Ubuntu vs Vista vs Windows 7

In depth: A lot of people have been chattering about the improvements Windows 7 brings for Windows users, but how does it compare to Ubuntu in real-world tests? We put Ubuntu 8.10, Windows Vista and Windows 7 through their paces in both 32-bit and 64-bit tests to see just how well Ubuntu faces the new contender. And, just for luck, we threw in a few tests using Jaunty Jackalope with ext4.

When Windows users say that Windows 7 is easier to install than ever, what do they really mean? When they say it's faster, is it just in their heads, or is Microsoft really making big strides forward? And, perhaps most importantly, when Linux benchmarkers show us how screamingly fast ext4 is compared to ext3, how well do those figures actually transfer to end users?

These are the questions we wanted to answer, so we asked Dell to provide us with a high-spec machine to give all the operating systems room to perform to their max. Our test machine packed an Intel Core i7 920, which in layman's terms has four cores running at 2.67GHz with hyperthreading and 8MB of L3 cache. It also had 6GB of RAM, plus two 500GB of hard drives with 16MB of cache.

The tests we wanted to perform for each operating system were:

• How long does each operating system take to install?
• How much disk space was used in the standard install?
• How long does boot up and shutdown take?
• How long does it take to copy files from USB to HD, and from HD to HD?
• How fast can it execute the Richards benchmark?

We also, just for the heck of it, kept track of how many mouse clicks it took to install each OS.

Before we jump into the results, there are a few things we should make clear:

• To ensure absolute fairness, install time was measured from the moment the computer was turned on until we reached a working desktop.
• The same computer hardware was used for all tests, and all operating systems were installed fresh for this article.
• We used the Ultimate versions of Windows Vista and Windows 7, simply because Windows 7 was provided only in this flavour.
• We used the Windows Vista SP1 disk to accurately reflect what users are likely to experience todaay.
• Our Windows 7 version is the open beta that Microsoft issued recently. It is probable Windows 7 will be at least this fast in the final build, if not faster.
• For Ubuntu 9.04 we used the daily build from January 22nd.
• All operating systems were installed using standard options; nothing was changed.
• After checking how much space was used during the initial install, each operating system was updated with all available patches before any other tests were performed.
• Our journalistic friends have informed us that Windows Vista (and, presumably, Windows 7 too) has technology to increase the speed of the system over time as it learns to cache programs intelligently. It also allows users to use flash drives to act as temporary storage to boost speed further. None of our tests are likely to show this technology in action, so please take that into account when reading the results.
• The filesystem, boot, shutdown and Richards benchmarks were performed three times each then averaged.

And, of course, there's the most important proviso of all: it is very, very likely that a few tweaks to any of these operating systems could have made a big difference to these results, but we're not too interested in that - these results reflect what you get you install a plain vanilla OS, like most users do.

Install time

Amount of time taken to install, from machine being turned on to working desktop. Measured in seconds; less is better.

At first glance, you might think that Ubuntu clearly installs far faster than either version of Windows, and while that's true there is one important mitigation: both Windows Vista and Windows 7 run system benchmarks part-way through the installation to determine the computer's capabilities.

A bit of a flippant one - just how many mouse clicks does it take to install an OS with the default options?

Surprisingly, Ubuntu 8.10 gets it done with half the clicks of Windows 7. NB: hopefully it's clear this doesn't make Ubuntu 8.04 twice as easy to install. Measured in, er, mouse clicks; fewer is better.

Disk space used immediately after a fresh install. Measured in gigabytes; less is better.

While some people might complain that we used the Ultimate editions of both Vista and Windows 7, they probably forget that the standard Ubuntu includes software such as an office suite as standard. NB: Vista failed to detect the network card during install, leaving us without an internet connection until a driver was downloaded on another computer.

Bootup and shutdown

Boot up time was also measured from the moment the machine was turned on, and the timer was stopped as soon as the desktop was reached. The Dell box does take about 20 seconds to get past POST, but to avoid questions about when to start the timer we just started it as soon as the power button was pressed.

Amount of time taken to boot, from machine being turned on to working desktop. Measured in seconds; less is better.

The 32-bit version of Windows 7 is the only one to beat the one-minute mark, but that advantage is quickly lost in the switch to 64-bit. Linux has always been rather slow to boot, but as we understand it reducing boot time is one of the goals of the Ubuntu 9.04 release.

Amount of time taken to shutdown, from button being clicked to machine powering off. Measured in seconds; less is better.

Windows lags a little behind the Linuxes, with 64-bit again proving a sticking point - this time for Windows Vista.

IO testing

To test filesystem performance, we ran four tests: copying large files from USB to HD, copying large files from HD to HD, copying small files from USB to HD, and copying small files from HD to HD. The HD to HD tests copied data from one part of the disk to another as opposed to copying to a different disk. For reference, the large file test comprised 39 files in 1 folder, making 399MB in total; the small file test comprised 2,154 files in 127 folders, making 603MB in total. Each of these tests were done with write caching disabled to ensure the full write had taken place.

Amount of time taken to copy the small files from a USB flash drive to hard disk. Measured in seconds; less is better.

Amount of time taken to copy the small files from one place to another on a single hard disk. Measured in seconds; less is better.

Let us take this opportunity to remind readers that Windows 7 is still at least nine months from release.

Amount of time taken to copy the large files from a USB flash drive to hard disk. Measured in seconds; less is better.

Amount of time taken to copy the large files from one place to another on a single hard disk. Measured in seconds; less is better.

With the exception of Windows 7 while copying larges files around a hard drive, Windows generally suffered compared to Linux in all of these tests. Obviously Windows does have to worry about some things that Linux doesn't, namely DRM checks, but these figures show a drastic performance difference between the two.

Notes: Vista and Windows 7 really seemed to struggle with copying lots of small files, but clearly it's something more than a dodgy driver because some of the large-file speeds are incredible in Windows 7.

Both Vista and Windows 7 seemed to introduce random delays when deleting files. For example, about one in three times when deleting the files from our filesystem benchmark, this screen below would appear and do nothing for 25-30 seconds before suddenly springing into action and deleting the files. However, this wasn't part of our benchmark, so isn't included in the numbers above.

This was very annoying.

Richards benchmark

Notes: This was done using the cross-platform Python port of Richards. For reference, Ubuntu 8.10 uses Python 2.5.2, Ubuntu 9.04 uses Python 2.5.4, and we used Python 2.5.4 on the Windows tests. Even though the 64-bit results for Linux and Windows don't look that far apart, we have to admit to being very impressed with the Windows tests - the deviation between tests was just 3ms on Vista, and 5ms on Windows 7, compared to 20ms on Linux.

Amount of time taken to execute the Python Richards benchmark. Measured in milliseconds; less is better.

It's clear from that graph that having a 64-bit OS can make a real difference in compute-intensive tasks, but it's not too pleasing to see Windows pip Linux to the post in nearly all results.

Switching to ext4

All the Linux benchmarks above were done using ext3, so what happens when we switch to ext4? Well, not a lot:

Boot, shutdown and filesystem tests for Ubuntu 9.04/x86-64 using ext3 (blue) and ext4 (red). Measured in seconds; less is better.

Although there's no difference in shutdown speed, the boot time using ext4 dropped by 8 seconds, which is a fair improvement. We can probably discount the the USB to HD tests simply out of error margin, which leaves the HD to HD tests, and there we find a very healthy boost: 3.7 seconds were shaved off the small files test, making ext4 about 25% faster. Our tests also showed an improvement in the large file test, but it's not as marked.

Conclusions

Benchmarks are always plagued with questions, uncertainties, error margins and other complexities, which is why we're not going to try to look too deeply into these figures. Obviously we're Linux users ourselves, but our tests have shown that there are some places where Windows 7 really is making some improvement and that's good for competition in the long term. However, Linux isn't sitting still: with ext4 now stable we expect it to be adopted into distros fairly quickly. Sadly it looks like Ubuntu 9.04 won't be among the first distros to make the switch, so users looking to get the best performance from their Linux boxes will either have to fiddle with the default options, have patience, or jump ship to Fedora - which will be switching to ext4 in the next release..

Overlord II Evil found a way for a sequel

Version reviewed: Overlord II

Good:
+Great story
+Amusing characters
+Great graphics

Bad:
-Buggy camera
-Stupid Autosave

System requirements:

OS: Windows XP/Vista
CPU: 2.3GHz Intel, AMD or equivalent
Memory: 1 GB RAM
Graphics Card: 128 MB
Sound Card: DirectX 9.0c compatible soundcard
DVD-ROM Drive
DirectX 9.0c or 10

Evil. It is the center point for a lot of video games these days, as many tell the story of a brave and good character going up against the forces of evil and eventually vanquishing them in a tour de force. After that, all is well in the land, peace reigns and everyone can start hugging puppies and kittens until they feel sick.

But luckily for those who prefer to play on the dark side of things, the team at Triumph Studios has created the Overlord franchise, with the first title showing us just how good it is to be evil with your fellow companions and how much better it is to send your loyal minions into the fight while you think of your lovely mistress back at the Dark Tower.

Now the series is back with Overlord II, which promises to bring even more mayhem and feature a new Overlord with an even bigger hunger for power. The minions are also back, alongside a lot of new features like being able to ride mounts. With a new story, written by Rhianna Pratchett, and improved mechanics, promised by Triumph, Overlord II seems like a perfect title. But is it that good or has an evil presence meddled with it? Read on to find out.

Story

In terms of story, this is where the whole Overlord franchise can teach many other games some valuable lessons. Its writer, Rhianna Pratchett, has emphasized the key role of a good story in video games, and how writers should interact with the development team in order for everything to work as a smooth oiled machine.

The first game was filled with amusing characters, interesting twists and some unforgettable moments. The second brings much more than that, as you are now in the armor of a new Overlord, who must go against the Empire, a Roman-like civilization that hates everything related to magic and, subsequently, you and your minions.

In order to sabotage its grip on the land, the Overlord must go on several quests and wreak havoc in a few interesting locations – all the locations in the game are well thought out and have some unique characteristics. The colorful characters and the amusing one-liners from the inhabitants are also quite entertaining.

As in the first game, in a few cities you will meet some lovely female companions whom you can bring to your Netherworld fortress in order to make them your mistresses. Each of the three eligible young ladies offers unique talents and can help customize your Dark Tower. They are also instrumental in helping you defeat the Empire and, as an added bonus, the bedroom scenes are quite amusing.

Gameplay

Overlord II delivers some very mixed gameplay. On the one hand you are treated with some upgraded things as opposed to the first title, like improved minion speed, wider areas of exploration or more destructible things, while on the other hand the buggy camera, stupid AI or very annoying Autosave mechanic are still present.

First of all, the game plays out pretty much like the first one. You are the almighty Overlord, meaning that you can make your minions do all the work for you. They come in four different “flavors”: the Browns are expert fighters; the Reds can absorb fire and are great at long range; the Greens are guerrilla fighters and have a powerful backstab attack; and the Blues can swim around and revive their fallen brethren. The animations and the attention to detail in terms of the minions is great, and you will definitely laugh when you see the little critters wearing peacock feathers, soldier hats or baby seal fur on their heads or bodies.

The Overlord itself can also be customized, as the Dark Tower has a handy Forge, where, at the expense of jewels, gold and other minions, new weapons and armor can be made. The RPG side of the action game doesn't end here, as you can buy upgrades for your minions, increase their skill level and even revive the best soldiers you lost in battle, meaning that you must not worry about sending your most well-equipped minions into battle.

Sadly, battles aren't extremely diverse, as there are only a handful of enemies, and their AI isn't the brightest. Sometimes though, they are present in many numbers and, coupled with some levels being constructed like mazes, might pose a significant threat to your Dark Majesty. But with some patience and clever micro management, it isn't something that hard.

The buggy camera and control system have stayed the same sadly, as you'll often find your camera fixed to minions that run around the area, even though you gave the command to regroup. One of the most irritating parts of the whole control scheme is the sweep maneuvers, when you must hold both mouse buttons and direct a group of minions around the room, on some steep ledges or in a hard-to-reach section. Sounds simple, but almost everything is left to chance; you can't adjust how many minions you want to go, where exactly you want them, what to do when they get there or how they can come back. If the mechanic hadn't been used a lot, it might have been alright, but there are scenes in game where this is everything that you do, making it extremely annoying.

Don't think that you can quit whenever you want though, as the game specifically relies on an Autosave function, which generates a check point every time you find a Netherworld gate, which are few and far in between. Also, once you load up a save, you're transported at your Netherworld Tower, meaning that you must teleport back to where you were and eventually start things all over again.

The boss fights are extremely scripted, to the point where you might encounter glitches that will halt all your progress. Oftentimes the objectives are quite ambiguous, meaning that you will need to start exploring all of the nooks and crannies in the game world or even go online and seek walkthroughs in order to find out just what you need to do in order to advance in the game.

On a lighter note, the mounts for the minions are quite interesting, as Browns can ride wolves, Reds can tackle salamanders and Greens can use spiders. All of them accomplish a specific goal, but you can only use them on certain levels, making them a novelty rather than a useful tool in battle.

Another break from the usual gameplay is the sections where you can man siege weapons, like catapults or ballistas, and where you can command boats. But although they seem novel, they aren't very efficient sometimes, giving you the feeling that you should have taken your minions and do the job properly.

Also, there are some sections where you take control of one minion and make him lead the others through some hard-to-reach places for your dark majesty. These are quite interesting, but will require a lot of strategy, especially when you need to recover the green hive.

Concept

In terms of concept, the whole Overlord series deserves to be applauded for bringing evil to the center of the game's story and making it the main character. The “good” guys in the games that appeared so far have been corrupted by their power and fell prey to their weaknesses. As a character in this new title will say at the end, there is no light without darkness, and the Overlord is a necessary presence in order to balance things out.

This second game brings back a lot of the elements from the first one, but also improves in terms of story and the wider variety of choices available. There aren't many in terms of exercising your dark power, but you do have a few more large quests to accomplish, even though they aren't mandatory to progress the main story.

Graphics and Audio

The first game was applauded for its story and concept, but in terms of graphics it wasn't much to look at. Overlord II, though, is quite a looker, giving almost everything in the game a fresh coat of paint. All of the environments are much more detailed, and let's not forget about the main character or the minions, who are extremely well built.

The other characters look pretty enough, but sometimes they border on ridicule in terms of design and the overall look of the empire. The textures are extremely nice, but enemies do have a tendency to pop in from time to time, even though they are on the side of the room you are standing in.

In terms of audio, you can't say anything to Overlord II. From the extremely funny one-liners said by your minions, to Gnarl's musings and the complaints of the inhabitants of the different cities, you will be amused. The orchestral score is impressive and is a vital part to the fighting sequences in the title.

Multiplayer

The game, despite featuring a top-notch single-player campaign filled with interesting things, also has a multiplayer mode, pertaining to both competitive and cooperative play. In terms of competitive, you can choose, alongside your rivals, to play the Dominate mode, where you must capture sections of the map and hold them against your rivals, or the Pillage mode, where you need to capture portions of a large treasure.

For those who want to collaborate, you will have to choose between Survival, which is basically a Gear of War 2 Horde mode, meaning that you will have to defend yourself against waves of enemies, or Invasion, where you will attack powerful foes alongside your friends.

Overall, although quite fun, the multiplayer modes seem a bit tacked on, as Overlord II is mostly about its intricate story.

Conclusion

All in all, Overlord II sways between two extremes. It is a very funny experience and it's guaranteed to make you laugh once you see your minions dressed up as children or as imperial guards and humming marching tunes, but thanks to the complicated camera and auto save system, it will make you angry most of the times.

If you're looking forward to wreaking havoc against your fellow men with the help of some extremely funny little critters, then Overlord II is definitely something you will love.

EDITOR'S RATINGS:
Story:	9/10
Gameplay:	7/10
Concept:	9/10
Graphics:	9/10
Audio:	9/10
Multiplayer:	7/10
Overall:	8.5

Mandriva Linux 2010.0 Beta Has Plymouth

Dear Mandriva fans, the time has come to announce the Beta release of the upcoming Mandriva Linux 2010.0 Linux distribution, due for launch in November this year. The features of this release are exactly what everyone was expecting, the KDE 4.3 and GNOME 2.28 Beta desktop environments, as well as Linux kernel 2.6.31 RC6 and X.Org Server 1.6.2. But the really good news is that Mandriva has finally decided to replace that old Splashy boot splash manager with the popular Plymouth, produced by Red Hat. Here's what Plymouth will offer:
· Reduced screen flickering and smooth transitions, thanks to Kernel Mode-Setting;
· VESA framebuffer support;
· Beautiful visual effects;
· Easy customizable;
· Simple and nice script language (there is no need to code in C in order to write a theme).

However, Mandriva has not yet prepared a boot splash theme for this release. It is a theme that looks very similar to the old Splashy one and they are working hard to create a brand-new one for the final release!

Highlights of Mandriva Linux 2010.0 Beta:

· Plymouth boot splash manager;
· Linux kernel 2.6.31 RC6;
· KDE 4.3.0;
· GNOME 2.27.90;
· Xfce 4.6.1;
· X.org Server 1.6.2;
· OpenOffice.org 3.1.0;
· KOffice 2.0.1;
· Amarok 2.1.1;
· Digikam 1.0 Beta 3;
· Kipi plug-ins 0.5.0;
· KMess 2.0.0;
· Apache 2.2.22;
· PHP 5.3.0;
· Python 3;
· Virtualbox 3;
· Improved Drakxtools;
· Device permission handling changes.

Just like the previous Alpha versions, Mandriva Linux 2010.0 Beta is still not available as a Live CD, the only way for you to test it is to grab the DVD and install it. It is available for both 32-bit and 64-bit architectures. The development cycle of Mandriva Linux 2010.0 will continue with two release candidates scheduled for September and October, and the official public release expected around November, 2009.

Download Mandriva Linux 2010.0 Beta right now from softpedia

iPhone 3GS Supports Full HD 1080p Video Playback

When taking a look at the thin and somewhat... flimsy form factor of the iPhone 3GS, it's rather difficult to picture it as being able to output Full HD video resolutions. I mean, come on, how can this tiny smartphone carry out the same processes your large-size Blu-ray player is capable

On the other hand, if the results were in fact right and the iPhone 3GS does support Full HD video playback, this means that Apple has decided to keep things under wraps yet again, just waiting to “unleash” this functionality in a future firwmare upgrade, and, why not, stifle the HD streaming claims made by Microsoft regarding its future Zune HD model. And that would really mark a huge blow to old MS, one that might bring an abrupt end to the whole Zune thing altogether.

Well, the iPhone 3GS could be a lot more powerful than anyone might have believed up until now, given the fact that it's apparently capable of running 1080p videos just fine, as a Chinese... experimenter, let's say so, seems to have demonstrated.

So, within a post on the Chinese forum Weiphone, a user called “fridtear” (the name might be different altogether, but that's what Google's automatic translation service is offering me right now) claims that he's managed to run H.264, 1080p, 30 Mbps videos (1920 x 1080 pixel resolution) on his iPhone 3GS, without carrying out significant software modifications.

And if you're wondering just what “significant” means in this case, you should know that we're only talking about the installation of a free file transfer and viewing application called FileAid, which enabled the whole transfer and playback process.

However, there are some issues with this claim, the most important one coming from people who've already tried for themselves to recreate the experiment and failed, which raises some serious question marks regarding just how correct those results really were.

NOKIA....SECRET CODES

Hidden Nokia Secret codes
Many of u guys may be knowing it...well for those who dont know---->

These codes will work on most Nokia Mobile Phones to activate/deactivate advanced hidden functions that you can’t change through the phone menu

*3370# Activate Enhanced Full Rate Codec (EFR) - Your phone uses the best sound quality but talk time is reduced my approx. 5%

#3370# Deactivate Enhanced Full Rate Codec (EFR)

*#4720# Activate Half Rate Codec - Your phone uses a lower quality sound but you should gain approx 30% more Talk Time

*#4720# Deactivate Half Rate Codec

#pw+1234567890+1# Provider Lock Status. (use the “*” button to obtain the “p,w” and “+” symbols)

#pw+1234567890+2# Network Lock Status. (use the “*” button to obtain the “p,w” and “+” symbols)

#pw+1234567890+3# Country Lock Status. (use the “*” button to obtain the “p,w” and “+” symbols)

#pw+1234567890+4# SIM Card Lock Status. (use the “*” button to obtain the “p,w” and “+” symbols)

12345 This is the default security code

*#21# Allows you to check the number that “All Calls” are diverted


*#43# Allows you to check the “Call Waiting” status of your phone.

*#61# Allows you to check the number that “On No Reply” calls are diverted to

*#62# Allows you to check the number that “Divert If Unreachable (no service)” calls are diverted to

*#67# Allows you to check the number that “On Busy Calls” are diverted to

*#0000# Displays your phones software version, 1st Line : Software Version, 2nd Line : Software Release Date, 3rd Line : Compression Type

*#9999# Phones software version if *#0000# does not work

*#06# For checking the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI Number)

*#67705646# Removes operator logo on 3310 & 3330

*#73# Reset phone timers and game scores

*#746025625# Displays the SIM Clock status, if your phone supports this power saving feature “SIM Clock Stop Allowed", it means you will get the best standby time possible

*#94870345123456789# Deactivate the PWM-Mem

press and hold # Lets you switch between lines

*#7760# Manufacturers code

*#7780# Restore factory settings

*#8110# Software version for the nokia 8110

*#92702689# Displays - 1.Serial Number, 2.Date Made, 3.Purchase Date, 4.Date of last repair (0000 for no repairs), 5.Transfer User Data. To exit this mode you need to switch your phone off then on again

**21*number# Turn on “All Calls” diverting to the phone number entered

**61*number# Turn on “No Reply” diverting to the phone number entered

**67*number# Turn on “On Busy” diverting to the phone number entered


*#06# for checking the IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity).

*#7780# reset to factory settings.

*#67705646# This will clear the LCD display(operator logo).

*#0000# To view software version.

*#2820# Bluetooth device address.

*#746025625# Sim clock allowed status.

*#62209526# - Display the MAC address of the WLAN adapter. This is available only in the newer devices that supports WLAN like N80

#pw+1234567890+1# Shows if sim have restrictions.

*#92702689# - takes you to a secret menu where you may find some of the information below:

1. Displays Serial Number.

2. Displays the Month and Year of Manufacture

3. Displays (if there) the date where the phone was purchased (MMYY)

4. Displays the date of the last repair - if found (0000)

5. Shows life timer of phone (time passes since last start)

*#3370# - Enhanced Full Rate Codec (EFR) activation. Increase signal strength, better signal reception. It also help if u want to use GPRS and the service is not responding or too slow. Phone battery will drain faster though.

*#3370* - (EFR) deactivation. Phone will automatically restart. Increase battery life by 30% because phone receives less signal from network.

*#4720# - Half Rate Codec activation.

*#4720* - Half Rate Codec deactivation. The phone will automatically restart

If you forgot wallet code for Nokia S60 phone, use this code reset: *#7370925538# Note, your data in the wallet will be erased. Phone will ask you the lock code. Default lock code is: 12345

Press *#3925538# to delete the contents and code of wallet.

*#7328748263373738# resets security code.

Default security code is 12345

Unlock service provider: Insert sim, turn phone on and press vol up(arrow keys) for 3 seconds, should say pin code. Press C,then press * message should flash, press * again and 04*pin*pin*pin#

Change closed caller group (settings >security settings>user groups) to 00000 and ure phone will sound the message tone when you are near a radar speed trap. Setting it to 500 will cause your phone 2 set off security alarms at shop exits, gr8 for practical jokes! (works with some of the Nokia phones.)

Press and hold "0" on the main screen to open wap browser.

Note! Try these codes at your own risk! We don't accept any complaints.
Some of these codes may not work in your mobiles.

SECRETS OF XP.....ssshhh

1. It boasts how long it can stay up. Whereas previous versions of Windows were coy about how long they went between boots, XP is positively proud of its stamina. Go to the Command Prompt in the Accessories menu from the All Programs start button option, and then type 'systeminfo'. The computer will produce a lot of useful info, including the uptime. If you want to keep these, type 'systeminfo > info.txt'. This creates a file called info.txt you can look at later with Notepad. (Professional Edition only).

2. You can delete files immediately, without having them move to the Recycle Bin first. Go to the Start menu, select Run... and type 'gpedit.msc'; then select User Configuration, Administrative Templates, Windows Components, Windows Explorer and find the Do not move deleted files to the Recycle Bin setting. Set it. Poking around in gpedit will reveal a great many interface and system options, but take care -- some may stop your computer behaving as you wish. (Professional Edition only).


3. You can lock your XP workstation with two clicks of the mouse. Create a new shortcut on your desktop using a right mouse click, and enter 'rundll32.exe

user32.dll,LockWorkStation' in the location field. Give the shortcut a name you like. That's it -- just double click on it and your computer will be locked. And if that's not easy enough, Windows key + L will do the same.


4. XP hides some system software you might want to remove, such as Windows Messenger, but you can tickle it and make it disgorge everything. Using Notepad or Edit, edit the text file /windows/inf/sysoc.inf, search for the word 'hide' and remove it. You can then go to the Add or Remove Programs in the Control Panel, select Add/Remove Windows Components and there will be your prey, exposed and vulnerable.


5. For those skilled in the art of DOS batch files, XP has a number of interesting new commands. These include 'eventcreate' and 'eventtriggers' for creating and watching system events, 'typeperf' for monitoring performance of various subsystems, and 'schtasks' for handling scheduled tasks. As usual, typing the command name followed by /? will give a list of options -- they're all far too baroque to go into here.


6. XP has IP version 6 support -- the next generation of IP. Unfortunately this is more than your ISP has, so you can only experiment with this on your LAN. Type 'ipv6 install' into Run... (it's OK, it won't ruin your existing network setup) and then 'ipv6 /?' at the command line to find out more. If you don't know what IPv6 is, don't worry and don't bother.


7. You can at last get rid of tasks on the computer from the command line by using 'taskkill /pid' and the task number, or just 'tskill' and the process number. Find that out by typing 'tasklist', which will also tell you a lot about what's going on in your system.
8. XP will treat Zip files like folders, which is nice if you've got a fast machine. On slower machines, you can make XP leave zip files well alone by typing 'regsvr32 /u zipfldr.dll' at the command line. If you change your mind later, you can put things back as they were by typing 'regsvr32 zipfldr.dll'.


9. XP has ClearType -- Microsoft's anti-aliasing font display technology -- but doesn't have it enabled by default. It's well worth trying, especially if you were there for DOS and all those years of staring at a screen have given you the eyes of an astigmatic bat. To enable ClearType, right click on the desktop, select Properties, Appearance, Effects, select ClearType from the second drop-down menu and enable the selection. Expect best results on laptop displays. If you want to use ClearType on the Welcome login screen as well, set the registry entry HKEY_USERS/.DEFAULT/Control Panel/Desktop/FontSmoothingType to 2.


10. You can use Remote Assistance to help a friend who's using network address

translation (NAT) on a home network, but not automatically. Get your pal to email you a Remote Assistance invitation and edit the file. Under the RCTICKET attribute will be a NAT IP address, like 192.168.1.10. Replace this with your chum's real IP address -- they can find this out by going to -- and get them to make sure that they've got port 3389 open on their firewall and forwarded to the errant computer.


11. You can run a program as a different user without logging out and back in again. Right click the icon, select Run As... and enter the user name and password you want to use. This only applies for that run. The trick is particularly useful if you need to have administrative permissions to install a program, which many require. Note that you can have some fun by running programs multiple times on the same system as different users, but this can have unforeseen effects.


12. Windows XP can be very insistent about you checking for auto updates, registering a Passport, using Windows Messenger and so on. After a while, the nagging goes away, but if you feel you might slip the bonds of sanity before that point, run Regedit, go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows/Current Version/Explorer/Advanced and create a DWORD value called EnableBalloonTips with a value of 0.


13. You can start up without needing to enter a user name or password. Select Run... from the start menu and type 'control userpasswords2', which will open the user accounts application. On the Users tab, clear the box for Users Must Enter A User Name And Password To Use This Computer, and click on OK. An Automatically Log On dialog box will

appear; enter the user name and password for the account you want to use.

14. Internet Explorer 6 will automatically delete temporary files, but only if you tell it to. Start the browser, select Tools / Internet Options... and Advanced, go down to the Security area and check the box to Empty Temporary Internet Files folder when browser is closed.


15. XP comes with a free Network Activity Light, just in case you can't see the LEDs twinkle on your network card. Right click on My Network Places on the desktop, then select Properties. Right click on the description for your LAN or dial-up connection, select Properties, then check the Show icon in notification area when connected box. You'll now see a tiny network icon on the right of your task bar that glimmers nicely during network traffic.


16. The Start Menu can be leisurely when it decides to appear, but you can speed things along by changing the registry entry HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Control Panel/Desktop/MenuShowDelay from the default 400 to something a little snappier. Like 0.


17. You can rename loads of files at once in Windows Explorer. Highlight a set of files in a window, then right click on one and rename it. All the other files will be renamed to that name, with individual numbers in brackets to distinguish them. Also, in a folder you can arrange icons in alphabetised groups by View, Arrange Icon By... Show In Groups.


18. Windows Media Player will display the cover art for albums as it plays the tracks -- if it found the picture on the Internet when you copied the tracks from the CD. If it didn't, or if you have lots of pre-WMP music files, you can put your own copy of the cover art in the same directory as the tracks. Just call it folder.jpg and Windows Media Player will pick it up and display it.


19. Windows key + Break brings up the System Properties dialogue box; Windows key + D brings up the desktop; Windows key + Tab moves through the taskbar buttons.


20. The next release of Windows XP, codenamed Longhorn, is due out late next year or early 2003 and won't be much to write home about. The next big release is codenamed Blackcomb and will be out in 2003/2004.

FOLDER LOCK WITHOUT USING SOFTWARE

GOOD WAY OF LOCKING
Hi friends try this..

first select a folder for example i'll use a folder name movies in D drive D:\movies\

in the same drive u create a text file and type

ren movies movies.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}

and save it as loc.bat

again u type in a notepad as

ren movies.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D} movies

and save it as key.bat

now in D drive u can see two batch files loc and key.. when u double click loc the movie folder will change to control panel and whn u double click key the control panel will change to normal folder..
Try this out...
Check these also..


No operation:
------------------
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Explorer Bars\{EFA24E64-B078-11D0-89E4-00C04FC9E26E}
and
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\UserAssist\{5E6AB780-7743-11CF-A12B-00AA004AE837}
and
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Ext\Settings\{754FF233-5D4E-11D2-875B-00A0C93C09B3}
_________________________________________________________________

Internet Explorer:
------------------------- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CLSID\{871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30309D}
and
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\NewShortcutHandlers
--on right hand pane {FBF23B40-E3F0-101B-8488-00AA003E56F8} is code .
_________________________________________________________________

Recycle Bin:
-----------------
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}
_________________________________________________________________

My Computer:
-------------------
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\NewStartPanel
--on right hand pane you can find {20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D} which is code for my computer.
_________________________________________________________________

Control Panel:
-------------------
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideMyComputerIcons
--on right hand pane you can find {21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D} which is a code for control panel.
_________________________________________________________________
change to my computer
To change the above movie folder into my computer instead of control panel, u just replace {21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D} with {20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}

and to change into recyle bin replace that with {645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}