Windows 8 to have customizable lockscreen...

Windows 8 to have customizable lockscreen...

Only three days after Windows 8 build 7955 officially leaked on a private FTP server, and slipped onto public filesharing websites, hackers have uncovered even more windows 8 secrets.
Although this may not be surprising at first, it does go in the right direction for Microsoft to make Windows 8 completely customizable, right down to the last detail.
Alex Reed, aka Xeraxic, has managed to unlock a feature in Windows 8 build 7955 that allows the user to use their desktop wallpaper as their lockscreen. Combined with the auto-wallpaper in Windows 8, users will hopefully have a unique lockscreen everytime they sit down at their computer.

Reed posted how to enable the feature in Windows 8 7955 by editing the theme file found under

C:\Windows\Resources\Ease of Access Themes\basic.theme

Change the line that says:

SetLogonBackground=0

to

SetLogonBackground=1

Reboot your computer, and you'll have Windows 8 lockscreen wallpaper.
According to a member on the MDL forums, this feature will be available in Windows 8 when it officially releases by a checkbox. For now, Windows 8 build 7955 requires a registry hack.

Windows 8 gets a nice Explorer feature

Windows 8 gets a nice Explorer feature

Sometimes, small features can make a huge difference in the overall workflow of an OS.
According to tech-exclusive, the newest feature to be uncovered in leaked builds of Windows 8 is a very nifty drag and drop function in Windows Explorer. If you’re familiar with the Vista and 7 implementations of the Explorer address bar, you’ll recognize the separated format of the address. Each step in the path is its own clickable link, making for easy navigation upwards in a directory tree. Windows 8 is implementing a feature that allows you to drag a file or folder onto any one of those links, moving the object into that folder. Currently, you have to cut and paste the object, hope that the destination folder is viewable in the sidebar, or open another Explorer window to get the job done (and we’re well aware that there may be other arcane and obscure shortcuts to accomplish this).

Image credit: tech-exclusive
It may seem inconsequential, but it’s small touches like this, small improvements to tasks that many of us do multiple times a day, that help make an OS easier to use overall.
As Windows 8 features continue to be uncovered, we’ll hopefully see more of this kind of streamlining. Windows Explorer is an integral part of the Windows experience, and we’d hate to see it ignored relative to other improvements.

Latest iMac Intel model gets a teardown...

Latest iMac Intel model gets a teardown...

If you are an Apple fan and wonder if the latest products from the company can be taken apart and repaired if the need arises, there's nothing quite like an article that shows and talks about a teardown of such a device. The ifixit.com web site has such a article that shows just how they took apart the newest iMac release from Apple, the iMac Intel-based 21.5 inch EMC 2428. The iMac was just released by Apple on May 3.
The article goes into extensive detail on how they took apart the new all-in-one iMac which has a quad core i5 processor from Intel inside along with the Thunderbolt port. This is the new data sharing port technology that has input-output speeds of up to 10 Gpbs. The port is also a part of Apple's most recent MacBook Pro laptop. The new iMac also has four USB ports as well as a Firewire port, all found on the back of the iMac.
The teardown article first started by taking off the 21.5 inch monitor screen which exposed most of the hardware inside the all-in-one iMac. The widescreen TFT display has support for up to 1920 x 1080 for resolutions. The article also showed the WiFi card being removed along with the the 500 GB hard drive from Western Digital and the Sony Optiarc optical drive. The article also shows the iMac's logic board being removed with the writers saying, " ... you have to snake it out from the rest of the iMac -- a combination of pulling up, as well as away from the casing."
The logic board contains, among other things, the CPU and GPU and those were removed as well. The GPU is a AMD Radeon HD 6750M which means that the iMac has a mobile-based graphics solution. The Intel Core i5 CPU has a speed of 2.5 Ghz. The article states, "Thankfully the CPU and GPU on this machine have proper amounts of thermal paste applied." Overall the article rates the "repairability" of the Apple iMac Intel 21.5 inch EMC 2428 as 7 out of 10, saying that while many of the components of the product can be removed and replaced easily, "Removing the logic board is a pain" and "making the LCD and glass spotless when reassembling the machine is nearly impossible."

Apple supplies non-replaceable hard drives in 2011 iMacs

Apple supplies non-replaceable hard drives in 2011 iMacs

What seems to be a trivial task on almost any modern computer, desktop or laptop, all-in-one or standard towers, becomes more than a void warranty on the latest line of Apple's iMacs. Apple can be slightly forgiven to a certain degree for going proprietary on some of the iMac's internal components as they're trying to stuff together a reasonably fast computer with a thickness not much greater than large monitors. Regardless, their reasoning for modifying the hard drive connectors is a bit off. Furthermore, these hard drives are absolutely non-serviceable. If you were thinking of replacing the main hard drive OS X is installed on after buying it - unless you go through Apple, tough luck.
The discovery was made by Other World Computing, a third-party Apple hardware depot and service center. They noted that Apple had a habit of changing the method the iMac used to detect how hot the internal hard drive was. For iMacs prior to late 2009, sensors were taped onto the drive itself. From late 2009 onwards until now, the iMacs had their own special thermal sensor cable that connected only to a small handful of drives that had this feature. A limited selection, but still a selection for aspiring users nevertheless.
This time, Apple completely changed the thermal sensor itself. As OWC explains:

For the main 3.5″ SATA hard drive bay in the new 2011 machines, Apple has altered the SATA power connector itself from a standard 4-pin power configuration to a 7-pin configuration. Hard drive temperature control is regulated by a combination of this cable and Apple proprietary firmware on the hard drive itself. 

We are not sure what OWC means by a "standard 4-pin power configuration," as that may imply the old 4-pin molex connectors that have long been phased out of SATA hard drives. Upon closer inspection of the above iMac Western Digital Caviar Blue hard drive from iFixit, it appears to sport the same 7 pins for the SATA cable and 15 pins for the power cable. One may assume in this case the only proprietary modification Apple made was to the drive's firmware.
Due to these modifications, the hard drive fans will spin at maximum speed if the drive is disconnected or even moved from its internal bay. In addition, any replacement hard drive will cause the fans to spin at maximum speed, and will cause a failure in the Apple Hardware Test. Also amusing to report is a recent iMac EFI update that enables SATA 6 Gbps speeds, speeds that are far beyond the reaches for the large capacity mechanical drives that come standard with the iMac.
With these modifications in mind, one has to wonder: what was wrong with using the SMART temperature sensors that come standard on almost all hard drives in the market? Why did Apple find it necessary to use custom firmware for a computer part that is known to fail after a few years of heavy usage? Why are users restricted from using hard drives greater than 2 TB as their main OS X drive?

Apple nixing iPhone 5, releasing iPhone 4S for Sprint and T-Mobile

Apple nixing iPhone 5, releasing iPhone 4S for Sprint and T-Mobile

Although Apple was thought to be releasing the iPhone 5 in the near future, it appears that users may have to wait a bit longer. Instead, it seems that Apple will only be releasing a minor upgrade to the current iPhone 4 this year, and a lack of 4G chips may be to blame. According to Business Insider, Apple was prepared to work on the iPhone 5 which is expected to include 4G connectivity, but the chipsets needed for the production were not yet available in high enough quantities so the company backed off of the complete redesign and instead are releasing a smaller update to the phone.
The report mentions that the updates to the phone include better cameras, the dual core A5 processor, and HSPA+ support. Also of note is that the phone is expected to land on both the Sprint and T-Mobile network, in addition to AT&T and Verizon. That would give all of the major carriers in the United States access to the popular mobile device, although AT&T is currently in the process of trying to acquire T-Mobile.
It sounds like iPhone users will have to be content with waiting for the iPhone 5 until sometime in 2012. If this new model is indeed available to the other two carriers, it could also still increase Apple's market share and help it to keep pace with the growth that Google's Android platform has been experiencing.

new Office Communications செர்வ்வேர்................

Microsoft announces Lync, new Office Communications செர்வ்வேர்................

Microsoft said on Monday that it has made a release candidate build of Lync available, the next generation of the company's unified communications software.
Known previously as Communications Server, Communications Online and Communicator, the new Lync branding brings together the products and now includes Lync Web App, and Lync Online. Lync 2010 unifies enterprise voice, instant messaging and web, audio and video conference – all within the same user experience and back-end infrastructure.
Microsoft first demonstrated its next generation Office Communicator in June this year. Microsoft Lync 2010 contains several new features including activity feeds, contact card changes and 720p HD webcam video over Lync. Office Communications Server (now rebranded Microsoft Lync Server 2010) is used at large businesses and corporations for employee internal instant messaging. It's the business version of Microsoft's popular Windows Live Messenger. New improvements include:

• Location services integration - users location can be auto detected from the subnet where the user is wired or the nearest wireless access point. Users can also set custom locations.
• Activity feeds - Users can update their status and have the status displayed in the contact list.
• Dial Pad - Option to use dial pad interface for calls. Users can dial by name or click to call others from their contact lists. Voicemail messages are also available from the dialing tab.
• Voice Mail improvements - Voice mail is now recorded and transcribed to text in real time.
• Device Selection - Users can select their audio device directly from the Microsoft Communicator interface
• Simultaneous Ring - Users can forward inbound calls to specific numbers, straight to voice mail or ring at multiple numbers simultaneously.
• Contextual calls in real time - Users can enter a subject immedialy before placing a call allowing recipients to see the call subject
• Contact card changes- Newly designed contact card with just the basics similar to Outlook 2010 and an extended card to display full information from Active Directory.

Microsoft has made a release candidate available today and is expected to release a final edition later this year.

list of products from ms part1.

Access 2010

AutoRoute 2010

Communicator for Mac 2011

Excel 2010

Excel for Mac 2011

Expression Studio Professional 4

Expression Studio Ultimate 4

  Expression Encoder Pro 4

GeoSynther 3.0

GeoSynth Viewer 3.0...........................................................................................................................

InfoPath® 2010.................................................................................................................................

Lync 2010.........................................................................................................................................

MapPoint® Fleet Edition 2011..............................................................................................................

MapPoint® 2011 for Windows

MSDN Operating Systems

Office for Mac 2011 Standard

Office Multi-Language Pack 2010

Office Professional Plus 2010

Office Standard 2010

Office Small Business Basic Get Genuine

OneNote® 2010

Outlook® 2010

Outlook 2010 with Business Contact Manager

Outlook for Mac 2011

PowerPoint 2010

PowerPoint for Mac 2011

Project 2010 Standard

Project 2010 Professional

Rental Rights for Office Standard

Rental Rights for Office Professional Plus

SharePoint Workspace 2010

Streets and Trips 2011

Visio® 2010 Premium

Visio® 2010 Professional

Visio® 2010 Standard18

Visual SourceSafe 2005

TechNet Plus Direct

Visual Studio® 2010 Professional

Visual Studio® 2010 Professional with MSDN 

Visual Studio®  2010 Professional with MSDN Embedded 

Visual Studio® 2010 Premium

Visual Studio® 2010 Premium with MSDN 

Visual Studio® 2010 Ultimate

Visual Studio® 2010 Ultimate with MSDN

Visual Studio® Test Professional 2010

Visual Studio® Test Professional 2010 with MSDN

Visual Studio® Team Explorer Everywhere 2010

Word 2010

Word for Mac 2011

SYSTEMS POOL

Windows Vista DVD Playback Pack 

part-2-------------------------------------------------------

Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack 2011 for Software Assurance............................................................ 19

Rental Rights for Windows................................................................................................................... 19

Windows® 7 Partners in Learning......................................................................................................... 19

Windows® 7 Professional Upgrade....................................................................................................... 19

Windows® 7 Professional with MDOP.................................................................................................... 19

Windows Virtual Desktop Access (VDA).................................................................................................. 19

SERVERS POOL................................................................................................................................... 19

Bing Maps Server................................................................................................................................ 19

Bing Maps Server CAL.......................................................................................................................... 19

Bings Maps Server with Enhanced Content Pack..................................................................................... 19

Bing Maps Server with Enhanced Content Pack CAL................................................................................. 19

Bing Maps Standard or Professional (User SL)........................................................................................ 19

Bing Maps Standard (Services SL)......................................................................................................... 19

Bing Maps Professional (Services SL).................................................................................................... 19

Bing Maps 25KTrx (Add-on SL)............................................................................................................. 19

Bing Maps 250KTrx (Add-on SL)............................................................................................................ 19

Bing Maps Unlimited Trx (Add-on SL).................................................................................................... 19

BizTalk® Server 2010 Branch Edition..................................................................................................... 19

BizTalk® Server 2010 Enterprise Edition................................................................................................ 19

BizTalk® Server 2010 Enterprise RFID................................................................................................... 19

BizTalk® Server 2010 Standard Edition.................................................................................................. 19

BizTalk® Server 2010 Branch IDC......................................................................................................... 19

BizTalk® Server 2010 Developer IDC..................................................................................................... 19

Business Productivity Online Deskless Worker Suite (User SL).................................................................. 19

Business Productivity Online Standard (BPOS) Suite (User SL).................................................................. 19

Commerce Server Standard Edition 2009............................................................................................... 19

Commerce Server Enterprise Edition 2009............................................................................................. 19

Core CAL Suite (User & Device)............................................................................................................ 19

Core Infrastructure Server Suite Standard.............................................................................................. 19

Core Infrastructure Server Suite Enterprise............................................................................................. 20

Core Infrastructure Server Suite Datacenter........................................................................................... 20

Dynamics CRM 4.0 CAL (User & Device)................................................................................................. 20

Dynamics CRM 4.0 Enterprise Server..................................................................................................... 20

Dynamics CRM 4.0 External Connector................................................................................................... 20

Dynamics CRM 4.0 Full Use Additive External Connector (User & Device).................................................... 20

Dynamics CRM 4.0 Full Use Additive CAL (User & Device)......................................................................... 20

Dynamics CRM 4.0 Limited CAL............................................................................................................. 20

Dynamics CRM 4.0 Limited External Connector....................................................................................... 20

Dynamics CRM 4.0 Professional Server.................................................................................................. 20

Dynamics CRM 4.0 Workgroup Server.................................................................................................... 20

Dynamics CRM Online Extra Storage...................................................................................................... 20

Dynamics CRM Online Per User............................................................................................................. 20

Dynamics CRM Online for SA................................................................................................................ 20

Duet™ for Office and SAP Server 1.5..................................................................................................... 20

Duet™ for Office and SAP Server 1.5 User CAL....................................................................................... 20

Duet™Enterprise for Microsoft SharePoint and SAP 1.0............................................................................ 20

Enterprise CAL Suite (Device & User)..................................................................................................... 20

Exchange Hosted Archive (User SL)...................................................................................................... 20

Exchange Hosted Archive Extra Storage (Add-on SL)............................................................................... 20

Exchange Hosted Encryption (User SL).................................................................................................. 20

Exchange Online Deskless Worker  (User SL)......................................................................................... 20

Exchange Online Standard (User SL)..................................................................................................... 20

Exchange Online Extra Storage (Add-on SL)........................................................................................... 20

Exchange Server 2010 Enterprise CAL with services (Device & User)......................................................... 20

Exchange Server 2010 Enterprise CAL without services (Device & User)..................................................... 20

Exchange Server 2010 Enterprise......................................................................................................... 20

Exchange Server 2010 Standard........................................................................................................... 20

Exchange Server 2007 Standard for Small Business................................................................................ 20

Exchange Server 2007 Standard for Small Business CAL.......................................................................... 20

Exchange Server 2010 External Connector............................................................................................. 20

Exchange Server 2010 Standard CAL (Device & User).............................................................................. 20

FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint................................................................................................ 20

Forefront Endpoint Protection............................................................................................................... 20

Forefront Identity Manager 2010 CAL (User only).................................................................................... 20

Forefront Identity Manager 2010 External Connector............................................................................... 20

Forefront Identity Manager 2010 Server................................................................................................. 20

Forefront Online Protection for Exchange (Device and User SL)................................................................ 20

Forefront Protection 2010 for Exchange Server (Device and User SL)......................................................... 20

Forefront Protection 2010 for Exchange Server External Connector (Add-on SL).......................................... 20

Forefront Protection Suite (Device and User SL)...................................................................................... 21

Forefront Security for Office Communications Server (Device and User SL)................................................. 21

Forefront Security for Office Communications Server External Connector.................................................... 21

Forefront Protection 2010 for SharePoint (Device and User SL)................................................................. 21

Forefront Protection 2010 for SharePoint for Internet Sites (Add-on SL)..................................................... 21

Forefront Threat Management Gateway 2010 Enterprise Edition............................................................... 21

Forefront Threat Management Gateway 2010 Enterprise Edition (25 processor).......................................... 21

Forefront Threat Management Gateway 2010 Standard Edition................................................................. 21

Forefront Threat Management Gateway Web Protection Services.............................................................. 21

Forefront Unified Access Gateway  Server 2010...................................................................................... 21

Forefront Unified Access Gateway  External Connector 2010..................................................................... 21

Forefront Unified Access Gateway 2010 CAL........................................................................................... 21

Forefront Unified Access Gateway  2010 10K CAL Pack............................................................................ 21

GeoSynth Server................................................................................................................................. 21

Groove Enterprise Services (Device SL)................................................................................................. 21

Groove Enterprise Services (User SL).................................................................................................... 21

Groove Server 2010............................................................................................................................ 21

HPC Pack 2008 R2 Enterprise............................................................................................................... 21

HPC Pack 2008 R2 for Workstation........................................................................................................ 21

Learning Solutions Business Skills E-Learning Library (User SL)................................................................. 21

Learning Solutions Combination E-Reference Library (User SL)................................................................. 21

Learning Solutions Desktop E-Reference Library (User SL)........................................................................ 21

Learning Solutions Developer E-Reference Library (User SL)..................................................................... 21

Learning Solutions Helpdesk Support E-Reference Library (User SL).......................................................... 21

Learning Solutions IT Professional E-Reference Library (User SL).............................................................. 21

Learning Solutions IT Academy (Services SL)......................................................................................... 21

Learning Solutions IT Academy (Services SL) (2500 FTE or more)............................................................ 21

Learning Solutions Technical E-Learning Course Collection (Services SL).................................................... 21

Learning Solutions Technical E-Learning Library (User SL)........................................................................ 21

Learning Solutions Technical E-Reference Combo (User SL)..................................................................... 21

Learning Solutions MCP 1 Exam Vouchers/Month (Services SL)................................................................. 21

Lync Server 2010 Enterprise Edition...................................................................................................... 21

Lync Server 2010 Enterprise CAL........................................................................................................... 22

Lync Server 2010 Enterprise External Connector..................................................................................... 22

Lync Server 2010 Plus CAL................................................................................................................... 22

Lync Server 2010 Plus External Connector.............................................................................................. 22

Lync Server 2010 Standard Edition........................................................................................................ 22

Lync Server 2010 Standard CAL............................................................................................................ 22

Lync Server 2010 Standard External Connector....................................................................................... 22

Office Communications Online Standard (User SL).................................................................................. 22

Office Live Communications Server Public Instant Messaging Connectivity (“PIC”) (User SL)........................ 22

Office Live Meeting Professional (User SL)............................................................................................. 22

Office Live Meeting Standard (User SL)................................................................................................. 22

Project Server 2010............................................................................................................................ 22

Project Server 2010 CAL...................................................................................................................... 22

Search Server 2010............................................................................................................................ 22

SharePoint™ Online Deskless Worker (User SL)...................................................................................... 22

SharePoint™ Online Standard (User SL)................................................................................................ 22

SharePoint™ Online Extra Storage (Add-on SL)....................................................................................... 22

SharePoint™ Server 2010.................................................................................................................... 22

SharePoint™ Server 2010 Enterprise CAL............................................................................................... 22

SharePoint™ Server 2010 for Internet Sites Enterprise............................................................................ 22

SharePoint™ Server 2010 for Internet Sites Standard.............................................................................. 22

SharePoint™ Server 2010 Standard CAL................................................................................................. 22

SQL Server^® 2008 R2 CAL (Device & User SL)......................................................................................... 22

SQL Server^® 2008 R2 Datacenter 1 processor license.............................................................................. 22

SQL Server^® 2008 R2 Developer........................................................................................................... 22

SQL Server^® 2008 R2 Enterprise........................................................................................................... 22

SQL Server^® 2008 R2 Enterprise 1 processor license............................................................................... 22

SQL Server^® 2008 R2 Parallel Data Warehouse....................................................................................... 22

SQL Server^® 2008 R2 Parallel Data Warehouse Developer........................................................................ 22

SQL Server^® 2008 R2 Small Business.................................................................................................... 22

SQL Server^® 2008 R2 Small Business CAL.............................................................................................. 22

SQL Server^® 2008 R2 Standard............................................................................................................. 22

SQL Server^® 2008 R2 Standard 1 Processor License................................................................................ 22

SQL Server^® 2008 R2 Web per Processor............................................................................................... 22

SQL Server^® 2008 R2 Workgroup CAL.................................................................................................... 22

SQL Server^® 2008 R2 Workgroup 1 Processor License............................................................................. 22

SQL Server^® 2008 R2 Workgroup (5 Client Add On)................................................................................. 23

System Center Client Management Suite (Client ML) per OSE................................................................... 23

System Center Client Management Suite (Client ML) per User................................................................... 23

System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R3...................................................................................... 23

System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R3 Client Management License (Client ML) (Student Only)......... 23

System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R3 Client Management License per OSE................................... 23

System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R3 Client Management License per User.................................. 23

System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R3 Enterprise Server Management License............................... 23

System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R3 Standard Server Management License (Standard Server ML).. 23

System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R3 with SQL Server 2008 Technology...................................... 23

System Center Data Protection Manager 2010 Client Management License per User.................................... 23

System Center Data Protection Manager 2010 Client Management License per OSE.................................... 23

System Center Data Protection Manager 2010 Enterprise Server Management License................................ 23

System Center Data Protection Manager 2010 Standard Server Management License.................................. 23

System Center Essentials 2010............................................................................................................ 23

System Center Essentials 2010 Client ML............................................................................................... 23

System Center Essentials 2010 Server ML.............................................................................................. 23

System Center Essentials 2010 with SQL Server 2008 Technology............................................................ 23

System Center Essentials Plus 2010 Client Management License Suite...................................................... 23

System Center Essentials Plus 2010 Server Management License Suite..................................................... 23

System Center Mobile Device Manager 2008.......................................................................................... 23

System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2.......................................................................................... 23

System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2 with SQL Server 2008 Technology.......................................... 23

System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2 Standard Server Management License.................................... 23

System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2 Enterprise Server Management License.................................. 23

System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2 Client Management License per OSE...................................... 23

System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2 Client Management License per User..................................... 23

System Center Reporting Manager 2006................................................................................................ 23

System Center Server Management Suite Enterprise............................................................................... 23

System Center Server Management Suite Datacenter.............................................................................. 24

System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2 Workgroup Edition......................................................... 24

System Center Service Manager 2010................................................................................................... 24

System Center Service Manager 2010 with SQL Server 2008 Technology................................................... 24

System Center Service Manager 2010 Client Management License (Client ML) per OSE................................ 24

System Center Service Manager 2010 Client Management License (Client ML) per User............................... 24

System Center Service Manager 2010 Server Management License (Server ML) per OSE.............................. 24

System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2 Client Management License per OSE................................ 24

System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2 Client Management License  per User.............................. 24

System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2 Enterprise Server Management License............................ 24

TechNet Plus Single User..................................................................................................................... 24

Tellme Basic (Fee)............................................................................................................................. 24

Tellme Standard (Fee)........................................................................................................................ 24

 Tellme Premium (Fee)........................................................................................................................ 24