Microsoft’s Vision of 2019

Do you know how the future will look like? Microsoft released this video some time ago, but I thought it was worth posting again now that Windows 8 comes into focus.

If Microsoft continues to aim for a major Windows release every 2 years, we will be working with Windows 11.0 in 2019.

Windows 7 is definitely a step towards that future, but there’s a still a long way ahead of Microsoft if they want to realize their dream of 2019. Nonetheless, it’s a very exciting vision!

Windows 8 Release Date in 2011?

Although the Windows 8 Roadmap clearly states that Microsoft will release Windows 8 in 2012, some Microsoft Insider say that we can expect Windows 8 in 2011. If the release date will be really 2011, I suppose they might aim for a release in October.

Does 2-years sound realistic for a major release? I don’t think so. What do you think? Poll Inside!


That’s why I still believe that Microsoft will release Windows 8 later and not sooner. However, we have to keep in mind that the competition is not sleeping. Microsoft got to catch up, Vista was a financial disaster and MAC OS X is catching up. More and more users switch to alternatives. There are some user-friendly linux and UNIX distributions available by now and best of all – they are free!

Is Microsoft like Google in a position where no one can touch their market share? More and more people get used to MAC PC’s because of the great success of Apple notebooks (apple macbook). The popularity of the Apple iPhone probably plays a role too. The competition is hard at work.

Explorer gone in Windows 8?

Some unconfirmed rumors say that the Windows Explorer will not be included in Windows 8. Ok, this might sound like a joke at a first glance, but it’s not. We already know that they are working on a new interface, so it would only make sense to see some changes here and a completely new way to browse files.
I’m sure they will still make it look very familiar, simply because people got used to the Windows Explorer and too dramatic changes would certainly drive away too many people.


Will the Windows Explorer be included in Windows 8?

I’m looking forward to some changes, the Windows UI is definitely a bit outdated if you compare it with Mac OS X and other operating systems.

Windows Test Technologies will be remodeled!

WTT (Windows Test Technologies) are an internal program that is being used to automate setup and testing. It is used for all internal Windows test. It is the so called test automation framework that isng used by all work groups at Microsoft.

Experience in WTT is a highly sought-after skill. If you are working in the IT field, you should consider learning a bit more about this for your next job application.

“The WTT team is looking to make significant changes to it’s infrastructure for Windows 8. We want to address all the major problems our customers have faced over the last few years by developing a truly scalable and reliable testing infrastructure. This is a huge opportunity to drastically revamp WTT over the coming 18 months,” the Redmond company revealed in a resource published in October 2007″

Although they say that they will complete the work after 18 months, in April 2010, that doesn’t mean we will get our hands on any Windows 8 builds then. I am positive that we will get some real Windows 8 screenshots until then.

Secret OS revealed: Windows Singularity and Windows Midori

Surprise, surprise: Windows Midori is *not* Windows 8. Not many people know that Microsoft announced a system called Windows Singularity almost two year ago. By now, Microsoft has confirmed a connection between Windows Midori and Windows Singularity. (Source: Softpedia.com)

So, they have been working on a new Windows for a while now: Windows Midori and Windows Singularity. According to Softpedia they are basically the same system and are both written in managed code only. Managed code has the advantage that it is a lot more secure because the CPU is not directly executing the code.

Currently Windows Singularity is only a research project, but it has the potential to become something big. Especially since a lot more people are familiar with managed code like C++. Microsoft is going for the “open-source-way” and even released the source code of the Singularity RDK.

Can they compete with Linux & Co.?

What is so special about Windows Midori? All operating systems that we know today (Mac, Linux, Windows, etc.) all have one common source. They all have one origin: A system called Multics that is by now almost 50 years old. You can easily imagine that this code becomes “outdated” at some point in time and will not be as flexible as something entirely new.

Windows Midori is different because it has been developed from scratch. That means that they develop a completly new system without any of the old “flaws”. By now the operating system is 60MB big. You can download the RDK (Research Development Kit) over at codeplex.com:

Download Windows Singularity RDK

Windows Singularity will be lighter, faster and more secure. It could be a step forward toward a next generation Windows.Despite the fact that Windows Singularity is “only” a research project

“Singularity is a new operating system being developed as a basis for more dependable system and application software. Singularity exploits advances in programming languages and tools to create an environment in which software is more likely to be built correctly, program behavior is easier to verify, and run-time failures can be contained. A key aspect of Singularity is an extension model based on Software-Isolated Processes (SIPs), which encapsulate pieces of an application or a system and provide information hiding, failure isolation, and strong interfaces,” reads a fragment of the whitepaper presenting the Singularity project. Softpedia.com

Tinkering with Zune 4.0, enabling the unfinished “Radio”

Back on the 17th, I posted a quick registry hack for those that wanted to force certain Zune software features on or off. One of my readers inquired, however, about Radio features that seemed to exist but were disabled. Double-checking my previous research, there was nothing available to enable anything related to Radio, so I had to dig deeper.

Before you see Zune’s cute UI, the software has to jump through a number of hoops beforehand. Some of these hoops involve asking the Zune Gods (pictured to the right) if certain features are enabled or disabled. This inquiry is made by calling a special function called IsFeatureEnabled, implemented by a special object returned from Zune’s native (as opposed to managed) library. (This function is one of many that are described by an interface called IFeatureEnablement.)

Why is this important?

While it is true that most of the Zune features were implemented with a “ignore the Gods” override, this isn’t true for the unfinished Radio feature. This feature was marked as permanently disabled, hiding unfinished/unstable code from the public.

Re-enabling this feature isn’t exactly easy.

At first, I was inclined to simply disassemble all the managed code into IL, edit, and re-assemble. This turned into a nightmare involving digital signatures, Steven Sinofsky, and embedded native code (which cannot be disassembled properly). My second idea involving writing a loader that patched the relevant code at runtime fell flat too, due to my inexperience with the whole managed/native mish mash environment. Growing tired, I simply resorted to old school patching-on-disk of the Zune native library.

Zune Function Location 0.1 output

First, I wrote a utility to identify what I need to patch. Static analysis is fun, but not that fun. The Zune Function Locator utility (pictured above) may have a corny name but it does its job. (I plan on further expanding the tool’s capabilities, hence the generic name.) It will locate, within Zune’s native library (ZuneNativeLib.dll), where the IsFeatureEnabled function starts.

Err… why do we care?

Well, as I mentioned before, this function asks the Zune Gods if a feature is enabled or disabled. It returns the “answer” to the Zune software, controlling whether or not the user sees the feature. We’ll need to rewrite this function’s logic to always return “can haz”.

XVI32 Hex Editor w/ ZuneNativeLib.dll open

Second, I opened the library in a disassembler to provide a machine code listing of what’s going on here. The contents weren’t really relevant – I was going to rewrite it.

Third, I opened the library in trusty ol’ XVI32, jumped to the offset my tool spat out earlier, moved a few bytes in and… mashed the keyboard, inputting a bunch of random characters.

No, not really.

I typed in the hexadecimal characters for several assembly opcodes that ensured the feature was always considered enabled. The actual x64 code for this is below:

xor rax, rax
inc rax
mov [r8], al
dec rax
pop rdi
retn

(The x86 code is very similar, therefore I won’t spend two hours trying to format it properly in Windows Live Writer.)

Fourth, I saved everything and fired up Zune. Crossing my fingers, the UI appeared and lo’ and behold the Radio feature appeared.

Zune interface, new Radio feature

As mentioned earlier, the Radio feature is very unpolished and unstable. The baked in stations don’t play or display station graphics, but I’m willing to bet the folks at Zunerama will have it tamed in a few days.

All the resources I used are available for download from either here or the internet. Enjoy your private tinkering, but remember: I’m not responsible if your entire Zune music collection is replaced with Katy Perry albums. Also keep in mind the patched library may inhibit proper servicing (i.e. updating) by Microsoft. YMMV.

Download: Zune Function Locator 0.1 [x86/x64] // Raw patching instructions

TestTrack Pro 2.1 - create better software in less time

Tracking defects, issues, and feature requests is a critical component of any software development and quality control process. The earlier and quicker bugs are resolved, the lower your development cost and the higher your product quality. TestTrack Pro puts improved quality, communication, and reporting within reach. Use TestTrack Pro and create better software in less time.



OVERVIEW
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FEATURE AND BENEFITS
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DATA SHEET
http://downloads.seapine.com/pub/pro..._datasheet.pdf

TestTrack Pro is a key project management tool for software development teams. By tracking and managing defects, feature requests, change requests, and other work items, TestTrack Pro makes it easy to coordinate activities between team members.


Manage All Development Artifacts

TestTrack Pro is a powerful issue management solution that tracks defects, feature requests, change requests, development assignments, customer issues, and any other tasks or artifacts tracked as part of your development process.



Track Everything About an Issue

TestTrack Pro tracks everything needed to manage an issue, including its details, workflow, known workarounds, related source code changes, email, links to other issues, folders, and its history.



Issue Details - Issue details include who reported the issue, when, the version, a detailed description, how to reproduce it (if it is a defect), and file attachments (such as screen captures). TestTrack Pro can track multiple instances of the same issue.



Workflow - In TestTrack Pro, you can work with an issue's workflow events after they are added to the issue. You can see an overview of where the issue is in the workflow, what events were assigned, who the events were assigned to, and any comments or additional information a user entered.


Workaround - Many defects and feature requests have a way to work around the problem or missing feature. TestTrack Pro includes a field to describe a workaround, which can be shared with tech support, customers, QA, and other engineers.


Source Code - You can integrate most popular source code management (SCM) applications with TestTrack Pro, which allows you to work with records and source code files from within either application. A change made in one application is instantly made available to the other application. All linked source code files are visible on the TestTrack Pro Source Code tab.



Email - To facilitate collaboration, TestTrack Pro includes email tracking and notifications. From any issue, you can work with any email sent about it. You can view, reply to, and delete tracked email. You can also manage a list of users and customers to notify when the issue changes.


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Folders - Hierarchical folders in TestTrack Pro provide a familiar method for organizing defects, feature requests, change requests, and any other information you need to track. A list of all folders that contain the issue is available from the Folders list window.



History - TestTrack Pro tracks all changes to an issue. You can view defect history information, including the user or customer who submitted the issue, when it was created, how it was created, who last modified it, and the date it was last modified.



Easy To Use

TestTrack Pro is a powerful issue tracking solution that is easy to install, easy to use, and easy to maintain. With many behind-the-scenes collaboration features, your development team is kept informed of important issues and assignments even when not logged in to TestTrack Pro.


Web, Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and Solaris Access

Whether you are at your desk, on the road, or working from home, you have access to TestTrack Pro. All of TestTrack Pro's features can be accessed though a Web browser on virtually any operating system or through native Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and Solaris clients.


Completely Customizable

Use TestTrack Pro out-of-the-box with minimal customization or completely customize it to fit your terminology, processes, security rules, and compliance needs. TestTrack Pro ships with pre-configured templates to use as starting points for your projects.


Access from Visual Studio

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An Integrated Automated Testing Solution

TestTrack Pro integrates with our automated functional testing tool, QA Wizard Pro, to further streamline your testing efforts. This integration offers the following benefits:


When failures occur in scripts, you can automatically add defects to a TestTrack Pro project.
QA Wizard Pro automatically includes detailed information in defects, saving testing and development time and ensuring all team members have the information they need to fix the problem and retest the application.
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Each QA Wizard Pro workspace can be configured to use a specific TestTrack Pro project, providing flexibility to manage testing of multiple products and versions.


Code:
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http://www.mediafire.com/file/aiziyymmjre/TestTrack.Pro.Client.and.Server.v2008.2.1.Perl.Installer.LINUX-Lz0.part2.rar

http://www.mediafire.com/file/2mhmmmnrqi3/TestTrack.Pro.Client.v2008.2.1-Lz0.rar

http://www.mediafire.com/file/ygtijrzudiy/TestTrack.Pro.Server.v2008.2.1.WIN64-Lz0.rar
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How to make your Uploads last ...

How to make your Uploads last ...
It is no secret that the major file upload providers are notorious for deleting or blocking your files.
This is a huge waste of your time spent re-uploading files. But there are ways to either
stop or slow down the process of files getting deleted.

Here are some tips to make your uploads last longer:

1. Never never never name a file exactly the same as its contents.

Example:
BAD - Windows_Seven_Professional.rar

Good- wsp.rar

2. Always password protect your files.
This disallows the the file storage
company from seeing what you have uploaded.
If possible give each different upload you do a different password.

Example File 1: B_L_v2.rar File Password: a@4%_d1FR

Example File 2: sep_v12-3.rar File Password: q&1W3c_p


3. Use a compression program,
like WinRAR, that has the ability to encrypt your archives contents.
Even if you password protect your archive, if the contents are not encrypted you can still open the archive
and see the file names.





4. Finally, make it really confusing for the file upload company. Rename your file to something other than .RAR, .ZIP or .7z.

Example: Rename sep_v7-2.rar to sep_v7-2.jpg

Just make sure you notate that the file names have been changed so that other members
won't have problems extracting the files.

Example:
Code:

http://rapidshare.com/files/24623800/MO07BE.part1.psd
http://rapidshare.com/files/284613800/MO07BE.part2.psd
http://rapidshare.com/files/261428745/MO07BE.part3.psd

Before extracting rename files from .psd to .rar


These simple tips should help prolong the life of your uploads and make your lives much easier.