SuperWasp

SuperWasp

Productivity tips, reviews, tools, software and gadgets.

 
CSS compatibility changes in IE7
Another interesting list in MSDN to read and store in your favorites: CSS Compatibility in Internet Explorer 7

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  Posted by oVan on Friday, November 24, 2006 | PermaLink | 0 comments
FIX: Windows Vista has no DHTML Edit Control!
I just noticed this post on MSDN that explains how to proceed in Vista when you want to use the DHTML Edit Control (you know, the buggy wysiwyg html editor that a lot of programs and websites use).
On one hand, I'm very happy about this: it was buggy all along and seriously crippled because of security worries. On the other hand, a lot of these programs/sites will sooner or later need to be updated, because they won't work in Vista.
Luckily, you can download those missing components here: DHTML Editing Control Redistributable

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  Posted by oVan on Friday, November 24, 2006 | PermaLink | 0 comments
BUG: Windows Vista Sidebar
The long-awaited Sidebar in Windows Vista is a bit flawed.

You can detach the gadgets so that you can place them anywhere on your desktop. Some gadgets, like the beautiful weather gadget, even give you a larger view when they are undocked.

The main problem is that upon every reboot, the gadgets will move a few pixels to the left. If you're like me and want to place them on a specific place (in my case: at the right edge of the screen), you'll soon notice that it's futile to resist. They'll march away a little bit everyday:


Some reasons why I want those gadgets to stay undocked:

  • When you dock them to the right side, they'll move to the top of the screen. I prefer them to the bottom of the screen.

  • Also, there's no known way to make the sidebar larger/wider.

  • Similarly, some gadgets show less information than when undocked (see weather gadget as example)

  • Above the top gadget, you'll always see that plus sign and the double arrow. I know, it's a detail... but every bit counts.



Something I don't quite understand: when you close the Sidebar, when your active gadgets are floating on your desktop... why are there still two Sidebar.exe processes running? I thought I just closed one?

And why don't the docked gadgets expand when you click on them? That would make a lot of sense to me...

Oh well, I guess that will be stuff for SP1?

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  Posted by oVan on Wednesday, November 22, 2006 | PermaLink | 0 comments
FIX: SigmaTel AC'97 on Vista
For all users of the dreaded SigmaTel AC97 audio chipset (a lot of notebooks use this), you will be greeted with Microsoft signed Vista drivers when you install the RTM of Vista.
However, that joy will fade away quickly: the ever-lasting problem of sound crackling and stuttering will soon make you angry again.
I do not understand why so many notebook manufacturers still keep using/implementing this piece of crap... the only reason I can think of is that it must be really cheap!

Enough whining, here are a few possible fixes:

  • You can try the RealTek AC'97 drivers for Vista

  • You can also try the High-Definition Audio Codecs, also from the RealTek website.

  • You can also scan for SigmaTel drivers on the Dell website here, maybe they'll release a new driver set also. In fact, even the older driver sets from 2005 that you'll find in this list, are more recent than the driver included in Vista. It's not the first time that Dell advises to revert to older SigmaTel drivers because they were far more stable..

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  Posted by oVan on Wednesday, November 22, 2006 | PermaLink | 0 comments
Office 2007 classic interface on Vista: only blue!
What idiot at Microsoft has decided to make the few Office programs still using the classic interface (like Office OneNote 2007) only show the blue interface?

Frankly, you don't want to run OneNote in MS-Optimistic-Blue! But that's all you've got on Vista, unless you choose the high-contrast display scheme, or the Vista Classic interface...

Why can we choose between silver and blue on XP but not on Vista?

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  Posted by oVan on Saturday, November 18, 2006 | PermaLink | 0 comments
Windows Vista RTM available!
Windows Vista has appeared on MSDN & Technet as one big 2.5Gb DVD ISO file for x86 and another for x64 edition.
The product key will determine what version is installed. Currently the following keys are offered to MSDN subscribers:

  • Windows Vista Business

  • Windows Vista Home Basic

  • Windows Vista Home Premium

  • Windows Ultimate


Some subscribers of MSDN & Technet reported only some of these keys were available, but that's probably solved by now.

Let the hunt for driver updates begin...

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  Posted by oVan on Friday, November 17, 2006 | PermaLink | 0 comments
Microsoft Office Mondo 2007?
Has anyone heard of Microsoft Office Mondo 2007? Neither did I, until I checked some xml files from the installation of Office Professional 2007.

Besides all the language packs that are defined, here's the list of all Office versions and products that are/will be available:

  • <PID="0011" Name="Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2007" />

  • <PID="0012" Name="Microsoft Office Standard 2007" />

  • <PID="0013" Name="Microsoft Office Basic 2007" />

  • <PID="0014" Name="Microsoft Office Professional 2007" />

  • <PID="0015" Name="Microsoft Office Access 2007" />

  • <PID="0016" Name="Microsoft Office Excel 2007" />

  • <PID="0017" Name="Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007" />

  • <PID="0018" Name="Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007" />

  • <PID="0019" Name="Microsoft Office Publisher 2007" />

  • <PID="001A" Name="Microsoft Office Outlook 2007" />

  • <PID="001B" Name="Microsoft Office Word 2007" />

  • <PID="0021" Name="Microsoft Visual Studio Web Authoring Component" />

  • <PID="0026" Name="Microsoft Expression Web" />

  • <PID="0029" Name="Microsoft Office Excel Home and Student 2007" />

  • <PID="002B" Name="Microsoft Office Word Home and Student 2007" />

  • <PID="002E" Name="Microsoft Office Ultimate 2007" />

  • <PID="002F" Name="Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007" />

  • <PID="0030" Name="Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007" />

  • <PID="0031" Name="2007 Microsoft Office system" />

  • <PID="0033" Name="Microsoft Office Personal 2007" />

  • <PID="0035" Name="2007 Microsoft Office system" />

  • <PID="0037" Name="Microsoft Office PowerPoint Home and Student 2007" />

  • <PID="003A" Name="Microsoft Office Project Standard 2007" />

  • <PID="003B" Name="Microsoft Office Project Professional 2007" />

  • <PID="0044" Name="Microsoft Office InfoPath 2007" />

  • <PID="0051" Name="Microsoft Office Visio Professional 2007" />

  • <PID="0053" Name="Microsoft Office Visio Standard 2007" />

  • <PID="0050" Name="Microsoft Office Visio 2007 Software Development Kit (SDK)" />

  • <PID="00A1" Name="Microsoft Office OneNote 2007" />

  • <PID="00A3" Name="Microsoft Office OneNote Home and Student 2007" />

  • <PID="00A9" Name="Microsoft Office InterConnect 2007" />

  • <PID="00BC" Name="Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 with InterConnect 2007" />

  • <PID="00BA" Name="Microsoft Office Groove 2007" />

  • <PID="00CA" Name="Microsoft Office Small Business 2007" />

  • <PID="00E0" Name="Microsoft Office Outlook 2007" />

  • <PID="000F" Name="Microsoft Office Mondo 2007" />



Did you notice that there are 2 entries for "2007 Microsoft Office system", and that they forgot to capitalize the word "system"?

Now I would like to know what the Microsoft Office Mondo 2007 is...

Update: It appears that Mondo was an earlier beta version of Office System 2007. No idea why it's still listed with a product id though.

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  Posted by oVan on Monday, November 13, 2006 | PermaLink | 0 comments
Office 2007 Product Key Fun
Did anyone notice that the developers at Microsoft have chosen special product keys for the Office System 2007?

When traversing the registry for remains of the beta versions that were blocking the install of the RTM version (see previous post), I noticed that the product keys all end in "0000000FF1CE" (e.g. 30120000-006E-0409-0000-0000000FF1CE).
At first sight, nothing special to see... however, if you read it in the language many hackers use for their patches, warez and keygenerators, it reads "OFFICE" with the O replaced by zero and the I replaced by a 1.

Just thought it was fun...

Btw: If you still can't install Office 2007 after removing all the products mentioned in my last post, you should scan the registry for "-0000-0000000FF1CE". By manually removing those entries, setup should start without any problems. No warranties of course, you're on your own there...

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  Posted by oVan on Monday, November 13, 2006 | PermaLink | 0 comments
Office 2007 RTM: Installation Problems
Microsoft Office 2007 Professional has been released to manufacturing (RTM), and is available for MSDN and TechNet subscribers as of today.

When installing Office 2007, you may encounter the following problem:

---------------------------
Setup Errors
---------------------------
Setup is unable to proceed due to the following error(s):
The 2007 Microsoft Office system does not support upgrading from a prerelease version of the 2007 Microsoft Office system. You must first uninstall any prerelease versions of the 2007 Microsoft Office system products and associated technologies.
Correct the issue(s) listed above and re-run setup.

---------------------------
OK
---------------------------


According to the Installation Read Me page (the cd doesn't contain up to date information, only a link to this page at the Office website), this may be caused by the Office 2003 Web Components. Here's the explanation:

The Office 2003 Web Components feature installed with Office 2007 Beta2 causes the Office 2007 product to block its installation. Users should use Add Remove Programs in the Windows Control Panel to Remove the Office 2003 Web Components, and then install the final Office 2007 product.


However, after uninstalling this product, you can still get the same error message. Googling further on the Microsoft website, I came across the following list on this page of programs that you should remove also:

  • 2007 Microsoft Office Add-in: Microsoft Save as PDF or XPS (Beta)

  • 2007 Microsoft Office Add-in: Microsoft Save as PDF (Beta)

  • 2007 Microsoft Office Add-in: Microsoft Save as XPS (Beta)

  • Microsoft Expression Web Designer Beta 1

  • Microsoft Expression Web Designer CTP1

  • Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats (Beta 2 Technical Refresh)


The above list is not mentioned on the ReadMe page, so I doubt a lot of users will find this information. Hey, maybe we should just remove all programs? :-)

APPLIES TO

  • Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2007

  • Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007

  • Microsoft Office Ultimate 2007

  • Microsoft Office Professional 2007

  • Microsoft Office Standard 2007

  • Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007

  • Microsoft Office Basic 2007

  • Microsoft Office Groove 2007

  • Microsoft Office Access 2007

  • Microsoft Office Excel 2007

  • Microsoft Office OneNote 2007

  • Microsoft Office Outlook 2007

  • Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007

  • Microsoft Office Publisher 2007

  • Microsoft Office Word 2007

  • Microsoft Office InfoPath 2007

  • Microsoft Office Project Professional 2007

  • Microsoft Office Project Standard 2007

  • Microsoft Office Visio Professional 2007

  • Microsoft Office Visio Standard 2007


Keywords: kbuninstall kbsetup kbexpertisebeginner kbtshoot kbprb KB927222

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  Posted by oVan on Monday, November 13, 2006 | PermaLink | 0 comments
Windows Vista RTM this week!

This week, Microsoft will release Windows Vista to manufacturing! Find out more in this exclusive WinInfo news article!

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  Posted by oVan on Sunday, November 05, 2006 | PermaLink | 0 comments
The "Truth" About Google Search Results Stats

From the Port80 blog:

I bet you love Google. We certainly do at Port80.  Yet, like it or not, at times in any relationship you can start questioning your love, and something we noticed recently just didn’t sit well with us:  We have found that that they appear to put a bit of spin on Google's search results.

Continue here: [200 OK]: A Port80 Software Blog

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  Posted by oVan on Friday, November 03, 2006 | PermaLink | 0 comments
Capture One 3.7.6 by Phase One

CAPTURE ONE 3.7.6 RELEASED!

Introducing Live Preview for Phase One digital backs and with improved out-of-the-box quality for multiple cameras.

Download Capture One 3.7.6!

What’s new in Capture One PRO 3.7.6

Live preview for Phase One digital backs

With this latest release of Capture One a Live Preview feature has been included. Live Preview gives you instant feedback to changes you make in the scene composition for your images. With Live Preview you can speed up your work and capture the right images fast, even if your camera is placed inaccessible.

Live Preview currently supports Phase One digital backs: P 45, P 30 and P 21. To take advantage of Live Preview the digital backs have to upgraded. To learn more about how to get Live Preview for your digital back, contact your Phase One partner.

For more information and usage instructions please refer to the Live Preview documentation available on the Phase One web site.

Improved camera support

• Leica M8

- Colors:

  • Red saturation has been increased a little to ensure a deeper rendering of pure red colors in e.g. sunshine
  • Skintone reproduction has been optimizes by decreasing the saturation and making a more yellowish look

- Film curves:

  • Film extra shadow: Has been optimized to give a better overall look

• Canon 400D/Rebel XTi

- Colors:

  • Blue has been optimized to give a more natural reproduction of e.g. the sky
  • Greens has been optimized to give a more natural reproduction of e.g. grass and leaves
  • “Broken” colors issue has been solved

- Film curves:

  • Film standard: More contrast has been added
  • Film extra shadow and Film high contrast has been optimized to fit with the new film standard curve

• Nikon D80

- Colors:

  • More accurate reproduction of pure reds, tweaked greens for more natural reproduction of grass and leafs
  • Skintones will now have a more natural reproduction

- Film curves:

  • Film standard: More contrast has been added
  • Film extra shadow and Film high contrast has been optimized to fit with the new film standard curve

- Color noise reduction:

  • Default settings for color noise reduction have been reduced to better mach the low noise behavior of the D80 sensor

• Sony ? (alpha) DSLR-A100

- Colors:

  • Less saturated greens for more natural reproduction of grass and leafs e.g.

Solved issues

• The ‘force orientation’ setting (+-90, landscape) did not work correctly for Phase One digital backs P 21, P 30 and P 45

• Korean media importer crashed on start up. Has been replaced with English version

• Capture One tiff output files did not comply completely with tiff standard

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  Posted by oVan on Thursday, November 02, 2006 | PermaLink | 0 comments
Adobe Camera Raw & DNG converter 3.6

Adobe have released Camera Raw 3.6 for both Windows and Mac platforms. Support for 13 new cameras has been added in this update, including the Canon EOS 400D / Rebel Xti and Nikon D80.

Website: Adobe Camera Raw 3.6 (Windows)

Website: Adobe Camera Raw 3.6 (MAC)

Support for the following cameras has been added in this update.

* Canon EOS 400D / Rebel Xti
* Fuji FinePix S6000fd
* Fuji FinePix S9100/9600
* Leica D-LUX3
* Leica Digilux 3
* Leica V-LUX 1
* Nikon D80
* Olympus E400
* Olympus SP-510 UZ
* Panasonic DMC-LX2
* Pentax K100D
* Pentax K110D
* Samsung GX 1L

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  Posted by oVan on Thursday, November 02, 2006 | PermaLink | 0 comments
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