It's clear that Windows Vista will have a big impact on PC hardware. We've already written about how to plan for building a Vista system. Now we take a look at the near-term horizon for hardware.
Revised IE7 Naming in Windows Vista
I had mentioned a while back that we planned to call the version of IE7 in Windows Vista ?Internet Explorer 7+?. Well, the feedback we got on the blog was overwhelming ? many of you didn?t like it. So, as we?ve said on our website, we heard you. I?m pleased to announce that we?re switching the name back to ?Internet Explorer 7?. No plus. No dot x. Just ?Internet Explorer 7?.
Windows Media Player 11 will RTM on September 14th
Windows Media Player 11 for XP will RTM on September 14th, 2006. We obtained this information from the same very reliable Microsoft source who gave us a dead-on accurate date for the Public Preview of WMP11 a few months back.
TheHotfix.net
TheHotfix.net
Many new IE7 Builds Are On The Way
Todd from IEBlog yesterday posted on his MSDN blog about the future of IE7 as well as some tidbits about when to expect release candidate and final builds.
DirectX Redist August 2006
This download provides the DirectX end-user multi-languaged redistributable that developers can include with their product. The redistributable license agreement covers the terms under which developers may use the Redistributable. For full details please review the DirectX SDK EULA.txt and DirectX Redist.txt files located in the license directory.
Microsoft's Windows Vista Soft Drink
To keep the motivation level up internally, Microsoft has stocked its refrigerators with its very own Windows Vista soft drinks. No, no, Microsoft didn?t spend its R&D budget to come up with a perfect drinking formula, it?s just Talking Rain sparking water disguised in a custom designed can. Talk about refreshing?
August 2006 DirectX SDK
This DirectX SDK release contains updates to tools, utilities, samples, documentation, and runtime debug files for x64 and x86 platforms. This release also include a public pre-release Direct3D 10.
DirectX End-User Runtime (August 2006) Web Installer
The Microsoft DirectX® End-User Runtime provides updates to 9.0c and previous versions of DirectX ? the core Windows® technology that drives high-speed multimedia and games on the PC.
Windows Live Messenger Review
In my Windows Live Messenger Review, I examine some new Messenger features like PC-to-PC calling, PC-to-phone calls and text messaging, Bots, and Yahoo Messenger compatibility!
Exchange Server 2007 Beta 2 Review
The future of Exchange is here: In my preliminary review of Exchange Server 2007 Beta 2, I take a look at roles-based architecture, management improvements, and, other new features!
Paul Thurrott Windows SuperSite
Paul Thurrott Windows SuperSite
Microsoft Antigen for SMTP Gateways with Antigen Spam Manager Beta
The Messaging Security Suite includes Antigen for Exchange, Antigen for SMTP Gateways and Antigen Spam Manager and provides server-level protection against the latest e-mail threats.
Internet Explorer 7 Beta 3 Yahoo! Toolbar Fix
When you use Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 Beta 3 together with Yahoo! Toolbar, you experience one or more of the following symptoms:
Can You Upgrade to Windows Vista?
Today, I examine which of today's Windows versions can upgrade to which Windows Vista product editions. Can you upgrade to Windows Vista? Find out in my latest showcase!
Paul Thurrott Windows SuperSite
Paul Thurrott Windows SuperSite
Microsoft Live Labs Photosynth
Photosynth takes a large collection of photos of a place or object, analyzes them for similarities, and displays them in a reconstructed 3-Dimensional space.
Windows Media Components for QuickTime 2.1
With Windows Media Components for QuickTime, by Flip4Mac?, you can play Windows Media files (.wma and .wmv) directly in QuickTime Player and view Windows Media content on the Internet using a Web browser.
Clear Description of WEI Rating for Windows Vista
Inside the upcoming Windows Vista, Microsoft has introduced a Windows System Performance Rating tool, which aims to assess the capability of a computer to run Vista?s new feature. Scoring from 1 to 5, however their meaning haven?t been revealed until a new guideline has given to PC market. In addition, the tool was revamped to be Windows Experience Index.
Network Diagnostic Tool (KB914440)
The Network Diagnostics for Windows XP tool analyzes information about your network connectivity to help you troubleshoot network-related problems with your computer.
Toolkit to Disable Automatic Delivery of Internet Explorer 7
To help our customers become more secure and up-to-date, Microsoft will distribute Internet Explorer 7 as a high-priority update via Automatic Updates for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 soon after the final version of the browser is released (planned for fourth quarter 2006). Microsoft is making a non-expiring Blocker Toolkit available for those organizations that would like to block automatic delivery of Internet Explorer 7 to machines in environments where Automatic Updates is enabled.
Exchange Server 2007 Beta 2
The new capabilities of Exchange Server 2007 Beta 2 deliver the advanced protection your company demands, the anywhere access your people want, and the operational efficiency you need.
Windows XP SP2B appears in Japan
Windows XP SP2B appears in retail shops in Japan.