It’s not really a big surprise that MS is working on a service pack (SP) for Vista. The two things that may come as a surprise to many are how soon after launching the SP might be released (November, less than a year after launch) and of course, why: “Windows Vista is not even a year old, but Microsoft is already orchestrating the launch...Read more...
Blockbuster video has thrown their considerable weight behind the Blu-Ray format by deciding to offer only that format in its video rental stores. They offered high definition discs in both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray format as a test in 250 of their outlets, and consumers opted for the Blu-ray more than 70 percent of the time. The release...Read more...
After a long wait, the new Folding@home client is here. No more need to run multiple consoles to get all those cores cranking away. Keep in mind that HH is team number 32407. "We are pleased to announce the release of our Folding@Home Windows SMP client to open beta! Please keep...Read more...
NVIDIA's latest beta drivers for Windows Vista, Forceware 101.41, was released to the public last friday and after a great deal of anticipation, the guys over at Bit-Tech have good things to say. Addressing issues such as the functionality of 6 and 7 series GeForce cards in SLI, NVIDIA has added SLI functionality to these cards under...Read more...
Google's Gmail has been available for some time now, though up until now it's always held onto the Beta tag. Google has ended their long Beta test of Gmail, and now anyone can sign up for the service without the need for an invitation or cell registration. If you're still one of those folks without a Gmail account, head on over...Read more...
The winner in the plasma/LCD wars to supply you with a television is coming to a head. Big, high resolution LCD screens are forcing plasma televisions into the huge screen corner. And the price of all of it is coming down --way down. It is technologically difficult and often costly for plasma makers to give a full high-definition function...Read more...
The second beta for Mozilla's Firefox 2 browser has been released. As the release notes explain, the browser includes built-in phishing protection, improvements with the visual interface and tabbed browsing system, a browsing session restore feature, and enhanced search capabilities. There's plenty more to check out, so get downloading....Read more...
If you're interested in how your computer might fare with the still-in-development Battlefield 2142, AMD Zone has a preview of the game's performance with the latest beta build of the game. When looking at the scores, keep in mind "beta build". "For our testing we ran...Read more...
With the official release of Internet Explorer 7 expected later this year, Microsoft has updated their Internet Explorer page with the announcement of IE7 Beta 3's availability. IE7 is shaping up to be a much better browser than IE6 currently is, with improved security, tabbed browsing, and RSS capability being some of its highlights....Read more...
If you want to see how the latest build of Vista performs with some of today's popular benchmarks, Techage has the scoop for you this evening. We urge you all to approach the results and writer's opinion with caution, however. We don't question the validity of the results, but Vista's performance has changed quite a bit from...Read more...
The article is meant as a preview, but Ars Technica's tour of Windows Vista Beta 2 has some good coverage on the progress of the upcoming OS. "Generally when I am reviewing beta operating systems, I use whatever throw-away gear that I might have. For this preview I've decided to throw...Read more...
ATi has released a beta Cat 6.3 driver with the "Chuck" patch to allow High Dynamic Range Lighting (HDR) and Anti-Aliasing (AA) to be enabled in Oblivion at the same time. HDR with AA was only previously available on Xbox 360, and is now possible on the PC platform with ATi cards. Crossfire support was also added in this patch, with...Read more...
Earlier today, Nvidia released their Forceware 84.25 beta drivers, which are supposed to improve performance in the new Elder Scrolls game. I've had a few minutes to test them out, and while it's not a dramatic increase for me, they do seem to help a little. With Indoor environments, there's hardly a noticeable difference, but the outside...Read more...
ATI and Nvidia have released drivers for their respective products this week. Both drivers claim performance improvements, and various fixes, so make sure to grab them when possible. Click Here to download ATI's Catalyst 6.3, and Click Here to download the BETA ForceWare 84.20 drivers....Read more...
NVIDIA has just posted a set of Beta display drivers that enables a host of performance and functionality enhancements with the highlight being full H.264 support. Should you be looking for the fastest framerate in games or aiming to create a multimedia powerhouse do youself a favor and give these Beta drivers a shot. ...Read more...
X-Mas is 21 days away, and I still haven't done any shopping. Given I only have a few people to get things for, it's always good to get it done early. It's another odd winter in my neck of the woods... four days into December, and there's no snow on the ground, when last year we had plenty. That's New-England weather I guess :) Diamondback...Read more...
asetek's ChillControl Windows beta An exclusive look at asetek's latest efforts Written by: Robert Maloney October 12, 2003 A first look at asetek's Windows-based ChillControl The best just got better As we alluded to in our review on the Vapochill XE Cooling Unit review, asetek has been working on a Windows-based version of their ChillControl...Read more...