Tag Archives: download

Windows 8 Media Center Pack for Free

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Windows 8 proConfused with Windows 8 versions? Here’s a good explanation on Dummies.com on that, describing all four flavours of the new Microsoft operating system. In short: Windows RT (limited to built-in applications), Windows 8 (for most users), Windows 8 Pro (like Win7 Ultimate with  encryption, extra networking features, and similar features like to connect to a domain through a work network), and Windows 8 Enterprise (for corporate users). But here we also have mysterious Windows 8 Pro Pack, which seems to be more than just upgrade from Windows 8 to 8 Pro. It was also mentioned that you can have Windows 8 Pro Media Center Edition for those who want to record or watch live TV shows through a TV tuner with Windows Media Center and also play DVDs.

I would go for Windows 8 Pro anyway, but I just realized that Microsoft is giving away product numbers for Windows 8 Media Center Pack here. Just type your email and hit Enter. It seems that sometimes you have to wait for a couple of days for the key to arrive. But there is a hidden secret. Some people reported that it is enough to install Windows 8 Pro  (x86 or x64) with public KMS client setup key (Microsoft Technet source), activate it, and then just follow the sequence: Continue reading →

More RTM Leaks from Microsoft. Hold the Magic Ball!

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As somebody said, looking at all these RTM builds leaking these days, the Microsoft security team must be on vacation. In reality RTM builds are not digitally signed and not linked to labs at Microsoft (as contrasted to pre-RTM builds).  So there should be very difficult to trace who leaked RTM versions (one way to prevent it would be to ban the use of any external media in Microsoft’s premises). Now we know that Visual Studio 2012 is complete and available for download on August 15. You can also try Visual Studio 2012 RC (Release Candidate) here.

What’s good new Visual Studio for? If you like Metro UI (or now Windows 8 UI, or even WinRT as Mr. Thurrott suggests), you can create one window that supports multiple views. As per Microsoft, unlike traditional desktop applications, a Metro style application has a single, chromeless window that fills the entire screen by default, so there are no distractions. A Metro style application can support different layouts and views to create a fluid and harmonious experience across a variety of form factors and display sizes.

Website http://winunleaked.info/ (an asylum of famous Canouna) has published information on some new leaks:

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Windows 8 RTM Leaking Madness

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win8rtm-01In less than a day after the Microsoft gave the Windows 8 final RTM version to OEMs, the Big Leakage started. First we got non-bootable images of Enterprise “N” editions with key embedded (N — means no Media Player), and now we got the real thing — good old Russian friend of all computer geeks WZOR released first Windows 8 Enterprise RTM x86/x64 and then Windows 8 Professional RTM x86/x64 which he claimed to be original MS images. To give you some facts let me list the IDs of those builds at the end of this article.

You may see quite a lot of people installed these releases already and have been testing heavily. Look at these forums:

http://forums.mydigitallife.info/forums/42-Windows-8

http://winunleaked.info

If you hesitate which version to install, I suggest you install Professional. It can be activated through all channels by applying the right key, while Enterprise is VL only, as it is primarily made for corporate use.

As for pirates, there is no workaround yet to activate the leaked copies, although Microsoft activation servers are online and Windows 8 can be activated with legit keys such as MAK. In the trial mode Windows 8 goes into specific License Status — Notification State (i.e. there is no 30-day “grace” period), which is quite annoying:

  • you cannot personalize Metro
  • you cannot change Start Page or User Picture
  • you have Watermarks of build number and non-activated stamp

Besides, there is a difference between SKU keys: Retail gets the metro message screen to activate, and Volume License gets the desktop watermark. The latter seems less annoying.

win8rtm-wallpaper

The great DAZ (hero of Windows 7 Loader) already admitted he would not create a similar program for Windows 8 RTM. It is more likely to see updated KMS Server Activator for Windows 8 from ZWT or other genius enthusiast. [If you don’t know what KMS stands for, read this article on TechNet]

Why DAZ believes it is difficult to simulate OEM activation now? Because it is so different now. One source revealed new changes in Windows 8 activation taken from internal Microsoft presentation. In short, in version OA 3.0 of OEM Activation will ensure that each PC with pre-installed Windows 8 will have unique product key in the BIOS and will be activated (physically) at the factory. If you know how old activation OA 2.1 worked, you’d understand it is completely different story now. In the past one OEM (e.g. ASUS or HP) used to have the same product key for every PC they shipped.

But as one guy said in a forum: “I don’t see the point; Microsoft has already taken care of discouraging piracy in Windows 8 — Who really wants to pirate a crippled OS that’s missing the start menu? Well, at least this feature will be something exciting for those up for a challenge in breaking the product activation.” That’s exactly my point — who wants to run Windows 8 and get in trouble even more? Do not pirate, stick with Windows 7, because that is what most big corporations will do — they will ignore Windows 8 for corporate use.

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Get reimagined and reinvented Windows 8 Consumer Preview

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win8logo

Windows 8 Consumer Preview is here (build 8250). Feel free to download and test:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/consumer-preview

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/download

Direct download links to ISO images with Windows 8 Consumer Preview:

English
64-bit (x64)                    Download (3.3 GB)
Sha 1 hash — 1288519C5035BCAC83CBFA23A33038CCF5522749
32-bit (x86)                    Download (2.5 GB)
Sha 1 hash — E91ED665B01A46F4344C36D9D88C8BF78E9A1B39

One Product Key for all:   DNJXJ-7XBW8-2378T-X22TX-BKG7J
Windows 8 CP will expire on January 15, 2013.

Here you can find more links to more languages:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/iso

Big change: the Start button has gone forever :)

Get Pre-Beta version of Windows 8 for developers, build 8102

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win8-devMetro style application development has been started. Go to this link to see latest updates: http://dev.windows.com

You can download the Windows Developer Preview (pre-beta version) of Windows 8 build 8102 for developers here:

  • Windows Developer Preview with developer tools English, 64-bit (x64): ISO file 4.8GB [ be careful - you will need a dual layer dvd to burn this!]
Contains:
64-bit Windows Developer Preview
Windows SDK for Metro style apps
Microsoft Visual Studio 11 Express for Windows Developer Preview
Microsoft Expression Blend 5 Developer Preview
28 Metro style apps including the BUILD Conference app
 

There’s no need to activate or enter a serial number. The time-bomb is set to 12 March 2012. But if you reinstall Windows Developer Preview or use the Reset functionality, you might be asked to enter a product key. In this case use these:

6RH4V-HNTWC-JQKG8-RFR3R-36498

4Y8N3-H7MMW-C76VJ-YD3XV-MBDKV (WDP server version only)

Source for keys: Microsoft

Direct download links to Windows 7 SP1 ISO images

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win7-birdIf you reinstall Windows 7 frequently, it is handy to keep an image of the installation DVD as a backup. So here’s the direct “official” download links below from Digital River servers. The files are bootable images that vary in languages and 32/64 bit option to choose:

Let’s see the most advanced ULTIMATE edition of Windows 7 Service Pack 1 Media Refresh edition – click the links for downloading directly:

English x86 http://msft.digitalrivercontent.net/win/X17-59463.iso
English x64 http://msft.digitalrivercontent.net/win/X17-59465.iso
French x86: http://msft.digitalrivercontent.net/win/X17-59477.iso
French x64: http://msft.digitalrivercontent.net/win/X17-59479.iso
Spanish x86: http://msft.digitalrivercontent.net/win/X17-58877.iso
Spanish x64: http://msft.digitalrivercontent.net/win/X17-58879.iso

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Computer Power User — March 2011

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cpu-mar-2011

Good stuff! March 2011 issue of Computer Power User magazine is here, available as a free download in PDF format (33 MB).  Chris Trumble, CPU Publication Editor, predicts at first how difficult it will be to keep buying CPUs with discrete graphics cards once Sandy Bridge CPUs are available, that beat the 980X in game benchmarks, video transcoding, for about a third of the price, and use significantly less power and generate less heat. Will 980Xs and X58 boards be put aside in 2011? That’s a big question. Looks like in CPU magazine April 2011 release there will be a comparison on Sandy Bridge-ready motherboards (talking about 32nm Intel’s new H67 chipset) versus AMD Fusion boards. Continue reading →

Computer Power User — February 2011

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cpu-feb-2011As usual here is the February issue of Computer Power User magazine, available as a free download here in pdf format (32 MB). 

Some interesting topics inside with my little editing:

“Avast Software Goes Viral—In A Bad Way”: funny story about stolen licence for Avast Pro product (14-user license Avast issued June-30-2009 for a Tucson company, Arizona) mushroomed up to almost 800’000 active users by late 2010. I just wonder why Avast waited for so long to slam it.

Chrome OS is characterized as provoking “careless computing” and predicted to die next (2011) year — opinions from Richard Stallman and Paul Buchheit.

New AMD based 890GX & 880G Motherboards.

AMD Phenom II X6 1100T Black Edition – the latest top chip in AMD’s six-core line. Clocked at 3.3GHz, the 1100T also sports a slight specification bump up from the 1090T (3.2GHz).

SandForce SF-2000: New Family Of SSD Processors Promises Impressive Performance.

But anyway, what is going on with Computer Power User magazine? Where is Anand Lai Shimpi with his Anand’s Corner? Alex St. John (The Saint) with his cigar and game-oriented picking at Microsoft? Where are Alex “Sharky” Ross, Mike Magee, Barry Brenesal, crazy Chris Pirillo, Rahul Sood, and Rob “CmdrTaco” Malda with his articles.txt?? Where are all these people who contributed a lot to CPU in the past?

Get Service Pack 1 RTM for Windows 7 Now!

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Windows 7 Ultimate package retailFinally! Service Pack number One for Windows 7 is out! Good bye blue screens of death! Sigh and install Windows 7 now if have not done it yet. There are number of fixes and improvements included, I already mentioned in one of my last posts. Officially Microsoft has not provided Service Pack 1 to public yet, but its RTM version (released to manufacturing, the final one!)  has leaked and available in torrents to download. Here’s some links below: Continue reading →

Computer Power User — January 2011

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cpu-mag-jan-2011What’s the rush? It is January already for Computer Power User magazine. Here is a fine new release of January 2011 issue, available as a free download here in pdf format (84 MB). 

Some interesting topics inside with my little editing: 

• What Motivates Consumers to Engage With Companies Online? — number one reason is discounts and giveaways (77%)
• Better With Age — Two Years Later, X58 Is Still Intel’s Champion (ASRock X58 Extreme6 gets 4.5 point, i.e. “perfect”)
• Nvidia GeForce GTX 580 — Fermi Shows Its True Colors
• The Radeon 6800 Series. New Display Options Highlight AMD’s Latest Graphics Cards
• White paper: Toggle Mode NAND Flash. Samsung, Toshiba May Open More Markets For NAND
• The 2010 CPU All-Star Team. The Parts You Care The Most About: 

The best CPU: Intel Core i7-875K, 2nd is AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition

The best Motherboard: Evga X58 FTW3, 2nd is Gigabyte 890FXA-UD7

The best Graphics Cards: Nvidia GeForce GTX 460 (1GB), the 2nd is AMD Radeon HD 6850

The best Storage Devices: OCZ Vertex 2 (240GB), 2nd is Crucial RealSSD C300

• The hardcore software winners: Norton Internet Security 2011 (?, I don’t understand this), Paragon Hard Disk Manager Professional 2010, Apple iTunes 10, Cloudmark DesktopOne.

And other interesting stuff!