How To Reclaim Space Lost To Vista SP1
If you installed Windows Vista Service Pack 1, there are files sitting on your hard drive from the install that you can just go ahead and junk. Unless you’ve got a mission critical program that doesn’t work under SP1, you have absolutely no reason to want to uninstall that, so all that space should just be freed up right away. To run the SP1 cleaner, open a command prompt (you may need administrator right) and type “vsp1cln.exe”. I got back 790 megabytes, your mileage may vary.
Zune Engraving No Longer Free Microsoft has ended the roughly five month free period for buying a Zune with free engraving from ZuneOriginals.net. If you want a Zune “tattooed”, laser engraved with some pretty cool designs, it’ll cost you $10 for a simpler design or $15 for a full on “Artist Series” design (plus the cost of the actual Zune).
Gatineau Renamed adCenter Analytics
Microsoft’s Project (codename) Gatineau finally has grown up to a real product name: adCenter Analytics. The new name reflects the strong link between Analytics and adCenter, as well as the fact that Analytics was created to help adCenter advertisers do a better job getting conversions out of their ads. The beta was also refreshed, removing the $5 signup fee, adding importing of adCenter/AdWords/Yahoo data, a tree map view of site traffic, period comparisons and more.
Microsoft Fifth Biggest User Of H-1B Visas BusinessWeek has a list of the companies that have received the most petitions for H-1B visa approval, used to allow foreign professionals to stay in the United States and hold jobs. The fifth company on the list is Microsoft, with 959 petitions in 2007 alone, a number that explains exactly why Microsoft is continually petitioning the federal government to allow more visas than the current 100% full system allows for. Google is #16 with 248, IBM is #40/184, Oracle #92/113, and Yahoo is #105/108.
(via Digg)
Windows Live is giving away a Zune a day, every day from now to March 31. All you have to do is send an email from your mobile device, every day, in order to be eligible for that day’s drawing. Just go to Windows Live on your phone, select Hotmail, and send an email to WINAZUNE@live.com with the subject “Go Zune” to enter. It’s so easy, there’s no reason not to.
(via JK)
Microsoft dropped a bomb at the Game Developers Conference, announcing that it is extending support for its XNA video game programming language to its Zune media device. That means that XNA games (which are easy and mostly free to design and can run on Windows and the Xbox) will be also able to run on the portable music/video player, with developers only needing to code it once to run on all three platforms.
Microsoft’s Chris Satchell made the announcement at GDC, showing a demo of a new side scroller (or, technically, up scroller) space shooter called Zauri. The game is controlled using the touch-sensitive “squircle” pad on the Zune, an excellent gaming control for a small device. Take a look:
According to Engadget, while the second generation Zune (and its unique and well-suited for gaming control pad) is used in the demo, developers will be able to ship games for the first generation Zune, so long as they create a control scheme for that device.
Wireless multiplayer games, thanks to the Zune’s wifi, will absolutely be an option. You can play with any Zunes in your vicinity, with up to eight players per game. In-game music can be customized, selected from any music already on the Zune, except for DRM licensed music.
Games will be created using the next version of the framework, in XNA Games Studio 3.0, the first beta/preview of which will be out this April. Final release is currently targeted for the Fall. Games cannot be played cross-platform (i.e., Xbox users can’t play against Zune users), but game files will run on all three platforms. Games will not be shared wirelessly, though that may change.
Also coming: Xbox Live Community Games. The best XNA games will be made available on Xbox Live, with game sharing, rating, downloading and playing on your console, without the need to connect to a PC or have a Creators Club subscription. The first seven games are available right now as a special preview (and, presumably, to test the system). For now games are free, but Microsoft is considering revenue models so creators can make money, which will be announced before the holiday season.
To download the games, first go Marketplace, then Game Store, then All Games, then XNA Creators Club, then XNA Creators Club Game Launcher (not “XNA Game Launcher”). Download it, then go to the XNA Creators Club tab in Games Library to download games.
“JellyCar.” Created by Walaber from the United States, this game is about driving a squishy car through squishy worlds, trying to reach the exit.
“Little Gamers.” This is a 2-D high definition action side-scroller based on the famous Web comic “Little Gamers” created by Loïc Dansart, a 24-year-old software developer from Belgium.
“The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai.” An intense 2-D action platform game created by James Silva from the United States, “The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai” has a unique, highly stylized look and fast and fluid action.
“TriLinea.” This puzzle game created by Edison S. Prata Jr., Renato Pelizzari da Silva and Davi da Silva Prata from Brazil mixes fast-paced action with strategy.
“RocketBall.” Created by Tyler Wanlass, Patrick Murty and Todd Barrons of the United States, this neighborhood game of dodgeball explodes onto the street with fast-paced multiplayer action.
“ProximityHD.” This game, created by Brian Cable from the United States, takes the essence of strategy games — battles for control of territory and armies — and distills it down to a simple, easy-to-understand set of rules for casual players.
“Culture.” Created by independent game development company Hidden Path Entertainment from the United States, “Culture” contains challenging games and puzzles based on beautiful flowers.
Check out the games now. I will be, and will try to share my thoughts later.
So, Microsoft has turned the Zune into a serious gaming platform, throwing the full weight of its XNA efforts behind it. The current Zune, in many ways, is better than the iPod, and its games implementation is already more open, versatile, cheaper, and seemingly more fun than Apple’s. If the Zune can at least stand up to Sony’s PSP and Nintendo’s DS, this move will be a valuable step forward in the fight against both Apple and the console companies.
No matter what, Microsoft has released the first convergent device, the first games player with a link to a serious music ecosystem and significant internal storage, as well as the first dedicated media player with a link to a games console. It covers missing pieces in everyone else’s lineup, and overall has a lot to offer users. Expect games to be a major selling point in the future.
Do you really have any idea how big Yahoo is, or hell, how big MSN is? There’s a lot of overlap between the two, and Long Zheng & Josh Philips have been kind enough to generate a nice chart to show the two. The chart is reproduced below, with some notes added by me regarding what I think about which service will be rolled into the other.
Both sides have some great, well-developed portal sites. There’s no need for both, so the only way sites like Yahoo Autos and MSN Autos survive is if the companies waffle and keep both Yahoo and MSN alive, competing with each other.
Here’s part of the beauty of the acquisition. Yahoo and MSN have many international portals. In some countries, Yahoo is king, in others, MSN. Together, they combine to have #1 market share in almost every single market.
Account Management
Yahoo ID
Live ID
Yahoo’s ID system, while good, is nowhere near as powerful or versatile as Microsoft’s. Microsoft’s multi-account switching and Windows Live Sign-In assistant would win anyday. Either way, Microsoft sticks with its own technology, so Yahoo IDs are dead.
MyYahoo is bigger and has more users, and a big history. The technology developed for Live.com will likely be rolled into MyYahoo, or exist as a more advanced option for MyYahoo users, but MyYahoo is king here.
Both are big dogs, and both are struggling to catch Google. Both will survive, at least for a while, with Microsoft trying to find a way to combine the market share of the two eventually. Most likely, the search engine will fall under the Yahoo brand, but itcould go either way.
Not even a question. Microsoft loves Live Maps, and has invested heavily in it. Yahoo Maps is dead, but its engineers and some of its code may work for Live in the future.
Yahoo Messenger and Live Messenger already work together, making the path for the future easier. Live Messenger is more popular, and will almost definitely be the only client in the future, with added support for the Yahoo services and features it can take over from the Yahoo client.
Live Hotmail is one of Microsoft’s most important, strongest projects. Microsoft will avoid killing Yahoo at first, but development on Yahoo Mail will cease. Microsoft will offer Yahoo users the option to migrate their accounts to the ever-improving Hotmail, and eventually Yahoo Mail will phase out and die.
Yahoo Answers is the amazing success story of 2007, while Live QnA never got enough traction. Live QnA is dead, and there’s even a chance Microsoft will not bother to integrate.
Flickr will become tied to Live Spaces, with the millions of Live Spaces photos becoming part of Flickr. The two will thrive on each other and grow exponentially more successful. This will be the immediate crown jewel of the acquisition.
Yahoo Widgets is strong and has a nice library of Gadgets. The first post-acquisition release of Sidebar will add support for Yahoo Widgets, which will live side-by-side in Windows Vista.
The hardest part of the acquisition. It took Yahoo years to integrate Overture into its own ad systems, and if that happens to Microsoft, this entire acquisition will have been a waste. Luckily, Microsoft is very talented at integrating, at least when compared to Yahoo. Expect hundreds of employees to work on combining the two products, with a deadline of under 12 months, maybe even six months.
Live Mobile isn’t fully developed, but an important part of Microsoft’s mobile strategy. Yahoo Go for Mobile is a great piece of software. There will be a fight inside Microsoft, but if the company is smart, it will continue to develop Yahoo Go as the iPhone-killer content browser.
Yahoo’s offering is dead. Office Live is much better, and important to Microsoft’s Office division. Yahoo’s customers will hopefully like Microsoft’s technology, which has been well invested in and is cheaper (or free).
Tough call. Live Events is really knew, and we don’t know how important it is to Microsoft. If they aren’t desperately attached to it, Upcoming could win.
Microsoft killed MSN Music for Zune, and it will kill Yahoo Music, too. Microsoft will integrate or transition, and kill it off. Hopefully, Launchcast will survive, but don’t count on it.
The official manufacturer’s suggested retail price of Microsoft’s 8-gigabyte Zune portable media player has been reduced. The flash memory-based player (which means no moving parts, so it’s more durable) is twenty bucks cheaper, now selling for $180. That puts it $20 cheaper than an iPod Nano of the same price, and it doesn’t even look like a fat square.
Bill Gates gave his keynote at the Consumer Electronics Show tonight, and I was liveblogging it, but this site was down due to the massive coverage of my Windows Mobile 7 scoop. Here’s what happened:
Bill Gates talked about how this was his last CES keynote, and his last year at Microsoft. For the first time since he was 17, he won’t be a Microsoft employee. He showed a video package of how his last day might go, working out with Matthew McConaughey, producing an album with Jay-Z, asking Hillary Clinton if he can be her Vice President, asking Bono if he can be the new guitarist for U2, with Brian Williams reporting around the video (Brian said Bill doesn’t believe in paying more than seven dollars for a haircut). Later in the evening, during an Olympics-related video, Bob Costas told Gates to “lose my number”.
Bill mentioned the cloud and services. Will he FINALLY talk about What Ray Ozzie is doing? We can only wish, maybe at CES 2009.
Bill has decided that in his last keynote, he won’t fix the problems of previous keynotes, but instead, once again, focus almost entirely on “vision” and possibilities for the future. He spends a lot of time talking about connected applications and devices, but nothing specific. At least the super-wide-wraparound-screen for his PowerPoints is cool.
Says 100 million people are using Windows Vista, 420 million Windows Live, and 20 million on Windows Mobile, 10 million added in the last year.
Mika Krammer, direct of Windows product management, gets up to talk about Windows. She shows off Windows Live Calendar, Windows Live Events, Windows Live Photo Gallery, all the while subtly using IE7’s Quick Tabs, Windows Vista’s Flip 3D. She creates, live, a panoramic photo in Photo Gallery and uploads it to Live Spaces. These are great features and great integration that roughly 1% of users are aware of. She shows off the live video thumbnails in Windows Live Search.
Mika picks up an HTC Touch and shows off how to send a photo from a mobile device to a Live Space.
Bill is playing around with a Surface computer.
Bill is announcing a new partner for Silverlight: NBC’s coverage of the 2008 Olympics. They will make available video of the events, live and on demand, courtesy of Silverlight.
Robbie Bach comes out. We don’t see him enough! Robbie talks Xbox, mentions 17.7 million consoles shipped, 10 million Xbox Live members, and new partners for Xbox Live: Disney and ABC, bringing shows like Lost and High School Musical, plus MGM for movies, bringin movies like Terminator and Legally Blonde.
Next, he talks Media Center and Media Center Extenders, says Samsung and HP will be announcing today new Extenders, including HP’s Extender TVs. Also, Mediaroom, Microsoft’s IPTV service, which now has 1 million TVs subscribed. He announces DVR Anywhere, which will let you stream shows you record to watch anywhere else, and special applications linked to specific channels that will surround channels like CNN with detailed interactive information. Also, British Telecom will be the first to bring Mediaroom integration with the Xbox 360 as a set-top box.
Next topic is Zune, which is finally being sold outside the U.S., starting this Spring in Canada. Out comes Molly O’Donnel to explain Zune Social. She mentions how Zune Social is becoming a well-used social network, with 1.5 million beta users, and user-created applications for sharing with Facebook.
They bring out a Lincoln car to show off Ford Sync, which is now winding up in a million cards. They also show off a TellMe application on a cellphone. It accesses GPS to see where you are, and then shows a list of movie theatres in the immediate area, when you say just the word “movies”. Then you can say “Buy two tickets for Sweeney Todd at 9:30″ and it’ll actually work.
Bill comes out and shows off a device that can look at people and buildings and actually recognize them. This is extremely impressive, recognizing Robbie Bach, different Vegas buildings, and does some really cool animations. They’re talking about some unnamed device that categorizes videos for you, something phone related. It’s not all clear, because Microsoft just doesn’t do keynotes as well as Apple, but it does look cool.
At the end, Bill and Robbie faced off against each other in Guitar Hero III. Or rather, they would have, if Robbie hadn’t brought out Kelly Law-Yone, Guitar Hero champion, as a ringer. Not to be outdone, or outspent, Bill brought out his ringer: Slash, lead guitarist of Guns N’ Roses. Nice ending, though it felt like the keynote was just a little too short and didn’t reveal anything.
If you buy your Microsoft Points by entering a credit card right on the Xbox 360, you might find it frustrating that they’re sold in increments of 500 points, as in 500 points for $6.25 and 1000 points for $12.50. The reason it’s frustrating is that most games on Live are $5 or $10, or 400/800 points, leaving you with extra points floating around after every purchase. Gamers have complained about being stuck with the change, but Microsoft doesn’t seem to want to budge.
Luckily, someone realized that Microsoft did have a website selling MS Points normally: Zune.net. Go to this page on live.zune.net (you’ll need to create a Zune account, which is literally just five clicks), and you can purchase points in these increments:
400 Microsoft® Points: Zune™ Price: $5.00
1200 Microsoft® Points: Zune™ Price: $15.00
2000 Microsoft® Points: Zune™ Price: $25.00
4000 Microsoft® Points: Zune™ Price: $50.00
Since Zune and Xbox Live use the same MS Points, the ones you buy on Zune.net will work just as good, and you won’t be stuck holding the change. Rejoice, gamers, as this simple annoyance in your lives is rectified!
(via Digg)
Keep in mind, of course, that you can always buy MS Points in decent increments on pre-paid cards (and usually save some money, thanks to coupons and discounting), like this 1600 Point ($20) card, which can conceivably be had for $18 with free shipping (on a $30 order) on Amazon.
The Zune got a nice update, with the firmware being pushed to version 2.3. There are no new features, just improvements in how the device works, with improved device recognition, and improved stability and reliability on sync. The biggest change is a fix for an issue where devices that were turned off would continue to drain the battery, so anyone suffering from that issue should see a nice boost in battery life.
Here’s the latest video from Zune Arts, the weird site with videos somehow related to the Zune that can become commercials:
As TechCrunch explains, Zune Arts is there to create unique pieces of art with viral potential, instead of more traditional ads. I think they’ve managed to create a unique marketing voice for the Zune, much like Apple has with its iPod ads, doing something so original and out there that when a new one of these comes on TV, it’s unmistakeably Zune.
It’s December, and that means its prediction season. Mary Jo Foley usually knows just that much more than the rest, so be sure to check her predictions out. They include Fiji, the long (long, long, long) awaited update to Vista Media Center, which we’ll hopefully see at CES next month and get in the second half of next year, iPhone ActiveSync support, Office 14, Zune phones, and more.
Of her 2007 predictions, 1, 3 and 5 were right, 2 and 4 were wrong (Visual Studio was named 2008, but shipped last month). Not bad, and plenty accurate enough.
Microsoft left a tiny and easily exploitable loophole in the Zune’s wireless music sharing system. When you send a song to someone, it can be played three times, then it expires, making it extremely easy to share music without running afoul of copyright problems. However, if you share a podcast with someone, since podcasts aren’t covered by the lawsuit-happy recording industry, they won’t expire after three days, and can be played again and again forever.
So, how can you take advantage of this? Any time someone sends you a song, go to it in Windows and change the Genre to Podcast (read the instructions here). Yeah, it’s that easy. Music will appear under podcasts instead of in the music library, but it works, dammit!
I wonder if you can save the music to your computer and keep it forever, though. Anybody know?
(via Engadget)
Microsoft’s Zune has some offers for the holiday, different depending on where you buy the device, that won’t blow you away but at least should be interesting.
Amazon.com will give you $5 of free music if you buy a 4-gig Zune, or $15 free with an 8-gig Zune. The music comes from Amazon’s DRM-free MP3 download store, meaning it’ll work on any player you own, not just the Zune. Oddly enough, the 80-gig Zune only gives you $5 free, but Amazon is selling it for $240, ten dollars below retail.
Best Buy will give you a $20 gift card if you buy an 8-gig Zune or 30-gig first-gen Zune. Buy a 4-gig Zune and get a $10 card.
Circuit City’s offer apparently earns you 15 free song downloads on a 4-gig pink Zune or 80-gig Zune, though the offer might change, often.
Microsoft didn’t realize that the Zune 80 gigabyte would be as popular as it is, and as a result it is sold out all over the place. Amazon.com doesn’t have it in stock, and shipments were delayed by 10 days. I’ve said it for a while: With the price being equal, there’s no reason to choose the iPod over the Zune, given the Zune’s improved features and much better looks. Apple screwed up this generation of iPods, and Microsoft is going to have significantly improved market share over the next year.
Rapid Repair, a company that fixes iPods and Zunes with 24-48 hour turnarounds (for when you need it fixed and back in your hands right now) is disassembling an 8-gigabyte Zune right now on their website. No streaming video, but they are posting pictures and text at every step of the way. Head to their website to see the whole process, which is descriptive enough that you can use it as a guide for taking apart your own Zune.
I spoke with a rep from the company, and they told me that the average minor repair runs $35, with a major repair usually running $90. Considering that repairs from Apple and Microsoft can run pretty expensive anyway, and you get the unit back in a day or two, it seems like a good deal. If you’ve had experience with Rapid Repair, feel free to talk about it in the comments.
Microsoft updated the Zune software today to the new version 2.0, so users of first-gen Zune devices can go get their new firmware and features. The update brings a much-improved version of the software, better than the Windows Media Player clone first version, with wireless sync, a new Zune Marketplace with over a million DRM-free tracks, cool new album art visualizations, and the new Zune social network.
If you’re wondering why the 80-gig Zune is only available in black, the answer is: It isn’t. The big secret Microsoft held back is Zune Originals, the website where you can order any Zune (right now, only the Flash Zunes, but next month, the 80-gigger also) and choose the color, select artwork to be etched on the back, and/or add up to five lines of text to be etched on the back, at no additional charge.
Consumers no longer need to settle for the same portable media player as everybody else. The new Zune Originals online store will let people make a unique statement by customizing their Zune with laser-engraved art or personal text. Zune worked with 18 accomplished artists from all over the world to create a collection of 27 different designs, called the Artist Series, which will be available exclusively through Zune Originals. In addition to the Artist Series, a separate Tattoo Series will feature 20 graphics that consumers can have laser-engraved on their Zune with up to three lines of text. Alternatively, people can choose to engrave up to five lines of text in place of a design. On the Zune Originals Web site, customers can choose their Zune (Zune 80GB, Zune 8GB or Zune 4GB), pick a color and then select a design and their desired text.
This is a really cool service, one you have to pay for and sometimes don’t even get with that other fruit company, and to give it away for free is really great. Microsoft is making it easy and affordable to personalize your Zune, and that is going to be very appealing to some potential purchasers.
The only downside I can see is that, as time goes by, retailers are going to discount the Zune, making the Zune Originals version more expensive than retail. Since Microsoft is going by the official retail price, which will not go down for a while, this won’t be very “free” for much longer, which is a shame. Amazon is already selling some Zunes for $12-13 off, and that divide will only worsen.
Long Zheng spotted a Corvette hot yellow Zune, which looks really cool. I might have to give that one a second look when it becomes official.
You know what I don’t get? Even if you’re going through the whole process, changing all your legal documents, do you really need to go through life with the first name of “Microsoft”? Shouldn’t he change his first name to “Zune” and leave the last name alone? This way, he could be “Zune Smith”, which is actually a really cool name. If he’s smart, he’ll change his mind and go that route, I hope.
UPDATE: Microsoft has significantly increased the Zune’s advertising budget for the next six months, earmarking $17 million to be spent pushing the player (which is double what it spent all of last year). It is also dropping the word “social” as the focus of its branding, instead focusing on individuality as a differentiating factor.
The new message with Zune is that the iPod is superficial, its too popular, that iPod’s are just an army of clones buying the same overpriced and underfeatured product year after year. The message is that Zune is unique, new, and a better deal, and its a good one, provided they communicate it better.
My thinking? Redo “1984″ with a bunch of drones using their iPods, and Zune coming to shake things up, and you’ve got a winner.
With the new Zune Marketplace, users will gain the ability to subscribe to a podcast with a single click, provided a special link is used. If you have a podcast RSS feed, just link to it using this sort of link:
zune://subscribe/?PodcastTitle=PodcastRSSFeedURL
Replace that last part with the URL of your feed, and any user with the software installed can click it to subscribe in their Zune software, even if the podcast isn’t in the Zune Marketplace. If they don’t have it installed, they’ll be prompted to do so, and once they’ve subscribed they’ll get regular episodes automatically downloaded and ready on their Zunes.
If you need an image (or so-called chicklet button) to point to the feed, here’s the official one (and it’s on Flickr, so hotlinking is cool):
Jeez, the Zune is getting pretty freakin cheap. The 30-gigabyte first generation Zune, set to be replaced by the new 80-gigger, is selling for pennies on the dollar (or something like that). Woot has a refurbished brown Zune for just $80, the cheapest price I’ve EVER seen a 30-gig MP3 player sell at. It’s a stunning price, so please, for your own sake, just buy the damn thing.
Meanwhile, the cheapest price on an Apple iPod 30 gigabyte, also a discontinued model, is around $200. Yeah, that’s value.
If you want the black or white Zune, it’s still available for $100. If you bought the brown last week, you get $20 off your next Woot purchase.
I was helping a friend set up his new brown Zune last night, transferring music from his iPod to the Zune, and I have to say that I’d never buy the iPod over the Zune. While the Zune didn’t have any smooth controls (though the new Zunes do), the iPod click wheel has always annoyed the hell out of me, so I don’t consider that a problem. The Zune software was a pleasure after suffering through iTunes (and the new Zune software is supposed to be even better).
I know the iPod is a hugely popular product, and there are a lot of cool things you can do with it and get for it, but it’s never appealed to me. The click wheel is annoying, the new metal look is fugly, iTunes is trash and Apple’s lock-in culture just doesn’t do it for me. I’m not saying the Zune is a revelation or the second coming, but sitting next to an iPod, I don’t get why anyone would go with Apple. I guess its a matter of personal taste, but I’m not an iPod guy.
For the record, I didn’t and probably won’t buy a Zune. My Windows Mobile phone is still the best music device I’ve owned, and I don’t need anything else.
$5 of free music if you buy a 4-gig Zune, or $15 free with an 8-gig Zune. The music comes from Amazon’s DRM-free MP3 download store, meaning it’ll work on any player you own, not just the Zune. Oddly enough, the 80-gig Zune only gives you $5 free, but 
