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 v1.26.218 (Freeware)
View: Version History | CCleaner Homepage
Source: MSFN

And here it is: 10 reasons why you should skip Microsoft’s 360 and wait for the real gaming revolution.

We like to consider ourselves equal opportunity gamers. We love Nintendo and we adore its home consoles. But we’ve never been in the practice of ignoring or, worse, proactively picketing competing systems simply because they are not made by Nintendo. That being true, we have naturally followed the launch of Microsoft’s new console from concept to ship date, carefully weighing the pluses and minuses to jumping into the next generation. Our Xbox 360 sister site recently published the article, “Top 10 Reasons to Buy an Xbox 360,” and the piece made some convincing arguments. These were arguments, we’re confident, that the scores of consumers lined up on Monday night to get the new console would heartily second without a moment’s hesitation.

For the record, we have already purchased our Xbox 360 consoles and we would recommend the console to players whose wallets know no boundaries.

And yet, what kind of editors would we be if we didn’t play devil’s advocate? Are there any reasons not to get an Xbox 360? And just as valuable to any Nintendo fan, are there any advantages to passing on Microsoft’s system altogether and getting a Revolution instead? We thought about both questions for a time and came up with 10 legitimate reasons for single-system users to wait it out. Here they are…

View: Full Story
Source: IGN via Flexbeta

People from xbox-scene.com forums are reporting various crash cases of their brand-new Xbox360. No matter they play games or even try to boot the console, it might crash. The console either gave a mysterious error code, or just froze. Users from TeamXbox are also experiencing the same situation. Well we don’t know what has led to all this.. Could this be a few rogue 360s or is this a widespread issue?

View: Picture’s and Comments
Source: Flexbeta

The NVIDIA Unified Driver Architecture (UDA) is the foundation for the companys award-winning ForceWare drivers and delivers forward-and-backward compatibility across all implementations of NVIDIA desktop, workstation, mobile, platform, and multimedia processors. With a single driver, UDA delivers ongoing performance and feature improvements, reduced maintenance time, increased scalability, and a lower total cost of ownership.

Release Highlights:
- WHQL Certified
- Adds support for GeForce 7800 GTX 512 and GeForce 6800 GS
- Improved performance for Quake 4
- Improved performance and compatibility for Call of Duty 2
- TV-Out/HD-out support for NVIDIA SLI.
- Added support for VSync on Direct3D games when running NVIDIA SLI.
- Performance enhancements for dual-core CPUs.
- PureVideo high definition MPEG-2 de-interlacing support.
- Usability enhancements when connecting to an HDTV.
- Microsoft DirectX 9.0c and OpenGL 2.0 support
- For a full list of fixed and known issues please view the Release Notes.

View: Release Notes (pdf)
Download: Windows XP | Windows 2000 | Windows Server 2003 64-bit | Windows XP 64-bit
Source: MSFN

The MSN Beta team is currently recruiting likely candidates to test an array of new services and products from the Windows Live family.

Successful applicants may be asked to test MSN Messenger 8 (Windows Live Messenger) or future versions of Messenger. The countries range from Afghanistan to Turkey so everyone will be able to get involved.

If you’re interested in becoming an MSN Beta tester then follow the link below for the codes and sign up at Microsoft’s connect community.

Good luck

View: Beta Invite Codes
View: Microsoft Connect
View: Windows Live
Source: Neowin

Windows AntiSpyware (Beta) is a security technology that helps protect Windows users from spyware and other potentially unwanted software. Known spyware on your PC can be detected and removed. This helps reduce negative effects caused by spyware including slow PC performance, annoying pop-up ads, unwanted changes to Internet settings, and unauthorized use of your private information. Continuous protection improves Internet browsing safety by guarding over fifty (50) ways spyware can enter your PC.

Download: MS AntiSpyware v1.0.701 Beta
View: More Information
Source: MSFN

The highly controversial XCP digital rights management (DRM) technology bundled by Sony BMG on 52 of its audio CD albums can be defeated by applying a small piece of tape to the discs, according to analyst firm Gartner.

Applying a piece of opaque tape to the outer edge of the disk renders the data track of the CD unreadable. A computer trying to play the CD will then skip to the music without accessing the bundled DRM technology.

“After more than five years of trying, the recording industry has not yet demonstrated a workable DRM scheme for music CDs,” Gartner concluded in a newly published research note.

The use of a piece of tape will defeat any future DRM system on audio CDs designed to be played on a stand-alone CD player, the analyst said.

View: Full Story
Source: VNUNet

The federal Government is considering funding the mass distribution of set-top boxes at a cost of millions of dollars to speed the switch to digital-only TV broadcasts after a slow take-up by viewers.

The original date of 2008 set by former communications minister Richard Alston to switch off analogue signals and move to 100 per cent digital broadcasts has proved unrealistic.

But current minister Helen Coonan is still keen to make the move sooner rather than later, canvassing the set-top box distribution as part of an overhaul of media rules slated for next year.

Digital TV signals give vastly increased picture and audio quality and also free up spectrum for possible extra channels and interactive applications.

But Australians have proved reluctant to buy the boxes, which retail at $120 or more and which at this stage only offer improved quality and no extra services.

View: Full Story
Source: Australian IT

According to Your Lost, a PC World advert described a notebook as having “Intel Centrino, which means you have a connection to the internet wherever you are”.

The site prints a letter purportedly from the ASA which said it will publish an adjudication which finds against PC World on the 30th of November.

According to this document, all 65 complainants said internet wi-fi connection was only available in places near a wi-fi base station, so “wherever you are” is misleading.

View: Full Story
Source: The Inquirer

Microsoft late Wednesday confirmed a denial-of-service flaw in its implementation of the RPC (Remote Procedure Call) protocol and warned users that a working exploit is already publicly available. Microsoft Corp. countered the public disclosure of the vulnerability with an advisory that clarify the scope of the impact and to provide pre-patch workaround for Windows users.

Microsoft advisory comes a few days after the proof-of-concept exploit code appeared on several security Web sites, including SecuriTeam.com, FrSIRT.com and Virus.org. Microsoft acknowledged the bug affected its Windows 2000 Service Pack 4 and Windows XP Service Pack 1 operating systems. “This vulnerability could allow an attacker to levy a denial of service attack of limited duration,” the company’s advisory warned.

Views: Full Story
Source: eWeek