Windows ::
Windows Articles and TopicsWindows 7 SP1 :: Not out until 2011???
Posted on :: Jul 22
Many of the Microsoft watchers and customers I know have been expecting Microsoft to ship the first service pack (SP) for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 before the end of 2010.
Enabling Railo errors on IIS7
Posted on :: Jul 14
I did a Railo/Tomcat install on an IIS7 server and thought the whole thing was hosed as I could only get a 500 internal server error. It turns out that Railo errors will not be displayed by default unless you are browsing the site on the actual server as IIS7 hides the errors.
Firefox 3.6.4 - Now featuring "out-of-process plugins"
Posted on :: Jun 23
Mozilla yesterday released Firefox 3.6.4, and on top of the usual bug fixes and security patches this new version contains an interesting feature - “out-of-process plugins” (OOPP).
What is OOPP?
Installing Magento on Windows with XAMPP and WAMP
Posted on :: Jun 16
This is a quick and easy Development Guide to installing Magento on your Local Windows Box using the WAMP or XAMMP apache servers.
Internet Explorer 9
Posted on :: Jun 7
Microsoft today announced further details of their forthcoming Internet Explorer 9 browser, along with the first platform preview for developers, at their MIX Conference 2010.
Amongst the announcements comes increased support for CSS3, with support promised for CSS3 Selectors, Namespaces, Colors, Values, Backgrounds & Borders and Fonts, along with increased support for HTML5 and improvements in JavaScript performance.Google dumps Windows
Posted on :: Jun 1
It comes as no surprise that Google would want its employees to use its products, including the forthcoming Chrome OS. But months before the operating system is released publicly, the company has reportedly started pulling the plug on internal use of Windows computers. going so far as to require special permission to use Microsoft’s OS.
How to Network Vista and XP Computers Together
Posted on :: Dec 29
Want to connect your new Windows Vista machine to your existing XP box? It's not rocket science, but it's not quite as simple as you might expect. To help, I've provided a step-by-step guide to connecting your Vista machine to your XP computer.
The Windows 7 upgrade survival guide
Posted on :: Oct 12
Want to make the Windows 7 upgrade experience as short and painless as possible? Follow these seven suggestions to make the process easier. (For details on what to expect, see How long should a Windows 7 upgrade really take?)
Microsoft Already Planning Windows 8?
Posted on :: Sep 28
With the news that Microsoft are bringing out a touch-screen tablet which could rival that of Apple’s alleged tablet device, it made me consider what is next for future operating systems.
Some would argue that Windows 7 was designed in and around touch capabilities, as the operating system finally included multi-touch technology which Microsoft had perfected since the “Longhorn” days.
With the Ribbon being integrated into most common programs and the operating system being designed for finger-input, you can tell Microsoft has made a significant push on the touch-screen user.
Bearing this in mind, could the next wave of operating systems - “Windows 8? specifically, expected to be released in 2011 which by then anything could go, be based on a touch-only interface?
Windows 7 XP Mode
Posted on :: Aug 5
On August 4, Microsoft is making available to any and all interested testers the Release Candidate (RC) test build of Windows 7’s XP Mode add-on.
XP Mode is aimed primarily at small/mid-size business users (SMBs), and is designed to allow them to run legacy Windows XP applications on Windows 7 using virtualization technologies.
The release candidate of XP Mode will work on the Windows 7 Release Candidate and the final Windows 7 RTM bits. The XP Mode RC is avaiable for download from Microsoft’s Web site and consists of two components: A 5 MB Virtual PC file and a 450 MB copy of Windows XP Service Pack 3.
The final version of XP Mode will be available to Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise and Ultimate users on or around October 22, the day that Microsoft plans to make Windows 7 generally available. XP Mode, unlike some of Microsoft’s other virtualization offerings, does not require users to have a Software Assurance (SA) annuity license in order to get the bits.
The Ultimate Windows 7 Upgrade FAQ
Posted on :: Jul 24
Microsoft has done an exceptional job of designing Windows 7, but a terrible job of communicating how it will be sold. As Microsoft dribbles out details of the Windows 7 release schedule and product lineup, including pricing and upgrade offers, I’ve been deluged with questions from readers about whether they qualify for a Windows 7 upgrade and, if so, what’s the simplest, most cost-effective way to acquire it.
Before I dive into the Q&A section, it’s worth taking a second to clear up the source of much of the confusion I’m encountering. In the often bewildering world of Windows licensing, the word upgrade has two separate and distinct meanings. The first refers to the license that you purchase, which in turn allows you to run Windows on a specific PC. The second refers to a mode of setup, where you keep installed programs and personal data files while replacing the underlying operating system.
Confused? Let’s see if I can untangle things.
The Scarlet V: What's a Vista business user to do?
Posted on :: Jul 24
Windows 7 has been released to manufacturing and is obviously the operating system that Microsoft and its partners will be pushing for the next two-plus years. If you’re one of those business users who is in the midst of deploying Vista, what should you do?
Up until fairly recently, Microsoft was telling users to continue going forward with their Vista deployments if they’d already begun them, and to just skip Vista and go straight to Windows 7 if they were just starting them.
But in May, around the time Microsoft delivered the near-final Release Candidate (RC) test build of Windows 7, Windows execs stopped saying much at all about Vista. In fact, it was like pulling teeth to get them to talk about Vista Service Pack (SP) 2, in terms of discussing features, fixes and/or availability. At the company’s recent Worldwide Partner Conference, the message was clear: As of May, any marketing campaigns that had been using the word “Vista” should be switched to refer to “Windows.”
Where does that leave big shops that bought into Vista? Are they deigned to be ridiculed and abandonned like Hester Prynne, forced to don a scarlet “A” (or, in this case, “V”)?How good is Microsoft's free antivirus software?
Posted on :: Jun 19
Microsoft has officially unveiled its long-awaited consumer antivirus offering. Formerly code-named “Morro,” it’s now been christened Microsoft Security Essentials, and it will enter public beta testing next week. If you have a licensed copy of Windows XP (Service Pack 2 or above), Windows Vista, or Windows 7, you’ll be able to download and install the software at no additional charge. No subscription is required for ongoing definition updates, either. The final release is scheduled for this fall.
The public beta will be limited to 75,000 downloads, Microsoft says, and the targets are global. The initial beta release is limited to the United States, Israel (where a core development team is based), and Brazil. Next month, the beta will open up for users in China. It’s no coincidence that Microsoft is rolling out early in Brazil and China, which are large-scale vectors of malware infections because of the sheer number of Windows users running without antivirus protection. According to Microsoft, barriers to adoption of paid security software are especially high in developing markets, where internet access is slower and credit cards are unavailable to a large percentage of the population.
Should Windows 7 be a free upgrade to all Vista Ultimate users?
Posted on :: May 14
Should Microsoft make Windows 7 available as a free upgrade to all Vista Ultimate users? Analyst Michael Cherry thinks this is what Microsoft should do.
So, why should Microsoft extend this generous offer to Vista Ultimate users? According to Cherry the reason is because the company failed to deliver on its promise to provide those running Vista Ultimate with the Ultimate Extras that were promised.
Compressing your Drive may cause you problems
Posted on :: May 8
As I have just recently learned, compressing your hardrive through the use of windows can cause you some very unneccessary pain. I was thinking that by compressing my drive I would save some additonal harddrive space, well, first the savings wasn't all that different from the actual consumption already being used (the compression was so miniscule, it's not really worht it).
But having to shutdown my system to protect it from a very nasty thunderstorm I htought nothing of it, until I had the computer reboot, where I was greeted with the error :
BootManager Compressed.
Press CNTRL+ALT+DEL to restart the boot process.Is IE8 really fat and slow?
Posted on :: May 1
Since IE8 shipped last week, I’ve been following reviews and user feedback closely. A lot of the reactions to Microsoft’s new browser come down to personal preference: Some people like the usability-oriented tweaks Microsoft made, others think the browser is too busy or cluttered. It’s hard to argue with opinions.
But two criticisms have come up repeatedly that can be measured empirically, so I thought I would do that here. One is the burning question of whether IE8 is faster or slower than its competitors; the other is whether it makes reasonable use of system resources. In this post, I explain why some people are seeing performance issues (and share an obscure system tweak that might just cure IE8 performance and stability problems). I also take a closer look at why some browsers use more memory than others.
Vista or Windows 7? Just get rid of XP, Microsoft tells users
Posted on :: Dec 2
This blog post isn't mine in any way and is from ZDnet.com. I htought it was intesting, and decided to post it here.
Microsoft’s latest Windows deployment guidance for business users has morphed from the overly simplistic “Don’t wait for Windows 7.”
The company’s new corporate advice is more nuanced and more dependent on where users are currently in their deployment cycles. But the bottom-line message is whether you decide to go with Vista or wait for Windows 7 is less important than getting off Windows XP.
Windows 7 FAQ
Posted on :: Dec 2
With Windows Vista finally behind us, it's time to turn our attention to the next Windows client release, Windows 7. (Microsoft had used other code-names, like "Vienna" and "Windows Seven," to describe this product in the past.)
Clearly, what's needed is a central location for accurate information about Windows 7. This is it.
Windows 7 Theme for Vista
Posted on :: Dec 2
XP, Vista, Win 7: The brewing of a perfect storm
Posted on :: Nov 17
Whenever Microsoft releases a new version of Windows, there’s always some period of uncertainty when customers face the choice of moving to the current release or waiting for the new product. This year, however, that transition period is especially uneasy.
Windows 7 is — by all accounts (except from the Microsoft honchos) — due out later this year and is looking faster, smaller and more stable than any Windows release out there. Windows Vista is here, but not a user favorite (to put it mildly). And eight-year-old Windows XP is still the dominant version of Windows out there.
SQL Server 2008 RC0 Express on Vista
Posted on :: Nov 17
I wanted to get Express installed on my machine and so I downloaded the RC0 (of Express with Advanced Services) and ran it.
BTW there is is this Akamai download manager behind all of the RC0 downloads which you have to allow to run to get the download to start. If all is well you should have this download client running (and let me know if this is giving you grief):
SQL Server 2005 on Windows Vista
Posted on :: Nov 17
I've seen this issue pop up a few times so I thought I'd share a few quick tips / tricks to getting SQL Server 2005 to work on Vista.
If you see an error saying "Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) is either not installed or is disabled.", but you're sure you did in fact install IIS7, you are not alone. There are several required IIS components for SQL Server to install properly on Vista and if you don't have the complete set you will see this error.