Will your new computer be able to play an MKV file?

I was reading this article “How 4 Microsoft engineers proved that the “darknet” would defeat DRM” on how they were “attacked” for saying the truth. But what amazed me is a reader’s comment that the editor has also highlighted (that’s the quality of Ars Technica…). I copy parts of it:

What good is piracy if you can’t buy a computer that will execute your booty?

That’s the real problem. Yeah, it is impossible to make 100% of DRMed endpoints exfiltration-proof. However, your ability to make 95%+ of endpoints increasingly hostile to anything lacking a trusted DRM signature is constrained only by customer hostility, not by any technological barrier…

I totally agree. The millions of consumers that buy mainstream hardware and use mainstream software will find it really hard to use pirated material.

The issue of “monitoring” internet connections at home and businesses by organizations and copyright holders will be on another post…

Does a Mac need protection?

It is a long discussion for the last twenty years: Windows need constant maintenance and security software – Macs don’t have these problems. Until recently where thousands of Mac users realized that things are more complicated than presented by marketing gurus and Apple understood that its carpet has accumulated a lot of hidden issues. The “totally secure” trend has mainly changed due to the huge increase of sales of Apple hardware. But wasn;t this the reason of the Windows problems? Hundreds of millions of uneducated users and a legion of smart guys trying to rip them off?

TUAW posted this: Securing Your Mac – A Guide for Reasonable People, Version 1.0

They put a lot of attention on backup. Perfect! But, the funny thing is here:

Do You Need Anti-Malware Software for Mac today?

My answer is no. Is it possible that at some point in the future, Mac OS X users will need to run real-time anti-virus and/or anti-spyware software? Yes. It is likely? No. Mac security software has not shown itself capable of catching new attacks in real-time, and there are not many attacks to be protected against.

So, why do you need tools like this?

The folks at CIRCL (Computer Incident Response Center Luxembourg) created a free tool to detect when something has been added to the automatic launch settings for OS X. You can download it at http://www.circl.lu/pub/tr-08/ and it will give you an alert whenever something is added to one of those folders.

They still can’t realize that the world has changed. We are not in the 80s with viruses (on diskettes only) easily counted with your ten fingers…

Nokia Lumia 920 – Do you really know what it does?

I’m copying from Nokia’s site some of the innovations and other facts for the Lumia 920 smartphone. Besides the new features that all Windows Phone 8 smartphones have and the custom Nokia apps for music, navigation, etc., Nokia has taken care of some extra “details”.

Pentaband LTE support – Nokia has led the way when it comes to pentaband 3G radios in its phones, so it was a natural progression to build the world’s first smartphone with pentaband LTE. This means you’ll be able to use LTE, which is capable of speeds up to ten times faster than traditional 3G networks, with more carriers, in even more places around the world.

Super sensitive touch – Maybe it’s not surprising when you consider Finland’s sub zero winters, but the Nokia Lumia 920 is also the first smartphone to have a touchscreen so sensitive, you can operate it with gloves, mittens, nails and even certain pens. This new super sensitive touch technology is the biggest leap forward for capacitive touchscreens since multi-touch gestures were introduced. It’s also worth noting that this super sensitivity doesn’t make the screen any more fragile, affect the water resistance, or increase the likelihood of coins or keys in your pocket accidentally making calls on your behalf.

Optical Image Stabilization – The Nokia Lumia 920 is the first ever smartphone globally available with Optical Image Stabilization. Thanks to a camera module pairing both sensor and lens-based optical IS, still images and HD video captured with the Lumia 920 will be steady, even if your video shooting hand isn’t.

60 FPS HD display refresh rate – The Nokia Lumia 920’s PureMotion HD+ is the latest technology advancement in smartphone displays. We’ve already talked about its sensitivity, but it’s also one of the brightest and most pixel dense displays out there. What’s more, it’s the first smartphone in the world to deliver a full 60 frames-per-second (FPS) without any blurring. This means no more lag or pixelated video and ghost images appearing as your screen moves. Thanks to an IPS type LCD display, which is given a higher voltage difference when changing states, you’ll enjoy a clean transition from frame to frame, even when operating at top speeds.

Integrated wireless charging – The Nokia Lumia 920 is the first integrated wireless charging smartphone, available worldwide, with the technology built right into the handset. Compatible with the Qi wireless standard, the Lumia 920 not only uses a wide selection of Nokia wireless charging accessories, but can be charged anywhere using Qi, such as the Virgin Atlantic lounge in London’s Heathrow airport.

Zirconium camera deco and side buttons – The camera decoration and side buttons are made from an incredibly hard substance called zirconium. Both scratch and dirt resistant, it ensures your Nokia Lumia 920 looks great for even longer.

NFC integrated into wireless charging stand – If you’re using the Lumia 920’s wireless charging stand, you can use your favourite applications while it’s powering up. Simply tap your phone with the NFC logo in the wireless charging stand and the application will start.

Higher-powered Dual-LED flash

Personal music equalizer – There are eighteen presets available, but you can also create your very own settings.

Surface with Windows 8 Pro is coming…


Microsoft announced that Surface with Windows 8 Pro will available in January 2013 in two versions: 64GB at $899 and 128GB at $999. It’s obvious that we will need the more expensive one…

The good news now:

  • The new Surface Pro will include a Surface pen with Palm Block technology that prevents your handwriting from getting interrupted if you accidently place your palm on the screen as you write.
  • As with the RT version Touch Covers and Type Covers will be sold separately.
  • Dark Titanium VaporMg casing.
  • Dual 2×2 MIMO antennas.
  • Intel’s third generation Core i5 processor.
  • 10.6” 16:9 ClearType display at 1920×1080 full HD resolution.
  • A full-size USB 3.0 port.
  • A mini DisplayPort can drive an external display up to 2560X1440 resolution.
  • Surface Pro will run all current Windows 7 desktop applications plus the metro Modern UI apps.
  • Less than two pounds and less than 14 millimeters thick.

The only drawback till now seems to be the battery life which, according to a twitter post and some calculations based on Surface RT, will be about 4 hours. We have to wait until January to find out if this is true. If it is so, then its usability is less than expected. We want it thin, but we also want it to run for a day…

Is Microsoft finding its pace again?

A few facts from the latest Microsoft’s shareholder meeting. Things are probably different than presented by part of the media industry (and the stock brokers who control the information)…

  • In the first month of availability, 40 million Windows 8 licenses were sold.
  • Windows Phone 8 is available for a few weeks with only a couple of devices in some markets and is selling 4 times more phones than last year.
  • Xbox sold more than 750,000 consoles in US during the Black Friday sales while there was a major launch by Wii U.
  • Several Windows 8 “metro” apps have passed the 1 million downloads mark.
  • There are already 1,500 certified Windows 8 PCs – most of them haven’t reached the market yet.
  • Windows Phone Store has more than 120,000 apps, and soon 46 of the top 50 apps that people use will be available. I think it’s enough to start with…
  • Halo 4: record setting $220 million opening!
  • Outlook.com has reached 25 million active users in less than four months since its availability.

Windows Azure Security Best Practices for Developers

Cloud computing is considered to be safe. But as with everything in technology, a solution is as safe as its weakest link. Bruce Kyle at Microsoft has written a series or articles on Windows Azure security especially for developers. As he explains:

A series of articles about the challenges in designing your software and what you can do in your software to insure access to those who should have access and prevent access those who do not. The intent of this series is to provide a context for you to learn more and empower you to write great applications for the public cloud.

Here are links to the articles:

Hyper-V Survival Guide: everything you want to know on virtualization!

At Technet I found this huge list that seems to be updated frequently with more material.  I copy it also here but it’s better to subscribe to the direct RSS link to get all new additions: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/hyper-v-survival-guide/rss.aspx

Hyper-V: Survival Guide

For organization ideas, and other important links, see:

Microsoft Virtualization Community, because virtualization at Microsoft involves a lot more than Hyper-V.


Planning


Deploying


Managing


Optimizing

Video


Troubleshooting

Podcast

Blogs

Forums

Twitter


Tools


Miscellaneous


Related Products


See Also