The second release candidate of Windows XP’s Service Pack #2 is now available. The people who are interested on the update must make a registry change on their computers. This can be made by downloading a small program at the Microsoft Download Center. Once a user runs the program, the update will be offered.

This release includes support of HD Audio according to the article at pcmag.com. The final release is expected to be in April of this year. The number of this release is designated as Build 5508 while the previous release was Build 3311.

Source: PCMAG

With the Apple Mac’s breaking 8% of the market share at the end of 2007, it has become something us PC technicians can no longer ignore. With Windows Vista being such a poor product, more and more users are switching to Apple Macs. Many of us with pre-established computer repair businesses should expect to see many more Macs on our work bench.

As for techies just entering the IT field, having a Apple certification is a great way to make you stand out from the rest. If you look at any business that does some sort of design work, you can bet they have at least one Apple computer, or even all of them as Macs. So what certifications are out there and how do we get them? Read on.
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A spokesman from Microsoft said that the company is offering free support to Windows Vista SP1 users who has encounter problems regarding the installation of the service pack.

Brandon LeBlanc said, “[Anyone] needing technical support regarding your installation of Windows Vista SP1, please go to the following URL and choose the bottom option that says, ‘Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (All Languages)’.You have a variety of options you can choose for support, all of which will not cost you any support fee. I repeat: Support for SP1 will not cost you anything.”

Usually, Microsoft only offers this kind of service to those who bought a Windows operating system at retail according to Computerworld.

Source: COMPUTERWORLD

Something I love reading about is other successful people. However, the problem with many of these articles and interviews is that they only say what their life is like now. What I really want to know about is how they got there in the first place, not how great their life is now.

I consider my business as a successful one but it wasn’t easy getting to where I am today. I made plenty of mistakes and wasted plenty of money but making these mistakes made me the businessman I am today. So, I’m going tell you how I would do it all again if I had to start over. As if something happened to my business that made me lose all of what I own, all my clients and all my contacts.

This is how I would do it again.
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A new flaw in the Microsoft Word software has been discovered. It is a flaw in the Microsoft Jet Database Engine and hackers can exploit the flaw remotely.

The affected Word versions are:

-Word 2000 SP3
-Word 2002 SP3
-Word 2003 SP2
-Word 2003 SP3
-Word 2007
-Word 2007 SP1

The affected Windows operating systems are Windows 2000, XP, and Server 2003 SP1.

Other applications may also be vulnerable to the flaw according to the article at vista.blorge.com. Users can protect themselves by a “two-way” firewall, an up-to-date anti-virus, and an anti-spyware program.

Source: Vista.Blorge.com

John Lilly, who is Mozilla’s CEO, blasted Apple about the release of Safari 3.1 for Windows.

He said, “Apple has made it incredibly easy — the default, even — for users to install ride along software that they didn’t ask for, and maybe didn’t want. This is wrong, and borders on malware distribution practices. It’s wrong because it undermines the trust that we’re all trying to build with users. Because it means that an update isn’t just an update, but is maybe something more. Because it ultimately undermines the safety of users on the Web by eroding that relationship. It’s a bad practice and should stop.”

Source: InformationWeek

Apple has updated their Time Machine system and it can now recognize a USB hard drive according to an article at The Register.

When users install the Time Machine and AirPort updates, their USB hard drives will now have an access to Time Machine’s capabilities like Apple’s Time Capsule hardware. The update can be downloaded through the Software Update functionality of OS X or users can download it at Apple’s support web site.

Previously, the Time Capsule hardware is the only computer hardware that can work with the Time Machine software.

Source: The Register

Various reports have been released about users experience on the first service pack for Windows Vista. One of them wrote, “I downloaded it via Windows Update and got a blue screen on the third part of the update.” A different person wrote, “What a disaster. It exiled all my Nvidia drivers to the Bermuda Triangle.”

Microsoft published a list of softwares that may not be compatible with this service pack and users so users should check whether they need to upgrade their software or decide not to upgrade their operating system at the moment.

Source: Vnunet

WinBubble is a small, portable utility that is Vistas answer to TweakUI. It is a extremely well featured application allowing you to tweak just about anything you would want to tweak in Vista. There is too many tweaks to mention here so its best that you look at the many screenshots to get a full idea of what it can do. Here are some of the highlights:

• Easily change the OEM/Manufacturer information
• Add useful options to the right click context menu
• Show My Computer, Network, My Documents, Username Folder etc.. on the desktop
• Edit the screensavers hidden options. Edit the WEI score. Edit all of your Vista Icons
• Access hidden Vista tools
• Lock down the system by disabling various parts (usb, task manager, control panel, new folder option, hide drives etc..)
• Optimize Vista using various speed tweaks
• Edit IE information such as the Title/Start Page/Clear History and Cookies etc.
• Easily edit the right click context menu

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The latest version of Apple’s internet browser, Safari, has been released earlier today. The company claims that this is faster than Internet Explorer 7, Firefox 2, and other web browsers.

When running a javascript code, it is six times faster than any other browser according to Apple.

“Safari 3.1 for Mac and Windows is blazingly fast, easy to use and features an elegant user interface and best of all, Safari supports the latest audio, video and animation standards for an industry-leading Web 2.0 experience,” said an Apple spokesman.

The article at The New Zealand Herald contain the minimum requirements to run this software on a Windows or on a Mac machine.

Source: The New Zealand Herald