MKV container support has almost always been neglected by media companies for playback. Most of the times, you need to install a codec package which can provide more issues than functionality or you have to rely on the ever useful VLC Player. While Windows 7 provides support for a lot of video formats, MKV was left behind. DivX has stepped up to provide native playback support for MKV files in Windows 7 through DivX Tech Preview.  Read more...

Permalink: DivX Tech Preview Lets You Play MKV Files in Windows 7

I’ve been a very happy user of the limited beta for Microsoft Security Essentials, Microsoft’s free antivirus and anti-malware software. It has been the best antivirus that I have ever used, free or paid. Well, since Microsoft Security Essentials is free, I’m sure it’ll knock out the bloated competition *cough* Norton, Mcafee, Kaspersky *cough*. An email has been sent out to beta participants today with the news of an eminent final version public release in a few weeks.  Read more...

Permalink: Final version of Microsoft Security Essentials releasing soon

Microsoft has begun the advertisement for Windows 7 with this commercial titled ‘Good News‘ (and  implying Vista was bad news?) which features the 5 year old Kylie who previously appeared in a Windows Live ad. She’s shown reading various positive reviews for Windows 7 and also creates a slideshow using Windows Live Movie Maker, which has snippets from those reviews. The ad ends with the launch date of Windows 7 hence Microsoft is trying to kick start the hype engine with this ad by saying ‘More happy is coming’ and the Final Countdown music. Oh, and I love the way how she pronounces ‘responsive’!  Read more...

Permalink: Windows 7 marketing kicks off with a cute ad featuring the 5 year old Kylie

You can count on Apple to not mention this feature in the list. Apparently, iTunes 9 has support for jumplists in Windows 7. It shows two tasks which take you to the iTunes Store or to the iTunes Store search. Like Safari 4 jumplists, it’s a welcome addition by Apple to use this feature in their software.  Read more...

Permalink: iTunes 9 has support for Windows 7 jumplists

Are you passionate enough about Microsoft’s greatest and leanest operating system Windows 7? Will you throw a Windows 7 Launch Party for a special Signature Edition of Windows 7 Ultimate and your very own Windows 7 Party Pack? Gear up then, because Microsoft is giving you a chance host a party to be part of Windows history!  Read more...

Permalink: Would you throw a party to win a free copy of Windows 7 Ultimate?

Last week Nokia announced their Windows based Nokia Booklet 3G. After 25 years of pioneering in mobile devices, Nokia has stepped into a relatively new field. At the Nokia World 09 conference, the full specification list was revealed and so was the hefty price tag. The Booklet will be priced 575 Euro ($820). Nokia Conversation Blog has given us a detailed view of the full specifications.  Read more...

Permalink: Windows 7 PC: Nokia Booklet 3G

Microsoft has worked hard to make Windows 7 more efficient than its predecessors ( take a look at the new power saving options in Windows 7). Even then, some users are complaining about lowered battery life when they shift to Windows 7, specially on netbooks. As liliputing points out from Laptop Magazine, the Toshiba NB205 gets a hit of 2.5 hours with Windows 7 from the 9 hours it gets with Windows XP. That’s a huge difference for those who buy netbooks based on their battery life.  Read more...

Permalink: Notebook battery life with Windows 7

Not much is known about Windows Mobile 7 at this point. The most recent update has been from Stephen Chapman on Microsoft seeking testers for Windows Mobile 7 Search and Browser teams. I recently stumbled across this interesting patent based on messaging system controllable by gestures. Microsoft applied for a patent for Controlling an Integrated Messaging System Using Gestures which says:

Methods and apparatus for displaying and interacting with messages are described. Messages are displayed using one of a number of different visualization schemes provided. A user can interact with messages or change the selected visualization scheme using gestures and the mapping of gestures to particular actions is different for different visualization schemes. In an embodiment the messages are received via integrated messaging channels and messages are classified using a number of properties. Each of the visualization schemes has a different way of graphically representing messages and each scheme is adapted to emphasize a different combination of message properties.  Read more...

Permalink: Microsoft’s patent for gesture based messaging system

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Permalink: Google Chrome gets Jumplists in Windows 7 with the latest Dev update

While we wait for Twitter and Facebook to get back to 100% working conditions, we have something to do now! The moment is here that we’ve all been waiting for. The wait for Windows 7 RTM is over and MSDN users ( including me ) and TechNet members as well as the invited private beta testers can now get their greedy hands on Windows 7 RTM build.

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Permalink: Windows 7 RTM available for download now on MSDN and TechNet!