Paul Smith's Blog

By default Windows 7 no longer shows the Recent Items list in the Start Menu by default. Instead it prefers to use the Jump lists, for example Windows Explorer will show recent folders etc, Windows Media Player will show frequent or recent albums played etc. But you can still enable the Recent Items list if you're being nostalgic. Right-click on the Start Menu Select Properties from the menu, this will open the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties window Select Customize....

It looks like Microsoft and the European Commission have come to an agreement where Windows 7, instead of being browserless, will include a ballot screen to select any web browsers to install. While this will be less annoying than going and finding a copy of Internet Explorer, it certainly raises other concerns. For starters, which browsers will be included on the ballot screen, and how will any selection be made? Doesn't this move even more anti-competitive?...

Disgusting, absolutely disgusting. Not happy with ruining the Earth, the advertising industry now looks to expand into space. A new company is looking to sell advertising on the Moon, by using robots to carve out patterns in the lunar regolith. Bidding starts at $46,000. Their website claims "twelve billion eyeballs looking at your logo in the sky for several days every month for the next several thousand years". Well for starters it's a little grim they expect humanity to only be around for several thousand years....

Microsoft has announced that Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 have now been released to manufacturing. This means that MSDN and Technet subscribers will be able to get their hands on a copy from August the 6th, Volume Licence customers from the 7th of August and Microsoft Partner Program members can get it from the 16th, Action Pack subscribers from the 23rd. Here's the press release: Steven Sinofsky, President of the Windows Division, has just announced on the Engineering Windows 7 Blog that Windows 7 has reached the Release to Manufacturing (RTM) milestone....

Saturn V carrying Apollo 11 rolls towards the launch pad. Lift off Moments after first stage seperation Looking back at the Earth from about 180,000 kilometres away On their way home What was left behind Nice work Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin and Michael Collins, and the half a million or so other people who worked towards this goal.

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter which entered lunar orbit a few weeks ago, has imaged five out of the six Apollo landing sites. Which was a tad earlier than I was expecting. They were taken when the Sun was low in the sky so the decent stage of the lunar module would cast a long shadow to make them easier to spot. Anyway check this out: When it enters its lower mapping orbit, the images will get even better with two or three times the resolution....

With it looking like Windows 7 is just days away from being completed.  I thought it might be an idea to go over the applications and features that are absent from Windows 7, a lot of stuff is missing, and it will no doubt surprise people how much stuff has been stripped out compared with Windows Vista. Windows Mail - gone The most backward step in my opinion is the removal of Windows Mail formally Outlook Express....

I've been getting a few e-mails from people asking where they can download MSE now that Microsoft have closed off the beta. The short answer is I don't know. I can tell you the MD5 and SHA-1 hashes, so you can at least make sure you can get a copy that hasn't been tampered with if you're that keen on using it. There's three installers: mssefullinstall-amd64fre-en-us-vista.exe (3.72MB) which is the installer for Windows Vista and Windows 7 64-bit, its hashes are as follows:...

As expected Symantec (the makers of Norton, the most popular anti-virus/security suite software) are a tad nervous over Microsoft Security Essentials, and with the number of technology enthusiasts they've scorned over the years they've got every reason to fear a backlash now, so they're upping the FUD campaign from level 1, they're not concerned about MSE, to level 2, stating that its rubbish and won't protect you. From the BBC:...

The beta for Microsoft Security Essentials is now available from Connect, or find your way there from the official homepage. Highly recommended.