Amazon is showing that the pre-order for Windows 7 is dominating their sales. A lot of good reason, too. With the rough US economy, less people are going to fork over their hard earned cash to upgrade to a new OS. So, with these discounts for pre-order, it isn't a surprise there are a lot of people jumping on the deal. I think that most people will only upgrade to 7 when they buy a new PC as soon as the discounts end. While it is an excellent operating system, the pricing is starting to get a little out of hand.
Although some analysts have slammed Microsoft for setting Windows 7 Home Premium's upgrade at $120, they have applauded the pre-order discounts. "The $49 initial price is a nice reward for loyal customers," said Michael Gartenberg, an analyst with Interpret, in a blog post yesterday. "But the 'real' upgrade pricing is way off for what the market will likely bear, especially during these economic times."
As we get closer and close to the Windows 7 release, more and more things are coming out. Today's exciting news is about the packaging that the new OS will be packaged in. How exciting is that!? Amazing. At least it's going to be easier to open than the Vista box, and won't need a FAQ and people asking over and over again in the newsgroups!
We approached the packaging for Windows 7 the same way we approached the product – by listening to what our customers told us they wanted: make it a simple clean design, easy to open, and reduce waste.
Pricing for the new and upcoming Windows 7 has been released. Some good pricing if you pre-order, and if you buy a new PC with Vista installed between now and October 22nd, the Windows 7 release date, you can get a copy of 7 for free. Similar to the free upgrade when Vista was released. Nice.
Microsoft said Thursday that prices for the Windows 7 computer operating system are largely in line with those for Vista, and that people who buy PCs before the new system goes on sale in October will get free upgrades.
Microsoft is going to release a beta version of their new security suite early next week . Dubbed Microsoft Security Essentials, it will be a direct replacement for the Windows Live OneCare, which has been a disappointment to many.
Microsoft Security Essentials, which will run on Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7, will be available in the U.S., Brazil, and Israel in English and Brazilian Portuguese. A public beta version for Simplified Chinese will be available later in the year.
The service works like traditional antivirus products in which client software monitors programs on a PC. When something changes on the computer, such as files being downloaded or copied or software trying to modify files, the system checks against a set of malware signatures in the client program to see if the code matches the signature for known malware. If so, it blocks it from getting downloaded.
Gizmodo has some nice hands on video of the new and upcoming Zune HD that has been rumored but never officially annouced, until now. Some great stuff for your Zune lovers. I'm hoping to pick one up when released to try it out. A nice touchscreen, but the video itself (from Gizmodo, not the Zune itself) is somewhat, well a lot, blurry.
Windows 7 Center reports on the new feature in Windows 7 called "Safe Unlinking" that helps with security in the new operating system. With all these new security features, Windows 7 looks to be a great and secure OS.
The Windows 7 kernel has a new feature called “Safe Unlinking”, to help increase security and prevent vulnerabilities known as pool overrun attacks. This will make the experience of using Windows 7 faster, more reliable and above all, safer by making it harder for people to launch these attacks.
The Windows Team Blog has news that the Starter Edition that is designed for Netbooks and similar spec'ed PC's will NOT have a 3 application's running at a time limit as previously reported. This can be considered good news or bad news depending on your machine. On the netbooks, I have some reservations on whether or not it could handle 3 applications at a time. Unless it's Notepad, Internet Explorer and a chat program with low resources needed. Just don't try Photoshop, Office 2007, Visual Studio and try to play a HD video at the same time. I don't think it would be a pleasureable experience! :)
For the first time, we will be making Windows 7 Starter available worldwide on small notebook PCs. We are also going to enable Windows 7 Starter customers the ability to run as many applications simultaneously as they would like, instead of being constricted to the 3 application limit that the previous Starter editions included.
Ok, the new Microsoft search product, Bing , isn't released to the public yet. But, judging from all the screenshots and videos I've seen, it looks to give Google a run for it's money. I'll be switching search engines, for sure. But, don't just take my word for it. Take Apple co-founder and tech geek "The Woz" Steve Wozniak's word , too. He seems to really like it as well.
Is the new search from Microsoft, Bing, going to change the way you search the internet? Vote in our poll to the right to express your opinion!
"I thought it was one of the most astounding software demos I've ever seen," a bubbly Wozniak tells Yahoo's TechTicker in the video below.
Microsoft has released service pack 2 for Windows Vista and Server 2008 machines. If you don't have it yet, you should probably head over and download it!
Service Pack 2 for Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista (SP2) is an update to Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 that supports new kinds of hardware and emerging hardware standards, and includes all updates delivered since SP1. SP2 simplifies administration by enabling IT administrators to deploy and support a single service pack for clients and servers. Please see the Windows Server SP2/Windows Vista SP2 page on TechNet/MSDN for additional details and documentation. SP2 is an update to Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista that incorporates improvements discovered through automated feedback, as well as updates that have been delivered since SP1. By providing these fixes integrated into a single service pack for both client and server, Microsoft provides a single high-quality update that minimizes deployment and testing complexity for customers. Service Pack 1 is a prerequisite for installing Service Pack 2. Please make sure that your system is running Service Pack 1 before you install Service Pack 2.
MSTechPages is looking for a couple more writers for contributing to the site. The writings can be in the form of articles, reviews, FAQ's or the good ol' news posting. This is a volunteer position, but you do get the joy of writing for a well established web site dedicated to Microsoft and the Windows operating system. If you are interested, shoot me an email at
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. Thank you for your continued support!
Also, on a non-Microsoft query: I am looking for a NAS software for a custom NAS build. I think I have narrowed it down to OpenFiler or FreeNAS. Thing is, it has to seamlessly integrate into Active Directory in Windows Server 2008 with minimal system requirements. I hope to have at least 4 TB of data in a RAID 5 array. Send an email to the above address if you have any recommendations or suggestions! Thanks a lot!
Here is another sweet feature about Windows 7. The Remote Media Streaming feature allows you to stream your unprotected video, pictures and music over the internet to a remote PC. This would be wonderful if you are on the go in a hotel or airport and want to watch a quick movie that you have on your home PC. And excellent for the Netbooks out there. One caveat, however: both PC's need to be running Windows 7. Not a huge deal breaker, but still a downside, nonetheless. Check out the C|Net article by the awesome Ina Fried for their experience with the new feature .
To get a better sense of the product, I decided to put it through its paces. The feature didn't seem to work when one of the PCs was attached to CNET's corporate network, but worked fine when I went to a coffee house and streamed the media off of a Windows PC at home. (The remote media streaming requires the PC that houses the content to be part of a home network.)
TechRepublic has a nice article on 10 new tools in Windows 7 that you may not know about. Some of these are old news, and some of them are new and make administering Windows a lot easier.
Windows 7 has received plenty of attention from the tech press, but much of the focus has been on interface changes, such as the redesigned taskbar, and new file management features, such as libraries. Some improvements are less obvious — like the new or enhanced tools that are included with the OS. Here we discuss 10 of these cool tools that make the computing experience easier.
To all the soldiers out there, I wish to thank you for your service, and for my freedom. And today is the day to remember the fallen heroes that helped give us our freedom that many take for granted.
Bearing that in mind, LiveSide is throwing our collective hats into the ring, with several predictions of our own as to what Microsoft will – and will not – be showing at E3.
First things first today. If you are still running any version of Windows 7, pre-RC1, it's time to update to RC1 or your OS will go into the "Reduces Functionality Mode". So, all you that are still running Beta 1 better back up everything and install the newest release. Or you can do an upgrade, but I really recommend the fresh install. Especially when using the beta!
For those questioning whether or not your hardware and software is up to the task of handling Windows 7, you can download the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor from Microsoft . Just like the one for Vista, it will scan your PC for compatibility issues and whether or not the hardware is beefy enough to handle it. Well, what are you waiting for?! I don't recommend running this on a 486. It doesn't work. :)
Just download, install, and run the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor Beta. You'll get a report telling you if your PC can run Windows 7, and if there are any known compatibility issues. If the issues can be resolved, you'll get suggestions for next steps. For example, it'll let you know if you need an updated software driver. You'll also get advice on how to upgrade to Windows 7.
