Shahid Online - Tech Corner

It's nice to see the Press taking a much more keen interest in technology and gadgets. So I wasn't that much surprised when the Metro covered the launch of Microsoft Bling. Currently in beta Microsoft is obviously renewing their competition against Google. I've also noticed that Microsoft has recently replaced the Live search with Bing on their MSN page. But after using it, why do I get the impression that it's just copying Google with a more colourful interface?

For those who cannot afford to shellout for Photoshop and, thus, benefit from its photomerge feature Microsoft has saved the day with a free alternative. It's been a while since I looked at the Microsoft Research site, so it came as a surprise to see that they have released Microsoft Image Composite Editor (ICE). It really is a neat package and can export your image in various formats (TIF, JPEG, PNG, etc). While AutoPano leads in the field of photostitchers, it's not free so Microsoft deserves a mention. Here 's my attempt at producing a panoramic shot from my bedroom window and using Microsoft ICE.

...for students OK. A lot of people knocking off Microsoft and looking at open source software mainly because of their high prices. I'm not too sure when Microsoft started off this move. But, for some time now they have made a selection of their software freely available for students. This is available as Microsoft DreamSpark . Getting hold of the software will involve a process of verifying you are a student. While this may not include all the necessary software (such as Office) there are a number of websites which sell Microsoft software at discounted rates for students and families. The most noteworthy is Software4Students . Non-student developers, like myself, need not worry as Microsoft has made available Visual Studio Express Editions (as separate packages) so we don't lose out on Visual Studio and SQL Server. Alternatively, there is an open source development tool SharpDevelop which is a decent alternative to Visual Studio allowing you to develop .NET apps as well ...

In a bold move, which has not been confirmed by Steven Ballmer, Microsoft is working on bringing Zune to Windows Mobile to compete with Apple's iPhone. In the not too distant future we may be looking at a Zune style media player as opposed to the mobile version of Windows Media Player. This may also see the introduction of Windows Mobile devices with a face lift to give a look and feel of the Zune user interface. Steven Ballmer is pretty tight-lipped about this, but in an interview with CIO Magazine, he said that the Zune is software as well as hardware. He also mentioned that the software will be ported to other platforms. The interview can be viewed from here .

Having released SoftMaker Office 2008, the makers are making the 2006 version available free of charge to Windows and Linux users. However a small omission is SoftMaker Presentations, the alternative for Microsoft PowerPoint. This move provides users with another alternative for Microsoft, contending with OpenOffice.org by being able to work directly with Office2007 files. Linux users are also provided with the opportunity to Beta test the Linux version of SoftMaker Office 2008. Visit SoftMaker's website for more info.

In preparation for the next release of Microsoft's RIA , Silverlight 2 has been rolled off from Beta into the first Release Candidate. Silverlight 2 Release Candidate 0 Developer Runtime edition has been made available since last Thursday. The browser plugin is still in Beta, though. Based on the .NET Framework, Silverlight is intended to be an alternative to Flex for those developing web-based applications. Still tight-lipped about the product release date, rumour has it that Silverlight will be released in the first week of October. The final release of Silverlight will feature improved "default control template skins" which can be tweaked using Microsoft Expression Blend. The download, along with other tools are available from the Silverlight website. Source: Visual Studio Magazine

A while back, Google announced its acquisition of Zenter, an online slide presentation firm. So basically, Google can now expand on their arsenal of online office applications - Google Docs & Spreadsheets. They may as well call the suite Google Office, now that they can take on Microsoft Office. Especially when this is to be combined with Google's previous acquisition of Tonic Systems, which also produces presentation software. This new challenge to PowerPoint from Google is expected to be available sometime this summer.

OK, it may not be Open Source.  But, as a follow up to Microsoft's success in providing Free .Net development tools for the Windows operating system, they are gearing up for the next version. Visual Studio 2008 Express Editions Beta 2. This Beta release really wows you with the future of the development tools, which lets you develop for Windows, the Web, Games, Hardware and Databases. Check it out at: http://msdn2.microsoft.com/express/future/ Blogged with Flock