Down Time

Hot on the heels of Microsoft starting to advertise Internet Explorer 9 there is now a leaked video (first picked up by Softpedia) of the browser demoing the user interface and speed. Despite looking like a fake video, We understands the video is of an old, internal build of Internet Explorer 9 which was given to employees to test.

In the video, it can be seen that the user interface bears a resemblance to the leaked image of Internet Explorer 9 from last month but features older icons, gradients and buttons. Neowin has been informed that the leaked image is how Internet Explorer 9 will look when released as a beta next week. Therefore, the video above doesn’t display an accurate image of how Internet Explorer 9 will appear.

The rendering engine used for this build of Internet Explorer 9 appears to be the same as the most recent version of the developer platform preview of Internet Explorer 9. The speed at which the browser loads and functions in the video is expected to be similar to how quick the beta version will be.

Long Zheng has just spotted that Microsoft is already starting to advertise Internet Explorer 9 Beta ahead of its official launch next Wednesday. The banner advert was spotted on TechCrunch and it’s likely to be found on many other sites across the web.

The advert features a few quotes from people and web sites that who played with previous versions of Internet Explorer 9. The advert focuses on how Internet Explorer 9 will allow for a different kind of internet than the one we are used too telling readers to “get ready for a more beautiful web”. This has been the tag line used with Internet Explorer 9 ever since Microsoft announced they would be holding a special event for the launch of the beta.


Microsoft announced back in August that they would be holding an event in San Francisco on September 15th where Internet Explorer 9 Beta would be announced. It is unusual for a company to put so much emphasis on a beta version of a piece of software which suggests either Microsoft have got a lot planned for Internet Explorer 9 or have more to announce than just a browser.

An image leaked in late August that is rumored to be of Internet Explorer 9 but there have been many who have questioned the image’s authenticity.

Microsoft has been providing developer access to the much improved Internet Explorer 9 rendering engine on a regular basis. The company has been stressing that developers shouldn’t have to worry about which browser will be rendering a web page but should be able to just write code for all browsers. To that end Internet Explorer 9 will be far more standards compliant than any other Microsoft browser to date and appears to far faster than any previous versions of the browser, its now almost as fast as Google Chrome and Apple Safari.

Everybody is quite exciting about Microsoft Windows 7 Service Pack 1, Now the wait is over Microsoft has released a beta refresh of its Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack (SP) 1 to selected PC and Technology Adoption Program (TAP) partners, company officials confirmed on August 30.

Microsoft made the refresh build — the build number of which is said to be Build No. 7601.17077 — available to a select group of testers on August 27. There’s no word (so far) on whether there is anything new in that refresh.

The spokesperson said Microsoft would not comment on whether the company will release to the public another interim SP1 build before the first service pack is released to manufacturing. Microsoft officials said earlier this summer that the company is planning to deliver the final SP1 code in the first half of 2011, and the spokesperson said on August 30 that Microsoft is still on track with that stated release date.

The server version of SP1 includes two new virtualization-focused features: RemoteFX and a dynamic-memory adjustor for Hyper-V. I’ve heard speculation that the server version of SP1 is what’s holding back the delivery of the client version, but have not heard this from any Microsoft officials.

Microsoft released a public beta of SP1 in mid-July.

Microsoft officials have been adamant that consumers and business customers don’t need to wait for SP1 to deploy Windows 7 and/or Windows Server 2008 R2. Still, a number of business customers use the release of SP1 as a milestone in terms of planning their deployments of a new operating system.

As we know Windows 7 is now become one of the most usage and successful windows after Windows XP. Everybody is now thinking When Will Windows 7 Overtake Windows XP ? And people are now really considering Windows 7 as compare to windows xp in many ways. I have noticed very strong evidence that Windows 7 has succeeded in a big way among early adopters and enthusiasts, who dominate the readership of a website like this one. I also see clear indications that businesses are adopting Windows 7 at a faster pace than in earlier Windows versions.

The monthly reports on operating system versions provide an ideal snapshot for my purposes, with data that goes back far enough to see meaningful trends. Using Excel, I plotted data from December 2008 (a month before the Windows 7 beta was made public) to July 2010 and then made some simple projections. Here’s what the chart looks like; actual Net Market Share data is to the left of the line in the center of the chart, and my projections are to the right:

Click to Enlarge Image

Yes, you can make a case for a hockey-stick growth curve with even a slight increase in the Windows 7 adoption rate. You could also argue for a slowdown, although I think that scenario is unlikely based on the overwhelmingly positive reception of Windows 7 in the market and where we are in the PC replacement cycle. The most likely scenario, in my opinion, is that the pace of migration from XP to Windows 7 will accelerate over the next two years as XP gets closer to its end-of-life date.

In the Net Market Share data, the percentage of Mac OS X use has remained in a very narrow range for that entire period. In December 2008, the total for Mac Intel and Mac OS was 4.45%. For July 2010, the Net Market Share report breaks usage by OS X version rather than hardware platform, but the total for OS X 10.6 and 10.5 is nearly identical at 4.42%. In between, the percentage of users never rose above 4.45% and never dropped below 4%.

As someone who’s watched every Windows release since the early 1990s, I find it remarkable that Windows 7 usage has overtaken Vista so quickly, roughly nine months after it was released. NetMarketShare noted that trend with its July 2010 report. That same crossover appears in the ZDNet visitor data I posted yesterday, except that it happened about 8-10 months earlier. If the broad PC market is still lagging early adopters by that same gap, then I expect Net Applications will report that Windows 7 has passed XP in usage sometime next summer.

Microsoft has just released the next major version of the Windows Live Essentials 2011 beta suite. The package comes with a number of improvements, bug fixes and added features.

Microsoft originally released a Windows Live Essentials beta on June 24. Essentials includes the popular programs Windows Live Movie Maker, Mail, Writer, Sync, and Family Safety. The Windows Live team has aimed to ensure that the next version of Windows Live Essentials takes advantage of Windows 7 fully. All applications now use the new ribbon UI and integrate further into Windows 7 by using Jumplists. Windows Live Sync is also included which keeps your files synchronized on the web and across multiple PCs.

Microsoft also introduced several new features for Windows Live Photo Gallery, including photo fusing to blend photos together and improved facial recognition.

Download Windows Live Essentials 2011 beta refresh (English full installer)

Build number: 15.4.3001.809.

Some applications carry a different build number, so here is a master list of the versions:

• Movie Maker – 15.4.3002.0810
• Messenger – 15.4.3002.0810
• Mail – 15.4.3002.0810
• Photo Gallery -15.4.3002.0810
• Sync – 15.4.3001.0809
• Family Safety – 15.4.3001.0809
• Writer – 15.4.3001.0809

Microsoft revealed this thursday that they are currently readying an Internet Explorer 9 public beta for September. Neowin believes this will be September 2.

Microsoft’s C.O.O. Kevin Turner announced the public beta date at the annual Microsoft Financial Analyst Meeting (FAM) on July 29. Screenshots of an early build of Internet Explorer 9 leaked to the web earlier this week. The screenshots revealed that Microsoft is planning a download manager and add-on manager for Internet Explorer 9.

Microsoft originally unveiled Internet Explorer 9 Photos and concept at PDC 2009. IE 9 will take advantage of the power of the GPU for all page rendering and developers can exploit this using CSS, DHTML andjavascript. A new JS engine (codenamed Chakra) will also be built into Internet Explorer 9 with greater interoperability and standards support all round. Features such as rounded corner CSS support will be built in. In January, we revealed that Microsoft is planning to enhance tabbed browsing in IE9. According to a software patent, the Quick Tabs feature in Internet Explorer is likely to be enhanced with better functionality and greater tab management options.

Microsoft is also planning broader support for HTML5 in Internet Explorer 9 through its new script engine. Microsoft recently performed W3C Web Standards tests on IE9, including HTML5, SVG 1.1 2nd edition, CSS3 media queries, CSS3 borders & backgrounds, CSS3 selectors, DOM level 3 core, DOM level 3 events and DOM level 2 style. Microsoft, with the help of W3C, performed a total of 192 tests on a variety of browsers. Internet Explorer 9 scored 100% in all eight tests, while every other browser, except Firefox in DOM level 2 style tests, didn’t score perfect in any of the test categories.

In less than a year Windows 7 is really getting popular and become one of the most use Operating System by people today, Windows 7 is now being used more than Windows Vista, according to market researcher.

Windows XP is still the most-used operating system, used by more than twice as many users as Vista and Windows 7 combined. Windows XP was used by nearly 62 percent of devices accessing the Web.

Windows Vista's 14.34 percent, marking the first time that the newer version surpassed its predecessor. Windows 7 was used on 14.46 percent of devices accessing the Internet, as compared to Microsoft has said it has sold 175 million copies of Windows 7 since the product went on sale last fall.

Usage of Windows 7 has been growing quickly since its release, topping the 10 percent level by March. Within a month on the market, Windows 7 was being used by four percent of Net-accessing devices, a level it took Vista seven months to reach.

Everyone seems to waiting for Microsoft another OS Windows 8 after the success of Windows 7, which should arrive in early-2012, has yet to receive much media attention. That’s probably because the most exciting thing we’ve heard about it so far is that it ‘might’ have an ‘app store’, and other leaks have all been centered around performance improvements (which are a given).

Microsoft has a lot riding on Windows 8. Windows Vista hurt Microsoft’s reputation (rightly or wrongly), and Windows 7 was its savior. Windows 8 needs to be better than Windows 7 in ways that consumers can see, understand, and experience, and it needs to give consumers a reason to upgrade (or cross-grade) for it to equal or surpass Windows 7. The software giant’s latest release of Windows has “skyrocketed” PC sales, and scores a rating of”94 percent customer satisfaction”, according to CEO Steve Ballmer.

In the last few years, Microsoft has seen a lot of change – with the departure of Gates, and then Bach and Allard in recent months, and with constant management shuffling, it will be interesting to see how Microsoft pulls it’s resources together to make Windows 8 the success that many are expecting it to be.

Microsoft has released the Microsoft Messenger for Mac 8 platform. The latest Microsoft Messenger provides several new features and update. The latest Microsoft Messenger beta, Build 08.00.00.100305 for Mac 8 Beta offers a audio/video feature for Windows Live users. Mac users will be able to share webcam and audio conversations with each other and their Windows counterparts through latest Microsoft Messenger.

The latest messenger software is still in beta process and has several known issues such as emoticons visibility, some video/audio calls do not work on certain configurations and display pictures do not display in the conversation window. Microsoft has not confirmed when a final version will be available. But you can try this latest version by your self to check more features and upgrade functions.

Download: Messenger for Mac Beta

If you have not upgraded your old windows version (windows xp 2 or windows vista RTM) to a latest version of windows (windows 7 or Windows Vista SP1) then you may faced some problem in near future because Microsoft is soon going to stop Support for Windows Vista RTM and Windows XP SP2 (Service Pack 2).

Support for Windows Vista (without any service pack installed) will be ending on April 13, 2010, meaning users must be running Vista SP1 or SP2 to receive any further product support. Users can upgrade to the latest service pack, SP2, for free, providing them with the latest security updates.

Support for Windows XP SP2 will be ending on July 13, 2010. Users still running Windows XP SP2 will no longer receive updates after this date, and are urged to update to Windows XP SP3, a free upgrade, or switch to Windows 7.

Users running Windows XP SP2 64-bit will still receive product support up until April 8, 2014, since Microsoft never released a 64-bit service pack 3.

Microsoft has now started the investigation to find out the caused of Internet Explorer 6, 7 and 8 F1 bug in Windows XP. Microsoft officials are now warning that Internet Explorer could allow remote code execution to the attackers but only in Windows XP. Microsoft officials confirmed the flaw could allow an attacker to host a maliciously crafted web page and run arbitrary code if they could convince a user to visit the web page and if the user presses F1, IE will load an attacker-supplied .HLP file with winhlp32.exe. Which allow attackers to remotely access your data online. So people have to look after these possibility issues in internet explorer to avoid this type of attacks in internet explorer.

Windows 7 is Microsoft latest stylish windows after windows XP and windows Vista. Many people love the glassy effects in windows 7 and also in windows vista. But with the compatibility issue with windows vista many people didn’t used it frequently, But after windows vista Microsoft released its best operating system with stability knows as windows 7. People love it and used it as a primary operating system after windows XP. Windows 7 is different from windows vista and windows xp in term of stability and also in look wize. Many XP users doesn’t afford core hardware for windows 7 and windows vista, that’s why they love to customize the look of windows xp as look like windows 7 and windows vista.

So for those people who wants to completely customize their windows? I prefer them to used stardock window blinds. Window blinds is one of the popular software from stardock which totally transform your windows xp and make it look like windows 7 or windows vista. You cannot even see the difference between real and artificial. Because WindowBlinds extends the existing painting routines of the operating system, it uses very little memory. You can choose thousands of free skins from their, you can customize Windows to look like another a new take on the standard Windows look, a totally different OS, or something completely different or any other look you want.

Download Link
Current Version: 7.0

According to Critix, Users will be able to run Windows 7 on the new Apple iPad when it released in March, at least virtually. The Citrix Receiver software currently works with the iPhone and iPod, allowing users to virtually connect to Windows from your device.

The Citrix Receiver software works with unmodified Windows 7 applications. The company mentioned in their blog that the iPad will be perfectly suitable to support a Windows 7 virtually:

“It turns out the 9.7 inch display on the iPad with a 1024×768 screen resolution works great for a full VDI XenDesktop. Windows applications run unmodified and securely in the data center, and even multiple applications at once.“

Vice President Chris Fleck said, “If your company has XenDesktop or XenApp you will be happy to know you will be able to use your iPad for real work as well.” The virtualization software already works great on the iPad SDK kit, and the company promises the application will be ready when the iPad launches.

A reminder for the expiration of Microsoft Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC) has issued by Microsoft. Users will get their notification.

Windows 7 RC does not expire until 1 June 2010 but from February 15 users will begin seeing expiration notifications in the task bar one time per day and then a Notification Wizard one time every four hours and then one time every hour. After March 1 Windows 7 RC users will experience shut-downs every two hours. A brief summary of the events can be found below:

Effective February 15, 2010, the expiration notification process begins:

* Windows 7 RC users receive an expiration notification in the task bar one time per day.
* Windows 7 RC users are presented with the Notification Wizard one time every four hours and then one time every hour.

Effective March 1, 2010, Windows 7 RC enters the next phase of expiration:

* Expiration notifications in the task bar continue.
* Computers that are running Windows 7 RC restart every two hours.

Effective June 1, 2010, Windows 7 RC expires:

* Windows starts to a black desktop.
* Windows 7 RC users are presented with a Windows Activation screen. The screen states that the Windows that you are running is not genuine.
* Computers that are running Windows 7 RC restart every two hours.

• This update of Windows will detect more than 70+ known and potentially dangerous activation cracks and non-genuine copies.
• Deactivate their copies of windows and bypass their copies of windows activation process
• If any non validation or exploits found, the desktop wallpaper will be switched to a plain desktop (all of the customer’s desktop icons, gadgets, or pinned applications stay in place). Periodic reminders and a persistent desktop watermark act as further alerts to the customer.
• Customer has to re-install their copy of windows 7 or buy the genuine copy of windows for the future used of their windows.

Laptop owners upgrading their Windows XP and Windows Vista machines to Windows 7 are complaining that Microsoft's new OS has severely reduced their available battery life.

One user tells The Reg that after upgrading his circa 2007 HP notebook from Vista to Windows 7, the machine's battery life dropped from two hours to a half hour, and countless others are voicing similar complaints on Microsoft's TechNet forums.

The problem is caused by a new tool designed to alert users when their battery needs replacing. In some cases, according to TechNet posts, this alert appears time and again - even as a battery continues to run as it always did - falsely warning that the machine may suddenly shutdown. But in other cases, the machine does shutdown prematurely. It would seem this occurs well before the battery has run out of juice.

In a statement sent to The Reg, Microsoft has acknowledged the issue, saying it's related to the way Windows 7 reads system firmware. "We are investigating this issue in conjunction with our hardware partners," the statement reads. "The warning received in Windows 7 uses firmware information to determine if battery replacement is needed. We are working with our partners to determine the root cause and will update the [Technet] forum with information and guidance as it becomes available."

According to some users posting to Technet, the issue dates back several months, to the Windows 7 beta. But others say they didn't see a problem until the final "release to manufacturing" (RTM) build. "I was having excellent battery life until I installed the RTM of Windows 7 - all RC and beta builds that I installed I had nearly three hours of battery. Now, I have about 20 minutes and Win7 shuts down my laptop," writes one user.

"This change in behavior happened when I went from an RC to RTM. Instant behavior change. Needless to say, I - like you that have posted here - [am] not happy."

Microsoft confirms that its "consider replacing your battery" warning is new to Windows 7. But the company also says that in some cases, the new tool may be working properly. In other words, if it says your battery needs replacing, it may need replacing. But for so many laptops owners posting to TechNet, this is clearly not the case.

One poster says the problem has occurred on the same machine with two different sets of batteries. "At first, I was thinking the laptop is a couple years old, and sat on a shelf gathering dust, not being stored properly," he writes. "I went to replace the batteries, and realized that HP had recalled them. So i replaced them with brand new batts from the factory. And wala! same issue."

According to posts, the issue occurs across many multiple laptop makes and models, and Microsoft's statement seems to confirm this is the case. ®

With a boost from the release of Windows 7, Microsoft on Thursday said that its quarterly revenue topped $19 billion as the company sold a record number of copies of its operating system.

The software maker said it earned $6.66 billion, or 74 cents per share, on revenue of $19.02 billion for the three-month period that ended December 31. Those results included revenue deferred from the prior quarter, as the company was preparing for Windows 7 and offering free upgrades to those who bought Windows Vista-based computers. Excluding the deferred revenue, Microsoft said it had revenue of $17.31 billion, and diluted earnings per share would have totaled 60 cents per share.

"Exceptional demand for Windows 7 led to the positive top-line growth for the company," chief financial officer Peter Klein said in a statement. "Our continuing commitment to managing costs allowed us to drive earnings performance ahead of the revenue growth."

Chief Operating Officer Kevin Turner touted the record quarter for Windows unit sales, spurred by the Oct. 22 launch of Windows 7. "We are thrilled by the consumer reception to Windows 7 and by business enthusiasm to adopt Windows 7," he said in a statement.

The company said that through the end of December it had sold more than 60 million Windows 7 licenses, which it said made Windows 7 the fastest selling operating system in history.

In October, Microsoft reported better-than-expected sales, also boosted by stronger demand for Windows.

The company said overall PC sales grew 15 percent to 17 percent in the quarter, although that was led by a 20 percent growth in consumer sales as the business market remained roughly flat. The market for new servers remained weak, down slightly year over year, although Microsoft's server and tools business unit managed to grow revenue 2 percent as compared with a year ago.

Microsoft's online unit saw its revenue dip 5 percent, led by a 2 percent drop in online advertising, although the company noted that its Bing search engine continues to gain market share.

The Microsoft Business Division, which includes Office, saw sales off 3 percent, perhaps as customers await this year's launch of Office 2010.

On the Xbox side, Microsoft said it sold 5.2 million consoles during the quarter, down 13 percent from a year ago, leading the entertainment and devices unit to post a double-digit decline in revenue.

The company didn't give a full forecast for the coming quarter, saying it would have more to say on a 2:30 p.m. PST conference call. It did tell analysts to expect operating expenses for the full fiscal year ending June 30 to total $26.2 billion to $26.5 billion.

Here's a chart of how each of Microsoft's individual business units performed:

Microsoft has released the final version of Windows Live Essentials 2011.

As we exclusively revealed earlier today, the software giant has released the final edition to the web.
The complete package comes just over a month after a beta refresh was issued on August 17. Microsoft originally released a Windows Live Essentials beta on June 24. Essentials includes the popular programs Windows Live Movie Maker, Mail, Messenger, Writer, Sync, and Family Safety. The Windows Live team has aimed to ensure that the next version of Windows Live Essentials takes advantage of Windows 7 fully. All applications now use the new ribbon UI and integrate further into Windows 7 by using Jumplists. Windows Live Sync is also included which keeps your files synchronized on the web and across multiple PCs.

Microsoft also introduced several new features for Windows Live Photo Gallery, including photo fusing to blend photos together and improved facial recognition.

Download: Windows Live Essentials 2011
Download: Windows Live Essentials 2011 Offline installer