Microsoft doesn't want you to pirate their software, but if you must choose between illegally installing Windows or a competitor's operating system, Microsoft would prefer that you choose them. While the company obviously won't endorse the illegal use of software, it does believe that piracy can result in profit.

At the Morgan Stanley Technology conference last week in San Francisco, Microsoft business group president Jeff Raikes commented on the benefits of software counterfeiting. "If they're going to pirate somebody, we want it to be us rather than somebody else," he said. "We understand that in the long run the fundamental asset is the installed base of people who are using our products. What you hope to do over time is convert them to licensing the software."

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Source: Ars Technica via Flexbeta

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

WinHlp32.exe is required to display 32-bit Help files that have the ".hlp" file name extension. To view .hlp files on Windows Vista, you need to install this application.

Windows Help (WinHlp32.exe) is a Help program that has been included with Microsoft Windows versions starting with the Microsoft Windows 3.1 operating system. However, the Windows Help program has not had a major update for many releases and no longer meets Microsoft's standards. Therefore, starting with the release of Windows Vista, the Windows Help program will not ship as a feature of Windows. If you want to view 32-bit .hlp files, you must download and install the program (WinHlp32.exe) from the Microsoft Download Center.
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The World Wide Web Consortium has announced plans to create a new HTML standard and to enhance the XHTML specification. The move to update HTML comes as a nod to the developer and design communities as well as the browser manufacturers. The W3C is issuing a call for participation in the working group that will oversee the new standard, and although the list of participants has yet to be made, browser vendors who are members of the W3C include Apple, Mozilla, Opera and Microsoft. In fact, Chris Wilson, platform architect of the Internet Explorer platform at Microsoft, is the co-chair of the new working group.

And the W3C is inviting not only the browser vendors, but also application developers and content designers to help design the next version of HTML by participating in the new W3C HTML Working Group.

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Source: eWeek via MSFN

AMD buys out ATI, Intel and Nvidia seem to form a strategic alliance; in short these are turbulent times in the world of chip manufacturers. If we are to believe the statements made by several manufacturers, then we are on the threshold of some major changes concerning task applications for the various chips in a PC. Though AMD has gotten a head start with Torrenza, Intel won't be far behind in implementing a similar solution.

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Source: Hardware.Info via Flexbeta

Here is Episode 39.1 of our weekly PodCast, Hospitalised.

The topics covered in this episode are:

- Sony developer begs fans to hold off on buying God of War 2
- Command and Conquer 3 demo
- ATI R600 Graphics card has been delayed again
- Interview with Matt Groening on the Simpsons movie, and the return of futurama
- State bans youtube in schools – but not for what you think!

You can subscribe to the PodCast by putting this link into your iTunes / PodCast program: http://feeds.feedburner.com/AustechNews.

Download: Episode 39.1: Hospitalised (30:10, 13.8 mb)
View: AusTech News PodCast Forum

A genuine crack for Windows Vista has just been released by pirate group Pantheon, which allows a pirated, non-activated installation of Vista (Home Basic/Premium and Ultimate) to be properly activated and made fully-operational. Unlike cracks which have been floating around since Vista RTM was released in late November, this crack doesn’t simply get around product activation with beta activation files or timestop cracks – it actually makes use of the activation process.

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Source: APC Mag via Flexbeta

Why pay $20,000 for a commercial link to run your television station when a $10 kitchen wok from the Warehouse is just as effective?

This is exactly how North Otago's newest television station 45 South is transmitting its signal from its studio to the top of Cape Wanbrow, in a bid to keep costs down.

45 South volunteer Ken Jones designed the wok transmitter in his spare time last year when he wanted to provide wireless broadband to his Ardgowan home.

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Source: New Zealand Herald via Flexbeta

March 11, the new date on which Daylight Saving Time (DST) will take effect in the U.S. and a growing number of other countries, is fast approaching. And Microsoft is working overtime to get the message out that users need to patch a bunch of their Microsoft products, from Exchange Server, to Windows Mobile, in order to head off date-change headaches.

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Source: ZDNet via Flexbeta

It seems that 2007 will be the year of flash-based drives finally starting to nibble into the market share of the only current logical candidates, magnetic platter-based hard disk drives. With all the advances in NAND field, companies have started to introduce flash disk models of usable capacities for the commercial notebook space, not just industrial ones. Adtron Corporation has just introduced some newcomers to its Flashpak family – 2.5-inch flash disk models in capacities of 32GB, 96GB and 160GB.

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Source: The Inquirer via Flexbeta