More Windows 7 SP1 Details Emerge
It's no secret that Microsoft has been hard at work to further improve Windows 7. According to many sources, the first service pack for Redmond's new OS is just around the corner. Today, all across the blogosphere, sites are reporting new details about the upcoming update to Microsoft's most user friendly OS to date. ITChuiko says that "according to sources at Microsoft, a preliminary version of SP1 will be in June 2010 and will be accessible only to testers, whereas the final version is expected by September 2010."
ZDNet is reporting that, as standard with all service packs, SP1 will include all the patches and bug fixes that have been released since Windows 7's October debut. In addition, users can expect tweaks and fixes made under the hood, based on user feedback. The only "big" changes that will come with SP1 are USB 3.0 support, and according to InfoWorld, "enhancements to the Bluetooth and Wi-Fi stacks." This is said to continue making Windows 7 "the most easily configured version [of an OS] ever." ITChuiko also suggests that there may be "some entirely new features that should raise the popularity of this operating system in the business sector."
ZDNet questions Microsoft's reasons for pushing SP1 so quickly. According to many analysts, it seems like the trend of businesses is to wait and see what happens after a new OS is introduced, before deploying it. Because of this, it's possible that Microsoft is aiming to get SP1 out the door as soon as possible. They want to send a message to businesses that, "hey, we're continuously supporting Windows 7, it's stable, and it's ready for the corporate world."
Windows 7 has MANY more "GodModes"
Using a special string of characters, a user is able to create a shortcut that gives access to a single list containing all of the computer's control panels. As it was pointed out, it's a pretty useful tool if you're a power user.
Now, CNet is reporting that there are many "GodModes" that can be accessed in Windows 7. From an e-mail interview with Windows Division President, Steve Sinofsky, CNet learned that "several similar undocumented features provide direct access to all kinds of settings, from choosing a location to managing power settings to identifying biometric sensors."
Sinofsky revealed a list of other similar strings, noting that none of them actually give access to anything that you couldn't do already do in Control Panel. Below are some of the strings, along with what they give you access to. For a complete list of strings like these and what they give you access to, you can visit Canonical Names of Control Panel Items on MSDN's Windows Developer Center.
Default Location - {00C6D95F-329C-409a-81D7-C46C66EA7F33}
Biometrics - {0142e4d0-fb7a-11dc-ba4a-000ffe7ab428}
Power Settings - {025A5937-A6BE-4686-A844-36FE4BEC8B6D}
Notification Area - {05d7b0f4-2121-4eff-bf6b-ed3f69b894d9}
Manage Credentials - {1206F5F1-0569-412C-8FEC-3204630DFB70}
Get New Programs - {15eae92e-f17a-4431-9f28-805e482dafd4}
Default Programs - {17cd9488-1228-4b2f-88ce-4298e93e0966}
NET Framework Assemblies - {1D2680C9-0E2A-469d-B787-065558BC7D43}
Wireless Networks - {1FA9085F-25A2-489B-85D4-86326EEDCD87}
Network Neighborhood - {208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-08002B30309D}
My Computer - {20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}
Printers - {2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-08002B30309D}
RemoteApp and Desktop - {241D7C96-F8BF-4F85-B01F-E2B043341A4B}
Windows Firewall - {4026492F-2F69-46B8-B9BF-5654FC07E423}
Performance - {78F3955E-3B90-4184-BD14-5397C15F1EFC}
GodMode - {ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}
Go ahead and try them out. Let us know, in the comments, if you find anything interesting. To use the string, just make a new folder and name it anything you want, followed by a period, and then one of the strings above. Here's an example:
AhmedMahdy.COM.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}
50% Discount on Windows and Office upgrades
According to ZDNet, Microsoft really wants to push medium and small businesses to move away from Windows XP and older versions of Office. The "Up-to-Date Discount," as they call it, is available for the first year of the OVS (Open Value Subscription) licensing program and applies to customers using the Professional versions of Microsoft's software. OVS is a way for small and medium businesses to pay for their software licenses over time, instead of having to foot it all up front.
The new promotion available for the Up-To-Date Discount is called N-2 and allows users that are still using Windows and Office XP (which are two releases ago) to participate as well (assuming they sign up for an OVS plan). Previously, the program was only for N-1, meaning only the previous release of Windows and Office were part of the promotion. Businesses will be able to upgrade to Windows 7, as well as Office 2007, or may choose to get Office 2010, assuming they're willing to wait for its release.
Here are the details, straight from the Microsoft SMB Community Blog. Note that the 50% off is calculated based on estimated retail prices. The deal is available from January 1st through June 30th.
So who qualifies for this offer?
For Microsoft Office Professional Plus:
- Before the Office 2010 launch: Companies with OEM, Retail, or Volume licenses for Microsoft Office 2007 Professional, Office 2003 Professional, or Office XP Professional
- After the Office 2010 launch: Companies with OEM, Retail, or Volume licenses for Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2007 or Office 2003 Professional
For Microsoft Windows 7 Professional Upgrade: - Companies with OEM, Retail, or Volume licenses for Windows 7 Professional, Windows Vista Business or Windows XP Professional
What you get: - 50% off your 1st year OVS payment for Microsoft Windows 7 Professional Upgrade or Microsoft Office Professional for every qualifying N-1 or N-2 license you have.
- As an example, in the U.S., this means you would be paying $35.00 for a Windows 7 Professional Upgrade and/or $91.00 for Office 2007 Professional Plus in year 1, plus receiving all of the Software Assurance benefits (such as an automatic upgrade to Office 2010 when it launches, Office Home Use Rights, and much more) for that price!
Make a Universal Windows 7 Ease Disc
The most annoying thing about being a "geek" is the need to be prepared for anything that can go wrong with a computer. With Windows, this becomes even more complicated, as you need to have a disc for each and every edition of the OS. With Vista, Microsoft introduced a universal disc, but for some reason, with Windows 7, Microsoft felt it better to return to their old ways and make each disc edition specific.
Technibble made a post about this very issue a few weeks ago. It's not that the Windows 7 discs don't contain all editions of the OS, but rather a small 51 byte file is present, restricting the disc to a specific one. To change this, a user would have to manually mess with the disc image. He'd have to create a new ISO from his DVD, remove the ei.cfg file, and write the new ISO back to the DVD.
To make this simpler, a coder has released a small utility that will take care of this, allowing anyone to alter the ISO without the worry of messing something up. It's called the ei.cfg Removal Utility, and will take your ISO and tell it to ignore the ei.cfg file. You can then burn the image back to a DVD, and use it with any legitimate license key for any edition of Windows 7. You will be able to select whichever edition you want when you first start the installer. The disc will also make it easier to service any edition that's already installed on a machine. Of course, you need a separate ISO for each version (both 32 and 64-bit). But still, 2 discs are better than 8 (sorry, this won't work for Enterprise). This tool will surely make techies lives easier.
Download: ei.cfg Removal Utility
The Power of Windows PowerShell
Windows PowerShell is a command-line shell and scripting language that helps administrators improve their productivity in day to day management tasks and achieve greater control over their IT environments. Using a new admin-focused scripting language, more than 230 standard command-line tools, and consistent syntax and utilities, Windows PowerShell allows admins to more easily control system administration and accelerate automation.
PowerShell ships with the Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. However if you’re running Windows XP or Windows Vista, you are still able to download a standalone installer for PowerShell.
PowerShell or as I’m going to call it PS for shorten, won’t replace the existing CMD “Command Prompt” already in Microsoft Windows. PS has CMD included within it in order to let admins do all tasks through the same environment.
PS is considered an intermediate environment that is a perfect choice for both Developers and IT Professionals as well. Since a developer can do some system procedures using PowerShell depending on “CMDLETS”. CMDLETs are .NET classes that represent APIs and GUIs. While IT Professionals can do a delicate scripting commands that became pretty more easier than other scripting languages like JavaScript and VBScript.
For example, if we’d like to list Inactive Services in a running instance of Windows, we can write the procedure as:
For VBScript
strComputer = "."
Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:" & _
"{impersonationLevel=Impersonate}!\\" &
strComputer & _
"\root\cimv2")
Set colStoppedServices = objWMIService.ExecQuery _
("Select * From Win32_Service Where State <> 'Running'")
For Each objService in colStoppedServices
Wscript.Echo objService.DisplayName & " = " & objService.State
Next
For Windows PowerShell
get-service |where {$_.status –ne “running"} | ft displayname,status –au
Any easier?! :)
Why PowerShell?
Productivity
- Consistent syntax and approach – learn once apply many times
- Frictionless Composition – Type what you think
- Flexible system – works against the “old” and the “new”
Fun
- Multiple ways to administer tasks – interactive, scripting, API, GUI
- Makes Windows administration as pleasant/productive/cool as possible
Sharing
- Enables an ecosystem where the community can effectively fill in the things we’ve missed
This was the first article of a series I’m going to present about Windows PowerShell in the next few days. Follow up!
Windows 7 Pricing Announced Today
Brandon LeBlanc, one of the Microsoft Windows team bloggers posted a meeting transcript with Brad Brooks, Microsoft Corporate Vice President for Windows Platform, on the official Microsoft Windows 7 blogs for the pricing of the upcoming Windows 7 on October 22.
For Windows 7, the price is reduced on our most popular retail product for customers, the Home Premium Upgrade, by approximately 10% (depending on the market). In the U.S., this means a customer buying Windows 7 Home Premium upgrade will pay only $119.99 instead of the $129.99 being charged today for its predecessor.
Overall, customers will be paying less and getting more with Windows 7. This includes fun new features such as HomeGroup, Device Stage, Aero Shake, Snap, Peek, Jump Lists and our completely redesigned Windows Taskbar (one of my favorite new features in Windows 7 today). These new features make your PC simpler and much easier to use.
So here’s the low-down on pricing for Windows 7. The estimated retail prices for upgrade packaged retail product of Windows 7 in the U.S. are:
- Windows 7 Home Premium (Upgrade): $119.99
- Windows 7 Professional (Upgrade): $199.99
- Windows 7 Ultimate (Upgrade): $219.99
And the estimated retail prices for full packaged retail product of Windows 7 in the U.S. are:
- Windows 7 Home Premium (Full): $199.99
- Windows 7 Professional (Full): $299.99
- Windows 7 Ultimate (Full): $319.99
This means that Windows 7 Home Premium full retail product is $40.00 less than Windows Vista Home Premium today.
For more details about the transcript, please refer to the official Microsoft Windows 7 Blog here.
Exclusive: Boxed Windows 7 Ultimate
Before several days, I received Microsoft Windows 7 Beta SWAG gift from Windows 7 Beta team. It’s a FedEx box with Boxed Windows 7 Ultimate Beta & RC DVDs (x86, x64), plastic fishes sink with light, a plastic colored yoyo toy and an original thanks letter signed from all Windows 7 Beta team as best answerer for a question asked in a beta chat.
The Windows 7 Beta DVD Box is a made of cartoon, however, it represents the final design of the expected box design which strikes the guesses of some people posted some news about leaked copies of Windows 7 Box.
Here are some pictures of the SWAG I got…
Windows 7 SWAG #1
Windows 7 DVD Box Front
Windows 7 DVD Box Back
Home Guest!
Boxed Windows 7 Beta & RC!
Since I’m a private beta tester for Microsoft Windows 7, I have the capability to contribute in private chats with Windows 7 product teams to discuss new features, provide feedback and suggestions to the new OS.
During these chats, a SWAG “Stuff We All Get” is offered for best questions (mostly best 3 questions in order of question and not by quality of question) during the chat session.
I won a SWAG before for some cool stuff with Windows 7 Logo on (see image below) with a signed letter from all product team who contributed in the chat session.
Before 2 weeks, I had some free time to login to another chat session about a certain technology in Windows 7 “I’m sorry, I can’t tell due to NDA of chat”, the surprise was that the coolest SWAG in beta chats for Windows 7 is in this chat session.
Here’s the page of the SWAG:
Hot off the presses and in limited supply!
Get yours by being selected as a Best Question Winner in Today's chat
Now available in a boxed set! Both Beta and RC DVDs
I was very lucky to become a best question winner in this chat! Have a look :-)
I’m still waiting for the package to arrive to home to see the new box set!
That was after 1 week of obtaining non-boxed DVDs for Windows 7 Beta (x86 and x64) during finalists of Imagine Cup 2009 Software Design local competition as being an official Microsoft Student Partner “MSP”!
Thank you Microsoft :-)
Welcome to the Windows 7 Beta Customer Preview Program
Windows 7 is…
the next release of the Windows client operating system, built on the secure foundation of Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008. Performance, reliability, security, and compatibility are core tenets of this release as we collect your feedback to meet our engineering goals of making Windows 7 the best-performing and most stable Windows operating system to date. New innovations in the product are designed to augment your ability as an IT professional to better provision and manage increasingly mobile PCs, protect data, and improve both end-user and personal productivity.
See Windows 7 for yourself
We are inviting IT professionals around the world to work with the Windows 7 Beta in their lab environments and secondary PCs to help ensure smooth adoption when the final product is available and to gather feedback from real-world settings.
How can you get involved?
1. Take a look at some of the new features and functionality in Windows 7 as part of our Springboard Series guidance on the Windows Client TechCenter on TechNet. As a partner you can also see additional resources on the Microsoft Partner Program portal.
2. Download the Beta for a hands-on trial. For a limited time, Microsoft is making this pre-release version of Windows 7 available to the first 2.5 million people who download. Ready to take a test drive? You can get one by trying the Windows 7 Beta. We think you’ll have the best experience if:
- You are willing to participate as an active beta tester and provide feedback to help us complete Windows 7.
- You have an extra computer available to dedicate to testing beta software.
- You can back up your PC, install and reinstall Windows, and reconfigure your home network connection.
- You’re comfortable troubleshooting your own PC problems. There’s no technical support available for the Beta.
- You understand how to burn an ISO file to a DVD using your computer’s DVD burner.
- You have a system recovery disc and know how to use it.
- You enjoy participating in an interactive community of beta testers, sharing experiences and feedback in real-time.
Microsoft isn’t providing technical support for the Beta and isn’t responsible for business-related downtime. Don’t install the Beta on your primary home or work computer. When the Beta expires on August 1, 2009, you’ll need to reinstall a released version of Windows to keep using your computer. (See Installation Instructions.)
These are the Microsoft minimum hardware recommendations for systems that will be running the Windows 7 Beta. These recommendations are specific to the beta release and are subject to change:
- Processor: 1 GHz 32-bit or 64-bit processor
- Memory: 1 GB of system memory
- Hard drive: 16 GB of available disk space
- Video card: Support for DirectX 9 graphics with 128MB memory (in order to enable Aero theme)
- Drive: DVD-R/W drive
- Internet connection (to download the Beta and get updates)
Note: Some product features of Windows 7, such as the ability to watch and record live TV or navigation through the use of “touch”, may require advanced or additional hardware.
To learn more, see Windows 7 Beta: Frequently Asked Questions.
Source: Microsoft TechNet
In less than 45 minutes, Windows 7 Beta links were removed!
In an earlier report “Windows 7 Beta is Now Public!” , I’ve declared that Microsoft has removed the Windows 7 Public Beta links and soon Microsoft Windows Team Blogs posted this item:
“Due to very heavy traffic we’re seeing as a result of interest in the Windows 7 Beta, we are adding some additional infrastructure support to the Microsoft.com properties before we post the public beta. We want to ensure customers have the best possible experience when downloading the beta, and I’ll be posting here again soon once the beta goes live. Stay tuned! We are excited that you are excited!”.
Microsoft reposted this message at 4 PM Pacific Time:
“Thanks for your interest in the Windows 7 Beta. The volume has been phenomenal -- we’re in the process of adding more servers to handle the demand. We’re sorry for the delay and we’ll re-post the Beta as soon as we can ensure a quality download experience.”
So, we’re still awaiting!
Windows 7 Beta is Now Public!
Microsoft Corporation declared the release of the new operating system Microsoft Windows 7 Beta to public testers today.
Brandon LeBlanc, one of The Windows Team Blogs team stated that:
“On January 9th, the Windows 7 Beta will be available for Windows enthusiasts to download via the Windows 7 page on Windows.com. The Windows 7 Beta is going to be available download-only (we’re not sending out physical media) and available for a limited time to the first 2.5 million people who download the beta.
The Windows 7 Beta will be available in English, German, Japanese, Arabic, and Hindi, and each language will be available in 32-bit and 64-bit versions (except Hindi which will only be available in 32-bit). “
Other sources from Microsoft Partners website declared the exact time when the link will get published to public as:
“Partners with a MSDN or TechNet subscription can download Windows 7 Beta now. All other partners can download Windows 7 Beta starting January 9, 2009 at 12:00 P.M. Pacific Time. “
Once it became 12 PM, people could be able to access the following link to sign up for the product and receive product keys, when you choose your preferred version (86 or 64) and language and hit the continue (>) button, you will get “Server is too busy” page and won’t be able to proceed with sign-up process.
Few minutes later (12:40), links were soon removed and visitors only get: Windows® 7 Beta coming soon!
If you’re interested in downloading Windows 7 and were lucky to get in, here’s the link: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/dd353205.aspx
I hope that Microsoft would get links up again to let users enjoy the “Vista that users were looking forward to”.