbers, ripping those few audio CDs again and again and trying to enjoy the results as much as possible. Leaving behind my computer-related history, here's what I have for you today: real player, free download!

I know a lot of people who really have something against Real Player, but since I never used that one on a regular basis, at least as my secondary or tertiary player, I can't confirm or deny their claims. While I can't claim that Winamp is a bad player either, I found a lot of better ones to play with, especially foobar2000, Jet-Audio and, my latest discovery, the one-and-only Spider Player, which you can see pictured above.

I know some may say "What is this guy talking about? This Spider thing looks just like Winamp!" right after seeing the screenshot above, and I can't blame them for that, because same thing happened to me, when I saw this program for the first time. <-336x280 Large Rectangle - right->Even its licensing scheme is the same as Winamp's, with a Basic free version, and a paid one with a few extra features, but don't tell me this is no real player, because it's as real as it can get, and it's also a free download, since if you really need those extra features, you can get specialized programs for them...or simply buy Spider Player, only because they managed to make it so good!

While crossfading doesn't really sound like something to make you "trade your Winamp for a spider," the amazing sound quality of this player featuring internal 32-bit sound processing(it's enough to say that it can really blow my windows if volume is pushed too high, like no other player can!) and its native support for 5.1/7.1 Surround audio qualify it as a worthy Winamp replacement...and we're only getting started!

One of the great things about Spider is its Radio Directory, a manager of online radio stations with filtering and search capabilities. The best part about it is that you don't have to add your stations, since it automatically gets information about Shoutcast stations from the Web. Of course, if you want to add your own stations, nothing can stop you...

While the Favorites Manager is also a very powerful feature, I want to tell you a few words about the DSP Effects Manager, Spider Player's module allowing you to apply the high quality 32-bit DSP effects you need as you wish, while also offering support for Winamp DSP plugins. Awesome! The downside of this feature is that SPider Player only comes with the Winamp Plugin Wrapper, and no plugins of its own...

Skins are also supported, while recording from Internet radio stations or losless CD ripping are limited in the Basic version. Anyway, what I really like is the power of the Basic version as a player, and that's what really matters, after all! Real player, free download, remember? It's not "real grabber-player-audio CD burner, free download," so...

Just one last thing before I run on my couch to enjoy some more Spider Player-driven musical mayhem - the PRO version comes with losless encoding, unlimited recording from Internet radio stations, batch processing, the ability to rip all CD tracks at one and use command-line encoders with custom presets, as well as enjoy Spider Player PRO on your PC, USB drive or U3 device. As a final note, you should also keep in mind that the Basic version is available for USB drives!

Hehehehe...one of my favorite topics, once again! No, no, it has nothing to do with hardware, Linux, video compression or music. Wait! I think it has, in the end. After all, it's not the tool that really matters, it's how you use it, don't you think? No, I am not talking about THAT tool! Now wash away your dirty thoughts and let's talk about P2P, one of the reasons for starting modern witch hunts on a regular basis, even when there are no real "witches" around...

Yesterday, Northwestern University decided to drop communist methods like filtering, monitoring, bandwidth caps, and others (I think the RIAA and MPAA would even enjoy shooting P2P users on stadiums, as long as they get their money...), simply switching to a battle with flowers instead of guns!<-250x250 Square - right-> Well, not quite flowers, but when talking about copyright infringement, an email warning is just like a flower facing a gun - considering we have a really bad P2P user, of course.

Developed at the University of Michigan, Be Aware You're Uploading (BAYU) really had some success in reducing P2P usage and DMCA takedown notices, as ArsTechnica reports. This University turned the entire program into open source, including the documentation, so now everyone could do it. The idea is very simple - packets inside the network are scanned, and the system generates automatically an email notice to the one uploading data through a P2P connection. That's it!

Unfortunately, these emails are not answering questions like "Is it OK to download promo records?" or "Is LimeWire Illegal?," but I think I like this idea. After all, we're talking about people who are willing to learn about a lot of stuff, including copyright infringement...

At last, it should be noted that a lot of users have P2P programs installed, but some of them simply don't understand the fact they may be sharing copyrighted content located on their computers, like the iTunes library, for example. Knowledge is power, that's the conclusion, my friends, but feel free to add your own thoughts below.