Interested in what exactly you'll be competing for in the 2006 GUI Championships? Well, if you head on over to the competition website , you'll see the first part of our prize chart revealed. Today we've posted what the cash prizes will be, and that alone totals to $3850! Over the next week or so, we'll be revealing additional parts of the prize chart, eventually leading up to the announcement of our top competition prize! So make sure to check back often. Also mak...
We missed the poll last week, what with all the news over the GUI Champs going out and taking up everyone's time and attention. So you all had a little bit longer than normal to vote in this poll. Last time, I asked everyone thought was the single most exciting feature in the upcoming WinCustomize 2007 site refresh. The answer was pretty clear, with 241 votes registered, the new streamlined and faster site design came out clearly on top. Here are the numbers: Which...
Previously, Windows Vista RC1 was only available to either those in one of the Microsoft tech communities or those who had tested a previous build through the Customer Preview Program, which stopped accepting testers some weeks ago. Starting today however, sign-ups for the Customer Preview Program and testing for RC1 have reopened to the public. The goal is to reach 5 million testers prior to RTM. So if you missed out previously and want a shot at a Vista RC1 DVD and key, go sign...
After numerous reports of laptops catching fire and batteries melting through cases, Dell and Apple issued recalls of several laptop lines that carried a Sony lithium-ion battery that was suspected to be the culprit. While it has been well established that it was the Sony battery at fault, no one at Dell or Apple had yet taken Sony to task publicly over the issue. That is, until this week. Dell founder, Michael Dell, denied that the defect was in any way the fault of their laptop ...
Yes, I'm late AGAIN this week with the Weekly Pick feature. I blame it on launching the GUI Champs this week and all the background work involved with that. So now I'm finally getting around to posting the excellent picks our volunteer staff came up with for last week. Because the GUIs are going on right now, a lot of the skinning community will likely be saving their work for it, instead of posting it straight to WinCustomize. So, depending on the amount of normal WC submissio...
Office 2007 Beta 2, which originally came out in late May, was packed with bugs and usability issues, not to mention a gargantuan menu/ribbon across the top of the window that confused and frustrated users. Well, this Thursday, Microsoft will be releasing an updated build to the public that is supposed to address most of the issues users encountered with the original version. Major revisions to the ribbon, and a new theme are the most immediately obvious interface changes in the new ...
It looks like MetaMachine, the company behind the eDonkey Peer-to-Peer filesharing network will be coughing up $30million to settle a lawsuit brought by a group of six record companies. Since the settlement, the services' website has been shut-down. This marks the latest death in the rapidly dwindling P2P Fileshare space. Next on the RIAA's list of targets looks to be the service LimeWire, another P2P fileshare network that is developed and backed by a single company that l...
It's been a big week so far for Apple and its iTunes Music Store. Yesterday, it was announced that you can now purchase feature-length, near-dvd quality movies from the service, which recently began offering select television shows from networks such as ABC, Comedy Central, SciFi and others. Movies on the service are currently only from Disney-owned studios (Disney, Mirimax, Touchstone etc.) but plans are to expand out to other studios in the future. This places Apple in direct...
The GUI’s is the ultimate Graphical User Interface (GUI) competition. Graphics designers from around the world will be competing in three primary GUI categories; Icons, Visual Styles and Wallpapers. This years’ competition has a prize pool totaling near $12,000! Starting Tuesday, September 12th , skinners will be able to submit their work to the competition website ( http://www.guichamps.com ), with the first events being judged in early October, and the overall "Best Skinner" crowned the s...
A new version is DesktopX is now available on Stardock Central. DesktopX is an enhancement utility that allows you to create cool and useful mini-applications that sit on your desktop. Updates include: Added initial support for running on Windows Vista. Improved compatibility with anti-virus programs. Added limited user compatibility for gadgets made with Stardock Controls. Added new API's for http/web access and anti-virus friendly file I/O support. And more! If you own DesktopX...
The new forums went up the other week, and the reaction has been decidedly mixed, with some very vocal opponents to the new format. The goal with the forum upgrade was to have a consistent forum system across all the Stardock sites that was: 1. Faster (the old system was very slow under load) 2. More Stable (Fewer server application errors are a good thing!) 3. More closely resembled the "standard" sort of forum layout you see elsewhere on the 'net, making it easier for new people to ge...
Yesterday, online retailer Amazon.com opened up it's new online video store; Unbox Video Store, a rival to Apple's iTunes service. The new store from Amazon will allow users to either buy or rent TV shows, movies and other misc video content. At launch, the service is offering thousands of movies from more than 30 movie and TV studios. DRM restrictions limit a user to loading a purchased/rented movie on two PCs and two portable players. The service is currently limited to Windows users only....
CRN is reporting on the possibility that Microsoft will delay the release of Windows Vista in Europe, depending on the antitrust requirements of the European Commission. Microsoft and the European Commission are tossing blame back and forth, each accusing the other as being the one responsible for any potential delays to the early 2007 release for the operating system. Microsoft claims it needs EC response and review of Vista to ensure compliance with the commission's antitrust ruling...
Facebook, a social networking site primarily focused at college students, was this week the center of a storm of privacy-related protests when it updated the main page of the site a user sees when they login. Previously, the default page just gave you notices on people that wanted to add you as a friend, sent you a note or who "poked" you, just a little way to get another user's attention. On Monday, the page was changed to show a news feed of sorts that would detail any changes your...
September 12th is set as another major launch date for new and exciting Apple products with the start of the Apple Expo in Paris. Much like the recent WWDC focused on software and cool hardware for developers, the Apple Expo looks to be the platform to launch some new consumer-focused products. The big announcement expected next Tuesday however won't take place in the city of love, but in San Francisco. Speculation currently holds that Apple will be announcing a new movie downl...