Microsoft has officially released Windows Vista Service Pack 1, an update that addresses most of the feedback received by Microsoft about Windows Vista.

Vista SP1 contains changes focused on addressing specific reliability and performance issues, supporting new types of hardware, and adding support for several emerging standards. Windows Vista SP1 also addresses some management, deployment, and support challenges.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Microsoft and Sony are reported to be discussing a potential future marriage for Blu-ray and the XBOX 360.

If you will remember, Microsoft is competing with Sony’s PlayStation 3 and it has backed Toshiba’s HD-DVD format and offered an HD-DVD drive that can be plugged into their 360. Microsoft has even said no toXBOX 360 Blu Ray support.

Whether the result of this discussion is an integrated component for 360 console or just an external drive which can be bought off the shelf, it would make 360 users out there more happy if Blu Ray becomes available to XBOX 360.

Popularity: 4% [?]

Microsoft has released Internet Explorer 8 (IE8), calling it “Beta 1 for developers” since it is intended for Web developers and designers to test the new tools, layout engine and programming enhancements. However, there is nothing to stop the general public from downloading and installing the software.

According to the download page, IE8 Beta 1 will be available in separate versions for XP, Vista, Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008 but the IE8 Beta 1 will not install on “prerelease versions of Windows Vista SP1″ or “checked versions of Windows”.

Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 includes a number of new features including the “Activities” contextual data management service, a new Favorites Bar, an improved Phishing Filter, Automatic Crash Recovery and “Webslices”. WebSlices let users designate content within a page and then monitor changes to that content - just like the RSS feeds. Activities are predesigned mashups that Microsoft and third-party sites and services will offer free of charge.

Popularity: 2% [?]

The European Union has fined Microsoft a record $1.3 billion for failing to comply with a 2004 antitrust ruling which focused on Microsoft’s “unreasonable prices” for access to technical documentation which would allow third party developers make their products compatible with the Windows Operating System.

The $1.35 billion fines were garnered over a 488 day period of non-compliance with the Europian Commission’s 2004 antitrust ruling. However, Microsoft said that the issues for which it was fined have been resolved and the company was making its products more open.

Popularity: 5% [?]

HandBrake is an open-source, GPL-licensed, multiplatform, multithreaded DVD to MPEG-4 converter, available for MacOS X, Linux and Windows. HandBrake 0.9.2 incorporates many major and exciting changes—including full support for the AppleTV Take 2 and the latest iPhone/iPod Touch firmware. Mac users take note: this release is only compatible with Mac OS X Leopard, 10.5.

Features:
• Dolby Digital 5.1 (AC3) sound in MP4 files, for a true DVD experience on the AppleTV and in Perian.
• Multi-track audio support for Apple devices
• iPhone-compatible anamorphic video at its full size
• Variable frame rate encoding with detelecine filtering
• More flexible, “loose” anamorphic video
• MP4 optimization for progressive web downloads
• Dynamic range compression for encoding from AC3 audio
• Robust program and transport stream support
• A fresher, faster version of x264
• Tuning of FIFO sizes by processor count
• Better handling of audio discontinuities
• Better handling of DVD read errors
• Work-arounds for missing end-of-cell markers
• Recovery when streams have signal loss
• Better synced chapter markers
• Better handling of B-Frames
• No more cutting off the very ends of films
• No more lost subtitles or chapter markers
• No more crashes in 2-pass encoding

Click here to download HandBrake 0.9.2

Popularity: 5% [?]

Microsoft last week rolled out three prerequisite updates to prepare users computers for the first service pack for Windows Vista. Unfortunately, one of these update files has caused serious problems among some Windows Vista users and has caused their computers to crash or enter an endless cycle of boots and reboots.

This has prompted Microsoft to remove from its software update service a file that’s a prerequisite to installing the first major update to the Windows Vista operating system. Microsoft quickly suspended automatic installations of KB937287 after customers complained that their PCs wouldn’t boot up properly once the update has been applied.

Well, this is not the first time for Windows Vista SP1 to experience a glitch. If you can remember, Microsoft has delayed the widespread distribution of the service pack until it can resolve compatibility issues with some software drivers that control PC peripherals. 

Popularity: 2% [?]