Firefox 3.5 (CodeName Shiretoko) Beta 5 is a public preview release intended for developer testing and community feedback. It includes many new features as well as improvements to performance, web compatibility, and speed. We recommend that you read the release notes and known issues before installing this beta. Firefox 3.5 (formerly known as Firefox 3.1) Beta 5 is now available for download. This milestone is focused on testing the core functionality provided by many new features and changes to the platform scheduled for Firefox 3.5. Ongoing planning for Firefox 3.1 can be followed at the Firefox 3.5 Planning Center, as well as in mozilla.dev.planning and on irc.mozilla.org in #shiretoko.
nVIDIA ForceWare software unleashes the full power and features in nVIDIA's desktop, gaming, platform, workstation, laptop, multimedia, and mobile products. Delivering a proven record of compatibility, reliability, and stability with the widest range of games and applications, ForceWare software ensures the best experience with your nVIDIA hardware. • Incredible 3D and video performance for all of your applications. • Rock-solid system stability, greater compatibility, and reliability with nVIDIA® Unified Driver Architecture (UDA). • Industry-leading features for graphics, audio, video, communications, storage, and security. • Robust product support for over ten unique operating systems. • Continual product performance and feature updates for the life of your nVIDIA hardware.
NVIDIA has released the following WHQL certified drivers for use with Windows Vista RTM that will enable you to test the basic features and capabilities of the new operating system. NVIDIA is committed to supportingMicrosoft Windows Vista on current and previous GPU generations. It's important to us that you have an excellent experience through the Vista transition, and driver development is the highest priority in our company.
This is a WHQL-Certified driver supporting GeForce 6, 7, 8, 9, 100, and 200-series desktop GPUs and ION.
New in Release 185 drivers: * Adds support for the new GeForce GTX 275 GPU. * Adds support for Ambient Occlusion – the newest NVIDIA Control Panel feature to offer enhanced 3D gaming realism exclusively to GeForce GPUs. * Adds support for CUDA 2.2 for improved performance in GPU Computing applications. See CUDA for more details. * Expands GPU hardware acceleration for the NVIDIA Video Encoding library to GPUs with less than 32 cores. Applications using this library include CyberLink PowerDirector 7, Nero Move it 1.5, Loilo SuperLoiloScope MARS, and CyberLink MediaShow Espresso. * Accelerates performance in several 3D applications. The following are examples of improvements measured with Release 185 drivers vs. Release 182 drivers (results will vary depending on your GPU, system configuration, and game settings): o Up to 25% performance increase in The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena o Up to 22% performance increase in Crysis: Warhead with antialiasing enabled o Up to 11% performance increase in Fallout 3 with antialiasing enabled o Up to 14% performance increase in Far Cry 2 o Up to 30% performance increase in Half-Life 2 engine games with 3-way and 4-way SLI o Up to 45% performance increase in Mirror’s Edge with antialiasing enabled * Automatically installs the new PhysX System Software version 9.09.0408. * Supports GeForce Plus Power Pack #3. Download these FREE PhysX and CUDA applications now! * Numerous bug fixes. Refer to the release documentation notes. * Users without US English operating systems can select their language and download the International driver here.
Existing Support: * Supports single GPU and NVIDIA SLI technology on DirectX 9, DirectX 10, and OpenGL, including 3-way SLI, Quad SLI, and SLI support on SLI-certified Intel X58-based motherboards. * Includes full support for OpenGL 3.0. * Supports NVIDIA SLI Multi-monitor support, giving you the ability to use two monitors with your GeForce graphics cards in SLI mode. Learn more here. * Supports NVIDIA PhysX acceleration on a dedicated GeForce graphics card. Use one card for graphics and dedicate a different card for PhysX processing for game-changing physical effects. Learn more here. Note: GPU PhysX is supported on all GeForce 8-series, 9-series and 200-series GPUs with a minimum of 256MB dedicated graphics memory. * Supports GPU overclocking and temperature monitoring by installing NVIDIA System Tools software.
When Microsoft released the official beta for Windows 7 a while back, it also published a set of system requirements. These were a general overview, and it seems that they have been updated to match the Windows 7 RC recently made available.
Here's the list of initial system requirements Microsoft made available:
* 1GHz processor (32- or 64-bit) * 1GB of RAM * 16 GB of available disk space * Support for DirectX 9 graphics with 128MB of memory (for the Aero interface)
And here, you will find the updated and final list of requirements:
* 1 GHz processor (32- or 64-bit) * 1 GB of RAM (32-bit); 2 GB of RAM (64-bit) * 16 GB of available disk space (32-bit); 20 GB of avaiable disk space (64-bit) * DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver
According to ZDNet, however, "If you are planning to run Windows XP Mode along with Windows 7, Microsoft is recommending a PC with a minimum of 2GB of memory and 15 GB of additional disk space." Microsoft stated, "In addition, Windows Virtual PC requires a PC with Intel-VT or AMD-V enabled in the CPU, as it takes advantage of the latest advancements in hardware virtualization."
If you're interested in comparing, here is the list of final specifications for Windows Vista:
* 1 GHz processor (32- or 64-bit) * 512 MB of RAM (for Home Basic); 1 GB of RAM for all other versions * 15 GB of available disk space * Support for DirectX 9 graphics and 32 MB of graphics memory (for Home Basic); 128 MB of graphics memory plus WDDM support for all other versions
These specifications are not specific to any particular SKU, and again, are final. Thoughts?
The wait is over folks, Microsoft has published the download page for the Windows 7 RC. As we noted earlier, the download was scheduled to launch tomorrow and was to be available worldwide. Coming straight from the download page, here are Microsoft's notes for the release candidate:
You don't need to rush to get the RC. The RC will be available at least through July 2009 and we're not limiting the number of product keys, so you have plenty of time.
Watch the calendar. The RC will expire on June 1, 2010. Starting on March 1, 2010, your PC will begin shutting down every two hours. Windows will notify you two weeks before the bi-hourly shutdowns start. To avoid interruption, you'll need to install a non-expired version of Windows before March 1, 2010. You'll also need to install the programs and data that you want to use. (Learn more about installing Windows.)
Protect your PC and data. Be sure to back up your data and please don't test the RC on your primary home or business PC.
Tech details/updates: Before installing the RC, please read the Release Notes and Things to Know for important information about the release.
Keep up with the news. You can keep up with general technical information and news by following the team blog. And, you can get non-technical news, tips, and offers by subscribing to the monthly Exploring Windows newsletter.
Keep your PC updated: Be sure to turn on automatic updates in Windows Update in case we publish updates for the RC.
Installation: You can install the Windows 7 RC on a PC running Windows Vista without backing up the PC—but we encourage you to make a backup for safe keeping. If you're running Windows XP or the Windows 7 Beta, you'll need to backup your data, then do a clean installation of the RC, then reinstall your applications and restore your data. If you need to do a backup, please see How to back up your PC for more details and a suggestion for how to backup a PC running Windows 7 Beta or Windows Vista.
So without further a-do folks, click here to go to Microsoft's download center and download the Windows 7 RC. Microsoft has also launched the Technet download which you can find here. On a side note, it appears as if you will be issued a new product key for the RC. It is most likely going to give you the extended time for using the RC if you have downloaded from another source. Installation instructions can be found here.
