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Move Live Messenger Icon to the System Tray in Windows 7

2009-11-10T10:00:00Z

If you’ve made the switch to Windows 7 and use Windows Live Messenger, you might have noticed the icon stays in the new Taskbar. If you are annoyed by this and would rather see it in the System Tray (notification area), just follow this simple process.

Show Messenger Icon in Notification Area

When you close out or minimize Messenger it will reside in the new Taskbar.

To make it act like it did in previous versions of Windows, right-click on the Windows Live Messenger icon and go to Properties.

In the example above I created an icon on the desktop but you can also do the same thing with the icon in the start menu.

Then go to the Compatibility tab and run it in Windows Vista compatibility mode.

The icon might be hidden in the notification area though…

You just need to customize the Notification Area Icons and have it Show icon and notifications.

That’s it! Now you have your Messenger icon back where it used to be.

If you’re annoyed by the way the Live Messenger icon is displayed, following this quick tip should help you out.

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Programmer 101: Teach Yourself How to Code

2009-11-11T17:00:12Z

You've always wanted to learn how to build software yourself—or just whip up an occasional script—but never knew where to start. Luckily, the web is full of free resources that can turn you into a programmer in no time.

Since the invention of the internet, programmers have been using it to discuss software development techniques, publish tutorials, and share code samples for others to learn from and use online. If you're curious about how to become a programmer, you can get off to a running start using tons of great free web-based tutorials and resources.

First Things First: Don't Get Hung Up on Choosing a Language

A common pitfall for beginners is getting stuck figuring out which programming language is best to learn first. There are a lot of opinions out there, but there's no one "best" language. Here's the thing: In the end, language doesn't matter THAT much. Understanding data and control structures and design patterns does matter very much. Every language—even a simple scripting language—will have elements that you'll use in other languages as well and will help you learn. In classes I took to get my degree in Computer Science, I programmed in Pascal, Assembly, and C—languages I never actually got paid to program in professionally. I taught myself every language I've used in my career, reusing concepts I already knew, and referring to documentation and books to learn its syntax. So, don't get hung up on what language to learn first. Pick the kind of development you want to do, and just get started using one that works.

There are several different kinds of software development you can do for various platforms, from the web to your desktop to your smartphone to a command line. In this article, we'll outline some of our favorite starter tutorials and resources for teaching yourself how to program for each major platform. We're going to assume you're a savvy user, but a newb when it comes to wrangling code snippets, so we'll keep things at the beginner level. Even just following through a beginner programming tutorial, you'll be happy to see how far you can get.

Desktop Scripting

The easiest way to try your hand at programming for your Windows or Mac desktop is to start with a scripting or macro program like AutoHotkey (for Windows) or Automator (for Mac). Right now hardcore coders throughout the Lifehacker readership are yelling at their monitors, saying that AHK or AppleScript are not "real" programming. That may be true—technically these types of tools just do high-level scripting. But for those new to programming who just want to get their feet wet, automating actions on their desktop, these free tools are a fantastic way to start—and you'd be surprised at how much you can do with them.

For example, Adam developed the standalone Windows application we all know and love, Texter, using AutoHotkey, so this scripting language is capable of far more than just small-scale automation projects. To get started with AutoHotkey, check out Adam's tutorial on how to turn any action into a keyboard shortcut using AutoHotkey. (Then, check out the source code for Texter to see the innards of a full-fledged AHK-based Windows application.)

Web Development

Instead of being bound to specific programming languages and the look and feel of a particular operating system, you can put your killer application in the browser and run it in the cloud, as a webapp. Welcome to the wonderful world of web development.

HTML and CSS: The first thing you need to know to build any web site is HTML (the page markup that makes up web pages) and CSS (the style information that makes that markup look pretty). HTML and CSS are not true programming languages—they're just page structure and style information. However, you should be able to author simple HTML and CSS by hand before you begin building web applications, because a web page is the frontend to every webapp. This HTML tutorial is a good place to start.

JavaScript: Now that you can lay out a static web page with HTML and CSS, things get fun—because it's time to learn JavaScript. JavaScript is the programming language of the web browser, the magic that makes dynamic in-page effects go. JavaScript is also the stuff of bookmarklets, Greasemonkey user scripts, and Ajax, so it's the key to making all sorts of web goodies. Start learning JavaScript here.

Server-side scripting: Once you're good at making things happen inside a web page, you're going to need to put some dynamic server action behind it—and for that, you'll need to move into a server-side scripting language, like PHP, Python, Perl, or Ruby. For example, to make a web-based contact form that sends an email somewhere based on what a user entered, a server-side script is required. Scripting languages like PHP can talk to a database on your web server as well, so if you want to make a site where users can log in and store information, that's the way to go. Excellent web development site Webmonkey is full of tutorials for various web programming languages. See their PHP Tutorial for Beginners. When you're ready, check out how to use PHP to talk to a database in WebMonkey's PHP and MySQL tutorial. PHP's online documentation and function reference is the best on the web. Each entry (like this one on the strlen function) includes user comments at the bottom which are often as helpful as the documentation itself. (I happen to be partial to PHP, but there are plenty of other server-side scripting languages you might decide to go with instead.)

Web frameworks: Over the years, web developers have had to solve and resolve the same problems and rewrite similar code to build dynamic web sites. To avoid making everyone reinvent the wheel for every new web development project, some programmers have come up with development frameworks that do some repetitive work for you. The popular Ruby on Rails framework, for example, takes the Ruby programming language and offers a web-specific structure for getting common web application tasks done. In fact, Adam used Rails to build his first serious (and impressive!) web application, MixTape.me. Here's his take on how to build a web site from scratch with no experience. Other popular web development frameworks include CakePHP (for PHP programmers), Django (for Python programmers), and jQuery (for JavaScript).

Web APIs: An API (Application programming interface) is a programmatic way for different pieces of software to talk to one another. For example, if you want to put a dynamic map on your web site, you want to use a Google Map instead of building your own custom map. The Google Maps API makes it easy to programmatically include a map in a page with JavaScript. Almost every modern web service you know and love has an API that lets you include data and widgets from it in your application, like Twitter, Facebook, Google Docs, Google Maps, and the list goes on. Integrating other webapps into your web application via API's is the final frontier of rich web development. Every good, major web service API offers thorough documentation and some sort of quick start guide to try it out (here's Twitter's, for example). Go crazy.

Command Line Scripting

If you want to write a program that takes textual or file input and outputs something useful, the command line is the right place to do it. While the command line isn't as sexy or good-looking as a webapp or desktop app, for rapid development of quick scripts that automate processes, you can't beat it.

Several scripting languages that work on a Linux-based web server also work at the command line, like Perl, Python, and PHP—so learning one of those baddies makes you conversant in two contexts. My path never took me too far down the Perl road, but I taught myself Python using the excellent and free online book, Dive into Python.

If becoming a Unix ninja is one of your programmer goals, you absolutely must get good at shell scripting with bash. Bash is the command line scripting language of a *nix environment, and it can do everything from help you set up automated backups of your database and files to building out a full-fledged application with user interaction. Without any experience writing bash scripts beyond a dozen lines, I wound up developing a full-on personal to-do list manager in bash, Todo.txt CLI.

Add-ons

Nowadays, modern webapps and browsers are extensible with with bits of software that bolt onto them and add features. Add-on development is gaining in popularity as more developers look at existing software, like Firefox or WordPress, and think "But if only it could do THIS..."

You can do a whole lot in any web browser with just a mastery of HTML, JavaScript, and CSS. Bookmarklets, Greasemonkey user scripts, and Stylish user styles are created with the same bits of code that make regular web pages, so they're worth learning even if you just want to tweak an existing site with a small snippet of code.

More advanced browser add-ons, like Firefox extensions, let you do more. Developing Firefox extensions, for example, requires that you're conversant in JavaScript and XML (markup that's similar to HTML, but way more strict in format). Back in 2007 I ran down how to build a Firefox extension, a skill I picked up after I stumbled upon a free tutorial.

Many free and well-loved web applications offer an extension framework as well, like WordPress and MediaWiki. Both of those apps are written in PHP, so comfort with PHP is a prerequisite for getting started. Here's how to write a plug-in for WordPress. Developers who want to ride the cutting edge of Google Wave can get started writing gadgets and bots in HTML, JavaScript, Java, and Python. I wrote my first Wave bot following this quick start tutorial in one afternoon.

Web Development for the Desktop

The best part about getting started programming in one context is when you can take those skills and apply them elsewhere. Learning web development first is a great way to start because now there are ways to put those skills to work on desktop applications, too. For example, Adobe AIR is a cross-platform run-time environment that lets you build your app once and release it to run on the desktop for every operating system AIR runs on. AIR apps are written in HTML, Flash, or Flex, so it lets you apply your web development skills in a desktop context. AIR is a great option for deploying desktop apps like one of our top 10 apps worth installing Adobe AIR for.

Mobile App Development

Mobile applications like the ones you run on your iPhone or Android smartphone are all the rage right now, so you may have dreams of striking it rich in the iTunes App Store with the next killer app. However, for the new coder, diving headfirst into mobile development can be a rough learning curve, since it requires comfort with advanced programming languages like Java and Objective C. However, it's worth checking out what iPhone and Android development looks like. Check out this simple iPhone application development example to get a taste of what iPhone developers do. Android apps are written in Java, and here's a friendly video tutorial of what building a "Hello Android" application workflow looks like.

Patience, Elbow Grease, Trial and Error

Good coders are a special breed of persistent problem-solvers who are addicted to the small victories that come along a long path of trial and error. Learning how to program is very rewarding, but it can also be a frustrating and solitary experience. If you can, get a buddy to work with you along the way. Getting really good at programming, like anything else, is a matter of sticking with it, trying things out, and getting experience as you go.

This article is just one self-taught programmer's top-of-mind recommendations for beginners. Experienced programmers: What did I miss? No matter your skill level, add your thoughts and recommendations for beginners to the comments.

Gina Trapani, Lifehacker's founding editor, thinks the best programmers are self-taught. Her weekly feature, Smarterware, appears every Wednesday on Lifehacker. Subscribe to the Smarterware tag feed to get new installments in your newsreader.

How To Automatically Reopen Apps & Folders After System Reboot

2009-11-09T07:59:25Z

Many of you might be familiar with the hibernation feature of Windows. Although this feature is not enabled by default you can easily enable it with a simple command.

If you have been running Windows 7, you can follow our how to enable/disable hibernation feature in Windows 7 guide (this guide will work with Vista as well). And if you don’t like to use hibernate feature and still want to quickly resume work, here is a small utility that makes it happen in a simple way.

Cache My Work is nifty utility that allows you reboot without losing your place in your work. It builds a checklist of currently open applications, and will restart the apps you’ve selected the next time you logon to the computer.

Using this utility is very simple. Whenever you want to reboot/shutdown you machine, just run Cache My Work and then select applications in the cacheable applications list. You can select one or more applications as well. Before you exit Cache My Work, you must click Save button.

Once you reboot your Windows, wait for a few seconds to see applications and windows opening automatically.

But note that this is not an alternative to hibernate feature as your work will not be saved when you click Save button in Cache My Work. It will only reopen cached applications for you. So don’t get confused this feature with Windows hibernation.

Download Cache My Work

Thanks to Download Squad

قوقل ويف هي خدمة معادية للويب - يقول ذلك “ري” من مايكروسوفت

2009-11-09T00:48:36Z

ري أوزي

“ري أوزي” ، هو رئيس هندسة البرمجيات في مايكروسوفت، وله مدة طويلة وهو يعمل على ابتكار برامج وحلول التعاون بالشركة، وأحد الذين هم خلف المنتج الأكثر شهرة لدى مايكروسوفت في هذا المجال وهو Groove.

وصف “ري” Google Wave في معرض Tehpule360، وباختصار، أنه “معادي للويب” Anti-Web.

ذكر في أول كلامه أنه يكن كل الاحترام للذين عملوا على “قوقل ويف” ، لأنه يحب أن يرى الأشخاص يفكرون في الأعمال الكبيرة، وأن ما رآه في “قوقل ويف”، هو شيء جميل. لكنه أضاف أيضاً أن النتيجة النهائية لـ “قوقل ويف” معادية للويب، وأنها تعاني من التعقيد، وبين أن التعقيد هو العدو لكل عمل على الإنترنت.

كما أضاف بأن كون العمل هو مفتوح المصدر open source، هذا لا يكفي ولا يهم. وقال أننا لا نحتاج في الإنترنت لأعمال مفتوحة المصدر، نحن نحتاج لبروتوكولات مفتوحة فقط، ومصادر بيانات مفتوحة، في اشارة إلى أن الخليط النهائي الذي يستخدمهم ليس بالضرورة أن يكون مفتوح المصدر هو الآخر.

أيضاً ذكر أن التعقيد الموجود في “قوقل ويف” ، هو ما يجعله في حاجة لأن يكون مفتوح المصدر، والا فإنه لا أحد سيلتفت له حتى.

وذكر في النهاية أنه لا يزال يحب هذه الخطوة من قوقل، وأنها ستفيدهم في مايكروسوفت، وتفيد قوقل أيضاً، في فهم مالذي يريده المستخدم، وكيف يمكن تقديم ما يريده بأبسط صورة.

How To Easily Download YouTube High Definition Videos

2009-11-08T14:01:18Z

A little time back, Veoh and Vimeo were famous for their high quality videos. YouTube was the most popular one, but not well-known for video quality.

All this changed when YouTube introduced their HQ video streams, and a little time back, HD videos. They even have a YouTube HD page, so you can more easily find that high(est) quality material.

Most YouTube download services haven’t progressed that far. They’ve stayed behind with support for downloading low quality FLV’s and decent quality MP4’s. Today we’ll show you an alternative application to download HD YouTube videos to your computer.

YouTube Downloader HD

YouTube Downloader HD is as straightforward as it sounds.You can use it to download those trailers, movies and holiday YouTube video keepsakes to your computer in just a few clicks with the mouse. The application works more or less the same as most YouTube downloading web applications, allowing you to specify the video by providing the relevant YouTube link.

The biggest difference with YouTube Downloader HD is that you can specify in what quality or file format you want to download the YouTube video. Most people don’t know this, but an FLV converter is usually unnecessary, because most videos can be downloaded in AVI and MP4 format as well. As such, all HD videos are stored as AVI’s and will provide no hassle if you want to watch it on your computer.

As an example, we tried downloading the latest Sherlock Holmes trailer, a movie that has called for a lot of critique, but is one that you should certainly grab when it comes out. The YouTube link is here.

After opening YouTube Downloader HD, we paste the link in the first text field. Because I’m a fervent supporter of eye-candy, we choose AVI HD – High Definition as our download option. Note that AVI HD and MP4 downloads will only work if the video has an HQ or HD relative on the side. If the trailer would only have been uploaded in Standard Definition, we’d be forced to download a lower quality FLV or AVI file.

Pick your destination directory and press download. Wait a few minutes or get a soda while the video is retrieved. Thanks to the fast YouTube servers, the download will nearly only be limited by your own internet connection.

Little more than a minute in and the download has finished. Click ‘open‘ to browse through the relevant directory and open your video file. As you can see, the file plays crystal clear, and nicely fills my screen.

Enjoy the YouTube Downloader HD. Do you often download from YouTube or other video sites? Tell us about it in the comments!

The biggest difference with YouTube Downloader HD, is that you can specify in what quality or file format you want to download the video. Most people don’t know this, but an FLV converter is usually unnecessary, because most video’s can be downloaded in AVI and MP4 format as well. As such, all HD videos are stored as AVI’s and will provide no hassle if you want to watch it on your computer.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

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6 Ways To Set Up Dual Monitors To Be More Productive

2009-11-08T16:01:26Z

If you are anything like me, at any point in time you have several browser windows open at once, many different tabs open in each browser, and several other programs lurking in your computer’s task bar which you are constantly switching between.

I work on my computer a lot. I use many different programs depending on my task at hand. I am constantly monitoring different sources of information, from RSS feeds, several different email boxes, social networking streams, and different blog commenting threads.

All of this means that I have a lot going, computer-wise. Sometimes all of this going on at once really puts a damper on my productivity because I have a severe lack of ability when it comes to multitasking.

What I finally tried the other day has given me hope that this mass confusion and ill-fated attempts at getting things done can finally have an end! I finally broke down and tried to set up dual monitors in my home office setup. While I am still learning to use it properly, I have already noticed a massive difference in my level of concentration and productivity.

As a blogger, there are several ways to use such a setup (which I am still learning) but I think there are many different ways a dual monitor setup can help someone be more productive. Here are 6 of them:

1. Working and previewing at the same time

While working on a project (or article), you can set up dual monitors to use one monitor to work and use the other for previewing your work. For instance, when blogging using Wordpress, if you hit preview, a separate window (make sure you open it in a separate window as opposed to a tab) will open containing a preview of your article so far. If you set up that window in the second monitor, every time you hit preview the page will just refresh. That way there is no switching between tabs or windows! A similar setup can be useful for a design professional.

2. Testing in multiple types of browsers

You can use a different browser in each monitor. For instance, I am currently using Firefox on one monitor and Chrome on the other (sorry Microsoft!).

I am doing that because certain sites run better or smoother on Chrome while I still enjoy the extensions and usability of Firefox but a coder or designer may be interested in viewing their work in multiple browsers simultaneously in order to see how it looks in each.

3. Testing multiple screen resolutions (color settings, etc.)

Yes, you CAN have different settings on each monitor. For designers this could be an awesome help! It all depends on what you need to see. If you have a hard time reading, set the resolution a bit lower on the one you do reading from and keep the other one at a more reasonable resolution.

4. Making a lot of phone calls & recording data at the same time

If you are constantly running down a phone list, it may be helpful to have a list constantly open in one monitor while working or recording data in the other one. Not having to constantly hit Alt-Tab (to switch between windows) or Ctrl-Tab (to switch between tabs) saves a LOT of time, believe it or not. Also it’s harder to lose your place if the view is never lost.

5. Getting work done while keeping up with what’s going on

I’m currently doing this one! I like having the ability to work while glancing up to see who’s saying what on Twitter or Facebook. I also like keeping my email off to the side for glancability without losing my place on what I am working on. Plus I like to keep my RSS reader over there.

I suppose someone could also keep the news on a separate monitor so you can keep up with it while working.

6. Being entertained while working

Today’s Internet allows you to watch many TV shows online. That doesn’t even count sites like YouTube! You can also have a movie in your DVD drive. I suppose you can be entertained on the side while working. Please note, this could be taken both ways. You can look at it like it’s stupid because you’ll be distracted and obviously lose any resemblance of productivity OR you can see it as a way to at least get SOMETHING done during down time.

To be honest, I’ve tried having video on while trying to work and I can’t do it, however I am sure there are those of you out there who can pull off some sort of light work while being entertained.

If you have the room, and you can afford it, go ahead and give dual monitors a try. I’m loving it so far! AND if you have any more productivity tips using dual monitors, let us know!

Image Credit : unimatrixZxero
Image Credit : Denbow
Image Credit : brykmantra

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Top 8 Websites With Cool Free Tests That Measure Your Personality Traits

2009-11-08T18:01:22Z

Online, free personality tests have been a favorite pastime in the past two decades, beginning with the mushrooming of personality test websites and followed by the current popularity of Facebook Quizzes. Are you a navel-gazing narcissist? Optimist or pessimist? Argumentative or agreeable? Everyone likes to know how their friends perceive them and these tests often provide a glimpse that can help you introspect.

Needless to say, all free personality tests should be taken with a grain of salt, which is to say, not very seriously, and certainly not as a replacement for professional psychologists. With that disclaimer out of the way, we can now present our hand-picked selection of the Top 8 Websites with cool tests that measure your Personality Traits!

#1: Signal Patterns Big Five Test

The Big Five is the leading industry personality model, shown to work across different cultures, geographies, and languages. It is the model most used in psychology and by human resource professionals. In this model, the personality attributes of a person are “measured” in five traits: Extroversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability and Openness/Intellect. The Signal Patterns test extends the model to 45 facets, each mixing two of the Big 5 traits.

The free personality test takes about 10 minutes and you get a nice visual representation of the results. You can also take this test as an application on Facebook or iPhone. From here, you can also take the Parenting Style test to find out what kind of a parent you are.

#2: Human Metrics MBTI Test

The MBTI is the precursor to the Big Five and remains the most widely administered personality test, with about 2 million tests taken every year. This is the granddaddy of all personality tests! According to the MBTI, all people are classified using four criteria: Extroversion – Introversion, Sensing – iNtuition, Thinking – Feeling, and Judging – Perceiving. Your “type” is then made up of four alphabets depending upon your score in these four criteria, for example ESFP or INTP.

There is a lot of typology information as well as several other tests available on the web, including websites devoted exclusively to each of the sixteen MBTI personality types. The Myers-Briggs Foundation site is the authentic source for further information.

#3: The Big Five Test

This site has a free personality test based on 45 questions from the Big Five Inventory, with more background information provided here.

Rate yourself on a 5 point scale from Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree to discover your inclination on five personality dimensions.

#4: Keirsey Temperament Sorter

The Keirsey Temperament Sorter (KTS) is closely related to the MBTI, and uses four temperaments extended to eight roles to model your personality. KTS is also a popular assessment test, taken by 40 million people across universities and companies worldwide. The site requires a free registration to take the KTS-II test.

Find out if you are an Artisan, Guardian, Idealist or Rationalist with this test. Wikipedia provides further information about KTS, including a comparison with MBTI.

#5: The Color Quiz

Whether you agree with the results of this color quiz or not, this is surely a fun quiz to take! Simply go on choosing the color you like the most, in a two step process.

In the results, you get an assessment of your existing situation, stress sources, restrained characteristics, desired objective, and actual problem.

#6: TESTdex Personality & Intelligence Tests

This site offers a large variety of personality tests. You can choose from the Big Five, Jungian, Enneagram, Brain Hemisphere, and others.

The nice thing about this site is you can choose your test based on how much time you wish to spend, as you know the number of questions in each test beforehand. Apart from personality tests, you will also find a handful of Intelligence, Amusing, and Compatibility tests here.

#7: Queendom: Land of Tests

Queendom is a website maintained by a company providing psychometric services and psychological assessments. There are tests for everything under the sun on this website – Personality, Love, Health, IQ, Career, etc. Whether you are looking for serious tests for career or relationships, or fun tests for trivia, you will find them here.

Beyond the many tests that make this an attractive site, you will also find that there is an active community, articles, and advice related to all aspects of our life.

#8: Youniverse

This website is run by Imagini, a UK startup, to promote their VisualDNA concept. You can take a series of tests for Personality, Movies, Love, etc. in all of which you choose the best picture that matches a concept like my kind of bedroom, vacation, excitement, etc. It may not offer much psychological insight, but is a pleasant and interesting way to take quizzes.

You need to register with the site to see your results. More than 15 million people have taken the VisualDNA test, which Imagini uses to sell VisualDNA Shops widgets for blog and website affiliate sales.

Want more? See How to Have Fun with Online Personality Quizzes and more fun personality quizzes we covered earlier.

Did you enjoy taking tests on these sites? Any favorite site you like that we missed? Share it with us in the comments!

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

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قنواتي - الاستعلام عن طريق رسائل الجوال

2009-11-04T14:55:30Z

شعار خدمة قنواتي

قنواتي، هي خدمة تمكن المستخدم من الاستعلام عن ستة أمور حتى الآن، من خلال هاتفه الجوال مباشرة:

الاستعلام عن توفر الحجز على الخطوط السعودية
الاستعلام عن توفر الحجز على طيران ناس
الاستعلام عن توفر على الحجز على طيران سما
الاستعلام عن توفر الحجز على جميع خطوط الطيران
الاستعلام عن معلومات وحالة أي رحلة
الاستعلام عن حركة الوصول والاقلاع في المطارات السعودية

تكلفة الرسالة عن كل استعلام هي ٢.٥ ريال سعودي. وتعمل الخدمة حالياً مع مالكي خطوط الجوال من “موبايلي” و “زين” فقط. مع التخطيط لادخال STC كذلك مع التشغيل الرسمي والنهائي للموقع.

الخدمة مقاربة لخدمة “ودي” ، لولا أن “ودي” تتطلب تركيب برنامج على الهاتف الجوال، مما يحول دونها ودون استخدامها لشريحة كبيرة من الناس ربما. اضافة إلى أن “ودي” ورغم تنوع قنواتها إلى ماهو أكثر من الحجز، فإن تكلفة الرسالة تختلف من استعلام لآخر حسب نوعه، وتوضح لك قيمته قبل الشروع في الارسال.

وجهت لعصام الزامل، المدير التنفيذي لشركة رمال، والتي تقف خلف تطوير هذه الخدمة، الأسئلة التالية:

متى تنوون اضافة شركة الاتصالات السعودية STC للقائمة وهل يمكن ذكر أسباب تأجيل اضافتهم؟

سيتم إضافة رقم الشورت كود الخاص بشركة الاتصالات السعودية قبل الإطلاق النهائي خلال ايام.

هل نيتكم هي الالتزام بتقديم خدمات الحجز للطيران فقط أم أن هناك نية لاضافة عدة خدمات أخرى كما هو الحال في خدمة “ودي”؟

‎نعم بالتأكيد ! القنوات الحالية (6 قنوات) هي البداية فقط ، الخطة تقضي بإضافة قنوات تفاعلية ذات محتوى مميز بمعدل 6 قنوات شهريا، نموذج أعمال قنواتي يعتمد على شراء المحتوى المميز من مصادره ، أو التعاون مع مطوري المواقع و ملاك المحتوى العربي المميز والعمل سويا بنظام مشاركة الدخل. مع قنواتي سيكون الوصول للسوق سريع جدا وسهل ، حيث توفر قنواتي البنية التحتية والربط مع جميع مزودي الخدمة في المملكة العربية السعودية، بالتالي التركيز سيكون منصب على تطوير المحتوى وجلبه بأسلوب سهل ويمكن استخدامه من خلال الهاتف المتحرك .. هذه دعوه من خلال سوالف لمطوري المواقع والمحتوى للإتصال بنا.

في تصوركم، مالذي سيدعو الناس لاستخدام الرسائل بدلاً من الاتصال الهاتفي والاستفسار من خلاله؟

‎لمستخدمي الهواتف المتحركة، ولم تأني أي خدمة بعدها تحل محلها، جميع شرائح مستخدمي الهاتف المتحرك مرتبطة ارتباط وثيق برسائل الجوال والتعامل معه أصبح جزء من حياة المستخدم .
‎بالنسبة لقنوات الحجز والاستفسار ال6 التي أطلقناها مؤخرا ، نعتقد إنها جاءت في الوقت المناسب للمستفيدين في المملكة العربية السعودية . حيث يشكوا عدد كبير من الأشخاص من صعوبة الوصول لمراكز الإيصال الهاتفي لشركات الطيران وطوابير الانتظار الطويلة في مكاتب الحجز، .. التخطيط المسبق للرحلة والاستفسار عن مواعيد وصول واقلاع الرحلات سيصبح متعة لمستخدمي قنواتي ! بوالمناسبة أرقام مراكز الإتصال الموحدة لشركات الطيران التي تبدأ ب9200 ليست مجانية.

هل يمكن تحديد التاريخ الذي بدأتم فيه العمل على المشروع، والتاريخ الذي أطلقتموه فيه بالضبط؟

‎تقريبا ستة أشهر لبناء البنية التحتية والربط مع المزودين وشركات الاتصالات وعمل الاختبارات اللازمة لإطلاق الخدمة. ووقت اقصر لبناء القنوات الست التفاعلية التي سنبدأ بها حالياً.

هل يمكن اخبارنا بعدد الرسائل التي أرسلت لاستخدام الخدمة حتى الآن؟

‎وجميع الأرقام الحالية هي اولية، ربما لن نعلن عن أرقام الرسائل حتى بعد اطلاق الخدمة بشكل نهائي ! قد نعلن عن الأرقام في حالة أصبحت الخدمة مجانية ونعتمد على الإعلان داخل الرسائل بدل قيمة الرسالة.

بحسب تخطيطكم للأمر، هل لديكم تصور بعدد الرسائل الممكن الوصول له بعد سنة من الآن، وكم سيكون العدد في كل شهر حينها؟

‎مع زيادة عدد القنوات التفاعلية ووصول حملاتنا الإعلانية لشريحة كبيرة من العملاء نتطلع أن تصبح قنواتي هي المكان الأول للمستفيدين في المملكة العربية السعودية للوصول إلى جميع احتياجاتهم اليومية برسالة جوال.

Logon Controller: Yet Another Windows 7 Logon Screen Background Changer

2009-11-03T06:42:53Z

It’s a well known fact that Windows 7 allows you change logon screen background without the help of third-party utilities.

As you need to play with Windows Registry to make it happen, Windows enthusiasts have created free utilities that help you change the logon screen background easily.

Logon Controller is yet another free logon screen changer for Windows 7. The program allows you change the logon screen instantly. Just download and install the utility to start changing your logon screen in a jiffy.

To change the logon screen, run the program and simply click on the available picture to make it as the logon screen background. You can also browse your picture gallery or any other folder using the browse button.

It also lets you revert to the default logon background with a single click. And if you want to apply a new background every time you login to Windows 7, use Logon Screen Rotator to make it happen.

Download Logon Controller

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Google Chrome 4 hits beta, includes bookmark sync

2009-11-03T11:30:00Z

Filed under: Google, Beta, Browsers

The latest Windows version of Google Chrome, version 4.0, is now in beta. It's reportedly a scorching 30% faster than the current release, and it includes a bookmark syncing feature that's been floating around in the developer preview version of the browser for some time.

Activate bookmark syncing on each of your computers, and Chrome will automatically synchronize any changes to your bookmarks across all your machines. It's made possible by the magic of XMPP, which also powers Google Talk. Sound good? Go ahead and download Chrome 4.0 Beta.

This beta version of Chrome is also notable for what it leaves out: extensions support. According to Stephen Shankland at CNET, Google is reworking the extensions interface for Chrome, so that feature is disabled for now. Shankland also tracked down some news on the upcoming Chrome Mac Beta. The team working on it has been instructed to fix all their high-priority bugs by the end of the week, and it looks like getting the Mac version out is near the top of Google's to-do list.

[via CNET]

Google Chrome 4 hits beta, includes bookmark sync originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 03 Nov 2009 06:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google Talk - Google - Google Chrome - Software release life cycle - Google Chrome 4

Best Sites To Download Good High-Res Wallpapers (Part Two)

2009-11-02T16:00:35Z

A good, high resolution desktop wallpaper can brighten your day, change your feelings and give your computer or desk a new mood. They also come in many sizes for one, two or even three screens and hi-res wallpaper is also available for mobile devices, like iPhones and the PlayStation Portable.

In this article, a follow-on from fellow MakeUseOf author Karl’s post, we’ll take a look at some great sites you can visit to download great, high resolution desktop backgrounds for your computer.

DesktopNexus

As seen on the MakeUseOf Directory, DesktopNexus, with a sample of one of their featured hi-res wallpapers below, features all kinds of wallpapers and encourages wallpaper submissions by visitors to their site. Total, their site has almost 80,000 wallpapers in their directory and includes a wide scope of images from categories like technology, entertainment, people, nature, abstract and more.

DesktopNexus also offers a very useful and creative automatic wallpaper-changing tool called “spinwall”, which can also be used to spice up your desktop background with more than just one wallpaper. Visit DesktopNexus here.

VladStudio

VladStudio, also with a sample featured hi-res wallpaper below, offers a great selection of a more abstract set of wallpapers, including two-screen and some tri-screen wallpapers as well. The site has pictures of more abstract things such as computer-generated maps, moons, etc. It also offers a neat feature – zip downloads of batch sets of wallpapers for specific monitor resolutions. Still, Vladstudio’s selection of offered wallpapers is unique and the site is surely worth a visit. Visit Vladstudio here.

DualScreen Wallpaper

While not everyone has two monitors, for the large amount of people who still do, and even those who have three monitors, I thought I’d point out a specific-niche wallpaper site I also came across: DualScreen Wallpaper. This site specializes in wallpapers for all kinds, with a cropped sample below, of dual-screen resolutions including 2560×1024, 1920×1600, 1680×1050 and a few others as well. While many images are nature photos, some are animation stills, nature scenery, cars and planets. Most wallpapers can be downloaded as a whole picture, or just the right or left segment. You can view it in the MakeUseOf directory by clicking here, or visit the site with the link above.

Hubble Space Telescope Wallpapers

Finally, if you’re looking for an out-of-this-world type wallpaper like the one below, the Hubble Space Telescope website is another great site to look as well. One of my favorite wallpaper sites and a favorite for all astronomers, the website for the Hubble Space Telescope has a great listing of fairly high-resolution wallpapers that you can grab, all taken from the actual telescope itself. There are pictures available of planets, other galaxies, nebuli and more. And each picture can also be embedded into other websites through their easy embed code.

MakeUseOf also has some great other wallpaper articles on Patriotic Wallpapers, wallpapers with calendars, and many, many other sites over at the MakeUseOf Directory on wallpapers.

Let us know what your favorite wallpaper sites or individual wallpapers are in the comments and spread the desktop background joy!

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

Related posts

Focus Booster helps you stay focused

2009-11-02T23:00:00Z

Filed under: Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Productivity

Distraction is the enemy of focus. If you work at a computer all day, the possibilities for distraction are limitless. One way to stay focused is to use the technique of a firmly regimented working period followed by a short break period that I first came across at Merlin Mann's 43 Folders site. His technique suggested using 10 minutes of work followed by 2 minutes of rest, but the recently popular Pomodoro Technique suggests using 25 and 5. Whatever periods you use, the cross-platform Adobe Air based Focus Booster application is just the timer you need to keep you on task.

Focus Booster is a tiny timer that allows you to set a work and rest period, then away you go. You can focus entirely upon your work knowing that a rest period is coming soon, and you can check out your Facebook / Twitter / blog comments / whatever it is you fancy when the time comes.

Focus Booster helps you stay focused originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 02 Nov 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Linux - Download Squad - Facebook - Adobe Systems - Adobe Integrated Runtime

Online OCR extracts text from scans for free

2009-11-02T22:00:00Z

Filed under: Text, Utilities, Web services

Have you ever received a PDF file in an email that contained information you need in text form, but the PDF doesn't let you select the text? Sometimes this is due to access restrictions on the document, but more often it's because the person creating the PDF did so by simply scanning the document. This creates an image of the document, but does not embed the text information.

To extract the text, you need to use optical character recognition (OCR) software. Most scanners come with OCR software, but if you don't have ready access to it, you might consider using the Online OCR service.

Online OCR lets you upload a PDF file and it returns plain text that can then be copied directly into the word processing tool of your choice.

Obviously there are security concerns with uploading and storing copies of your documents on a 3rd party's site, but if that's not a concern to you, Online OCR might be just the trick to solve your OCR needs.

[via Lifehacker]

Online OCR extracts text from scans for free originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Download Squad - Portable Document Format - Optical character recognition - Uploading and downloading - Document

ICANN توافق على توفير أسماء النطاقات بالحروف العربية و إطلاقها في 16 نوفمبر

2009-10-31T09:22:23Z

شعار المجلس العالمي للإنترنت للأسماء و الأرقام المعينة ICANN

في سيؤول أعلن بالأمس المجلس العالمي للإنترنت للأسماء و الأرقام المعينة ICANN عن عزمها إطلاق عناوين المواقع على شبكة الإنترنت في السادس عشر من نوفمبر الحالي باللغات التي لا تشمل حروفها الأحرف اللاتينية – منها العربية و الصينية - و ذلك بعد موافقتها على تطبيق النظام السريع لتدويل أسماء النطاقات (Internationalized Domain Name Fast Track Process). جاء ذلك بعد تصريح الرئيس الأعلى منظمة ICANN بيتر دينجيت ثراش “بداية استخدام الأحرف الغير لاتينية يمثل أكبر تغيير تقني في الإنترنت منذ اختراعه قبل أربعة عقود. في الوقت الحالي نهايات عناوين الإنترنت محدوده باستخدام الأحرف اللاتينية من A إلى Z ، و لكن تطبيق النظام السريع سيكون الخطوة الأولى لاستخدام 100,000 حرف من لغات العالم في أسماء النطاقات”.

النظام السريع لـ ICANN سينطلق في 16 نوفمبر و سيسمح للدول و المناطق بتطبيق تمديدات الإنترنت (Internet extensions) لتعكس أسماءها التي تتكون من أحرف لغاتها. “هذه هي الخطوة الأولى و لكنها كبيرة و تاريخية نحو عولمة الإنترنت” هذا ما أدلى به الرئيس التنفيذي لـ ICANN رود بيكستورم. الفيديو التالي يعرض بعض الأمثلة للعناوين الجديدة:

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid17699847001?bctid=46955584001

Google Maps brings GPS navigation to Android 2.0 phones

2009-10-28T23:30:00Z

Filed under: Utilities, Google, Mobile, Android

As if we weren't already excited enough about the next version of Google's Android mobile OS, Google has now announced that Android 2.0 devices will offer GPS navigation with 3D views and turn-by-turn directions. Google Maps Navigation looks great, and it's a smack in the face to Apple, who seem to been distancing themselves from Google after buying their own mapping company. The iPhone is cool, but it's hard to beat Google Maps at its own game.

It's especially hard when Google's offering practically everything you get from a pricey GPS navigation unit, right in your Android phone. 3D maps, live traffic updates, and voice directions are all included, along with Google's Street View and Satellite view. When it comes out next week, the Verizon Droid will be the first phone to support the new navigation features. For right now, it'll only work in the United States, but other countries with Google Maps should get it eventually.

Google Maps brings GPS navigation to Android 2.0 phones originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sponsored Topics: Google Maps - Google - iPhone - Apple - Google Maps Navigation

Top 10 Reasons To Move From Windows XP To Windows 7

2009-10-29T13:17:16Z

It’s a well known fact that many Windows users aren’t thinking about upgrading from Windows XP to Windows 7. If you are one of them, you should read the top 10 reasons to move from Windows XP to Windows 7.

Microsoft has compiled top 10 reasons to move from Windows XP to Windows 7 list and notes that Windows 7 is designed to simplify the things you do every day, work the way you want, and make some existing new things possible.

1. Get quicker access to all of your stuff

2. Manage open windows more easily

3. Quickly find what you’re looking for

4. Share files and printing among multiple PCs

5. Stay entertained effortlessly

6. Easily create and share movies

7. Connect to networks easily

8. Do more and wait less

9. Don’t leave programs behind

10. Offers your PC better protection

If you are impressed with the above list of reasons, read more about the same with details here.

Via MS Windows

GeoCities (1995-2009) is finally put out of our misery

2009-10-26T16:00:00Z

Filed under: News, Web services, Yahoo!

We've known for months that early-90's homepage service GeoCities was shutting down today, taking a big chunk of Internet history and a lot of hideous animated GIFs with it. That doesn't stop the web geeks at Download Squad from getting a little sentimental, though.

To paraphrase Obi-Wan Kenobi: we felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.

So, let's take a moment to remember GeoCities. The easy website-creation service opened in 1995, and many Internet users set up their first homepages within its quirky "neighborhoods". Back before everyone had a .com, GeoCities sported long, convoluted URLs with directories like SiliconValley/Pines or SunsetStrip/Towers. In 1999, GeoCities was purchased by Yahoo!, and has been a Yahoo! property ever since.

Although GeoCities sites are all disappearing from Yahoo!'s servers today, you can still take a trip down memory lane. Archive.org has started a Special Collection to catalog the sites. The effort was supported by Archive Team and includes a collection of those ever-present "Under Construction" GIFs from the heydey of GeoCities.

Popular geek-centric webcomic XKCD paid its own tribute to GeoCities today, reskinning the site to look like a stereotypical homepage, circa 1996.

GeoCities (1995-2009) is finally put out of our misery originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 26 Oct 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sponsored Topics: GeoCities - Yahoo - Website - Download Squad - Graphics Interchange Format

Aerofoil Keeps Your Laptop's Battery Alive

2009-10-26T18:30:00Z

Windows only: Open-source system tray utility Aerofoil helps keep your Windows notebook running longer by automatically turning off Aero Glass and other battery-sucking preferences when you disconnect from a wall outlet.

In addition to disabling Aero Glass, Aerofoil can also switch between your custom Windows power plans, mute sound, and manage the Windows sidebar. You can also manually disable or manage Aero Glass from the tray icon, as well as go into quick hibernation. Once you plug your system back in, the tray icon turns from red to green and will automatically switch back to all your normal preferences.

Your configuration is controlled through the installer itself, so you set it up once and forget it. If you ever need to change your preferences again, just run the installer and re-configure your preferences.

Aerofoil is a free download, open source, and works with Windows 7 and Vista only.

Aerofoil [via Life Rocks 2.0]

Microsoft's new Twitter account offers quick, brief Windows 7 tech support

2009-10-26T14:00:00Z

Filed under: OS Updates, Social Software

Windows 7 wasn't the only thing Microsoft launched last week. The company also introduced a new Twitter account, called @MicrosoftHelps, that offers customer support for Windows 7 users.

Basically, if you have a problem with Windows 7, a question about features, driver support or pretty much anything else, you can just direct it at @MicrosoftHelps, and it looks like there's actually a decent chance of getting a response. Of course, you could also try contacting Microsoft Support via email or phone. But I have to admit, I kind of like the idea of forcing tech support people to provide answers in 140 characters or less... even if a fair number of the messages posted in the company's Twitter feed include links to other web pages.

Oh yeah, and since there's no good way to charge for tech support over Twitter at this point, @MicrosoftHelps is available as a free public service for now.

[via MakeUseOf]

Microsoft's new Twitter account offers quick, brief Windows 7 tech support originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 26 Oct 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sponsored Topics: Download Squad - Twitter - Microsoft - Operating system - Windows 7

Lifehacker's Complete Guide to Windows 7

2009-10-22T16:30:00Z

Windows 7 officially launches today, but we've been testing, tweaking, customizing, fixing, and writing about this OS for a year now. We present here a guide to everything we've learned about the OS, from first install to final settings change.

Whether you've played around with Windows 7 during its beta or release candidate versions, launch day is finally here, and Windows 7 is finally ready for widespread, public consumption. This guide will take you straight through from system requirements and upgrading your PC to highlighting Windows 7's best new features to helping you hit the ground running with all of the awesome tweaks Windows 7 has in store for you.

System Requirements

According to Microsoft:

1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor

1 gigabyte (GB) RAM (32-bit) or 2 GB RAM (64-bit)

16 GB available hard disk space (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)

DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver

Buying, installing, and upgrading

Figure Out Which Windows 7 Edition Has the Features You Need: Not everybody needs Windows 7 Ultimate, but what if there's a certain feature you must have when you grab your upgrade this Thursday? CNET breaks down each Windows 7 edition feature by feature in a handy chart.
Prep Your PC for Windows 7: When Windows 7 drops this Thursday, you can either spend many, many hours watching a progress bar, or you can boot into a clean, speedy system with that new-OS smell. Let's get your system set up for a proper Windows 7 upgrade.
Get Windows 7 Home Premium for $30 With a College Email Address: If you're a U.S. college student, or at least having a working .edu email address, you don't have to pay $120 to upgrade Vista to Windows 7. You can get the Home Premium upgrade for just $30.
Run Windows 7 for 120 Days Without Activation: The command line code (slmgr -rearm) that could be entered at the end of three different 30-day periods to give Vista 120 days without activation works just the same in Windows 7.

Our take on Windows 7

Top 10 Things to Look Forward to in Windows 7: Windows 7 isn't a dramatic overhaul of its predecessor Windows Vista, but it does fix several sore spots and add a few welcome features.
Windows 7's Best Underhyped Features: It's these less sexy, but very useful features, that make me think the more I use Windows 7, the less chance I'll ever use Vista or XP again.
Windows 7 Versus Mac OS X Leopard: The Feature-by-Feature Showdown: Oh, I know: the Mac versus PC debate is so played out. Perhaps, but dumb commercials aside, if you're deciding between buying a Mac or a PC in the coming months, it helps to know what you're getting from one or the other.

New features

Windows 7 Tells You Why You Can't Touch That File: Windows 7 doesn't just give you a wagging finger (and pretend-useful "Try Again" button) when you want to move or delete a file that's in use. It actually tells you which application is using the file.
Windows 7 Lets You Customize Your Logon Background: Expert Windows hacker Rafael Rivera finds a change in the latest build of Windows 7—you can finally customize the log-on screen natively.
Windows 7 Transfers Your Wireless Settings Easily: To transfer the settings for yourself, head into the Network and Sharing Center, click on Manage Wireless Networks, and then in the properties for your wireless network you'll find the link to open the wizard that will copy all your settings onto a flash drive.
How to Burn ISOs in Windows 7: Burning that ISO to a disc is as simple as: 1. Double-click the ISO file (or right-click and select Burn disc image); 2. Click Burn.
Play Your iPod Through Your Windows 7 PC's Speakers: You can play an external audio device through your computer's speakers without any extra software using a simple configuration setting.
Windows 7 Makes UAC Less Annoying Than Vista: The biggest change in Windows 7 is the new User Account Control "slider" setting, where you can choose your own balance between annoyance and security—but behind the scenes, Microsoft reduced the amount of actions that will prompt you.
Netflix Update Comes to Windows 7 Media Center, Looks Excellent: Starting this week, Microsoft is rolling out an upgraded Watch Instantly interface to Windows 7 Media Center for users looking to get their streaming TV and movie fix on their upgraded PCs.
Setup File and Printer Sharing From XP to Windows 7: This guide walks you through the process of enabling network discovery, sharing your folders and printers, and accessing your shared resources from either Windows 7 or XP.
IE8 Can Proactively Close Crashing Tabs in Windows 7: The copy of IE8 found only in (Windows 7) has a "timer" that monitors new tabs as they open. If they aren't responsive within a relatively short amount of time, the browser will pop up and tell you this, possibly with a reason why, and ask whether you want to wait or kill the tab before it causes further problems.
Windows 7 Lets You Finally Uninstall Internet Explorer (Kinda): ... It won't completely uninstall—only the executable is actually removed. Still, being able to finally banish IE proper from your system is a pretty good start for folks who really don't like IE.
Windows 7 Will Let You Uninstall Most Built-In Apps: You can turn almost every built-in application on or off, including Windows Search, Gadgets, and even Media Player.

The Taskbar

Aero Peek: Peek supercharges Windows' taskbar thumbnail previews, and lets you view, close, and switch between multiple windows by just hovering over the taskbar thumbnail, as well as pin programs to the taskbar permanently.
Pin Individual Folders to the Windows 7 Taskbar: Windows 7's taskbar lets you pin any running program to the taskbar for easy future access, but it treats folders like second-class sub-items of the Explorer icon. Create a fake "program" to pin individual folder shortcuts to your taskbar.
Middle-Click to Close Applications from Windows 7's Taskbar: In Windows 7, middle-clicking a taskbar button opens a new program instance. The easy solution for closing an app? Middle-click its preview window.
Hold Shift While Dragging to Windows 7 Taskbar to Open Files: All you have to do is hold down the Shift key while dragging a file to an icon on the taskbar, and the tooltip will change to say "Open with" instead of pinning to the taskbar.
Pin Any Item to the Windows 7 Taskbar: We already showed you how to pin specific folders, and this is just a slightly tweaked application of that method.
Put a Recycle Bin Shortcut on the Windows 7 Taskbar: Once you are finished, you'll have a separate recycle icon on the taskbar—useful for quick access to deleted files without having to hunt down an icon on your desktop.
Get a Functional Recycle Bin on Windows 7's Taskbar: TechSpot's solution—creating a Quick Launch taskbar, removing its text and title, then bringing the desktop Recycle Bin icon into it—covers all the bases, and lets you place your Recycle Bin pretty much wherever you'd like on the taskbar.

Jump lists

Master Windows 7 Jump Lists to Boost Your Win7 Productivity: For those of you that haven't yet tried out Windows 7, when you right-click on a taskbar button in Windows 7, a menu slides out with recent documents and application tasks. Here's a rundown of our favorite Jump List boosters.
Winfox Adds Jump Lists to Firefox on Windows 7: Jump Lists are one of the best new features in Windows 7, and since Firefox still doesn't take advantage of them, a small utility called Winfox adds the feature for you.
Win7shell Adds Windows 7 Jump List Support to Winamp: Once you've downloaded, installed the plugin, and pinned Winamp to the taskbar, the Jump List should immediately start tracking your recently played media files.

Built-in Applications

Set Up and Use XP Mode in Windows 7: Windows 7's new XP Mode lets you seamlessly run virtualized applications alongside your regular Windows 7 applications—so your outdated software will continue to work.
Calculator: While mathletes, scientists, coders, and statisticians will appreciate Windows 7's built-in calculator's programmer, statistics, and scientific modes, everyday people will love figuring out things like hourly wages and mortgage payments without a spreadsheet.
PowerShell: (A) souped-up command line and scripting GUI that frees you, finally, from the limits of DOS batch scripts.
Windows 7 Media Center's Music Player Is Hot Hot Hot: Good news for music lovers excited for Windows 7: The new and improved music interface in Windows 7 Media Center is overflowing with eye candy and usability.
Windows 7's WordPad Opens Word 2007 DOCX Files: ... The ribbon-style WordPad in Windows 2007 opens Word 2007 files, the .docx kind, pretty handily, albeit with some formatting loss.
Backup and Restore Center: For the average user with both media and crucial file needs, Windows 7's default backup features look promising.
Windows 7 Guest Mode Creates Bomb-Proof Accounts: In the simplest terms, Guest Mode takes a snapshot of how a PC was working before the kid, friend, coffeeshop customer, or whoever else is using the Guest Mode account logs on. That user can't do much to alter the system, and whatever they can do, like dropping files on the desktop, is discarded when they log off.
Windows 7 Calibration and ClearType Tools Fine-Tune Your Displays: Windows 7's color calibration and ClearType tools might be good enough for non-graphic-designers to stick with.

Themes, wallpapers, and login screens

Windows 7 Beta's Many Free and Legit Themes: Microsoft is offering 20 fresh themes (in Windows 7). Here's a closer look.
Grab Every Region's Windows 7 Wallpapers in One Download: Microsoft allowed Windows Vista Magazine to bundle up every wallpaper from Windows 7's regional releases and, boy, we're glad they did. One file brings a lot of new looks to any desktop, Windows 7 or otherwise.
Secret Registry Hack Customizes Windows 7 Logon "Button Set": Rafael Rivera, the same expert Windows hacker that figured out how to customize your Windows 7 logon background, finds another hack that changes the UI to look better with darker background images.
Microsoft Releases More Free Windows 7 Theme Downloads: The full-fledged themes are specific downloads for Windows 7 users, but anyone can grab the wallpapers from Windows 7's Personalization Gallery for their system.

Mouse and Keyboard Shortcuts

The Best New Windows 7 Keyboard Shortcuts: Windows 7 has more cool new shortcuts than you can shake a stick at.
Aero Shake: When you want to focus on the task at hand on a desktop cluttered with windows, just grab the window bar of the app you want to work in and shake it back and forth to clear away the rest. Another shake will restore the background apps to their former state. You can also drag and drop a window to the edge of the screen to maximize it, and click on its top bar again to restore its previous size.
Snap windows to half screen size: ... Dragging a window to the top of the screen maximizes it. Following that, if you drag a window all the way to the left or the right of the screen, Windows 7 will display a glass overlay on the desktop. Let go of the mouse button and it will snap the window onto that overlay, which is half the screen's size—a handy helper for widescreen monitor owners.
Maximize Windows Vertically with a Double-Click in Windows 7: Reader John points out that you can simply move your mouse to the top of a window until the pointer switches to the resize icon, and then double-click your mouse to instantly maximize the window to fill all the available vertical space.
Shift and Right-Click to Expand Windows 7's Send To Menu: Just as with Vista, holding down the Shift key while right-clicking in Windows 7 gives you a fuller range of options.
Activate Windows 7 Jumplists with the Left Mouse Button: You don't have to right-click on the taskbar buttons to activate Windows 7's Jumplists—you can hold the left mouse button and drag upwards.
Windows 7 Creates New Folders With a Hotkey: To create a new folder, simply press Ctrl+Shift+N with an explorer window open and the folder will instantly show up, ready to be renamed to something more useful.

Tweaks, fixes, and customizations

The Best Windows Tweaks that Still Work in Windows 7: The final version of Windows 7 is being released this week to the general public, and after you get your hands on it the first thing you'll need to know is: Do all my tweaks still work?
Customize or Disable Windows 7's Action Center: Windows 7's Action Center does a great job of compressing all of Windows' update/alert/whatever notifications into one icon, but it takes some tweaking to make it show what you want, or disable it entirely.
Add text to the Windows 7 taskbar buttons: Just right-click the taskbar, select Properties, then change the Taskbar buttons drop-down from "Always combine, hide labels" to "Never combine."
Set Default Printers Based on Network in Windows 7: Windows 7 sports a great new feature that allows you to set default printers based on what network your computer is connected to, perfect for folks who carry laptops from network to network.
Get Quick Access to Windows 7's Jump Lists From the Keyboard: When we showed you how to master Windows 7's new Jump Lists feature, there was one extremely useful tip that we left out: you can also access them from your keyboard.
Create and Share Custom Themes in Windows 7: Microsoft's Engineering Windows 7 weblog details how to create, save, and share your own custom Windows 7 themes, complete with wallpaper, window color, and sounds.
Get the Old "Show Desktop" Back in Windows 7—Kinda: The short version: Create a folder, place a "Show Desktop.scf" file in there (either your standard Google-found kind or the script available at the bottom link), then right-click your taskbar to create a "New Toolbar" that points to that folder. Turn off the text and titles on that new toolbar, change the icons to large size, and then put your new one-button toolbar where you'd like.
Hidden Windows 7 Tool Troubleshoots Sleep Mode Problems: The report lists all of the devices that are causing problems with sleep mode, explains the different power saving modes your computer supports, and even gives you detailed information on your battery—invaluable information when your system takes forever to go in and out of sleep mode.
Disable the New Libraries Feature on Windows 7: Simply download, extract, and double-click on the provided registry hack file, then restart your computer and you'll see that the Libraries are completely gone. There's also an uninstall registry script provided just in case.

Third-party helpers

Logon Changer Customizes the Windows 7 Login Screen: Tiny system customizing utility Logon Changer for Windows 7 swaps out the logon screen wallpaper easily. Using the utility is simple—just select a new wallpaper, test it, and you are done.
Xdn Tweaker Updates to Tweak Windows 7: If you want your system to remember or not remember how you sort certain folders, edit what's accessible through the right-click menu, or de-hook Windows Media Player from all the files it tries to glom onto, Xdn does those things for Windows 7.
Glass CMD Enables Aero Transparency for the Command Prompt: Glass CMD for Vista forces command prompt windows to use Aero's glass transparency effect.
Gmail Notifier Plus Adds Email Alerts to the Windows 7 Taskbar: Gmail Notifier Plus displays your unread email count right in the Windows 7 taskbar, including popup message previews and Jump Lists integration.
Switch Power Management Plans With a Hotkey: Once you've created the shortcut, you can assign a hotkey in the properties dialog—even better, put the shortcut in a location to be indexed by Launchy or the Vista start menu search, or even add it to your AutoHotkey automation script.
CSMenu Brings the Classic Start Menu Back to Windows 7: Application launcher CSMenu makes up for the lack of a classic start menu option in Windows 7 by creating a menu that looks and works just like the ancient Windows 2000 menu did.
Ultimate Windows Tweaker Updates, Improves Windows 7 Support: Ultimate Windows Tweaker adds new features to an already excellent tool for tweaking all of the hidden Windows settings you normally can't access.
VistaSwitcher is an Absolutely Awesome Alt-Tab Replacement: It's a little difficult to showcase how well this thing works with just a screenshot, but you can see the partially transparent Alt-Tab switcher window, complete with a massive preview window and the window titles easily readable.
Windows 7 Recovery Discs Gets Your System Out of Tight Spots: Boot your system from NeoSmart's CD, and you'll get a stripped-down Windows system with a window offering startup file repair, Restore Point returns, recovery from a whole-cloth image, memory testing, and a command prompt for those dire moments when only frantically Google-d terminal instructions can save you.
Hulu Desktop Integration Brings Hulu to Windows 7 Media Center: Free application Hulu Desktop Integration brings Hulu's remote-friendly desktop app to your Windows Media Center.

We hope you found at least one link in that rather large list that helps you get settled into your new OS. Did we miss anything? Got a favorite tip or link you feel Windows 7 newcomers should consider? Share it in the comments.

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System Requirements

Buying, installing, and upgrading

Our take on Windows 7

New features

The Taskbar

Jump lists

Built-in Applications

Themes, wallpapers, and login screens

Mouse and Keyboard Shortcuts

Tweaks, fixes, and customizations

Third-party helpers