BetaNews is reporting that the New York Times has released a desktop application which enables you to read the newspaper's content on your computer. The "Times Reader" was developed, in part, by Microsoft using the Windows Presentation Foundation which is currently set to be a part of Microsoft's latest OS in January: Windows Vista.

"Specifically, Vista's WPF display technologies will enable Times content to be automatically adjusted for any screen size, with users able to customize font size and content relevance. The application will utilize the same font styles as the print edition of the New York Times."

Forgive me, but I fail to see the point in this. Microsoft is spending countless hours integrating RSS technologies into their upcoming OS so that a user is able to acquire ANY online content within many different parts of the OS. The article states that Microsoft "hopes [Reader] will serve as a starting point for other organizations looking to take advantage of the new capabilities coming in Windows Vista." My question is simple. Why not spend time trying to UNIFY various content sources under one colorful and useful application? Unification is something Microsoft [namely, Bill Gates] doesn't get. Google, on the other hand, understands it big time and it's one of the many reasons Google proves that they are useful. My hope is that these "other organizations" completely overlook this "starting point" … mainly because I don't want fifteen different applications to read fifteen sources of news on the Web.

technorati tags: rss, windows, vista, times

Microsoft has finally shipped the second BETA release of it's latest Internet Explorer browser. The latest release is the fastest and most reliable 7.0 release thus far (to be expected as it grows closer to a final release) and I find myself not dreading the times I have to use it now. The new BETA release is much quicker than any of it's predecessors (not including the 6.0 family) so processes such as adding a new tab or printing doesn't seem to take as long…nearly as long. IE7 has almost gotten as quick as 6.0.

Of course, even with the new "tabbed browsing" and integrated feed reader there's just no reason for me to go back to Internet Explorer, plain and simple. Thousands of developers across the world have built tools specifically for Firefox that has made my browsing experience irreplaceable (although, it can be quite distracting sometimes.)

On that note, Microsoft has even decided to take their IE "Add-Ons" (think Firefox extensions) to the next level by updating the official site for these 3rd party add-ons: ieaddons.com. Alot of those "Add-ons" still aren't free, though…unlike Mozilla's official extensions site.

If only the team behind IE was as dedicated as the team behind Microsoft's own Live service or, for that matter, as dedicated as any of Google's development teams. Case in point, Google had a release of their Toolbar for Internet Explorer poised and ready for IE 7.0 about two days after Microsoft officially began shipping the new BETA. Needless to say, I was impressed.

technorati tags: internet, explorer

Microsoft is about to unleash a new “tool” in their continued struggle against software piracy: “Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications.”  According to ZDNet, the Redmond based company will push the tool out to millions of users starting Tuesday, 4/25.  WGAN is designed to “alert” users of a pirated OS that their install is not genuine.  Alerts will be shown to users at the launch and shutdown of the OS as well as various times during the Windows session.  A tool for Office checks is in the work as well: “Office Genuine Advantage.” 

“Whew, Thank God I’m Legit.”

technorati tags: microsoft, Windows, office

Over a month. That's how long it's been since the last post to Fans of Tech. We're making changes for the better, though, and we'll be posting on a much more regular basis soon enough.