Tag: software giant
November 01, 2009 by
Jason
Microsoft’s “Better Together” slogan apparently applies not only to Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 but also to the latest iteration of the Windows client and the Redmond company’s peripherals. The vast majority of products offered by Microsoft Hardware features the Windows 7 Compatible logo and comes with device drivers designed to play nice with the successor of Windows Vista from the get go. Windows 7 was released to manufacturing on July 22nd and hit the shelves last week on October 22nd, with Microsoft applauding strong support and compatibility for the OS.
The Redmond company even features a webpage dedicated to Microsoft Hardware products and Windows 7, advertising a match nothing short of the perfect marriage between peanut butter and jelly. More importantly, the Microsoft Hardware + Windows 7 page contains a collection of special offerings for customers. The software giant noted that the special deals on Microsoft were open to all customers.
Microsoft Hardware products including mice, keyboards, LifeCams, gaming devices and notebook accessories, all compatible with Windows 7, are also available at discount prices from a variety of online retailers including the Microsoft Store. The only exception to the Windows 7 compatible line-up of Microsoft Hardware items is the Fingerprint Reader, which does not play nice with the operating system, the company informed. Read More»
Posted in Hardware, Windows 7 | No Comments »
October 19, 2009 by
Jason Microsoft is making use of the time it still has ahead of the October 22nd general availability deadline of Windows 7 to deliver some last-minute finishing touches to the operating system. The latest iterations of the Windows client and server platforms were released to manufacturing on July 22nd, 2009, and, since August, have been available to specific customer segments including MSDN and TechNet subscribers. On October 13th, the Redmond company made available for download updates for both Windows 7 RTM and Windows Server 2008 R2 RTM designed to boost the stability and reliability of the two platforms.
“An update is available to resolve issues that affect some computers that are running Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2. These issues are reported by customers who use the Error Reporting service or Microsoft Customer Support Services,” Microsoft revealed. “This update improves the stability and reliability of Windows 7 and of Windows Server 2008 R2 in various scenarios.”
This is not an uncommon practice with Microsoft. In fact, ahead of Windows Vista’s GA in January 2007, Jim Allchin, the then Windows boss, told customers that the first thing they would have to do after installing Vista and running the operating system for the first time was to update the brand-new platform. Read More»
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October 15, 2009 by
Jason It has by no means been a slow month as far as Microsoft security bulletins go, with no less than 13 patch packages being released by the company for a range of products. In total, the Redmond company patched no less than 34 security holes across Windows, Internet Explorer, Silverlight, Microsoft Office, Developer Tools, Forefront and SQL Server, revealed Christopher Budd, security response communications lead, Microsoft. October 2009 is also the first month in the software giant’s security patch cycle when updates were made available for the gold version of Windows 7. October 2009 marks yet another first, namely the first time that patches for Windows 7 RTM have been included into a company Security Release ISO Image.
At the bottom of this article you’ll be able to find a download link for the October 2009 Security Release ISO Image. The ISO package brings to the table all of the security updates made available for supported Windows operating systems, including Windows 7, Vista, Windows XP, Windows Server 2008 R2, etc. Read More»
Posted in Windows 7 | 1 Comment »
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.”
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Posted in 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»
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The July 2009 Security Release ISO Image is now available for download from Microsoft, having been offered concomitantly with the company’s monthly patch cycle releases. In addition to serving each month’s security bulletins through Windows Update, the software giant is also packaging the patches aimed for the supported Windows client and server operating system as an ISO image. In this context, customers can now access Windows-related security updates, including for Windows Vista Service Pack 2 and Windows XP SP3 that went live on July 14, 2009, through the DVD5 ISO image package.
“This month we are releasing six bulletins. Three of those affect Windows and are rated Critical. All three of those also have an Exploitability Index rating of ‘1’ which means that we believe that consistent exploit code in the wild is highly likely within the first 30 days,” revealed Jerry Bryant, Microsoft security program manager. “The remaining three bulletins are all rated Important and affect Microsoft Office Publisher, Microsoft ISA Server, and both Virtual PC and Virtual Server. The first two also have Exploitability Index ratings of ‘1’ so please consider this while doing your risk assessment. In total, we are addressing nine vulnerabilities this month.” Read More»
Posted in Windows Vista, Windows XP | No Comments »
Want a simpler way to test drive Microsoft’s next-generation federated identity technologies? Well, the Redmond company does offer customers virtual machines of codename Geneva for evaluation, in an effort to streamline as much as possible the testing process. Accompanying the Geneva Virtual Machines offered on the Microsoft Download Center are resources delivered to help consumers build and set up a test lab environment for the federated identity solutions. In this context, in addition to the VMs, the Geneva Server Federated Collaboration Step by Step Guide is also up for grabs from the software giant.
“The Geneva Server Federated Collaboration Step by Step Guide is intended for information technology (IT) professionals and system architects who want to implement secure collaboration between organizations using Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and “Geneva” Server. This guide provides a quick demonstration of the features, functionality, and interoperability capabilities of “Geneva” Server Beta 2, “Geneva” Framework Beta 2, and Windows CardSpace “Geneva” Beta 2. The instructions in this guide should take approximately 90 minutes or less to complete,” Microsoft informed.
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With the advent of Windows 7, Microsoft is making sure that it will keep Windows XP available for an additional 18 months after October 22, 2009, the official launch deadline for the operating system. Through the Windows 7 downgrade rights, customers with select licenses and SKUs of the next iteration of the Windows client will be able to downgrade and run older releases of the platform. In this regard, Microsoft explained that Windows XP would be given priority over Windows Vista. What this means is that the option to downgrade from Windows 7 to Windows Vista goes live only after XP downgrades are discontinued, namely after the 18-month period that will kick in on October 22 will come to an end.
Starting with the launch of Vista’s successor on October 22, 2009, customers with OEM/Software Assurance/Volume Licensing will immediately be able to buy Windows 7 but downgrade, deploy and use XP. According to the software giant, companies will need one of the following licenses to access downgrade rights: Select License and Open License; Licenses Enrolled in Software Assurance or OEM End User License Agreement (LICENSE TERMS). It is important to note that the licenses referred to by the software giant as the Full Packaged Product (FPP) End User License Agreements for the retail boxed versions of Windows 7 do not come with downgrade rights. Read More»
Posted in Windows 7 | 1 Comment »
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