Windows 7 Screenshot

1. Windows 7 Starter Edition
2. Windows 7 Home Basic
3. Windows 7 Home Premium
4. Windows 7 Professional
5. Windows 7 Enterprise
6. Windows 7 Ultimate

Microsoft says most home users should probably go with the Windows 7 Home Premium version and business users will more than likely go with the Professional or Enterprise version depending on the features they may need like file encryption and higher network security.

I think Microsoft would be smarter to release three versions, at least once just to see how it’s received from the community and their customers.

• One version should be their really lite version, in this case the one they intend to be used by more developing countries. Priced very cheaply, but still available in developed countries for those individuals that would just like an up-to-date operating system that’s secure and supportable. This version should also be extremely light-weight and very skimpy on sucking up system resources.
• One version for your average home user. Everything the home user would need. Basic operating system applications for managing, maintaining and security their system. Get them on the Internet, connect to a home network and enjoy all the digital media that everyone is producting and sharing these days.
• One version for business use. Across the board, simple to manage, install and secure. Obvious ability to connect to networks and be managed over the network. All the security you would need and the ability for any component to be locked down and restricted access by the end user.

Now wouldn’t that be nice? It would make sense and I’ll bet they could increase the prices just enough to cover what they might expect to lose, but the average Joe and corporate Joe would appreciate the simplicity of the decision on which version they need.

Source: Windows 7 to Ship In Six Different Versions

Post from: EveryJoe

Windows 7 Coming in 6 Versions

The list differs at one item from Windows Vista: Business became Professional. Is it because Windows Vista didn’t do good business, Business edition or otherwise, and because Windows XP Professional did?

I am disappointed.

The Home Starter edition is supposedly designed especially for netbooks. One of the edition’s stark defining startling features is that not more than 3 applications can be run simultaneously. Duh! Already Microsoft appears confused by what an application is and what is not. A program running as a background process is always termed a process, but some programs are considered as applications (plus processes) when occupying the taskbar and as processes only when minimized to the system tray.

Whatever be the terminology, capping it at 3 is tying hands tightly. So that performance is optimal, just like a tied man who probably runs faster, at least for his life.

Thankfully, Microsoft assures that all Windows 7 editions can be run on netbooks. But the dilemma lives on. Which edition should I buy?

In the mean time, people are already getting creative at making fun of these editions. Like the Windows 7 editions that Microsoft forgot.

Post from: EveryJoe

Those Damn Windows 7 Editions

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

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

Billeo was developed to be a bill management application. It can track when bills are due, how much has been paid and can take snapshots of pages you are viewing. In addition, on Windows, it can keep track of your web passwords. This includes banking, credit card, email and some of those more risqué sites that you may or may not (but probably do) visit. The downside is the passwords are only stored on your computer and it’s Windows only.

Vidoop has come aboard and has not only created a great cross-browser application but they have a great security mechanism for keeping people out of your account. In order to log in (and install the toolbar/plugin), a user must first type their username, answer a security question and then verify by either telephone or email that they are in fact the user logging in. Finally, each time you want to log in during future sessions from that machine, a user has to pick out the three “types” of pictures that they chose during setup. This could be a computer, a fruit, an animal or almost anything else you can think of.

Finally, Passpack has made great advances in the security area. In addition to being able to access your information from almost anywhere on the internet, user’s information is never stored unencrypted on Passpack’s servers (it’s browser-side encrypted always) and can contain more than simple username and password combinations. This is great for storing other useful info like a bank account number or your hit list (if you’re in to that kind of thing). Tara, one of the founders of Passpack writes a great post of how to replace some of the tools that you may already be using with theirs (such as Google’s Browser Sync).

All-in-all there are some great tools for managing your passwords in your browser. Using these and other tools, you can keep both your information safe and your memory in tact.

Post from: EveryJoe

Smart password management right in your browser

We’re looking for the ugliest, saddest, happiest and all-around funniest stories from IT history. Things like my computer exploded while loading Windows to all of my pornography was copied by the local PC-tech are all great places to start while sharing your stories.

We would appreciate it if the stories we both true and awesome and I’m sure that you guys (and gals) can all help us out with that. For your help, we will be giving away a great prize, a Goldtouch keyboard from Key Ovation. This can help you with all of your carpal tunnel and cool keyboard needs. Beyond just the awesome factor, you can also “Wow” your friends by being a winner from That Damn PC! How cool is that?

So go ahead and submit your stories. Post them in the comments below or email jesse dot middleton at b5media.com (please make the subject “That Damn PC IT Confessional”) and you may be a winner. Many of the stories will be used by us to continue to get to the bottom of how the IT mind thinks and why they’re always so cranky before their seventeen cups of coffee.

The nitty gritty Info: This contest will run from June 17th at 8am (ET) to June 24th at 10pm (ET). Your stories must be submitted through the comment section below or via email during this time period. Any stories received before or after will be happily taken but will not be eligible for prizes.

All winners will be determined by a trained group of contest-winner-selectors-extraordinaries and will be notified as fast as humanly possible.

Post from: EveryJoe

CONTEST ALERT! – The all-knowing and all-listening IT confessional

No, I will not fix your computer. Why?
a) It’s a Mac so I don’t ***** know how.
b) Jobs said it wouldn’t break.
        -From: krystalo, a Digg user

Once I finished laughing out loud, I realized something — this is very true! People bring their devices into the IT shop all the time without any regard for what the device is. Take for instance, a 2000 computer global company.

They run entirely on Windows. Their desktops, Windows XP, their laptops, Windows XP, their servers, Windows Server — see, all Windows. Along comes Mr. I Want It (IWI) with his MacBook Pro or iTouch or iPhone. He plops it down on the desk and says, “Hey, my kid broke this, can you fix it?”

The way most of the IT crowd would like to answer is, “No, it’s a Mac. I don’t fix that junk. Plus, didn’t you rant and rave about how secure, stable and awesome it was to me last week? What happened, not so great after all?” But we know better so we simply say, “I’m sorry, I can’t work on personal computers.” Or, “I really don’t have the time to do it now, maybe later.” (In hopes that the person either forgets that it’s broken or realizes they have free tech support from Apple.)

Now this isn’t to say that we don’t want to help out. It’s just that we don’t want to help you with your personal PC issues. You can’t pay us enough and we usually don’t have time to deal with it. We have a corporate job to do. Plus, if you had a PC, you could make amazing music with Windows 98. Now that’d be something to watch.

Courtesy of: LaughingSquid.com

Post from: EveryJoe

No computer fixing today buddy