Author Archives: NeoSmart Technologies

Multiple Wireless Networks with one Wi-Fi Card!

Posted on by NeoSmart Technologies
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You’ve experienced it before. You’re at work, you need to copy files from one file server to the other, but your misconfigured network infrastructure means you need to connect to one wireless network, copy the files to your hard drive, disconnect, connect to the second network, and then transfer. Or maybe you’re at home, and you want to erm.. “borrow” some files off your neighbor’s unprotected wireless network and upload them through your internet connection. Either way, you had to spend a lot of time connecting and disconnecting, associating your card with first one network access point then another. But you don’t have to, because there is another way.

Microsoft Research‘s “VirtualWiFi” utility could do with a better name and could definitely use a lot better marketing, because this amazing utility let’s you connect with one wireless card to as many separate wireless networks as your bandwidth can support – yet no one knows about it! Continue reading →

Beta 2: Stable, But Scary

Posted on by NeoSmart Technologies
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How do you define an OS as stable?

XP was stable in that you could do an honest day’s work without having to save it every couple of seconds in fear of a BSOD. Windows 2000 was stable: it gave the users what they expected, and once they got it working (driver issues mostly), it remained stable.

One can’t honestly call Vista stable in that way however. It’s largely a hit-or-miss process, and Vista either works or doesn’t. Once it works, it might just stop working, you never know. But Vista is stable – very stable.

In Windows XP (x86) if XP went up to over 26-27 thousand memory handles open at once, it would just fail. The entire operating system bogs down, and even after you get the handles down to a more manageable size, it remained slow and unresponsive unless a reboot was performed. Windows XP x64 used 64-bit technology to raise the bar to an amazing 35-38 thousand handles limit – from experience.

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Windows: Microsoft Beating on a Dead Horse

Posted on by NeoSmart Technologies
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Windows Vista is going to be really cool. It has all these nifty utilities and awesome animations, with a lot of hard work at the core too.

But Vista is the end of line. I’m not saying Microsoft won’t make another Windows, they probably will, but it’ll be a mistake. Even Vista was a mistake. Technology just doesn’t work that way, and it can be a treacherous beast to tame and fatal to maim.

Microsoft has two things going against it; two things that make Windows dead; and two things that could mean the end of line for everything Microsoft: Microsoft’s insistence on backwards compatibility, and ultimately, their failure to recognize change and move on ahead.

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NeoSmart's New Focus

Posted on by NeoSmart Technologies
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Vista is wrapping up.

Like it or not, Microsoft’s latest Operating System is reaching the beginning of the end: the code is complete, the bugs are on their way out, and for better or for worse, Vista is (finally) about to go Gold.

NeoSmart Technologies has enjoyed a front-row seat, and even some stage-time of our own in this big and wonderful show, but it’s time to move on some more. Microsoft’s longest beta to date has taken a lot of our time and effort, but we’re glad for the minor role we’ve played to date. It all came at a cost however: NeoSmart Technologies has always been short on staff and money, and it just meant that there wasn’t enough of either for us to focus on both Vista and other projects and techno-news at once – that’s about to change.

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Recovering XP & Windows.Old After a Vista Installation

Posted on by NeoSmart Technologies
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So you just installed a shiny, new, & legal, copy of Windows Vista. Somewhere along the way, you realized that your XP Partition wasn’t there anymore, and that you’ve lost every single program you’d installed over the past 6 years – gone! All just because you didn’t realize that you were installing Windows Vista to the XP partition.

Don’t worry, NeoSmart is here with the answer yet again. Don’t despair just yet! There’s much in terms of hope, and with this guide, you can get your XP back, with all it’s programs, registry, settings, and more – as if Vista was never there, and no one (*cough* the wife *cough*) needs to know you overwrote your XP – ever!

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New NeoSmart Project – Unavailable for a While

Posted on by NeoSmart Technologies
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What do you get when you add Linux to Vista, throw in some .NET, and try to save the world?

NST’s newest project of course! Our launch of VistaBootPRO didn’t go exactly as anticipated (legal issues pertaining to the ownership of the program), but that doesn’t mean we’re gone!
Lo and Behold, NST is back with more!

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VistaBootPRO 1.1

Posted on by NeoSmart Technologies
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VistaBootPRO is now deprecated. NeoSmart Technologies’ EasyBCD utility has replaced it.

Many of our members at NeoSmart Technologies and friends on and offline have been bombarding us with inquiries regarding the development line of VistaBootPRO, the hot-hit release that saved a lot of people a lot of headaches.

When I wrote this program I had no idea it would have such an impact, but either way, I’m glad I did, and no, it’s not going to stop there.

VistaBootPRO is not just a bootloader modification tool: it’s a utility that opens the gates to many hidden and inaccessible features in Vista, and it’s here to stay. As many of you know, VistaBootPRO was a fairly well kept secret, and the veil of secrecy never lifted, it just moved around a bit and became thinner in parts. In our opinion, a good program is one where new features come by the dozen, and the end-user is always (pleasantly) surprised, so we’re not going to spoil the secret by spilling the means… but we’re willing to whet your appetite and quench your curiosity for now, so long as you’ll be back later for more :)

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Atlassian Software

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Atlassian Software is an amazing Aussie-based company that makes two wonderful scripts: Confluence, a full-featured and very eye-easy wiki, and JIRA, the very best bug-tracking and issue-management script out there.

When we set out last month to look for ways to improve our software, we knew we needed a bug tracking script to keep things in check and let our members know what was going on. What we didn’t expect was to get the very best for free. Or, as a matter of fact, to find a better wiki at the same site..

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Windows Vista Beta 2 Has Gone Public!

Posted on by NeoSmart Technologies
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Windows Vista Beta 2 is now available for download for anyone that wants it.

It’s the same build we got two weeks ago, not a new one, but you can grab it with your very own unique and un-activated key, and enjoy legal-Vista goodiness!

Download Beta 2!

A Comprehensive Look at the New Microsoft (Vista) Fonts

Posted on by NeoSmart Technologies
149

With every new version of Windows or Office, Microsoft Corporation seems to generally like to package a couple of small freebies that make it a sweeter deal, after all, as they say: it’s the little things that count. Windows Vista and Office 2007 are no exception: not only is Microsoft apparently trying to make up for lost years (almost 6 for Vista, and four for Office), and it is doing a great job! At NeoSmart we’ve only had praise for the Office team, and we feel that the Microsoft Typography team is at the very least on-par with them, if not even higher… Once you’ve read this review, we’re sure you’ll agree.

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