Sunday tech buffet: secure XP with cool free tools, snag hot beta software, earn unexpected cash

Rob Pegoraro reviews 5 years of working with Windows XP and lessons learned along the way. Windows Vista may have its own unique set of problems; if only we knew what they were beforehand. While we may not know Vista’s future problems, we can take action to repair XP’s shortcomings. Help Windows XP overcome its flaws with free security tools:

• DropMyRights, a Microsoft security tool, may “… help users who must run as an administrator run applications in a much-safer context—that of a non-administrator…” Michael Howard [Microsoft Security Gem: Chris Pirillo]
• Free Security tools that really work [Infoworld] (network administrator tools assess security)
• XP cheatsheet :’keyboard shortcuts for xp. ‘[Skimming the cream...]
• code snippets: quick switch from static ip to dhcp [Bigbold: 3515 users tagging and storing useful source code snippets]
• If you downloaded Internet Explorer 7.0, you’ll also find Microsoft’s User Agent String add-in helpful; it permits IE 7.0 to masquerade as IE 6.0. [H Consumer Microsoft Watch: Jim Rapoza]

Betas:

• If Your computer can handle Vista’s voracious hardware requirements, you may wish to download the latest 32 bit Microsoft Vista, version 5728 iso (2.5 gig download: dvd iso image). Visit CyberTechNews for 64 bit version download link and more.
• New versions this week: Picasa, Opera, Google Earth … and more [BetaNews]

Earn some cash: Who doesn’t use Google: digg: Google wants to pay YOU to improve its usability… [ZD NET]
Resources: Findory, TagJag, Dailyrotation