Saturday, January 24, 2009
How to install Windows 7 built 7000 Home basic,premium,business or ultimate
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Driver Genius
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Saturday, January 17, 2009
A New Way of Interacting with Devices in Windows 7
Windows 7 introduces a new way to interact with your phone, camera, printer, or portable media player from the Windows desktop. Device Stage is new visual interface that makes it easy to find the things you want to do with your devices on your Windows 7 PC. You could think of Device Stage as a multi-function version of Autoplay where it displays all the applications, services, and information related to your device. Device Stage not only works for devices connected to a Windows 7 PC via USB, but also Bluetooth and Wi-Fi as well. In many cases, software installation isn’t required for Device Stage – with any additional drivers that might be needed automatically retrieved from Windows Update.
Device Stage is customized by the device manufacturer and specific to the devices you own. During Steve Ballmer’s keynote at CES tonight, the Nikon D90 was shown via IE8 during the Windows 7 demo showcasing the “Snap To” feature. They used the Nikon D90 because it is a device that works great with Windows 7 today. Part of working great with Windows 7 is that the Nikon D90 also supports Device Stage. When a Nikon D90 is plugged in to a Windows 7 PC, you can see how Nikon customized Device Stage specifically for the D90.
As I mentioned, Device Stage displays all the applications, services and information related to your device. In the case of the Nikon D90, Device Stage presents to the user the ability to import photos and videos off the device, browse files on the device, take advantage of the service from Nikon called my Picturetown, launch Nikon’s Nikon Transfer application, and get support or order accessories for the D90. You’ll notice Device Stage also displays how much battery life is left on the Nikon D90 as well as how much storage is left too.
Because Device Stage is a way of extending the features of Windows 7 to expose device capabilities, it also supports the use of Jump Lists via the new Windows Taskbar.
When a device is plugged in that supports Device Stage, it appears on the new Windows Taskbar in Windows 7 as an icon of the actual device. To quickly access all that is offered through Device Stage for that specific device, you can right-click on the device on the taskbar to see all the Device Stage options. You’ll notice for the D90, the Jump List displays everything shown in Device Stage for the device.
Simply moving your mouse over the device on the Windows Taskbar also gives you a quick glance at battery life and storage capacity.
In the next couple days I’ll be talking about Device Stage a bit more - highlighting different experiences Device Stage provides for different device types from different device manufacturers.
In the Windows 7 Beta, you will be able to experience Device Stage for yourself! I know folks will be wondering what devices will support Device Stage for the Windows 7 Beta too.Shuffle your Desktop Backgrounds in Windows 7
Windows 7 offers some really neat new personalization options for making your desktop yours. I wanted to share my favorite personalization option: the ability to shuffle desktop backgrounds. Windows 7 now supports selecting multiple pictures as desktop backgrounds which shuffle depending on how often you set it to shuffle.
I have a special folder called “Awesome Wallpapers” that is filled with, well, awesome wallpapers. I have my Windows 7 PCs shuffling between these photos every 10 minutes. I find it keeps my desktop “fresh”.
In the Windows 7 Beta – here’s how to enable shuffle for desktop backgrounds:
1. Right-click on your Desktop and choose Personalization.
2. Under the Personalization Control Panel, choose Desktop Background (bottom of screen).
3. Under Picture location, you can choose from the default locations for photos (including Top Rated Photos) or browse to a custom folder where you might be storing photos.
4. Choose multiple photos by checking each photo you want to appear as a background on your desktop.
5. At the bottom of the screen next to Picture position there is a drop down box and a check box for shuffling pictures on your desktop. Make sure the “Shuffle” checkbox is checked.
6. You can also customize how often pictures shuffle on your desktop via the drop down next to the “Shuffle” check box.
After selecting the backgrounds, enabling shuffle, and setting how often they shuffle – you can save your new “theme” in Windows 7 via the Personalization Control Panel (just click the back button from the Desktop Background screen).
You can see in the below screenshot I have a theme called “Brandon’s Awesome Theme”. Once you save your theme, it appears under “My Themes”.
TIP: You can also download new themes for the Windows 7 Beta by choosing “Get more themes online” under My Themes in the Personalization Control Panel.
You can download themes with new wallpapers from places around the world!
Can Windows 7 finally kill Windows XP?
Microsoft struggles to tempt XP upgrades
Microsoft hopes that the release of Windows 7 will repair the public relations disaster that is Windows Vista. But the toughest challenge may be to win over the group of people that arguably represent the software giant's biggest obstacle to success: Windows XP users.
The Windows 7 pitch, to date, takes direct aim at Vista's reputation as a bloated resource hog. As developers, members of the general public and journalists begin to test the Windows 7 public beta, Microsoft is framing it as a lean and lithe OS, with the flexibility to run on all types of computers, from netbooks to high-end gaming laptops.
The new Windows 7 interface features are well documented. A cleaned-up taskbar, the sleek Aero Peek GUI, mouse-hover Jump Lists and multi-touch capability have generated interest from users whose Windows desktops have been cluttered for too long.
Quicker, easier, more organised. Those were the buzzwords about Windows 7 features that Parri Munsell, Microsoft's Director of Consumer Product Management for Windows, used repeatedly in a recent interview from CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas last week.
"Our goal was to make the UI in Windows 7 much easier to navigate. We'll let the beta speak for itself but we have a high degree of optimism in it," Munsell says.
As for fastest growing segment of the PC market, netbooks, Munsell says that Microsoft has made it a priority to run Windows 7 on small form-factor laptops.
"Windows 7 has been optimised and engineered to work with anything: from the smallest netbook to the most loaded laptop or desktop," he says.
A lot is expected of Windows 7, but can it do what at times has seemed impossible-win back the trust of XP users who have shunned Vista?
The software giant has stated outright that Windows 7 will not make significant architectural changes from Vista and will run most if not all the applications that run on Vista.
Yet just 21 percent of Windows users currently run Vista, according to Web metrics company Net Applications. Most Windows users (65 percent) still run XP; they like it and they are wary of the compatibility issues that have plagued Vista.
Third-party apps
That wariness is not without cause, analysts say. Even though Microsoft is trying to use Windows 7 to move XP customers forward, it's still a Vista-like operating
"If you don't run Vista today, Windows 7 will not be a silver bullet," he said. Ultimately, Gillen adds, it's not the operating system that matters as much as having updated third-party applications.
"Whether they are upgrading to Vista or Windows 7, XP users have to make sure third-party applications are compatible," he said.
Microsoft has warned users of the dangers of skipping versions of Windows entirely and has been trying to wean users off Windows
Microsoft's Munsell urges XP users to evaluate which third-party applications are important and make sure there is vendor support.
"It is important to avoid a situation where your critical application is no longer supported on Windows XP while not yet supported on Windows 7," Munsell says.
Transition to Windows 7 Easier?
Though the transition from XP to Windows 7 will be complex, it should be simpler as compared to the early days of Vista, says Michael Cherry, lead analyst with market researcher Directions on Microsoft.
When Windows
"At this point there should be compatible versions of most applications and, when necessary, virtualisation can be used to facilitate the upgrade," Cherry says.
"This is not to say that XP apps and drivers will work on Windows 7, but that there are now compatible replacements available, which should make the transition manageable."
If Microsoft wants to move customers forward with Windows 7, it must help XP users bridge the gap as much as possible, Cherry adds.
"Microsoft needs to help XP users determine if their hardware is up to running Windows 7, and which device drivers for their hardware and programs need updating," Cherry says. "It then needs to help people find the updated drivers and software."
Microsoft Pledges Windows XP Support Through 2014
In an unprecedented move, Microsoft has committed to providing support services for its soon to be retired Windows XP through 2014 -- a full 13 years after the operating system was originally released.
In a letter sent to customers this week, Microsoft senior VP Bill Veghte said the software maker will provide security patches "and other critical updates" for Windows XP until April, 2014. That may be, but Microsoft normally terminates support for an OS within ten years of its release -- at the latest. For instance, it plans to end support for Windows 2000 in 2010. Microsoft may have little choice but to support Windows XP for an extended period, given that the majority of its large business customers have not upgraded their personal computers and laptops to the newer, Windows Vista operating system. Many companies have balked at Vista's cost, resource requirements, and lack of compatibility with older applications. Microsoft released Vista in January of last year. But the company has apparently accepted the fact that many of its largest customers will skip Vista altogether and will continue using XP at least until Windows 7 becomes available three years from now, and possibly longer. In addition to supporting XP through 2014, Microsoft is now actively promoting a program that allows customers to downgrade Vista systems to XP through a loophole in the company's licensing terms. Microsoft's software license allows customers who purchase a copy of Windows to install and run a previous version of the OS at no additional cost. "It's true that we will stop selling Windows XP as a retail packaged product and stop licensing it directly to major PC manufacturers [after June 30]," wrote Veghte. "But customers who still need Windows XP will be able to get it," he said. Beyond the downgrade program, Microsoft will continue to make Windows XP available to manufacturers of low-cost PCs incapable of running Vista through June 2010. Low cost PCs, like the Asus Eee PC, are gaining popularity in fast growing emerging markets like India and China. Without continued access XP, manufacturers of such systems would be forced to offer them with the rival Linux OS on board -- a situation Microsoft is hoping to preempt.