April 23, 2010 3:09 am by Jal
Windows XP users, (sigh), you reading this? Don’t you think it’s about time you must leave the sinking boat and upgrade to a bigger, nicer boat – Windows 7? Well, sooner or later you’ll have to because Microsoft is really have no pity left for XP users now.
First it was the official end-of-support for XP as per the product life cycle, followed by lesser and lesser automatic updates, then Microsoft announced that IE9 won’t support XP and now even Windows Live Wave 4 won’t have support for XP. We have speculated this last month when LiveSino reported that the system requirements of Live Wave 4 does not include XP.
While discussing the Windows Live Wave 4 on Windows Team Blog, the Corporate VP (Windows Live) Chris Jones mentioned in a comment,
Windows XP is nearly 10 years old and simply doesn’t provide the same level of platform support for graphics, and we recognized early in our work on Wave 4 that we could do much more in our software on a modern graphics platform. As a result our new version of Essentials will require the new graphics platform and controls that are only available on Windows 7 or Windows Vista and therefore will only run on these platforms.
Even after reigning for 10 years, Windows XP’s market share hovered around 64% by March 2010 and so it’s really apparent that Microsoft takes some stringent actions to bring it down.
March 30, 2010 2:32 am by Jal
Microsoft was and is very clear in its product life-cycle theories and the company has always followed them quite strictly. Couple of years ago Microsoft declared to reduce (and eventually end) the support for the aging Windows XP. Then it started reducing the number of automatic & recommended updates and only provided crucial security patches to XP users. But XP had its own charm which didn’t really nudge as Microsoft expected.
I think Microsoft doesn’t really care about Windows XP’s market-share and this is quite evident by Microsoft’s decision to gradually strip down support for XP in its upcoming products. Of course, from Microsoft’s POV, such a step is utmost important to increase the popularity of its new and advanced operating system – Windows 7.
A couple of weeks ago, Microsoft declared that IE9 won’t support Windows XP. Now, LiveSino reports that the system requirements of the upcoming ‘official’ beta version of Windows Live Essentials Wave 4 does not include Windows XP.
This means that the Wave 4 versions of the major applications like Windows Live Messenger, Windows Live Movie Maker, Windows Live Writer, Windows Live Photo Gallery, etc. won’t support Windows XP. Microsoft has finally learnt the fact that for an average end-user, it’s the applications that matter and not the operating system. As long as their PC runs a particular application, an average user doesn’t really care to undergo an OS upgrade or worst, even bother to know what OS they use. Microsoft’s game is pretty simple – ‘You take away what they need and they’ll do whatever you want’.
Now please don’t take it as a bashing on Microsoft. Apart from panning end users’ attention to Windows Vista or 7, the major reason to abandon Windows XP lies in the fact that XP is a decade old product; incapable to support certain advanced technologies and thereby the applications built on them. However, it’s 2010 and it’s still a fat chance to bring down XP’s popularity in at least 3 years from now. And Microsoft sure knows it very well. Nevertheless, we are surely witnessing the beginning of the end of an era – Windows XP’s era.
March 28, 2010 21:19 pm by Jal
I still remember the time when the first Vista transformation pack was made available for XP and how I went so crazy to download a 31MB file on my dial-up connection. Well, Vista came and gone and even Windows 7 seems so 2009. We need something new, don’t we? So here it is – The Vienna 5 Transformation Pack for Windows 7!
Now don’t ask me why the name Vienna. It’s been one of the most speculated names for the next version of Windows after Vista but that didn’t happen. Maybe to pay a tribute, a deviantArt user, AppliArt named it Vienna 5 Transformation Pack.
Before I give out the download links, enjoy the screenshots:
This transformation pack is available for Windows 7 and Windows XP. Visit the below links and download the required version.
Download Vienna 5 Transformation Pack / 96.2 MB
After you download it, run an update available for it by clicking the below link.
Update for Vienna 5 Transformation Pack
March 21, 2010 0:17 am by Jal
There are lot of wallpaper managing software available on the internet today. Mostly all of them have pretty much similar functionality like maintaining a list of wallpapers and changing them at regular intervals. Today we have featured a slightly different wallpaper managing software – Dream Desktop.
Dream desktop is different in a sense that the wallpapers it uses are located somewhere on the internet. The application lets you browse through their ever growing collection of extremely high quality wallpapers. You can either choose to display all the wallpapers in the collection or your marked favorites at specified time intervals. Apparently you can download the wallpapers too if you wish.
Dream Desktop is much sophisticated too. Every aspect of the client software is superbly intuitive and is low on resources. It also gives notifications when new wallpapers are added to their online collections. Apart from that, the upcoming versions will support games too. Download Dream Desktop and experience it. I find the software rather awesome. 
Download Dream Desktop / 696KB
March 1, 2010 2:22 am by Jal
Beginner Quick-tip
Confirmation dialog boxes in Windows are like the best thing after sliced bread just because they give you a ‘second chance’. However, if you are smart enough and consider yourself as the ‘one who can do no wrong’, you might want to turn off confirmation dialog boxes that appear when you delete a file/folder. So here’s how you can save an extra click.
1) Right click on ‘Recycle Bin’ and select ‘Properties’.
2) In the window that appears, un-check ‘Display delete confirmation dialog’.
That’s it. No more annoying confirmation dialog boxes. Now you can go on a deleting spree. ;)
February 25, 2010 16:12 pm by Jal
According to the
Microsoft Support Lifecycle policy and the
End of Support page at Microsoft, this comes as a reminder to all the users of Windows 2000, XP SP2 and Vista RTM that the software giant is going to end its support for the aging OSes. Back in 2008, Microsoft declared the exact dates when the above mentioned operating systems will enter the ‘End of Support’ phase.
Important Dates:
April 13, 2010 – Windows Vista RTM reaches ‘End of Support’ phase. Microsoft ends support for Windows Vista RTM (also known as Windows Vista SP0).
July 13, 2010 – Windows 2000 (all versions) and Windows XP SP2 reaches ‘End of Support’ phase. Microsoft ends support for Windows 2000 (all versions) and Windows XP SP2.
What should I do?
If you are running Windows Vista RTM then you should install Vista Service Pack 1, followed by Vista Service Pack 2. [Download Vista Service Packs]
If you are running Windows XP SP2 then you should install XP Service Pack 3. [Download Windows XP SP3]
If you are running Windows 2000 then you should upgrade your OS to a more stable and advanced one like Windows 7.
In any case, the best option is to upgrade your OS to Windows 7. At TechExplorer, we highly recommend using Windows 7 because it is more secure, highly advanced and exceptionally stable than all its predecessors.
For more on how to upgrade to Windows 7, click here.
January 24, 2010 9:27 am by Jal
I wish to keep this short and sweet. So, without an intro paragraph (which you don’t read anyway ;) ), here goes.
Desktop Currency Converter is well, a currency converter (duh!) with some decent features. It is a small widget-like app that stays on your desktop and converts the amount inputted in one currency to the other. It fetches Forexview’s currency conversion data.
Features of Desktop Currency Converter:
» Fresh currency conversion data is fetched from the Internet.
» Works in offline mode too.
» It is a calculator too. (See screenshot)
» Converts among 55 different currencies.
» Decimal precision values can be pre-set (0 digits, 2 digits, no-limit)
» Supports cut, copy and paste.
» Works on Windows 2000, XP, Vista and 7.
Download Desktop Currency Converter / 752 KB
