via manolution.com
"The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do." Steve Jobs 1955-2011
With Visual Search, Microsoft may have added a feature to Bing that gives it a leg up on Google in their ongoing search war. Current Visual Search galleries fall in categories including entertainment, famous people, reference, shopping and sports. To use Visual Search, people must first download Silverlight, a hurdle that could impede usage. Some computer users report problems with downloading the multimedia plugin, which also may be blocked by corporate security systems.
Microsoft DirectX is a group of technologies designed to make Windows-based computers an ideal platform for running and displaying applications rich in multimedia elements such as full-color graphics, video, 3D animation, and rich audio. DirectX includes security and performance updates, along with many new features across all technologies, which can be accessed by applications using the DirectX APIs. At the core of DirectX are its application programming interfaces, or APIs. The APIs act as a kind of bridge for the hardware and the software to "talk" to each other.
The DirectX APIs give multimedia applications access to the advanced features of high-performance hardware such as three-dimensional (3-D) graphics acceleration chips and sound cards. They control low-level functions, including two-dimensional (2-D) graphics acceleration; support for input devices such as joysticks, keyboards, and mice; and control of sound mixing and sound output.
Because of DirectX, what you experience with your computer is better 3-D graphics and immersive music and audio effects.
Download : DirectX End-User Runtimes 9.27.1734 Redistributable (August 2009)
We had a good feeling that Microsoft might have a thing or two to announce around Windows 7 Media Center at the upcoming CEDIA show in Atlanta this September, but now we can start the official countdown. The after-hours event at ESPN Zone will help kick off the show in Atlanta at 6:30pm -- the event is invite only, but don't worry, we'll be brining you the events live as they happen. Although the specific announcements are anyone's guess, the invite did let us know that all of the Windows Media Center news and updates will break there, as well as the winner of the Ultimate Install Contest. So that's just over two weeks until all your home media hopes will be fulfilled -- or destroyed -- depending on your perspective.
