Messages

101

General Software Discussion / Re: Tagging Files (Tag Everything)

« on: January 23, 2009, 03:40 AM »

2 other tools that also do general purpose tagging - www.taggtool.com and www.tag2find.com.

I hate the way Windows has half baked tag support (we'll let you tag music files, office docs, but not any file) even though NTFS has all the support built in !!

102

General Software Discussion / Re: WINDOWS 7 THREAD (ongoing)

« on: January 21, 2009, 06:24 PM »

One of the virtues of trying out a new OS is you get to do a clean install, and discover new replacements for old standby's, sometimes out of necessity.

e.g. when I switched to Win 7 I ditched Roboform, and switched to lastpass.com.

103

General Software Discussion / Re: WINDOWS 7 THREAD (ongoing)

« on: January 18, 2009, 03:37 PM »

Well, there a few significant kernel changes in Windows 7 -

- its now scalable to upto 256 cores
- it has the new 'Min-Win' kernel, which is refactored and componentized.

http://channel9.msdn...ch-Inside-Windows-7/

104

General Software Discussion / Re: windows 7 beta available for free Jan 9 (!)

« on: January 11, 2009, 11:55 PM »

This is what the recovery environment looks like -

http://www.aeroxp.or...very-actually-works/

105

General Software Discussion / Re: windows 7 beta available for free Jan 9 (!)

« on: January 11, 2009, 08:38 PM »

I guess that partition is some kind of "recovery partition" like what HP, Dell, etc. put on their computers. 200mb seems a bit small for recovery, but at least it's small enough that I can just ignore it.

I saw some page that had instructions to prevent that partition from being created. I didn't read it very carefully, but it looked like the main idea was to partition/format the HDD before installing Windows 7.

-Hirudin (January 11, 2009, 04:08 PM)

Yes, that 200MB is the Windows recovery partition. It lets you run the recovery console without needing the Windows dvd. If you install on a system which is already partitioned, then the recovery files are placed in c:\Srd instead.

106

General Software Discussion / Re: WINDOWS 7 THREAD (ongoing)

« on: January 09, 2009, 03:21 PM »

nontroppo, you may be right, I haven't done a detailed analysis. But from what I understand, the requirements to block protected content are dictated by the MPAA etc and are required to get a license. This is why Vista has a PVP (protected video path) to enforce stuff like HDCP, which is what all the DRM implementation is about. Now it may be that its overzealous, and that part you quote is certainly not a good sign. But the fact remains that unless you play any protected content, none of these code paths will be invoked.

This is not just the OS though. Graphics cards, motherboard drivers all have this these days. In fact one of the problems with Vista is it doesn't support a protected audio path, which is a problem for HTPC because you can't get a hidef audio signal over HDMI from your pc to audio gear. Windows 7 will hopefully fix that.

All these technologies are very much anti-consumer, its a fact of life unless we have digital copyright reform. I feel its a bit unfair to single out Microsoft simply for being the first to support these in their OS.

107

General Software Discussion / Re: windows 7 beta available for free Jan 9 (!)

« on: January 09, 2009, 02:25 AM »

MrCrispy: which build does MSDN offer, and do you know if it's the same build that's going public-beta tomorrow?

-f0dder (January 08, 2009, 03:45 PM)

Its the exact build that will be given to the public (x86 and x64). Build number is 7000.0.081212-1400 

108

General Software Discussion / Re: WINDOWS 7 THREAD (ongoing)

« on: January 09, 2009, 02:21 AM »

The DRM in Vista (specifically Guttmans infamous FUD) has been debunked. There is DRM in the driver stack which is only invoked if you play protected content, otherwise there is NO performance penalty. Whats more, ANY OS would have to include the exact same DRM if they want to get the licenses to provide playback for HD media like Bluray. Why do you think Apple STILL doesn't support that?

Vista was (is) a fine OS after SP1, but it did require modern hardware and had a lot of room for optimization. Some of those, such as Aero not using memory/window (and thus scaling much better), loading services on demand, a more componentized kernel+services layer (what used to be called MinWin) are under the hood innovations that make it leaner and meaner.

Then there are user improvements such as the Superbar, the less intrusive UAC, gestures, better layed out options, and some big features such as Homegroup and Libraries. These improve usability.

Put them together, add in the same driver model as Vista so there are no incompatibilities on launch, and you have a very compelling product. Vista was much maligned, for good reason, but since Sp1 its been very stable. Win 7 is better

109

General Software Discussion / Re: windows 7 beta available for free Jan 9 (!)

« on: January 08, 2009, 03:40 PM »

I got it off MSDN and am running it right now as the main OS on my laptop and in 2 VM's. Even with 512MB in VirtualBox its perfectly usable.

110

General Software Discussion / Re: WINDOWS 7 THREAD (ongoing)

« on: January 08, 2009, 03:38 PM »

I would not be so sure about Win 7 being released by mid-2009, even though I'd love that. Its possible we'll have a RC build after the beta expires and that Win 7 will be launched around Christmas.

Ironically, that would be around the time we'll see price cuts on Core i7 and people upgrading to a much more powerful system, only to run an OS that's been optimized to run faster than XP

111

General Software Discussion / Re: WINDOWS 7 THREAD (ongoing)

« on: January 07, 2009, 07:05 PM »

The Win 7 public beta will be out sometime between tonight and tomorrow and next 2 days.

One of the mistakes Microsoft made with Vista was allowing OEM's (and Intel shares a very large part of this blame) to label even their crappy low end configs with slow cpu's, low Ram and integrated graphics as Vista-ready, which led to a lot of grief. Home Premium should be the bare minimum.

112

General Software Discussion / Re: WINDOWS 7 THREAD (ongoing)

« on: December 27, 2008, 02:01 AM »

Win7 beta 1 (build 7000) has leaked! Obviously I can't put a link here but its spreading around the usual torrent sites etc. Paul Thurrott of Winsupersite has posted the official beta 1 screenshots (I'm guessing after the leak an NDA apparently does not apply)

http://www.winsupers..._beta_screens_01.asp

I expect Microsoft will make it publicly available as soon as they are back from the holidays and the hangover's gone

113

General Software Discussion / Re: KMPlayer going commercial?

« on: December 27, 2008, 01:39 AM »

I like both MPC and VLC however their UI leaves a lot to be desired. KMP has a much nicer UI and a lot more options to tweak and it has some really neat features that no one else has (such as the album thumbnails). I have all 3 installed.

114

General Software Discussion / Re: Is it finally time to abandon IE?

« on: December 17, 2008, 04:50 PM »

I wish Firefox had Protected Mode. It really makes IE on Vista so much more secure.

115

General Software Discussion / Re: WINDOWS 7 THREAD (ongoing)

« on: December 17, 2008, 04:33 PM »

Looks like the Win7 beta is going to be out very soon.

http://www.neowin.ne...ed-to-select-testers

I haven't received my invite yet (I hope to!), but I bet it'll be available from the 'usual sources' as well

116

General Software Discussion / Re: VLC making improvements

« on: December 15, 2008, 07:40 PM »

For those who don't about it, Kmplayer (www.kmplayer.com) is an awesome player - its like all the codecs of Vlc/Mpc in a nice UI, with more options to tweak than you want. After I found that I have no need to try anything else.

117

General Software Discussion / Re: Acronis total dirt OS selector - kills hard drives!

« on: December 14, 2008, 08:37 PM »

I've learnt from experience not to trust Acronis products. Tried TrueImage and it refused to restore a 'verified' disk image. Even when the restore worked it would mess up the Windows SID so Vista wouldn't load. I have since started using Ghost/DriveImage. The Vista bootloader (bcdedit) is a lot more capable and there are some nice Gui's to use it  (EasyBcd, Vista boot pro), if that works for you.

118

General Software Discussion / Re: WINDOWS 7 THREAD (ongoing)

« on: December 14, 2008, 08:27 PM »

Yes, the ribbon is not efficient in all contexts, and Microsoft should force it onto simple apps.

-zridling (December 04, 2008, 11:34 AM)

Don't you mean shouldn't force it?

119

General Software Discussion / Re: WINDOWS 7 THREAD (ongoing)

« on: December 14, 2008, 08:26 PM »

Add me to the Win 7 fan club!  I just bought a new laptop for my brother with pretty decent specs - HP Pavilion with 2.2Ghz C2D, 4GB Ram, Intel 4500HD integrated graphics (I don't trust Nvidia cards!). Even on this, a fresh install of Vista x64 SP1 was not exactly mind blowing, and it failed to detect a lot of hardware (wireless network, camera etc).

I decided to play with the latest Win 7 build 6956. As part of the initial setup, it found my home network over wireless and configured it, and everything works! It feels a lot faster and polished than Vista and so far I have had no issues. The new Libraries feature is awesome and so is the superbar and Aero peek. Control panel is organized better, with more items. Its a lot of small touches that I can appreciate after using them, even after I read all the previews. Can't wait to try the beta in Jan.

Also worth noting - this is a 32-bit Win 7 build (can't use the full 4GB memory) yet it ran faster than 64-bit Vista.

In fact it works so much better than Vista that I almost wish I could give it like this to my brother instead of with Vista. But I know I can't in good faith do that

120

General Software Discussion / Re: New duplicate file finder... I am open to features suggestion

« on: December 07, 2008, 08:20 PM »

Hi Milos,

Welcome to this site, I am very glad to see you here as your programs are really fast and appear to be well coded! One of the features I'd like in duplicate scanners is the ability to define exactly what constitutes a match. Most have builtin filters such as match by name/size/contents but that's usually it. I'd like some way to specify similarity searches based on fuzzy logic, or e.g. be able to match on html titles instead of file names. This may be more than a regular duplicates finder though.

121

General Software Discussion / Re: Is XP really that good?

« on: November 29, 2008, 02:32 AM »

Linux is not well designed. Its a hodge podge of competing design philosophies with no coherent vision, no standardized API's on which other developers can build apps, and a new project starting every week which tries to fix the failed efforts of the previous ones. Note I am not talking of the kernel, which IS decent, but all the user level subsystems such as video, sound, the filesystem etc.

Documentation is the least of their problems. Linux coders don't need docs anyway, they just read the source Hell they even want users to use the source!

For your normal user, there is little reason not to run Windows. More apps, easier to use, faster or just as fast (KDE and Gnome are just as fat and bloated as Windows counterparts) and for most people, Windows will come for free. Even the open source apps like Firefox have much better support and run better on Windows than Linux. For developers, there's even less reason - Windows dev tools, docs and support are leagues apart.

122

General Software Discussion / Re: How to make a local copy of an ancient Web forum?

« on: November 26, 2008, 06:45 PM »

Some speculation without having used the ripping software or knowing how the forum works -

1. if the various ways to get to the same post (or thread) actually resolve to the same url, then the ripper should only download it one. Do they do this?

2. In some forums, expand/collapse/quick reply etc are Ajax/Javascript actions and not a page load. Can these be ignored at the page level?

3. If #1 is not true, then I guess some form of content analysis (where the ripper would detect the page has been downloaded previously as it has the same html) could be used to detect duplicates. I'm sure no one does this since it won't be reliable and even if it was, would be slow

4. Can you tell the ripper to exclude certain links, like those matching "expand/collapse" etc?

123

General Software Discussion / Re: Should licensed Vista users get free upgrade to Windows 7?

« on: November 22, 2008, 12:22 AM »

Vista SP1 and server 2008 are the same kernel. There were many people blogging about how Server 2008 makes a better desktop OS than Vista, but that's just less desktop services running by default on a server OS. Windows 7 has a new kernel.

124

General Software Discussion / Re: Best App to save whole webpage AND its linked pages?

« on: November 08, 2008, 04:10 PM »

The easiest way to do this is the Firefox extension Scrapbook (https://addons.mozil...S/firefox/addon/8186). It has the best web capture engine since its browser based.

125

General Software Discussion / Re: WINDOWS 7 THREAD (ongoing)

« on: October 29, 2008, 12:19 AM »

There are some features in Windows 7 apart from the UI which are exciting  -

- Fastboot (or whatever its called), which speeds up booting by parallelizing device initialization among other things

- support for VHD's (virtual hard disk). This should revolutionalize backup and imaging. Imagine backing up your pc to a vhd image and then booting up another pc from it over the network.

- New engineering process (http://blogs.msdn.co...from-the-bottom.aspx) should make the OS more stable

Honestly, I was expecting more. Someof the stuff which is not there (or not announced yet at any rate)

- MinWin kernel
- ditching legacy compatibility and running all legacy apps in a VM
- application virtualization (SoftGrid) technology
- optimizing the OS binaries to contain only new API's and cut out the fat (sort of what Snow Leopard is aiming for)
- fixing Explorer's IO bound nature
- opening up the incredible power of DWM (Vista's graphics engine) to allow 3rd party apps that can then easily do things like Expose, theming etc on the desktop
- allowing tags+metadata to be added to any file type