The Machets’ Blog

For a while now, rumours of a redesigned Google have been spreading. They have turned out to be true, and you can test it out, thanks to Garett Rogers. If you use Firefox, You can try the new look Google out very easily. Simple drag this link (Toggle Google Look) to your bookmarks toolbar, then go to google.com and search for something. Finally, click the button in the bookmarks toolbar, and voila! If you’d rather wait, in the meantime you can click the picture in this post to see what you can expect.

While attending a Marriage Seminar dealing with communication, Tom and his wife Grace listened to the instructor, “It is essential that husbands and wives know each other’s likes and dislikes.” He addressed the man, “Can you name your wife’s favorite flower?” Tom leaned over, touched his wife’s arm gently and whispered, “It’s CSR Self Raising, isn’t it?”

This week, Microsoft released the latest update to their fourthcoming Microsoft Office 2007 suite. Many problems and flaws have been fixed, and the set of programs have generally come a long way. Microsoft Word now boasts a smarter and cleaner interface than before, and is far more customisable and user-friendly.

None of the Office 2007 programs have crashed yet, and many reoccuring bugs have been squashed. Microsoft have done an excellent job in listening to beta-testers’ requests and complaints and have produced some great software. We look forward to Office 2007’s release, which will occur some time in the second half of this year.

Name: Windows Defender (beta 2) Price: Free
Windows Defender (Formerly Microsoft AntiSpyware) has taken away the need to worry about Malware; small programs that can harm your computer. With this new program from Microsoft, you can be assured that hidden programs that install themselves while you visit certain websites are stopped.

There have been some excellent improvements between beta 1 (AntiSpyware) and beta 2 (Windows Defender). For one, once Defender is installed, you are barely notified and/or receive complicated annoying messages. The program seems invisible, yet it scans your computer regularly. A few features have been sent home in the move up to beta 2. These include a browser-hijacking utility that prevents websites from changing your homepage (among other things). Another feature we have let go of is the ability to clear all of Internet Explorer’s private data. Microsoft has probably done this to prevent doubling up. This feature will come with Internet Explorer 7, so there would be no point to include this.

Overall, Windows Defender is a nice and simple program that has few glitches and problems. It’s probably not quite what we were expecting, but still gets the job done.

A couple drove down a country road for several miles, not saying a word. An earlier discussion had led to an argument and neither of them wanted to concede their position. As they passed a barnyard of mules, goats, and pigs, the husband asked sarcastically, “Relatives of yours?” “Yep,” the wife replied, “in-laws.”

Name: Windows OneCare Live Price: US$49.95, free during beta.

As part of Microsoft’s new “Live” products, the company has created an all in one antivirus, backup and maintenence program called Windows OneCare Live (WOCL). This has been long awaited by users critical of Microsoft’s lack of security in Windows. The program is surprisingly good as it is designed to maintain our computers without any much trouble. WOCL includes an antivirus program and backup software. A feature called “Tune Up” allows you to schedule these tasks to run automatically. In addition to an antivirus and backup solution, OneCare Live incorporates much needed features into its automatic Tune Up, such as scheduling the defragmenter, optimising your system by removing unnecessary files, and it checks for important Windows Updates from Microsoft.

Windows OneCare Live offers a very simple user interface that will be very useful for both the experienced and learning users. Should the information be required, WOCL can provide detailed descriptions on what it has done and detected.

Although a little pricey at US$49.95, Microsoft’s new all-in-one security solution will definately mark a spot in the market, and will give Windows users an overall better user experience.

Update: Windows Live OneCare has come out of beta, and will be rolled out internationally within the next 12 months.

Microsoft has recently created a handful of useful programs. Windows Live includes both updated and new sets of software, aimed at making your computer more secure and improving your internet experience. Live products inculde Windows Live Mail (Formely Hotmail), Windows OneCare Live, Windows Live Messenger (Formely MSN Messenger), Windows Office Live, Windows Live Favourites, and more.

Over the next few weeks, we will be publishing reviews on most of the aforementioned programs. We will note what you need and how you can get them, depending on whether they are in an exclusive beta or not.

First up, we will be reviewing the security products offered within the Windows Live products, as well as other new programs such as Windows Defender (Formely Microsoft AntiSpyware beta 1). A new category has been created on The Machets’ Blog dedicated to news and reviews related to Microsoft. The first review will be posted in a few days.

To view this video at its actual page, please go to video.google.com