First Vista Service Pack beta reportedly in circulation

Numerous PC testers claim they have received an early build of Microsoft's first Service Pack addition to Windows Vista.

Though some loose lips have come forward about the closed beta, specific information in nonexistant. Microsoft seems to be quite watchful of any leaks. ZDNet claims to have received tips from beta testers, each of whom claims to have a different build numbers, giving the notion that the numbers are really codes to track down anyone who spills information.

WinBeta has published images it claims were sent from a Vista SP1 beta tester. The images are mainly nothing more than on-screen text indicating the installation of Service Pack 1, but there is a screenshot of a new DirectX diagnostics tool.

In private discussions, according to ZDNet, Microsoft has said that the private beta would begin in mid July, with a public beta soon to follow, and a final release rollout beginning in November. However, it has never made an official statement regarding the release window of Vista SP1.

Update 2: Steve Jobs unveils new, glossy iMac design

During a press briefing at Apple's corporate campus, Steve Jobs lifted the curtain on the company's new mold for its desktop computer line.

The new iMac will be available with 20" and 24" displays, and will come standard with Firewire 400, Firewire 800, and a built-in iSight camera and microphone. Steve Jobs described the new computers as "glossy", citing that customers have said that's what they want.

Apple will continue using Intel's mobile Core 2 Duo processors with Merom core for the iMac. Processor choices will include CPUs from 2.0 GHz to 2.4 GHz, while users can equip their systems with up to 4 GB (1 GB standard)of memoryand up to 1 TB of hard drive space (250 GB and 320 GB standard). Wireless capability such as draft-n and Bluetooth 2.0 come as a standard feature. The new computers will also include a new and thinner wireless keyboard - resembling the keypad on a Macbook - with controls for display settings, CD/DVD eject, and volume.

Pricing will start at $1199 for the base 20" model, while the 24" version will cost at least $1799.

More details will be available as they break from Apple's event.

Update 2: Latest version of iLife debuts

Apple has just unveiled iLife '08, the company's catch-all software suite for entertainment applications.

The new package has all the same applications, iPhoto, iMovie, iWeb, and iDVD, that were seen in the last version of iLife, but the 2008 version expands on the scope of the entertainment functionality.

As part of iPhoto, Events organizes digital image collections by placing them into event categories. Basically, instead of manually grouping thousands of photos into different folders, Events lets users tag a photo as "birthday", "wedding", or even create a filter at a later date by searching a group of photos imported on a specific date.

The new version of iPhoto will also include integration with .Mac (dot Mac), Apple's Internet subscription service, allowing users to share images on the Web with a couple mouse clicks.

Additionally, iMovie has been completely overhauled to give users a more quick, user-friendly movie creation tool. Doubling as a video storage application, the video editing process is mainly drag-and-drop. It can take in virtually any video source and output in multiple formats, including one specific for iTunes and portable device playback, and a click-and-send tool for YouTube, automatically encoding the video for optimization on the video sharing site.

With iWeb, Apple wants to ease the process of creating a website with Web widgets, making it a one-click process to add things like Google Maps or Google AdSense to a basic page layout. Finally, in iDVD, Apple has added new encoding tools for users to burn their own DVD videos.

The new iLife will be included with all new Mac purchases beginning today. A standalone version is available for around $80.