Despite no announcement being made on UltimatePC.com, Microsoft have released a new sound scheme and a content pack for Windows DreamScene as part of its Windows Vista Ultimate Extras offerings for customers who purchased the Ultimate edition of Vista.

After installing the sound pack customers get Ultimate Extras Pearl and Glass sound schemes and additional Windows DreamScene Content.

For those who have been waiting for Ultimate Extras perhaps this is a sign that more is to come from the software giant.


Via [Neowin]

We're excited about the progress we've made with Windows Vista Service Pack 1.  On March 18th, Windows Vista SP1 was made available for customers who chose to manually download and install it from the Microsoft Download Center or Windows Update in English, French, German, Spanish, and Japanese.  Last week, we made the remaining languages available - giving WU users the ability to download and install Windows Vista Service Pack in any of 36 supported languages.  Today, we're happy to announce that we are beginning automatic distribution of SP1 in English, French, German, Spanish, and Japanese. 

So what does this mean? Over the next few months Microsoft will automatically distribute Windows Vista SP1 to PCs that have automatic updates turned on (Learn how to turn on automatic updating) and running English, French, German, Spanish, or Japanese via Windows Update. Automatic distribution will only occur, according to user settings, on PCs ready for SP1. After Windows Vista SP1 downloads, WU will let you know that "new updates are available." You'll then be asked to make a few clicks before the installation of SP1 will begin. 

While we're beginning automatic distribution today, you might not see it right away since

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Hi, FolderShare friends,
There’s a new version of FolderShare for Windows that’s designed to help improve security and reliability. To bring as many people as possible up to date, we’ll start prompting users to upgrade this week. When the time comes, you won’t be able to sign in until you update. We understand this process may cause some inconvenience, so we strongly encourage you to get a head start and install the new version today.
Thanks for your patience as we get FolderShare into even better shape!
Link: FolderShare Team Blog

Picture this: You’re a developer who frequently writes console applications. Each day after work you go home and head to bed, you close your eyes and burnt into the darkness is the ever so familiar output of command prompt jargon.
Does the above sound like you? Sick of screen-burn in your eyes?
Well Microsoft have answered your call to give your eyes a rest

Introducing the “Consolas” font Microsoft developed specifically for developers!!

“When we began work on a project to create a new set of fonts which would take maximum advantage of ClearType, we decided to develop a fixed-pitch font for developers - because no one ever thought of their needs, and we realized a highly-readable fixed-width font would make their lives a lot easier…
…The Windows International fonts team is also working on another version that’ll support Vietnamese, and also the line draw characters that we made to support the console window.”

 

See for yourself-This image (as shown on IE blog is of the standard 8 x 12Px Raster font used by default in CMD.exe

Compare this to the Consolas type fonts:

You

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Not anyone can say they received some Ultimate Extras for a birthday present. Yesterday of course was my birthday and the day a new wave of extras was released, included is the third pack of DreamScenes as well as two new Windows sound schemes.

You probably all know where I stand on the Ultimate Extras program as a whole, if you don’t, basically I think it’s a great idea off the rails. Having said that I think it’s pretty unique and frankly quite cool. Maybe not “I forgive you for Ultimate Extras” cool, but certainly something worth some value. Of course I’m talking about the two new sound schemes called “Glass” and “Pearl”.

I composed this short comparison between the new sound schemes and the original. Note this is only a fraction of all the sounds which replace not all but most of the existing Windows sounds.

As you probably noticed these sounds are significantly different to the default and are actually very viable alternatives. There’s actually a pretty interesting and thorough story about the sounds on the UltimatePC.com website.

Some people have called this a

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As far as getting the habit of frequently changing themes, you cannot help but wonder if they would be a cause for occasional slowdowns of computers whenever they are in use. One thing we can note is the fact that they eat resources.

Unlike in the early days when you can simply change your desktop with standard themes, the new themes we use in Windows XP and Vista need larger resources. They are enhancements for people who want their computer to look unique and ideal to their eyes each time that they use them. For others however, the only important thing is being able to use your computer and get the work you need done.

For some, it may not matter. New computer specifications today allow them to enjoy the same speed and output although it may defeat the purpose of being faster when it comes to processing and resources used. Some would point towards the way of new operating system needs that slow down a computer and adding new Windows themes only aggravates it as well.

With these things in mind, we cannot avoid using some themes at some point. Perhaps

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