RejZoR's little secrets

This time around, i've decided to leave beta and RC builds alone and grab Windows 7 in final stage.
And so i've installed it yesterday on my netbook and PC. And first impression is really good. I mean really really good. I was happy with Vista, but this thing is even better. Not much from functionality part, but more like an polished version of Vista.

Installation went pretty fast for both, DVD installation and USB installation for netbook.
I've used this tool called WinToFlash (http://wintoflash.com) to make bootable Windows 7 USB drive.
Lexar Lightning II 4GB drive was used. No problems at all!

There were loads of drivers already detected during installation and many during Windows Update check.
I guess Microsoft was trying even harder to provide all the needed drivers for as painless install as possible. No problems with drivers later. Other vendors were prepared for Windows 7 as well.

Interface isn't significantly different, but it's giving a warm good feeling of something new. Everything is transparent, glowing, really pleasant for my eyes. I'm still missing funky animations from hardware accelerated version of Ubuntu's interface, but that might get in the way after initial fun. Still, Microsoft has done a good job with interface.
Especially taskbar. At first i thought it's thickness will get in the way, but it doesn't. Not even on small netbook's screen. And there is bunch of small details that really make Windows 7 interface unique. In Vista, sure, Aero Glass was nice, but it had that feeling of blending Windows XP with transparency. Windows 7 interface doesn't look anything like it. Just like i said, it's all in fine details.

Performance is another impressive part. I have my system fast enough for any OS, but the fact that Windows 7 runs beautifully on ACER Aspire One with all eye candy enabled is impressive by itself.
I haven't tried games yet, but programs work really well. What's interesting is also the fact that my system is cooler with Windows 7 for some reason. It might be a fluke, but CoreTemp is showing 2 to sometimes even 3 degrees lower temperatures of my CPU in idle or casual desktop usage (browsing and foobar2k). Nothing scientifically confirmed though, it just caught my eye.

I'll have to test games, but i think the results will be just as impressive as everything else so far.

PCTools company released a new version of their award winning behavior detection system ThreatFire.
I've been tracking the progress of this program since it's early days. Back then it was called Cyberhawk and it was really effective without need for signature updates. This hasn't changed. In fact, it has only improved. And best of all, it's free for personal usage (for home usage).

The biggest new feature in version 4.6 is full 64bit support. Yes, this means that you can install ThreatFire on any 32bit or 64bit Windows operating system. They've also added full Windows 7 support.

ThreatFire is excellent additional layer of protection along your existing antivirus.
Pair ThreatFire with avast! or AVIRA and you'll have outstanding protection for free.
But you can use ThreatFire with any other security program.

Microsoft has today opened a beta program for their free antimalware software.
It's very easy to use as it doesn't really have any settings. So, a great thing for novice users.
Detection itself still needs some improvements, but in general even competitor have a positive thoughts about MSE package and its scan engine. Only thing thats bothering me is ultra slow scanning.
avast! and AVIRA scan files way faster. But since it's beta, there is still time for that.
If you want to try it out, click on the link below. It's available for 32bit Windows XP and 32bit/64bit for Windows Vista and Windows 7.

LINK:
http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials

Second Service Pack for Windows Vista is now in final state (final version or RTM - Released to Manufacturers). In general SP2 mostly offers improved stability, performance, new features (BluRay burning), better hardware support (Bluetooth 3.0) and many more things under the hood.

Since i don't have enough space to host the packages, i will link to NGO HQ webpage where they host both, 32bit and 64bit versions of Service Pack 2 for Vista. They are cool guys, so check their page a bit while you're at it.

Installation on my system was very fast (i don't think it even took 30 minutes) and so far it's working very well.

Windows Vista Service Pack 2 (32bit and 64bit version):
http://www.ngohq.com/news/15848-windows-vista-service-pack-2-final.html

Have you ever come to a point where Windows displayed folders view in the most awkward possible way even though that was the last thing you ever wanted?
Like each folder under it's own letter category, My Computer drives listed in Small icons view instead "Tiles" view and all sorts of other weird stuff. I did and i also made a cure for it. It's a simpel REG file that restores ALL folders view back to system default. So when folders don't look right anymore, just run this file and everything should get back to normal. Designed for Windows Vista 32bit and 64bit but should also work in Windows XP (though not tested).

DOWNLOAD VISTA RESET FOLDERS VIEW FIX:
reset_vista_folders.zip