Windows7 Evangelist

Microsoft’s Windows Genuine Advantage team have responded to this week’s news that a Windows 7 Ultimate licensing hack had been identified.  After a Lenovo OEM Windows 7 image leaked and was used to extract a license key, Microsoft have worked with the manufacturer to blacklist the rogue key and replace it – on genuine Lenovo PCs bought with the new OS – with a working version.

Yesterday we were alerted to reports of a leak of a special product key issued to an OEM partner of ours. The key is for use with Windows 7 Ultimate RTM product that is meant to be pre-installed by the OEM on new PCs to be shipped later this year. As such, the use of this key requires having a PC from the manufacturer it was issued to. We’ve worked with that manufacturer so that customers who purchase genuine copies of Windows 7 from this manufacturer will experience no issues validating their copy of Windows 7. At the same time we will seek to alert customers who are using the leaked key that they are running a non-genuine copy of Windows. It’s important to note that no PCs will be sold that will use this key.

Windows 7 already includes an improved ability to detect hacks, also known as activation exploits, and alert customers who are using a pirated copy. There is a hack that is said to enable, when paired with the leaked key, a system to install and use a copy of Windows 7 Ultimate. Both the hack and the key are indications that a copy of Windows may not be genuine. The Windows Activation Technologies included in Windows 7 are designed to handle situations such as this one, and customers using these tools and methods should expect Windows to detect them.

Anyone attempting to use the leaked OEM key will be warned that they are attempting to use a pirated license and, presumably, not be allowed validate their copy of the OS.  The WGA team goes on to highlight Windows 7’s new activation technology systems, and suggest that they will do a better job of identifying hacks based on leaked keys.

As Long Zheng of istartedsomething points out, however, this sort of collaboration with Lenovo won’t work quite so well once OEM keys begin leaking that have already been used for shipping products.  At that point, the strength of Windows 7’s anti-piracy systems will really get their test.

From: http://www.slashgear.com/microsoft-block-windows-7-oem-key-hack-3150878/

Intel rejected Vista for its own 80,000 employees, but expects Windows 7 to be adopted much more quickly than Vista was.

Intel (NSDQ: INTC)’s chief sales and marketing officer predicts businesses and consumers will move to upcoming Windows 7 at a much faster rate than Vista, the previous version of Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT)’s operating system that was seen by many people as buggy and bloated.

Intel made headlines about a year ago when The New York Times reported that the chip maker rejected Vista for the computers of its 80,000 employees. In analyzing Vista, Intel’s technology staff had concluded the cost of migrating to the OS was more than the potential benefits.

With Windows 7, however, Intel sees “just one big positive” for businesses and consumers, Intel’s Sean Maloney said Wednesday in answering questions at the company’s Technology Summit in San Francisco. “This time, we think it will go faster,” Maloney said of Windows 7 adoption.

Windows 7 is seen by many reviewers as much better than Vista, which a lot of businesses considered buggy and requiring too much of a hardware upgrade to run. However, despite Maloney’s comments, how fast companies will deploy Windows 7 remains to be seen.

An InformationWeek Analytics survey of businesses found many of them in no rush to upgrade to Windows 7. Fully 42% of the more than 1,400 business technology professionals surveyed said Microsoft ending of support for XP was the biggest reason to migrate. Only 18% said it was because of new features, and a third said their companies had no plans to deploy Windows 7 at this time.

On the popularity of netbooks, Maloney said the market for the inexpensive mini-laptops appeared to be “maturing.” Even though the devices have been the fastest growing segment of the PC market during the current economic recession, their performance limitations prevent them from becoming the choice of first-time mobile PC buyers.

“The first time you buy something, you want the real deal,” Maloney said. “It’s human nature.”

Netbooks would likely settle in as a second or third computer among people looking for a small laptop to check e-mail and surf the Web, or as an option for parents looking for a PC for their children, Maloney said. Netbooks will account for one in five of the roughly 163 million laptops expected to ship this year, according to DisplaySearch. The mini-laptops, which sell for less than $500, have been most popular in the emerging market of Latin America and in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

An in-place operating system upgrade to Microsoft Windows 7 on a Windows XP system is impossible. Here’s how to migrate your data and apps with the fewest hassles.

With Windows 7 now available for pre-order (and selling like hotcakes), it’s fast poised to become the next big emblematic version of Windows — what for a long time XP was to Windows as a whole. But people currently running XP who want 7 need to be mindful of a potential complication: While Windows supported direct upgrades from XP to Vista, they’re not supporting a direct upgrade path from XP to 7.

What’s this mean for potential upgraders? It means you can’t take a current Windows XP computer, throw in the Windows 7 installation DVD, and upgrade your running XP installation to 7 with programs and data intact.

This whole situation and the processes that go with it have set more than a few heads spinning, mine included. It seems unfair to deny XP users — the biggest market segment of Windows users — the power to upgrade directly to 7. But as we’ll see in this article, the obstacles are more a question of which steps to take and in what order.

What You Can’t Do, And Why

Because this whole issue inspires such confusion, the details are worth repeating in the plainest possible language. You cannot:

1. Take an existing Windows XP installation,

2. Run the Windows 7 installer, and

3. Upgrade that running copy of XP to 7 with its installed programs and data intact.

What You Can Do

What you can do is one of these three things:

1. Install a copy of Windows 7 on the same computer, in parallel with your existing XP install,

2. Install a copy of Windows 7 on the same computer and Replace your existing XP install entirely, or

3. Obtain an entirely new computer with 7 installed, and Migrate your existing XP data and application settings to it.

The first and third options are non-destructive: they leave your existing XP installation intact in one form or another and allow you to copy what’s most important over to the target install. The second option is the least useful, and so will be covered only peripherally here.

For more: http://www.informationweek.com/news/windows/operatingsystems/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=218500981

Microsoft announced revenue of $13.10 billion for the fourth quarter ended June 30, 2009, a 17% decline from the same period of the prior year.

Operating income, net income and diluted earnings per share for the quarter were $3.99 billion, $3.05 billion and $0.34 per share, which represented declines of 30%, 29% and 26%, respectively, when compared with the prior year period.
Microsoft blames the historic bad numbers on the weakness in the global PC and server markets.

Clearly some of the decline is due to the upcoming release of Windows 7 as consumers and businesses are holding back on buying new systems until Windows 7 is released.
The pre-order promotions of Windows 7 seem to have been a great success and a sign that people highly anticipate Windows 7 and will buy upgrades or new Windows 7 netbooks, notebooks and PCs this fall.

It is extremely important that the rollout of Windows 7 runs as smoothly as possible. The worst thing that could happen is an instable release or big incompatibility issues.

Of course some consumers will look at the new Mac OS Snow Leopard or even put their hands in their pockets waiting until the free Google Chrome OS will be released in 2010. How many this will be only time will tell.

History has a way of repeating itself. Back in August 2006, Amazon Canada inadvertently published the price list for Windows Vista before it had been officially announced. In a distribution channel the size of Microsoft’s, leaks are bound to happen.

Now, thanks to some similarly careless online retailers, I’ve found details confirming both the availability and price of the Windows 7 Family Pack and three Anytime Upgrade products for Windows 7. As I reported last week, Microsoft is apparently planning to release a Family Pack that will include three Windows 7 Home Premium licenses for a discounted price. I reported details of the Anytime Upgrade program back in April but noted that prices were still missing.

My colleague Adrian Kingsley-Hughes is reflexively skeptical about my report of a Windows 7 Family Pack. In fact, he says, his “OEM contacts” are unaware of any such product and one “source that has been reliable in the past” tells him the language referring to that product has been pulled from the license agreement. Fortunately, some of Adrian’s commenters have better sources than he does. One points to a product code, GFC-00236, that produces some very interesting search results.

Like a set of product listings from Expercom that includes a WINDOWS 7 FAMILY PACK/ HOME PREMIUM UPGRADE (GFC-00236) with a listed price of $136.95.

Another reseller, University IT Computer Sales, briefly had the same product and code listed on its website at $144.95. It’s been pulled from the live site, but lives on in the Google cache.

Both companies are reliable, if small, resellers, and one detail that makes the leak even more convincing is the UPC code attached to the University IT listing. A search of the UPC Database doesn’t turn up details for 882224898249 yet, but that prefix (88224) belongs to Microsoft.

Even more intriguing to me are a handful of extra listings in the Expercom catalog, which finally attach prices to the Windows Anytime Upgrade product line:

* UPG WINDOWS ANYTIME/W7 STARTER TO HOME PREMIUM UPGRADE
Microsoft – Model 4WC-00040 $81.95
* UPG WINDOWS ANYTIME/W7 HOME PREMIUM TO PROFESSIONAL UPGRADE
Microsoft – Model 7KC-00040 $90.95
* UPG WINDOWS ANYTIME/W7 HOME PRE TO ULTIMATE UPGRADE
Microsoft – Model 39C-00040 $137.95

All of those prices seem thoroughly credible to me. Curiously, the one price missing is for Windows 7 Professional to Windows 7 Ultimate, which I expect to cost between $20 and $30.

The Home Premium to Professional Anytime Upgrade product is also in the catalog at PC Nation for $92.55 and at PC Mall for $99.99. PC Mall also has the Starter-to-Home Premium Anytime Upgrade and the Home Premium-to-Ultimate package for $89.99 and $153.99, respectively. The PC Nation prices are $83.72 and $142.30, respectively.

Until Microsoft makes an official announcement, of course, all this is indeed speculation. But mythical products don’t usually get UPC codes and official Microsoft part numbers, nor do they make it into the license agreements in software that is literally days away from shipping. If the Family Pack prices shown above are accurate, this will be yet another of the “very aggressive” pricing offers Microsoft promised earlier this year.

Now that Google has shaken the tech world with its Chrome OS announcement, what’s the best way for Microsoft to turn the spotlight back on itself and protect its Windows empire? Here are five ways Redmond could strike back:

You’ve Got a Browser OS, We’ve Got a Browser OS

The upcoming Google Chrome OS will be a lightweight, speedy, Web-oriented operating system designed initially for netbooks, Google tells us. And before long, Chrome will migrate to larger notebook and desktop PCS too. The message here is that the browser is the OS, while old-school operating systems like the clunky and bloated Windows are headed for the tech graveyard.

Now is a good time for Microsoft to tout its own browser-OS project: Gazelle. Like Google’s Chrome OS, Gazelle will reportedly have the muscle to enforce strong security, allowing it to manage a multitude of Web applications and plug-ins, and ultimately render the traditional operating system obsolete in a cloud-centric computing world.

You’ve Got Vaporware, We’ve Got Vaporware

And why stop at Gazelle? Other reports have Microsoft working on Midori, a post-Windows OS based on a cloud-oriented, centralized-server design. In other words, Microsoft should talk up its life-after-Windows projects. They may be vaporware — but so is the Chrome OS, at least until sometime next year.

Give Windows 7 Starter Edition Away for Free

So Google wants to play in the netbook market? Microsoft could play hardball by giving away Windows 7 Starter Edition for free. Of course, industry watchers might say this strategy would work only if the world’s antitrust lawyers go on a long vacation. But what if Google offers Chrome OS for free too? Wouldn’t Redmond have the right to compete head-to-head against a powerful competitor in a burgeoning market?

Run Ad Campaign, Label Chrome OS ‘Vaporware’

That’s right. Sling some mud. Microsoft could attack Google in a barrage of TV spots — not unlike the way it took on Apple in its recent Laptop Hunters ad campaign. I can see it now: A Best Buy in Anytown, USA. Lauren asks a knowledgeable clerk for a Google OS netbook. She’s crushed to learn they don’t exist, despite the media hype. She buys an Acer with Windows 7 instead.

Make a Big Deal of Google’s ‘Beta’ Obsession

Sure, endless beta programs are fine for Webmail clients (Gmail), telephony tools (Google Voice), and various productivity apps. But operating systems? Google loves to label its software apps as “not quite there yet” for years, but this approach may not fly in the OS world. Many users won’t trust a beta operating system to run their primary home or business computers.

Microsoft could label Google a procrastinator, an armchair software developer, a search engine company that’s dabbling in a market it doesn’t fully understand. Of course, there’s no indication whatsoever that the Chrome OS will be in beta for years. But when you’re slinging mud, those finer points don’t matter.

A PC with Windows Vista can be used for installing Windows 7 with Dual boot option. In order to have dual boot the pre-installed windows vista PC must have a separate partition for installing Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC). If a new partition does not exists then you can use refer page for creating a new partition in Windows Vista.

After creating a new partition, register with Windows Live Id and download the setup. Now create a new DVD using the downloaded Windows 7 Release Candidate ISO image. Insert the DVD in to your DVD-ROM Drive and restart your PC. Windows 7 files will be copied to your system and when the installation requests for the partition, make sure to the select the newly created partition. After setup is complete your PC should be have the following bootable options

* Windows 7
* Windows Vista

Sources are whispering that Windows 7 is set to hit the RTM milestone on July 13, 2009. The day of General Availability is October 22, 2009.

According to GeekSmack, Microsoft will announce that Windows 7 has hit the Release to Manufacturing (RTM) milestone on July 13. Unsurprisingly, the July 13 date coincides with the kickoff of the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference, which is taking place in New Orleans. The date should give the software giant plenty of time to roll out the RTM build via its various business channels.

Last month, Microsoft announced that the day of General Availability (GA) for Windows 7 would be October 22 and that the build would go out to Microsoft partners in the last two weeks of July. It would seem that July 13 is actually a week sooner than expected, assuming that the date holds. One must remember, however, that the day of the announcement is only one of many during the final stretch to GA.

Such a quick RTM is surprising given that Microsoft is typically known for delays. Then again, Windows 7 is not a typical Microsoft release.

Users will begin to experience unpleasant interruptions