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Microsoft, under pressure from several sides to get its new operating system out the door, on Friday will deliver final Windows XP code to PC makers in a big way: via airdrop. In a stunt involving Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates and Group Vice President Jim Allchin, helicopters will circle the company´s Redmond, Wash., headquarters as the pair hand off Windows XP to PC makers, said sources familiar with the event. The helicopters are expected to be decorated with Windows XP and major PC maker logos. Read more

FutureLooks has posted a review on the AZone Cappuccino G1 mini-Book PC Ever dream of a two-in-one combo where you could work on your laptop while at the same time brew a steaming cup of cappuccino and skip the morning lineup at your local Starbucks? A mobile machine this maybe, but if you are thinking of making actual cappuccinos in the midst of that morning day commute from hell to the office, you are in for a big surprise. So now you’re probably wondering, “If I can’t make cappuccinos, what is this thing for??” The Cappuccino G1 is one of the world’s smallest consumer computers from the same people who brought out the Espresso Mini-Book PC, only bigger and better. Well, let’s find out if it lives up to its name or will you be hoping for an add-on that will actually allow you to make cappuccinos on the go! Read more

Warp2Search send words that CloneCD 3.0.7.2 is out What´s new: - Hardware requirements updated. - Ricoh 7163A added. - Better handling of Audio CDs which do not comply to Red Book IEC908 standard. - Better handling of CDs with incorrect Session Information in TOC . - Added & improved language support. - Changed Windows layout for bigger fonts. - Added new "Insert Disc" animation for the modern skin. Read more

TweakTown has put up a Internet Security & Firewalls Guide. The Internet. It´s something you depend on, something which you use as a hobby, something you use as a job or just something you use for leisure. But how secure is your Internet connection against hackers and spyware? Maybe you need a software or hardware firewall? Listen up as TweakTown tells you everything you need to know about this very issue! Read more

OC Workbench has posted another review. This time on the Iwill DX400SN Dual Xeon motherboard. We probably heard a lot about Iwill´s successful products Iwill KK266R, KD266 etc. We always thought that Iwill only aim at the channels, in fact, Iwill captures a good share of the high end workstation market. In fact, Iwill are are one of the few manufacturers who makes workstation class mainboards and are listed in Intel´s recommended list at www.intel.com Iwill DX400SN is one of the products that features support for Dual Xeon for the ultimate Workstation experience. With more and more IT professionals that needs more demanding performance, Iwill DX400SN can be coupled with 2 x Xeon processor for the utmost performance not only for software development but also on content creation. Read more

OC Workbench has posted a review on VIA´s C3 733Mhz CPU. VIA C3 733Mhz´s performance has improved from the earlier Cyrix processors. Although performance figures of both the Celeron and the VIA C3 are very low as compared to Coppermines, Durons, Athlons, in terms of price, VIA C3 has made a cheap and viable CPU for the SI. The low temperature is also a plus point which one can consider when selecting between a Celeron and a C3 as it will work on most of the existing S370 boards. Read more

Asus has released two new bios updates: A7A266 1006 Final (=1006 - 01 Beta) P4T 1005 Final (=1005 - 03 Beta)

RatedPC has posted a review on the HP DeskJet 932C printer. This printer uses an advanced color layering technology with up to 2400x1200 dpi to produce photo quality results, as well as sharp text quality. It is quite difficult to illustrate the printing quality of the DeskJet 932C in a review. Nevertheless I can tell you that the quality is simply astounding. Using photo paper and a good quality image after it had been edited in Adobe Photoshop, I was able to print out images from the 932C with such sharpness and brilliance that many people would not believe these came out of a inkjet printer. Text quality as well as black and white printing was also remarkable, coming close to that of laser printers. Read more

RAM Idle 4.5 for Windows 2000 and Windows XP is now available. RAM Idle is a free memory management program that is designed for Windows. With an easy to use interface, RAM Idle enables your applications to load faster and more responsively by making more physical memory available for the system. Use it to free up a selected amount of physical memory when the minimum level is reached. You can also use it to free up a selected amount of physical memory at a regular interval, and free up the physical memory manually as needed. When you run RAM Idle for the first time, it will find and define the recommended levels for your system. However you may need to define these manually to find the best combination that will give you the best performance for your system. The program includes various additional features, such as the ability to display free memory in the try icon, show the percentage of free RAM and page file, automatically start with Windows, and ability to free up amount of RAM manually from the popup menu. Download

TweakTown has posted a new article about WindowsXP from a gamers standpoint. Whistler is the next generation of Windows and will be based on Windows 2000, not the older Windows 9x kernel. Windows XP, as the desktop versions of Whistler, will ship in Professional Edition for businesses and power users, as well as a new Home Edition for consumers that will end up replacing Windows Me. Read more

LITTLEWHITEDOG´s Windows2000 Boot Logo Gallery contains now over 300 boot logos Link to Boot Logo Gallery: http://www.littlewhitedog.com/reviews_other_00025.asp How to change boot logo: http://www.littlewhitedog.com/reviews_other_00021.asp

Matrox has released new Windows 2000 beta drivers for the Matrox Millennium G400 and Matrox Millennium G400 MAX Download

Hardware Extreme has looked into the Romtec Trios. It is a simple but useful hard drives selection device that sits in a 5.25 drive bay. Computers are becoming more and more a family necessity, but the ease of sharing one computer amongst multiple users has not changed. To share a computer you have to use different logon names, create multiple users in the OS, or just give up and everyone uses the same interface. Romtec has come up with a great solution to this problem. Read more

Apple has released a update for Quicktime that work unter Internet Explorer 5.5 SP2 and Internet Explorer 6.0. Thanks Mark. Download

Everything USB send some USB news: Sony introduces 5-megapixel camera The DSC-F707 includes a 5x optical zoom, bi-LCD display, auto/manual focus, Hologram AF, which increases focus on subjects in low light via a projected hologram; noise reduction, Clear Colour, Slow Shutter, which reduces image noise in dark scene; and more. Read more Telex refreshes USB headset line The first device is the $70 H-831, a head-worn microphone with acoustic noise cancellation and plug and play use. The next device is the H-841, a digital headset, with a ´high performance speaker´ and acoustic noise cancellation. The third solution is the P-800, a USB audio converter, allowing users to plug in their current speakers or microphone, and have them converted to digital audio. Read more

3D Spotlight has posted a tweak guide for Max Payne Max Payne is the first Game developed upon the MAX-FX engine, previously most well known for powering 3D Mark 2000 & 2001, & one of the most successful PC Game releases for quite some time. Much like 3D Mark 2001 it can sometimes take a hefty system to get the game to run at a smooth frame rate, or just to look nice. This tweak guide will take you through the mass of options available for the Game, along with other tips & hints. Read more

TweakTown has posted a review on the Antec Jet Cool HSF The heatsink in this case takes on a whole new look. The central core of the sink is a small pillar of copper, and this is surrounded by very thin fins of aluminum that help dissipate heat from the core. Most of the heatsink is also encased in a plastic shroud that helps the thin fan keep the airflow right on target. Read more

Adrian´s Rojak Pot has posted the definitive review of the 1COOLPC Video-1-120 graphics card cooler This is the most powerful video card cooler I´ve heard of. It comes with a 3 pin plug which does not support RPM monitoring. Do not plug the fan into the motherboard fan header. If you do so, it will blow the header simply because it draws too much current. Most motherboard fan headers will only allow a fan to draw up to 0.4A, but this fan needs 0.66A to spin. Read more

Maximum Hardware has posted a review on the EPoX 8KTA3+ PRO motherboard. With several solid boards under their name, naturally I jumped at the chance to review the 8KTA3+ PRO. I´m sure many of you have heard of the 8KTA3, based on the VIA 100/133MHz KT133A (VT8363A Northbridge & VT82C686B Southbridge) chipset. Well EPoX have re-released the 8KTA3 but this time with even more tweaking options and an extended title. Read more

Saw over NeoWin that Microsoft is looking for Windows 2000 Service Pack 3 beta testers. The Windows Sustained Engineering team is in the process of taking nominations for the Windows 2000 Service Pack 3 beta program. Our goal is to have a well targeted group of testers willing to actively participate and provide useful feedback to our development team. If you would like to: - Make your valuable feedback visible in the next Service Pack. - Team up with Microsoft Windows NT Sustained Engineering. - Help improve Windows 2000 Service Pack 3. Read more

3D Game Man has put up a Icemat Mouse Surface video review. Check it out

... Can Cause System to Restart Microsoft Windows 2000 provides support for infrared-based connectivity. This support is provided through protocols developed by the Infrared Data Association (IRDA). Because of this, they are often called IRDA devices. These devices can be used to share files and printers with other IRDA-device capable systems. The software which handles IRDA devices in Windows 2000 contains an unchecked buffer in the code which handles certain IRDA packets. A security vulnerability results because it is possible for a malicious user to send a specially crafted IRDA packet to the victim´s system. This could enable the attacker to conduct a buffer overflow attack and cause an access violation on the system, forcing a reboot. To be best of our knowledge, it cannot be used to run malicious code on the user´s system. Read more

T-Break has posted a review on Hercules´ latest budget-oriented Sound Card- the Fortissimo II. Hercules, not content with the super-success of it’s Game Theatre XP, has added two additional sound cards to their list- the Gamesurround Fortissimo II and Muse XL. Both of them are targeted towards people who need quality sound at a cheap price. Obviously this means both of them will be cheaper than the Game Theatre XP. Today we take a look at the Gamesurround Fortissimo II sound card. Read more

Maximum Reboot has posted new nVidia detonator 14.70 drivers for Windows 9x/ME and Windows 2000. These are the latest DirectX8 optimized drivers available on the web and are pretty recent, dated 08/18/2001. Download

3dXtreme has posted a guide about cleaning your cpu of old thermal compound and applying a fresh coat Here´s a quick guide regarding a process I personally hate! It´s really a pain to clean the cpu then apply a thin, even coating of Arctic Silver II however for the overclockers out there it´s also absolutly necessary. Arctic Silver II ensure the heat transfer from the cpu core to the heatsink. Using Arctic Silver II can improve the heat transfer by a few or more degrees. AMD suggests that thermal compound be applied between your heatsink and core. Read more