Windows Vista Resources

FASA Studio, the creative minds behind MechWarrior and Crimson Skies®: High Road to Revenge™, are back with Shadowrun™, the new multiplayer first-person shooter (FPS) based on the much beloved RPG franchise. Shadowrun propels team-based combat into a new dimension with a revolutionary blend of modern weaponry and ancient magic.

Up to 16 players battle for control of this new world through Windows Vista’s Xbox 360-to-Windows Vista Live online compatibility. In Shadowrun, vie for supremacy in a constantly evolving battlefield where advanced technology and ancient magic provide an unprecedented and high-velocity tactical action experience.

• Rich legacy: After a 5,000 year absence magic has returned to the world of 2031, and global corporate might battles a relentless ancient order to harness this reawakened power. Be a part of the RNA global megacorp and bring order (and profit) into a world of chaos, or join the Lineage to keep magic wild and free at all costs. Choose a side and wage war for the future of magic in the new world of Shadowrun.
• Magic and weapons: Dive into a universe where ancient magic co-exists with deadly weaponry, and experience a revolution in multiplayer FPS gaming. Purchase advanced technology and magic each round in an extraordinary arms race to improve your abilities and open up new tactics for your team. Use your cybernetic eye to spot your enemy through walls, teleport behind your opponents in the blink of an eye, trigger a hologram as a distraction then cut them down with a burst from your rifle to clear the room before they even know you’re there.
• Cross-platform multiplayer: For the first time ever, Xbox 360 and Windows gamers can compete as a team or as foes. Experience a quantum leap in interactivity as console and Vista PC gamers battle for supremacy online via Windows Vista and Xbox Live®. As you battle endlessly for the right to be crowned the last man standing, you’ll also struggle to answer the age-old of question of which is the more efficient killer: Windows PC or Xbox 360? Through the unprecedented cross-platform functionality, up to 16 gamers using both Windows PC and the Xbox 360 console will participate together in the ultimate multiplayer frag-fest.
• Classic races reinterpreted: Experience the thrill of combat as magic reawakens creatures of legend. Humans are joined by elves, dwarves, and trolls in a battle for supremacy among soaring corporate towers and an ancient ziggurat of power. Strike a balance on your team with races possessing unique abilities complementing your weapons and tactics.
• Ultimate battlefield: Fight against or alongside A.I. teammates or join up with friends against all comers via Splitscreen, LAN, or Live. Fill out your team with incredible A.I. characters that respond to each tactical situation and provide an unparalleled team experience. Train offline with the robust A.I., or play through a host of mini-games cooperatively online with your friends as you master the magic and technology of Shadowrun.

System Requirements

Download Shadowrun™

Title: Shadowrun™
Developer: FASA Studio
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios

London, 2038.
According to legend, when the ravens depart the Tower of London, it will crumble to rubble and disaster will befall England. As man became more dependent on science, believing only in what he could define or create, ancient knowledge and rituals were lost to the antiquity of time. Prophecies that had stood as warning for untold generations were seen as archaic folly or ignorant superstition; so when the harbingers of evil began to manifest, few saw and fewer believed.  When the demons finally came, there was little that stood in their way.

Features:

• M29 from the creators of the critically acclaimed Diablo franchise
• A New Perspective on RPGs – a unique blend of action RPG with first-person shooter and massively multiplayer online elements.
• Unique and Appealing World - Experience the ominous setting of post-apocalypse London.
• Three Distinct Character Factions - Fight against the demons of the underworld as one of several unique character classes. (Templar, Cabalist, Hunter)
• Infinite Re-playability - With dynamically generated levels, massive quantities of randomly created items, chance events and story driven quests, no two gaming experiences are ever the same.
• Single-Player and Online Multiplayer Support - While Hellgate: London stands on its own as a single-player game, it also provides a compelling cooperative multiplayer experience through a dedicated online gaming destination. 

System Requirements

Coming Soon…

Download Hellgate: London™

Title: Hellgate: London™
Developer: Flagship Studios
Publisher: EA

Earth, 2019: On a remote island, an US science team makes a frightening discovery. The North Korean Government quickly seals off the island chain. Contact with the science team is lost. The United States responds by dispatching an elite team of Delta Force Operators to recon the situation and report back to the Pentagon. Amid rising tensions between the US and North Koreans, a massive, 2km high alien ship is revealed in the middle of the island. The ship generates an immense force sphere, freezing a vast portion of the island and drastically altering the global weather system.

The newly formed alliance fights epic battles against the marauding Aliens. With hope rapidly fading, the player must fight through lush tropical jungle, harsh frozen landscapes, and finally into the heart of the alien ship itself for the ultimate Zero G encounter with the aliens.

Features

• An immersive story that puts you the player in the pivotal role to repel an alien invasion and save mankind.
• A unique three-act structure that forces the player to use real-time armor and weapons customization to adapt to an ever changing dynamic world.
• Encounter a compelling, frightening and totally original alien species that uses its senses intelligently and work in combination with each other to present players with the most challenging opponents yet in an FPS.
• Enemy and ally AI utilize real-world military tactics.
• Take control of a wide variety of land, sea and air vehicles including trucks, tanks, boats and helicopters.
• Explore a living, dynamic world where earthquakes, breaking ice, landslides, and tornados pose a real and an ever-present danger.
• 32-player multiplayer with real-time armor and weapons customization and an all new mode that combines player modification and tactical objectives.
• Emergent gameplay; actions taken in the game affect future outcomes giving each player a unique experience.
• Highly robust and easy to use mod toolset allow players to create their own expansive levels with game modes for both multiplayer and single player.
• The most realistic environments, spectacular special effects, physics game engine, lighting system and enemy Al through CryENGINE 2.

System Requirements

OS: Windows Vista or Windows XP

Download Crysis™

Title: Crysis™
Developer: Crytek
Publisher: EA

Worldwide shipments of personal computers rose strongly in the second quarter due to growing demand in Asia and unexpected strength in the U.S., two research companies reported Wednesday.

IDC estimated that 58.8 million PCs were shipped in the April-to-June period, up 12.5 percent from the same quarter last year. Gartner Inc., which uses a somewhat different methodology, counted 61.1 million units, for a growth rate of 11.7 percent.

Eastern Asia, excluding Japan, was the strongest market, with sales up more than 20 percent. In laptops, growth was about 50 percent, according to IDC.

Global shipments picked up in the first quarter, with IDC putting growth at 10.9 percent after nearly a year of growth in the single-digit range.

In the U.S., second-quarter shipments rose 7.2 percent according to IDC and 5.9 percent according to Gartner, helped by aggressive competition and demand for laptops. Desktop shipments continued to decline.

The introduction over the winter of Windows Vista, Microsoft Corp.’s latest operating system, had minimal effect on demand, Gartner said.

Hewlett Packard Co. kept its position as the world’s largest maker of PCs and extended its lead over Dell Inc., which was the largest until late last year. IDC put HP’s worldwide market share at 19.3 percent, while Gartner had it at 18.2 percent, while the firms put Dell at 15 percent to 16.1 percent, respectively.

Dell remained the largest maker of PCs for the U.S. market, with a 28.4-29.9 percent market share, but the number of units sold declined 11 percent, while HP’s rose 26 percent.

Gateway Inc. was in third place in the U.S., but saw a 7 percent decline in shipments.

The next three largest were Acer, Toshiba and Apple Inc., all with market shares around 5 percent, though the research firms differed on the exact order.

“Dell had difficulties in its consumer business. Dell made its first major retail shipments to Wal-Mart stores, however volumes were not significant enough to influence its growth performance in the quarter,” Gartner analyst Mikako Kitagawa wrote.

Title: Global Personal Computers shipments rise 12 percent in Q2
Author: The China Post
Date: 20 Jul 2007
Source: The China Post

It would have been tough for Microsoft to repeat the record hiring of its 2006 fiscal year, and the company acknowledged Thursday that, in fact, it didn’t.

But the 10 percent headcount growth in Microsoft’s recently completed fiscal year was still more than the company was experiencing a few years ago. And state officials had already been assuming a slowdown from last year’s torrid pace for purposes of economic forecasts.

The trend could also be good for Microsoft’s financial situation in the long run. The news came on the same day that Google cited expenses from larger-than-expected hiring as one reason for missing Wall Street’s profit expectations.

Microsoft’s 2006 growth spurt added a net total of more than 10,000 employees worldwide, or 16 percent. Traditionally, Microsoft’s employment growth has been a key driver of the Seattle region’s economy.

But it wouldn’t have been reasonable to expect Microsoft to maintain last year’s pace of hiring, said Chang Mook Sohn, the state’s chief economist.

“It was high,” he said. “We know the growth will continue, but not at the same pace.”

The 10 percent headcount growth for fiscal 2007, disclosed Thursday in the company’s fiscal year-end financial documents, would put Microsoft’s worldwide employment around 78,000 as of June 30, from about 71,500 a year before. However, Microsoft hasn’t yet reported the official global number or the hiring rate in the Seattle area.

As of Feb. 23, the company employed 76,500 worldwide, including 35,000 in Washington state, primarily in Redmond.

The news of Microsoft’s slower hiring may be welcome news among existing employees. Space is so scarce in offices and garages in Redmond that the company now offers free valet parking to employees. Microsoft is in the midst of a massive expansion program, but the first buildings are still under construction.

Employment costs can cut significantly into a company’s bottom line, and Chris Liddell, Microsoft’s chief financial officer, made it clear Thursday that he felt it was important to get the hiring under control.

“From my point of view, the good trend that we’re seeing is a slowing of the headcount growth,” Liddell told analysts during a conference call Thursday. “So I’m certainly keen to see … lower rates of headcount growth than we have seen in the last couple of years.”

Liddell told the analysts that he still considered the 10 percent growth rate relatively high, but that he’s more comfortable with that rate than he was with the levels the company was seeing six to 12 months ago. He said the “moderated levels” of headcount growth are also assumed in the company’s financial projections for the new fiscal year.

Employment growth varies by division. For example, headcount dropped 1 percent in the PC Windows division last quarter, following Windows Vista’s release. Meanwhile, headcount rose 12 percent in the Online Services Business, where Microsoft is still beefing up for its competition with Google and Yahoo.

Title: Hiring levels still high, but slowing at Microsoft
Author: Todd Bishop
Date: 19 Jul 2007
Source: Seattle PI

Sid Meier’s Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword is the second expansion pack for the definitive strategy title Civilization IV – the 2005 PC Game of the Year and world-wide hit. Focusing on the late-game time periods after the invention of gunpowder, the expansion will deliver more epic game and scenario content than any Civ expansion pack in the history of the series.

Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword will contain 11 amazingly unique and challenging scenarios created by the development team at Firaxis, as well as some esteemed members of the Civ Community. In addition, ten new civilizations, sixteen new leaders, five new wonders, a variety of new units and several new gameplay innovations will offer players even more strategic options for expanding their civilization’s power as they strive for world domination.      

• “MORE CIV THAN EVER: Some call Civilization the deepest computer game of all time. With a massive increase of 10 civilizations, 64 buildings, 11 scenarios, 5 wonders, 6 technologies, corporations, brand new espionage system and expanded trade routes, Civilization is beyond deep. It is beyond anything you’ve ever seen.
• FOCUS ON THE ‘LATE-GAME’: With Firaxis focused on delivering many new units, buildings and technologies in the modern time period, you will be able to launch guided missiles and suitcase nukes and build armies of mech assault soldiers, Cyborgs and Navy Seals – among many other choices.
• SCENARIOS: EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED: Beyond the Sword will deliver 11 new scenarios, many containing themes never seen in Civilization, custom designed by the team at Firaxis and some members of the Civ Fan Community. 11 scenarios represent the most scenarios in any expansion pack in the history of the Civilization series.
• ADVANCED STARTS: For the first-time ever, launch a game by purchasing units, cities, improvements, and technologies that allow you to get into later era games more quickly.
• UNSTOPPABLE CORPORATIONS: If you didn’t feel like behemoth corporations were taking over the world, you will now. Found your own corporation and spread its influence as another tool to gain control over the world.
• SPIES ARE EVERYWHERE: Now available much earlier in the game, the expanded ‘Espionage’ feature offers players many new ways to spy on opponents, stir citizen unrest and defend your own government’s secrets.
• RANDOM EVENTS: New random events – such as natural disasters, pleas for help, or demands from their citizens - challenge players with obstacles that must be overcome for their civilizations to prosper.
• ENHANCED AI: The AI has received many enhancements making it tougher to beat on the higher difficulty levels. The ways in which the AI will attempt to achieve victory have also been expanded.”

System Requirements

Download Sid Meier’s Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword (Expansion Pack)

Title: Sid Meier’s Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword (Expansion Pack)
Developer: Firaxis Games
Publisher: 2K Games

Microsoft asked us to inform you on the current state of Windows Vista SP1 beta:

“There will be a Windows Vista service pack and our current expectation is that a beta will be made available sometime this year. Service packs are part of the traditional software lifecycle — they’re something we do for all Microsoft products as part of our commitment to continuous improvement, and providing early test builds is a standard practice that helps us incorporate customer feedback and improve the overall quality of the product. 

Service packs are just one example of the work we do to constantly improve the Windows experience.  We also deliver improvements to Windows via Windows Update, which is an excellent channel for providing our customers with the most significant updates as they happen.  And, since Windows Vista launched, we have continued working with partners to improve overall device coverage and application compatibility. There are now more than 2.1 million supported devices and more than 2,000 logoed applications for Windows Vista. We think customers will have a great experience using Windows Vista today.”

So the only release that’s occurring is a limited Beta to a very small, very select group of advance customers. A public version of the Beta is not being released this week, nor next, nor in July, nor anytime in the immediate future.

Title: No Public Windows Vista Service Pack 1 Beta anytime soon
Author: Bink
Date: 19 Jul 2007
Source: Bink.nu

Prize-packed Windows Vista photography contest encourages creativity

Future, the special-interest media company, has teamed up with Microsoft and the online photo service, Snapfish to promote a new photography contest, Summer Snaps.

The cross-portfolio competition is being launched across a print run of 300,000 colour supplements, inserted into September issues (on sale August) of Classic Rock, Fast Car, MBUK and Future’s licensed Microsoft titles, Xbox 360: The Official Xbox Magazine and Windows Vista: The Official Magazine. The competition will be promoted extensively in house adverts throughout Future’s portfolio of magazines and websites this summer.

Summer Snaps 2007 is inspired by the photo tools in Windows Vista, Microsoft’s next-generation PC operating system, which make it easy to organise, fix and share your digital photos. The competition encourages readers of Future’s magazines and websites to share their favourite pictures as they enjoy their hobby this summer. The competition has five categories; motoring, cycling, gaming, music and general– which includes family and holidays.

Anyone can enter Summer Snaps and all photographs of all quality can be entered, from mobile phone snaps through to professional standard pictures from high-end digital cameras. Entrants need to upload their pictures to Snapfish via the specially-created www.summersnaps.com .

Users can vote for their favourite images on the site. Each week, the best pictures will win one of 25 weekly prizes, from companies including Crucial, Electronic Arts, Microsoft and many more. Weekly prizes are awarded each Monday until 10th September. The competition closes on Monday 24th September when the winners of the‘grand prize’ will be announced.

Jon Hicks, Editor of Future’s Microsoft Projects and Organiser of Summer Snaps said:

“Windows Vista makes it easy for anybody to get great photos, so we wanted to do a competition that absolutely anybody can enter. Summer Snaps is all about having fun with your camera this summer, taking photographs to capture your memories, and share them with the world. With low cost digital cameras and camera phones everywhere, absolutely everyone can start capturing their lives.

“The competition enables readers of Future’s motoring, sports and games magazines to find out more about Windows Vista, and how it makes digital photography simple. The weather might not be perfect this summer, but we’ve got some fantastic prizes up for grabs.”

For more information visit www.summersnaps.com now!

Ends

About Future

Future plc is an international special-interest media group with offices in the UK, US and France. Founded in 1985 with one magazine, today it creates over 180 special-interest publications, websites and events, with strong portfolios in the technology, games, music, automotive and sports sectors. Over 130 international editions of Future’s magazines are published under licence by publishing partners in 30 other countries around the world. Future employs around 1,450 people worldwide. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange (symbol FUTR).

Title: Future and Microsoft team up for Summer Snaps competition
Author: Will Guyatt
Date: 19 Jul 2007
Source: MCV

After a bewildering series of high-profile rumors about the supposed imminent release of Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) appeared on various Windows news and rumors sites and blogs in the past few weeks, Microsoft took the unprecedented step this week of denying all of them. Reports suggested that Microsoft’s previous timetable for Vista SP1, which would see a public beta by the end of 2007, were wrong; instead, we were told, Microsoft would ship SP1 in final form by the end of 2007 and would ship a beta in July. Then, reports of a so-called Vista SP1 WDK (Windows Driver Kit) download on the Microsoft Connect site triggered another round of wishful thinking and heady news reports.

All of this is, as it turns out, completely untrue. “There will be a Windows Vista service pack and our current expectation is that a beta will be made available sometime this year,” a Microsoft spokesperson said, as first reported on Bink.nu. “Service packs are part of the traditional software lifecycle–they’re something we do for all Microsoft products as part of our commitment to continuous improvement, and providing early test builds is a standard practice that helps us incorporate customer feedback and improve the overall quality of the product.”

Here’s what’s really happening. Microsoft’s previously-stated schedule for Vista SP1–a public beta in late 2007 with the final release next year–is still on track, and the company has never altered its schedule since announcing that plan. The company will, however, issue an early pre-release version of Vista SP1 to a limited group of external testers, as it always does, sooner than that. This will not constitute the start of the technical beta for Vista SP1, or mark a public beta release at all.

As for that Vista SP1 WDK, well, that was just a typo. What Microsoft actually posted was a WDK for Windows Server 2008, the upcoming successor to Windows Server 2003 R2.

I’ll be sure to report on Windows Vista SP1 when there’s actually something to report.

Title: Microsoft Shoots Down Vista SP1 Rumors
Author: Paul Thurrott
Date: 19 Jul 2007
Source: Windows IT Pro

Age of Conan Game Windows Vista PC Even though he killed himself in 1936, Robert E. Howard created one of the most enduring characters in fantasy fiction–Conan the Cimmerian, aka Conan the Barbarian. The gruff, rough, and virtually indestructible warrior slew and stole his way through a brutal ancient realm in 20 short stories, published from 1932 to 1936 in the sci-fi magazine Weird Tales.

Since then, Howard’s complete works and unpublished Conan stories have been republished in numerous books and adapted into a popular comic series. They have also inspired two films–the classic Conan the Barbarian (1982) and the less-than-classic Conan the Destroyer (1984), both starring Arnold Schwarzenegger–and two much-less-than-classic syndicated television shows, both named Conan: The Adventurer (1992 and 1997-1998, respectively).

Because Conan is one of the most popular figures in fantasy fiction, the stories have also inspired several games. The first, called Conan, came out in 1984 for the Commodore 64. The most recent, also called Conan, was released for the PC, Xbox, GameCube, and PlayStation 2 in 2004–in Europe. However, the game’s publisher, TDK Mediactive, could not find a US distributor.

Now, Conan fans yearning for adventure on their computers have something to look forward to. North Carolina-based publisher Funcom announced today that it is developing Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures, a new role-playing game featuring the brawny barbarian. However, unlike the company’s most famous game, Anarchy Online, the game will not be a traditional massively multiplayer role-playing game.

Instead, Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures will be a PC “online action RPG” that will be a mix of “story-driven single-player experience and a massive and brutal multiplayer endgame.” According to Funcom game director Gaute Godager, it will begin as a single-player RPG adventure, and when that portion’s story is complete, it will let players bring their characters into an MMORPG universe. Said Godager, “Have you not felt the urge when a great single-player RPG ends to have your character live on and interact with other fellow travelers? To enter an even greater world? This is that opportunity, to have a detailed RPG all about you, your choices, and your character, and if you win, to share that victory at an even greater stage.”

Age of Conan is set after the titular barbarian–following many years of bloody struggle and plunder–has become king of the city of Aquilonia. “But,” according to Funcom, “Conan’s rule is on the brink of chaos, spiraling towards the doom of ancient evils.” The game will incorporate the various elements of Howard’s “dark, lush, violent, and sinful universe,” including “cruel gods, mythical creatures, lost civilizations, and a struggling human race.”

Besides an apparently extensive story, Age of Conan will feature 7.1 surround audio and advanced graphics, as evidenced by the screenshots accompanying the release. The gameplay promises to go “against the formulaic nature of online RPG combat.” Using a “Real Combat” engine and a “multipoint melee system,” players will be able to target specific parts of their opponents’ bodies.

The multiplayer part of the game will also feature real-time strategy elements, which will let players create formations of characters and non-player characters. The game will also feature large-scale battles, which will let players attack hostile strongholds, as well as more-standard MMORPG elements, like guilds.

Funcom also said the game’s launch would accompany a whole new wave of Conan products, including a Dark Horse Comics series, an anime film, new novels, and a toy line from McFarlane Toys.

Game Title: Age of Conan
Author: f13dotnet
Source: Windows-Vista-Update