Freshpilot: Posts in the Microsoft/Windows category

Posts in the Microsoft/Windows category:

Tags:

Apple/Mac, Linux, Microsoft/Windows, Software

IM-client Gaim is now known as Pidgin

The multi-protocol instant messaging client Gaim is from now on known as Pidgin after legal issues with AOL (the same company that made them switch names two times before as well).

If you wonder what a Pidgin is Wikipedia says:

“A pidgin, or contact language, is the name given to any language created, usually spontaneously, out of two or more languages as a means of communication between speakers of different tongues, and usually a simplified form of one of the languages. Pidgins have simplified grammars and few synonyms, serving as auxiliary contact languages. They are learned as second languages rather than natively.”

Gaim.. sorry, Pidgin, is a sweet piece of free software running on Linux, BSD, MacOS X and Windows which can connect to multiple AIM, ICQ, MSN Messenger, Yahoo!, IRC, Jabber, Gadu-Gadu, SILC, Novell GroupWise Messenger, Lotus Sametime, and Zephyr accounts at the same time. Try it if you haven’t already – the 2.0 version will be released sometime this week.

www.pidgin.im

Posted by TG April 10th 2007 | Leave a comment » | Link to this post

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Entertainment, Gaming, Microsoft/Windows

Instant Messaging + KB for Xbox 360

Oh yeah, there seems to be a whole lot of goodies in the Xbox 360 Spring Update set for launch on May 8th. First of all Microsoft is bringing LIVE to your precious console, allowing you to chat with your buddies through instant messaging either by itself or by having the chat dialogs shown overlayed while you play games or watch movies. Since chatting using the onscreen keyboard would be a serious pain in the ass they’ve presented this hardware QWERTY-keyboard to snap between the “horns” on your controller.

Read the rest of the Spring Update 2007-features (including stuff like automatic power off when the downloads are done and new progressive video controls) from the press release below:

Posted by TG April 9th 2007 | Leave a comment » | Link to this post

Tags:

Gaming, Microsoft/Windows

Xbox 360 Elite available on pre-order

Circuit City takes the lead and becomes the first retailer to accept pre-orders of the black and HDMI-enabled Xbox 360 Elite. The price is set to $479.99 as expected, and the release date is still April 29th.

Circuit City: Xbox 360™ Elite ($479.99)

(Via Engadget)

Posted by TG April 1st 2007 | Leave a comment » | Link to this post

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Apple/Mac, Microsoft/Windows, Software

Boot Camp 1.2 is 32-bit Vista friendly

Attention dual-booters: Apple released an update for the public (and free) beta of Boot Camp on Wednesday, an update focusing on improving the 32-bit Windows Vista experience on Intel Macs.

With this version you get a tool called Apple Software Update helping you install and update suitable drivers inside Vista, better keyboard support for nordic and asian languages, support for the Apple Remote in both Windows Media Player and iTunes and a new system tray application for easy access to common actions and information.

Apple.com: Boot Camp ($0)

Posted by TG March 29th 2007 | Leave a comment » | Link to this post

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Entertainment, Gadgets, Gaming, Microsoft/Windows

It’s official: Video of black Xbox 360 Elite

It’s official, Microsoft will launch the black Xbox 360 Elite on April 29th in the US/Canada and it’s yours for $479.99.

While it features HDMI (cable included) and 120GB of storage there’s no HD DVD, apparently to keep the price down. A separate (and of course black) HD DVD drive will available for $179.99 though.

See a video of it after the jump:

Posted by TG March 28th 2007 | Leave a comment » | Link to this post

Tags:

Audio, Gadgets, Microsoft/Windows, MP3

Pink Zunes available May 1st

Remember when Microsoft released a hundred pink Zunes as a special limited edition and people bought them on eBay for $1000 or so? Well, I’d hate to be one of those right now – pink Zunes will be available for the public May 1st.

Same price ($250), same DRM, same restricted Zune-to-Zune service.

(Via Gadget Lab)

Posted by TG March 23rd 2007 | Leave a comment » | Link to this post

Tags:

Microsoft/Windows

You want a cold Microsoft soda?

Microsoft Soda

Imagine a really hot summer day, you’re kicking back, ready to relax.. shouting (in a loving way) to your better half to grab you a cold one from the fridge, and she brings you.. a lukewarm Microsoft soda.

These genuine Microsoft soda cans were handed out for free in the Microsoft conference center’s lobby. Rumor has it that they contain pure evil, but that’s not verified yet.

(Via Crave)

Posted by TG March 11th 2007 | 1 comment » | Link to this post

Tags:

Gaming, Microsoft/Windows, Software

DirectX 9 vs Vista’s DirectX 10

DirectX 10 is a Vista-exclusive-feature, but is it worth the cost of upgrading from your regular XP install with DirectX 9? Gizmodo put a couple of screenshots together comparing screens from the same game using the two different versions so you can decide yourself (the difference is bigger than I expected actually).

Gizmodo: DirectX comparison

Posted by TG March 10th 2007 | Leave a comment » | Link to this post

Tags:

Gaming, Microsoft/Windows

Gears of War coming to PC?

A PC version of Gears of War is to be expected. Yeah well, at least if we choose to believe Epic Games spokesman Mark Rein. He recently told The Inquirer that the game that persuaded so many people to become Xbox 360 owners might just pop up on the PC shelves. Conveniently enough he left out any facts on exactly when we can expect it.