Microsoft Virtual PC 2004 Service Pack 1 (SP1) contains the latest software updates for Microsoft Virtual PC 2004 that improve the reliability, performance and manageability of Virtual PC. Updates have been made to improve the performance of Windows XP Service Pack 2 as a guest in Virtual PC, to improve the manageability of virtual machines when used with SMS 2003 Service Pack 1, and to provide support for running Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition as the host operating system.

Download the complete DirectX 9.0 SDK - (October 2004), which contains the FINAL release of the DirectX 9.0c Runtime and all DirectX software required to create DirectX 9.0 compliant applications in C/C++, and C#.

This update resolves a compatibility issue with a non-Microsoft software application installed on your computer. This application prevents successful installation of Windows XP Service Packs, critical security updates and other system file updates. This update should be applied to your system to enable safe installation of these updates now and in the future.

NeoWin reports the Messenger team will be implementing a CVR update that will force all existing MSN Messenger V7.0 users to downgrade to V6.2. This CVR is scheduled to start on 6 Oct 2004. Anyone running MSN Messenger V7.0 build 0205 will need to downgrade. If you do not downgrade, you will be unable to sign into the Messenger service. We're unsure whether this will effect other builds.

We are excited to offer a preview of the next version of Windows XP Embedded. For device developers who are familiar with Windows XP Embedded, you will notice some significant changes to the product, and we think you will be impressed with what it has to offer. For developers who are new to Windows XP Embedded, we are thrilled to share this first experience with you.

Speaking at a gathering of U.K. press, Ballmer said Microsoft's "trustworthy computing" is far more than just a one-off initiative.
"We will be working on 'trustworthy computing 'for the rest of my days at Microsoft, which I hope are many. There are bad people out there in cyberspace and they are not going to go away. We are going to have to be vigilant. That's going to last for the duration," he said.

More at ZdNet

TCMagazine: Ready for the new Messenger? Microsoft just released the first beta version of MSN Messenger 7 to its beta testers and ofcourse, we have it ready for download for you! The Build number of MSN Messenger 7 is 7.0.0205 and it weighs at about 7MB. There are also a number of new features included in this release, which you may find by installing or checking out our screenshots.

Windows® XP SP2 introduces new security technologies to better enable Windows XP computers to withstand viruses, worms and other kinds of attacks. This guide will assist IT Professionals to test and mitigate application compatibility issues arising from these more stringent security technologies

Paul Thurrott Windows SuperSite have thrown up their Preview of Microsoft's Windows XP Professional x64 Edition!

On April 9, 2003, Microsoft officially announced that it would support AMD's then-upcoming 64-bit Opteron and Athlon 64 microprocessors with 64-bit native versions of Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. The news must have sent shivers down the spines of executives at Microsoft partner Intel, whose 64-bit Itanium product line has languished because of slow performance and incompatibilities with today's existing 32-bit software. For AMD, of course, it was--and still is--a major victory.

Back in May, 2003 we exclusively revealed MSN Messenger 6.0. This time around it's 6.0's bigger brother, 7.0. MSN Messenger is clearly progressing in this early look at 7.0. You now have the ability to sign in as busy/away/offline etc which will please a lot of people. 3 Degrees is finally encorporated into MSN Messenger (something I had been writing about for more than a year). The interface is cleaner, smarter and the features are great! More at NeoWin

Hardware Pacers has posted a review on Microsoft's Picture It! Premium 10. Here's a snip.

For years people wondered why Microsoft did not release any products worth mentioning for digital photography. This industry was reserved for companies such as Adobe, Macromedia and Corel, however in recent months Microsoft decided to increase its presence in this highly competitive field. Thus came Digital Image Suite 10 aimed at professionals, Microsoft Digital Image Pro for intermediate users and Microsoft Picture It! Premium 10 for home users with little experience or knowledge in digital photo editing. Picture It! Premium 10 offers many features with standard Microsoft look and feel to it.

NeoWin reports that Microsoft has released screenshots and photos of their soon to be released Windows XP starter edition. SE is a cut down version of Windows XP, with less features and restrictions placed on its use.

Thanks to Tim @ Majorgeeks.com for the Heads up! Microsoft has never released a service pack for Windows98 SE. But I made a Service Pack for Windows98 SE users. It contains all Windows98 SE updates from WindowsUpdate site and more.

This tool will help to remove the adware T.V. Media from affected computers. This adware interferes with successful installation of Windows XP Service Pack 2. T.V. Media is bundled with certain advertisement-supported applications such as Speed Blaster and Memory Meter. Users should uninstall these applications before running this tool and before installing Windows XP SP2.

Found this over at Neowin: Today is talk like a pirate day and the crazy folks at Microsoft UK have issued a light-hearted press release having a jab at those who use pirated Microsoft products. Although the press release is a joke, Microsoft recently started an optional Windows Validation process on their download servers. At recent conferences before the release of XPSP2 several Microsoft representatives have hinted at possible PID blocking on other Microsoft applications. In simple terms if you have a pirated version of Windows XP and you install an updated application like Windows Media Player, that application will detect your pirated install and will not install. There are also rumours that Microsoft are cracking down on the pirates themselves. Earlier this week the largest seizure of counterfeit Microsoft software and components took place, worth $80 million. For now the pirates are laughing but it looks like Microsoft are beginning to laugh and I'm sure they'll have the last laugh. Read the whole story at Neowin.
Check the validation process yourself: Windows Media Encoder 9 Series
Read more about the validation process at Microsoft

PlanetNow berichtet: Microsoft hat mit der Einführung einer Windows-Legalitätsüberprüfung für Windows-XP-Downloads im hauseigenen Download Center des Online-Auftritts begonnen. Das zurzeit in der Testphase befindliche System ist erst bei einigen wenigen Downloads und nicht in allen Sprachen eingebaut.

Windows Script is a comprehensive scripting infrastructure for the Microsoft Windows platform. Windows Script provides two script engines, Visual Basic Scripting Edition and Microsoft JScript, which can be embedded into Windows Applications. It also provides an extensive array of supporting technologies that makes it easier for script users to script Windows applications.

This update helps resolve an issue on computers running Windows XP Service Pack 2. Programs that connect to IP addresses in the loopback address range may not work as expected and you may receive an error message indicating you cannot establish a connection.

This non-security critical update helps resolve an issue where a limited number of systems running a BIOS without production support for Intel Pentium 4 and Intel Celeron D processors based on Prescott C-0 stepping can potentially hang on Windows XP Service Pack 2 installation.

Microsoft recommends that customers apply the update immediately.

This update resolves a newly-discovered, privately reported vulnerability. A buffer overrun vulnerability exists in the processing of JPEG image formats that could allow remote code execution on an affected system. The vulnerability is documented in this bulletin in its own section.