Excited about Windows 7? I definitely am!

Microsoft recently showcased a pre-beta release of the upcoming Windows OS - 7 - at the PDC 2008 show. If you've been following some of the top tech blogs lately (read Lifehacker), you must've seen how 7 is possibly going to be a much more refined and streamlined form of Vista (yes, I like Vista but there's no denying the fact that it's incredibly more massive and slower than XP). The icing to the cake is that Microsoft might be releasing 7 as early as mid-2009, which has left me thoroughly excited! Our institute has teamed up with Microsoft to provide us free legal copies of their various software, so I can except a free full version of Windows 7 in about 2-3 months after it's release!! My laptop handles Vista pretty well, so 7 should zing along like XP or Ubuntu. :D

If you've been out of the waiting-for-7 bandwagon so far, jump in NOW. Flash through these exciting articles about 7 and keep your fingers crossed for what will probably bring the "Wow" back to Microsoft.

Windows 7 UI Screenshots from PDC 2008 ~ Life Rocks! 2.0

Can Windows 7 Recover from Vista? [Snap Judgement] ~ Lifehacker

Unlock the New Taskbar in Windows 7 ~ Sizlopedia

New Windows 7 Taskbar, Peek Feature Look Awesome ~ Lifehacker

Windows 7 Startup 20% Faster than Windows Vista ~ Lifehacker

New "Aero Shake" Clears the Windows 7 Desktop ~ Lifehacker

Windows 7's Calculator Bundles Real-World Uses ~ Lifehacker

Transform Vista to Windows 7 : Ultimate Resources ~ Life Rocks! 2.0

Top 10 Things to Look Forward in Windows 7 ~ Lifehacker

 

Turn Off Real-time Spyware Scanning by AVG Antivirus

Here's a quick tip on how to disable the real-time spyware monitoring feature in AVG Anti-Virus 8.0. This can be particularly useful if you've a separate antispyware utility already protecting you (like the default Windows Defender in Vista).

1.To check if AVG's real-time spyware scanning is on, fire up Security Center from Control Panel (Vista only). You'll probably see something like this under the Malware protection tab.

The Security Center feature of Windows XP doesn't provide information on antispyware, so you'll have to do a bit of poking around - like checking out the icons in your System Tray, or the Add / Remove Programs list in Control Panel - to ensure that you've another antispyware protecting you in the background.

2.If AVG Anti-Virus Free shows up under Spyware and other malware protection, double click on the AVG icon in the System Tray to open it. Go to Tools > Advanced settings...

3.Open the Resident Shield tab, and remove the checkmark next to Scan Potentially Unwanted Programs and Spyware threats.

4.Click Apply and then OK, and you're done! To make sure, open Security Center and AVG Anti-Virus Free would've disappeared from the Spyware protection category.

You can make AVG to scan for spyware anytime again by simply re-enabling the option (which you disabled in step 3). Alternately, click on Show me the antispyware programs on this computer in Security Center, select AVG Anti-Virus Free from the list and click on Turn On...