packing

The original release of Windows Vista reached the end of its support on Tuesday, meaning that customers now need to be running either Service Pack 1 or Service Pack 2 of Vista to get assistance from Microsoft.

However, in conjunction with this milestone, Microsoft did make a subtle adjustment to its support policy, easing the hard deadline a bit. Under the new policy, Microsoft support staff are allowed to make their "best effort" to provide limited troubleshooting to customers running unsupported service packs, even if they don't have a custom support contract.

"Under the former service … Read more

Microsoft on Wednesday announced the first details of a planned service pack to Exchange Server 2010, which will add several new features to the messaging and calendar server software.

In addition to the usual crop of tweaks and fixes, Service Pack 1 for Exchange 2010 will allow for better archiving and discovery of mail, improvements to Outlook Web Access, and better management capabilities, among other features.

Microsoft plans to make available a beta of the service pack in June with the final version due out later this year.

The improvements to Outlook Web Access bring back themes and the ability … Read more

Breaking its silence on the first service pack for Windows 7, Microsoft said on Thursday that it will include only minor updates, including many already released.

"For Windows 7, SP1 includes only minor updates, among which are previous updates that are already delivered through Windows Update," Microsoft blogger Brandon LeBlanc said in a blog post.

LeBlanc said that Microsoft is not yet ready to announce a time frame for either the beta or final version of the service pack. But, he said that businesses should not wait for the update.

"So don't wait," LeBlanc said. &… Read more

You may be aware of Activision's X-Men Origins: Wolverine game as well as the hit movie it's based on. It stars Wolverine, a mutant with extensible blade-like claws and a personality like his mammalian namesake: ornery, solitary, and ferocious in a fight. Some may argue, but there's little doubt that the brooding anti-hero is the most popular of the X-Men. Fans will love this free pack of five wallpapers based on the game, the movie, and the comic.

The pack contains five different wallpapers, each in five different sizes to accommodate a wide range of screen sizes … Read more

Windows Essentials Media Codec Pack provides a set of software codecs for viewing and listening to many forms of media in Windows Media Player. While this program merely enhances a media player, it does a fine job of accommodating many different and unusual types of videos and music.

The program's interface is simple to operate, since it maintains the classic media player layout. Its commands are easy to understand and navigate. This codec pack makes it a bit difficult to measure any improvements to Windows Media Player since it's not a player itself but rather a set of … Read more

Greetings, Comrades! Free codecs for the people, thanks to the benevolent CCCP. Not the USSR but rather the Combined Community Codec Pack Project, a group dedicated to propagating Windows video codecs to achieve de facto standardization among competing anime formats, many of them developed and used by fan groups. Over time it's grown into a collection of useful codecs for playing just about any kind of video file you're likely to encounter online. The whole point of the CCCP is to provide a comprehensive set of codecs that will not only play common files but also uncommon ones.… Read more

When Microsoft announced the Windows 7 Family Pack option, it said that the three-user bundle of Windows 7 Home Premium would be available only for a limited time.

That time, it appears, is drawing to a close. As noted by WindowsITPro, supplies are drying up fast.

"The Windows 7 Family Pack was introduced as a limited time offer while supplies last in select geographies," Microsoft said in a statement. "Response has been very positive and in some cases, the offer has sold out. "

The company wouldn't say how many copies have sold or how many … Read more

Microsoft announced Thursday its latest update to the Windows Home Server, the Power Pack 3. Originally, this upgrade was planned to be rolled out prior to the launch of Windows 7, but it was delayed due to a problem found during testing.

Power Pack 3 is much like a service pack to Windows Home Server, which is a special version of the Windows operating system designed specially for network-attached storage devices, such as the HP MediaSmart servers.

Judging from a few Windows Home Server-based NAS servers we've reviewed, Windows Home Server significantly helps new consumers familiarize themselves with network-attached … Read more