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Activate Windows Server 2008 RTM (MSDN Subscriber Downloads version)
This weekend I downloaded and installed Windows Server 2008 RTM from MSDN Subscriber Downloads. I was building a VPC image with that + SQL Server 2005 + TFS 2008 + Team Suite 2008 + Office 2007. Everything installed smoothly, but when I tried to activate Windows Server 2008 I received the following error:

And when I clicked on the “More Information” link, this popped up.

Um, OK. So what’s that supposed to mean? Read more »

Microsoft is releasing its Vista replacement OS dubbed “Windows 7” today. A few months ago the Windows 7 beta was released for a few hours but hordes of early adopters crashed Microsoft’s servers. To remedy that, they extended the beta download period to two weeks. Rather than make the same mistake twice and force the world’s eager users to download the OS in a small Window, the Windows 7 release candidate will be available to download for three months until July. Not only that, the license is valid for more than a year, expiring on June 1, 2010 with no limit on the number of product keys you can obtain. This is a great way to try out Windows 7 for free and really sink your teeth into it with a year-long trial license. The release candidate is one release after the beta, but one release before the final release some time in 2010.

Get the Windows 7 RC and your free Windows key starting today through July and is available in 32-bit and 64-bit editions.

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Think this is impressive? Want to play StarCraft on your PS3 as well? It’s definitely possible. The requirements? You need to take advantage of your PS3’s little known capability to run Linux. Linux you ask? Yes, because that’s the only way to run Windows. Since StarCraft came out way back in the day when Windows 95 was king, that’s all you need to install on top of Linux through an emulation layer. Fortunately, the PS3 has enough horsepower to run Windows 95, even via software emulation, so StarCraft is actually playable. Just imagine it, playing StarCraft on your big screen TV! Read more »

Those with messy and unorganized icons on your desktop now have a way to organize them.  Stardock, known for creating games such as Sins of a Solar Empire and Galactic Civilizations, has released a desktop utility named Fences that lets you draw boundries and labels to categorize icons.  The application is free to use, so I recommend all to give it a try.

Though the application explicitly warns you, double clicking on the desktop while Fences is installed will make all icons fade away.  Double clicking again reverses the process, so do not be alarmed if your icons suddenly disappear.

After hours of zombie killing in Left 4 Dead versus, we are finally ready for valve to release new campaigns for versus.  Not only will this new update add two more campaigns for versus, the update will also introduce a new mode called “survivor.”
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On Microsoft Windows 7’s public beta release timeframe of “afternoon” on Friday last week, Windows 7 was no where to be found. Citing server problems handling the huge number of people trying to download Windows 7 beta to try for free for the first time, Microsofts servers provided a less than ideal download experience. We personally weren’t able to secure the download until Saturday morning when the download was finally available. No word on whether the 2.5 million download cap was hit and no matter. To compensate for the delayed release, Microsoft has chosen to lift the 2.5 million download cap and extend the Windows 7 download for another two weeks until January 24. So if you didn’t get a chance to see what Windows 7 was about, you have two weeks to do so. The download was a 2.44 GB iso file that needs to be burned to DVD.

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Starting sometime in the afternoon today (PST – where Remond is natch), the much anticipated Microsoft Windows 7 operating system will be available for free download on Microsoft’s Windows 7 website. This beta release will be available in 32-bit and 64-bit versions for the first 2.5 million people to download after which it is uncertain if Microsoft will extend the deadline so you better download Microsoft Windows 7 fast if you want to give it a try. If you haven’t checked out any Windows 7 demos yet, you are doing yourself a great disservice. Windows 7 looks to be way more promising than Windows Vista and has a host of innovative new features that you just have to watch in action to know what you’re missing out on in today’s operating systems. If you have Vista-capable hardware, then you can rest assured you have sufficient hardware to support Windows 7.

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According to BBC, the mighty OS from Microsoft that simply refuses to die will be allowed to live for another five months. The original cutoff date of January 31, 2009 will be scrapped and a new one of May 30, 2009 will be adopted instead. This allows OEMs to continue to purchase Microsoft Windows XP licenses up until January 31, but they must wait until May 30 to get them shipped. This is different from the 2010 cutoff period Microsoft set for XP running on ultra mobile computing platforms like the Eee PC.

This annoying bubble message pops up repeatedly when you are low on disk space (under 200MB) and there is no way to disable it through Windows preferences. To eliminate the low disk space warning, you need to dig through you system registry and add a key value that disables it by default. The steps are simple to follow and will only take one minute.

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