Category: Windows Desktop

After all the hoopla, hand wringing and swearing (at the EU Eurocrats), there might never be a Windows E edition without a browser!

“Under our new proposal, among other things, European consumers who buy a new Windows PC with Internet Explorer set as their default browser would be shown a ‘ballot screen’ from which they could, if they wished, easily install competing browsers from the Web. If this proposal is ultimately accepted, Microsoft will ship Windows in Europe with the full functionality available in the rest of the world. As requested by the Commission, we will be publishing our proposal in full here on our website as soon as possible”.

If this passes then I suspect that in-place upgrades from Vista to Windows 7 should be possible for consumers in the EU.  It would be the perfect solution and should make everyone happy, no matter what their browser preference is.

By the way, if this happens and you do happen to get a “Windows 7 E” box, keep it in very good condition.  It could be a collectors item and be worth some money in 20 or so years.

One of the readers (“Aris”) of this site has written a clever little tool to take your ISO/DVD for one of the newer Windows OS’s and make an installer from a 4GB (or more) USB stick.  I got a 4GB USB with the Windows 7 RC installer on it and it’s proven to be very handy.  Anyone wanting to put a new version of Windows on a machine without a DVD drive (some servers, netbooks and desktops/laptops) will want to do this.

Well done to the author for writing this utility!

As has been widely reported, MS has created a special edition of Windows 7 for the European Union called Windows 7 E.  It will not have IE installed.  This prevents upgrades from Vista.  In the EU, you will only be able to get this E edition via retail chains – there will not be the normal edition.  I suspect volume license purchasers will be able to get normal editions because they may be supporting users/customers outside of Europe.

This post tells you how to get a browser on your new Windows 7 E PC.

This is a very detailed post on who will get the RTM media and when they’ll get it.  TechNet/MSDN: August 6th.

Microsoft has finally found a way to hit back at Apple’s “I’m a Mac” adverts.  We don’t get MS adverts over here so this was new to me when I heard about it on a WPC09 keynote webcast the other day.  Kevin Turner at MS talked about it yesterday: apparently Apple called up MS and begged them to stop running the ads 🙂 

And you know why I know they’re working? Because two weeks ago we got a call from the Apple legal department saying, hey — this is a true story — saying, "Hey, you need to stop running those ads, we lowered our prices." They took like $100 off or something. It was the greatest single phone call in the history that I’ve ever taken in business. (Applause.)

I did cartwheels down the hallway. At first I said, "Is this a joke? Who are you?" Not understanding what an opportunity. And so we’re just going to keep running them and running them and running them.

Here’s a sample of what they’ve been doing:

That last one does make an important comment … aesthetics.  I’ve often joked that Mac’s were like handbags or shoes, a fashion thing.  This last one isn’t made by Microsoft.

Amazon is saying that their pre-order numbers for Windows 7 in 8 hours exceeded the entire 17 week pre-order period for Windows Vista.  Wow! 

Want to know when you can get Win7?  The MS Windows Team blogged this yesterday:

“The answer depends on who you are:

A survey by ScriptLogic says that 60% of firms have no plans or intend to skip Windows 7, expected to be announced as finished today after the rumoured build 7600 compilation last week.

Why?  Lots of reasons but it mainly comes down to:

• Money: No one has it.
• Time: Less staff doesn’t mean less work to do.
• Application compatibility concerns: Windows XP mode helps but that could potentially double the management work and CAL’s required for systems management/security.  We still don’t have a definitive Yes/No on whether it will be allowed on OEM installs.

I’ve used Windows 7 beta and RC since they went public.  I had some issues with Windows Explorer on the beta but the RC has been impressive.  Performance is definitely up on Vista, massively.

I’m still a believer that hiding the business winning features like BranchCache and DirectAccess behind the Ultimate and Software-Assurance-Enterprise editions is a huge mistake.  I can only hope MS rectifies that with SP1.  Let’s get above the geekiness and get real.  If XP works for me now, why would I embark on a huge project to deploy Windows 7 Business Edition if it doesn’t offer anything new to me?  I’m not talking about pretty interfaces but business features that I will use and care about.  Things like BranchCache and DirectAccess … things I’ll not get to use because I don’t/can’t spend vital money on Software Assurance.  That’s how business people, decision makers are going to think.  We can talk about stuff under the covers but they don’t care.  They can’t touch and feel that.  That’s geek speak to them.  If you want to convince a business person then give them something they care about … being able to work faster and together (BranchCache), being able to work from home/hotel/airport with no effort (DirectAccess), being able to find information (Federated Search), etc.  Those are business reasons to upgrade … but they won’t do it at the cost of SA.  That’s the real world right now.

Windows 7 is a superb product IMO.  It has the potential to be a business improver.  Hopefully we’ll see those features made available to more customers.  If they do then I think that 60% figure in the survey will drop significantly.

Microsoft released some documentation over the weekend on Windows 7.  It’ll also apply to Windows Server 2008 R2:

• Introduction to Windows Firewall with Advanced Security: Learn how to manage Windows Firewall in Windows 7 and Windows Vista by using the Windows Firewall with Advanced Security Microsoft Management Control (MMC) snap-in, with Netsh commands, and with Group Policy.
• Windows 7 Network Location: Details how the network locations (home, work, and public) work in Windows 7

AppLocker is a feature available to administrators of Windows 7 Ultimate and Enterprise (Software Assurance) editions only.  It allows administrators to use group policy to define what applications can be run on Ultimate and Enterprise computers.  Obviously these policies won’t work on Vista or the other editions of Windows 7, e.g. Business.

Microsoft has released some technical documentation on the feature:

“The AppLocker Technical Documentation for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 provides technical guidance about understanding how AppLocker works and how to effectively plan and deploy AppLocker policies.

AppLocker in Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows 7 Ultimate, and Windows 7 Enterprise helps administrators control which applications are allowed to run in their organizations. These documents provide technical guidance about understanding how AppLocker works and how to effectively plan and deploy AppLocker policies”.