Windows 7 surprise: DivX built in
One of the new features announced at the recent Windows 7 Reviewer’s Workshop in LA is that Windows 7 will natively support a number of popular media formats, so that users don’t have to worry about finding, installing and downloading third-party codecs.
This is an evolution in media support which is similar to the inclusion of native MPEG-2 playback in Windows Vista, providing the DVD playback functionality which was missing in Windows XP.
It’s an interesting change by Microsoft, which, in the past, has doggedly clung to the hope that Windows Media Video will end up as the prevailing video format for the internet. It appears to have finally conceded that the vast majority of people are watching downloaded stuff in DivX or Xvid — possibly a realisation driven by the enormous amount of telemetry data it has collected from users of Vista that it never had access to through XP. It has stopped short of bundling Adobe Flash support into Windows, though, as it develops its own Silverlight technology.
Source- APC
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Windows 7 Developer Guide Is Now Available
With Windows 7 unveiling during PDC Day 2 keynote, we also released Windows 7 Developer Guide. This is relatively a short guide outlining some of Windows 7’s main features as well highlighting the solid foundations Windows 7 is build upon. The goal of this document is to help developers plan for the near future by providing developers a clear picture of Windows 7’s new capabilities, and the scenarios developers can target in order to enhance their end users experiences for Windows 7 applications. For example, Scenic Ribbon (view at PDC ), Multi-Touch (view at PDC ), Libraries (view at PDC ), and Sensors and Locations (view at PDC ) are just few of Windows 7’s features developers can use to enhance their end users experiences. Please note, this document is not a full blown detailed description of the new APIs in Windows 7. In fact, this document does not contain any API references or code examples. All that good stuff will arrive sometime in the near future in future posts.
As you read through the developer guide you’ll notice three main parts: Solid Foundation, Richer Application Experiences, and The Best of Windows and the Web. Following that path while developing applications for Windows 7 is a very good practice, as Windows 7 leverages Windows Vista’s features and concepts. Next you can enhance your end user experiences with Ribbon, Multi-Touch, or integrating with Windows 7 new Taskbar (or any of other Windows 7 features). Finally, providing new services or leveraging exciting services that interact with your application add a whole new set of experiences for your end users.
Source-Windows 7 blog for developers
Announcing Windows Server 2008 R2!
Windows Server 2008 R2 showed its pretty face at the Professional Developers Conference today, here in Los Angeles. Hi there, my name’s Oliver Rist and I’m a new technical product manager on the Windows Server team. I’m down here in La-La Land heaving great sighs of satisfaction as we unveil the first sneak peeks of pre-beta Windows Server 2008 R2. Though this release is right in line with our announced roadmap strategy for future Server releases, there are several items of note with R2:
First and foremost, 32-bit is done. History. Archives. Windows Server 2008 R2 is the first Windows OS platform to go 64-bit only, and frankly it was high time. Customers have been unable to purchase a 32-bit server CPU for over two years now, and the advancements in CPU architectures really dictated that we squeeze as much performance out of customers’ hardware purchases as possible. The move to 64-bit is a first step.
You’ll also find that we’ve aligned R2 development around four core technology pillars:
First, there’s virtualization. R2 represents our most pervasive move into virtualization yet, including R2’s undisputed marquee feature, Live Migration. Think physical host migrations of running VMs happening in milliseconds—no service or user connection interruptions. With Live Migration, data centers can truly go virtual and largely divorce management considerations between software and hardware, and all managed from inside a single OS frame.
R2’s virtualization also extends to a new Hyper-V for Windows Server 2008 R2 (think mucho better management, beefier resources for VMs and more). And potentially more exciting, Terminal Services is updating its remote applications feature to include a true Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI). Think desktops and applications wrapped in virtualized packages, managed centrally and deployed to Windows 7 desktop with such tight integration most users will be unable to tell the difference between centrally hosted apps and those installed locally. (And don’t worry, a Web Access feature will let Windows XP and Windows Vista users in on the fun, too.)
Source- Technet Blog
Live from PDC 2008: A First Look at Windows 7
We’re here at the Professional Developers Conference (PDC) in Los Angeles, where Microsoft has taken the wraps off the latest client operating system, Windows® 7. The first thing to note is that this is a pre-beta release, and is still an early first-look. While most information out there will focus on how Windows 7 makes everyday tasks easier with improved user experience and productivity scenarios for end users, we thought we’d focus on some first-look information specifically of interest to IT professionals. In this blog, we’ll be regularly posting on the challenges and opportunities of upgrading to a modern desktop or laptop client OS with Windows Vista® today, and Windows 7 as more information becomes available through the development lifecycle.
To begin with, the core architecture of Windows 7 remains the same, as it is built on the same foundation as Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008. Our goal is that the majority of applications and devices that work with Windows Vista will work with Windows 7. This is important if you are evaluating or deploying Windows Vista today; in fact, investments in adopting Windows Vista (testing piloting, deploying) will pay off in a smoother transition to Windows 7 when it becomes available.
In designing Windows 7, the engineering team had a clear focus on what we call ‘the fundamentals’—performance, application compatibility, device compatibility, reliability, security and battery life. This effort was aided by telemetry data on how PCs are being used and issues that resulted in poor performance or disruption. The focus on fundamentals didn’t start with Windows 7; in fact it is the continuation of the work on Windows Vista that materialized in SP1.
Source- Technet Blog
Windows Vista Team Blog now Windows Blog
As you probably have noticed, we just re-launched our blog today as The Windows Blog sporting an all-new look and feel reflecting Windows in a broader sense instead of a single Windows release. We figured it was time to give our blog a good facelift (it’s looked the same since we originally launched in October of 2006) – especially as we start talking about Windows 7, Windows Live, and many other interesting Windows topics. Our old design focused strictly on Windows Vista. Our new design is no longer tied to a specific Windows release allowing us to talk about a wider range of topics.
With the previous site design – we essentially had 2 blogs hosted together on the same site: the Windows Vista Team Blog and Windows Experience Blog. But because of the design – not a lot of people noticed that there were actually 2 distinct blogs on our site.
We wanted to fix that.
In thinking about the design for The Windows Blog, we wanted the site to act like a community of blogs focused on talking about Windows.
Today – our new design reflects that.
As you can see in the left-hand navigation menu – The Windows Blog is currently home to 3 Windows blogs, 2 of which you already know.
Source- Windows Team Blog
Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 beta
Building off the great work done on Windows Server 2008, I’m happy to share that next week, a small group of Technology Adoption Program customers will be getting their hands on Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 (SP2) Beta. As we have done in the past, we routinely start testing a service pack release for Windows Server with a small group of testers first before making the beta more broadly available to the public. Windows Server 2008 helped make major strides in the areas of Web, Virtualization, and Security. SP2 builds upon this by enhancing the operating system for IT Professionals.
Windows Server 2008 SP2 addresses feedback from our customers. It contains all previously released fixes integrated into a single service pack covering both server (Windows Server 2008) and client (Windows Vista) versions. We adopted a single serviceability model for Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista when we launched Windows Server 2008. Because of this, Microsoft can provide customers with a single, high-quality update that minimizes deployment and testing complexity.
In addition to the above, Windows Server 2008 SP2 contains two changes that will ease deployment and help reduce cost.
- Hyper-V RTM is included
- Additional changes to the power profile have yielded a 10% improvement over the power profile of Windows Server 2008 RTM
These two changes will help customers save money and ease deployment of Hyper-V for IT Professionals.
I’m very excited about SP2 and will share more information in the coming months.
Source- Windows Server Blog
First Look: Windows Vista Service Pack 2
You might have heard about the upcoming beta release of Windows Vista Service Pack 2 (SP2), and we wanted to take a few minutes to describe what’s in it and how it can help you align your plans around Windows Vista adoption. The Windows Vista SP2 beta will be available to a small group of Technology Adoption Program customers on Wednesday, October 29, and we anticipate broad availability for Windows Vista SP2 in the first half of 2009.
It’s important to note that this release will embody a single service pack covering both client (Windows Vista) and server (Windows Server 2008), continuing the single serviceability model established with the Windows Vista SP1 and Windows Server 2008 RTM release. This approach helps reduce the testing and deployment complexity for our customers.
In addition to all previously released updates since the launch of Windows Vista SP1, Windows Vista SP2 adds a few new capabilities:
- Support for new types of Hardware and emerging standards, including Bluetooth 2.1, the ability to natively record data on Blu-Ray media, support for ICCD/CCID smart cards, and support for the new VIA 64-bit CPU
- Wi-Fi setup and maintenance is simplified with the addition of Windows Connect Now (WCN)
- The ex-FAT file system is enabled, supporting UTC timestamps to ensure correct file synchronization across time zones
- Windows Search 4.0 is included, which provides users faster and more relevant results. Windows Search 4.0 also allows Group Policy integration, which provides administrative control over search parameters
- End users should also experience improvements in resume performance when a Wi-Fi connection is no longer available
Support for new types of Hardware and emerging standards, including Bluetooth 2.1, the ability to natively record data on Blu-Ray media, support for ICCD/CCID smart cards, and support for the new VIA 64-bit CPU Wi-fi set-up and maintenance is simplified with the addition of Windows Connect Now (WCN) The ex-FAT file system is enabled, supporting UTC timestamps to ensure correct file synchronization across time zones Windows Search 4.0 is included, which provides users faster and more relevant results. Windows Search 4.0 also allows Group Policy integration, which provides administrative control over search parameters End users should also experience improvements in resume performance when a Wi-Fi connection is no longer available
We expect that Windows Vista SP2 will retain compatibility with applications that run on Windows Vista and Windows Vista SP1 and are written using public APIs. Consequently, you can (and should) continue your plans for adopting Windows Vista SP1, and roll SP2 into your deployment image when it becomes available.
One final, but very important note—Windows Vista SP1 is a prerequisite for installing SP2, so you will need to start with a Windows Vista SP1 image before upgrading to SP2.
Source- Springboard blog
The Windows 7 Blog for Developers
Windows 7 blog for developers has been online now.Here is what the first blogpost reads-
Welcome to the first post of a new Windows 7 blog. This blog will mainly focus on the development aspects of Windows 7 by providing valuable content for developers. We shell call this blog “The Windows 7 Blog for Developers”. By valuable content we mean that this blog will be a “one stop shop” on the road to get yourself familiar with what Windows 7 has to offer for developers and how you can “Light-Up” using Windows 7 features in your application.
With your help, this blog should evolve to become some sort of Windows 7 developer content index. If you are looking to write some code using one of Windows 7 new features, you should find some reference to that topic in this blog. If you don’t find it, please feel free to comment and we’ll try to pick the subject as quick as possible. In case you have content you want to share, ping us so we can write a post and reference your content.
You can also expect this blog to have lots of code samples, and cool demo showcasing some Window 7’s new features. You can also expect this blog to have Web Cast with different people from different parts of the windows organization. With that in mind, some Windows folks have their own blogs which we will try to keep track and listing all the important Windows 7 content posted on these blogs.
Finally, this blog is part of an effort to highlight Windows 7 development story, a story that for some reason got lost with Windows Vista. As part of the Windows 7 Evangelism team and as developers, we hope, together with you and the rest of the community will be able to create an open and direct dialog about developing for Windows 7.
This new release of Windows has a lot of new features that will give developers a chance to differentiate their applications, as well as solid foundations to build upon.
Join us on this trip through Windows 7 development features and help us share some of that joy and happiness.
Source- MSDN Blog
