Hello Humanoids . Its been long since i did a post : thanks to my ongoing exams ( i have a four day leave now ) and i shall try to do as many useful posts as possible .
Windows 7 , is the next Windows OS from Microsoft , After the success of Windows XP Microsoft gave us Windows Vista but it is way to buggy , resource hogging and costly , unless you are a pirate , but now Microsoft has come up with the OS that could bring back their lost glory . So why did they bring out Vista ? To make us comfortable with the UI i suppose .
Anyways , There are tons and tons of ways to convert your vista into Windows 7 and i have successfully modified every piece of my vista to make it look like Windows 7 , a friend of mind recently asked me to share the changes and mods i used , so :
Here is how you can Transform Windows Vista to Windows 7 without using any customization pack or resource hogging softwares :
Firstly and most importantly to do any of the following you need Tune Up Utilities , since all the themes are needed to be patched but its not free ( trial ) , but there is a freeware called VistaGlazz which can patch up the themes for you .
Windows 7 Theme for Windows Vista : Deviant Artist called giannisgx89 is famous for making Windows 7 theme for Windows Vista .
The two themes that are nearly perfect are :
Windows 7 PDC Style For Vista :
This is the latest theme from the Deviant Artist and this theme is the best Windows 7 theme around . The only problem which i faced is the Windows 7 like superbar abnormality , yes the font size is pretty bad but only for people using Enhance My Vista ( will tell you about this , keep reading )
Another theme ( which i am using right now ) from the same Deviant Artist is :
Windows 7 Vista Style Final :
This theme is my favorite , everything seems perfect here , though if you want better details i wouldn't suggest you this theme , try downloading the theme above.
Another Wallpaper which i would like to share is undoubtedly the greatest fan made wallpaper on Windows 7 ( in my opinion) . This wallpaper has been made by DJ Corny , yet again , a Deviant Artist .
Windows 7 gadgets (Sidebar) : Windows 7 has no sidebar , but you can play with the gadgets on the desktop , so what should i do ? Just drag the gadgets from your sidebar on to your desktop , DUH.
Windows 7 Boot Screen For Windows Vista :
The only thing on internet which is rare , but Deviant Art user Vishal Gupta has made a Boot Screen for Windows Vista .
Though there is no animation in status bar ( due to limitations in Vista ) the boot screen is the best on the internet .
If you are worried about : How to add Boot Screen in Vista , refer this link .
I am still suggesting you to use Tune Up Utilities ..
Windows 7 Login Screen for Windows Vista Theme :
Another Important part of the customization process is the login screen and this Login Theme is perfect and has been made by Deviant Artist pugalenthi .
To make this Login Screen work , you need to Download and install a software called Stardock Logon Studio for Vista , yes it free : just google it and download it .
Windows 7 Superbar or Iconised Taskbar for Windows Vista
There are many ways to get iconised taskbar on Windows Vista , most of them have resize issues , but the software which can do that for free is called : Enhance My Vista .
So how do i get iconised taskbar via Enhance My Vista ?
First download the software ( its free ) . Run the software , you shall see various options .
Follow the steps below [ IMAGES ]
Go to Customization Menu :
Then Click on Tasbar menu :
Tick the option which says Iconised Taskbar , once you tick it : It shall appear like this :
Finally Go to Menu Icon ( Top Left ) and select Save and Close and you shall have your taskbars ready .
Windows 7 Aero Shake Feature for Windows Vista .
Aero Shake is one of the coolest feature on Windows 7 , what it does is it clears all your background apps once you shake the window , if you shake it once again they shall re-appear !
This software has been developed by Gawker coders and it can take time in minimising and max"ing : it depends upon the RAM of your computer , if you have a slow PC , then it may hang your P.C. , but it works great.
This is also one of the most useful features in Windows 7. Aero Snap is a feature of Windows 7 that allows you to resize, arrange or maximize your desktop windows with just drag ‘n’ drop.
Windows 7 has one of the most featured and good looking Calculator ever . But unlike Windows 7 the Vista Calculator is plain ugly , so you should get your hands on this Calculator !
[img link - Lifehacker ]
Before you download , let me tell you that you should backup your Calculator and in case you want to make it your default Calculator just replace it with the address of the previous Calculator .
You must have read about the new Ribbon UI for Notepad ( Ribbon UI was first implemented in MS Office ) , Deviant Artist Solo Dev has made a great looking Notepad ( Ribbon UI inspired ) .
This is said to be the only look - alike , he just added Tabbing to Notepad so stay tuned for more updates from him .
Posts like Windows vs Mac vs Linux are quite common now a days especially with the launch of Ubuntu 8.10. People prove how one operating system is better than other through benchmarks, but today we will not compare any benchmarks like other. This post will tell you which Operating system is better than the other on pure usability terms.
Installation
So first lets talk about the Default looks and installation procedure of the 3 OS'es. The OS X Installer looks great and so does that of Vista. Ubuntu's installer is quite dull and not at all pleasing to the eyes. In terms of ease of installation, Vista and OS X are quite close to each other, Ubuntu's installation is also easy but if you select Manual Partitioning then you have to select the “root” and the “swap” partition which the newbie's may not understand. After that installation is fairly quick and simple and Ubuntu even detects your other Windows Partition and imports your documents and files as well.
Ease Of Use
All operating systems are user friendly to use, all of them has some nice features like the expose feature in OS X, the panel in Ubuntu where you can add some useful quick launch buttons. The Spotlight in OS X is present in Ubuntu as well in the form of Deskbar. Vista has the powerful start menu with Search features which is extremely useful as well. Installing Applications in Mac is quite easy and so is it in Ubuntu thanks to the Add/Remove and Synaptic Package Manager but if you get hold of an app which is not there in the Resporiteries then you have to compile the app so that you can install it which is not so easy. Users are quite happy with the way applications are installed in Windows Vista so no complaints regarding that. Installing apps in OS X is also quite easy, just drag n drop the installation file to the applications directory and the application would be installed but one problem with OS X installation file is that they are quite heavy. For Eg if Opera for Windows weighs 6Mb then Opera for Mac OS X weighs around 14Mb. So people with slow internet connections should keep this in mind.
In terms of resource usage Ubuntu wins! Vista needs 2GB Ram to function properly and Mac needs 1Gb RAM to function properly while Ubuntu can function smoothly on a system which has only 512Mb RAM. Aero effect of Vista is also quite resource hungry and the same effect can be applied in both Ubuntu and Mac quite easily! In terms of installation of themes, Ubuntu and Mac are quite user friendly and you can install themes by “drag n drop” while in Vista you have to patch your system files to install themes and they may very well corrupt your system files thus forcing you to reinstall Windows. Hardware compatibility is something which we cannot ignore. Here some people may say Mac OS X wins because everything works out of the box in OS X but we must keep in mind that Mac runs on selective hardware, unlike Windows and Ubuntu. Windows as well all know has the largest user base, and thus the lack of drivers for all kind of hardware's even in the latest version of Vista is something which we must get used to. We cannot blame Microsoft for not developing drivers for various hardware's, its the fault of the Hardware Company. Microsoft unlike Apple does not make drivers for various hardware's so its senseless to blame Microsoft for it, and there are many work arounds if you cannot find the driver for the latest gadget you got and some of these workarounds end up in giving up the dreaded BSOD. Ubuntu's condition is also the same in terms of hardware compatibility. Consider my PC as an example, Ubuntu 8.04 just refused to run on my PC while Ubuntu 8.10 runs flawlessly and it even detected my 22” LCD!
The Final Word !
Ubuntu, OS X and Vista all have been stable for me, but performance of Vista degrades significantly with time while the performance of Ubuntu and OS X more or less remain the same. To keep Vista running at its peak you have to maintain it regularly by defragmenting your partition and for that we need to use 3rd party software since the inbuilt Windows Defragmenter is just useless. Also major thing i would like to point out is that i really did not like the Dock of OS X for multitasking, its a big hindrance. It significantly slowed down the speed of my multitasking, other users may not agree with me here especially the Mac Fanboy's but then again thats my own personal view. OS X is good for developers, its not that useful for normal users. I was completely blown away by the softwares available for development in OSX. But one must keep in mind that nearly 99% of the apps available for Mac is paid and thus owning a Mac can be a costly affair. Windows will and always have the largest user base just because people have got used to it and only a revolution can change this. Ubuntu is one of the best kept secret to the public.
One big reason alone why i would say people to shift to Ubuntu is the lack of virus, now a days everyone's PC's get infected with viruses and even the best of the antivirus is unable to remove it and it creates a lot of trouble for the users.
In the end i would say that there is no clear winner in this war of the Operating System's, and there wont be ever! This war will go on and on, you, your grandchildren and their grandchildren all will witness this never ending war and in the end it will benefit us the users!
This post has been written by Rajesh Pandey who is a "hardware related category " freak , he loves trying different OSs out the moment they come out , A Sony Ericcson Fanboy and a great modder,helps people out in every way possible, a blogger at Life of Rajesh and of course a great friend !
Hello Humanoids . This is a quick notification post .
I have been tracking Windows Vista development since its development came into news and i adored every little feature of it but sadly never thought of buying one when i had Windows XP ( I have windows vista ultimate now btw ) so what i did was what most of use did : Installed Windows X 's Vista transformation Pack : the ultimate conversion tool from Windows Xp to Vista .It's a must have for people who want Windows XP to look like Windows Vista . The Pack used to be great though was resource hogging , but its been long since i used it so can't say much about the new pack ,
Here are the list of new features :
New 3rd-party applications
ViSplore - Vista Glass explorer simulator
Vista Drive Icon - adding free space percentage in your drive icon like Vista explorer
Vista Rainbar - Lightweight Vista sidebar based on Rainmeter that even consume less resources than real Vista Sidebar
Improved 3rd-party applications
ViStart - Files indexing for documents search, improved reliability and compatibilities
ViOrb - Improved graphic and reliability (C++ re-written)
TrueTransparency - Improved reliability with improved AeroStyle's glass border
WinFlip - Improved stability and reliablity
New functionalities
Setup personization - Allow customizing Vista experiences upon installation without access to Welcome Center
Windows XP Service Pack 3 compatibilities - Now you can enjoy Vista themes after installation with Windows XP Service Pack 3
x64 compatibilities - More secured x64 installation without getting hurt by incompatibilities
There're also a lot of bug fixes and refinements in the program but let's just keep it simple with these for now. You can experience the rest later by yourself.
Is it really the evolution of Internet , in other words Twitter is THE FUTURE of Internet ? Well if you see the image clearly the cloud above retweeting is blank , you need to fill it and in future we will see an updated images for sure , what do you have to say ?
Hello Humanoids .I have just three minutes to finish up with this post , I thought of writing about this for my readers who are twitter friendly .
I have been using the same Twitter background from the start and i am totally bored of it , today i tried making one for myself but couldn't come up with good idea so decided to leave it as it is . Most of us don't know photoshop or can't edit the photos . But now you don't need a stupid " wanna be cool " backgrounds , please - its O.L.D .
Wouldn't that be cool if your Flickr Images are shown as your background and they get updated hourly ? Yes , that would be very cool .
So how do you do that ?
Simple , Fill the details at Flickr My background website : You need to fill your Twitter account details and validate your Flickr account. Remember to Enable background images ( you do that by going to Profile -> Design - > Background )
P.s - I have tested it and its working great :)
P.p.s - i was the first one to find a bug in this app but now its fixed and ready to rock and roll.
And Voila you are done .Sit back and let others enjoy your backgrounds !
Hello Humanoids . I use my mobile ( N - 73 ME ) to search the web daily and i never use the default browser , the only browser that i use is the Opera Mini , i have been using Opera since past 6 months and am pretty much satisfied with all the features though i have the " con's list " ,but I'll tell you once i test the latest version on my mobile.
Opera Mini users should be pretty happy since Opera has released a latest version of the best browser for mobile - Opera Mini ( version 4.2 beta ) yes its still in beta but its features would tempt you to download it now !
Skins : Personalize Opera Mini by choosing a new colorful skin. We have reintroduced the popular skinning feature from Opera Mini 3.
Performance : Opera Mini 4.2 can use our newly established server park in the US. This means significantly faster page downloads for our users in the Americas and Asia-Pacific region. Users in the rest of the world will also experience faster page downloads since we’ve reduced the load on our other servers.
Video : We are working to make video content available on more phones through Opera Mini. If you have a new Sony-Ericsson or Nokia phone, the chance is high that you can take Opera Mini for a spin on m.youtube.com.
Sync your Notes : The handy Notes functionality from the Opera Desktop Web browser just got more portable through Opera Link. All of your notes are available in Opera Mini directly from the Bookmarks menu.
How do I download Opera Mini 4.2 beta ?
Point your phone’s browser to mini.opera.com/beta to download the beta version of Opera Mini 4.2. The older version will install separately and won't destroy your Opera Mini ( previous version ) data . So feel safe while downloading it .
Hello Humanoids .There have been many cases where websites have enabled Audio version of their posts or you call them as podcast s , where you get to listen to whatever the written post had to say . But most of us don't have audio versions of our posts in our blogs . Why ? Because we generally are better writers than orators , so we stay away from audio version of our posts .
But now with ISpeech , you can embed the audio version of your blog post on your weblog just like a widget or an addon and you don't even have to speak !
So what does ISpeech do ?
ISpeech can convert Documents of various formats to Speech
You can copy and paste text to listen to it in English
You can covert the whole webpage to Speech
You can listen news from high quality and selected news providers
Here is what Killer Startups has to say :
In a nutshell, iSpeech is a web-based solution that will allow you to convert your favorite websites and blogs to audio. A service like this caters for multiple users
. For example, bloggers can easily increase their existing reader base by giving readers the chance to listen to the blog, whereas content providers can easily mobilize digital content and reach a broader audience instantly. Of course, the general public will also find such an approach compelling as they will be able to dispense with sitting in front of the computer to read the news – rather, they can listen to them whenever they desire.
iSpeech has been in development for over 18 months now, and it works in a very straightforward manner – as a matter of fact, you don’t even need to download or install anything. You simply cut and paste what you want to convert into the box that is provided on the site, or upload the files in question. Supported files include Microsoft Word
and Excel documents along with Rich Text Files and RSS news feeds among several others.
You can see this system at work for yourself on the corporate website. Just type in the text you want to hear and away you go. You can also sign up by following the provided link.
I tried converting the whole blog to Speech and bam ! All the tags , titles ,and everything except the post was being spoken about so there is nothing much i could do !
Hello Humanoids . Yahoo messenger is the only software which i have been using for more than 4 years or so and i am still proud to be using it , its pretty exciting to see something like this grow better day by day . Another internet viral web app called " Twitter " is spreading like wildfire each day , its already way too famous.
Some people tend to use Yahoo Messenger and Twitter , but the have problems with maintaining the pace with both of them, but now with Twitter Sync Plugin from WackyB you can get twitter updates on your Yahoo Messenger and Yahoo Messenger updates on Twitter !
Here are the main features of this plugin :
Keeps your Messenger status and Twitter in synchronization with each other
Changing your Yahoo! Messenger status updates your your Twitter automatically
Update your Yahoo! Messenger status from anywhere in the world! Messenger status automatically updates to show your latest Twitter!
See your friends latest Twitters right in your messenger window...
Expanded window shows the last 10 Tweets from you and your friends
Alerts and notifications for new Tweets received
Twitter-Sync will NOT update your status if you are currently Invisible.
Hello Humanoids .It's Time for the traditional "Few things to watch out for " post !
Lets leave aside what shouldn't have happened , lets take a look back at all the positive moments we had and we truly will be proud of October.
So lets take a look at what November has in store for us , and if you are an old reader you should be knowing that this post is a traditional post which has all the scheduled stuff related to Music , Movies and Video Games . Yeah that's hardcore entertainment .
Hello Humanoids . Developers at Youtube are working hard to please their users and the result is positive . According to Youtube : 44 % of their videos are viewed as embedded videos on websites , blog , etc , in other words embedded videos form a huge part in increasing viewership for Youtube . I think they realised the importance and now they have launched few but very important updates or you can call them major updates .
From the Youtube Blog ,the newly added features are :
High-quality start images (thumbnails) – Before you press play on embedded YouTube videos, the thumbnails for the video will be presented in high-quality. We're pleased with the results – let us know if you agree.
Search in embeddable player – At the close of an embedded video, along with the usual recommended videos and URLs, a search box will appear. Not only will you be able search from within the embedded player, you will be able to watch videos through the same window. That's right, you can search all of YouTube from the comfort of your favorite blog, news, or humor page.
Integrated video annotations – Annotations enable video producers to incorporate text information into their videos, create choose your own adventure-style stories or add links to any YouTube video. People watching videos through the embedded player can now join the fun.
Integrated closed captions – Back in August we started allowing video creators to add captions to their videos. Closed Captions are now available in embedded videos like this one:
I am very excited , since i post a video in every two week in the form of an embedded video and now i can make sure my viewers can get all the benefits and all the features of video presentation they get on Youtube's website .
Hello Humanoids . Firefox developers are unimaginably busy , they keep getting updates every week , but hey do this for us ! We all demanded private browsing feature which has recently been implemented in Internet Explorer 8 beta and is embedded ( default) in Google Chrome and now we have private browsing in Firefox .
Lets take a look at some of the features of Firefox 3.1 beta 2 ( Firefox Minefield ) with some screenshots :
Google Reader Icon and link : The Google Reader link has now been added to Firefox , the icon is located at the bottom right of the web browser . The Google Reader icon will lead you to your feeds at once. This feature will be very useful for people who use Google Reader frequently. Here is the screen shot :
Tabs Preview and New Tab Icon : A feature which has been taken form the Opera Speed dial and the new Google Chrome , bu what's different is that the tab preview doesn't open in a new tab , a small window pops up and displays the tabs which are opened . What's great that it includes a Search button and what's bad is that you can't arrange the tabs plus there is no way to close the tabs preview window and you have to click the tabs preview icon to close it and you can't even move the preview window which makes it difficult to read even though the tabs preview window is aero themed .
Another new and a useless feature is The New Tab Icon , its basically just an icon where you click to create a new tab , nothing new .
Private browsing : This feature was totally expected , since its there in every browser present : why would Firefox ignore it ?
To go to Private Browsing : Tools - > Private Browsing .
This will lead you to this window :
Click on Start Private browsing , this will result in restarting of Firefox and and your old tabs will get saved , you can get them back by doing the same old ticking off the Private browsing mode ( in Tools ) .
I don't think there is need to tell you what Private Browsing mode does , so yeah thats all about the new Firefox 3.1 beta 2 ( nightly version )
Firefox Minefield or FF 3.1b2 is fast and i mena lightning fast , maybe because of no extensions , addons and themes . Will be great to see a a public beta release from Mozilla as early as possible .
You can download the Firefox 3.1 b2from here : Remember to click the second last link !
Hello Humanoids . First and foremost , Congratulations to the the people of U.S.A for electing a great president . Lets see how Barack Obama changes the lives of people in America , good luck though .
Twuffer : Twuffer is a Twitter app which allows you to to compose a list of future tweets, and schedule their release.
This aptly-titled Twitter buffer will allow you to compose a list of future tweets, and schedule the date and time they are going to be released. The uses for such an application are many. For instance, you can use Twuffer to deliver milestone and appointment reminders, or to notify subscribers about forthcoming podcast or video episodes. Moreover, you can use it to make announcements on a regular basis, saving time and procedural headaches in the process. Finally, as the site also wryly points, you can use it to “appear to never sleep”.
Have a look at some feature enriching screen shots :
This is the login box , which is on the Home Page , you need to Login with your Twitter Account first .
Hmm now , this the dashboard . You can see if your tweets are queued or sent and remember to sent time zones if you want to avoid bad tweet timings ! The dashboard link shows you how many tweets are left to be sent and what's the next tweet to be sent .
This is the scheduling area , you can set the year , the month and the time in AM And PM , so you won;t have any complaints whatsoever . You can set time via the Now! link .
This is the main thing , just type your scheduled tweet and click on set status and you are all done! You can also tweet the moment you type it , seems fun , right ?
