SECURITY...

• Microsoft to release six patches, some 'critical,' next week -  Microsoft Corp. will release six software patches next Tuesday covering flaws in its Windows operating system, along with an updated version of its Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool and a nonsecurity update for Windows, Microsoft announced today.
• First Windows Vista viruses unleashed - An Austrian hacker earned the dubious distinction of writing what are thought to be the first known viruses for Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Vista operating system. Written in July, the viruses take advantage of a new command shell, code-named Monad, that's included in the Windows Vista beta code.
• IP flaw leaves Windows 2000 wide open - Vulnerability research firm eEye is warning of a critical flaw in Windows 2000 which it claims cannot be patched. Microsoft is currently investigating the problem and eEye is giving out few details in an effort to avoid helping hackers. The flaw is thought to allow access to PCs by subverting the IP address. This would be ideal for a worm attack that requires no user interaction, such as Sasser.
• Genuine Windows Validation fixed - Microsoft has updated the Windows Genuine Validation tool to circumvent the hack exposed last week that allowed the system to be bypassed with a snippet of JavaScript code. The Validation is now a two-step process that first generates a code and then has you copy and paste that code to complete the process.

TECHNOLOGY...

• Will Your PC Run Windows Vista? - Microsoft has said it won't issue the minimum hardware requirements for Windows Vista until next summer. However, the company has already dropped hints that analysts say suggest Windows Vista's Aero UI requires relatively high-end graphics. The operating system itself will determine which level a PC fits into by sensing its graphics capabilities, and PCs will either be deemed capable of running Aero or not. Those that are not will present a classic Windows interface, the software giant has said.
• Windows Vista hands-on preview - Bit-Tech cover some of the technology behind the Beta, as well as more mundane things like the new Installer and the new security features included. There's a look at the new interface, using Aero, as well as our opinions on the new IE7.
• Intel Temporarily Cuts Chip Set Production - Intel spokesperson Bill Kircos has denied reports that Intel is planning to exit the low-end chip set business altogether, but said Intel is "prioritizing manufacturing schedules" to focus on certain types of chip sets amid capacity constraints. He declined to specify which products would be affected by the adjustments, but a source familiar with Intel's plans said the move would affect various chip sets for low-end PCs.
• Liquid metal is so cool it may be on ice - You will probably remember the excitement that greeted Sapphire's announcement, in May, of the first ever graphics card cooled by a fascinating new technology, liquid metal cooling, the Radeon Blizzard X850XTPE. Recently, however, Sapphire has been very quiet about the new card. They released a product with a similar name, the X850XTP - but it's a standard air-cooled model. According to TheInquirer, the part of the problem is this: "although liquid metal might be better than anything else at sucking heat away from a hot chip, that heat doesn't magically disappear. The heat is still inside the cooling system, and must be somehow removed from the liquid metal before the coolant carries the heat back to the chip."

HARDWARE... 

• Sempron 3400+ Processor - The Sempron 3400+ more than met our performance expectations, and now that we finally have a 2.0 GHz Sempron with a full 256K of L2 cache, the Sempron is starting to move around the fringes of the mainstream market. It easily outpaced the Celeron D 340, and made short work of a 3.0 GHz Pentium 4 Prescott.
• G.Skill DDR Memory Roundup: 7 Extreme Kits Tested - MadShrimps take a closer look at 7 Dual Channel kits from the Extreme Series and test their overclockability."
• Corsair ValueSelect 1GB DDR333 SODIMM Memory - The majority of notebooks are capable of supporting 2GB of memory, which is the maximum amount of memory WindowsXP can manage without requiring any tweaking. This review is based on a 1GB DDR SDRAM SO-DIMM module from Corsair. This module will be tested using a notebook featuring the Intel 855PM chipset, which of course only supports DDR333.
• GeForce 7800 GTX shootout - What's abundantly clear in our look at three retail GeForce 7800 GTX graphics cards is that there is no such thing as a bad one. All three cards from BFG, Leadtek, and XFX, respectively, can be recommended to a certain type of buyer, so determine if you want a) the cheapest GeForce 7800 GTX (Leadtek PX7800 GTX TDH MyVIVO, b) the one that does well in every department (BFG Technologies 7800 GTX OC), or c), the absolute fastest XFX GeForce 7800 GTX Extreme Edition.
• AOpen Aeolus 7800 GTX - However, as it turned out, with our review sample AOpen has matched XFX with the core and memory hitting 450 and 1,250MHz respectively - up from 430/1200 on the reference nVidia boards
• HIS X800XL vs Sapphire X800XL 512 MB - Bjorn3D has tested two cards with different features.
• GeCube X800XL 512MB Graphics Card – 256MB vs. 512MB - TweakTown take a close look at GeCube's new ATI Radeon X800XL graphics card with 512MB of GDDR-3 memory onboard. After looking at the package and the card, they are comparing the 512MB model against a 256MB model to see what type of differences we have in our usual array of gaming benchmarks.
• Gigabyte Aurora chassis and watercooling kit - Sporting three 120mm fans and a fantastic layout, this aluminium case is not only great value for money, but it's got the looks and performance too.
• Plextor 740A review - While I was also impressed with its fast, high quality writing on both CDR's and DVD+R's, it did disappoint on DVD+RW, and DVD+R DL media.
• Canary Wireless Digital Hotspotter - To use the Digital Hotspotter you simply press the white button. The unit will then scan for WiFi signals and will report whether or not it found one on the LED Display. IF you press the button again after the unit finds a network, it will search for another.
• Lexmark Z735 printer - The Z735 has a very conventional design and a boxy appearance, though with rounded edges. Paper feeds from a near-vertical rear tray to an extendable one at the front. There are two control buttons, one to switch the printer on and off and the other to feed paper. A single USB 2.0
  socket at the rear connects the printer to a PC.

GUIDES...

• Multitasking with Native Command Queuing  - Native Command Queuing can definitely improve the performance of desktop systems. Across our nine tests, NCQ performance gains average to around 9% for both the Maxtor and Seagate drives. That's pretty good, especially considering that we saw a handful of much more impressive gains in some of our tests.
• Editorial - Of Gaming And Laptops - Let's take a look at the laptops with the top-tier chips: the nVidia 6800 non/Ultra go and the ATI X800 non/XT MOBILITY. There are only a few laptops: the Sager 9880, the Dell XPS Gen 2/Inspiron 9300, and the Dell Precision M70. Keep in mind that the high performance Alienware/Falcon/Voodoo laptops are just Sagers with a nice paint job. Let's take a look at each one.
• How to Install Hard Drives over 8 GB in Older PCs - if you install a HD over 8 GB in an older PC it will format it as 8 GB. Learn how to correct this problem.
• What is VoIP and how does it work? - If you have never heard of VoIP before, then the following article will change the way you think about how long distance phone calls are being made now, and about how all phone calls will be made in the future. Voice Over IP (VoIP) is a method for turning analog audio signals into digital data that can be transferred over the internet.
• Secure XP - A Windows XP Security Guide v1.2.2 - Improve Windows XP's Security on computers not connected to a Domain. Windows XP Home does not include all the security features Windows XP Professional does, so some security options may be unavailable to the Home user.

SOFTWARE...

• Microsoft Windows XP Pro SP 2 "ICMP" Patch - If you configure your computer that is running Microsoft Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2 (SP2) as the endpoint of a Tunnel mode Internet Protocol security (IPSec) connection, packets are dropped. This symptom occurs if you turn on the Windows Firewall feature. Additionally, packets are dropped even though you have configured the Windows firewall feature to allow ICMP packets. This patch updates the icmp and tcpip drivers (download) so make sure you get the "TCP/IP Event ID 4226 Patcher" to remove the connection limits in XP SP2, enjoy.
• TCP/IP Event ID 4226 Patcher 2.23d  (WinXP SP2) - This is not a Microsoft product and will modify your internet connection driver (download) to allow for more connections, since Microsoft decided to limit the connection to 10 as a "security" measure, which I think is crap, I have mine at 256 now!
• Skype 1.3.0.60 - This new version improves call qualit for users with restrictive firewalls and routers.
• zlib 1.2.3 - Version 1.2.3 eliminates potential security vulnerabilities in zlib 1.2.1 and 1.2.2, so all users of those versions should upgrade immediately.
• DVD Region+CSS Free 5.9.3.2 - DVD Region+CSS Free enables you to watch and copy any region code CSS-encrypted DVD movies on any DVD drive.
• AnyDVD 5.4.1.1 - AnyDVD allows you to decrypt CSS encrypted DVDs on the fly. Insert your CSS- (Content Scrambling System) and RPC (Region Code Protected) - protected DVD into your DVD drive
• Nero CD-DVD Speed 4.04 - Nero CD-DVD Speed is a benchmark which can test the most important features of an optical drive. These tests include: Transfer rate, Seek times, CPU (Central Processing Unit) usage, Burst rate, DAE (Digital Audio Extraction) quality & Spinup/spindown time. It can also check the CD (Compact Disk) and DVD (Digital Versatile Disk) media quality.
• Nero Burning Rom 6.6.0.16 - The Packages have been updated to v6.6.0.16 (mirror1 / mirror 2 / changelog) for the main Nero Burning ROM package, v3.1.0.16 for the NeroVision video/photo suite package and v4.3.20.1 for the InCD package.
• HWiNFO32 v1.55  - A new version of professional hardware information tool has just been released.
• Forceware 77.56 WHQL 64-bit - They are compatible with all current GeForce and Quadro graphics cards from NVIDIA starting at GeForce 3 making this a very interesting release. Make no mistake though, hardly any GeForce garphics card is not supported. GeForce 2 GTS is missing though.
• Forceware 77.56 WHQL 32-Bit - They are compatible with all current GeForce and Quadro graphics cards from NVIDIA starting at GeForce 3 making this a very interesting release.