Apple rolls out Snow Leopard; Win 7 still waiting!

Reference: CNET News

Seems Apple is in real hurry!

While Microsoft has released plans for its Windows 7 this week, Apple has rolled out its Mac OS X Snow Leopard, a little earlier than expected.

According to CNET, the new OS doesn't sport many new features, rather Apple is deep into refining the exisiting code of the Operating System. Apple reports to have worked on 90 percent of the Mac OS X code for the Snow Leopord release. It does have a good box cover too! [image:Left (Credit:Apple)]

Here's the CNET Teams review for the Snow Leaopard. The team gave it a review of Excellent in its Test:

"Interface enhancements like Expose in the Dock and better file and folde viewing in Stacks make finding apps and files much easier. A completely overhauled QuickTime X now sports a cleaner interface and recording tools. The much-anticipated Exchange support across Mail, the Address Book, and iCal is huge for thise who take their Macs to work.

CNET Reviews Team however notes that Snow Leopard will work only in Intel-powered Macs; PowerPC users are out of Luck!

Experts note that Snow Leopard could have more features on the Security side, which the OS is said to be lacking. About the Popular belief that people have more Mac, that it is much safer than the Windows counterpart, experts deny. The Mac is merely safer as malware writers do not prefer to target the Apple Platform than the Windows one, according to Charlie Miller and Dino Dai Zovi, co-authors of The Mac Hacker's Handbook, which came out this spring.

"Apple hasn't implemented all the security features that Vista has," Miller said. "They made some improvements in Leopard, but they are still behind."

Better gear up!

Windows 7 Release Date cancelled? No way!

Reference : Blogs.ComputerWorld.com

Recent news showed up how Microsoft was shirked by a critical bug in Windows 7 regarding the chkdsk utility related to the chkdsk /r command.

The blogosphere was recently blabbering over the cancellation of the Windows 7 release date. The good news is : It ain't cancelled!

The bug reportedly overflowed the memory on execution in the Step 4 o its operation following a BSOD.
The bug was labeled as critical and a "show stopper" by the blogosphere as Microsoft has released the RTM code of Windows 7 to various OEM's and that it had to fix the problem as soon as possible.
But recent news has it that Microsoft has responded with "bug in Windows 7 capable of delaying the planned roll-out, which starts Thursday. The company has blamed a chip-set controller issue rather than a critical bug in the Windows 7 chkdsk /r tool."

Microsoft appeared to take particular issue, however, with descriptions of a "critical bug" and "showstopper" in Windows 7. ... "While we appreciate the drama of 'critical bug' and then the pickup of 'showstopper' that I’ve seen, we might take a step back and realize that this might not have that defcon level".

While the blog world has soon recognized that this may not be still a "show stopper" and that Microsoft might be able to prepare and send patch for the bug until the time that users might get a hand on the Windows 7.

Some forums have even reported that the bug news was a fake and that enthusiastic beta developers when tried to duplicate the problem by chkdsk /r tool, the problem didn't even show up!
So, that is really interesting when somebody shouts, "Hey, you've got a bug here. That's a serious problem coz you're ruined now!!!". Just when you know its fake.

In his blog, Richi Jennings reports all such instances in a timelined-story for you to read. Enjoy!

Activation code for Windows 7 cracked!

Source: SiliconIndia News

Some Chinese hackers have been rumored to have cracked tehe activation code for Windows 7. Microsoft sees the news as a security risk after the recent release of the final code for Windows 7 to manufacturers.

CNET News has reported that he Windows Genuine Advantage has been compromised by teh hackers for the Wuindows 7 Ultimate release.
This would simply mean that any user can fully activate and run the new OS without connecting to the Activation Server of Windows and doesn't need to activate the Windows product.
It is known that the hackers must have used the leaked ISO file to get hold of the activation certificate that Microsoft digitally signed for the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) version of Windows 7.
An OEM activation key will unlock multiple copies and it is rumored that this particular key will work in machines from Dell, HP and Lenovo.

To this, Microsoft has responded, "We are aware of reports of activation exploits that attempt to circumvent activation and validation in Windows 7, and we can assure customers that Microsoft is committed to protecting them from counterfeit and pirated software." It also advises customers not to download Windows 7 from unauthorized sources.

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