The basic idea: What if I could search my own computer as easily as I can search the web? Then I could find an email or a Word document, even a PDF document, or a previously-viewed web page, or all of those on my own computer in an instant, just by entering a few words of text that I think might be in the document or in its name.

Enter Google Desktop (GD). I discovered this a year or two ago, when I was running Windows XP, and thought it was slicker than sliced bread. Well, almost, and certainly better than anything that Microsoft offered. It didn’t work exactly right - sometimes I would click on a result and nothing would come up - but at least it did seem to find everything.

Except WordPerfect documents. I use WordPerfect and certainly prefer it to Microsoft Word, but the documents apparently have a unique format and are not correctly indexed by GD or by Microsoft’s Vista indexing software. No surprise that Microsoft would deliberately omit WordPerfect, because they have been trying to bury it with Word for years (with obvious success),…

The long-awaited first Crysis patch is finally released for the masses.

Finally it is out! The long awaited Patch 1.1 for Crysis is available for download! The 140MB sized file can be downloaded from one of the sources further below. The patch mainly addresses the performance of Crysis. Additionally it includes quite a few bug fixes and tweaks for the Multiplayer part to provide a more balanced gameplay.
Please find here the complete change log:
Fixes:
* Fixed: Potential crash in D3D10
* Fixed: Orange boxes apearing when hispec savegame loaded into lowspec game.
* Fixed: Inconsistent damage dealt to vehicles when shot by LAW.
* Fixed: Reflection resolution on D3D10, MultiGPU reflection update fix
* Fixed: Memory leak with FSAA modes
* Fixed: Infinite ammo hacks.
* Fixed: Memory leak in D3D10 when switching screen modes
* Fixed: Muti optimizations
* Fixed: When player melees during gun raise animation, their gun will be in a
permanently raised

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A new boot record rootkit in the wild has the potential to bring Windows Vista down to its knees. Despite having applauded Windows Vista throughout 2007 as the most secure Windows operating system on the market, the latest Microsoft client still has some problems involving write-access to raw disk sectors. In this context, in early January 2008, GMER revealed that at the end of 2007 a new stealth MBR rootkit was detected in the wild, which could compromise Windows Vista.

“Unfortunately, all the Windows NT family (including VISTA) still have the same security flaw MBR can be modified from usermode. Nevertheless, MS blocked write-access to disk sectors from userland code on VISTA after the pagefile attack, however, the first sectors of disk are still unprotected”, the GMER member explained. “At the end of 2007 stealth MBR rootkit was discovered by MR Team members and it looks like this way of affecting NT systems could be more common in near future if MBR stays unprotected.” (more…)

As part of Microsoft’s routine, monthly security update cycle, today they released two new security bulletins that affects Windows system.
Note: There may be latency issues due to replication, if the page does not display keep refreshing.

Critical

• MS08-001 - Vulnerabilities in Windows TCP/IP Could Allow Remote Code Execution (941644)

Important

• MS08-002 - Vulnerability in LSASS Could Allow Local Elevation of Privilege (943485)

Microsoft also released Non-Security, High-Priority Updates on MU, WU, and WSUS:
- Five non-security, high-priority updates on Microsoft Update (MU) and Windows Server Update Services (WSUS).
- Two non-security, high-priority updates for Windows on Windows Update (WU) and WSUS.

Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool
Microsoft has released an updated version of the Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool on Windows Update, Microsoft Update, Windows Server Update Services, and the Download Center.

References:
January 2008 Security Bulletin Summary: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms08-jan.mspx
Security Bulletin for end-users: http://www.microsoft.com/protect/computer/updates/bulletins/200801.mspx
MSRC Blog: http://blogs.technet.com/msrc/archive/2008/01/08/january-2008-monthly-release.aspx

Support:
Call 1-866-PCSAFETY. There is no charge for support calls that are associated with security updates. International users should go to http://support.microsoft.com/common/international.aspx

Security Bulletin Webcast:
Microsoft will host a Webcast tomorrow. The webcast

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If like me you are a Firefox fan you might be interested in trying a Theme called miniFox. The idea is it shrinks everything it can, including the Tool, Title bar and menus, as small as they will go, and still remain useable, freeing up more space for web pages. It’s quick and easy to install, and of course, like all of the best things in life, it is absolutely free, and if you don’t like it, just go to Tools > Add Ons and select the Themes tab.

As you undoubtedly know by now, Windows Vista brought to the table DirectX 10. Microsoft failed to make DirectX 10 available for Windows XP, arguing that it would have to introduce extensive changes to the core of the operating system, in order to accommodate the new graphics technology. In this context, Vista became the vessel for DirectX 10, because despite various promises from third-parties to artificially backport DirectX 10 for Windows XP, the latest Windows client remains the sole way to access the superset of DirectX 9.x.

Microsoft touted a healthy increase in gaming and multimedia quality with DirectX 10 as an integer part of Vista’s architecture, but with the vast majority of users still running Windows XP, digital content is largely focused on Vista’s predecessor. The Redmond company was in fact
criticized by both content producers and end users for its decision to make DirectX 10 Vista exclusive, but the barrage of fire failed to deter Microsoft from its tracks. Moreover, in the first quarter of this year, Windows Vista SP1 will deliver DirectX 10.1. (more…)