Today the Windows Live team is releasing new betas for several Windows Live applications:  Windows Live Messenger 8.5, Windows Live Mail and Windows Live Writer.  All three are now available for download.

While surfing around on the internet, we located something quite unusual. Buried within several demo sound coming from your computer (to prove that Creative makes terrible drivers, for example).

Source: AeroExperience

In addition to the now infamous Vista SP1 being released, Microsoft also dropped the small 350MB Service Pack 3 for the aging Windows XP!!  Vista SP1 was released to a tight small group of lucky beta testers, it isnt clear if WinXP SP3 was released to the same testers, but it was let out to a equally lucky group of beta testers!! This build is tagged 5.1.2600.3180 (xpsp.070718-2058)  Just as the unclear release dates of Vista SP1, XP SP3 is just as cloudy.  Some say we wont see an offical release untill 1st quater 2008, but this alpha pre-release of SP3 is a good sign.  Stay Tuned to thehofix.net for updates on both Service Pack, I am on the hunt for info and possible leak!! 

Source: Bink 

Our great news team has done some serious digging for the official download of the recently-dropped pre-release beta version of Windows XP Service Pack 3, and we now have it here for you!

Thanks to FantasyBoy for the find!!

DOWNLOAD: Windows XP SP3, v.3180  (link fixed!)

Super Hi-Vision makes 1080p HDTV appear as clear as a Vaseline smear

Although high-definition formats HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc are the bleeding edge of technology in the current consumer market, a new technology from Japan makes the latest HD movies specifications look simply archaic. Last week, engineers at NHK's (Nippon Hoso Kyokai) Science and Technical Research Laboratories demonstrated Super Hi-Vision technology capable of a 7680x4320 resolution, reports IDG.

At 7680x4320, over 33 million pixels make up the image – this represents 16 times the resolution of a 1080p image. To get a picture of the bump in resolution, a Super Hi-Vision image could be approximated by tiling 16 of today’s best HDTVs together. In comparison, a 1080p picture represents a six-fold jump in resolution over standard-definition television.

View: DailyTech

Today the Windows Live team is releasing new betas for several Windows Live applications:  Windows Live Messenger 8.5, Windows Live Mail and Windows Live Writer.  All three are now available for download.

Best Buy customer on being jailed: 'At this point I'm a mass muderer'

A man trying to pay a fee using $2 bills was arrested, handcuffed and taken to jail after clerks at a Best Buy store questioned the currency's legitimacy and called police.

The few souls that attempt to read and understand website privacy policies know they are almost universally unintelligible and shot through with clever loopholes. But one of the most important policies to know is your internet service provider's -- the company that ferries all your traffic to and from the internet, from search queries to BitTorrent uploads, flirty IMs to porn.

Wired News, with help from some readers, attempted to get real answers from the largest United States-based ISPs about what information they gather on their customers' use of the internet, and how long they retain records like IP addresses, e-mail and real-time browsing activity. Most importantly, we asked what they require from law-enforcement agencies before coughing up the data, and whether they sell your data to marketers.

Only four of the eight largest ISPs responded to the 10-question survey, despite being contacted repeatedly over the course of two months. Some ISPs wouldn't talk to us, but gave answers to customers responding to a call for reader help on Wired's Threat Level blog.

View: Wired News

Microsoft executive Ty Carlson spoke about the future of Windows recently during a panel discussion at the Future in Review 2007 conference held in San Diego, California. Carlson said that future versions of Windows would have to be "fundamentally different" in order to take full advantage of future CPUs that will contain many processing cores.

"You're going to see in excess of eight, 16, 64 and beyond processors on your client computer," said Carlson, whose job title is director of technical strategy at Microsoft. Windows Vista, he said, was "designed to run on one, two, maybe four processors."

View: Arstechnica

The Hotfix.net is glad to present The Hotfix Gadget Version 1!  This great gadget will display the latest posts on The Hotfix through Windows Vista's Sidebar. The Gadget can also display the latest news posts. There is also an array of skin choices.  See more details below...

Thanks to UCFKnight10 and SFKilla! 

More Info + Download