Microsoft’s upcoming Service Pack 3 for Windows XP, according to benchmarks, is going to be more then twice as fast as Vista with it’s new service pack.

Devil Mountain Software of Florida used it’s own OfficeBench software which runs a series of resource demanding tasks in different Microsoft Office applications , on two machines. One was running Windows XP with Service Pack 3, and the other, Vista Service Pack 1 (both in beta). Guess what? XP more than doubled the performance of Vista according to the performance graph below.

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Mozilla reported that nearly 500,000 downloads of the FireFox 3 Beta 1 have commenced since it’s initial release earlier this month. (Fun Fact: That’s 3,179,500 MB Or nearly 3.17 TB of FireFox. Phwew, glad I’m not paying that hosting bill!) Mozilla Foundation said they only plan on two more beta releases before they release the FireFox 3 Final Release. One of which will be released by the end of 2007, and the last early in 2008.

The upcoming beta release will implement the upgraded user interface for Vista, Mac OS X, and of course Linux users which will provide a more adaptive look for it’s respective operating system environment.

It’s about time Microsoft owns up to a few of their many faults. Microsoft plans on rleasing a set of 3 updates that they say will cure many of the complaints they’re receiving about Vista. MS claims it will address some of the core issues such as performance, reliability, and the overall stability of the year old operating system.

Patch one will supposedly improve battery life on mobile devices, up the stability of wireless connections, and decrease the operating system’s response time following a period of idle or non-use.

Part two of the trio only pertains only to Vista Ultimate and Home Premium, and adresses the way Media Center interacts with the XBox 360 as an extension on the software.

Finally, a third patch changes the way Windows interacts with USB devices, specifically on waking the computer which Microsoft says causes 2% of crashes in Vista.

However, don’t expect these updates too soon. They’re due to be released along side Vista SP1 in the beginning of next year. But will us Ultimate users ever see our Ultimate Extras we paid so much extra for? I’d say MS is holding out on us, hoping we’d forget eventually, but something tells me we never will.

Remember Apple’s Leopard OS X Mac system that’s coming out in mid-2007? If not, remember it here.

Well, AppleMac have released a taste-test before the main course - the Leopard Early Start Kit. Included is access to Apple’s Leopard Dev Team support, a test of its video and graphics capabilities, and Mail 3, the new program for stylish email coming out on the new operating system.

 This review will do a quick look-in to what AppleMac has to say about their lastest test drive, and again, we look into the sweet Apple taste-test, released by the company who made the first GUI in the world…

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The next exciting installment of Microsoft’s .NET Framework begins, and this time, no one can possibly groan.
With the new software compatable with, and made for, the .NET Framework, this time Microsoft’s been trying really hard. In this review, I will delve into a few software-related pros of a new Software Development Kit (SDK) for Microsoft’s .NET Framwork that was released little over a week ago. Described as ’seamlessly compatable with Visual Studio, the .NET Framework SDK is revolutionary in its ability to embed objects with an unparalleled compaction. Interested? If so, keep reading this technologal review of StealthyTech that only the most basic reader will lament.

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The Apple Tiger OS X was ahead of its time in digital graphics, functionality and design, and that was back in 2005; before Vista, and before Microsoft had a chance to unviel Home Server, and a range of other surprises.

And now, the Mac strikes back.

The new Leopard OS X is the new talk of Apple; an operating system said to surpass anything before it with its graphics, layout - you name it. Maybe it doesn’t have Vista’s full capabilities, or Home Server quite yet.

But if you haven’t heard about Leopard OS X, you’re missing out on the latest in sleek, design., brought to you by the company who released the first GUI in the world…

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Latley there has been a spike in the number of photoshop tutorials out there on both YouTube and MetaCafe. Now, these home videos have a.. certain limit when it comes to actual video quality, but a lot of them are actually pretty decent. There’s no better way to learn then to have someone right on your computer screen telling you what to do next (not that we like being told what to do or anything….).

Here are some of the many links you can follow to any of these videos:

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Perhaps the first image you conjure up in your mind when you see ‘Lego’ are cheap plastic building block toys that children build houses out of. I used to… but then again, what do children build Lego into these days?

Well, you’re right about one thing - the robotic Lego Mindstorm NXT is made of hard plastic - but it certainly isn’t a building block, or a toy, and at $AU 500 a machine, it certainly isn’t cheap.

And the LEGO Mindstorm NXT is certainly not a children’s toy, so much as a robotic latest in hardcore senser technology that anyone can use…

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Little over two weeks ago Microsoft released their newest operating system since Windows XP.

At the annual CES (Consumer Electronics Show) Bill Gates showed the world the finer points of Vista, and how it functioned. It includes a sleek new interface, an Office 2007 package, capabilities promised to increase your desktop’s speed and comes with IE7.

And as usual, PC users around the world crossed their arms and asked the question: “That’s nice. But where are the bugs, and what’s really so great about Vista?”

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According to the Wallstreet Journal’s unknown sources, Dell will begin shipping their personal computers with Windows Vista starting tonight. Newly purchased computers will arrive as early as Tuesday, the official release day of the new operating system.Who’s going to purchase though? I’m not too sure that this would be a good idea, considering the last windows launches that took months for the final major kinks to get rolled out. So will this affect Dell’s sales? I think so, but it could go either way. There’s the group who believe in Microsoft and possibly feel that they are safe (especially since the PS3 shipped, and still seemingly has no problems such as the XBox 360 fires…) and would gladly be one of those to jump the gun and boot it up right away. Others are skeptical and cautious, and plan on waiting for a few months before upgrading (or possibly for bootleg copies to appear, naughty naughty!).

I for one will wait to see what comes of the whole mess. Once I see it working on someone else’s machine, then I’ll get on the boat and purchase my own copy Read official story at The Wallstreet Journal. (Sorry, subscription required..)