Microsoft Office 2010 Beta Review

A review of office 2010 beta, check it out before you buy the final version in early 2010.

http://www.tomsguide.com/us/office-2010-beta,review-1458.html

Internet Explorer 9 First Review

IE9 very first preview from Tom's hardware, check it out!
http://www.tomsguide.com/us/pictures-story/126-preview-internet-explorer-ie9.html

Retrieve Windows Live Messenger 2009 Standalone Individual Setup Installer (MSI) from Web Download

Microsoft has made Windows Live Messenger (WLM or previously known as MSN Messenger) as part of the product suite of Windows Live package, and no longer provide standalone individual setup installer for user to download and install just Windows Live Messenger itself. The story is the same for the latest public beta for Windows Live Wave 3, which includes Windows Live Messenger 2009.

As usual, user download the unified Windows Live Installer which contains installation files for all software programs inside the Windows Live products, such as Windows Live Writer, Windows Live Mail, Windows Live Toolbar and etc. Most of the programs other than WLM is not needed, yet Microsoft forces user who wants to backup the installer or install WLM on not connected offline PC or distribute the program across corporate network to download the massive 100 MB plus integrated full installer, namely wlsetup-all.exe.

The worst part is that the wlsetup-all.exe, which has all the installation files, cannot be uncompressed, unpacked or extracted into separate .MSI installer for each individual software. While the web installer, wlsetup-web.exe does not have the .MSI packaged in as it will download the required .CAB off the Internet.

For those who insist on want to grab and retrieve a copy of individual stand-alone Windows Live Messenger 2009 setup installer, which can be used to install WLM anytime on any computer without waiting for downloading, use the following trick to get the “Messenger.msi” file.

1. Download Windows Live Installer from download.live.com.
2. Install or upgrade the Windows Live Messenger to latest version.
3. Open Windows Explorer, and set it to Show hidden files and folders and show protected operating system files (uncheck the tick for Hide protected operating system files) in the View tab of Folder Options.In Windows Vista, run Windows Explorer as Administrator, and user may requires to take ownership and gain full control permissions for the folders below before able to access them.
4. Browse to \Program Files\Common Files\Windows Live\.cache\ folder.
5. There will be a lot of folders made up of 15 characters and numbers. Locate Messenger.msi file inside one of the folder. Messenger.msi is the individual separate standalone setup installer for Windows Live Messenger 2009, which can be backed up or copied to another location. Do note that the Messenger.msi and other Windows Installer Package retrieved this way is silent installer. Tip: %ProgramFiles%\Common Files\Windows Live\.cache\cache.ini file contains the paths of all Windows Live software products downloaded or installed on the computer.
   
6. If you have any problem with Windows Live Messenger after installation using the standalone individual installer Messenger.msi, try to install the following 3 programs too, all of which in different sub-folders inside the .cache directory. Contacts.msi (Contacts)
   dw20shared.msi (DW 2.0 Client)
   crt.msi (Microsoft Visual Studio Runtime)
   Tip: Contacts.msi is a must to avoid or fix 8000FFFF error.
   

After grabbing the Windows Live Messenger standalone silent installer, optionally user can uninstall the Windows Live Suite (all programs) from Control Panel, and install Messenger.msi (and Contacts.msi too) again to get rid of all other Windows Live components except WLM9, saving time and bandwidth in future installation.

The trick also also work for all other Windows Live products such as Windows Live Sign-In Assistant (wllogin.msi), Windows Live Writer, Windows Live Mail ,Windows Live Toolbar, Windows Live Photo Gallery, Windows Live Family Safety, Segoe UI Font, Windows Live Call and Microsoft Office Outlook Connector.

Source : Mydigitallife

Core Temp , CPU temperature monitoring utility software

Core Temp is a compact, no fuss, small footprint program to monitor CPU temperature.
Now Windows Vista and Windows 7 ready! (x86 and x64)

 

The uniqueness of it is that it shows the temperature of each individual core in each processor in your system! You can see in real time how the CPU temperature varies when you load your CPU. It's also completely motherboard independent.

Intel and AMD recently published detailed, public information about the "DTS" (Digital Thermal Sensor), which provides much higher accuracy and more relevant temperature reading than the standard thermal diode sensors do. (How does it work?).

This feature is supported on all Intel Core and Core 2 based processors as well as the whole AMD's Athlon64 line of CPUs. For a full list of supported CPUs see the CPU Support List.
Note: AMD Phenom is supported, but it does not report absolute temperature. More on this in How does it work?.

Core Temp also has a logging feature, allowing a user to easily record the temperature of his processor(s) over any period of time, then the data can be easily transferred into an excel datasheet for easy graphing.

Core Temp works on Windows 2000, XP, 2003 and Vista (both 32bit and 64bit versions).
Thanks to CoolIT Systems for providing a digitally signed Core Temp driver which now works on all Vista versions.

You can download Core Temp here http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/ 

RivaTuner , GPU / VGA Overclocking Utility Software

RivaTuner is a complete powerful tweaking environment, providing you everything you may need to tune NVIDIA GPU based display adapters. The widest driver-level Direct3D / OpenGL and system tuning options, flexible profiling system allowing to make custom settings on per-application basis, both driver-level and low-level hardware access modes, unique diagnostic and realtime hardware monitoring features and exclusive power user oriented tools like built-in registry editor and patch script engine make RivaTuner's feature set absolutely unmatched.
RivaTuner supports all NVIDIA display adapters starting from Riva TNT family up to the latest GeForce 7 series and widest range of NVIDIA drivers starting from the oldest Detonator 2.08 up to the newest ForceWare drivers family.

In addition to complete NVIDIA hardware support, RivaTuner also provides limited support for display adapters based upon ATI RADEON 8500 and newer ATI graphics processors. All RivaTuner's features besides driver-level tuning options are also available on supported ATI hardware.
The RivaTuner Support Forum can be found here. System requirements:

• Windows 98 (updated MFC libraries required), Windows 98 SE, Windows ME, Windows 2000, Windows 2003 Server x32, Windows XP x32, Windows XP x64 edition, Vista x32 or Vista x64 (disabled driver signature checking required). Note: Windows 9x/ME is no longer officially supported since version RC15. It doesn't mean that RivaTuner will not work under Windows 9x/ME, but it does mean that RivaTuner is no longer tested for compatibility issues under these OS.
  
• Any desktop display adapter based on NVIDIA GeForce or ATI Radeon grarphics card. Mobile solutions are not supported.

You can download Rivatuner here http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=163

GPU-Z , GPU / VGA / Graphic Card Identification Utility Software

GPU-Z is a lightweight utility designed to give you all information about your video card and GPU.
Main  features of GPU-Z :

• Support NVIDIA and ATI cards
• Displays adapter, GPU and display information
• Displays overclock, default clocks and 3D clocks (if available)
• Validation of results
• No installation required
• Support for Windows 2000 / XP / Vista / Windows 7 (both 32 and 64 bit versions are supported)

You can download GPU-Z in http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/SysInfo/GPU-Z/

CPU-Z | CPU and System Identification Software

CPU-Z is a freeware system profiler (system monitor) application for Microsoft Windows (for all versions from 95 on) that detects the central processing unit, RAM, motherboard chipset, and other hardware features of a modern personal computer, and presents the information in one window. CPU-Z is more in-depth in almost all areas than the features that a Windows OS provides to identify various hardware components, and is thus needed to identify certain components without opening the case, especially the core revision and RAM clock rate. It has an unusual ability to directly detect hardware features, especially the ability to access, read and display the SPD data from memory modules. The ability to document clock speed makes it an important tool for motherboard overclockers, as a way of proving the CPU speeds achieved by various experiments.
Source : Wikipedia 

CPU-Z is a freeware that gathers information on some of the main devices of your system.
CPU

• Name and number.
• Core stepping and process.
• Package.
• Core voltage.
• Internal and external clocks, clock multiplier.
• Supported instructions sets.
• Cache information.

Mainboard

• Vendor, model and revision.
• BIOS model and date.
• Chipset (northbridge and southbridge) and sensor.
• Graphic interface.

Memory

• Frequency and timings.
• Module(s) specification using SPD (Serial Presence Detect) : vendor, serial number, timings table.

System

• Windows and DirectX version.

You can download CPU-Z here http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php

Microsoft Office 2010

Microsoft Office 2010, codenamed Office 14, is the successor of Microsoft Office 2007, a productivity suiteMicrosoft Windows. Extended file compatibility, user interface updates, and a refined user experience are planned for Office 2010. With the introduction of Office 2010 a 64-bit version of Office will be available for the first time. It will be available for Windows XP SP3, Windows Vista and Windows 7. Furthermore, Office 2010 will mark the debut of free online versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote, which will work in popular web browsers (Windows Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, and Apple Safari), although, surprisingly there is no support for the Opera browser. Microsoft has confirmed that it will be released during spring 2010, and a public beta to show up in November 2009.

Development started in 2006 while Microsoft was finishing work on Office 12, released as Microsoft Office 2007. The version number 13 was skipped because of the aversion to the number 13. It was previously thought that Office 2010 (then called Office 14) would ship in the first half of 2009; however Steve Ballmer has officially announced that Office 2010 will ship in 2010 with a more specific countdown (days) provided at office2010themovie.com

On April 15, 2009, Microsoft confirmed that Office 2010 will be officially released in the first half of 2010. They announced on May 12, 2009 at a Tech Ed event, that Office 2010 will begin technical testing during July and was publicly released to those who signed up to test on 07/08/09. It will also be the first version of Office to ship in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions.

According to an article published in InfoWorld in April 2006, Office 2010 will be more "role-based" than previous versions. The article cites Simon Witts, corporate vice president for Microsoft's Enterprise and Partner Group, as claiming that there would be features tailored to employees in "roles such as research and development professionals, sales persons, and human resources." Borrowing from ideas termed "Web 2.0" when implemented on the Internet, it is likely that Microsoft will incorporate features of SharePoint Server in Office 2010.
Microsoft Office 2010 will implement the ISO/IEC compliant version of Office Open XML (OOXML) which was standardized as ISO/IEC 29500:2008 in March 2008, though will also have the option of implementing as a setting the ISO/IEC compliant version of Open Document Format (ODF) v1.1, beyond 1.0 which was standardized as ISO/IEC 26300:2006 in May 2006
New features are also said to include a built-in screen capture tool, a background removal tool, a protected document mode, new SmartArt templates and author permissions. The 2007 "Office Button" will be replaced with a menu button that leads to a full-window file menu, known as Backstage View, giving easy access to task-centered functions such as printing and sharing. A refined Ribbon interface will be present in all Office applications, including Office Outlook, Visio, OneNote, Project and Publisher. Office applications will also have functional jumplists in Windows 7, which would allow easy access to recent items and tasks relevant to the application.

Source : Wikipedia

Resident Evil 5 co-op online dengan hamachi

Bagi anda yang sudah bermain Resident Evil 5, pasti ada keinginan untuk mencoba bermain berdua bersama teman anda, baik dalam story mode maupun dalam mercenary mode. Ada beberapa cara untuk bermain co-op, yaitu menggunakan LAN secara langsung. Tapi apabila keadaan tidak memungkinkan anda untuk bermain LAN? Maka kita gunakan hamachi, yaitu software pembuat virtual LAN, sehingga anda dan teman anda ini di anggap ngeLAN meskipun pada kenyataannya tidak.

Untuk download hamachi bisa didapat di sini https://secure.logmein.com/US/products/hamachi2/

Selain itu, anda pun membutuhkan add-on teknogod, dimana add-on dan langkah-langkah untuk bermain co-op lewat hamachi lengkap ada di link ini http://www.teknogods.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=84
(anda perlu mendaftar dulu untuk mendownload file dari situ)

Saya telah coba dengan beberapa teman dan sukses! Hamachi ini pun dapat digunakan untuk bermain bareng2 bersama teman2 game2 lainnya. Sangat saya recommended buat para gamers yang suka dan ingin bermain game bersama teman2.

Windows 7 Released

Seperti beberapa dari kita tahu, windows 7 akhirnya dirilis untuk publik tanggal 22 oktober 2009 kemarin ini. Tentu sebagai pengguna windows seperti saya ini, kita pasti berharap agar windows 7 lebih baik dari pendahulunya, XP dan vista. 
Microsoft banyak belajar semenjak mereka merelease vista, baik dari segi performance, compatibility, dan tampilan serta fungsi yang lebih baik. Saya sendiri sudah memakai Windows 7 sejak build 7100 RC dari windows 7 di release ke publik di laptop saya. Dan setelah build 7600 yang merupakan versi RTM dari windows 7 bocor / leaked di internet, pc dekstop saya memakai build RTM tersebut...

Setelah memakai windows 7 selama beberapa waktu, apa perbedaan yang saya rasakan dari windows 7 dengan windows xp maupun vista?
Pertama dari segi tampilan, dari saat kita menginstall windows pun sudah terlihat bahwa 7 ini mempunyai tampilan yang lebih indah dari vista. Meskipun memang bila anda sudah memakai vista untuk beberapa waktu, ada kemiripan dengan tampilan vista. Namun secara keseluruhan memang lebih baik dari vista, salah satu contohnya adalah windows taskbar baru yang di improvisasi dari sebelumnya, baik dari segi tampilan maupun fungsinya.
Kedua dari segi performance, kalau melihat spesifikasi yang diberikan oleh microsoft, windows 7 mempunyai minimum system requirement yang sama seperti vista. Namun saya melihat windows 7 lebih efisien dalam menggunakan memory (RAM) serta menjalankan services process yang perlu2 saja. Selain itu windows 7 pun optimal memakai performance dari multi-core CPU dan VGA/GPU anda sehingga kita dapat menarik kesimpulan bahwa windows 7 lebih enteng dari vista namun lebih berat dari XP.
Ketiga soal compatibility, dimana hampir semua yang dapat dijalankan di XP maupun Vista dapat berjalan di windows 7 ini. baik dari driver maupun software.

Saya sendiripun tidak mengalami masalah apa2, baik dari performance maupun dari compatibility sejak memakai Windows 7 dari build 7100 sampai build 7600 RTM. Bila anda mau merakit desktop baru atau membeli laptop baru, pilihan OS Windows 7 pun menjadi pilihan yang saya rekomendasikan buat anda. Juga terhadap pemakai OS windows XP atau vista, jangan ragu untuk mengupgrade ke windows 7, selain tampilan yang lebih bagus, system requirementnya pun lebih ramah dan compatibility terjamin.