1. Download the fixed meanwhile library (64 bit only) from here.
2. Install it using pacman:

pacman -U meanwhile-1.0.2-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.gz

3. Install the Arch Build System:

pacman -S abs

4. Run abs so that it can build a repository tree (kinda like portage in Gentoo):

sudo abs

5. Copy the pidgin directory of abs to /tmp:

cp -r /var/abs/extra/pidgin /tmp

6. Go to /tmp and open the pidgin PKGBUILD in nano:

cd /tmp/pidgin
nano PKGBUILD

7. Go to the “build()” section and make sure you remove “–disable-meanwhile” from the configure options. The line should look like this:

./configure –prefix=/usr –sysconfdir=/etc –disable-schemas-install \

8. Make the package:

makepkg

9. Install it:

pacman -U pidgin-2.5.3-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.gz

That’s it! Now you should have sametime support in Pidgin Remember though, you will always have to compile pidgin yourself whenever a newer pidgin version hits the Arch repos.

P.S. For those of you who want to compile a fixed meanwhile on i686 (32 bit) system, follow the instructions here.

If you’re buying a new computer in the near future, it may be a good idea to avoid systems with Phoenix bios on them. There’s recent proof that their 2003 contract with Microsoft has born fruit in their latest bios versions which now prevent you from installing any OS other than Vista. Not only is this a really, really bad move by Phoenix, but it’s also another strike against Microsoft as it seems to be trying to become uber monopolistic in the PC market again simply by locking out anyone and everyone they can. Thank goodness the open bios project is in full swing. We may need them in the near future.

WTF is wrong with Phoenix? And they say it is being done to increase the security of the OS. Yeah right!! How?? The next thing they’l say is unplug it from the internet! This is a joke! Well ill make sure me OR my friends dont lay their hands on a PC with a Phoenix BIOS. Thanks a LOT Microsoft and Phoenix!

Goldman Sachs’ perspective on Windows Vista is not singular. In fact, the view that Vista is the last client operating system from Microsoft has been perpetuating itself even before the product hit the shelves. In fact, back in 2006, Gartner analysts have also put forward the possibility that Windows Vista would be the last of its kind.

“Vista will be the last major release of Windows in its current form. User demands, Microsoft’s business needs and technology changes will move future versions toward a more modular architecture. The trend of bundling even more functionality is set to reverse,” stated Brian Gammage, Michael A. Silver and David Mitchell Smith from Gartner.

Microsoft has strongly denied the scenario in which another Windows platform will not be made available following the Windows Vista release. In fact, the company is currently developing both Windows Fiji, the first service pack for Vista and also Widows Seven.

Details on the operating system designed to replace Windows Vista, under the codenames Windows Vienna and Windows Seven are scarce, but Microsoft has not denied that the development process is in place. This however, combined with the fact that Microsoft has applauded in excess of 20 million sold Vista licenses, failed to prevent Goldman Sachs analysts from expressing some rather bleak predictions about Microsoft’s future as far as the Windows platform is concerned.

“Microsoft stands at a major juncture in its life cycle. The company’s recently launched Vista and Office 2007 products mark the end of multiyear development cycles and should provide strong growth and profits in the next 12-plus months. Normally, this would make us look at the stock as a definitive must-own. At the same time, these launches also potentially mark the end of an era, and changing technology and business models in areas such as Software-as-a-Service, virtualization, and open source seek to diminish Microsoft’s stranglehold on the desktop, which in turn significantly depletes the company’s cash cow. Vista may be the last big operating system developed by the company,” revealed Goldman Sachs.

Source.

“We have learned that Microsoft was notified of malware that was being served through ads placed in Windows Live Messenger banners. As a result of this notification Microsoft immediately investigated the reports and removed the offending ads, as this is a violation of Microsoft’s ad serving policy. Microsoft can confirm that the ads are no longer being served by any Microsoft system,” said Whitney Burk, a company PR manager.

The banners in Windows Live Messenger were pushing Errorsafe, also known as Winfixer, an application that has been labeled as a potentially unwanted program or a security risk. Additionally, the Redmond Company has also SystemDoctor 2006, a rogue antispyware/malware application installed by malware.

“Microsoft apologizes for the inconvenience and is reviewing it’s ad approval process to reduce the chance of an occurrence such as this happening again. To help customers protect their PCs from malware threats, Microsoft recommends customers follow our Protect your PC guidance at www.microsoft.com/protect,” Burk added.

The bottom line is: exercise caution when deploying security solutions backed by unknown or untrusted developers. The fact that Errorsafe/Winfixer was advertised via Windows Live Messenger means that other legitimate services and applications could serve as attack vectors.

Due to different reasons like high hardware requirements, software incompatibility or the price, some people cannot afford to do the migration, at least not in the near future. Of course there are also the conservative users who attached themselves too much to the XP that now they hesitate to make the move believing in its endurance.

For either of the cases presented above, I thought it would be interesting and useful to present you some Vista feature alternatives available for Windows XP. The presentation will consist in showing some Vista features and linked to them, the alternative for the XP users.

The New Vista look

Windows Vista includes a redesigned user interface and visual style, named Windows Aero. Aero is intended to be cleaner and more aesthetically pleasing than previous Windows versions, including transparencies, window animations and eye candy.

Solution:

In order to transform the ordinary Windows XP visual style into a Vista-like one you need to use a Windows theme that resembles to the original one created by Microsoft. The only problem is that Windows XP can use only Microsoft themes. While Microsoft didn’t bother to create and provide a Vista-like theme for the XP users, you need to use a custom made one. Thank God, there are plenty of themes available for free. For instance, I can recommend you to try Royale Vista, a great looking theme that includes wallpapers and fonts, all to create a similar look to Vista. Back to the compatibility problem, it can be fixed. Click here to consult a detailed guide and you will get a brand new look for your XP.

Windows Sidebar

Windows Sidebar is a new panel on the right-hand side of the screen where a user can place Desktop Gadgets, which are small applets designed for a specialized purpose (such as displaying the weather or sports scores). The gadgets can also be placed on other parts of the desktop, if desired. By default, Windows Vista ships with thirteen gadgets: Calculator, Clock, CPU Meter, Currency Conversion, Feed Viewer, Feed Watcher, Notes, Number Puzzle, Picture Puzzle, Recycle Bin, Slide Show, Stocks, and an egg timer. Additional gadgets are published at Microsoft’s web site, which offers both Microsoft-created and user-submitted gadgets in a gallery.

Solution:

Tempting? Don’t worry, I got the replacement! Desktop Sidebar created by Sidebar XP is a nice and free application ready for Windows XP. It offers all kind of utilities like: search bar, Winamp panel, disk monitor, media player, inbox panel etc. No charge!

Another solution would be using Google Desktop. Acting like a sidebar too, Google Desktop works as a holder for gadgets. You can install as many gadgets you may want, all for free. Just download what you need and place it on the sidebar.

Windows Flip and Flip 3D

When using Alt+Tab to switch between open windows, a preview of each open window appears instead of just the program icon. In addition, Windows Flip 3D enables you to flip through a cascading stack of your open windows using the mouse scroll wheel. Windows can be stacked and rotated in 3D to provide views of all of them simultaneously.

Solution:

Do not believe that Windows XP is obsolete because it does not offer cool visual effects when switching between windows. Why don’t you try TopDesk? It manages to bring the amazing flipping and tiling effects from Vista on Windows XP. Thumbnail view, 2D view and even 3D view of the windows can be done using shortcuts; floating buttons are mouse sensitive areas. Please consult the TopDesk review for a complete image of this cool application.

Internet Explorer 7

Windows Vista includes the latest version of Internet Explorer, which adds support for tabbed browsing, Atom, RSS, internationalized domain names, a search box, a phishing filter, an anti-spoofing URL engine, fine-grained control over ActiveX add-ons, thumbnails of all open tabs in a single window (called Quick Tabs), page zoom, and tab groups. Tab groups make it possible to open a folder of Favorites in tabs with a single click.

Solution:

Finally, Microsoft created their first browser tab capable. Lots of IE users migrated to Firefox or other browsers in search of better security and tabbed browsing. Now they can be recovered with the launch of Internet Explorer 7. IE 7 is NOT Vista limited! It can be installed on your Windows XP free of charge with just one condition: the Windows XP you are running must be genuine. To obtain a free copy of the new IE browser, click here!

Media Player 11

Windows Media Player 11 features a fully revamped interface. The Media Library is now presented without the category trees which were prominent in the earlier versions. Rather, on selecting the category in the left pane, the contents appear on the right, in a graphical manner with thumbnails – a stark departure from textual presentation of information. Search has been upgraded to be much faster.

Solution:

Just like Internet Explorer 7, Windows Media player is Windows XP ready. Take advantage of the new look and functions of Media Player 11. To get a full copy, click here. Make sure you are using a genuine copy of Windows XP or the installation won’t continue if the validation check fails.

Original article by Softpedia.

“It is, by its very nature, vulnerable, as is demonstrated by the existence of documented methods for disabling protection. The major vulnerability within PatchGuard is architectural: the code which ensures protection is executed at the same level as code which it is both designed to protect, and to protect against. This protection has the same rights as a potential attacker, and can be evaded or disabled. Ways in which PatchGuard can be exploited or disabled are already known,” explained Shevchenko.

Kaspersky additionally informs that there are rootkits which PatchGuard fails to protect against. The 64-bit Kernel Patch protection in Vista monitors the static structures of the kernel but it doesn’t cover dynamic structures. Kaspersky has exemplified with the FU rootkit, a piece of malicious code that functions by modifying dynamic structures. Also, rootkits based on virtual technology are located deeper than the kernel level.

“The fundamental vulnerability of PatchGuard is due to the fact that it functions at the same level it is designed to protect. This means that if a malicious application has succeeded in loading its driver, it will be able to disable PatchGuard. Of course, this assumes the location of the relevant monitoring function is known – but it’s been clear for a long time that obscurity has little to do with security,” Shevchenko added.

Microsoft however has stated that while PatchGuard is not impervious, it is patchable, and that the Redmond Company will act accordingly if the Kernel Patch protection is breached.

The Redmond Company informed that it plans to introduce a high frequency rate of updates to the website and therefore has made available an RSS feed that would enable users to stay up to date with Windowsultimate.com.

Via Windowsultimate.com, Vista ultimate customers will be able to access blogs authored by various Microsoft personnel, a selection of Extras, products that will integrate seamlessly with the operating system, additional resources through a list of Links and even hardware integration. The Windowsultimate.com website went live on January 7, 2007, concomitantly with the debut of the 2007 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.

Windows Vista Ultimate Extras is certainly a section to keep your eyes on. Vista Ultimate users will be able to download an array of add-ons for the operating system. Microsoft has announced that it plans debut delivering Vista Ultimate add-on together with Vista’s general availability.

“Ultimate Extras won’t be available until January 30th, but you can get a sneak preview right now on the Extras page. Find out about the exciting programs and enhancements that will be available exclusively to those of you with Windows Vista Ultimate. The fine print: Ultimate Extras will not be available in all languages on January 30th. Extras will appear automatically in Windows Update as they do become available, and our team will be sure to write blog entries about the schedule when we have dates to share,” stated the Redmond Company.

As far, neither the exploit nor the PoC for Windows Vista have been submitted to an independent evaluation process. In this context, the authenticity of the Windows Vista 0-day exploit has not been confirmed from any sources aside from its creators. Microsoft has, as yet, failed to issue an official comment.

Trend Micro’s chief technology officer, Raimund Genes confirmed to eWEEK that Trend Micro was able to verify that the 0-day Vista exploit was indeed available for sale on an auctioning marketplace online. The consistent amount for which the 0-day exploit is being auctioned is an indication of the fact that the vulnerability at its basis allows for remote code execution.

Prices for similar code execution vulnerabilities that have not been patched by the developers range from $20,000 to $30,000. As a general rule, the more popular the software, the higher the price. Raimund Genes revealed that bots and Trojan downloaders targeting the Windows operating system have an estimated price of $5,000.

This kind of underground commerce mirrors the fact that the malware environment has geared from a destructive, viral aspect, to a lucrative market. “I think the malware industry is making more money than the anti-malware industry,” Genes commented.

“Windows Vista and the 2007 Microsoft Office system are among Microsoft’s most significant product innovations, representing years of research and development,” said Mr. Ali Faramawy, Vice President Microsoft Europe, Middle East & Africa and Regional Vice President, Microsoft Middle East & Africa. “These products will help businesses overcome the challenges of our increasingly information-saturated world, enhancing the way people collaborate, communicate, protect and manage content, and find, use and share information.”

Windows Vista and the Office 2007 System have been made available in the Gulf region, at Gitex 2006, prior to the official release date in the United States. The Redmond Company has scheduled the unveiling of Vista, Office 2007 and Exchange 2007 under volume licenses at the New York’s Nasdaq stock exchange on November 30.

“Our aim is to be different and an innovator at the cutting edge of technology” said Frederick Sabty, Director of IT at Burj Al Arab. “We offer the world’s best service, the best food and beverages, the most luxurious accommodation, and the best IT. We wanted to make it even easier for our guests to access their e-mail messages, the Internet, and multi-media without the hassle of moving from one Web site or channel to the next. By becoming an early adopter of a new system, we are putting our guests on the first step of a big staircase because eventually they will all be using it for business and leisure.”