Tag: rtm
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»
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Just like their precursors Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008, Windows 7 client and Windows Server 2008 R2 do not feature Windows Help by default. Windows Help is a program designed to allow end users to access Help files. Microsoft has discontinued the integration of WinHlp32.exe into Windows after the release of Windows XP. Instead, the application is available via the Microsoft Download Center as a standalone download. At this point in time, the Redmond company has informed that Windows Help will come to Windows 7 only after the next iteration of Windows will be released to manufacturing.
“There is currently no WinHlp32.exe download available for Windows 7. However, a download will be available after the RTM version of Windows 7 is released,” the software giant stated. Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 users are now able to grab the Windows Help bits in order to access .HLP files. Windows Help is only offered as a standalone program from Microsoft, and is no longer available to third-party developers to be included and distributed with their software products. But this is only valid for Vista and Windows Server 2008. Windows 7 users will have to wait after the operating system’s RTM in order to grab a copy of Windows Help tailored to the operating system. Read More»
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February 16, 2009 by
Jason New storage features have come to Windows Vista Service Pack 1, Windows XP SP3 and releases of the Windows Server platforms. Windows Feature Pack for Storage 1.0 was released to web (RTW) and is now available for download and integration with the supported operating systems. This is the finalized version of Windows Feature Pack for Storage 1.0, with Microsoft cooking the pack since 2008. In fact, in August 2008, the Redmond company was dropping a pre-release version of the solution via Microsoft Connect.
“The Windows Feature Pack for Storage 1.0 includes the following features: Image Mastering API Update for Blu-Ray Media – this feature enables the Windows platform to do master style optical burning on Blu-Ray media. Smart Card Driver – this release provides support for new form factors, such as ICCD,” Microsoft revealed.
“The following system requirements are necessary to install the Windows Feature Pack for Storage 1.0 – the system must be running one of the following operating systems: Read More»
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February 06, 2009 by
Jason
Users currently running Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) or earlier, and Windows Vista RTM, SP1 or the upcoming SP2, will be able to upgrade to Windows 7, Microsoft informed as it introduced the SKU lineup for the next version of the Windows client. There will be essentially three upgrade models for Windows users according to the Redmond company, depending on the source operating system, namely XP to Windows 7, Vista to Windows 7 and of course Windows 7 to Windows 7.
As far as Windows XP users are concerned, Microsoft indicated that upgrade licenses of Windows 7 will be available to them, superseding the existing XP licenses, and that the upgrade media can be used in order to move to Windows 7. However, the transition implies a clean installation of Windows 7 rather than an actual in-place upgrade. Still, the deal has to please XP users, as they will get the full Windows 7 bits at a discounted upgrade price. Users are advised to back up all their data from the partition where XP is installed before deploying Windows 7, just to be on the safe side. Read More»
Posted in Windows 7, Windows XP | 1 Comment »
January 18, 2009 by
Jason Accompanying the public release of Windows 7 Beta Build 7000, Microsoft made available additional downloads, including the Language Interface Pack for the operating system, as well as the Windows Automated Installation Kit. The WAIK went live at the end of the past week, almost concomitantly with the Windows 7 Beta downloads, with the Redmond company emphasizing the connection between the solution and the next iteration of the Windows client. Serving a collection of resources aimed at streamlining the process of installing and customizing Windows installations, the Windows Automated Installation Kit (Windows 7 Beta) weighs in at 1376.1 MB and is packaged as an ISO DVD image.
“The Windows Automated Installation Kit (Windows AIK) is a set of tools and documentation that support the configuration and deployment of Microsoft Windows operating systems. By using Windows AIK, you can automate Windows installations, capture Windows images with ImageX, configure and modify images using Deployment Imaging Servicing and Management (DISM), create Windows PE images, and migrate user profiles and data with the User State Migration Tool (USMT),” Microsoft explained. Read More»
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December 29, 2008 by
Jason Service Pack 2 for Windows Vista extends the operating system’s support for drivers that play nice with all Windows operating systems. Even as early as the first Beta of SP2 for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008, the upgraded Windows Driver Model is permitting developers to get a taste of what the gold bits for the service pack will offer in terms of driver compatibility. According to Microsoft, the Registry Callback feature of WDM was kicked up a notch.
“Microsoft developers have upgraded and improved the Registry Callback feature of the Windows Driver Model (WDM). They have added 6 enumerations and 3 structures to the kernel architecture that will give you more flexibility in working with registry keys for filter drivers,” a member of the Windows Driver Kit team revealed.
At the start of December 2008 Microsoft made available for download the first Beta bits of Service Pack 2 for Windows Vista Service Pack 1 and Windows Server 2008 RTM/SP1. The Redmond company revealed that the 6 fresh enumerations added were: RegNtPreRestoreKey, RegNtPostRestoreKey, RegNtPreSaveKey, RegNtPostSaveKey, RegNtPreReplaceKey, and RegNtPostReplaceKey. Read More»
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December 23, 2008 by
Jason With Christmas just around the corner, Microsoft is offering an early gift to PowerShell users. On December 22, 2008, the Community Technology Preview 3 bits for Windows PowerShell 2 went live on the Microsoft Download Center and are now available for download. According to the software giant, Windows PowerShell 2 CTP is designed to kick the level of the usage and usability up a notch compared to previous releases, namely Windows PowerShell 1.0, but also v2 CTP 2. Essentially, the evolution from Windows PowerShell v2 CTP2 to CTP3 is synonymous with enhancing the control and manageability offered by the solution over the Windows environment.
“This release brings, among other things, performance improvements. [...] Things will be faster/more efficient than before. PowerShell remoting now allows implicit remoting where command execution appears to be local even though they are remote,” Hemant Mahawar, program manager Windows PowerShell, revealed. Read More»
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December 12, 2008 by
Jason In addition to making Windows Vista SP2 Beta along withWindows Server 2008 SP2 Beta available for download, Microsoft is also serving the bits for the second service pack designed for its Windows client and server operating systems via Windows Update. However, the Redmond company is not offering Service Pack 2 Beta automatically packaged as an update to all copies of Vista SP1 and Windows Server 2008 SP1. In fact, a registry tweak is necessary in order to access the SP2 Beta build via WU, and this is where the Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 Beta and Windows Vista Service Pack 2 Beta – Windows Update Experience Kit comes in.
“Windows Server 2008/Windows Vista SP2 distributed through Windows Update will be applicable to Windows Server 2008 SP1 and Windows Vista SP1 machines that are running on any of the following languages: English, German, French, Spanish, and Japanese. Versions of Windows Server 2008 or Windows Vista in any language other than these five, including systems with a Language Pack of another language installed, will prevent Windows Update from offering you the service pack package,” Microsoft explained. Read More»
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December 11, 2008 by
Jason
On December 9, Microsoft made available for download the last bouquet of security updates for 2008. the company released no less than eight security bulletins, six of them Critical and two rated as Important. Hot on the heels of the last round of patches for the year hitting Windows Update, the December 2008 Security Release ISO Image went live on the Microsoft Download Center. Via the Security Release ISO Image for the current month, the software giant is providing a single package for all the security updates designed for its Windows client and server operating systems, including Windows Vista Service Pack 1 and Windows XP Service Pack 3.
“As far as vulnerability counts go, this is the largest patch release since Microsoft started the ‘Patch Tuesday’ program back in late 2003. The release contains eight bulletins covering 28 vulnerabilities,” Symantec’s Robert Keith revealed.
“Of those issues, 23 are rated ‘Critical’ and affect Word, Outlook, Internet Explorer, Visual Basic ActiveX controls, GDI, Windows Search, and Excel. All of the ‘Critical’ issues this month require some sort of user interaction, whether visiting a Web page that contains malicious content or viewing a malicious file. The remaining issues affect GDI, Windows Search, SharePoint, and Windows Explorer; they range in importance from ‘Important’ to ‘Moderate.’” Read More»
Posted in Windows Vista, Windows XP | 1 Comment »
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