With the release of Windows Vista Microsoft have released a free tool "Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor" which is designed to help Windows XP users identify whether their PCs are ready for an upgrade to Windows Vista, which edition of Windows Vista meets their needs, and which features of Windows Vista will be able to run on their PCs.

Visit the Microsoft Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor homepage

Download Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor

The Beta version of Windows Defender expired at the end of December, if you are still running this version you will see the following message at startup.

"Windows Defender

Application failed to initialize: 0x800106ba. A problem caused Windows Defender Service to stop. To start the service, restart your computer or search Help and Support on how to start a service manually."

To resolve this problem download and install the final release of Windows Defender from Microsoft using the following link:

Download Windows Defender

Adobe have released Version 8 of their Reader software for PDF document viewing, printing and copying. This enhanced version offers:

> A new interface, new tools, and more options
Maximize your screen real estate. Reader 8 has a completely redesigned interface, new tools, and a host of new options for viewing information more efficiently.

> Access to an online, real-time meeting in seconds
Reader 8 is now integrated with Adobe Connect™ software, which enables users to instantly communicate and accelerate approvals with virtually anyone, anywhere, at any time.

> Better protection of your workflows and transactions
Add more security to your documents, forms, and drawings with digital signatures. Leverage Adobe LiveCycle® Policy Server and the new Adobe Online Services Document Center with Reader 8 to enforce access rights at the document level.

Please click here to download your copy.

nVidia have released a new WHQL Certified version of their Forceware drivers for the GeForce range of Graphics accelerators (note: not all GeForce GPU's are supported in the latest releases - older GPU's require an older Forceware version - see nVidia's Website for more information).

This release is primarily enhanced with a new NVIDIA PureVideo™ HD driver with support for the following features:
> Hardware acceleration of H.264, VC-1 and MPEG-2 HD movie formats.
> Video post-processing image enhancements.
> Built-in support for HDCP content protection protocol via DVI or HDMI connectors.

Please visit the NVIDIA PureVideo website for more information on building a PureVideo HD system.

Includes the new NVIDIA Control Panel. Please visit the NVIDIA Control Panel website for more information.
Microsoft® DirectX® 9.0c and OpenGL® 2.0 support
For a full list of fixes issues, please view the release notes.

Download Forceware 93.71 for Windows XP/2000 here (40.5 Mb).

The Catalyst® software suite is designed to support the following ATI desktop products:

> Radeon® X1900, X1800, X1600, X1300, X850, X800, X700, X600, X550, X300, 9800, 9700, 9600, 9500 series.

This release fixes a few problems with benchmarks and games as well as improving performance in some circumstances.

For more information and to download the drive package please click here.