The ultimate utility for tweaking and getting the most out of Windows Vista performance is here! TweakVista allows users to modify many hard to access or hidden system settings to increase the performance of Windows Vista. The program was designed for both casual and power users to easily, and safely use it without fear of causing damage as the changes are easily reversible. For the "greener" users, TweakVista includes a new Carbon Footprint feature which shows both the carbon footprint an...

The Sprint Nextel Corp. stated that they will spend nearly $2.5 Billion creating a new network using the "WiMax" high-speed wireless technology, and that number could double over the next couple of years. Sprint is the No. 3 wireless carrier in the U.S. and this technology will allow high-speed access to everything from cellphones to laptops.Sprint has already branded the service as "XOHM", and is reportedly 5 times faster than any other wireless network by today's standards. They have teamed...

There have been quite a few rumors on forums over the past week that DirectX 10.1 will require users to purchase a new DX10 hardware.  Obviously this rumor got many people upset and got some people to believe they will have to purchase another piece of hardware to use with Vista.During a recent interview with Next-gen , Microsoft stated: "DirectX 10.1 fully supports DirectX 10 hardware . No hardware support is being removed. It's strictly a superset. It's basically an update to Di...

On August 17th it will be the 25th "birthday" of the compact disc.  Yes, you heard that right.  It's been 25 years since the first CD was manufactured by Philips in a factory in Germany.  Philips estimates that since then more than 200 billion CD's have been sold throughout the world.Some of you might be asking what super fantastic band had the honor of being the first on disc, and that title would go to ABBA.  I'm trying to think back through the years of how many CD's I ha...

If you are India and don't want to purchase an iPhone, but maybe just want to have a feel for it.....literally, then this promotion could be for you. A marketplace ad on Facebook is offering a 15 minute "touch" experience for just 500 rupees, or $12 (US). Considering the way some people were jumping around trying to get their hands on an iPhone during the recent launch, charging for the touch might not be such a bad idea. Hopefully this promotion won't be considered at the Apple or AT&T stores ...

I'm sure many of us here at one point in time owned a Commodore 64, or maybe an Apple II.  If you didn't, then maybe you were a cutting edge gamer who was the first in the neighborhood to pick up an Atari system, or maybe you went the NES route.  Although I'm sure a few people also have no idea what I'm talking about.  No worries though.  The team over at CyberNet has compiled some of the best commercials from the "old school" for all to enjoy, even for those who don't r...

A few weeks ago a poll was posted on WinCustomize asking if our members are users of social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace.  The results were pretty clear and the overwhelming majority of responders said they don't visit these sites.  Well today a survey was released last week that stated that over 20 percent of internet users worldwide reported visiting social networking sites within a 30 day period. The report also claims that Brazil, China, Mexico, South Korea, and...

Mary Jo Foley is reporting that "unnamed" sources at Microsoft have stated that the first beta of SP1 for Windows Vista will be released the week of July 16th.  The final version will supposedly be released in November of this year which also happens to be a target date for Windows Server 2008. The article explains that SP1 will be mainly "fixes" instead of new features, and there is a list of some likely fixes that might be included.  Of course this has not been confirmed by ...

The Xbox 360 has been making headlines lately, not about a cool upcoming game, but about it's failure rates and general hardware problems.  Some analysts have placed the failure rate of the 360 as high as 33%, but Microsoft will not confirm or disclose the actual numbers. In response Microsoft announced that they will extend the warranty for Xbox 360 owners to 3 years to cover for the hardware failures known as the "Red Ring of Death". Microsoft has also made production changes that supp...

Microsoft plans to open a development center somewhere near Vancouver to attract developers from around the world without having to deal with U.S. immigration laws.  There are already a few development centers outside the U.S., but Microsoft stated that this move was a related to a recent immigration bill that would have increased the number of visas allowing more high-tech foreign workers into the country.  That bill failed to pass, although Microsoft also stated the center would hav...

For over 13 years Bill Gates has topped the Forbes list of billionaires, but according to a Mexican financial news service, Gates might have dropped to number two. Mexican telecommunications "tycoon", Carlos Slim, has reportedly taken the title as the worlds richest person because of a 27 percent stock surge which brings his worth close to $67.8 billion. Slim, who controls Mexico's largest telephone company had recently taken over the number two spot held by Warren Buffett. This report has ...

Earlier this week the DesktopX 3.5 beta was released to Object Desktop subscribers. DesktopX 3.5 now supports exporting your creations as Sidebar Gadgets for use in Windows Vista. I made a quick video demo showing you step-by-step how simple it is to create an object with DesktopX, and then export it as a Sidebar Gadget. It took less than 3 minutes from start to finish to create an internet shortcut and export it as a Sidebar Gadget. Although DesktopX is capable of creating far more power...

The latest edition of This Week in Skinning is up.  While the summer is slowly winding down, this has been a surprising one as skin submissions have been great.  This edition of TWiS has a bootskin, some cursors, a .dream, wallpapers, and a WindowBlinds skin. Check out the August 1st edition of This Week in Skinning .  

The latest Master Skin here on WinCustomize comes from Master Skinner Gef .  Gef's work in DesktopX themes is impeccable and this latest addition is no different.  I was very impressed while going through this theme, and there is no mistaken that Gef has paid much attention to detail. This DX theme, Starlight , has a dark and sleek look.  The top bar can be viewed and hidden by moving your mouse over the Starlight image, and the bar includes weather information, calendar, mai...

We haven't said too much about the GUI Champs lately, but rest assured, we are hard at work behind the scenes lining up sponsors and getting everything ready.  One thing we often talk about here, and even in the WinCustomize SkinCast, is the quality of the skins that were submitted.  So just to give a reminder at what the '06 GUI Champs was like, here are some skins from the competition. ...