TECHNO WORLD

These are the same fixes that were leaked last week. MS has now publicly and officially released them.

Micrsoft is presenting the VISTA champions program. Join the program & attend Hands-On-Labs (HOL) sessions, webcasts and Ask-the-expert sessions conducted by Microsoft and partner experts to build your skills on Windows Vista deployment and support.

More WOW! The Champions Program offers you certificates and training vouchers, resources, Windows Vista DVDs and Microsoft Press books. You also get a chance to win great prizes including Intel Centrino Laptops, Windows Vista copies, 1GB USB drives, Windows Vista T-shirts and more.

So, get ready to become a Windows Vista Champion and earn the recognition of your peers. The Wow starts now! more.....

Microsoft slashed the price on its Windows Vista operating system in China by more than half, in a bid to lure buyers away from pirated versions of the software. From Aug. 1, Microsoft cut its retail price for the Vista Home Basic package to CNY499 ($66) from CNY1,521, and for the Vista Home Premium package to CNY899 from CNY1802, the company said in a statement.

The reduction will allow more household customers "to enjoy the legal version of Windows Vista," Microsoft said. The price cut is the latest tactic by Microsoft in its efforts to spread legitimate products in the China market, which is a hotbed for software piracy. The Home Basic edition of Windows Vista in North America, costs approx ~$200. The price for the same software is $250 in Canada, $200 in India, $350 in UK/Europe!

Antivirus makers are having a particularly difficult time protecting users using the 64-bit version of Microsoft's latest operating system, Vista. According to the Virus Bulletin security certification body, 35% of the twenty products tested on Vista x64 failed to meet VB's latest test criteria. McAfee Virusscan, Symantec Antivirus, and Microsoft Forefront were three of several major vendors who managed to pass the test. Among those who failed were Computer Associate's eTrust, which comes with improper default settings instructing the application to ignore many file formats, and all three of TrendMicro's submissions, which mistook a Microsoft development tool as malware. John Hawes, technical consultant at Virus Bulletin, explained that "a false positive can cause as much disruption as a virus infection. False warnings often lead end-users to delete valid files in the belief that they are some form of attack and the resultant damage can be significant."

The root of the problem seems to be a struggle by AV makers to adapt to Microsoft's PatchGuard technology, which prevents applications from accessing the OS's kernel. As developers explore new approaches to protecting the user in light of PatchGuard, teething problems are to be expected. Virus Bulletin's certification is particularly stringent: one false positive or one failed detection results in a failing grade more...

Thursday quelled rumors that the beta of Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) was just around the corner.