Windows Archive

Windows Phone 7 Series Developer Docs Leaked?

Thom Holwerda 2010-02-18 Windows 4 Comments

A mobile operating system release by Microsoft that's worth rumouring about, and that actually gets people excited. Yes, it's been a long time, but here we are. A number of Windows Phone 7 Series developer documents have supposedly leaked, which provide answers to some of the question we have - including the multitasking thing.

Windows Phone 7 Series To Finally Bring CE 6.0 to Users

Thom Holwerda 2010-02-16 Windows 24 Comments

Since I'm a little under the weather at the moment, posting is a bit slow on OSNews (yes, a story about Notion Ink's Adam is upcoming!). I'm kind of picking the simple and easy-to-write items for now, and this is most certainly one of them. As some of you might know, Microsoft unveiled Windows Phone 7 Series yesterday, a complete reboot of its mobile operating system. While little is known about its internals, it's most likely based on Windows Embedded CE 6.0.

Microsoft Unveils Windows Phone 7 Series

Thom Holwerda 2010-02-15 Windows 114 Comments

So, after much, much speculation and many, many rumours, Microsoft finally took the wraps off Windows Phone 7 Series, its newest mobile operating system. Hold on to your hats, because uncharacteristically for the Redmond giant, they've rebuilt everything from the ground up - this system has little to no connection to the Windows Mobile of yore. I don't say this lightly - but dear lord, Windows Phone 7 Series is full of win. Update: Hands-on video from Engadget inside. Update II: There is no sync application. It's all done over-the-air, to the internet. Only videos and music are synced via the Zune software. Update III: Since I didn't mention it clearly, here it goes: Windows Phone 7 Series is a clean break. There is no backwards compatibility at all. Update IV: Channel9 has a 22-minute in-depth demonstration of Windows Phone 7 Series.

Optional Windows 7 Antipiracy Update To Phone Home

Thom Holwerda 2010-02-11 Windows 98 Comments

Sometimes, you come across news items that make you go "eh...?" This is definitely one of them: Microsoft has announced a new anti-piracy update for Windows 7 that phones home every 90 days to check for new activation cracks, but the update is entirely optional - which kind of makes me wonder about the point.

The Hidden Treasures of Sysinternals

Thom Holwerda 2010-02-10 Windows 8 Comments

"Every few months I make a pilgrimage to the Sysinternals website to look at its superb collection of tools. It's now hosted inside the Microsoft Technet monster since its authors joined Microsoft as employees some while ago, but the value of their site is still as strong as ever and the tools are now guaranteed not to be ignored or left to rust."

Battery “Bug” Caused by Batteries, Not by Windows 7

Thom Holwerda 2010-02-08 Windows 33 Comments

The past few weeks or so, there's been a lot of interest in a supposed battery status report bug in Windows 7. After installing Windows 7, some users reported seeing "consider replacing your battery"-warnings in systems that appeared to be operating just fine on Windows XP or Vista. After extensive research, Steven Sinofsky has now explained on the Engineering 7 blog that the fault is not with Windows 7 - it really, really is your battery.

Windows Phone 7: No Multitasking, Stricter Microsoft QA

Thom Holwerda 2010-02-07 Windows 127 Comments

Later this month, Microsoft will most likely unveil ~~Windows Mobile 7~~ Windows Phone 7 at the Mobile World Congress. Rumours abound, and the latest set of rumours paint a rather dramatic turnaround for Microsoft's mobile platform - no more multitasking, application distribution limited to official channels, and a whole lot more.

Windows 7 Market Share Reaches 10%

Thom Holwerda 2010-02-02 Windows 71 Comments

Heck, Microsoft really weren't kidding when they said Windows 7 was the fastest-selling operating system in the world. NetApplications released its figures for January 2010, and it seems that after only three months of availability, Microsoft's latest baby has already hit the 10% market share mark.

Microsoft Looking Into Windows 7 Battery Life Failures

Thom Holwerda 2010-02-02 Windows 6 Comments

"Microsoft says it is investigating reports of notebooks with poor battery life with Windows 7, as first reported by users on Microsoft TechNet. These users claim their batteries were working just fine under Windows XP and/or Windows Vista, and others are saying it occurs on their new Windows 7 PCs."

Submitted by poundsmack 2010-02-01 Windows 8 Comments

"As expected, Microsoft has announced the general availability of the Azure platform (Windows Azure, SQL Azure, and AppFabric) in 21 countries. Starting today, Microsoft customers and partners in those regions will be able to launch their Azure production applications and services with the support of the full Service Level Agreements. The Windows Azure platform AppFabric Service Bus and Access Control will continue to be free until April 2010 for those that sign up for a commercial subscription."

Re-Live 1992 With Windows 3.1

David Adams 2010-01-24 Windows 26 Comments

An intrepid web developer has re-created the entire Windows 3.1 experience within a browser window, including games, notepad, and a web browser. Truth be told, the included web browser is a major anachronism, since it's apparently standards-compliant in 2010.

Submitted by kragil 2010-01-20 Windows 18 Comments

I guess it's Windows-flaw-week or something. First, we had the Internet Explorer vulnerability used in the Google attack, and now we have a bug that's been sitting undetected in Windows NT for 17 years. The bug can be used to escalate privileges, but from what I understand, it only works locally (although that isn't made clear).

Windows XP Users Must Update Flash Now

Thom Holwerda 2010-01-13 Windows 10 Comments

"Microsoft has confirmed that the version of Adobe Flash bundled with Windows XP contains multiple bugs, and urged customers to upgrade to a newer edition of the multimedia player plug-in. In a security advisory issued alongside a one-patch update for the month, Microsoft acknowledged that Flash Player 6 contains numerous vulnerabilities. Flash Player 6 is the version of Adobe's software that Microsoft includes in Windows XP, even in the copies it continues to sell to computer makers, who offer the eight-year-old operating system on netbooks, laptops and some desktop PCs."

Submitted by google_ninja 2010-01-08 Windows 76 Comments

As inevitable as the tides rolling in: every time a new Windows version is released, someone with too much time on his hands tries to install it on extremely outdated hardware. Sure, it won't be usable by any standard whatsoever, but it's still a fun thing to do. Of course, Windows 7 couldn't lag behind.

Activate Windows 7’s Hidden ‘God Mode’

Thom Holwerda 2010-01-04 Windows 29 Comments

God mode. A term usually reserved for games of all shapes and sizes, with the coolest being Rise Of The Triad's god mode, it has now found its way to the world of operating systems. Someone has discovered that Windows 7 has a god mode - but it's not what you think it is.

A Possible Cure for Exploitable Heap Corruption in Windows 7

Thom Holwerda 2009-12-30 Windows 7 Comments

"Last November, Russinovich triumphantly introduced developers at the company's annual PDC conference in Los Angeles to a multitude of measures implemented in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 not only to improve reliability and harden security, but to overcome the deficiencies he openly admits characterized the brief era of Windows Vista. Collectively, just the introductions to these new features by Russinovich and his partners consumed 11 hours over the first two days, all of that time with a standing-room-only crowd."

This Time, It’s Different: Windows Server 2008 R2 In-depth

Thom Holwerda 2009-12-16 Windows 7 Comments

"Windows Server 2008 R2 may sound a lot like its predecessor, but in many substantial ways it's a brand new product, despite the simple 'R2' tacked on the end. Ars takes a detailed look at all the new stuff that's hidden under that 'R2' moniker."

One-third Windows 7 Issues Related to Installation

Thom Holwerda 2009-12-15 Windows 44 Comments

Now that Windows 7 has been out and about for a while, the first balance sheets regarding its success start popping up. Consumer helpdesk firm iYogi surveyed 100000 of their customers, and the results of that test paint a relatively positive picture for Microsoft's latest operating system release - but one problem point sticks out like a big eye sore.

Russinovich Details MinWin, Once More

Thom Holwerda 2009-12-14 Windows 72 Comments

Ah, MinWin. The elusive project in the Windows team that has been misunderstood more times than I can count. Once again, Mark Russinovich, more or less the Linus of the Windows world (I win stupidest comparison of the year award), has explained what MinWin is all about, while also touching upon a number of other changes to the core of Windows. Before we start: thanks to BetaNews for once again detailing these technical talks regarding the core of Windows so well.

How to Build and Maintain a Tiered WSUS Infrastructure

Thom Holwerda 2009-12-08 Windows 1 Comment

"Keeping Windows up-to-date can be a pain for an enterprise IT department, but Microsoft's new Windows Server Update Services can help tremendously. Ars shows you how to use WSUS to move beyond Automatic Update and take charge of your entire network."