PCTips Box

Nowadays everyone needs to have a little eye-candy on their desktop and, although most of the people that use the Mac Terminal can easily be considered as being a little bit on the geek side and will always prefer functionality over good looks, I’m pretty sure that none of them will refuse having a really nice looking and always ready Terminal at their disposal, just a key shortcut away.

And, by saying it will be just a key shortcut away, I don’t mean that you’ll be able to launch a Terminal windows each time you’ll push the magic button combination. No! The Terminal will just slide down over your Mac’s desktop and will hide again under the menubar when you will not need to use it anymore. Just like the Quake-like console I mentioned in the title.

SIMBL and Visor

How can this be achieved, you ask? Well, it couldn’t be any simpler! All you will have to do is to install SIMBL, download a plug-in and place it in the right location on your Mac’s hard-drive. (more…)

With the advent of Windows Vista at the end of 2006/the beginning of 2007, Microsoft has started pouring a consistent amount of efforts into enabling optimized desktops. Throughout 2007, and after the introduction of Windows Vista Service Pack 1, the Redmond company continued to fine tune a set of offerings bundled together under the umbrella of Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP) for Software Assurance customers. The Microsoft Management Summit (MMS) in Las Vegas was the stage where the software giant stressed its constant commitment to both optimized Vista desktops and virtualization.

“The combination of MDOP and Windows Vista gives customers the tools they need to support more flexible work environments for their users, while making it easier and more efficient to manage and maintain their networks. This is the concept we refer to as the optimized desktop, and many of our customers have the tools to realize the benefits today. We’re responding to the enthusiasm our customers have shown for these products by continuing to improve upon them and roll out new updates in real time”, revealed Shanen Boettcher, General Manager of Windows Product Management for the enterprise. (more…)

One of the aspects correlated with the ubiquity of the Windows operating system is the fact that the platform is tailored to specific markets around the world. In this context, Windows Vista features no less than 36 different languages, designed to produce an intimate experience for end users. All the editions of Vista can be set to a specific language, with the Ultimate SKU being able to switch between linguistic configurations. But in addition to the resources integrated by default in the latest Windows client as well as those served through Windows Update, Microsoft is now making available the Windows Vista Language Interface Pack for the English version of the operating system.

“Windows Vista Language Interface Pack (LIP) [integrates with the] English versions of Windows Vista Home Basic, Home Premium, Ultimate, Business and Enterprise. Many Vista LIP languages are also available for Windows Vista Starter,” Microsoft informed. (more…)

As it promised, Microsoft Corp. yesterday started sending Windows Vista users an update that identifies illegal copies of the operating system installed with cracks that the company will disable when it distributes Service Pack 1 (SP1) in two weeks. Last Thursday, Microsoft announced the update, which detects two common cracks used to activate pirated copies of Vista, and said it would hit Windows Update (WU) within a week. Users who have left Vista’s recommended WU settings alone will receive the update automatically. Others, said Microsoft, must enable Automatic Update within Vista or manually call up WU from the Start menu.

A document posted to the company’s support site spelled out the details. Among other things, it promised that the 3MB update “does not affect the functionality of your operating system.” (more…)

Microsoft decided to pull KB937287 from automatic updates that was supposed to prepare machines for the upcoming SP1 release after reports the patch was causing infinite reboots. According to Microsoft Help and Support, patch KB937287 was designed to “improve reliability and performance when you install future individual update from Microsoft.”

Nick White on the Windows Vista Blog states that the problem affects “a small number of customers in unique circumstances.” The unique circumstances are still unknown. I have installed this patch on a handful of different manufacturers and models and have not yet had any issues. (more…)