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Changes announced today in Windows Vista transfer limits

CNET News reports today the changes in Windows Vista transfer limits. This was reported in the news last month (see this story link on InternetNews), when it was reported that in “customers will only be able to reinstall Vista on a new machine once. After that, they will have to buy a new copy of Vista.”


Not so. 



“Reversing a licensing change announced two weeks ago, Microsoft said on Thursday that it will not limit the number of times that retail customers can transfer their Windows Vista license to a different computer. On Oct. 16, Microsoft issued the new user license for Vista, including terms that would have limited the ability of those who buy a boxed copy of the operating system to transfer that license. Under the proposed terms, users could have made such a switch only one time.


“However, the new restriction prompted an outcry among hardware enthusiasts and others. Microsoft is returning the licensing terms to basically what they were in Windows XP–users can transfer their license to a new PC an unlimited number of times, provided they uninstall and stop using it on the prior machine.


“The software maker said it paid attention to the response both directly to the company and on blogs and decided to reverse course.


“…Microsoft product manager Mike Burk (said) “At the same time, after listening to the feedback that came in, (we) felt that we needed to make this change.”


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Link: CNET’s video look at Zune

Video: Microsoft’s Zune zooms into CNET Networks – “Due to launch on November 14, the Zune is Microsoft’s addition to the growing portable MP3 player market. Today, we got the chance to try one out before they hit store shelves.”

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Your questions: How do you compile your reading summaries?

WRT the reading summaries in the “articles I’ve read” posts (here, too), I was asked… 



“how do you compile these? Are you using a special tool? I’m looking for something that lets me just push a button every time I read an interesting article and save it to a log file where I can automatically create summaries like yours.”


Yes, I currently use del.icio.us to tag articles and stories.  I find it to be an easy way to quickly archive pages and stories of interest for later reference. I installed the del.icio.us buttons for Internet Explorer that allows me to “Tag This Page” I want to save. Along with sving the page, I add notes to the link by selecting text in the article prior to saving the page.

And since the items are listed in HTML on my del.icio.us webpage display, it’s easy to cut and paste entries from del.icio.us directly into my blog posts and emails, and access from my mobile browser. 


My goal is to use Windows Live Favorites, which allows you to “access, organize and discover favorites anywhere.” But it doesn’t yet (at least as I was unable to find) provide a simple HTML view of the content links and descriptions I’ve tagged, as available in del.icio.us.


Of interest: CNET’s review of Windows Live Favorites

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Don’t Get Tricked: protecting your PC from being a Zombie

Last year, Microsoft teamed up with the FTC in the “Don’t Get Tricked on Halloween” campaign to crack down on illegal methods used by spammers to distribute unsolicited e-mail. As October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month, only fitting that I replay this blast from the past… 



Timed to coincide with National Cyber Security Awareness Month and Halloween on Oct. 31, the “Don’t Get Tricked on Halloween” campaign alerts computer users to the threat of zombie computers and how to protect their personal computers (PCs) from being infected with malicious code. “The only way to slow the spread of zombies and other online threats is by going after them as resolutely and in as many ways as possible,” says Tim Cranton, director of Microsoft’s Internet Safety Enforcement programs.


Stop Zombie PC Attacks in their Tracks: Tips on how Internet users can prevent their computers from becoming zombies:



  • Use a firewall to protect computers from hacking attacks while connected to the Internet. 

  • Keep Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office programs up to date with security updates to shield computers from viruses, worms and other threats.

  • Use up-to-date antivirus software and antispyware software to help protect against the latest threats.

  • Beware of tricks designed to get people to download and install unwanted and sometimes destructive software. This software is sometimes distributed in non-commercial music downloads, file-sharing programs and free games.

  • Be cautious about opening any attachment or downloading any files in e-mails from unknown senders.

The campaign so nice we promoted it twice. Or something like that.


Have a Happy Halloween.


More info:



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Of Interest: Jim Allchin blogging on Vista

If you haven’t seen it on the http://windowsvistablog.com/blogs/, Jim Allchin (Co-President of the Platform and Services Division) is blogging now. From Jim:



“Welcome to the new and improved Windows Vista blog.  A few months back, I pushed our team to bring the blog from the blogging Dark Ages into something a little more modern.  The blog back then wasn’t quite doing the job.  Postings were infrequent, and the site wasn’t particularly helpful.


“In May, the team really turned the corner and today we’re launching the newly updated look and feel.  I hope you’ll agree it’s a big improvement.  It incorporates some key parts of the Windows Vista visuals.  We’ve also improved the organization of the site, so things should be easier to find.  The team’s providing great information, and I’m happy to see the comments and feedback from the community through the comments on the site.  I read these regularly, as do many others in the Windows leadership team, so please keep the feedback coming.”


The feedback is heard, circulated, shared and acted upon. I think that you’ll see more concrete examples in the weeks and months to come as Vista roles out.


Of further interest: see the interview with Jim on channel9.


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