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th focus 02 Focus Screensaver Blurs Your Desktop [Free Download]

A good friend, Ellarby shared this screensaver with me this morning and I love it. The screensaver is simple and simply blurs your screen. You can change the blur intensity and turn on grayscale. Grab yourself a copy here.

I’ve tested this in Vista and Windows Server 2008. I haven’t tested this in Windows XP yet, can anyone confirm this works? Works with Windows XP (SP3) Thanks JazzMastaJim

th focus 01 Focus Screensaver Blurs Your Desktop [Free Download]

Microsoft is wrapping up the third and final service pack for Windows XP. Today, April 21, 2008, is the date when the Redmond company will release to manufacturing Windows XP Service Pack 3. But even with the wait for SP3 nearly over, Microsoft is managing not to breathe a single word on its plans. Until this point in time there has been no official confirmation pointing to the RTM deadline of XP SP3. At the end of the past week, I asked Microsoft to either
confirm or deny the leaked availability dates for XP SP3. Representatives from the Redmond company have done neither so far.
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Even though with the advent of Windows Vista the open source community saw the ripe moment for Linux to strengthen its grip over consumer PCs, the fact of the matter is that Windows still holds a firm grip over the vast majority of desktops worldwide. And there is no change visible on the horizon, especially as the two largest vendors of Linux operating systems have
no plans to go against Microsoft. Neither Novell nor Red Hat feel that Linux has sufficient driving force behind it in order to go against Windows, which until Windows 7 will largely be represented by Windows XP Service Pack 3 and Windows Vista SP1.

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Vista SP1 RTM Hit by New Hole, XP SP3 Safe

Posted by Rich On April - 18 - 20080 Comments

Windows XP Service Pack 3, despite the fact that it is yet to be released in its final version, is safe from the latest security vulnerability impacting a range of Windows platforms including XP SP2 and Vista SP1. Despite the fact that Windows Vista was constantly applauded throughout 2007 as the safest version of Windows available on the market, the operating system is in no way bulletproofed. And even with Service Pack 1, an update designed to increase security, among other things, Vista is still
susceptible to attacks exploiting security holes. Of course that Microsoft has failed to reveal why XP SP3 is not on the list with the affected operating systems. In this regard, the company could have already patched XP SP3, or is simply ignoring the final service pack for Windows XP until its finalization.

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Windows XP SP3 Release Dates

Posted by Rich On April - 15 - 20080 Comments

With Service Pack 3 for Windows XP just over the horizon, we’ve managed to get our hands on the internal schedule for the release of the highly anticipated update to the aging operating system. As you can see in the list below, most of the stages will occur before the end of the month, though forced automatic updates won’t land until June. This delay should give system administrators an ample amount of time to prepare for the upgrade or simply come up with an excuse when things go awry.

  • April 14, 2008: Support is available for the release version of Service Pack 3 for Windows XP
  • April 21, 2008: Original Equipment Manufacturers, Volume License, Connect, and MSDN and TechNet subscribers
  • April 29, 2008: Microsoft Update, Windows Update, Download Center
  • June 10, 2008: Automatic Updates

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The First XP SP3 Security Vulnerability

Posted by Rich On April - 14 - 20080 Comments

The third and final service pack for Windows XP is not even out, and Microsoft is already hammering away at it plugging security soles. Although it debuted in full development alongside Windows Vista SP1, Windows XP Service Pack 3 is yet to be finalized with the delivery planned by mid-2008. Since the end of March 2008, Microsoft managed to sweep XP SP3 under the rug, but until the past month, the service pack was very much still a work in progress.

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Hackers are trying to exploit a critical Windows vulnerability just patched on Tuesday, security researchers said this afternoon — and the only version of Windows not at risk is the unfinished Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3). Fortunately, attackers’ incompetence means that these initial sorties have been unsuccessful, Symantec Corp. said in a brief warning to customers of its DeepSight threat service. “The DeepSight honeynet has observed in-the-wild exploit attempts targeting a GDI vulnerability patched by Microsoft on April 8, 2008,” said Symantec in its alert.

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Microsoft delivered a revamped version of the Automated Installation Kit at the beginning of February 2008. The February build of AIK was tailored on Windows Vista Service Pack 1 and Windows Server 2008 SP1/RTM, following the release to manufacturing of the two milestone releases of the Windows server and client platforms. On April 9, 2008, the Redmond company re-released the Automated Installation Kit for Vista SP1 and for Windows Server 2008.

“The Windows Automated Installation Kit (Windows AIK) is designed to help corporate IT professionals customize and deploy the Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 family of operation systems. By using Windows AIK, you can perform unattended Windows installations, capture Windows images with ImageX, and create Windows PE images,” Microsoft stated in the description of the tool.

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A new issue affecting both Windows Vista Service Pack 1 and Windows XP Service Pack 3 is causing the two operating systems to display Black Screens of Death to end users. Critical system errors are no strangers to the Windows operating system, and neither Windows XP nor Windows Vista makes exception to this rule. Generally marked with the reference Blue Screen of Death, the stop errors causing the operating system to shut down, or restart the machine in order to prevent damage, and the critical system errors in Windows have reached a status of ubiquity and even managed to spawn derivations such as the Black Screen of Death.

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Will the real Windows 7 availability date please stand up! While officially, when Microsoft is in PR mode, the company is pointing to 2010 for the delivery of its next iteration of Windows, additional indications, slip-ups and leaks point to the end of 2009 for the release deadline of Windows 7. With Microsoft completely mum on the successor of Windows Vista, the speculation bonanza is being fed only crumbs from the Windows 7 feast. And the latest anodyne detail made public comes from none other than Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, who pointed out that Windows 7 is right on track for availability next year, in 2009.
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