3. Free Windows 7 Demo Toolkit
4. Application Compatibility Toolkit 5.5 for Windows 7
5. Registry Tweaks to Enhance Your Windows XPerience – Part 10
7. TOP 10 – March 2009 Popular Tips
8. Automatic Upgrades to Internet Explorer 8
The Application Compatibility Toolkit 5.5 is an integral part of Microsoft’s focus to drive a high level of application compatibility for its next iteration of the Windows client, the Release Candidate build. Still, Application Compatibility Toolkit 5.5 is by no means limited to Windows 7, as the resource also streamlines the deployment of Windows Vista and Internet Explorer 8. The resource is designed to provide a comprehensive inventory that spans from apps to hardware and even devices in order to check their compatibility with Windows 7, Vista, Window Update and IE8. At the same time, ACT is not limited to just checking the compatibility of applications and websites, but also offer mitigations to resolve issues, including Compatibility Fixes or “shims.
Jeremy Chapman, a senior product manager in the Microsoft Core Infrastructure Solutions team, explained that the Windows 7 compatibility evaluators were in fact approximately identical to what ACT 5.0 had to offer for Windows Vista. “We made the process of sending and receiving files to the application compatibility web service much more transparent in ACT 5.5. Now you can tell exactly what are sending through to the web service from your application inventory,” Chapman stated. “This is the fastest way to sync application data with the same data used in the Windows Compatibility Center. This is what you see now when using the “Send and Receive” function of ACT 5.5.” Read More»
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»
While laboring to produce the first Release Candidate of the next iteration of Windows, Microsoft is making available for download the Windows Demo Toolkit, an offering with Windows 7 as its nucleolus. Both the 32-bit and the 64-bit variants of the Foundation Suite (what the software giant referred to as the heart of the Windows Demo Toolkit) are up for grabs via Microsoft Connect, the Redmond company revealed. Via the two downloads packaged as ISO images, customers will be able to access preconfigured installations of Windows 7 Beta Build 7000. Microsoft informed that once Windows 7 Release Candidate would be made available, the Windows Demo Toolkit would be upgraded with the RC bits.
“Are you Gold Certified or Certified partner who wants a way to demo your software on Windows 7? If so, the brand new Windows Demo Toolkit (WDT) is a collection of resources that makes demoing the Windows operating system as easy as possible. You can use WDT to create engaging and reliable demos in a fraction of the time. WDT is available exclusively for Certified and Gold Certified Partners,” revealed Bruce Kyle, Microsoft ISV Architect Evangelist. “The heart of the Windows Demo Toolkit is the Foundation Suite, a deployment of Windows 7 Beta tailored specifically for use in demonstrations.” Read More»
You will use the following tools when you prepare images and deploy Windows Vista throughout your organization:
Sysprep This is the updated version, modified for Windows Vista.
Setup A new installation tool for Windows Vista that replaces WINNT and WINNT32.
ImageX The new command-line tool for creating WIM images.
Windows SIM A tool for creating and modifying Unattend.xml files.
PEimg The tool for customizing Windows PE 2.0 images.
Windows DS The new version of RIS, which adds the ability to deploy Windows Vista images as well as Windows PE 2.0 boot images. Read More»
Just as Windows Vista moved away Windows XP by sacrificing compatibility, so will Internet Explorer 8 redefine the way Microsoft’s proprietary browser deals with legacy content. This because, by embracing modern web standards in the default configuration, IE8 will also introduce compatibility issues. However, Microsoft is providing the necessary resources designed to mitigate scenarios involving incompatible content. The Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT), now at version 5.0 with the Internet Explorer Compatibility Test Tool (IECTT) and Internet Explorer Compatibility Evaluators (IECE) components, is set up to evaluate the level at which an application will play nice with Windows Vista, Internet Explorer 7 and even Internet Explorer 8.
“ACT allows compatibility data to be uploaded from individual machines to a central location for analysis, grouping and reporting. Once an issue has been identified, help will be available on how to resolve a particular issue or create a workaround. Furthermore, partners and customers using ACT are able to post comments to the Online Application Community, where they can share data and information about application compatibility testing,” explained Jatinder Mann, IE Program Manager. Read More»
From the perspective of a platform developer, Microsoft has to maintain an equilibrium between the innovation it introduces with its software products and support for legacy applications. Both Windows Vista and Internet Explore 8 offer an ample example of the Redmond giant struggling to achieve such a balance. This is why the company is lending a helping hand to customers migrating to its latest products. In this regard, the Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit 5.0 is designed to sniff out and permit the mitigation of incompatibility issues. The collection of tools, as well as the adjacent documentation included in the toolkit, are tailored to Windows Vista releases via Windows Update and Internet Explorer.
“ACT helps customers lower their costs for application compatibility testing, prioritize their applications, and deploy Windows Vista more quickly. You can use the ACT features to: verify an application’s compatibility with a new version of the Windows operating system, or a Windows Update, including determining your risk assessment; become involved in the ACT Community, including sharing your risk assessment with other ACT users; and test your Web applications and Web sites for compatibility with new releases and security updates to the Windows Internet Explorer Internet browser,” reads an excerpt from the toolkit’s description. Read More»
Learn how your hard drive and graphics card impact your system’s performance, and dig deep under the bonnet to discover and fix hardware issues.
In previous guides we have looked at improving your system’s performance by simply removing unwanted programs. The next area we want to understand is the impact your hard drive and graphics card have on your system.
Before we start examining your computer, we need to see what Windows Vista believes is possible from the system when it’s working at its best. Searching for ‘Performance’ in Start Search should lead you to the Performance Information and Tools analysis of your system. If any numbers are low, then you may wish to consider looking at these areas for replacement. My laptop has a lowest rating of 4.3, which is more than adequate, but should one number be low compared to the rest, I would consider replacing that element. If your computer is running low on RAM, for example, it will use the hard drive as an extension of memory, but this deals a fatal blow to your computer’s performance because the hard drive can be 1,000 times slower than memory. In my experience, a Windows Vista PC with just 1GB of memory will struggle unless your system is only lightly used. Read More»
The latest version of a solution accelerator initially dubbed Windows Vista hardware Assessment is now available for download. The Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit is now at version 3.1 and has hit RTM stage. The latest build of the assessment and planning solution accelerator is tailored specifically to the most recent Windows client and server operating systems, namely Windows Vista Service Pack 1 and Windows Server 2008 SP1/RTM, including the Hyper-V release. Version 3.1 is up for grabs straight from Microsoft, and is designed to streamline as much as possible the evaluation and planning phases of large scale software migration processes in complex IT infrastructures.
“Formerly known as Windows Vista Hardware Assessment, this new release is now packed with many new features such as: Hyper-V virtualization candidates assessment (+ improved virtual machines inventory); SQL server discovery and assessment; 64-bit installation support; and Desktop Windows Security Center assessment,” revealed Baldwin Ng, Senior Product Manager, Solution Accelerators Team. Read More»
Loading ...
