Windows 7 News

Windows 7 RTM: July 13th Confirmed

Sean Marshall — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:14:52 +0000

It’s been reported by neowin.net that July 13 will be the day that Windows 7 is RTM (Released To Manufacturing). This is great news all around for Windows 7 users. This means the code will be finalized and Microsoft will give the green light to it’s manufacturers. They in turn will begin production of the millions of DVDs, that will house the new Microsoft operating system for the public to buy.

Finally in 10 days we will pass the milestone I have been eagerly waiting on. No more beta testing, or release candidates. No more five leaked builds a week. No more bi-hourly shutdowns and expiration dates; it will be the real deal – as long as there are not any major problems or setbacks. But, Microsoft should have had plenty of time to work out all the kinks and bugs. So, I expect them to keep to the schedule.

Which means we are still on track for the GA (General Availability) date of 10-22-09. This is the date where you and I should be able to go your local Best Buy or wherever and buy it off the shelf. That is when we will see how well the public likes Windows 7. Is it gonna fly off the shelves and break records? Who knows. Am I going to buy a copy of Windows 7 Ultimate? I have already pre-ordered it!

I think in the next couple of months we will see a huge increase in Windows 7 news and coverage. The closer we get to Oct.22nd, the more Microsoft will be putting out information and lots of advertising. This is beginning of the end my friends. It is about to be a whirlwind of Windows 7 publicity. I for one can’t wait and am very excited to bring you all the latest Windows 7 news. Thanks goes to you for making this site great. Feel free to comment.

6.1.7264.0.win7_rtm.090622-1900, 7/13/09, windows 7 GA, windows 7 rtm, Windows 7 x64

Redesigned Windows 7 News Site

Everton — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:46:24 +0000

The Windows 7 News site has just undergone a major overhaul, with the launch of a complete new design. The new design is a lot fresher and improves several areas for both new and old users. I think everything is working ok, but if you spot any errors then please let me know.

Key Improvements:

Much cleaner design
Wider reading pane to improve readability
Bigger thumbnails and gallery images
Much, much faster pageloads – and more to come
Better access to category navigation
Category RSS and individual post RSS options
Better support of threaded comments
Better integration of Search (now in header), Archives Search and new Site Map
Fewer adverts
Access to more posts from homepage

There will be many more changes over the next couple of weeks, including a new logo from our $200 competition winner. If you want to see any new features on the site then just let me know!

wordpress theme

What will Apple’s response be to Windows 7, Part 3 (The Reckoning)

Mike — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 07:55:42 +0000

It’s been a great many years since Apple and Microsoft fans started bashing each other in forums and chat rooms, both ardent supporters of their corner and determined to fight to the death to win the argument. Yesterday, I wrote part 2 of this article series and it caused some considerable debate. I have to say the quality of the debate was generally very high and balanced. There was one comment though that I thought made a good point about anyone who writes about Microsoft or Apple at the moment.

Andy Clarke wrote “How much are Microsoft paying you guys at Windows7news.com? All I’m hearing is blinkered and biased propaganda from you guys.”

Yesterday I wrote that I believe that all operating systems these days are pretty much the same, Windows, Mac OS X and GNU/Linux (Yes, I stand corrected on that one) and that to the casual observer it was hard sometimes to tell them apart. I went on to say that I believed anyone who said that one was better than any other really should be saying it’s just better “for them”.

It’s quite common though nowadays for commentators such as ourselves to be accused of bias. This is Windows7News after all, so our remit is to write about Windows 7. We don’t have a Mac focus so wouldn’t be writing about that unless, as is the case with this article series, it’s relevant to our core subject.

It can be difficult to balance objective writing sometimes when you’re only mentioning other products in passing. This goes doubly so, I believe, for OS X because of the strong feelings people have about it.

Apple make quite exceptional products. The iPod created almost on its own the market for MP3 players and iTunes has led the way in selling downloadable music. Both of these are great for consumers. The iPhone has revolutionised the small smartphone market which I, with an HTC Touch HD, am benefiting from and truly appreciate. The iMac finally made computers acceptable in the living room and, I think, has significantly boosted the market for all-in-one PCs and, in a sideways kind’a way, has helped boost Windows Media Centre.

There are people who believe that Apple is abusing a potentially monopolistic market position, though obviously not with the Mac, and is being ignored in exactly the same way as Microsoft isn’t. Let me be clear on this. For many years, Microsoft was in the same boat, being ignored and abusing a monopolistic position. It’s won’t last for Apple, but nobody can begrudge them having a go for as long as they can get away with it, that’s business! What the future holds for Microsoft and Apple regards legislation and monopolies commissions is anybody’s guess at this stage.

I don’t personally believe that the status quo, regards the market share occupied by Apple and Microsoft, will change in the next decade or so. It would have to take something disasterous on Microsoft’s part, like Apple writing an OS for PCs, to change that. Even then we’re all creatures of habit and generally resistant to change.

Do I own any products by Apple. Let me come right out now and say no. I don’t own any kind of MP3 player, I bought an HTC phone because you can’t (yet) create Excel files on the iPhone (though I’m open to the possibility of buying one) and, much as I love the look and power of iMacs, I think they’re simply too expensive and enjoy building my own computers anyway. Windows is good “for me”.

As for the rest of you, I’m personally very surprised by how many of you run both PCs and Macs (would confuse the hell out of me). Keep it up, and keep the conversation flowing.

apple

Use A Classic Start Menu In Windows 7

Martin — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 07:23:13 +0000

Windows 7 does not provide its users a way to change the start menu to the classic start menu. This is probably a feature that not many users want but there are surely some users who prefer to work with the classic start menu than the new one. The only way to work with a classic start menu is to use a third party software program since there is no built in way to activate a classic start menu.

The application Windows 7 Classic Start Menu has been created just for that purpose. It can be pinned to the Windows 7 from where it can be executed. Please note that this does not replace the existing start menu in Windows 7.

The installation could be a bit tricky as it requires UAC confirmations. After downloading the software run the installer. The installer will place icons on the computer desktop including a CS Menu First Run icon which needs to be executed after the installation. The current user needs to logout afterwards.

All that’s left to do is to move the pin the program icon into the Windows 7 Taskbar. A click on that icon will display a classic start menu which can be configured further to suite the needs of the user.

classic start menu, start menu, Windows 7, windows 7 software, windows 7 start menu

I Am A PC. Are You?

Sean Marshall — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 07:01:24 +0000

So here we are. On the brink of Windows 7 finally hitting the market. Will it sell well? Will it sell poorly? I don’t care either way. Because I will be using Windows 7 until the beta program for Windows 8 starts up. Which should start in roughly 2 1/2 years give or take! I will probably never switch to a Mac. I am an avid Windows user. I like Windows operating systems in general. Some are better than others. Take XP over Vista; even though if you trimmed down Vista, it worked really well and in my opinion looked way better than XP. But unfortunately for Vista, it did not work as well as Seven or XP right out of the box.

No matter how you look at it, Windows is everywhere. It has the dominant market share all over the world, and ten years from now it probably still will. But, none of these are why I am a PC. Would you like to know why I am a PC? Well if your still reading this, then that is a yes. The reason I am a PC is because I like the way Windows operating systems function over Macs.

Now before the comment section gets blown out of the water, let me explain. I use a Mac fairly often; my brother has three of them, so I am familiar with how they work in comparison to Windows. But, I like Windows better. There I said it. In fact, I think Windows 7 is generally better than its competition all around.

When I was using Vista I did sometimes feel like my brother had a better OS, but not anymore. Windows 7 finally made me realize that Windows is back in the game. Look around you – I have seen so much coverage of Windows 7 on the internet it is mind boggling. The vast majority of people who have tried Windows 7 like it, and I have to agree with them.

So, I am proud to say that I am a PC and I am not going anywhere, anytime soon. Now bring on Windows 8! What do you the readers think? Are you PCs or Macs? Or both?

OSX, pc, Windows 7, windows vista, windows xp

Windows 7 Family Pack

Martin — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:45:25 +0000

Kristian Kenney spotted an interesting clause in the Microsoft Software License Terms of Windows 7 Home Premium hinting at family licensing packs for that edition of Windows 7. Here is the new clause in the Windows 7 Home Premium terms:

2. INSTALLATION AND USE RIGHTS.
a. One Copy per Computer. Except as allowed in Section 2 (b) below, you may install one copy of the software on one computer. That computer is the “licensed computer.”

b. Family Pack. If you are a “Qualified Family Pack User”, you may install one copy of the software marked as “Family Pack” on three computers in your household for use by people who reside there. Those computers are the “licensed computers” and are subject to these license terms. If you do not know whether you are a Qualified Family Pack User, visit go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?Linkid=141399 or contact the Microsoft affiliate serving your country.

It basically states that Microsoft will be offering a Windows 7 Home Premium Family Pack which can be installed on up to three computer systems in the household. There is no word on the pricing yet. Ed Bott speculates that Microsoft will match or even surpass Apple’s Family Pack which sells for $199 and allows users to install the operating system five times. The Family Pack is only offered for the Windows 7 Home Premium operating system and not Windows 7 Professional or Windows 7 Ultimate. It is also likely that businesses are not allowed to use this version.

The interesting question is definitely about the price of the Family Pack edition. Offering it for $199 or $189 as Ed Bott suggest would mean that it would be offered at roughly the same price as the normal Windows 7 Home Premium edition (according to Amazon.com who sell the edition for $199). It is therefor likely that the price will be higher than $199 unless a requirement would be a Windows Vista or Windows XP operating system license.

family pack, home premium, home premium family pack, windows 7 family pack, windows 7 home premium

Windows Vista Ultimate: Ultimate OS or Ultimate Scam

Robert — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:04:29 +0000

When Vista was first released, Microsoft used BitLocker and the promise that Ultimate Extras would be released on a regular basis, convincing some users that Ultimate would be worth the steep price, which was initially $400. However, after the years went by, some Vista users got more and more angry, and ever more articles were created in which writers and users accused Microsoft of ripping them off. Instead of the regular updates that users were led to believe that they would receive, paying as much as $160 extra for the Ultimate version, Vista Ultimate users have received nothing but a few extra, rarely used features, a Hold’Em game (among the millions of other free Hold’Em games, available for any OS), some language packs (useless for most people), some sounds, Tinker, and the ability to use videos as your desktop.

The language packs should have been included by default (or offered) for every Vista edition, considering that it’s languages; charging for the language packs is basically charging extra for the interface. The few extra features, Dreamscene, the two games, and the sounds are understandably exclusive to Ultimate; however, they are most certainly not worth the extra $100-160 that Microsoft charged. Now, with Microsoft’s decision to allow pre-ordering of Home Premium and Professional (but not Ultimate), Microsoft has slapped the Vista Ultimate users in the face. Not only did these users get ~~ripped off~~ tricked, but they are also being denied a chance to obtain the Ultimate version of Windows 7 at a fair price (to help lessen the sting of Vista Ultimate).

This cannot be a good marketing move as most Vista Ultimate users (such as myself) are passionate about technology and Microsoft as a whole, and not just your ordinary, silent customers. We wanted unique, exciting extras that were exclusive to Vista Ultimate (every Ultimate Extra except for the language packs have been ported back to XP and other Vista editions) and ongoing, yet Microsoft coughed up almost nothing. Instead of hurting their competition with Vista Ultimate, Microsoft has enticed Vista Ultimate users to simply buy the Home Premium version this time around, or even more drastic, switch to a different OS such as GNU/Linux or buy a Mac. And now that Windows 7 Ultimate has been announced, it appears that it will simply be Windows Vista Ultimate without DreamScene or other Vista Ultimate extras.

Instead of simply apologizing (if you can even call it an apology) for the ~~outright scam~~ failure that was Vista Ultimate, Microsoft could at least offer a significant discount on the upgrade version of Windows 7 Ultimate for Vista Ultimate users (as the final Ultimate extra), or maybe even eliminate the Ultimate (Enterprise) SKU and combine it with Professional. This would simplify the abundance of SKUs and make the pain of Vista Ultimate a little easier.

What do you think?

apologizes, dreamscene, enterprise, extras, hold em, hold'em, Microsoft, professional, scam, tinker, ultimate, Vista, vista ultimate, Windows 7

Off-Topic: Launching Otaku Gadgets

Everton — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 11:02:18 +0000

Windows 7 News has been running for nearly 2 years, and is run jointly by myself and Martin. The site has exceeded all our goals, and Windows 7 hasn’t even launched yet! We’d like to thank you the readers for making the last 2 years so enjoyable.

We’ve since launched Windows 8 News which is growing nicely, and we’ve just launched our latest joint venture. We both have always wanted to do a dedicated gadgets site, so we’ve launched Otaku Gadgets.

We’ve also recruited a great team of authors to help grow the site quickly, who are creating some great posts:

We hope that you’ll check ou Otaku Gadgets and help our new baby grow. If you’re interested, here are some posts from other sites that Martin and I run:

Windows 8 News

Unofficial Windows 8 Concept Video

One Tip A Day

gHacks

Otaku gadgets

What will Apple’s response be to Windows 7, Part 2

Mike — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 08:44:49 +0000

There’s been a few comments recently on my article “what will Apple’s response be to Windows 7“, and it’s hardly surprising as any conversation about Microsoft and Apple / PCs and Macs will always get a debate going. In part I think the recent interest will be because of the news that Steve Jobs has returned to work after a period of illness.

Many commentators are saying that there’s very little between the two operating systems, and indeed Linux, these days. I’d say this is extremely accurate. All the operating systems do the same things in broadly similiar ways. They have the same features, all generally look similar and it can be hard sometimes for a casual observer to tell them apart.

The differences all come in the implementation. Microsoft have always gone for the ’simple’ approach while Apple’s focus has always been on making things ‘easy’ (which brings up the whole Windows 7 Simple vs Easy argument again). The implementations are different and different operating systems will suit different people and different ways of working. Anyone who comments “Mac’s are better because” or “Windows is best because” should really be saying it’s just better for them!

This brings me on to Windows 7 vs Snow Leopard which are even more similar because both Microsoft and Apple have announed that their latest operating systems are focusing on being smaller and quicker than the previous versions. Now, even the development cycles are the same.

Suffice to say though that Apple WILL have a response to Windows 7 and I don’t believe it’s going to be a pretty one. Rather than let Snow Leopard stand on its own merits, the battle will be waged on TVs and billboards, we’ve already seen the first signs of it, and in the run up to October 22nd we can be sure that Apple will be slinging as much mud at Microsoft as possible.

This, I believe, will be their only response as, because the operating systems are all so similiar these days, it’s the only response they can give. It’s a shame because it’s slowly turning Apple into the nasty company they’ve always tried so hard not to be. But in the middle of a financial crisis and in a global competitive marketplace, is it all that big business can be?

The question also has to be asked how behaviour such as this can possibly be in the best interests of consumers.

Microsoft’s response so far to these adverts has been pretty considered and professional. They should keep this up and not get drawn into professional mud-slinging. This way they might finally be able to take the moral high ground that Apple have occupied for so long.

Comments invited.

apple, steve jobs

Windows 7 Beta Ends Today! How To Upgrade to Windows 7 RC

Everton — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 08:08:24 +0000

Announcement: 50% discount on Windows 7 Pre-Orders for a limited amount of time.

A gentle reminder to readers who may still be running the Windows 7 Beta that it will start shutting down every 2 hours from today. To stop this you need to upgrade to Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC), which won’t suffer the same fate until March 1st, 2010 by which point you probably will have purchased the full version.

If you do try and install Windows 7 RC over a Windows 7 beta build, it won’t work. However, if you want to install the Windows 7 RC candidate and not lose all your customisations then follow these instructions.

1st july, windows 7 beta, windows 7 release candidate

Microsoft Reduces Prices for Windows 7 E

Robert — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:52:56 +0000

Because of the possibility that traces of Internet Explorer could be left on the upgrade machine, Microsoft decided not to offer an Upgrade version of Windows 7 E upon release in October (the upgrade version will be delayed for some time until Microsoft can find a way to make the upgrade between Windows Vista and Windows 7 E seamless, due to the demands of the European Union). As a result, many customers were not happy when they learned of Microsoft’s intent to sell the full version of Windows 7 E in Europe at a price equivalent to a little over $430 (for Professional, Home Premium will be about $280). Even the pre-ordering prices of Windows 7 were about twice as much as the pricing in the United States.

Since the announcement, many users have accused Microsoft of driving up the prices of Windows 7 in Europe due to the decision of the European Union, taking out the costs of the case on the end-users. In the midst of the accusation, Bill Veghte, Senior Vice President of Microsoft, attempted to explain the higher pricing for Windows 7, stating that the price also included the VAT, or Value Added Tax (about the European equivalent of the Sales Tax), which accounted for roughly 18% of the cost. Even so, Veghte also warned that the prices for Windows 7 E could climb higher when the Upgrade version is released, stating “in the future we may have an upgrade offering of Windows 7 available in Europe, and at that time we would revert to differential pricing of the full and upgrade versions, as we have in the rest of the world.”

However, it seems as though Microsoft has decided to respond to the angry customers in Europe, as they have adjusted the price for Windows 7 E’s full version to match the price of the upgrade for Windows 7 in the United States. Now, thanks to the change, European customers can get the full version of Windows 7 E for less than the full version of Windows 7, at least until 31 December, 2009 (possibly the release date of the Upgrade versions of Windows 7 E).

2009, 31 december, europe, european union, internet explorer, Microsoft, prices, Windows 7, Windows 7 E

Official Windows 7 Video Tours

Everton — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 09:44:15 +0000

Microsoft have published some official Windows 7 video tours that give users a good view of some of the new features in Windows 7. There are 4 videos in total which I’ve linked to below.

I’m really impressed with the PR campaign so far for Windows 7. Microsoft haven’t spent any money so far above the lineon the product, and instead have let Windows 7 sell itself. This seems to be working and the 50% Windows 7 pre-order campaign is probably going too well, and I’m sure Microsoft will pull the offer this week. If you want 50% off Windows 7 I’d advise ordering ASAP.

More: Windows 7 Product Tours

product tours, Windows 7, Windows 7 Pre-Order

Windows 7 Build 7264 Leaks, Still Not RTM

Martin — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 08:29:40 +0000

Build 7264 of Windows 7 has been leaked earlier today and is now already available on various P2P networks. Both the 32-bit and 64-bit editions of this build are available. It should be noted that build 7264 is not the RTM build that everyone is waiting for. The build string of this build tells us that is has been created on June 22. There are already confirmations that build 7265 has been created two days later. No word yet if build 7265 will be the RTM build.

Here are the information about both versions of build 7264:

File Name: 7264.0.090622-1900_x86fre_client_en-us_Retail_Ultimate-GRMCULXFRER_EN_DVD
Size: 2,444,688 KB
CRC: 0B916606
MD5: 44F04E9E5762714C3D75A3C9C88DE251
SHA1: 59BA011913B00A820A1E002B9BEDEF139AE15B07

64-bit Windows 7 Build 7264 (x64) ISO File Details

File Name: 7264.0.090622-1900_x64fre_client_en-us_Retail_Ultimate-GRMCULXFRER_EN_DVD
Size: 3,150,518 KB
CRC: 05F87B79
MD5: 670818DB149170C652414E1F75E9390C
SHA1: C6FE386E97944511820291F515A8CBB3DDA329A6

build 7264, Windows 7, windows 7 build 7264, windows 7 leak

Finding Files Faster with Windows 7 Search

Mustafa — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 15:05:24 +0000

“Where’s that document I used a few weeks ago?”

We’ve all come across this problem, where we can’t find a file. Microsoft claims that Windows 7 provides better ways to find and organize files. In Windows 7, searching is faster and works better than ever before. This guide shows 5 handy tips that can help you find that file you’ve been looking for within minutes and get the most out of Windows 7’s search.

1. Search Where Your File is Most Likely to Be

There’s no point of searching the whole of “My Documents” when you already know that the file is somewhere in the “Work” folder. So if you’d like to make searching faster, try reducing the number of places to search in by specifying the file’s location. How? Simply open the location in Windows Explorer and use the ”Search bar” on the top right of the window.

The location you search in doesn’t have to be very precise. The aim of this is just to avoid searching in places that you know for sure that the file can’t be in.

2. Use Wildcards in Your Search

This was available since Windows XP, yet a lot of people don’t really use it. A wild card is a character that is used to represent one or more unknown characters. The most common wildcards are the:

Asterisk (*)	Represents any number of characters in this part of the filename.	Windows * Back-up could give: Windows Vista* Backup, Windows XP Back-up, Windows 8 Backup, Windows ME Backup,…*
Asterisk (*)		ology could give: histology, biology, geology, physi*ology,…
Question Mark (?)	Represents one character only in this part of the filename.	Windows ?? Back-up could give: Windows XP Backup, Windows ME Backup,…
Question Mark (?)		??ology could give: biology, geology,…

The asterisk (*) represents any number of alphanumeric characters, while each question mark (?) represents only one alphanumeric character.

3. “Search Filters”, a Very Powerful Feature

This feature is what (I believe) makes Windows 7’s search better than search engines in previous OS. Search filters allow users to search for a file using its details such as its size, date created, etc. These details can vary from one type of file to another. For instance, you can search for an MP3 file using the artist’s name or album. While search for a document by its author or tags. The following is the syntax of search filters:

property:data

For instance, if you’d like to find music with the genre (genre is the property) jazz and contains the word ’can’ in its filename, your search would be: genre:jazz can. There are MANY properties that you can use. For a full list of properties you can use, I strongly recommend you check Windows Search Advanced Query Syntax.

Also, operators can help you obtain more precise results. The following table shows the list of common operators that you can use in your search:

Operator	What it does	Example
AND	Search results must contain specified terms together	car AND race could find car in a race, race car,…
OR	Search results can contain either one of the terms specified	car OR race could find car in race, car, race, race car…
NOT	Search results should not contain the term(s) specified	car NOT race could find car, sportscar* (but not car in race, race,…)
Quotes (”)	Search results must contain the EXACT term specified	“car” could find car, car in race,…

4. View before Opening

Let’s assume that you want to search for a document and know its location, but can’t remember any of its details. Thus, you type in the search bar kind:docs and Windows Search returns a list with all the documents in that location. Let’s say 20 search results are returned. You obviously don’t have enough time to go on opening each and every document until you find the one you’ve been looking for. Hence Windows 7 provides a panel called the “preview panel” to make life easier. The preview panel views the contents of the file when selecting it.

To show the “preview panel” simply click on the second item at the right top under the search bar as shown in the screen shot below:

5. Group the Search Results

After Windows 7 has finished displaying the search results, you might want to group the results found according to their details (such as their type, tags, date created, etc.) by right-clicking anywhere inside the window (without highlighting a search result) and then clicking on “Group by” to select the how you want to group the search results. If you’d like more details, click on “More…”.

If you need any help or would like to add anything, ask in the “Comments”. :)

Asterisk, Easier, Faster, Features, File, File name, Filename, Find, Group, Keywords, microsoft windows 7, Operator, Search, Search Filter, Tips, View Panel, WDS, Wild card, Wildcard, Windows Desktop Search, windows vista, XP

Windows 7 And Its Running Processes

Sean Marshall — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 07:14:22 +0000

I have a little confession. I am slightly obsessed with keeping Windows 7’s running process (when not in use, of course) number below 35. I honestly like to keep it at 30 if you want the truth. I know what your thinking – who cares and why on earth are you worried about how many processes are running on your computer? Well, I like to keep my windows rig running as fast as possible. With as little excess stuff running in the background. If you remember Vista and it’s sometimes excessive 50-60 running processes.

One of the processes that I have permanently stopped is Windows Search. I see no need to have this 3 process feature running in the background scanning and indexing my computer whenever it wants. I know where everything on my computer is located at all times. Therefore I have zero use for these processes. I have also turned off Superfetch for the same reason. I see no difference in the way my computer searches or acts. Except for, I can’t search for files from the start menu anymore. But that does not concern me at all. A few others that I keep off are Windows Defrag, Offline Files, and some others. I do not know why I am so fixated with keeping my process count as low as possible. But I am, it’s my cross to bare.

The Windows Media Network Sharing Service is a process that I love to use. But hate to have turned on.It allows streaming of media all over my house. It also allows “push streaming” to my Xbox 360. But by having this feature turned on. It increases my RAM usage by two fold. I have 8GB’s of RAM installed. With the process off, my usage is at 12% of 8GB. With it turned on my Ram usage is 24%. That is quite a jump just for one process. But it is one feature I use daily, so I keep it on. A necessary evil so to speak.

Do you turn off any of Windows 7’s processes? If so, which ones and why? Or am I alone in trying to keep a supposedly light OS even lighter?

Windows 7, Windows 7 7100 x64, windows media sharing service, windows processes, windows search, Xbox 360

A Closer Look @ Windows 7 Prices

McKenzie — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 07:01:10 +0000

Windows 7 prices have just been released. Most of us anticipated a cheaper pricing scale than Vista, but we’ve been disappointed with a measly $10 deduction off of Home Premium. Putting the consumer aside, was this a monetarily intelligent move for MS to make?

I can’t say that I think so. Most people who aren’t tech savvy haven’t even tried Windows 7 yet, but almost everyone has heard of Vista’s reputation. Common sense tells me that most people won’t want to dish out $80 when they’re still worried about a lack of proper drivers and the like.

So what’s going to happen with Windows 7 once it hits shelves on October 22nd? I for one believe that many of those brightly colored boxes are going to stay where they are until a price deduction. With most people who know of Win7’s huge improvements over Vista using torrented beta leaks (some of which won’t expire for over a year), there a strong likelihood that many of them will pirate the RTM rather than dropping $80-$160. Does Microsoft really believe that most torrent users are going to pay full or upgrade price for Windows 7? It seems to me that MS is becoming a bit naive in its new age.

However, there is another, albeit much less analytical possibility for Microsoft’s decision to keep prices near identical to those of Vista. The possibility is that they don’t want people thinking of it as Vista 2.0, but rather as a full operating system instead of just an upgrade, because even if people do hear that Vista’s major issues were fixed in Windows 7, most consumers won’t have even test-driven the OS to see the major differences. They would think of its as a better Vista, and nothing more.

In conclusion, no matter what the reason is for Microsoft’s pricing, I don’t think this’ll be helping the company one bit. While their popularity is growing across the depths of the internet, the average consumer hasn’t even heard of Windows 7, and I just don’t think they’re ready for it so soon after the Vista disappointment.

Microsoft, money, RTM, Vista, Windows 7, windows 7 prices

Windows 7 Pre-orders Sold Out In Japan

Martin — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:03:50 +0000

Microsoft always made clear that Windows 7 pre-orders were only available in limited numbers. One of these numbers seems to have been hit already as Japanese shops that tool part in the pre-ordering campaign are reporting that Windows 7 pre-orders are not available anymore. If you visit the Windows 7 pages at the Japanese Amazon store for example you will be notified that the item is currently unavailable. It seems that it took less than 2 full days to sell all available pre-order copies of Windows 7 in Japan.

It is obviously unclear as to how many copies have been provided to Japanese retailers. The same is true for the pre-order campaigns in the two other countries (USA and Canada) where pre-orders are still accepted. It could very well be that limits will be reached in these markets as well which would mean that interested customers would have to wait until October 22 to buy Windows 7 at the retail price which is about 50% of the pre-order price.

Users from Germany, France and the UK will be able to pre-order Windows 7 in the next month. Pre-order limits are unknown here as well and it is always a good idea to pre-order as soon as possible to get Windows 7 at the lowest possible price.

buy windows 7, Microsoft, Windows 7, Windows 7 Pre-Order

Windows 7 Pre-Orders Top Amazon Sales Charts

Everton — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 09:04:05 +0000

Amazon must have had one of their busiest weeks ever. Not only have they virtually sold out of every Michael Jackson album, but the Windows 7 Pre-orders have shot to the top of the bestsellers charts. Orders for other Windows 7 editions are also doing well.

Since Friday, users from the United States, Canada and Japan have been able to pre-order Windows 7. Users from Great Britain, France and Germany will have to wait until mid July before they can start pre-ordering the operating system. Interested users from the three countries can currently purchase Windows 7 Home Premium for $49.99 instead of $119.99 and Windows 7 Professional for $99.99 instead of $199.99.

Microsoft has made the decision to not offer a pre-ordering discount for Windows 7 Ultimate which is something that caused some concern with users who would like to purchase this edition of the upcoming operating system.

Here are the links to the pre-order pages at Amazon in case you would like to place a pre-order. Microsoft said the offer will end once a certain number of units are sold, so given the success so far, if you haven’t ordered yet you might need to hurry up:

United States
- Pre-Order Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade
- Pre-Order Microsoft Windows 7 Professional Upgrade

Canada
- Pre-Order Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade
- Pre-Order Microsoft Windows 7 Professional Upgrade

Japan
- Pre-order Windows7 Home Premium
- Pre-Order Windows 7 Professional

Amazon, buy windows 7, windows 7 home premium, Windows 7 Pre-Order, windows 7 professional

Design A New Logo For Windows 7 News And Win $200

Everton — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 08:55:04 +0000

Everton: I’m re-posting this as it got lost in the migration

The migration to a new server has gone successfully and the DNS is propagating nicely around the globe. Users should already be able to see much faster page loading times, which will be improved further as we’ve employed an expert to tweak the server and site.

The move was necessary because Windows 7 News continues to grow rapidly and is heading towards the magic 1 million unique users/month landmark, and we needed to add extra capacity to handle future growth. We also needed a host with better SLAs and a phone hotline, as our previous host were taking too long to respond when issues occurred. I’d like to thank WiredTree for delivering on their promises and for providing a great server (specs) at a low cost.

Also, hosted on the new server is Windows 8 News, which we’ve slowly been building up. It’s a bit light on content at the moment as there’s not a lot of news about Windows 8, but add the site to your favourite RSS reader now so you don’t miss out on Windows 8 News and Rumours as soon as they happen.

To celebrate the launch of Windows 8 News and the new server (and also because we can’t use the same logo on both sites!), we’ve decided to run another competition! We need two logos, one for Windows 7 News and one for Windows 8 News, that will look amazing in the header and also as a thumbnail image. The competition offers any budding designers not only an opportunity to win $100 $200, but to also display their talents to a large base of users, as all entries will be displayed on the site because readers will choose the best logo and the winner.

Rules:

No limit to the number of entries
Entries to be submitted via logomyway
Thumbnail logo must be 120×120
Main logo must be no bigger than 250 x105
Must work on white background
Decision of the editors will be final

If you’re not a designer, then don’t forget you’ve still got a week to enter our competition to win a funky $200 beanbag.

Competition, Logo, migration, WiredTree

Windows 7 Almost There?

Mustafa — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 19:35:10 +0000

There are not more than 116 days left before Windows 7 hits the market. In general, we’ve all witnessed its development and many have taken part in testing its beta, currently the Release Candidate (build 7100) and the numerous leaks that many (including I) downloaded and used!

I personally enjoyed using Windows 7 and found it to be more stable than its predecessors (especially Windows Vista). Microsoft keeps on mentioning that it has listened carefully to users’ feedback and worked based on their wants. They’ve made UAC (User Account Control) less annoying, simplified the design of the Windows 7 boxes and fixed the many bugs that were identified by users (such as the damaging of MP3 files, remember?).

I believe it’s now safe to say that we’re almost there! We know its exact release date, pricing, and features and are just one step before its general appearance. Already Microsoft has provided the offer to pre-order Windows 7 upgrades and has finally removed the message saying: “[This content is preliminary and subject to change.]” from the Windows 7 website.

Although it’s a ‘bit’ early to admit it, but I’m excited to test Windows 8 once its testing starts!

feedback, leaks, Microsoft, test, Windows 7, windows vista

New Candidates Assembled in RTM builds

Mustafa — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 19:33:50 +0000

Two new candidate builds, 6.1.7264.0.win7_rtm.090622-1900 and 6.1.7265.0.win7_rtm.090624-1905, have been assembled in the RTM branch (win7_rtm), according to WZor. Therefore, the current builds in the RTM branch are:

6.1.7260.0.win7_rtm.090612-2110
6.1.7261.0.win7_rtm.090615-1900
6.1.7262.0.win7_rtm.090617-1900
6.1.7263.0.win7_rtm.090619-1900
6.1.7264.0.win7_rtm.090622-1900
6.1.7265.0.win7_rtm.090624-1905

The build with the name “6.1.7264.0.win7_rtm.090620-1900” is a fake as the build 7264 was assembled on 22nd of June and not 20th. More candidate builds may appear in the forthcoming weeks; however no leaks are expected until the signing of an RTM release (on 13th of July, according to the RTM schedule).

The RTM stands for “Release to Manufacturing” or “Ready to Market” and is sometimes referred to as “going gold”. It’s the last step before general appearance where Windows 7 will be available to marketing on 22nd of October of this year. This will only take place after the signing of the final RTM release that meets the defined quality level set by Microsoft.

6.1.7264.0.win7_rtm.090622-1900, Assembly, GA, Going Gold, July, leak, Microsoft, operating system, os, Ready to Market, Release to Manufacturing, Release to Marketing, RTM, rumour, Windows 7, wzor

What Should Windows 7’s Advertising Campaign Be?

Sean Marshall — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 19:32:01 +0000

Until recently I remember seeing a fair amount of Windows Vista advertising. Think the Mojave experiment. Now it seems Microsoft has scaled it back by a large amount. They are now just advertising “Microsoft” in general. Take the recent “Laptop Hunter” ads. The ads talk about the hardware in the computers, but fail to mention the OS at all. Is this a precursor to a media blitz that is up-coming? Or is Microsoft going to take a low key approach with Windows 7. Let’s take a look at some ideas for both campaigns.

The Media Blitz

Microsoft wants to sell this OS very badly. So they pound all the major networks with commercials, print ads for all the big publishers – online ads everywhere they can put them. Pretty much an inundation of Windows 7 advertising. All getting the word out that Windows 7 is not the dreaded Vista. It is better, stronger, and faster than any previous version of Windows. Should they make it a huge ad campaign? Or…

The Quite Approach

This is where Microsoft lets the OS speak for itself. No huge ad campaign of any kind. Only subtle hints that the new Windows is out. Let word of mouth and of course the blogs spread the news. Then they let the momentum build up. At which point, news has reached the “mainstream.” Friends of friends have tried it, like it, and recommend it. Then Windows 7 has caught on enough to merit select advertising.

What will Microsoft do? Probably a mix of the two. Right now they are in the middle of a “quite approach.” With the Internet buzzing with information about new builds and the soon to be released RTM. They have good exposure for people like you and me. People who have been using Windows 7 for the last six months or so. We know all about it. But to me it seems that nobody else does. Most people are like “What is Windows 7?”

Anyone who walks in to a Best Buy or any participating retail chainand purchases a new PC will, I believe, will be offered to upgrade when Windows 7 is released on Oct.22. So my question to you the readers and potential buyers of Windows 7 is. How should Microsoft advertise Windows 7?

best buy, windows 7 beta, windows 7 rtm, windows 7 upgrade program, windows release oct 22, windows vista

Microsoft to Sell Windows 7 on USB Drives (And A HOWTO: Do It Yourself)

Robert — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 23:17:15 +0000

According to a source which was not revealed by CNET, Microsoft could end up selling Windows 7 on a USB drive, whereas right now the only way that a user can obtain a retail copy (legally) of Windows 7 is via retail or by download. This would be a good move for Microsoft as they had announced that any edition of Windows 7 will be able to run on a netbook; however, the trick would be getting it installed.

According to CNET, not selling Windows 7 on USB drives would be detrimental to Windows 7’s success:

The challenge of getting Windows 7 on to older Netbooks threatens to cast a shadow over the technical work Microsoft did to get Windows 7 running on Netbooks. Its predecessor, Windows Vista, proved ill-suited to Netbooks forcing Microsoft to continue selling Windows XP as its answer to the low-cost notebook phenomenon.

Complicating matters further is the fact that most Netbooks are running Windows XP. Those moving from Windows XP can buy an upgrade version of the software, but must back up their data, do a clean installation of the operating system and then reload their applications.

Most users do not know how to place Windows 7 onto a USB drive for install, and some do not even know that it’s possible. Even though I’ve always found it easier to just copy an image of the disc to my netbook, extract it, and run setup.exe, here is a short tutorial on how to put it on a USB drive yourself, just in case:

You will need an image or a DVD of a Windows 7 build (any should do) and a 4GB flash drive.

This will erase your drive, so make sure that there’s nothing important on it or back it up.

1. Plug in your USB drive and run CMD as administrator (right click it in accessories or run it as normal and hit CTRL+Shift+Enter). To run CMD, simply open a run box and type “CMD” and click OK.

2. Type DISKPART and hit enter.

3. Type LIST DISK and hit enter. Then write down the disk number (for example, Disk 2)of your USB drive (match up the disk sizes).

4. Then type each command hit enter, substituting the number in the first command with the number of your USB drive:

SELECT DISK 2
CLEAN
CREATE PARTITION PRIMARY
SELECT PARTITION 1
ACTIVE
FORMAT FS=NTFS
ASSIGN
EXIT

5. Insert your DVD or mount your image and check the drive letters of both your USB drive and the DVD drive (I am going to pretend that my USB drive is U and my DVD drive is D).

6. Run the following commands (substituting D in the first command with the drive letter of your DVD drive):

D:CD BOOT
CD BOOT

7. Then run the following command, replacing U with the drive letter of your USB drive:

BOOTSECT.EXE/NT60 U:

8. Now just copy and paste everything over from your DVD to your USB drive, then set your BIOS to boot from USB.

Enjoy.

distribution, howto, retail, upgrades, USB, usb boot, Windows 7

IE7 Compatibility Mode for IE8

Robert — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 14:57:45 +0000

As technologies get more advanced and old ones are left behind, some models become outdated and lose support. This is what has happened with IE7, as IE8 embraces new standards, which will improve the web but potentially could display sites built for older versions of Internet Explorer incorrectly. In order to achieve the best of both worlds, Microsoft introduced a “Compatibility View” feature in Internet Explorer, similar to the Compatibility Mode used in applications (such as running an application in compatibility mode for Windows 95 within Windows XP). Microsoft describes their Compatibility View as a stand-in replacement for those websites not yet ready for IE8:

Internet Explorer 8 is a new release and some websites may not yet be ready for the new browser. Click the Compatibility View toolbar button to display the website as viewed in Internet Explorer 7, which will correct display problems like misaligned text, images, or text boxes. This option is on a per site basis and all other sites will continue to display with Internet Explorer 8 functionality. When you click on the Compatibility View button for a site, you don’t need to do it again as the next time you visit that site the browser will show it in compatibility mode. If for some reason you’d like to go back to browsing with Internet Explorer 8 functionality on that site, simply click the Compatibility View button again.

However, sites will most likely take a very long time to adapt themselves fully to the new features of IE8, as according to the W3Counter, over half of all browsers on the Internet are IE6 and IE7, with less than 2% going to IE8. IE8’s Compatibility View may be Microsoft’s way of accommodating for the fact that most users simply do not wish to upgrade, and this may be causing serious issues within the Redmond giant. In fact, Microsoft takes the Compatibility View so seriously that Microsoft recently moved around the icon and updated the notifications to make the Compatibility View a more obvious and easier to activate function because many users simply elected to not use it.

Microsoft also mentions a Compatibility View list:

You can maintain a list within Internet Explorer 8 for sites that should be displayed in Compatibility View. From the Command Bar, select Tools, and then select Compatibility View Settings to add and remove sites from this list. There are also options for viewing all websites and intranet sites in Compatibility View.

What do you think? Use IE8 with Compatibility View or download Firefox 3.5?

browser usage, compatibility mode, compatibility view, firefox, ie6, ie7, ie8, w3schools

Windows 7 Pre-Orders Starting Tomorrow

Martin — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 17:55:57 +0000

This is just a short summary of the last two posts (Microsoft Announces Windows 7 Pricing and No Windows 7 Upgrade Edition for EU) that have been published here at Windows 7 News: Probably the most exciting news in those articles is the announcement that users will be able to pre-order Windows 7 tomorrow for a very good price. Users from the United States can pre-order Windows 7 Home Premium for $50 instead of $200 and Windows 7 Professional for $100 instead of $300. That’s a quarter or a third of the retail price. The same is true for Canada and Japan were Windows 7 pre-orders will be available at the same time. Users from Germany, France and Great Britain will have to wait until July 15 for the pre-orders to start in their countries.

We have updated the poll on our site which is now asking if you will pre-order the operating system or buy Windows 7 when it is released officially.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

operating system, pre-order Windows 7, Windows 7, windows 7 home premium, windows 7 professional

Microsoft Announces Windows 7 Pricing

Robert — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 15:48:36 +0000

Note: All pricing is rounded (for the sake of convenience) and in USD unless shown otherwise.

Apparently we were correct on our estimate of Windows 7’s Home Premium prices in which we used a memo that stated the pricing for Windows 7 Home Premium would ante up the cost for netbooks by $200. Microsoft has officially announced the initial pricing for Windows 7, and Home Premium will indeed be $200, or $40 less than the initial and today’s pricing of Windows Vista. Unfortunately, this is more than what some of us hoped it would be considering the state of today’s economy and Snow Leopard’s upgrade pricing of $30 and the full price of $170.

Although the initial pricing of Windows Vista and Windows 7 have some significant differences, the current pricings are almost identical. The change in cost of Home Premium is the only change in today’s pricing between Windows Vista and Windows 7.

Windows Vista	Initial Pricing	Today’s Pricing	Windows 7	Initial Pricing
Home Premium (Upgrade)	$160	$130	Home Premium (Upgrade)	$120
Business (Upgrade)	$200	$200	Business (Upgrade)	$200
Ultimate (Upgrade)	$260	$220	Ultimate (Upgrade)	$220
Home Premium (Full)	$240	$240	Home Premium (Full)	$200
Business (Full)	$300	$300	Professional (Full)	$300
Ultimate (Full)	$400	$320	Ultimate (Full)	$320

Windows XP users need to understand that regardless of which edition they currently have installed, they will have to perform a clean install on the same partition when installing Windows 7, whether it be the upgrade (XP users will be able to install with just the upgrade if they so wish) or the full version. A clean install will not backup anything, although Windows Easy Transfer should make the transition easier on some users. Clean installs are also mandatory for those attempting to switch between architectures (x86 and x64).

Unfortunately for European users, as previously stated by Mike, the Windows 7 E editions will not allow an upgrade, nor will upgrade versions be sold. The reason is that upgrades have never been tested without Internet Explorer (remember that all official XP and Vista distributions contain Internet Explorer), and Microsoft did not want to have to delay the release of Windows 7 in order to ensure a successful upgrade for European users running XP or Vista. However, the full versions of Windows 7 in Europe will be available at the upgrade pricing.

Thankfully, those in certain countries will be able to save quite a bit of money by pre-ordering Windows 7 Home Premium or Professional (limitation of three copies). You can pre-order Windows 7 now from selected stores on June 26th; however, remember that the offers are only until supplies last and end on July 11th. Be sure to check Windows7News’ pre-ordering section later for updates and more information.

Canadian and Japanese customers can first pre-order Windows 7 on the same date as United States users, although those countries’ offers will also end on the same time as the US (except for Japan, in which the offers will end on July 5th). The UK, France, and Germany will get the opportunity from July 15th through August 14th (while supplies last).

For prices for each country, refer to the table below:

Country	Home Premium	Professional
United States	$50	$100
Canada	$65	$100
Japan	¥7,407	¥14,073
UK	£50	£100
France & Germany	€50	€110

For those who buy a PC with Windows Vista later than June 26th (the date matches with the leaked Best Buy memo), will receive the equivalent edition of Windows 7 upon release. The offer will only be available from certain retailers and OEMs, and the program will be offered until January 31, 2010, although it can be cut short by the OEMs. OEMs also have the power to charge for the upgrade and choose which computers are eligible for the upgrade (it can be safely assumed that netbooks and low-end PCs will be excluded from this offer).

Thankfully the pre-order offers are so cheap because I quickly despaired when I learned of the $200 pricing for Home Premium (which I, as a college student, could not afford on top of textbooks and classes). I assumed that I would have to use the last leaked build for a while until I could afford the full version, and just upgrade my MacBook, which I considered a real shame because I much prefer my Windows box. The competitive pricing on the pre-orders is excellent, and will enable many users to be able to afford Windows 7 who would not be able to normally, and I will definitely be marching to my local Best Buy tomorrow.

What about you?

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

No tag for this post.

No Windows 7 ‘Upgrade’ Edition for EU

Mike — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 14:16:58 +0000

Microsoft have announced that ‘upgrade’ editions of Windows 7 will not be available in the EU in a move to comply with competition regulations.

“We will not be able to offer an upgrade product within Europe,” said John Curran, Windows business lead at Microsoft UK

In the US and elsewhere in the world, people buying a new PC this summer may be eligible for a free or reduced price copy of Windows 7 by redeeming a voucher. Microsoft have said that they will still make the upgrade offer to EU buyers, but will instead ship full versions of Windows 7 instead of the upgrade editions.

At the moment, an upgrade version of Windows Vista Home Premium will retail for £79.99 in the UK and a full version is £149.99. Whether this will mean that EU consumers will pay more than people outside the EU when buying a copy of Windows 7 retail, or whether Microsoft will reduce the price of Windows 7 for EU consumers is unclear at this point.

EU, pricing, Windows 7

Server Migration Today

Everton — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 07:15:29 +0000

We are moving to a new host today and to a much more powerful server. Hopefully all will go well and the switchover will go seamlessly! The new server will provide much needed extra capacity as the sites it is currently hosting, including Windows 7 News, have been growing at a very fast rate and we needed to plan for the future.

For those of you that are interested in this kind of thing, we have a very powerful new server:

Intel Dual Xeon Harpertown 5420 (2.50GHZ 12MB Cache)
16GB ECC Registered
Primary Disk:Hardware Raid-5 3×250GB 7.2k RPM SATAII 16MB Cache
Additional Drive: 250GB 7.2k RPM SATAII 16MB Cache
Remote Backup Space : 50 GB Remote Backup Space

5420, backup, harpertown, HDD, RAM, server

5 Things That Should Be In Windows 7 RTM

Sean Marshall — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 23:41:39 +0000

I use Windows 7 for everything. In fact I use it so much, I sometimes forget that it is not even released yet. I have been using it as my main OS since January, when the Windows 7 Build 7000 beta was released. I love it, but there are a few things that need to be added or changed before it is released in my opinion. This is not a list of complaints, but rather a list of suggestions for Microsoft.

1. RAW support for photographers.

This one should have been corrected in Vista. Why was it not? I have no idea. But being a wedding photographer, who only shoots in RAW (as should anyone who is serious about photography!), all I want is a thumbnail generated and the ability to preview my images. Right now I have to open them using Adobe Bridge then import them into Lightroom or Photoshop. Which is like having to perform an extra step. I really would love for this to built in to the RTM. Mac users get it built in, why can’t we exactly?

2. Blu-ray support.

I know Microsoft lost the battle between Blu-Ray and HDDVD. But, they should bite the bullet on this one and make Windows 7 support Blu-Ray. It is not like the format is going somewhere and it is only going to grow in popularity. It is just another reason for people to say that Windows Media Player is crap.

3. Gaming Mode

This one I thought twice about including. But, since I like to T-bag people on Call of Duty 4, just as much as the next guy, here is what it should be. Somewhere in the Control Panel you click “Gaming Mode.”, and it shuts down every unnecessary process that does not need to be on. Shut down Windows Search, Superfetch, Windows Media Sharing Service, to name a few. I understand that most of our computers can handle gaming and everything else turned on. I have a quad-core and it can handle whatever I throw at it. But what about people with older computers who want to game? It would be a nice feature for them especially.

4. Dreamscenes

Yes, you read that correct. I said dreamscenes! It was the one killer thing I loved about Vista. So far it has not been included in any of the Windows 7 releases. I understand that they want people to try the “desktop slide show” feature. But to leave it out completely? Come on Microsoft! WTF! I had to use a hack to get it work on Windows 7. I am in love with the ability to play 720p Planet Earth’s as my desktop. Include it or I will write about it some more!

5. PDF Support or .RAR support, etc.etc.

I’m not gonna waste your or my time explaining why these should be built in; it is a no-brainer.

So there you have it. A small list of suggestions for Microsoft to improve Windows 7. Will they listen? Probably not. It is to close to the RTM for them to change much of anything. I really would like a good explanation as to why there is no RAW support though, If anyone at Microsoft is listening.

If you have any suggestions please feel free to leave them in the comments. I am waiting on your feedback. Did I leave something important out? Did you not like my suggestions? I would like to know! Thanks.

windows, Windows 7 7100 x64, windows 7 rtm

Microsoft Security Essentials 1.0 Beta Released

Robert — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 17:22:25 +0000

Earlier, I made a post in which I described the upcoming Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) and explained what all of the hype was about. Now, the Redmond company has released the 1.0 Beta, and anyone can download MSE directly from Microsoft. On Microsoft’s page for MSE, a link to Microsoft Connect is provided from which users can fill out a quick survey (seven questions) about security, and upon completion, users can download the Beta for Windows 7 (x86 and x64), Windows Vista (x86 and x64), or Windows XP (x86 only).

Microsoft provides a quick explanation on their official page:

You’re too busy to spend a lot of time worrying about protecting your PC. With Microsoft Security Essentials Beta, you get high-quality protection against viruses and spyware, including Trojans, worms and other malicious software. And best of all, there are no costs or annoying subscriptions to keep track of.

Security Essentials is easy to install and easy to use. Updates and upgrades are automatic, so there’s no need to worry about having the latest protection. It’s easy to tell if you’re protected – when the Security Essentials icon is green, your status is good. It’s as simple as that.

When you’re busy using your PC, you don’t want to be bothered by needless alerts. Security Essentials runs quietly in the background, only alerting you if there’s something you need to do. And it doesn’t use a lot of system resources, so it won’t get in the way of your work or fun.

Remember that you will need to meet the minimum requirements:

For Windows XP, a PC with a CPU with clock speed of at least 500MHz and at least 256MB of RAM
For Windows Vista and Windows 7, a PC with a CPU with clock speed of at least 1.0GHz and at least 1GB of RAM
VGA (display): 800×600 or higher
Storage: 140MB of available hard-disk space
An Internet connection is required for installation and to download the latest virus and spyware definitions.
Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher, or Mozilla Firefox 2.0 or higher.

A second build will be released to the public later this summer, which will be either a Beta Refresh or a Release Candidate, and then the final build in the fall (either before or around the release of Windows 7). However, interestingly enough, the Beta build (1.0.1407.00) is lower than that of the leaked build (1.0.2140.0), so users of the leak could be advised to keep their current version and those who do not have MSE already may wish to obtain the leaked copy.

Download

1.0, b1, beta, beta refresh, Microsoft, microsoft connect, minimum requirements, morro, mse, rc, rc1, release candidate, security essentials

Windows 7 Home Premium To Cost $200?

Martin — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 09:34:47 +0000

A recent Business Week article entitled Windows 7: Microsoft vs. the PC Makers outlines the problems that PC Makers like Dell, HP or Sony have with Microsoft’s Windows 7 price expectations. According to the article PC Makes have to cope with lower hardware sale prices, the rise of the low cost netbook market and Microsoft’s expectations. Microsoft is expecting PC Makers to pay $50 for the Windows 7 Home Starter Edition which is two to three times the price that they currently pay for Windows XP licenses. Windows 7 Starter has been designed for the low cost market only which means that Microsoft does not allow PC Makers to license the operating system for larger notebook or desktop computer systems.

More interesting than that is the comment of Mike Abary, a senior vice-president at Sony’s (SNE) Vaio PC unit, who mentions that Windows 7 Home Premium would raise the price of larger notebooks by $200.

The cost of Windows could rise more sharply on other machines. Microsoft has told PC makers the $50 Starter Edition will be available only for netbooks with screen sizes smaller than 10.2 inches and chips that aren’t capable of playing most games or watching video. Larger netbooks would have to use Windows 7 Home Premium, which would add $200 to a unit’s cost, says Mike Abary, a senior vice-president at Sony’s (SNE) Vaio PC unit.

The question here is if the $200 is a special price for PC Makers or the retail price of the Windows 7 Home Premium operating system. Only 16% of all users who have voted in our latest poll expect Windows 7 to cost $201 or more with an additional 16% thinking that it will cost between $151-$200.

Would you buy Windows 7 Home Premium if it would cost $200 or even more than that?

buy windows 7, dell, hp, mike abary, pc makers, sony, Windows 7, windows 7 home premium, windows 7 home starter, windows 7 price

Windows 7 and OS X Comparison

McKenzie — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 22:09:09 +0000

With Windows 7 and Snow leopard each nearing their respective release dates, the hype for the two operating systems is reaching its peak. Let’s go over what each OS is bringing to the table in terms of features, market, and performance.

I’ll start with a short description of what both operating systems mean for each company.

Windows 7: A product that’s turned a lot of heads, especially those who believed that Microsoft was dead and done after the lackluster reception that Vista received. The product has received quite a positive welcoming by the internet community with the leaked betas, and MS can only hope that attitude towards W7 remains steady through October 22nd.

OS 10.6: The refinement of an operating system that many believe is already the most advanced OS on the market. Apple is looking towards the 64-bit processing world with this release with x64 optimization being its leading feature. This OS is meant not only to add more speed and utility to the everyday user’s experience, but it also takes a big step towards using Macs in the business world with its Microsoft Exchange support. With the Mac community growing every day, Apple hopes to refine and revise its technology to allow simplicity of use more and more each day.

Now for the comparison of features.

Windows 7: A brand new taskbar that is reminiscent of the Dock present in OS X. It allows you to drag and drop programs to the taskbar so that you can launch from anywhere at anytime, without having to dig through explorer. That being said, even Explorer, the name for the Windows file catalog, has been updated for search speeds. The indexed-searches are much faster than those indexed in Windows Vista, allowing for a more convenient and easy to use Explorer. Along with these two features, W7 also receives enhanced performance with multi-core processors, advanced touch/handwriting recognition, a new version of Windows Media Center, support for virtual HDDs and more.

OS 10.6: Almost all programs have been rewritten to include full 64-bit optimization, providing a more streamlined experience throughout the entire operating system. Grand Central Dispatch is a new technology in 10.6 that follows suit with the “theme” of 64-bit improvement. This is what allocates the tasks across the multiple cores as well as what allows programmers to finally optimize their Mac programs for the 64-bit computer. Another new technology, OpenCL, allows developers to open up the use of the graphics card to much more than just Photoshop and Aperture. It strengthens the current use of the card and also makes way for more many more usages down the road. Along with these features also come Quicktime X (an enhnanced, streamlined Quicktime client), a more speedy Finder, new looks for Exposé and Stacks, faster backup/bootup time and more.

Both operating systems show a movement towards each others target market. Windows 7 features more user-centric capabilities that allow the operating system to be more customizable (the ability to disable multiple features is a great example of this) than any other Windows release to date. I see W7 as what Vista could and should have been – I believe it’s finally a legitimate successor to Windows XP. OS 10.6 seems to be just what Apple needs to reach out to businesses, which is a great move. Snow Leopard should keep the Mac market growing, as its new technology will allow more gaming capabilities through OpenCL and hopefully garner more third-party developers for the growing Macintosh userbase.

Apple’s looking towards the future and Microsoft’s fixing its past. Both operating systems appear to be on an even playing field, and I for one am anxious to see how both of these milestone releases are received.

10.6, apple, Microsoft, os x, Review, Snow Leopard, windows, Windows 7

Windows 7 RTM Schedule?

Sean Marshall — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 22:01:55 +0000

Is this the road to RTM? Wzor has posted details about what could possibly be the RTM schedule. Although Microsoft is keeping a tight lid so far on what that exact schedule might be. Have a look. As reported from neowin.net.

FINAL ROADMAP FOR WINDOWS 7 [CLIENT-SERVER]:

6/1 – 6/19 BUILDING RTM ESCROW – already assembled RTM ESCROW.

6/22 – 7/10 RTM RECALL – assembly and search for candidates to the final RTM release.

7/10 WINDOWS 7 RTM FINAL BUILD TARGET – build day “gold code”.

7/13 WINDOWS 7 RTM SIGN-OFF – the date of signing the final RTM release!

While this is great news, if it is true, I am holding off for a fresh Retail copy of Windows 7. But it does mean that we might be one step closer to the Oct. 22nd release of Windows 7. Which is fantastic, if Microsoft puts on a great marketing plan. If they don’t get the word out about Windows 7 to the masses, and soon. It could be disastrous. Remember Vista anyone! I understand Windows 7 is not out, so how can they advertise for it. But they can and they should, as soon as possible!

Let’s get the word out to everyone. That Windows 7 is not Vista. It has better features. Easier to use, and is faster in general! So it should be advertised as such!

7100.0.winmain_win7rc .090421-1700, windows, Windows 7, windows 7 retail

Windows 7 to XP Downgrade Details Confirmed

McKenzie — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 10:34:27 +0000

Microsoft have confirmed the rumour that it has decided to give a much longer span of time for businesses to choose whether or not they want to downgrade their computers from Windows 7 to Windows XP after purchase. The original deadline was only 6 months, which would have been a disaster for many corporates who haven’t even upgraded to Vista yet, or don’t plan to upgrade to Windows 7 within that period.

The new deadline for companies to roll back their purchases to XP is April 23, 2011. However, if one attempts to downgrade after the April 23 release date, they can scale down only to Vista. It was an unexpected, yet considerable move by the corporate giant to give businesses and consumers a chance to test drive their new operating system with the ability to return to one which they know is stable.

The downgrade only applies to Windows 7 Professional and Windows 7 Ultimate purchases, which is a bit sneaky as corporates will be paying a huge price premium for an OS they won’t be using.

Could this be a bad move by Microsoft? If they do happen to release a version of Windows 7 that is covered in bugs, then this could lose new users right off the bat. The public in general does not want to pay for patience, and the arrival of a service pack to fix the problems that could arise wouldn’t come for months. It seems Microsoft is trying to prepare for the worst by offering this, but they could easily be shooting themselves in the foot. Luckily, however, Windows 7 does appear stable enough for release. But as we all learned from Bill Gates, anything can happen.

date, downgrade, release date, Windows 7, windows 7 downgrade, windows 7 to xp

Competition: Win $200 Of Super Cool Goods

Everton — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 00:12:37 +0000

UPDATE: Please read the rules! Entries will only be accepted via the forum – not via email or in a comment!

It’s time for our first competition on Windows 7 News! Enter today for a chance to win a fantastic prize.

We’re giving away a fantastic Omni or SumoSac beanbag worth just under $199 USD, courtesy of the generous folks over at Sumolounge. These are not the lumpy, $20 uncomfortable beanbags you used to have in the corner of your bedroom. Sumolounge’s beanbags are designed for the 21st century ad feature a durable finish of rip proof nylon

The Omni beanbag is a super-sized beanbag that will fit any room, and offers 10 versatile positions and comes in 10 groovy colors. The SumoSac chair is finished in soft, machine washable microsuede and is available in 4 very popular colors. Both are guaranteed to stay fluffy and comfortable.

Check out the pictures of some very cool (and sexy!) people ‘modelling’ the sumolounge beanbags:

[View with PicLens]

Still not sure? Then maybe this video will convince you:

Now, I can’t promise you that your Sumolounge beanbag will come with 8 Playgirls, but don’t let that put you off entering the competition!

How To Enter

To enter all you have to do is to tell me where in the world the picture in the Windows 7 Wallpaper below was taken.

Rules:

Competition ends 22:00 GMT 3rd July
All entries must be sent to me as a MESSAGE in the Windows 7 Forum (NO OTHER ENTRIES WILL BE ACCEPTED – EVEN SPOILERS IN COMMENTS!!!!)
After the closing date, I will put all the entries into a hat and will select an entrant at random

To find out the answer then check out our Windows 7 Wallpaper galleries (clue: gallery 8).

Competition, wallpapers

About the Microsoft Security Essentials Public Beta

Robert — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 17:52:05 +0000

Recently there has been quite a bit of turmoil about project “Morro,” as Microsoft announced last November that they would halt development of Live OneCare and replace it with Morro, a new security solution. And now, right before the retirement date of OneCare, Microsoft has announced that it will release a public beta of Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) on June 23rd (the beta will be updated over the summer), OneCare’s replacement. According to Microsoft, MSE will be a basic, light-weight security solution that has no performance impact on Windows, and to top it off, free. According to a Microsoft representative, MSE will be what we have all waited for:

To address consumer demand for quality anti-malware protection that’s easy to get and doesn’t slow down system performance, Microsoft Security Essentials has been designed as a no-cost anti-malware solution that provides consumers with quality protection from threats including viruses, spyware, rootkits and trojans. It will be offered directly from Microsoft and has been designed to be hassle-free and is focused on delivering quality protection that’s easy to use.

MSE also has very low system requirements:

For Windows XP, a PC with a CPU with clock speed of at least 500MHz and at least 256MB of RAM
For Windows Vista and Windows 7, a PC with a CPU with clock speed of at least 1.0GHz and at least 1GB of RAM
VGA (display): 800×600 or higher
Storage: 140MB of available hard-disk space
An Internet connection is required for installation and to download the latest virus and spyware definitions.
Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher, or Mozilla Firefox 2.0 or higher.

MSE will coincide with the release of Windows 7 later this year (final release date could be as early as September), and will be completely free and available to all users (regardless of architecture) of Windows XP (XP only gets an x86 version), Vista, and Windows 7, assuming that the user passes a Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) check. Unfortunately, MSE will not have a managed firewall, no photo backup capability, and cannot manage a home network; however, it is built on the same trusted framework of other Microsoft products such as OneCare (of course) and Windows Defender, so it appears to be quite promising.

Microsoft decided to create MSE because too many PCs are unprotected. Most OEM PCs only come with a trial version of a protection suite, and the rare full versions usually expire within a year or two. Even worse, most users disable the free solutions provided with Windows, such as Windows Defender and Windows Firewall. MSE has emerged to protect those who are vulnerable, by integrating itself with the other free solutions by Microsoft while adding a degree of real-time protection due to its new feature called Dynamic Signature Service (DSS), which submits unknown viruses to Microsoft’s servers and checks to see if a solution has been provided. Best of all, MSE is quite silent, running entirely in the background, almost never annoying the user with pop-ups, and only scanning during idle times. The only catch is persuading the OEMs to include MSE instead of a third party suite. Considering that these PC manufacturers make money by preloading paid security solutions, it will be interesting to see how Microsoft tries to entice the larger makers to include MSE in their line-ups, or whether Microsoft succeeds whatsoever.

Nonetheless, MSE could prove to be one of the best solutions on the market considering that over 450 million users regularly use Windows Update. Add to that figure the amount of users on the SpyNet service, the new DSS, Windows Defender, and the doomed OneCare, Microsoft has a tremendous amount of telemetry to use in protecting its userbase. In fact, Microsoft plans to publish new signature updates three times a day, along with the core engine every month.

Of course, the real test will be whether or not these massive amounts of virus signatures will provide a highly effective degree of detection; although, so far, MSE looks as though it may take over the security market.

anti-malware, anti-virus, defender, firewall, malware, microsoft security essentials, mse, onecare, protection, Security, virus, Vista, windows, Windows 7, windows live, XP

Customizing Windows 7 Using The Windows Registry

Mustafa — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 09:38:58 +0000

According to the Engineering Windows 7 blog:

Only 15% of the beta users kept the default theme. 77% of the beta users created a custom theme by changing one or more elements of the inbox themes.

This means that the majority of people want to customize their computers to suite them… (Nothing new!)

This guide shows some ways to customize Windows 7 using the Windows Registry Editor by modifying settings that can’t be changed from the “Personalization” window. Since these tweaks modify the Windows Registry, it is advisable to perform a backup of your registry using ERUNT (or any other means you use).

To open the Windows Registry Editor:

Click on the Start
Type “regedit” in the search bar
Choose “Yes” if a “User Account Controlâ” message appears

To go to a specific key in the windows registry:

Click on the arrow sign next to the key’s name to expand it.
For example if you want to open “HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software”: Click on the arrow next to “HKEY_CURRENT_USER” then click on “Software”

To create a new value:

Right-click anywhere on the right side in the Registry Editor
Choose “New”
Click on the type of value that you want to insert

To modify a value:

Right-click the value
Choose “Modify…”

The following tables contain information about the values that need to be added/modified to apply the tweaks:

Windows 7 Task Switcher

The task switcher allows users to switch between open windows using the keyboard shortcut: ALT+Tab

Cool Switch (32-bit)

Go to : HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop

Value	Type	What it does affects	Data
CoolSwitchColumns	String	Sets the number of columns of the cool switch	NUMBER Default= 7
CoolSwitchRows	String	Sets the maximum number of rows in the cool switch	NUMBER Default = 3

Value

Type

What it does affects

Data

CoolSwitchColumns

String

Sets the number of columns of the cool switch

NUMBER

Default= 7

CoolSwitchRows

String

Sets the maximum number of rows in the cool switch

NUMBER

Default = 3

Windows 7 Desktop Slideshow (64-bit)

The desktop slideshow automatically changes the wallpaper after a set time interval. The user selects the images he/she wants to use in the slide show, the time interval and whether or not to shuffle their order. All this can be modified through the “Desktop Background” window, however the following can’t:

AnimationDuration – In 64-bit versions of Windows 7, there is a ‘fade’ animation that occurs as a transition between the images. This animation takes about 1 second.

Go to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Personalization\Desktop Slideshow

Value	Type	What it does affects	Data
AnimationDuration	DWORD (32-bit)	Sets the time taken by the animation in milliseconds	NUMBERRemember: 1000 gives 1 second

There’s another DWORD (32-bit) value called “Interval” that sets the time at which the images change, however it seems to only work when data entered is the same as those available in the “Personalization” window. If a value given is “1000″ for example, which means the desktop background has to change every second (crazy! I know), it still takes 10s to change. I think this is deliberately done by Microsoft, because if people were able to set the time interval to a very short period of time (below 10 seconds), it would overload the computer’s memory.

Windows 7 Logon Screen Background

See Customizing the Windows 7 Logon Screen…

Slow Motion Aero (64-bit)

Slow Motion Aero

This tweak shows the aero animation, such as the transition that appears when minimizing a window, in slow motion when a user holds the SHIFT key. It works with Windows Vista as well.

Go to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\DWM

Value	Type	What it does affects	Data
AnimationsShiftKey	DWORD (32-bit)	Whether or not to show aero animations in slow motion when the SHIFT key is held	0 = Disabled 1 = Enabled

After changing the data of the DWORD value, the “Desktop Window Manager” has to be restarted for the tweak to take effect. Here’s how:

Click on the Start
Type “cmd” in the search bar
Under “Programs”, right-click on “cmd.exe”
Choose “Run as administrator”
Choose “œYes” if a “User Account Control” message appears
Type in the Command Prompt window: “net stop uxsms & net start uxsms” (without quotes)

PLEASE NOTE: For this tweak to work, animations should be enabled.

If you need any help or have difficulties, just ask in the Comments.

Aero, build, Cool Switch, Customize, desktop, Desktop Window Manager, DWM, Microsoft, operating system, os, regedit, Slide show, Slideshow, Slow Motion, Task Switcher, Theme, Tweak, Windows 7, Windows Registry Editor, windows vista

How to Display the “Close, Restore,…” Menu In The Windows 7 Taskbar

Mustafa — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 06:43:57 +0000

As it’s well known, the taskbar in Windows 7 is different to those in previous operating systems. One of its new features is ‘Jump lists’ that appear when a user right-clicks a window’s icon.

Unlike earlier versions of Windows, when a user right-clicks a Windows 7 item, he can no longer: Move, Maximize/Restore or Minimize its window(s) because a jump list appears instead of the old menu with these options.

Taskbar Jump List

Nevertheless, users can still do so by holding the SHIFT key while right-clicking. This opens the old menu with the (mentioned above) options. If multiple windows of the same application are open, the user is given options that affect all windows, such as closing, restoring/maximizing, minimizing and arranging them.

Taskbar 'old' Menu (for one open window)

Taskbar 'old' Menu (for more than one open window)

I think that there are other simple, but useful things that can still be discovered in Windows 7 (such as the Shortcut to Create a New Folder in Windows 7). If you want more keyboard tricks, then check out Windows 7 Keyboard Shortcuts.

Applications, Close all, jump list, jumplist, Menu, Microsoft, Minimize, Move, Open, operating system, os, Restore, right-click, SHIFT, taskbar, windows, Windows 7

Microsoft Windows Build 7260 Leaked; RTM Builds Information

Robert — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 22:38:39 +0000

Windows 7 build 7260 has been leaked in x86 only as a VHD by WZor, and it appears that SoLoR (a highly trusted uploader) has provided an ISO on Mininova. SoLoR has been the source of many leaked builds, and many users have already confirmed that 7260 is indeed legit.

However, this is not the RTM we are waiting for. There are several candidate builds, and Microsoft is currently working on selecting one to use as the RTM. Each build assembly takes place in different locations and different times, so the RTM build number will not be 100% confirmed before June 24th (although it may be leaked) (this is according to WZor) and may not be confirmed until July 13th (again, according to WZor), but any assembly after June 15th could end up being the final build. Build number 7200 is reserved for the final build, but there could be several compiles of 7200 before one is actually selected to be the RTM build. We will know the final build when it is signed off by Microsoft, and this will be the build that is put on the shelves of stores in October.

According to WZor, the latest RTM candidate build is 7263 (6.1.7263.0.win7_rtm.090619-1900). This build number could go up if Microsoft is not happy with this build either, and decides to compile and test another build for RTM. Also, there were recently many misconceptions about a statement on WZor, which said that the RTM would be leaked after June 19th. However, some translators confused this and had mistaken it for saying that the RTM would be leaked on June 19th, so don’t download any “RTM” builds yet on P2P networks until something can be confirmed.

But as for 7260, it appears as though RC keys still work with this build. Here is the file information:

CRC32: 94312278
MD5: CE665F1A3987AE0F751CE35EC8085707
SHA-1: BBABA1469705935A55DD6CB47E2DDBE939B02D4F

Note:

Build 7268 has leaked to some P2P networks and reported on KezNews is fake. Don’t download it. It is just 7068 with a mistake in the file name.

7260, 7268, build signing, candidate build, leak, Microsoft, RTM, rtm signing, Windows 7, Windows 7 E, wzor, x86

EU Continues Anti-Trust Case Against Microsoft

Robert — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 17:37:52 +0000

It seems as though the European Union (EU) is not happy with Windows 7 E although Microsoft went out of their way to produce an SKU specifically for that region as they have announced that they plan to continue the anti-trust case, saying that Windows 7 E does not provide a “genuine consumer choice.” The EU has been harassing Microsoft for years, even leading Microsoft to cancel a hearing and have to deal with anti-trust regulators. This is why the software giant chose to release Windows 7 E, which is basically Windows 7 without Internet Explorer (IE), and then offer the ability to add or remove components of the operating system after install, attempts to appease the EU and its competitors.

Microsoft’s choice to release Windows 7 E came not long before the ruling on the case of anti-trust charges against Microsoft, which accuse the software giant of abusing its position as the dominant software company by including IE with its operating system, and as such, shielding IE from competiting products. Ever since the charges were first brought against Microsoft, the Redmond giant has insisted that IE is the basis of all internet in Windows and that removing IE simply isn’t possible while maintaining system integrity. And now that Microsoft has invalidated earlier statements, it hopes that by removing IE from Windows 7 will allow it to avoid the anti-trust ruling that it very well may receive. However, it appears that the EU is not buying it:

The European Commission notes with interest Microsoft’s announcement of its plans for Windows 7, and in particular of the apparent separation of Internet Explorer (IE) from Windows in the EEA. The Commission will shortly decide in the pending browser tying antitrust case whether or not Microsoft’s conduct from 1996 to date has been abusive and, if so, what remedy would be necessary to create genuine consumer choice and address the anticompetitive effects of Microsoft’s long-standing conduct. In terms of potential remedies if the Commission were to find that Microsoft had committed an abuse, the Commission has suggested that consumers should be offered a choice of browser, not that Windows should be supplied without a browser at all.

The EU has basically decided that simply removing the browser is the wrong path to take, stating that “Microsoft has apparently decided to supply retail consumers with a version of Windows without a web browser at all. Rather than more choice, Microsoft seems to have chosen to provide less.” Microsoft has done this before when it released Windows without Windows Media Player (WMP), but it easily skirted around those restrictions by also offering the standard version of Windows that included WMP, which was much more popular than the alternative. But now Microsoft recognizes that it will not get by with such a tactic again as it now insists that it will not provide a version of Windows with IE in Europe.

Even the third party browsers have something to say, as shown in an email to Ars Technica by Opera in which they explain their views on Microsoft:

We note with interest that Microsoft now seems capable of separating IE from Windows. However, we do not believe that Microsoft’s move will restore competition for desktop browsers. Most users get their operating systems from the OEM channel and Microsoft will recommend that OEMs pre-install IE8. As such, users are unlikely to be given a genuine choice of browsers. We believe that the idea of a “ballot screen” is better: when going online, users will be asked which browser(s) they prefer to use. The browser(s) of choice will the painlessly be installed and ready for use.

At the moment, the EU is still deciding whether or not the bundling of IE has been abusive, and if so, what punishments they should apply. It’s quite possible (and likely) that the EU will force Microsoft to bundle competing browsers with Windows in order to offer a fair choice. It will be interesting to see whether or not similar charges are brought against other suppliers such as Apple, who have included Safari with their Mac OS X.

anti-trust, Ars Technica, chrome, eea, EU, european union, firefox, ie, internet explorer, Microsoft, MSFT, OEM, opera, safari, SKU, trust, Windows 7, Windows 7 E, windows media player, wmp

Assembly of Windows 7 RTM Started?

Mustafa — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 14:39:27 +0000

According to the Russian news portal, WZor, the assembly of the RTM (Release to Manufacturing/Marketing) may have taken place. The RTM refers to the final stage of development of software before the GA (General Availability), where it will be made available commercially (22nd of October). This information is not confirmed yet, however the Microsoft Connect website shows evidence of this from the announcement:

IMPORTANT NOTICE: ALL file downloads will be OFFLINE from Friday, June 19th at 7:00 pm PDT until Sunday, June 21st at 4:00 pm PDT for a system upgrade. Also, Microsoft Connect will be offline this Saturday, June 20th from 9:00 am – 11:00 am PDT for a version upgrade.

This could mean that the website is being renovated due to release the RTM builds of Windows 7. Again, this information is still not confirmed as the Russian news portal still doesn’t have adequate information about the signing of the release and the technical parameter of the final RTM builds.

7260, 7261, 7262 winmain, Assembly, June, leak, Micrsoft Connect, operating sysetm, os, Release to Manufacturing, Release to Marketing, RTM, win7_rtm, Windows 7, wzor

Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit 4.0 Beta7

Martin — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 11:54:54 +0000

Microsoft has released a beta version of the Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit 4.0 which makes it easier for ” Microsoft customers and partners to quickly identify what servers, workstations, and network devices are in their IT environment”. The toolkit can be used to “discover all computers within Active Directory and workgroup environments” that include “hardware and device inventory, hardware compatibility analysis, and generation of actionable, environment-specific IT proposals for migration to most major Microsoft technologies”.

The following new features have been added in the Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit 4.0 Beta:

Windows 7 Hardware and Device Compatibility Assessment
Windows Server 2008 R2 Hardware and Device Compatibility Assessment
Virtualization Candidates Assessment for Hyper-V R2 Server Consolidation
Integration with the Microsoft Integrated Virtualization ROI Calculator
Inventory of VMware Server Hosts and Guests
User Interface and Proposal Customization for Partner co-branding
Enhanced Usability and Improved Inventory Performance

The Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit 4.0 Beta can be downloaded from the Solution and Accelerators website over at Technet.

Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit, network devices, Windows 7, windows 7 software

Microsoft: A Past and Future

Robert — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 23:32:28 +0000

Lately it seems as though more and more people are switching to Mac based operating systems, Microsoft delays and cuts back on promising projects, and the GNU/Linux marketshare grows every day. No matter what, there is one factor that stands out, regardless of whether or not Microsoft’s product is better, and that is the simple fact that Microsoft is losing it’s marketshare as each day passes.

Microsoft is growing weaker day by day as the software giant shrinks in size, and this ~~depression~~ recession has not helped, whether we’re pulling out of it or not. Just three years ago, I remember that I never heard of people talking about switching from Windows, and those who did were laughed at; yet nowadays, it seems as though the Mac is the “next big thing,” and all of the gear heads (including myself) have switched to using GNU/Linux operating systems as their primary. Microsoft has been hit with too many anti-trust cases and accused of being a monopoly too many times, and although these are primarily in Europe, Microsoft is simply no longer the all powerful colossus it once was.

There are many prime examples of products replacing Microsoft’s own as they are superior, faster, and more and more often, free. Windows Media Player is one such product, as it is laughed at by GNU/Linux and Mac users as they tout their own applications such as Amarok (I myself am a proud user of 1.4), iTunes, Banshee, or even VLC if you’re not using it to manage a library. Internet Explorer is most likely the best example, as it was surpassed long ago by Opera, Safari, Firefox, and now Chrome (or Chromium), for which most modern tests use increments of IE’s speed to compare the competitive browsers’ speeds.

Even major applications such as Visual Studio and Microsoft Office are being overtaken by competitive applications and suites such as KDevelop and Code::Blocks for VS, and OpenOffice (OOo) or KOffice for Microsoft Office (this goes for almost everything, such as Microsoft Virtual PC, for which there is VMWare and VirtualBox). Even with this in consideration, Microsoft also tends to spend three or more years in between most major updates, whereas users of OOo, Code::Blocks, KDevelop, etc can expect to wait only about six months between major releases.

On top of increasing competition, Microsoft also has to deal with the fact that this competition is gradually taking Microsoft’s customers, and as such, profit. Microsoft is being forced to cut back as each product loses its battle, such as Microsoft Encarta, Microsoft Money and more. Even such projects like WinFS are also being canceled or held back left and right, which promise major improvements and a unique future for Windows.

What remains to be seen is how Microsoft can respond. Windows 7 is an excellent product and Microsoft is still kicking, I am not trying to say otherwise. Windows 7 has many excellent strong points such as WMP12, VHD booting, excellent hardware compatibility, a high level of security (for Windows), speed, and so forth. Windows 7 could very well slow down the progress of Apple and the FSF on the operating system front and maybe even turn the tide; nonetheless, as the Internet grows and cloud gets bigger, platform independence is inevitable. The cloud is the future, and products such as Windows, Mac OS X, and GNU/Linux distributions will eventually be left behind or just a shell of what they are now as the distinctive line between the cloud and the physical grows thinner and thinner.

Nevertheless, this is not a future to turn away from. The abandonment of Windows and other OSes is imminent, but the best choice. Instead of arguing over which platform is the best, we should stand shoulder to shoulder and look for the horizon and recognize that change is inescapable. The next generation of computing is impossible to prevent, so instead of succumbing to bias, keep an open mind and watch the next software war carefully.

apple, cloud, encarta, future, gnu/linux, market share, Microsoft, money, monopoly, os x, past, software giant, trust, WinFS

Test post to test forum integration – please ignore!

Everton — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 17:20:40 +0000

Windows 7 Forum

forum, SMF, test

Download Custom Themes For Windows 7 Media Center

Everton — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 16:03:28 +0000

I have 3 Media Center PCs in my home, two of which I proudly built myself. What I love about Windows 7 Media Center is that it is even easier to use than Vista Media Center, rather than new functionality being added just for the sake of it.

One feature that I was hoping would be improved in Windows 7 Media Center was better theme support. Unfortunately this isn’t so, but over at Theme7MC they are creating a list of some great 3rd party themes for Windows 7 Media Center. The gallery below has a few images to whet your appetite:

[View with PicLens]

Windows Media Center has never looked so good! Installing a Windows 7 Media Center Theme is easy if you follow these instructions:

Installing themes with installers

double-click to begin the installation process then follow the directions on-screen to complete the installation.
Once you’ve completed the installation process you will most likely need to run a shortcut to enable the new theme.
Find the theme’s start menu listing in Start -> Programs and locate the shortcut to enable the theme.
Then right-click the shortcut and select “Run As Administrator”.
Once the process begins a black window and a patch dialog will appear. Double check to be sure that the two input dialogs point to “C:\windows\ehome\ehres.dll” (this location make be different depending on the location of your Windows installation) and press “Start”.
Once the process has completed successfully, restart your Media Center.

Installing themes with patches

Before installing a theme that uses a patch you should backup your “ehres.dll” file. Open Windows Explorer and browse to “C:\Windows\ehome\” and find “ehres.dll” then copy this file to a safe location. Make sure you now have two copies of this file before continuing, one in the original location and one in a safe location.
To install a theme that comes with a patch file you must first make sure you have ownership of the ehres.dll file located in “C:\Windows\ehome\” (This location may vary depending on the location of your Windows installation). To do this first download and execute the own.reg file located here.
Then open Windows Explorer and navigate to “C:\Windows\ehome\”. Find the “ehres.dll” file, right-click and select “Take Ownership”. If you do not see “Take Ownership” listed you haven’t installed the own.reg file correctly.
Once you have ownership of the “ehres.dll” file, run the .exe patch file included in the theme download as an administrator by right-clicking the file and selecting “Run as Administrator”. Make certain that the two input dialog boxes say “C:\Windows\ehome\ehres.dll” (Again, this location may vary depending on the location of your Windows install) then press “Start”. When the patch process completes restart your Media Center.

Enjoy!

Theme7MC, themes, Windows 7 Media Center

New Poll: How Much Will Windows 7 Home Premium Cost?

Everton — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 12:00:14 +0000

We’ve just created a new poll “How Much Will Windows 7 Home Premium Cost?” which you can find in the sidebar. Windows 7 Home Premium should be the best selling Windows 7 product. Will Microsoft price Windows 7 to shift off the shelves quickly, or will they charge an extortionate amount like the $269.99 for Windows Vista Home Premium when it launched? Get voting now!!

The results of our last poll “How Much Would You Pay For Windows 7?” seems to indicate that many readers are prepared to pay a significant sum for Windows 7:

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

I’m not sure if this is because Windows 7 is such a great product, or because readers are expecting it to be expensive!

To see the results of previous polls, click here.

buy windows 7, poll, windows 7 home premium

Windows 7 Logon Screen Rotator

Martin — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 08:29:53 +0000

Robert published an article not long ago in which he outlined how to customize the Windows 7 logon experience. The article might have been a bit techy for some users as it involved working with the Windows Registry and system files.

The Windows 7 Logon Screen Rotator is a computer program for the Windows 7 operating system that is much easier to use. It has been designed to rotate the logon screen on every logon. The main benefit of using this program is that it does not require the user to tamper with the Windows Registry at all. Up to ten different logon screen images can be added to the software program that get then rotated automatically.

New logon screen images can be added by clicking on the Choose Image buttons which will open a file browser window. The application itself will take care of the rest and rotate the logon screen images from then on. You can download the software directly from Neowin.

Windows 7, windows 7 logon, windows 7 logon background, windows 7 logon customization, windows 7 logon screen rotator, windows 7 software

Goodbye Intel’s Centrino, Hello Core i3, i5, i7

Robert — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 19:55:00 +0000

In a post yesterday, Bill Calder of Intel has explained Intel’s choice to (eventually) drop the Centrino branding and explain their motivations to adopt a Core family in which it is easier for the customer to understand the difference between each processor’s capabilities.

Centrino is not done yet, but it will be phased out and eventually eliminated as Core branding takes its place. Intel is simply modifying the Core chips’ brandings to reflect different levels of power and make it easier to understand the level of hardware under consideration, as explained by Calder:

It is important to note that these are not brands but modifiers to the Intel Core brand that signal different features and benefits. For example, upcoming processors such as Lynnfield (desktop) will carry the Intel Core brand, but will be available as either Intel Core i5 or Intel Core i7 depending upon the feature set and capability. Clarksfield (mobile) will have the Intel Core i7 name.

According to Deborah Conrad, also of Intel, “in the back half of this year you’ll begin to see Core i5 and more Core i7s coming to market. Then by the first part of next year you’ll begin to see Core i3, and i5, i7.”

However, this does not mean the end of all branding other than the Core chips series for Intel, as Calder introduces plans to retain the Celeron line (a cheaper line of Intel PCs) along with their new Atom series for netbooks:

We will still have Celeron for entry-level computing at affordable price points, Pentium for basic computing, and of course the IntelÂ® Atom™ processor for all these new devices ranging from netbooks to smartphones. For PC purchasing, think in terms of good-better-best with Celeron being good, Pentium better, and the Intel Core family representing the best we have to offer.

This simply means that Intel is attempting to simplify its mystifying lines (Core 2 Duo, Core 2 Quad) of Core derivatives, consolidating them under a single Core line, all while making it easier for the average consumer to select a PC that fits their needs and their budget.

Calder then ends with a final note:

This will be an evolutionary process taking place over time, and we acknowledge that multiple brands will be in the market next year including older ones, as we make the transition. But overall this is a good thing, designed to make it easier and more rational over the long run.

What do you think? Do you think that this will also help to boost sales in a stagnant computer industry as both Microsoft and Intel focus on making their products easier for the average user to understand?

No matter what happens, it will be interesting to see how such actions by major industries affect the future of Windows.

More information can be found here (along with Deborah Conrad’s video).

core series, i3, i5, i7, intel, processors

Could Windows Touch Replace the Mouse and Keyboard?

Mustafa — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 17:02:19 +0000

One of the new features that have been added to Windows 7 is “Windows Touch”, which allows users to use their fingers to perform tasks instead of the keyboard and mouse.

According to Microsoft, multi-touch technology will make tasks such as resizing windows, rotating images and scrolling easier. Microsoft has also introduced a “Touch Pack” for Windows 7, which contains various applications and games that relay only on touch. Also, some claim that this feature might affect the future of PC gaming.

So it’s not strange to see that already some companies have released laptops with touch screens such as Dell Latitude E6400 XFR andÂ HP TouchSmart tx2z. I believe that very soon this might become a standard in new laptops after Windows 7 hits the market.

However, not everyone agrees. For instance James Kendrick, an avid Tablet PC user who was recognized in 2005 with the Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional) award in Tablet PCs, mentions in his blog:

I have used laptops with touchscreens for a good while and while it’s cool to be able to touch the screen to make stuff happen it’s pure fluff.Â I find that after an initial “gee-whiz” period of tapping the screen I stop touching the screen at all and go back to using the keyboard and pointers like I do on notebooks without touch.

Why?Â Because it’s not natural to be touching the screen on a laptop.Â It’s uncomfortable to do and more importantly it forces the user to remove their hand(s) from where they rest normally.Â This breaks up the natural flow of things and like I said it’s actually uncomfortable to do.Â That’s why I find myself not touching the screen after a short bit and so having the touch interface soon addsnothing to me.

Would you dig deeper in your pockets to buy a touch screen just to zoom in/out and rotate images using your fingers??

display, laptop, Marketing, Microsoft, monitor, operating system, os, screen, touch, touch screen, touchscreen, Windows 7

Should Windows 7 Be Used For Business

Sean Marshall — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 16:55:49 +0000

In my day to day computing, I am faced with a problem. Every computer that I use at work (a call center while I am in college) has Windows XP SP3 as its operating system. I myself have made the jump from XP to Vista to Windows 7, for Sean Marshall Studios and also for my family’s personal computers. Granted XP is a very stable and reliable operating system that has performed well. But in my opinion it is far too outdated. I understand that it is time and money to “retrain” IT departments and staff on a new OS. But the benefits just might outweigh the so called “cost” of retraining.

Lets delve into why it cost money to retrain the staff of a business. You hire a person do a specific task with a computer, not knowing their level of knowledge with a computer (this applies to business as a whole, not every business runs XP. Or, hires people without a decent level of computer skills, I understand.) But to train any employee on any skill, costs money. So in the long run it very easily can be seen as an investment to “retrain” an employee on a new OS. Technically they have already have been trained. Given the fact that windows operating systems are not that different from each other. A jump to a new OS can be very, very easy.

Does that mean retraining every single person in the entire company? No, simply put, Windows 7 or Vista is not that different from XP. The difference is the new operating systems incorporate new features that can help your employees work more efficiently.Â If you put the same 10 icons on a desktop, and that is all your employees will ever need, then how does the OS call for “retraining”? It is essentially the same programs your employees work with everyday. I will get into compatibility in a bit also. Plus Windows 7 can be made to look like almost any previous version of windows. So in appearance it would be the same thing they are used also.

This is time for the IT departments to step up. They need not to say “let’s just keep using what works”, but instead “lets use what works better.” They should be prepared, and well versed in Windows 7 already. If not maybe you should ask who you have employed in your IT department. Of course there will always be another company not willing to take a chance with a new OS. But the truth of the matter is, the sooner the better. I don’t know if the Mac folks know this or not. But there are WAY more people and businesses that use a windows machine. I can name thousands of business that use XP on a daily basis for everyone of their employees. Thousands…

As the owner of a business, Sean Marshall Studios, I happen to be my own IT department, along with everything else. So I feel a strong need to stay current on everything that makes my business happen. From advertising for new clients, or using basic word documents (MS Office 2010 soon, yeah.) I switched to Windows 7 as soon as the beta (7000 x64) was available in January and have never looked back. I’m not going to get into why I did not like Vista 64. But never the less, I was not a happy camper and felt the need for a change. Low and behold, I got a nice surprise. Windows 7 is faster, more stable, and overall a better OS to use than any previous version of Windows.

Many features in Windows 7 allow me to be more productive. The new Aero features! The Snip it tool and so on and so on. ButÂ there is one feature I would like to discuss as it is secret. Well not really anymore but it was at one time; “XP Mode”. This is a new feature that Windows 7 will offer in the RTM.Â It is available now for testing with the Windows 7 Release Candidate (7100), and will be available until July. Basically it allows you to run a “virtual copy of Windows XP SP3” on your Windows 7 desktop. (Notice it is not a Vista mode.) Meaning any argument about certain drivers, programs, applications not working or being “not compatible” are not viable. You can have Windows XP in Windows 7, in one package. I highly dig the concept of Microsoft’s idea. They have millions of customers still using XP. The customers did not want to go with Vista because of bad PR or whatever. So now they get XP with Windows 7.

But in the end, one day Microsoft will stop supporting XP as an OS. Meaning there will not be any more security patches or fixes. Meaning you are left vulnerable. But the future is, it might never die because it is going to live on virtually on Windows 7 and maybe 8 and maybe even Windows 9. Whatever that might be… I bet it will be fantastic. We will see.

Anyway all I guess I am saying is it would better to switch to Windows 7 when it is released in October. Rather than wait till you are forced to make a switch and play catchup with the rest of the business world. Truth be told. Some of us are already here. We are just waiting on you realize the truth. Windows 7. Then Windows 8. And so on…. or until somebody makes something better. Who knows? Until next time.

Buisness, Vista, Windows 7, Windows 7 7100 x64, XP

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Announcement: 50% discount on Windows 7 Pre-Orders for a limited amount of time.

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Official Windows 7 Video Tours

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3. “Search Filters”, a Very Powerful Feature

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2. Blu-ray support.

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