With MSN Messenger you can chat online instantly in real time with friends, family and colleagues. It's faster than e-mail, more discreet than a phone call. Chat using a webcam, send text messages to mobile phones, and express yourself instantly online in real time with new, cool emoticons.

MSN Messenger looks like you! Sign in with your own picture, create your own emoticons, and represent yourself with new, cool backgrounds!

Download: Windows Live Messenger 8.5.1235
Source: MSFN

At the Mix'07 conference in Las Vegas-Microsoft's annual event for web designers and developers-the spotlight has largely been on Microsoft's Silverlight platform, formerly known as Windows Presentation Foundation/Everywhere. Silverlight is a set of tools for developing rich, Flash-like web applications. Less talk has focused around the web browser that will provide the primary user interface for all this new technology. On the Internet Explorer blog, Chris Wilson hinted at some of the things that might be coming in IE 8, while declining to give specific details.

While details may be lacking, the structure of the conferences planned for Mix'07 gives a few hints. Improvements in RSS, CSS, and AJAX support are all being given high priority. It is also widely speculated that IE 8 will include support for microformats, small tags embedded in HTML code that can be interpreted in various ways by software, such as calendar events or contact information.

Microformat support is scheduled for Firefox 3, so IE 8 will have to include them in order to keep up. The new version may also include more options for user interface customization, as that was one of the biggest criticisms of IE 7, and one which the developers often blamed on lack of time.

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Source: Ars Technica via MSFN

We all know that DirectX10, for many of us, means an expensive upgrade and the move to a new operating system. We also know that DirectX10 is going to be necessary to play DX10 games such as Crysis and Halo 2 for the PC. What if I told you that a project sought to change that? That you could run DirectX10-exclusive games such as Halo 2 for PC on a DirectX9 platform with Windows 2000?

Thanks to the Alky Project, we may not have to spend a penny to enjoy DirectX10 goodness. A quote from their official blog (I know, it's not an official web-page, but they do link to working models) tells us exactly how we can make DirectX10 work without spending at least $270 on a DirectX10 upgrade ($170 NVIDIA GeForce 8600GT, $100 Windows Vista Home Basic).

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View: Alky Project Homepage
Source: MSFN

Computer makers have been told they'll no longer be able to get Windows XP OEM by the end of this year, despite consumer resistance to Vista and its compatibility problems. By early 2008, Microsoft's contracts with computer makers will require companies to only sell Vista-loaded machines. "The OEM version of XP Professional goes next January," said Frank Luburic, senior ThinkPad product manager for Lenovo. "At that point, they'll have no choice."

Despite Microsoft's relentless promotion of Vista, manufacturers are still seeing plenty of demand from customers for systems preloaded with XP, especially in the finicky SOHO market.

In a recent post on its Direct2Dell blog, Dell reaffirmed to concerned customers that it wasn't about to force small business users — who typically purchase PCs piecemeal, rather than in large enterprise-style orders — to shift to Vista, which has experienced a less-than-stellar reaction from many buyers because of driver issues and moderately beefy hardware requirements.

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Source: APC Mag via MSFN

These plug-ins give you souped-up functionality, better look and feel, and streamlined development tasks. And some are just plain cool.

A freshly installed copy of Firefox is a great software package, but what makes this open-source browser so special is the ability to customize it via extensions and themes to really make it yours. The problem is, there are so many available add-ins, it's tough to know what's worth installing and what's just going to junk up your system.

That's where we come in. We've ferreted out 20 of the best extensions and add-ins used and recommended by hardcore Web surfers, developers and IT pros. Whether you're looking for more streamlined surfing, improved look and feel, cool design tools or serious Web development help, there's something (and more than likely several things) here for you.

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Source: ComputerWorld via Flexbeta

uTorrent is an efficient and feature rich BitTorrent client for Windows sporting a very small footprint. It was designed to use as little cpu, memory and space as possible while offering all the functionality expected from advanced clients.

Download: µTorrent v1.6.1 build 490
View: Change Log
Homepage: µTorrent
Source: MSFN

Microsoft has sent out e-mails regarding the closing of the Window Live Messenger 8.1 Beta that began September 7, 2006. The e-mail states that 3,009 beta testers submitted 1010 bugs and 456 suggestions as well as 6000 posts in the newsgroup. The final build number and final release date are currently unknown. There will be no prizes given out at the end of the beta because of budget limitations for this specific program. Although there are plans for another beta, it is unclear if "it will be a minor release (such as an 8.x ) or a major release (such as a 9.0)" and no date is available either. The plan is to invite current testers to the next managed beta. The beta newsgroup will be available for a couple of more weeks while the public newsgroup microsoft.public.windows.live.messenger will remain the primary location for discussing Windows Live Messenger.

Download: Windows Live Messenger 8.1.0178
View: Windows Live Messenger Home Page
Source: Neowin

CCleaner (Crap Cleaner) is a freeware system optimization and privacy tool. That removes unused and temporary files from your system - allowing Windows to run faster, more efficiently and giving you more hard disk space. The best part is that it's fast! (normally taking less that a second to run) and Free.

Download: CCleaner 1.37.456 Standard (2,622KB) | Basic (607KB - No Toolbar) | Slim (450KB - English Only, No Toolbar)
View: Changelog | Screenshots | CCleaner Homepage

If you choose to purchase an upgrade version of Windows Vista to upgrade XP, you will no longer be able to use that version of XP. Either on another system, or as a dual-boot option. The key will be invalidated, preventing activation.

From Vista's EULA found here (PDF):

13. UPGRADES. To use upgrade software, you must first be licensed for the software that is eligiblefor the upgrade. Upon upgrade, this agreement takes the place of the agreement for the software you upgraded from. After you upgrade, you may no longer use the software you upgraded from.

Source: TomCoyote