Ahead of its launch of Windows Server 2008 and Vista SP1 , Microsoft is planning to ship in late February assessment tools for IT shops so they can get their networks in order and ease any planned migrations. The Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Solution Accelerator is designed to help IT shops inventory their network, assess the readiness of their infrastructure for a migration and generate reports and recommendations.
A Croatian college student has created a utility that installs a seriously stripped-down Windows Vista, saying the heft of Microsoft Corp.’s biggest desktop operating system is just too big to believe. “Who can justify a 15GB operating system?” asked Dino Nuhagic, a fifth-year student from Split, a Croatian city on the Adriatic. Not Nuhagic, or the uncounted users who have turned to his creation, vLite.
It hardly seems possible, but it was one year ago today that Microsoft foisted Windows Vista onto a wary world. (OK — OEMs and enterprises had Vista foisted on them in November 2006, but January was the “big launch” for most of us).
Pranksters have taken advantage of interest in the next version of Windows to post fake - but reportedly harmless - builds of Windows 7 on BitTorrent.A supposedly leaked “internal milestone 1″ Alpha version of Windows 7 (previously codenamed Blackcomb) is easily found using Torrent search engines. But the weighty 2.17GB download is a bandwidth-sapping waste of time composed of fake ISO disc images containing nothing but a string of zeros. Postings to Windows enthusiast site Neowin and BitTorrent sites such as Pirate Bay show that the “early preview” is nothing of the sort.
Novell is trying something different in the Linux world–it’s building compatibility with other Linux distributions. Meanwhile Microsoft continues to lure new users to Windows Vista and XP using cash deals with silver lining.By nature, open source projects encourage diverse responses to a common set of problems. When focused on a single project that can create solutions that leap ahead of the current status quo.
Thursday, Microsoft broke sales and earnings records for its second quarter of fiscal year 2008. Statements by company executives, however, did not clarify how well Windows Vista, which launched a year ago, is actually doing in the marketplace. One analyst suggests comparing Microsoft’s latest revenue figures with related numbers, such as the growth in worldwide PC shipments. The upshot, he says, appears to indicate that Vista sales are rising in relative sync with those sales – as would be expected, given most new PCs now ship with Vista installed.
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Windows Vista was hit by significantly fewer publicly disclosed security flaws in its first year than Windows XP and open source rivals in their first years, according to a report from Microsoft. The report, written by Jeff Jones, a security strategy director in Microsoft’s Trustworthy Computing group, is part of Microsoft’s effort to show that its work on redesigning the security architecture and adding new security features to Vista have paid off.
With dissatisfaction over the Vista operating system persistent, can Microsoft right the OS’s wrongs with its upcoming Vista service pack? Microsoft made the latest beta of Vista SP1 available to the public earlier this month, and after informally testing it for a couple of days, I find my PC is working more reliably–and some tasks especially file copying, take less time. But I was hoping for more out of SP1, such as bigger system performance gains and fixes for Vista annoyances including the oft-criticized User Account Control feature.
Windows 7 (AKA Blackcomb then Vienna) had initially been rumoured to hit the market in 2010, but expectations are rising that it will make a landing in the second half of 2009.Australia’s APC magazine even claims to have seen Redmond’s roadmap for the new OS which marks three so-called “milestone” builds for the product’s planned release.
With every previous version of Windows, Microsoft has released what it calls a “Plus” pack but really is an expansion pack for the operating system to add features. Vista is no different and will see its Plus! pack released in a few weeks. The Vista Plus! pack is aimed primarily at Vista Basic users and adds additional features to that operating system.
The third and last CDW Windows Vista Tracking Poll, performed by Walker Information, shows that Windows Vista is getting some take-up. The number of organisations “evaluating and testing” Vista has increased from 29% in February 2007 to 48%, and “30% of organizations are currently implementing or have implemented Vista,” against 12% last time. Of those using or evaluating, 74% expect to complete the move to Vista during the next 12 months.
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Ever since Microsoft announced that Linux may violate up to 228 patents, it has enjoyed sweet deals from companies looking to avoid lawsuits. JVC is the most recent to seek such a deal. Microsoft just announced an expansion of “the relationship between JVC and Microsoft to promote the exchange of valuable information and the incorporation of patented technologies in their respective products.,” according to a company press release.
Windows 7, the successor to Microsoft’s PC operating system Windows Vista, is to feature touch-screen technology, a Microsoft team member has stated. Previously codenamed Blackcomb and Vienna, Windows 7 will also, according to Bill Gates, include “a pervasive typing line that will recognise the sentence that [the user is] typing in”.
Several industry sources have confirmed to TG Daily that a very early version of Windows 7, previously code-named Blackcomb Vienna, already has been shipped to “key partners” as a “Milestone 1” (M1) code drop for validation purposes. A roadmap received by TG Daily indicates that the new operating system will be introduced in the second half of 2009.
This comes as slightly surprising news. A recent poll conducted by a large technology solutions provider shows that Vista may not be as unpopular in the business market as once thought. CDW corporation surveyed 772 IT decision makers and Vista adoption is gaining traction in the mainstream business market.
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