Gizmodo: extend

Windows XP Gets Another Six Months to Live: Will Not Go Gently Into that Good Night

Dan Nosowitz — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 10:00:00 EDT

According to a leaked email from a PC OEM, Microsoft has officially extended the life of its now-beloved Windows XP, moving the date of planned obsolescence from January 31, 2009 all the way to July 31, 2009. In the wake of its very expensive ad campaign promoting (in a roundabout way) Vista, the move is a bit surprising. Essentially, Microsoft is trying to let users skip Vista completely, moving directly from XP to its forthcoming OS, Windows 7. The deadline for OEMs to include Windows XP recovery discs has been pushed back a couple of times already, and apparently some Microsoft hardware partners want it even further in the future than July. XP has become the Bill Clinton of OSs (stay with me here): yeah, it was great at the time, but it's showing its age and its enthusiasm for the new guy is sometimes suspect. Windows 3.11 in 2008! [The Register UK]

Laptop Confidential II: Dark Armed

skidder — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 17:21:54 EDT

Gizmodo Tip: Easy Method To Extend Your Zune's Battery Life

Jason Chen — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 20:40:03 EST

Here's a cheap and easy way to extend your Zune's battery life. If you're not going to be using the player for a few hours, turn it off by holding down on the directional pad and the back button at the same time. After three seconds, the Zune will power down into a sort of hibernation mode.

By using this instead of just holding down the play/pause button, you'll lose the ability to start up again exactly where you left off, plus you'll have to watch the Zune startup logo again, but you save some battery life. – Jason Chen

A simple trick for extending Zune battery life [Zunerama]