Vista Squad

Guys,

Paolo Barone, who delivered a great session on Live Mesh at our last meeting has published a list of cool Live Mesh videos.

http://blogs.msdn.com/pblog/archive/2008/08/21/live-mesh-videos.aspx

Hey all,

Came across this list of essential downloads for Vista via Channel 10 (and Steve Clayton)

http://on10.net/blogs/sarahintampa/Essential-Downloads-for-Vista/

1. Windows Live – the Windows Live Suite upgrades Vista’s built-in programs like Photo Gallery and Mail to give you the newer versions – Windows Live Photo Gallery and Windows Live Mail. It also included Windows Live Writer, Live Messenger, and Family Safety. You can pick and choose which of these you want after downloading the installer.
2. Vista Codec Pack – lets you play nearly any video or audio file you come across.
3. Windows Search 4.0 – upgrades Vista’s built-in search with the latest version for faster and more accurate results.
4. Windows Steady State – Lets you easily restore your computer back to its same condition before someone (like your kids) mucked around with it.
5.  5 recommended add-ons for IE7 – this page has five of the best add-ons to enhance Internet Explorer.
6. Windows Gallery – the Windows Gallery itself isn’t a download, but is where you can find tons of downloads for your desktop and sidebar.

FEST08 the annual NxtGenUG one-day event takes place at Microsoft Reading on Thursday 12th June.  As ever it's going to be an action packed day with great content from the likes of Mike Taulty ,Oliver Sturm , Dave Sussman and other top speakers. 

No doubt there will be bundles of 'swag' and prizes and Pizza somewhere down the line - there always is when the nxtGenUG Boyz are around.  There seems to be a few more of them this year with the Cambridge and Southampton crews joining in the mix.

So got to http://www.nxtgenug.net/fest08/ for details and to register your place.  It's free to all NxtGenUG members and a mere £49.99 to non-members - bargain!  Oh and also if you're around the night before there is a G(r)eek dinner to toast Daniel Moth, "The Greek Wonder" on his way to the states.  http://www.nxtgenug.net/ViewEvent.aspx?EventID=140 is the link to signup to."

Thanks to the guys that attended our last meeting it was fantastic! We had nearly 35 attendees, lots of good banter, 2 stonking presentations (videos to be up soon) and a copy of Vista Ultimate given away :)

So the next meeting Vista Squad "The Wrath Of Khan" is scheduled in for Wednesday 18th June at Cardinal Place. The line up is Stephen Lambo back after a some time away from us giving us some "Security" advice and the Developer session is yet to be confirmed. More of the same in terms of banter etc... keep an look out for more information!

We look forward to seeing you!

Hey everyone!

So we decided that it would be good if there was a Team Blog where we could share cool stuff with you. So here we are... we are looking to use this blog to help:

1. drop in blog posts on Vista, .NET 3.5 etc.
2. to share with the group our plans/ideas for the future and growth of Vista Squad
3. probably some pointless stuff too

So here is some useful information on the power saving ability of Vista we have gleaned from a close pal of the Vista Squad team, James Senior:

1. Windows Vista can reduce electricity costs. Businesses can save up to $11 per system, per year by switching to Windows Vista, due to the default power management settings. For a company with 5000 users, this means up to $47,000 of bottom line dollars can be saved annually.

2. The Vista Sleep state is more reliable than XP. Computers resume from Sleep in two seconds, which is about the same time it takes a screen to resume from Idle mode in Windows XP.

3. Power consumption reduction translates into direct CO2 savings. Carbon dioxide emissions are reduced by up to 67 kg of carbon dioxide per desktop PC, per year. For a company with 5000 users, this is 288 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions reduced.

4. Aero graphics have no effect on overall power consumption. Organizations should take advantage of Aero since it does not have a significant impact on electricity usage.

Look at the post and link to the full case study here: http://blogs.technet.com/james/archive/2008/04/28/vista-power-saving-stats.aspx

On the "green" theme here are "50 Ways to Save the Planet"
http://www.50waystohelp.com/