Microsoft upcoming Office suite 2010 beta has been released and already MSDN subscribers and Technet subscribers can download. But what about all the eager geeks who are low on cash or are on parents pocket money. If you can wait for a while rumor is that public Office 2010 beta downloads will be activated by the end of this week. But already it seems that the official page got leaked and is pointed to this link with download links showing up for the three Microsoft Office editions Office Home and Business 2010 beta, Office Professional 2010 beta and Office Professional Plus 2010 beta. The links are unfortunately not live yet instead you’ll land on a “The Office 2010 beta will come soon” page .

The differences between the three editions are the following:

• Office Home and Business 2010 beta – Includes: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, and Office Web Apps
• Office Professional 2010 beta – Includes: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Access, Publisher and Office Web Apps
• Office Professional Plus 2010 beta – Volume licensing only – Includes: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook with Business Contact Manager, Access, Publisher, Infopath, Communicator, SharePoint Workspace, and Office Web Apps

But if you are really edger and can’t wait till end of this, you can always grab for the trusty Bittorrent sites.

Via Ghacks

Almost every feature rich website nowadays have at-least a little bit of Adobe’s love or have Flash software. Its latest 10 beta release gets even better with GPU acceleration for H.264 video and multi-touch support and tones of bug fixes. Unfortunately the graphics powered HD acceleration is only for the Windows platform. Now come on Adobe almost all the latest Mac or Linux are capable of playing Youtube’s upcoming 1080p  videos without breaking a sweat. But all platforms will support multi-touch, hopefully it won’t be bugged with lag problems.

Besides Flash, Adobe has also updated their Air apps platform to 2.0 with lots of added features like USB access, better handling of networking and ability to open up files or link using its native application and a better and faster WebKit browser. Both Flash 10.1 prerelease and AIR 2.0 beta are available as free downloads for Windows, Mac, and Linux systems.

In less than two weeks Mozzilla is back with yet another beta Firefox 3.6 beta 2. But don’t panic , the update this includes a mammoth 190 bug fixes over beta 1, with addition performance boost and support for oneclick themes. If you still reluctant to test the latest beta, Firefox 3.5.5 is the latest build but for those who have already jumped into the murky waters of beta testing Firefox 3.6 beta 2 seems to a worthy upgrade.

Firefox 3.6 beta 2 is available for download for Windows, Mac OSX and Linux. Of-course its free.

Paint.Net is one of the best free image manipulation software for Windows. While Photoshop and Gimp are way out of its league yet its still a very efficient and fast tool. Unlike Photoshop or Gimp it isn’t bloated with some useless stuffs. The latest version 3.5 has lots of bugs fixed while lots of new features have been added. The latest version now supports Aero and works faster on  Windows Vista and 7. Best part its still free.

Here are the changes and bug fixes.

• Refreshed user interface with new icons and visual styling. On Windows 7 and Vista, it is enhanced for Aero and “glass”.
• Performance and memory usage have been extensively optimized throughout the entire program.
• .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 is now required, which has many built-in performance improvements.
• Disk space usage has been reduced by about 12MB by using NTFS compression on installation files.
• Compression for .PDN images has been improved.
• Effect dialog responsiveness has been improved.
• Images open much faster, especially on single CPU systems.
• Startup performance on most systems will be better by about 20%.
• Memory usage has been reduced when more than one image is open.
• Rendering quality has been greatly improved when zoomed in.
• The selection outline is no longer animated. Instead of “dancing ants”, a context-sensitive “XOR” stipple pattern is drawn. This has allowed for improved performance and lowered CPU consumption (and longer battery life).
• The font manager for the Text tool has been completely rewritten, which fixes many problems seen with crashes and missing fonts.
• On Windows XP, the Text tool has improved reliability and font selection (it uses GDI instead of GDI+).
• On Windows 7, the Text tool will use DirectWrite (instead of GDI) which gives better performance and greatly improved quality.
• On Windows Vista, you may install DirectX 11 to enable this feature; otherwise GDI will be used.
• The toolbar font list has improved usability, rendering quality, and significantly improved performance.
• The toolbar font list no longer requires an application restart to recognize newly installed fonts.
• When many fonts are installed, both memory usage and startup performance have been greatly improved.
• It is now drastically easier to move a very small selection.
• All installation prerequisites are now installed automatically, such as .NET and Windows Installer.
• Updates are now downloaded in the background, and installed after you exit the application. In previous versions, this was a foreground task and you could not use Paint.NET while the update was downloaded.
• Added a “Utilities” menu. Updates, Languages, and Plugin Errors have been moved there.
• Added a “Manage Fonts” command to the Utilities menu. This will launch the built-in Windows font control panel.
• Clicking the middle mouse button on an image thumbnail will now close the image.
• Improved the Unfocus effect.
• The DirectDraw Surface (.DDS) file type now allows you to select the resampling algorithm for auto-generated mip-maps.
• A processor that supports SSE is now required (almost all CPUs purchased this decade satisfy this).
• Fixed an issue with Gaussian Blur and its treatment of alpha values.
• Fixed a crash with the “Units” selector in the toolbar.
• Fixed a crash due to an overflow that prevented very large images from working (64-bit only).
• Fixed many other miscellaneous glitches and crashes.

Download Paint.NET 3.5

If you already have the Rainmeter then version 1.1 gets it even better. For people who don’t know what Rainmeter is all about, well its simply a very powerful desktop customization software. The latest version 1.1 adds the all new Rainbrowser interface which lets you easily preview all your installed skins even before installing and also you can tweak or modify skins settings from the interface itself.

Here is the full list of changes, as explained by the Rainmeter team:

• A new utility called RainBrowser helps users manage their library of skins through a GUI interface. RainBrowser lets you preview skins, read detailed setup instructions, and even search by tag. Thanks to the addition of skin metadata, this is something other apps can take advantage of, as well.
• Taking a cue from HTML5, skins may now use local fonts. This means you can design and download skins with gorgeous fonts without having to fully install them in Windows.
• Instead of a lot of tedious and repetitive coding, new stylesheets let you customize appearance and settings for many skins at once.
• Enigma now supports Google Calendar, Yahoo! Weather, Winamp and Foobar right out of the box. New skins also let you monitor your WiFi signal, world clocks, and even the current moon phase (which has been requested surprisingly often).
• Rainmeter’s improved interface lets you middle-click to cycle through a family of skins and launch useful addons from the context menu.
• Last time, many readers were frustrated by having to add skins to their desktops one-by-one. With the new pre-made Preview Theme, you can make your desktop match the arrangement in the preview screenshot with one click.
• The instructions have been expanded into a full-sized PDF manual.

Believe me Rainmeter is one of the best desktop customization tool out there, easy to use, user friendly, won’t slow your system down, besides that Rainmeter is a free download for Windows only.

As you would already know Twitter is one of most popular microblogging web application over the internet. ChromedBird is a twitter client for your Chrome browser. It hides itself inside a little birdie button until you check your stream or want to post an update. ChromedBird displays the last 5 tweets in your stream and allows you to post updates well that’s about it. If you post links your links are shortened using bit.ly . ChromeBird is a very early build so expect it to be buggy.

You can find the ChromedBird .crx over at ChromeExtensions. This extensions is only meant for the latest dev builds of Chrome 4.0+.

Well for a few weeks I was out of town and as you can see the frequency of posts have dried up, but starting this week I promise you guys better and bigger articles. Lets start with a promo Norton Antivirus 2010 & Norton 360 version 3.0 valid free 90 days license.

As would already know Norton Antivirus & Norton 360 are one of the best security solutions available in the market. The 2010 versions of  Norton Antivirus & Norton 360 have become even better while being lightweight then they can handle new threats much efficiently. Whether your using Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 it works with all of them. Now if you don’t mind just follow the steps below and you’ll get your free 90 days license.

Previously we came up with a free genuine license keys for Kaspersky Antivirus for 90days. Guess what we got lucky again and this time with another 180 days Kaspersky Antivirus 2010 geniune license key promo. MSN China, in association with Kaspersky is running a promo featuring a free Kaspersky Antivirus 2010 activation code to users. With these three simple steps you can get yourself a free license key.

1. First head over to this KAV 2010 giveaway page and press the big orange button.

2. Now login using your Windows Live login id (register if you don’t have one)

3. Now you should be redirected to a page with the key now copy the key and use it when you want to activate Kaspersky Antivirus 2009.

Enjoy!

Via Sizzledcore

Our previous of the Windows Vista Compatible series was a huge hit across amongst various Windows forums and Windows 7 just arrived and already having few complains with some games we thought why not write another of those compatibility series. Most of the games do work with Windows 7 without any tweaks but stubborn ones can be fixed with some minor tweaks. Hope this list is useful.

1. Hacker Extreme

2. Call of Duty 4

3. The Witcher: Enhanced Edition

4. Counter Strike: Source

5. Crysis (Sound Bugs)

6. Crysis: Warhead (Sound Bugs)

7. Left 4 Dead

8. Grand Theft Auto 4 (Steam)

9. Half Life 2

10. Day Of Defeat: Source

11. Garrys Mod 10

12. Call Of Duty 5

13. EVE Online

14. Flight Simulator X (Sound Bugs)

15. Portal (Steam)

16. Warhead (Steam)

17. Team Fortress 2 (Steam)

18. Unreal Tournament 3 (Steam)

19. F.E.A.R

20. Call Of Duty 2

21. America’s Army

22. BioShock (Might experience errors)

23. AudioSurf

24. World Of Warcraft

25. Fallout 3

26. Mass Effect

27. Mercenaries 2

28. Red Alert 3

29. GRiD

30. Far Cry 2

31. Area 51

32. Company of Heroes

33. DeadSpace

34. F.E.A.R – Combat Evolved

35. Football Manager 2009

36. Grand Prix 4

37. Grand Theft Auto – San Andreas

38. Grand Theft Auto – Vice City

39. Halo: Combat Evolved

40. Madden 2008

41. NFS: Undercover

42. Quake 3

43. Splinter Cell – Choas Theory

44. Star Trek: Starfleet Command 3

45. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

46. Timeshift

47. Highway Pursuit

48. Warhammer Online

49. Civilisation 3

50. Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne

51. Command & Conquer: Tiberium Wars (only on 32 bit)

52. Dynasty Warriors 6

53. Guitar Hero III

54. Knights of The Old Republic

55. Empire at War

56. Empire at War: Forces of Corruption

57. Warcraft III: Reign Of Chaos

58. Age of Empires : Rise of Rome

59. Age of Empires: The Conquerors

60. Age of Empires III (Both)

61. Age of Mythology: Rise of The Titans

62. Battlefield 2142

63. Battlefield Vietnam

64. Diablo I

65. Diable II

66. Doom 3

67. Fable – The Lost Chapters

68. Freetrack

69. Gran Turismo Legends

70. Gears of War

71. Insurgency (Half Life Mod)

72. Knight of the Old Republic II

73. Medal Of Honor: Airborne

74. Mirror’s Edge

75. Prey

76. Resident Evil 4

77. Roller Coaster Tycoon I

78. Roller Coaster Tycoon III Platinum

79. S.T.A.L.K.E.R : Shadow of Chernobyl

80. Sins of a Solar Empire

81. Starcraft

82. Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance

83. Testdrive Unlimited

84. Lord of The Rings: Online

85. Tribes 2

86. rFactor

87. Dawn of War

88. Dawn of War 2

89. Legendary

90. Microsoft Train Simulator

91. James Bond: Quantum Of Solace

92. Worms Armageddon

93. System Shock 2

94. Grand Theft Auto 2

95. Rome: Total War

96. Medal of Honor: Allied Assault

97. World In Conflict

98. Deltaforce

99. Deltaforce 2

100. Deltaforce: Land Warrior

101. Deltaforce: Task Force Dagger

102. Deltaforce: Black Hawk Down

103. Deltaforce: Team Sabre

104. Deltaforce: Extreme

105. Fifa 2009

106. Flatout 2

107. NFS:Pro Street

108. Hitman: Blood Money

109. Sim City 4: Deluxe Edition

110. MVP Baseball 2005

111. Company Of Heroes: Opposing forces

112. Tiger Woods 08

113. Age of Conan

114. Prince Of Persia 2008

115. X-Blades

116. Max Payne 2

117. DrakenSang

118. Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis

119. Civilisation IV: Beyond the Sword

120. Wanted: Weapons Of Fate

121. Tsukihime

122. Tribes 2

123. The Wheelman

124. The Ur-Quan Masters

125. Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds: Saga

126. Star Wars Galaxies

127.  Spore

128. Spaceport GE

129. Soldier of Fortune

130. Soldier of Fortune II

131. SkullTag

132. Silkroad Online

133. Silent Hunter 4

134. Serious Sam 2

135. Sauerbraten/Cube 2 engine

136. Postal 1

137. Postal 2

138. Postal 2 Apocalypse Weekend

139. Postal 2 AWP

140. Postal 2 Enternal Damnation

141. Postal 2 STP

142. Peggle Deluxe

143. Oblivion v1.2.0.201

144. Oblivion GOTY

145. Neverwinter Nights 2 + Mask of the Betraye

146. Necrovision

147. Mount&Blade

148. Bootfighter Windom

149. Defense Grid: Awakening

150. Drakensang

151. Fate/Stay Night

152. Final Drive Fury

153. Final Fantasy XI

154. Forces of Corruption

155. FreeTrack

156. Galactic Civilization

157. Galactic Civilization – Altarian Prophecy

158.  Galactic Civilization 2 – Dark Avatar

159. Galactic Civilization 2 – Dread Lords

160. Galactic Civilization 2 – Twilight Of The Armor

161. Genesis Rising

162. IL2 Sturmovik 1946

163. Insurgency

164. James Bond 007: Nightfire

165. James Bond 007: Quantum of Solace

166. Knight of the Old Republic II

167. IL2 Sturmovik 1946 – Single player

168. Hellgate London

169. Joint Operations (including Expansion Pack)

170. Lego Batman

171. Lord of The Rings: Conquest

172. NFS: Porsche unleashed

173. Race 07

174. Sauerbraten Cube 2 engine

175. Spiderman: Web Of Shadows

176. Wing Commander Privateer

177. Carmageddon 1

178. Carmageddon 2

179. Dark Sector

180. Dungeon Keeper

181. Everquest 2 (Try disabling SLI)

182. Fallout 1

183. Fallout 2

184. Grand Theft Auto 1

185. GTR Evolution

186. Myth 1

187. Myth 2

188. Quake Live

189. Silver

190. Stepmania Version 3.9

191. Sword of the Stars

192. Test Drive 2002

193. The Settlers: Rise Of An Empire

194. The Suffering

195. Yo Frankie!

196. Zeno Clash

197. The Sims 3

198. Halo 1

199. RF Online

200. Star wars Battle Front 2

201. Lord Of The Rings Conquest 2

202. Guild Wars

203. Braid

204. Crayon Physics

205. Age of Empires II: The Kings

206. Burnout Paradise

207. Assasin’s Creed

208. Final Fantasy VII

As soon as more games are tested we will keep them posted.

via Geekgyan

Most of the time we come across files that are really hard to delete even if your try all sorts of permissions and overrides. Most common being that the file is under use by Windows error. LockHunter is another excilent tool to break your file free. Good thing its simple to use as it integrates straight into your system shell via right click menu. All you need is to highlight the file you want to remove and you can see what processes are using it after that you can either unlock it or kill the process or delete the selected file.

LockHunter is freeware, Windows only.