This past week saw all sorts of news & rumors on different sites about Windows 7; from leaked screenshots/videos to leaked ISO's on torrents.. Windows 7 had it all!

While all this was going on, I randomly found this wallpaper (not official ofcoarse) of Windows 7 while surfing internet and thought of sharing it with you all. If anyone find the original author of this wallpaper then please let me know so that I could give him/her the due credit.

In mean time, enjoy this peaceful Windows 7 (Seven) wallpaper:

Wallpaper: Windows 7 (Seven)
Resolution: 1280x800 (16:9 Widescreen)
Size: 170 KB

Taimur Asad (The Microsoft "Wow" Blog!)

January 27, 2008 marks the completion of first year for this blog. 

I started writing this blog on January 27, 2007 just a couple of days
before Microsoft shipped Windows Vista to consumers. Have a look
at my first post here titled "Lets make a difference!".
In this last one year, I have received close to 50,000 unique hits (49,472) to be exact and ofcoarse a bit of recognition on the web too ;)

Looking forward to the year ahead i.e. 2008!

Taimur Asad (The Microsoft "Wow" Blog!)

With the clock ticking toward its Feb. 27 product launch -- and cold, snowy weather blanketing its Redmond, Wash., campus -- Microsoft employees are battening down to get Windows Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008 out the door.

During a mid-January visit to Microsoft's headquarters, employees walked determinedly from one office building to another, where recently installed Starbucks coffee machines were in constant use. Ping-pong tables sat unused, and the company cafeteria was mostly empty. The campus baseball field and soccer pitch were more tundra than playgrounds.

With barely a month to go before its most important product launch since the release of Windows Vista a year ago, Microsoft still has some work to do. Microsoft has booked the time and the place -- the morning of Feb. 27 at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles -- for the official launch of Windows Server 2008, SQL Server 2008, and Visual Studio 2008. But Visual Studio 2008, which shipped in November, is the only one of the three enterprise products that's actually in final shape.

Windows Server 2008 is in the near-final stages of testing now, the so-called escrow stage. Next comes what Bill Laing, general manager of Windows server development, calls the "break glass in case of emergency" stage, a week-long period during which Windows engineers scrutinize the new operating system one last time before they release it to manufacturing.

Windows Server 2008 is on track for RTM on or before Feb. 27. "We're pretty close," Laing says. "We're feeling very good about the release."

Continue At Source

Taimur Asad (The Microsoft "Wow" Blog!)

You be the judge!

Windows Vista Wow Ad

Taimur Asad (The Microsoft "Wow" Blog!)

MIcrosoft released Windows Vista SP1 RC Refresh 2, wonder why they don't just call it Release Candidate 3.
Microsoft said it will just be released to the 15,000 official beta testers who can download it through Windows Update.

Taimur Asad (The Microsoft "Wow" Blog!)

Wow. There are a ton of bullet items in this patch! The following was posted by Cesar in the Zune.net forums…

• Fixed top crashing bugs submitted by users
• Fixed bug where Zune software thinks the device memory is full (but isn’t)

Key Marketplace fixes

• Allow users to view top music videos in marketplace
• Misc improved error messaging including splitting sign-in issues into 4 separate errors for customer and support benefit
• Retrieval of subscription download history no longer stalls if the content is revoked
• Better handling of accounts that have expired credit cards
• Podcasts with spaces in their name can now be subscribed to
• Marketplace no longer blocks explicit content purchases when parental controls are set to allow
• Points balance label is now updated when user purchases new points

Key Player UI fixes

• Allow zooming in/out (2x, 4x, fullscreen) during video playback to prevent stretched playback
• Ability to switch Zune to GDI mode through command-line parameter

Key Podcast fixes

• Allow subscriptions to podcasts larger than 10MB
• Fixed some parsing errors that prevented some podcasts from syncing to the device
• Fixed bug where podcasts were unsubscribing themselves

Key Setup fixes

• Fixed numerous bugs affecting build to build upgrades
• Improved installation for users accessing from corporate networks
• Fixed driver uninstall failures
• Included device 2.3 firmware in client download
• Failure in creating system restore point no longer blocks client installation

Key Sync fixes

• Fixed issues with reverse sync
• Fixes issues with sync meter UI showing incorrect information as to what is on the device
• Fixed issues using wireless sync with multiple devices to the same PC
• Fixed a few different issues setting up wireless sync
• Device is no longer being reported as full even after deleting large file from device
• Device content is no longer being turned into guest content when it shouldn’t be
• Content with bad metadata now shows properly so it can be removed from device
• Turning off “autolaunch when a Zune device is connected” no longer prevents “Sync Now” from working from a wirelessly connected device
• Podcast bookmarking is now transferred/saved to the device
• Wireless sync connection continues to work after rebooting host computer
• Unsubscribe podcast from device now works properly
• Changing album art in the client now updates the device as well
• Duplicate tracks are no longer synced to the device twice

Key Xbox Streaming bug fixes

• Xbox Streaming now monitors the rip folder if user changes default location
• No need to reinstall client to fix Xbox Streaming when upgrading from XP to Vista

Key Infrastructure fixes

• Vista x64 customers can now get to web help from error messages
• Client no longer crashes if database is corrupted

Key Library fixes

• Changes in pictures or video metadata made outside client will now get updated in the library
• UI is now smoother during file groveling
• When a track is added to an album we will now always update the track on disc
• User can now update album art for marketplace tracks
• ‘Unknown Artist’ metadata is no longer written to files when writing out user edit of album name
• Renaming  an artist now more reliably keeps the change
• Two different copies of the same album no longer get duplicated down to one when it shouldn’t
• Access violation no longer occurs when checking song properties in the burn list
• Multi-disc albums imported from iTunes no longer show in the client as a single disc album
• Thumbnails for video content now extract on XP properly

Download Zune 2.3

Taimur Asad (The Microsoft "Wow" Blog!)

Check this cool Valentine's Day card brought to you by Microsoft Silverlight and Windows Live teams , Share the love.
Just go to http://www.microsoft.com/silverlight/sharethelove/default.html and start building your own Valentines Card.

You can add any photos from your flickr account or Windows Live Spaces, then you can type your message to be sent and select a nice tune to make it musical and send this valentine card!

Source: meraTechPort

Taimur Asad (The Microsoft "Wow" Blog!)

Taimur Asad (The Microsoft "Wow" Blog!)

Matthew Perry Jennifer Aniston Windows 95 guide Part 2

Matthew Perry Jennifer Aniston Windows 95 guide Part 3

Matthew Perry Jennifer Aniston Windows 95 guide Part 4

Taimur Asad (The Microsoft "Wow" Blog!)

Microsoft seems to be preparing to release an unusual "Vista Plus Pack" on February 15th. Based on the provided box art, the Plus Pack appears to be a collection of four casual games that are "Enhanced for Windows Vista". The listing for the software was found on Future Shop's online catalog by MadDoggyca in our forums. Details below:
Releases 15 Feb/08. User-friendly software combines the features of Vista Home Basic with even more impressive and user-friendly capabilities. Features Windows Aero, an efficient and visually stunning interface that makes it easier to accomplish multiple tasks at once by providing a three-dimensional, real-time, animated view of all of your open applications and documents.
FEATURES:

• By integrating search throughout the operating system, helps you quickly find and organize large collections of documents, pictures, movies, videos, and music.
• Includes Windows Tablet and Touch Technology that enables you to interact with your Tablet PC-compatible computer with a digital pen or your fingertip instead of having to use a keyboard.
• Includes all of the Windows Media Center capabilities for turning your PC into an all-in-one home entertainment centre enjoy music, photos, and DVD movies.

Note that the price of $39.99 is in Canadian dollars since Future Shop is a Canadian home electronics store.
As some of our readers noted, whatever happened to the Ultimate Extras?

Source: winbeta.org

Taimur Asad (The Microsoft "Wow" Blog!)

Be a part of history! Sign up for the biggest software launch of 2008:

For other cities and countries, see source 

Source: www.microsoft.com

Taimur Asad (The Microsoft "Wow" Blog!)

Microsoft has launched Microsoft Student Experience beta, a site for the Students. It has various links to sections like Academics, Careers, Socialize. It provides links to various discounted software and offers. Hope such offers are offered to Students Worldwide.
And lots of cool 'How -to' and I hope lot more will be kept added to the list. And also a download section with lots of good ones. Check out!

Source: meraTechPort

Taimur Asad (The Microsoft "Wow" Blog!)

Windows Mobile 7 will have Zune built in, and use motion gestures, something the iPhone does not? 

The guys over at InsideMicrosoft seem to have gotten their hands on some confidential internal-use-only documents that detail tons of information about the up-coming Windows Mobile 7 complete with images!!  Check out what we might expect:  

• Windows Mobile 7 will ... emphasize the use of touch on the device, as well as motion gestures created by using the device. It is, absolutely, Microsoft’s effort to beat back the iPhone, and the iPhone is referenced several times in the document.
• Windows Mobile 7 will use touch gestures, similar to how the iPhone does. You will be able to flick through lists, pan, swipe sideway, draw on the screen. A lot of emphasis has been put on making navigation easier and doing away with scrollbars, including a new scroll handle that allows for multiple ways of finding items extremely fast.

• Windows Mobile 7 will use motion gestures, something the iPhone does not. It will not use an intricate and complicated series of gyroscopes and accelerometers. Instead, it will use the camera on the phone to detect motions and create appropriate actions.  You will be able to shake, twist and otherwise manipulate the phone and get things done. The phone will be able to perform actions when placed face down on a surface, and it will know when it is in your pocket or bag.  The web browser will incorporate gestures for back and forward actions. Here’s an image:

• Gestures shown include in music or a slideshow, shaking the phone left or right to go to the previous or next song or photo, and shaking the phone in order to shuffle it. Here’s an image, which may only be a mockup, or it is showing us what Windows Media Player will look like on Windows Mobile 7, as well as the picture viewer

• Windows Mobile 7 will have an exciting locking screen, that will allow you to play around with it, draw on it, shake it and completely otherwise mess with it.  Here’s an example of a gesture, shaking the phone to wake it up:

• Windows Mobile 7 will have dramatically improved visuals, different from the iPhone and much more similar to the dark and futuristic visuals of Windows Vista. It will feature graphical transitions, subtle effects, and other things to make it more interesting to look at. This is not detailed in the document, but featured in the multitude of screenshots.  An example of the screen showing a transition from the device being asleep to awake:

• Windows Mobile 7 is designed to use the finger, not the stylus, though many devices will be required to include a stylus. It is designed to be easy to use with the hand, including one-handed, and to be fun to use and easy to understand. It is designed to be used on devices with no buttons, few buttons, lots of buttons, full keyboards, and devices without touch screens. 

• Windows Mobile 7 is clearly designed for better media playback, with screenshots indicating a much-improved Media Player and photo gallery application. There is talk in the document of a games mode. Mobile Internet Explorer runs full-screen web pages in a minimalistic interface, and has “tabbed” browsing, except you can switch tabs by shaking the phone.  A filmstrip view is shown, with the music filmstrip clearly showing a Zune icon with the option to purchase the song:

Worst thing about this whole deal is Windows Mobile 7 will not ship until 2009, according to the document.  Looks like we're gonna have to wait...

Original Source: ZuneBoards.com

Via: Zune Style

Taimur Asad (The Microsoft "Wow" Blog!)

plug-in. Damien Bain-Thouverez, developer of the Media Control Plug-in (ffdshow) has added functionality in the same plug-in to act as a Windows Live Messenger frontend.

This is the first attempt for a Live Messenger plug-in in Vista Media Center. Media Center 2005 had a built-in Windows Messenger plug-in, but with the release of Windows Vista this was kicked to the side as was Windows Messenger all together. Last year Microsoft announced a beta of Windows Live for TV which promised Live Spaces and Live Messenger integration, the product appears to be dead without a release.

Setup instructions can be found in the User Manual, and while the integration is not complete it does work pretty well. Maybe the new load of downloads mixed with a few donations will get full functionality and bugs fixed.

Source:
Chris Lanier's Blog

Taimur Asad (The Microsoft "Wow" Blog!)

The new SQL Server 2008 Learning Portal contains the latest trainings including eBooks and e-Learnings, Instructor-lead Trainings and Certification Exams on SQL Server 2008. Go to this site to be ready for SQL Server 2008 today!

Go to the Microsoft Learning Portal for SQL Server 2008

Taimur Asad (The Microsoft "Wow" Blog!)

Windows Server 2008 is now close enough to being released to manufacturing that it's unlikely Microsoft (NSDQ:MSFT) will issue a third release candidate for the long awaited OS, according to a source close to the company.

Windows Server 2008 is currently in RTM "escrow," which means that the product team thinks the code is good to go but wants to tinker with it just a bit longer, said a source close to Microsoft, who requested anonymity. "There may very well not be an RC2," said the source.

A Microsoft spokesperson declined comment, saying only that Microsoft "is making good progress on Windows Server 2008" and is on track to launch it at the Feb. 27 launch event in Los Angeles, at which SQL Server 2008 and Visual Studio 2008 will also be introduced.

Microsoft last August pushed the Windows Server 2008 RTM timeframe from the end of 2007 into Q1, but many industry observers chalked this up to Microsoft's desire to synchronize the release of Server 2008 with Vista service pack 1.

While Microsoft partners are excited about the imminent arrival of Windows Server 2008, some who've been burned by technical glitches with Windows Vista aren't exactly jumping up and down with excitement.

Jay Tipton, vice president at Technology Specialists, a Fort Wayne, Ind.-based solution provider, doesn't expect a huge initial spike in adoption of Windows Server 2008 due to lingering fears of the Vista scenario repeating itself.

"I'm not going to be jumping on the bandwagon to start replacing Windows Server 2000 and 2003 with Server 2008. And I'm not going to start pushing Server 2008 until it has been out there a while," said Tipton.

But Alex Pearson, president and CEO of IS Systems, a San Antonio-based solution provider who has been testing Windows Server 2008 since the first beta release, expects Server 2008 to quickly gain acceptance in the market on the strength of its strong performance.

"I've been running beta under virtual machine on Virtual Server, and even though I've been trying to make it purposely sluggish by installing it on Celeron laptop, and having multiple people connect through terminal services, it still performs well," said Pearson.

Steven Mulka, a partner with SIS, a Duluth, Ga.-based solution provider, expects virtualization and the enhancements Microsoft has made to terminal services in Windows Server 2008 to be the tangible business benefits companies have been looking for to justify upgrading to Vista. "Businesses don't change their server software just for the sake of change, there have to be solid business reasons behind the decision," said Mulka.

The arrival of Windows Server 2008 will complete the framework for supporting the requirements of the Microsoft toolsets that are coming out, such as Visual Studio and SQL Server 2008, according to Mulka.

"That's a main driving factor, and companies will have to look at this and ask themselves whether they have the foundation to put in the newer products," he said.

Taimur Asad (The Microsoft "Wow" Blog!)

Microsoft Corp's Xbox video gaming unit still fully backs Toshiba Corp's HD-DVD high-definition DVD format but could consider supporting Sony Corp's  rival Blu-ray technology should consumers want it, an executive said on Tuesday.

"It should be consumer choice; and if that's the way they vote, that's something we'll have to

consider," Albert Penello, group marketing manager for Xbox hardware said when asked whether Microsoft would support a Blu-ray DVD accessory in the event that HD-DVD failed.

Microsoft does not believe the surprise decision last week by Time Warner Inc unit Warner Bros, the top seller of home movies, to abandon HD-DVD format in favor of Blu-ray should affect sales of its Xbox 360 video game console, Penello said.

"I fundamentally don't think ... this has a significant impact on Xbox 360 versus (Sony's) PlayStation 3," Penello told Reuters in an interview at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

"With the PlayStation 2, DVD was a big part in the beginning, but over time, people were not buying it as a DVD player after first year or two," Penello said.

The Xbox 360 supports a plug-in HD-DVD accessory that is bought separately, while Sony, hoping to give its next-generation video format a leg up, built a Blu-ray player into its PlayStation 3 machine.

"You can't say it's not a bummer, not a setback, but I've seen this battle declared over so many times," Penello said of Warner's decision.

"I want consumers to have a voice in this and I think there are a lot of consumers who bought HD-DVD who are going to have a say in how this shakes out."

Taimur Asad (The Microsoft "Wow" Blog!)

Microsoft will not launch a product that competes directly with Apple's iPhone, Chairman Bill Gates said in an interview with Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

"No, we won't do that. In the so-called smart phone business we will concentrate solely on software with our Windows Mobile program," Gates was quoted as saying in the interview published on Wednesday.

"We have partnerships with a lot of device manufacturers from Samsung to Motorola and this variety brings us significantly more than if we would make our own mobile phone," he added.

Apple's iPhone, which also plays music and lets users browse the internet, has been a big hit.

Taimur Asad (The Microsoft "Wow" Blog!)

A new update for Windows Home Server was announced last night at CES. The update, called Power Pack 1 (formerly code named UR1) will ship in the first half of 2008 and hit servers via Windows Update. This update will include new Home Server connector software (this is the systray app that connects your computer to the Home Server), and the ability to backup your Home Server (for offsite storage for example), and several other new features. 
Todd Headrick from the Home Server team invited us over to see all the new features and talk a little bit about Home Server. We'll connect with that team again while we're here and check out some of the Home Server hardware.

Taimur Asad (The Microsoft "Wow" Blog!)

Taimur Asad (The Microsoft "Wow" Blog!)