Most of your time online is spent on reading and comprehending text found all throughout the internet. Traditional font appearance in browsers were not always crisp and clear,which is now being improved dramatically using ClearType.The ever growing popularity of Laptops have been the driving force behind microsoft’s interest toward developments in text for LCD screens.

Microsoft has been conducting research on improving the average IE user’s reading experience for over several years now.Infact microsoft has a Readability Research Group which is responsible for the ongoing development of ClearType.Microsoft has found clear evidence of significant improvements including a 17% increase in word recognition accuracy,5% increase in reading and a 2% improvement in reading comprehension to support their move to enable this feature.

ClearType technology was present in windows XP but failed to enforce it by default.During the beta versions of IE7,this feature was enabled by default which caused some users with older screen displays to be irritated to say the least. With the official release of Internet Explorer 7,a option is present during installation to keep ClearType on.Personally I have found ClearType to be much more crisp and clear compared to when it was not enabled. Also It is suprising Firefox is not enforcing the use of text enhancements such as ClearType even with their new release.

What is ClearType?
ClearType is a software technology developed by Microsoft that improves the readability of text. With ClearType font technology, text on your computer screen has a visual quality much like if it were printed on paper.

How does it work?
ClearType works by accessing the individual vertical color stripe elements in every pixel of an LCD screen. Prior to the development of ClearType, the smallest level of detail that a computer could display was a single pixel, but with ClearType running on an LCD monitor, it is possible to display features of text as small as a fraction of a pixel in width. The extra resolution increases the sharpness of the tiny details in text display, making it much easier to read over long durations.

How do I turn on Turn on/Turn off ClearType?

»While running Internet Explorer 7,click on tools to the top menu

»Click on the Options button to open the internet options window

»while having Internet options window open,Click on the Advanced tab

»Simply scroll down to Multimedia section

    
• Check the first option stating Always use ClearType for HTML*
  to turn it on
• Uncheck the first option stating Always use ClearType for HTML*
  to turn ClearType off

[More info at IEblog]

I like Microsoft but its a follower when it comes to things happening online. Its following Ipod with its new Zune music player, and now with soapbox its following Youtube. If you are not the first to bring something unique to the plate no matter how hard you try you are always gonna be a follower not a leader. Micrsoft has lost so many good ideas to other start-ups. I mean a giant company with a whole lot of money can do anything if they hire the right people.

Microsoft’s user-generated video site, Soapbox, was released to beta a few days ago. Its a beta version so you have to be on an invite list to be accepted, but after a while anyone can join soapbox. Most of the people who have tried soapbox have told me that its pretty okay. One of my friend said its all hype but it has some potential.One trick that Microsoft incorporated into Soapbox is that it uses Windows Media Player to display the video content to Internet Explorer users, but Flash player to display content to everybody else. Read the rest of this entry »

Microsoft has just released a new desktop feed aggregator called Max. I like the interface because it makes it so simple to gather and read your favorite blogs and sites. Also its got picture software. So you can upload and send pictures. Its sorta like Photoshop but with a feed reader.

The cool thing is that Max displays news in a newspaper layout and has a two-pane interface. It is also got MSN Filter is built-in so that you can follow the hottest news in lifestyle, music, TV, sports, technology, and movies. Microsoft Max is available for Windows XP SP2 and up.

What is Max?

Microsoft� Codename Max is your opportunity to try a new, exciting experience from Microsoft. Today Max lets you make beautiful photo slideshows to share with your family and friends. You can also use the newsreader to keep up with the latest news updates from around the world.

Ever used a mac and wondered if you could have a dock like that in your windows.Ofcourse its pretty look and feel of the dock tempts the biggest of windows fans into trying mac.Well now you can have that same dock on your windows without having to spend a dime. Punk Software has released RocketDock software which is a Mac dock look alike application for Windows. It supports a simple drag-n-drop interface with support for multiple monitors. The price makes it even more sweeter when its sitting in your desktop, which is only zero dollars. Read the rest of this entry »

Earlier we reported on the newest additon of the windows operating system edition known as Vista.The big thought on everyone’s mind was “oh another upgrade…how much is it going to cost this time?”.Well, we have the inside scoop for you guys here at techaddi.The prices were posted at a Microsoft retail pricing page,which was taken down immediatly upon exposure but not fast enough.Originally they were posted in their own currency but here are the prices in USD.

As you can see here the prices are not so much for home users upgrading to the basic edition.

Full Version
•Vista Ultimate $450
•Vista Business $341
•Vista Home Premium $269
•Vista Home Basic $233
Upgrade Version
•Vista Ultimate Upgrade $269
•Vista Business Upgrade $224
•Vista Home Premium Upgrade $179
•Vista Home Basic Upgrade $116

[via ZDNet,Gizmodo]

Microsoft has just released the next version in the explorer series.This new version will completely change the way you surf the internet for ages to come.Perhaps it is window’s answer to the ever growing popularity of firefox in the internet community. The generation gap between the technology found in firefox and windows internet explorer are not visible anymore.

With the new release of explorer 7beta,microsoft encourages web developers to ready their websites for the complete release of the browser. Infact Windows has available for the technical audience,such as web developers a Readiness Toolkit for download.Internet Explorer 7 RC1 is available for download on Windows XP SP2, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, and Windows Server 2003 systems.

This build is available in English but all other languages including Arabic, Finnish, German, and Japanese; French and Spanish versions will also be available for the first time in September.

Windows Explorer 7 improves on alot from its prior version which was lagging heavily behind the competitors. New improvements include performance,stability,security and not to mention application compatibility. Microsoft has also made enhancements to the fit and finish of the user interface, completed CSS platform changes and also added language support.

Since I am running the new explorer currently I decided to give you guys some feedback on the new features found in it.

New Interface:
Internet Explorer 7 has a new interface that shows more of each webpage you visit,instead of those bulky toolbars.The streamlined toolbar makes it easier to add websites to your Favorites, search the web, clear your history, and access the other tasks and tools you use most. There is an option which enables you to turn on the toolbars if you prefer(I have it on). Read the rest of this entry »

Ofcourse if you are a blog addict such as myself you will find this very helpful.The beta version of windows live writer has been released for download today.It is a desktop application that makes publishing blog posts easy without the need to use your browser or any other source.All you need to do is download Windows live Writer in to your desktop and start blogging away right from your desktop.

Although designed by windows its not limited to windows live spaces,instead it is fully compatible with several if not all of the blogging services such as Wordpress,Windows Live Spaces,Blogger(google), LiveJournal, TypePad.Did I mention,it supports RSD (Really Simple Discoverability), the Metaweblog API, and the Movable Type API.

Here I’ve decided to highlight the most effective features you can find in this software: Read the rest of this entry »