Vista Release Candidate 1 issued

Microsoft has issued Release Candidate 1 of Windows Vista, a near-final test version of the oft-delayed operating system, reports News.Com.

Retiring Windows chief Jim Allchin told testers in an e-mail there are "a lot of improvements since Beta 2", which was released in May. Among the changes he highlighted are tweaks in the user interface, more device drivers and improved performance, adds the article.

The release candidate is available to some technical beta and corporate testers now and will be made available next week to testers that are part of Microsoft`s MSDN developer network.

A new Google search tool will let people print classics such as Dante`s Inferno or Aesop`s Fables, as well as other books no longer under copyright. Until now, the service has only let people read such books on-screen, reports BBC News.

Working with Google on the Books Library project are Oxford University, Harvard, Stanford, the University of Michigan and the University of California, as well as the New York Public Library.

"Google is offering the books in a 'print-ready` format, as have several other - albeit much smaller and less well-known - firms," adds the article.

Music stars have started opening their eyes to new ways of marketing themselves and their music. Chicago alternative rock band OK Go has "become more popular on the video-sharing Web site YouTube than it ever was on MTV", reports News.Com.

"Music industry watchers can learn from OK Go`s experience, which shows that Web users can catapult a band to fame, challenging the popular assumption that videos need to cost thousands of dollars or be directed by Hollywood filmmakers," states the article.

Sites such as YouTube, MySpace, PureVolume and others allow aspiring artists to post videos, albeit usually grainy, low quality productions, at little or no cost.