Windows 7 Looking Like a June 2009 Delivery
Publicly, Microsoft has said Windows 7, the successor operating system to the firm’s much maligned Windows Vista, will not ship until early 2010, but its internal calendar has June 3, 2009 as the planned release date.
Also, Microsoft will use its Professional Developer’s Conference in late October as the launch platform for the first public beta of Windows 7. Microsoft plans to release the first beta on October 27, the first day of the show, when Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie will be the keynote speaker.
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) has two major developer shows planned for the Los Angeles area in a two week period: PDC on October 27 to October 30, and the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC). While PDC has listed its keynote speakers, Microsoft has not listed who will be the keynote speakers at WinHEC.
Source- Internetnews.com
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XNA Game Studio 3.0 Beta Release On Its Way!
On behalf of the XNA team I am excited to announce the upcoming availability of the XNA Game Studio 3.0 Beta. This is a significant milestone and represents the completion of all our features for XNA Game Studio 3.0! We’ll have much more information with the final release but here’s a quick glance at some of the key features and additions in the beta:
Zune
- Compatibility with the upcoming Zune 3.0 Firmware release. Please note that the XNA Game Studio 3.0 CTP will no longer work once you have upgraded your Zune device to the 3.0 firmware.
- Improved deployment stability.
- Support for Zune deployment on Windows Vista x64 Systems!
- You can now use the Remote Performance Monitor for Zune games.
Xbox 360
- Xbox 360 project templates (You will not be able to develop on the Xbox 360 until our final release. We felt this was important to include so that you could get projects converted over and look at the system, even if you are not able to run the games, yet).
- Support for the Big Button Pad.
We hope that early next week you’ll give the XNA Game Studio 3.0 Beta a download and run it through its paces. As we mentioned above this beta will be very close to what our release looks like, so if you encounter ship stopping issues (crashes, hangs) please let us know through Microsoft Connect! We’ve paid close attention to your feedback and we’ve added many of the features you requested. If your feature didn’t make it in this release, don’t worry we’ve still got more to come! If you have ideas on ways we can be better share them with us through Microsoft Connect. There you can add or vote on feature suggestions that you would like to see.
Source- XNA Team Blog
Wndows 7:The Windows Feedback Program
Introducing Christina Storm who is a program manager on the Windows Customer Engineering feature team working on telemetry.
In a previous article Steven has introduced the Windows 7 Feature Teams. I am a program manager working on telemetry on the Windows Customer Engineering team. Our team delivers the Windows Feedback Program, one of several feedback programs in place today that allow us to work directly with customers and make them part of our engineering process.
The Windows Feedback Program (WFP) has been active for several years during the Windows XP and Windows Vista product cycles, and we are currently ramping up to get all aspects of this program ready for Windows 7. At the core of this program is a large research panel of customers who sign up via our website http://wfp.microsoft.com during open enrollment. Customers choose to be part of a survey program, an automated feedback program or both. They then complete a 20-minute profiling survey, which later allows us to look at their feedback based on their profile. We have customers spanning a wide spectrum of computer knowledge in our program, and we are constantly working on balancing the panel to staff up underrepresented groups. The majority of customers who are spontaneously willing to participate in a feedback program like ours are generally enthusiastic about technology. They are early adopters of consumer electronics, digital devices and new versions of software. In contrast, customers who see the PC as a tool to get a job done tend to be a bit more reluctant to join. And we also need more female participants!
Source- Engineering Windows 7 Blog
Microsoft Admits What Went Wrong with Vista, and How They Fixed It
Way back in January 2007, after years of hype and anticipation, Microsoft unveiled Windows Vista to a decidedly lukewarm reception by the PC community, IT pros, and tech journalists alike. Instead of a revolutionary next-generation OS that was chock-full of new features, the Windows community got an underwhelming rehash with very little going for it. Oh, and Vista was plagued with performance and incompatibility problems to boot.
Since then, the PC community has taken the idea that Vista is underwhelming and turned it into a mantra. We’ve all heard about Vista’s poor network transfer speeds, low frame rates in games, and driver issues—shoot, we’ve experienced the problems ourselves. But over the last 18 months, Vista has undergone myriad changes, including the release of Service Pack 1, making the OS worth a second look. It’s time we determine once and for all whether we should stick with XP for the next 18 months while we wait for Windows 7. But before we answer that question, let’s review exactly what’s wrong with Windows Vista.
Source: Maximum PC
Microsoft Security Bulletin: September 2008
It’s that time again! Time for another security bulletin. This month we hav 4 security bulletins all related to remote code executions. Check out the details below and make sure you apply these appropriately to your environments.
Critical
Microsoft Windows, Internet Explorer, .NET Framework, Office, SQL Server, Visual Studio (not the complete list).
Remote Code Execution
Critical
Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008.
Remote Code Execution
Critical
Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008.
Remote Code Execution
Critical
Office XP, Office 2003, 2007 Office System, Office OneNote 2007.
Remote Code Execution
If you just want summaries of these bulletins you can find them here
and we have released an updated version of the Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool. More details on that can be found here.
Source- Technet Blog
Microsoft Offers More Ways to Connect With the Launch of Video Messages
Today, Microsoft Corp. unveils Video Messages, a groundbreaking service that combines the flexibility of e-mail and voice mail with the personal expression of a video call; it is the video version of voice mail. Video Messages allows consumers to record and send personalized videos that their friends and family can access anytime, anywhere they are online* the perfect solution when they are not available for a live video chat.
Microsoft is offering this new service through a LifeCam video messages gadget and a Web site so everyone can get in on the fun. Video Messages is the perfect way to send a personalized “happy birthday” message to a friend or have the kids leave a quick “hello” message to grandma across the country when she is not home.
“Video Messages offers a groundbreaking way to communicate,” said Bennie Soto, product marketing manager at Microsoft. “It provides a free, easy and fun way to stay connected and share the special moments in your life without thinking twice about time zones or busy schedules; you’ll never have to plan a specific time for video calling again.”
Go, Go LifeCam Gadget
The best way to experience Video Messages is with a LifeCam video messages gadget, available for people running Windows Vista and using a supported Microsoft LifeCam. By downloading the new gadget, LifeCam users can create, send and receive video messages from their desktop. They can even select six of their top friends who will always be visible in the video messages gadget just like storing top friends’ numbers on speed dial for easy access. This added convenience is a great benefit for LifeCam customers because the Video Messages controls are always available; they can just click on a friend’s image, record a video and hit send. A demo of the LifeCam video messages gadget in action is available at http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/digitalcommunication/videomessage.mspx.
Video Messages Web Site
Consumers also can easily use Video Messages through a Web site, which will work for any Windows Live customers. From the Web site, consumers can record a personal video message and enter the e-mail address of a friend or family member, who will receive a notification of the video via e-mail. Recipients who are also Windows Live customers can even respond with a video of their own.
“We are thrilled to have Video Messages expand the LifeCam products’ unique connection to Windows Live,” said Dharmesh Mehta, group product manager for Windows Live. “With more than 460 million Windows Live customers around the globe and the increased popularity in video communications, we are excited to be a part of this great solution for keeping people in touch.”
Availability
The Video Messages service is available now at http://. The LifeCam video messages gadget is available now for free download at http:// and is supported by the following LifeCam products:
•LifeCam Show
•LifeCam VX-7000
•LifeCam VX-6000
•LifeCam VX-5500
•LifeCam VX-5000
Source- Microsoft Press Release
Apple Introduces New iPod touch
Apple® today introduced the second generation iPod® touch featuring an amazingly thin contoured metal design, a gorgeous 3.5-inch widescreen glass display, 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi wireless networking, integrated volume control buttons, a built-in speaker for casual listening, a built-in accelerometer and other advanced sensors, and Apple’s revolutionary Multi-Touch™ user interface. iPod touch, now available for just $229 for the 8GB model, is perfect for playing music, movies and games, with millions of songs, thousands of Hollywood movies and hundreds of games available on the iTunes® Store.
The new iPod touch is smaller and lighter than the original, with a sleek new design that features a contoured metal enclosure with integrated volume control buttons and a brilliant 3.5-inch widescreen glass display. With its rounded edges, flush display and curved, more compact design, the new iPod touch is more comfortable to hold and more portable than ever.
Pricing & Availability
The new iPod touch is available immediately for a suggested price of $229 (US) for the 8GB model, $299 (US) for the 16GB and $399 (US) for the 32 GB model through the Apple Store® (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers. iPod touch requires a Mac® with a USB 2.0 port, Mac OS® X v10.4.10 or later and iTunes 8; or a Windows PC with a USB 2.0 port and Windows Vista or Windows XP Home or Professional (Service Pack 2) or later and iTunes 8. Existing iPod touch users can update to the latest 2.1 software for just $9.95 to add the new Genius feature. iPod touch owners who already have the 2.0 software get the 2.1 software update for free. Simply download the latest version of iTunes onto your Mac or PC, and purchase the 2.1 software update via iTunes.
Source- Apple Press Release
Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool (KB890830)
The Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool checks Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows 2000, and Windows Server 2003 computers for and helps remove infections by specific, prevalent malicious software—including Blaster, Sasser, and Mydoom. When the detection and removal process is complete, the tool displays a report describing the outcome, including which, if any, malicious software was detected and removed. The tool creates a log file named mrt.log in the %WINDIR%\debug folder.
To download the x64 version of Malicious Software Removal Tool, click here.
Download the 32 bit version here
