Some of them are stupid, some of them have surprising futures that are missing now from RC.

The most interesting designs:

center

Notice one, important( i think so) detail that is missing. There is no start menu. it is interesting that design is aligned to the center. Some may say that it is to much OSX like but who cares, they could consider this prototype with one tweak:

Two-line labels

In RC, Microsoft decided to turn off labels by default, i think this is wrong move. In most cases, label is fastest way to separate 2 similar looking windows. In prototypes, you could really often notice two line labels, they should stick with it, if there is space left, why waste it?

Better  previews

Previews for windows media player could be much more functional then they are now. Microsoft should do its best for its own build in apps with previews to show developers how much they can do with this, instead they added 3 buttons… always something. RC:

Interesting thing is that in prototypes you can notice that they did use it better, i really don’t know why they decided to drop it.

More 3D look

There are some taskbar in prototypes with interesting 3D look. RC’s Superbar is flat. It is not important but some may care.

About prototypes.

Microsoft presented interesting presentation where they showed off process of creating Windows 7 Experience. Most of files in this solution comes from this presentation. Sometimes it is funny how much did it take to achieve so simple tasks. Biggest/funniest problem described was “inventing” that you can show jump list by right click. Another funny thing is how they discovered aero shake the most un-useful future ever.

What’s final (RC) missing?

If you haven’t seen final superbar in action, take a look at this video:

I am sure that developers will still create some really useful stuff with previews, and that’s great. I guess there is really only few things that could use some really final tweaks.

1. Default view should be “combine when taskbar is full”.
2. Labels should be spread on two lines. As i said, if there is some space left – use it.
3. Better  use of previews for build in apps.
4. Some people would want something more than “flat” taskbar.
5. There should be button in right click jump list to “hide label”, this way, you could save allot of space with application that completely do not benefit from labels. Alternatively, if Microsoft belief that combined view is better in most cases, do the button “Never combine”. This would be really space saver + productivity improver.

Please, Microsoft think about it, you still have some time left to RTM

Overall,

Superbar is big improvement over old taskbar. You probably will need some time to get used to it but then it can only be better. All bugs have been fixed in RC and now, no one needs old quick launch.

Introduction

So, what’s better? Answer is simple- everything. It is the best windows, no questions. Its as fast as XP, looks better than Vista and finally, experience is better then on any other OS i have used.

How does it look/feels?

The main thing everybody will notice, is great looking boot animation followed by nice welcome screen. I have to say that graphics like that aren’t commonly used by companies like this but i am happy that Microsoft decided to use something so pleasant, i am in love with new welcome screen.

When you finally see your desktop, boom – new taskbar, bold move. Microsoft remade it. Every bug i found in beta is gone. There are allot of customizations you can apply to you taskbar so it works for you. Of course, setup from “maniu’s desktop” still works(with some workarounds), plus “widescreen” setup is something that really suits new taskbar. More about how it works later.

You can change color of your frames and taskbar just like you did on vista, but now you have better control over colors.

Backgrounds can change like slideshows and you can choose really great looking wallpapers. Some of theme are really cool and again, great move by Microsoft to include so “fun” wallpapers. Oh, and its nice that you can hide all your desktop icons with few clicks.

New sounds schemes are impressive as well.

There are allot of small thing that’s make you smile while experiencing W7.

How does it work?

Improved Windows Explorer is amazing too. I cant think of anything it is missing. Libraries, new way to organize your files, great one. It doesn’t matter on witch drive your files are, you can still put them in one place – library. This way, for example: movies from all your hard drivers are sitting nicely in one library simply called “movies”. You can create as many on them as you want and it really speeds up file browsing. Favorites are known from Vista, just drag and drop your favorite folders.

Gadgets are improved. Move them where you want and they will stay there.

New taskbar, good move. So how does it work? I think you can say that it is quick launch toolbar brought to live. This video should highlight new futures:

Windows gestures are really great. You can drag window to top to maximize it. Move it to one of side and it resize to half of your screen. Many useful thing like this.

Its works fast and is fast to use, what more do we need.

Additional apps.

Windows media player has been upgraded. Its cleaner and simpler to use. interesting thing is new “now playing” mode, its turning player into small window with everything necessary just to playback control.

Internet explorer is new and interestingly, there are some unique futures you can find but beside that, its nothing special.

Microsoft decided that you can get additional software from package called “live” anytime you want trough internet. It includes newest photo gallery, movie maker, writer and so on. Great apps.

XP Mode- everything that worked in xp is guaranteed to work in W7. Its possible with use of pre installed virtualization machine with shrinked XP just to launch those outdated apps.

WordPad, calculator and even paint got its update. There are few new apps too.

Verdict:

Look is nice for eye. Sounds are pleasant for ear.
Works fast and stable.

Windows 7 simply feels great! Get it, any way you can!

Of course, it was just brief look into new futures of W7, wait for more tips.

Windows 7 promises integration of video codecs out of the box, i really hope that its going to work as advertised, but for now, there are video applications that have codec’s integrated and players that you need additional codecs installed first and as everybody knows, video codec’s is something you need to play any kind of video.

Movie Player with integrated codec’s

You wonder how to play .mkv, .rmvb … files? Movie Player with integrated codec’s can be an answer for you! There are few popular applications in this group: VLC Player, SMPlayer(when downloading, choose “Package with installer”) and KMPlayer. VLC is most popular but does it mean that it is the best?

RMVB playback is my first benchmark. It is format that is problematic for many players. If our player should play everything, this is the format to see if its true.
VLC Player and SMPlayer passed this test(both of them supports Linux).

Take a look at iterface:
VLC Player (Interface is customizable by skins) : 

SMPlayer:

If you don’t care to much, simply choose what looks better for you. VLC is the one with support for skins
Both applications are great but there are few things that makes SMPlayer better.

Why?
- better playback of rmvb
- Stores information about movie to let you easily continue playback after closing application in middle of the movie.
- Subtitles looks little bit better(You might need to change character coding for your language, experiment with options in: Settings[ctrl+p] > subtitles > default subtitle encoding)

Why not?
-SMPlayer does not support skins like VLC, in fact it is skin/mod for MPlayer.

Movie Player with additional codecs

Codecs:
First you need some codec pack. K-Lite codec pack is the best one. There are few variants of this pack. I am recommending MEGA pack(during installation select playback essentials), it contains everything you will ever need.

Player: 
K-Lite codec pack has modified version of windows media player classic, it is enough for some of you. Need more? Sub-Edit is the answer.

Sub-Edit (No Linux Support) Sounds like application to edit some subtitles but it is so much more than this! This application is simply the best if you don’t have any problems with codec’s, this is the way to go! You can go full screen of second screen, fix un-synced subs, change height or width of movie easily and so on. Highly recommended app

Summary – best video/movie players:

If you want to always be able to play any file, use both applications, SubEdit if everything works great and SMPlayer with integrated codecs when something is wrong with movie in subedit. VLC on the other hand supports skins that can make it look like any other application!

Additional video players:
Dziobas Rar Player- simple, play videos in rar files, without extracting it. Simple and fast way to preview uncompleted torrents or watching movies when you have got no space left for extracting.
Miro- “is a popular, free, and open internet TV application. It brings video channels from thousands of sources and has more free HD than any other platform”

Additional codecs:
CoreAVC- This codecs is for h264 videos. This format is becoming standard for HD videos online. What makes this CoreAVC special? It is fastest for decoding h264 videos, so if your pc is not fast enough for standard codecs, try this one. Problem is that its not free, you might be lucky searching it on torrents:)

1. Folder Access Denied – You need permission to perform this action

It often happens when you have some left-over’s from previous windows installation that you want to delete. Ownership element is then set not on your administrator account, so here is what you need to do:

Choose highest possible folder that you don’t have access of. For example if you want to delete files in “c:\Program Files\Movie maker”, do those steps for to “c:\Program Files”. This way you are sure that you will have access to “Movie maker” folder as well as to every folder in “Program files”

Take Ownership by right clicking on folder with access denied and then go to > properties > Security > Advanced > Owner > Edit > Select Administrators account – check “Replace Owner on subcontainers and objects > Apply > Close all properties windows.

Set Permissions by right clicking on folder that you just took ownership of, then > properties > Security > Advanced > Change Permissions > Remove every permission entries and select “Include inheritable permissions from this object’s parent” and “Replace all child object permissions with inheritable permissions from this object” > Apply > Close all properties windows.

Now, you should be able to delete all files inside this folder. Hope it works for you!

Note(XP): It is possible that you don’t see “security” tab, to fix it, go to: Folder Options > Click the View tab > click to clear the “Use simple file sharing” check box.

This is useful when you are switching from one OS to another and you don’t want to do the format after successful switch.

2. File in use

In most cases this is simply because that you want to delete file that you forgot to close, but sometimes it is really hard to figure out what application can have this file opened and sometimes it is some kind of virus. That’s why you need to use application that is deleting this file before system boots up (after restart) this way, if your system has permission to this files, they will be deleted.

Simplest tool seems to be Boot Deleter. You just add right click menu for time when you want to delete something on restart, it deletes it and then, you can simply get rid of this button.

If anyone knows some good way to do those stuff, please write us a comment.

1. SyncToy – Lan folder synchronization

When you are trying to copy something on another computer, there is problems with “access denied” So, on beginning you need to give permission to other computers to make changes in directory.

Here is how to do this when everything else just don’t work:

Vista/Windows 7 :

>

Win XP:

Right click on folder > sharing > allow network users to change my files

If those steps does not work you can try creating new folder, than copying files from folder you wanted to share, and try to allow network users to change files on new one. It is often bug in windows xp

Download Synctoy from here

Set it up, for example:

Remember that network folder(the one on right) needs to have file change allowed.

Then, you can simply sync your files as you want.

2. Remote PC control over Lan

I am using RealVNC its works great for me:

Download free edition, alternative link(source)
Download for Windows 7
+ Check out torrents for Enterprise Edition

Alternatively, check out this chart with comparison of Remote Control application and choose something that suits you.

Feel free to write your experience with remote controlling and syncing over lan.

1. How to make it work

Download it from www.slax.org. You can even preset what modules you want so you are downloading exactly what you need. You have to unpack it on your clean storage formatted for FAT and to make it bootable, you need to go to boot folder and run:
for windows bootinst.bat 
for linux bootinst.sh

After restart, our storage should be seen in BIOS and Linux should lunch without any problems. We can choose few versions but default is KDE session. OS will show up after few seconds and you will be ready to work!

2. About SLAX

OS has a lot of typical tools met in KDE but the main advantage is possibility to launch additional modules on the fly what makes him clean on startup by unnecessary apps. For example, we can download module with Firefox from http://www.homesopen.com/slax6/index.html and put it in “/slax/options”. By GUI or commend “activate” we can choose our Firefox and enjoy our new program!

We can put commonly used apps to “/slax/base” so they will launch on auto start!

Of course we can launch not only applications this way, it can be drivers for your modem and another devices that don’t have support from kernel. There are many different OSes dedicated for USB like Damn Small Linux, Slitaz or Puppy Linux that i didn’t show you because right from beginning they are poor compared to slax. You can see it by size of this distributions even if we notice that Slax run on KDE. It is worth taking a look at Slax KillBill Edition that has Wine, DoxBox and Quemu or minimalistic version of Popcorn Edition with Xfce.

So, all your computers has to be on and connected to the internet.
Sometimes you simply need to get some file from pc but it is not always enough so you also need to be able to remotely control your PC to get full access.

1. Getting direct file access – Windows Live Sync

It is the best way to both, sync files across computers through internet and accessing all your hard drives. All you need is Windows Live ID if you already don’t have one and log in to download necessary application. After installation, you need to get to the setting to turn on remote access.

After this, you can simply log in from any computer and access all your files trough simple web interface.

2. Full remote control of your PC – LogMeIn

LogMeIn is free for basic use, and basic use is enough, Windows Live Sync will take care of the rest. Interface is easy to use and it works with all right speed. So just go here and register for free. On screenshot you can see example why you need it from time to time. Forgot to launch utorrent? Get to nearest computer and launch it over internet

3. Getting acces to your bookmarks – Foxmarks

Foxmarks is great way to sync you bookmarks across webbrowsers, it even let you sync Internet Explorer with Firefox and browse you bookmarks online trough the web. So, you can get/sync your bookmarks from everywhere to everywhere

Hope you find it little bit useful. Share your experience with remote PC controlling in comments.

1. Hardware

The build quality of this phone is very good, it feels solid and not toy-like. Anyway, that’s what I chosen for my device.

8gb Sandisk memory card + damn small reader. 8gb opens up the way for multimedia, its cheap and worth it. So, this should be your first buy for N82. My card reader is attached to my phone so I am carrying around 8gb (actually 9gb, 1gb is inside reader all the time) pendrive with me everywhere  I go. Of course you can take cable with you because microUSB is not yet as popular as miniUSB.

Protection bag. I thought it was the smartest choice to go with this kind of protection, but it is much bigger then device so it really feels like “bag”. Some may like it, some don’t. Personally I am going to take scissors and make it smaller

2. PC Software

Pc suite. There is OVI, Nseries and standard suite. I tested them all. Nseries looks good ovi has some extra futures but, standard Nokia PC suite comes with useful sms/mms applications as well as with contact manager, most important futures that other misses. Beside that, standard suite is the fastest.

Map loader. If you are going to use GPS navigation, this is must to have application, as long as you don’t have unlimited data plan. With this software you can preloads your device with maps you need and save allot of money.

Nokia Photos. I am not sure if you can call this product fully finished as allot of people has problems with syncing photos and videos with it. Beside that, I find this software to be good and suits for mobile images/videos. I don’t keep photos from my digital camera together with mobile ones as they don’t have(yet) the same quality and content. Images/videos taken from my mobile are kind of my lifelog, most of the time my mobile is with me(obviously).

if syncing is not working, use store “images” in PC suite, than “import folders..” in Nokia photos.

Windows Media Player(11). In my opinion this is the best way to sync your music with N82, easy, simple and works good. Nokia’s Music Manager is too slow for my device so i didn’t even run it through full test.

3. Mobile Software

Fring / Nimbuzz. Both applications give you access to most common IM services with voice talk. I am having hard time deciding witch one is better. Nimbuzz might be handling Skype Voice chat bit better.

MobiTubia / emTube / YouTube. emTube seems to be most reliable. MobiTubia looks the best and Youtube gives you most site-like futures but you cant save videos. I say, go with emTube for now.

CorePlayer. Turns your phone into true PMP. Dvix, Xvid… without recompressing, works! Tip: sometimes if the movie is action-heavy(I don’t recommend movies like that for mobile) you need to decrease video quality, to do so: 1.menu>tool>preference, set speed to 95% than, select page>video quality>medium or low.

Opera Mini. Build-in browser is great but when you are out of WIFI, it takes allot of bandwidth. Opera uses their own servers to show you the page you need that is much more compressed. Tip: disable images when you don’t need them for cheaper web-surfing

Gmail. For @Gmail users only, this handy application is fast and for now, I find it to be better than built in email client. I am recommending it as well as gmail @ itself if you don’t have it.

Nokia Messaging. Best email application for s60. Simplest configuration possible, support for popular email accounts, clean view, email notifications, everything you should need.

Remind Me. This software makes up for function that should be built it from beginning. It beeps you when you have missed call or unread sms and so on. Highly customizable.

Shake SMS. This cool application lets you, after receiving sms just shake your phone to unlock it and view message than shake again to lock it back

Nokia Maps. Is one of the best navigations on the market, its fast and good but remember to preload maps you need. If you ever tried to figure out if navigation is free or not, well its not(But, there is hack for that, check out links)

4. PC-to-Mobile Software

Sailing Clicker. This amazing application lets you connect to PC and control it. Wifi, Bluetooth your choice. It lets you do thing like, locking down your PC when you are out of range, freeze music when receiving call and much more!

Useful Links

Dotsis.com- Lets say it gives you access to “test” every free and not so free applications for S60. Use this forum if I didn’t provide direct link.
NokiaBetaLabs- New, innovating software for PC and mobile, its worth to check out from time to time.
AllAboutSymbian- Title says it all, everything about symbian, the power behind Nokia N82

Note: Some applications need you to sign them before using on your mobile. There is hack for this and its called: Drakkarious google it or search on dotsis
Note2: With new firmware (V 30.0.019 ) you will need new hack for nokia n82 – HelloOX

There are a lot of torrent clients like Azureus, uTorrent, BitComet, Bit Tornado and many more! Biggest problem is that most of them are created for windows. Linux users, don’t have such choice of torrent clients. Azureus, Deluge or maybe BitTorrent is enough for you!

BitTorrent

First of them is built in (Ubuntu) BitTorrent. Its very simple and basic program. Lunching file, selecting destination path and that’s it! Its showing some basic info’s and its giving you ability to limit download speed. Its enough if torrents aren’t something you do 24/h, just from time to time.

Azureus

(based on 5.0.4 version) is next torrent client. It’s popular for windows. Just write this command to get it:

sudo apt-get install azureus

That’s it, it should be at your disc now. Go to Applications-> Internet -> Azureus to lunch

Its very advanced software.Showing every data you need and sometimes you don’t. That’s why Azureus need a lot of you PC’s resources. Its based on java so you need it as well. Its using 45mb of your sys memory, that’s a lot. The reason for that is Azureus has many options out of the box that might be simply useless for standard users but required for all of you with need of full control and power.

Deluge

The last one is Deluge (based on 0.5.8.3), that’s gaining more and more users. Installation:

sudo apt-get install deluge-torrent

applications -> Internet -> Deluge BitTorrent Client

Its written in python and is very soft for your PC, using just 10MB of your ram. Everything is very clear and completed by wide selection of add-on’s.Its very stable and intuitive. Deluge works just great for casual user. For all of you that need more, you can install add-on’s that suits you.

Verdict

BitTorrent, this client is enough only if torrent isn’t something you care about and you are downloading 1 torrent per month.
Some of you need more, in this case-everything try Azureus as it has most of functions but remember that you need powerful PC to handle this client!
On the end there is Deluge that simply works, has all options normal user need(expandable by add-on’s) and uses 1/4 of your ram compared to Azureus.

Just go with Deluge, in most cases it will satisfy you.

So how does it work? uTorrent is tracking your favorite torrent site by rss feed for new episodes of your shows, than, its automatically downloading them. Next, Scru comes to action, its monitoring for new episodes on your hard drive, most of the time, that are rar packed so he is extracting them in specified by you place.

Get uTorrent
Get Scru

1. Choosing your torrents source and getting RSS.

Its best to have account on some of the private trackers, as most of the time they are much faster! Public trackers works too:)

They are sometimes using encrypted Rss links.To get them:
UID and PASS version(example: revolutiontt.net)
In Firefox, go to the following:
Tools>Options>Privacy>Cookies>View Cookies

Search for Your private Torrent sites cookies (in my case Revolutiontt.net), click the cookie:
Select UID and copy the string
Select PASS and copy the string

Save UID and PASS for later

PASSKEY version(example: polishtracker.org)
When you are downloading torrent file from private tracker, it comes with something called passkey.
Double-click on torrent to see tracker and your passkey.

Save PASSKEY for later.

For public and some private Torrent sites:

Just Search for RSS Sign(), most of sites support it!

Tip: Look for some info regarding rss on your chosen site if your not sure how to get RSS!

2. Setting up uTorrent

First, you need to set up new and completed downloads folder and check boxes as on screen-shot, its needed and useful.

Than, go to RSS menu, Feeds>Add>EnterURL,
For private and protected torrent sites (example: revolutiontt.net):
http://YourSiteLink/rss.php?feed=dl:COOKIE:uid=YourUID;pass=YourPASS;
or(example: polishtracker.org)
http://YourSiteLink/rssdl.php?passkey=YourPASSKEY

If You have problems with some sites, you can only find help on this site’s forum.

Now, RSS Downloader>Favorites>Add. Here is Example:

Filer: *-add it on beginning and end, ?-in places of “.” and ” “. So, Prison.Break.SxEx.HDTV.XviD-XOR =  *Prison?Break”
Not: Use it if you want exclude word from Filter
Save in: Select same folder as for new downloads. You have to do it! If you wont, new torrents will only be added to torrents list.
Feed: Select preferred feed for your episode, or just leave “(ALL)”
Episode Number: Leaving blank may results in downloading same episode many time, so its better to select them.
Check boxes, as on screen shot
Label for torrents: I am using tv\episode name, this is very useful and needed as episodes will be now downloaded to: CompletedDownloadsFolder/tv/PrisonBreak.

That’s it for uTorrent, it should be now downloading episodes matching Your filters by RSS feed you sat up for them!

3. Setting up Scru, automatic extractor

This great application, will extract every new episodes to right folder.

In Settings:
Select your default output directory(90% you wont use it anyway)
In Shell integration, I am only using (filter) as its most useful one.
Save.

In Watcher:
Browse for folder with Your tv shows (for me its:F:\p2p done\tv\), select “Include subdirectories”, Leave the rest as it is and click add.

In Profiles:
Add profile, name it “Tv” or something, leave everything else empty, unselect boxes and deselect “directory append”.
Save.

In Filters:
Add Filter, example:

Summary:

What does it do?
Get episode by RSS feed>Download it to NewDownloadsFolder, and when finished>moves it do CompletedDownloadFolder\tv\EpisodeName>Extract to specified folder.
This is my set up:
NewDownloadsFolder – F:\p2p download
CompletedDownloadFolder – F:\p2p done
(TvShows)WatchReadyFolder – F:\media center L\tv shows

Hope it works for you as well as it does for me.

Quick Steps:

1. Get uTorrent and Scru.
2. Add RSS link
3. Add New filter in uTorrent
4. Add New filter in Scru
5. Get back home, and just watch latest episode of your favorite show!