Almost two weeks ago, I blogged about a contest being put on by The WinVistaClub for finding the best Windows Vista website on the web. And yesterday the winners were officially announced!  

Winner: Tweaking with Vishal

The website Tweaking with Vishal took the crown by a landslide, capturing 32% of the 11, 520 votes. The website is definitely a Vista tour de force with hundreds, dare I say thousands of tips and tricks for customers.  

Congrats to Vishal and all of the finalists. We appreciate your hard work and dedication to spreading the word!

Earlier this week, Apple released iTunes 8 which included some headaches for Windows Vista users (including myself) in the way of blue screens of death. My good friend Ed Bott dug into the situation and discovered what might be causing the issue - it appears to be a problem with a driver that is installed when users also install iTunes 8. Unfortunately iTunes is known for pushing out components that Windows users don't necessarily want.

Fortunately, not all is lost. Due to the uproar from unsatisfied customers, Apple issued an updated version of iTunes 8 that fixes the problem (sort of).  You'll need to uninstall the broken version of ITunes 8 and Apple Mobile Devices support, and then use your Apple Software Updater to reinstall iTunes 8 and get it working the right way. 

Anyways you might be asking why I even installed iTunes in the first place and it's because I am a software fiend and love playing with new software regardless of who it's by. But just so you know - I'm a diehard Zune user myself ;-)

Today we announced 2 new Microsoft LifeCams that will be entering the LifeCam Family - the LifeCam Show and LifeCam VX-5500. We also have something to go along with the new LifeCams that extend the LifeCam experience...

People leave friends and family personalized voice mails or send them emails all the time. What about sending them a customized video message with all the benefits of voice mail and email but with video instead? Today, we're launching Video Messages to do just that!   Video Messages lets users enjoy the combination of what they get with voice mail and email with video to send personalized video messages to friends and family (or whoever they want).

You can visit Windows Live Video Messages at videomessages.live.com.

How about we check out what Windows Live Video Messages is all about?

When users sign into the Windows Live Video Messages website, they will notice it is set up quite a bit like a mailbox is for email. And that's how users should treat their Video Messages - like voicemail but better.

Note: Silverlight is required for Windows Live Video Messages.

On the top left hand corner, users will see

...

A few weeks ago, John Obeto published a very extensive review of HP's 2nd generation TouchSmart PC. The new HP TouchSmart PCs are a follow-up to the 1st generation HP TouchSmart PCs which were released in January of 2007. The 1st generation HP TouchSmart PC was one of the first consumer PCs that took advantage of features in Windows Vista such as Windows Media Center. John's review goes from unboxing and OOBE (Out-Of-Box-Experience) to several testing scenarios. While the HP TouchSmart PC is a consumer PC - John also discusses the "unintended" use of the HP TouchSmart PC for the Small Business.

  

On my recent visit to Disneyland to see the Innoventions Dream Home, I was able to play around with the new 2nd generation HP TouchSmart PC courtesy of HP. At the Innoventions Dream Home, today there is a mixture of 1st generation and 2nd generation HP TouchSmart PCs. HP hopes to replace all the 1st generation HP TouchSmart PCs with the new 2nd generation TouchSmart PCs at the Innoventions Dream Home in the coming months.

So what is the HP TouchSmart PC exactly? It

...

Rock the vote!

No, I'm not talking about race for President of the United States. I'm talking about the slightly less controversial contest currently in swing over at The WinVistaClub for choosing the BEST Windows Vista Website (besides this one!). The contest is designed to highlight community websites that offer extensive and interesting Windows Vista content.

Folks were able to submit what website they thought was the best Windows Vista Website. Then a panel of judges consisting of Steve Sinchak MVP of TweakVista.com , John Barnett MVP of VistaSupport.mvps.org, Steven Bink of Bink.nu, Kerry Brown MVP of VistaHelp.ca, Aryeh Goretsky MVP of Eset.com, James Stables of WindowsVistaMagazine.com, Emil Protalinski of Arstechnica.com, Barney Tormey of Neowin.net, and Anand Khanse of The WinVistaClub voted on the Top 10 Finalists for the Best Windows Vista Website. Now *you* get to choose THE Best Windows Vista out of the Top 10 Finalists. Here they are (in no particular order):

• MintyWhite Windows Guides
• Vista Revisited
• Windows Vista Update
• Windows Vista For Beginners
• Tweaking With Vishal
• MAXIMUMpcguides
• Windows Vista

...

Boxing fans listen up! The Queensberry Fight Network (QFN) will be streaming a series of fights from the UK LIVE on Saturday September 6th, 2008 exclusively to Windows Media Center users in the United States. These fights will be streamed to Windows Media Center users in real-time and is free to anyone in interested. You'll be able to watch the following fights:

• THE WBO SUPER FEATHERWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP- Alex ArthurVS Nicky Cook
• COMMONWEALTH LIGHTWEIGHT TITLE- Amir KhanVS Breidis Prescott
• THE ENGLISH SUPER FEATHERWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP- Femi FehintolaVS Stephen Foster Jr

The Queensberry Fight Network is a UK-based free Windows Media Center channel available with quite a bit of content for boxing fans to enjoy - not only with fights but press conferences and interviews as well.

To add QFN to Windows Media Center, browse to Online Media and Explore. Under Showcase, you will find The Queensberry Fight Network listed as a tile.

When you click on the tile - you will be taken to QFN in Windows Media Center where you will be required to download the free application to enable the QFN channel and its content. When you click the "Download" button you will be asked by

...