http://www.bizzow.com/a/techsafari/blog http://www.bizzow.com/a/techsafari/blog?page=1 The following article will answer the most important questions about Microsoft’s upcoming operating system Windows 7, basically everything you need to know about Windows 7 to be prepared for the upcoming release. We have decided to create the article in a form that resembles faq pages to make it easier to read. What’s the current stage of development? The release candidate will be released publicly in the coming week. It will be available for 1-2 months and expire in mid 2010 giving every user enough time to test if they have the desire to do so. When will Windows 7 be released? Microsoft has not revealed a release date for their new operating system yet. Most experts think that it will either be released in the fourth quarter of 2009 or at the latest in the first quarter of 2010. What are the hardware requirements? Microsoft has published hardware requirements for Windows 7 Beta. It is expected that the same requirements will be valid for Windows 7 Final. It is generally accepted that computers that are running Windows Vista will be capable of running Windows 7 as well. windows7 hardware requirements Which editions of Windows 7 will be released? Microsoft will release six editions of Windows 7. Not all of them will be made available worldwide though: Windows 7 Starter - Designed for low end computer systems like netbooks, comes with severe limitations. Windows 7 Home Basic - Designed for emerging markets only. Windows 7 Home Premium - Worldwide available, one of the main end user systems that comes with a solid feature set. Windows 7 Professional - Worldwide available, aimed at small to medium sized businesses, professionals and enthusiasts. Windows 7 Ultimate - Will only be available online Windows 7 Enterprise - Same as Windows 7 ultimate but only available to organizations and large companies. What are the differences between the six Windows 7 editions? Each version builds up on each other: Windows 7 Starter -> Windows 7 Home Basic -> Windows 7 Home Premium -> Windows 7 Professional -> Windows 7 Ultimate / Enterprise windows 7 editions All 32-bit editions will support a maximum of 4 Gigabytes of computer memory. The 64-bit editions will support the following amounts: Starter / Home Basic: 8GB Home Premium: 16GB Professional / Ultimate / Enterprise: 192GB What are the major changes to previous operating systems like Windows Vista? Windows 7 feels in many regards like an optimized version of Windows Vista. It runs on the same computer hardware and combines better performance across the board. Some of the major changes are: * Improved interface * Better performance, i.e. startup times, system load * UAC improvements * Evolved kernel * Virtualization * Touch support, hardware sensors * New and improved software programs * Homegroup networking * Better Troubleshooting, Windows Solution Center * Better Customization, e.g. custom themes, wallpapers Will Microsoft provide upgrade opportunities? Microsoft will provide upgrade opportunities both for Windows XP and Windows Vista users. Free upgrades are provided for users who purchase a computer system with Windows Vista after July 1, 2009. Not all versions are however eligible for the upgrade. Upgrades are only available for systems of the same language and the only allowed upgrade paths are Windows Vista Home Premium -> Windows 7 Home Premium Windows Vista Business -> Windows 7 Professional Windows Vista Ultimate -> Windows 7 Ultimate There will be no free upgrade for all other versions of Windows Vista that are purchased after July 1. How are the updates installed? Windows XP users need to perform a clean install. This is the only way to upgrade to Windows 7 except for the possibility to first upgrade to Windows Vista and then to Windows 7 if copies of both operating systems are available. Windows Vista users can perform the upgrades right away. The upgrade paths are the same as for the free Vista to Windows 7 upgrades. Windows Vista Home Premium -> Windows 7 Home Premium Windows Vista Business -> Windows 7 Professional Windows Vista Ultimate -> Windows 7 Ultimate Every other combination has to be installed doing a fresh install. How much will Windows 7 cost? Microsoft has not revealed any information about the pricing of Windows 7 yet. It is likely that prices will be in the same range of Windows Vista and that the prices for Vista will drop a bit to reflect that. Expected prices will therefor be in the following price ranges. Windows 7 Home Premium: $100-$150 Windows 7 Professional: $200-$250 Windows 7 Ultimate: $300-$350 4/29/2009 10:42:26 PM http://www.bizzow.com/a/techsafari/blog?page=2 You know, I remember a time not that long ago when there was a big concern for another global computer problem. In fact this problem was billed as the end all of computer problems. People spent a lot of time and money trying to figure out how to overcome the terrible chaos the surely laid ahead. Neither industry nor consumer was going to be left untouched by the effects of this computer bug. Industry experts stood from their mountain tops and proclaimed the world as we knew it was in jeopardy. Because of the concern and analytical reports, we as a collective computer user set out on the largest initiative to put preventative measures in place. Company’s spent large amounts of cash trying to figure how to stop this from happening. Or maybe at the very least, how to minimize the impact of the bug’s wrath. As a former IT Network Administrator for a school district, even I was taken in by the all the hype. I had my staff work over-time making sure our up time would remain in tact. We hired a team of consultants to come in and help us with our efforts. Countless hours were spent going through every workstation, laptop, server, and various pieces of techno-gear making darn sure nothing would be affected. Ok, I will stop beating around the bush. The bug in which had me and most of the industry experts up in arms was a little bug called, the Y2K bug. In the spring of 1999 and all the way up to the second hand rolling past 12 midnight 2000, myself as well as countless thousands of IT professionals spent every ounce of time, money, and energy planning, implementing, and monitoring patches, fixes, and updates. Only to sit quietly by as the second hand finally passes midnight like a warm summer day passing quietly and elegantly into the night. This is like one of those times everyone reflects on, and thinks about what they were doing when it came to pass. This particular moment in history which will forever be branded in everyone’s brain as the biggest hoax to ever come down the Information Superhighway. Now with that said, this doesn’t mean that we LEARN anything from history. This simply means it makes for good conversation at the water cooler when someone brings up the subject of the latest email thread making its way around the Internet speaking of some Arabian billionaire needing your help to secure funds in an American bank to shelter millions in taxes. Maybe it is the chain e-mail letter that tells you to forward onto at least 15 other people or BAD BAD things are going to happen to you. How about a little virus called the Conficker virus that has drawn the attention once again of leading industry experts and world-wide media. Again everyone jumped on the “alarm wagon” and was on the look out for computer systems crashing around the globe. All I can say is once again, the only activity taking place was computer users all over the world anxiously waiting for another apocalyptic technological meltdown. Oh wait, there was some other activity happening as well….like how my phone was ringing the days that led up to this, with questions from everyone and their brother regarding how I was preparing for this terrible tragedy? And my answer was..."waiting." 4/16/2009 07:48:09 PM http://www.bizzow.com/a/techsafari/blog?page=3 Have you been sent a suspicious file? Want it checked out before you open it? Then Virus Total is probably what you need. Just upload the little varmint and the free service will check it over for Trojans and other nasties and give you a report back. You can send files by direct upload from the site, via email (send to scan@virustotal.com) or via a downloadable freeware program. It uses a bunch of services to do the checking, so it’s pretty safe. Nice. http://www.virustotal.com {VirusTotal is a service that analyzes suspicious files and facilitates the quick detection of viruses, worms, trojans, and all kinds of malware detected by antivirus engines. Specs: * Free, independent service * Use of multiple antivirus engines * Real-time automatic updates of virus signatures * Detailed results from each antivirus engine * Real time global statistics} 4/10/2009 12:36:26 PM http://www.bizzow.com/a/techsafari/blog?page=4 Sprint has finally promised to bring about the Treo Pro - the newest Windows Mobile smart phone. Whether or not they will follow through with this promise is something that we will not hold our breath for. They have already delayed the launch of this phone for a couple months The Treo Pro was first set to be released in January and has been delayed on a few occasions since then. But the company said this week that the delays are over and they have everything ready to launch the new phone from Windows. Apparently the delays were due to bugs in the system (no surprise there). Sprint was originally supposed to be the only U.S. cell phone carrier that would offer this particular model - but Alltel was able to release it first. An unlocked GSM version has been sold to many customer is the U.S., Canada, and Europe. The new smart phone has a 320 by 320 pixel touch screen, QWERTY keypad, Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, and a 400 MHz Qualcomm processor. It also is equipped with an external microSD card slot, 2.0 MPx camera, and a built in GPS receiver. 3/30/2009 05:09:15 AM http://www.bizzow.com/a/techsafari/blog?page=5 Malware is rampant. The phrase comes from the words malicious and software and is nasty software designed to infiltrate or damage a computer system without the owner’s informed consent. In fact, whether you know it or not your computer is always at risk of becoming infected with viruses, worms, trojans, rootkits, dialers, spyware, and malware that are constantly evolving and becoming harder to detect and remove. Only the most sophisticated anti-malware techniques can detect and remove these malicious programs from your computer. Of all the junkware and malware protection products out there, the one that I now recommend as the best is called Malwarebyte’s Anti-Malware. In fact, whether you know it or not your computer is always at risk of becoming infected with viruses, worms, trojans, rootkits, dialers, spyware, and malware that are constantly evolving and becoming harder to detect and remove. Only the most sophisticated anti-malware techniques can detect and remove these malicious programs from your computer. Cost is extremely reasonable. Just $24.95./ One-time. There are none of those annual renewal fees that some junkware companies try to charge you. Get it here. 3/25/2009 09:20:44 PM http://www.bizzow.com/a/techsafari/blog?page=6 Windows XP has a built-in tool that offers a wealth of information about your computer. System Information gives users rapid access to hardware resource and software environment information, component and application data, system history, useful tools such as Net and Direct X Diagnostics and much more. System Information can be a very useful tool for troubleshooting computer problems. For example, digging into items listed in the “Software Environment” can give you information about which programs have recently experienced serious errors, driver details, network connections, running tasks and more. The System History view records changes to hardware resources and the software environment and this can help you track down problems that may have occurred due to driver upgrades or hardware changes. An integrated search feature allows you to more easily find what you are looking for. The average computer user may not need to access the System Information Tool very often. However, it is wise to know what the tool offers and how to access it if the need arises. To launch the System Information tool: 1. Click “Start” and then “Run”. 2. In the Run field, enter “msinfo32.exe” without the quotes. 3. Click “OK” and the tool should launch. Enter msinfo32.exe in Run Alternatively, you can click “Start /All Programs/Accessories/System Tools/System Information” to open the tool directly from the Start Menu. 3/21/2009 10:03:59 PM