Jash’s Blog

Microsoft had released 3 versions for Windows XP (Home Edition, Prefessional and Media Center Edition). However, they had rolled out several versions of Windows Vista that finally confused buyers and made them switch editions after purchase. Vista had 6 editions which include Vista Starter Edition, Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, Enterprise and Ultimate edition. After learning from their mistakes, Microsoft has decided to roll back to 3 version for their upcoming Operating system, Windows 7. The 3 versions are Windows 7 Home Premium, Professional and Ultimate.

Besides reducing the number of versions, it is said that they will also be offering a new speedy way of upgrading the OS. An upgrade from one version of Windows 7 to another would on take about 5-10 minutes. Personally, I think that this is the stupidest mistake as Windows 7 Home will have all the features of Ultimate edition but will be locked. The upgrade would simply unlock the features. This would give rise to hackers making patches that change the registry values and unlock all features of the OS.

UPDATE: Windows 7 is said to have 6 editions now. Here’s the list.

• Windows 7 Starter Edition (for emerging market and netbook users)
• Windows 7 Home Basic (for emerging market customers only)
• Windows 7 Home Premium (the main “Media Center” equivalent)
• Windows 7 Professional (the business SKU for home users and non-enterprise licensees)
• Windows 7 Enterprise (for volume licensees)
• Windows 7 Ultimate (for consumers who want/need business features)

Via ZDNet Blog

Microsoft has confirmed that it won’t issue a second beta of Windows 7, saying that the next test version of the operating system will be a Release candidate. Windows engineering head Steven Sinofsky announced the move in a blog posting on Friday, confirming that Microsoft would stick to earlier plans for just a single beta. “The next milestone for the development of Windows 7 is the Release Candidate or ‘RC,’” Sinofsky wrote. “Historically the Release Candidate has signaled ‘we’re pretty close and we want people to start testing the release, especially because all the features are done.’”

Sinofsky didn’t say when to expect a release candidate, or the final release, though the company is believed to still be aiming to have the operating system ready to go on PCs in time for this year’s holiday shopping season.

Via MSDN Blog - Engineering Windows 7

Windows 7 supports a new feature called Federated Search. It’s based on OpenSearch and RSS2 and enables searching of remote repositories from the Windows desktop. Developers have created some really interesting search plugins that allows users to search Flickr, Twitter, Deviantart, Google News, Yahoo and YouTube right from the desktop search in Windows 7.

To get going, all you have to do is download and open the OSDX file and Windows will automatically add the site to your saved searches folder. Then you need to goto Library –> Searches. And select the search you want to use.

Here is a list of all Search Connectors for Windows 7.

1. Flickr Connector

2. Twitter Connector

3. YouTube Connector

4. Deviantart Connector

7. MSN Search Connector

5. Google News Connector

6. Yahoo Search Connector

NOTE: These connectors work with Windows 7 Build 6801 (PDC 08 Build) and above. (Includes Beta - Build 7000). IT DOES NOT WORK WITH WINDOWS VISTA.

If you don’t wnt to try out Windows 7 and want to stay with XP but love the Windows 7 user interface, then this is for you. This tutorial shows you how to make your XP desktop look like Windows 7.

Here is the Windows 7 desktop:

Here is the custimized XP desktop:

Tutorial after the break. Click on Continue reading.

Continue reading »

Most of the people were after Windows 7 all day, trying to grab the product keys…. Microsoft had really screwed up this time. Anyways, now the servers are free and it takes only a few seconds to get the key.

If you’re ready with your key and have downloaded Windows 7, here’s how to get it loaded onto your computer along with your current Windows.

Instructions after the break. Click “Continue reading”

Continue reading »

Steve Ballmer, at CES 2009 in Las Vegas announced that Windows 7 can be downloaded as a free public beta from tomorrow (January 9th 09). During his keynote address on the eve of CES 2009, he said that Windows 7 will offer better performance on underpowered machines such as netbooks, support for multitouch interfaces, and simplified home networking.

Ballmer said that this would be the “best version of Windows ever” and pointed out features that implicitly acknowledged the problems with Windows Vista.

So get ready to download your free copy of Windows 7 Beta from Windows 7 webpage tomorrow.

Read more for terms…

Continue reading »