With Vista Codec Package installed, you won't need to install any other codec or filter. Many user suggested default settings are implemented. It does not contain a media player. It does not associates filetypes. With this package installed you will be able to use any media player (limited only by the players capabilities) to play DVD's, movies and video clips of any format. Streaming video (real and quicktime) is supported in web browsers. Visit the homepage to get a 64bitAddon which enables xvid, divx and DVD playback in Vista's MediaCenter.

Download: Vista Codec Package v4.4.7 (Freeware)
View: Forum Discussion
Source: MSFN

Brokep over at the Pirate Bay responds to word that TorrentSpy and ISOHunt have caved in to the demands of the MPAA and he's none too happy.

Just a little while ago Brokep over the Pirate Bay Skyped me about a post he made in his blog about recent reports that Justin Bunnel over at TorrentSpy has created a new system called FileRights to automatically remove copyrighted content from the site.

He doesn't pull any punches, in fact starting with the title "PrivacySpy," and closing with "So f—k you filerights.com. Thank god that technology is smarter than some of it's users."

View: Brokep's Blog
View: Full Story
Source: ZeroPaid via Flexbeta

Microsoft Tuesday released the next beta version of Windows Server 2008 that adds options for installing Microsoft's newest Web server. The Community Technology Preview (CTP), which is Microsoft's lingo for its release cycle of beta software, is available to MSDN subscribers, TechNet subscribers and Connect customers.

This is the first CTP since Windows Server 2008 Beta 3 was released in April. Microsoft officials say 200,000 copies of Beta 3 have been downloaded. With the new CTP, Internet Information Server (IIS) 7.0 is now an installation option under the Server Core feature of the server.

Server Core is made up of the Windows kernel and a set of infrastructure "roles", which install only the components needed for any of eight specific functions: Active Directory, Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services, DHCP, DNS, File, Print, Windows Media Services and Windows Server Virtualization (when it ships).

View: Full Story
View: Windows Server 2008 Homepage
Source: MSFN

News Digital Media's CareerOne online employment website has launched an internal investigation into how confidential client information accidentally become publicly accessible on the internet.

The material is part of CareerOne's customer relationship management database, described by the company as "old client information".

The details include comments about clients made by CareerOne account executives, some of which are highly unflattering. In one case, a client is referred to as a "retard" and in another a client is called a "lazy good for nothing".

Every file on the master page shows the "last modified" time and date as being at "00:45:52 GMT" on Monday, May 28, 2007, suggesting that they have appeared in this visible state for almost a month.

CareerOne was not aware of the security breach until this morning when they were informed. The web page was subsequently taken down.

View: Full Story
Source: SMH

Experience the web, Apple style, with Safari: the fastest, easiest-to-use web browser in the world. With its simple, elegant interface, Safari gets out of your way and lets you enjoy the web, up to 2 times faster than Internet Explorer.

The fastest web browser on any platform, Safari loads pages up to 2 times faster than Internet Explorer 7 and up to 1.6 times faster than Firefox 2. And it executes JavaScript up to 2.8 times faster than Internet Explorer 7 and up to 1.6 times faster than Firefox 2. What does all that mean for you? Less time loading pages and more time enjoying them.

Changelog:

- Latest security updates
- Improved stability
- Fixes for text display, non-English systems, and start-up times

Download: Safari 3.0.2 Beta
View: Safari Homepage
Source: MSFN

I just received an update for WLM 8.5 Beta, I reviewed the update history and it shows the following:

This update is being used to test how microsoft Updates are distributed for Windows Live Messenger. While there are no actual changes to Messenger at this time, it's important for Messenger Beta testers to receive this update. Thanks for helping test Messenger!

IE7Pro is a must have add-on for Internet Explorer, which includes a lot of features and tweaks to make your IE friendlier, more useful, secure and customizable. IE7Pro includes Tabbed Browsing Management, AD Blocker, Flash Block, Super Drag Drop, Crash Recovery, Proxy Switcher, Mouse Gesture, Tab History Browser, Web Accelerator, User Agent Switcher, Webpage Capturer, Greasemonkey like User Scripts platform, User Plug-ins, Spell Check and many more power packed features. You can customize not just Internet Explorer, but even your favorite website according to your need and taste using IE7Pro.

Read More »

Mozilla programmers are rewriting a lot of the Firefox code for the upcoming version release of the open-source browser, according to the head of product security at Mozilla. Most of the components in the current version of Firefox are being touched, said Window Snyder, "chief security something-or-other" at Mozilla. She added that programmers are replacing a lot of older code to increase performance, make the code base more modular and handle new security threats, like phishing and malicious Web sites.

"As we're doing this, we're considering security features and trying to minimize security issues," said Snyder in an interview with InformationWeek. "The Web browser has always been an entry point into the system, so it's been considered a critical application. The environment changes so we need to adapt."

Snyder noted that some components that are written in native code are being rewritten in managed code to reduce memory management flaws, like buffer overflow vulnerabilities. Managed code executes in a virtual machine, so there is less space for memory management issues to occur.

View: Full Story
Source: InformationWeek via MSFN

With Vista Codec Package installed, you won't need to install any other codec or filter. Many user suggested default settings are implemented. It does not contain a media player. It does not associates filetypes. With this package installed you will be able to use any media player (limited only by the players capabilities) to play DVD's, movies and video clips of any format. Streaming video (real and quicktime) is supported in web browsers. Visit the homepage to get a 64bitAddon which enables xvid, divx and DVD playback in Vista's MediaCenter.

Download: Vista Codec Package v4.4.6 (Freeware)
View: More Information | Changelog
Source: MSFN

Microsoft has been quick to explain why the holographic image on the face of the Windows Vista DVD includes a microscopic picture of three men who just so happen to be members of the team who worked on the Windows Vista DVD hologram design. Microsoft's Anti-Piracy Team designed a counterfeit-resistant digital "watermark" for the non-encoded surface of Windows Vista DVDs. Multiple images are contained in the hologram design, all of whose inclusion serves to make it more difficult to replicate a Windows Vista DVD. The other images are of old master works of art that are in the public domain.

The images are less than 1mm in size and are not visible to the naked eye, so must be viewed using optical magnification. Their presence does not affect the contents of the DVD and these security measures were never intended to be impossible to find, but rather difficult to reproduce. While it's extremely difficult to replicate a holographic design in general, the inclusion of original images makes it that much more so.

View: How to Tell | Forum Discussion (Neowin)
Source: Neowin via Windows Vista Team Blog