Category Archives: Software

Category containing all information relating to software.

Get the old Windows Live Essentials (2009) back – Messenger, Mail, Writer etc

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Update 23/03/2014, 20/08/2015: It still amazes me how much traffic this page gets (by far the most popular post on this site) – people still want Windows Live Essentials 2009! A few things to note… first of all, Windows Live Messenger is no longer supported by Microsoft and it’s now built into Skype, so use that instead. Additionally, the rest of the software still works fine (including Windows Live Mail which is the most requested item), but do bear in mind that the 2009 version isn’t designed for Windows 8/8.1/10, so you may have limited success (not tried it myself). Best of luck!

If, like me, you’ve tried Windows Live Essentials 2011 and dislike it – you’ve come to the right place.

I can’t stand the new Windows Live Messenger or the fact that Windows Live Mail now seems to display an error every time you download a new email. Microsoft clearly didn’t put enough work into this one. So until they fix the issues with it, I’m back with 2009.

Sadly, however, Microsoft have removed the download links for Windows Live Essentials 2009 which is quite annoying. You can still get the web installer from some sites on the internet, but I suspect Microsoft will remove the resources for this soon.

Have no fear though. GEEK! has the full installer which you can download and install to get the 2009 version back. You must uninstall the 2011 version first completely, and then install this version again.

Download now
File size: 134.85 MB

File is on Google servers. You will get a warning that the file can’t be scanned for viruses by Google – this is just because it’s too big for them to scan. Please see the disclaimer below.

Disclaimer: GEEK! has made every effort to ensure the safety of this download by scanning it for viruses and uploading it to a reputable server. However, GEEK! is not responsible for damage to you or your equipment through use of this download or software. Use at your own risk. This download has been provided purely for historical version provision purposes and is not in any way an intention to breach copyright.

Microsoft Dreamspark – free Microsoft software for students

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I can’t believe I’ve only just stumbled across this, but Microsoft are now offering a whole bundle of professional software to students for free.

They call it Microsoft Dreamspark, and it’s a website ran by the company. If you’re in post-16 or university education, you can get a hefty chunk of their professional software for free. Being a student myself, this is very handy.

Amongst other things, you can get Microsoft Visual Basic 2010 Pro, Microsoft Expression Studio 4 Ultimate and Windows Server 2008 for free until you finish university.

All you have to do is prove your education. This is relatively easy – if you have an ISIS card, an .edu (or .ac.uk) email address you can activate within a few minutes. If not, you can go through the process of applying for activation from your college or uni. You have to re-activate every year to get continued use of your software, but it’s well worth it.

It’s available in multiple countries, so don’t hesitate to check if you aren’t in the US or UK.

If you are a student computer enthusiast or programmer, head over to www.dreamspark.com and claim your free software!

Apple releases iTunes 10.0.1 with nothing that much new

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Apple has recently released their latest version of iTunes 10.0.1 with, it has to said, nothing of any significance that’s new.

It seems to have some minor improvements to Apple’s Ping service, but other than that, there’s nothing particularly interesting to report.

So much for a huge download. Typical Apple. When will Apple learn that not all of us have endless bandwidth allowances?!

Apple makes it clear that they have enough fart apps

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I’m not joking! Apple has recently released a document that reminds developers of the rules and guidelines with regards to apps in the App Store.

Feast your eyes on this. It’s a good read!

My favourites from the document are as follows:

“We don’t need any more Fart apps.”

“If you run to the press and trash us, it never helps.”

“If it sounds like we’re control freaks, well, maybe it’s because we’re so committed to our users and making sure they have a quality experience with our products. Just like almost [!!] all of you are too.

The document then goes on to list every single rule of the app development.

So, if you’re looking into making an app anytime soon – remember Apple said this: “If your App looks like it was cobbled together in a few days, or you’re trying to get your first practice App into the store to impress your friends, please brace yourself for rejection. We have lots of serious developers who don’t want their quality Apps to be surrounded by amateur hour.”

[Updated] iPhone OS 4.1 coming September 8th – in the UK at least

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Update: 4.1 is now live.

Update: This date has now been removed from the Apple site. The launch date of September 8th 2010 still remains on Wikipedia.

The Apple UK site now confirms that the OS 4.1 update for iPhone will be coming on September 8th. The iPod Touch page still says “Coming Soon”, as does the US site.

However, Apple usually launch all of their firmware updates on the same day so it gives me reason to believe that it will be launched to everyone on that date.

Unless you have one of the newer iPhones (iPhone 3Gs or 4) there isn’t really that much to get excited about. The iPod touch seems to be gaining Ping functionality within the iTunes app together with a new “Game Center” (I know that should be “centre” but Apple don’t seem to know British spelling). If you have an iPhone, you’ll also gain HD uploads to YouTube on the go and HDR photography.

So nothing to get too excited. Personally, I think Apple should be concentrating more on getting iPad users onto 4.0. Apple don’t seem to have much time for iPad users at the moment.