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Neptune was the codename for a version of the Windows operating system that was under development by Microsoft during 1999. It was based on Windows 2000 and was scheduled to be the first consumer version of Windows to be built on NT code, to replace the Windows 9x series. In early 2000, Microsoft merged the team working on Neptune with that developing Windows Odyssey, the upgrade to Windows 2000 for business customers. The combined team worked on a new project codenamed Whistler, which was released at the end of 2001 as Windows XP. In the meantime, Microsoft released another home user DOS-based operating system called Windows Me. Only one alpha build of Neptune, 5111, was released to testers under a non-disclosure agreement, and later made its way to various beta collectors' sites and virtual museums. Also, there were at least two other builds, which were Build 5000, which was released to very few people, and Build 5022. Build 5000 is very heavily debated. In the ear...

Nvidia’s GTX 680 emphasizes efficiency, pours on the speed Nvidia takes the wraps off Kepler, its next-generation GPU, and quite possibly the greatest step forward for graphics processing since it unveiled the G80 in November 2006.  The first desktop card out of the gate is the GTX 680. Unlike the 5xx series, which were based on a refined version of the Fermi architecture Nvidia debuted back in 2010, Kepler uses a new GK104 GPU — and its design is a sharp departure from Nvidia’s previous architectures. Over the past five years, Nvidia’s GPU strategy has more-or-less amounted to “Everything+Kitchen Sink and we’ll sort things out when we do the refresh.” After the disastrous debut of its R600 architecture in 2006, AMD adopted a strategy of building smaller, mid-range oriented parts and doubling them up to address the high end of the market — Nvidia, in contrast, adamantly stuck to its monolithic guns. Until Kepler. The transistor counts below are from Nvidia; Kepler’s ...

What a long, strange trip it’s been. As Microsoft throws their considerable weight behind the Windows Phone platform, they’re running out of love for their still-kicking Windows Mobile OS , and today they’ve driven another nail into its coffin. According to a new email being circulated to users as I write this, the Windows Mobile 6.x Marketplace will officially shut down on May 9. The move to kill the Windows Mobile Marketplace (not the newer Windows Phone Marketplace, to be clear) has been in the works for a while now — it began back in June 2011 , when Microsoft announced that Windows Mobile users would no longer be able to download apps from the Marketplace website. Fortunately, apps could still be downloaded directly to a user’s device though that functionality will soon go dark. Microsoft advises WinMo users (all 9 of you, really) to make sure to snag whatever updates you can, because you’ll be out of luck before long. It’s worth mentioning though that while Microsoft ...

Since the SQL Azure database services are in the cloud, you do not have to worry about high availability and scalability. SQL Azure will maintain a “Monthly Availability” of 99.9% during a calendar month. For example, you or your network administrators do not have to spend time on high availability which is taken care by the services. Also, you don’t have to worry about security patches and service packs which will be installed by the service provider. Using SQL Azure. SQL Azure is still in CTP , the SQL Azure Database CTP is available for free and you can register below to receive an invitation. Due to high demand for the SQL Azure Database CTP, there may be some delays in receiving your invitation codes. http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=149681&clcid=0×09 Editions & Pricing. There are two editions for SQL Azure, namely Web and Business. While self-managed DB and auto high-availability features are supported in both editions, there are few differences between t...

Microsoft on Monday announced a version of Windows that runs over the Internet from inside Microsoft's own data centers.  Dubbed Windows Azure, it's less a replacement for the operating system that runs on one's own PC than it is an alternative for developers, intended to let them write programs that live inside Microsoft's data centers as opposed to on the servers of a given business.  "It's a transformation of our software and a transformation of our strategy," said Ray Ozzie, a computing industry pioneer who now serves as Microsoft's chief software architect. (For a play-by-play account of Ozzie's speech, see " PDC 2008: Windows Azure live blog .") Microsoft first outlined a shift to "Live Services" at an event in San Francisco in 2005. The company has released a few things piecemeal, such as Live Mesh , but Monday's announcement marked the first real discussion of how Microsoft's disparate Internet stra...