ars technica

EU may flex regulatory muscles against Google book dealOver the past decade, the US has largely taken a laissez-faire approach to antitrust and commercial competition. As a result, the center of gravity for legal action in this area has moved to Europe, where the EU's Competition Commissioner has gone several rounds with Microsoft and, more recently, levied a hefty fine against Intel. Now, just as reports suggest that Google is urging the Competition Commission to take further actions against Microsoft, the EU's copyright authorities will be launching a formal investigation into the implications of Google's settlement with book authors and publishers. Google's book deal appears to be stirring up antitrust concerns on this side of the Atlantic, as the Obama administration, which promises a r
» 1 Jun 2009, 4:52 am

RIAA responds: Nesson more like P.T. Barnum than DavidLast week, we ran an op-ed from Charles Nesson, the Harvard Law professor waging war on the RIAA "Goliath" and its army of lawyers. Here to respond to Nesson's accusations is Steven Marks, general counsel for the RIAA. To Marks, Nesson is playing the part of a circus ringmaster, not a downtrodden "David." The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Ars Technica. Yes, we "get it" It is a fascinating and challenging time to work in the music business. The record industry is swept up in a sea of change and we have embraced it. It’s a new day for the business and a new day for fans—25 years ago, it was just radio and records, but today’s music marketplace is dramatically different, with hundreds of different fully licensed di
» 31 May 2009, 8:32 pm

Get Ars in your inbox, and maybe a prize—The Dispatch returnsLet's face it, keeping up with the goings on in the tech world is tough work. Ars Technica offers copious amounts of RSS feeds, a bustling Twitter feed, and, of course, the site itself. One hole in our current news syndication lineup, however, is one of the most ubiquitous and effective transmission mediums the net has to offer: e-mail. When will fill that hole, we won't send you everything—we'll just send you the best. Back when we only had a few years under our collective belts, we tried our hand at sending out a regular newsletter called the “Disp@tch.” Throughout our several evolutions in the ensuing years, the Disp@tch was abandoned but, for a while now, we’ve imagined it rising from the ashes like some glorious Phoenix. We�
» 31 May 2009, 7:43 pm

E3 2009 promises to return to form, surprises expectedWhile E3 may not officially begin until Tuesday this week, the action has already begun. Trailers of big-name games are being released or leaked, the PSP Go has been a hot topic of conversation, and of course Microsoft will try to begin the whole mess tomorrow with a bang, as the company hosts the show's first press conference. What do we expect from E3 this year? Click here to read the rest of this article
» 31 May 2009, 7:03 pm

PSP Go revealed in detail—it's realIt didn't take long before one of the biggest E3 rumors was confirmed. GamingConsoleNetwork noticed that the PSP Go made an appearance in an early release of the Sony video series Qore. And then it was described in detail. And then shown some more. Soon after that, Eurogamer got ahold of a series of pictures of the hardware, which reveal everything in beautiful detail. The system is real, it is small, and it has no UMD drive.  The video is being pulled from YouTube just as soon as it's being uploaded, but a quick search or two should turn up a copy of the video if you'd like to see the hardware in action. Here's what we know about the hardware so far... it seems like the Mole was right about many of the details. C
» 31 May 2009, 5:36 pm

Can Web-based plagiarism detection beat a Google search?A new plagiarism detection service says that it can help track down copied text on the Internet—but it is any better than a search engine? We put it to the test with some of our own content. Plagium is simple to use: enter text into a box and hit the "track plagiarisms" button. Site operator Septet Systems says that Plagium uses "Septet’s proprietary TX Miner engine, which employs advanced search technology for deep mining of documents on the public World Wide Web or within private repositories," but the actual search results are generated with the Yahoo Search API. Click here to read the rest of this article
» 31 May 2009, 4:02 pm

Weird Science discovers that video games can killVideo games are harmful to children: But not how you think. The paper's title suggests it's bad news, starting with the phrase "Dying to Play Video Games." But the harm turns out to be pretty indirect, as it comes from carbon monoxide poisoning. It turns out that, during the power outages caused by Hurricane Ike's landfall in Texas, the use of faulty generators sent about 20 children to the ER. In 75 percent of those cases, it turns out their parents started up the generator in order to allow their kids to play video games so they could while away their time in the dark. This wine tastes of Mount Shasta National Forest: It's a scene that's made its way to a number of movies and TV shows I've watched: the wine snob carefully sniffs
» 31 May 2009, 2:33 pm

HTML 5 and Web video: freeing rich media from plugin prisonThe expressive power of the Web is largely made possible by open standards. HTML, the vendor-neutral markup language that serves as the underlying foundation of the open Web, helped to foster the culture of interoperability and inclusiveness that have made the Internet a success. HTML 5, the next iteration of that standard, could bring the same degree of empowerment and interoperability to rich media and other kinds of Web content. Although HTML 5 is still in the draft process and has not yet been ratified by W3C, the nascent standard is gaining significant traction. Browser makers are implementing key features of HTML 5 and bringing robust support for some of its most advanced capabilities to end users. A growing number of prominent compa
» 31 May 2009, 1:04 pm

Week in Apple: Psystar going bankrupt, iPod knockoffs, and back-to-schoolIt's all but guaranteed that new iPhones are coming soon, given the endless flow of rumors about the device (or devices). That, plus Apple's newest back-to-school promotion, more lawsuit developments, and Mac clone maker Psystar filing for bankruptcy all rounded out this week's top Apple news. Knockoff iPod shuffle giveaway ruffles some feathers: One man's gift is another man's lawsuit. Some iPod knockoffs given away at the Swiss Economic Forum were not universally enjoyed, and one recipient has even sued the company giving them away. Icons surface for next-gen iPhone in most recent SDK beta: Icons labeled as iPhone2,1 are included in the iPhone OS 3.0 SDK beta 5, and appear to confirm speculation that next-gen iPhone hardware will diffe
» 30 May 2009, 1:04 pm

Tech week in review: P2P battles, Android on Ubuntu, and moreJust as the northern hemisphere is heating up as we move towards the summer solstice, so is the rhetoric between the RIAA and its legal adversaries. Harvard law professor Charles Nesson has gotten involved in another file-sharing lawsuit, and he's making another demand of the recording industry. Nesson says that the RIAA will need to cough up over $100 million that he believes it has obtained from the 30,000+ lawsuits it's filed, should the cases he's currently involved in succeed. The developers over at Canonical have been busy lately. Not only are they working on the Ubuntu Netbook Remix, but they are also building an execution environment for Android applications. Android apps will be able to run on Ubuntu, opening the door for a whole n
» 30 May 2009, 11:05 am

Week in gaming: mini PS3, GameStop's weakness, and PRThis week we have the mole giving us some solid information about what to expect in Sony's future with both the PS3 and PSP, the cracks in GameStop's armor, and we present a few tips on how to be an effective PR professional in the world of gaming. Also, we talk about the challenges of dealing with the gay and lesbian community in online gaming, in the same week Rockstar announced the Ballad of Gay Tony. Let's see what the world of gaming was talking about this week. Mole: PSP-Go details confirmed, smaller PS3 is on the way: Our trusty inside source spills the beans about Sony's long-term strategy. The PSP-Go! is real, and should be announced at E3. The more surprising news? A slimmed-down PS3 is in fact coming, but not until Sony sells th
» 30 May 2009, 9:05 am

Bink.nu

Zune HD Hands On: Photos and Video TourHaving just played with a prototype for a few minutes, I'm really impressed with the Zune HD. I've got a video, too, showing off how well the animations work. The device is tighter and more physically beautiful than the iPod Touch and it's got a better UI, the main menu's scrolling so natural through the swipe gestures. There's a little note on the side, under the volume toggle—"Hello from Seattle." The power button is up top. The home button is nice and prominent, a bar rather than a round button on the Touch. It's smaller. And the accelerometer is more swift in responding to repositioning; images rotate very fast. Continue At Source Send via e-mail | Submit to Digg | Add to Live Favorites
» 28 May 2009, 2:59 pm

Microsoft’s New Search at Bing.comMicrosoft today unveiled Bing, a new Decision Engine and consumer brand, providing customers with a first step in moving beyond search to help make faster, more informed decisions. Bing is specifically designed to build on the benefits of today’s search engines but begins to move beyond this experience with a new approach to user experience and intuitive tools to help customers make better decisions, focusing initially on four key vertical areas: making a purchase decision, planning a trip, researching a health condition or finding a local business. The result of this new approach is an important beginning for a new and more powerful kind of search service, which Microsoft is calling a Decision Engine, designed to empower people to gain
» 28 May 2009, 8:53 am

Xbox 360 Sees Record Growth in 2009Microsoft announced today that sales of Xbox 360 consoles have passed the 30 million mark globally, with its Xbox LIVE community swelling to more than 20 million active members. After the biggest year in its history in 2008, Xbox 360 achieved the highest percentage growth in hardware sales of any console so far in 2009, up 28 percent over the previous year.1 The success of the platform can be measured across the business, with Xbox LIVE now considered the world’s largest global entertainment network. Increasing consumer desire to connect with friends, download and enjoy blockbuster movies and TV shows, and extend the life of their favorite games has been the primary driver behind the growth of Xbox LIVE membership and the reason Xbox con
» 28 May 2009, 8:52 am

Microsoft Mediaroom First to Bring Virtualization to IPTVIntroduction of Mediaroom with virtualization delivers up to sixfold reduction in server hardware; it now also provides an ideal platform for small deployments and reduces operator costs to launch and grow IPTV services. Microsoft today launched Microsoft Mediaroom with virtualization, making Mediaroom the first Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) platform to offer virtualization support. Mediaroom with virtualization can deliver up to a sixfold reduction in the number of physical servers required to support a full-featured IPTV service, significantly reducing hardware and management costs and speeding time to market for Mediaroom customers by up to three weeks. Mediaroom with virtualization is designed to provide a cost-effective yet fu
» 28 May 2009, 8:51 am

WSUS 3.0 SP2 RC Program now available on Microsoft Connect!I am very pleased to announce that WSUS 3.0 SP2 RC will be available to the general public today, May 26, via the Connect Site.  All you have to do is sign in to your Connect account or sign up now in order to participate in the RC program.This program is available to all registered and authenticated users of Connect. WSUS 3.0 SP2 RC Overview New Windows Server and Client Version Support·       Integration with Windows Server® 2008 R2·       Support for the BranchCache feature on Windows Server 2008 R2·       Support for Windows 7 client WSUS Feature Improvements Auto-Approval Rules·       Auto-approval rules now include the ability to specify the approval deadline date and time for all computers or speci
» 28 May 2009, 8:49 am

Download the Microsoft Visual Studio® 2010 BetaIt’s the next gen of next-gen applications. Download the Visual Studio 2010 Professional and Team System Betas and see for yourself how they’ve been designed inside and out to give you every advantage in creating groundbreaking applications — faster and easier than ever.Download Visual Studio 2010 Professional Beta nowDownload Visual Studio Team System 2010 Beta nowSee more download options   Send via e-mail | Submit to Digg | Add to Live Favorites
» 28 May 2009, 8:47 am

Introducing the Microsoft Touch Pack for Windows 7At Wall Street Journal's D: All Things Digital conference about a year ago today, Julie Larson-Green first introduced Walt Mossberg to Windows 7 and its multi-touch capabilities, which we call Windows Touch. While we’ve been working on bringing natural user interface to you in many Microsoft products, we first introduced multi-touch in Microsoft Surface. Since then, the Windows and Surface development teams have been collaborating closely on bringing multi-touch to Windows, and last year demoed a few applications they created to run on Windows 7. Today, we thought it would be fitting on this “anniversary” of first talking about Windows Touch to introduce the Microsoft Touch Pack for Windows 7. While touch is built into the “DNA” o
» 28 May 2009, 8:45 am

Operations Manager 2007 R2 hits RTMLate yesterday the RTM of Operations Manager 2007 R2 was approved, which immediately initiated the next stage of the process ... getting this latest version of Microsoft's end-to-end monitoring product for IT environments and datacenters out to YOU!  Read more in our overview whitepaper, What's New datasheet, or download the trial, and see customer stories and more information on our pages on Microsoft.com and TechNet. The trial version of Operations Manager 2007 R2 RTM (build 7221) is now available via the Microsoft Download Center.  General Availability of the product will be 1st July 2009, at which point new and existing customers will be able to obtain the bits from their respective customer download centers, such as MVLS. In additio
» 28 May 2009, 8:44 am

Microsoft Confirms New Zune HD Portable Media PlayerMicrosoft Corp. today announced the evolution of Zune, the company’s end-to-end music and entertainment service, to a new platform and new markets. Zune will extend its video service to Xbox LIVE internationally this fall. This marks an important development in the Zune strategy and brings the Zune brand to more than 17 million international Xbox LIVE subscribers. In addition, Microsoft confirmed the next generation of the Zune portable media player, Zune HD. Available in the U.S. this fall, Zune HD is the first portable media player that combines a built-in HD Radio receiver, high-definition (HD) video output capabilities, organic light-emitting diode (OLED) touch screen, Wi-Fi and an Internet browser. Introducing Zune HD Zune HD is the
» 26 May 2009, 6:50 pm

Evaluate Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007 SP1 todaySystem Center Operations Manager 2007 helps you increase efficiency while enabling greater control of your IT environment—so you can spend more time driving business success. And when you download the 180-day trial software, you're automatically registered to receive valuable resources delivered at strategic intervals throughout the software evaluation period. More information on the other System Center data center management solutions can be found here. Please review the System Center Operations Manager 2007 system requirements before you proceed. Actual requirements and product functionality may vary based on your system configuration Download Send via e-mail | Submit to Digg | Add to Live Favorites
» 25 May 2009, 12:32 pm

Get ready for Vista and Win2k8 SP2!Just a heads up to prepare for Windows Vista  and Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2. It will be available in the coming weeks on the Download Center (DLC) and also through Windows Update and WSUS.  On April 28th, we announced the Release to Manufacturing (RTM) of Service Pack 2 (SP2) for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008.  SP2 includes all updates that were released since SP1. It also includes support for new types of hardware and other technology improvements. For more information on the changes with SP2, see the notable changes document on TechNet.  Here’s a short list of the tools and guidance that’s available for SP2: ·         If you’re managing systems that connect directly to WU, you can use the updated Serv
» 21 May 2009, 11:55 am

Ed Bott - Windows Expertise

What the PC world was like 10 years agoThe other day, I stumbled across a Word document I created almost exactly 10 years ago, on June 5, 1999. It listed all the computers I owned, with some of their specs and notes about how I planned to use them. Windows 2000 was in the final stages of its development process, and so I [...]
» 27 May 2009, 9:02 am

Travel weekI’m in Redmond today and tomorrow, with a couple of action-packed days of meetings on tap. The focus, of course, is Windows 7, and everything I learn will wind up in Windows 7 Inside Out, with a subset shared here. Got any Windows 7 questions you want to ask? (Besides, you know, how much will it [...]
» 18 May 2009, 8:01 am

What’s in Windows 7 Ultimate?A few minutes ago I checked Windows Update on one of my Windows 7 test systems and found a handful of updates waiting for me. I was expecting the test updates (documented by my ZDNet colleague, Mary Jo Foley, a couple days ago). But I was pleasantly surprised to see some other optional updates as [...]
» 13 May 2009, 8:09 am

Happy Birthday, Lucy!Our rescued puppy, Lucy, turned one year old this past weekend. She’s now spent half her life with us. She actually didn’t mind the hat and bandana.
» 12 May 2009, 8:03 pm

More proof that OEMs are the weak spot in the Windows ecosystemAaron Parker passes along this odd tale of an OEM that apparently needs to be whacked with a cluestick. His MSI Wind (a nice little netbook) needed a BIOS update, so he decided to try out the MSI Live Update application, which is supposed to provide users with the latest BIOS and refresh any device [...]
» 11 May 2009, 4:29 pm

Microsoft Office 2010 about to kick off?Several people have pointed out to me that the Microsoft Office team launched a new blog today covering Office 2010 for IT professionals. The first post isn’t exactly substantive, and the whole thing feels like someone realized at the last minute, “Oh crap, Tech-Ed kicks off today and we need a blog!” That would explain this [...]
» 11 May 2009, 9:11 am

Windows 7 RC now available for downloadMicrosoft said they would make the Windows 7 release candidate available to the public on May 5. Well, it must be May 5 somewhere, because the public download servers are open for business. You’ll find a single page of download instructions here, along with links to the x86 (32-bit) and x64 (64-bit) versions of Windows 7 [...]
» 4 May 2009, 7:57 pm

A sneak preview of my Windows 7 galleryShhhhhhh. Don’t tell anyone, but I just finished the screenshot gallery for my Windows 7 review at ZDNet. I’m still working on the review, which will be done late tonight, but the gallery is available for viewing now. Check it out: What to look for in Windows 7 I’m pretty picky about the screenshot galleries I do. [...]
» 4 May 2009, 3:58 pm

Can your Intel CPU handle Windows 7’s XP Mode?I’ve read lots of discussion of XP Mode over the past 10 days (a tip of the hat to Rafael Rivera and Paul Thurrott for their excellent coverage so far, including Rafael’s breakdown of Windows XP Mode Internals, part 1 and part 2.). But I’ve only seen a few passing mentions of a possible stumbling [...]
» 3 May 2009, 11:52 am

Windows Vista SP2 is completedIn the flurry of Windows 7 news and rumors, I almost lost sight of this factoid: Microsoft yesterday announced that Windows Vista Service Pack 2 is complete. The Notable Changes document suggests that it’s a solid collection of bug fixes that will make your life better if you use Vista on a single machine or [...]
» 29 Apr 2009, 5:48 pm

A Windows 7 RC FAQOver at ZDNet, I’ve put together a list of answers to frequently asked questions about the Windows 7 Release Candidate. I’m sure I left a few out, so feel free to add your questions in the comments here (or there, if you don’t mind fighting off the trolls). What you need to know about the Windows [...]
» 27 Apr 2009, 5:21 am

eWeek Microsoft Watch

Thank You and GoodbyeCommentary. The recession has caused many casualties. Good companies are gone, and talented people are jobless. I've written about many of these casualties. There is just one more story to tell.
» 30 Apr 2009, 1:09 pm

Talking About Windows 7News Analysis. Microsoft is smartly using April 30's Windows 7 Release Candidate release to MSDN and TechNet to prelaunch the new operating system.
» 30 Apr 2009, 11:51 am

Don't Count Microsoft Out Just YetNews Analysis. Has Microsoft heard of May sweeps, that time of year when TV networks air their best shows? Sweeps are coming to Microsoft software, some a bit early.
» 27 Apr 2009, 4:26 pm

Will Obama Listen to Google or to Microsoft?News Commentary. Today, April 27, the White House announced the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. (video) Google and Microsoft executives made the list.
» 27 Apr 2009, 1:05 pm

Windows 7 RC Coming Around April 30News Brief. MSDN and TechNet subscribers can get Windows 7 Release Candidate that day. Everyone else must wait until May 5.
» 24 Apr 2009, 7:38 pm

Microsoft Q3 2009 by the NumbersNews Analysis. In a stunning turnabout, Microsoft's Server and Tools division reported greater revenue than the Windows Client division.
» 23 Apr 2009, 5:20 pm

No Windows Mobile 6.5 on May 11News Commentary. Over the weekend, several blogs reported that Windows Mobile 6.5 would release on May 11. That's simply not true.
» 21 Apr 2009, 4:46 pm

My Sadness as Sun Finally SetsNews Commentary. Two Silicon Valley companies founded the same year sadly come to their ends during the same month—SGI and Sun Microsystems.
» 21 Apr 2009, 2:01 pm

It's a Date: Windows 7 RC on May 5News Brief. Gasp, could it be sooner for MSDN and TechNet subscribers?
» 18 Apr 2009, 6:49 pm

I'm Lovin' These UK 'I'm a PC' AdsNews Commentary. Eight-and-a-half-year-old Danni has got character. Suddenly, I feel how flat is my personality—as in, gulp, being American.
» 16 Apr 2009, 6:10 pm

Microsoft Security and Identity at the ForefrontPodcast. Where is Microsoft taking Forefront Security and projects "Stirling" and "Geneva"?
» 16 Apr 2009, 3:11 pm

I Started Something

Microsoft Bing “decision engine” video tour[See post to watch Flash video] So the wraps came off “Bing” today and Microsoft’s Live Search replacement (and worthy Google competitor) is finally announced. Unfortunately because the service isn’t actually live yet, all the screenshots and blog posts can be pretty overwhelming and won’t make the name or what it is any clearer. Thankfully, here’s [...]
» 28 May 2009, 8:42 am

Microsoft Touch Pack for Windows 7: why it’s a Swiss Army Knife of multitouch demoes for OEMsThe Windows 7 blog today showed off a collection of multitouch-exclusive softwares and games collectively known as the “Microsoft Touch Pack for Windows 7“. As many eager Windows 7 users with multitouch-enabled PCs (ex. Dell Latitude XT2 and HP TouchSmart, etc.) may have noticed, you can’t actually download or install these today. You might be [...]
» 28 May 2009, 3:27 am

Higher resolution Windows 7 logo, presention style guide and retail concept all leaked in one big burstStephen Chapman of UX Evangelist delivers yet again. In response to all the chatter and speculation surrounding the new Windows 7 logo, Stephen has published some interesting graphic resources he’s found in the master slides of the “Windows 7 Core Presentation Deck” which reveals more details of how Microsoft plans to market Windows 7 to [...]
» 25 May 2009, 12:26 am

Windows Mobile 7 job ad reveals “Unified (Communication) Store”, confirms Zune integrationIt appears the Windows Mobile team, who has had a history for sharing good insights into the future development of Windows Mobile through innocent job advertisements, is not wasting any time sharing new information about Windows Mobile 7. A recent job advertisement for a Software Development Engineer on the “Communications Foundations” team writes, The Mobile Devices [...]
» 20 May 2009, 7:46 am

Microsoft China: look here, the Windows 7 logo!It looks like Microsoft China is really putting in an effort to make sure absolutely everyone knows about the new Windows 7 logo before it is, and if ever, officially confirmed by the Redmond mothership. Besides plastering a slightly different variation of this new logo all over its Windows 7 RC launch event, the flare-abounding [...]
» 20 May 2009, 5:50 am

Microsoft’s SideShow-enhanced PC gaming concept confirms hunch you can never have enough displaysWindows SideShow’s reception in the marketplace since the launch of Windows Vista has been lukewarm at best, but they haven’t given up. Now Microsoft is trying to breathe new life into Windows SideShow by illustrating some interesting applications of the platform to PC gamers. A research study conducted by Microsoft earlier this year shows gamers [...]
» 18 May 2009, 6:13 am

Windows 7 adds native Virtual WiFi technology from Microsoft ResearchWiFi is an incredible technology that has transformed how and where people used computers, however besides advancements in speed, range and security, very little has changed how we use wireless networks. Since 2002, Microsoft Research has been exploring a fascinating idea to virtualize the WiFi adapter, turning a single piece of hardware and radio into [...]
» 15 May 2009, 9:10 am

Leaked Windows 7 box art is indeed realI was wrong. The leaked images posted yesterday on CentrumXP.pl portraying to be the Windows 7 retail box art and packaging are indeed real. The undeniable evidence ironically comes from no other than Microsoft employees, on a Facebook group they’ve set up. The group “Windows Lounge” is a private Facebook group reserved for Microsoft employees to [...]
» 12 May 2009, 8:23 am

Blurry screencaps of Office 2010 Technical Preview from TechEd 2009 keynoteMicrosoft’s TechEd 2009 conference kicked off today with a fairly forthcoming keynote that included not only the announcement of a Windows 7 release date season but an indirect demonstration of the forthcoming Office 2010 Technical Preview build. The best-I-can-do-from-a-streaming-video screencaps above comes from Bill Veghte’s quick demonstration of Windows 7 in which he launched 3 [...]
» 12 May 2009, 2:55 am

False alarm: leaked Windows 7 box shots fake (update: is now proven to be real)Could you imagine the mockery if this reached Slashdot. A fairly unknown Polish website called “CentrumXP.pl” today published some images of what were portrayed as renderings of the Windows 7 packaging and box art. Since my Polish is as good as Google Translate is, I can’t say for certain the website actually claimed this to [...]
» 11 May 2009, 5:29 am

James.Random()

Farewell Technet!I'm moving home to a new blog at www.jamessenior.com!  This move also represents a rebrand for both myself and my content but more explained in my first post: Welcome from Microsoft's Social Web Guy! It has been an emotional three years on the TechNet platform and I want to say thank you for all the loyal readers out there that have put up with all my ramblings for long enough.  See you on the other side, and have fun! :-) All the best, James
» 18 May 2009, 5:46 pm

Code using Live Search APIs and win $10kThe Live Search team have just launched a cool competition in partnership with the Gnomedex conference where developers can win $10,000 and other cash prizes that have in impact on the economy or earth’s ecology.  The only caveat is that submitted applications must use Live Search APIs! You can create apps on whatever platform or language you prefer and you can also use any other APIs that you want from other service providers. Why not take this opportunity to check out the other APIs provided by Live Services so you can build them in too! http://dev.live.com IDEA: An app that incorporates search and Messenger would be pretty cool for sharing interesting search results with your friends. More information on the competition here
» 20 Apr 2009, 1:44 pm

Client or the Cloud?Paisano writes a punchy post about the death of desktop apps that I commented on and I wanted to share a bit more insight into where we’re taking the concept of Mesh in order to solve some of the problems that he identified. Whilst the browser is great for some types of apps like collaboration, sharing, broadcasting it’s far from perfect.  The number one problem is speed.  A browser is slow.  Why do you think Google have been trying so hard to speed up their JavaScript engine? No matter how much tweaking they do they’ll always be slower though.  Client apps, i.e. ones that can harness the power of the device they are running on are much quicker, have richer experiences and can do things the browser simply can’t, utilize multi-c
» 10 Apr 2009, 12:47 pm

Brazil rocking Windows 1.01Well their website for their IT Pro/Developer event is anyway! Check it out here!  Way retro! Nice work guys. http://www.puertadeenlace.net/run09/ Oh and check out the Silverlight version of Windows 7 too…
» 24 Mar 2009, 5:55 pm

Announcing the Live Framework Explorer for Visual StudioAt PDC back in October we launched the Live Framework into CTP and with that we provided a cool tool called the Live Framework Resource Model Browser which you could use to explore the data that you stored in the Mesh.  The tool was good but limited.  It was difficult to navigate the data, find what you were looking for and also make changes to the data itself.  Furthermore, it was a separate tool so I had to jump out of Visual Studio to navigate the data in Mesh. We worked with Wygwam to build a cool tool for Visual Studio 2008 that allows you to tap into the Mesh and browse the data in your Live Framework apps.  Here’s what you can do with the Live Framework Explorer: Integrates seamlessly with Visual Studio 2008 Read, Edit,
» 19 Mar 2009, 12:02 pm

Windows Live Messenger Web ToolkitJust announced this at Mix09. Here’s what you need to know.  Here’s where you need to go for more information: http://dev.live.com/messenger
» 18 Mar 2009, 3:34 pm

Live Framework SDK and Tools April CTPWhat is the Live Framework? – see my video on Channel 9 Bit late to the press with this one, but that’s because I’ve been working on some way cool stuff for next week at Mix :-) The Live Framework SDK and Tools April CTP has just been launched!  Not really sure why they launched mid-March and called it an April CTP – but hey, I’m not complaining when you get: All-in-one installer (like a multivitamin – lots of goodness in one capsule) Support for Win7 and IE8 (satisfies even the most demanding dogfooder) Side-by-side installation of Live Framework CTP and Live Mesh Beta (now be a consumer and dev – all at the same time!) Performance Improvements (we’re super slick, just like Win7) and more For the ful
» 14 Mar 2009, 5:36 pm

Live Messenger: our network is your networkI was doing some background reading on Live Messenger today via Wikipedia and it said that the first version of messenger (then MSN Messenger) came out in 1999! wow that seems so long ago, and look how much has changed since then! Above – Messenger then and now. Since then, we’ve had many new versions culminating in the latest, a part of Windows Live Essentials and there have been some very cool features along the way.  It’s crazy to think we had voice call (voip) in 2000 (Skype wasn’t in beta until 2003) and then video calls followed in version 5 in 2002! What’s perhaps more impressive is the back end infrastructure that Live Messenger runs on in the cloud.  With over 320 million users worldwide and being the world’s #1
» 11 Mar 2009, 12:49 pm

LiveWIM using customized sign-in pages for Live IDI blogged last week about the new documentation available for customizing the registration and sigin-in pages for Live ID and we’re already starting to see some examples in the wild. LiveWIM, a site for tracking your whereabouts and letting your friends know, have gone and implemented and the results are pretty cool.  The thing I like, as well as the familiarity of the LiveWIM logo is that I get a list of remembered Live IDs so I don’t have to type in my credentials.  If I’ve actually asked Live ID to remember my password then I can just click the Live ID and it signs me in no hassle – also a cool feature.
» 9 Mar 2009, 8:43 am

Customize Live ID Sign in and Registration experienceOne of the biggest bits of feedback from customers that use Live ID on their website is that the Live ID sign-in and registration experiences should be customizable so that instead of a Windows Live brand and look and feel, the user gets a look and feel consistent with your website so they aren’t confused as to why the brand has changed. Old Sign-in Experience New Sign-in Experience We’ve just launched the ability to customize the sign-in experience so that you can now achieve something that looks like this: New Sign-in Experience Customization Areas You can customize everything in orange: The technical documentation is here: Overview on Customizing the Sign-in Experience  Customizing the Sign-in page
» 6 Mar 2009, 2:34 pm

Imagine a killer Live Services app – win a pass to Mix09This year I’m in the privileged position of being involved in possibly the greatest conference the world has ever seen.  Yes, I’m talking about Mix09 – Microsoft’s annual web conference held at the Venetian in Las Vegas.  This year’s conference is being held 18-20th Match and promises to be a stunning affair with jar dropping keynotes, industry leading speakers and inspiring sessions all set amongst the best place to party! :-) For your chance to win a free pass (worth $1400) to this year’s event all you have to do is: Dream up a killer app that uses services from Live Services and/or Live Framework and record a one minute video of yourself presenting it via Soapbox or YouTube. As part of your pass you get full access to t
» 17 Feb 2009, 2:37 pm

LiveSide

Join the Bing communityJust been clicking around in Bing, and came across a nice fresh Bing Community site, all done up in Community Server.   The site contains a What’s New page, links to the individual search blogs (Search, Webmaster, Developer, Travel, and Maps), which are pulled in to the site so you don’t have to leave to read a blog post, some Community Server goodness like conversations, avatars, etc., and even a Twitter feed.  Nice job, guys!
» 31 May 2009, 11:14 pm

Bing goes live in multiple marketsGetting reports from all over that www.bing.com is live: The US is getting the Hubble telescope image that is on live.com, but for at least some other countries (we didn’t check them all), they’re getting our old friend the snow leopard: Note that in China, as well as Australia and Germany for sure, the Bing home page is marked as “Beta” and not “preview”, and seems to be missing some features, like the Explore pane on the left hand side (links are above the search box, as they are at live.com) You can learn more about Bing by taking the Tour.
» 31 May 2009, 10:46 pm

Join The Bing Webcast At June 1st @ 10am PTIf you want to watch instead of read about Bing, then join the Bing Webcast at June 1st. Here’s how to join in: 1) Set your alarm clocks for 10AM Pacific Daylight Time, Monday, June 1.  2) Point your browser to  http://ms.istreamplanet.com/search (I’d do this before 10AM just to make sure you’ve got what you need to watch the stream) 3) Sit quietly and watch the ‘cast OR engage by typing questions in the player. That’s it!  Tell your friends.  Tell your neighbors.  Tell people you don’t even know.  Post it on Facebook. The Bing Webcast– no prompters, no scripts, 100% danger. Stefan Weitz, Director, Bing Another plus over reading is that during this Webcast you can ask your questions too!
» 30 May 2009, 4:24 am

Our first look at Bing: 5 things that stand outWe haven’t been able to get our hands on Bing until today,  and we’ll have more as we dig deeper into it, but we wanted to give you some quick first impressions.  There’s lots of promotion for “the decision engine” out there already, but we’ve noticed a few things that haven’t received a lot of press yet, so let’s dive in: 1. It’s faster and more relevant. Even on the preview (which we’re thankful to have access to), searches on Bing are significantly faster.  And for the first time in forever, a query for “liveside” on Bing brings back our home page as the top result (you can actually try this on Live Search now): (nice to see our friend Long Zheng in the related searches, too!) I talked a bit with Stefan
» 29 May 2009, 12:41 pm

Why Windows Live Messenger Is Shut Off For Users In Countries Embargoed By The USLast week we told you about Microsoft Shutting Off Windows Live Messenger IM For Users In Countries Embargoed By The US (Error 810003c1). We can tell you a little bit more about the “why” today. Let’s take a look at what can, and can’t, be banned by the United States Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), a division of the Department of the Treasury. According to a lawyer who advises companies on OFAC compliance, offering communications services such as IM to sanctioned countries such as Iran or Cuba is not restricted by OFAC. Offering software however is. That's because software, even free apps downloadable from the Internet, are considered exportable goods, and thus can be banned by OFAC. The rules are fairly strict. "You can'
» 29 May 2009, 9:55 am

Some quick takes on BingWell the story we’ve been following for the past year, the rebranding of Live Search, reached a big milestone today with the announcement (finally) of the new name, Bing.  While the name itself has yet to grow on us, we have to admit we really like the logo: (BTW did anyone catch in the D7 interview where Steve Ballmer specifically mentioned that there was no trademark conflict?  Does Mr. Ballmer read LiveSide?  Oh hai, Steve!) We also really like the tagline and its underlying concept.  Microsoft has been focusing on certain types of search (the ones that happen to make the most money, as it turns out), and now they have a tagline that sums it all up: Bing, the decision engine. It hasn’t taken long to start to get the word out (o
» 28 May 2009, 11:16 pm

The Cat Is Out Of The Bag, It’s…Bing!Steve Ballmer just announced Microsoft’s newest search offering on the D7 stage. He introduced it by showing a video, a Star Trek parody called “A bold search for a new name.” The video runs over Microsoft’s chronic re-naming of its search engine. And there it is: the new name is “Bing.”
» 28 May 2009, 9:26 am

Announcing The Messenger Web Toolkit Interactive SDK!We already told you about the Live Messenger Web Toolkit and accompanying site http://messenger.mslivelabs.com/. Also on this site is the Interactive SDK:  This Interactive SDK makes starting out with the Messenger Web Toolkit even easier for developers. To get to this, click on the Learn tab on the site. After signing in you can play around with it, the markup is shown in the bar and will update every time you change something. You can copy/paste this markup once you are satisfied with the result (per control). Need more info on the control? No problem, a MSDN link to the control is provided on the right. If you want to give feedback on the Interactive SDK, you are welcome to do so on the forum. Ready for more? Check out Colin’
» 28 May 2009, 3:36 am

LiveSide registration temporarily unavailable, sorryWe’re having a little issue currently with our user registration as some jokers try to take advantage of our generous registration policies.  While we continue to figure out how to best deal with the problem (and clear out the hundreds of users created in the last 2 days), we’ve shut off new user registration.  We apologize for the inconvenience, and should have everything back up to normal shortly, we’ll keep you posted. If you feel compelled to leave a comment but can’t because you’re not a LiveSide member (why not?!) send the comment to feedback *at* liveside *dot* net, and we’ll post it for you ASAP.  We can manually create an account for you too, if you’d like, just let us know.  Again, sorry for the inconvenience, w
» 27 May 2009, 8:24 pm

Carol Bartz, CEO Of Yahoo!, Willing To Sell Search For “Boatloads Of Money”In an entertaining, slightly off color, and by some accounts inspiring performance at D: the All Things Digital conference, Yahoo! CEO Carol Bartz left the door open for a search deal.  That deal would have to be made with someone with the right technology, the right data, and “boatloads of money”, according to numerous tweets coming from the conference.  C-NET’s Ina Fried is there and has more. When asked if Yahoo! was talking to Microsoft, she replied “yeah, a little bit”.  Yesterday there was speculation that a new LLC may be being formed to create a new corporation to deal with a Yahoo!-Microsoft search partnership.  Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is expected to unveil “Kumo” (or “Bing”, or even “Yahoo! Search”)
» 27 May 2009, 11:43 am

Live Writer for Windows Mobile?Twitter has been abuzz the last 48 hours about a new project that appeared on CodePlex: Windows Live Writer for Windows Mobile. This sounds very promising, and looks like quite a good little project (albeit a slightly iffy UI). However, whilst it is a good project, I would like to stress heavily that this project is in no way associated with Microsoft, they aren’t the developers behind it. And this message seems to be getting lost amongst the twitter hype. So whilst it’s good that someone is doing something we’ve all longed for Microsoft to do [hint hint], it’s worth noting that this is not Windows Live Writer, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see the name of the project change somewhat. SL
» 26 May 2009, 12:43 pm

Microsoft PressPass

Technology Can Help Build Success for Smaller CompaniesQ&A: Eduardo Rosini of Microsoft discusses top technology drivers that enable small and midsized businesses to compete.
» 26 May 2009, 6:00 am

Jumping Into the Cloud – Advice for CIOsQ&A: Ron Markezich, Corporate Vice President of Microsoft Online, discusses the challenges and benefits of cloud computing in the enterprise, and offers pragmatic considerations for CIOs who are evaluating cloud services.
» 20 May 2009, 1:12 pm

The Insurance Industry Enters the “Cloud” EraQ&A: Bill Hartnett, U.S. insurance industry solutions director, and Colin Cole, U.S. insurance industry technical strategist, discuss how Microsoft tools and technology can help the insurance industry speed up product cycles, cut costs and move from paper systems to “cloud” datacenters.
» 18 May 2009, 6:00 am

Imagine Cup Shows Power of a Great Idea – and a Funny NameAn all-woman team that advanced to the finals of the U.S. Imagine Cup Finals created a mobile phone application that reminds HIV/AIDS patients to take their medication.
» 13 May 2009, 9:00 am

Microsoft Virtualization

Hyper-V R2 Import/Export – Part 6 - So, what happened to Configuration-only export?There have been multiple customers who have voiced concern that the Configuration-only export feature is gone. It has not. Configuration-only export is still very much present in Hyper-V in R2. It just so happens that we have taken the option out from the UI. The user can still utilize this capability via the API. This brings us to the next question: “Why did you take it out of the UI?” The main motivation behind taking it out of the UI is that the user would not be able to easily import such a VM through the UI. Given our import UI, there is no way for the user to specify the locations of the VHD files during import. Ideally, we would have had an import wizard or the like where the user could specify the location of all the VHD files
» 29 May 2009, 7:32 am

Hyper-V R2 Import/Export – Part 5 – Import code sampleIn the following sample, we do a basic import of a VM using the new Import API. This script essentially does what the import UI does; it assumes all the necessary files are present in the import folder and imports from that directory. In a later blog, there will be a sample that will utilize the fine grained capabilities of import in Hyper-V R2. Many thanks to Madhan Gajendran and Dinesh Kumar Govindasamy again for writing this script: option explicit  dim objWMIServicedim managementServicedim fileSystem const JobStarting = 3const JobRunning = 4const JobCompleted = 7const wmiStarted = 4096const wmiSuccessful = 0 Main() '-----------------------------------------------------------------' Main'--------------------------------------------
» 28 May 2009, 9:33 am

Hyper-V R2 Import/Export – Part 4 – Export code sampleIn the following sample, we do a basic export of a VM using the new Export API. Here we export a VM with all the data associated with it. In a later blog, I will cover configuration-only export. Many thanks to Madhan Gajendran and Dinesh Kumar Govindasamy from the Hyper-V team for writing this script: .csharpcode, .csharpcode pre { font-size: small; color: black; font-family: consolas, "Courier New", courier, monospace; background-color: #ffffff; /*white-space: pre;*/ } .csharpcode pre { margin: 0em; } .csharpcode .rem { color: #008000; } .csharpcode .kwrd { color: #0000ff; } .csharpcode .str { color: #006080; } .csharpcode .op { color: #0000c0; } .csharpcode .preproc { color: #cc6633; } .csharpcode .asp { background-color: #
» 27 May 2009, 8:33 am

Hyper-V R2 Import/Export – Part 3 – The UIGiven the rather compressed schedule of Windows Server 2008 R2, we did not have time to get too ambitious with the UI. However, the UI has been modeled to enable the following 3 scenarios: 1. Export VMs with data 2. Import VMs with data 3. Export a snapshot of a VM 4. Provide the option for copy on import or in-place import 5. Allow the user to import the VM with a newly generated ID. Export UI: Here is a screen capture of the Export UI you get when you right-click on a virtual machine in the Hyper-V Manager and click “Export…” : It is still rather rudimentary and allows the user to specify the location to export the VM to. The VM will be exported along with its VHD files and saved state files to the specified folder. You might noti
» 22 May 2009, 9:56 am

Hyper-V R2 Import/Export – Part 2 - The New Import/Export APIsTo enable the new functionality of Import/Export we now have new ‘Ex’ versions of the Import/Export APIs along with settings data objects that allow the user to tweak the necessary parameters upon export or import: Export: Before you run an export, you can get the export parameters associated with a VM in the form of a settings data object. They are populated with default values. You can modify the parameters you need and then call ExportVirtualSystemEx with the modified object passed in. ExportVirtualSystemEx: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd379583(VS.85).aspx Export Setting data: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd379576(VS.85).aspx Import: Before you run an import, you can get the import parameters for the directory
» 21 May 2009, 9:51 am

Hyper-V R2 Import/Export – Part 1 – The Case for New Import/Export FunctionalityThis is the first blog entry of a multi-part series of blogs that addresses Import/Export in Windows Server 2008 R2. This blog talks about the scenarios enabled by the changes made to import/export in R2. Ben Armstrong had blogged earlier about the intricacies of Import and Export with v1 Hyper-V in his blog posts:http://blogs.msdn.com/virtual_pc_guy/archive/2008/08/26/hyper-v-export-import-part-1.aspx http://blogs.msdn.com/virtual_pc_guy/archive/2008/08/27/hyper-v-export-import-part-2.aspx Now, the big problem with how import export worked in v1 was that it just did not give the user enough control over the process of exporting and more significantly, importing a VM. Additionally, it was rather unforgiving. I bet many a user has been burn
» 19 May 2009, 9:13 pm

VMware FUD Fiasco Part 3...Virtualization Nation, We were very busy last week with numerous virtualization announcements from TechEd. If you missed them, you should check them out here, here and here. In addition, some of the early reviews of the Windows Server 2008 R2 Release Candidate are coming in and the news is overwhelmingly positive. I'll follow-up on that soon. In the meantime, I'm back with the latest on the VMware FUD Fiasco. (BTW: If you're not sure what I'm talking about you can read Part 1 Here and Part 2 Here.) In the latest update on the VMware FUD Fiasco, VMware's Bruce Herndon has responded to my previous two blogs and has brought some data to the discussion. As I have done in the past, I have copied and pasted from the VMware blog and added my respo
» 17 May 2009, 10:01 pm

Native VHD Support in Windows 7This blog entry describes the support in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 for creating and managing Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) files as a native format, and booting a physical machine from a VHD file.  Native VHD support helps our enterprise customers and developer community use a common image format and common tools to manage and deploy Windows images that run either in Hyper-V virtual machines or on physical machines. The Microsoft Virtual Hard Disk file format (VHD) is a publicly available format specification that specifies a virtual hard disk encapsulated in a single file, capable of hosting native file systems and supporting standard disk operations. VHD files are used by Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V, Microsoft Virtual Ser
» 13 May 2009, 10:00 pm

Tech Ed: Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V News!Virtualization Nation, Greetings from Tech Ed in Los Angeles! It's been a busy couple of days and you've probably heard the big news by now, Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 will be shipping for the holidays! On the Hyper-V R2 front, we're pleased to announce a few surprises of our own. :-) Let's start with scalability. 64 logical processor support. This is a 4x improvement over Hyper-V R1 and means that Hyper-V can take advantage of larger scale-up systems with greater amount of compute resources. As our friends at AMD and Intel drive up core counts, we want you to know that Hyper-V is ready to take advantage of the compute resources in your server today and those you're buying tomorrow. Support for up to 384 Concurrently Running Virtu
» 12 May 2009, 10:34 pm

Hyper-V in WS08 R2 Release Candidate: Bringing More to the TableYou'll want to read Isaac's blog post about the RC milestone of Windows Server 2008 R2. His post focuses on 64 LP support and processor compatibility mode for live migration. Read the post here. Here's an excerpt: 64LP Support We have seen processors grow from 1, 2, 4, and now 6 cores on a single processor, soon to hit 8.  Within the Windows Server 2008 R2 lifecycle, 64 logical processor servers will become commonplace (8 processors x 8 cores).  Virtualization is the natural fit for these next-gen servers, allowing them to consolidate a greater number of virtual machines on a single host. Hyper-V is in line with these hardware trends all with an eye towards bringing you greater VM density. The dev team has done a fantastic job in buildin
» 11 May 2009, 10:43 pm

Day Two of the Scott Drummonds VMware FUD Fiasco.Virtualization Nation, I thought we were done with this topic yesterday. I really did. If you missed my last article and aren't sure what I'm talking about, it's here. Scott Drummonds, VMware Product Marketing, apparently saw my response and attempted to respond. I say attempted because if you're looking for facts Scott still doesn't provide many. I've taken the text below verbatim from his blog and will again provide the facts. Scott's Sort Of Blog Response Since I posted the YouTube video showing Hyper-V blue screens last Friday I've received a lot of comments, questions, compliments and complaints. The video and descriptive text have raised more questions than answers, so here are a few details to help fill out the story. The workload
» 9 May 2009, 9:17 pm

MSDN Blogs - Front Page

How to Verify the Validity of IIS Certificates on Remote Servers Using ABONawal Kishore Gupta here. I am a developer on the Information Security Tools team focused on building host security assessment tools. IIS: Admin Base Objects (ABO) ABO is the most powerful way to control the IIS meta-base settings on different IIS Versions (above Windows 2000). Still using the ABO is a hidden art and very less technical document has been written on it. One of the easy way is to read IIS Settings is read metabase.xml directly but this is not uniform in different version of IIS. Some of the confidential information has been moved to the registry. If you are developing a security or audit tool for IIS settings you must be interested in ABO. Open Connection to ABO (IMSAdminBase Interface). Creating a remote (DCOM) ABO connecti
» 1 Jun 2009, 5:00 am

.Net Performance SurveyThe CLR performance team is running a survey to get your feedback about what to focus on for performance in the .Net framework. This includes performance in the framework itself as well as performance profiling, optimization, and tuning for the applications that you write. If you have any WCF performance feedback you can always send it to me even if this survey later closes and I'll direct it to the right people.
» 1 Jun 2009, 5:00 am

Vancouver / Toronto Event: Make Web, Not War Episode 2009As a solution provider, the web presents an ever increasing opportunity to grow your business.  As more and more customers (and potential customers!) look to the web as a way to broaden their message, increase their own revenue and lower their cost of doing business in general, you have the opportunity to make a real impact to those businesses with the skills you have in building web solutions. It is for this reason that Microsoft Canada has created the Make Web, Not War Episode 2009 in-person event.  We know that Microsoft technologies are only part of a larger ecosystem of web platform technologies out there.  What many people may not realize is that Microsoft is playing an ever increasing role in reaching out to web solution provider
» 1 Jun 2009, 4:45 am

Vancouver / Toronto Event: Make Web, Not War Episode 2009As a solution provider, the web presents an ever increasing opportunity to grow your business.  As more and more customers (and potential customers!) look to the web as a way to broaden their message, increase their own revenue and lower their cost of doing business in general, you have the opportunity to make a real impact to those businesses with the skills you have in building web solutions. It is for this reason that Microsoft Canada has created the Make Web, Not War Episode 2009 in-person event.  We know that Microsoft technologies are only part of a larger ecosystem of web platform technologies out there.  What many people may not realize is that Microsoft is playing an ever increasing role in reaching out to web solution provider
» 1 Jun 2009, 4:42 am

Running CAT.NET as a Custom MSBuild TaskSyed Aslam Basha here. I am a tester on the Information Security Tools team and responsible for testing CAT.NET. You can run CAT.NET as; A Visual studio add-in From Command prompt As an FXCop rule Lastly, integrated into VSTF Team build as an MSBuild custom task Here am going to describe using CAT.NET as an MSBUILD custom task. First you will need to create an MSBUILD project as shown below; CATNET.csproj<Project xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003"> <PropertyGroup> <CATNETPath>C:\Program Files\Microsoft\CAT.NET\CATNetCmd.exe</CATNETPath> </PropertyGroup> <PropertyGroup> <ReportLocation>D:\CATNET\report.xml</ReportLocation> </PropertyGroup> <ItemGroup> <ScanFiles Include="D:\CATNET\WebSite2_deploy.dll" /> <
» 1 Jun 2009, 4:41 am

Event: Make Web, Not War Episode 2009As a solution provider, the web presents an ever increasing opportunity to grow your business.  As more and more customers (and potential customers!) look to the web as a way to broaden their message, increase their own revenue and lower their cost of doing business in general, you have the opportunity to make a real impact to those businesses with the skills you have in building web solutions. It is for this reason that Microsoft Canada has created the Make Web, Not War Episode 2009 in-person event.  We know that Microsoft technologies are only part of a larger ecosystem of web platform technologies out there.  What many people may not realize is that Microsoft is playing an ever increasing role in reaching out to web solution provider
» 1 Jun 2009, 4:35 am

Oslo May CTP - Wo die Reise hingehtWie bereits in meinem englisch-sprachigem Post diskutiert  besteht Oslo im Kern aus einem Repository für Modelle (oder sagen wir besser Meta-Daten). Modelle können in diesem Zusammenhang nach Ansicht des Oslo Teams die bekannten UML-Modelle oder aber auch textuelle Modelle wie etwas .config files, XOML (also WF Workflows) oder ähnliches sein - kurzum alle Daten, die entweder die Anwendung beschreiben oder sogar von der Anwendung verwendet werden, um deren Konfiguration bzw. Aufgaben zu bestimmen. Mit Dublin ist ein IIS-basierter Anwenwendungsserver angekündigt, der wohl auf das Oslo Repository für die Konfiguration der auszuführenden Anwendungen und Workflows zurückgreifen kann* (Spekulation). Interessant ist hier, dass sowohl Dubli
» 1 Jun 2009, 4:27 am

TechNet June Virtual Conference – useful technical content at your deskThis year, all across education, people are finding it more difficult to justify a day off campus to attend events. So this year, we’re going to come to you. Right to your desk. Via the wonders of virtual conferencing. On the 19th June. Although all of the materials will be available to watch afterwards, via video downloads, the big advantage of ‘attending’ on the day is that there is a chance to ask your own questions, and get answers from some of the most informed people around, then and there. There are two different auditoriums* – one which is deeply techie, and one is labelled “IT Management”. The content is pretty varied, including product sessions on Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, Office Communications Server and ShareP
» 1 Jun 2009, 4:21 am

TechNet June Virtual Conference – useful technical content at your deskThis year, all across education, people are finding it more difficult to justify a day off campus to attend events. So this year, we’re going to come to you. Right to your desk. Via the wonders of virtual conferencing. On the 19th June. Although all of the materials will be available to watch afterwards, via video downloads, the big advantage of ‘attending’ on the day is that there is a chance to ask your own questions, and get answers from some of the most informed people around, then and there. There are two different auditoriums* – one which is deeply techie, and one is labelled “IT Management”. The content is pretty varied, including product sessions on Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, Office Communications Server and Sh
» 1 Jun 2009, 4:21 am

Visual Studio 2010 EF4 Complex Typeをためしてみた今日はEF4に搭載される新機能をご紹介します。。。。EDMデザイナのComplex Typeサポートにしましょう。現行バージョンをご存じでない方は事前にMSDNのサイトをご覧ください。 http://msdn.microsoft.com/ja-jp/library/bb738613.aspx   現行のVS2008SP1ベースのEF v1はEDMデザイナを利用してComplex Typeを定義することができませんでした。そのため、CSDLやSSDLなどのXMLをゴリゴリ修正する必要がありました。EF4ではEDMデザイナでサポートされるため、非常に簡単に定義して利用することができます。   １．EDMデザイナ上で右クリックします。コンテキストメニューから「Add」を選択�
» 1 Jun 2009, 4:19 am

Ajouter Bing en tant que Search Connector dans Windows 7Chakkaradeep , un développeur SharePoint vient de poster un Search Connector Windows 7 utilisant notre nouveau moteur de décision BING . le fichier .OSDX est téléchargeable sur son SkyDrive : Pour l'installation, c'est très simple : double cliquez sur le fichier .osdx et cliquez sur OK. Pour utiliser ce Search Connector, le sélectionner dans l'Explorateur et saisir en haut à droite votre recherche (ici : Forefront dans mon exemple) Plus d'informations sur : http://www.chakkaradeep.com/post/2009/05/31/Add-Bing-to-Windows-7.aspx...(read more)
» 1 Jun 2009, 4:06 am

SuperSite for Windows

Windows Weekly 109: Ah I See You Have A Machine That Goes BingLeo and I discuss Microsoft Bing, Zune HD, Windows Touch, Windows 7 build 7137, and more...
» 31 May 2009, 9:42 am

Quick Take: Hulu DesktopHulu takes its popular digital video service to the Windows desktop, adding remote support...
» 31 May 2009, 9:42 am

First Look: Google WaveGoogle introduces a major web platform initiative that combines communications and collaboration...
» 30 May 2009, 1:41 pm

Bing PreviewMicrosoft unveils Bing (previously codenamed "Kumo"), its next-generation Internet search engine...
» 28 May 2009, 9:30 am

Zune HD PreviewIt's real! Here's what we know about the exciting new Zune HD and Zune/Xbox Live integration so far.
» 27 May 2009, 8:05 am

Windows Touch: Natural PC User Interfaces in Windows 7Windows Touch provides pervasive multi-touch functionality in Windows 7...
» 26 May 2009, 1:07 pm

Windows Weekly 108: Achievement UnlockedLeo and I discuss the completion of 'Windows 7 Secrets,' an Office 2010 Tech Preview leak, and more...
» 24 May 2009, 9:12 am

Slipstreaming Windows XP with Service Pack 3Here's a major update to an old favorite: Slipstream XP with SP3!
» 21 May 2009, 8:53 pm

Windows 7 Feature Focus: Scenic Ribbon, Paint and WordPadThe new Scenic Ribbon control in Windows 7 is used by both Paint and WordPad...
» 19 May 2009, 10:09 am

Windows 7 RC Review, Part 4: ConclusionsThe fourth and final part of my Windows 7 RC review is now available...
» 17 May 2009, 4:07 pm

Toms Hardware

• Sylvester Stallone Launches New WiFi StandardRESEDA, CA – With a slew of wireless fidelity standards already making purchasing a new router a complete headache
» 30 May 2009, 12:11 pm

Presented By:» 30 May 2009, 12:11 pm

• Billy Mays to Pitch Microsoft Zune HD“Billy Mays, here, for Microsoft’s amazing new entertainment device,” will be the new audio refrain soon blasting out of TVs far and wide.
» 30 May 2009, 3:00 am

• 6 Awesome Robot Wars Match UpsIf you are like us, you enjoy Sci-Fi like an addiction.
» 30 May 2009, 3:00 am

Presented By:» 30 May 2009, 3:00 am

Alienware's &quot;Allpowerful&quot; Laptop is the M17xThis thing is massive. And yes, it'll run Crysis.
» 29 May 2009, 7:00 pm

Microsoft Warns About DirectX ExploitYesterday, Microsoft issued a security advisory that reports on a new vulnerability in Microsoft DirectX.
» 29 May 2009, 5:21 pm

Tiger Woods Ditching Discs, Going Browser OnlyThe next Tiger Woods PGA Tour game for PC and Mac will be browser only.
» 29 May 2009, 5:20 pm

Asus Fuses Together 2 GeForce GTX 285'sAsus is heading to Mars, but not in a planetary sense. The company has gotten frisky and has designed the Asus Mars 295 Limited Edition, a revamp of the GeForce GTX 295.
» 29 May 2009, 4:50 pm

Presented By:» 29 May 2009, 4:50 pm

Windows 7, Vista Downgrade to XP Rights UpdatedNow when you buy a fancy version of Windows 7, you can roll back to Vista or XP!
» 29 May 2009, 4:21 pm

WannaBeGeek

Windows 7 StarterThere has been a lot of talk recently about Windows 7 Starter, so I thought I’d dive a little deeper into what it means to have this edition of Windows 7 running on a small notebook PC (a.k.a. a netbook) Today, the Starter edition of Windows is designed for entry level PCs and available only in certain regions. We first introduced a “Starter edition” with Windows XP, and did again with Windows Vista. Starter comes with limitations, such as being able to run only 3 concurrent applications on a PC at a time (this excludes background processes such as anti-virus applications, wireless and Bluetooth, and system tools like Explorer and Control Panel). There of course will also be Windows 7 Starter edition, but based on the feedback we
» 30 May 2009, 6:18 pm

Windows 7 Will your old PC run thisIt is well known that Windows 7 is a huge step up from Vista as well as XP. It allows users with computers that could barely run Vista to run 7 much faster and more efficiently. It is relatively safe to say, that Windows 7 will be the first version of Windows, that does not constantly remind you that you need to upgrade your computer. Since the first beta was released a few months ago, I have done around 25-30 installs of Windows 7. On every type of system, from a 3 GHz quad core system, to a 1.3 GHz single core laptop. On every single one of those installs Windows 7 greatly improved performance and reliability. The install we want to highlight here is the 1.3 GHz laptop. Even by today's net book crazy market, this is an under powered
» 24 May 2009, 2:44 am

Windows 7 launch planned for October 15?Three weeks ago, Acer let slip some pretty strong hints about Windows 7's release schedule, saying it would release an all-in-one desktop based on the OS on October 23. Today, Paul Thurrott of the SuperSite for Windows has also revealed a release date while discussing another topic. Thurrott states plainly in his review of the Windows 7 release candidate, You'll be able to get the final version of Windows 7 publicly on October 15, 2009, according to the current schedule. . . . Mark your calendar. That statement leaves room for Microsoft to move things around, although coupled with the Acer slip-up, it certainly makes a mid- to late-October launch sound that much likelier. Microsoft itself hasn't been anywhere near that specific when t
» 20 May 2009, 6:20 am

Office 2010 Has Leaked!The Technical Preview of Office 2010 has officially leaked! WZor.net uploaded a torrent a few hoursago for both the x86 and x64 versions of the new Office suite. Without further ado, I present: Microsoft Office 2010 (x86) AND Microsoft Office 2010 (x64) The x64 torrent doesn't seem to be very active at the moment, but over time, as it gains more seeders, hopefully it will pick up. We were achieving speeds of up to 1000kbps during our download of the x86 version, so the torrent is going strong... That is, until the rest of the world picks up on it... Download quickly! While you eagerly await the end of your download, check out a screenshot gallery from WZor as well (the version pictured in the screenshots is the x64 ver
» 18 May 2009, 5:48 am

Windows 7 Build 7127 Is LiveWindows 7 RC's public availability might have slowed Microsoft down a tad when it comes to the development process of the next iteration of Windows 7, but the Redmond company has rapidly gained back any lost momentum In this context, Windows 7 Build 7127 is already live. Build 7127 is post-Release Candidate, namely from the RTM-branch of the operating system. Microsoft has already confirmed officially that there will be no additional development milestone between the RC and RTM. There will be, however, interim builds, as the company will focus on preparing the platform for general availability. Jon DeVaan, senior vice president, Windows Core Operating System Division, and Steven Sinofsky, senior vice president, Windows and Windows Live En
» 15 May 2009, 6:02 am

Windows 7 (RC) Release Candidate: DownloadWindows 7 is the next version of the Windows client operating system. This version incorporates hundreds of improvements based on your feedback. It works the way you want: it's responsive, reliable, and runs smoothly. It starts and shuts down faster, and is designed to make your battery last longer. Windows 7 RC will expire on June 1, 2010. Starting on March 1, 2010, your PC will begin shutting down every two hours. Windows will notify you two weeks before the bi-hourly shutdowns start. To avoid interruption, you’ll need to install a non-expired version of Windows before March 1, 2010. Both the 32- and 64-bit versions of Windows 7 RC are available in five languages: English, German, Japanese, French, and Spanish. Just choose the version
» 29 Nov 1999, 3:00 pm

Windows 7 - XP Mode and Windows Virtual PCApril 30, 2009 is not only synonymous with the broadening of the Windows 7 Release Candidate testing pool, but also with the delivery of additional features for the RC development milestone. MSDN and TechNet subscribers not only got the fully-fledged Windows 7 RC Build 7100 bits today, but also the Beta builds of Windows XP Mode and Windows Virtual PC. The two releases are designed to work in tandem, in order to provide Windows 7 customers with 100% compatibility with Windows XP-centric applications. What Microsoft is essentially offering is a virtualized XP environment running in Windows Virtual PC. “Windows XP Mode standalone is suitable for small and medium business users, who are able to set their XP applications thems
» 3 May 2009, 5:28 am

Top 10 reasons why you should upgrade to Windows 7With the Windows 7 Release Candidate already leaked to the public, and the the official bits coming May 5, there's been a lot of hype surrounding Windows 7, with generally positive reviews from the community. Windows 7 is everything Vista wasn't... and some of what it should of been. Virtual XP Mode A fast install time, faster boot up, and snappier UI Netbook support Removal of IE 8 and other Windows Components Better driver and program support Updates to programs like Calculator, Paint, and Wordpad Less Bloat Better UAC control New Aero features Problem Steps Recorder Is Windows 7 is shaping up to be the best Windows release yet! ? Full details next page
» 29 Apr 2009, 5:58 am

Windows 7 RC download page goes up early and then goes down againars technica (http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2009/03/windows-7-rc-download-page-goes-up-early-coming-in-may.ars)
» 26 Apr 2009, 5:48 am

Windows 7 RC is Build 7100Sources have informed us that Microsoft has stamped the RC build of Windows 7 last night. The build is 7100 and carries the build tag 7100.0.winmain_win7rc.090421-1700. Windows 7 brings many new features, compatibility improvements and speed improvements over that of Windows Vista. Expect to see an announcement from Microsoft about the RC of Windows 7 on May 5th, with a public release somewhere around the 9th. Source: geeksmack.net
» 24 Apr 2009, 5:29 am

WinBeta

Let’s talk about Windows 7 StarterBrandon LeBlanc: For the first time, we will be making Windows 7 Starter available worldwide on small notebook PCs. We are also going to enable Windows 7 Starter customers the ability to run as many applications simultaneously as they would like, instead of being constricted to the 3 application limit that the previous Starter editions included. We believe these changes will make Windows 7 Starter an even more attractive option for customers who want a small notebook PC for very basic tasks, like browsing the web, checking email and personal productivity. View Full Article: Windows Team Blog
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Visual Studio 2010 will allow mobile development, Microsoft affirmsMicrosoft has responded to developer concerns that its recently released Visual Studio 2010 might not be suitable for Windows Mobile development. "That could not be farther from the truth," says product manager Steve Hegenderfer, adding that a Windows Mobile 6.5 emulator will soon be released. View Full Article: WindowsForDevices.com
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Windows 7 HD and SSD Performance AnalyzedToday we're going to look at how various types of disks perform under Windows 7, both of the traditional platter based variety and new solid state disks. We're not only curious about how disk performance changes between the operating systems, but if Windows 7's new solid-state specific optimizations and tuning give you even greater performance compared to Vista. View Full Article: HotHardware
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Woz: Microsoft Bing 'astounding'Is this one of Woz's legendary practical jokes? If not, Microsoft may have found itself a new pitchman -- and it would be completely unbelievable if it wasn't caught on video. Steve Wozniak, the Apple co-founder, was effusive in his praise for Microsoft's new Bing search engine after seeing a demonstration today at the Wall Street Journal's AllThingsD conference. View Full Article: Todd Bishop's Microsoft Blog
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Web browsers get a 12% speed boost in Windows 7 over VistaIf you've been testing the final Windows 7 Release Candidate on your own physical platforms, and you wonder what's giving you that feeling that it's just a bit peppier, a tad zippier, it's not an illusion. Betanews tests all this week, concluding today, comparing all the major stable release and development Windows-based Web browsers, running on exactly the same physical computer with fresh Windows Vista SP2 and Windows 7 RC partitions, confirmed what our eyes and gut feelings were telling us: On average, most browsers ran 11.9% faster in Windows 7 than on the same machine running Vista SP2, with most speed gains falling right around that mark. View Full Article: BetaNews
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AMD speeds up GPU-accelerated video transcodingAccelerating video transcoding using the GPU is all the rage these days, and AMD is working hard to stay ahead of the curve. Earlier today, the company quietly released a Catalyst driver hotfix that includes a brand-new ATI Stream transcoding runtime. View Full Article: The Tech Report
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Google shows Native Client built into HTML 5Google wants its Native Client technology to be a little more native. Google Native Client, still highly experimental, lets browsers run program modules natively on an x86 processor for higher performance than with Web programming technologies such as JavaScript or Flash that involve more software layers to process and execute the code. But to use it, there's a significant barrier: people must install a browser plug-in. View Full Article: Webware
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IDC: Windows still leading server market, but revenues down 29 percentIt's not just PC client sales that have to be worrying Microsoft and its partners. Server sales are pretty abysmal, too, as new International Data Corp. numbers make plain. The Register has IDC’s server breakdown for the first quarter of 2009. There’s seemingly no silver lining: Revenues for all server types were down 24.5 percent, compared with the year-ago quarter, to $9.9 billion. Unit shipments were down 26.5 percent compared to Q1 1008, to 1,485,490 units. View Full Article: Mary Jo Foley's Blog
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Windows Azure SDK (May 2009 CTP)The Azure Services Platform is designed to help developers quickly and easily create, deploy, manage, and distribute web services and applications on the Internet. Windows Azure is an operating system for the cloud that serves as the development, run-time, and control environment for the Azure Services Platform. Windows Azure provides developers on-demand compute & storage to host, scale, and manage web applications on the internet through Microsoft data centers. Download: Windows Azure SDK (May 2009 CTP)
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Ballmer's internal email on 'Bing'Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was enthusiastic -- but also pragmatic -- in an email to employees this morning introducing the company's new "Bing" search engine, which will replace its Live Search site. Ballmer discussed the company's search strategy, explained the reasons for the Bing name, and encouraged employees to help build the buzz for the new site when it comes out next week. Read on for the full text of the message. View Full Article: Todd Bishop's Microsoft Blog
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Microsoft’s New Search at Bing.com Helps People Make Better DecisionsMicrosoft Corp. today unveiled Bing, a new Decision Engine and consumer brand, providing customers with a first step in moving beyond search to help make faster, more informed decisions. Bing is specifically designed to build on the benefits of today’s search engines but begins to move beyond this experience with a new approach to user experience and intuitive tools to help customers make better decisions, focusing initially on four key vertical areas: making a purchase decision, planning a trip, researching a health condition or finding a local business. View Full Article: Microsoft PressPass
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Windows Networking

A First Look at Windows 7 Backup (Part 1)How Microsoft has designed the Windows 7 backup application to compensate for Vista's shortcomings.
» 27 May 2009, 11:00 pm

3CX Phone System for Windows - Voted WindowsNetworking.com Readers' Choice Award Winner - IP PBX Servers Categ3CX Phone System for Windows was selected the winner in the IP PBX Servers category of the WindowsNetworking.com Readers' Choice Awards. Cisco Unified Communications Manager and Asterisk were first runner-up and second runner-up respectively.
» 27 May 2009, 1:00 am

Backup and Recovery Issues with Windows Server 2008 (Part 2)Issues that you need to be aware of before you attempt to backup your Windows 2008 server.
» 26 May 2009, 12:00 am

Deploying Windows 7 - Part 1: Windows AIK 2.0 EnhancementsWindows 7 deployment; examining the enhancements made in version 2.0 of the Windows Automated Installation Kit.
» 21 May 2009, 1:00 am

Fiber OpticsTaking a deep dive into Fibre Optics. Discussing their importance in the world today.
» 19 May 2009, 2:00 am

Backup and Recovery Issues with Windows Server 2008 (Part 1)Issues that you need to know about before attempting to backup your Windows 2008 server.
» 14 May 2009, 12:00 am

Deploying Vista - Part 31: Configuring Task SequencesHow to configure task sequences for Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2008.
» 12 May 2009, 12:00 am

Configuring IIS To Host an FTP Site (Part 4)Concludes the series on creating FTP sites by showing how Authentication and Authorization work in IIS 7.
» 7 May 2009, 2:00 am

Windows Vista Team Blog

Let’s talk about Windows 7 StarterThere has been a lot of talk recently about Windows 7 Starter, so I thought I’d dive a little deeper into what it means to have this edition of Windows 7 running on a small notebook PC (a.k.a. a netbook). Today, the Starter edition of Windows is designed for entry level PCs and available only in certain regions. We first introduced a “Starter edition” with Windows XP, and did again with Windows Vista. Starter comes with limitations, such as being able to run only 3 concurrent applications on a PC at a time (this excludes background processes such as anti-virus applications, wireless and Bluetooth, and system tools like Explorer and Control Panel). There of course will also be Windows 7 Starter edition, but based on the feedback
» 29 May 2009, 1:51 pm

Introducing the Microsoft Touch Pack for Windows 7At Wall Street Journal's D: All Things Digital conference about a year ago today, Julie Larson-Green first introduced Walt Mossberg to Windows 7 and its multi-touch capabilities, which we call Windows Touch. While we’ve been working on bringing natural user interface to you in many Microsoft products, we first introduced multi-touch in Microsoft Surface. Since then, the Windows and Surface development teams have been collaborating closely on bringing multi-touch to Windows, and last year demoed a few applications they created to run on Windows 7. Today, we thought it would be fitting on this “anniversary” of first talking about Windows Touch to introduce the Microsoft Touch Pack for Windows 7. While touch is built into the “DNA”
» 27 May 2009, 11:51 am

Zune HD Revealed &amp; Zune Coming to the Xbox!My pal Brian Seitz over on the Zune Insider revealed a brand new (and very awesome looking) Zune yesterday – the Zune HD. This awesome looking new device comes with an OLED screen with multi touch, an HD Radio receiver, HD video out capabilities, AND a web browser! Find out more about the Zune HD here. The Zune HD will be hitting the market later this year. I’m definitely getting one of these! Oh and Zune will also be coming to the Xbox 360, taking over the existing video marketplace. Expect to hear more about this at E3 taking place in Los Angeles next week. You can read the full press release for these 2 announcements here on PressPass. Brian says there is more news to come. I suggest keeping your eyes on the Zune Insider.
» 27 May 2009, 10:34 am

Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 SP2 RTWOn April 28th, we announced that Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 (Service Pack 2) SP2 had RTM’d. Today, we are pleased to announce the Release to Web (RTW) for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 SP2. Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 SP2, a combined service pack for both operating systems encapsulated in a single installer, will simplify deployment, management, and support for IT Professionals. It includes support for new types of hardware and emerging hardware standards, as well as updates since SP1.  For specific information on what’s included in SP2, visit the notable changes document. Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 SP2 is now available for download on the Microsoft Download Center and on Windows Update.  
» 26 May 2009, 4:26 pm

Clarification on the Date for Bi-hourly Shutdowns for the Windows 7 BetaOver the weekend, some of you may have received an email from us reminding you that the Windows 7 Beta expires on August 1st, 2009. In that email, we ask that if you are still on the Windows 7 Beta that you should consider moving to a “non-expired” copy of Windows such as the Windows 7 RC or Windows Vista because bi-hourly shutdowns will begin June 1st. The Windows 7 Beta does expire on August 1st, 2009; unfortunately the date for when bi-hourly shutdowns will begin for the Windows 7 Beta was incorrect however. Bi-hourly shutdowns for the Windows 7 Beta will begin July 1st, 2009 as we’ve stated both here in this blog post on May 5th and also in the Windows 7 RC FAQ. We apologize for the confusion and inconvenience this may have
» 25 May 2009, 11:54 pm

What are people saying about the Windows 7 Release Candidate?We did this before with Windows 7 at PDC and the Windows 7 Beta – I figured it’s time to do it for the Windows 7 RC. Here are a handful of quotes of what people are saying about the Windows 7 RC: Ed Bott from ZDNet wrote: Overall, I’m impressed with how reliable this Windows release has been. It also seems more than adequate in terms of performance. Dwight Silverman from the Houston Chronicle wrote: This latest test release is good. Really good. In fact, it’s good enough that, were Microsoft to call this the finished version and release it formally, it would be a much better product than Windows Vista was when it launched in early 2007. Preston Gralla of Computerworld wrote: Windows 7 RC1 includes a substantial nu
» 21 May 2009, 4:54 pm

Netflix comes to Windows Media CenterStarting tomorrow, Windows Media Center users who are also Netflix members will gain access to more than 12,000 movies and TV episodes from Netflix directly within Windows Media Center on their PCs. Using the two together is easy and convenient. In Windows Media Center, a new Netflix tile will appear under “TV + Movies”. To stream movies and TV shows from Netflix, just click on the new Netflix tile and login with your Netflix account. You will be able to search the entire Netflix library right from Windows Media Center, and manage both your Instant and DVD Queues. Windows Media Center will also take advantage of Netflix’s “recommended” categories.   Here is a short video of Netflix in action in Windows Media Center:
» 19 May 2009, 8:53 pm

Windows 7 Managed Code APIsWe have enabled an easy direct access to Windows 7 (and some Windows Vista) features for .NET developers. All you need to do is download Windows API Code Pack today! As mentioned in the Windows 7 .NET Interop Sample Libraries post, most Windows 7 APIs are written in native code C, C++, and COM APIs, and have no .Net equivalents. This makes the life of managed code developers a bit hard, forcing them to create their own interoperability layers for communicating between .NET and the native Windows APIs. Some native APIs are easy to wrap and use from managed code, requiring simple interoperability efforts like adding a reference to a COM type library. However, some are extremely problematic and require a lot of knowledge about the “Win32”
» 18 May 2009, 9:52 pm

3 Free Windows 7 E-Learning Clinics from Microsoft LearningI thought this might be of interest to some folks. Microsoft Learning is providing 3 free online E-Learning Clinics on Windows 7 geared toward 3 distinct audiences. What’s New in Windows 7 for Consumers What’s New in Windows 7 for IT Professionals What’s New in Windows 7 for Information Workers These “clinics” focus on many of the new features and functionality seen in Windows 7. Microsoft Learning also has a Windows 7 Learning Portal that just went live too. If you haven’t already, you can register to download the Windows 7 RC to play with and try out Windows 7 today.
» 15 May 2009, 11:21 am

Stay in Sync with Windows 7 LibrariesHere is another post in the Windows 7 Libraries post series. So far, we have covered what Windows 7 Libraries are (Understanding Windows 7 Libraries), their internal structure, and how they integrate into the Windows Shell (Libraries Under The Hood). You know the different programming models that are available to choose from (Light Up with Windows 7 Libraries), and you know how to use Windows Shell APIs to consume the contents of a library (Consuming the Contents of Windows 7 Libraries). In previous post, we focused on the Windows 7 Libraries helper functions (Windows 7 Libraries Helpers). In this post you will learn how to stay in sync with a library. Before Windows 7 and Libraries, you stored your music files in the My Music folder. Befo
» 14 May 2009, 10:30 pm

Business Customers Provide Early Feedback on Windows 7Hi, I’m Rich Reynolds and I am the General Manager for the Windows Commercial Marketing organization. I lead the team that drives the marketing efforts for Windows for our business customers across the Enterprise, Mid-Market and Small Business segments, along with IT Pro community engagement. More than a week ago we shipped the Windows 7 Release Candidate to IT pros and developers, and have been taking in lots of great feedback since then. Our number one priority all along has been to deliver a well-planned, high-quality Windows release that delivers what our business customers want. The team and I have been focused on identifying and building a product that addresses our customers’ needs, and based on customer feedback, we believe we�
» 11 May 2009, 2:47 pm