Milo discovered a product especially useful for enterprises of all sizes called Nightwatchman, a good news that Microsoft didn’t lay off anybody in the Vista team. I knew that they didn’t touch the Silverlight team, but frankly I’m surprised about this because Vista hasn’t been very profitable to Microsoft. Or has it? One bad news is the Windows 7 minimum requirements. It may not be a good experience to try it on my netbook which just meets the minimum requirements and my laptop which is old enough to even miss the minimum. But if anyone is interested, you can get the Windows 7 look into Windows XP. He also found a couple of amusing videos, one called “how to say i love you.” and another a confirmation of love, a marriage at Taco Bell. Recession, aye?

Jason found a few websites that can assist you in unique ways: one for helping educate your kids, one a calendar to help others, and another to scan your computer online. He covered a lot of Windows Powertoys, a mobile media browser and found another reason to continue loving Zune. He also has a couple of how-tos for selecting non-linear text in a word document and sharing Outlook calendar availability. One bad news, I mean another one, is that Microsoft is shutting down MSN Groups.

Claire thought out loud about the gap between Linux and mainstream users, learnt something new about less (which all you Cygwin users may find useful), discovered a wonderful browser called Kidzui which attempts to make the Internet a more kid-friendly place.

Juan wonders whether the Mac is not invincible anymore and whether Apple really needs to make a netbook. He is glad to find a symbol cheat widget and an app that can save his day with a bunch of drawings. The latter isn’t my cup of tea. He along with Jayvee found out about Apple’s stand on piracy.

Post from: EveryJoe

A Massive Tech Channel Roundup

David Murphy of PCWorld took a “72 hours of Windows 7” challenge and he is not excited about it. According to him, Windows 7 does several things right but should have actually been called the “Windows Vista SP2” and Microsoft should give it away as a free upgrade. Nothing wrong with fantasizing.

Holding a diametrically opposite view is Michael Muchmore of PCMag. Though not a revolutionary release, it is more than a service pack update of Vista, he says.

Preston Gralla of Computerworld went gaga about the new task bar and the Aero Peek, and is very much impressed with the solid polished piece of work that Windows 7 Beta 1 turned out to be.

Lee Matthews of Download Squad believes in the warm welcome that Windows 7 is going to receive though he thinks that there is a long way to go from Beta to launch. Can Microsoft screw up in between?

Adam Pash of Lifehacker shared a wonderful 45-minutes long video of Mark Russinovich on Windows 7. The opinion that counts, IMO.

Image Source: Microsoft Windows.

Post from: EveryJoe

Internet Roundup About Windows 7 Beta

On Jan 9, 2009, Microsoft Windows 7 Beta became available to all beta testers of the world with a catch that only 2.5 million complete downloads will be allowed (or something of that kind).

But now, unlimited number of people can download Windows 7 Beta from their website until 24th Jan, 2009 according to the Windows 7 Team blog.

If you want to try the beta software, be warned about the risks. Your computer could crash and you could lose important files. The Windows 7 Beta FAQ says that other risks are:

Software that doesn’t install or work correctly, including anti-virus or security programs
Printers, video cards, or other hardware that doesn’t work
Problems accessing corporate or home networks
Files may become corrupted

Beta testing is not recommended to everyone, especially not to beginners. Read the FAQ and the Release Notes if you are interested.

I am downloading a copy right now.

Post from: EveryJoe

Download Microsoft Windows 7 Beta

Jason, celebrating his three-year anniversary at Microsoft Weblog, sees a surge in Zune’s popularity since the 30GB Zune owners started experiencing widespread failure and Microsoft subsequently updating them about its fix. He still wants to buy Zune, but do you recommend it?

Clair introduces us to a cool terminal user whom all lovers of CLI can follow on Twitter and Identi.ca, and teaches two techniques off adding watermark to your images.

Jayvee laments about the closing of Electronic Gaming Monthly and cheers the usage of Youtube by Ohio Police to solve a crime.

Milo lists 4 correct moves made by Microsoft in 2008 and reacts to 5 things that Steve wouldn’t tell about Windows 7.

Post from: EveryJoe

Tech Channel Roundup From Steve Jobs to Steve Ballmer

Since then there has been a great buzz and its availability has soared thanks to the BitTorrents sites. I expect this buzz to increase tremendously in the coming few days once the New Year celebrations come to an end. The last time I checked, the DVD image was at the 18th position among the Top 100 downloads on The Pirate Bay, the top most among the Applications category. The image is about 2.44GB in size, for 32-bit systems, and is not fake. The comments on the torrent page shows a healthy interest on Windows 7 after the Windows Vista catastrophe. (I won’t share the links here because we are talking about piracy here.)

However. It is not a full release of the new OS but only a demo version with minimal features. A beta copy of this was given away by Microsoft to several developers in Nov 2008 for them to review it. The beta was expected to be made public by Microsoft in the near future anyway.

While there have been rumors that, naturally, Microsoft may have been behind this leak, it was probably distributed by one of the developers that received the beta.

Post from: EveryJoe

Microsoft Windows 7 Demo Leaked