Customize Task Manager colors with Task Manager Modder

You may not call Task Manager up all that often -- and if you do, you've probably grown accustomed to its green-on-black color scheme. If, on the other hand, you're a customizer of all things Windows, you might want to tweak those defaults to something which coordinates better with your overall desktop theme.

Task Manager Modder is just the tool for the job. Launch it, adjust the sliders (or enter hex codes) until the color scheme meets your particular needs, then apply the changes. You can also load a custom .BMP for the memory and CPU bars. To fall back to the Windows default, just click the Restore Task Manager button.

As with any tweaking tool, it's a good idea to create a system restore point before making any changes.

Customize Task Manager colors with Task Manager Modder originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 29 Jun 2010 14:00:00 EST.

Intel: GPUs aren’t 100 times faster than CPUs, just 14 times. Nvidia: Oh no!

This is pretty funny. You’ve probably seen some of the propaganda over the last year or so about how GPUs are orders of magnitude faster than CPUs at certain tasks, due to their parallel processing engine. Intel got tired of hearing about it, I guess, and decided to debunk the myth. They set out to disprove the notion that a GPU can be 100 times faster than a CPU. They kind of did it, but I think this is what is termed a Pyrrhic victory.

Interestingly, they chose a rather old GPU and a comparatively new CPU to compare: an Nvidia GTX280 and a Core i7 960. Maybe they chose on price parity? Whatever the case, they found that while indeed the GPU advantage was not as great as suggested, it was significant: 2.5 times faster on average and up to 14 times faster in certain situations.

Nvidia took the opening for all it was worth:

It’s a rare day in the world of technology when a company you compete with stands up at an important conference and declares that your technology is only up to 14 times faster than theirs.

To be fair: we can’t really expect unbiased judgment from either side, and the tests in the paper are too complex to be boiled down to a “oh it’s this much faster” talking point. I just think the drama is hilarious.

[via TG Daily]

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Firefox 3.6.4 Protects Against Crashing Plugins

After some delay, Mozilla has finally released the bits for Firefox 3.6.4. Users can download the new code with the Check for Updates feature or by downloading it from here.
According to the release notes the main change in 3.6.4 is a stability enhancement which keeps the browser up and running when a major plugin crashes. Other stability and security enhancements are also noted.
This page in the Mozilla wiki describes this new plugin protection as 'Crash Protection.' Mozilla estimates that '...as many as one in three browser crashes are currently caused by problems with various third-party plugins.' Crash protection runs plugins out of the Firefox process, making it easier to close the tab on which the plugin is running. When it crashes, the plugin goes away and content controlled by it is disabled. Reloading the page reloads the plugin.
Crash protection initially is available only for the Windows and Linux versions of Firefox. Implementing it on the Mac is a tougher task, and Mozilla is promising it for version 4 of Firefox. The beta of Firefox 4 is due any day now, but the release code isn't due till the Fall.
It also appears that the initial Crash Protection only works with a few specific plugins: Adobe Flash, Apple Quicktime and Microsoft Silverlight. There's no specific schedule for other plugins to be added.
Version 3.6.4 also fixes 10 vulnerabilities in 7 updates, 4 of them critical. MFSA 2010-26 addresses 4 vulnerabilities, all crashes with evidence of memory corruption, Mozilla's policy is to treat these as exploitable code execution bugs without definitively proving it. The other critical fixes address freed object reuse across plugin instances, a heap buffer overflow and an integer overflow. Two moderate and one low-severity bug are also fixed.
At the same time Mozilla released Firefox 3.5.10 for those who won't upgrade to the 3.6 branch, although Mozilla strongly advises users to do so. There is not, for example, nor will there be, crash protection for the 3.5 versions.

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Dell debuts Inspiron R line with glosstastic new looks, Intel Wireless Display

Dell's given its Inspiron lineup a new back-to-school paint job, dubbed as the new R series, with a heavy emphasis on gloss and Dell's forward-positioned hinge designed (thrilling, we know). The lineup has mainly the same internals as the existing Inspirons, with Core i3 and Core i5 processors, but the optional Intel Wireless Display is a nice addition. Prices start at $449, with models coming in 14, 15, and 17-inch sizes, and you can configure these things to your heart's content -- including your choice of Mars Black, Promise Pink, Tomato Red, and Peacock Blue. The laptops should are available today at retail and on Dell.com, and you can find a fancy press release after the break.

Dell debuts Inspiron R line with glosstastic new looks, Intel Wireless Display originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 20 Jun 2010 12:59:00 EDT.

Deal of the Day – HP Pavilion Elite HPE-390t Core i7-980X Six-Core Extreme Desktop PC

The LogicBUY deal of the day is up to $699 in savings + web-use $25 stackable coupon on extremely high-performance HP Pavilion Elite HPE-390t Six-Core Extreme Edition (3.33GHz, 1.5MB L2 + 12MB Shared L3 cache) Desktop PC. Plus, free upgrade to 1.5TB Hard Drive, free 15-month Norton Internet Security subscription, $80 instant rebate on select LCD Monitor and free shipping. Ends 6/24 or … [visit site to read more]

Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 hit by "Zero-Day" vulnerability

A vulnerability in the Windows Help and Support Center has recently been discovered and it could allow remote code execution on affected systems.

Only Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 are affected.

Microsoft is aware of targeted attacks currently in progress that exploit the vulnerability. These attacks make use of links on web pages or email messages that use the hcp:// prefix rather than the normal http://.

This vulnerability could allow hackers to take remote control of affected systems.

The HCP protocol is used in Windows to control links in the Help and Support Center. This vulnerability is as a result of Help and Support Center not properly validating links that make use of the HCP protocol.

Microsoft has released a Fix it script that can be run on vulnerable systems to offer protection. Be aware that this script disables all links using the HCP protocol.

Source: Zdnet

Windows 7 Service Pack 1 Public Beta Coming Next Month [Windows7]

Windows 7's first major Service Pack is hitting public beta next month. Don't expect a ton of new features; it's a combo of existing updates that you already have, save for new Remote Desktop support. But if you haven't upgraded to 7 yet, you might as well wait until this SP is out and final before hopping on board. The public beta SP1 for Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2 will be available for download by the end of July'10, told by Microsoft in an announcement. They also mentioned about two great features in SP1 around
Dynamic Memory and Remote FX.

Service Pack 1 will be a disappointment for Windows 7 users as there would not be any addition of new features in it. On the other hand the Server 2008 clients will be luckier with new features like Dynamic memory with Hyper-V enabling the system to dynamically adjust the VM’s memory usage based on demand extending the capacity of virtual hosts. This feature will bring consistency in system performance and better manageability for Admins.

Enterprise customers will also have the chance to close the gap between physical and Virtual Desktops with RemoteFX in Windows Server 2008 R2. With RemoteFX, remote virtual desktops will support 3D content and even offer Windows Aero, via virtualized graphics resources and codecs, designed to offer the same experience as with hardware-assisted graphics acceleration. This will bring a local like experience for Windows Server 2008 Remote Desktop Services. Another excellent feature is that RemoteFX will be generic USB redirection.his will allow you to redirect virtually any USB device transparently over RDP, this provides several benefits: support for more devices than previously; support for USB devices with thin clients; no client drivers necessary; applications are transparent to redirected devices. Only one session can use USB device at a time

Sources:
[Windows Blog via Engadget & Softpedia]