New Packaging for Windows Vista and 2007 Office System

Here are some pictures of the supposed "new" packaging for Windows VISTA and Windows Office 2007. Much like the software that they will be carrying inside, these packages looks sweet and very much of an eye candy.

Here are the pictures:

OmniPage Pro 15 not VISTA compatible

Looks like Nuance's OmniPage Pro 15 still has issues to iron out with Microsoft. I got myself an OmniPage Pro 15 to complement my new all-in-one printer (Brother DCP-115c), this after upgrading the supplied software PaperPort 9 to PaperPort 11, all were developed by ScanSoft now owned by Nuance. PaperPort 11 works fine but Windows Vista RC2 gave me a prompt at the start of OmniPage Pro 15 installation. Well, I guess I'm stuck with the built-in OCR of PaperPort 11.

Out-of-the-box: Brother DCP-115C

Ok, finally I've decided to retire my EPSON CX20 (which for that matter, decided for itself after not being detected by the PC, which from my research, EPSON printers are known for) and my Plustek EPP scanner (which I might say has been very cooperative all thru different Windows versions).

Today, I got myself a Brother DCP-115C. After long hours of convincing myself to get an all-in-one printer. Why this one? Well, I was choosing between, an HP, an EPSON, this one and a CANON Pixma MP160. the CANON definitely wins in the looks division, but much like an HP it falls on the ink price and practicality since it uses a tri-color cartridge, which at this point in time is not advisable. HP, Brother, EPSON wins in photo-printing, though I must admit that I'm very much biased for HP. EPSON and Brother on the other hand wins on the practicality side, both using an individual cartridge for it's inks. And of course the price, all of these printers are on the same price range but the Brother was a bit ahead on the features, for it has card-readers built-in (aside of course from the usual scanner, copier, printer modes).

Here are some pictures of the unboxing of the printer:

A CD/DVD burner for VISTA

Ever since I've installed Windows Vista (Beta, RC1 and RC2), I was limited to the built-in burner software or ImageBurn for my burning needs. Though these are capable softwares, there was still that void that I've been feeling. So I decided to try out NERO, but even after a "successful" install, whenever I launch it, it simply closes and VISTA gives me an error of "incompatability". Then I tried ROXIO, I thought it was ok, until at the end of installation, another error, something was missing from the installation file or something was corrupted. Then I decided to give it another try, this time, I copied it to my internal drive (since I kept it in my external drive). So lo and behold, it installed and is now running. Was able to burn an ISO image from it already. Whew!

Finally...a MOVIE from Windows Movie Maker

At last, I was able to create a movie from WINDOWS MOVIE MAKER. 

This is after years of wishing that I would be able to transfer my home videos into DVD, but eversince I was not satisfied with the quality of the movies that are produced. But after some tweaking I was able to make it and to consider I am using it in Windows Vista. Now to look for those old miniDV tapes and start the transfer.

ABS-CBN and INQ7 sleeping together?

Recently I've noticed that ABS-CBN news website has the same (almost identical) news to those found in INQ7.net Previously, most of the news came from either the news people of ABS-CBN or from their alliance with MANILA TIMES. INQ7 being partly a GMA network company, don't you think now it's odd (although not impossible) that rival networks are sharing the same stories?

Everybody's using iTunes? Maybe they should try out Songbird

Is it just me or most people with a computer has replaced their default music player from Windows Media Player and Winamp to iTunes? Well, I've observed it that even those who does not own an iPod has iTunes installed in their computers and are using it as their default music player.

Incidentally, in case you're one of the iTunes user that I'm talking about. Haven't you observed that iTunes7 would sometimes hug most of the resources of your RAM and Processor while surfing the net simultaneously? Well, a group of individuals built a Music Player that looks somewhat like iTunes but with a twist, it has a built-in browser in it. The browser is not just your typical browser, it's made from Firefox inards. And they called it SONGBIRD

Why not try surfing and listening to your favorite tunes at the same time with just one application open. The only gripe I have with SONGBIRD is it lacks the ever-famous Firefox feature, tabbed browsing. Hopefully, the developers would include it in the final release.

The "new" Yahoo! Mail (beta)

As a techie, as much as possible, I would like to be one of the early adapters, but sometimes, it gets the most out of me. IN the case of Yahoo! Mail (beta), well, yeah it's got a nice UI, but it's sloooooowwwwww! And most of the time, it hugs the resources of my web browser. Well, I guess that's what I get for trying out a BETA service. Nonetheless it's the only gripe that I have for the moment.

INQ7.net News?

Recently, INQ7.net has not been very updated with their "news". Only the Headlines are updated while the other stories are left in their old states.

Is this a ploy to make the reading public back into physical newspaper or the webmasters are just upgrading to something larger and better?

My Desktop

Ok, so this is how my desktop looks at the moment. It's on Windows VISTA RC2 (of course running AERO/GLASS interface). I've added the free ObjectDock for some Mac look although I don't think it's going to stay there for long.

Palm has announced it's "competitively" priced smartphone that will be the cheaper version of the Treo 650. The Treo 680 is a Palm OS powered GSM/GPRS/EDGE smartphone. It now lacks the antenna but features an internal antenna instead and a hardware design similar to the Treo 750v.

It is powered by Palm OS Garnet v5.4.9. It runs a 312 MHz Intel processor and has 64MB of user available storage memory and 64MB of SDRAM. The screen is a 320 x 320 pixel color touch-screen display. The 680 features a full size SD slot for memory expansion. It has a slimmer 1200 mAh rechargeable battery for up to 4 hours talk time. Bluetooth v1.2 wireless and IR are included as well as a VGA digital camera (Palm's way of bringing down the price).

The phone is a GSM/GPRS/EDGE Class 10 device and has a internal quad-band (850/900/1800/1900) antenna.

An unlocked version of the Palm Treo 680 will be made avaiabe with four different color options exclusively from Palm.com or Palm Cafe retail locations. The colors include graphite, copper, article and crimson.

Now I wonder, which one to get. The Treo 680, the Sony Ericsson K800 or the Nokia E61. Soooo many choices.

Installing VISTA RC2

I'm currently installing WINDOWS VISTA RC2 on my desktop.

Thanks to my external drives, I don't have to worry that my files/documents will get lost, by keeping one hard drive only for the OS and programs, I can install and re-format my PC as often as I like.

One of the downside is, I have to reinstall my programs. Oh, not to worry though, I've kept copies of these programs in my other hard drive and all I have to do is to double-click them to intall and that's it. I'll be waiting for some time before I could really give out an opinion on VISTA. But so far, with my experience with RC1, all I can say is, it's eye candy. Most of my programs work, but I'm having problems with networking, and those pop-up warnings are too annoying!!!!

UPDATE 1: I've said before this is the fastest Windows Install that I've ever done. The user inputs are right at the beginning of the installation process and after that it's all done. Now I'm waiting for it to update the performance settings.

UPDATE 2: Ok, I can't seem to find the AERO/GLASS option even though I have completed the requirements for it to run, still waiting for some changes. I had my 1st restart after the install. Oh and when I installed a new version of the Computer Associates Anti-Virus it cannot install on a VISTA machine, good thing I have a copy of the previous EZ-Trust software.

UPDATE 3: Finally, was able to load AERO/GLASS. After all the tweakings, all I have to do was to update the RATINGS of my system. Sheez!

UPDATE 4: There's a drawback in buying cheap peripherals, you don't get driver support from Windows VISTA hehehe. That's what I found out when I was installing the cheap Bluetooth USB dongle I bought at CD-R KING. Good thing I still have my trusty BILLIONTON Bluetooth Dongle and yup, as I've guessed it, VISTA recognized it. Now the next thing is to make my VEO Webcam work.

Blogger Widget acting up

Just checking if this widget is still acting up. It's been sometime after I posted from this. Well, I guess it's working. Back to the regular posting then hehehehe

A Humbling Milenyo Experience

During the 3 days of TOTAL NO POWER caused by storm MILENYO, I has some sort of "withdrawal" syndrome from technology. I checked my email and read news from my SE K600i mobile phone (good thing Globe did not lose signal in our place during the storm and post-storm event).

I charged my phone and the iPod from the cigarette socket in my car. In the span of those non-technology days, I was reliant on Opera Mini in my mobile phone. It's been very interesting how it render the usual web page into a small screen-size such as the K600i. Also Widsets were a lot of help when it comes to reading my usual Tech-sites such as Endgadget and Gizmodo.