Author Archives: NeoSmart Technologies

Back in Business :-)

Posted on by NeoSmart Technologies
Reply

Ramblings of a Computer Guru, and more importantly, NeoSmart Technologies is back on stage.
Before I say anything else, a word of advice, if you are looking for a host, and are expecting any form of traffic, don’t go with ZestHost unless you are willing to pay 2500 a year for slow servers, crappy support, and outdated technology.

That said, NeoSmart Technologies has been offline for a week, but we are back up and running as of today. As they say, every cloud has a silver lining.. We are taking this opportunist to write a custom download center script for our main site, redo the design there, on the forums, here on the blog, and on our brand new wiki… Oh yes, the wiki.
We decided that no site as rich in resources and talented members as this is complete without an ideal way of sharing that content in an easy to use and easy too update manner.. and a wiki fit the bill!
We will be using mediawiki (who isn’t??) and hope to get guides, comparisons, walkthroughs, and reviews in it.. we are open to any and all suggestions at this time, feel free to leave a reply here, post in the forums (up soon!), or send us an email…

Sincerely,
Computer Guru
Founding CEO

“Vista Rewrite is Hogwash!” so says Scoble….

Posted on by NeoSmart Technologies
Reply

Finally. It has been 3 days of nonsense, starting off with a no-name site trying to get some traffic: smarthouse.com.

I didn’t believe it, but this blog was down, and I had no other place to throw my rants.. But now from the depths of Microsoft, we have the word of Robert Scoble that this is nonsense. Shame on the big names in the industry that were so quick to grab this and post it as front page news. There is no XBox team working on Windows, there is no code rewrite, there is no failure.. not yet.

The sad thing is, the minute it appeared on The Inquirer there was no one left that didn’t quote it.. What The Inquirer needs i- a law suit.. something big to stop them from spreading rumors, libel, and lies…. something to put an end to all this. /rant

Thank you Robert….. :) 

Vista Build 5342 Today!

Posted on by NeoSmart Technologies
30

As lame as this may sound, we knew about it first. To days ago to be exact.. But our host had given us the boot, and we couldn’t tell you that we would be getting a midnight build come Friday….  But that is OK, because NeoSmart Technologies has more than a mere build number and date. We have what’s coming in this build, what’s new, what’s fixed, what’s removed, and what’s buggy.

Not everything below will be in 5342, but most will. Items marked with a "*" will in all likelihood be released later on down the line.

NeoSmart Technologies also brings you an exclusive with some of the more annoying bugs that have been fixed in this build, as well as some bugs that have made a comeback.. It will be updated as new info comes in up until the release of 5342

[Support Forums]

Continue reading →

Firefox Cut & Paste: 1 Bug, 4 Years, No Solution!

Posted on by NeoSmart Technologies
125

I love competition in the market just as much as the other guy. I’m comfortable with IE7, Opera, FF, and if the need be, Safari.
For the most part, I use Firefox nightly for general web browsing, and IE7 for forums and blogs. However, invariably, without fail, every single time a I install Firefox, within a month I am forced to either format or use IE7/Opera instead. This has been going on ever since I started using "Firefox" 3 years ago.

The Bug? No longer being able to cut and paste. AFAIK (from my programming experience), cut and paste is a simple API, you tell it what to copy and the PC does the rest. So imagine my frustration whet every single install of Firefox goes senile on me, and starts to forget to copy every now and then. It continues to get worse.

Continue reading →

BBC a Little Confused

Posted on by NeoSmart Technologies
2

It would seem from this article that BBC has not received its weekly briefing on "bleeding edge" technology. The article talks in depth how the recent "upsurge" in wireless communication signifies a new era… But what is that? Windows 2k? Does Windows 2000 even have wireless support? And unless I am very much mistaken, that is a low-end $99 Palm.. The color screen barely made that model; wireless? I don’t think so!

Windows Vista 5308.60 Screenshots

Posted on by NeoSmart Technologies
2

NeoSmart Technologies has teamed up with digitalfive to bring you the first and the best of the Vista 5270.60 screenshots for all the various editions, from business to ultimate, to server! Click on each image to see the full-screen capture. Hover over each picture to read a brief description. Continue reading →

New Windows Vista Build 5308.60 Released!

Posted on by NeoSmart Technologies
17

It is Build 5308! No, not the same 5308 that was released last week, a different 5308! The build released last week was 5308.17; where .17 means recompile number 17. On February 28th, 2006, a new build was released, just days after the first. This build, 5308.60, is the 60th recompile, and purportedly more stable, less troublesome, smoother, faster, and without the memory leaks. Though the reports of its stability and near perfection may have been exaggerated, NeoSmart Technologies has obtained proof of it’s release.

UPDATE:
As far as we can tell, the changes have been made to the server OS. Apparently 5308.17 server edition had many issues, and so MS recompiled and re-released it. However, in doing so they also recompiled the core kernel, meaning that the Vista Client was also updated at its heart…

Continue reading →

Some (not so) Minor Changes

Posted on by NeoSmart Technologies
1

Our hosting company has been experiencing issues on our server, but they have been kind enough to reply ASAP and offer to move NeosMart Technologies + it’s sister companies to another server in their cluster.

Apparently this one is overcrowded or glitchy – to pull this off I am theoretically supposed to lock down any changes… Which means disabling commenting and posting on the blogs, forums, and the wiki. However, thanks to Tim of Upitfree, we have Ramblings of a Computer Guru, the most popular portion of NST & Co., using Upitfree’s SQL servers to host the blog, meaning that you can continue to ping, comment, leave trackbacks, and enjoy new posts, during the next 72 hours without a problem! But like always, nothing comes free.

This time the cost is (much) increased page load time, which goes right alongside remote databases.. Unfortunately that is just how it is, but it is only temporary… The host is kindly getting right on the job, hopefully this will be ancient history in a couple of days :) In the meanwhile, show your thanks, visit Tim’s site, and get your images (up to 3 MB!) hosted.. for free!

Digital/Analog Audio & Sound Drivers for Windows Vista

Posted on by NeoSmart Technologies
121

While Windows Vista may tout a “all-new and improved” audio stack with superb quality and resonance, it’s of no use if you don’t have the right sound card drivers for Windows Vista. The biggest problem with audio drivers for Windows Vista is with Digital Audio – most people can get their SPDIF or Digital outputs to spew analog sound – which just doesn’t work with hi-fi, digital speakers. NeoSmart Technologies has compiled a list of audio drivers for the most popular sound cards that experience trouble with Windows Vista, in hopes that our readers will find it useful.

  • SoundMAX Integrated Digital Audio – Analog audio with the drivers works fine, but digital audio doesn’t.
  • Creative Sound Blaster Live! Series – No sound by default, Creative drivers won’t install.
  • Creative Audigy 1 – No sound by default, Creative drivers won’t install.
  • Creative Audigy 2 – No sound by default, Creative drivers won’t install.
  • Creative Audigy 4 – Creative drivers install but constantly stutter.
  • Creative X-Fi Series – Creative drivers install but constantly stutter.
  • SigmaTel HD Audio – Default Vista drivers don’t well in digital, bad bass
  • SigmaTel Integrated Audio – No compatible drivers; Digital N/A.
  • Other AC ’97 – No compatible drivers; Digital N/A.

The last two entries do not support Digital Audio, and are simply a manner of finding the right drivers compatible with your chipset; making them at once the easiest to solve due to the lack of complications, and the hardest due to the large variety of AC ’97 implementations.

Continue reading →

Vista 5308 User Interview

Posted on by NeoSmart Technologies
1

While our beta testers are breaking Vista and bending it backwards as far as it will go, we have put together a little (oh come on, its not THAT long..!) survey for you guys to answer.. We look forward to seeing your responses!

A) Do you have 5308?
1) Yes
2) Yes, as Main OS
3) Yes, but not going to install
4) Yes, but going to uninstall
5) No
6) No, but going to get it

B) Did you get 5308 from…
1) Microsoft Connect
2) MSDN Subscription
3) Other

C) Graphics impressions:
1) Awesome! (5)
2) Much better than before, definitely good (4)
3) OK (3)
4) 5270 was better (2)
5) Going the wrong way! Gimme 5270 back! (1)

D) Stability Impressions..
1) Never crashes (5)
2) Can go a day without crashing (4)
3) Always crashes (3)
4) Won’t Boot (2)
5) Won’t Install (1)

E) Install Speed
1) X minutes off of DVD
2) X minutes off of virtual DVD
3) X minutes off of extracted folder

F) Vista Speed
1) Very snappy, no lag whatsoever (5)
2) Faster than 5270, but still needs work (4)
3) Same as 5270 (3)
4) Much slower than 5270 (2)
5) Unusable due to lag in interface (1)

G) Driver support
1) Everything supported! (5)
2) One item not supported (4)
3) Two to three devices not supported (3)
4) Most thing don’t work (2)
5) Vista refuses to install on my hardware (1)

H) Application support
1) Everything supported! (5)
2) 2+ Programs install but don’t work (4)
3) 2+ Programs don’t install (3)
4) Most thing don’t work or install (2)
5) Vista refuses to install (1)