News released from Xbox on March 5th states that there is an update to the Xbox Live Code of Conduct. The new code of conduct has a distinct change that I feel needs to be mentioned. The new Code of Conduct allows a person to express their orientation in their profile or gamertag. Here is an excerpt from the Code of Conduct:

You may use the following terms to express your relation ship orientation in your profile or Gamertag:

• Lesbian
• Gay
• Bi
• Transgender
• Straight

CNET News was told by Stephen Toulouse, the head of policy and enforcement for Xbox Live that he felt the previous policy regarding members expressing their sexual orientation was “inelegent” and that though he and his team were working on improving the situation, they had no timetable. Xbox did this to alleviate discrimination concerns that may have been plaguing them in the past. I am sure these changes are welcomed by tons of Xbox Live members. I also applaud Xbox for making this change in support of their customers. Xbox needed this change to remain diverse in their 23 million member strong community.

Technorati Tags: code of conduct, microsoft, Tech News, xbox, xbox live

Source – Engadget

The Microsoft Courier is supposed to be a device that will allow you to write in it like a notebook or a book. According to Gizmodo, the device will ship with dual 7-inch screens on each side. It appears that the functionality of the Courier is much like a blog or an online journal. The Courier seems to have Bing Maps integrated into it as well. The pictures of the drawings on the screen are stunning to say the least, but will it hold up when it is released in the fall (rumor)?

Technorati Tags: gadgets, microsoft, microsoft courier, Tech News

Today I am going to discuss various FREE Anti-Virus products which I have tested personally. The problem with AV software’s is that you could never trust one brand for long. As soon as you like one brand it starts to screw up here and there. As a rule of thumb I use one AV and stick with it for as long as possible. But sometimes this methodology doesn’t work as experienced firsthand back in 2004 when my Norton AV failed to detect a Trojan horse.

From that point onwards I decided not to rely on one AV product only. I used various security tools and some of them were pretty unique and offered various options but in the end they just slowed the system down and became the virus. Remember virus makes your system unusable and using a poorly coded or optimized AV can do the same thing.

Lessons from the past were enough for me. So, when the time came to decide another AV I went for Eset [Nod 2.7/3.x/4.x] which in my opinion is the best AV but it’s not free and I am tired of using cracks and looking for serials. Don’t get me wrong if I had some money or a way to get one by paying I would buy it ASAP. But as it turns out I live in Pakistan and if you haven’t heard from your local News channels, Pakistan is a 3^rd world country which is plagued by recession.

For a whole year I tested various AV products on different platforms and Eset Smart Security was the winner when it comes to system load. But the latest version 4.0 does use a lot of Processor time and it sucks when you’re using a low-end system

Here are the products (Free Ones) which I tested and I would recommend:

AVG Internet Security/ Anti-virus: Probably one of the most famous AV in recent times. AVG is preferred by many because it has a free version which is fairly powerful and it does include spyware scanner. AVG version 7.5 and below were light when it comes to memory usage and majority of users liked that bit. When they moved to version 8.0+ it became a bit bloated. The Link scanner bit was overkill and users decided to try other alternatives. AVG 9.0 supports Windows 7 but I would recommend you try some other AV’s. The Internet Security suit is pretty decent and the firewall already has a while list of applications. [Applications can access Internet if they are on the white list without user confirmation]

Avira AntiVir 9.0: Avira Anti-Virus is by far the most reliable of the lot. I have used it on many systems and it always delivers when the time comes. But it’s not that light when you’re running it on a low-end system. You feel the lag when it scans some applications and I don’t like the interface very much. It does have update issues but overall it performs well. It works pretty well with Windows Xp and later but when you’re using Windows 7 it’s better to get a decent AV which supports e-mail scanning without paying for it.

Microsoft Security Essentials: The MSE which was previously included in the Windows OneCare package is pretty good when it comes to detection. Its light on the resources but it lacks some key features which would be awesome to have. My biggest complaint is the interface. It’s pretty simple but for an advance user it doesn’t feel right. I know it’s free software and you only need genuine Windows to install it but I still don’t like the feel of it. I do notice some lag when I open any folder with an executable program which I don’t see in other AV programs. Also, it’s not very verbose meaning I don’t see any activity or confirmations. If you don’t have any AV installed I would still recommend MSE because it can take care of the nasty viruses and it can also protect you from Windows vulnerabilities.

Avast! 5.0: Avast which I installed on my PIII surprised me. The new version is surprisingly fast and it can easily detect viruses without any problem. On the feature side it has support for IM, WEB, P2P and E-mail scanning. The engine is fast and the memory usage is low. I am currently using Avast and I love the GUI.

So, far it looks solid and hopefully after some weeks it will remain solid. The gaming mode is by far the best option. I would recommend anyone using the free alternatives to try Avast! 5.0. It’s free and it works.

Comments and suggestions are welcome.

Technorati Tags: alternative, Avast, AVG, Avira, best, fast, free, Internet, malware, microsoft, MSE, security, Windows, windows 7, Windows Xp

For you lucky people to have participated in the Xbox Live Update Preview you got to experience Last.FM, Facebook, Twitter, and the new Zune service.

My favorite so far is Facebook:

With Facebook on the Xbox 360 you are able to Update your status right from the comfort of your own couch or chair or bed!  You can also view friends status updates, view photos in full screen on your television. You can also check to see which friends of yours are also using Facebook on the Xbox 360.

Last.FM

Last.FM Xbox 360

With Last.FM on the Xbox 360, you can listen to all of your favorite songs right from your Xbox 360. Last.FM streams over 3.5 millions songs right to your Xbox. With Last.FM you are able to check your friends playlists. Last.FM allows you to create your own custom radio station (Pandora?). After listening to a song you just vote either thumbs up or thumbs down. Last.FM will only be available to those Xbox Live Gold subscribers.

Twitter

Twitter Xbox 360

Twitter comes to the Xbox 360, with Twitter on the 360 you can view all of your friends status updates right from the comfort of your television. You can also update your status and view all of the trending topics on Twitter.

Zune

Zune on the Xbox 360

All of your favorite movies in full 1080p High Definition come to the Xbox 360 with the Microsoft Zune service.  Gold Subscribers will be able to rent and stream movies from the Zune service, with a Netflix like feel. Zune is nice because it is the only service that offers the 1080p, Netflix only currently offers 480p in their streaming service  which I hope they will update soon.

For all of you that are looking forward to this update, it will add a lot more functionality to the Xbox and again makes it worth the $50 a year for the Xbox Live subscription.

Technorati Tags: microsoft, microsoft xbox 360, microsoft zune, preview, twitter, xbox 360, xbox 360 update, xbox live, xbox live update, zune, zune 360

Lets take a quick look at the new version of Windows from Microsoft, that being Windows 7. Windows 7 has added some new features lets discuss a few.

First is the System Requirements:

• 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
• 1 gigabyte (GB) RAM (32-bit) or 2 GB RAM (64-bit)
• 16 GB available hard disk space (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)
• DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver

Source: Microsoft.com

64-Bit Support

With Windows 7 64-bit edition that means that the computer can handler larger amounts of information than it’s 32-bit predecessor. A 64-bit computer can support 4gb of RAM and more, and 32-bit system cannot.

New Desktop Features

Windows Taskbar

New wallpapers come with Windows 7, and even a new desktop slide show which can display a rotating series of pictures. The task bar has been redesigned to offer more features than before. The Task bar now offers functionality to pin favorite programs onto it, then you can rearrange them any way you want. You can also point to the task bar and see thumbnail views of open programs. Gadgets can now be placed anywhere on the desktop, they do not have to be confined to the side bar like in Windows Vista. Just drag and drop gadgets any where you like.

Performance Improvements

Windows 7 has been improved to offer many different performance improvements. The first being sleep, Windows 7 will sleep, resume, and reconnect to you network faster than ever before. Windows will also search your computer faster than it did in Vista. USB devices install much faster than before and are ready much faster. Windows 7 will no longer run background processes that slow down performance while you are using the computer, for example if you aren’t using Bluetooth, the service will be turned off. Windows 7 will also use much less memory than Windows Vista.

Touch

Windows Touch

Windows 7 supports touch screen displays. Hook up a touch display to Windows 7 and you will be able to use most of the computer without a mouse and keyboard. (Not all versions support this feature)

Improved Media Streaming

Remote Media Streaming

Windows 7 improves the media streaming experience by integrating it into Windows Media Player 12. Remote media streaming is available over the internet but only between computers running Windows 7 and any version above Home Premium.

Those are just some of the new features available in Windows 7, you can view more detail at this link.

Now we have been running Windows 7 since the Release Candidate was released. Windows 7 has been performing as was told, much faster than Windows Vista and takes up less space than Vista did. The system boots up much faster than Vista which is a massive improvement. Windows Media Center now supports Netflix which made me very happy because I am a avid Netflix user, both with Windows Media Extender on the Xbox 360 and the 360 dashboard. Windows Media player can now support may different movie formats unlike previous versions. The file formats are as follows: MP4, MOV, 3GP, AVCHD, ADTS, M4A, MPEG4-SP, ASP, DIVX, XVID and many more. The Windows Shell can now support Transcoding which is necessary for encoding media on the fly, which I previously did with TVersity and now can do with Windows Media Center.

This release of Windows should get Microsoft back on track.

Sources: Microsoft.com, Wikipedia

Technorati Tags: microsoft, microsoft windows 7, microsoft.com, tekgoblin, Windows, windows 7, windows 7 review