Windows 7 Sales rate Beyond 7 Copies per Second

This was the news I came to know about the Windows 7 sales as I was going through the net.

While undoubtedly, selling 7 copies of Windows 7 per second, "sounds" better than selling 10 copies of Windows 7 per second, the fact of the matter is that sales of the latest iteration of the Windows client are accelerating.

Less than a week ago, the Redmond company announced that Windows 7’s strong momentum was continuing, with license sales of the operating system
hitting the 175 million units milestone. At that time, the software giant was emphasizing that more than 7 copies of Windows 7 were being sold every second. Now the company revealed that the real number is closer to 10 licenses of Windows 7 being served to customers worldwide per second.

"With 175 million licenses sold to date, it is the fastest selling operating system ever, and now runs on over 15% of all PCs worldwide," revealed Peter Klein, Microsoft's chief financial officer, during an earnings call to Wall Street analysts, according to ComputerWorld.

Ahead of July 2010, Microsoft had underlined on various occasions that no less than 7 copies of the fastest selling operating system in history were going out to customers each second. For the month before the company announced the financial results for the third quarter in Fiscal Year 2010, sales of Windows 7 had in fact accelerated just a tad short of 10 licenses per second.

According to statistics released by Microsoft, over 16% of the world’s PCs were running Windows 7, at just nine months since the operating system was launched. Record sales of Windows 7 helped the Redmond company overall, with the software giant beating Wall Street estimates to generate $16.04 billion in revenue for Q3 2010, and $62.48 billion for the entire past fiscal year.

At this point in time Windows 7 is the second most used operating system worldwide, having a larger install base than Windows Vista, which was launched in early 2007. Still, there’s much to go for Windows 7 until it will at least come on par with Windows XP, in terms of market share. However, forecasts from earlier this year indicated that some 300 million copies of Windows 7 would be sold by the end of 2010. Provided that the OS will keep up the pace, XP could be dethroned by the time that Windows 8 gets here.

source: news.softpedia.com

Windows 8 ‘Confirmed’ for 2012 Launch

More and more evidence is emerging that Windows 8 will be released in 2012. At this years Professional Developer’s Conference (PDC 2009), budding attendees managed to get their hands on two Windows roadmap slides that show ‘Windows 8′ launching in 2012:

Now these slides don’t really provide any information that we didn’t know; Microsoft typically leave 3 years between each release and with Windows 7 launching this year, Windows 8 was always likely to be in 2012. It is unlikely that Microsoft would pull Windows 8’s launch forward to 2011 because it would impact Windows 7 sales with customers delaying upgrades, and unlikely they would delay until 2013 as Windows 8’s development seems to be progressing quite nicely.

Source: Microsoft Kitchen

Windows 8 to be 128-bit compatible?

As we’ve known for some time, Microsoft had already begun work on Windows 8 before Windows 7 was completed. The reason being that different teams work on different aspects of the operating system, which is why Microsoft was able to do this. Microsoft previously shed some light on what we can see in Windows 8 through a job description.

It appears though, that one specific Microsoft employee was not too careful with their LinkedIn profile, and had accidentally leaked some interesting details regarding Windows 8. According to his LinkedIn profile, which seems to have had many of its details removed, Robert Murdon has been working at Microsoft since January 2002. Windows 8 News managed to catch this on the Microsoft employee’s LinkedIn profile before it disappeared:

“Robert Morgan is working to get IA-128 working backwards with full binary compatibility on the existing IA-64 instructions in the hardware simulation to work for Windows 8 and definitely Windows 9.”

“Robert Morgan is using Hestia (custom software package) for experimenting with the processor for scientific analysis and 3D graphics. Error: Memory Latency? Always gotta be a challenge barrier, it’s gotta be a bug in Hestia. right?!”

“Robert Morgan is frustrated with process standards and regulations! Delays Delays!”

Murdon seems certain that we will see 128-bit compatibility with Windows 9, while it appears that whether we will see it in Windows 8 or not is still uncertain. Coincidentally, many do believe that Windows 7 will be Microsoft’s last 32-bit OS. So could this mean we will see Windows 8 come in 64-bit and 128-bit flavors? Let us know what you think in the comments.

32-bit and 64-bit Windows: Frequently asked questions

I was Just surfing trhough net about the windows 7, and So on I landed over the Microsoft's Windows 7 home page. I was Curious on the faq's for the new OS of Windows. And hence I just got this FAQ's on how 32-bit and 64-bit of windows versions are. And this FAQ's are really helpful for any body who is goin to buy a new PC. Or one who is goin to Upgrade the PC.

Well Its fuller reaches underneath the hammer!...

and here is it.



*What is the difference between 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows?

-The terms 32-bit and 64-bit refer to the way a computer's processor (also called a CPU), handles information. The 64-bit version of Windows handles large amounts of random access memory (RAM) more effectively than a 32-bit system.

*How can I tell if my computer is running a 32-bit or a 64-bit version of Windows?

-To see if your computer is running a 32-bit or 64-bit version of Windows, do the following:

1. 
   
   Open System by clicking the Start button, clicking Control Panel, clicking System and Security, and then clicking System.
2. 
   
   Under System, you can view the system type.

*Can my computer run a 64-bit version of Windows?

-To run a 64-bit version of Windows, your computer must have a 64-bit-capable processor. If you are unsure whether your processor is 64-bit-capable, do the following:

1. 
   
   Open Performance Information and Tools by clicking the Start button, and then clicking Control Panel. In the search box, type Performance Information and Tools, and then, in the list of results, click Performance Information and Tools.
2. 
   
   Click View and print detailed performance and system information.

*Can I upgrade from a 32-bit version of Windows to a 64-bit version of Windows?

-No. If you are currently running a 32-bit version of Windows, you can only perform an upgrade to another 32-bit version of Windows. Similarly, if you are running a 64-bit version of Windows, you can only perform an upgrade to another 64-bit version of Windows.

If you want to move from a 32-bit version of Windows to a 64-bit version of Windows, you'll need to back up your files and then perform a Custom installation of the 64-bit version of Windows. For more information, see Installing and reinstalling Windows.

*Can I run 32-bit programs on a 64-bit computer?

-Most programs designed for a computer running a 32-bit version of Windows will work on a computer running 64-bit versions of Windows. Notable exceptions are many antivirus programs, and some hardware drivers.

Drivers designed for 32-bit versions of Windows don't work on computers running a 64-bit version of Windows. If you're trying to install a printer or other device that only has 32-bit drivers available, it won't work correctly on a 64-bit version of Windows. For information about updating drivers and troubleshooting issues with device drivers for 64-bit versions of Windows, contact the manufacturer of the device or program.

*Would I benefit from using a 64-bit computer?

-The benefits are most apparent when you have a large amount of random access memory (RAM) installed on your computer, typically 4 GB of RAM or more. In such cases, because a 64-bit operating system can handle large amounts of memory more efficiently than a 32-bit operating system can, a 64-bit system can be more responsive when running several programs at the same time and switching between them frequently.

*If I'm running a 64-bit version of Windows, do I need 64-bit drivers for my devices?

Yes. All hardware devices need 64-bit drivers to work on a 64-bit version of Windows. Drivers designed for 32-bit versions of Windows don't work on computers running 64-bit versions of Windows.

To learn how to check for drivers, see Update a driver for hardware that isn't working properly or go to the device manufacturer's website. You can also get information about drivers by going to the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor website.

source:

Upgrade your Windows Live Messenger Service

We are committed to providing a safe, secure and positive experience for our more than 300 million customers across the globe using Windows Live Messenger
every month.

To deliver on that commitment, beginning on August 25, we started asking our customers using versions 8.1, 8.5 and 14.0 to upgrade to the newest version of Messenger. The upgrade will provide customers with the latest software updates including code fixes and feature enhancements, as well address vulnerabilities discussed in the Microsoft Security Advisory 973882 that existed in previous versions of Windows Live Messenger.

The upgrade process will take place in a phased approach over the next several weeks:

First Phase, Optional Upgrade:
The optional upgrade will happen in two stages:
Starting Aug. 25, customers using versions 8.1 or 8.5 were asked to upgrade their client.
Starting early Oct., all customers using versions 14.0 (but not the latest release 14.0.8089) will be asked to upgrade their client.
The upgrade at this time is optional. Customers who haven’t upgraded during the optional phase will be required to do so during the second phase.

Second Phase, Mandatory Upgrade:
The mandatory upgrade will happen in three stages:
Starting mid-Sept., all customers using Messenger 8.1 or 8.5 will be required to upgrade their version of Windows Live Messenger.
Starting late Oct., all customers using Messenger 14.0 will be required to upgrade their version of Windows Live Messenger.
To ensure that we are protecting customers, those who do not administer the upgrade will not be able to sign in to Messenger after this time.

Please Note: It will take several weeks for the upgrade process to be completed, as the upgrade will be rolled out to customers over the course of several weeks.

Below are some examples of the prompts that you will encounter during the upgrade process.

Want to upgrade now? You don’t have to wait for the notification. In fact, we encourage you to download the updated version of Messenger right now by visiting http://download.live.com .

source: bink.nu

Configure Windows Logon Process with Winlogon Configuration Tool

Windows Logon Screen is the first screen displayed after you boot your Windows OS. Often you feel the need of changing logon user, enable/disable multi users logon session or running some script immediately after you login.

There is no simple way to get above changes without messing with Windows Registry. But many will not be comfortable registry editing for those users here is handy freeware utility Winlogon Configuration Tool.

Winlogon Configuration tool helps you to configure some of the settings for the Winlogon process. This includes settings up auto logon feature, logon dialog options and settings for Windows File Protection.

Download: Download Winlogon Configuration Tool
source: blogsdna.com

Windows 7 ActiveX Killbits

Microsoft has released two downloads containing ActiveX Killbits for the 32-bit and the 64-bit flavors of Windows 7 Release Candidate Build 7100.

The Cumulative Security Update for ActiveX Killbits for Windows 7 went live on the Microsoft Download Center on July 14th, 2009 and are currently available for users running the RC Build 7100 release of the next iteration of the Windows client. Although labeled a cumulative security update, fact is that the ActiveX Killbits are not designed to patch a vulnerability in Windows 7. Users must regard them instead as a defense-in-depth measure and nothing more.

The killbits released on July 14 are part of a patch that came to resolve a Critical vulnerability in the Microsoft Video ActiveX Control. The Redmond company informed the public about the issue in the first half of June 2009. The security vulnerability comes with a Critical rating for all supported editions of Windows XP, but just Moderate for Windows Server 2003. The flaw does not affect Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2. Nonetheless, deploying the Killbits is a healthy preventive measure that will increase the level of security.

The Redmond company advised even customers of non-affected platforms to apply the security update. The fix is designed to render useless any possible future new vectors of attack. Although the vulnerability was privately reported to Microsoft, attacks with exploits targeting the specific flaw were detected in the wild.

“A remote code execution vulnerability exists in the Microsoft Video ActiveX Control, msvidctl.dll. An attacker could exploit the vulnerability by constructing a specially crafted Web page. When a user views the Web page, the vulnerability could allow remote code execution. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could gain the same user rights as the logged on user,” Microsoft informed.

Cumulative Security Update for ActiveX Killbits for Windows 7 Release Candidate (KB973346)
Cumulative Security Update for ActiveX Killbits for Windows 7 Release Candidate for x64-based Systems (KB973346)
source: news.softpedia.com

Microsoft to kill Encarta later this year

Microsoft has announced that it is discontinuing its Encarta line of products. The software products will be gone by June 2009 and the website will go down October 31, 2009.



When I first saw this, I had to do a double take. I made sure it wasn't April 1 at least three times before I conceded. While looking around Encarta's homepage today, I stumbled on a message that Microsoft was getting rid of MSN Encarta completely: "On October 31, 2009, MSN Encarta Web sites worldwide will be discontinued, with the exception of Encarta Japan, which will be discontinued on December 31, 2009. Additionally, Microsoft will cease to sell Microsoft Student and Encarta Premium software products worldwide by June 2009." Looks like employees at Wikipedia and Encyclopaedia Britannica will be throwing parties tonight.

This is all on the FAQ page because Microsoft wants to clarify why it is doing this. The software giant says that the "category of traditional encyclopedias and reference material has changed" and that "people today seek and consume information in considerably different ways." It doesn't go into more detail, e.g., lack of sales or Wikipedia's tremendous growth. The company, however, does mention that it will "develop future technology solutions" but doesn't say anything beyond that. For those users with Encarta on MSN Explorer, the October 31 kill date still applies.

source: arstechnica.com

Microsoft plans Windows 7 release candidate for May

Microsoft Corp. will deliver a release candidate of Windows 7 to the public in late May, according to a report from a noted Windows Web site.

Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC), the next slated major milestone for the under-development operating system, will be made available to the public the last week of May, said Neowin.net today.

Prior to that, Microsoft will wrap up an "escrow build" of the release candidate and offer it to a small invitation-only group of testers near the end of April, said Neowin, citing information from a Russian-language Web site and sources within Microsoft's Technical Adoption Program, which gives large corporations sneak peeks at pre-release software.

In Microsoft's parlance, an escrow build is a post-development edition given to testers for one final examination for any show-stopping problems or bugs. Microsoft, for instance, generated an escrow build of Windows Vista Service Pack 2 (SP2) prior to posting it for public download earlier this month.

Read More...

Microsoft test updates in Windows 7 Beta 7000 Today

Starting February 24, we will be releasing up to 5 test updates to PCs running the Windows 7 Beta (Build 7000) via Windows Update.

These updates allow us to test and verify our ability to deliver and manage the updating of Windows 7. We typically verify servicing scenarios during a beta. 

Windows 7 Beta users will be notified that new updates are available beginning February 24 through Windows Update. Even if the user has Windows Update configured for automatic update – these test updates will not install automatically. Users will need to manually install the test updates through Windows Update. 

These updates do not deliver new features or bug fixes. The test updates simply replace system files with the same version of the file currently on the system.

source: windowsteamblog.com

Ballmer: Office 14 will not be released in 2009

During his annual “Strategic Update” briefing with Wall Street analysts on February 24, CEO Steve Ballmer said Office 14 won’t be shipping in 2009.

“Office 14 will not be this year,” Ballmer told analysts. 

Microsoft officials have been careful not to provide a ship-date target for the next version of Office. However, last year, more than a few times execs slipped up and indicated Office 14 would ship in 2009. Just a month or two ago, Microsoft reps were telling corporate customers that Office 14 would ship in either late 2009 or early 2010. 

Office not shipping until 2010 makes for an interesting launch season in the coming months.

source: blogs.zdnet.com

Microsoft's Ballmer outlines his seven big bets for 2009

For the past few Februaries, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer makes the trek to Wall Street to provide analysts with an annual “Strategic Update” overview, in which he covers the areas where Microsoft plans to invest and why.

This year, during his February 24 update, Ballmer was more about circling the wagons than staking out new, far-flung territories Microsoft planned to conquer in the next 10 years. 

(Here is the list of Ballmer’s strategic bets he outlined in 2007; here’s Ballmer’s list from 2008.) 

On Tuesday during his hour-plus presentation (which I listened to via a Webcast), Ballmer outlined seven areas “where we invest serious money.” He told Wall Streeters that Microsoft planned to engage in careful cash management; to maintain “right-size enterprise overhead”; and to put about three percent of its spending into research and incubation projects in the coming year.

source: blogs.zdnet.com

Start Windows

Microsoft is pushing "Start" with new Windows Mobile phones, which have been rebranded as Windows Phones. The "Start" concept started with Windows 95 and has continued in various iterations since. Start's role is a big one for Windows Phones, which foreshadows greater emphasis for Windows 7 and Live marketing, I predict.

The last major iteration of the concept came in April 2005, when Microsoft kicked off the 18-month "Start Something" Windows XP ad campaign. The newer Start concept is threefold:

• Marketing—new Windows Phones promotionals feature Start Windows, with the logo between the words.
• Software—Windows Mobile 6.5 puts new emphasis on the Start icon.
• Hardware—Windows Phones will feature a Start button.

I've long advocated that good marketing must be affirmative, empowering and aspirational. People want to know how Product X, Y or Z will make their lives better—why they will be happier for their purchase. The 95-second video embedded below focuses almost wholly on user benefits; Microsoft forgoes the features. Here, here, that's exactly the right approach.

It's a great, ah, start to the video: "Start discovering"; "Start experiencing"; "Start remembering"; "Start succeeding." I'll be watching to see how the Start manifests in Windows and Windows Live marketing. Microsoft is more closely coordinating marketing among the three products.

source: microsoft-watch.com

Windows 7 buzz may stall Vista

The positive buzz for Windows 7 is creating an interesting challenge for Microsoft: It appears to be making it tougher to get businesses to move to Windows Vista.

And it's not like there has been a mad rush on that front to begin with.

Gartner did a survey in October that found about 30 percent of large businesses were likely to skip Vista and a significant number of other companies still hadn't decided what to do.

Plaudits for Windows 7, combined with a weakening economy, could mean that as many as half of businesses decide to skip Vista entirely, according to Gartner analyst Michael Silver.

"Anyone who was on the fence... is now pretty much likely to skip," Silver said Wednesday.

That's made things rough for those inside Microsoft whose job it is to advise businesses on their Windows upgrades. Microsoft isn't necessarily trying to discourage businesses from going from XP to 7 (an upgrade is an upgrade after all). But, the company is offering a couple of warnings.

"They are incredibly excited (about Windows 7)," says Gavriella Schuster, a senior director in the Windows unit. "We're just trying to temper that...so they are very realistic."

Although Windows 7 is getting strong early marks, it isn't a panacea for all of Vista's pain, Schuster said. Businesses have to work through the same application compatibility issues to go from XP to Windows 7 as they would to move from XP to Vista. Although Windows 7 is designed to be highly compatible with Windows Vista, all of the things that have made going from XP to Vista a challenge for businesses are also present when going from XP to Windows 7.

source: news.cnet.com

MacWorld, Windows 7, Palm

The week started off with MacWorld 2009, in San Fransisco, the last MacWorld attended by Apple. The company had already announced that instead of Steve Jobs, it would be Phil Schiller delivering the keynote. Various rumours had made their way onto the internet, but in the end, none of the extravagant ones had an bearing in reality. apple delivered new versions of iLife, iWork, and also updated their 17" MacBook Pro offering to match the new features of the cheaper MacBooks and MacBook Pros, such as the aluminium unibody design. In addition, Apple claims a battery life of 7-8 hours, which is, by any standard, quite long for such a large and powerful laptop.

Some wondered why Apple didn't make any statements regarding Snow Leopard, although I personally thought that it made sense for Apple to remain mum on the subject for now.

Moving on from MacWorld, we go to Las Vegas to join in on the gadget orgy known as the Consumer Electronics Show, where two important announcements were made: Microsoft launched the first beta for Windows 7, and Palm surprised everyone by showing off their new mobile operating system and phone.

The beta to Windows 7 was launched during Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer's first keynote presentation at CES, a task which was previously performed by Bill Gates. During his keynote, Ballmer launched the Windows 7 beta to TechNet/MSDN/Connect, and promised a public beta by next Friday. The public beta arrived, but due to the fact that Microsoft announced a download cap of 2.5 million, the download servers were mashed into oblivion, and the company was forced to delay the public beta by about a day. Microsoft: BitTorrent, BitTorrent: Microsoft. I hope you can become friends.

MacWorld and Windows 7 were expected, but no one really foresaw the positive impact Palm's new webOS and pre mobile phone would make in the media. Especially the card-based interface was met with positive responses from media outlets. Palm remained silent on some details, however, but Ars did dig up some information regarding the device and its SDK that Palm didn't give out.

Apart from the above, Google's Chrome also made the headlines with information regarding Chrome 2.0. Creative's Zii platform barely made any ripples on other websites, but we found it pretty interesting nonetheless.

Something that didn't make it to OSNews this week was the barrage of submissions regarding gOS 3.1 (SP1). I've ordered a set of parts to build a brand new computer from, allowing me to turn my current machine into a nice test rig. I promise to take a look at gOS 3.1 as soon as the new machine is assembled, and I free up my current machine.

Next up is My Take, which, as I already mentioned, will be a completely random musing about a random subject. It can be about music, television, film, or just plain ol' technology.

from : http://www.osnews.com/story/20752/MacWorld_Windows_7_Palm

Installing Windows 7 on any Netbook

When we reviewed the Windows 7 beta, we did so on a standard desktop machine. However, the big thing in hardware right now is not the desktop, but the netbook segment. Since Microsoft claims that Windows 7 is geared towards netbooks, I decided to give the beta a go on my trusty Acer Aspire One. Read on for installation instructions if you don't own an external DVD drive, and a few very short first impressions.

Installation

Installing Windows on a machine without a CD/DVD drive has always been a bit tricky, and you'd think that "geared towards netbooks" would imply that Microsoft made this process a little easier. Well, they didn't, so you'll still have to resort to some tedious work before you can actually start the installation. It's hard to screw this up, but it's still tedious work, and shouldn't really be necessary in this day and age. The instructions below are taken from garyshort.org.

Get yourself a nice USB drive, at least 4GB in size (2GB is too small, and I'm not sure if 3GB drives exist), and plug it in your computer. Then, load up a command prompt with administrative privileges (right click, "Run as administrator..."), and enter the following commands to properly format the USB drive:

diskpart [launches diskpart]
list disk [lists the currently mounted disks, and assigns them a number]
select disk # [selects the USB drive, replace # with your disk's number]
clean [removes any MBR and partition information]
create partition primary [creates primary partition]
select partition 1 [selects the just-created partition]
active [marks the partition as active]
format fs=NTFS [formats the partition as NTFS]
assign [mounts the partition and assigns a drive letter]
exit [terminates diskpart]

The next step is to prepare the bootsector of the USB drive so that it is capable of catapulting the Windows 7 installation routine. To do this, put the Windows 7 DVD in your drive (or mount the .iso image using your tool of choice), and navigate to the /boot directory using a command prompt with administrative privileges. For some weird reason, the prompt I still had running after ceating/formatting the partition on the USB drive no longer had administrative privileges, so I had to load another. Once you're in the boot directory, execute the following command:

bootsect /nt60 # [prepares the boot sector, replace # with your USB drive's drive letter]

The rest is pretty easy. Copy the contents of the Windows 7 DVD/.iso image onto the USB drive. You can do this via drag/drop in Explorer. Once the copy process is complete, you can boot from the USB drive straight into the Windows 7 installation routine as if was a regular bootable DVD. On the Aspire One, this means hitting F12 during boot, invoking the boot menu, and selecting the USB drive as the boot device. Make sure that as soon as the installation routine starts rebooting, that you do not re-launch the installation routine.

That's all there is to it. Tedious, but if you're reading OSNews, this shouldn't pose any problems.

And now what...?

source: http://www.osnews.com/

Windows 7 beta 1 performance test

How does Windows 7 beta 1 compare to Vista and XP in terms of performance? That’s a question that’s been hitting my inbox regularly over the past few weeks. Let’s see if we can’t answer it!

Before I go any further I feel I need to make a point, and make it clear. The build I’m testing of Windows 7 (build 6.1.7000.0.081212-1400) is a beta build, and as a rule beta builds are usually more geared towards stability than performance. That said, the performance of this build should give us a clue as to how the OS is coming along. 

Rather than publish a series of benchmark results for the three operating systems (something which Microsoft frowns upon for beta builds, not to mention the fact that the final numbers only really matter for the release candidate and RTM builds), I’ve decided to put Windows 7, Vista and XP head-to-head in a series of real-world tests to find out which OS comes out top. 

The tests

There are 23 tests in all, most of which are self explanatory: 

1. Install OS - Time it takes to install the OS

2. Boot up - Average boot time to usable desktop

3. Shut down - Average shut down time

4. Move 100MB files - Move 100MB of JPEG files from one hard drive to another

5. Move 2.5GB files - Move 2.5GB of mixed size files (ranging from 1MB to 100MB) from one hard drive to another

6. Network transfer 100MB files - Move 100MB of JPEG files from test machine to NAS device

7. Network transfer 2.5GB files - Move 2.5GB of mixed size files (ranging from 1MB to 100MB) from test machine to NAS device

8. Move 100MB files under load - Move 100MB of JPEG files from one hard drive to another while ripping DVD to .ISO file

9. Move 2.5GB files under load - Move 2.5GB of mixed size files (ranging from 1MB to 100MB) from one hard drive to another while ripping DVD to .ISO file

10. Network transfer 100MB files under load - Move 100MB of JPEG files from test machine to NAS device while ripping DVD to .ISO file

11. Network transfer 2.5GB files under load - Move 2.5GB of mixed size files (ranging from 1MB to 100MB) from test machine to NAS device while ripping DVD to .ISO file

12. Compress 100MB files - Using built-in ZIP compression

13. Compress 1GB files - Using built-in ZIP compression

14. Extract 100MB files - Using built-in ZIP compression

15. Extract 1GB files - Using built-in ZIP compression

16. Install Office 2007 - Ultimate version, from DVD

17. Open 10 page Word doc - Text only

18. Open 100 page Word doc - Text and images only

19. Open simple Excel doc - Basic formatting

20. Open complex Excel doc - Including formula and charts

21. Burn DVD - Win 7 beta 1 .ISO to disc using CDBurnerXP

22. Open 10 page PDF - Text only, using latest Adobe Reader 8

23. Open 100 page PDF - Text and images, using latest Adobe Reader 8 

These series of tests will pitch Windows 7 build 7000 32-bit against Windows Vista SP1 32-bit and Windows XP SP3 32-bit. The scoring for each of the tests is simple. The winning OS scores 1, the runner up 2 and the loser scores a 3. The scores are added up and the OS with the lowest score at the end wins. 

Windows XP gets another stay of execution

Microsoft has extended the final OEM and reseller delivery date for the Windows XP from January 31, 2009 to May 30, 2009.

The cut off date for PC makers to obtain licenses for the software was January 31, 2009. Still, vendors have to place their orders before the official cutoff date of January 31, but they dont have to take delivery until May. Microsoft granted the reprieve largely because of customer's preference for XP.

Microsoft also recently extended the Vista "downgrade" deadline for OEMs to July 31 and netbooks and low-cost laptops will be able to run XP until at least June 2010, so chances are you'll be able to get XP until Windows 7 ships.

PC makers largely stopped selling XP installed on desktops and laptops in late 2007, but they are available to customers who order online or have a business account with OEMs such as Dell or Hewlett-Packard. Recently, Dell offered customers, the option to get Windows XP instead of Vista on many models.

If you are an XP lover and have bought a Vista system, you have two choices to get XP:

* To buy an XP license before June 30 and install it over Vista, and
* To "downgrade" to XP Professional using an XP Professional install disc or a "downgrade" XP Pro install disc supplied by the PC maker

Downgrade option is available only to Vista Ultimate or Vista Business users

source: neowin.net

Windows 7 Build 6956 Gallery – 160 Screenshots

Windows 7 Beta is just around the corner, and yet, nowhere near close enough. But at the same time, Windows 7 pre-Beta Build 6956 is already here.

The Build was showcased at the Windows Hardware Engineering conference in China, and subsequently leaked and made available for download both as a VHD and as an ISO. Windows 7 pre-Beta Build 6801 Mileastone 3, released at the Professional Developers Conference 2008 and WinHEC 2008 US had a similar fate. From 6801 to 6956, the evolution of Windows 7 is indisputable, as the operating system is moving away from Windows Vista and more towards, well, Windows 7. This should be evident in the following Windows 7 Build 6956 gallery featuring no less than 160 screenshots of the operating system.

160 screenshots of Build 6956 of the next iteration of the Windows client offer an ample opportunity to get a taste of what the fully-fledged Beta version of the platform will bring to the table. In Build 6801, Microsoft blocked some of the best features of Windows 7, namely those based on the evolution of the graphical user interface. This is no longer valid in Build 6956. Features like Aero Peek, Aero Snaps, the new Taskbar (the Superbar), Aero Shake and even wallpaper slideshow are now available without having to resort to a hack to dig them from under Microsoft's limitations.

One thing is for sure. The Windows 7-specific feature set of components that were set free in Build 6956 has been available as early as Milestone 3 (Build 6801) in the operating system. Microsoft is in fact not adding much in the jump from M3 to Beta; it is only perfecting the release, taking care of all the details that were apparently considered not ready for the general public at the end of October/the start of November.

Two sides to Windows 7 Build 6956
Still, there are two sides to Windows 7 Build 6956, in accordance with the graphical user interface. Build 6956 will never manage to feel more like a Windows Vista Release 2 than without Aero and the GUI enhancements specific to Windows 7. At this point in the development of Windows 7, users will find that if they are forced to switch Aero off because of inferior machines, or because of the need to squeeze every last drop of performance out of the hardware, Windows 7 will show its “ugly” Vista face. But with Aero fully enabled, Windows 7 is without a doubt the next major version of the Windows client; well, quasi-major, but still.

The feel – minus Aero
Running Windows 7 Build 6956 in a virtual machine with some 1.6 GB of DDR3 and an Intel Core Duo processor at 3 GHz delivers a superior performance compared to Windows Vista. When it comes down to the way the operating system feels – no benchmarking involved, mind you – Windows 7 is superior to Windows Vista, Aero on or off. The actual impression of performance is immensely important, as Microsoft has learned with Windows Vista. While the company claimed that Vista was on par with Windows XP and supported the claims with benchmarking statistics, the actual user experience spoke to the contrary. And truth is that, even at Build 6956, Windows 7 feels lighter, faster, smoother, compared to Windows Vista.

The first new addition to Windows 7, synonymous with Build 6956, is the new boot screen animation. I managed to include a few screenshots of various stages of the startup process in order to give you an idea of what the new boot process brings to the table, but there is also a video you can access in this regard. Without Aero, Windows 7 Build 6956 is not much to look at. There is a new, more consistent effect when interacting with the Start Orb, but no Aero Peek, Snaps, no Superbar, and so on and so forth.

Exploring Windows 7 Build 6956 gives the familiar feeling of Windows Vista. In fact, Vista components are waiting for the users around every corner, from the Task Manager to the command prompt, to the Performance Monitor, Remote Assistance, Registry Editor, Resource Monitor, to Windows Media Center and IE 8. There are subtle changes here and there, but the fact of the matter is that Windows 7 remains Windows Vista R2.

One aspect that Microsoft will need to tackle before it releases Windows 7 to manufacturing is the content associated with the personalization of the operating system. Windows 7 needs its own brand of wallpapers, as distinct from Windows Vista's as possible. With Build 6956, Windows 7 offers new vistas, but this needs to change. Microsoft will have to take care of this aspect of the visual identity of Windows 7, while making sure that it says 7, and not Vista R2.


The look – plus Aero

An actual installation of Windows 7 will also offer a superior performance to Vista, and I'm also including Service Pack 1 here. No longer sluggish, no longer managing to produce hiccups even on common tasks, no longer hitting speed bumps even as a pre-Beta. With Aero enabled the Windows 7 user experience delivers the evolution Microsoft referenced time and again when it was discussing the development strategy for the next iteration of the Windows client.

Aero Peek, Aero Snaps, Aero Shake, Flip 3D, the Superbar are all available in Build 6956. But speaking of visual identity, what goes for the wallpapers also goes for the screensavers. While not available in virtual machines, the Windows 7 Build 6956 screensavers are the same as in Windows Vista. This aspects needs to be corrected before Windows 7 RTM, while at the same time, Microsoft has to either make the Settings button actually permit users to tweak the screensavers, or remove the thing entirely.

Far enough from Vista

Build 6956 inherently leads to the conclusion that Windows 7 is what Windows Vista should have been from the get go. This is an operating system actually capable of producing a few consistent Wows, unlike its precursor. But still, Windows 7 is just another Vista. So far it looks like Microsoft is right on track to producing a faster, prettier, more usable, more compatible Vista. My best guess is that end users will have to wait for Windows 8 in order for Windows to get far enough from Vista that it will not qualify as an R3 release, as with Windows 7, the Vista era is not ready to come to an end.

source: news.softpedia.com