Microsoft Tuesday announced that the latest revision of its premier development suite – Visual Studio 2008, or VS2008 for short – is now generally available. Developed under the code name "Orcas," the package was actually completed in mid-November, ahead of schedule, and made available to Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) subscribers for download at that time. However, this is the first time it is available for volume licensing through resellers and via retail outlets.
"With its inclusion on the January 2008 volume licensing price list, the product is now available to sell and ship to your customers via Open, Select, Enterprise Agreement (EA), and [as] Full Packaged Product," said a blog post by Bruce Kyle, an architect evangelist on the developer and platform evangelism team.
Among the additions in VS2008 is support for Language Integrated Query, or LINQ, which provides the capability to handle query and set operations, such as SQL statements, directly within .NET languages like C# and Visual Basic. VS2008 also adds the ability to write applications that work with multiple versions of the .NET Framework, including versions 2.0, 3.0, and 3.5, and it provides tools for building applications with a similar look and feel to Office 2007’s "ribbon" user interface.
Link: Microsft Visual Studio 2008 Web Site
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Microsoft is in the midst of a quest for new testers for some kind of new Windows Media Center product, which may or may not be connected to “Fiji,” the next version of Windows Media Center Edition (MCE).
Late last week, Microsoft posted to its Connect private beta-tester site a “Windows Media Center Tester Application” survey, sources said. Microsoft is seeking a pool of testers for some new client-based product and is closing the tester application process this Friday, February 1, sources said.
One tester said he believes the survey is for Fiji, known these days as “MCE+1.” Microsoft officials would not confirm whether the survey is aimed at lining up Fiji testers.
Source: Mary Jo Foley’s Blog
Introducing… Windows 7, codename Translucency, Milestone Sinofsky… After a diluvian leak of Windows 7 information, from intimate details to screenshots and videos, Microsoft has finally managed to talk Windows 7. The Redmond company has been hard at work on the next version of the Windows Operating system, as soon as it was done with Windows Vista. Throughout 2007, Microsoft has given details about the next Windows iteration. Windows 7 will be delivered in both 32-bit and 64-bit flavors, with a new core, the MinWin kernel stripped down of all dependencies with the remaining components of the operating system. And there was even talk of an official timetable, initially interpreted as pointing to 2010 for the delivery of Windows 7.
The debut of 2008 brought with it Windows 7 Milestone 1 Build 6.1.6519.1, shifting the focus away from the imminent releases of Windows Vista Service Pack 1 and Windows XP Service Pack 3. And once the Windows 7 genie was out of the bottle, details came pouring in about Windows 7 M1. From the new Windows Media Center to the official timetable featuring M2 in April/May 2007, M3 in the third quarter and the Betas, Release Candidates and the RTM date apparently all squeezed into 2009. Apparently, because Microsoft keeps completely mum on Windows 7.
And then there were the leaked screenshots of Windows 7. The images were taken with a grain of salt, and the high level of skepticism survived even the availability of a low-quality video of Windows 7. But outside of leaked information, the muzzle put on Windows 7 is functioning to perfection, gagging all details. Steven Sinofsky, Senior Vice President, Windows and Windows Live Engineering Group, is responsible for erecting a wall of silence around the successor of Windows Vista. The official policy over at Microsoft, concerning the Windows 7 project, is a new translucent strategy, as opposed to transparency. Essentially, Sinofsky will not promise and underdeliver, but instead will say nothing in the hope that users will take all that Microsoft will eventually has to give with both arms.
On the heels of leaked details, screenshots and videos, Microsoft finally talked Windows 7, but of course that the Redmond company has nothing to say. "We are currently in the planning stages for Windows 7 and expect the development to take approximately 3 years since the release of Windows Vista. The specific release date will be determined once the company meets its quality bar for release," said a Microsoft representative to CRN.
"We are currently in the planning stages for Windows 7 and expect it will take approximately 3 years to develop. The specific release date will be determined once the company meets its quality bar for release," a Microsoft spokesperson revealed to The WinVista Club. "We’re continuing to work with our partners on the development of Windows 7, and are not sharing any additional information at this time."
Sure enough, doing the math on the potential dates for the final release of Windows 7 is rather easy. Taking into consideration the consumer launch of Vista in January 2007, Windows 7 will come in 2010. But judging from the release to manufacturing to businesses dates of the latest Windows client, Windows 7 is indeed aimed at a time before the 2009 holiday season. But predicting what Microsoft will actually do is an entirely different matter altogether.
Source: Softpedia.com
Well I guess it was only a matter of time. Microsoft has already shipped the first testing builds of Windows 7, the successor of Windows Vista, to key partners. The Redmond company will not of course, under any conditions confirm this detail, or breathe a single word about the early testing development milestone of Windows 7, but various third parties were not as shy as Microsoft when it came down to sharing details about the next iteration of Windows. But despite the deafening silence from Microsoft around the next version of the Windows operating system, Windows 7 Milestone 1 Build 6.1.6519.1 indeed shipped outside of Redmond.
Included in this article are the first leaked screenshots of Windows 7, courtesy of ThinkNext. As you can see from the image at the top of this article Microsoft has dropped Windows 7 ULTIMATE into the laps of its selected pool of partner testers. Windows 7 Ultimate is version 6.1 (Build 6519.1.x86fre.winmain.071220-1525).
Windows 7 features support for multiple video cards from different manufacturers running simultaneously and comes with a new Windows Media Center. With Windows 7 M1 already available, Microsoft is now planning to drop M2 in April/May 2008 as well as M3 in the third quarter. At the same time the Beta, Release Candidates and RTM dates are yet to be set. However, Microsoft did indicate to its partners that it is looking to the second half of 2009 for the release to manufacturing of Windows 7.
View: Softpedia
Apple® today announced that it is adding a gorgeous new pink iPod® nano to the lineup of the world’s most popular music player. The much-requested pink iPod nano is available immediately in an 8GB model for $199. iPod nano features a two-inch display which lets users watch the brand new iTunes® Movie Rentals, or TV shows and music videos purchased from the iTunes Store. iPod nano delivers up to 24 hours of audio playback or five hours of video playback on a single charge* and is encased in a beautiful all-metal design made with anodized aluminum and polished stainless steel, which is also available in silver, black, blue, green and a (PRODUCT) RED special edition.
“Customers are going to love the gorgeous new pink iPod nano,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide iPod Product Marketing. “The pink iPod nano is perfect for people who want a great new color this spring, or who are searching for a special Valentine’s Day gift.”
iPod nano features an enhanced user interface that shows off album artwork and photos like never before and includes Cover Flow®, so you can scroll through your entire music collection by album cover artwork using the Click Wheel. Customers can also buy music, video and games for their iPod nano from the iTunes Store or check out the latest iTunes Movie Rentals.
Pricing & Availability
The new pink 8GB iPod nano is available worldwide immediately for a suggested retail price of $199 (US) and joins the other 8GB models available in silver, black, blue, green and a (PRODUCT) RED special edition. The 4GB iPod nano in silver is available for a suggested retail price of $149 (US). Both the 4GB and 8GB iPod nano for Windows or Mac® are available through the Apple Store® (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers. All iPod nano models include earbud headphones, a USB to 30-pin cable and a Universal Dock Connector.
Windows Vista Service Pack 1 and Windows XP Service Pack 3 are in their respective final stages of development. Starting with December 2007, Microsoft moved both service packs into Release Candidate phase. As far as development milestones go, Release Candidate is among the last steps before a software product goes gold. And in this context, the Release Candidates for Vista SP1 and XP SP3 are indeed near-final versions of the service packs due this year. And although Microsoft has failed to reveal the release to manufacturing date of XP SP3 and Vista SP1, the service packs could be RTM in February along with Windows Server 2008.
The Redmond company, despite having set the official launch event – Heroes – happen Here – on February 27, 2008 in Los Angeles, for Windows Server 2008, has not indicated the RTM deadline for its last 32-bit server operating system. At the beginning of January 2008, Microsoft moved Windows Server 2008 out of Release Candidate stage and into the Escrow phase, according to Bink.nu. Now, the Redmond company has officially confirmed to InformationWeek that Windows Server 2008 will indeed be released to manufacturing in February 2008. Escrow is a development milestone reserved for the final testing of a software product before RTM.
Windows Server 2008 was initially planned for RTM by the end of 2007, but Microsoft postponed the finalization of the code to the first quarter of 2008. New reports indicate that the server operating system could go gold as early as the first weeks in February, but no later than the official launch at the end of the month. Bill Laing, general manager of Windows Server development, revealed that in a few weeks Windows Server 2008 would evolve into its final stage before RTM, a moment referred to as "break glass in case of emergency." Starting with that, RTM will be just a maximum of a couple of weeks away.
Why is this detail relevant to Vista SP1 and XP SP3? Well, because Microsoft has all but completely synchronized the development milestone releases of Vista SP1, XP SP3 and Windows Server 2008. In December 2007, for example, the Redmond company made available Release Candidates for both the service packs as well as for the server operating system. In this context, February might just be the month for the RTM of Vista SP1 and XP SP3.
source- Softpedia
Windows 7, the successor of Windows Vista and the next iteration of Windows is here. Forget about Windows Vista Service Pack 1 and Windows XP Service Pack 3, Microsoft has currently began serving an early development milestone of its next Windows operating system to partners. Before Steven Sinofsky, having moved from leading the building of the Office System, and currently the Senior Vice President, Windows and Windows Live Engineering Group, took the helm of the Windows development project from Jim Allchin, former Co-President, Platforms
& Services Division, the successor of Windows Vista was referred to internally with the codename Windows Vienna.
This aspect has changed under Sinofsky, and Microsoft is currently hard at work developing Windows 7. the number illustrates a strategy to label products in development by their product number rather than a codename. And since Windows Vista was the sixth Windows operating system to come out of Redmond…
Although Microsoft has yet to serve the final bits for Vista SP1 and XP SP3, key partners of the company have already received the "Milestone 1" (M1) of Windows 7 for code validation purposes, sources indicated to TG Daily. These first Windows 7 bits are nothing more than a very early development milestone of the next version of Windows. At this point in time, Windows 7 M1 is in alpha stage.
Windows 7 M1 has shipped in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions, but only in English. The alpha build of Windows 7 also comes with a new edition of Windows Media Center, no word yet if the release is in any way connected with Windows Fiji. As Vista brought to the table the first integrated version of Windows Media Center, Windows Fiji was planned as the next version of WMC but as a standalone product. In addition, Windows 7 M1 also features the ability of joggling with multiple graphics cards from different manufacturers simultaneously. In this manner Microsoft is introducing support for interoperable heterogeneous graphics system.
While Windows 7 M1 has already been made available for testing to a selected group of Microsoft partners, the second milestone of the next Windows version is planned at this point in time for April/May 2008, with M3 supposedly dropping in the third quarter of this year. The Beta and Release Candidate dates have not been determined so far. Still, the first beta of Windows 7 could be made available in early 2008, with the release to manufacturing date moved from 2010 to 2009. Microsoft has so far failed to offer official confirmation of Windows 7 M1.
Source- Softpedia
It seems that Microsoft is going to release Microsoft Plus for Windows Vista this season!! Future shop is reporting that it would be available around 15th February and would cost around $39.99.
This is what the site reads in more info-
Releases 15 Feb/08. User-friendly software combines the features of Vista Home Basic with even more impressive and user-friendly capabilities. Features Windows Aero, an efficient and visually stunning interface that makes it easier to accomplish multiple tasks at once by providing a three-dimensional, real-time, animated view of all of your open applications and documents.
Here are some of the features that would be available in this new Microsoft Plus for Windows Vista:
- By integrating search throughout the operating system, helps you quickly find and organize large collections of documents, pictures, movies, videos, and music.
- Includes Windows Tablet and Touch Technology that enables you to interact with your Tablet PC-compatible computer with a digital pen or your fingertip instead of having to use a keyboard.
- Includes all of the Windows Media Center capabilities for turning your PC into an all-in-one home entertainment centre enjoy music, photos, and DVD movies.
Here are the system requirements for Microsoft Plus:
- Optical Drive: DVD-ROM
- CPU Type: Intel x86
- CPU Speed: 1GHz
- Hard Drive: 40GB
- RAM Size: 1GB
- Graphics: DirectX 9.0 Compatible, 128MB Video Memory
- Others: Sound Card, Internet Connection
Ankur Mittal | January 31, 2008
Microsoft Tuesday announced that the latest revision of its premier development suite – Visual Studio 2008, or VS2008 for short – is now generally available. Developed under the code name "Orcas," the package was actually completed in mid-November, ahead of schedule, and made available to Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) subscribers for download at that time. However, this is the first time it is available for volume licensing through resellers and via retail outlets. 
