Simplify your laptop buying
See what security features are new and improved in Windows 7 in this slideshow, emphasizing what you can do from the Action Center's security tools.
Netflix's streaming service will appear on Windows Media Center within the next couple of days.
(Credit: Microsoft)Microsoft has struck a deal to bring Netflix's streaming movie service to Windows Media Center, the companies said Tuesday.
Netflix's more than 12,000 "Watch it now" movies and TV episodes are only available to users of Windows Vista Home Premium or Ultimate. XP users won't be able to access the service.
Owners of Windows Media Center will also be able to search the entire Netflix library, manage their DVD queues, and "filter searches by titles that are available to watch instantly," Microsoft said in a statement.
Microsoft continues to try to boost the amount of content available on Windows Media. In March, the company launched a new sports channel, including replays of the past NCAA basketball tournament.
"We're building on our broader vision to alleviate the need to jump from Web site to Web site to find TV shows, movies, sports and news," Microsoft said in a statement. " "With Windows Media Center, (users) can now find it in one place."
For Netflix, the partnership offers the Web's No.1 video rental service the chance to reach scores of of Vista users. Netflix's deal with Microsoft's Xbox videogame console proved to be a boon for the company.
Netflix has steadily been crossing the once wide chasm between the PC and the television by striking partnership deals with a wide assortment of set-top box makers, including Roku, and LG.
To access Netflix's service, Windows Media Center owners must first subscribe to the rental service. Then, to stream movies, they can start Windows Media Center on their computers by selecting the new Netflix tile under TV+Movies heading.
Boxee is releasing on Thursday a new version of its media center software that adds support for Netflix Watch Instantly streaming movies.
Unlike streaming solutions from Roku and Microsoft's Xbox 360, Boxee's effort includes the option to both browse and search through Netflix's library. Roku's box and the Xbox are currently limited to showing users the videos from their saved queues. The two also require special hardware (and in the Xbox's case a paid Xbox Live Gold membership), whereas Boxee works on any Intel-Mac or Linux PC. Boxee's service is not yet available for Windows.
Another caveat: Netflix streaming is not yet available for the AppleTV version of Boxee. I'm told the main reason is that Microsoft Silverlight, which is what Netflix uses as a delivery method for its streaming content, has hardware requirements roughly double that of the processor inside the AppleTV. Silverlight requires a 1.83GHz dual-core Intel processor, while the AppleTV only sports a 1GHz "Crofton" processor--a derivative of the Pentium M.
Along with Netflix support, Boxee now links up with MTV to pop up music videos for any songs in your library that it can match. There's also support for YouTube videos that have been encoded in h.264, and new player interfaces for Hulu, CNN, Picasa, YouTube, and Flickr. The updated UI offers slightly more streamlined playback controls, solving one of my big quibbles with the last release, which actually kept you from being to skip around a video's timeline in Hulu and CBS videos.
Existing Boxee users should get an update notice when firing up the app later Thursday. The service remains in private alpha. You can sign up for it here.
Netflix on Boxee includes both your instant queue and the option to browse and search through Netflix content.
(Credit: Boxee)
In Windows 7, the Windows Security Center will be replaced with the Windows Action Center
(Credit: Robert Vamosi/CNET Networks; Microsoft)Since Monday, I have been running a prebeta copy of Windows 7, the next operating system from Microsoft.
At first glance, build 6801 of Windows 7 appears very much like Windows Vista; that's because enhancements to the look and feel part of the operating system typically come late in the development process. Right now, the core programming is being set, and there are already some changes in how Windows 7 will handle computer security.
Gone is the Security Center, introduced in Windows XP SP2. Instead, there will be an "Action Center" that incorporates alerts from 10 existing Windows features: Security Center; Problem, Reports, and Solutions; Windows Defender; Windows Update; Diagnostics; Network Access Protection; Backup and Restore; Recovery; and User Account Control.
Changes to the User Account Control (UAC) may raise an eyebrow or two. While vastly unpopular in Windows Vista, the dialog boxes that pop up whenever a user tries to install new software, among other reasons, served a purpose.
In Windows 7, users can adjust consent prompt behavior using a slider control, if they have administrative privileges. Microsoft says they'll still be protected against malicious software, even if they never see another alert. I'm wondering if that's actually a bad idea: if people never see an alert, they might think nothing bad ever happens to their computer. We lose an element of user education.
Windows 7, which Microsoft unveiled at its PDC 2008 event this week, also introduces something called the Windows Filtering Platform (WFP). The idea is that third parties can take advantage of aspects of the Microsoft Windows Firewall in their own products. Microsoft says "third-party products also can selectively turn parts of the Windows Firewall on or off, enabling you to choose which software firewall you want to use and have it coexist with Windows Firewall."
I mentioned this feature to one major security vendor, which responded by saying it couldn't imagine running its product side by side with Windows Firewall. Also, if Microsoft had a compelling component in its firewall, this vendor said it would just build its own version, not use Microsoft's.
Other security features have been tweaked in the current build of the next Windows operating system. Scrollbars were removed in the configuration settings screen, as has the Software Explorer feature, and real-time protection in Windows 7 has been improved to reduce the impact on overall system performance.
Windows 7 extends BitLocker drive encryption support to removable storage devices, such as flash memory drives and portable hard drives. This means that users can keep sensitive data on all of their USB storage devices.
Biometrics enhancements include easier reader configurations, allowing users to manage the fingerprint data stored on the computer and control how they log on to Windows 7.
And System Restore includes a list of programs that will be removed or added, providing users with more information before they choose which restore point to use. Restore points are also available in backups, providing a larger list to choose from, over a longer period of time.
Returning from Windows Vista are Kernel Patch Protection, Service Hardening, Data Execution Prevention, Address Space Layout Randomization, and Mandatory Integrity Levels.
This information could change, as Microsoft nears the final build. Microsoft still expects to ship Windows 7 "within three years of Windows Vista," which means that it could be available sometime before January 2010.
AppleTV has a rich history of getting hacked for the sake of adding extra utility. Contained within its small confines is a reasonably powerful computer that's capable of running Mac OS X (albeit slowly). The problem is that despite this power, the system software is tied to iTunes and its sister store for movies, music, and TV shows. This hinders it from competing with devices like mini-PCs and game machines that offer a huge variety of media playback, including DVDs and Blu-ray movies.
To help solve this, Boxee founder and CEO Avner Ronen has published instructions on how to get his company's media center software to run on the AppleTV. This system requires the use of developer Scott Davilla's ATVUSB-Creator, a Mac-only application that lets you create special programs that boot off a USB thumbdrive. The application comes with simple tools for putting SSH, Xbox Media Center for Mac, and its Boxee derivative on a drive with just a few clicks.
Once installed on the AppleTV, you can enjoy the same Boxee experience that's currently available on Macs and PCs running Linux. This includes being able to play Web video from multiple sources, and DivX- and Xvid-encoded content through your network--all without having to use any special transcoding software. You're also able to switch back to the Apple TV interface without having to make any massive changes to the way the system runs.
Within the next two months the software will be updated to play videos off of Hulu, meaning AppleTV owners who run the hack will be able to watch full-length TV shows (with ads) without having to purchase them from Apple's proprietary storefront. The company is also trying to get Netflix's freshly improved Watch Now streaming service running too.
Boxee is currently in private beta and limited to Mac and Linux users. We've been told that it's coming for PC users within the next month, with plans to open it up to everyone come next year's Consumer Electronics Show.
Once installed, you can run Boxee right off the AppleTV's source list.
(Credit: Boxee)Related: Hands-on with Boxee: A gorgeous social-media viewer
The J. River Media Jukebox is a stripped-down but free version of the popular J. River Media Center. Popular in its own right, Media Jukebox uses the same interface as its big brother to deliver a feature set that's anything but little, but strictly limited to music support. Those in search of video and image compatibility will need to download the Media Center.
The program mimics the iTunes interface in a way that could benefit from more inspiration, but it doesn't stop the extras from shining through. You'll be able to burn and rip CDs, sync with just about any portable including iPods, tag tracks, and convert files to several popular formats. It has browser support, letting you buy music from Amazon and plug-ins for several services including Last.fm so you can find new music based on your taste. You also have your choice of skins you can download to give your player a new look. Playlists are also supported.
Former problems with encoding have been largely taken care of. Strangely, instead of providing access to CDDB, Media Jukebox uses a proprietary database that works fine with commercial CDs, but not quite as well with backup or free-floating copies. Database crashes are largely a thing of the past, and we didn't encounter any with the latest release. Many limitations get freed in the Media Center, including plug-in support, and TV recording. The forced start after installing was annoying, though not problematic.
The following tips will help you overcome common download problems, find the files you want, and install them with confidence.
- Is your download blocked?
- Alternate download sites
- Saving your download
- Corrupted and incomplete downloads
- Download managers, accelerators, and download speed
- Malware and viruses
- How to uninstall programs
- Pricing and costs
- Technical assistance
Is your download blocked?
As a security precaution, some browsers disable automatic downloads. In most of these cases, a "security bar" may appear at the top of the browser window informing you a download has been blocked. To continue the download, click the security bar and select the option to allow the download.
If you do not see the security bar and the download is still being blocked, adding "download.com" (with no www) to your trusted site list often fixes the problem.
For Internet Explorer:
- Go to > Tools > Internet options > Security tab > and select the "Trusted sites" section.
- Now click the "Sites" button.
- Type in "download.com" with no "quotes" and no "www".
- Uncheck the checkbox at the bottom that says, "require server verification..."
- Click Close > click OK.
- Click your browser's back button and click on the Download Now link again.
For Firefox:
- Go to > Tools > Options > Security tab
- Now click the "Exceptions" button.
- Type in "download.com" with no "quotes" and no "www".
- Click Allow > click Close > click OK.
- Click your browser's back button and click on the Download Now link again.
Alternate download sites
If you are having trouble downloading a file from CNET Downloads due to heavy site traffic or a bad Internet connection, we recommend trying to get the file from the download section of the publisher's home page. The process is usually very simple, and they may provide multiple download locations for you to download from. To find a publisher's download page try the following steps.
- Do a search on CNET Downloads
- Once on the product page, click on the publisher's name to go to the Publisher Profile page.
- On the Publisher Profile page, look at the Contact Info section.
- Generally you can click the Web site link to go to their home page.
- Once on their home page you should look for a download section or the designated page for your product and then look for the downloadable demo.
Saving your download
Always save your files!
Whenever you download a file, a dialog box should pop-up asking if you would like to RUN or SAVE the file. We recommend always selecting the SAVE option and then choosing your download location. At a later time, you can choose to delete any files you no longer have a need for. Saving your files will also ensure that you have a copy of the file for future reference and may help avoid a lot of unnecessary headaches and frustration.
If you decide to select the RUN option instead, your computer will automatically choose a hard-to-find location within it's temporary folders. When finished it will immediately begin to install the software or begin playing in the case of music and videos. If there are any problems when downloading, you will usually have to re-download the entire file again. This is also why we recommend always selecting the SAVE option.
Choosing a download location
The default save location for most computers is the "My Documents" folder. Unless it was intentionally or accidentally changed by the owner of the computer your files should still download there. If you cannot find the "My Documents" folder on your desktop, try going through the START menu and then clicking My Documents.
Changing download locations
If you do not know your default download location you can try this simple trick to determine where your computer is downloading your files to.
- Start a new file download. It can be the same program you just downloaded or another one all together.
- A dialog box should pop up asking if you would like to Run or Save the file > Choose Save.
- The "Save Window" should now open. The folder name at the top middle of the "Save Window" is your current download location.
Corrupted and incomplete downloads
If your file downloads take too long to complete, do not finish downloading, or if they are becoming corrupted during the download process, these behaviors are often caused by popular files being downloaded during the busiest online hours of the day. To reduce the chance that you files will become corrupt or damaged, please follow these suggestions:
- Download the file during off-peak hours. This is usually in the early mornings or after 9PM nightly.
- When the file download begins always choose the SAVE option. Then save the file to your Desktop or designated download folder so that it is easy to find later.
- If you continue to experience file corruption, try downloading the file from the publisher's home page during off-peak hours.
If you're not sure how to find a publisher's home page so that you can try to get a file directly from their download section, please visit the following resource:
Download managers, accelerators, and download speed
Download speeds:
The speed at which a file may download depends on a number of factors including the size of the file, its popularity, Internet congestion at a certain time of day, and your connection type. While we are unable to provide technical support surrounding individual user problems, we can suggest a few tips that may help you get the files that you are interested in.
- If you are having trouble downloading a very large or popular new release file, we recommend waiting a few days for the traffic to die down before trying to download the file again.
- If you are having problems downloading a file over 50MB, we recommend that you retry downloading it during off-peak hours or when web traffic is at a minimum in your area. Off-peak hours are generally during weekdays up until 6PM and after 9PM.
Managers and acceleraters:
At this time CNET Downloads does not support download accelerators and download managers. Part of the effort to make our site trusted, safe, and secure was moving our files onto our HTTP Hosting servers. These files are automatically scanned for viruses during the upload process, allowing us to distribute products to our users securely and safely. In addition, our HTTP servers block all additional, unauthorized traffic from accessing our HTTP network including warez sites, and also may block certain download accelerators and download managers.
Malware and viruses
CNET has always been a leader in the Anti-Spam and Anti-Spyware initiatives and we take issues of this nature very seriously. During processing, we scan every file uploaded to our servers using the latest security software definition files. Due to the devious nature of malware, it is often difficult to determine where a virus, spyware, or trojan may have originated.
False positives
It is also very common for security software to generate "false-positive" results by misidentifying parts of a program. You can usually quickly determine whether or not your security software is giving you a "false-positive" result by doing a Google or Yahoo search for the name of the software and the exact name of the problem found. Every day thousands of people report "false-positive" malware results via message boards all over the world.
Recommendations
If you are interested in some free recommendations on how to keep your computer clean and free of viruses and other forms of malware, check out our list of recommended security and protection downloads.
Getting help
If your computer is infected and you need help dealing with a virus, trojan, spyware, or any other form of malware, we strongly recommend asking our technical experts for help. They combat viruses and malware every day and are excellent at researching and diagnosing these types of problems.
Reporting malware
If you believe that you have found malware in a product on CNET Downloads, please double-check the *installation file* of the program with your security software by right clicking it and choosing the scan option. After you have verified the problem, contact us with the following information:
- The name of the software containing the malware
- The name of the malware as identified by your security software.
- The name of the security software you used to scan your computer.
- A link to the CNET Downloads product page where you began your download
Our goal is to provide users with a friendly, safe, and easy-to-navigate Web site. If malware is ever found during our tests, we temporarily remove the product from our library and notify the publisher who created the software.
How to uninstall programs
Due to the sheer volume of files found on our site, we are unable to provide personal assistance for uninstalling software created by other companies. We can however recommend several different uninstallation options for our users as listed in the following resource.
Pricing and costs
There are generally two areas where costs may be associated with downloadable software, music, and videos. However, is no charge to be a member of CNET, CNET News, or CNET Downloads. All of our editorial content, including our newsletters, is 100% completely free. We also do not charge you anything to download the free music, videos, and "Try before you buy" product demos listed on CNET Downloads.
Downloading costs
Many download services will charge money to access a database of downloadable files that should otherwise be free. The majority of these services are known as "Rogue Peer to Peer" sites and considered to be online scams. Rogue P2P sites take money from ususpecting customers for software and music files that can be downloaded using free P2P software
Software license costs
Software license costs are decided upon by the software publishers and they determines whether or not an installed software product is actually 100% free to use or if it has a limited trial period before you will be asked to pay. For example, a software license may say, Free to try; $39.95 to buy. CNET Downloads categorizes all of these types of software as either "Free" or "Free-to-try" and you can find this information on the CNET Downloads product page.
Important note
As a rule of thumb, you should never give your credit card information to any company before you are able to download and try their software products or their service for free. If you are seeing an unauthorized charge on your credit card, we recommend calling your credit card provider for help locating the company's contact information as well as any additional support.
Technical assistance
If all else fails, you may need advanced technical help. In these cases, CNET Customer Help recommends submitting your question to our experts in this field who can get you the help you need 24-hours a day, 7-days a week. Here's how:
Users of Microsoft Windows Live OneCare may have found their antivirus protection a little too proactive. Over the weekend, OneCare informed some Skype users that the popular voice-over-IP application was infected with the Trojan Win32/Vundo.gen!D.
Not true, says Skype, which noted that Microsoft has since repaired its overzealous signature file.
On Friday, OneCare subscribers started seeing their access to Skype blocked. Microsoft says it was trying to block a multiple-component family of programs that deliver "out of context" pop-up advertisements, and mistakenly included Skype.
On Tuesday, four days later, it sent out a revised signature file for Win32/Vundo.gen!D that did not include Skype.
While Windows Vista is slowly adopted, subsequent waves of users may make the mistake of downloading the latest version of ActiveSync to hook up their Windows Mobile device.
This is a bad idea. ActiveSync withers when it comes into contact with Vista's radiant style sheets. Instead of creating ActiveVista, or some similarly named offshoot, Microsoft opted for an overhaul. And lo, Windows Mobile Device Center was born.
Sadly, Windows Mobile Device Center (for 32-bit and 64-bit desktops) only syncs your cell with up to two computers; hard luck for someone with an office rig, a laptop, and a desktop (or two) at home. Other than that, the snappy Vistafied app cleans up ActiveSync's muddled interface with sliding tiles for tweaking settings, accessing files, downloading multimedia, and running utilities.
Windows Mobile Device Center + Vista = Usability.
There's no staging area for quick installations; however, you can transfer a file from the desktop into the device folder (which you can get to through the file management folder of Windows Mobile Device Center) and then run the file from the phone.
(Credit:
CNET Networks)
If there's one thing that the Black Hat 2007 conference in Las Vegas taught CNET Senior Editor Robert Vamosi, it's that criminals hackers, forgers, and malware chefs are getting more creative in their villainy, not less.
While stocking up on quality security software is an advisable method for keeping your distance from boogie-man code, the antivirus and removal applications are a lot more effective when used correctly. Some programs, such as Hijack This and CCleaner, benefit from deeper instruction; that's where CNET Download.com's security center steps in. Here you'll find guides for getting started with security stalwarts such as WinPatrol and ZoneAlarm, as well as cues for avoiding suspicious Web sites and family-proofing your PC.
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