Ed Bott has found out the prices for Windows 7 Family Pack upgrade which was just recently discovered by Kristan Kenney in the EULA of a recent Windows 7 build. Ed found some product listings on Expercom where it has been priced at $136.95. University IT Computer Sales also had the same product up on their website, but pulled it off later. The Google Cache of that website shows the price to be $144.95.  Read more...

Permalink: Windows 7 Family Pack Anytime Upgrade prices leaked

Microsoft has created a comparison chart between Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 based on business and enterprise features to help IT Professionals. The chart has 34 features compared ranging from file organization and search to security, remote access, management and deployment. The chart is available in a PDF from Microsoft Download Center, but I’ve snipped the image for convenience. Click on the image to see a larger version. Print it out and keep it close if you’re an IT professional, it might come in handy when trying to convince other people on Windows 7’s new and improved features for enterprise.

Permalink: Windows XP vs Windows Vista vs Windows 7 for IT Professionals

Paul from GeekSmack has gotten confirmation from sources close to Microsoft of the imminent official announcement of Windows 7 RTM on 13th July when Microsoft’s WPC09 (Worldwide Partner Conference) will take place in New Orleans. This means that Windows 7 code will be finalized and it’ll be the build that’ll ship to customers. It’ll start shipping to manufacturers before customers get their hands on it, hence Release To Manufacturers (RTM). This website might have a hand in the early completion of Windows 7 RTM.  Read more...

Permalink: Windows 7 RTM to be completed on 13th July; Release to MSDN and TechNet afterwards

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Permalink: Create your own Public Service Ad for Internet Explorer 8

Ed Bott has discovered a new clause in the license agreement for the latest leaked build of Windows 7, which is very close to the one that will be included with the final RTM build. The agreement has a clause for a Family Pack under Installation and Use Rights:  Read more...

Permalink: Microsoft will offer a Family Pack for Windows 7 Home Premium

A long time ago I covered a method to create stacks in Windows 7 that resemble their OS X counterpart. The method was a bit tricky one and was more of a hack out of a Windows XP and Vista application. 7stacks solves that issue and creates simple to use yet native looking stacks in the Windows 7 taskbar. The feature list is awesome:  Read more...

• In 7 and Vista, 7stacks uses Aero, making the stacks look like part of Windows itself.
• Browse subfolders within a stack, just like in OS X Snow Leopard.
• 3 different styles of stacks: Normal, Grid, and Menu
  • Normal displays a stack of icons vertically, with a text description next to it.
  • Grid displays a "squarish" grid of icons only; useful when displaying a large number of items like document folders.
  • Menu displays a cascading menu of items, with a very small icon and a name next to it. Hover over subfolders to browse inside those folders.
• In Windows 7, create a new stack by right-clicking on any stack and selecting "Create New Stack" from the JumpList entry.
• In Menu mode, 7stacks doesn’t even need to be in a toolbar. You can use it right from your desktop, or any other folder.
• Pin up to 10 different stacks on the Windows 7 taskbar

Permalink: Apps for Windows: Get OS X like stacks in Windows 7 Taskbar using 7Stacks

A lot of people like being stuck in the past. They don’t like change, even when it comes to their operating system. The reasons why they don’t upgrade are:

• Learning the new OS
• The current OS just works
• Too lazy
• Costs money
• Because Microsoft is a monopoly so they wont support it by upgrading. They’ll stick with Windows XP. ( way to go! )
• Ignorance
• Don’t know there’s a new version of Windows
• Media. Ridiculous propaganda by ridiculous blogs who like sucking up to Apple and live an anti-Microsoft life.
• All of the above

While most of the reasons stated above are valid to some extent, such as the current version of Windows just works, such people actually miss out on many new features that can make computing better for them. For example, why wouldn’t anyone want to take advantage of the built in codecs available in Windows Media Player 12 in Windows 7? or the new Device Stage? or built in ISO burning? or the hardware accelerated user interface (AERO) that’s not just eye candy but actually helps in productivity as well, Aero Snap being the prime example. I could go on and on with many such features for Windows 7, but in the end it comes down to these basic points in my opinion – you should upgrade to Windows 7 because:  Read more...

Permalink: Why should you leave Windows XP and get Windows 7?

The retail pricing plans for Windows 7 have been officially announced via the Windows 7 Blog. The prices are lower than what Vista had at its launch but Microsoft are also offering a 50% discount on pre-orders via select buyers.  Read more...

Permalink: Windows 7 retail pricing plans announced!

Windows 7 does an excellent job of improving battery time and efficiency. But here’s a little tip to get that extra bit out of the battery of your notebook or netbook.  Read more...

1. Go to Power Options by typing it in the start menu search field or via the control panel. It’s also accessible using the system tray Power Options Jump List.
2. Which ever is your current plan, you can change it’s plan settings or create a new one if you wish to. For this article we’ll stick to changing the settings of a current plan. I’ve got Balanced selected as shown in the image.

Permalink: How to get the most out of your notebook battery in Windows 7

Richard Huddy, Senior. Manager Developer Relations at AMD recently blogged about Why we should get excited about DirectX 11. It’s an excellent post on how DirectX 11 will improve graphics for us. He talks about tessellation, GPGPUs and the efficiency of DirectX 11 with multi-core CPUs. But the most interesting part of his blog post, which should really come as good news for all gamers and hardware enthusiasts is the following snippet:  Read more...

Permalink: Advantages of DirectX 11 – Good news for all!