Visual Studio 2010 RC Available

By DustinPosted on

Sorry for the lack of updates the past week and a half, I was on a much needed vacation to the Oregon/Washington Coast. It was great! But, I also tried to follow my rule: no work while on vacation. 🙂 So, back to the news!

For you programmers out there, Visual Studio 2010 Release Candidate has been released to MSDN subscribers, with a public release very soon after (February 10th). Check it out if you are a programmer that needs the extra features. Even if you are just a beginner, it’s still fun to play with. Also remember that Microsoft has the Express versions of Visual C#, C++ and Visual Basic. Very handy.

An integrated development environment that simplifies the entire development lifecycle, from design to deployment. Beta 2 comes with a

Zune Phone Rumors

By DustinPosted on

The reports have been flying left and right about Microsoft working on and releasing a new phone based on the Zune, basically, the Zune Phone. With a Zune update and the driver .INF file showing that there is a Zune and a Phone entry as evidence, and a job listed by Microsoft for “working knowledge of cell-phone 2G and 3G technologies” to back it up, it looked promising.

However, Neowin decided to go for some formal acknowledgement from Microsoft themselves. As usual, Microsoft has denied the claims. Although, in this industry, most companies cannot comment on hardware and software that has not been formally announced to the public. So, while it is a denial by Microsoft that a Zune phone exists or is in the works, it isn’t a total shutout. I know I would love to see a Zune phone to combat the iPhone. I prefer the Zune over the iPod any day of the week. I’ve only used the previous versions, but am looking forward to a ZuneHD very soon!

As a related note, Windows Mobile 7, which supposedly sports the Zune interface, is said to be revealed in Barcelona at the Mobile World Congress conference.

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Try Some Older Microsoft OSs

By DustinPosted on

For those that want a blast from the past and want to relive the old Windows 3.1 operating system, or the somewhat newer Windows 2000, these sites are great at recreating the experience for you. Very detailed and a lot of time had to go into these. Definitely brings back memories. A bit of caution, though: The Windows 2000 site is only supposed to work on Internet Explorer. I didn’t do a lot of thorough testing, but it worked alright on Firefox 3.6 for me…

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An Interview With Microsoft

By DustinPosted on

For those that want to work for Microsoft, the interview process is described over at Carson Critique. I’ve heard that some of the questions are pretty wacky, and try to get you to really think (although there are no right or wrong answers).

They stated to dress casually, as that’s how most Microsoft employees dressed. So instead of suiting up in my jacket and tie, I went with a more casual button up and jeans. As I walked up to my interview location, I noticed a good amount of people were in suits (interviewing with other companies), but my recruiter greeted me sporting a casual attire as well, so all was good.

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Airline Says XBox 360 A Security Threat

By DustinPosted on

While I know this is obviously an excuse for mishandling some luggage, it’s not a very good one. At all. If you fly and take your game system with you, you might want to make sure it’s carry on. Even better, ship it UPS to your destination. I can’t wait to see how this pans out!

He is understandably pissed off, and US Airways has essentially told him to piss off because it was done for security reasons. Of course! We all know that if an Xbox 360 is checked, it could be used by the pilots, which would be distracting and dangerous. Only by rendering it inoperable was US Airways able to keep our skies safe. Thanks, you wonderful, sensible airline

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17 Year Old Windows Flaw Still Unpatched

By DustinPosted on

This is somewhat unsettling. A problem with the way Windows handles older applications is still an issue with Windows 7. Sad part is that it’s been an issue since 1993. Come on, Microsoft, get this fixed ASAP! It may have been a problem before, but now that it’s getting more attention, its sure to be exploited a lot more!

“Microsoft isn’t having an easy time of it these days,” said the Heise article. “In addition to the unpatched hole in Internet Explorer, a now published hole in Windows allows users with restricted access to escalate their privileges to system level