According to the latest press release by Microsoft, you will be able to watch TV on Windows 7 PCs.  The details are not very clear on weather any special hardware like a tuner will be required, but when you upgrade to Mediaroom 2.0, Media Center will have access to all the content like HD and on-demand, which is very nice idea.  

For a complete list of details read the press release below.

Source: Microsoft

LAS VEGAS — Jan. 6, 2010 — With the announcement of Microsoft Mediaroom 2.0 today at the 2010 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Microsoft Corp. has shown the world the future of TV entertainment.

Subscription TV services, powered by Microsoft Mediaroom 2.0, will take viewers where they haven’t been before by extending TV experiences across multiple screens, including the PC, TV and mobile phone. The Mediaroom software supports whole-home digital video recording, on-demand capabilities, access to both operator-hosted content and Internet TV, and interactive applications. Mediaroom 2.0 combines client software with cloud-based services to provide viewers with access to a world of great content on the big flat screen in their living room, the PC in their office, and even the smartphone in their pocket.

The past few years have seen major innovations in the ways television content is distributed and consumed. Perhaps the biggest change is the widespread availability of mainstream television programming online. A growing number of consumers now use a PC as a secondary screen for watching TV, and in some cases a PC may be their only TV screen. In the process consumers are coming to expect more diverse access to their ever-growing collections of content. The Microsoft vision for the future of TV is taking advantage of this trend.

“Our strategy with Mediaroom is to combine the power of client software and cloud-based services to greatly enhance the way consumers experience digital entertainment,” says Enrique Rodriguez, corporate vice president for the TV, Video and Music Business at Microsoft. “We want to make it easier for consumers to find and discover great content, to watch, listen and engage in new ways, and to do so anywhere and on any screen. Mediaroom 2.0 is a key milestone in our strategy, providing the software platform to power operators’ service clouds to reach more screens, and more people, with more content than ever before.”

While the original version of Mediaroom enabled services to be viewed on TV set-top boxes and on Xbox 360 game consoles, Mediaroom 2.0 alleviates the need for operators to deploy redundant systems, allowing them to expand the reach of their television service to include Windows 7-based PCs via Windows Media Center, Web browsers on both Macs and Windows-based PCs and, in the future, compatible smartphones. Mediaroom 2.0 also gives TV service operators the ability to reach beyond their managed IPTV networks, extending their television services to their unmanaged broadband networks. As a result, operators have the ability to offer content from a vast number of television and Internet sources, and deliver it to more viewers in more places than ever before.

All of this gives people more freedom in where and how they access their entertainment, while also providing a familiar, consistent experience. For example, subscribers could start watching a show on one screen and finish watching it on another. They could also build a video queue on a smartphone and watch the content later on a TV or PC. While traveling they could watch a recorded TV program on a smartphone and later watch an on-demand feature film in HD on a laptop all via Mediaroom 2.0 enabled TV services.

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The guest account bug is triggered by logging in and out of a guest account.  Once a user logs back in to their regular account, a user can find that all the data has been wiped out.

The operating system upgrade also features native support for the new multi-touch Magic Mouse. 

The 10.6.2 combo update, Mac OS X Server 10.6.2, Server combo update, and Security Update 2009-006 Client can be downloaded from these links.

The complete list of fixes that are included in Mac OS X 10.6.2 release are as follows:

Operating system fixes:

• an issue that caused data to be deleted when using a guest account
• an issue that might cause your system to logout unexpectedly
• Spotlight search results not showing Exchange contacts
• the reliability of menu extras
• an issue in Dictionary when using Hebrew as the primary language
• shutter-click sound effect when taking a screenshot
• an issue with the four-finger swipe gesture
• an issue adding images to contacts in Address Book
• an issue in Front Row that could cause sluggish or slow frame rates while watching videos
• creation of mobile accounts for Active Directory users
• reliability and duration of VPN connections
• general reliability improvements for iWork, iLife, Aperture, Final Cut Studio, MobileMe, and iDisk
• overall improvements to VoiceOver performance
• this update addresses video playback and performance issues for iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2009) and iMac (27-inch, Late 2009) computers that may occur in some situations while AirPort is turned on

Fonts fixes:

• an issue with font spacing
• an issue in which some Fonts are missing
• font duplication issues
• an issue with some PostScript Type 1 fonts not working properly

Graphics fixes:

• an issue when connecting monitors to DVI and Mini DisplayPort adapters
• an issue in which the brightness setting may not be remembered on restart
• addresses functionality with specific display models
• general reliability and performance improvements when using some applications

Mail fixes:

• a situation in which Mail’s unread count may not update properly as messages are read on another computer
• an issue in which deleted RSS feeds may return
• an issue in which Mail cannot preview or Quick Look attachments when composing a new message
• an issue that can cause Address Book and/or Mail to stop responding when opened
• an issue in which email messages received from an Exchange Server are not formatted correctly
• an issue in which Mail reports “Account exceeded bandwidth limits” for some Gmail accounts

MobileMe fixes:

• performance when accessing files from iDisk via the Finder and syncing iDisk files
• an issue in which syncing iDisk files does not proceed beyond “checking items”
• reliability and performance when syncing contacts, calendars, and bookmarks with MobileMe (syncing with iTunes and iSync are also improved)
• an issue that prevents some users from logging into MobileMe via the MobileMe System Preference pane

Network file systems fixes:

• compatibility with third-party AFP servers
• file synchronization for portable home directories

Printing and faxing fixes:

• automatic printer updates improvements
• Print dialog allowing you to enter and send to more than one fax recipient

Safari fixes:

• a graphics distortion issue in Safari Top Sites
• Safari plug-in reliability

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For a limited time, eligible college students can get this great deal on Windows 7.  Hurry, because this offer ends January 3, 2010 at 12:00 am CST.

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• Improved compatibility with Sierra Wireless 3G modems
• Improved printer compatibility drivers
• Addresses a DVD playback issues
• Command-Option-T keyboard shortcut problem resolved
• Multiple Mail accounts problem
• Resolves issues when sending mail with certain SMTP servers
• Resolved unresponsive Motion 4 problem
• Update to Adobe Flash Player plug-in version 10.0.32.18

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Apple has launched the Apple store order page for OS X version 10.6 for a small upgrade price of just $29 (upgrade from 10.5).

August 28th is the day when you can get your hands on this new upgrade.

Some of the things mentioned on the site that Apple emphasizes on are:

• Finder is more responsive
• Mail loads twice as fast
• Faster to wake up, shut down
• Time Machine with complete initial backups 80 percent faster
• 64-bit version of Safari 4 is 50 percent faster than its previous version
• QuickTime X with is redesigned, and lets users view, record, trim and share video
• Takes up less than half the disk space from previous version

This release also includes Grand Central Dispatch that takes advantage of multi-core processors as well as OpenCL support to accelerate apps with the help of that idling graphics processor.  One thing to consider is that it requires Intel based Mac.

Source: Apple

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMmDQpfCcMs

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