Windows 7

With the release of Microsoft’s new operating system, Windows 7, just around the corner, the marketing department has come up with a creative way to drum up excitement for event. They’re giving away free copies of the Windows 7 DVD! Wait, there is a small catch though. In order to get your free copy…

In Windows Vista, you had to go through a lot of steps to change the default settings for the Windows Start button, but in Windows 7, changing its behavior is easy. If you want to be able to click on “Start” and then choose “Sleep” or “Hiberate” instead of “Shut Down,” (or vice versa) you can make…

Damien Reynolds of Neowin.net reminds all us Windows y7 beta testers that we can download and install Windows 7 updates from the Microsoft Connect web site, no matter whether we’re running the Windows 7 Ultimate Beta, the Windows 7 Home Premium Beta, or Windows 7 Server Beta. These are some of the…

Lenovo, makers of the ThinkPad notebooks and ThinkCentre desktops, is claiming a significant improvement in the boot times of their new Windows 7 PCs. How significant? Up to 56% faster, the company reports. According to the press release, these enhancements are a part of a new feature called the…

Donavon West shows how to run all flavors of IE a once on a PC, which is a great way to do compatibility testing. Using Virtual PC and XP Mode, you can see he's got 7 major browsers pinned to his start menu. More info and complete instructions can be found here:…

Good morning, Windows 7 RC1 is here, and it's open to the public. We hope you're as excited as we are. So now that you have it, what do you need to know? Here are 7 of my favorite features you shouldn't miss, plus an honorable mention or two. Multitouch- Hands down (or hands on) the Windows 7…

A a recent press demo, Microsoft principal program manager Ruston Panabaker showed how Windows 7 computers have better battery life than their older Vista counterparts. In general, the new OS will provide anywhere from 10 to 20 percent better battery improvement when watching a DVD. For the…

When one Windows enthusiast complained that they weren’t eligible to host a Windows 7 Party due to their location (the Cayman Islands), Microsoft decided to send them a free Windows 7 Party Pack – the box of goodies given out to Windows 7 launch party hosts – well before anyone else in the world…

For most people, there won’t be any compatibility issues when making the move to Windows 7, especially since the new OS – like Vista -  allows you to run applications in a special “compatibility mode” if needed. That mode is available from the program’s “Properties” (right-click the executable…

One of my all-time favorite bloggers, Long Zheng of istartedsomething.com, has just introduced a new search connector he programmed himself for integration into the Windows 7 search service. The connector is a combination of the OpenSearch Description File generator (aka the “Search Connector” in…