Lenovo has decided to cover all bases with its tablet offering, announcing an Android tablet aimed for professionals, another Android tablet for the home user and a Windows 7-based one for users that simply must have Windows on their tablet.
The ThinkPad Tablet has a 10.1-inch, 1280×800 IPS display and sports a 1GHz NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor, 1 GB of RAM, Wi-Fi and 3G (as an option, probably tied to a carrier), 16/32/64 GB of storage memory plus a number of ports: mini-HDMI, USB 2.0 and micro USB. The device is aimed at business users, and comes with a number of peripherals, including a stylus for precise notes as well as a full-size keyboard dock.
The IdeaPad K1 is similar to the ThinkPad Tablet in terms of specifications – a 1GHz NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor, 1 GB of RAM, 16 or 32 GBs of storage memory, and a a 10.1-inch 1280 x 800-resolution screen – but it’s quite different in looks, following the design philosophy of Lenovo’s IdeaPad laptop series.
Both devices are running on the latest version of Android for tablets, Honeycomb 3.1. The IdeaPad K1 will start at $449, and should become available today, while the ThinkPad Tablet starts at $499 and comes in August.
Finally, the Windows 7-based IdeaPad P1 probably won’t make an impact in the tablet market – not because of its hardware, which includes a 1.5GHz Intel processor, a 1280 x 800 capacitive touch screen, up to 2 GB of RAM memory, and up to 64GB of SSD storage – but because Windows 7 is simply not optimized for tablets. The device should hit the market in Q4 2011.
Saturday, August 6, 2011
report windows phone 7 revenue an abysmal $613 million
Microsoft's Windows Phone sales for 2011 are "abysmal," according to a story in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer published last Friday.
(Credit: CNET) Diving through Microsoft's annual report released late last month, the news site came up with a revenue figure of $613 million for the full fiscal year, which includes Windows Mobile, Windows Phone 7, Zune, Mediaroom, Surface, and hardware.
Remove the sales kicked in by the Zune and the other non-mobile items, and Microsoft's mobile operating systems actually delivered less than $613 million.
Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request from CNET for comment on the Seattle PI story.
Microsoft has kept its Windows Phone 7 sales close to the vest. Its last report was back in January when the company said it had sold more than 2 million Windows Phone 7 devices since the OS launched in October. However, that number included only handsets sold to mobile operators and retailers and not necessarily to actual consumers.
And as Seattle PI points out, it's hard to directly compare sales of Windows Phone with those of the competition. Apple, which reported iPhone sales of $13.3 billion in its third-quarter results, sells its own hardware and adds in revenue from agreements with mobile carriers and iPhone accessories.
Most of Google's revenue for Android comes from advertising since the mobile platform is free for smartphone makers.
Commenting on Seattle PI's story, WP Central says that maybe Windows Phone's sales aren't so abysmal, at least compared with those of Android.
For now, saturating the market and not necessarily making money is the goal of both Google and Microsoft with their respective mobile operating systems, says WP Central. And the site does see a somewhat brighter picture ahead for Microsoft. Though it concedes that Windows Phone sales aren't "hot," it does believe the tide could turn by next summer when the combined impact of Mango, Nokia, and Skype turn Windows Phone into a more "cohesive ecosystem."
(Credit: CNET) Remove the sales kicked in by the Zune and the other non-mobile items, and Microsoft's mobile operating systems actually delivered less than $613 million.
Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request from CNET for comment on the Seattle PI story.
Microsoft has kept its Windows Phone 7 sales close to the vest. Its last report was back in January when the company said it had sold more than 2 million Windows Phone 7 devices since the OS launched in October. However, that number included only handsets sold to mobile operators and retailers and not necessarily to actual consumers.
And as Seattle PI points out, it's hard to directly compare sales of Windows Phone with those of the competition. Apple, which reported iPhone sales of $13.3 billion in its third-quarter results, sells its own hardware and adds in revenue from agreements with mobile carriers and iPhone accessories.
Most of Google's revenue for Android comes from advertising since the mobile platform is free for smartphone makers.
Commenting on Seattle PI's story, WP Central says that maybe Windows Phone's sales aren't so abysmal, at least compared with those of Android.
For now, saturating the market and not necessarily making money is the goal of both Google and Microsoft with their respective mobile operating systems, says WP Central. And the site does see a somewhat brighter picture ahead for Microsoft. Though it concedes that Windows Phone sales aren't "hot," it does believe the tide could turn by next summer when the combined impact of Mango, Nokia, and Skype turn Windows Phone into a more "cohesive ecosystem."
Windows 7 on a phone: the 2-hour post-PC device
Fujitsu is launching a unique dual-mode smartphone tomorrow in Japan that doubles as a handheld Windows 7 computer. Known as the Fujitsu F-07C, the device works as a Symbian phone for standard phone use but can switch to Windows 7 with the touch of a button, notes SlashGear. Pricing won’t be announced until the device goes on sale through NTT DoCoMo, but since the phone has some high-end hardware, it’s likely to cost far more than even the most expensive pure smartphones available today.
If that doesn’t convince folks to buy it, perhaps the “up to two hours” of runtime in Windows mode will. I’m being facetious, of course, mainly because this is as niche as a mobile device gets, and I think Fujitsu would be better off spending the R&D dollars for this product on something with stronger mass-market appeal. While the phone will surely find a small market, I can’t help but think this is the worst possible combination of product brands when it comes to a mobile device.
Symbian was fine in its day and still has a massive global following, but even Nokia, its biggest supporter, has dumped it for Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 platform. Speaking of Microsoft, using Windows, a desktop operating system, on a 4-inch, 1024×600 mobile device screen will be an exercise in frustration for all but the most patient. Optimized for mobile use, Windows Phone 7 is enjoyable; Windows, not so much without a mouse and full keyboard. And I suppose that Intel, which has been claiming it will power smartphones this year, can add this as a feather in its cap.
There’s a problem though: Intel’s 1.2 GHz Atom Z600 chip is under-clocked to run at 600 MHz in the F-07C, and that won’t bring stellar performance to the phone’s Windows personality. Fujitsu could probably boost the chip to run at full speed, but the handset would then use more power and that quoted “up to two hours” of Windows runtime might be closer to one. Even worse, once you run down your battery using Windows, you’re stuck without a mobile phone.
Don’t get me wrong; the concept of a full computer in your pocket has sounded cool for years. In a world of smartphones and post-PC devices, however, this approach by Fujitsu takes a traditional computer view, and some would argue that today’s smartphones essentially are pocketable computers. It also exemplifies that some companies still don’t understand the mobile space an
If that doesn’t convince folks to buy it, perhaps the “up to two hours” of runtime in Windows mode will. I’m being facetious, of course, mainly because this is as niche as a mobile device gets, and I think Fujitsu would be better off spending the R&D dollars for this product on something with stronger mass-market appeal. While the phone will surely find a small market, I can’t help but think this is the worst possible combination of product brands when it comes to a mobile device.
Symbian was fine in its day and still has a massive global following, but even Nokia, its biggest supporter, has dumped it for Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 platform. Speaking of Microsoft, using Windows, a desktop operating system, on a 4-inch, 1024×600 mobile device screen will be an exercise in frustration for all but the most patient. Optimized for mobile use, Windows Phone 7 is enjoyable; Windows, not so much without a mouse and full keyboard. And I suppose that Intel, which has been claiming it will power smartphones this year, can add this as a feather in its cap.
There’s a problem though: Intel’s 1.2 GHz Atom Z600 chip is under-clocked to run at 600 MHz in the F-07C, and that won’t bring stellar performance to the phone’s Windows personality. Fujitsu could probably boost the chip to run at full speed, but the handset would then use more power and that quoted “up to two hours” of Windows runtime might be closer to one. Even worse, once you run down your battery using Windows, you’re stuck without a mobile phone.Don’t get me wrong; the concept of a full computer in your pocket has sounded cool for years. In a world of smartphones and post-PC devices, however, this approach by Fujitsu takes a traditional computer view, and some would argue that today’s smartphones essentially are pocketable computers. It also exemplifies that some companies still don’t understand the mobile space an
Windows Phone 7 Mango update now one step closer to consumers
Windows Phone 7 Mango update now one step closer to consumers
Microsoft announced today that the first major update for Windows Phone 7, codenamed “Mango”, has been released to manufacturing — a major development milestone before it makes it way to consumers.“This marks the point in the development process where we hand code to our handset and mobile-operator partners to optimize Mango for their specific phone and network configurations,” Microsoft’s Terry Myerson wrote on the Windows Phone Blog this morning. “Here on the Windows Phone team, we now turn to preparing for the update process.”
Generally, RTM code is what ends up in finished products — barring any major issues. It’s also good to hear that Microsoft is now thinking about the actual update process. The company’s first attempt at releasing a Windows Phone 7 update earlier this year was a fiasco that left some devices completely nonfunctional. Microsoft certainly can’t afford to have a repeat of that situation — especially when competitors like iOS and Android offer smoother upgrade experiences.
The Windows Phone 7 Mango update will bring over 500 new features, Microsoft said in May. Most notably, Mango will bring app multitasking, Internet Explorer 9 with better HTML5 support, and add Twitter and LinkedIn as integrated services.
The Mango update is expected to land sometime this fall. Microsoft still hasn’t locked down a specific release date. New Windows Phone devices coming this fall, including those from Nokia, will ship with the update.
Firefox 8 for Windows x64: Has 64-bit browsing finally come of age?
Over the last couple of weeks, Mozilla has finally stepped up its 64-bit testing process. There are now five slaves dedicated to building Firefox for Windows x64, which means that from Firefox 8 and onwards, you’ll be able to pick up 64-bit builds that are functionally identical to its 32-bit cousins but operating in native 64-bit CPU and memory space.
When I first took 64-bit Firefox for a workout last year, it wasn’t the best of experiences: it crashed, JavaScript performance was abysmal, and it was generally sub-par compared to the stable, 32-bit branch. Today, however, Firefox 8 64-bit is stable and it’s fast; it’s really, really fast. Even more importantly, though, there are now stable 64-bit browser plug-ins for Flash and Java. In other words, there’s very little reason to not use Firefox 8 x64; you can download a copy from the Nightly site (it won’t interfere with your stable install), grab Flash 11 beta for Windows x64 and Java 6 for Windows x64, and start surfing. It’s that simple.
Just how fast is the 64-bit version of Firefox 8? About 10% faster than the 32-bit version — but instead of taking our word for it, take a look at the comparative results from the Peacekeeper suite, the most comprehensive browser benchmark. The following results are from the ExtremeTech test rig which houses an Intel i7 930 with 6GB of RAM and an Nvidia GTX 460.
Microsoft talks Windows Server 8
The era of 7 is over. The era of 8 is upon us. Gone now is Windows 7 as the product in the limelight; it has been upstaged by Windows 8. And now Windows Server 8 is stealing onto the scene, causing ruckus as it goes.
Today at its Worldwide Partner Conference, Microsoft gave the world a small peek at Windows Server 8. This is what we know:
There have been strong rumors that Microsoft will release a beta build of Windows 8 to developers at the conference. If the company will do the same thing for Windows Server 8 is not known at this point in time. It would not be a surprise if Microsoft did so, as Windows 8 and Windows Server 8 are on the same path to release.
As they should be released in close harmony, it seems logical to assume that their beta releases could be similarly timed. As always, more as it comes.
Today at its Worldwide Partner Conference, Microsoft gave the world a small peek at Windows Server 8. This is what we know:
- Will contain “hundreds of new features.”
- The next version of Hyper-V Hypervisor (Hyper-V Replica) will support 16 virtual processors per machine.
- Hyper-V Replica will support “asynchronous virtual machine replication,” according to ZDNet.
- Data from the replication process can be sent to offsite storage.
There have been strong rumors that Microsoft will release a beta build of Windows 8 to developers at the conference. If the company will do the same thing for Windows Server 8 is not known at this point in time. It would not be a surprise if Microsoft did so, as Windows 8 and Windows Server 8 are on the same path to release.
As they should be released in close harmony, it seems logical to assume that their beta releases could be similarly timed. As always, more as it comes.
Angry Birds Coming To Windows Phone 7 On April 6th (Update: Er, Not Quite)
If your Windows Phone 7 handset was one of the unfortunate few that got bricked by Microsoft’s little-update-that-couldn’t, you’re going to want to get that fixed quick. At the very latest, you’re going to want to have things all patched up by April 6th. Why? Because it’s Angry Birds Time! Update: Maybe not. More after the jump.
Rovio’s Peter Vesterbacka confirmed last week at Mobile World Congress that the Birds were comin’ to Windows Phone 7, but he couldn’t get too specific about the launch date. Microsoft went ahead and filled in the gaps, with this post on the Windows Team Blog promising that Angry Birds and 5 other big-name titles (Doodle Jump, Plants Vs Zombies, geoDefense, Sonic The Hedgehog Ep: 1, and Hydro Thunder Go) will be hitting onApril 6th.
For those new to Angry Birds, just remember: Take a break every 15-30 minutes to stretch your legs, rehydrate, and rest your eyes. If you start to feel cold when you’re not playing Angry Birds, it’s important to get help.
Update: Interesting — looks like these games won’t be launching on April 6th. Microsoft contacted us to clarify, saying that “no titles will be launching on April 6″ specifically, but that one of these games will be launched each week beginning in Spring.
Rovio’s Peter Vesterbacka confirmed last week at Mobile World Congress that the Birds were comin’ to Windows Phone 7, but he couldn’t get too specific about the launch date. Microsoft went ahead and filled in the gaps, with this post on the Windows Team Blog promising that Angry Birds and 5 other big-name titles (Doodle Jump, Plants Vs Zombies, geoDefense, Sonic The Hedgehog Ep: 1, and Hydro Thunder Go) will be hitting on
For those new to Angry Birds, just remember: Take a break every 15-30 minutes to stretch your legs, rehydrate, and rest your eyes. If you start to feel cold when you’re not playing Angry Birds, it’s important to get help.
Update: Interesting — looks like these games won’t be launching on April 6th. Microsoft contacted us to clarify, saying that “no titles will be launching on April 6″ specifically, but that one of these games will be launched each week beginning in Spring.
Windows XP Market Drops Below 50% Worldwide
0 years in tech time is equivalent to about 100 years in real time, in that the technology that was relevant a decade ago is usually as useful today as a Model T Ford. Yet somehow the venerable Windows XP operating system, which was introduced a tech-century ago in 2001, has held on.
True, XP enjoyed a brief stay of execution thanks to the netbook craze, but even Microsoft has been trying to kill it off for a long time. Still, until fairly recently, most of the world’s computers ran Windows XP.
Now, according to NetMarketShare, Windows XP claims 49.69% of the market, dipping below the 50% mark for the first time in a long time. It also has Windows 7 at 27.92% and Windows Vista at 9.27%.
StatCounter paints a slightly different picture, with Windows XP at 43.89%, Windows 7 at 36.06%, and Windows Vista at 11.56%. Regardless, it’s a drop for Windows XP that’s been coming hard and fast; looking at StatCounter’s numbers, in July 2010, Windows XP held 56.31% market share globally.
StatCounter's stats on operating system market share, July 2010-July 2011
However, most of the decline of Windows XP, and Windows Visa for that matter, has been compensated for by the rapid adoption of Windows 7; thus, Microsoft’s overall OS market share has changed little. From July 2010 to July 2011, Microsoft’s OSes lost 1.11%, which really isn’t too much considering the difference is between 92.62% and 91.51% market share (according to StatCounter). Mac OS X (6.23%), Linux (0.76%), and “other” round out the totals.
Of note: According to StatCounter, in North America, Windows XP has but 28.48% of the market, down from 41.39% from a year ago. (Windows 7 claims 37.12%, up from 19.45% over the same time period.)
True, XP enjoyed a brief stay of execution thanks to the netbook craze, but even Microsoft has been trying to kill it off for a long time. Still, until fairly recently, most of the world’s computers ran Windows XP.
Now, according to NetMarketShare, Windows XP claims 49.69% of the market, dipping below the 50% mark for the first time in a long time. It also has Windows 7 at 27.92% and Windows Vista at 9.27%.
StatCounter paints a slightly different picture, with Windows XP at 43.89%, Windows 7 at 36.06%, and Windows Vista at 11.56%. Regardless, it’s a drop for Windows XP that’s been coming hard and fast; looking at StatCounter’s numbers, in July 2010, Windows XP held 56.31% market share globally.
StatCounter's stats on operating system market share, July 2010-July 2011
However, most of the decline of Windows XP, and Windows Visa for that matter, has been compensated for by the rapid adoption of Windows 7; thus, Microsoft’s overall OS market share has changed little. From July 2010 to July 2011, Microsoft’s OSes lost 1.11%, which really isn’t too much considering the difference is between 92.62% and 91.51% market share (according to StatCounter). Mac OS X (6.23%), Linux (0.76%), and “other” round out the totals.
Of note: According to StatCounter, in North America, Windows XP has but 28.48% of the market, down from 41.39% from a year ago. (Windows 7 claims 37.12%, up from 19.45% over the same time period.)
lenovo doesnt give up on windows tablets announces ideapad p1
Amid Lenovo's unveiling of several Android tablets, a Windows alternative still remains. The IdeaPad P1, also announced today, adopts a similar appearance to the Android IdeaPad K1 tablet, but with a Windows 7 operating system and PC-oriented specs and features. It's like an iPad that runs Windows.
The 10.1-inch 1,280x800-pixel multitouch display also works with an optional stylus. A 0.3-megapixel Webcam handles video calls, but the IdeaPad P1 conspicuously lacks a rear camera. The rear panel comes in either Clementine orange or Silver gray, resembling the back of a Netbook.
The IdeaPad P1 comes with either 32GB or 64GB of SSD storage and up to 2GB of RAM. OS options cover the gamut from Windows 7 Starter to Windows 7 Professional. Connection options are sparse: a single USB 2.0 port, a microSD card reader, a SIM card slot for optional 3G, and a docking port. The P1 also has 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
As far as processor speed, it's a bit unclear; the 1.79-pound tablet has a 1.5GHz Intel processor (exact type thus far unspecified), along with integrated Intel HD graphics, which have proven decent thus far for basic gaming. A two-cell battery offers up to 6 hours of battery life, according to Lenovo.
Who, exactly, would want a Windows tablet instead of an Android tablet or iPad? We're not trying to be critical, but one of the biggest hurdles facing Windows tablets has been Windows 7 itself and its tablet-targeted applications, or lack thereof. Windows 7 supports touch, but it always feels glommed on in smaller touch-screen tablet environments. Windows 8 might begin to solve these issues, but for now, it seems that companies like Lenovo haven't given up hope. Lenovo App Manager, installed on the IdeaPad P1, aims to offer better app discovery and app switching. We haven't seen it in action yet, but Windows tablets have a lot of work to do as far as offering a user interface and experience that's anywhere close to what's already available on the iPad and other Android/WebOS alternatives.
The IdeaPad P1 has no price yet, and will be available sometime in the "fourth quarter 2011." We remain intrigued, but skeptical.
The 10.1-inch 1,280x800-pixel multitouch display also works with an optional stylus. A 0.3-megapixel Webcam handles video calls, but the IdeaPad P1 conspicuously lacks a rear camera. The rear panel comes in either Clementine orange or Silver gray, resembling the back of a Netbook.
The IdeaPad P1 comes with either 32GB or 64GB of SSD storage and up to 2GB of RAM. OS options cover the gamut from Windows 7 Starter to Windows 7 Professional. Connection options are sparse: a single USB 2.0 port, a microSD card reader, a SIM card slot for optional 3G, and a docking port. The P1 also has 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
As far as processor speed, it's a bit unclear; the 1.79-pound tablet has a 1.5GHz Intel processor (exact type thus far unspecified), along with integrated Intel HD graphics, which have proven decent thus far for basic gaming. A two-cell battery offers up to 6 hours of battery life, according to Lenovo.
Who, exactly, would want a Windows tablet instead of an Android tablet or iPad? We're not trying to be critical, but one of the biggest hurdles facing Windows tablets has been Windows 7 itself and its tablet-targeted applications, or lack thereof. Windows 7 supports touch, but it always feels glommed on in smaller touch-screen tablet environments. Windows 8 might begin to solve these issues, but for now, it seems that companies like Lenovo haven't given up hope. Lenovo App Manager, installed on the IdeaPad P1, aims to offer better app discovery and app switching. We haven't seen it in action yet, but Windows tablets have a lot of work to do as far as offering a user interface and experience that's anywhere close to what's already available on the iPad and other Android/WebOS alternatives.
The IdeaPad P1 has no price yet, and will be available sometime in the "fourth quarter 2011." We remain intrigued, but skeptical.
Augmented reality windows being developed for Toyota
As a child sitting in the back of the family car, did you ever use your finger to doodle in the condensation on the inside of the windows? Well, a group of engineers and designers from Toyota Motor Europe's Kansei1 Design Division and the consultancy arm of the Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design (CIID) have taken car-window-doodling into the 21st Century. They've created a prototype system that could turn the side windows of Toyotas into touchscreen augmented reality devices, allowing passengers to interface with the passing scenery.
Called "Window to the World," the technology was developed with five main concepts in mind. The first of these, called "Drawing in Motion," would allow passengers to draw on the window with their fingers. As the vehicle moved, however, their drawing would stay "attached" to the real world objects it was drawn around - if a child drew a tree beside a pond, for instance, that tree would stay lined up with the pond, until it scrolled off the window.
In a manner similar to that with which smartphone users zoom in on photos with their fingers, Toyota passengers could use their fingers to zoom in on objects seen through the window. By using a distance function, they could also obtain on-window read-outs of how far away different objects and landmarks were from the car.
A similar function would let them see and hear the words for selected objects, in the language of the area through which they were being driven. Finally, the "Virtual Constellations" function would work with the car's roof windows, pointing out and displaying information on the constellations visible through the glass.
Although neither Kansei1 nor CIID have provided any information on how the system actually functions (such as how the window knows which angle it's being viewed from), two working prototypes have reportedly been built, and were on display last month at the "Our Future Mobility Now" exhibition in Brussels.
A simulation of how the system would work in an actual car can be seen below.
Called "Window to the World," the technology was developed with five main concepts in mind. The first of these, called "Drawing in Motion," would allow passengers to draw on the window with their fingers. As the vehicle moved, however, their drawing would stay "attached" to the real world objects it was drawn around - if a child drew a tree beside a pond, for instance, that tree would stay lined up with the pond, until it scrolled off the window.
In a manner similar to that with which smartphone users zoom in on photos with their fingers, Toyota passengers could use their fingers to zoom in on objects seen through the window. By using a distance function, they could also obtain on-window read-outs of how far away different objects and landmarks were from the car.
A similar function would let them see and hear the words for selected objects, in the language of the area through which they were being driven. Finally, the "Virtual Constellations" function would work with the car's roof windows, pointing out and displaying information on the constellations visible through the glass.
Although neither Kansei1 nor CIID have provided any information on how the system actually functions (such as how the window knows which angle it's being viewed from), two working prototypes have reportedly been built, and were on display last month at the "Our Future Mobility Now" exhibition in Brussels.
A simulation of how the system would work in an actual car can be seen below.
Boot Camp in Lion requires Windows 7
Mac users that must run an older version of Windows will either have to keep Boot Camp 3 if they wish to upgrade to Lion or use a third-party virtualization solution from VMWare or Parallels.
Announcing Windows Azure Storage Analytics
We are excited to announce the release of Windows Azure Storage Analytics. This feature offers developers and operations the ability to track, analyze, and debug usage of Windows Azure Storage (Blobs, Tables and Queues). You can use this data to analyze storage usage to improve the design of your applications and their access patterns to Windows Azure Storage. Analytics data consists of:
This feature provides a trace of all executed requests for your storage accounts as block blobs in a special container called $logs. Each log entry in the blob corresponds to a request made to the service and contains information like request id, request URL, http status of the request, requestor account name, owner account name, server side latency, E2E latency, source IP address for the request etc.
This data now empowers you to analyze your requests much more closely. It allows you to run the following types of analysis:
Provide summary of key statistics for Blobs, Tables and Queues for a storage account. The statistics can be categorized as:
- Logs
- Provide trace of executed requests for Blobs, Tables and Queues
- Metrics
- Provide summary of key capacity and request statistics for Blobs, Tables and Queues
This feature provides a trace of all executed requests for your storage accounts as block blobs in a special container called $logs. Each log entry in the blob corresponds to a request made to the service and contains information like request id, request URL, http status of the request, requestor account name, owner account name, server side latency, E2E latency, source IP address for the request etc.
This data now empowers you to analyze your requests much more closely. It allows you to run the following types of analysis:
- How many anonymous requests is my application seeing from a given range of IP address?
- Which containers are being accessed the most?
- How many times is a particular SAS URL being accessed and how?
- Who issued the request to delete a container?
- For a slow request –where is the time being consumed?
- I got a network error, did the request reach the server?
Provide summary of key statistics for Blobs, Tables and Queues for a storage account. The statistics can be categorized as:
- Request information: Provides hourly aggregates of number of requests, average server side latency, average E2E latency, average bandwidth, total successful requests and total number of failures and more. These request aggregates are provided at a service level and per API level for APIs requested in that hour. This is available for Blob, Table and Queue service.
- Capacity information: Provides daily statistics for the space consumed by the service, number of containers and number of objects that are stored in the service. Note, this is currently only provided for the Windows Azure Blob service.
Windows Firewall Notifier
Microsoft has improved the Windows Firewall ever since it was included in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. The majority of usability and security issues have been dealt with. Outbound Packet Filtering was for instance introduced under Windows Vista. There are still some issues left that Microsoft has not yet addressed. Especially the firewall’s configuration interface and notifications need improvement.
Windows Firewall Notifier is a third party program for Windows 7 and Vista that improves the handling of the firewall in this regard. When you first start the firewall notifier it performs a series of actions.
The program enables the Windows Firewall if it is not enabled on the system. Once enabled, it will block all inbound and outbound connections for which no firewall rules exist. It then enables Windows firewall inbound connection notifications and outbound connections logging if disabled.
A task is then created in the Windows Task Scheduler that is linked to Windows firewall event log entries. This will basically launch Windows Firewall Notifier whenever an inbound or outbound connection for which no rule exist is blocked.
Configuring the program to run as a task means that it will not run in the background all the time. The Task Scheduler will launch the firewall notifier whenever the system tries to make a connection that is not listed under allowed or blocked connections. The following dialog is then displayed on the screen giving the Windows user options to allow or block the connection.
The notification lists the application’s name, system path and target IP or hostname. Buttons are available to allow or block the connection once, or to allow or block it always.
The program will make the selected changes to the firewall configuration before it closes down again. Users who want to uninstall the firewall software again need to run it again. A dialog to disable it is then presented on screen.
Windows Firewall Notifier is a handy program for Windows Vista and Windows 7 users who make use of the built-in firewall. The program, compatible with both 32-bit and 64-bit editions of supported Windows operating systems, is available for download at the developer website.
Windows Firewall Notifier is a third party program for Windows 7 and Vista that improves the handling of the firewall in this regard. When you first start the firewall notifier it performs a series of actions.
The program enables the Windows Firewall if it is not enabled on the system. Once enabled, it will block all inbound and outbound connections for which no firewall rules exist. It then enables Windows firewall inbound connection notifications and outbound connections logging if disabled.
A task is then created in the Windows Task Scheduler that is linked to Windows firewall event log entries. This will basically launch Windows Firewall Notifier whenever an inbound or outbound connection for which no rule exist is blocked.
Configuring the program to run as a task means that it will not run in the background all the time. The Task Scheduler will launch the firewall notifier whenever the system tries to make a connection that is not listed under allowed or blocked connections. The following dialog is then displayed on the screen giving the Windows user options to allow or block the connection.
The notification lists the application’s name, system path and target IP or hostname. Buttons are available to allow or block the connection once, or to allow or block it always.
The program will make the selected changes to the firewall configuration before it closes down again. Users who want to uninstall the firewall software again need to run it again. A dialog to disable it is then presented on screen.
Windows Firewall Notifier is a handy program for Windows Vista and Windows 7 users who make use of the built-in firewall. The program, compatible with both 32-bit and 64-bit editions of supported Windows operating systems, is available for download at the developer website.
Microsoft's future: Windows everywhere or Windows nowhere?
Two very different rumors have been making the rounds in the wake of a recent speech at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC 2011). One rumor has Microsoft putting Windows code on every device possible, from smartphones to tablets, PCs, TVs, and beyond. Another has Microsoft biting the bullet and giving up the Windows name entirely. Which is more likely to happen?
The speculation was set off when Microsoft Windows Phone President Andy Lees gaver a speech and said that Microsoft planned to have a "unified ecosystem" for all devices. Here's what Lees said:
But a blogger at the thisismynext site has heard rumors that say Microsoft will eventually abandon the Windows name:
The speculation was set off when Microsoft Windows Phone President Andy Lees gaver a speech and said that Microsoft planned to have a "unified ecosystem" for all devices. Here's what Lees said:
One of the key important things here, though, is the change that's yet to happen, but it's about to happen, and that is the bringing together of these devices into a unified ecosystem, because at the core of the device itself it's possible to be common across phones, PCs, and TVs, and even other things, because the price drops dramatically. Then it will be a single ecosystem. We won't have an ecosystem for PCs, and an ecosystem for phones, one for tablets. They'll all come together. And just look at the opportunity here.The key question is what"unified ecosystem" means. It's a nebulous, vague phrase that means many different things to many different people. Mary Jo Foley reports that rumors have been circulating for quite some time that Microsoft hoped that it would soon make its "Windows Everywhere" mantra a reality. Lees' statement backed up those who thought it would be coming soon.
But a blogger at the thisismynext site has heard rumors that say Microsoft will eventually abandon the Windows name:
Our sources also tell us that Microsoft is seriously considering ditching the "Windows" brand name...The idea is to rebrand this new super-OS with something that better fits with Redmond's vision of the future.I'd bet that Microsoft will never give up Windows, and the company is more likely to actually put a variant of Windows code on every device, rather than abandoning Windows' name or Windows code. After all, at WPC 2011, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer had this to say in his keynote:
Windows is the backbone product of Microsoft. Windows PCs, Windows Phones, Windows slates. Windows Windows Windows Windows Windows.Don't expect Microsoft to abandon Windows soon -- or ever. It's the horse the company rode to success, and even though the horse may be getting tired, Microsoft plans to keep riding it.
Windows Phone revenue "abysmal", still better than Android
The Seattle PI has done some sleuthing in Microsoft’s annual report to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and found out that by subtracting a few figures, you get a rough $600 million dollars in revenue for fiscal year 2011 for Windows Mobile and Windows Phone.
The math comes from taking the $8.103 billion in Xbox sales away from the $8.716 billion from the whole Entertainment and Devices Division, resulting in $613 million in Windows Mobile, Windows Phone, Zune, Mediaroom, Surface and hardware sales. That means of course that actual revenue is lower than $600 million for just Windows Mobile/Phone.
Nick Eaton of the Seattle PI calls this "abysmal" and depending on how you look at it, perhaps. Compared to Xbox, sure. Compared to Android? Not so much. After all, Google makes $0 from Android sales, though they do take in some money through the limited advertising on the phone. In that sense, making money off of the OS is not Google's goal, but market saturation is. The same is the same for Microsoft at this point. While they do charge for licenses, it's not exactly an area of revenue for them, nor are they banking on it (pun alert). However, neither was Xbox which took 5 years to turn a profit (and after losing billions).
From this we can take away what we already know: Windows Phone sales are not "hot" and this does not change things, making it perhaps a moot point. Microsoft's game plan is Mango, Nokia and Skype for the future. Their make or break moment will be first half of 2012 when all of their systems (PC, Xbox and Windows Phone) really start to converge into a cohesive ecosystem. 2010-11 was more of them warming up and laying the groundwork, which is quite impressive. Throw in the fact that Windows Phone scores higher than Android in user satisfaction, there's no real reason Windows Phone can't explode in market share during 2012. So lets revisit this next summer, shall we?
The math comes from taking the $8.103 billion in Xbox sales away from the $8.716 billion from the whole Entertainment and Devices Division, resulting in $613 million in Windows Mobile, Windows Phone, Zune, Mediaroom, Surface and hardware sales. That means of course that actual revenue is lower than $600 million for just Windows Mobile/Phone.
Nick Eaton of the Seattle PI calls this "abysmal" and depending on how you look at it, perhaps. Compared to Xbox, sure. Compared to Android? Not so much. After all, Google makes $0 from Android sales, though they do take in some money through the limited advertising on the phone. In that sense, making money off of the OS is not Google's goal, but market saturation is. The same is the same for Microsoft at this point. While they do charge for licenses, it's not exactly an area of revenue for them, nor are they banking on it (pun alert). However, neither was Xbox which took 5 years to turn a profit (and after losing billions).
From this we can take away what we already know: Windows Phone sales are not "hot" and this does not change things, making it perhaps a moot point. Microsoft's game plan is Mango, Nokia and Skype for the future. Their make or break moment will be first half of 2012 when all of their systems (PC, Xbox and Windows Phone) really start to converge into a cohesive ecosystem. 2010-11 was more of them warming up and laying the groundwork, which is quite impressive. Throw in the fact that Windows Phone scores higher than Android in user satisfaction, there's no real reason Windows Phone can't explode in market share during 2012. So lets revisit this next summer, shall we?
windows xp market share dips below 50 percent
After a healthy 10-year run, Windows XP may finally be losing its overwhelming grip on computer users.
Though it's still the most heavily used version of the Windows operating system, XP's market share among all operating systems finally dipped just below the 50 percent mark last month, according to stats out today from Net Applications.
The aging OS has gradually been shedding market share a bit each month over the past few years, touching 62 percent a year ago and 51 percent in June before its latest dip in July, according to Net Applications.
At the same time, Windows 7--the current version of the OS--has just under 28 percent share among all operating systems, including Apple's Mac OS X and iOS. But Windows 7 has steadily grabbed more customers since its official release in October 2009. Meanwhile, Vista's grip on the market has steadily fallen each month and now rests at just over 9 percent for July. Altogether, Windows controls about 87 percent of the overall OS market.
With Microsoft due to cut off extended support for Windows XP in another three years, the company has been pushing both individuals and businesses to make the leap to Windows 7. To further motivate customers, Microsoft has released studies that bolster Windows 7, such as one from May that highlighted Windows 7 as five times more secure than XP.
However, Redmond offers no direct migration path from Windows XP to Windows 7, so moving to the latest OS typically requires either a total reinstall or an upgrade to a new PC. Tools such as Microsoft's Windows Easy Transfer may help ease the pain, but the migration is still time-consuming, especially for larger companies.
A survey of IT professionals last November found that half of them were planning to continue to use XP even after the support tap is turned off in 2014.
Though it's still the most heavily used version of the Windows operating system, XP's market share among all operating systems finally dipped just below the 50 percent mark last month, according to stats out today from Net Applications.
At the same time, Windows 7--the current version of the OS--has just under 28 percent share among all operating systems, including Apple's Mac OS X and iOS. But Windows 7 has steadily grabbed more customers since its official release in October 2009. Meanwhile, Vista's grip on the market has steadily fallen each month and now rests at just over 9 percent for July. Altogether, Windows controls about 87 percent of the overall OS market.
With Microsoft due to cut off extended support for Windows XP in another three years, the company has been pushing both individuals and businesses to make the leap to Windows 7. To further motivate customers, Microsoft has released studies that bolster Windows 7, such as one from May that highlighted Windows 7 as five times more secure than XP.
However, Redmond offers no direct migration path from Windows XP to Windows 7, so moving to the latest OS typically requires either a total reinstall or an upgrade to a new PC. Tools such as Microsoft's Windows Easy Transfer may help ease the pain, but the migration is still time-consuming, especially for larger companies.
A survey of IT professionals last November found that half of them were planning to continue to use XP even after the support tap is turned off in 2014.
Microsoft Is Stuck On The Windows Treadmill
Yesterday, Microsoft’s Windows Phone president Andy Lees basically said that WinPho 7 (or any other version of Windows Phone) would not land on tablets any time soon. “We view the tablet as a PC,” he stated at a Worldwide Partners Conference. That’s kind of sad.
Windows is great on laptops and desktops but consistently, time and time and time again, Windows has failed on tablets. Take the HP Slate 500 for example: it was an impressive piece of hardware that, in the end, is just another Windows slate.
HP knew it, too, just as everyone else did when they started pumping out Android tablets. Clearly, HP bought WebOS to capitalize on the tablet craze without resorting to have to sell “enterprise” tabets like the Slate to consumers. That probably won’t work, but it shows the lengths to which manufacturers are going to grab a good OS for their current products.
Microsoft is taking the slow and steady approach. Windows 8 should be much more tablet friendly and much more usable for the general consumer. And then Microsoft will do what they’ve always done: lock manufacturers into Windows 8 “flights” i.e. forcing them to make at least one Win8 tablet to go alongside the desktops and laptops they are sure to churn out. They pulled a similar stunt with Windows 7. Ever wonder why almost every hardware manufacturer made a touchscreen all-in-one that no one wanted? Because Microsoft told them to. So you’re at least sure of five or six Windows 8 slates to roll through town, perhaps by next CES.
But in this post-PC world, people still want a good tablet. Heck, they may even, as Patrick Moorhead suggests go for “convertible PCs,” PCs that are merely a tablet propped up next to a keyboard and mouse a la the Atrix. While I find that a hard sell, it could happen.
If current market conditions have showed us anything it’s that hardware and software vendors have to ship. The longer people sit on product the worse it is. The life cycle for a product is wildly truncated these days and the build-up of excitement can work to a manufacturer’s detriment.
Microsoft is stuck on the Windows treadmill. They need to hop off and see if WinPho7 can actually exist on a larger device and, in the end, give people what they want instead of catering towards the needs of some mythical Microsoft’s Internal Enterprise Group For Enterprise Customers And The IT Buyer or whatever they call their IT business unit.
Enterprise is great, but enterprise is cost- and risk-averse. Consumers will pay a premium for a good Microsoft tablet but they don’t want to wait for Windows 8 to hop on board.
Windows is great on laptops and desktops but consistently, time and time and time again, Windows has failed on tablets. Take the HP Slate 500 for example: it was an impressive piece of hardware that, in the end, is just another Windows slate.
HP knew it, too, just as everyone else did when they started pumping out Android tablets. Clearly, HP bought WebOS to capitalize on the tablet craze without resorting to have to sell “enterprise” tabets like the Slate to consumers. That probably won’t work, but it shows the lengths to which manufacturers are going to grab a good OS for their current products.
Microsoft is taking the slow and steady approach. Windows 8 should be much more tablet friendly and much more usable for the general consumer. And then Microsoft will do what they’ve always done: lock manufacturers into Windows 8 “flights” i.e. forcing them to make at least one Win8 tablet to go alongside the desktops and laptops they are sure to churn out. They pulled a similar stunt with Windows 7. Ever wonder why almost every hardware manufacturer made a touchscreen all-in-one that no one wanted? Because Microsoft told them to. So you’re at least sure of five or six Windows 8 slates to roll through town, perhaps by next CES.
But in this post-PC world, people still want a good tablet. Heck, they may even, as Patrick Moorhead suggests go for “convertible PCs,” PCs that are merely a tablet propped up next to a keyboard and mouse a la the Atrix. While I find that a hard sell, it could happen.
If current market conditions have showed us anything it’s that hardware and software vendors have to ship. The longer people sit on product the worse it is. The life cycle for a product is wildly truncated these days and the build-up of excitement can work to a manufacturer’s detriment.
Microsoft is stuck on the Windows treadmill. They need to hop off and see if WinPho7 can actually exist on a larger device and, in the end, give people what they want instead of catering towards the needs of some mythical Microsoft’s Internal Enterprise Group For Enterprise Customers And The IT Buyer or whatever they call their IT business unit.
Enterprise is great, but enterprise is cost- and risk-averse. Consumers will pay a premium for a good Microsoft tablet but they don’t want to wait for Windows 8 to hop on board.
Windows at Worldwide Partner Conference 2011
Here at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference, we’re talking with attendees about the IT challenges they face and how those challenges can be overcome with solutions from Microsoft and from our network of partners to get the most out of their Windows experience.
One way we can help our partners and our customers get the most from their Windows experience is to help them move off of Windows XP. As of today, customers have 1000 days until support for Windows XP ends. Windows XP served us well, but in the ten years since it launched, the world has changed. It’s time to retire Windows XP and move to Windows 7 to take advantage of the last decade of innovation in areas such as security, performance and more natural, intuitive interface.
Microsoft and our ecosystem of partners are committed to helping every customer move to Windows 7 by providing the deployment tools and resources they need. One way users can stay updated on the latest version of Windows is through Windows Intune, our cloud-based PC management and security service that includes the benefit of upgrade rights to Windows 7 Enterprise as well as future versions of Windows.
Since the Windows Intune launch in March, we’ve seen positive reception from partners and customers looking to standardize and manage their PC environments. Windows Intune has proven to be the comprehensive solution they need, giving them cloud services for PC management and security and upgrade rights to Windows 7 Enterprise (and future versions of Windows) from a single, simple subscription. Partners like InfinIT Consulting have leveraged Windows Intune to move customers to Windows 7 Enterprise while also providing the most advanced security solution, powerful management tools to their small, medium, and enterprise customers.
Today at WPC, we are excited to announce the beta availability for the next release of Windows Intune - we expect the final release later this year. Based on the feedback we continue to receive from partners and customers, this release includes top feature requests and usability improvements:
Partner and Customer Success with Windows Intune
Our partners have shown us they are motivated to support Windows Intune – in the short time it’s been in the market, they’ve been able to build or enhance their managed services business with new revenue opportunities, greater customer reach and reduced costs. Today we are announcing new updates, including new Internal Usage Rights (IUR) program and new sales incentives.
Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP) Updates
Today we also have updates to the MDOP suite, and are pleased to announce that MDOP 2011 R2 will be generally available for download in August with the following updates:
One way we can help our partners and our customers get the most from their Windows experience is to help them move off of Windows XP. As of today, customers have 1000 days until support for Windows XP ends. Windows XP served us well, but in the ten years since it launched, the world has changed. It’s time to retire Windows XP and move to Windows 7 to take advantage of the last decade of innovation in areas such as security, performance and more natural, intuitive interface.
Microsoft and our ecosystem of partners are committed to helping every customer move to Windows 7 by providing the deployment tools and resources they need. One way users can stay updated on the latest version of Windows is through Windows Intune, our cloud-based PC management and security service that includes the benefit of upgrade rights to Windows 7 Enterprise as well as future versions of Windows.
Since the Windows Intune launch in March, we’ve seen positive reception from partners and customers looking to standardize and manage their PC environments. Windows Intune has proven to be the comprehensive solution they need, giving them cloud services for PC management and security and upgrade rights to Windows 7 Enterprise (and future versions of Windows) from a single, simple subscription. Partners like InfinIT Consulting have leveraged Windows Intune to move customers to Windows 7 Enterprise while also providing the most advanced security solution, powerful management tools to their small, medium, and enterprise customers.
Today at WPC, we are excited to announce the beta availability for the next release of Windows Intune - we expect the final release later this year. Based on the feedback we continue to receive from partners and customers, this release includes top feature requests and usability improvements:
- Software distribution: One of the most common requests has been software distribution and we’ve worked hard to bring this feature to this beta. With this release, administrators can deploy most Microsoft and third-party updates or software applications to PCs virtually anywhere, without the need for a server infrastructure or physically touching each PC to install the software or update.
- Remote Tasks: This update allows IT to perform tasks, including full scan, quick scan, restart, and update malware definition all from the administration console. If there is an alert for a malware threat for example, administrators can run a scan on the affected PC by simply right-clicking on the PC from the administration console.
- Read-only Access: IT pros and partners can grant select administrators read-only access to the administration console so that they can view PC information as needed, but not perform any tasks.
Partner and Customer Success with Windows Intune
Our partners have shown us they are motivated to support Windows Intune – in the short time it’s been in the market, they’ve been able to build or enhance their managed services business with new revenue opportunities, greater customer reach and reduced costs. Today we are announcing new updates, including new Internal Usage Rights (IUR) program and new sales incentives.
- We are increasing the Windows Intune internal usage rights licenses to align with the benefit levels provided to partners with Silver and Gold competencies. Starting now, Cloud Essentials partners will be entitled to 25 licenses and 100 licenses for Cloud Accelerate partners.
- Over the past year, Microsoft has been enhancing and broadening channel incentives with the goal of rewarding partners across activities that drive growth and customer value. For more information, partners can visit https://partner.microsoft.com/40142578
- For D.C. based Microsoft Online Services Partner District Computers, Windows Intune has become the solution they need to provide customers with a secure and up-to-date system. They worked with Friendship Heights Rehabilitation Center to deploy Windows Intune to manage their PCs and standardize on Windows 7. Friendship Heights Rehabilitation Center’s executive director, Therese Rodda, appreciates having a dashboard to view the entire network, detect problems ahead of time and respond to updates: “Windows Intune has helped me as a business owner reduce my IT vendor costs because now I’m in the driver’s seat.” Watch a video on their experience with Windows Intune here.
- The California state-sponsored non-profit organization, the California Strawberry Commission, purchased Windows Intune for its remote management capabilities, so that their employees would have a well-managed, highly secure PC without being tied to the corporate network. With Windows Intune, California Strawberry Commission gets these benefits without huge upfront investment costs for servers and software since Microsoft hosts and maintains the cloud service. Furthermore, they take advantage of the upgrade rights to Windows 7 Enterprise to standardize their PC environment, and take advantage of features like BitLocker to protect data.
- New Signature couples their managed service offering Total Assurance Management Service (TAMS) with Windows Intune to reduce the infrastructure complexity in client networks, giving their team more time to focus on driving high-margin IT alignment business opportunities with their clients. New Signature worked with an emerging national law firm to deliver TAMS with Windows Intune, helping to keep these attorneys focused on business-critical tasks with PC’s performing at their best.
Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP) Updates
Today we also have updates to the MDOP suite, and are pleased to announce that MDOP 2011 R2 will be generally available for download in August with the following updates:
- Microsoft BitLocker Administration & Monitoring (MBAM) 1.0: Adds BitLocker Administration & Monitoring capabilities to the suite, which simplifies BitLocker provisioning and deployment, improves compliance and reporting, and reduces support costs
- Microsoft Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset (DaRT) 7.0: New features, such as remote boot, make DaRT more flexible to administer and resolve issues while offsite
- Asset Inventory Service (AIS) 2.0: Updated/localized UI and improved software reporting improves inventory capabilities
With only 1000 days left of extended support, don’t you think it’s time to retire Windows XP?
Wouldn’t it be great if the glory days lasted forever? But reality is trophies get dusty, records are broken, and what it took to be the best ten years ago, just isn’t enough for today’s standards. Things get better, faster. And eventually, it’s time to move from good enough to something much better.
Windows XP had an amazing run and millions of PC users are grateful for it. But it’s time to move on. Two reasons: 1) Extended support for Windows XP is running out in less than 1000 days, and 2) there’s an OS out there that’s much better than Windows XP.
On April 8, 2014, security patches and hotfixes for all versions of Windows XP will no longer be available. So bottom line, PC’s running Windows XP will be vulnerable to security threats. Furthermore, many third party software providers are not planning to extend support for their applications running on Windows XP, which translates to even more complexity, security risks, and ultimately, added management costs for your IT department if you’re still managing Windows XP environments. To learn more about Microsoft’s Support Lifecycle policy, please visit Microsoft Support.
The good news is there is a great alternative to Windows XP — Windows 7. And moving on is easier than ever with powerful tools and guidance to help you every step of the way. In fact, some of the world’s most prominent companies have already moved to Windows 7. Organizations like Boeing, InfoSys, Dell, Purdue University, Samsung, Royal Mail Group, and BMW are now benefiting from the cost-savings, security, and productivity gains Windows 7 delivers.
Act quickly because time is limited, and organizations that have not started deployment or in the early phases of the project need to accelerate. According to a recent Garter report “more than 50% of organizations that do not start deploying Windows 7 by early 2012 will not complete their deployments before Windows XP support ends, and will incur increased support costs.” (see Creating a Timeline for Deploying Windows 7 and Eliminating Windows XP)
So are you ready to retire Windows XP? Here are 7 things to help you make the move to Windows 7:
Windows XP had an amazing run and millions of PC users are grateful for it. But it’s time to move on. Two reasons: 1) Extended support for Windows XP is running out in less than 1000 days, and 2) there’s an OS out there that’s much better than Windows XP.
On April 8, 2014, security patches and hotfixes for all versions of Windows XP will no longer be available. So bottom line, PC’s running Windows XP will be vulnerable to security threats. Furthermore, many third party software providers are not planning to extend support for their applications running on Windows XP, which translates to even more complexity, security risks, and ultimately, added management costs for your IT department if you’re still managing Windows XP environments. To learn more about Microsoft’s Support Lifecycle policy, please visit Microsoft Support.
The good news is there is a great alternative to Windows XP — Windows 7. And moving on is easier than ever with powerful tools and guidance to help you every step of the way. In fact, some of the world’s most prominent companies have already moved to Windows 7. Organizations like Boeing, InfoSys, Dell, Purdue University, Samsung, Royal Mail Group, and BMW are now benefiting from the cost-savings, security, and productivity gains Windows 7 delivers.
Act quickly because time is limited, and organizations that have not started deployment or in the early phases of the project need to accelerate. According to a recent Garter report “more than 50% of organizations that do not start deploying Windows 7 by early 2012 will not complete their deployments before Windows XP support ends, and will incur increased support costs.” (see Creating a Timeline for Deploying Windows 7 and Eliminating Windows XP)
So are you ready to retire Windows XP? Here are 7 things to help you make the move to Windows 7:
- Watch the Is Windows XP Good Enough? Really? roundtable and hear a panel of experts dive into IT Pro questions and common issues around moving off of Windows XP.
- Fire up the Windows 7 ROI calculator and see how much you could save by moving to Windows 7. From reducing help desk cost to cutting down energy consumption to automating common IT tasks, the savings to your business could add up!
- Check out the suite of Windows 7 migration tools available on the Springboard Series that streamline planning, application compatibility, testing and deployment of Windows 7 including the Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit, Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT), and Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT). See all of these tools in action with this demonstration from the recent Springboard Tour.
- Build your Windows 7 muscles with our Windows 7 Deployment Learning Portal.
- Become a Springboard Series Insider to get monthly tips and tricks on Windows, Office and Internet Explorer.
- Follow us on Twitter @MSSpringboard for the hottest news on IT Pro deployment information.
- Try Windows 7 today. Download the Windows 7 Enterprise 90-day Trial and get started testing your apps and hardware.
Hey! My friend’s account was hacked!
At Hotmail, we know that account hijacking is a big problem, and we continue to work hard to prevent it. We’ve noticed a couple of things about hijacked accounts. First, many accounts have weak passwords that make them easy targets for hijackers. Second, when someone’s account gets hijacked, their friends often find out before they do, because the hijacker uses their account to send spam or phishing email to all their contacts.
These two observations led us to develop a couple of new features that help protect your accounts. The first lets you report a friend’s account as compromised – a feature unique to Hotmail – and the second prevents you from using common passwords that make your account easy to hack.
Whatever the case, one thing is for sure: this email isn’t really from your friend at all. Instead, it’s from a spammer who has hijacked your friend’s account. When this happens, you probably call or text your friend or contact them on an alternate email address to let them know that their email account has been compromised. But you wish you could do more.
Now you can. Hotmail lets you report your friend’s account as compromised. It’s easy: When you get that spam message supposedly from your friend, you just click “My friend’s been hacked!” on the “Mark as” menu:
You can also report an account as compromised when you mark a message as junk or otherwise move a message to the Junk folder:
When you report that your friend’s account has been compromised, Hotmail takes that report and combines it with the other information from the compromise detection engine to determine if the account in question has in fact been hijacked. It turns out that the report that comes from you can be one of the strongest “signals” to the detection engine, since you may be the first to notice the compromise. So, when you help out this way, it makes a big difference!
Once we mark the account as compromised, two things happen:
Of course, we didn’t want to stop there; we wanted to go a step farther and make it work for any email account. After all, even if you’re a Hotmail user, you probably get email from friends using other email providers, and those accounts can get compromised, too.
We did the work to enable other email providers like Yahoo! and Gmail to receive these compromise reports from Hotmail including those submitted by you, and those providers will now be able to use the reports in their own systems to recover hacked accounts.
So now, in Hotmail, you can report any email account as compromised, and Hotmail will provide the compromise information to both Yahoo! and Gmail.
We‘re making another addition to the long list of account security and protection features that we’ve released over the last year. We will now prevent our customers from using one of several common passwords. Having a common password makes your account vulnerable to brute force “dictionary” attacks, in which a malicious person tries to hijack your account just by guessing passwords (using a short list of very common passwords). Of course, Hotmail has built-in defenses against standard dictionary attacks, but when someone can guess your password in just a few tries, it hardly constitutes “brute force!”
Common passwords are not just “password” or “123456” (although those are frighteningly common), but also include words or phrases that just happen to be shared by millions of people, like "ilovecats" or "gogiants."
This new feature will be rolling out soon, and will prevent you from choosing a very common password when you sign up for an account or when you change your password. If you're already using a common password, you may, at some point in the future, be asked to change it to a stronger password.
Of course, having a strong password is just one step to protecting your account. You should also provide “proofs,” including an alternate email address, a question and secret answer, and, even a mobile number where we can reach you via text message. You can learn more about how to set up account proofs, or go ahead and set up your account proofs now.
These two observations led us to develop a couple of new features that help protect your accounts. The first lets you report a friend’s account as compromised – a feature unique to Hotmail – and the second prevents you from using common passwords that make your account easy to hack.
Getting spammed by a friend
Maybe you’ve had this happen to you: You sign in to Hotmail, and you see you’ve got new mail from one of your friends. You open the message only to discover that it’s spam! Maybe it’s obvious spam – like an ad for a product. Or maybe it’s a more involved story – like a plea for money, with an explanation that your friend is stuck in a foreign country and needs cash, when you know for sure that your friend is safe and sound at home.Whatever the case, one thing is for sure: this email isn’t really from your friend at all. Instead, it’s from a spammer who has hijacked your friend’s account. When this happens, you probably call or text your friend or contact them on an alternate email address to let them know that their email account has been compromised. But you wish you could do more.
Now you can. Hotmail lets you report your friend’s account as compromised. It’s easy: When you get that spam message supposedly from your friend, you just click “My friend’s been hacked!” on the “Mark as” menu:
You can also report an account as compromised when you mark a message as junk or otherwise move a message to the Junk folder:
What happens under the hood
Our compromise detection system is always working in the background to detect unusual behavior. When we detect bad behavior from an account (like an account that suddenly starts sending spam), we mark that account as compromised. It’s a bit like your credit card company putting a hold on your account when they detect suspicious activity.When you report that your friend’s account has been compromised, Hotmail takes that report and combines it with the other information from the compromise detection engine to determine if the account in question has in fact been hijacked. It turns out that the report that comes from you can be one of the strongest “signals” to the detection engine, since you may be the first to notice the compromise. So, when you help out this way, it makes a big difference!
Once we mark the account as compromised, two things happen:
- First and foremost, the account can no longer be used by the spammer.
- When your friend attempts to access their account, they’re put through an account recovery flow that helps them take back control of the account.
Making it work with all accounts
We released this feature a few weeks ago. Initially, it only let you report Hotmail accounts that were compromised. But it worked really well – we got thousands of reports of compromised accounts.Of course, we didn’t want to stop there; we wanted to go a step farther and make it work for any email account. After all, even if you’re a Hotmail user, you probably get email from friends using other email providers, and those accounts can get compromised, too.
We did the work to enable other email providers like Yahoo! and Gmail to receive these compromise reports from Hotmail including those submitted by you, and those providers will now be able to use the reports in their own systems to recover hacked accounts.
So now, in Hotmail, you can report any email account as compromised, and Hotmail will provide the compromise information to both Yahoo! and Gmail.
How well is it working?
We’ve had this feature turned on for only a few weeks, and we’ve already identified thousands of customers who have had their accounts hacked and helped those customers reclaim their accounts. And we’ve found it to be very effective and fast. Accounts that you report as compromised are typically returned to the rightful owner within a day.An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure
Of course, we don’t want to just detect when accounts are compromised; we want to prevent them from being compromised in the first place. That’s why we continue to innovate and build more features to help protect your account.We‘re making another addition to the long list of account security and protection features that we’ve released over the last year. We will now prevent our customers from using one of several common passwords. Having a common password makes your account vulnerable to brute force “dictionary” attacks, in which a malicious person tries to hijack your account just by guessing passwords (using a short list of very common passwords). Of course, Hotmail has built-in defenses against standard dictionary attacks, but when someone can guess your password in just a few tries, it hardly constitutes “brute force!”
Common passwords are not just “password” or “123456” (although those are frighteningly common), but also include words or phrases that just happen to be shared by millions of people, like "ilovecats" or "gogiants."
This new feature will be rolling out soon, and will prevent you from choosing a very common password when you sign up for an account or when you change your password. If you're already using a common password, you may, at some point in the future, be asked to change it to a stronger password.
Of course, having a strong password is just one step to protecting your account. You should also provide “proofs,” including an alternate email address, a question and secret answer, and, even a mobile number where we can reach you via text message. You can learn more about how to set up account proofs, or go ahead and set up your account proofs now.
Windows Phone Developers Get New App Hub Features: Mango app submission just one month away
This week marks another significant developer milestone on the path to the release of Mango and also gives me a chance to talk about where we’re headed.
We know there’s tremendous excitement among the developer community, with tens-of-thousands of you already using the beta tools and a significant increase in new developer registrations over the past couple of months. More importantly, we’re hearing from you directly and learning about some of the new and creative ideas you’re bringing to life through Mango. The combination of new platform capabilities such as multitasking and hardware accelerated IE9 with the new opportunities that come from our partnership with Nokia and expansion to twice as many consumer markets is attracting a new wave of Windows Phone developers. These are also some of the reasons that firms like Gartner are *forecasting end users open OS sales in excess of 600 million units by 2015 for Windows Phone.
Today we are officially announcing the rollout of the new App Hub developer portal with key new functionality, multiple enhancements and support for several new markets. For those of you who are new to Windows Phone, App Hub is where you manage your account, change settings, submit applications and stay up to date on Windows Phone. For Mango, we’ve updated App Hub to give you:
1. More geographic markets for developers, consumers and advertising coverage.
2. New private distribution options.
3. Enhanced application and account management capabilities.
New App Hub functionality and geographic expansion:
1. Geographic expansion: A large part of your success in Marketplace hinges on your app’s discoverability and reach. I’m excited to announce a number of new consumer and developer markets to help get your app in front of more people.
1) Increase your global distribution opportunities today. Starting today you can publish any of your existing applications (but not Games, see below) to the new Marketplace markets to increase the availability of your app. For apps that were previously published with “Worldwide Distribution,” and for anyone wishing to extend their current distribution, you will need to select the new consumer marketplace by clicking on the “Edit catalog details” on the new app Lifecycle tab. Without this step, previously published apps will not be available for distribution in the new consumer markets. Mango is coming soon, so make sure your app is there when it arrives.
Game developers please wait just a little longer. The App Hub is adding functionality to support game ratings and allowing developers to upload the associated rating certificates. Please be ready to publish your games to new Mango Marketplace markets in late August. We will be in touch shortly with more information.
2) Review app prices. We recommend that developers review the country-by-country prices for their existing apps to determine if they want to make any changes. Adjustments can be made either by changing the price of an application in its default currency (which will result in changes to the auto-generated prices for the other countries in which the application is available) or by submitting a different version for each country in which an application is offered and separately choosing the price for each country.
3) Submit Mango apps in August. We’re just about a month away from enabling developers to begin submitting Mango apps to App Hub. Developers will need to use the Windows Phone Release Candidate (RC) tools that we expect to make available in late August to finalize their Mango apps and submit to App Hub. In the meantime, developers should get the free ‘Windows Phone SDK 7.1 Beta 2’ here.
We appreciate your patience as App Hub comes on line. Developers can report any issues between the beta tools/emulator and production phones on the App Hub 'tools for wp7' forum.
I hope you find this information useful and the resources give you what you need to be Mango-ready in August. It’s time to put the finishing touches on your Mango apps and have them ready to submit in August. Finally, thank you for contributing more than 23,000 apps in just 8 short months and making Windows Phone one of the most vibrant and fastest growing mobile ecosystems in history.
We know there’s tremendous excitement among the developer community, with tens-of-thousands of you already using the beta tools and a significant increase in new developer registrations over the past couple of months. More importantly, we’re hearing from you directly and learning about some of the new and creative ideas you’re bringing to life through Mango. The combination of new platform capabilities such as multitasking and hardware accelerated IE9 with the new opportunities that come from our partnership with Nokia and expansion to twice as many consumer markets is attracting a new wave of Windows Phone developers. These are also some of the reasons that firms like Gartner are *forecasting end users open OS sales in excess of 600 million units by 2015 for Windows Phone.
Today we are officially announcing the rollout of the new App Hub developer portal with key new functionality, multiple enhancements and support for several new markets. For those of you who are new to Windows Phone, App Hub is where you manage your account, change settings, submit applications and stay up to date on Windows Phone. For Mango, we’ve updated App Hub to give you:
1. More geographic markets for developers, consumers and advertising coverage.
2. New private distribution options.
3. Enhanced application and account management capabilities.
New App Hub functionality and geographic expansion:
1. Geographic expansion: A large part of your success in Marketplace hinges on your app’s discoverability and reach. I’m excited to announce a number of new consumer and developer markets to help get your app in front of more people.
- 19 new consumer markets. Starting today developers can publish their apps to consumers in 19 new countries, in addition to the 16 that Marketplace already supports. The 19 new markets include Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Hungary, India, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden and Taiwan.
- 7 new developer markets: Also starting today developers from 7 new markets (Welcome!) can register in App Hub and submit apps. The 7 new developer markets enabled include: Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Israel, South Africa and South Korea.
- In a couple of months (early fall 2011), developers will also be able to register from China. We will also expand the registration support already available in India.
- App Hub localization: App Hub is now localized for Korean and Simplified Chinese in addition to English and Japanese.
- Updated price tiers: Periodically (such as with the addition of new markets) we modify price tiers on a country-by-country basis to adjust for fluctuations in global currency exchange rates. The goal is to maintain consistent application pricing (net of applicable taxes) across markets. During the nine months since our initial launch, some currencies have gained and some have lost strength relative to one another. The changes made this week bring global prices more closely in line with the values established 9 months ago. We’ve also added more pricing tier options below (US) $5 to give you more flexibility in pricing.
- Upcoming mobile in-app advertising market expansion: The international availability of Microsoft pubCenter remains a priority so developers can receive mobile in-app advertising revenue in their local currency. To this end, Microsoft Advertising pubCenter will support Windows Phone 7 app developers in the following 18 countries by the end of 2011: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
- Earlier this week, two developers used their apps to compare which advertising platform helped them make more money - Microsoft Advertising or another ad platform. After a nearly three week period, the Microsoft Advertising SDK for Windows Phone 7 drove a 71% higher yield, producing greater overall gross revenue earnings and fill rate. See the blog post for more details.
- Last month we announced the availability of Windows Phone 7 in-app inventory to all demand sources (e.g. ad networks) on the Microsoft Advertising Exchange for Mobile in any of the 17 countries where the Windows Phone Marketplace is currently live. Over a dozen new demand sources, including ChoiceStream and Suite 66, can now bid in real-time for this valuable in-app inventory increasing bid density.
- Beta Distribution: Enables developers to distribute pre-certified applications to a group of up to 100 access controlled beta testers for up to 90 days. This distribution method gives you the opportunity to test apps with a hand-picked set of beta testers more quickly and build high-quality apps before publishing them in Marketplace.
- Targeted Distribution: Enables you to distribute applications through Marketplace in a hidden state, where they are not discoverable via browsing or searching Marketplace. To enable targeted users to access your hidden app you simply share the deep-link to the app with the users you want to have access via e-mail, text or other mechanism. Unlike beta distribution, you may distribute your app to as many users as desired and publish publicly in Marketplace at any time.
- Better application management: By selecting ‘Edit catalog details’ on the app ‘Lifecycle’ tab you can now change the app metadata without submitting your app for re-certification, thus reducing the time to update and publish new information.
- Enhanced developer dashboard: Now from a single location, when you sign-in you can quickly see all top app performance metrics, payout status, distribution reporting and all available ratings & reviews on your app(s) on a per language basis.
- More detailed reporting: You are now able to select between ‘Summary’ and ‘Detail’ views of all reports and export them in an Excel-compatible format for offline data handling and analysis.
- New ‘Crash Count’ report: App Hub now enables you to retrieve data on crash counts and stack traces for each of your apps to use in debugging publisher updates faster.
- Streamlined application submission process: Developers no longer need to upload artwork files one-by-one. By clicking the ‘Browse’ button, developers can bulk select upload multiple artwork files all at once during the app submission process. The App Hub will automatically detect the image sizes of all artwork and place them in the correct artwork locations for developers to edit or delete before final app submission.
- New App Categories: To make discoverability of apps easier we have added 3 new top level categories (education, kids & family and government & politics) and several new sub categories. In addition, during the app submission process, developers can now select categories and sub-categories for all languages.
1) Increase your global distribution opportunities today. Starting today you can publish any of your existing applications (but not Games, see below) to the new Marketplace markets to increase the availability of your app. For apps that were previously published with “Worldwide Distribution,” and for anyone wishing to extend their current distribution, you will need to select the new consumer marketplace by clicking on the “Edit catalog details” on the new app Lifecycle tab. Without this step, previously published apps will not be available for distribution in the new consumer markets. Mango is coming soon, so make sure your app is there when it arrives.
Game developers please wait just a little longer. The App Hub is adding functionality to support game ratings and allowing developers to upload the associated rating certificates. Please be ready to publish your games to new Mango Marketplace markets in late August. We will be in touch shortly with more information.
2) Review app prices. We recommend that developers review the country-by-country prices for their existing apps to determine if they want to make any changes. Adjustments can be made either by changing the price of an application in its default currency (which will result in changes to the auto-generated prices for the other countries in which the application is available) or by submitting a different version for each country in which an application is offered and separately choosing the price for each country.
3) Submit Mango apps in August. We’re just about a month away from enabling developers to begin submitting Mango apps to App Hub. Developers will need to use the Windows Phone Release Candidate (RC) tools that we expect to make available in late August to finalize their Mango apps and submit to App Hub. In the meantime, developers should get the free ‘Windows Phone SDK 7.1 Beta 2’ here.
We appreciate your patience as App Hub comes on line. Developers can report any issues between the beta tools/emulator and production phones on the App Hub 'tools for wp7' forum.
I hope you find this information useful and the resources give you what you need to be Mango-ready in August. It’s time to put the finishing touches on your Mango apps and have them ready to submit in August. Finally, thank you for contributing more than 23,000 apps in just 8 short months and making Windows Phone one of the most vibrant and fastest growing mobile ecosystems in history.
Windows Phone “Mango” – Released to Manufacturing
I wanted to drop into the Windows Phone Blog briefly to update you on an important milestone. Earlier this morning, the Windows Phone development team officially signed off on the release to manufacturing (RTM) build of “Mango” – the latest version of the Windows Phone operating system. This marks the point in the development process where we hand code to our handset and mobile operator partners to optimize Mango for their specific phone and network configurations. Here on the Windows Phone team, we now turn to preparing for the update process. The Mango update for current Windows Phone handsets will be ready this fall, and of course will come pre-installed on new Windows Phones.
In May, we officially took the wraps off of Mango, a release including hundreds of new features that create a smarter and easier approach to communications and apps, while delivering the best web experience. My favorites?
· Our unique new email Conversation View which helps me to efficiently participate in long email discussions with my friends and co-workers.
· Threads that bring together my text, IM, and Facebook chat all into one conversation.
· App Multitasking, enabling me to efficiently work on my email, listen to music, and then pop in and out of Words By Post games when it is my turn. Mango also connects apps to search results and deepens integration within the Hubs like Music and Video and Pictures.
· Internet Explorer 9 for fast web browsing and support for new HTML 5 web sites.
We can’t wait to get Mango in your hands so you can experience all the new features for yourself and give us feedback on where to go next. As we reach additional milestones we will be back to share more but until then, thank you for your support of Windows Phone.
In May, we officially took the wraps off of Mango, a release including hundreds of new features that create a smarter and easier approach to communications and apps, while delivering the best web experience. My favorites?
· Our unique new email Conversation View which helps me to efficiently participate in long email discussions with my friends and co-workers.
· Threads that bring together my text, IM, and Facebook chat all into one conversation.
· App Multitasking, enabling me to efficiently work on my email, listen to music, and then pop in and out of Words By Post games when it is my turn. Mango also connects apps to search results and deepens integration within the Hubs like Music and Video and Pictures.
· Internet Explorer 9 for fast web browsing and support for new HTML 5 web sites.
We can’t wait to get Mango in your hands so you can experience all the new features for yourself and give us feedback on where to go next. As we reach additional milestones we will be back to share more but until then, thank you for your support of Windows Phone.
Horrible Idea Nightmare Phone Runs Windows 7 (Yes, the Desktop OS)
Here's something that shouldn't exist: the Fujitsu F-07C smartphone, which is really not smart at all, as it runs a full version of Windows 7. Not Windows Phone 7. Windows 7. On a 4-inch screen. Can this be reversed?
There is simply no possible way in which this is a good or even usable product. Even Windows 7 on a tablet is a mistake—and there, you have some room to swipe around. But this the equivalent of a goat driving a bus, or me coaching an Olympic gymnastics team.
Fujitsu claims the little mutant, with its Atom processor, "features functionality identical to that of a PC." Identical. Identical! Really? Identical? Yes, it's identical, sans mouse, touchpad, an actual screen, storage, ports, processing power or any of the other things that make a PC a PC. But perhaps Fujitsu is just working with a more liberal use of language, in which case the F-07C features functionality identical to that of a bicycle.
Oh wait, it does sport a QWERTY keyboard, which flips out for what Fujitsu calls "Windows Mode," otherwise known as "stab me in the fucking face" mode. It will be a joy to use Microsoft Office on this thing, I can tell. Have fun installing any other sort of software on this thing, ever.
And "Phone Mode" looks like a Chinese bootlegger started to rip off Android, ran out of amphetamines, and just gave up a third of the way through. It looks like nothing. Is it still Windows? What is it? Who approved this? Here are the full specs, if you are a masochist:
There is simply no possible way in which this is a good or even usable product. Even Windows 7 on a tablet is a mistake—and there, you have some room to swipe around. But this the equivalent of a goat driving a bus, or me coaching an Olympic gymnastics team.
Fujitsu claims the little mutant, with its Atom processor, "features functionality identical to that of a PC." Identical. Identical! Really? Identical? Yes, it's identical, sans mouse, touchpad, an actual screen, storage, ports, processing power or any of the other things that make a PC a PC. But perhaps Fujitsu is just working with a more liberal use of language, in which case the F-07C features functionality identical to that of a bicycle.
Oh wait, it does sport a QWERTY keyboard, which flips out for what Fujitsu calls "Windows Mode," otherwise known as "stab me in the fucking face" mode. It will be a joy to use Microsoft Office on this thing, I can tell. Have fun installing any other sort of software on this thing, ever.
And "Phone Mode" looks like a Chinese bootlegger started to rip off Android, ran out of amphetamines, and just gave up a third of the way through. It looks like nothing. Is it still Windows? What is it? Who approved this? Here are the full specs, if you are a masochist:
Size: 125 × 61 × 19.8 mm (19.8 mm at thickest point)It comes out tomorrow, in case you need a last minute birthday gift for someone you despise. And now, I go dunk my head in a bucket of ice water. [Fujitsu via TNW]
Weight: 218 g (with battery pack)
Continuous Standby Time: ~600 hours in FOMA 3G
Continuous Talk Time:
~370 minutes in FOMA 3G voice mode
~170 minutes in videophone mode
Display: ~4" wide SVGA touchscreen (1024 × 600 resolution)
Camera: (back side) 5.1 megapixel effective resolution, CMOS sensor
(inside) 0.32 megapixel effective resolution, CMOS sensor (0.17 megapixel in Windows® 7 mode)
Color: Navy Black
Windows® 7 mode
OS: Windows® 7 Home Premium 32 bit Full Version (with SP1)
CPU: Intel® Atom™ Z600 processor (supports HT technology) (1.20GHz)(4)
Main memory: Comes standard with 1GB/max 1GB (LPDDR400)
SSD: ~32 GB (eMMC)
Wireless LAN: IEEE802.11b/g/n (communications speed: up to 65Mbps)(5)
Windows® 7 battery life: ~2 hours(6) in Windows® 7 mode
windows loader v193
The safe and easy way to activate Windows.
![[Image: loader435.png]](http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/5475/loader435.png)
Features
* Can be run as a standalone application
* Works well with all system languages
* Argument support for silent installs
* Can be used for pre-activation
* Application integrity checking
* Custom error handling
* Support for hidden partitions and complex setups
* Can work alongside Linux’s GRUB or any other boot manager
* Works with TrueCrypt and many other types of hard drive encryption applications
* Add your own certificates and serials externally
* Offers certificate and serial installation only for users with an existing SLIC 2.1
* Automated system profiling (The application matches everything up for you)
Application integrity checking?
Hover your mouse over the green, amber or red icon to see detailed application information.
About
This is the loader application thats used by millions of people worldwide, well known for passing Microsoft’s WAT (Windows Activation Technologies) and is arguably the safest Windows activation exploit ever created. The application itself injects a SLIC (Software Licensing Description Table) into your system before Windows boots, this is what fools Windows into thinking it’s genuine.
This is the loader application thats used by millions of people worldwide, well known for passing Microsoft’s WAT (Windows Activation Technologies) and is arguably the safest Windows activation exploit ever created. The application itself injects a SLIC (Software Licensing Description Table) into your system before Windows boots, this is what fools Windows into thinking it’s genuine.
Features
* Can be run as a standalone application
* Works well with all system languages
* Argument support for silent installs
* Can be used for pre-activation
* Application integrity checking
* Custom error handling
* Support for hidden partitions and complex setups
* Can work alongside Linux’s GRUB or any other boot manager
* Works with TrueCrypt and many other types of hard drive encryption applications
* Add your own certificates and serials externally
* Offers certificate and serial installation only for users with an existing SLIC 2.1
* Automated system profiling (The application matches everything up for you)
The rundown
* This will run on x86 and x64 systems ✔ check
* This can activate all Windows versions at the same time, just install it on each ✔ check
* No core system files get modified ✔ check
* No extra processes are run so you have nothing eating at your RAM ✔ check
* All key parts of the exploit are encrypted with a custom encryption ✔ check
* The exploit runs before Windows so it’s harder for Microsoft to prevent ✔ check
* The exploit patches all necessary tables making activation look authentic ✔ check
* The application will select the best profile for your system during installation ✔ check
* Each and every user has a unique version of the exploit installed on his/her system ✔ check
* This will run on x86 and x64 systems ✔ check
* This can activate all Windows versions at the same time, just install it on each ✔ check
* No core system files get modified ✔ check
* No extra processes are run so you have nothing eating at your RAM ✔ check
* All key parts of the exploit are encrypted with a custom encryption ✔ check
* The exploit runs before Windows so it’s harder for Microsoft to prevent ✔ check
* The exploit patches all necessary tables making activation look authentic ✔ check
* The application will select the best profile for your system during installation ✔ check
* Each and every user has a unique version of the exploit installed on his/her system ✔ check
Supported operating systems
* Windows 7 Ultimate
* Windows 7 Professional
* Windows 7 Home Premium
* Windows 7 Home Basic
* Windows 7 Starter
* Windows Vista Ultimate
* Windows Vista Business
* Windows Vista Business N
* Windows Vista Home Premium
* Windows Vista Home Basic
* Windows Vista Home Basic N
* Windows Vista Starter
* Windows Server 2008 R2: Enterprise
* Windows Server 2008 R2: Standard
* Windows Server 2008 R2: Foundation
* Windows Server 2008: Enterprise
* Windows Server 2008: Standard
* Windows Server 2008: Foundation
* Windows Small Business Server 2008
* Windows 7 Ultimate
* Windows 7 Professional
* Windows 7 Home Premium
* Windows 7 Home Basic
* Windows 7 Starter
* Windows Vista Ultimate
* Windows Vista Business
* Windows Vista Business N
* Windows Vista Home Premium
* Windows Vista Home Basic
* Windows Vista Home Basic N
* Windows Vista Starter
* Windows Server 2008 R2: Enterprise
* Windows Server 2008 R2: Standard
* Windows Server 2008 R2: Foundation
* Windows Server 2008: Enterprise
* Windows Server 2008: Standard
* Windows Server 2008: Foundation
* Windows Small Business Server 2008
Note: You must be running build 7600 or greater for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2.
Note: Windows 7 N and E editions will only be supported when OEM SLP serials leak for them editions.
Note: Windows 7 N and E editions will only be supported when OEM SLP serials leak for them editions.
Application integrity checking?
Hover your mouse over the green, amber or red icon to see detailed application information.
Note: Even if the icon is green someone might have found a way around the protection system so it’s worth checking that the applications path is always the same as the location from which you launched the application. You should also check that the MD5 matches the MD5 found online.
Friday, August 5, 2011
Will it operate if my personal XP software upgrade in order to Windows Several?
Almost certainly. Nearly all programs that work on Microsoft windows xp and Windows Vista do not have difficulty throughout Windows 6, although there are usually exceptions.
Expenses Hullender
To confirm no matter if a specific perform in the brand new environment, go through the support centre “Windows 7 Match ups Center” (find.pcworld.com/70878). Once there, examine the sorts of programs as well as search for particular name. Or perhaps visit the associated Web site to observe what it suggests on the subject.
If you find a program in which wants to keep on using carries a problem, we have now four possibilities.
1. Run the program throughout XP being compatible mode. Right-click the program file or a program magic formula in the Start menu and choose Properties. Click the Compatibility loss. Mark the choice “Run this program throughout compatibility way of …” and choose an option in the dropdown menu regarding XP. Take a look to see if it truely does work.
2. Upgrading to a new version on the program appropriate for XP, as well as replace the program of a rival.
3. Install Windows 6 on a separate partition to choose between Windows xp or Windows 7 if this lights up (observe find.pcworld.com/70879).
5. If you upgrade to Windows 7 Professional or Supreme version, get and mount Windows Personal PC and also Windows XP Setting (find.pcworld.com/70880). These kind of applications enable you to, in effect, manage XP inside Windows 6.
It is worthy of noting yet another point: if you change from a mature XP laptop or computer to a new Windows 7, probably will be changing at a 32-bit version regarding Windows to some 64-bit. (XP and also Windows 6 comes in two options, however the 64-bit is significantly more established now in comparison with when the PCs come normal with Windows xp installed). The actual programs Windows 16 pieces of the nineties can only operate on 32-bit environments, but don’t work on Windows 64 chunks. Therefore, a number of older applications will not work towards the new laptop or computer.
Expenses Hullender
To confirm no matter if a specific perform in the brand new environment, go through the support centre “Windows 7 Match ups Center” (find.pcworld.com/70878). Once there, examine the sorts of programs as well as search for particular name. Or perhaps visit the associated Web site to observe what it suggests on the subject.
If you find a program in which wants to keep on using carries a problem, we have now four possibilities.
1. Run the program throughout XP being compatible mode. Right-click the program file or a program magic formula in the Start menu and choose Properties. Click the Compatibility loss. Mark the choice “Run this program throughout compatibility way of …” and choose an option in the dropdown menu regarding XP. Take a look to see if it truely does work.
2. Upgrading to a new version on the program appropriate for XP, as well as replace the program of a rival.
3. Install Windows 6 on a separate partition to choose between Windows xp or Windows 7 if this lights up (observe find.pcworld.com/70879).
5. If you upgrade to Windows 7 Professional or Supreme version, get and mount Windows Personal PC and also Windows XP Setting (find.pcworld.com/70880). These kind of applications enable you to, in effect, manage XP inside Windows 6.
It is worthy of noting yet another point: if you change from a mature XP laptop or computer to a new Windows 7, probably will be changing at a 32-bit version regarding Windows to some 64-bit. (XP and also Windows 6 comes in two options, however the 64-bit is significantly more established now in comparison with when the PCs come normal with Windows xp installed). The actual programs Windows 16 pieces of the nineties can only operate on 32-bit environments, but don’t work on Windows 64 chunks. Therefore, a number of older applications will not work towards the new laptop or computer.
Windows XP SP3 Evolution Black Edition (2011)
Windows XP SP3 Evolution Black Edition (2011)
Release Name: Windows XP Evolution Black SP3
System: Windows XP Professional SP3 English Original MSDN x86
Date: 12.28.2009
Language: English
CD Key: Already integrated original key
Activation: Already Activated
Install method: Auto Installation (You can choose partition, Format)
Size: 672 MB
Bootable
Integrated Windows Media Player 11 Internet Explorer 8
New Themes, Icons, Wallpapers
Accept updates from Microsoft
Download From FileSonic
OR
Release Name: Windows XP Evolution Black SP3
System: Windows XP Professional SP3 English Original MSDN x86
Date: 12.28.2009
Language: English
CD Key: Already integrated original key
Activation: Already Activated
Install method: Auto Installation (You can choose partition, Format)
Size: 672 MB
Bootable
Integrated Windows Media Player 11 Internet Explorer 8
New Themes, Icons, Wallpapers
Accept updates from Microsoft
Download From FileSonic
http://www.filesonic.com/folder/2340591
OR
http://www.filesonic.com/file/1595176881/WXPEvolutionBlack.single.link.rar
How you can eradicate or Recuperate Forgotten Windows XP Password
Windows incorporates a inbuilt characteristic which makes a floppy diskette that aids you reset your password with the event you don’t just take into account it. This attribute is available from Control Panel within the buyer Accounts applet. To produce a password reset disk,click on towards consumer account and click on “prevent a forgotten password”. You certainly will want a solitary blank formatted floppy disk to finish the process. Preserve the floppy disk inside a secure place for use during the occasion of your forgotten password and provide you with guideline regarding how to reset windows xp password.
Most private personal computers running Windows XP really do not possess a password set towards concealed administrator account which is accessible only in reliable mode. It’s simple to accessibility safe mode by pressing the F8 key just next the original display screen(in a few scenarios know for that explanation that BIOS display). Windows gives a file of choices subsequent the F8 critical is pressed. Choose the “Safe Mode” desire and press Enter. Log with the account labeled as “administrator” and open command panel. Navigate for the purchaser account applet and click on for the buyer account aided from the forgotten password. Click on “recover windows xp password” as well as the account will probably be password at no cost. This only capabilities when there is not a password arranged to the concealed administrator account. This progression features only in Windows XP. The concealed administrator account should not be obtainable by way of dependable and sound mode in Windows Vista.
3rd social gathering assets seem to happen to have been formulated that support you to windows xp password reset. My specific desired is “Active @ Password Changer”. The software program systems finds the registry main that consists of your passwords and provides you with the selection to get rid of the password from any person account. In addition, the software system model operates for just about just about every edition of Windows close to equally 32-bit and 64-bit. It has the two DOS and Windows variations. I would like the Windows model because it makes utilization of a simple graphical interface and it is usually just a complete lot simpler to make use of in comparison to the DOS edition.
Else, it is easy to make an effort to use windows xp password reset disk to remove other devices apart from the xp.It is easy to melt away the windows xp password recovery cd to acquire care your complication of windows password, and it’s also easy to get along.
Most private personal computers running Windows XP really do not possess a password set towards concealed administrator account which is accessible only in reliable mode. It’s simple to accessibility safe mode by pressing the F8 key just next the original display screen(in a few scenarios know for that explanation that BIOS display). Windows gives a file of choices subsequent the F8 critical is pressed. Choose the “Safe Mode” desire and press Enter. Log with the account labeled as “administrator” and open command panel. Navigate for the purchaser account applet and click on for the buyer account aided from the forgotten password. Click on “recover windows xp password” as well as the account will probably be password at no cost. This only capabilities when there is not a password arranged to the concealed administrator account. This progression features only in Windows XP. The concealed administrator account should not be obtainable by way of dependable and sound mode in Windows Vista.
3rd social gathering assets seem to happen to have been formulated that support you to windows xp password reset. My specific desired is “Active @ Password Changer”. The software program systems finds the registry main that consists of your passwords and provides you with the selection to get rid of the password from any person account. In addition, the software system model operates for just about just about every edition of Windows close to equally 32-bit and 64-bit. It has the two DOS and Windows variations. I would like the Windows model because it makes utilization of a simple graphical interface and it is usually just a complete lot simpler to make use of in comparison to the DOS edition.
Else, it is easy to make an effort to use windows xp password reset disk to remove other devices apart from the xp.It is easy to melt away the windows xp password recovery cd to acquire care your complication of windows password, and it’s also easy to get along.
Fast solution for blue screen error of windows xp!
Most internet surfers have likely were built with a work in with the particular Windows Blue Screen. Also known as the actual "Blue screen of dying" this problem offers Numerous possible leads to. While the #1 instigator can be a malware or even viral infection, The blue screen may come coming from bad memory, power supply problems, equipment heating up or the computer running past it's specs limits.
The Ms Company phone calls this stop mistake. Programmers regard it the "blue screen regarding death". To us all basic computer users, it is called frustrating. The actual screen error is absolutely really frustrating with a for it could cause info loss. The actual display screen of dying will be kind of problem in which a screen along with Several characters appears in the keep track of. This can be a way of defense for the personal computer's system, since it avoids the possibilities associated with additional complications. The usual plan of action that customers consider is actually rebooting the computer. Usually, the computer will begin up as if absolutely nothing happened. The consumer after that anxiously backs-up any info as fast as you can if your screen regarding passing away looks once again.
If you go through the blue screen immediately after you've got put in a fresh software program or hardware, odds are the new stuff you set up isn't functioning properly. If this sounds like the situation, you might merely remove the program. You may even reinstall and follow the instructions properly. Once the blue screen doesn't reappear, you're one blessed person.
The blue display screen is certainly one of many worst issues anybody might encounter. Furthermore, unlike some other problems which are acknowledged together with beeping sounds, nowhere display mistake sometimes happens at any time with no warning beforehand. You would not need this to happen to you. Some people often ask by themselves "What causes nowhere display screen associated with death?" If you are one of these brilliant people, then look absolutely no more for many of the very common causes of this kind of problem are detailed hereunder.
Usual sources of blue screen mistakes and ways to repair all of them
If you don't want to read all this stuff, here is a fast solution: http://bluescreenerror.posterous.com/fix-windows-xp-blue-screen-right-now
oNew software program or even hardware set up - this kind of usually brings about the error. The best thing that can be done concerning this will be uninstall or even reinstall this program. If it nonetheless doesn't work, there is one more reason for the mistake.
oViruses and also spyware and adware - they're quite typical amongst down loaded materials. Although the likelihood of viruses becoming explanation for blue screen, will still be better to install a highly effective and latest anti-virus. Look at your computer regularly too.
oDevice motorist complications - each time a new components will be set up to the computer, it may not become compatible with these devices car owner. To avoid this scenario, make the most current and latest version of one's device driver, which can be typically available at the particular manufacturer's website. If this does not work, merely eliminate the hardware you installed.
oHardware problems - the constituents of the computer like the enthusiast, RAM as well as Cpu may begin not working over time, particularly when you employ the computer for 12 hrs each day or even longer. If your computer provides AMD Athlon CPU, expect that to create a lot more warmth as opposed to Apple Processor.
For fast, easy and safe solution to fix windows blue screen error of death visit this site: http://www.errorbluescreen.com/windows-xp-blue-screen
Author Resource:- Jorge Miller is an expert computer technician with fifteen years of experience in the industry. Since his own computer was destroyed by malicious software, he has been studying anti-spyware, computer craches, and other pc problems, errors for years. His website details the comprehensive results of this research. www.errorbluescreen.com/windows-xp-blue-screen
The Ms Company phone calls this stop mistake. Programmers regard it the "blue screen regarding death". To us all basic computer users, it is called frustrating. The actual screen error is absolutely really frustrating with a for it could cause info loss. The actual display screen of dying will be kind of problem in which a screen along with Several characters appears in the keep track of. This can be a way of defense for the personal computer's system, since it avoids the possibilities associated with additional complications. The usual plan of action that customers consider is actually rebooting the computer. Usually, the computer will begin up as if absolutely nothing happened. The consumer after that anxiously backs-up any info as fast as you can if your screen regarding passing away looks once again.
If you go through the blue screen immediately after you've got put in a fresh software program or hardware, odds are the new stuff you set up isn't functioning properly. If this sounds like the situation, you might merely remove the program. You may even reinstall and follow the instructions properly. Once the blue screen doesn't reappear, you're one blessed person.
The blue display screen is certainly one of many worst issues anybody might encounter. Furthermore, unlike some other problems which are acknowledged together with beeping sounds, nowhere display mistake sometimes happens at any time with no warning beforehand. You would not need this to happen to you. Some people often ask by themselves "What causes nowhere display screen associated with death?" If you are one of these brilliant people, then look absolutely no more for many of the very common causes of this kind of problem are detailed hereunder.
Usual sources of blue screen mistakes and ways to repair all of them
If you don't want to read all this stuff, here is a fast solution: http://bluescreenerror.posterous.com/fix-windows-xp-blue-screen-right-now
oNew software program or even hardware set up - this kind of usually brings about the error. The best thing that can be done concerning this will be uninstall or even reinstall this program. If it nonetheless doesn't work, there is one more reason for the mistake.
oViruses and also spyware and adware - they're quite typical amongst down loaded materials. Although the likelihood of viruses becoming explanation for blue screen, will still be better to install a highly effective and latest anti-virus. Look at your computer regularly too.
oDevice motorist complications - each time a new components will be set up to the computer, it may not become compatible with these devices car owner. To avoid this scenario, make the most current and latest version of one's device driver, which can be typically available at the particular manufacturer's website. If this does not work, merely eliminate the hardware you installed.
oHardware problems - the constituents of the computer like the enthusiast, RAM as well as Cpu may begin not working over time, particularly when you employ the computer for 12 hrs each day or even longer. If your computer provides AMD Athlon CPU, expect that to create a lot more warmth as opposed to Apple Processor.
For fast, easy and safe solution to fix windows blue screen error of death visit this site: http://www.errorbluescreen.com/windows-xp-blue-screen
Author Resource:- Jorge Miller is an expert computer technician with fifteen years of experience in the industry. Since his own computer was destroyed by malicious software, he has been studying anti-spyware, computer craches, and other pc problems, errors for years. His website details the comprehensive results of this research. www.errorbluescreen.com/windows-xp-blue-screen
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