Tag: Microsoft
September 14, 2009 by
Jason
Microsoft is ready to offer free upgrades from Windows Vista to the latest iteration of the Windows client for participants in a Windows Media Center testing program. But the prizes go beyond the free Windows 7 upgrades, and include laptops, Xbox Elite consoles and even a PC Home entertainment System. In order to be eligible for the prizes, users must first get accepted into the Windows Media Center TV Ambassador program. The catch, well, there’s always one, Microsoft is accepting participation requests only from UK residents.
“Become one of our TV Ambassadors! If you’ve already got Windows Vista Home Premium or Windows Vista Ultimate, you could receive a free TV tuner valued at £60 so you can enjoy watching and recording live Freeview TV channels on your PC,” revealed Microsoft’s Rob Margel. “Just turn it on, watch and record your favourite TV shows from over 50 Freeview channels including BBC Three, ITV2, Film4, E4 and Dave, and tell us what you think. Spread the word and you could win free stuff: software, games, an XBox 360, and an ultimate home entertainment system. You could even be in our next ad.”
Read More»
Posted in Windows 7 | No Comments »
September 11, 2009 by
Jason Microsoft has made available for download updated DirectX 11 resources tailored to Windows 7 and Windows Vista, but also additional Windows client and server operating systems. According to the Redmond-based company, the refreshed DirectX 11 release brings to the table the RTM version of Direct3D. Essentially, what it is offering is an update for the DirectX software development kit. Developers are free to grab the SDK via the Microsoft Download Center since September 8, 2009.
“The August 2009 DirectX SDK contains the first official release of the DirectX developer resources for Direct3D 11, DXGI 1.1, Direct2D, and DirectWrite. Developers can now publish and distribute Direct3D 11 applications and games that leverage all of the software and hardware features of DirectX 11 in Windows 7 and Windows Vista,” Microsoft noted. “ll headers, import libraries, and symbol files (.pdb files) are no longer marked as beta with the ‘_beta’ suffix and now link to the RTM versions of the runtimes. In addition, the HLSL compiler features for Direct3D 11 are now of release quality. The beta DLLs are no longer available in the DirectX SDK.”
With the August 2009 DirectX Software Development Kit update, Microsoft is offering developers the new Effects runtime for Direct3D 11. Read More»
Posted in Software, Windows 7, Windows Vista | 2 Comments »
September 10, 2009 by
Jason Microsoft has made available for download the gold version of its solution accelerator designed to automate the deployment of its latest Windows client and server operating system released. The Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) 2010 was released to manufacturing over a month following the RTM of Windows 7 itself. MDT 2010 comes to the table with support not just for the deployment of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2, but also for previous releases of Windows, including Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003, and Windows XP.
“MDT provides you with the following benefits: unified tools and processes required for desktop and server deployment in a common deployment console and collection of guidance. Reduced deployment time and standardized desktop and server images, along with improved security and ongoing configuration management. Fully automated Zero Touch Installation deployments by leveraging System Center Configuration Manager 2007 Service Pack 2 Release Candidate and Windows deployment tools. For those without a System Center Configuration Manager 2007 infrastructure, MDT leverages Windows deployment tools for Lite Touch Installation deployments,” Keith Combs, Microsoft evangelist, revealed. Read More»
Posted in Software, Windows 7 | No Comments »
September 04, 2009 by
Jason Microsoft is currently hard at work on the evolution of the resource that was formerly labeled Windows Optimized Desktop Scenarios Solution Accelerator. According to the Redmond-based company, the building phase hasn’t actually started, as the software giant still has to deal with the planning of the next iteration of the solution accelerator. In this regard, customers that are already leveraging or intend to take advantage of the Windows Optimized Desktop Toolkit can share their insights with Microsoft.
The software giant is offering all users the possibility of sending feedback on the solution accelerator, with the promise that input will be integrated into the next version of the Windows Optimized Desktop Toolkit. Customers interested in helping shape the future of the Windows Optimized Desktop Toolkit can access a survey hosted on Microsoft Connect.
“The Microsoft Solution Accelerators Team is currently planning the next release of the Windows Optimized Desktop Toolkit (previously known as Windows Optimized Desktop Scenarios Solution Accelerator). To help identify and prioritize features to include in the toolkit, we have created a survey to gather information about our customers’ desktop infrastructures,” revealed a member of the Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit Team. “The survey is now available on Connect and will be open until September 22, 2009.” Read More»
Posted in Computer | No Comments »
September 04, 2009 by
Jason
Windows 7 is “outrunning” Windows Vista in more ways than one. Microsoft has labored to ensure that the latest Windows client outpaces its precursor in a variety of scenarios, from startup time, to common usage tasks, and to shutdown, to name just a few. Another aspect in which Windows 7 has Vista beat is upgrade performance. According to Chris Hernandez, from the Windows Deployment team, Windows Vista Service Pack 1 to Windows 7 upgrades are at least 5% faster than Vista SP1 to Vista SP1 upgrades.
In fact, when it set out to do the operating system upgrade measuring contest, Microsoft was looking for at least a 5% threshold for upgrade scenarios involving Vista SP1 to Windows 7 was in comparison to jumps from Vista SP1 to Vista SP1. The Redmond-based company explained that the Windows Upgrade team monitored the Windows 7 upgrade performance during the development process, and that it compared it against its Vista baseline.
“The reason we choose to use a Vista SP1 -> Vista SP1 upgrade instead of Windows XP -> Vista as our baseline was for the following: Windows XP is a vastly different operating system compared to Vista and an upgrade from Windows XP -> Vista would not be a good comparison with Vista -> Windows 7. Read More»
Posted in Windows 7 | No Comments »
September 02, 2009 by
Jason Customers testing the virtualization extensions of Windows 7, namely Windows Virtual PC and Windows XP Mode have been experiencing performance problems in scenarios in which sharing folders are enabled. Ben Armstrong, Program manager on the core virtualization team at Microsoft, revealed that the issues reported are connected with the latest development milestone of Windows Virtual PC and Windows XP Mode, namely the Release Candidate Builds. Fortunately enough, a hotfix is already available from the software giant.
“A number of users have seen performance issues using shared folders / having shared folders enabled with Windows XP Mode on the RC release of Windows Virtual PC. This can be addressed by installing this hotfix inside the virtual machine. Please note – this hotfix is for Windows XP and is installed inside the virtual machine, not in the host operating system,” Armstrong noted.
Knowledge Base Article 972435 doesn’t mention Windows XP Mode, a Windows 7 feature, which is available as a standalone download. However, the resources designed to help customers resolve “slow performance when you try to open a redirected drive on a remote computer through a Terminal Services session” applies to Windows XP Professional. And Windows XP Mode is indeed based on a free and pre-activated copy of Windows XP that is available for Windows 7. Read More»
Posted in Windows 7 | 2 Comments »
September 02, 2009 by
Jason Microsoft is offering Windows 7 RTM as a free download. That’s right! Completely free, no catch, no strings attached. The Redmond-based company is delivering customers the possibility of continuing the testing of its latest iteration of the Windows client even after the Release Candidate Build 7100 development milestone downloads have been discontinued. In this regard, the Windows 7 RTM Enterprise edition bits are currently up for grabs straight from the software giant. Customers will be able to test drive the release for no less than 90 days.
Stephen L. Rose, Senior community manager, Windows IT Pro Client, explained that the free Windows 7 RTM Enterprise 90-day evaluation comes as a consequence of direct input from IT professionals. “Many IT pros we talk to have been looking for a way to continue their work with the Release Candidate to test their applications, hardware and deployment strategies with final Windows 7 bits. In response, we have created the Windows 7 Enterprise 90 Day trial edition, available beginning [September 1, 2009],” Rose noted.
Microsoft is already offering the RTM of Windows 7 via a variety of channels to specialized audiences. However, the free Windows 7 RTM Enterprise 90-day evaluation comes with no limitations, and is available for download for all IT pros independent of the subscription-based or volume licensing sources. Read More»
Posted in Windows 7 | 6 Comments »
September 01, 2009 by
Jason A new development milestone of the next iteration of the Office System has been leaked and made available for download in the wild. Microsoft is currently making its way to the first Beta of office 2011, a release slated to be available to all users as a public testing build.
However, the Redmond-based company managed to keep a tight lid on all details associated with the development process of Office 2010 since the delivery of the Technical Preview build in July 2010. Still, the silence must not be mistaken for inactivity, as the leaked Office 2010 Build 4417 comes to prove.
Both the 32-bit and the 64-bit flavors of Office 2010 Build 4417 have been leaked and are now up for grabs from various third-party sources. And while torrent trackers and warez websites are serving the bits illegally, Microsoft continues to be mute on the development of Office 2010.
Still, the productivity suite is undoubtedly advancing. According to Wzor, Office 2010 Build 14.0.4417.1000 is labeled as a Beta release, and no longer just a Technical Preview.
Technical Preview testers of Office 2010 have been able to grab the bits for the first development milestone of Office 2010 since July 13, 2009. The Office 2010 Technical Preview is a limited testing program, as opposite to the beta. Read More»
Posted in Office | No Comments »
The Windows Automated Installation Kit (AIK or WAIK) is among the free tools of choice when it comes down to building custom Windows 7 images and deploying them in a specific environment. But as much as the Windows Automated Installation Kit is capable of streamlining the installation process of custom-built Windows 7 images, it does come with a few limitations that IT administrators should be aware of. For example, they could find that it is impossible to put together an unattend.xml file from within the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2010 for a custom Windows 7 x32 image.
The reason is related to the limitations of WAIK. Specifically, “if you run Windows 7 x32 and WAIK x32 you can create unattends for both x64 and x32 custom images. If you run Windows 7 x64 and WAIK x64 you can not create unattends for x32 custom images. Running x32 WAIK on Windows 7 x64 is not supported,” revealed Richard Trusson, a senior consultant with Microsoft Services, UK.
Essentially, admins that are running 64-bit computers will only be able to build catalogs for x64 WIM’s. This limitation dates back to the Windows Vista period. Microsoft explained that WAIK in Vista leveraged the servicing stack binaries in the image in order to create the catalog. In this context, Microsoft did not see it necessary to include the binaries in WAIK. But the decision ended up impacting WAIK. Read More»
Posted in Windows 7 | No Comments »
Microsoft released the Multilingual User Interface Packs for Windows 7 RTM on August 25th 2009 via Windows Update. At the end of the past week, the direct download links for the Windows 7 RTM MUI Packs were also made public, allowing all users to grab the releases. Of course that not all Windows 7 users will in fact be able to take advantage of the MUI Packs. When it comes down to Windows 7, Microsoft went with the same strategy as for Windows Vista.
In this regard, only the Ultimate and Enterprise editions of Windows 7 are capable of integrating the Multilingual User Interface packs, just as it was the case with Vista’s Enterprise and Ultimate SKUs. Windows 7 Enterprise is of course available only to volume licensing customers with Software Assurance, while Ultimate is the high-end edition of Windows 7, and the most costly.
The MUI Packs allow end users to install more languages than just one in Windows 7 and to have the operating system’s graphical user interface be tailored for each specific additional language. The general strategy for Microsoft is to serve the MUI Packs as optional updates via WU to just Enterprise and ultimate users of Windows 7. But for those who want to grab the Windows 7 MUI Packs themselves, the direct download links are now available both for the 32-bit (x86) and 64-bit (x64) flavors of the operating system. Read More»
Posted in Windows 7 | 3 Comments »
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