Windows Archive

Apple has stated on its website that will add support for Windows 7 to Boot Camp later this year. "Apple will support Microsoft Windows 7 (Home Premium, Professional, and Ultimate) with Boot Camp in Mac OS X Snow Leopard before the end of the year. This support will require a software update to Boot Camp."

I never thought it was possible, but as it turns out, Microsoft has managed to produce some pretty good commercials for its brand new operating system, Windows 7. They are quite product-oriented, and carry the slogan "I'm a PC and Windows 7 was my idea".

Can't wait two more days? Microsoft Technet has a free 90 day trial of Windows 7 Enterprise for your evaluation pleasure. If you've been using the Windows 7 RC, this one is likely to have a bunch of bug fixes, as several bugs have been reported in earlier versions of the Windows 7 RTM that were made available to developers, including a pretty serious CHKDSK bug.

A little over two weeks ago, Microsoft released Microsoft Security Essentials, a security software suite protecting users of Windows against malware and viruses. The company has released data about the number of downloads and fixed infections, and the results are encouraging.

Before the iPhone, we were content with stylus-based interfaces that worked well - mostly - for what you needed to do. Then came the iPhone. From a pure feature perspective, it was (and is) lacking, but it more than makes up for it by being a polished product that's easy to use. The iPhone shook the entire industry up, and while newcomers have done relatively well (webOS, Android) Windows Mobile is now so far left behind you can barely see it any more. Windows Mobile 6.5 is supposed to be the first step towards modernising Windows Mobile - but it fails miserably.

InfoWorld's J. Peter Bruzzese takes an admin look the key decisions and options you'll have to address to ensure a successful migration to Windows 7. Bruzzese's guide -- which includes a hands-on video tour of Windows 7 and a deep-dive PDF report that provides Windows 7 benchmarks -- examines hardware and software compatibility issues, addresses the licensing question, and lends insight for those Windows shops considering the virtualized desktop route.

Windows 7 will be released October 22, and the pricing information for both the full and upgrade versions have been known for a while. However, as most of us geeks will know, there's a third variant you can buy, apart from upgrades and full versions: OEM or system builder releases. NewEgg has leaked the pricing information for these releases too.

ActiveWin has published their usual in-depth review of the new Windows release, in this case, Windows 7. It's 70 pages long, and divided up into 26 sections. "Should you upgrade? Most certainly, there is no on the fence, if’s or buts about it. This is a major upgrade both Windows XP and Vista users will certainly see benefits from. Vista was of course a hard sell because of the major architectural changes it introduced, Windows 7 reaps the benefits."

"Starting October 1--and for a limited time--those in the U.K. will be able to preorder Windows 7 for 30 British pounds, according to a Microsoft Web site. In a Twitter posting, Microsoft said that U.S. college students will be able to get the software for $30, but the Web site it linked to does not yet have details on the offer. 'This offer is specifically designed for those students who are not planning to purchase a new PC this year but would still like to take advantage of what Windows 7 offers,' a Microsoft representative said. Those who order the software will be able to download it when Windows 7 ships on October 22. Students interested in the deal need a valid college e-mail address. Microsoft plans similar offers in Canada, Australia, Korea, Mexico, France, and Germany, though the prices will vary somewhat."

While we often focus on the desktop offerings from Microsoft, the company of course also plays a role in countless other markets. The most prominent of those is probably the server market, where Windows 2000 Server and Windows Server 2003 are now facing a number of support changes - important stuff if you manage Windows servers. The biggest news? There will be no third service pack for Windows Server 2003.

"Microsoft late last week said it won't patch Windows XP for a pair of bugs it quashed Sept. 8 in Vista, Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008. The news adds Windows XP and SP3 to the no-patch list that previously included only Windows 2000 Server SP4. 'We're talking about code that is 12 to 15 years old in its origin, so backporting that level of code is essentially not feasible,' said security program manager Adrian Stone during Microsoft's monthly post-patch Webcast, referring to Windows 2000 and XP.... 'By default, Windows XP SP2, Windows XP SP3 and Windows XP Professional x64 Edition SP2 do not have a listening service configured in the client firewall and are therefore not affected by this vulnerability,' the company said. 'Windows XP SP2 and later operating systems include a stateful host firewall that provides protection for computers against incoming traffic from the Internet or from neighboring network devices on a private network.'"

Performance and metrics researcher Devil Mountain Software has released an array of real-world Windows use data as compiled by its exo.performance.network, a community-based monitoring tool that receives real-time data from about 10,000 PCs throughout the world. Tracking users specific configurations, as well as the applications they actually use, the tool provides insights into real-world Windows use, including browser share, multicore adoption, service pack adoption, and which anti-virus, productivity, and media software users are most prevalent among Windows users. Of note is the fact that, two years after Vista's release, not even 30 percent of PCs actually run it, that OpenOffice.org is making inroads into the Microsoft Office user base, and that, despite the rise of Firefox, Internet Explorer remains the standard option for inside-the-firewall apps.

Yesterday, Microsoft released the first Community Technology Preview release of Windows Embedded Standard 2011, freely downloadable to play with. This is the first Windows Embedded release based on Windows 7, and therefore brings a whole number of Windows 7 technologies to the embedded Windows world. The final release is expected somewhere during the second half of 2010.

"The Fault Tolerant Heap is a subsystem of Windows 7 responsible for monitoring application crashes and autonomously applying mitigations to prevent future crashes on a per application basis. For the vast majority of users, FTH will function with no need for intervention or change on their part. Principal Development Lead and rock star developer Silviu Calinoiu is the mastermind behind FTH. Here, we go deep into how FTH works and why it's designed the way it is."