Tag: msdn
January 23, 2010 by
Jason
A new release of the Windows Driver Kit documentation associated to the latest iteration of the Windows client from Microsoft is currently available for download. According to the Redmond company, the next update to the Windows Driver Kit resources will take some time to be released as the infrastructure behind creating and offering the documentation to developers is being reworked. The software giant did not say when the next refresh for the WDK documentation will be offered, however, the latest update was made available at the end of 2009.
“It’ll be a little while before we do another update, because we’re taking some time to rework our authoring and publication systems. Stay tuned. You can download the offline version of the documentation (in HxS and CHM!!! format) here,” revealed Jim Travis, senior content publishing manager, Microsoft.
The Redmond company usually updates the Windows Driver Kit documentation both MSDN and Windows Hardware Developer Central (WHDC) in bi-monthly intervals, especially between major releases. It sounds like the updates are going to be put on hold, at least for a while. The latest MSDN Library documentation can be accessed here. Read More»
Posted in Windows 7 | No Comments »
December 15, 2009 by
Jason Want to know just how easy it is to hack Windows 7? It actually takes only a few actions on behalf of the end users to literally hand over a computer to an attacker, in spite of the fact that the computer in question is running the final version of Windows 7, along with security software. The antivirus is useless from the get go, as it is incapable of detecting a zero-day custom hack, let alone prevent or block it in any manner. At the same time, the mitigations of Windows 7 in the default security configuration are also by passed.
But better yet, do you want to witness a Windows 7 RTM yourselves? Then just have a look at the video embedded at the bottom of this article. You will be able to see a hack put together by a non-Microsoft security researcher and demoed at TechEd. And of course, you’ll also be able to find out the steps you need to take in order to protect your environment against this type of attack.
“Marcus Murray, security consultant at TrueSec, shows us a hacking demo he created of Windows 7 using Excel over the internet. After this he explains what security features in Windows 7 you could have used to prevent this hack from occurring. Read More»
Posted in Windows 7 | No Comments »
November 18, 2009 by
Jason The first fully-fledged Beta Build of Office 2010 is now available for download to subscribers of Microsoft’s developer and IT professional portals. The Redmond company managed to live up to its promise to offer Office 2010 Beta by the end of November 2009, with public availability of the bits expected any day now, possibly as soon as tomorrow, November 18th. At the time of this article the latest development milestone of the next iteration of the Office System was only up for grabs via MSDN and TechNet, with the website set up to offer public downloads continuing to note that the bits would be served “soon.”
Microsoft has so far dodged all questions related to the official deadline for the availability of Office 2010 public downloads. However, the software giant did indicate that the latest leaked Build of the productivity suite differed from the bits that the general public would be able to get their hands on. In mid-November, Office 2010 Beta Build 14.0.4514.1009 was leaked to the web, although the illegal release didn’t really start growing in popularity until the past week when it became clear that the official version was just around the corner. Read More»
Posted in Office | 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 | 8 Comments »
Just days after Windows 7 was released to manufacturing and Microsoft started handing out the gold bits of the operating system to original equipment manufacturers, the original ISO images of Build 7600.16385 were leaked in the wild and are now available for download. Too-eager-testers had had the chance to grab the gold release of Windows 7 RTM Build 7600.16385 even before the platform was RTM’d on July 22nd, 2009. Fact is that Microsoft compiled the gold build of Windows 7 as early as July 13th 2009, and only made the official announcement on July 22nd.
The full build string of the gold release of Windows 7 is 7600.16385.090713-1255. The following numbers: 090713 indicate that the code was wrapped up on July 13th, 2009. On July 13th Microsoft both confirmed and denied that Windows 7 had been released to manufacturing. At that time the company noted that it hadn’t signed off the successor of Windows Vista.
At the end of the past week, both the 32-bit and the 64-bit of 7600.16385.090713-1255 were leaked and started being served by various third-party sources, from torrent trackers to warez websites, a move that is obviously illegal. You can take a look at what the RTM development milestone of Windows 7 has to offer via this article. One critical aspect that needs to be underlined is that Windows 7 RTM 7600.16385.090713-1255 can no longer be activated with the Beta or Release Candidate product keys from Microsoft. Read More»
Posted in Windows 7 | 2 Comments »
Microsoft is enriching the collection of language packs available for Internet Explorer 8 RTW. At the end of April 2009, the Redmond company promised that it would deliver the IE8 gold language packs aimed specifically at Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 in mid-May. With the release of the two Multilingual User Interface packages for the two operating systems, the software giant managed to live up to its promise. The IE8 MUI packs are designed to play nice with the 32-bit and the 64-bit versions of Windows XP SP2, Windows XP SP3, and Windows Server 2003 SP2.
Vishwac Sena Kannan – IE International program manager, and Jatinder Mann – IE Setup program manager, explained that end users would have to tailor the IE8 MUI pack to the specific language and architecture of their operating systems. In this regard, they will first need to install the IE8 bits in English, and only after deploy the MUI pack matching the OS MUI pack already deployed. Read More»
Posted in Internet, Windows XP | No Comments »
Windows Vista Service Pack 3 gets its first hotfix from Microsoft. Yes, Service Pack 3, and yes, the error lies with Microsoft. The Redmond company is offering a hotfix designed to fix Event Viewer crashes associated with Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 opening large event log files and attempting to sort log entries by a single column. But when it comes down to actually downloading the fix, the software giant offers it for the 32-bit, 64-bit and Itanium flavors of Windows Vista SP3. It is highly improbable that at this point in time Microsoft has debuted testing of Vista SP3 bits, and in this regard, the SP3 references are nothing more than an error. (via Neowin)
The Redmond company has recently wrapped up the code for Service Pack 2 for Windows Vista. The SP2 RTM bits are so “fresh” that they haven’t yet been served to Vista users, and Microsoft only pointed to the second quarter of 2009 for the availability of the second service pack for Vista, while not offering any specific deadline. The Redmond company announced that it had released Vista SP2 to manufacturing on April 28, 2009. MSDN and TechNet subscribers already got access to SP2 RTM, and the bits have even been leaked in the wild. Still, the public will only get Vista SP2 in Q2 2009. Read More»
Posted in Windows Vista | No Comments »
Windows Virtual PC is one of the features that Microsoft has been holding back from end users throughout the development of Windows 7, only to release it into Beta concomitantly with the Release Candidate of the next iteration of the Windows client. As the Windows 7 RC bits went to MSDN and TechNet subscribers, Microsoft’s communities of developers and IT professionals also got access to Windows Virtual PC. The installation process of this virtualization feature is rather simple, because Windows Virtual PC is essentially an update for Windows 7. It is important to note that Microsoft has restricted Windows Virtual PC only to Windows 7 Professional, Windows 7 Ultimate, and Windows 7 Enterprise.
“To install Windows Virtual PC, install the update package: double-click the file, Windows6.1-KB958559-plaftform.msu, where platform is either x86 or x64. Review the end-user license agreement and accept it to install the update. To complete the installation, restart the computer. After the installation is finished, Windows Virtual PC is available from the Start menu,” Microsoft revealed in the Windows Virtual PC Evaluation Guide. Read More»
Posted in Software, Windows 7 | No Comments »
Windows 7 Release Candidate Build 7100 is now available for public download straight from Microsoft. In parallel, users can also access Windows Server 2008 R2 RC, which went live concomitantly with the client flavor of Windows 7. Together with the actual bits for Windows 7, Microsoft is also providing product keys designed to activate the operating system. The Redmond company is offering a fixed set of keys that can be used to activate an unlimited number of Windows 7 Release Candidate installations. You will be able to find the complete collection of Windows 7 activation product keys at the bottom of this article.
If you’re up for the task, you can also grab them yourselves. Just visit the official Windows 7 RC download page, scroll down, select to download the Build 7100 bits in a specific language, sign in with your Windows Live ID and get one product key. Repeat the process to grab additional items. Or simply leverage the keys offered bellow, as you can use them to activate both 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows 7. Windows Server 2008 R2 RC is available for download here, along with the product keys. Read More»
Posted in Windows 7 | 5 Comments »
Windows 7 Release Candidate is now live and available for download for the subscribers of Microsoft’s portal for developers and IT professionals. Microsoft did reveal that it would start serving Windows 7 RC bits via MSDN and TechNet subscribers on April 30, 2009, and the Redmond company managed to live up to its promise. In case you happen to have a MSDN or TechNet subscription you will be able to use the links provided below in order to download the fully fledged Windows 7 Release Candidate bits straight from the source. Members of the MSDN and TechNet networks will be able to grab not only the actual bits of the Windows 7 RC but also product keys designed to activate the development milestone.
One aspect worth noting is the fact that, while on the first tries there were no problems accessing MSDN Subscriber Downloads, at the time of this article the error “Sorry, we were unable to service your request” is returned instead of the respective area of the portal. Repeated tries all end up in the same page load error. No word yet from Microsoft explaining the issue. Read More»
Posted in Windows 7 | No Comments »
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