Minecraft Snapshot w27

The release date to Minecraft 1.3 is in August 1st.

• Performance improvements, including reduced CPU, RAM & bandwidth requirements.
• Updated Pistons to make them less error-prone, thus they also appear to update slower. This also altered the way Pistons work, so you might have to adapt your repeater delays and similar.
• Added /debug <start|stop> command.
• Signs are stackable up to 16.
  • Crafting them now gives 3 signs instead of 1 with the same recipe.
• Creative mode inventory now shows potion effects.
• Boats now drop the boat item when destroyed by a player.
  • In creative mode, Boats and Minecarts are destroyed in one click.
• Gaining Experience from mining ore is now different for each type of ore. (Mining Coal will give you the least amount while Diamond Ore & Emerald Ore will give the most amount of XP).
• Fortune enchantments no longer affect Experience drop rates
• The Debug (F3) Pie chart now shows the game rendering performance (White)
• Nether Wart can now grow in the Overworld and The End

Bug Fixes:

All text on the signs is gone upon loading the world, the text is actually still saved but not shown. Additionally, pigs show in all spawners. Both have been confirmed fixed for next snapshot. The snapshot may give "Internal Server Error" randomly, kicking the player. Quickly reconnecting may result in a crash of the Minecraft client. When the server is set to spawn-monsters=false The server still naturally spawns them. Client: http://assets.minecraft.net/12w27a/minecraft.jar Server: http://assets.minecraft.net/12w27a/minecraft_server.jar  You can also check more information about Minecraft 1.3 here: http://www.mojang.com/2012/07/minecraft-1-3-info-snapshot-w27/

Microsoft announces upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for $ 39.99

Microsoft has just confirmed the price to upgrade from previous versions of Windows and is clearly demonstrated that the bet is towards a mass update, especially for those still using Windows XP or Vista.

The method of upgrading to Windows 8 will be as simple as possible, from an older version, without the usual complications of formats and "boots" from another drive. The assistant that allows you to do so online, is capable of generating a complete compliance report detailing the problems that may arise after the upgrade, which may stop working and what needs to be done to avoid such problems.

There will also be able to choose whether to keep some information from your old Windows. In three

Minecraft Snapshot Week 25

The 1.3 version should be out soon i hope, so far we have the snapshots.

And these are the news:

• Added an "Open to LAN" menu in the in-game menu, which allows players to open their world to other players. In the menu, the player can choose to turn cheats on or off, and choose the game mode.
• The multiplayer menu now scans for LAN servers (singleplayer worlds which are on the same LAN and have been published with the /publish command).
• Villagers may remove a trade option after it has been used at least 3 times.
• Added wooden stairs for the remaining three wood types (spruce, birch and jungle).
• Redstone (including repeaters, torches, levers, and pressure plates) and Rails can now be placed on slabs and stairs positioned upside down.
• Removed the downwards knockback while drowning.
• Pigs now drop 1-3 Porkchops instead of 0-2.
• Improved memory usage.^[2]
• “A lot of smaller changes and fixes”.
• The /tp command now allows teleporting to specified coordinates.
  • The syntax for this is /tp [target player] <x> <y> <z>.
  • The other functionality of the /tp command is still there. 
  
  
  

Get the snapshot here: 

• Client: http://assets.minecraft.net/12w25a/minecraft.jar
• Server: http://assets.minecraft.net/12w25a/minecraft_server.jar

Surface, the new Microsoft Tablet.

Will be two different base models, one with Windows RT, and the other with Windows Pro 8 Each one of these models will have sub-models with different capabilities.

Windows Model RT

     Operating System: Windows RT
     Processor: ARM (nVidia Tegra 3 +)
     Weight: 676 g
     Thickness: 9.3 mm
     Display: 10.6 "HD Display ClearType
     Consumption: 31.5 W-h
     Connectivity: microSD, USB 2.0, Micro HD Video, Antenna MIMO 2 × 2 MIMO
     Camera: Front and rear
     Software: Office Home & Student 2013 RT
     Interface: Touch Cover, Cover Type
     Cover: VaporMg Case & Stand
     Capacity: 32GB or 64GB

Windows 8 Pro Model

     Operating System: Windows 8 Pro
     Processor: Intel Core i5 Ivy Bridge
     Weight: 903 g
     Thickness: 13.5 mm
     Display: 10.6 "Full HD Display ClearType
     Consumption: 42 W-h
     Connectivity: microSDXC, USB 3.0, Mini DisplayPort Video, 2 × 2 MIMO antenna
     Camera: Front and rear
     Interface: Touch Cover, Cover Type, Palm Block with Pen
     Cover: VaporMg Case & Stand
     Capacity: 64 GB or 128 GB

Cover Type: Cover with physical keyboard

Touch Cover: cover with touch keyboard

Images from Microsoft official site, you can see more about surface here Surface by Microsoft

Minecraft Snapshot Week 24

So last week snapshot doesn't any news, it was only to fix some bugs...

But this week we have more great news

• Allowed those connected to a player's LAN network to join SP games
  • The player can now use “/publish” to open your single-player game for LAN players to join. This is still very much work in progress, so it lacks some necessary settings such as what game mode players will get, and if they should be able to use cheats or not. Also, the “/publish” command is temporary, since the player can not even access it if they have not enabled cheats (LAN connections will be GUI based in the future)
  • Added the /tp command from multiplayer to singleplayer, allowing teleporting between players.
• The player can now place Levers on the underside of blocks, upside-down^[2]
• Improved Ender Chests
  • Now has an inventory per player and not per world. Also, knocking down the chest will break it into 8 obsidian, unless the player has Silk Touch
• Updated language files
  • End Portal Frames now have a tooltip
• The texture pack folder button now works on Mac.
• A lot of smaller changes and fixes.

Minecraft Snapshot Week 22

From now i'll follow the minecraft snapshots.

This is ,personally, one of the best snapshots, it has some great news, i can't wait for 1.3 update.

Quick overview of changes:

• Trading with villagers has been updated;
• Enchantment system has been rebalanced;
• A new Redstone-activating block;
• Better Creative inventory;
• Pausing should work in single-player now;
• Some minor terrain changes;
• Added an “adventure” game mode (/gamemode 2), but requires more work;
• A lot of smaller changes and fixes.

Some screenshots that i took in game:

 New creative inventory

 Added emerald ore/block and emerald

New buildings (Desert and Jungle Temple)

 New Redstone-activating block

 Get the snapshot here:

• Client: http://assets.minecraft.net/12w22a/minecraft.jar 

• Server: http://assets.minecraft.net/12w22a/minecraft_server.jar (or EXE)

Windows 8 Release Preview available for download

It has now been released another version, the Release Preview, which goes to show what has been done since February and that may be the last public release before the official launch of Windows 8.

This new version, available in 14 languages​​, includes, in addition to Windows 8, Internet Explorer 10 and 8 new Windows applications to connect to Hotmail, Messenger and SkyDrive (and more). Were also added hundreds of new applications in Windows Store.

System Requirements

The Windows 8 Preview Release works on the same hardware that Windows 7:

• Processor: 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster 
• RAM: 1 gigabyte (GB) of RAM (32 bit) or 2 GB of RAM (64 bits)
• Hard disk space: 16 GB (32 bit) or 20 GB (64 bits)
• Graphics: Microsoft DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM

Additional requirements to use certain features:

To use the tactile features, you need a tablet or monitor that supports multitouch. 

To visit the Store Windows and to download applications and run them, you need an active Internet connection and a screen with a minimum resolution of 1024 x 768.
To dock applications, you need a screen with a minimum resolution of 1366 x 768.
Internet access

You can Donwnload Windows 8 Release Preview here:

• 32bits(x86) [2.5GB]

• 64bits(x64) [3.3GB]