Everything posted by AWS
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I have e new Microsoft 5000 Keyboard and Mouse, and the updated Intellipoint software. The mouse is
The batteries are new, as is the keyboard. The keyboard is also erratic, as sometimesit is responsive, and sometimes terribly slow. View this thread
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The Windows 8 Dev Center: Everything you need to design, build, and sell a Metro style app
For Windows 8, we completely reimagined not just the platform, but also how we share app development info with you. Launched 9 months ago, the Windows Dev Center is the one place where you can find all the info and resources you need to get going. Whether you’re new to development, seeking inspiration for the next great app, or you’re simply stuck and need help, you can find it here. We talked to many developers, and heard a lot about how difficult it could be to find the right info in the MSDN Library. The goal we set for Windows 8 developer content was to try to provide exactly the right content when you needed it, and not have too much info get in your way. To that end we focused on how to do things, instead of on why we built a given feature the way we did. You told us that when you start learning about a new scenario or feature, you want to try it out quickly and learn the details later. We also heard loud and clear that you want to get going quickly and not read a lot of docs. With the new Windows 8 Dev Center, you don’t have to track down docs, tools, samples, and other assets in various locations it’s all in one place. We also improved search, so you can find what you need easier. And, you don’t have to be a dev to find a lot of interesting info in the Dev Center. If you’re a creative professional or a design expert and don’t want to see anything other than design, we have “a center within a center” for you that contains just the design content. Just go directly to design.windows.com. We could have called it the Windows Design and Dev Center, but that’s just too long! The structure and navigation The Windows Dev Center is broken into 4 sections: Metro style apps, Internet Explorer, Desktop, and Hardware. You can access them all from dev.windows.com. All these sections are structured similarly, with a nod toward the important Metro style design principle of content over chrome. In this post, we focus on the Metro style apps section only, because that’s what most readers of this blog are interested in. Here’s what it looks like: . You can easily navigate the center by using the links at the top of the page. Home orients you to the site, and gives you a general idea of what content we have for you. When the Store becomes available (soon!), you’ll use the Dashboard to sign up and become a Windows Store developer. After you sign up, you’ll also use this tab to upload your apps, access telemetry, and see how your apps are doing in different markets around the world. Docs is your gateway to platform documentation, including general info, Quickstarts (hands-on content that gets you familiar with basics of a feature quickly), tutorials, and reference. Using the navigation pane on the left, you can jump to the appropriate topic immediately. If you want more info before you jump, the main pane contains more detail. We improved navigation both within an article, and from one topic to another. We added the “In this article” sidebar where you can see all the sections of the article and can jump directly to the section that interests you. In some articles we also list relevant APIs if appropriate. Use Samples to find Metro style samples to play with. There are already over 550 samples (and growing!) available in multiple programming languages, and we invite you to upload your own samples to share with the community. Downloads is where you find the tools like Visual Studio 2012 Express RC for Windows 8 and the SDK. Visual Studio 2012 Express now also includes Blend for Visual Studio to help you quickly create visually attractive, fun apps. You can use Support to get technical help with your account, or request 1:1 help with your dashboard. We provide this dashboard help for free to anyone with a Microsoft developer account. For really complex problems that go beyond the free help, you can also buy help with your apps from our experts. Finally, Community resources can link you with other developers. You can ask questions, help others with their technical issues, or read the latest news about Windows 8 Metro style app development. Get started If you want a quick orientation, the best place to go is Getting started with Metro style apps. Here you can learn what makes a Metro style app great, and follow introductory tutorials that give you a taste of Windows 8 development. The tutorials feature many code examples in all 4 supported programming models: HTML5 with JavaScript, XAML with C# or VB, XAML with native C++, plus DirectX with native C++. Reusing your existing skills and code assets is a core premise of Windows 8 development, and we go out of our way to fulfill that promise on the Dev Center. Get the resources Your fingers might be itching to start developing your app, but first you need the right tools. Go to the Dev Center to download the tools. Make sure you download Microsoft Visual Studio 11 Express for Windows 8, which includes Windows 8 SDK, Blend for Visual Studio, and project templates. If you need help designing appealing Metro style apps, download our design assets. These are .psd files for controls, layouts, components, and project templates to help you lay out your UI. You will find lots of other resources too, including the Multilingual App Toolkit for Visual Studio 11 Beta, which can help you create apps for the world markets. The best part is, all these downloads are free. Samples We are always asked for samples, and with a good reason. A sample can show you how someone else already solved the problem you are trying to solve, or you can start with a sample as a foundation for your own app. We now have over 550 official Microsoft samples, plus additional community samples, and the number is growing. Each tells you how to compile and run it, plus we give you any special instructions you need. Check them out in the samples gallery or download the sample app pack if you want all of them at once. Over a quarter million devs already have! You can search for the samples you want by programming language (JavaScript, C++, C#, Visual Basic), by source (Microsoft or community), by technology (Metro style app, JavaScript, Windows Runtime, XAML, and so on), or by topic (User interface, Audio and video, Devices and sensors, and so on). If you want to showcase your great ideas, post your own samples! You can also rate or comment on samples, give feedback, or ask questions. Can’t find a sample you need? You can request one, or vote for samples that others requested so that we create the ones that people really want. Then check out the “Completed” tab to see the samples we created as a result of community demand. From app conception to the Store Now that you have all the tools, and have seen some samples, it’s time to start thinking about your apps. But what makes a Metro style app great? Info on the Dev Center can help you decide what kind of app to build, what kind of info it should include to appeal to the broadest possible audience, and how to present your app’s content in a compelling way. This info is laid out in the order we think you’ll need it. Start with an idea Not sure how to turn your idea into an app? Start with Planning Metro style apps and follow our step-by-step planning process. There’s a lot to think about, including not just what the app will do, but how to present it to the best advantage, how to make it appeal to a global audience, and how you can make money from your app. Designing UX for apps A hallmark of great apps is an outstanding user experience (UX). But making your app compelling and interesting can be intimidating. In Designing UX for apps, we provide design patterns for navigation, commanding, and touch interaction. We provide specific help for popular Windows Store categories, including games, entertainment, news, and productivity. You can also download design assets for Metro style apps so you don’t have to start from scratch. We also help you assess usability of your app, so you can be sure your customers find it intuitive and easy to use. If you already have an app on a different platform and are wondering how to redesign it to follow Metro style app design, we provide case studies that show you how to convert a Website to a Metro style app, and how to convert an iPad app to a Metro style one. And to improve the visual appeal of your app, take a look at our animations design videos. Developing apps Now that you have your app concept firmly in mind, it’s time to start developing. You already know what language you will use to develop Metro style apps. We provide a language selector control at the top of many pages, so you can see JavaScript and HTML content only, or Visual Basic/C#/C++ and XAML content only. We’re continually adding to the content for each language, so check back soon if the content you’re looking for doesn’t appear yet. When you want info about a specific feature, you can start with a Quickstart that introduces the feature by walking you through common use cases. These articles include a lot of code to help you get started quickly, thus the name Quickstart. We also provide roadmaps for each of the major development models to help you decide where might want to go next. In many cases we also include guidelines and checklists for using a feature, to help ensure your apps pass certification and you can submit it to the Windows Store. Finally, we have in-depth documentation for key features if you need more detail. Many articles contain code snippets. We use them as illustrations to jumpstart your own development. But you can also easily run them in Visual Studio. Simply click Copy in the upper right corner of the snippet, and the code will be pasted onto your Clipboard. You can then paste it into your own code. (You can get the sample code this way too.) Always be careful to include appropriate error handling and data validation when copying/pasting code from an article in the Dev Center. . While building your app, you might also need access to complete reference material for the platform. For detailed API info, see API reference for Metro style apps. Before you can submit your app to Windows Store, you must package it. The easiest way to do so is to use Visual Studio. See Packaging your app using Visual Studio for more detail. To make sure your app runs great and is ready for the Store, you must debug and test it. We give you all the info about Debugging and testing Windows Metro style apps to get this done quickly. Selling and managing your apps After you develop your app, it’s time to share it with the world. We provide you with a great platform for sharing apps – the Windows Store. In the Dev Center, we guide you through the process of submitting your app for certification, and listing it in the Windows Store. If you aren’t sure how to advertise your app in the catalog, we provide you with tips on how to write descriptions that will tempt users to try your app. When you’re ready to submit your app to the Store, Selling apps takes you through the process. It also explains the different licensing models available and provides suggestions for when to use each. Finally, you’ll want to know how to price your app so that it’s competitive, and how to add in-app offers to sell additional features. Making money with your app explains all of this in detail. You can sell your apps in multiple languages in markets around the world. Windows Store markets explains the details. If you want to get deeper technical info The content we looked at so far will help you get started developing a great app. But sometimes you need more detail. In Concepts and architecture, we explain technical details behind the Metro style app development platform and share advanced techniques for building apps. For a complete survey of how to build apps from end-to-end, you can find guidance in the End-to-end apps and games section. Another good source of deep technical info is White papers for Metro style apps. What to do when you’re stuck If you get stuck and can’t find a solution to your problem, there are other devs in the community who may be able to help. Community resources includes forums and blogs. The forums are a great place to ask questions, bounce ideas off other developers, or provide support for others who need help. Many of the forum participants are members of our tech support team, so you can get accurate answers to your questions quickly. The blogs, such as this one, are a great place to learn the latest news about Windows 8 development and to give us feedback. In addition to the Windows 8 app developer blog (this blog), we have the Windows Store developer blog where members of the Windows Web Services team talk about the business of the Store, and the Building Windows 8 blog, where you can find the inside scoop from Windows President Steven Sinofsky and the Windows engineering team. You can also sign up here for a Windows Dev Camp, and attend at any of the locations around the world. We speak your language We realize that many people around the world are interested in Windows, and many of them don’t read English. We now support the content and the Store in 12 languages, and we plan to add the most important content in additional 12. We support the tools and the forums in 10 languages, and the blogs in 8. Closing As you can see, for Windows 8 we completely revamped the way we share info with you. We focused more on how you actually use the content, and reorganized the Dev Center to reflect this. The Dev Center isn’t static, it’s a constantly evolving site. Our dedicated team of programmer writers and editors, have worked hard to craft reference docs and feature overviews you expect, but there’s far more to the site. The team is now focused on creating scenario oriented guidance that helps you better understand how various features work together to complete more complex tasks. We’re still working on this guidance, and we update the Dev Center frequently, so stay tuned for more. We hope you find our content easier to use. We look forward to your feedback. Source: Windows 8 Dev Center
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Need drivers for X800177-100. finger print reader
I have the Microsoft keyboard X800177-100 with finger print reader. I built a new computer and installed windows 7 ( big mistake) now I can't get hardly anything to run on it. I can find no driver software on the microsoft site for the fingerprint reader. Where is it? View the thread
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Apparently got a virus wednesday, discovered it yesterday, still trying to clean it
Not sure who to contact about this, but I have a virus that MSE identified at one point as potentially Sirefef.Y Initially, it looked like my Security Essentials service and my firewall had been turned off, but actually it had removed the security essentials service. The firewall cannot be turned on. I uninstalled/reinstalled security essentials, but it immediately went into shutdown mode (critical error - 1 minute). I booted into safe mode, command window and it immediately went into 1 minute shutdown. I did it again and started typing "shutdown -a" almost immediately. The virus command to shutdown apparently loops because, for several minutes, while I continued to type "shutdown -a" it stayed up but as soon as I stopped looping the command, it turned off a few moments later. I booted to a different (laptop) hard drive that hadn't been installed in the machine for months, updated the security essentials definitiions on that drive and started a scan of my "real" drive. The last message I saw on the scan before falling asleep (it wasn't complete yet) was that a potential hazard had been found, but nothing was showing up on the history tab. This morning, security essentials wasn't running. It showed up in my system tray until I tried to click on it to open --- then it disappeared. I still have (had?) the program in my start menu, but when I clicked on it it brought up the searchlight messagebox that it was looking for the program. Trying to reinstall security essentials, I get the message that another installation is currently in progress. I have not rebooted the machine but have just finished downloading msert.exe and will be trying this next. Got my fingers crossed, but if you have any pointers/steps to try next if msert fails, I would appreciate it.... View this thread
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Building a rich and extensible media platform
Engaging with rich media—whether watching a movie, video chatting, or playing music—is one of the most prevalent and enjoyable things we do on our PCs today. I’d like to talk a little bit about the work we’ve done in Windows 8 to make a rich variety of multimedia activities possible, and to extend those capabilities to third party developers through an extensible media platform. We had three goals in mind when designing the Windows 8 media platform: Maximize performance. We wanted media playback to be fast and responsive, enabling the full power of the hardware while maximizing battery life on each PC. Simplify development and extensibility. We wanted to provide a platform that could be easily extended and tailored for a given application, setting the stage for innovative custom media apps on Windows. Enable a breadth of scenarios. A high performance, high efficiency, extensible platform can then enable a wide range of music, video, communications, and other multimedia apps. With these three goals in mind, we set out to reimagine the media experience on the Windows platform. Faster, more responsive media experiences Performance is a key aspect of any user experience, but it is especially critical in multimedia scenarios. Videos need to play in real time, voice communication needs to feel instantaneous, and all of these tasks need to minimize the drain on your battery. We measure performance by the time, computing resources, and memory that a given task takes on a system. We aimed to minimize all of those metrics. Our goals for media performance were focused on audio and video playback, transcoding, encoding, and capture. Efficient video decoding To get better battery life or just reduce power consumption for all media scenarios, we continue to work with partners in the silicon chip industry to enable new and faster experiences. With Windows 8 running on a Windows 8 certified PC, video decoding for common media formats will be offloaded to a dedicated hardware subsystem for media. This allows us to significantly lower CPU usage, resulting in smoother video playback and a longer battery life, as the dedicated media hardware is much more efficient than the CPU at media decoding. This improves all scenarios that require video decoding, including playback, transcoding, encoding, and capture scenarios. The figure below shows a comparison of the average CPU utilization between Windows 7 and Windows 8 during playback of 720p VC1/H.264 video clips and webcam capture preview. . In addition to video offload, the improvements to webcam capture are made possible by the move from a DirectShow Capture API to the new, far more optimized Windows 8 Media Foundation Capture API. We’ve also improved software encoders for H.264 and VC-1 content so that encoding using the CPU (when it makes sense) is both fast and power-efficient. Maximizing battery life during audio playback Another example of the media performance improvements we’ve made in Windows 8 is in maximizing battery life (or just reducing power consumption) during audio playback. In addition to enabling offload of the audio pipeline (similar to the offload of video described above), we’ve radically improved the audio playback pipeline to be more efficient during steady-state playback. By batching up large chunks of audio data and doing all the processing for that chunk at one time, the CPU can stay asleep for over 100 times longer (over 1 second vs. 10ms), which can result in dramatically increased battery life during audio playback. Of course, this approach isn’t perfect for all scenarios since the increased buffering introduces additional delay. In the communications section below, we’ll talk more about these tradeoffs and how the media stack adapts to optimize for each scenario Audio and video offloading are just a couple of examples of the ways we’ve optimized the media stack in Windows 8 to provide lower CPU utilization, lower memory utilization, and better battery life for Desktop and Metro style apps. Supporting a rich set of media scenarios Performance is a critical aspect of the platform, but it is only as important as the features that shine because of it. In Windows 8, those features include support for modern video formats, low-latency communication streams, and a seamless connection to external media devices. Platform tradeoffs One of the challenges in developing a single media platform that serves different scenarios is that the platform has competing goals. For example, communication scenarios require low-latency, and audio/video encoding and playback, whose quality and performance benefit from buffering, which results in higher latency. In the next several sections, we’ll touch on these challenges in the context of some of the scenarios we’ve worked to enable in Windows 8, including: Communications (e.g. Skype, Lync, etc.) Video playback and modern format support Auto-orientation of video Playback of premium content Seamless audio transitions Bringing the media experience to additional screens Emerging media capabilities Simplifying development and extensibility One common theme across these experiences is the extensibility that we’ve incorporated into the multimedia platform. Because users have a wide range of use cases, media formats, codecs, protection mechanisms, and processing, we provided our developers with the ability to customize and tailor their offerings to create great apps and websites on Windows. As we discuss some of the media scenarios in the next several sections, we'll also cover some of the work we’ve done to make those scenarios extensible by developers and third-party partners. Let’s dive deeper into the scenarios we’ve targeted for Windows 8. Communications Real-time communication on PCs, especially on mobile devices, has seen a huge growth over the last decade. Windows users are using services like Skype and Lync to make several billion minutes of voice and video calls per day. TeleGeography estimates that international Skype-to-Skype calls (including video calls) grew 48 percent in 2011, to 145 billion minutes. We’ve made a significant investment in improving the experience of video and audio calling on all Windows 8 PCs. To achieve this goal, we focused our efforts in two areas: Enable built-in low-latency media capture and rendering. Low latency is essential for communications apps, so Windows supports low-latency media capture and playback into the OS. Support HD cameras to enhance video communication experience. High-definition videos make your communication experience more real and enjoyable, so Windows supports HD camera devices. Enabling low latency When you communicate with another person, you expect near-instant responses. For this reason, communications systems generally try to minimize the end-to-end delay (also referred to as latency). In designing audio and video systems for playback, buffering is often used as both a protection against glitches caused by processing spikes or network traffic, and to reduce power consumption. However, this buffering introduces a delay into the audio and video, which is perceived as latency by the audience. In engineering Windows 8, we designed the media platform to support both playback-optimized and communication-optimized scenarios. The media infrastructure can switch between a playback mode (high buffering, more tolerant of varying conditions) and a communications-optimized mode (low delay). According to the TIA/EIA 920 standard, the one-way audio latency that can be attributed to just the media processing pipeline cannot exceed 100ms in order to achieve a usable real-time communication experience. With this metric in mind, we designed a test environment to measure the end-to-end latency of the pipeline, shown in the following diagram: . There are many components to optimize to get low latency In the case of video communication, the end-to-end or “glass-to-glass” pipeline latency is measured as the delay it takes for a video frame to be captured by the camera device and then encoded to a supported video format, streamed over the network loopback interfaces, decoded, and finally rendered by the display. Looking at the figure below, you can see the result obtained for capturing and rendering PCM audio when the media pipeline is in low latency mode. The first set of spikes corresponds to the original spoken words at the transmitter and the second set shows those words at the receiver. The delay between the two is 65ms, well below the 100ms goal. . End-to-end pipeline latency of PCM audio: Low latency mode The next chart shows a comparison of the pipeline latency of playback and communication-optimized mode when a video frame is captured, encoded (in H.264 format), streamed, decoded, and then displayed at various resolutions. The goal of 145ms overall latency (as deemed by TIA/EIA 920 for usable real-time video calling) is shown by the green line on the chart. . Video frames are captured at a rate of 30 frames per second and encoded into H.264 In playback mode, the average latency of the pipeline is about 575ms. This delay is necessary for a smooth playback experience when consuming video, but unacceptable for real-time video communication. In low latency mode, on the other hand, the measured latency is well under the target goal at each of the measured video resolutions. Supporting HD video calling Another example of the work we have done to improve communication on Windows 8 PCs is through OS support for HD cameras. New class drivers will work transparently with applications to provide support for HD video features. In addition, all of the hardware acceleration for video decoding discussed previously will be utilized for communication scenarios. Windows 8 will offer a consistent, high-quality, hardware-accelerated, power efficient media communication experience on PCs designed for Windows 8. We have made significant investments in the media platform to improve pipeline latency, and with added support for H.264 cameras, users will be able to communicate with friends and family in high-fidelity HD video. Video and audio support for Metro style apps Our main goal for native media format support for Metro style apps was to ensure users and app developers could count on a consistently great playback experience across a wide variety of PC form factors, with modern formats used in mainstream scenarios such as: HTML5-based entertainment on the web Home movies captured using popular smartphones, point-and-shoot cameras, or AVC-HD cameras Streaming music, movies, and TV shows from popular services The tables below show the video and audio formats that have built-in support for Metro style apps. Formats recommended for use by Metro style apps are a reflection of deep partnerships with hardware manufacturers for predictable hardware acceleration across PC form factors and predictable end-to-end scenario performance beyond playback such as capture, streaming, and transcoding. Windows 8 has excellent support for MPEG-4, most typically comprised of H.264 video and AAC audio. Several popular codecs, including Divx and Xvid, implement the MPEG-4 Part 2 standard, so many of these files play great in Metro style apps. The same is true for modern MOV files, which are based on the MPEG-4 Part 12 standard, such as videos captured on iOS devices. Fragmented MPEG-4 and 2K/4K resolutions are now possible. We have previously talked about MPEG-2 and DVD playback, which is available in Windows 8 Media Center. During the development of Windows 7 we talked quite a bit about CODEC support natively in Windows and the formats available through extensibility. Since then, the environment around CODECs has consistently moved towards a smaller set of well-defined and broadly-supported formats, particularly h.264 for video. Due to factors such as intellectual property and hardware support, this makes a great deal of sense. Even browsers are making this transition with HTML5. But we also recognize that some individuals have preferred formats for a variety of reasons, and we wanted to make sure Windows 8 app developers could choose to use the formats they prefer. Formats popular among the enthusiast community or with specific developers such as FLAC, MKV, and OGG, can have their own CODECs packaged as part of a Metro style app, since the Windows 8 media platform is highly extensible. Auto-orientation of video With the proliferation of video recording in traditional cameras, smartphones, and tablets, users can capture video while holding their device in either portrait or landscape mode – there is no “right-side-up” any longer, thanks to modern touch-based interfaces. Many of us have experienced the frustration of recording a video and realizing the camera was sideways or upside down only after viewing it on the PC. Since the video scan pattern is fixed, videos may not be oriented properly when viewed. To overcome this problem, cameras are beginning to author orientation metadata in mainstream file formats such as MP4 and ASF when saving recorded video to storage. . To ensure a terrific viewing experience of personal videos from Windows PCs, we’ve made the following improvements to address this problem: Orientation metadata is now supported in MP4 and ASF (VC-1, WMV) videos. Videos with orientation metadata are auto-rotated during playback. The thumbnail for a video with orientation metadata is auto-rotated. Metro style apps with video capture capabilities can easily read and author orientation metadata. Premium content Another area where we’ve invested heavily for Windows 8 is in allowing seamless playback of premium content. Although most of the video content consumed initially on the Internet was user generated, much of the growth in the Internet video space can now be attributed to “premium content,” which includes online movie purchases through on-demand streaming video, as well as the ad-supported TV offerings. According to IHS Screen Digest, 3.4 billion paid movies will be streamed online in the US in 2012—over double the number watched in 2011, and over a billion more movies than were consumed via DVD and Blu-Ray combined. Premium video content has many of the same requirements as any other video content, but it also requires two substantial platform features in order to deliver the best experience: adaptive bitrate streaming and content protection. Adaptive bitrate streaming Adaptive bitrate streaming provides a smoother, more responsive video playback experience by enabling the PC to adapt to the most appropriate bitrate under varying networking and resource utilization conditions. As a result, startup and seek times can be significantly improved because the first few frames can be delivered at a lower bitrate to reduce buffering time and increase responsiveness. If network or device conditions change, the PC can negotiate a lower or higher bitrate to minimize buffering or increase video quality. Through the extensibility of the Media Foundation Platform in Windows 8, apps can have custom media sources and adaptive bitrate media sources to support new formats. Custom media sources and streaming protocols can also take advantage of hardware offload and content protection. The Windows Azure Media Services team is using our extensibility model to build the Smooth Streaming Client SDK for Metro style apps. Smooth Streaming is Microsoft’s initiative to deliver high quality multi-bitrate content and enable Video-on-demand, Live, Linear TV, and Download-and-Play. Content protection Most premium Internet video content services choose to apply content protection, which is often a requirement from the content owners (e.g. movie studios or TV networks). To enable the playback of protected content in Metro style apps, Microsoft is making available the PlayReady Client SDK for premium content services. PlayReady supports download as well as streaming, and the above-mentioned IIS Smooth Streaming Client SDK integrates seamlessly with the PlayReady Client SDK to allow services to easily build protected streaming experiences. We recognize that there are other content protection technologies being used today in the industry. Just like with adaptive streaming, the Media Foundation extensibility model allows for third parties to integrate their custom content protection systems with built-in hardware-accelerated video decoding. If a service needs to use a custom streaming format or content protection system, it can integrate its own technology without having to compromise on decoding quality or battery runtime. In summary, Windows 8 will enable a wider offering of premium content services for customers to choose from and enjoy on their Windows 8 devices, providing a great streaming and downloaded experience as well as great battery life when watching premium HD video content. Seamless audio transitions As Windows 8 enables a multitude of media scenarios, we wanted to make sure that transitioning between these scenarios was as seamless and fluid as possible. Users often run into overlapping audio-based activities – for example, while listening to a music streaming service, they attempt to watch a video clip. We wanted to provide a clean, uncluttered audio experience that would make it easier and simpler for you to listen to the content you want, when you want it. In Windows 8, instead of mixing all audio content and sending the resulting (often incoherent) stream to the speakers, Windows can pause a stream when a second stream is played and when it makes sense to do so. In most cases, Windows prioritizes audio coming from the app that is in the foreground. When you move the app to the background, the system quiets the stream. An example is a game app where you likely don’t want to listen to game audio when you’ve switched away from the game. However, there are cases where this is not the desired behavior – for example, if you’re listening to music in the background while checking email or surfing the web. To enable these scenarios and to allow you to hear background audio when it makes sense, we’ve introduced stream types that reflect the type of audio being played. Bringing the media experience to additional screens In Windows 7, we announced Play To, which you can use to stream media files to supported external devices from Windows Explorer and Windows Media player. In Windows 8, Play To makes it even easier and simpler to share personal media collections and HTML5 media with Play-To-enabled devices at home. Our focus for Play To was to create rich social experiences built around personal content – like sharing photos with family and friends, streaming music for a party, or watching user-generated videos from the Internet. The experience has been designed from the ground up to integrate tightly with HTML5 from existing websites and your personal media collections, whether they’re stored in the local library of a Windows PC or tablet, on another home PC or network-attached media server, or on a web server in the cloud. Play To is now easier to discover and will deliver a consistent, high quality experience from a multitude of Metro style apps. A few of the improved user experiences include: Improved setup: On home networks (or HomeGroup) where you’ve allowed sharing, Play To devices are automatically discovered and installed on your PC. Improved device experience: Metro style apps work only with Windows certified Play To receivers. These devices are validated to support modern media formats, are DLNA standards-compliant, and have great performance (including the updated Xbox 360 available later this year). The desktop experience first introduced in Windows 7 has been added to the Explorer Ribbon and will continue to support all DLNA DMR devices. Easier discovery: Play To is accessible from the Devices charm, making it easy to initiate from any app that supports Play To. Just swipe in from the right edge (or point your mouse to the top-right corner), select the Devices charm, and then select the device you want to stream to. Integrated into Metro style IE: IE allows you to stream HTML5 music, video, and photos from the web to your devices. Works with the new Music, Video, and Photo apps: Apps can stream photos from a variety of sources and personal music and video collections. . Play To from the Videos app We have also focused heavily on making it easy for developers to use Play To in their apps and websites – the functionality is available to all Metro style apps via the Play To contract. The XBox 360 will support Play To in an update later this year. Emerging media capabilities Windows is enabling support for new content types for consumption and increased flexibility for content creation and communication. Stereo 3D, accessibility, and DSP effects are three examples of how we are enabling great multimedia experiences on Windows 8 Experiencing stereo 3D video Over the last few years, the Stereo 3D (S3D) market has evolved from hype to finished consumer products. S3D provides a 3D viewing experience by displaying two overlapping copies of a video (captured from different angles), which appear as a single 3D video when viewed with 3D glasses. Our goal is to enable a viable S3D ecosystem for Windows by enabling key gaming and video playback scenarios on a platform that abstracts away the specifics of the 3D technology from the end-user’s PC. In Windows 8, S3D support is available on DirectX 10 or higher GPUs with compatible drivers. A S3D-compatible display is needed to see S3D content. We wanted to make sure that Windows would support a wide range of display technologies with a consistent user experience, and make it easy for software and hardware to develop on our platform. As a result, specific S3D display technologies are largely made irrelevant by the graphics drivers, and a consistent set of APIs are available to apps using stereo 3D. The Windows 8 media platform provides support for standards-compliant media formats for S3D video. H.264 video with frame-packing metadata represented as Supplemental Enhancement Information (SEI) is the typical format being adopted for online delivery, and is therefore the desirable S3D video format in Windows 8. The frame-packing formats that we support natively in the platform include both side-by-side and top-and-bottom arrangements, as in the illustration below. . Windows 8 supports a range of stereo 3D input formats, including side-by-side and top-bottom. Delivering accessible media experiences in the web platform Media accessibility is an important part of the Windows promise to our customers, especially for users with accessibility needs. Subtitles provide interpretive or additional information to viewers who prefer a written transcript, those who need to see a translation in a different language, or those who need to see a transcript due to limited hearing ability. . Video playback in Windows 8 with subtitles The web community has worked together through W3C to specify the best ways to deliver the subtitling experience through all modern web platforms. These include the following: The element can carry subtitle and closed captions for the HTML5 video tag. This feature is now incorporated into Windows 8. Subtitle support is now available through the video tag in IE10 and in apps using HTML. User controls are available on the default media controls of the video tag. There is native support for the WebVTT and SMPTE-TT formats that are commonly found in the web community and with partners in the TV and broadcasting industries. The Windows 8 media platform provides support for multiple audio tracks within a media source. Users can switch audio tracks to their preferred language, and tracks can also be used for audio descriptions for sight-impaired users. Metro style apps can now easily switch between audio tracks or even play multiple audio tracks simultaneously, for instance, a normal audio track plus an audio description. . Video playback in Windows 8 with multiple audio tracks Adding effects to the media pipeline The Windows 8 media platform has been designed to adapt easily. One way that we’ve done this is by allowing effects (often referred to as digital signal processing, or DSP) to be added to the pipeline. We’ve included several built-in effects, like image stabilization and horizontal flipping (which is useful for webcam preview), and we’ve also made it easy for applications to plug in to the Media Foundation pipeline with custom effects. In addition, we’ve made sure that media data can pass through the pipeline efficiently, thus minimizing the performance and power impact of adding DSPs. Summary The Windows 8 media platform is designed to deliver a fluid and responsive media experience with great battery life. We’ve engineered Windows to give you a great user experience across a broad set of scenarios, including voice communication, audio and video playback, and streaming content. As media applications continue to evolve, the media platform in Windows will enable these experiences to shine across all Windows 8 PCs. Source: Windows 8 Blog
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My outlook 2007 send and recieve is "stuck"
I have Outlook 2007 - send and recieve appears stuck "in processing" - this began when I added my windows live account into outlook - I have since deleted windows live from outlook - under set up I have sent test messages and whil it says successful, but nothing appears in the inbox View the thread
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Windows Prem Home is not genuine after autoupdates (error code 0xC004F05950) on 2 day old laptop.
New laptop 2 days old, after many MS autoupdates I get message to say Windows Prem Home is not genuine (error code 0xC004F059). If I go back to restore point then mesage disappears so definitely to do with one of the 50 or so updates. Other than trial & error to install one at as time deos anyone have an idea which update causes this? Output from MS Genuine Advantage Diagnostic Tool: Diagnostic Report (1.9.0027.0): ----------------------------------------- Windows Validation Data--> Validation Code: 50 Cached Online Validation Code: N/A, hr = 0xc004f012 Windows Product Key: *****-*****-2QWT6-HCQXJ-9YQTR Windows Product Key Hash: PVjSC5x6njvqunmbCY3lOD7rYDo= Windows Product ID: 00359-OEM-8992687-00007 Windows Product ID Type: 2 Windows License Type: OEM SLP Windows OS version: 6.1.7601.2.00010300.1.0.003 ID: {4D1760AF-C776-4E2A-899C-51A6BDE56E10}(1) Is Admin: Yes TestCab: 0x0 LegitcheckControl ActiveX: N/A, hr = 0x80070002 Signed By: N/A, hr = 0x80070002 Product Name: Windows 7 Home Premium Architecture: 0x00000009 Build lab: 7601.win7sp1_rtm.101119-1850 TTS Error: Validation Diagnostic: Resolution Status: N/A Vista WgaER Data--> ThreatID(s): N/A, hr = 0x80070002 Version: N/A, hr = 0x80070002 Windows XP Notifications Data--> Cached Result: N/A, hr = 0x80070002 File Exists: No Version: N/A, hr = 0x80070002 WgaTray.exe Signed By: N/A, hr = 0x80070002 WgaLogon.dll Signed By: N/A, hr = 0x80070002 OGA Notifications Data--> Cached Result: N/A, hr = 0x80070002 Version: N/A, hr = 0x80070002 OGAExec.exe Signed By: N/A, hr = 0x80070002 OGAAddin.dll Signed By: N/A, hr = 0x80070002 OGA Data--> Office Status: 109 N/A OGA Version: N/A, 0x80070002 Signed By: N/A, hr = 0x80070002 Office Diagnostics: 025D1FF3-364-80041010_025D1FF3-229-80041010_025D1FF3-230-1_025D1FF3-517-80040154_025D1FF3-237-80040154_025D1FF3-238-2_025D1FF3-244-80070002_025D1FF3-258-3 Browser Data--> Proxy settings: N/A User Agent: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible MSIE 8.0 Win32) Default Browser: C:Program Files (x86)Internet Exploreriexplore.exe Download signed ActiveX controls: Prompt Download unsigned ActiveX controls: Disabled Run ActiveX controls and plug-ins: Allowed Initialize and script ActiveX controls not marked as safe: Disabled Allow scripting of Internet Explorer Webbrowser control: Disabled Active scripting: Allowed Script ActiveX controls marked as safe for scripting: Allowed File Scan Data--> File Mismatch: C:Windowssystem32watwatadminsvc.exe[Hr = 0x80070003] File Mismatch: C:Windowssystem32watnpwatweb.dll[Hr = 0x80070003] File Mismatch: C:Windowssystem32watwatux.exe[Hr = 0x80070003] File Mismatch: C:Windowssystem32watwatweb.dll[Hr = 0x80070003] Other data--> Office Details: {4D1760AF-C776-4E2A-899C-51A6BDE56E10}1.9.0027.06.1.7601.2.00010300.1.0.003x64*****-*****-*****-*****-9YQTR00359-OEM-8992687-000072S-1-5-21-1207608172-1717822277-2225948981ASUSTeK Computer Inc.K53U American Megatrends Inc.21620110826000000.000000+000033C3F07018400F208090409GMT Standard Time(GMT+00:00)03e{ioietUN_XUUQ109 Spsys.log Content: 0x80070002 Licensing Data--> Software licensing service version: 6.1.7601.17514 Name: Windows® 7, HomePremium edition Description: Windows Operating System - Windows® 7, OEM_SLP channel Activation ID: d2c04e90-c3dd-4260-b0f3-f845f5d27d64 Application ID: 55c92734-d682-4d71-983e-d6ec3f16059f Extended PID: 00359-00178-926-800007-02-1033-7600.0000-2092009 Installation ID: 094541293094821010374700758635733841093985163622189042 Processor Certificate URL: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=88338 Machine Certificate URL: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=88339 Use License URL: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=88341 Product Key Certificate URL: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=88340 Partial Product Key: 9YQTR License Status: Notification Notification Reason: 0xC004F059. Remaining Windows rearm count: 1 Trusted time: 08/06/2012 15:20:03 Windows Activation Technologies--> HrOffline: 0x00000000 HrOnline: N/A HealthStatus: 0x0000000000000000 Event Time Stamp: N/A ActiveX: Not Registered - 0x80040154 Admin Service: Not Registered - 0x80040154 HealthStatus Bitmask Output: HWID Data--> HWID Hash Current: MgAAAAEAAwABAAEAAAACAAAAAgABAAEAonZ6xRYj+qbMORAzmJJe7WI9+jqgNKYSUF4= OEM Activation 1.0 Data--> N/A OEM Activation 2.0 Data--> BIOS valid for OA 2.0: no, inconsistent OEMID or OEMTableID Windows marker version: N/A OEMID and OEMTableID Consistent: no BIOS Information: ACPI Table Name OEMID Value OEMTableID Value APIC _ASUS_ Notebook FACP _ASUS_ Notebook HPET _ASUS_ Notebook MCFG _ASUS_ Notebook SSDT AMD POWERNOW SSDT AMD POWERNOW SLIC e{ioie tUN_XUUQ View the thread
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Will Miscrosoft Security Essentilsl software conflect with the latest version of Mozilla Firefox sof
Hi, My desktop is a window XP 32-bit with Internet Explorer 8 and Miscrosoft Security Essentials as my anti-virus protection . My PC presently is having the old version of Mozilla Firefox software, My unstanding is Mozilla Firefox is a free and open source web browser developed for Miscosoft window,Mac OS X and Linux coordinated by Mozilla Coporation and Mozilla Foundation. I noticed that the latest version of Mozilla Firefox software (version 14.0 Beta 6) is also an anti-virus software contains anti-virus,worms,trojans and spyware, My questions are: 1. should I upgrade my Mozilla Firefox ( as I was prompted to do so) to version14.0 Beta 6. If I do so will there be any conflicts between the Miscrosoft Security Essentilsl and Mozilla Firefox in my PC. 2. If I uninstall and remove the entire Mozilla Firefox software, will there be any implication, will my PC be able to function without Mozilla Firefox software. Please advise, Thank you. Gary View this thread
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Denise Langley 12
I just bought microsoft office 2010 from Mohave Community College. The problem is that I have a Dell notebook which has no place to insert the disc. I need to know how to install the program without installing a disc. I have the isbn number and several other numbers but I don't know what to do from here. Can someone please help me asap. I have work due in my class in two days and will have to drop my class if I can't get this program. Thanks, Denise View this thread
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Lost some sounds with Outlook 2010
After upgrading from Outlook 97 to Outlook 2010 I noticed there was no option to set sounds when collasping or expanding mail groups. I found no option in Outlook 2010 Options setting except setting sound for new mail and that does work fine. I double checked Sounds and Audio Devices in Control Panel and the option is set to sort.wav within Microsoft Office - Expand/Collapse yet there is no sound when I expand or collapse a group such as Yesterday How can I get back all my sound effects as they were in Outlook 97? View this thread
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How do I customize the image of pinned icons?
changing "pinned icons" symbol when I pin internet explorer sites to taskbar the icon just shows the I.E. "E" symbol. Can I change the Symbol? View the thread
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outlook 2010
hi, how do i create a password for outlook 2010, i tried going to, " folder, right click, advanced settigs, change your password", it asks for old password that i never set up, please help, thanks View this thread
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Can I re-use my Windows 7 Installation CD?
I acquired a laptop which had Windows 7 Home Premium installed, together with the original installation CD and product key. As I needed a laptop that ran Linux, I removed W7 and installed Linux instead. I also have an old PC running XP, and would like to upgrade this to W7. Can I use the installation CD that came with the laptop? View the thread
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How does one use a set of self-made recovery discs to get ones files back into the computer?
I was experiencing some problems with my HP Pavilion and was advised by Miscrosoft Helf to take the files out of my computer and make a set of recovery discs. Now I'm left with a fine computer, but no files or programs because I don't know how to get those recovery discs back into my computer. Can anyone inform me how to get those files on the recovery discs back into the computer? View this thread
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I get the message that I haven't run a scan on my Pc for a while right after a scan is done
I cannot tell if the scan is actually happening. It appears to be scanning but then I still get the yellow icon that my computer may be at risk. View this thread
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My computer will not open to Windows Defender. It says it is turned off, and it won't let me turn i
My computer says my Windows Defender is turned off. When I try to open it, I can't. The computer won't let me, but I am getting messages that I need to turn it on. View this thread
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can I install windows vista 64 bit with a poduct key reg. as 32 bit
Can i install windows vista home pemimum 64 bit full version downloadable software for free or even with a cost with 32 bit product key installed, instead of I installed as a 32 bit than a 64 bit on a pre install windows on an asus f5 laptop dual core amd 64 with 4 Gb of ram. p.s Q1. would the 64 bit intall over the 32 bit system or would it need a clean system to start off witch to install.Q2. I have the product key label readable from retail.. where would be best to download software? ie. microsoft.. or ?i will thank-you for your help, yours faithfully michael H.005.. View this thread
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Multiple VSS writers are failing and my backups are failling too. Need help !!
Multiple VSS writers are failing and my backups are failling too. Need help: I have one desltop installed XP SP3 x64 and one laptop with Seven SP1 x64. In both the machine my backups are failing. I am trying to back up data using Storage Craft, Windows backup is also failling. I am trying to take complete backup to an extarnal USB drive (2TB). I did "vssadmin list writers" and it showing multiple writers are at failed state. I have done SFC /ScanNow, it did not help. There is no error in the disk and CHKDSK passed. I do not know how VSS works and how to troubleshoot the issue. Please help !! View the thread
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アップデートの時に出るエラーコード
80070663及び64C上記のエラーコードの修復方法を探しています、みなさんどうかよろしくご協力ください。お願いしますPCに関してかなりの素人です。 View this thread
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can we install microsoft security essential on A NETWORK 300 computers in a non profit making medica
Dear friends can we install microsoft security essential on A NETWORK 300 computers(having genuine Windows & CALs installed) in a non profit making medical college of University of Delhi, India. Is it legal? View this thread
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Duplicate photos
I’ve just noticed that my picture library contains many duplicate photos some 3x. How do I delete the dups without deleting the original? View the thread
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Regback folder editor?
I need to find something to access entries in Regback folder down in Windowsconfig for Windows 7. I'm looking for a specific key on the backup. (I've formatted my PC and need a certain key from my old installation for activation purposes) How do I go about this? View the thread
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How To Disable Logon Passwords in Windows 8
Posted on Note: If you use a public computer, I’d advise not removing your password for access, especially if you store personal or confidential information.[/b] You will begin by searching for the keyword “netplwiz” either on your Start screen or from the run cmd. [url=http://www.everything-microsoft.com/2012/06/07/disable-logon-passwords-windows-8/win8password1/" rel="attachment wp-att-94529">http://cdn9.everything-microsoft.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Win8Password1-650x399.png?9d7bd4 The next step involves unchecking the box labeled “Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer” and click OK. [url=http://www.everything-microsoft.com/2012/06/07/disable-logon-passwords-windows-8/win8password8-2/" rel="attachment wp-att-94532">http://cdn9.everything-microsoft.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Win8Password81-400x436.png?9d7bd4 Enter your current password twice to confirm and click OK. [url=http://www.everything-microsoft.com/2012/06/07/disable-logon-passwords-windows-8/win8password3-2/" rel="attachment wp-att-94544">http://cdn6.everything-microsoft.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Win8Password31-400x435.png?9d7bd4 That’s it! You have successfully removed password entry when Windows starts. [url=http://www.everything-microsoft.com/2012/06/07/disable-logon-passwords-windows-8/">How To Disable Logon Passwords in Windows 8 was posted on [url=http://www.everything-microsoft.com">Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes. If you are not reading this content in an email newsletter, it is being used without permission. View the full article
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why does my microsoft security essentials say I am potentally unprotected
my microsoft security essentials keeps saying I am potentaly unprotected....Why? View this thread
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How can I get rid of something called Slow PC Fighter? Won't work through add/remove programs! Using
I have tried to remove it using add/remove programs, but there is no add/remove in it. Just has usage. I am using xp pro version 2002. Anitvir and or MS security essentails tell me to remove it first before I can download either one. View this thread