Rock the vote!

No, I'm not talking about race for President of the United States. I'm talking about the slightly less controversial contest currently in swing over at The WinVistaClub for choosing the BEST Windows Vista Website (besides this one!). The contest is designed to highlight community websites that offer extensive and interesting Windows Vista content.

Folks were able to submit what website they thought was the best Windows Vista Website. Then a panel of judges consisting of Steve Sinchak MVP of TweakVista.com , John Barnett MVP of VistaSupport.mvps.org, Steven Bink of Bink.nu, Kerry Brown MVP of VistaHelp.ca, Aryeh Goretsky MVP of Eset.com, James Stables of WindowsVistaMagazine.com, Emil Protalinski of Arstechnica.com, Barney Tormey of Neowin.net, and Anand Khanse of The WinVistaClub voted on the Top 10 Finalists for the Best Windows Vista Website. Now *you* get to choose THE Best Windows Vista out of the Top 10 Finalists. Here they are (in no particular order):

• MintyWhite Windows Guides
• Vista Revisited
• Windows Vista Update
• Windows Vista For Beginners
• Tweaking With Vishal
• MAXIMUMpcguides
• Windows Vista Forums
• The Road To Know Where
• Windows Vista Weblog
• Vista & XP Media Center Support Community

The criteria to win according to the Anand Khanse (aka happyandyk) is simple: Does the website have substantial original quality content of interest & use to a Windows Vista user?

Click here to Vote Now!

Voting is now live until 5:30 AM PST on September 11th. The Top 5 sites will go onto the next round and the winner and 2 runner ups will be announced around September 15th. 

I've read through each of these sites and can tell you that they definitely meet the bar, but I'm interested to know...which one is your favorite?  Or do you have a Windows Vista website that isn't listed that you think should be? Leave a comment and let me know! And don't forget to vote!

• THE WBO SUPER FEATHERWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP- Alex ArthurVS Nicky Cook
• COMMONWEALTH LIGHTWEIGHT TITLE- Amir KhanVS Breidis Prescott
• THE ENGLISH SUPER FEATHERWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP- Femi FehintolaVS Stephen Foster Jr

The Queensberry Fight Network is a UK-based free Windows Media Center channel available with quite a bit of content for boxing fans to enjoy - not only with fights but press conferences and interviews as well.

To add QFN to Windows Media Center, browse to Online Media and Explore. Under Showcase, you will find The Queensberry Fight Network listed as a tile.

When you click on the tile - you will be taken to QFN in Windows Media Center where you will be required to download the free application to enable the QFN channel and its content. When you click the "Download" button you will be asked by Windows Media Center to open the website.

Download the application and enjoy all the QFN content and Saturday's live fights!

NOTE to Windows Vista 64-bit users: The QFN application required to enable QFN in Windows Media Center should run on 64-bit systems.

This is just the first of possibly many exclusive video content available through Windows Media Center!

(UK users please check your local listings for broadcasts of these fights.)

Tonight is an exciting night for Windows. Head over to the Microsoft PressPass Windows site to check out some of the experiences and changes we are driving online, with OEM, and at retail. While you are there, be sure to check out the video interview with Corporate Vice President of Windows Consumer Product Marketing Brad Brooks discussing the new Windows Consumer Campaign. And in case you missed it on TV this evening, you can watch the debut ad of our new Windows Consumer Campaign featuring Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld at the Microsoft PressPass Windows site as well.

In AutoCollage 2008, I was able to pick a folder of photos that I took at this year's Microsoft Pro Photo Summit. Using the AutoCollage controls on the top right-hand side (under "Actions") I was able to choose the amount of images to include in the collage.

All I needed to do was hit "create" and within seconds I had a collage created! Larger collages could take a few minutes to create. Here is my collage of photos from the Microsoft Pro Photo Summit:

After creating the collage, I can choose to either email the collage or set as a desktop wallpaper directly in AutoCollage 2008.

I foresee lots of collages in my future!

AutoCollage 2008 is available here as a 30-day trial or available on the Windows Marketplace for $19.95 for US folks or here at the Microsoft Store for UK folks for £19.90. By charging for this application - this allows the Cambridge incubation team to dedicate significant amount of work to making it rock for consumers. And AutoCollage 2008 certainly rocks.

There's a lot of great information in Shanen's blog post, not just about what the news is, but WHY it is so important for our customers.  You can read the full post here.

If you right-click on the IE8 toolbar area, you can uncheck the "Lock the Toolbars" option. This allows you to use your mouse to move the Command Bar and Favorites Bar. There are a variety of places you can move these around in the IE8 toolbar area.

In the top screenshot, you can see that I moved the Command Bar to be on the same level as the Favorites Bar. I can customize how much space either the Command Bar or the Favorites Bar use on that level. I can give the Favorites Bar more room or give it less for the Command Bar. In the middle screenshot, I was able to move the Favorites Bar onto the level shared by IE8's Tabs. Essentially this is switching the Favorites Bar and Command Bar from the default configuration. And in the third screenshot, I was able to hide the Favorites Bar and "make IE8 look like IE7". You can also hide the Command Bar as well if you wish. And for those who like having the Menu Bar (File, Edit, etc) you can right click on the IE8 toolbar area and choose "Menu Bar" to have that appear.

I was also able to move the Favorites button down to the Tabs level - separating it from the Favorites Bar. This is neat because it gives some added room for additions to the Favorites Bar if needed.

Another new customization option for IE8 is the ability to choose to have the Stop and Refresh buttons appear before the Smart Address Bar instead of after.

Have you ever wanted to quickly close a 3rd party toolbar you have installed in Internet Explorer? IE8 provides an excellent way of quickly closing those toolbars. When you activate a toolbar (you can activate a installed toolbar by right-clicking on the toolbar area and choosing the toolbar you wish to have appear) you'll notice a new "x" icon appear next to it on the left. When you click this "x" it turns off that toolbar (by turning it off - it disappears from the toolbar area in IE8).

I recently installed the Microsoft Live Labs Listas Toolbar. When I no longer wanted the Listas Toolbar to show up in IE8, I just clicked the "x" and it disappeared. I can choose to activate it again later when I need it. My personal preference is to keep my browser clean of toolbars. However I know many people who enjoy the added benefit to their browsing experience that many toolbars offer - a good example is the Windows Live Toolbar. I have toolbars installed just not configured to show up all the time. I activate them when I want to use then and deactivate them when I'm done.

And my last little tip for customizing IE8 may or may not be of any value to you.

When you put your mouse in the area *between* the inline search box and the Smart Address Bar - you'll notice you can increase or decrease the amount of space the search box has. Here is my search box before:

Here it is after:

I decided I wanted a little more room for my search box.

I hope these customization tips help you customize IE8 to be the way you want it to be. I guess I'm boring though - I personally keep things as they are by default in IE ;-)

So what I find refreshing about this article is, it attempts to provide a blow by blow of reviews and articles that reveal the good, the bad ... and the ugly. All of his claims and opinions are backed up by articles, reports, and data readily available to anyone with some time on their hands and is familiar with this thing called the Internet. For the conspiracy theorists out there, Microsoft has no relationship with Koroush beyond that fact that he uses our products. He includes a full disclaimer on page 3.

Some of the "neat" stuff Koroush points out are things we are pretty proud of, especially the security enhancements in Windows Vista. There's been an ongoing debate whether or not it's actually better than XP. Koroush unearths some numbers:

In a comparison of Vista and XP security advisories issued by Microsoft between November 2006 and July 2008, Windows XP had 64 advisories rated Critical or Important, whereas Vista had 33 of the same type. Similarly, comparing the advisories issued by Secunia in 2008 Windows XP had 35% of its advisories rated Highly Critical or above, compared with Windows Vista's 29%. In fact as of late August 2008 XP still shows 30 unpatched security advisories, the highest one rated Moderately Critical; Vista shows 2 unpatched security advisories, the highest one rated Less Critical.

There's also been some speculation that XP's adoption curve and reception was much faster and more favorable than Windows Vista.  We understand that people get tired of Microsoft constantly saying "Vista is great! Vista is selling like hot cakes!" (it is, by the way!), which is why it's great to see Koroush point out that there is evidence out there to demonstrate that Windows Vista is on the right track. It's also refreshing to see that Koroush kept an open mind and took the time to understand what normal adoption rates look like.  

The above information is provided simply to demonstrate that Windows XP was subject to the exact same types of criticisms and concerns as Windows Vista, many of them totally baseless or sensationalist as we now know. It took roughly three years or more for XP to reach the point (SP2) where users began to start trusting it, and started blaming their errors and problems on things other than the OS itself.

He also outlines some very creative solutions to common issues he's noticed users may be hitting up against like slower than desired performance or driver support. While we appreciate his efforts, we don't recommend or endorse the tweaks included in the article.

Like I said, the article is long, but it's full of interesting information, tips and tricks for the PC users. And again, it's great to see that there is a cure for blog stress...

Download: Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2

Also be sure to read this post from Program Manager Jane Maliouta on upgrading to IE8 Beta 2. It includes some very important information such as how to uninstall IE8 Beta 1 and more.

Internet Explorer 8 comes packed with new features designed to make browsing the web much easier and finding what you want much quicker. Matter of fact, based on my own experiences with IE8 these past few weeks, finding your "stuff" quicker is a very strong theme in IE8. I've discovered with IE8 that browsing the web is much more efficient. There are some brand new features in IE8 I'd like to call out, based on my own experiences that I think users will find very useful in browsing the web. I've found these features in IE8 so useful in fact that I am using IE8 Beta 2 on all my PCs. Keep in mind there are far too many new features and changes in IE8 for me to highlight in a single post. I'm only going to cover some of IE8's biggest new features and features I use the most.

First off: when you fire up IE8 you'll notice that the IE "chrome" has changed from the glossy metallic look to a softer light blue look with less gloss.

The most notable change to the UI in Internet Explorer 8 users will take notice of is the Favorites Bar. And this is one of the new features in IE8 I use the most. Essentially - the Favorites Bar is designed to help users highlight there most used Favorites and other information they want quick access to.

Side note on customization in IE8: Many readers of this blog have expressed to me unhappiness with the lack of customization in IE7. IE8 brings some changes that allow much more customization that I think users will be happy with. You can unlock the toolbars and drag the IE menu bar to a variety of places in IE8. You can also right click in IE8's menu and choose Customize where you can have the refresh and stop buttons moved to the front of the Address Bar. Those who also prefer not to have the Favorites Bar showing will be pleased to know you can turn it off (although I don't know why you would want to!).

The Favorites Bar is also a key component to another new feature in IE8: Web Slices.  Web Slices are little "slices" of information within a website that can be subscribed to and added to the Favorites Bar. As information within these Web Slices update, they become bold in the Favorites Bar signifying new information is available within a specific Web Slice.  When I visit a website that has a Web Slice, instead of the standard orange RSS icon I get a green Web Slice icon. I visited Digg (a favorite website of mine) with IE8 and noticed that they have a Web Slice available for top "dugg" topics.

I clicked on the green Web Slice icon and added the Digg Web Slice to my Favorites Bar. There, I can click on the Digg Web Slice to check out the current top dugg posts.

Digg is one of my favorite Web Slices along with the Facebook Web Slice. The Facebook Web Slice allows you to stay on top of your Facebook friend's Status Updates. I found this very useful.

TIP: You can resize the Web Slice "window" by grabbing the bottom right-hand corner.

You are able to add RSS feeds you subscribe to in IE8 to the Favorites Bar as well. To stay on top of all the tech news happening in the blogosphere - I am constantly watching Techmeme. By subscribing to Techmeme's RSS feed and adding it to my Favorites Bar in IE8 - it's easier for me to keep tabs on the latest geek news.

When I subscribed to the Techmeme RSS feed, all I had to do was make sure "Add to Favorites Bar" was checked and when I hit subscribe - it automatically appeared in my Favorites Bar. When the feed updates, just like with Web Slices the RSS feed will become bold.

IE8 introduces the Smart Address Bar designed to help you get to where you want to go on the web quicker. One of the most common tasks for users in web browsers is getting back to websites they use regularly. Much of my web browsing is essentially getting to websites I regularly visit and check. With the Smart Address Bar - getting back to these sites is much easier.

The Smart Address Bar matches what I type in the address bar with websites in History, Favorites, and RSS Feeds. It also features an Autocomplete Suggestion as well for whatever website I am trying to get to. I've found that IE8's Autocomplete Suggestion has been pretty spot on which is great. Mistyped entries can also be deleted by simply clicking the red X to the right of any entry. Autocomplete works across your history as well as your feeds. Domain Highlighting is also used in the Smart Address Bar in IE8. This allows me to quickly identify which domain I'm on. If I am on the Windows Vista Team Blog, the Smart Address Bar will show the URL for the site as http://www.windowsvistablog.com/. However, only windowsvistablog.com is highlighted. Believe it or not this is actually a security feature. Domain Highlighting is designed to aid users in identifying deceptive phishing websites. If a user suddenly discovers a domain highlighted that doesn't make sense and seems a little shady, they can proceed in reporting the site via IE8 as a phishing site.

The second most common thing I do in the web browser is web search. IE8 has some impressive enhancements to its inline search box that make search. When I search for something, I can quickly switch between multiple search providers by clicking the search provider icon.

With Live Search as a search provider (the default search provider on my PCs), when I typed in something I was looking for - Live Search offers me suggestions in real-time to help me find what I'm looking for. When searching the web via IE8's inline search box - it also searches your web history as well.

So what if you want to find something on a specific webpage you are on? IE8 is very accommodating with this scenario. Using the feature Find-on-Page (Ctrl + F), I can quickly get search results for something I am looking for on single page.

When I press Ctrl + F, the Find-on-Page Toolbar appears (under the tabs) and allows me to search the site. In the above screenshot, I searched the Featured Community website Windows-Now for the term "windows". As you can see, Find-on-Page highlights each instance of the term I am searching for and also counts the results. Find-on-Page found 20 results for the word "windows" on this specific page on Windows-Now.

Another way to find information within specific websites is to use Accelerators in IE8. In IE8 Beta 1 we called these "Activities" but in IE8 Beta 2 they are now called Accelerators. Accelerators appear in IE8 when you highlight text and right-click on the blue Accelerator icon. Here I highlighted the word "virtual machine" and used the Encarta Accelerator to find the definition of "virtual machine".

If I am visiting a website that has an address that I want to quickly map - I can use the Live Search Maps Accelerator to quickly map the address. Accelerators don't have to just come from Microsoft. 3rd parties can take full advantage of creating Accelerators and users can quickly add in IE8.

TIP: You can manage Accelerators, Search Providers, and Toolbars & Extensions all in one spot via IE8's updated Manage Add-ons Panel by going to Tools and then Manage Add-ons.

There are a few more things I'd like to call out in IE8 I think users will enjoy. Managing Tabs in IE8 is enhanced to accommodate getting to those websites you like to visit. For example, when I open a new tab in IE8, it allows me to re-open closed tabs. For me, many closed tabs were websites I often visit so it's nice to be able to simply open a new tab and quickly re-open a website I want to get to again.

The new tab screen also allows you to access Accelerators as well.

Another new thing with tabs is Tab Groups. I have a habit of right-clicking on hyperlinks and clicking "Open in New Tab". When I do this - a new tab is of course opened but the tab that I opened a new tab on as well as the new tab is colored. These Tab Groups allow me to keep track of groups of tabs that I am going between. I've found this incredibly useful in managing what I do in IE8.

Speaking of tabs, IE8 comes with a crash recovery feature for when a tab in IE8 crashes it is automatically reloaded and restored. The real beauty of this feature is that, unlike other browsers, IE8 does not need to restart in the event of a crash. You could be watching a video in one tab and if another tab crashes you won't miss a thing. It' crash recovery done right. Any information entered on the page such as a email you're writing in Windows Live Hotmail or a form you are filling out is automatically restored.

As many folks know by now, the Internet Explorer Team has focused on making IE8 standards compliant. IE8 passes the Acid2 Test and offers full support for the CSS 2.1 specification. These are just two of the many changes made in IE8 to support standards and interoperability. Because of these changes, users may notice some of their websites make not look correctly because they were designed for older browsers. IE8 comes with a feature called Compatibility View that lets users quickly switch from IE8's standards compliant layout engine to IE7's layout engine.

Unlike in Beta 1 of IE8, switching into Compatibility View doesn't require the restart of IE8. When you click on the Compatibility View button on a specific website - that website is refreshed in "compatibility mode". Compatibility View works on a per-website (domain) basis.

For more information on Compatibility Mode in IE8 Beta 2 - read this in-depth post from IE Lead Program Manager Scott Dickens.

UPDATE: Ed Bott just posted his comprehensive look at IE8 Beta 2. You can read his post here.

I am just touching the tip of the iceberg here with IE8 features. Expect more in-depth coverage from the folks working on these features in IE8 from the IE Team themselves over on the IEBlog in the coming weeks.

Congratulations to the IE Team for this excellent release!

Also take note of a brand new design for the IE Add-ons site launching for IE8 called the Internet Explorer Gallery at www.ieaddons.com.

I'm David Webster --the guy "deep in the ranks" who dreamed up the Mojave Experiment. Today we updated the website with a few new videos, including sharing with you the fiercely debated demos that the participants were shown.  We encourage everyone to take a look at the videos, ask questions or air concerns (or even compliments). First I wanted to provide some context and clarify a few things.

It's been a couple weeks since we launched the Mojave Experiment, and the reaction in the blogosphere has been fascinating to watch. You should see my inbox - some of you really liked how the experiment helped you say "I told you so" to haters who'd just jumped on the bandwagon without trying for themselves. Others thought it was interesting but were skeptical about the validity of the project's methodology, and others still questioned our sanity (not the first time) for doing the experiment in the first place. There were lots of questions - some wondered if we rigged the results, cherry picked videos or even brought in actors to pose as consumers.  Fair enough. You should be skeptical. After all, the basic message of the Mojave Experiment is decide for yourself.  In that spirit, don't take my word for it either.  Go ahead and check out the new site for answers to the most frequent questions we got over the last few weeks.

We've also heard from supporters loud and clear that we needed to do more marketing around Windows Vista to regular users, and that is exactly what we are doing with the Mojave Experiment. As we have discussed, we're working to get the Mojave message out to consumers through website updates, retail activities and ads on cable stations. However, I do want to stress that while the Mojave Experiment is part of Microsoft's broader effort to talk about the value of Windows Vista, it is separate from the Crispin, Porter & Bogusky campaign you may have heard about in recent weeks. Stay tuned for more details on that one...for now I'm just here to discuss Mojave.

Well, here's why we went ahead with Mojave in the first place.

It should surprise no one that we believe Windows Vista today is a great product; it may surprise some that most current Windows Vista customers agree. In fact, we researched satisfaction levels among existing Windows Vista customers - the survey found that nearly 9 of 10 (i.e. 89%) of customers are either satisfied or very satisfied with their Windows Vista experience. And, satisfaction is increasing over time - customer sat level is 92% satisfied/very satisfied among those who bought Windows Vista during the last 6 months. More than 180 million Windows Vista licenses have been sold (as of June 30, 2008), and, as analysts have reported, corporate adoption rates are consistent with Windows XP rates in similar timeframes. So looking strictly at customer satisfaction and sales data, things are going very well for Windows Vista.

At the same time, we recognize that noise in the market created by a vocal minority can discourage regular people from trying the product for themselves. We're confident these people would find a lot to like about Windows Vista if they spent even 5-10 minutes taking a closer look. We wanted to confirm that hypothesis and see what happens when people get a second chance to make a first impression.

This led to the idea that led to the test that turned into the Mojave Experiment. And the hypothesis was confirmed when across the board, participants concluded that they needed to take another look before simply accepting what they'd heard. In fact, we had plans for a fun section of the site that highlighted any test subjects who didn't change their minds about Windows Vista. But we didn't get any.

The Windows Vista operating system delivered big changes in security, performance and graphics capabilities. These were long-term changes designed to bring customers forward and they are paying off, but it's true they also created near-term pain for customers immediately following launch - notably, some applications and devices didn't work (or work well) on Windows Vista. The product has come a long way since then. We and our partners have worked extremely hard to fix incompatibilities and optimize drivers for increased performance and stability. We shipped SP1 and countless other Windows Updates that have significantly improved Windows Vista over the last 18 months.

Again, we know from lots of user and non-user data that the closer they look the more they will like it. We just needed to give them a reason to take another look.

For a breakdown of the mechanics and results or just to see what's new, visit: http://www.mojaveexperiment.com/

First, you've heard us say before that we've sold more than 180 million Windows Vista licenses (40 million of those in the last quarter alone) and that major enterprises like Continental Airlines, the United States Air Force, Virgin Megastores, Charter, Avanade, Eastman Chemical and PPG are deploying seats by the thousands (and in some cases by the tens of thousands).  That's still true. You can read about these and other Windows Vista deployments at Microsoft.com/casestudies.

Consistent with findings from other reputable sources, Forrester Research just published a new report on enterprise OS adoption. According to the abstract: "Forrester's month-on-month study of more than 50,000 of our clients' OS preferences confirmed that users are on track with enterprises' initial Windows Vista deployment plans. IT operations folks are at a critical inflection point and should deploy Windows Vista to: 1) stay current with Microsoft's and independent software vendors' (ISVs') support life cycles; 2) help minimize today's security, management, and productivity challenges; and 3) better position your business to eventually embrace "Windows 7," because Windows Vista investments will ultimately pay off with better compatibility for this next release." Even the Wall Street Journal is picking up on this and in his blog post over the weekend, Ben Worthen includes some nuggets from the report like: "between October 2007 and June 2008 the percentage of visitors running Vista climbed from 5% to 8.8%." Ben also says that "it's pretty safe to assume that the operating system's image problems with the general public will soon be a thing of the past."

What about the guys on the ground who are selling, installing and implementing Windows Vista? Not surprisingly, they're seeing growing demand too. For example, CDW, one of the nation's largest technology resellers and system integrators, found in their third Windows Vista Tracking Poll that Windows Vista is "gaining traction" in the business market, with 48 percent of respondents saying their organization is using or evaluating Windows Vista. That compares with 29 percent in CDW's February 2007 poll. You can check the Seattle Times commentary on this.

The chorus of industry commentators, analysts, partners and real enterprise users confirm what we already knew - businesses are buying, using and liking Windows Vista. If you haven't already, try it and decide for yourself.  

Download: Nikon RAW Codec Version 1.4.0

I discovered a hidden "gem" with this new release however. It runs on PCs running 64-bit versions of Windows Vista.  Apparently, this version of Nikon's RAW Codec takes advantage of Windows Vista's built in 32-bit emulation feature called WOW64. I've got it installed on my Windows Vista 64-bit PC and am able to import and view RAW images (.NEF files) off my Nikon D40 into Windows Live Photo Gallery and view them just fine. I've confirmed this works with a few friends of mine who also use Nikon cameras and running a 64-bit version of Windows Vista.

If you shoot photos with a Nikon digital camera, use the RAW file format and run a 64-bit version of Windows Vista - definitely give this version of the Nikon RAW Codec a try. It worked for me, I'm hoping it works for you!

Engineering the next version of the most used operating system to-date is a very complex software project. Why? Because Windows has a very large user base and that user base is very diverse.  Planning the next version of Windows (and ultimately developing it) is a huge under-taking as it requires Microsoft to learn and understand the needs for all types of customers that use Windows today. On the Engineering Windows 7 Blog, you can expect a two way discussion on how those customer needs are balanced out to deliver Windows 7 into the hands of customers.

The one thing you won't find on the Engineering Windows 7 Blog is major product announcements. The focus is to simply discuss the engineering of Windows 7. Not only can we expect posts from both Steven and Jon on the Engineering Windows 7 Blog, we can also expect to hear from other members of the engineering team who are essentially building the next version of Windows as we speak. Sweet!

I look forward to reading about the engineering done to make Windows what it is.

So what does that mean for us here on the Windows Vista Team Blog and for the Windows Experience Blog?  Windows Vista is still very much relevant today. There is still very much to say in regards to Windows Vista and lots more experiences to blog about surrounding Windows Vista and Windows Live. Our blogs here won't be going away. We continue to add value to Windows Vista with releases such as Windows Search 4.0 and coming soon the Beta 2 release of Internet Explorer 8. You can also expect us to take part in the ongoing discussion taking place from the Engineering Windows 7 blog on building the next version of Windows as well.

Not surprisingly, Krantz advises that Windows Vista PCs  win "hands-down" over Macs for things like better software compatibility, better community support, IE and greater user productivity. And his fundamental point on cost should hit home for anyone (not just online investors) in the market for a new computer:

...For less than $500, you can buy a Compaq Presario CQ50Z laptop. It comes with a 1.9 GHz dual-core processor, 1 gigabyte of memory, an Nvidia GeForce graphics card, 120 gigabyte harddrive and wireless networking. A capable machine by today's standards and more than adequate for an online investor, for less than $500.

Now, let's see what's available from Apple. You'll need to spend at least $1,099 for a MacBook, which comes with the same memory and hard drive. The MacBook has a slightly faster microprocessor, 2.1 GHz, but you won't notice the difference if you're just Web surfing.

In this case, you save $600 that could be invested in stocks instead of sent to Cupertino...

For most people, a 156% price mark-up is too steep for admission to the club (and most people don't buy computers to join clubs anyway). Picking a Windows Vista PC over a Mac is no-brainer for business customers in particular - it's a smarter use of resources, offers hardware choice (something sorely lacking with Macs), and flexibility to use whichever applications make the most sense.

To start using Photosynth yourself, just head on over to the new Photosynth website and login with your Windows Live ID and create a Photosynth ID. This Photosynth ID will be tied to whatever Synths you create.  Depending on the number of photos in your Synth, it could take anywhere between 2 to 30 or more minutes to create and upload. When you create a Synth, you can give your Synth a name, description and even assign it some tags. Everyone is given a quote of 20GB for their Synths.

To view and create Synths, a 7MB plug-in must be installed first from either Internet Explorer (6 or 7) or Mozilla Firefox (2 or 3).

The Photosynth plug-in does all of the processing - or "synthing" - of your photos prior to uploading the results to the Photosynth website.  

The installation of this plug-in also puts a link to Photosynth on your Start Menu for quick Photosynth access!

So how does Photosynth work? Photosynth analyzes your photos for similarities to your other photos in the set and then uses the information to estimate where the photos were was taken from. Photosynth then re-creates the place the photos were taken and uses that as a canvas to display your photos. Pretty neat huh? The work done in analyzing your photos is done via the above mentioned Photosynth plug-in.

Want to know how to make good Synths? No problem. Check out the Photosynth Guide which explains in great detail how to take photos that can be used to create good Synths in Photosynth. You can also watch this awesome "How-to" video from Laura Foy on creating good Synths in Photosynth as well.

You should also check out the Encyclopedia of Life Synths. These are great examples of some of the Synths you can create. The Encyclopedia of Life is a global project to document and photography the Earth's 1.8 million species and make the information freely available via the Internet.

Photosynth allows you to also embed Synths directly into websites and blog posts. To celebrate tonight's launch - I've created my very first Synth from images taken a few months ago from the top of the Space Needle. I took a lot of shots from different angles that I thought would make a perfect Synth.

Click here to view a larger version of my Synth.

My Space Needle Synth consisted of 95 images. Those 95 images together was about 176MB. It took me about 20 minutes to "synth" these photos together and upload them to the Photosynth website. Each Synth has a "synthiness" rating. My Space Needle Synth has 96% Synthy. The more synthy you are - the more "connected" your photos are in that Synth. You want to be synthy.

Photosynth is a very exciting release and I can't wait to see all the cool Synths people will be uploading. Try out Photosynth today and leave a comment with a link to some of your Synths for me to check out!

Channel 10's Nic Fillingham got to sit down and chat with several members of the Photosynth Team for Channel 10's photography show ShutterSpeed. Give it a watch.

Be sure to keep your eyes on the Photosynth Team Blog for more on Photosynth!

The Innoventions Dream Home sits inside Disneyland's Tomorrowland and uses Windows Media Center in Windows Vista - along with hardware from HP and others - to combine technology available today with technology we might see in our future.  Other partners such as Life|ware (more about Life|ware below), Honda, Siemens, St. Joseph Hospital, and Taylor Morrison also showcase technology at the Innoventions Dream Home providing a very rich experience to Disneyland visitors. 

When I arrived to the Innoventions Dream Home, I discovered that the building was actually rotating. Yes - rotating. Ok so not the entire building. The building actually has an outer "ring" that rotates while the inner area of the building remains stationary - like a carousel. The walkway near the entrance is actually called "360 Tomorrowland Way" referencing the building's unique feature. I thought it was a very interesting "introduction" to the Innoventions Dream Home in preparation for what's inside...

Once inside the Innoventions Dream Home, I discovered that the Innoventions Dream Home consisted of different rooms of a "fictional family" (called "The Elias Family") such as the living room, kitchen, a brother's room, a sister's room, and a home office (or den). Disney has "fictional" family members wearing yellow soccer jerseys in which visitors can follow through the Innoventions Dream Home and will remain in character as a specific member of the family talking about their home.  The idea here is that visitors are exposed to how families can use this technology within their homes to improve their lives - or become more efficient with specific tasks.

I shot some video of those "fictional" family members doing some of the demos (to get the full experience - you'll have to visit the Innoventions Dream Home yourself  J ) in each of the rooms and the technology within them. See how Windows Vista and Microsoft Surface along with hardware from HP and others can be combined to create some awesome experiences:

Video: Innoventions Dream Home

Sorry about the lighting. It was kind of dark inside the home and I didn't want to blind folks with my Canon HV20's light. Did you catch the Sidebar Gadgets running on the "Magic Mirror"? The Magic Mirror has a camera that points at you creating the affect of being a mirror. And in the den, did you see the 100" glass projection screen? This is perfect for watching HD content in Windows Media Center.

As I mentioned above - the technology I saw was a mix of technology available today such as Windows Vista and HP's TouchSmart PC along with technology not yet on the market. Part of the excitement is that visitors can actually see some of this cool stuff on the market today and in stores.

Much of what I saw (and what you saw in the video) was connected together using Windows Media Center. Each room had a special panel that was running Life|ware software on Windows Media Center. These panels were used to adjust settings within the room per user. Each "pretend" family member had a profile of settings that can be set from these panels. When a family member enters the room, they use these panels to adjust the settings such as lighting and images in digital picture frames.

Home automation using Windows Media Center? Absolutely! As you can see in the above shot - the ability of home automation is given to Windows Media Center by Life|ware. This level of home automation is actually quite doable today!  Read Life|ware's whitepaper of home automation and Windows Media Center for more information here.

To make all the cool stuff work in the Innoventions Dream Home - you need some pretty cool hardware. That's where HP steps in.

To extend the Windows Media Center experience throughout the Innoventions Dream Home - Xbox 360's were used of course but HP also deployed its Extender for Windows Media Center device the HP MediaSmart Connect. You can read my comprehensive look at the HP MediaSmart Connect from a few weeks ago here. I also found HP MediaSmart TVs around the Innoventions Dream Home with Extender for Windows Media Center capabilities built in!

Visitors were also treated to HP TouchSmart PCs placed all over the Innoventions Dream Home. The HP TouchSmart PC boasts some impressive touch capabilities.

There is actually quite a bit to talk about in regards to my experience with the HP TouchSmart PCs from the Innoventions Dream Home. Because of that - I've decided to publish a separate follow-up post later this week discussing my experience with the HP TouchSmart PCs. But to summarize - HP has done a fantastic job bringing touch features to the consumer via the HP TouchSmart PC and they just released the 2nd generation HP TouchSmart PC which is available at retail today. HP plans to completely exchange the remaining 1st generation HP TouchSmart PCs at the Innoventions Dream Home today with the new 2nd generation HP TouchSmart PCs.

For a more comprehensive look at the HP technology at the Innoventions Dream Home - click here.

I was joined by fellow bloggers and community members Mike Garcen from Missing Remote and Michael Reyes from HardwareGeeks.com. You can read Mike's 9 page post on his experience at the Innoventions Dream Home here at Missing Remote (with lots of pictures!). And you can read Michael's post on his experience here at HardwareGeeks.com. Both are definitely worth the read so check them out.

If you're heading down to Disneyland, definitely check out the Innoventions Dream Home. It is a perfect place to see what technology today can do and what technology of tomorrow might do. Oh and ask for the "fictional" family member named Neil - he was awesome (not sure if that's his real name though).

 Currently, sign-ups for the Live Mesh Technical Preview are available in the following countries without a waitlist:

• United States
• United Kingdom
• Australia
• New Zealand
• Canada
• India
• Ireland

Amit says that the Live Mesh Team still does have a maximum limit of users who will be allowed in to the Live Mesh Technical Preview. As long as sign-ups remain below that limit, anyone in the above listed countries is free to sign-up. However, once that limit is met - sign-ups for the Live Mesh Technical Preview will be closed until the team is ready to open it up again for more users. So sign-up now!

Angus Logan also blogged about today's Live Mesh announcement. Angus is a Product Manager for the Live Platform. He blogs a lot about cool developer-related Live Platform technologies. Because Live Mesh is a platform and falls under Live Platform - Angus is a Live Mesh expert and often showcases Live Mesh on this blog. Matter a fact, I'd like to point out a post of his from a few months ago consisting of several tips and tricks on how Live Mesh can boost productivity in Windows Vista. Angus - more tips and tricks please!

Remember, Live Mesh is in the Technical Preview stage. This is essentially pre-Beta. While the Live Mesh Technical Preview has been incredibly reliable and awesome for me - because Live Mesh is still in the pre-Beta stage there are still risks just as there would be for any pre-Beta software release.

Whether you are planning to deploy Windows Vista or already did, it is important that you keep security high on your list and make sure that all of your desktops are secured.  So, how do you know if your desktops have Windows Firewall settings turned off?  What if some desktops do not have Anti-Virus or Anti-Spyware software installed?

To quickly get an answer, please check out the new Security Center assessment feature that we have added to the Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit 3.1 released in June.  It auto-generates a security assessment report on your existing desktops as part of the "Windows Vista hardware assessment" migration report.

What's Next?

Start identifying these security vulnerabilities today with a free download of the Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit.  You may also view the new MAP Toolkit demo video and learn how to get the Security Center assessment report as well as the hardware compatibility assessment report for Windows Vista migration.

Cheers,

Baldwin Ng

Sr. Product Manager, Microsoft Solution Accelerators Team

Download: 2008 Beijing Olympics Medal Count Gadget

This is a great gadget for people who aren't following the Olympics very closely but want to keep tabs on Olympic Medal wins. I'm not following the Olympics as closely as I'd like due to several things I'm working on so this Gadget is very helpful in at least keeping me "in the loop".

You can also watch encore videos of the Olympics at NBCOlympics.com thanks to a partnership with MSN Video and are presented in Silverlight. Also: don't forget you can also watch Olympic content directly within Windows Media Center on PCs running Windows Vista Home Premium or Windows Vista Ultimate. I posted about NBC Olympics On The Go a few weeks ago here. I hear TVTonic has released a 64-bit version of NBC Olympics On The Go as well.

Video: Windows Vista Demo: Previous Versions

Let me know what you think of this and the other features we've discussed this week (Search and Live Icons) - we'd love your feedback!

The content on WindowsLive.com is driven from the community of passionate Windows Live users through the Windows Live Clubhouse. The Windows Live Clubhouse is a special Windows Live Space that brings other Windows Live users together in talking about Windows Live on their own Windows Live Space. Using Windows Live Writer and using special tags designed for the Windows Live Clubhouse, users can have content written on their Windows Live Space aggregated to WindowsLive.com and shared with the world!

Windows Live Clubhouse: Click here to request access and take part in providing awesome Windows Live Content for WindowsLive.com!

The community decides what content goes up on WindowsLive.com based on how pieces of content (posts) are rated. In someone writes about something regarding Windows Live that is inaccurate - the community can respond simply by not rating the post highly and it will never show up on WindowsLive.com. You drive the content!

For each person who is writing content on their Windows Live Space for WindowsLive.com - a special page is created on WindowsLive.com to highlight that person and their content. The page brings in information about the user from the user's Windows Live Space.

Using my own personal Windows Live Space, I've taken part in the Windows Live Clubhouse and have content I've written on my Windows Live Space about Windows Live aggregated to WindowsLive.com as you can see in the above screenshot. You can view my WindowsLive.com profile here. As I write more about Windows Live on my Windows Live Space - this page will update to bring in any new content I write.

At WindowsLive.com - people can explore all the Windows Live services and applications. The pages for each Windows Live product is designed to highlight what the product is about and also splices in a showcase piece from someone in the community who has talked about the product.

With WindowsLive.com and community driven content - Windows Live customers now have an opportunity to have a voice in helping talk about Windows Live.

Senior Product Marketing Manager Marty Collins (Hi Marty!) has blogged about today's launch on her Windows Live Space. LiveSide, who is also a member of the Windows Live Clubhouse, has also posted about today's WindowsLive.com launch as well.

Download (UPDATED): Deep Zoom Composer (8/3/2008 Release)

Microsoft Live Labs PhotoZoom is designed to let users show off their photos with Deep Zoom and Silverlight by allowing users to upload their Deep Zoom collections to the web. To upload my collection, all I needed to do was login using my Windows Live ID in Deep Zoom Composer under "PhotoZoom Export".

NOTE: Before you are able to upload a collection, you must first go to the Microsoft Live Labs PhotoZoom website and login to create an account associated with your Windows Live ID.

Once signed in, I can create a new album, give it an album name, choose image format and quality and upload. I can also add to existing collections.  

After I published a collection to PhotoZoom - I can embed that collection into a website or blog post to share the collection with others. Here is my first "test" Deep Zoom collection on PhotoZoom. It's a panoramic shot I stitched together using Windows Live Photo Gallery from a recent trip to Smith Rock State Park in Central Oregon. To view this collection you will need Silverlight 2.0 Beta 2.

You will be able to find any future Deep Zoom collections from me here on PhotoZoom. I'll be publishing a bigger collection from my Central Oregon Trip in the very near future.

Currently - PhotoZoom Upload functionality inside Deep Zoom Composer may not be working properly. A fix is expected very soon. I'll edit this post once a fix is released and you can also watch their blog for further updates.

Deep Zoom Composer also now utilizes the same technology developed by Microsoft Research for panoramic stitching - also seen in Windows Live Photo Gallery.

RELATED: Look from the top of the Space Needle with Deep Zoom

UPDATE 8/5/2008 PLEASE READ: The Deep Zoom Composer Team released a newer August build on August 4th to fix several issues with the PhotoZoom Upload. You can read their blog post about the updated release here. I've edited the above download link to reflect the newer release from August 4th.

In the last video, Esther told you all about how Instant Search makes her day-to-day life easier. Today, she's going to talk to you about Live Icons, which makes searching even faster by letting you see a preview of the files you're searching for. If you're a visual person you'll especially appreciate seeing icons instead of file names or folders, and not having to open each file individually, which saves a ton of time.   

Video: Windows Vista Demo: Live Icons

NBC is further expanding its coverage of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games with an Internet-delivered catch-up TV service powered by TVTonic on Windows Media Center on PCs running Windows Vista Home Premium or Windows Vista Ultimate! With NBC Olympics On The Go and Windows Media Center, you will be able to create a customized channel lineup of your favorite events for automatic download to your PC. Download NBC coverage of the Games overnight, and take them with you to watch online or offline in up to HD quality.

In Windows Media Center on PCs running either Windows Vista Home Premium or Windows Vista Ultimate, you'll find a new graphic under "Online Media" called NBC Olympics. Click on "Install Now" to install the NBC Olympics service for Windows Media Center.

When I went to install, I was given two options: Easy Install and Full Install. The Easy Install requires no keyboard or mouse and sets everything up for you to begin watching content. However, more advanced users (and users with plenty of bandwidth) can choose to do a more comprehensive Full Install. As you could have predicted, I ended up choosing the Full Install.

The Olympics begin August 8^th, and video will become available in NBC Olympics On The Go on that day. Click here to find more about this service.

NOTE: If you don't see NBC Olympics under Online Media in Windows Media Center on your PC - not to worry! It should appear very soon.

We've been tracking the change by looking at the percentage of 64-bit PCs connecting to Windows Update, and have seen a dramatic increase in recent months. The installed base of 64-bit Windows Vista PCs, as a percentage of all Windows Vista systems, has more than tripled in the U.S. in the last three months, while worldwide adoption has more than doubled during the same period.  Another view shows that 20% of new Windows Vista PCs in the U.S. connecting to Windows Update in June were 64-bit PCs, up from just 3% in March. Put more simply, usage of 64-bit Windows Vista is growing much more rapidly than 32-bit. Based on current trends, this growth will accelerate as the retail channel shifts to supplying a rapidly increasing assortment of 64-bit desktops and laptops.

64-bit PCs running 64-bit editions of Windows Vista typically have 4GB of memory or more. Compared to 32-bit systems, which top out at around 3GB of memory, 64-bit PCs can offer added responsiveness when running a lot of applications at the same time and have the potential for greater performance and new experiences as next-generations applications are written to take advantage of this new platform.

What started out as a gradual (some would say "glacial") movement toward 64-bit PCs, driven primarily by technology enthusiasts, seems to have turned into a swift transition, likely fueled by the falling cost of memory and consumers' desire to get the most out of their PCs.

This change begs a few questions:

Is the 64 bit market ready to go mainstream?

Will consumers realize the benefits from larger chips and 4GB or more of memory?

The answer to both of these questions is yes - but a qualified yes.

Preconfigured 64-bit PCs obtained from retailers or PC manufacturers should work quite well.  This is in stark contrast to the experience of many technology enthusiasts who built their 64-bit PC from scratch and may have had to scour the Web looking for drivers.  So, unless you really love to tinker with your PC, we suggest you buy a pre-built 64-bit PC at retail or directly from a PC manufacturer.

Beyond the box, you also need to consider the hardware peripherals and software programs you plan on using with your new PC. Any hardware or software product displaying the ‘Works with Windows Vista' or ‘Certified for Windows Vista' logo must be compatible with both the 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows Vista in order to warrant the use of the logo. If you don't see the logo, visit the Windows Vista Compatibility Center and check the 64-bit compatibility status. Hardware and software vendors continue to test and improve their products. Please note that the Windows Vista Compatibility Center is currently in beta. In some cases it is possible that a device may be marked as not compatible when in fact it is. I recommend that you also check with the device manufacturer to see if the compatibility status of your desired device has changed.

On the performance front, 64-bit PCs can provide a more responsive experience when running many applications simultaneously. Websites such as Bit.Tech.Net and Tom's Hardware have published performance benchmarks detailing some of the improvements realized from running the 64-bit PCs. In addition, PC Accelerators built into Windows Vista, such as Windows SuperFetch, improve performance by keeping commonly used programs in memory, even when the program is closed. More memory capacity on 64-bit PCs allows SuperFetch to do its job more efficiently.  

But if you only use your PC for a few tasks, and rarely do them at the same time, then you're unlikely to realize a measurable performance benefit today.  Of course, buying extra capacity for your future, unplanned needs is always worth considering.

In the future, we expect both compatibility and performance of 64-bit PCs to continue to improve. Most hardware devices have 64-bit drivers today and most software products work unmodified because of the 32-bit emulation technology in 64-bit Windows Vista (called WOW64). But there are some gaps, especially in the long tail of the market, but we expect rapid improvement now that 64-bit PCs are getting so popular.

Over time we'll see more 64-bit-optimized programs hit the market, which promise dramatic performance and experience improvements. A few key ones, like Adobe Lightroom & Photoshop and Sony Vegas Pro video editing software, are due to be released this fall. If you're a software or hardware developer, visit our 64-bit readiness page to learn more about 64-bit compatibility and optimization.

A lot of times when the Product Team is showing off Windows Vista, the crowd is pretty impressed by all of the useful features we built into the OS. Most of these are things that will make day-to-day work quicker or easier - especially for those of us office drones. But many of our users just don't know they exist. So we figured, why not show you some of our favorite features? 

Over the next week or so, our own Esther Choi from Windows Vista Product Management will be hosting a series of short videos that don't just cover what these features are, but also how and when to use them. We hope to make videos from the Windows Vista Product Management Team a regular thing, so let us know what you think by leaving a comment...and what you want to hear more about! 

Today we're kicking off with Instant Search, which is really cool in Windows Vista. Finding stuff can be a big pain, but the search capabilities built directly into the OS help me locate the documents, music files, photos, emails and whatever else you're looking for quickly. 

Video: Windows Vista Demo: Instant Search

By the way, while we're on the topic of features, I wanted to let you know that the Windows Vista Product Guide - a great resource on all things Windows Vista - is now available for FREE in paperback.  All you have to do is pay for shipping.  Order your copy here.  I should note that the paperback guide doesn't include the new stuff in SP1, but you can download all of that information here.