TechPortal

The Atom-powered four-drive system looks set to be the second major WHS system that we can’t get here. Surprise, surprise…

Microsoft has taken a bit of sledging for the lack of success of its Windows Home Server platform.

Despite being quite a solid product that’s enjoyed two decent ‘Power Pack’ updates and is now closing on its second birthday, WHS has failed to gain anywhere near the mainstream penetration which Microsoft expected.

But it doesn’t help when Microsoft’s hardware partners build appealing WHS systems for the US and European markets but don’t bring them to our shores and stock them on our shelves.

It could be a pricing issue, or the reality of our smaller market size (even though Aussies have proved to be fervent adopters of technology).

None the less, we’ve already seen HP release its second-gen WHS system in the MediaSmart LX195, and HP’s local spokesman still tells us “There no plans of releasing this product locally”.

It’s the same tune with Acer, which last week launched its first WHS box. The Acer Aspire EasyStore Home Server is a compact black box with four 2.5 inch drive bays, the first of which is filled with a 1TB disk, and like HP’s LX195 is powered by Intel’s desktop-class Atom 230 with 2GB of RAM.

In addition to the five USB 2.0 ports which support an automatic ‘quick copy’ of files from a flash drive or hard drive onto the server, there’s an eSATA port and Gigabit Ethernet (of course). All this comes in at a pretty sweet US$399.

But an Acer spokeswoman told APCmag that “at the current moment Acer Australia has no plans to introduce the new EasyStore into the Australian market.”

Jeff Alexander, one of Microsoft Australia’s ‘IT Pro Evangelists’, told APCmag that the lack of brand-name systems with a strong retail presence definitely hampered Windows Home Server getting cut-through with consumers.

“In Australia, it’s probably because we haven’t had a big hardware partner to launch a box so you can go to a shop and see it on the shelf and buy it. We just haven’t got the big manufacturers like HP doing Home Server here in Australia.”

But there could be light on the Home Server horizon, with Alexander admitting that “we’re working with multinationals like HP for a possible launch.”

Source : APCMag.com

File extension PSD is most commonly associated with a Photoshop Document, a proprietary format developed by Adobe for storing layered images. PSD files are not commonly found by end users, as their use is usually restricted to design and development environments.

File Extension PSD is the default file format of Adobe Photoshop, which allows images to be saved whilst retaining fully editable layering. As a result, PSD files are usually only used in design environments where an image may need to be modified. Final images are usually stored in alternative formats such as File extension TIFF, File extension PNG or File extension JPG depending on how they are to be used. Adobe Photoshop is the industry standard application for the manipulation of bitmap images, and as a result the PSD file format is widely used and to an extent supported by rival applications.

Files with file extension PSD store images in layers, with each layer comprising of separate raster or vector images, effects or filters. Layers within PSD files may also contain masks, colour spaces, transparency, alpha channels, text or clipping paths. These are stacked on top of one another, allowing elements to be placed or effects applied on top of the original image. Each layer is referenced by a name and description which can be altered to reflect its contents, making PSD files easy to work with, even if they are worked on by multiple designers. PSD files are most frequently encountered in the design industry, though they are also widely used to distribute editable image files such as web page templates over the Internet.

Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Photoshop Elements can be used to open PSD files on both the Windows and Mac platforms. Corel Paint Shop Pro and ACDSee Photo Manager can also be used to open PSD files in Windows, though some features of the document may not be fully supported.

Today sees a fire-drill test of the Microsoft Windows Update system for Windows 7 RC users: there will be downloads but Windows Update will actually be firing blanks.

To ensure that all is working well for when real updates arrive, Microsoft’s Update Team has blogged about a series of blank updates due to release today to test the Windows Update system. Some will be automatic while others will be available for manual download to test the notification features. In theory, there isn’t a lot that can go wrong, but Microsoft is taking the better-safe-than-sorry approach, as it did earlier in the year with the first beta.

_{Get ready for some important, yet completely unimportant updates}

When real patches do start arriving, it will be interesting to see what they fix, will they aim to improve Windows 7, or simply parallel Vista updates and fixes. These patches make no changes to the system, but please install them, just so Microsoft is happy that all is well in the world of update.

Also on the blog is an explanation of how Windows Update offers Internet Explorer 8, trying to defuse some of the ruckus about it being automatically added. “WU and AU will not automatically install Internet Explorer 8… The update will be offered to you, and you can choose Install, Don’t Install or Ask me later. If you choose Don’t Install then it won’t be actively offered to you again, and it will become an Optional Update which you can manually install at some point in the future.”

Site : APCMag.com

Steady uptake of Firefox, Safari and Chrome sees Microsoft’s browser slip to 66% of share – and the slide will continue until it tumbles below 50%, says one analyst.

The release of Internet Explorer 8 hasn’t been sufficient to halt the decline of Microsoft’s mighty and once near-unchallenged browser. Figures released by the browser-watching boffins at Net Applications show that as of April Internet Explorer dropped to an all-time low of 66.1% of the world’s browser market, down just over two points from six months ago.

The steady fall in Internet Explorer’s popularity has been mirrored by the climb in Firefox, Safari and Chrome, which in the past six months have all hit new milestones.

November 2008 saw Firefox finally nudge its way over 20% share, with the current figures pegging the open-source browser at 22.48% and trending to hit 25% before the year is out.

In the following month Chrome broke into single digits – a figure that might tempt one to dismiss Google’s shiny new browser but for the fact that it’s now sitting at 1.42%, more than twice the share of the longer-lived Opera.

Safari seems to be enjoying even better fortunes, rocketing from 6.57% in October 2008 to 7.93% in December and then bursting to the current 8.21%.

On a per version basis Internet Explorer 7.0 tops the chart at 44.51%, well ahead of Firefox 3 at 20.25%, Internet Explorer 6 at 17.52%, Safari 3.2 at 4.29% and Internet Explorer 8 at 3.99%.

The Internet Explorer tide is turning in favour of 8.0, of course, with the two previous editions show a definite dropping off — although some users appear to be moving to a competing browser instead of following Microsoft’s preferred upgrade path, which now includes IE8.0 being pushed to users through the automated Windows Update service.

In an interview with US publication Computerworld, a Net Applications spokesman said that if Internet Explorer’s downwards trajectory continues the browser would dip below a 50% market share by mid-2011.

“Is there an end to IE’s decline?” ponders Vince Vizzaccaro, Net Applications’ executive vice president of marketing. “I don’t know. I never thought they would drop this far. IE had such a huge market advantage, and Firefox, in a competitive environment, continues to gain share. We’ve seen some seasonal flux [to Firefox’s share], but now it’s just continuing to go on an upward trend.”

File extension P7M is used to denote a digitally signed and encrypted E-Mail. Both the E-Mail message itself and any attachments are added to the P7M envelope, which can only be opened by clients with the appropriate key.

File extension P7M files are an implementation of the Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension (S/MIME) standard which supports public key encryption. S/MIME provides essentially two cryptographic services which can be used by E-Mail applications. The first is digital signatures, which can be used to authenticate a message, check its integrity and prove its origin or source. The second is encryption, which is used to ensure that data remains both private and secure, even if an E-Mail is intercepted by a third-party.

As files with File extension P7M are encrypted, it is not possible to extract the contents without the appropriate software and decryption key. E-Mail applications with S/MIME support can be configured to automatically retrieve the necessary key to decrypt received P7M files and display the resultant message as an ordinary E-Mail. However, clients without support, such as web-based E-Mail services, will simply show the encrypted P7M E-Mail as an attachment.

Encryption is utilised by P7M files to ensure data privacy even if the E-Mail was accidentally sent to the wrong address or was intercepted during transmission. However, this has the disadvantage that anti-virus software is unable to detect malware, as it will not be able to decrypt the E-Mail once it has been created. Therefore, any attachments received in a P7M file should be checked prior to opening, even if they are from a known and trusted source.

P7M files can be opened in any E-Mail client that supports S/MIME provided that the necessary public key is available. P7M files can also be opened using other applications such as Cryptigo p7mViewer, which is designed specifically for opening signed and encrypted E-Mails.