Windows7 Evangelist

Goldman Sachs’ latest IT spending survey forecasts modest overall growth in the coming year, with pent-up demand for new hardware such as servers and PCs stimulating an increase in Windows 7 upgrades.

Overall, Goldman forecasts an 8% decline in global IT spending for 2009, followed by 4% growth in 2010. The survey is comprised of 100 IT executives from Fortune 1000 companies.

Spending on software for servers (with VMware and Red Hat ranking highest) as well as virtualization and SaaS-based applications (with VMware, salesforce.com and Citrix ranking the highest) is predicted to return to normal levels in 2010. But with more than half the survey respondents indicating they will do PC, server and storage refreshes next year, most of the spending will be on hardware, according to the report.

Goldman points to data from research firm IDC stating that 2009 third-quarter PC shipments are up 17% from the previous quarter and up 2% year-over-year.

The increase in PC upgrades in 2010 are likely due to aging PCs at the end of their lifecycle. Yet the arrival of Windows 7 also has a significant influence, according to the Goldman Sachs report

READ MORE >> Goldman Sachs: Windows 7 upgrades to fuel IT spending in 2010

Formats:

If you’re into desktop customization, then there’s no doubt you’ve been taking advantage of Windows 7’s themes features which lets you create and/or download theme packages that include multiple wallpapers, sound schemes and screen savers. The official Windows 7 site lists several themes but there are even more independently-created themes available on the internet.

In the spirit of the holiday season, I’ve been keeping my eye out for seasonal themes and I’ve now amassed a collection of four really great ones. Some of the themes are focused on Christmas specifically, but if you don’t celebrate that holiday, then check out the winter themes instead.

Here are the best ones I’ve found so far (see below). Let me know if you have come across others worth a look!

1. Winter Fun Theme 2009

Created by Sean Alexander, this Windows 7 theme is a re-release of the popular Windows XP Winter Fun Pack originally launched in 2003. In other words, an oldie but a goodie. The winter wonderland wallpapers are set to change by default every 30 minutes. If you’re looking for a seasonal theme that’s not Christmas-focused, this is a good one to choose.

Download (via SkyDrive)

2. Windows 7 News Christmas Themepack

From the Windows 7 News site, this theme pack of less than 9 MB includes 9 different Christmas-related backgrounds including Christmas trees, ornaments, presents, and more.

Download (zip file)

3. Windows 7 News Winter Themepack

Another theme from the Windows 7 News site, this theme was built using winter photos from the photo-sharing website Flickr. Attribution was added to the included text file that comes with the theme when downloaded. All the wallpapers have a 2000×1600 resolution and are set to stretch if the resolution of your PC is higher than those of the wallpaper.

Download (zip file)

4.  Twinkle Wish Theme

Twinkle Wish is a new theme available from the official Windows 7 website which features adorable hand-drawn wallpapers with different Christmas imagery like Santa, snowflakes, and Christmas trees. There are six wallpapers in all. 

Download (themepack file)

Four Holiday Themes for Windows 7 | Sarah In Tampa | Channel 10

If you want to upload files, delete files, or rearrange the folder structure on an FTP site, you need to open the site in Windows Explorer rather than in Internet Explorer. For security reasons, you can only use Internet Explorer to open FTP sites and download files from them. To create a shortcut to an FTP site so that the site will automatically open in Windows Explorer, follow the steps below.

To create a shortcut to open an FTP site in Windows Explorer

1. Open Computer by clicking the Start button , and then clicking Computer.

2. Right-click anywhere in the folder, and then click Add a Network Location.

3. In the wizard, select Choose a custom network location, and then click Next.

4. Enter the name of the FTP site, with the full FTP:// in front of it, and then click Next.

5. To use a name and password, clear the Log on anonymously check box. Type a user name, and then click Next.

6. To have the FTP site open when you’re done setting up the shortcut, just click Next. If you do not want the FTP site to open after you’re done setting up the shortcut, clear the Open this network location when I click Finish check box. Click Finish.

7. A shortcut to the FTP site appears in the Computer folder. You can drag that shortcut to your desktop so that it’s easy to find later.

Note

When you first connect to the FTP site, you’ll be prompted for a password. Select the Save password check box if you want Windows to remember that password and connect you directly to the site in the future.

Did you know Microsoft took out the Internet Connection Sharing feature in Windows 7 starter—the version of Win 7 that ships with netbooks? I do, since I futilely tried using it on vacation. Not so fast, Microsoft!

Rafael Rivera discovered that there was only a shortcut to the feature that was disabled; the feature itself is still there. All you have to do is type "adhoc" into the Windows search bar in the Start Menu and it’ll show up, as illustrated above. Done and done.

You know what else is taken out of Windows 7 Starter? Their screenshot snipping tool. Yeah. They were too cheap to let netbook users have a SNIPPING TOOL. Thankfully the printscreen button combined with Paint (they didn’t take that out!) still works. [Within Windows via Neowin]

Get Internet Connection Sharing in Windows 7 Starter in One Easy Step – Windows 7 starter – Gizmodo

I’ve got a new spelling for "Scrooge." M-i-c-r-o-s-o-f-t. The company has ended the Windows 7 Family Pack promotion, which is a nice Ba Humbug to you and yours for the holidays. Sure, it could be good for Microsoft’s bottom line and perhaps partners’ PC sales. But for the masses considering upgrading existing Windows XP/Vista PCs to 7, a good thing is suddenly bad.

Maybe Microsoft executives looked at Apple charging so much for Macs and thought, "Why discount Windows 7?" Perhaps, but generally companies offer greater discounts as the holidays approach, not take them away. Windows 7 Home Premium Family Pack offered three upgrade licenses for the tidy sum of $149.99. Now the upgrade price is $119.99 per license.

Family Pack was a great idea, one Apple applied to Mac OS X about seven years ago and extended to other products, such as iLife and iWork. Apple charges $49 for the Mac OS X 10.6 (aka Snow Leopard) Family Pack — for users upgrading from predecessor Leopard. Users of older Mac OS X versions have the option of the five-license Mac Box Set Family Pack, which also includes iLife `09 and iWork `09, for $229.

While Apple made its Family Pack a permanent fixture, Microsoft announced Windows 7 Home Premium Family Pack as a limited-time offer, with the emphasis on limited. But I always assumed that limited meant at least through the holidays, especially in context of other multi-license software specials — Office Home and Student 2007 for $79.99, discounted from $149.99. But Ho, Ho, Ho, Humbug, that promotion is gone, too.

I first learned of Family Pack’s demise from Ed Bott, who blogged: "Microsoft’s Grinch kills Windows 7 Family Pack." Bott credited Paul Thurrott. Both men are recognized Microsoft software experts. Bott writes: "I haven’t heard much about the Grinch lately. Now I know why. He’s been hanging out in Redmond, working on marketing plans and drafting statements for the press." It’s Scrooge, baby. Perhaps Scrooge Ballmer, although Scrooge Sinofsky has a nice ring to it.

A notice on the Windows 7 Family Pack product page announces: "Thank you for your interest in Windows 7. The Windows 7 Family Pack offer has ended." Offer ended isn’t a sell-out, by the way, which is evidenced by the software seemingly disappearing everywhere at once. Microsoft has ubiquitously pulled the software.

Amazon still lists the Family Pack, because some associates offer it new or used — anywhere from $2 (yeah right) to $259.99, which is still much less than buying three separate licenses for about 120 bucks each. I make the point the offer ended, in anticipation of misleading Microsoft PR claiming the product sold out.

If the Family Pack sold well — or even better than expected — Microsoft would have incentive to end the promotion as soon as possible, from a profit-per-license perspective. But there’s another way to look at the Family Pack’s value and why Scrooge should have kept his stingy little hands off this promotion:

• If Windows 7 security is so much better, as Microsoft claims, the priority should be to get as many users on the newer software as possible. Family Pack encourages consumers to upgrade more PCs sooner.
• Apple is sopping up Windows XP PC users, based on Mac sales suggesting that 50 percent of buyers are Windows PC users. Better for Microsoft to get those people onto Windows 7 cheap. If the software is as good as claimed, these end users will be more likely to stick with Windows and make the next computer purchase a Windows PC.
• Family Pack discourages piracy, plain, pure and simple and meets the real world consumer expectation that one Windows copy should be installable on more than one PC.
• Consumers using Windows 7 at home will ask for it at work. Microsoft should want to get as many of them on the new OS as quickly as possible. Holiday sales is a rocket ship to adoption, if the price is right.

Microsoft pulls Windows 7 Family Pack, so you can spend more for the holidays | Betanews

Microsoft has readied a security bulletin designed to address a Critical vulnerability in

Internet Explorer, including the latest iteration of the browser running in Windows 7. The IE patch will, in fact, be the only one that will impact the successor of Windows Vista, as Windows 7 RTM is not affected by any of the security issues patched with the wave of security updates planned for release on December 8, 2009. The information was made available through the Advance Notification for the December 2009 Security Bulletin Release, a resource designed to allow customers to get ready for this month’s patches.

“For December we are planning to release six new security bulletins addressing 12 vulnerabilities in Windows, Internet Explorer (IE) and Microsoft Office products. Three of the bulletins have a maximum severity rating of Critical and three have a maximum severity rating of Important. To help customers plan for their deployment of these updates, I want to specifically call out that they touch all supported versions of Windows and IE. On the Office side, the bulletins impact Project, Word and Works 8.5,” revealed Jerry Bryant, Microsoft security program manager.
Bryant notes that the Redmond company considers a top priority the patching of a recently disclosed Internet Explorer vulnerability. Proof of Concept for the IE security flaw has already been released in the wild, meaning that customers are exposed to eventual exploits of the vulnerability, although the software giant continues to indicate that no attacks were detected. According to the company, the 0-day only affects IE6 and IE7, but not Internet Explorer 8. In this context, it is clear that the Windows 7 IE8 flaw, labeled with a maximum severity rating of Critical, is a different security vulnerability than the zero-day.
“The IE update (…) will be at the top of our deployment priority list. The other critical update affecting Windows will have a lower Exploitability Index rating, so while the impact is higher with a critical severity rating, the lower risk will drop the deployment priority down a little. The final critical update affecting Microsoft Project, is only critical for Project 2000. The other affected versions are important. That coupled with a lower Exploitability Index will also drive it down on the deployment priority list. Customers have asked us to map the numbered bulletins in the ANS to the final bulletin ID’s after release so we will be doing that in the blog post here on Tuesday,” Bryant said.

Windows 7 IE8 Critical Patch Coming Next Week – On December 8, 2009 – Softpedia

Microsoft may have buried a wireless networking feature in Windows 7 Starter, the edition installed on most netbooks, but it did not actually disable the ad hoc wireless feature, as the firm’s marketing materials claim, a noted Windows blogger said today.

Ad hoc wireless networking, which lets several Windows computers share a single connection, was one of several networking features Microsoft claims are not available in Windows 7 Starter. Those features, which include ad hoc networking, Internet connection sharing and network bridging, are present in the more expensive, tools-laden editions, such as Home Premium and Professional.

But according to Rafael Rivera, ad hoc networking is present in Starter, albeit hidden.

"On Windows 7 Starter Edition, the ‘Set up a wireless ad hoc network’ link in the [Set Up a Connection or Network] dialog is missing," said Rivera in an entry on his Within Windows blog yesterday.

Rivera, who regularly roots out under-the-cover facts about Microsoft and Windows, most recently made news when he took Microsoft to task for lifting code from an open-source project for the company’s Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool (WUDT). After Rivera disclosed the code appropriation, Microsoft yanked WUDT and then later announced it would re-release the tool as open-source. Last week, however, it postponed the re-release, saying it needed more time to test the revamped WDUT.

In an interview conducted via instant messaging today, Rivera confirmed that ad hoc networking is part of Windows 7 Starter.

"You’re licensed to use ad hoc networking … you’re [just] not licensed to use the shortcut in this dialog [in Windows 7 Home Premium]," Rivera wrote in this blog. "To access the wizard that this link normally points to, simply Start Menu search for ‘adhoc’."

By searching for "adhoc" in Starter, then launching the executable, netbook users can create an on-the-fly connection for sharing an Internet connection.

Rivera expects that Microsoft will close the loophole in a future update, hotfix or service pack. "I believe it’s safe to assume this is an unintentional screw up. Enjoy it while you can, netbook cheapos," he said.

This is not the first time that a hidden networking feature of Windows 7 has been revealed. In October, a Philadelphia developer found an unfinished feature of Windows 7 that turns any laptop into a wireless access point, allowing other Wi-Fi-enabled devices to share the connection without special software. The "Virtual Wi-Fi" feature in Windows 7, which Microsoft at one point touted, was only half-finished, said Alex Gizis, CEO of Nomadio, whose programmers dug up the hotspot-making code.

Virtual Wi-Fi is similar to, but more flexible, than ad hoc networking.

Microsoft did not immediately reply to questions about ad hoc networking in Windows 7 Starter, including whether it will, as Rivera speculated, issue a patch that will completely disable the feature.

Windows 7 Starter includes hidden wireless feature, says sleuth

We’re big fans of tiny PCs, and this CompuLab fit-PC2i is the smallest one yet. Even though it’s just 4 inches wide and slightly over an inch tall, it can still run Windows 7 and blast 1080p video all day long. It’s made out of aluminum, so it’s super light at 13 ounces, just right for hanging on the back of a flat panel display for complete Web freedom in the home theater.

The superlight (13oz) PC runs your choice of an Intel Atom Z530 1.6GHz, or Atom Z510 1.1GHz processor, and it’s nice and quiet because this 8-watt PC is so efficient it doesn’t even need a fan blowing inside. Pair this up with a tricky home theater mouse, a wireless mini-keyboard, or a cellphone-like controller, and you’re all set. Next month, you can pick up the loaded model with Windows 7 Professional on board for $499, or get the cheapest one for $245.

Take a closer look at all the inputs in the back of this baby including a quartet of USB ports, a couple of gigabit Ethernet ports… alas, there’s DVI instead of HDMI (update: weird, looks like HDMI to us, too):

Fit PC, via Engadget

Smallest PC packs a punch, runs Windows 7 | DVICE

When Microsoft in July, announced its intention to offer a Windows 7 Family Pack, which provides for three upgrade installations of Windows 7 Home Premium edition for $150 or less, they warned that it was a “limited time offer.” Now, barely six weeks after Windows 7’s public launch on October 22, Paul Thurrott reports that “stocks of the Family Pack have disappeared in the United States. Amazon.com, Buy.com, and Newegg.com are all sold out, but various mom-and-pop partners of the sites are offering the package for $250 to $290. Even Bing Shopping turns up only one seller with the product in stock, at $272, which is nearly double its list price.”A Microsoft spokesperson said “The Windows 7 Family Pack was introduced as a limited time offer while supplies last in select geographies. Response has been very positive and in some cases, the offer has sold out. Customers interested in upgrading their PCs should purchase Home Premium, Professional or Ultimate upgrade products.”

Windows 7 Family Pack sold out in US

One helpful feature of the new Windows 7 operating system from Microsoft is the ability to display "Gadgets" on your desktop. Gadgets are little windows that allow you to view information such as the weather, sports scores or photos without having to open up a Web browser or new program. To start installing gadgets, right – click on your desktop and choose "Gadgets." To use most Gadgets, you’ll need to have an Internet connection.
1 To install the Weather gadget, click on it, and choose "Add." Once it’s on your desktop, to change the city for which weather information is displayed, click on the wrench icon. Type in your current location, search for it, and once it’s confirmed, click "OK."
2 To get the Google Gadget, go to http://bit.ly/4Jr9mb and click "Download," "Install" and save it to your computer. Once it’s downloaded, find it on your computer and double – click on it to install it. Just type your search terms into the box to do a Google search.
3 To install the currency converter, right-click on your desktop, choose "Gadgets" and right-click on the currency converter to add it.
4 To search through thousands of other free downloadable gadgets, go to http://bit.ly/4U4tCm.
5 To remove a gadget, you can either hover your mouse over it and click the X, or open up your gadgets collection by right-clicking on your desktop, choosing Gadgets and right-clicking on the gadget you want to uninstall.

Microsoft Windows 7: How to use desktop gadgets — OrlandoSentinel.com