Microsoft plans to launch the beta of the Internet Explorer 9 browser on 15 September, according to a blog post on Thursday.

The software maker has scheduled an event in San Francisco to mark the arrival of the beta, billing the event and the browser as highlighting “the beauty of the web”, according to the post on the Internet Explorer (IE) blog.

Microsoft also sent packages to reporters containing a variety of art supplies, such as crayons and finger paints, inside a box with an IE logo.

That Microsoft is holding a launch event reflects the resurgent importance of the browser and the degree to which the company is counting on IE9 to get it back in to serious technical competition with Chrome, FireFox, and Safari. The beta needs either Windows Vista or Windows 7 — and will not run on XP — and will also require users to swap out their current installation of Internet Explorer.

Among the key features of IE9 is its support for HTML 5, an improved JavaScript engine and the ability to tap a computer’s graphics chip to accelerate text and image rendering.

Windows phone 7 could signal a return to form for Microsoft who for years have struggled with the unpopular and unwieldy Windows Mobile.

From the outset the OS appears extremely slick, smooth and attractive. Windows Phone 7 also seems to have taken heed of its rivals and incorporated a lot of what is best on both Android and iOS. The social networking capabilities of Android are present and so is the simplicity and ease of use of the iPhone.

Rather than sticking strictly to the box-based application and icon system we now see on the majority of other mobile OS’s, Microsoft has created a 3D-like effect for Windows Phone 7. Large text floats in the background which points to your position in the phone’s menu system and sub sections are selected by scrolling left and right.

HTC have produced some great social networking and cloud integration for Android with their Sense UI. But getting the most out of Sense still drains battery and demands heavy data use. Microsoft say they have spent a long time making sure that Windows Phone 7 will go easy on the battery but this remains to be seen when it is finally available for purchase.

Nearly all the applications and software on Windows Phone 7 are cloud-connected with contacts, photos and home screens constantly updating. Initially this is a bit overwhelming as the phone book would appear unfamiliar as each contact’s picture or status changes. However, once you realise how deep the social networking capabilities of the OS run, its potential becomes clear. Rather than feeling confusing the phone seems to develop a life of its own, as your contacts change so do the various applications and the home screen. This means each time you look at the phone it is never quite the same. This is a big risk for Microsoft: many people may enjoy the personalisation and life the OS provides but others may find it overly confusing and simply too social network heavy.

Source: Daily Telegraph

Microsoft released a fix on Monday for a critical Windows vulnerability that was being exploited by a fast-spreading virus and other malware.

The software patch fixes the way Windows Shell handles shortcut files, which are links to a file represented by an icon and implemented with the .lnk extension.

Attackers exploiting the hole could take complete control of the computer, the security advisory said.

An attacker could disseminate a USB or other removable drive with a malicious shortcut file on it and when the target victim opens the drive in Windows Explorer or any other application that parses the icon of the shortcut, the malicious code would execute on the victim’s computer. An attacker could also embed malware in a malicious Web site, a remote network share, or in a Microsoft Word document, Microsoft said.

The situation was serious enough to prompt Microsoft to release an “out of band” patch instead of wait a week to fix the hole with its next scheduled Patch Tuesday security update, on August 10.

The hole affects all versions of Windows including Windows 2000 and Windows XP service pack 2, which are not supported by Microsoft anymore. Customers using those versions need to upgrade to be protected from the attacks.

Source: CNET

The first service packs for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 will see a beta release in July, Microsoft announced at its TechEd 2010 conference on Monday.

The software maker did not disclose a date for final availability for the service packs at the conference, held in New Orleans, but it did go into detail about what customers can expect to see. The relatively minor updates add a few new features and concentrate on improving desktop virtualisation support for the server operating system. The beta’s will also provide a roll-up of hotfixes and updates for the desktop operating system.

Source: ZDNet

Microsoft announced Tuesday (27 April) it has finished the task of customizing Windows 7 to run on TV’s, set-top boxes, digital signs, and other devices.

Microsoft’s Kevin Dallas on Tuesday shows off an embedded version of Windows 7 designed to run on TVs, set-top boxes, and other devices.

Among other things, the new software could allow Windows Media Center on new types of devices, Microsoft said. The operating system, dubbed Windows Embedded Standard 7, was shown Tuesday at the ESC Silicon Valley conference in San Jose, Calif. “With the release of Windows Embedded Standard 7, Microsoft has furthered its commitment to the integration of Windows 7 technologies in the specialized consumer and enterprise device markets,” said Kevin Dallas, general manager of Microsoft’s Windows Embedded unit.

Microsoft first showed the embedded software, previously code-named Quebec, at ESC Boston in September. At that point, Microsoft was calling it Windows Embedded Standard 2011.

The PC version of Windows 7 is already running on more than 10 percent of computers worldwide, Microsoft said last week as it announced quarterly earnings.

Source: CNET News

Libraries are a new feature of Windows 7 and can sort all your media and files so that you can easily view them in one place. And the files that are pulled together by the Library can be located anywhere on your computer, even if they are scattered across multiple folders or multiple storage devices.

Windows 7 has 4 default Libraries – Documents – Music – Pictures and Videos (If you ever remove or change these Libraries, you can quickly restore them by right-clicking Libraries in Windows Explorer, and then clicking Restore default libraries).

In many ways, a Library is similar to a folder. When you open a Library, you will see one or more files or folders. However, unlike a folder, a Library can display files that are stored in several folders at the same time. This is an important, difference. Libraries don’t actually store items. They monitor folders that contain your files, images and videos, and provide a single access point.

Creating Libraries

You can create your own Libraries and add folder locations to them. You can create Libraries for any set of files that you don’t feel are well covered by the default Libraries. For example, you might create a new Work Documents Library to keep work-related documents separate from personal documents.

Creating a new Library is easy. Just right-click Libraries in the Navigation Pane on the left side of an Explorer window, point to New, and then click Library.

After creating a Library, it’s time to add your folder locations. Right-click a Library, and then click Properties to edit the folder locations that the Library includes, as well as other properties. You add folders to the Library view by clicking the Include a Folder button. You can then select the folders you want to add. Also choose how you want the Library to optimize your Library files. The choice is General Items – Documents – Music – Pictures or Videos.

By using the Library Properties dialog box you can include new folder locations or remove existing folder locations. Removing folder locations from Libraries or deleting entire Libraries doesn’t actually delete the files from where they’re stored; you are simply removing them from the overall view that the Library provides.

You will find that Libraries are used throughout Windows 7.

A number of BitDefender users, whose 64-bit Windows systems stopped working or were unable to be rebooted after updating their security programs, vented their frustration by flooding the antivirus (AV) vendor’s forum pages over the weekend.

According to an IDG report, users on forum boards started signaling the problem on Saturday evening. The complainants said several Windows files, and the security vendor’s own program files, were identified as “Trojan.FakeAlert.5″ malware after they performed an update for their BitDefender AV programs.

In an e-mail update Monday to ZDNet Asia, Vitor Souza, BitDefender’s global communications director, explained that “multiple” BitDefender and Windows files which comprise .exe, .dll and other binary files, were incorrectly detected as malware and “moved to quarantine”.

The faulty updates were applied to the company’s home user product line as well as BitDefender Business Client and BitDefender Security for File Servers.

Those using BitDefender’s products from 2008 to 2010, on Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 platforms, were affected.

Intersetingly, back in In 2005, changes to BitDefender technology were blamed for the accidental deletion of thousands of GFI customers’ e-mail messages. Last year, CA also incurred the wrath of customers after its AV technology wrongly identified a Windows XP systems file as a virus, and quarantined the associated files.

ZDNet

Breaking its silence on the first service pack for Windows 7, Microsoft said on Thursday (18/03) that it will include only minor updates, including many already released.

“For Windows 7, SP1 includes only minor updates, among which are previous updates that are already delivered through Windows Update,” Microsoft blogger Brandon LeBlanc said in a blog post.

LeBlanc said that Microsoft is not yet ready to announce a time frame for either the beta or final version of the service pack. But, he said that businesses should not wait for the update.

On the server side, the service pack for Windows Server 2008 R2 will include two new virtualization features – Microsoft RemoteFX and Dynamic Memory.

Windows 7 SP1 will include the client-side support for RemoteFX.

Once finished, Microsoft said it would make the Windows 7 service pack available for download and through Windows Update.

Microsoft could release the first Service Pack for Windows 7 by the end of the year, according to reports.

According to TechARP.com, Microsoft executives had internally scheduled a two-year development schedule for Windows 7 SP1, but have changed their mind in order to address “serious” performance problems.

The website reports that Microsoft will look to pump out the Service Pack in the last quarter of 2010, which would tally with the first Service Packs for its other operating systems. The software giant launched Windows XP SP1 around ten months after the release of XP, and Vista SP1 appeared 12 months after the Vista RTM. However, Windows 7 has proved a critical success for Microsoft and it’s difficult to identify the “serious” performance issues the Service Pack would target. Microsoft declined to comment on the report, or on a Windows 7 Service Pack in general, offering the standard “Microsoft has nothing new to announce at this time. We do not comment on rumour or speculation”.

Source: PC Pro

Microsoft has launched the latest iteration of its mobile phone operating system, called Windows phone 7 series.

The software has a redesigned user interface and incorporates many Microsoft services such as Xbox LIVE games and the Zune music service.

The software was introduced at an event at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

According to research firm Canalys, Microsoft’s software currently has around 9% of the smartphone market. That puts it fourth in the global market behind Symbian, Rim (makers of the Blackberry) and  Apple’s iPhone OS.

The first multi-touch phones to use the operating system will be available before the end of the year.

Source: BBC Tech News

Microsoft said on Thursday that it is planning an update to Windows 7 that will close a number of loopholes that counterfeiters had used to thwart the operating system’s built-in antipiracy measures.

The Windows Activation Technologies Update for Windows 7, which will be released later in February, closes more than 70 “activation hacks”, according to Joe Williams, general manager of Microsoft’s Genuine Windows unit, responsible for anti-counterfeiting measures. The update will also check with a server periodically to see if there are further hacks that need to be addressed, though Williams said no personally identifiable information about the user will be sent to the server.

In an interview, Williams cautioned about the dangers that come with using illegitimate versions of the operating system, citing a German study which looked at several hundred copies of Windows 7 posted online, and found nearly a third had some type of malware.

Source ZDNet

Just days after Microsoft warned Windows 7 users of an impending shutdown of the free release candidate, the company reminded customers running Windows 2000, XP and Vista of approaching support deadlines for those editions.

The closest cutoff is April 13, when Microsoft will drop support for Vista RTM (release to manufacturing), the term used for the build the company launched at retail in January 2007. After that date Microsoft will not provide security updates for Vista RTM, said Jerry Bryant, a senior manager with the Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC).

Instead, users should upgrade to Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1), or preferably, Vista SP2, Bryant said. Microsoft shipped SP1 and SP2 in March 2008 and May 2009, respectively.

Both Windows 2000 and Windows XP face support deadlines of July 13, 2010, Bryant added in an entry last week to the MSRC blog.

Microsoft will retire Windows 2000 from all support in July, ending all security patches for the operating system that celebrates its 10-year anniversary this month.

Windows XP SP2, the popular 2004 update that beefed up the security of the under-attack OS, will also exit support on July 13. To continue receiving bug patches, users must upgrade to XP SP3, the May 2008 update. Bryant claimed that “many” customers are still using XP SP2, and urged them to upgrade to either SP3 or Windows 7.

According to web metrics company NetApplications.com, Windows XP powered 66% of the machines that were online last month, while Vista ran 17.5% and Windows 2000 just 0.6%.

Last week, Microsoft reminded users of Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC) that beginning on February 15, the free preview will warn of a March 1 deadline. On March 1, the operating system will start to shut down automatically every two hours.

Source: PC Advisor

Microsoft on Thursday reported net income of $6.66bn, or 74 cents a share, on revenue of $19.02bn. The results include $1.71bn in Windows 7 deferred revenue.

That added 14 cents a share to Microsoft’s bottom line.

The view of the quarter depends on whether the deferred revenue impact is discounted. The company was expected to report second-quarter earnings of 59 cents a share on revenue of $17.9bn (£11bn). If the deferred revenue is factored out, Microsoft’s earnings beat projections, but revenue could be seen as light.

In a statement, Microsoft said Windows 7 demand was “exceptional”. Microsoft said it sold more than 60 million Windows 7 licences.

At QBS PC Help we use Windows 7 on a daily basis and find it far more stable than Vista ever was!

Source: ZDNet News

Windows 7 has been installed in more than half of all the computers sold through Europes top distributors since its launch, according to the latest figures from Context, a specialist business and consumer technology research company.

The analyst claimed sales of PC’s equipped with the business versions of the operating system are already performing better than Windows Vista.

Jeremy Davies, co-founder of Context, said: Our distributor panel sells close to 600,000 PC units weekly across all the major European economies. By the end of the week before Christmas this year, two months after the Windows 7 launch, we found that 11 per cent of all PC’s sold by distributors went out with a business version of Windows 7 installed.

Davies said this contrasted to the Vista launch, which after eight weeks saw just four per cent of PC’s with any business versions of the operating system installed.

Contexts figures hinted at encouraging sales for 2010. In the first two weeks of December 2009, Windows 7 business sales have already overtaken Vista, Context claimed.

Two months after Windows 7 was unveiled, 57 per cent of all PC’s sold through European distribution have the new operating system installed. Two months after the Vista launch, just 33 per cent of new machines were sold with Vista installed.

Davies said Windows 7 is in a strong position for the coming year, which will be welcome news to vendors such as HP, Dell and Lenovo, which are hoping 2010 will be the year when the delayed refresh cycle on business PC’s kicks off.

What could swing sales in favour of Windows 7 will be a combination of factors, Davies said. One of these will be compatibility with legacy XP applications via the Virtual PC for Windows 7 (XP Mode). Windows 7 does not require the highest hardware specifications to run effectively, which for example Vista demanded. At the same time, Windows XP is showing its age, especially in areas such as connectivity and security both areas that Windows 7 addresses.

Source: Yahoo Technology

Microsoft has sent a letter to its customers telling them to expect Windows 7 in 2010.

The letter from senior vice president Bill Veghte says “our plan is to deliver Windows 7 approximately three years after the January 2007 general availability launch date of Windows Vista.”

The letter slightly contradicts Steve Ballmer’s declaration last month that Windows 7 would arrive in 2009, although Microsoft’s press office has steadfastly stuck to the “three years after Vista” line ever since Ballmer’s speech.

Veghte’s letter is the second indication in as many days that Microsoft is keen to clarify its roadmap. Yesterday, the company insisted that it would stick to its plans to withdraw Windows XP on 30 June, albeit with a series of notable exceptions and workarounds.

Source: PC Pro