Some campuses that are using Blackboard, a key software program for communication between teachers and students, have reported that the program and some of its functionality is behaving strangely with Microsoft Vista.

Before we really get started, it is entirely possible to mess up your Vista install very royally if you don’t know what you are doing. We recommend that only power users or those on the level of Sys Admins attempt these steps. Proceed at your own risk and always create a restore point before you modify any part of the system.  All the programs used for purposes of this post are freeware applications. 

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) announced its new M690 chipset with integrated graphics allowing the use of Windows Vista features such as Areo, Flip and Flip 3D on appropriate versions of the operating system.

There is a new zero-day exploit floating around that could allow attackers to take complete control of a users PC.  Microsoft has acknowledged the flaw in Windows animated cursor which allows developers to display small animations around the mouse pointer.

Earlier this week, we reported that Vista was not necessarily compatible with iPods but that’s not the whole truth.  The truth is Vista doesn’t like other digital audio devices.  Users of Samsung, Cowon and iRiver digital players have discovered those players are not working correctly on Vista either.  All these problems boil down to a single issue within Vista.

AOL announced the release of AIM 6.1, the first version of AIM compatible with Windows Vista. The client software has been in beta testing for a number of months but finally out of beta phase and is available for download now via FileForum.

It seems that some new users of Vista are having issues with file transfers.  More specifically, moving and transferring large single files or a large group of files can take as much as three times longer than it did on Windows XP.  Microsoft has acknowledged the existence of the flaw but is not providing a fix to the general public.

Microsoft has claimed they have sold as many as 20 million copies of Vista. Granted, that figure looks very good on paper but their definition of “sold” where yours and my definition of “sold” are two entirely different things.

High Tech Computer Corporation (HTC), a provider of Microsoft Windows Mobile based smart devices, announced at the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Associations (CTIA) the first Windows Vista Ultra Mobile PC (UMPC), HTC Shift.

The retail edition of Vista comes with both 32-bit and 64-bit versions, and it’s up to the user to decide which one to install. So which one should you choose?

You’ve come across this site and read a few things about Vista and you’re thinking to yourself “I’d like to get Vista for myself but it must be hard to install”. Stop RIGHT THERE, it couldn’t be easier, well, it COULD but this is as easy as it gets when it comes to operating system installs.

It’s no secret that Vista likes high-end hardware to run on. But the line can be a little blurry as to what will run Vista and what will run it well.  There are the computers that can run Vista, play games and perform other multimedia tasks and then there are the computers that can barely run Vista and not do much else except surf the web and run office applications.  I don’t like computers that come with Vista Home Basic and I don’t like Home Basic itself. Those computers are low end and not likely to be any good except for the tasks mentioned earlier.

Tethys Solutions, LLC has released Automation Anywhere 3.5, an intelligent Windows automation application for business and IT tasks. The software is compatible with the newest Microsoft operating system Vista and also runs under Windows NT4, 2000, XP and 2003. Best of all, it has a free trial version available for download.

Just as we almost recommended using Windows Mail instead of Outlook or Outlook Express a new exploit has come about to negate that recommendation.  Microsoft has acknowledged the existence of a possible exploit and is currently researching its validity.

Vista is an amazing operating system, from its vastly improved interface to the amount of things you can get done just from the base install. Without installing any third party applications it is possible to edit photos, create and edit movies and organize your entire music collection. It even includes an email client.