Although URGE is pretty exciting, it isn’t the only online music service game in town. To access other services that are compatible with Windows Media Player 11, you have to dig a little bit: Open the Online Services menu (by clicking the small arrow below the URGE button in the Media Player toolbar) and choose Browse All Online Stores. This will present you with options to install support for other services. It isn’t possible to cover them all here, but a few do stand out, described in the following sections.

Audible.com
Audible.com, now owned by Amazon, offers over 40,000 audiobooks and other content, including newspapers. There’s not much Windows Media Player integration here. Basically, what you get is the plain vanilla Audible.com Web page, loaded inside the Media Player. If you’re interested in listening to Audible audiobooks on a portable player, you should ensure that the device is compatible: Audible maintains a useful database of devices that work and can help you download correctly formatted audiobooks.

eMusic
Like Audible, eMusic loads a basic version of its Web site inside Windows Media Player, but eMusic tackles a decidedly different market than Audible. This service focuses on low-cost unprotected MP3 music, and it offers billions of tracks. The catch is that most of these tracks are from no-name independent groups that you’ve probably never heard of. On the other hand, the tracks are cheap. Some eMusic songs can be had for as little as 33 cents. Furthermore, eMusic offers a subscription service—for a monthly fee, you can download a set number of songs.

Movielink
Movielink rents and sells digital video content, including TV shows and movies, both big budget and independent. The selection is somewhat sparse, at least compared to your local Blockbuster, but it’s not horrible. As with other video services, Movielink encodes its films with DRM—in this case, Windows Media DRM, which is completely compatible with Windows Media Player and most Media Player–compatible portable video devices, but not much else. Note that if you do purchase a movie or TV show from Movielink.

MusicGiants
MusicGiants is a high-end music service with a twist: Its songs are all encoded in a perfect, pristine format known as lossless. This type of music is compressed, as are virtually all digital music files, but in a way in which none of the original quality is lost. MusicGiants utilizes the lossless version of Windows Media Audio (WMA) and markets it as High Definition (HD) Music, in order to cash in on the current craze surrounding HDTV. Normally, I wouldn’t recommend purchasing any WMA-encoded music, but because MusicGiant’s tracks are lossless, you can burn them to CD and then re-rip them back to the computer using a more compatible format, such as MP3, without a huge loss in quality. If you’re an audiophile, this is the service for you.

Napster
The predecessor to Napster was the original file-sharing phenomenon and the reason why peer-to-peer (P2P) networking solutions still have such a bad name. The current version of Napster shares only the name with its predecessor, however. Today’s Napster is a more traditional music service, offering both “a la carte” downloads of individual songs and albums and a subscription service that enables you to access any of the company’s millions of songs for as long as you’re paying. A Napster To Go service extends this offer to dozens of compatible portable audio devices. Unlike the other services, Napster requires a small software download, though you’re also free to access the service via your Web browser. Frankly, if you’re new to the online music service market, Amazon.com is the best choice, thanks to its compatibility and Windows Media Player integration; but if you already have an account at Napster or another service, they’re all still available—if somewhat deprecated—in Windows Media Player 11.


You can switch between any of the Media Player–compatible online music services at any time. After you’ve installed and confi gured any of the music services that are available from within Windows Media Player 11, you can simply open the Online Services menu and pick the service you’d like to use. You’ll see an entry for each configured service.

Source of Information : Wiley Windows Vista Secrets SP1 Edition

At a very basic level, online music services all perform the same functions. They provide music for sale (so-called a la carte downloads, whereby you can purchase individual songs or albums) or, in some cases, provide subscription music services, which enable you to access all of the service’s music, on a number of PCs and even portable devices, for a monthly or yearly fee. Music services also typically offer editorial content—ways to discover new music or find out additional information about your favorite artists and albums. They often supply custom playlists, and other content. Amazon MP3, which, as the name suggests, is part of the Amazon.com online retailing site, is actually fairly bare bones, in keeping with Amazon’s policy of keeping things simple. That is, the service is offered only via the Web. There’s no deep integration with Windows Media Player, as was the case with many previous online music services, and there’s no downloadable media management application (though Amazon does offer a very simple PC-based song downloader, as you’ll soon see). What you get is access to millions of unprotected MP3 tracks, either individually or within prepackaged digital albums, using Amazon’s familiar interface.


Accessing Amazon MP3
To see Amazon MP3 in action, open Internet Explorer or your favorite Web browser and navigate to www.amazonmp3.com/. You can browse Amazon MP3 in several ways. The service highlights new and notable albums, top songs and albums, and editor’s pick selections, and you can browse via genre, album price range (there’s a surprisingly good selection of low-cost MP3 albums available), and via a variety of promotions. This being Amazon, of course, one of the best ways to find content is to use the site’s integrated search functionality. If a particular song or album isn’t available digitally, Amazon offers you a chance to purchase it in a more traditional (albeit less instantly gratifying) CD based format.


Purchasing Music from Amazon MP3
When you’ve found an album you might be interested in, you’ll see some surprising niceties. As with more traditional online music stores, Amazon MP3 offers 30-second previews of each song, accessed from directly within the Web browser. Just click the little play button next to any song name. Amazon also offers a wealth of customer reviews, its patented one-click ordering capability, and links to related music, including music that was purchased by people who also purchased the album you’re currently viewing.

To purchase an album, click the button labeled Buy MP3 Album (or Buy MP3 Album with 1-Click). Alternately, you can purchase individual tracks by clicking the Buy MP3 button found next to each track name. Amazon provides a handy Amazon MP3 Downloader application that you can install on your PC, which you’ll be prompted to do the first time you purchase a song or album. This application manages music downloads from the service. More important, it integrates with Windows Media Player (or, if you prefer, Apple iTunes), automatically adding any music you purchase from Amazon MP3 to your Windows Media Player–based media library.

Because it offers some configuration options, you may want to manually download the
Amazon MP3 Downloader before purchasing any music. To do so, navigate to the Amazon MP3 store and click Getting Started. Then locate the link for downloading the Amazon MP3 Downloader and then download and install the application. Next, open the Start Menu and type Amazon MP3 Downloader to manually launch the application. (It will later launch automatically whenever you download music from Amazon.) From this application, select File -> Preferences. In the Media Library section, choose Add It to Windows Media Player from the drop-down list box so that songs downloaded from the service are automatically added to Windows Media Player. Then click OK and you’re good to go.

Now, when you purchase songs or albums from Amazon MP3, you don’t have to worry about any management issues: They’ll be downloaded directly to your Music folder (under an Amazon MP3 subfolder) and added to your Windows Media Player media library. Voilà!

Source of Information : Wiley Windows Vista Secrets SP1 Edition

With Xbox 360 game consoles now found in tens of millions of homes worldwide, Microsoft has found a perfect way to share PC-based music libraries with a device that is probably connected to the best TV display and stereo system in the home. Thankfully, the process is simple:

1. After you’ve confi gured Windows Media Player 11 to share its media library, ensure that your Xbox 360 is connected to the home network, and then turn it on. You will see a Found Windows Media Center Extender balloon window, but you can ignore this for now (unless you’re using your Windows Vista–based machine as a Media Center PC).

2. You will also see a balloon window appear for sharing with the Xbox 360. Doubleclick this icon and click Allow in the resulting dialog box. Alternatively, access the Media Sharing dialog box described earlier and make sure the Xbox 360 is configured to allow sharing.

3. Access your Xbox 360 and navigate to the Media blade. This part of the Xbox 360 user interface enables you to interact with PC-based digital media, connected portable devices (e.g., iPods and other MP3 players), and even external hard drives with stored digital media files. Right now, of course, you are just concerned with sharing media content from a Windows Vista–based PC.

4. To play shared music, select the Music option to display the Music page. Then select the name of your Vista-based computer from the source list on the left. (You’ll also see options such as Console, Current Disk, and Portable Device.) If this is the fi rst time you’ve done this, Xbox 360 will need to download Windows Media Connect, which is the same software many devices use to stream media from Windows Vista–based PCs. After this download is completed, Xbox 360 will automatically connect to PCs that are sharing media libraries. Just select the correct PC from the list to continue. Now you can access your PC’s media library using a simple menu that consists of albums, artists, saved playlists, songs, and genres (see Figure 11-43). Xbox 360 also includes a decent media player for playing back this content.

As you might expect, photos and videos are accessed in a similar manner.

If you attempt to access photos or videos from an Xbox 360 or other Windows Media Connect device and receive a “No photos found,” “No videos found,” or similar message, then you’re not sharing any content of this type. To add photo or video content to Windows Media Player, you can either add it via Windows Photo Gallery or use the Find Media steps to manually search folders that include photo and video content.

The Xbox 360 isn’t the only electronics device that can access digital media content on your Vista-based PC over the home network. A variety of hardware makers, such as D-Link, Linksys, and others, sell so-called digital media receivers, which are simple set-top boxes that bridge the gap between your home stereo and TV and your PC. Sony’s PlayStation 3 (PS3) also offers Xbox 360–like media connectivity functionality, also using Microsoft Windows Media Connect technology. Increasingly, it’s getting easier and easier to access your content regardless of where you are.

Source of Information : Wiley Windows Vista Secrets SP1 Edition

With Xbox 360 game consoles now found in tens of millions of homes worldwide, Microsoft has found a perfect way to share PC-based music libraries with a device that is probably connected to the best TV display and stereo system in the home. Thankfully, the process is simple:

1. After you’ve confi gured Windows Media Player 11 to share its media library, ensure that your Xbox 360 is connected to the home network, and then turn it on. You will see a Found Windows Media Center Extender balloon window, but you can ignore this for now (unless you’re using your Windows Vista–based machine as a Media Center PC).

2. You will also see a balloon window appear for sharing with the Xbox 360. Doubleclick this icon and click Allow in the resulting dialog box. Alternatively, access the Media Sharing dialog box described earlier and make sure the Xbox 360 is configured to allow sharing.

3. Access your Xbox 360 and navigate to the Media blade. This part of the Xbox 360 user interface enables you to interact with PC-based digital media, connected portable devices (e.g., iPods and other MP3 players), and even external hard drives with stored digital media files. Right now, of course, you are just concerned with sharing media content from a Windows Vista–based PC.

4. To play shared music, select the Music option to display the Music page. Then select the name of your Vista-based computer from the source list on the left. (You’ll also see options such as Console, Current Disk, and Portable Device.) If this is the fi rst time you’ve done this, Xbox 360 will need to download Windows Media Connect, which is the same software many devices use to stream media from Windows Vista–based PCs. After this download is completed, Xbox 360 will automatically connect to PCs that are sharing media libraries. Just select the correct PC from the list to continue. Now you can access your PC’s media library using a simple menu that consists of albums, artists, saved playlists, songs, and genres (see Figure 11-43). Xbox 360 also includes a decent media player for playing back this content.

As you might expect, photos and videos are accessed in a similar manner.

If you attempt to access photos or videos from an Xbox 360 or other Windows Media Connect device and receive a “No photos found,” “No videos found,” or similar message, then you’re not sharing any content of this type. To add photo or video content to Windows Media Player, you can either add it via Windows Photo Gallery or use the Find Media steps to manually search folders that include photo and video content.

The Xbox 360 isn’t the only electronics device that can access digital media content on your Vista-based PC over the home network. A variety of hardware makers, such as D-Link, Linksys, and others, sell so-called digital media receivers, which are simple set-top boxes that bridge the gap between your home stereo and TV and your PC. Sony’s PlayStation 3 (PS3) also offers Xbox 360–like media connectivity functionality, also using Microsoft Windows Media Connect technology. Increasingly, it’s getting easier and easier to access your content regardless of where you are.

Source of Information : Wiley Windows Vista Secrets SP1 Edition

Microsoft introduced Windows 7 Version in reaction to statements made by the European government with respect to Internet Explorer. The EU introduced antitrust case against Microsoft to the group of IE with Windows and therefore the exploitation of dominant market position. The government claimed that "the linking of Microsoft Internet Explorer for the Windows operating system harms competition among web browsers, undermines the product innovation and ultimately reduces consumer choice."

Windows 7 version E is a response to this that shows that Microsoft must comply with the law. The E version is without any type of browser and therefore welcomes the European markets with Windows without any type of Internet browser now so they can use any browser of your choice. However, the question remains: HOW? If no browser at all how is it possible to download any web browser?

Microsoft has provided detailed information about installing Windows 7 E on its website. However, the instruction also includes an extra step for customers in Europe with regard to keeping the browser of choice in some external hard drive. Therefore, European customers that Windows 7 will save the web browser on a CD, DVD or USB or other storage media and install the browser once the Windows 7 has been completely installed.

This is a genius step taken by Microsoft, as they show they are following the laws, and to be able to get more revenue by providing additional CD web browser with the operating system.

John James is a professional writer with extensive work experience in the development of web services industry. The author has written several useful and informative articles on various topics related to IT and computer Tech Support.

Press Ctrl-Shift-Esc. A window opens and presents you with six tabs. As most Windows administrators already know, you’ve just opened the Windows Task Manager, which presents a graphical display of open programs, processes, and services that are currently running on your computer. It’s been available for many years on various Windows operating systems, and has now been updated with a few new features for the release of Vista.



The Applications tab
The Applications tab is one of the simpler tabs visually; it displays a list of any open applications in alphabetical order, and it includes a Status column to indicate whether the application is running or, worse, not responding.

The following three buttons appear at the bottom of the Applications tab:

End Task. This is the most commonly used command on the Applications tab, and it’s used for just what the button name suggests.

Switch To. This button can act as the equivalent of Windows Flip or Windows Flip 3D.
Simply select the application in the program list and click the Switch To button.
The selected app becomes active.

New Task. This lets you launch a new application using a dialog box called, appropriately, Create New Task, which looks and behaves exactly like the Run dialog box.

Recovering a frozen application. One of the main reasons you’d visit the Applications tab during the course of troubleshooting is to close an application that has stopped responding. The click-steps are minimal, and they have not really changed in this iteration of the Task Manager.

Here’s what to do:

1. Open the Task Manager. Either use the keyboard shortcut introduced previously
(Ctrl-Shift-Esc), or right-click the taskbar and choose Task Manager from the context menu.

2. Choose the Applications tab. The Applications tab is the default, but note that the Task Manager always opens with the previously selected tab.

3. Select the program with a Status of Not Responding, and then click the End Task button.

Note that you usually will not get any kind of confirmation before the application closes when you’re using this technique. Also, it’s usually a good idea to give the frozen application a minute or two to try to resolve the issue on its own, because closing a program in this way will cause any unsaved changes to be lost.

Troubleshooting a frozen application. OK, you know how to close an application that’s frozen, but wouldn’t it be even better if the Task Manager could help you figure out why the application froze in the first place?

Guess what: it’s time to point out one of the new features of Vista’s Task Manager.
You now have the ability to create a dump file for a specific application that’s frozen. You can then use this dump information in a debugging application to determine the root cause of the problem. To create a dump file for a frozen app, just right-click it from the Applications tab and select Create Dump File from the context menu. When the procedure completes.

This will help you retrieve the dump file for later parsing in the debugging app of your choosing. Naturally, interpreting debugging files is something of an art unto itself, and it requires a good understanding of the various operating system mechanisms that govern how data is used and executed. You can find more information on how to use Windows debugging tools at: http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/devtools/debugging/debugstart.mspx



The Processes tab
One of the improvements on the Processes tab is the ability to access the properties of a particular process. To do so, just right-click the process and choose Properties from the context menu. The nice thing about accessing properties for a process is that you can set specific compatibility options for an application’s process. Try this if you can’t get a program to run as well as you’d like.

Setting processor affinity. Another helpful task that you can perform from the Processes tab is setting processor affinity for a particular process. Setting processor affinity should not be a task you perform regularly, but it can be especially helpful in optimizing performance in Vista systems that are running either two processors or single processors with a dual core (Intel’s Core 2 Duo, for instance).

To set processor affinity, right-click the process on the Processes tab and choose Set Processor Affinity from the context menu.

Troubleshooting excessive CPU usage. One of the biggest benefits of the Processes tab is the ability to see how much processing horsepower a particular process is using. Obviously, a process that is taking between 50 and 100 percent of the processing cycles is most likely going to cause problems for anything else running on the system.

Vista tries its best to manage processing time so that all apps and background processes get their instructions processed, but often you’ll notice an app hogging more than its share.

Sometimes it’s easy to tell where the problem lies—the application’s process is taking up a lot of time; killing the process fixes the problem. But at other times, the problem is with related processes such as svchost.exe. Services such as these can sometimes be responsible for hosting multiple child processes, and killing the svchost.exe process can cause a lot of cascading problems.

In this case, two different tools can help. One, of course, is the Task Manager. The other is the Tasklist command, which you can run from the Command Prompt. With these two tools in hand, Vista administrators can quickly pinpoint the problem and correct it.



The Services tab
Similar to the Processes tab, the Services tab lists all services currently running on the computer and lets you sort them according to column headings. You can use the Status column to quickly locate a service that is not running. The Services button on the bottom launches the Services MMC console, which is the same as launching services.msc from the Start menu.



The Performance tab
The Performance tab provides a quick peek into Vista system performance, listing several critical performance parameters and a graph of CPU and processor usage. As Here are a few things to look for:

A flat memory graph. A flat Physical Memory Usage History graph means that open applications aren’t continuously asking for more system memory, also known as a memory leak. A graph that looks like a ramp will lead to poor performance as other applications fight for remaining memory.

The amount of free physical memory As the value approaches zero, memory is running low. You might want to close an application or two, especially one that’s using large amounts of memory.

The physical memory cached. If the value is less than half of the total available memory, Vista is having trouble storing recently used information in memory. Again, the solution here is to close applications you aren’t actively using. Vista gives up some of the system cache when it needs RAM, so closing the programs should alleviate this problem by reducing the demand for RAM.



The Networking tab
The Networking tab provides another graphical representation of performance, this time on the network adapters on your system. On a desktop computer, you might see only one adapter. On a laptop, three (or more) network connections may be displayed: a local area connection, a wireless network connection, and a Bluetooth network connection. The information here will help administrators determine whether a networking connection is being stressed. Such a circumstance would be very rare, and you could address it by disabling the network connection before determining the root cause (i.e., what’s sending all that traffic).



The Users tab
The Users tab is not new to Windows Vista, and it’s used for the same purposes as it was in Windows XP. With the Users tab, administrators can see who is currently logged on or otherwise connected to the Vista machine, and can force such users to either disconnect or log off. You can also send messages to the other users displayed on this tab. It’s often a good idea to send a message to a user before forcibly disconnecting him. This allows the user to close any open work in an orderly fashion rather than risk losing data when the connection is abruptly terminated.

Source of Information : OReilly Windows Vista Administration The Definitive Guide