Beyond Binary

Microsoft's hypervisor beta arrives early

For the second time in a week, Microsoft said a version of its software is ready sooner than expected. On Thursday, the software maker made available a beta version of its Hyper-V hypervisor technology, a release that had been scheduled for early next year.

Microsoft didn't change its timing for the final release of the technology, which is due to ship within 180 days of the release of Windows Server 2008. (That product is slated to be wrapped up ahead of its formal launch on February 27.)

"We're hoping that getting it out and providing a nice … Read more

Author sounds off on Vista's annoyances

After beta testing Windows 95, David Karp was impressed with how much better the operating system was than Windows 3.1. Still, he had a gripe or two.

To share his experiences, Karp started a Web site called "Windows 95 Annoyances" where he posted some of the pet peeves, as well as some workarounds.

What began as a hobby to make his work computer better, eventually became his work. Karp has written nearly a dozen books chronicling the annoyances of each Windows release.

Needless to say, Vista has given Karp another book's worth of material--664 pages worth, … Read more

Bits from Beyond Binary--Dec. 12, 2007

Here's a collection of links from the "Stuff I'm reading" section. To see these as they post, come back to the Beyond Binary blog and check out the right-hand column. I recommend doing it ten times a day, but, the digest below is here for those that have other things to do:

Are Microsoft-served ads slowing down Web sites?--Blogger Long Zheng noticed that his recent visits to Digg had been slowed by ad requests to MSN. He did some more, well digging, and found that some other sites with MSN-served ads are also sluggish. (istartedsomething) … Read more

Windows 7 to get more touchy-feely

For those wondering when touch features such as those found on the Surface PC or iPhone would make it into mainstream PCs, the answer appears to be "whenever Microsoft gets around to releasing Windows 7."

A Microsoft blogger said this week that the Vista successor will include an array of new touch features.

"I will say that if you are impressed by the 'touch features' in the iPhone, you'll be blown away by what's coming in Windows 7," said Hilton Locke, a test engineer on the Tablet PC effort. "Now if only we … Read more

Microsoft acquires British mapping service

Microsoft said Wednesday that has scooped up Multimap, a United Kingdom-based mapping service.

The software maker didn't say how much it was paying for the online mapping company, but said the unit should help in the company's broader Virtual Earth and search efforts.

"Partnering with Microsoft gives us a world of new opportunities to build our mapping services into new technologies and applications," Multimap CEO Jeff Kelisky said in a statement. "As one of the world's foremost technology brands, Microsoft is in a position to bring even more value to the Multimap service and … Read more

Office 2007 update comes early

Because Microsoft often gets rapped for delivering products late, it seems worth noting that, on Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2007, it delivered a product early.

The software maker issued the first service pack update to Office 2007, roughly a year after the product first became available to businesses.

The new update, which has gotten a whole lot less attention than Vista SP1, adds largely performance and stability improvements, along with making the server components of Office fully compatible with the forthcoming Windows Server 2008 update.

"These enhancements span the software applications and servers that home and office workers use each … Read more

Depth-sensing camera looks like a contender

I like video games. I'm just not particularly good at them.

I have decent hand-eye coordination, but I'm not really good at remembering that passing is A and shooting is B or that sort of thing. That's why I love the Wii. For many games, I no longer have to remember that stuff. I can just do whatever it is I am supposed to do.

Recently, I had a chance to check out an approach that takes that a step further. The ZCam, the depth-sensing camera from 3DV Systems, lets you control a video game or a … Read more

Start-up hopes cartographers like digital ink

It should be clear by now that I'm into digital pens.

Seattle-based Adapx is yet another company trying to make a go of it. Like many companies in the area, they use underlying digital pen and paper technology from Sweden's Anoto. Where Adapx is trying to make its mark is in creating software that takes those digital notes and integrates them back into one's digital workflow.

Its first product, Capturx built for Microsoft Office OneNote, is pretty garden variety note-taking, with the digital ink then going directly into Microsoft's OneNote. I got it up and running … Read more

Warning sounded over 'flirting robots'

Those entering online dating forums risk having more than their hearts stolen.

A program that can mimic online flirtation and then extract personal information from its unsuspecting conversation partners is making the rounds in Russian chat forums, according to security software firm PC Tools.

The artificial intelligence of CyberLover's automated chats is good enough that victims have a tough time distinguishing the "bot" from a real potential suitor, PC Tools said. The software can work quickly too, establishing up to 10 relationships in 30 minutes, PC Tools said. It compiles a report on every person it meets … Read more