Vista SP 1 Ships in 2008, the First Beta Drops in 2 Weeks!
After a long period of Windows Omerta, in which Microsoft gagged all details related to the future development plans for the Windows platform, the company has come out and confirmed the availability dates for the first beta of Windows Vista SP1, as well as for the final release of the refresh.
windows -
comments -
29.8.2007 Microsoft Hands out XP SP3 beta – Final SP for XP
In an email sent to selected testers telling them they have been accepted to begin testing XP SP3, Microsoft has also informed them that this will be the final Service Pack for the now aging OS.
windows -
comments -
5.10.2007 Vista SP1, and then Windows 7, Windows 8 and Non-Windows Midori
2008 saw the release of Windows Vista Service Pack 1, Windows XP Service Pack 3 and Windows Server 2008, but Microsoft's journey on the Windows path is far from over.
windows -
comments -
5.8.2008 Windows 7 RC Brings Windows XP Mode Beta and Windows Virtual PC Beta
The Release Candidate of Windows 7 will bring with it the first Beta development milestones for Windows XP Mode and Windows Virtual PC.
windows -
comments -
29.4.2009 Windows Reactivator 2.0 - Backup & Restore Activation Status of Windows XP with Windows Reactivator
Every time you reinstall your windows XP you need to reactivate it online using your product key & worst if you lost your Windows XP product key.
download -
comments -
3.6.2009 Windows Vista SP1 vs. Windows Vista RTM vs. Windows XP SP2
Feb 26th, 2008. Principled Technologies has released two Microsoft commissioned reports on Windows Vista SP1 performance. In these tests, Principled Technologies measured responsiveness of Windows Vista SP1 vs. Windows Vista RTM vs. Windows XP SP2 when performing a set of common business and home tasks.
windows -
comments -
28.2.2008 Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 9 – 1 Billion and Counting
Is Windows dead? Or, at least, is this the beginning of the end for Microsoft's proprietary operating system?
windows -
comments -
15.9.2008 Week in Microsoft: Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 9
This week in Microsoft, we covered 128-bit support possibly coming to Windows 8 and Windows 9, Windows 7, Windows Mobile 6.5, Bill Gates, Office 2010 Starter, Microsoft MVP status, Windows Live Hotmail, the EU, and Microsoft Security Essentials.
windows -
comments -
10.10.2009 Windows Vista Build 5231 and Windows Media Player 11 Leaks!
Windows Vista Build 5231 has leaked to the web. The new build is said to include Windows Media Player 11 included. View the screenshots below! This is a Main branch build that was released on September 12th, 2005 at 8:20PM.
windows -
comments -
Windows Vista SP1 and Windows XP SP3: Official Release Dates
A French website, PC Inpact, has posted the official Microsoft product change request forms for Vista SP1 and Windows XP SP3.
windows -
comments -
6.2.2008 Download Free Windows Vista and Windows XP SP2 Straight from Microsoft
Via the Internet Explorer Application Compatibility VPC Image. That's right! Microsoft is offering access to free downloads of Windows Vista and Windows XP SP2.
download -
comments -
6.3.2008 Windows Vista SP1 outperforms Windows XP SP2 in file copy
"Its interesting that people seem to think that Vista under performs in every area of the system which is quite an incorrect perception.
windows -
comments -
27.5.2008 Windows Fiji Has RTMd as Windows Media Center TV Pack 2008
Microsoft officially confirmed that Windows Fiji has been released to manufacturing.
windows -
comments -
18.7.2008 Windows 7 Beta Doesn't Play Nice with Windows Azure Cloud OS Tools
The promise for Windows 7 is that it will deliver an evolution when it will come down to stretching into the Cloud compared to its precursor, Windows Vista.
windows -
comments -
16.1.2009 Internet Explorer 8 MUI packs for Windows XP, Windows Server 03
As detailed in our previous blog post, the following Internet Explorer MUI packs shipped today.
download -
comments -
17.5.2009 Windows Home Server Power Pack 3 Beta adds Windows 7 support
Microsoft announced the release of Windows Home Server Power Pack 3 Beta, along with news that it will feature Windows 7 support.
windows -
comments -
20.7.2009 Check for RAM Error or Defect in Windows 7 and Vista with Windows Memory Diagnostic
Memory or RAM is one of the most important electronic hardware component on a computer systems, not only in term of speed or clock frequency and size, but also the reliability of hardware ecosystem of the RAM sticks or memory modules and its subsystem.
common -
comments -
1.10.2009 The Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 98 Threat Mitigation Guide
Well, Microsoft still puts effort in old Windows versions...
microsoft -
comments -
31.3.2006 Windows Vista comes with 19,500 drivers on DVD – more on Windows Update
Ever needed to find a driver for a product and wished Windows would either just have the driver in it, or that their Windows Update service could provide it? With Vista, it can – and new features and updates will be forthcoming too. It’s about time!
windows -
comments -
20.11.2006 Windows XP Home No Longer Qualifies for Windows Vista Upgrades
Windows XP Home Edition no longer qualifies for Windows Vista Business Upgrade or Upgrade + SA through Volume Licensing.
windows -
comments -
17.10.2007 Microsoft Offers a Complex Windows Vista vs. Windows XP Perspective
A new standard of security is an integer aspect of the evolution puzzle represented by the move from Windows XP to Windows Vista.
windows -
comments -
3.11.2007 Windows XP SP3 to Drop Concomitantly with Windows Vista SP1?
Yes, it's time for every Windows user's favorite obsession: Windows XP Service Pack 3. The third and final service pack for Windows XP has been quite elusive for the past three years.
windows -
comments -
25.11.2007 Windows Vista vs. Windows 9x/Me, NT Server, 2000 and XP
If at just a couple of weeks short of the first anniversary since Windows Vista hit the shelves you are still looking for reasons to upgrade to the latest Windows client, then Biplab Paul, Partner Technical Consultant with Microsoft India, has an impressive, and exhaustive list of features that are bound to tilt the balance in Vista's favor.
windows -
comments -
14.1.2008 Free Windows Vista Business and Windows XP SP2 on Parade
Free Windows... Not a concept you would expect from Microsoft. With a business strategy focused on proprietary software, the Redmond company is by all means at the opposite technology spectrum from open source and free software.
windows -
comments -
9.3.2008 Microsoft Presents the Lost Comparison: Windows Vista vs. Windows XP
With both Windows XP and Windows Vista being available concomitantly on the market, Microsoft is doing nothing more than inviting the consumers to compare the two operating systems.
windows -
comments -
20.4.2008 Windows Server 2008 = Windows Vista SP1 Minus the Pain
Windows Server 2008, formerly codenamed Longhorn, is essentially intimately connected with Windows Vista Service Pack 1, to the level in which the RTM version of Microsoft's latest server operating system features the
SP1 label
windows -
comments -
6.5.2008 Windows Embedded NavReady 2009 - Latest Windows Platform from Microsoft
The latest Windows operating system is available for download as of June 16, 2008. And no, it's not a new release of Windows 7, nor the first taste of Windows 7 Server.
download -
comments -
16.6.2008 Free Windows for Supercomputers Available for Download - Windows HPC Server 2008
Microsoft made the latest iteration of its Windows operating system for supercomputers available as a free download.
windows -
comments -
23.9.2008 How to Install Windows 7 or Windows Vista on Physical Machine Without DVD Media
A lot of Windows Vista and Windows 7 license has been sold media-less nowadays, where buyers only receive a piece of authenticated certificate with a genuine and legitimate product key printed on it.
windows -
comments -
23.12.2008 Windows 7 beta testers find critical Windows Installer Bug
Mary Jo reports that a number of Windows 7 Beta testers have come across a bug that crashes the system randomly whenever they try to start a Windows Update or install anything using Microsoft's MSI installer.
windows -
comments -
19.1.2009Microsoft promises SP 'milestone' for Visual Studio 2008
First, it was Windows XP SP1. Then Windows Vista SP1. Now its the Visual Studio and .NET Framework 3.5 SP1, due by the end of summer. The connection?
Microsoft's service packs keep growing in importance as a means of updating key products between official releases.
Promoting
the first SP for Visual Studio 2008 and .NET Framework 3.5, officially launched just six months ago, Microsoft has said SP1 - like its predecessors -
is no ordinary SP.
winbeta.org -
02.08.2008Mary Jo Foley Will Windows Service Pack History Repeat Itself?
Mary Jo Foley: One of my editors at Redmond magazine -- the ever-doubting Ed Scannell -- recently posed an interesting hypothetical question about the
future of Windows. Might Microsoft yank some features planned for Windows 7 and put them into a Windows Vista Service Pack (SP) 2 that would include
not just fixes, but also new features?
In other words: Could Windows history repeat itself, with Vista SP2 taking the form of a
whole new operating system release -- in everything other than name -- a la Windows XP SP2?
Microsoft officials said last year
not to expect Vista SP1 to be anything like XP SP2. Vista SP1 was designed to be a collection of fixes and patches, aimed at improving security,
reliability and performance. But the 'Softies haven't said anything about their thinking in regard to Vista SP2. Might Microsoft use the next Vista
SP to deliver some of the features that otherwise might have to wait for Windows 7, currently slated for 2010?
As tasty as that
option might sound to some, I'd give it a very low likelihood for a few reasons.
winbeta.org -
03.06.2008SP Technologies Sues Apple Over iPhone Keyboard
An outfit called SP
Technologies has sued Apple
over the touch-screen keyboard
at the heart of the iPhone,
claiming Apple is infringing
on a patent held by SP
Technologies for a similar
keyboard.
AppleInsider
dug up the SP patent filing
from 2000, which claims
the company developed a
"method of providing a user
interface for receiving
information from a user using
a user immutable graphical
keyboard linked to an input
area."
Patent
suits, of course, are a dime a
dozen, and Apple's not
exactly the first company to
ever use a touch-screen style
input method. But this one
will probably require more
effort to defend than the
iPhone battery suit filed a
few weeks ago. The suit was
filed Thursday in Tyler,
Texas, which has become the
destination of choice for
patent suits these days.
An Apple
representative did not
immediately return a call
seeking comment, but it's
unlikely Apple would have much
to say at this stage.
neowin.net -
07.08.2007What you won’t hear Microsoft talk about at WinHEC 2007
Usually, at the annual
Microsoft Windows Hardware
Engineering Conferences
(WinHECs), Microsoft provides
its system partners with some
information about what's
coming next on the operating
systems front. Even if not a
full-fledged roadmap, usually
there are a few hints, a
handful of futures slides, a
couple of thinly-veiled
references to general
directions.
This year: The future has
been ruled off limits, at
least on the Windows client
front.
Execs are not
talking at all about Windows
Vista Service Pack (SP) 1 or
"Fiji," the Media Center
update expected later this
year. And don't even think
about hearing/seeing anything
on Windows Seven, a k a
Windows 2009. ..
winbeta.org -
16.05.2007No Vista SP1 bits for users until mid-March
Mary Jo Foley: Customers who’ve been waiting for Microsoft to release
the final Vista Service Pack (SP) 1 bits are going to have to wait another month or two to actually get their hands on them at least through legal
channels.
In a posting to the Windows Vista team blog, Corporate Vice President of Windows Product Management Mike Nash explained
how and when users can get
the Windows Vista Service Pack (SP) 1 bits. Microsoft released
Vista SP1 and Windows Server
2008 to manufacturing on February 4.
According to Nash, the schedule looks like this:
Mid-March:
Microsoft releases SP1 to Windows Update in five languages (English, French, Spanish, German and Japanese) and to the download center on
microsoft.com. “If Windows Update determines that the system has one of the drivers we know to be problematic, then Windows Update will not
offer SP1,” Nash explained. “Since we know that some customers may want to update to SP1 anyhow, the download center will allow anyone who
wants to install SP1 to do so.”
Mid-April: Microsoft begins delivering Vista SP1 via Automatic Update. “That said,
any system that Windows Update determines has a driver known to not update successfully will not get SP1 automatically,” Nash explained.
“As updates for these drivers become available, they will be installed automatically by Windows Update, which will unblock these systems from
getting Service Pack 1.” (And remember, there is a Vista SP blocking tool available for users who don’t want SP1 to install
automatically.)
April: SP1 will RTM for the remaining languages.
PC makers are getting the Vista SP1 bits
this week and will be able to start preloading Vista SP1 on new systems once they’ve sufficiently tested it. That could be weeks to a month,
based on previous track records.
winbeta.org -
04.02.2008Microsoft frees rival slate from Yahoo commitment
Microsoft Corp has released the nominees on its rival slate from their commitment to stand for election to Yahoo Inc's board in the event of a proxy
fight, a source familiar with the situation said on Thursday.
The move indicates that Microsoft remains firm in its commitment to
stay away from Yahoo, days after it walked away from a $47.5 billion offer for the Internet company.
winbeta.org -
09.05.2008Whats coming with Windows? Even the insiders arent sure'
Sometimes you find fascinating little tidbits of Microsoft news buried in obscure places, tossed in as throwaway remarks. Todays case in point comes
from
a post
at the Windows Installer team blog, which tries to explain why some references to Windows Installer 4.1 appeared on an MSDN and then were
removed.
The explanation provides an interesting factoid and also illustrates a larger principle about how Microsoft works.
First the factoid.
From the
post (with emphasis added):
The back story here starts about this time last year when we were finishing up Windows Installer 4.0 in Windows
Vista and asking ourselves śWhats next?ť. At that time, we didnt know the bar for features in Windows Vista SP1 and next major release of Windows.
<¦>
Knowing none of the feature and release criteria, our best guess at the time was that Windows Vista
SP1 would ship first, an out of band release would ship next, and then the next full version of Windows would be our focus.
<¦>
he new guard in Windows had a very different bar for the Vista SP than had been in practice for previous releases (at
least in my memory). Generally there is lip service to no large feature work in a SP but this time folks listened. Big feature adds were heavily
scrutinized. The items we wanted to fix in the SP, UAC tweaks, were big feature by the new bar.
When the UAC tweaks were
rejected for Vista SP1, the justification for 4.1 faded as there were no new features in the Windows Installer in Vista SP1.
The good news to
all of you who have been complaining about UAC is that your protests have not been falling on deaf ears. The bad news is that whatever work is being
done will not appear in SP1.
So when will it appear? I found it fascinating that this team of developers at Microsoft, working on
core technology, had to guess at the timeline and feature set for future versions of Windows, including a crucial service pack. Let that be a lesson
for those who believe that Microsoft, in Borg-like fashion, ruthlessly coordinates its activities. The reality is theres a lot of internal debate
within the halls at One Microsoft Way, and even insiders are confused over whats coming up in the Windows road map.
Now, can we
talk about that out-of-band release¦?
winbeta.org -
02.10.2007Microsoft expects to double customer service staff in Asia
Microsoft said on Thursday that it expects headcount to more than double for its customer service centre in Asia in five years time.
Wing-Dar Ker, general manager for Microsoft Customer Service and Support in the Asia Pacific and Greater China region, told Reuters in an
interview that the centre has around 850 staff currently.
winbeta.org -
06.12.2007Microsoft and Yahoo talks intensify
Microsoft Corp and Yahoo Inc have intensified talks in an effort to reach a friendly agreement on a buyout of Yahoo, a source familiar with the matter
said on Friday.
Yahoo shares rose 6.4 percent on news of the accelerated talks, as investors had feared Microsoft might walk away
from its unsolicited bid or launch a proxy battle.
Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said on Thursday that walking away
from a deal with Yahoo was one of three options the company was weighing.
winbeta.org -
03.05.2008Are service packs really passe?
Are there any real reasons other than psychological ones to wait for a first service pack (SP) of Windows Vista before deploying?
Microsoft’s position, since the company released Vista to manufacturing last year, has been that users didn’t need delay their
deployments until the delivery of SP1 because the team would
push out new updates and fixes
continually via Windows Update, Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) and other patching mechanisms. Just this week, in fact, Microsoft delivered
via Windows Update
two mega hotfix packs (performance and compatibility) for Windows Vista
that include many of the fixes that will be part of
Vista Service Pack (SP) 1, which now is due
in Q1 2008.
But some say service packs still do matter. Over on the Windows Connected blog, Josh Phillips has a list of
why some users still prefer to wait for
a service pack before deploying.
First on Phillips’ list: Service packs are more thoroughly and rigorously tested than
individual udpates. There’s also the convenience factor. For enterprise users, a single update like a service pack is much easier to manage in a
controlled way than are lots of incremental updates.
winbeta.org -
30.08.2007Microsoft feeling no major impact from economy yet
Microsoft Corp expects to see some economic slowdown eventually, particularly in the United States, but its business has not felt any major impact
yet, Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell said on Monday.
Liddell, speaking at a technology conference, said the software maker
is "not blind to the fact that it's a difficult economic environment out there, in particular in the U.S. and to some extent in the rest of the
world."
Microsoft has been helped by its geographic diversity and strong growth in emerging markets such as Russia, China,
Brazil and India, he said.
winbeta.org -
04.03.2008Wanted: New information on XP SP3
If Microsoft officials don't
want you to know about Vista
Service Pack (SP) 1, you can
be darn well sure they really
don't want to talk about
Windows XP Service Pack (SP)
3. But customers definitely
want to discuss it.
XP users who still
aren’t crazy about the
idea of moving to Vista are
quite interested in the status
of the long-promised update to
Windows XP. (Microsoft
released the most recent XP
update, XP SP2, way back in
the summer of 2004.) I get
queries from readers weekly
about when XP SP3 will hit and
what it will likely include.
There was a flap
earlier this year regarding
Microsoft
possibly changing the due date
for XP SP3. Microsoft
officials have been saying for
the past few months that the
company would not provide the
final XP SP3 until some time
in the first half of 2008. In
late May, however, there was
a
mention in a Microsoft press
release that XP SP3 would ship
"some time later this
year." Microsoft's
official response was that the
2007 date was a typo. (Yeah,
tha
t "typo" defense again.)
winbeta.org -
19.07.2007Might XP SP3 ship in 2007, after all?
Microsoft’s party
line for the past few months
has been that it wasn’t
going to get Windows XP
Service Pack (SP) 3 out the
door until some time in the
first half of 2008.
But this week,
Microsoft hinted that XP SP3
might actually ship this year.
It could be a simple
typo in a press release. But
then, again, maybe it’s not
and it’s part of the Windows
client team’s mission to
under-promise and
over-deliver. While the
element of surprise is nice,
corporate customers tell me
having a real timetable for
planning purposes would be
much nicer...
winbeta.org -
23.05.2007Yahoo says faces 7 lawsuits over Microsoft bid
Yahoo Inc said it faces seven shareholder lawsuits over its handling of Microsoft Corp's unsolicited $42 billion buyout proposal and that dealing
with the takeover bid has created a distraction for its management.
Four of the lawsuits were filed in California Superior Court
and three were filed in Delaware Chancery Court, Yahoo said on Wednesday in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
"We do not believe, based on current knowledge, that any of the foregoing legal proceedings or claims are likely to have a material adverse
effect on our financial position," Yahoo said.
winbeta.org -
28.02.2008Hi-tech CEOs offer Yahoo and Microsoft merger advice
Microsoft Corp and Yahoo Inc seem to hang out in all the same places but somehow keep missing each other.
That's turned
speculation over what it will take to get the two of them together into something of a CEO parlour game.
Media magnate Rupert
Murdoch said this week he is "mystified" the two have not come to terms. E-commerce mogul Barry Diller said Microsoft should never have fired a
hostile shot at Yahoo if they didn't plan to stick it out.
Yahoo board member Bobby Kotick joked that he had tried to get top
executives from Microsoft and Yahoo together to play Guitar Hero 4, the hit video game from the company he runs, Activision Inc.
winbeta.org -
30.05.2008Microsoft expected to post sharp profit rise
Microsoft Corp. is expected to report a sharp rise in quarterly profit this week, boosted by surging revenue as strong computer sales drive demand for
its Windows operating system and Office software.
Investors will also look at its full-year outlook to see if the world's
largest software maker can maintain momentum from a strong first quarter in the face of growing concerns over the U.S. economy. Microsoft reports
fiscal second-quarter results on Thursday.
Economic concerns and stock market declines have erased the share price gains that
followed its first-quarter results, but analysts said personal computer sales figures last week suggest any economic softness did not weigh on
year-end demand.
winbeta.org -
23.01.2008AMD CEO says no plans to step down in 2008
Advanced Micro Devices Inc Chief Executive Hector Ruiz says he has no plans to step down as head of the microprocessor maker next year.
AMD has in the past two years struggled with market share losses to its far larger rival, Intel Corp, in the market for microprocessors. It
is banking much of its turnaround on its Barcelona processor, which was launched in September, but has so far been hampered by an inability to ship as
many of the processors as it would like.
Ruiz said in an interview with CNBC Europe to be broadcast later this week that
President and Chief Operating Officer Dirk Meyer is being groomed to succeed him as CEO.
winbeta.org -
12.12.2007Microsoft plans smaller deals, 'independent' path
Microsoft Corp Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said on Thursday the company aims to pursue an independent path, focusing on up to 20 smaller
acquisitions of $50 million to $1 billion each annually rather than mega-deals.
Armed with a cash pile of $23 billion, Microsoft
has been rumored to be targeting acquisitions like Yahoo Inc, or social networking phenomenon Facebook.
Speaking to the Web 2.0
Summit in San Francisco, Ballmer would not comment directly on any potential acquisitions, but he said Microsoft's current focus is the "independent
path."
winbeta.org -
19.10.2007Matsushita sees up to $172 mln in battery costs
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. said on Friday that Nokia's replacement of mobile phone batteries made by the Japanese electronics maker is likely
to cost it 10-20 billion yen ($86-$172 million).
Nokia, the world's largest mobile phone maker, earlier this month warned
consumers that 46 million batteries made by Panasonic-brand maker Matsushita and used in its cellphones could overheat, and offered to replace them
for free.
Matsushita said it had no plan to revise its earnings outlook. ($1=116.36 Yen)
winbeta.org -
24.08.2007Polycom to launch desktop HD video conferencing
Polycom Inc said on Wednesday it will launch a desktop computer version of its high-definition video conferencing product, aiming to expand its
client base from top executives to a wider range of users.
Polycom Chief Executive Robert Hagerty said in an interview that the
new product, due to be unveiled early next week, will be technologically similar to its high-definition "HDX 9000" series, but less expensive and
geared for desktop use.
"We're expanding high-definition to the mainstream working room and to the desktop," Hagerty told
Reuters.
winbeta.org -
11.10.2007
