Windows Archive

Windows Phone 7 Unlocked for Sideloading

Thom Holwerda 2010-11-25 Windows 20 Comments

Since the US is stuffing turkeys down their faces today, we're a little low on news. As such, let's talk about this sort-of jailbreak for Windows Phone 7 devices. Like iOS, you can't sideload applications by default, and as such, we need to resort to hacks to unshackle Windows Phone 7 phones from the Marketplace. This has been made incredibly easy. Also, just to annoy those that don't like unicorns: PINK FLUFFY UNICORNS DANCING ON RAINBOWS.

Microsoft Promotes Code Obfuscation for Windows Phone 7 Devs

Guest post by fran 2010-11-15 Windows 15 Comments

Dismayed Windows App developers needed some assurances from Microsoft after news of the following incident got round. They got it.

Microsoft Releases Service Pack Blocker for Windows 7 SP1

Thom Holwerda 2010-11-12 Windows No Comments

"Microsoft has updated the Windows Service Pack Blocker Tool Kit to include Service Pack 1 for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. As has been the case with previous service packs, soon after SP1 hits the RTM milestone, it will first go out on Windows Update, and then eventually Microsoft will push it out via Automatic Updates."

Chasing Pirates: Inside Microsoft’s War Room

Submitted by S. Akers 2010-11-08 Windows 13 Comments

In an industry dependent on intellectual property, Microsoft's fight against "theft" has implications beyond the bottom line. "Intellectual property is a critical engine of economic growth," says Microsoft's anti-piracy chief, "That's not just for large companies, but also for small businesses and entire countries. We work with governments that are realizing this is in their best interests."

Submitted by poundsmack 2010-11-02 Windows 1 Comment

Well, this is a fun little trick. You can disable the fancy Zune shell on your Zune HD and end up with the default, old-school Windows CE-look. While not all Windows CE applications will work, some do, including things like Foxit Reader, Opera Mini, Pocket Word, and others. Supports GDI, DirectDraw, and OpenGL ES 2.0.

Guest post by snydeq 2010-11-01 Windows No Comments

InfoWorld's J. Peter Bruzzese provides an overview of the 10 best free server tools Microsoft has to offer. 'Free is a term rarely associated with Microsoft offerings, especially at the server end of the spectrum,' Bruzzese writes. Yet remaining competitive has provided Microsoft great incentive to deliver some very powerful server admin tools for free. 'Of course, by and large, Microsoft's free server tools are aimed at offering value to paying customers. But some provide a free entry-level solution for large IT organizations to begin experimenting and small IT organizations to implement.' From Hyper-V Server 2008 R2, to SharePoint Foundation 2010, to migration and planning tools, IT admins would do well to explore the free server tools Microsoft does actually offer.

Submitted by poundsmack 2010-10-26 Windows 28 Comments

So, Windows 7 has been out for a year now; the same applies to Windows Server 2008 R2. Is it time for a service pack already? Are there even any major pressing issues that need addressing, as was the case with the vanilla Windows Vista release? Well, none that I can think of, and as such, these upcoming service packs, which just entered RC stage, are incredibly boring releases.

Guest post by fran 2010-10-25 Windows 63 Comments

Windows 8 isn't expected to be released until the end of 2012 and "new feature" details is still officially non-existent, but some of these recent rumours began to bear more weight since a slide was "officially leaked" on Microsoft-journal.spaces.live.com/blog. This slide although has since been removed, but it can however still be seen on lmsfkitchen.

Ballmer Calls Next Windows Release “Riskiest Product Bet”

Thom Holwerda 2010-10-23 Windows 59 Comments

"Windows 7 might be a massive commercial success and an undeniably rock solid piece of software, but Microsoft is apparently unwilling to rest on those soft and cozy laurels. Asked about the riskiest product bet the Redmond crew is currently developing, its fearless leader Steve Ballmer took no time in answering 'the next release of Windows'." Also of note in this same video interview thing: Ballmer states that Silverlight is now pretty much strictly a client, non-cross platform thing, while explicitly stating that when it comes to doing something universal, "the world's gone HTML5".

Windows Phone 7 Has a Sense of Humour

Thom Holwerda 2010-10-22 Windows 52 Comments

There's been a bunch of Windows Phone 7 reviews out there, and most of them come to the same conclusion: great piece of software for a 1.0 release, but it does miss a few vital features. The Ars Technica review, as usual very in-depth, highlights one particular aspect of the platform that speaks to me: Windows Phone 7 has a sense of humour.

XP Takes Babystep Into The Abyss

Submitted by Amy Bennett 2010-10-22 Windows 45 Comments

As of today, Microsoft won't allow manufacturers to install XP on new netbooks," says blogger Kevin Fogarty. "That doesn't mean corporate customers who special-order hardware with XP won't be able to get it, or even that its market share ( 60 percent!) will drop any time soon.... It just means XP has taken the first babystep toward obsolescence and the long (really long, considering its market share) slide down toward the pit of minor operating systems like the MacOS X (4.39 percent) , Java ME (.95 percent) and "Other" (which I think is an alternative spelling for "Linux" (.85 percent).

Submitted by shaneco 2010-10-22 Windows 5 Comments

Look at you Windows 7! One year old and making everybody forget Vista was ever born. To mark the occasion, we highlight Windows 7 rollout lessons learned in CIO.com stories featuring BMW, Continental Airlines and more.

How to Tune Up Windows

Guest post by Howard Fosdick 2010-10-19 Windows 50 Comments

In previous OS News articles, I described how mature computers up to ten years oldÂ can be refurbished and made useful. One article identified and evaluated different approaches to refurbishing. This article tells how to performance tune a mature Windows computer to make it serviceable again. I hope it will interest anyone who wants to tune Windows.

Microsoft Tool to Aid Windows 7 Migrations

Submitted by fran 2010-10-18 Windows 1 Comment

Microsoft began the second beta test of a key virtualization tool this week, with the aim of helping to ease the way for corporate customers who are held back from migrating to Windows 7 by incompatibilities with required older applications. Version 2 of Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) Enterprise Desktop Virtualization (MED-V) is now available for download for users interested in beta testing the upcoming release.

Microsoft Launches Windows Phone 7

Thom Holwerda 2010-10-11 Windows 37 Comments

So, today was the big day for Microsoft. It's all or nothing. Die tot oder die gladiolen (cookie if you get that one without using Google). The software giant from Redmond officially launched its Windows Phone 7 operating system, alongside about ten handsets from different OEMs. Since Windows Phone 7 has been covered quite a lot already, leaving little to the imagination, did something actually new come out of all this? Yes, it did.

Microsoft’s Anti-Android FUD Campaign in Full Swing

Thom Holwerda 2010-10-05 Windows 67 Comments

With the release of Windows Phone 7 upon us, the hype machine now goes all the way up to 11. While hype machines are generally relatively harmless and easy to poke a hole through, coordinated FUD campaigns by patent trolls are not. After Apple and Microsoft trolled HTC, and Microsoft now trolling Motorola, the actual FUD campaign against Android is in full swing.

Windows Phone 7 To Launch October 11

Thom Holwerda 2010-10-04 Windows 23 Comments

Microsoft has confirmed that Windows Phone 7 will be launched worldwide October 11. "Horror, shock, surprise! Microsoft CEO and prime fanboy of all things Windows and developer-related, Steve Ballmer, will be the keynote speaker at Microsoft's New York launch event for Windows Phone 7. He'll be joined on stage by AT&T's Ralph de la Vega and when the pep rally is over, we're promised opportunities to finally handle the official incarnations of retail Windows Phones for ourselves."

Submitted by poundsmack 2010-09-22 Windows 14 Comments

"I'm sure it's just a coincidence, but Windows 7 shipped around the same time I got married, and it includes a fascinating new technology called HomeGroup. Its goal is really simple: get all your home computers sharing documents, media, and printers with each other, in a way that is both secure and straightforward. But Microsoft also has a deeper aim here: they're trying to finally kill off the decrepit NetBIOS technology that's at the heart of most Windows sharing problems. So let's have a look at HomeGroup and the technologies involved that make it work. And just to keep things interesting, we'll compare HomeGroup with what Mac OS X offers."

How to Secure Windows

Guest post by Howard Fosdick 2010-09-06 Windows 75 Comments

In previous OS News articles, I've claimed that mature computers up to ten years old can be refurbished and made useful. My last article identified and evaluated different ways to refurbish these computers. One approach is to keep the existing Windows install and clean it up. This has the advantage of retaining the Windows license and software, the installed applications, and the existing drivers. But it takes some work. In this article we'll see what this entails.

Windows Phone 7: Done

Thom Holwerda 2010-09-01 Windows 74 Comments

It's been only a mere six months since its first unveiling, but Microsoft has already announced that Windows Phone 7 has been released to manufacturing. This means device makers can start tuning the software to their hardware, leaving plenty of time to release devices before the holiday season.