Microsoft Announces Windows 7 Pricing - including exciting 50% pre-order discount!
6/25/09, 19:30 GMT
Today Microsoft announced the Windows 7 Upgrade Option Program & Windows 7 Pricing, as well as the General Availability (GA) of Windows 7. Microsoft also announced an exciting 50% pre-order discount for Windows 7!
Microsoft Releases Windows Vista Service Pack 2
5/28/09, 18:15 GMT
This week Microsoft announced that it has released Vista Service Pack 2 (SP2) for download. Besides combining previously released updates, SP2 also contains a few small enhancements to Vista.
Windows 7: Release Candidate Review
5/12/09, 21:40 GMT
Last week Microsoft released Windows 7 Release Candidate to the general public to download & test.
Microsoft: There will only be one Beta for Windows 7
2/13/09, 17:45 GMT
At the end of January, in a posting to the Windows 7 Engineering Blog, Steven Sinofsky senior vice president for the Windows and Windows Live Engineering Group made it clear that Microsoft will only ship one Beta of Windows 7 before releasing a Release Candidate (RC).
Windows 7: Beta 1 Review
2/07/09, 18:05 GMT
With the first beta of Windows 7 available to the general public to download, I will take you through an overview of Windows 7.
Microsoft Announces Windows 7 Editions
2/03/09, 21:25 GMT
Today Microsoft announced the SKU lineup of Windows 7, and while the company says it will focus mainly on two editions: Windows 7 Home Premium and Windows 7 Professional; Microsoft offers a total of six different Windows 7 versions.
Microsoft Releases Internet Explorer 8 Release Candidate 1
1/27/09, 20:30 GMT
Yesterday Microsoft announced the release of Internet Explorer 8 Release Candidate 1 (RC1). This release is the first update sice the public Beta 2 release last August.
Windows 7: Public Beta Available
1/08/09, 13:40 GMT
At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) last Wednesday, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced the beta release of Windows 7 (and Windows Server 2008 R2) to the public this week.
Windows Vista Service Pack 2 Public Beta
12/13/08, 14:05 GMT
Early this month Microsoft released a Beta of Windows Vista Service Pack 2 via their Customer Preview Program (CPP). The beta was released in five languages: English, French, German, Japanese, and Spanish.
Windows 7: Public Beta Soon
12/12/08, 20:15 GMT
There have been several reports that indicate that a public beta of Windows 7 would be available in early January. What's more, according to several sources (ZDNet's Ed Bott, Internet News.com Andy Patrizio and last week WinInfo's Paul Thurrott) Windows 7 will ship this summer (a June 2009 shipping date is being mentioned) - way earlier than Microsoft has (so far) indicated.
Site renovation on Fall 2009
Friday, June 26, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
Windows XP FAQ
Windows XP FAQ
Windows XP is the most important release of Windows since Windows 95. Here's the first--and most comprehensive--Windows XP FAQ anywhere, extensively updated with all-new information about the final, shipping version of Windows XP.
UPDATE: This FAQ is now retired.
Q: What is Windows XP?
A: Technically, Windows XP is the next version of Windows 2000, but it is positioned as an upgrade for Windows 98, 98 SE, Millennium Edition (Me), 2000, and NT 4.0 users. It is based on the Windows Engine, an update to the Windows NT/2000 kernel.
Q. What does XP stand for?
A. "eXPerience". Microsoft likes to say that previous versions of Windows bundled applications, but that Windows XP bundles experiences. In other words, it enables end-to-end experiences with things such as digital photography, digital music, home networking, the Internet, and more.
Q: So what the heck is "Whistler"?
A: During its development, Windows XP was called "Whistler". Or, as noted succinctly by Craig Beilinson, the lead product manager for Windows, in early 2000, "Whistler is the code name for the next iteration of Windows."
Q: What editions does Windows XP include?
A: Windows XP ships in three edition, including Home Edition for consumers, Professional Edition for business and power users, and a 64-bit version for Intel Itanium processor-based systems, called Windows XP 64-bit Edition. Read more about the 64-bit version in my showcase on the 64-bit editions of Windows XP and Windows .NET Server.
Q: What's the difference between Windows XP Home Edition and Professional Edition?
A: Windows XP Home is designed as an upgrade for Windows 9x/Me and therefore ships with the same type of consumer features found in Windows Me. The biggest difference is processor support: Windows XP Home will support only one processor, while Professional supports two. I have a full and detailed list available regarding the differences between the two editions available, however: Use this showcase to determine which version is for you.
Q: How much will Windows XP cost?
A: Windows XP Home Edition retails for $199.99, while the Home Upgrade version is $99.99. Windows XP Professional is $299.99, while the Pro Upgrade is $199.99. Windows XP 64-bit Edition is only made available with new Itanium workstations, and is not available separately.
Q: Will I be able to upgrade Windows Me to Windows XP? What about Windows 95 and Windows 98?
A: Windows XP is an upgrade for almost every 32-bit version of Windows; you will be able to upgrade Windows 98, 98 SE, and Me to Windows XP Home Edition or Professional. You will also be able to upgrade Windows 2000 Professional and Windows NT 4.0 Workstation to Windows XP Professional as well, but not to Home Edition.
In case it isn't obvious, then, Windows 95 and Windows NT 3.51, or earlier, are not supported for upgrading, so you will need to buy a full version of Windows XP if you wish to upgrade your system.
Also note that Windows 98, 98 SE, and Me users will be able to uninstall Windows XP if the upgrade doesn't work out for some reason. This capability will not be made available to Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 upgraders.
For more information about what upgrades what, please refer to my showcase, What to Expect from Windows XP.
Q: This sounds cool. I want to know more about Windows XP!
A: No problem: Read my exhaustive review of Windows XP Home Edition and Professional and the many Technology Showcases I've written! No one has written more about Windows XP.
Q: I've heard that Windows XP includes a new user interface. Is this true?
A: Yes. Though you will be able to use the same "classic" Explorer user interface found in Windows 95-Windows 2000, Windows XP also includes support for Visual Styles, an XML-based "skinning" technology that will allow users to tailor the way their system looks in ways that were never before possible. Sadly, Windows XP only ships with only one Visual Style (called "Windows XP", go figure; it was code-named "Luna"), though that style will support various color schemes as well. During the early beta of Windows XP, Microsoft shipped a style called "Professional" (later called "Watercolor") but this skin didn't test well with corporations, which was the intended audience. The "Windows XP" visual style can be adopted by applications that run under this OS as well; in Windows XP, both IE 6 and Windows Media Player 8 use the new look and feel.
Q: I want more Visual Styles now! What can I do?
A: I recommend the excellent WindowBlinds XP, which can be downloaded, in beta form, from the Stardock Web site. This excellent tool allows you to totally customize the Windows XP user interface.
Q: Is Windows XP the same thing as the "Whistler" speech recognition software that Microsoft Research is working on?
A: No. Microsoft has been working on a speech to text translator project dubbed Whistler, along with a speech recognition engine called "Whisper," for some time now. But don't be confused about this seemingly unrelated set of projects: They have nothing to do with each other per se. However, Windows XP does include speech technology; but that's not why this release is code-named Whistler.
Q: So why was Windows XP code-named Whistler? I thought Microsoft was using space names for their betas.
A. They were ("Odyssey," "Neptune," "Mars") for a while, and before that they were using city names ("Chicago," "Detroit," "Memphis"). But now they've turned to mountain names: Whistler and Blackcomb are popular ski resorts a few hours from Seattle, located in British Columbia, and Longhorn, the next interim release, is a tavern at the base of Whistler mountain. However, the space names continue with other projects: The new Whistler user interface found in Windows XP was code-named "Luna."
Q: Is Windows XP 64-bit, 32-bit, or a 16/32-bit system like Windows 98?
A: Windows XP is based on the NT/2000 kernel and is therefore a full 32-bit system with no legacy deadwood. However, Windows XP is also available in a 64-bit version called Windows XP 64-bit Edition (find out more!).
Q: When will Windows XP be released?
A: Microsoft is planning to release all editions of Windows XP simultaneously on October 25, 2001. The products were finalized, or released to manufacturing (RTM), on August 24, 2001.
Q: I read somewhere that Windows XP will feature a new feature to finally cure "DLL hell". Is this true?
A: Yes. Back in the early days of Windows, before hard drives were even widely available, Microsoft introduced the concept of a shared code library called a "DLL" (Dynamic Link Library). The theory was that each program that needed certain snippets of code could get that code from a single location and thus save hard drive space. Over time, however, this became one of Windows' biggest weaknesses: Applications would "upgrade" these shared libraries with their own copies, causing other applications or even Windows itself to fail. In Windows XP, applications will think they're copying their files as usual, but the OS will manage the process so that they don't actually overwrite any existing files. Then, each time the application is run, Windows XP will ensure that it only uses its copies of the files, ensuring that all apps run correctly and none of them are able to get in the way of other applications. Microsoft says that this feature will "isolate applications from each other, providing users with a 'run once, run forever' environment. Sounds good to me. So good, in fact, that I wrote up a Technology Showcase about this feature, which Microsoft internally calls Fusion.
Q. Is there going to be a Plus! pack for Windows XP?
A. Yes. Plus! for Windows XP includes enhancements in four key areas: digital media, games, screensavers, and themes. For digital media, Plus!XP includes the Plus! speaker enhancement, which provides better sound clarity and richness through desktop speakers; Plus! Personal DJ for easier custom playlist generation; Plus! Voice Command for Windows Media Player (WMP); Plus! CD Label Maker; various new WMP skins; new 3-D visualizations; and the Plus! MP3 Audio Converter for converting MP3 audio files to Windows Media Audio (WMA) format, which will save hard-disk space.
New games include Russian Squares Plus! Edition, The Labyrinth Plus! Edition, and Hyperbowl Plus! Edition. New Plus! desktop themes take advantage of new XP features to create beautiful photos, screen savers, icons, sounds, pointers, WMP skins, and more. These themes include Plus! Aquarium, Plus! Space, Plus! Nature, and Plus! DaVinci. New screensavers include Plus! My Pictures, Plus! Robot Circus, Plus! Sand Pendulum, Plus! Mercury, and four other screensavers that correspond to the new desktop themes. Microsoft Plus! for Windows XP will retail for $39.99.
For more information, read my review of Plus! for Windows XP.
Q. Are there going to be new Power Toys for Windows XP?
A. Yes. add features to the base OS; although some of them are too buggy or slow for daily use, they present an interesting look at how developers might create XP add-ins. The XP PowerToys consist of Faster User Switcher, Shell Audio Player, Task Switcher, IE Find Toolbar, Open Command Window Here, the ever-popular TweakUI, PowerToy Calculator, and Bulk Resize for Photos.
Faster User Switcher lets you type WinKey+Q to bypass the Welcome screen and quickly switch to another logged-on user. Shell Audio Player adds an "Audio Player" toolbar to the XP taskbar and lets you play songs and playlists from the taskbar; the player is a great idea, but it loses its playlist every time you move or change it. The new Task Switcher replaces the standard ALT+TAB capability with a new version that sports thumbnails of each open window; unfortunately, this feature is particular slow. The IE Find Toolbar adds a new toolbar to Internet Explorer (IE) 6 called Find that visually resembles the Address Bar; the toolbar lets you search for text in the currently loaded document without opening a dialog box. Open Command Window Here adds a pop-up menu entry that lets you open command-line windows anywhere in the shell. PowerToy Calculator is a graphing calculator that will be immediately familiar to anyone who used a Texas Instruments (TI) graphing calculator in school. Bulk Resize for Windows lets you resize a photo or group of photos directly from the shell; it does so in various standard sizes and without deleting the originals.
The most interesting PowerToy is TweakUI, which is now a standalone executable instead of a Control Panel applet. TweakUI for Windows XP builds on the features from previous versions of TweakUI and adds new, much-needed XP-specific tasks. For example, you can disable those annoying XP balloon tips, turn off taskbar button grouping, and configure special shell folders such as CD Burning, My Music, My Pictures, and My Videos. Unfortunately, this release is very buggy and setting certain options resets and reorders desktop icons.
For more information, please read my review of the Windows XP PowerToys.
Q. When I upgraded from Windows 9x/Me to Windows XP, the C:\My Documents folder was emptied! What happened to all my documents!?
A. Because Windows XP is a true multi-user system, each user has his or her own documents folder, located in a very specific directory structure. Check out C:\Documents and Settings: You should see a folder under there for each user. Under each user will be a folder called My Documents.
Q. What happened to WINIPCFG.EXE?
A. WINIPCFG.EXE is a GUI application in Windows 9x/Me that lets you check the status of your network connections. Because Windows XP was designed for networking from the ground up, however, and supports far more network connections, something a little more elegant was required. So Windows XP has two replacements for WINIPCFG.EXE. The first is ipconfig.exe, a command line application that supplies the same information, via text interface. The second is a much more elegant (GUI) interface that is individual to each network connection: Just right-click (or double-click) each network connectoid to make configuration changes and check their status
Q. If I want to clean install Windows XP, do I need to create a boot diskette like I did with Windows 9x/Me?
A. No. The Windows XP CD-ROM is bootable.
Q. Will there be a Windows XP Resource Kit?
A. Yes, though Microsoft is marketing it under a new name for some reason. The XP version is now called Administering Microsoft Windows XP Professional, Operations Guide. You can order it now from Amazon.com and other book stores. It will ship October 10, and the list price is approximately $70 US.
Q: Has the final version of Windows XP been released?
A: Yes, Windows XP was released to manufacturing (RTM) on Friday, August 24, 2001.
Q: What's the final version number?
A: 5.10.2600
Q: When will beta testers get the final code?
A: On Friday, August 24th, beta testers received final code of Home, Pro, and 64-bit Editions, each of which comes with a time limitation, 120 days for Home, and 180 days for Pro. These versions are 100% final code, and only differ from the OEM and retail code in the time limit. In late October, active beta testers will be able to choose a single boxed copy of either Home and Professional Edition.
Q. When will MSDN Universal subscribers get the final code? And what editions will they get?
A. MSDN Universal subscribers will be able to download Windows XP Home and Professional, OEM full versions, from Subscriber Downloads on September 21. It will also ship in the November CD shipments.
Q: When will PCs with Windows XP ship?
A: Probably in early October. Most PC makers say that they will start taking orders on XP-based PC SKUs in late September, and begin shipping systems in early October.
Q: Where is your review of Windows XP?
A: It's now available here.
Q: How do I change drive letter assignments in Windows XP?
A: Right click on My Computer and choose Manage. In the window that appears, click on Disk Management. Then right click any partition you want to reassign and choose Change Drive Letter and Path. You cannot change the drive letter of the boot or system partitions (typically C:).
Q: Can I remove that "Evaluation Copy" text on the desktop from beta versions of Windows XP?
A: Yes, but the cure is worse than the problem. See my Windows XP Tips 'N' Tricks page for more information. This text is not present in the release version of Windows XP.
Q: I upgraded Windows Me/9x to Windows XP Beta 2 and I want to uninstall Windows XP and go back to my previous OS. How do I do this?
A: Open the Start Menu, then Control Panel, and go to Add and Remove Programs. You will see an option to uninstall Windows XP. If you upgraded from Windows 2000 or Windows NT 4.0, there is no uninstall option, so you will need to do a full reinstall from scratch.
Q: I have a DVD drive and heard that you could play DVDs in Windows XP. But when I load up Windows Media Player 8, it tells me that it cannot play DVDs. What gives?
A: Windows XP doesn't ship out of the box with a DVD decoder, so you'll have to get one by installing another DVD player first or an add-on codec first. Usually, you get such a player from your PC maker, so this won't be an issue for most XP customers when the product ships this fall. In the meantime, you can install WinDVD or PowerDVD, and then Windows Media Player will be able to play DVDs in Windows XP. When Windows XP ships, you'll be able to buy one of several low-cost ($10) DVD Encoder Packs for Windows XP from the Microsoft Web site.
Q: I'm seeing a weird little toolbar when I hover the mouse over images on my Active Desktop. How do I turn that off?
A: What you're seeing is the Internet Explorer 6 Image Toolbar. You can turn this off by opening IE 6 and then navigating to Tools, Internet Options. On the Advanced tab, uncheck Enable Image Toolbar under Multimedia.
Q: I heard that Windows XP allowed button grouping in the taskbar, but I don't see this happening. How do I make the taskbar group buttons?
A: It's working, but you don't have enough similar windows open for it to group them. Try open several Explorer windows, several IE 6 windows, and some other apps, all at the same time. They will group. You can control grouping in Taskbar Properties: Right-click the Taskbar and choose Properties. Then make sure the option Group Similar taskbar buttons is checked.
Q: How come different users can't have different screen resolutions? I like the multi-user feature, but would like to set different resolutions for each user.
A: Sorry, that's impossible in Windows XP. Each user must have the same resolution, though just about everything else is customizable on a user-by-user basis.
Q: What's the deal with Windows Product Activation (WPA)? Is Microsoft trying to prevent me from installing my copy of Windows on more than one PC? Are they spying on me?
No. I've written a lot about this technology for Windows 2000 Magazine UPDATE and WinInfo. Please refer to my articles, Clearing Up Some Windows XP Confusion, A Closer Look at Windows Product Activation and Microsoft Reveals Post-RTM Updates for Windows XP for more information. Since writing these, I've seen a lot of other Web sites and magazine try to grapple with this complex issue, and to this day, I have yet to see it described it as accurately or completely.
Q: What happened to Lock Computer? In Windows 2000/NT 4, you hit CTRL+ALT+DEL to bring up a window that lets you choose this. In XP, this just brings up the Task Manager.
A: Type WINKEY+L to lock the computer. Or, turn off the Welcome Screen to go back to the Windows 2000/NT 4 style of logging on (this will enable the Lock Computer option as well): To do this, open User Accounts in Control Panel and choose Change the way users log on and off. Then, uncheck Use the Welcome screen.
Q: I heard that the new version of MSN Explorer will look like Windows XP. Is this true?
A: No. MSN Explorer 6.1 looks almost exactly like the previous version of MSN Explorer. It features a collapsible My Stuff bar, new spell checking, and other features. You can download MSN Explorer 6.1 from the MSN Web site.
Q: Every time I install an application in Windows XP, I get a little balloon help telling me that new programs are installed. The thing is, the little bugger never goes away! Is there an easy way to get rid of this?
A: Yes. Right-click the Start button, choose Properties, Customize, and then Advanced, and then uncheck Highlight newly installed applications.
Q. Does Windows XP include IIS (Microsoft's Web server)? How do you it?
A. Windows XP Professional and 64-bit Edition include IIS 5.1 (Home Edition does not). You can install it by placing your Windows XP CD-ROM in the drive and choosing "Install Additional Components" in the dialog that appears. You'll see IIS in the list.
Q. What do I do if Windows XP doesn't include a driver for a particular piece of hardware? Should I try the Windows 98 driver?
A. No. Normally, you should try the Windows 2000 driver first. Remember that Windows XP is simply the next version of Windows 2000.
Q. How come Open GL games won't work in Windows XP?
A. Open GL is supported through video card drivers, not the OS. Some Windows XP drivers do support this feature, but some don't. If yours doesn't, located the latest Windows 2000 driver for your card and install it. Quake 3 Arena and your other Open GL favorites should work once again.
Q. Will my Windows 9x anti-virus software work in Windows XP?
A. Probably not. But AV vendors are beginning to release Windows XP-compatible products, such as Norton Anti-Virus 2002. Other Windows 9x products that you shouldn't use in Windows XP include disk utilities and other low-level system utilities. But Windows XP will warn you about these applications during the upgrade process, or later, if you try to install them in Windows XP.
Q. What file system does Windows XP support? Just FAT? Or does it support NTFS as well?
A. Windows XP supports FAT/FAT16 (the legacy file system dating back to DOS), VFAT (from Windows 95), FAT32 (which debuted in Windows 95 OSR-2), and NTFS (the NT/2000 file system). You can choose which to use, and you can use different file systems on different partitions if you want. If you're upgrading to XP, you'll be asked if you want to upgrade your file system to NTFS.
Incidentally, Windows XP includes NTFS version 3.1, which is newer than the version used in Windows 2000. This means that Windows 2000-era disk utilities--such as Diskeeper and Partition Magic 6--should not be used with Windows XP. If you want to use either of these applications, be sure you're using the latest, Windows XP-compatible version.
Q. So which file system should I use?
A. You should always use NTFS in Windows XP unless you are going to dual-boot a system with Windows 9x/Me and XP and wish to access your XP partition from the old 9x-based OS. Remember that Windows 9x/Me cannot access NTFS file systems. However... You can access NTFS partitions over a network.
Q. I've heard that you can convert drives to NTFS when upgrading, but if I do this, can I still uninstall XP and return to my previous Windows 9x/Me version?
A. No. If you think you're going to want to uninstall XP, do not allow it to convert your drives during Setup. Instead, wait a few weeks and ensure that XP works on your system first, and then run the convert.exe command line tool to convert any FAT or FAT32 drives to NTFS, on the fly, without destroying any of your data.
Q. I've heard that Windows XP will unleash a new wave of Internet-based Denial of Service (DoS) attacks. Is Windows XP insecure?
A. No. As Microsoft likes to point out, Windows XP is its most secure operating system to date, thanks to features like Windows Driver Signing, System Restore, driver rollback, Internet Connection Firewall (ICF), and new privacy features in IE 6. However, there isn't much you can do about user error. Most compromised systems got that way because the user opened an unknown email attachment--unleashing a trojan or worm on the system.
Q: OK, Windows XP is a huge upgrade for Windows 9x/Me users, but I'm happy with Windows 2000. Why would I want to upgrade?
A. You might not want to, actually. But there are some pretty decent improvements in Windows XP that might make you change your mind: Remote Assistance, Remote Desktop, better laptop support, Windows Messenger-based audio and video conferencing, integrated digital media features, better compatibility with Windows 9x-based games, application, and hardware, and more. Windows XP is also more secure than Windows 2000, and more reliable.
Q. Speaking of compatibility, how good is XP's hardware and software compatibility?
A. In general, XP's compatibility is excellent. Microsoft reports that more than 90 percent of the Win2K/NT and Window Me/9x applications distributed in North America during the past 3 years will work fine with XP. And to iron out any remaining problems, Microsoft will deliver new updates through Windows Update. The company guarantees that virtually all new applications from major software retailers will be XP compatible. In addition, XP is compatible with more than 12,000 hardware devices out of the box, including the top 1000 best-selling devices. More than 300 devices have already received the new XP logo, which ensures a higher quality of driver compatibility and user experience. Microsoft tells me that the vast majority of Win2K drivers will work fine with XP, although some scanners, multifunction devices, video-capture cards, CD-ROM writers, and USB Web cameras might experience problems. The company is continuing to work with hardware vendors on these issues.
Q. Windows 98 Plus! and Windows Me included a cool feature called Compressed Folders. Is there something similar in Windows XP?
A. Yes, Windows XP ships with Compressed Folders, which provides a handy way to compress a file or group of files into a smaller compressed "ZIP" file. However, Compressed Folders is slow when working with numerous or large numbers of files. If you find this program to be a bit anemic, I recommend WinZIP 8.1, currently in beta.
Q. The little animated dog in Windows XP Search is annoying, to say the least. How do I remove it?
A. When you click the Search button and the dog appears, choose Turn off animated character. You can also make Windows XP Search act like Windows 2000 Search (which I prefer, incidentally) by clicking Change Preferences, then Change files and folders search behavior; then choose Advanced.
Q. What happened to Active Desktop? Is it still present in Windows XP?
A. Yes, Active Desktop is still there, but Microsoft has hidden it so users don't need to manually turn it on and off. If you add any Web content--or a GIF or JPEG image--to your desktop, Windows XP will automatically enable Active Desktop. If you turn off these features, Windows XP will turn off Active Desktop as well, behind the scenes.
Q. I want to do audio and video chatting with my friends who have MSN Messenger (I'm using Windows XP and Windows Messenger). How come it doesn't work?
A. Microsoft needs to update MSN Messenger before you can exchange audio and video with those users. The company says they will release an update on October 25th to enable this compatibility.
Q. Microsoft says that Windows XP will run with a Pentium II 233 and 64 MB of RAM. Is this realistic?
A. No. I recommend a 500 MHz or faster Pentium III and 256 MB or more of RAM for Windows XP.
Q. What are the other system requirements for Windows XP?
A: Windows XP requires 1.5 GB of available drive space, SVGA (800 x 600) or higher resolution video adapter and monitor, a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive, and a keyboard and mouse.
Q. I have two home computers. Will I have to buy two copies of Windows XP?
A. Yes. Windows XP includes a technology called WPA (discussed above), which enforces a license Microsoft has been using for years (that is, you're supposed to buy one copy of Windows for each computer). However, there are ways in which you can minimize your costs. If you only need Home Edition, and you qualify for the upgrade version, buy two copies of that. Or use Microsoft's new Additional Family License (AFL) option to get 8 to 12 percent off the cost of the second installation. I'll have more information about the AFL when Microsoft makes an official pricing announcement.
Q. I read that Windows XP includes a firewall. Is this true?
A. Yes. Windows XP includes a firewall called Internet Connection Firewall (ICF), which can protect your home network against intrusion. It's a zero-configuration option, too: Just check a box and it's on. Note that ICF is inbound-only: It won't prevent you from sending out trojans and viruses if you're system is infected. To get more functionality than ICF provides, try a full-featured firewall such as ZoneAlarm.
Q. How do I get America Online (AOL) working in Windows XP?
A. AOL 6 is only "sort of" compatible with Windows XP, but the recently released AOL 7 works just fine with XP.
Q. How do I know if I qualify for an upgrade version of Windows XP?
A. You must have a retail Windows 98, 98 SE, Millennium Edition (Me), NT 4.0, or 2000 CD-ROM, Full Version or Upgrade, to qualify for the Windows XP upgrade versions. Restore CDs from PC makers do not qualify.
Q. Will Windows XP be as fast/responsive as my current version of Windows?
A. Microsoft says that Windows XP performs 5 percent to 20 percent faster than Windows Me and Windows 9x and is on par with Win2K. "Windows XP gets faster as you use it, too," Kristian Gyorkos, an XP product manager, told me, "because of its dynamic, self-tuning features. Periodically, the application-launch, system-boot, and file-placement routines are optimized." Microsoft notes that Standby and Resume performance has also improved.
Based on my own personal use, I can verify that XP seems to be on par with Windows 2000. I find it hard to believe that it outperforms 9x. However, Windows XP is much more secure, stable and reliable than Windows 9x, a more than acceptable trade-off in my opinion.
Q. How do I network Windows XP with Windows 9x machines?
A. Unlike Windows 9x/Me, Windows XP is secure, so you have to be logged on as a particular user--with specific rights--before you are granted network access. To make Windows 9x/Me work with Windows XP, then, you will need to ensure that the Windows 9x boxes are logged on with a user name and password that appears on the XP box. Then, you should have no problem sharing resources between the two machines.
Q. Will Microsoft upgrade Windows XP now that it's finalized?
A. Actually, yes, and quite often too. Since Microsoft released XP to manufacturing, the company has updated several system components, and users will be able to download these updates through Windows Update when XP becomes widely available. Microsoft will extensively update Windows Messenger, for example, to include compatibility with Exchange Server 2000. The company will update Windows Movie Maker (WMM) from version 1.1, which ships in the box with XP, to version 1.2. WMM 1.2 includes support for Windows Media Audio 8 (WMA 8) and Windows Media Video 8 (WMV 8) and will include a 640 x 480 WMV mode for digital video. To prevent system failures, Microsoft has hardened several system drivers since the Release Candidate 2 (RC2) release; previously, users could install these drivers even when XP warned them not to. Now XP will actually prevent the installation of known problem drivers.
Q. Can I reboot into DOS with Windows XP?
A. No. Windows XP is not based on DOS, as is Windows 9x. However, Windows XP does support a DOS-like command line environment, and you can run most DOS applications--and even many DOS games--in Windows XP.
Windows XP also supports an optional boot-time command line environment called the Recover Console. As its name suggests, the Recovery Console is only designed to be used in the event of a system problem. To enable it, insert your Windows XP CD-ROM and type
D:\i386\winnt32.exe /cmdcons in a command line (assuming your CD drive is D:).
Q. Can I dual-boot between Windows XP and a previous OS?
A. Yes, but you will have to have two partitions (or hard drives) so that you can install XP separately from your other system (which can be DOS/Windows 3.1, Windows 9x/Me, Windows NT 4.0, or Windows 2000). Windows XP will automatically set up a boot menu so you can choose which OS you want when the machine starts up or reboots.
The boot menu is configurable by hand-editing the hidden file boot.ini, which you will find in the root of the C: drive. A better way to change the boot-up sequence, however, is to right-click My Computer, choose Properties, then Advanced, then click Settings under Startup and Recovery.
Q. I like the new Welcome screen, but it doesn't give me the option to log on as Administrator. How can I do this?
A: There are two ways to do this: First, you can use the "old" login screen, instead of the Welcome screen, as Administrator doesn't appear on the Welcome screen by default. To enable this, open User Accounts, choose Change the way users log on or off, and then uncheck Use the Welcome screen. Or, use the TweakUI for Windows XP Power Toy to add Administrator to the Welcome screen. This tool will not be available in final form, however, until XP ships in late October.
Thanks to several readers who pointed out that you can also get the classic Windows 2000-style logon to appear by pressing CTRL+ALT+DEL twice at the Welcome screen; this will allow you to logon as Administrator.
Q. What happened to NetBEUI (an older Microsoft networking protocol)? My home network uses this.
A. NetBEUI is no longer supported and I don't recommend using it: Go with the more powerful, and routable, TCP/IP protocol instead, which is the default in Windows XP. But if you must have NetBEUI, Microsoft made it available on the Windows XP CD-ROM as an optional install. It's in D:Valueadd\msft\net\netbeui by default. You add it by configuring a network adapter and choosing Properties, General, Install.
Q. You seem unnaturally positive about Windows XP. Are you a Microsoft shill? How much is Microsoft paying you to write about Windows XP?
A. I'm honestly very excited about Windows XP, and yes, it does come through in my writing about this OS. I come down hard on Microsoft when they deserve it, but there is precious little in Windows XP to complain about (aside, obviously, from Windows Product Activation). But I don't work for--or get paid by--Microsoft.
Windows XP is the most important release of Windows since Windows 95. Here's the first--and most comprehensive--Windows XP FAQ anywhere, extensively updated with all-new information about the final, shipping version of Windows XP.
UPDATE: This FAQ is now retired.
Q: What is Windows XP?
A: Technically, Windows XP is the next version of Windows 2000, but it is positioned as an upgrade for Windows 98, 98 SE, Millennium Edition (Me), 2000, and NT 4.0 users. It is based on the Windows Engine, an update to the Windows NT/2000 kernel.
Q. What does XP stand for?
A. "eXPerience". Microsoft likes to say that previous versions of Windows bundled applications, but that Windows XP bundles experiences. In other words, it enables end-to-end experiences with things such as digital photography, digital music, home networking, the Internet, and more.
Q: So what the heck is "Whistler"?
A: During its development, Windows XP was called "Whistler". Or, as noted succinctly by Craig Beilinson, the lead product manager for Windows, in early 2000, "Whistler is the code name for the next iteration of Windows."
Q: What editions does Windows XP include?
A: Windows XP ships in three edition, including Home Edition for consumers, Professional Edition for business and power users, and a 64-bit version for Intel Itanium processor-based systems, called Windows XP 64-bit Edition. Read more about the 64-bit version in my showcase on the 64-bit editions of Windows XP and Windows .NET Server.
Q: What's the difference between Windows XP Home Edition and Professional Edition?
A: Windows XP Home is designed as an upgrade for Windows 9x/Me and therefore ships with the same type of consumer features found in Windows Me. The biggest difference is processor support: Windows XP Home will support only one processor, while Professional supports two. I have a full and detailed list available regarding the differences between the two editions available, however: Use this showcase to determine which version is for you.
Q: How much will Windows XP cost?
A: Windows XP Home Edition retails for $199.99, while the Home Upgrade version is $99.99. Windows XP Professional is $299.99, while the Pro Upgrade is $199.99. Windows XP 64-bit Edition is only made available with new Itanium workstations, and is not available separately.
Q: Will I be able to upgrade Windows Me to Windows XP? What about Windows 95 and Windows 98?
A: Windows XP is an upgrade for almost every 32-bit version of Windows; you will be able to upgrade Windows 98, 98 SE, and Me to Windows XP Home Edition or Professional. You will also be able to upgrade Windows 2000 Professional and Windows NT 4.0 Workstation to Windows XP Professional as well, but not to Home Edition.
In case it isn't obvious, then, Windows 95 and Windows NT 3.51, or earlier, are not supported for upgrading, so you will need to buy a full version of Windows XP if you wish to upgrade your system.
Also note that Windows 98, 98 SE, and Me users will be able to uninstall Windows XP if the upgrade doesn't work out for some reason. This capability will not be made available to Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 upgraders.
For more information about what upgrades what, please refer to my showcase, What to Expect from Windows XP.
Q: This sounds cool. I want to know more about Windows XP!
A: No problem: Read my exhaustive review of Windows XP Home Edition and Professional and the many Technology Showcases I've written! No one has written more about Windows XP.
Q: I've heard that Windows XP includes a new user interface. Is this true?
A: Yes. Though you will be able to use the same "classic" Explorer user interface found in Windows 95-Windows 2000, Windows XP also includes support for Visual Styles, an XML-based "skinning" technology that will allow users to tailor the way their system looks in ways that were never before possible. Sadly, Windows XP only ships with only one Visual Style (called "Windows XP", go figure; it was code-named "Luna"), though that style will support various color schemes as well. During the early beta of Windows XP, Microsoft shipped a style called "Professional" (later called "Watercolor") but this skin didn't test well with corporations, which was the intended audience. The "Windows XP" visual style can be adopted by applications that run under this OS as well; in Windows XP, both IE 6 and Windows Media Player 8 use the new look and feel.
Q: I want more Visual Styles now! What can I do?
A: I recommend the excellent WindowBlinds XP, which can be downloaded, in beta form, from the Stardock Web site. This excellent tool allows you to totally customize the Windows XP user interface.
Q: Is Windows XP the same thing as the "Whistler" speech recognition software that Microsoft Research is working on?
A: No. Microsoft has been working on a speech to text translator project dubbed Whistler, along with a speech recognition engine called "Whisper," for some time now. But don't be confused about this seemingly unrelated set of projects: They have nothing to do with each other per se. However, Windows XP does include speech technology; but that's not why this release is code-named Whistler.
Q: So why was Windows XP code-named Whistler? I thought Microsoft was using space names for their betas.
A. They were ("Odyssey," "Neptune," "Mars") for a while, and before that they were using city names ("Chicago," "Detroit," "Memphis"). But now they've turned to mountain names: Whistler and Blackcomb are popular ski resorts a few hours from Seattle, located in British Columbia, and Longhorn, the next interim release, is a tavern at the base of Whistler mountain. However, the space names continue with other projects: The new Whistler user interface found in Windows XP was code-named "Luna."
Q: Is Windows XP 64-bit, 32-bit, or a 16/32-bit system like Windows 98?
A: Windows XP is based on the NT/2000 kernel and is therefore a full 32-bit system with no legacy deadwood. However, Windows XP is also available in a 64-bit version called Windows XP 64-bit Edition (find out more!).
Q: When will Windows XP be released?
A: Microsoft is planning to release all editions of Windows XP simultaneously on October 25, 2001. The products were finalized, or released to manufacturing (RTM), on August 24, 2001.
Q: I read somewhere that Windows XP will feature a new feature to finally cure "DLL hell". Is this true?
A: Yes. Back in the early days of Windows, before hard drives were even widely available, Microsoft introduced the concept of a shared code library called a "DLL" (Dynamic Link Library). The theory was that each program that needed certain snippets of code could get that code from a single location and thus save hard drive space. Over time, however, this became one of Windows' biggest weaknesses: Applications would "upgrade" these shared libraries with their own copies, causing other applications or even Windows itself to fail. In Windows XP, applications will think they're copying their files as usual, but the OS will manage the process so that they don't actually overwrite any existing files. Then, each time the application is run, Windows XP will ensure that it only uses its copies of the files, ensuring that all apps run correctly and none of them are able to get in the way of other applications. Microsoft says that this feature will "isolate applications from each other, providing users with a 'run once, run forever' environment. Sounds good to me. So good, in fact, that I wrote up a Technology Showcase about this feature, which Microsoft internally calls Fusion.
Q. Is there going to be a Plus! pack for Windows XP?
A. Yes. Plus! for Windows XP includes enhancements in four key areas: digital media, games, screensavers, and themes. For digital media, Plus!XP includes the Plus! speaker enhancement, which provides better sound clarity and richness through desktop speakers; Plus! Personal DJ for easier custom playlist generation; Plus! Voice Command for Windows Media Player (WMP); Plus! CD Label Maker; various new WMP skins; new 3-D visualizations; and the Plus! MP3 Audio Converter for converting MP3 audio files to Windows Media Audio (WMA) format, which will save hard-disk space.
New games include Russian Squares Plus! Edition, The Labyrinth Plus! Edition, and Hyperbowl Plus! Edition. New Plus! desktop themes take advantage of new XP features to create beautiful photos, screen savers, icons, sounds, pointers, WMP skins, and more. These themes include Plus! Aquarium, Plus! Space, Plus! Nature, and Plus! DaVinci. New screensavers include Plus! My Pictures, Plus! Robot Circus, Plus! Sand Pendulum, Plus! Mercury, and four other screensavers that correspond to the new desktop themes. Microsoft Plus! for Windows XP will retail for $39.99.
For more information, read my review of Plus! for Windows XP.
Q. Are there going to be new Power Toys for Windows XP?
A. Yes. add features to the base OS; although some of them are too buggy or slow for daily use, they present an interesting look at how developers might create XP add-ins. The XP PowerToys consist of Faster User Switcher, Shell Audio Player, Task Switcher, IE Find Toolbar, Open Command Window Here, the ever-popular TweakUI, PowerToy Calculator, and Bulk Resize for Photos.
Faster User Switcher lets you type WinKey+Q to bypass the Welcome screen and quickly switch to another logged-on user. Shell Audio Player adds an "Audio Player" toolbar to the XP taskbar and lets you play songs and playlists from the taskbar; the player is a great idea, but it loses its playlist every time you move or change it. The new Task Switcher replaces the standard ALT+TAB capability with a new version that sports thumbnails of each open window; unfortunately, this feature is particular slow. The IE Find Toolbar adds a new toolbar to Internet Explorer (IE) 6 called Find that visually resembles the Address Bar; the toolbar lets you search for text in the currently loaded document without opening a dialog box. Open Command Window Here adds a pop-up menu entry that lets you open command-line windows anywhere in the shell. PowerToy Calculator is a graphing calculator that will be immediately familiar to anyone who used a Texas Instruments (TI) graphing calculator in school. Bulk Resize for Windows lets you resize a photo or group of photos directly from the shell; it does so in various standard sizes and without deleting the originals.
The most interesting PowerToy is TweakUI, which is now a standalone executable instead of a Control Panel applet. TweakUI for Windows XP builds on the features from previous versions of TweakUI and adds new, much-needed XP-specific tasks. For example, you can disable those annoying XP balloon tips, turn off taskbar button grouping, and configure special shell folders such as CD Burning, My Music, My Pictures, and My Videos. Unfortunately, this release is very buggy and setting certain options resets and reorders desktop icons.
For more information, please read my review of the Windows XP PowerToys.
Q. When I upgraded from Windows 9x/Me to Windows XP, the C:\My Documents folder was emptied! What happened to all my documents!?
A. Because Windows XP is a true multi-user system, each user has his or her own documents folder, located in a very specific directory structure. Check out C:\Documents and Settings: You should see a folder under there for each user. Under each user will be a folder called My Documents.
Q. What happened to WINIPCFG.EXE?
A. WINIPCFG.EXE is a GUI application in Windows 9x/Me that lets you check the status of your network connections. Because Windows XP was designed for networking from the ground up, however, and supports far more network connections, something a little more elegant was required. So Windows XP has two replacements for WINIPCFG.EXE. The first is ipconfig.exe, a command line application that supplies the same information, via text interface. The second is a much more elegant (GUI) interface that is individual to each network connection: Just right-click (or double-click) each network connectoid to make configuration changes and check their status
Q. If I want to clean install Windows XP, do I need to create a boot diskette like I did with Windows 9x/Me?
A. No. The Windows XP CD-ROM is bootable.
Q. Will there be a Windows XP Resource Kit?
A. Yes, though Microsoft is marketing it under a new name for some reason. The XP version is now called Administering Microsoft Windows XP Professional, Operations Guide. You can order it now from Amazon.com and other book stores. It will ship October 10, and the list price is approximately $70 US.
Q: Has the final version of Windows XP been released?
A: Yes, Windows XP was released to manufacturing (RTM) on Friday, August 24, 2001.
Q: What's the final version number?
A: 5.10.2600
Q: When will beta testers get the final code?
A: On Friday, August 24th, beta testers received final code of Home, Pro, and 64-bit Editions, each of which comes with a time limitation, 120 days for Home, and 180 days for Pro. These versions are 100% final code, and only differ from the OEM and retail code in the time limit. In late October, active beta testers will be able to choose a single boxed copy of either Home and Professional Edition.
Q. When will MSDN Universal subscribers get the final code? And what editions will they get?
A. MSDN Universal subscribers will be able to download Windows XP Home and Professional, OEM full versions, from Subscriber Downloads on September 21. It will also ship in the November CD shipments.
Q: When will PCs with Windows XP ship?
A: Probably in early October. Most PC makers say that they will start taking orders on XP-based PC SKUs in late September, and begin shipping systems in early October.
Q: Where is your review of Windows XP?
A: It's now available here.
Q: How do I change drive letter assignments in Windows XP?
A: Right click on My Computer and choose Manage. In the window that appears, click on Disk Management. Then right click any partition you want to reassign and choose Change Drive Letter and Path. You cannot change the drive letter of the boot or system partitions (typically C:).
Q: Can I remove that "Evaluation Copy" text on the desktop from beta versions of Windows XP?
A: Yes, but the cure is worse than the problem. See my Windows XP Tips 'N' Tricks page for more information. This text is not present in the release version of Windows XP.
Q: I upgraded Windows Me/9x to Windows XP Beta 2 and I want to uninstall Windows XP and go back to my previous OS. How do I do this?
A: Open the Start Menu, then Control Panel, and go to Add and Remove Programs. You will see an option to uninstall Windows XP. If you upgraded from Windows 2000 or Windows NT 4.0, there is no uninstall option, so you will need to do a full reinstall from scratch.
Q: I have a DVD drive and heard that you could play DVDs in Windows XP. But when I load up Windows Media Player 8, it tells me that it cannot play DVDs. What gives?
A: Windows XP doesn't ship out of the box with a DVD decoder, so you'll have to get one by installing another DVD player first or an add-on codec first. Usually, you get such a player from your PC maker, so this won't be an issue for most XP customers when the product ships this fall. In the meantime, you can install WinDVD or PowerDVD, and then Windows Media Player will be able to play DVDs in Windows XP. When Windows XP ships, you'll be able to buy one of several low-cost ($10) DVD Encoder Packs for Windows XP from the Microsoft Web site.
Q: I'm seeing a weird little toolbar when I hover the mouse over images on my Active Desktop. How do I turn that off?
A: What you're seeing is the Internet Explorer 6 Image Toolbar. You can turn this off by opening IE 6 and then navigating to Tools, Internet Options. On the Advanced tab, uncheck Enable Image Toolbar under Multimedia.
Q: I heard that Windows XP allowed button grouping in the taskbar, but I don't see this happening. How do I make the taskbar group buttons?
A: It's working, but you don't have enough similar windows open for it to group them. Try open several Explorer windows, several IE 6 windows, and some other apps, all at the same time. They will group. You can control grouping in Taskbar Properties: Right-click the Taskbar and choose Properties. Then make sure the option Group Similar taskbar buttons is checked.
Q: How come different users can't have different screen resolutions? I like the multi-user feature, but would like to set different resolutions for each user.
A: Sorry, that's impossible in Windows XP. Each user must have the same resolution, though just about everything else is customizable on a user-by-user basis.
Q: What's the deal with Windows Product Activation (WPA)? Is Microsoft trying to prevent me from installing my copy of Windows on more than one PC? Are they spying on me?
No. I've written a lot about this technology for Windows 2000 Magazine UPDATE and WinInfo. Please refer to my articles, Clearing Up Some Windows XP Confusion, A Closer Look at Windows Product Activation and Microsoft Reveals Post-RTM Updates for Windows XP for more information. Since writing these, I've seen a lot of other Web sites and magazine try to grapple with this complex issue, and to this day, I have yet to see it described it as accurately or completely.
Q: What happened to Lock Computer? In Windows 2000/NT 4, you hit CTRL+ALT+DEL to bring up a window that lets you choose this. In XP, this just brings up the Task Manager.
A: Type WINKEY+L to lock the computer. Or, turn off the Welcome Screen to go back to the Windows 2000/NT 4 style of logging on (this will enable the Lock Computer option as well): To do this, open User Accounts in Control Panel and choose Change the way users log on and off. Then, uncheck Use the Welcome screen.
Q: I heard that the new version of MSN Explorer will look like Windows XP. Is this true?
A: No. MSN Explorer 6.1 looks almost exactly like the previous version of MSN Explorer. It features a collapsible My Stuff bar, new spell checking, and other features. You can download MSN Explorer 6.1 from the MSN Web site.
Q: Every time I install an application in Windows XP, I get a little balloon help telling me that new programs are installed. The thing is, the little bugger never goes away! Is there an easy way to get rid of this?
A: Yes. Right-click the Start button, choose Properties, Customize, and then Advanced, and then uncheck Highlight newly installed applications.
Q. Does Windows XP include IIS (Microsoft's Web server)? How do you it?
A. Windows XP Professional and 64-bit Edition include IIS 5.1 (Home Edition does not). You can install it by placing your Windows XP CD-ROM in the drive and choosing "Install Additional Components" in the dialog that appears. You'll see IIS in the list.
Q. What do I do if Windows XP doesn't include a driver for a particular piece of hardware? Should I try the Windows 98 driver?
A. No. Normally, you should try the Windows 2000 driver first. Remember that Windows XP is simply the next version of Windows 2000.
Q. How come Open GL games won't work in Windows XP?
A. Open GL is supported through video card drivers, not the OS. Some Windows XP drivers do support this feature, but some don't. If yours doesn't, located the latest Windows 2000 driver for your card and install it. Quake 3 Arena and your other Open GL favorites should work once again.
Q. Will my Windows 9x anti-virus software work in Windows XP?
A. Probably not. But AV vendors are beginning to release Windows XP-compatible products, such as Norton Anti-Virus 2002. Other Windows 9x products that you shouldn't use in Windows XP include disk utilities and other low-level system utilities. But Windows XP will warn you about these applications during the upgrade process, or later, if you try to install them in Windows XP.
Q. What file system does Windows XP support? Just FAT? Or does it support NTFS as well?
A. Windows XP supports FAT/FAT16 (the legacy file system dating back to DOS), VFAT (from Windows 95), FAT32 (which debuted in Windows 95 OSR-2), and NTFS (the NT/2000 file system). You can choose which to use, and you can use different file systems on different partitions if you want. If you're upgrading to XP, you'll be asked if you want to upgrade your file system to NTFS.
Incidentally, Windows XP includes NTFS version 3.1, which is newer than the version used in Windows 2000. This means that Windows 2000-era disk utilities--such as Diskeeper and Partition Magic 6--should not be used with Windows XP. If you want to use either of these applications, be sure you're using the latest, Windows XP-compatible version.
Q. So which file system should I use?
A. You should always use NTFS in Windows XP unless you are going to dual-boot a system with Windows 9x/Me and XP and wish to access your XP partition from the old 9x-based OS. Remember that Windows 9x/Me cannot access NTFS file systems. However... You can access NTFS partitions over a network.
Q. I've heard that you can convert drives to NTFS when upgrading, but if I do this, can I still uninstall XP and return to my previous Windows 9x/Me version?
A. No. If you think you're going to want to uninstall XP, do not allow it to convert your drives during Setup. Instead, wait a few weeks and ensure that XP works on your system first, and then run the convert.exe command line tool to convert any FAT or FAT32 drives to NTFS, on the fly, without destroying any of your data.
Q. I've heard that Windows XP will unleash a new wave of Internet-based Denial of Service (DoS) attacks. Is Windows XP insecure?
A. No. As Microsoft likes to point out, Windows XP is its most secure operating system to date, thanks to features like Windows Driver Signing, System Restore, driver rollback, Internet Connection Firewall (ICF), and new privacy features in IE 6. However, there isn't much you can do about user error. Most compromised systems got that way because the user opened an unknown email attachment--unleashing a trojan or worm on the system.
Q: OK, Windows XP is a huge upgrade for Windows 9x/Me users, but I'm happy with Windows 2000. Why would I want to upgrade?
A. You might not want to, actually. But there are some pretty decent improvements in Windows XP that might make you change your mind: Remote Assistance, Remote Desktop, better laptop support, Windows Messenger-based audio and video conferencing, integrated digital media features, better compatibility with Windows 9x-based games, application, and hardware, and more. Windows XP is also more secure than Windows 2000, and more reliable.
Q. Speaking of compatibility, how good is XP's hardware and software compatibility?
A. In general, XP's compatibility is excellent. Microsoft reports that more than 90 percent of the Win2K/NT and Window Me/9x applications distributed in North America during the past 3 years will work fine with XP. And to iron out any remaining problems, Microsoft will deliver new updates through Windows Update. The company guarantees that virtually all new applications from major software retailers will be XP compatible. In addition, XP is compatible with more than 12,000 hardware devices out of the box, including the top 1000 best-selling devices. More than 300 devices have already received the new XP logo, which ensures a higher quality of driver compatibility and user experience. Microsoft tells me that the vast majority of Win2K drivers will work fine with XP, although some scanners, multifunction devices, video-capture cards, CD-ROM writers, and USB Web cameras might experience problems. The company is continuing to work with hardware vendors on these issues.
Q. Windows 98 Plus! and Windows Me included a cool feature called Compressed Folders. Is there something similar in Windows XP?
A. Yes, Windows XP ships with Compressed Folders, which provides a handy way to compress a file or group of files into a smaller compressed "ZIP" file. However, Compressed Folders is slow when working with numerous or large numbers of files. If you find this program to be a bit anemic, I recommend WinZIP 8.1, currently in beta.
Q. The little animated dog in Windows XP Search is annoying, to say the least. How do I remove it?
A. When you click the Search button and the dog appears, choose Turn off animated character. You can also make Windows XP Search act like Windows 2000 Search (which I prefer, incidentally) by clicking Change Preferences, then Change files and folders search behavior; then choose Advanced.
Q. What happened to Active Desktop? Is it still present in Windows XP?
A. Yes, Active Desktop is still there, but Microsoft has hidden it so users don't need to manually turn it on and off. If you add any Web content--or a GIF or JPEG image--to your desktop, Windows XP will automatically enable Active Desktop. If you turn off these features, Windows XP will turn off Active Desktop as well, behind the scenes.
Q. I want to do audio and video chatting with my friends who have MSN Messenger (I'm using Windows XP and Windows Messenger). How come it doesn't work?
A. Microsoft needs to update MSN Messenger before you can exchange audio and video with those users. The company says they will release an update on October 25th to enable this compatibility.
Q. Microsoft says that Windows XP will run with a Pentium II 233 and 64 MB of RAM. Is this realistic?
A. No. I recommend a 500 MHz or faster Pentium III and 256 MB or more of RAM for Windows XP.
Q. What are the other system requirements for Windows XP?
A: Windows XP requires 1.5 GB of available drive space, SVGA (800 x 600) or higher resolution video adapter and monitor, a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive, and a keyboard and mouse.
Q. I have two home computers. Will I have to buy two copies of Windows XP?
A. Yes. Windows XP includes a technology called WPA (discussed above), which enforces a license Microsoft has been using for years (that is, you're supposed to buy one copy of Windows for each computer). However, there are ways in which you can minimize your costs. If you only need Home Edition, and you qualify for the upgrade version, buy two copies of that. Or use Microsoft's new Additional Family License (AFL) option to get 8 to 12 percent off the cost of the second installation. I'll have more information about the AFL when Microsoft makes an official pricing announcement.
Q. I read that Windows XP includes a firewall. Is this true?
A. Yes. Windows XP includes a firewall called Internet Connection Firewall (ICF), which can protect your home network against intrusion. It's a zero-configuration option, too: Just check a box and it's on. Note that ICF is inbound-only: It won't prevent you from sending out trojans and viruses if you're system is infected. To get more functionality than ICF provides, try a full-featured firewall such as ZoneAlarm.
Q. How do I get America Online (AOL) working in Windows XP?
A. AOL 6 is only "sort of" compatible with Windows XP, but the recently released AOL 7 works just fine with XP.
Q. How do I know if I qualify for an upgrade version of Windows XP?
A. You must have a retail Windows 98, 98 SE, Millennium Edition (Me), NT 4.0, or 2000 CD-ROM, Full Version or Upgrade, to qualify for the Windows XP upgrade versions. Restore CDs from PC makers do not qualify.
Q. Will Windows XP be as fast/responsive as my current version of Windows?
A. Microsoft says that Windows XP performs 5 percent to 20 percent faster than Windows Me and Windows 9x and is on par with Win2K. "Windows XP gets faster as you use it, too," Kristian Gyorkos, an XP product manager, told me, "because of its dynamic, self-tuning features. Periodically, the application-launch, system-boot, and file-placement routines are optimized." Microsoft notes that Standby and Resume performance has also improved.
Based on my own personal use, I can verify that XP seems to be on par with Windows 2000. I find it hard to believe that it outperforms 9x. However, Windows XP is much more secure, stable and reliable than Windows 9x, a more than acceptable trade-off in my opinion.
Q. How do I network Windows XP with Windows 9x machines?
A. Unlike Windows 9x/Me, Windows XP is secure, so you have to be logged on as a particular user--with specific rights--before you are granted network access. To make Windows 9x/Me work with Windows XP, then, you will need to ensure that the Windows 9x boxes are logged on with a user name and password that appears on the XP box. Then, you should have no problem sharing resources between the two machines.
Q. Will Microsoft upgrade Windows XP now that it's finalized?
A. Actually, yes, and quite often too. Since Microsoft released XP to manufacturing, the company has updated several system components, and users will be able to download these updates through Windows Update when XP becomes widely available. Microsoft will extensively update Windows Messenger, for example, to include compatibility with Exchange Server 2000. The company will update Windows Movie Maker (WMM) from version 1.1, which ships in the box with XP, to version 1.2. WMM 1.2 includes support for Windows Media Audio 8 (WMA 8) and Windows Media Video 8 (WMV 8) and will include a 640 x 480 WMV mode for digital video. To prevent system failures, Microsoft has hardened several system drivers since the Release Candidate 2 (RC2) release; previously, users could install these drivers even when XP warned them not to. Now XP will actually prevent the installation of known problem drivers.
Q. Can I reboot into DOS with Windows XP?
A. No. Windows XP is not based on DOS, as is Windows 9x. However, Windows XP does support a DOS-like command line environment, and you can run most DOS applications--and even many DOS games--in Windows XP.
Windows XP also supports an optional boot-time command line environment called the Recover Console. As its name suggests, the Recovery Console is only designed to be used in the event of a system problem. To enable it, insert your Windows XP CD-ROM and type
D:\i386\winnt32.exe /cmdcons in a command line (assuming your CD drive is D:).
Q. Can I dual-boot between Windows XP and a previous OS?
A. Yes, but you will have to have two partitions (or hard drives) so that you can install XP separately from your other system (which can be DOS/Windows 3.1, Windows 9x/Me, Windows NT 4.0, or Windows 2000). Windows XP will automatically set up a boot menu so you can choose which OS you want when the machine starts up or reboots.
The boot menu is configurable by hand-editing the hidden file boot.ini, which you will find in the root of the C: drive. A better way to change the boot-up sequence, however, is to right-click My Computer, choose Properties, then Advanced, then click Settings under Startup and Recovery.
Q. I like the new Welcome screen, but it doesn't give me the option to log on as Administrator. How can I do this?
A: There are two ways to do this: First, you can use the "old" login screen, instead of the Welcome screen, as Administrator doesn't appear on the Welcome screen by default. To enable this, open User Accounts, choose Change the way users log on or off, and then uncheck Use the Welcome screen. Or, use the TweakUI for Windows XP Power Toy to add Administrator to the Welcome screen. This tool will not be available in final form, however, until XP ships in late October.
Thanks to several readers who pointed out that you can also get the classic Windows 2000-style logon to appear by pressing CTRL+ALT+DEL twice at the Welcome screen; this will allow you to logon as Administrator.
Q. What happened to NetBEUI (an older Microsoft networking protocol)? My home network uses this.
A. NetBEUI is no longer supported and I don't recommend using it: Go with the more powerful, and routable, TCP/IP protocol instead, which is the default in Windows XP. But if you must have NetBEUI, Microsoft made it available on the Windows XP CD-ROM as an optional install. It's in D:Valueadd\msft\net\netbeui by default. You add it by configuring a network adapter and choosing Properties, General, Install.
Q. You seem unnaturally positive about Windows XP. Are you a Microsoft shill? How much is Microsoft paying you to write about Windows XP?
A. I'm honestly very excited about Windows XP, and yes, it does come through in my writing about this OS. I come down hard on Microsoft when they deserve it, but there is precious little in Windows XP to complain about (aside, obviously, from Windows Product Activation). But I don't work for--or get paid by--Microsoft.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Xp Pro Intro
Slipstreaming Windows XP with Service Pack 2 (SP2)
It's been a while since I've covered slipstreaming, or combining, a service pack into Windows (link), but the release of Windows XP Service Pack with Advanced Security Technologies (hereafter referred to as SP2) warrants some discussion. That's because XP SP2 is a huge change from the original shipping version of XP, offering as many new features and capabilities as a major new Windows version. For this reason, many people are going to want to install XP SP2 directly the next time they install Windows, and skip the time-consuming and potentially insecure step of installing the initial XP version first, and then applying SP2 after the fact.
But what, exactly, is slipstreaming, you ask? Back when Microsoft was developing Windows 2000, the company decided to create up a more elegant way of integrating service packs and other fixes back into the core OS, so that enterprise customers could always maintain an install set of the latest version of Windows, ready to be installed at any time on new machines. In the NT days, this process was convoluted at best, and service pack installs often required users to reinstall components that had previously been installed. It just wasn't elegant, but Windows 2000 fixed all that, and in XP the slipstreaming process is largely unchanged.
For end users, slipstreaming can also be useful. For example, you can copy the installation directory from your XP CD-ROM to the hard drive, slipstream the XP SP2 files into that installation directory, and than write it back to a recordable CD, giving you a bootable copy of the XP setup disk that includes SP2 right out of the box (so to speak). That's the process we're going to examine here. And slipstreaming isn't limited to service packs, either: You can also slipstream in various product updates, including hot-fixes. Previous to the release of SP2, I created a bootable XP CD that included the original "gold" version of XP, Service Pack 1a, and the Security Rollup 1 update, all meshed together into a single install. Now, I've tossed that CD aside for one that includes XP SP2 instead. Let's take a look at how I did this.
It's been a while since I've covered slipstreaming, or combining, a service pack into Windows (link), but the release of Windows XP Service Pack with Advanced Security Technologies (hereafter referred to as SP2) warrants some discussion. That's because XP SP2 is a huge change from the original shipping version of XP, offering as many new features and capabilities as a major new Windows version. For this reason, many people are going to want to install XP SP2 directly the next time they install Windows, and skip the time-consuming and potentially insecure step of installing the initial XP version first, and then applying SP2 after the fact.
But what, exactly, is slipstreaming, you ask? Back when Microsoft was developing Windows 2000, the company decided to create up a more elegant way of integrating service packs and other fixes back into the core OS, so that enterprise customers could always maintain an install set of the latest version of Windows, ready to be installed at any time on new machines. In the NT days, this process was convoluted at best, and service pack installs often required users to reinstall components that had previously been installed. It just wasn't elegant, but Windows 2000 fixed all that, and in XP the slipstreaming process is largely unchanged.
For end users, slipstreaming can also be useful. For example, you can copy the installation directory from your XP CD-ROM to the hard drive, slipstream the XP SP2 files into that installation directory, and than write it back to a recordable CD, giving you a bootable copy of the XP setup disk that includes SP2 right out of the box (so to speak). That's the process we're going to examine here. And slipstreaming isn't limited to service packs, either: You can also slipstream in various product updates, including hot-fixes. Previous to the release of SP2, I created a bootable XP CD that included the original "gold" version of XP, Service Pack 1a, and the Security Rollup 1 update, all meshed together into a single install. Now, I've tossed that CD aside for one that includes XP SP2 instead. Let's take a look at how I did this.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Windows 7 Release
Was on Friday June 5 09
Main article: Development of Windows 7
Originally, a version of Windows codenamed Blackcomb was planned as the successor to Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. Major features were planned for Blackcomb, including an emphasis on searching and querying data and an advanced storage system named WinFS to enable such scenarios. However, an interim, minor release, codenamed "Longhorn" was announced for 2003, delaying the development of Blackcomb.[6] By the middle of 2003, however, Longhorn had acquired some of the features originally intended for Blackcomb. After three major viruses exploited flaws in Windows operating systems within a short time period in 2003, Microsoft changed its development priorities, putting some of Longhorn's major development work on hold while developing new service packs for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. Development of Longhorn (Windows Vista) was also "reset", or delayed in September 2004. A number of features were cut from Longhorn.[7]
Blackcomb was renamed Vienna in early 2006, [8] and again to Windows 7 in 2007.[9] In 2008, it was announced that Windows 7 would also be the official name of the operating system.[10][11]
The first external release to select Microsoft partners came in January 2008 with Milestone 1, build 6519.[12] At PDC 2008, Microsoft demonstrated Windows 7 with its reworked taskbar. Copies of Windows 7 build 6801 were distributed out at the end of the conference, but the demonstrated taskbar was disabled in this build.
On December 27, 2008, Windows 7 Beta was leaked onto the Internet via BitTorrent.[13] According to a performance test by ZDNet,[14] Windows 7 Beta has beaten both Windows XP and Vista in several key areas, including boot and shut down time, working with files and loading documents; others, including PC Pro benchmarks for typical office activities and video-editing, remain identical to Vista and slower than XP.[15] On January 7, 2009, the 64-bit version of the Windows 7 Beta (build 7000) was leaked onto the web, with some torrents being infected with a trojan.[16][17] At CES 2009, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced the Windows 7 Beta, build 7000, had been made available for download to MSDN and TechNet subscribers in the format of an ISO image.[18] The Beta was to be publicly released January 9, 2009. Initially, Microsoft planned for the download to be made available to 2.5 million people on January 9. However, access to the downloads was delayed due to high traffic.[19] The download limit was also extended, initially until January 24, then again to February 10. People who did not complete downloading the beta had two extra days to complete the download. After February 12, unfinished downloads became unable to complete. Users can still obtain product keys from Microsoft to activate their copy of Windows 7 Beta. Users can still download Windows 7 via the Microsoft Connect program. The beta expires on August 1, 2009, with bihourly shutdowns starting July 1, 2009. The release candidate, build 7100, has been available for MSDN and TechNet subscribers and Connect Program participants since April 30 and is available to the general public as of May 5, 2009.[20] It has also been leaked onto the Internet via BitTorrent.[21] The release candidate is available in five languages and will expire on June 1, 2010, with bihourly shutdowns starting March 1, 2010.[22] According to Microsoft, the final release is planned in time for the 2009 holiday shopping season.[2] On June 2, 2009, Microsoft confirmed that Windows 7 will be released on October 22, 2009. The release of Windows 7 will coincide with the release of Windows Server 2008 R2. [23]
[edit] Goals
Bill Gates, in an interview with Newsweek, suggested that the next version of Windows would "be more user-centric".[24] Gates later said that Windows 7 will also focus on performance improvements;[25] Steven Sinofsky later expanded on this point, explaining in the Engineering Windows 7 blog that the company was using a variety of new tracing tools to measure the performance of many areas of the operating system on an ongoing basis, to help locate inefficient code paths and to help prevent performance regressions.[26]
Senior Vice President Bill Veghte stated that Windows Vista users migrating to Windows 7 would not find the kind of device compatibility issues they encountered migrating from Windows XP.[27] Speaking about Windows 7 on October 16, 2008, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer confirmed compatibility between Vista and Windows 7.[28] Ballmer also confirmed the relationship between Vista and Windows 7, indicating that Windows 7 will be a refined version of Windows Vista.[28]
[edit] Features
[edit] New and changed features
Main article: Features new to Windows 7
The new Action Center which replaces Windows Security CenterWindows 7 includes a number of new features, such as advances in touch and handwriting recognition, support for virtual hard disks, improved performance on multi-core processors,[29][30][31][32] improved boot performance, and kernel improvements. Windows 7 adds support for systems using multiple heterogeneous graphics cards from different vendors (Heterogeneous Multi-adapter), a new version of Windows Media Center,[33] a Gadget for Windows Media Center, improved media features, the XPS Essentials Pack and Windows PowerShell being included, and a redesigned Calculator with multiline capabilities including Programmer and Statistics modes along with unit conversion. Many new items have been added to the Control Panel, including ClearType Text Tuner, Display Color Calibration Wizard, Gadgets, Recovery, Troubleshooting, Workspaces Center, Location and Other Sensors, Credential Manager, Biometric Devices, System Icons, and Display.[34] Windows Security Center has been renamed to Windows Action Center (Windows Health Center and Windows Solution Center in earlier builds) which encompasses both security and maintenance of the computer.
The taskbar has seen the biggest visual changes, where the Quick Launch toolbar has been replaced with pinning applications to the taskbar. Buttons for pinned applications are integrated with the task buttons. These buttons also enable the Jump Lists feature to allow easy access to common tasks.[35] The revamped taskbar also allows the reordering of taskbar buttons. To the far right of the system clock is a small rectangular button that serves as the Show desktop icon. This button is part of the new feature in Windows 7 called Aero Peek. Hovering over this button makes all visible windows transparent for a quick look at the desktop.[36] In touch-enabled displays such as touch screens, tablet PCs etc, this button is slightly wider to accommodate being pressed with a finger.[37] Clicking this button minimizes all windows, and clicking it a second time restores them. Additionally, when a user drags a window to the edge of the screen, it will snap in place on that half of the screen. This allows users to snap documents or files on either side of the screen to compare them. There is also a feature that when a user pulls a window to the top of the screen, it automatically maximizes. When a user moves windows that are maximized, the system restores them automatically.
This functionality is also accomplished with keyboard shortcuts. Holding down the Windows key and pressing the up arrow maximizes; pressing down the down arrow minimizes; pressing the left or right arrows snap the windows to the sides of the screen. Repeating the keyboard shortcuts generally restores the window's previous size. Unlike in Windows Vista, window borders and the taskbar do not turn opaque when a window is maximized with Windows Aero applied. Instead, they remain transparent. For developers, Windows 7 includes a new networking API with support for building SOAP based web services in native code (as opposed to .NET based WCF web services),[38] new features to shorten application install times, reduced UAC prompts, simplified development of installation packages,[39] and improved globalization support through a new Extended Linguistic Services API.[40] At WinHEC 2008 Microsoft announced that color depths of 30-bit and 48-bit would be supported in Windows 7 along with the wide color gamut scRGB (which for HDMI 1.3 can be converted and output as xvYCC). The video modes supported in Windows 7 are 16-bit sRGB, 24-bit sRGB, 30-bit sRGB, 30-bit with extended color gamut sRGB, and 48-bit scRGB.[41][42] Microsoft is also implementing better support for Solid State Drives [43] and Windows 7 will be able to identify a Solid State Drive uniquely.
Internet Spades, Internet Backgammon and Internet Checkers, which were removed from Windows Vista, were restored in Windows 7. Windows 7 will include Internet Explorer 8 and Windows Media Player 12.
Wikinews has related news: Windows 7 will allow users to disable Internet Explorer
Users will also be able to disable many more Windows components than was possible in Windows Vista. New additions to this list of components include Internet Explorer 8, Windows Media Player, Windows Media Center, Windows Search, and the Windows Gadget Platform.[44] Windows 7 includes 13 additional sound schemes, entitled Afternoon, Calligraphy, Characters, Cityscape, delta, Festival, Garden, Heritage, Landscape, Quirky, Raga, Savanna, and Sonata.[45] A new version of Virtual PC, Windows Virtual PC Beta is available for Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate editions.[46] It allows multiple Windows environments, including Windows XP Mode, to run on the same machine, requiring the use of Intel VT-x or AMD-V. Windows XP Mode runs Windows XP in a virtual machine and redirects displayed applications running in Windows XP to the Windows 7 desktop.[47] Furthermore Windows 7 supports to mount a virtual hard disk (VHD) as a normal data storage, and the bootloader delivered with Windows 7 can boot Windows system from VHD.[48] The Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) of Windows 7 is also enhanced to support real-time multimedia application including video playback and 3D games. That means the Direct X 10 can be used in a remote desktop environment. [49] The three application limit will be removed from Windows 7 Starter.
[edit] Removed features
Main article: Features removed from Windows 7
A number of capabilities and certain programs that were a part of Windows Vista are no longer present or have changed, resulting in the removal of certain functionality. Some notable Windows Vista features and components have been replaced or removed in Windows 7, including the classic Start Menu user interface, Windows Ultimate Extras, InkBall, and Windows Calendar. Windows Photo Gallery, Windows Movie Maker, and Windows Mail have been removed from Windows itself, but they are available in a separate package called Windows Live Essentials.
[edit] Antitrust regulatory attention
As with other Microsoft operating systems, Windows 7 is being studied by United States federal regulators who oversee the company's operations following the 2001 United States v. Microsoft settlement. According to status reports filed, the three-member panel began assessing prototypes of the new operating system in February 2008. Michael Gartenberg, an analyst at Jupiter Research said that, "[Microsoft's] challenge for Windows 7 will be how can they continue to add features that consumers will want that also don't run afoul of regulators."[50] In Europe, Windows 7 may be required to ship with rival browsers including possibly Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome. The reason for this suspicion is on the inclusion of Internet Explorer which is seen as harming competition, as in the European Union Microsoft competition case.[51] However, Microsoft announced on the Engineering Windows 7 blog that users will be able to turn off more features than in Windows Vista including Internet Explorer.[44]
[edit] Editions
Main article: Windows 7 editions
Windows 7 will be available in six different editions, but only Home Premium and Professional will be widely available at retail.[52] The other editions are focused at other markets, such as the developing world or enterprise use.[52] Each edition of Windows 7 will include all of the capabilities and features of the edition below it.[52][53][54][55][56] With the exception of Windows 7 Starter, all editions will support both 32-bit (x86) and 64-bit (x86-64) processor architectures.[57] According to Microsoft, the features for all editions of Windows 7 will be stored on the machine, regardless of what edition is in use.[58] Users who wish to upgrade to an edition of Windows 7 with more features can then use Windows Anytime Upgrade to purchase the upgrade, and unlock the features of those editions.[53][58][59] Microsoft has not yet announced pricing information or volume licensing details for Windows 7.[59]
[edit] Hardware requirements
Microsoft has published their minimum recommended specifications for a system running Windows 7 Release Candidate.[60][61] For the 32-bit version, these are much the same as those for premium editions of Vista, but they are considerably higher for the 64-bit version. Microsoft has released a beta version of an upgrade advisor that scans a computer to see if it is compatible with Windows 7.
Minimum recommended hardware requirements for Windows 7[60] Architecture 32-bit 64-bit
Processor speed 1 GHz processor
Memory (RAM) 1 GB of RAM 2 GB of RAM
Graphics card Support for DirectX 9 graphics device with 128MB of graphic memory (for Windows Aero)
HDD free space 16 GB of available disk space 20 GB of available disk space
Optical drive DVD-R/RW
Main article: Development of Windows 7
Originally, a version of Windows codenamed Blackcomb was planned as the successor to Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. Major features were planned for Blackcomb, including an emphasis on searching and querying data and an advanced storage system named WinFS to enable such scenarios. However, an interim, minor release, codenamed "Longhorn" was announced for 2003, delaying the development of Blackcomb.[6] By the middle of 2003, however, Longhorn had acquired some of the features originally intended for Blackcomb. After three major viruses exploited flaws in Windows operating systems within a short time period in 2003, Microsoft changed its development priorities, putting some of Longhorn's major development work on hold while developing new service packs for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. Development of Longhorn (Windows Vista) was also "reset", or delayed in September 2004. A number of features were cut from Longhorn.[7]
Blackcomb was renamed Vienna in early 2006, [8] and again to Windows 7 in 2007.[9] In 2008, it was announced that Windows 7 would also be the official name of the operating system.[10][11]
The first external release to select Microsoft partners came in January 2008 with Milestone 1, build 6519.[12] At PDC 2008, Microsoft demonstrated Windows 7 with its reworked taskbar. Copies of Windows 7 build 6801 were distributed out at the end of the conference, but the demonstrated taskbar was disabled in this build.
On December 27, 2008, Windows 7 Beta was leaked onto the Internet via BitTorrent.[13] According to a performance test by ZDNet,[14] Windows 7 Beta has beaten both Windows XP and Vista in several key areas, including boot and shut down time, working with files and loading documents; others, including PC Pro benchmarks for typical office activities and video-editing, remain identical to Vista and slower than XP.[15] On January 7, 2009, the 64-bit version of the Windows 7 Beta (build 7000) was leaked onto the web, with some torrents being infected with a trojan.[16][17] At CES 2009, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced the Windows 7 Beta, build 7000, had been made available for download to MSDN and TechNet subscribers in the format of an ISO image.[18] The Beta was to be publicly released January 9, 2009. Initially, Microsoft planned for the download to be made available to 2.5 million people on January 9. However, access to the downloads was delayed due to high traffic.[19] The download limit was also extended, initially until January 24, then again to February 10. People who did not complete downloading the beta had two extra days to complete the download. After February 12, unfinished downloads became unable to complete. Users can still obtain product keys from Microsoft to activate their copy of Windows 7 Beta. Users can still download Windows 7 via the Microsoft Connect program. The beta expires on August 1, 2009, with bihourly shutdowns starting July 1, 2009. The release candidate, build 7100, has been available for MSDN and TechNet subscribers and Connect Program participants since April 30 and is available to the general public as of May 5, 2009.[20] It has also been leaked onto the Internet via BitTorrent.[21] The release candidate is available in five languages and will expire on June 1, 2010, with bihourly shutdowns starting March 1, 2010.[22] According to Microsoft, the final release is planned in time for the 2009 holiday shopping season.[2] On June 2, 2009, Microsoft confirmed that Windows 7 will be released on October 22, 2009. The release of Windows 7 will coincide with the release of Windows Server 2008 R2. [23]
[edit] Goals
Bill Gates, in an interview with Newsweek, suggested that the next version of Windows would "be more user-centric".[24] Gates later said that Windows 7 will also focus on performance improvements;[25] Steven Sinofsky later expanded on this point, explaining in the Engineering Windows 7 blog that the company was using a variety of new tracing tools to measure the performance of many areas of the operating system on an ongoing basis, to help locate inefficient code paths and to help prevent performance regressions.[26]
Senior Vice President Bill Veghte stated that Windows Vista users migrating to Windows 7 would not find the kind of device compatibility issues they encountered migrating from Windows XP.[27] Speaking about Windows 7 on October 16, 2008, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer confirmed compatibility between Vista and Windows 7.[28] Ballmer also confirmed the relationship between Vista and Windows 7, indicating that Windows 7 will be a refined version of Windows Vista.[28]
[edit] Features
[edit] New and changed features
Main article: Features new to Windows 7
The new Action Center which replaces Windows Security CenterWindows 7 includes a number of new features, such as advances in touch and handwriting recognition, support for virtual hard disks, improved performance on multi-core processors,[29][30][31][32] improved boot performance, and kernel improvements. Windows 7 adds support for systems using multiple heterogeneous graphics cards from different vendors (Heterogeneous Multi-adapter), a new version of Windows Media Center,[33] a Gadget for Windows Media Center, improved media features, the XPS Essentials Pack and Windows PowerShell being included, and a redesigned Calculator with multiline capabilities including Programmer and Statistics modes along with unit conversion. Many new items have been added to the Control Panel, including ClearType Text Tuner, Display Color Calibration Wizard, Gadgets, Recovery, Troubleshooting, Workspaces Center, Location and Other Sensors, Credential Manager, Biometric Devices, System Icons, and Display.[34] Windows Security Center has been renamed to Windows Action Center (Windows Health Center and Windows Solution Center in earlier builds) which encompasses both security and maintenance of the computer.
The taskbar has seen the biggest visual changes, where the Quick Launch toolbar has been replaced with pinning applications to the taskbar. Buttons for pinned applications are integrated with the task buttons. These buttons also enable the Jump Lists feature to allow easy access to common tasks.[35] The revamped taskbar also allows the reordering of taskbar buttons. To the far right of the system clock is a small rectangular button that serves as the Show desktop icon. This button is part of the new feature in Windows 7 called Aero Peek. Hovering over this button makes all visible windows transparent for a quick look at the desktop.[36] In touch-enabled displays such as touch screens, tablet PCs etc, this button is slightly wider to accommodate being pressed with a finger.[37] Clicking this button minimizes all windows, and clicking it a second time restores them. Additionally, when a user drags a window to the edge of the screen, it will snap in place on that half of the screen. This allows users to snap documents or files on either side of the screen to compare them. There is also a feature that when a user pulls a window to the top of the screen, it automatically maximizes. When a user moves windows that are maximized, the system restores them automatically.
This functionality is also accomplished with keyboard shortcuts. Holding down the Windows key and pressing the up arrow maximizes; pressing down the down arrow minimizes; pressing the left or right arrows snap the windows to the sides of the screen. Repeating the keyboard shortcuts generally restores the window's previous size. Unlike in Windows Vista, window borders and the taskbar do not turn opaque when a window is maximized with Windows Aero applied. Instead, they remain transparent. For developers, Windows 7 includes a new networking API with support for building SOAP based web services in native code (as opposed to .NET based WCF web services),[38] new features to shorten application install times, reduced UAC prompts, simplified development of installation packages,[39] and improved globalization support through a new Extended Linguistic Services API.[40] At WinHEC 2008 Microsoft announced that color depths of 30-bit and 48-bit would be supported in Windows 7 along with the wide color gamut scRGB (which for HDMI 1.3 can be converted and output as xvYCC). The video modes supported in Windows 7 are 16-bit sRGB, 24-bit sRGB, 30-bit sRGB, 30-bit with extended color gamut sRGB, and 48-bit scRGB.[41][42] Microsoft is also implementing better support for Solid State Drives [43] and Windows 7 will be able to identify a Solid State Drive uniquely.
Internet Spades, Internet Backgammon and Internet Checkers, which were removed from Windows Vista, were restored in Windows 7. Windows 7 will include Internet Explorer 8 and Windows Media Player 12.
Wikinews has related news: Windows 7 will allow users to disable Internet Explorer
Users will also be able to disable many more Windows components than was possible in Windows Vista. New additions to this list of components include Internet Explorer 8, Windows Media Player, Windows Media Center, Windows Search, and the Windows Gadget Platform.[44] Windows 7 includes 13 additional sound schemes, entitled Afternoon, Calligraphy, Characters, Cityscape, delta, Festival, Garden, Heritage, Landscape, Quirky, Raga, Savanna, and Sonata.[45] A new version of Virtual PC, Windows Virtual PC Beta is available for Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate editions.[46] It allows multiple Windows environments, including Windows XP Mode, to run on the same machine, requiring the use of Intel VT-x or AMD-V. Windows XP Mode runs Windows XP in a virtual machine and redirects displayed applications running in Windows XP to the Windows 7 desktop.[47] Furthermore Windows 7 supports to mount a virtual hard disk (VHD) as a normal data storage, and the bootloader delivered with Windows 7 can boot Windows system from VHD.[48] The Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) of Windows 7 is also enhanced to support real-time multimedia application including video playback and 3D games. That means the Direct X 10 can be used in a remote desktop environment. [49] The three application limit will be removed from Windows 7 Starter.
[edit] Removed features
Main article: Features removed from Windows 7
A number of capabilities and certain programs that were a part of Windows Vista are no longer present or have changed, resulting in the removal of certain functionality. Some notable Windows Vista features and components have been replaced or removed in Windows 7, including the classic Start Menu user interface, Windows Ultimate Extras, InkBall, and Windows Calendar. Windows Photo Gallery, Windows Movie Maker, and Windows Mail have been removed from Windows itself, but they are available in a separate package called Windows Live Essentials.
[edit] Antitrust regulatory attention
As with other Microsoft operating systems, Windows 7 is being studied by United States federal regulators who oversee the company's operations following the 2001 United States v. Microsoft settlement. According to status reports filed, the three-member panel began assessing prototypes of the new operating system in February 2008. Michael Gartenberg, an analyst at Jupiter Research said that, "[Microsoft's] challenge for Windows 7 will be how can they continue to add features that consumers will want that also don't run afoul of regulators."[50] In Europe, Windows 7 may be required to ship with rival browsers including possibly Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome. The reason for this suspicion is on the inclusion of Internet Explorer which is seen as harming competition, as in the European Union Microsoft competition case.[51] However, Microsoft announced on the Engineering Windows 7 blog that users will be able to turn off more features than in Windows Vista including Internet Explorer.[44]
[edit] Editions
Main article: Windows 7 editions
Windows 7 will be available in six different editions, but only Home Premium and Professional will be widely available at retail.[52] The other editions are focused at other markets, such as the developing world or enterprise use.[52] Each edition of Windows 7 will include all of the capabilities and features of the edition below it.[52][53][54][55][56] With the exception of Windows 7 Starter, all editions will support both 32-bit (x86) and 64-bit (x86-64) processor architectures.[57] According to Microsoft, the features for all editions of Windows 7 will be stored on the machine, regardless of what edition is in use.[58] Users who wish to upgrade to an edition of Windows 7 with more features can then use Windows Anytime Upgrade to purchase the upgrade, and unlock the features of those editions.[53][58][59] Microsoft has not yet announced pricing information or volume licensing details for Windows 7.[59]
[edit] Hardware requirements
Microsoft has published their minimum recommended specifications for a system running Windows 7 Release Candidate.[60][61] For the 32-bit version, these are much the same as those for premium editions of Vista, but they are considerably higher for the 64-bit version. Microsoft has released a beta version of an upgrade advisor that scans a computer to see if it is compatible with Windows 7.
Minimum recommended hardware requirements for Windows 7[60] Architecture 32-bit 64-bit
Processor speed 1 GHz processor
Memory (RAM) 1 GB of RAM 2 GB of RAM
Graphics card Support for DirectX 9 graphics device with 128MB of graphic memory (for Windows Aero)
HDD free space 16 GB of available disk space 20 GB of available disk space
Optical drive DVD-R/RW
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