Microsoft are getting ready to release technical details surrounding the Windows 7 operating system, according to a new blog about the OS.

Engineering managers Jon DeVaan and Steven Sinofsky have written in their blog, Engineering Windows 7, “in-depth technical information…” will be released at the Professional Developers Conference on October 27 and the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) the following week.

Some reporters are suggesting that, by pushing Windows 7 into the public gaze Microsoft is signalling the demise of Vista! I must point out at this stage that I’ve been using Vista for some time now and, as far as I’m concerned, it was dead from the start. Poor responses from users and the slow uptake among enterprises would suggest that I’m right.

Apparently, the Engineering Windows 7 blog will allow a two-way disussion to take place based on comments and input from the engineering team.

It would appear that some commenters simply won’t let Vista fade away as some some have used the blog to highlight flaws in Vista - just let it die!

“Less is more. Really, it is. Microsoft went completely in the wrong direction with Vista,” wrote one commenter. “I personally think that, if you want a real hit on your hands, strip down the Vista OS to bare bones, optimise the heck out of the code, and tune the baby for speed.” - hmm, no shit!

Windows 7 has been slated for release in early 2010. Microsoft better pray that it doesn’t suck like Vista!

Popularity: 22% [?]

MS Hyper-V gets official launch

Microsofts answer to VMWare, Hyper-V, has been launched 6 weeks ahead of schedule. The technology is expected to appeal to small businesses who can’t afford, or don’t need, the capabilities offered by VMWare.

The software will be available free to licensed user of Windows 2008 or as a standalone product which will be priced at $28 - that’s a huge price saving over VMWare. But be aware, Hyper-V is nowhere near as advanced as the VMWare software - Hyper-V is probably not the software of choice for mission critical applications.

Popularity: 42% [?]

About bloody time!

Windows users, businesses in particular, having been banging the desk for some time now over Microsofts plans to end-of-life XP. It looks like the Redmond giant has finally taken the ear plugs out!

Earlier this month we reported that Microsoft would continue to allow the sale XP on ULCPC’s. Microsoft has now sent a letter to customers stating that critical support for XP will be extended until 2014. A full three years longer than usually seen.

OEM will be allow to supply preloaded XP until 2009.

Why the change of heart? It’s all about Vista. The bottom line is that many users aren’t happy with the latest incarnation of Windows. In particular, many businesses are deferring Operating System upgrades until the launch of Windows 7 in 2010 citing issues such as hardware support and the Vista knack of hogging resources.

Now Microsoft needs to make sure that they get the next release right

Popularity: 43% [?]

MS eating Google dust!

In fact, they are also chewing on Yahoo’s dust. Figures for May show Google with a huge 61.9% of search market share followed by Yahoo with 20.6%. Google have a very long lead. To be fair, Yahoo have actually managed to improve their share by 0.2% over Aprils figures.

Erm, then there’s Microsoft. The software giant managed grab 8.5% of Mays search figures. That’s not too bad for an offering that is still relatively new to the game (if you discount the figures that show market share of 0.6% since April!)

I wonder if there’s any room for another search engine in the market?

Popularity: 62% [?]

Falls at SCCM hurdle!

It looks like the June security update issued by Microsoft has caused a few problems. The problems affects business users who deliver packages using Microsofts Systems Center Configuration Manager client.

It would appear that the issue resides in the Inventory Tool for Microsoft Updates (ITMU) and administrators should check the wsyncmgr.log for errors.

Interestingly, the issue is not affecting SMS v2 and Microsoft have stated that the patches can still be deployed using WSUS and SCCM’s software distribution feature.

Popularity: 22% [?]

Embedded XP successor in the pipeline

There’s not really much news leaking out of Redmond about the next version of embedded Windows but you can be sure that many hands are coding hard. That said, Microsoft has released the final version of embedded XP - ‘Windows Embedded Standard 2009′ - just rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it? Expect to see this release rolling out the door around the end of 2008.

What next? If rumours are anything to go by, we should see a Vista based replacement by 2010. Note that I said ‘Vista based’ - I hope we don’t see the flaws and bugs currently in Vista.

The Microsoft embedded software is designed to power PoS devices, games systems, thin client devices and many more besides.

Popularity: 24% [?]

…maybe, just maybe.

Not long ago we reported on an extentsion to XP’s life. Admittedly, this was only for installations on ULCPC. Looks like Redmond may have had a change of heart. Microsoft has stated that manufacturers will be able to sell XP on low-cost desktops — in effect, another extension (I wonder if Microsoft will ever concede that Vista is crap?).

Microsoft is allowing the installalation of XP on ‘nettops’ (low cost desktops) until June 2010. An odd date, don’t you think? Looking at recent comments, the next version of Windows should be released by that date…hmmm!

No details of which version of XP will be available used on nettops. Hopefully, it won’t be XP Home Edition (I’m shivering at the thought).

Popularity: 28% [?]

Stores open for Microsoftees!

Apples got one so why not Microsoft? Ok, Apple sells the works - MacBooks, iPods, servers etc. But look at Microsoft - you can buy…the Zune! To be fair, Microsoft has a lot to offer but at what price? Massive discounts? We’re not sure yet but the Redmond giant has stated that they aim to open the store to existing partners who sell MS products through their own platform.

Microsoft believes the stores will deal with customers who want a high level of interaction before commiting to a purchase.

Products purchased through the MS store are currently only available for download but Microsoft is planning the delivery of packaged goods.

The stores are only operating in the UK and Germany but Microsoft plans to open more locations throughout 2008.

Enjoy. I’m off to write another article using Open Office.

Popularity: 28% [?]

The word according to PC Tools.

Yes, you read it right. It looks like Vista is more susceptible to malware than it’s younger version, Windows 2000.  Not good news for Microsoft.

Using ThreatFire security service, PC Tools found that Vista lets through 639 threats per 1,000 compared to 586 for Windows 2000. Windows 2003 comes in even lower with 487 but XP does not fair well: 1,021 - I’m not sure how that works based on a figure of 1,000 analysed threats! Working on those figures, 64% of the Vista installation base is infected and 100% of XP - can’t be right, I’m clean (I think).

Microsoft bites back.

What else would you expect? According to a spokesman from MS, statistics from the Malicious Software Removal Tool show the figures to be far lower - but didn’t give any figures. MSRT ran on around 400 million Windows machines in November 2007 and, apparently, the figures returned do not show the same level of vulnerabilities found by PC Tools.

Just to be safe, I’m going to fire up my Ubuntu laptop.

Popularity: 83% [?]

The writings on the wall.

If you’ve installed XP SP3 you’ll now know that you can’t roll back Internet Explorer 7. The only option you have is to downgrade IE 6 BEFORE you install your shiny new Servie Pack 3. The same will apply to IE 8 in future. According to Jane Maliouta, MS deployment manager for IE 8, Microsoft this feature is all part of the design: “When we install IE7 on Windows XP SP2, we back up the existing IE6 files in an uninstall directory,” Maliouta wrote. “Those IE6 files are the ones that shipped on XP SP2, plus all the security updates you’ve installed while using IE6. Windows XP SP3 contains a newer version of the IE6 files. If you have XP SP3 on your system and uninstall IE7, your system would revert to the backed-up (older) version of the IE6 files, rather than the newer XP SP3 version.”

Choices, choices.

All your preferences will be saved will is a small plus but I don’t like being forced to upgrade. I know IE 7 has been in the wild for sometime now but I like to test software and get some feedback from other user before I CHOOSE to upgrade. IE 6 is still on  my XP box because I simply didn’t like version 7. There you have it: if you don’t want to be stuck with IE 7, downgrade before you apply Service Pack 3.

Popularity: 63% [?]