Entries tagged with windows 7 - Channel 9

Podcast 9 - Выпуск N19

Михаил Черномордиков — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:43:00 GMT

В девятнадцатом выпуске Петр Диденко и Михаил Черномордиков отвечают на вопросы слушателей про Windows 7. Авторы лучших вопросов получают собственно новую операционную систему Windows 7 в подарок!

Ссылки:
Windows Live Essentials - http://download.live.com
Zune Software - http://www.zune.net/en-us/products/software/
Раскрытие протоколов и форматов - http://www.microsoft.com/protocols
Open source в Microsoft - http://www.microsoft.com/opensource
Сессия Русиновича про новшества в windows kernel - http://microsoftpdc.com/Sessions/P09-20
Наше сообщество на ВсеВТеме - http://kip.ru/p9vv

Наши Твиттеры - http://twitter.com/mixen, http://twitter.com/pdidenko

Адрес нашего подкаста - http://podcast9.ru/
RSS нашего подкаста - http://feeds2.feedburner.com/podcast9ru
RSS блога Петра Диденко - http://feeds2.feedburner.com/pdidenko
RSS блога Михаила Черномордикова - http://blogs.msdn.com/mikcher/rss.xml

Attachmate Describes Benefits of Joining Front Runner for Windows 7

bruceky — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:28:00 GMT

Kris Lall, Product Marketing Manager, at Attachmate describes the benefits for joining the early adopter program, Front Runner for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. Now with the launch of Windows 7, there's still time to join Front Runner.

Front Runner is an early adopter program for ISVs in the US that helps you get your applications compatible with the latest Microsoft technologies. Once you tell us that your application is compatible, you’ll get a range of marketing benefits to help you let your customers know you’re a Front Runner, including customizable marketing and PR campaigns as well as listings in Microsoft directories that are viewed by millions of people.

For ISVs outside the United States, you can register and participate in Project Green Light.

Attachmate was among the first to earn the Compatible with Windows 7 software logo. Find out how they accomplished that at How Attachmate Earned Windows 7 Software Logo.

Aufzeichnung zum Oktober-TechTalk: Windows 7 – ein Überblick für Entwickler (Teil2)

Jan Schenk — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:32:00 GMT

Der Hauptfokus bei Windows 7 wurde auf die weitere Verbesserung der Sicherheit, Zuverlässigkeit und Performance des Betriebssystems gelegt - und auf die größtmögliche Kompatibilität zu Windows Vista , damit bereits bestehende Anwendungen auch in Zukunft laufen. Für Entwickler bietet Windows 7 viele neue Schnittstellen, um Anwendungen mit umfassenderen Funktionen zu versehen, die dem Endbenutzer eine neue Erfahrung im Umgang mit Software ermöglichen.

In dieser TechTalk-Aufzeichnung erklären Oliver Scheer und Peter Kirchner, wie etwa die neue Taskbar genutzt werden kann, indem die Preview-Ansicht gesteuert, Status-Informationen ausgegeben oder die Sprunglisten nach Ihren Wünschen angepasst werden können. Wir zeigen neue Möglichkeiten für die Anpassung von Windows-Diensten, um die Performance des Betriebssystems optimal zu nutzen und demonstrieren die Verwendung der in Windows 7 eingeführten Bibliotheken, um den Zugriff auf Dokumente Ihrer Anwendung zu vereinfachen. Zusätzlich erfährt man, welche Punkte zu beachten sind, um die Kompatibilität Ihrer Anwendung mit Windows 7 sicher zu stellen, wenn diese bereits auf Windows XP oder Windows Vista laufen. Abschließend wird ein Überblick gegeben, welche Änderungen sich im Windows Logo Programm ergeben haben und wie Sie Ihre Anwendung für Windows 7 zertifizieren lassen können.

Allgemeine Information zu den TechTalks:

Die kostenlosen TechTalk-Veranstaltungen sind ein lebendiges Forum zum Wissensaustausch unter Entwicklern und bieten Gelegenheit, "Microsoft zum Anfassen" zu erleben. Microsoft-Experten vermitteln dabei in Vorträgen ihr Wissen und stehen für Diskussionen zur Verfügung. Dabei ist der TechTalk keine überdimensionierte Massenveranstaltung, sondern bietet das angenehme und lockere Umfeld, das den ganz besonderen Reiz eines Entwicklertreffens ausmacht. Alle weiteren Informationen finden Sie unter http://techtalk.ms/

Aufzeichnung zum Oktober-TechTalk: Windows 7 – ein Überblick für Entwickler (Teil 1)

Jan Schenk — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:31:00 GMT

Allgemeine Information zu den TechTalks:

Connected Show Podcast: User Experience: It ain’t Lipstick baby

Brian Johnson — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:08:00 GMT

In this episode guest co-host and Interviewee Dave Crawford of Microsoft UK joins Dmitry to discuss News such as Windows 7, Windows Stores, ZuneHD development, Java Bridge, Visual Studio 2010 Beta 2 and many more stories. Finally Dave tells us all about the User Experience project role, how development projects can benefit from it and how Developers and Designers need to play nice together.

Windows 7 para desarolladores. Taskbar: Jumplist

Channel9Spain — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 21:41:00 GMT

En este nuevo episodio sobre el desarrollo de aplicaciones para Windows 7, veremos cómo utilizar los Jumplist de la nueva Taskbar de Windows 7. Aprenderemos a crear categorías personalizadas y añadir nuestras propias tareas a la Jumplist de una aplicación de ejemplo.

- Descargas
Código fuente en C#
Código fuente en VB

- Enlaces

Windows API Codepack

http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/WindowsAPICodePack

Windows 7 para desarolladores. Taskbar: Administración de ventanas

Channel9Spain — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 21:41:00 GMT

Una de las novedades que más llaman la atención de Windows 7 es la nueva barra de tareas. En este primer video veremos una introducción de las nuevas características de la Taskbar utilizando la API Code Pack para el desarrollo de nuestras aplicaciones en Windows 7. Concretamente, veremos como agrupar y desagrupar nuestras ventanas en la barra de tareas.

- Descargas
Código fuente en C#
Código fuente en VB

- Enlaces

Windows API Code Pack
http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/WindowsAPICodePack

Windows 7 para Desarrolladores

Channel9Spain — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 21:22:00 GMT

Isabel Gómez Miragaya, evangelista de Fabricantes de Software en Microsoft Ibérica y una apasionada de las tecnologías más punteras, nos presenta las novedades de Windows 7 para desarrolladores.

Durante el webcast, Isabel hablará sobre las mejoras que Windows 7 incluye en cuanto a memoria, disco E/S, energía, velocidad, menús y escalabilidad.

- Enlaces

http://msdn.microsoft.com/es-es/windows/default.aspx

Windows 7 Training Kit

Windows 7 para desarolladores. Búsqueda Federada (Parte I)

Channel9Spain — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 21:21:00 GMT

En este video tutorial veremos una de las novedades que trae Windows 7, que es la posibilidad de realizar búsqueda federada. Para quienes no conozcáis el concepto de búsqueda federada, decir que nos referimos a poder usar herramientas y flujos de trabajo para buscar datos remotos. Además de que nos permite resaltar las coincidencias dentro del documento donde se busca y visualizarlo en el explorador de Windows 7.

En este primer ejemplo veremos cómo realizar búsqueda federada en Windows 7 utilizando el buscador de Microsoft, Bing.

- Descargar ejemplos de búsqueda federada

- Enlaces

Página de MSDN Library sobre Búsqueda Federada en Windows 7
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us%20/library/dd742951(VS.85).aspx

Windows 7 para desarolladores. Búsqueda Federada (Parte II)

Channel9Spain — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 21:20:00 GMT

Este nuevo video tutorial es la continuación de otro que hicimos explicando la búsqueda federada en Windows 7. Lo que introduciremos en esta nueva entrega será como mapear las propiedades de los RSS que contienen el resultado de la búsqueda. De esta manera podremos mejorar la experiencia de usuario y mostrar un mayor número de detalles que resultarán útiles en nuestras búsquedas.

- Descargar ejemplos de búsqueda federada

- Enlaces

Página de MSDN Library sobre Búsqueda Federada en Windows 7
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us%20/library/dd742951(VS.85).aspx

Windows 7 para desarolladores. Taskbar: Barra de Progreso e Iconos superpuestos

Channel9Spain — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 21:13:00 GMT

Este video tutorial es la tercera entrega de cómo desarrollar aplicaciones haciendo uso de las nuevas características de la nueva barra de tareas de Windows 7. Veremos cómo podemos utilizar la barra de progreso sobre nuestros iconos de aplicación alojados en la Taskbar de Windows 7 u cómo podemos superponer imágenes a nuestro icono de aplicación.

- Descargas
  Código fuente en C# para la versión API Code Pack 0.8
  Código fuente en C# para la versión API Code Pack 1.0
  Código fuente en VB para la versión API Code Pack 0.8
  Código fuente en VB para la versión API Code Pack 1.0

nlaces

Windows API Codepack

http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/WindowsAPICodePack

More Windows 7 Themes from Paul Thorrott

Sarah Perez — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 17:46:00 GMT

Did you enjoy the Washington D.C. theme from Paul Thorrott that we shared with you earlier? If so, then you’ll be happy to hear that Paul released four more theme packs like that D.C. one for all us Windows 7 users to enjoy. Three of the themes focuses on other photogenic locales: Paris, London, and Ireland. And the fourth theme is all about one of my personal addictions: coffee! Yep, the fourth theme pack features lattes and foam-topped cups that make me want to hit up a Starbucks right away. If the above links don’t work, you can download the theme packs from Paul’s SkyDrive folder instead.

Microsoft Surface Apps for Windows 7

Sarah Perez — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 17:41:00 GMT

At the Tablet PC meetup at CES’s CntrStg, a Microsoft representative was demonstrating a Windows 7 touchscreen computer and its capabilities. After going through the usual – Aero Peek, shake to minimize, the new taskbar, and more – she showed us some really cool apps. Built by the Microsoft Surface team specifically for Windows 7, two new applications take advantage of the native touch and multi-touch capabilities built into Windows 7.

The first app demonstrated is called Microsoft Surface Collage for Windows 7. The app is a multi-touch photo viewing application. The photos on the screen can be resized using pinches, as has become standard with touch apps. And because it’s multi-touch, two people can touch and move the photos at the same time. You can use your finger to flip through the filmstip at the bottom of the screen, too.

The second application demonstrated was Microsoft Surface Globe for Windows 7. This one was a touch screen mapping application that let you zoom in and out on satellite imagery using pinches. You could also swipe your finger across the screen to move the map around.

Neither of these applications are available for download just yet, but they should be released around the same time that Windows 7 becomes publicly available.

[Special thanks for CntrStg for providing a great place to upload Channel 10 videos while at CES.]

Media Center without a TV Tuner

Sarah Perez — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 17:26:00 GMT

Do you have a Windows 7 PC but no TV tuner? You may be surprised to learn that you don’t need one in order to watch streaming video and even popular TV programming on your Media Center PC or extender thanks to the numerous Media Center plugins currently available. In this post, we’ll look at the TV plugins you can use with Media Center, including those specifically designed for viewing Hulu content as well as other similar plugins for streaming video.

TV/Hulu Plugins

Plugins that allow you to watch TV shows via Media Center are very popular, especially those that provide access to Hulu, the online site where major TV networks have teamed up to provide free, streaming video. There are a number of different plugins to choose from, each with their own feature set and fan base. Which one you choose to install may come down to its offerings, ease of use, price, or just personal preference.

Hulu Desktop Plugin

The Hulu Desktop Integration 1.0 plugin offers an easy way to hop between using Windows Media Center and the Hulu Desktop application, the desktop software that complements the online site. Once installed into Windows 7 Media Center, this plugin sets up its own menu simply called “HULU.” When you click on Hulu in this menu, the software will automatically close Windows Media Center and launch Hulu Desktop already in full screen mode. When you’re finished watching the streaming videos in Hulu, you just click on “Exit” from the software’s main menu and Windows Media Center will return, it too in full screen mode. This easy switching also works with Windows Media Center remote controls but does not work with extenders like the Xbox 360.

Before installing this application, you’ll need to install Hulu Desktop. Make sure both it and Windows Media Center are closed before you install the plugin which is available for a free download here.

PlayIt Plugin

With the Playon Digital Media Server, you can stream video on your Xbox 360, HP MediaSmart TV, or any other DLNA-compliant device. However, it wasn’t until the release of the PlayIt plugin that Media Center owners could get in on the action, too. Thanks to a user by the name of Elutmann1 on Microsoft’s Green Button forums, a site for Media Center enthusiasts, the PlayIt plugin lets Media Center users connect to a PlayOn server to stream video as well as use the Media Center controls like rewind, fast forward, play, pause and stop. With PlayIt installed, you gain access to Netflix, Amazon Video on Demand, Hulu, CBS, CNN, ESPN, YouTube, and more, all of which become available for viewing within the Media Center application.

However, although the PlayIt plugin software is free of charge, the PlayOn server software is not. PlayOn is $39.99, but a free 2-week trial is available. You can download PlayOn from here then follow these instructions to install the PlayIt plugin. The plugin works on Vista Media Center and up.

For additional plugins designed to operate with PlayOn server, visit the community site at playonplugins.com where a number of developers share additional third-party plugins that works with PlayOn.

Boxee

Boxee is an open source media center type application that received a lot of attention in recent days thanks to its ability to stream popular TV programming to your PC or TV while also incorporating “social” elements like the ability to friend other users, rate content, and make recommendations.

Within Boxee, users have access to content from major TV networks like ABC, CNN, CBS, Comedy Central, and the WB as well as online content like Blip.TV, MTV music videos, MySpaceTV, Revision3 programs, Apple movie trailers, BBC iPlayer shows, Joost, SHOUTcast, Jamendo, Last.fm, NPR, and YouTube. In addition, you can add picture displaying plugins from Flickr and Picasa and RSS feeds.

Hulu support, however, has been off and on because Hulu’s parent company, NBC Universal, was asked to remove it from Boxee by their content partners. Boxee later re-added it using Hulu RSS feeds. Again, Hulu blocked access until Boxee introduced a new architecture which uses Firefox so that Hulu now sees Boxee as a Mozilla web browser so it won’t get blocked.

Thanks to the enthusiast site, Missing Remote with help from MVP Andrew Cherry, there’s a way to added Boxee support to your Windows 7 Media Center. You’ll first need to download this zip file and extract it to your Boxee installation directory (e.g. “C:\Program Files\Boxee\BoxeeMCE”). Then you’ll right-click to launch the file “installBoxee.cmd.” Detailed instructions are here. Although written for Vista Media Center, it works with Windows 7 works too.

To add Boxee onto Media Center’s start menu in Windows 7, you’ll need to navigate to Media Center’s “Extras” menu where you’ll now see Boxee listed. Right-click on the icon and choose “Add to Start Menu” from the menu that appears.

SecondRunTV

SecondRunTV is a plugin that allows you to launch the Hulu desktop application right within Media Center. Since Hulu Desktop works with a remote this makes SecondRunTV feel like it’s just another Media Center application.

The interface for SecondRunTV lets you sort through the available TV stations by Network or by Title. Movies and Trailers are separated in the two other menus. Unfortunately though, the plugin doesn’t work on extenders like the Xbox 360, so it’s only worthwhile if you do most of your TV viewing on your Media Center PC itself. You can download the SecondRun.tv plugin for free here (donations accepted), but be aware that it’s still in beta status.

TunerFree MCE

TunerFree MCE is a Windows Media Center plugin that brings several of the United Kingdom's main TV providers (BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Five), as well as all of the BBC Radio stations to your Media Center PC and extender. They’ve also added full Hulu support for their U.S. users.

The program’s interface displays the various channels’ logos for easy access as well as a “favorites” section for tracking your most frequently watched programs. You can also sort the programming by date or search through the available content by keyword.

For a little bit of extra fun, the developer even added a Twitter section which lets you tweet what you watch right from Media Center itself. To use this feature, go into TunerFree’s preferences and enter in your Twitter credentials. You’ll then have a new Twitter icon on the TunerFree start page in Media Center.

TunerFree is a free download (donations accepted) and works on both Vista and Windows 7. (On a personal note, I use this plugin myself and found it to be one of the easiest ones to install and configure.)

HuluMCE plugin

Again thanks to the Missing Remote blog, there’s information on how to add the Hulu Desktop program to MediaCenter as a shortcut from the main screen. This is similar to the functionality provided by SecondRunTV so you would want to try one or the other, not both.

To install this plugin, you’ll need to grab the zip file called HuluMCE Plugin and unzip it into the same folder where you have the Hulu Desktop application installed. (By default - C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\HuluDesktop). There are a few more steps involved to get it properly configured which you can follow by reading through the online guide available here.

Once installed, the HuluMCE plugin will appear in your TV+Movies menu on Vista Media Center or in your Extras menu on Windows 7 Media Center. You can then browse and view Hulu content via the plugin and you can even use your Media Center remote to control Hulu.

ZeeVee

The Zinc Internet browser is a free downloadable software program from ZeeVee, a company known for their commercial and residential solutions for HD video. With the Zinc software, you can browse through a number of channels, including major TV networks like FOX, ABC, CBS, CW, and ESPN as well as online sites like Hulu, Revision3, and YouTube.

A Green Button forum member, Rob Rogers, at one time made a ZeeVee plugin available for Windows Media Center users that lets you launch and browse ZeeVee’s Zinc player in Media Center. Sadly though, he decided to take it down because he didn’t see much interest. However, we reached out to him to ask him about it and he shared the details of how it was made in case anyone wants to duplicate his efforts.

Basically, he downloaded the HuluMCE plugin (above) and modified it to point to the Zinc files instead. That’s it. After doing so, unzip the files it contains in the same folder as your Zinc install (which you must first get from ZeeVee’s website). Typically, the installation location is %ProgramFiles%\ZeeVee\Zv\zviewer\ZeeVeeMCE\. Next, run the InstallZeeVee.cmd as an administrator. You’ll then find Zinc available from the Extras menu in Windows 7 Media Center or the Picture & Videos menu in Windows Vista Media Center.

TubeCore

TubeCore is one of the newer plugins for streaming TV shows from the internet via Windows Media Center. The software finds online video from websites like Hulu, CBS.com, the Onion, Revision3, and many others, and lets you watch it on your Media Center computer or on a Media Center extender like the Xbox 360.

To use TubeCore, you’ll need a Vista or Windows 7 PC, a TV connection (either direct or an extender), and media server software.

However, unlike some of the other plugins on this list, TubeCore is not free. You can try it for 2 weeks at no charge, but afterwards, you’ll have to purchase it if you want to continue to use it. At that time, the plugin is available for a one-time fee of $19.99. Since you are paying, though, you’re entitled to support via the company’s tech support email address and forums.

Sky Player

Just in time for Windows 7’s launch, the Sky Player add-in for Windows 7 Media Center has been announced (although not launched). This plugin, designed for UK customers, lets you watch live and on-demand programming from Sky TV’s online TV service, Sky Player. The player currently offers 24 channels as well as an online library containing 500 movies.

Existing Sky TV customers can simply install the plugin and watch the programming on their Media Center PC or extender. New customers can access the content by paying for a monthly subscription.

Image courtesy of Andrew Edney

Others of Interest

There are a few other plugins that may also be of interest to Windows Media Center users. While these below don’t provide you with access to streaming TV and movies directly, they do provide other ways to watch streaming video on your Media Center PC.

Orb

Orb is a desktop software program that lets you share files you already have on your PC with your friends, with other computers, mobile phones, and even your Xbox. Specifically, it’s designed for sharing multimedia content like videos, photos, and music.

Although not officially documented by the company, blogger Ian Dixon discovered an Orb.MCL file tucked away in the Orb directory after installing the software on his PC. As it turns out, this file was an entry point to Windows Media Center which lets you run the Orb front end via Media Center. A commenter on the blog post also explained how to manually create this file, if desired.

My Trailers and In the Movies

My Trailers and In the Movies are actually two different plugins from the same company. “My Trailers SE for MCE” allows you to watch movie trailers with via Windows Media Center while “In The Movies SE for MCE” delivers information about movies in the theaters now.

In “My Trailers” you can watch trailers for current releases as well as for movies that are coming soon. You can scroll through the releases using the left and right arrow buttons and you can maximize the playing trailer to view it full screen.

“In the Movies” has a feature called "In Theaters" which shows you the movies that are currently playing plus a "Showtimes" which shows you where and what time the movie you want to see is playing. "Reviews" displays comments about the movies and "Coming Soon" gives you a sneak peek upcoming releases. Finally, the "Box Office" section shows the weekend box office top 50 movies.

Both plugins are Windows 7 compatible.

HD Movie Trailers

HD Movie Trailers, which is hosted on Codeplex, describes itself as a "proof of concept." However, a blogger over at Hack7MC.com installed it in order to add movie trailers to the information screen for each movie in his collection. Like it sounds, this plugin lets you watch HD movie trailers via Media Center, but unfortunately, you have to first download them manually and place them in that movie’s folder. You then have to create an XML file so Media Center knows where to find them.

The plugin is designed to work with MediaBrowser, which is a popular alternative UI for Media Center.

Obviously, this is one of the geekier plugins to use, but some of you may find it helpful.

Last But Not Lest, Netflix!

Of course, one of the best ways to stream movies (and TV shows available on DVD) is via Netflix. If you’re a Netflix subscriber, you can access the new option which only appeared days ago from Windows Media Center’s “Movies” menu.

The first time you click on the “Netflix” option, you’ll need to check the box agreeing to the Terms of Service and then click the “Install” button. You’ll then sign into your account or, if you don’t have one, you have the option to sign up for a free trial right there. Once signed in, you can browse through and manage your DVD queue and your instant queue as well as search through Netflix’s database of available movies.

To watch a movie from your instant queue, just click on the thumbnail and then click “Play.” The movie will begin immediately.

So Many Choices…

As you can see, there are numerous choices for watching TV and movies within Windows 7 Media Center even if you can’t afford to invest in a TV tuner card at the moment. Many of the options above are even free to install and use. Although a lot of the plugins focus on Hulu integration, a U.S.-only site, international users will still be able to take advantage of those plugins which stream other content like YouTube videos or Revision3 web shows. No matter which plugins you choose to install, you can be sure it will make Windows Media Center a lot more fun to use.

Northeast Roadshow: Taskbar Deep-dive

Jim O'Neil — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 03:49:00 GMT

In this episode, Developer Evangelist Jim O'Neil, walks through a example of updating a legacy MDI application to take advantage of most of the features of the Windows 7 taskbar all the while maintaining backwards compatibility to Vista and XP. You'll get a detailed look into using the managed code Windows API Code Pack to adapt your older applications to leverage jumplists, thumbnail previews, and thumbnail buttons.

Slides and source code for this session can be found at the Northeast corner of Code Gallery.

Where the Multitouch Devices Are

Larry Larsen — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 22:33:00 GMT

Windows 7 is out and if you're like me you want to know where the new multitouch hardware is. Well here's a running list of all the hardware I know of so far.

When it comes to multitouch methods, capacitive is going to give you the best results and most touch points. Optical is going to be the runner-up and round out the bigger monitors, and resistive is going to be last IMHO.

Make	Model	Platform	Form Factor	Technology
Acer	Aspire AS5738PG	Notebook	Clamshell	Capacitive
Acer	Aspire Z5610	Desktop	All-in-One	Optical
Asus	Eee PC T91	Netbook	Netbook	Resistive
Dell	SX2210T 21.5” Monitor	Monitor		Optical
Dell	Studio One 19	Desktop	All-in-One	Optical
Dell	Latitude XT2	Notebook	Tablet	Capacitive
Fujitsu	Lifebook T4310	Notebook	Tablet	Capacitive
Fujitsu	Lifebook T4410	Notebook	Tablet	Capacitive
Fujitsu	LifeBook 5010	Notebook	Tablet	Capacitive
Fujitsu	DeskPower F Series	Desktop	All-in-One	Optical
Gateway	Gateway One ZX4800	Desktop	All-in-One	Optical
HP	HP 21.5” Compaq L2105tm	Monitor		Optical
HP	HP 42” LD4200tm	Monitor		Optical
HP	TouchSmart 600t	Desktop	All-in-One	Optical
HP	TouchSmart 300z	Desktop	All-in-One	Optical
HP	TouchSmart TX2	Notebook	Tablet	Capacitive
HP	TouchSmart dx9100	Desktop	All-in-One	Optical
Lenovo	ThinkPad X200	Notebook	Tablet	Capacitive
Lenovo	ThinkPad T400	Notebook	Clamshell	Capacitive
Medion	X9613	Desktop	All-in-One	Optical
Sony	VAIO L	Desktop	All-in-One	Optical
Toshiba	Satellite U505	Notebook	Clamshell	Capacitive
Toshiba	Satellite M505	Notebook	Clamshell	Capacitive

Windows 7 is Here!

Larry Larsen — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 21:31:00 GMT

Windows 7 is finally here along with several surprises. If you're in Japan, you can try the 7 layer Whopper (though I suggest you add a rider to your health insurance first). You can get a cup of coffee at the Windows Cafe in Paris. If you're in Scottsdale you can check out our first store, if you're not in Scottsdale you can check it out online. There are some special one day offers at the 7 Days of Windows 7 page.

See more at the Windows Team Blog.

Microsoft's Online Store Now Selling Windows 7 PCs

Sarah Perez — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 21:02:00 GMT

Coinciding with today’s launch of Windows 7, the Microsoft Online Store has added several new products to its lineup, the most notable of which is PCs! Although Microsoft itself is not a computer manufacturer, it’s nice to be able to go to one location to browse through all the different desktops, laptops, and netbooks which are currently available – and running the new OS, of course.

In addition to the PCs category, the online store has also added select 3rd party software, accessories, and gaming products, including a lot of the top selling Xbox 360 titles, reports Trevin Chow, the Senior Lead Program Manager for Microsoft Store.

The store has also been given a revamped interface designed to simplify navigation. The new site offers a re-designed categorization, navigation, and filtering system that aims to help you find the products you need more quickly.

These additions and changes have been added thanks to numerous usability studies and direct customer feedback about what they would like to see in the store – data which has been collected since the store’s launch in November of last year.

After visiting the new store, you’re invited to provide feedback by sending a tweet to Trevin with your thoughts.

Windows 7 Themes

Sarah Perez — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 18:35:00 GMT

Now that you’re running Windows 7 (you are, aren’t you?), you may have started customizing your desktop in order to make it your own. Maybe you’ve organized your icons and applied your favorite photo as wallpaper, but did you know that there’s a lot more you can do? In Windows 7, the new “Themes” feature lets you match the window glass color to your desktop background. If you don’t like the color, you can choose another from the list of available colors or use the color mixer tool to create a custom color of your own. You can also customize the sound scheme and screensaver and save your whole creation as a theme.

Out of the box, Windows 7 comes with a handful of themes to choose from. Although they are really beautiful, I get bored quickly and am always on the lookout for more options. Luckily for me, some designers have already been busy making more themes for Windows 7. The latest set of themes I’ve come across are these at ithinkdiff.com. There are several different ones to choose from including artistic themes, themes from nature, and even one inspired by the desktops seen at PDC.

And don't forget the official themes you can get from Microsoft's site, too!

To install the themes, you just click on the one you want and then open it when prompted. It will automatically install to your “My Themes” section in Windows 7. Best of all, the themes are completely free. Enjoy!

Can You Run Windows 7?

Sarah Perez — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 18:34:00 GMT

If you’ve been thinking about running, there are some things that you need to consider. Most importantly, can your machine run Windows 7? Although Windows 7’s system requirements aren’t quite as heavy-duty as Vista’s were, if you’re thinking of putting it on an older machine, you should probably give them a look.

So what are the minimum system requirements to run the new OS? According to Microsoft.com/windows7, they are:

1 GHz 32-bit or 64-bit processor
1 GB of system memory
16 GB of available disk space
Support for DirectX 9 graphics with 128 MB memory (to enable the Aero theme)
DVD-R/W Drive
Internet access (to download the Beta and get updates)

And yes, it runs on netbooks, in case you were wondering.

Install Windows 7 Using a USB Stick

Sarah Perez — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 18:33:00 GMT

If you downloaded the ISO file of Windows 7 but then discovered you didn’t have a blank DVD to burn it to, you’ll be happy to know that there are other ways available. Specifically, you can use a USB stick to install the OS – a handy trick, especially for installing Windows 7 on a netbook, which don’t typically have optical drives. For the full instructions on how to do this, Dennis Chung has posted a video over on TechNet Edge that explains what you need to do, step-by-step. Be sure to read through the comments, too, for more advice and tips that may not have been covered in the original video.

How to Use Digital Cable Tuners with CableCARD in Windows 7 Media Center

Sarah Perez — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 18:00:00 GMT

Check out the Windows area on 9 for more great Windows 7 content, all rolled up into a nice experience!

Last month at the CEDIA EXPO trade show in Atlanta, Microsoft made a major announcement regarding CableCARDs: the company announced that consumers would now be able to install digital cable tuners with CableCARD into their Windows 7 PCs…all by themselves.

At Last! Install Your Own CableCARD-powered TV Tuners

For those of you who don’t use TV tuners in your Windows PC, this news may have flown under your radar a bit. However, it’s actually a rather significant change to the existing rules surrounding the implementations of CableCARDs in Windows PCs.

Back in 2006 when CableCARD tuners first became available for use in home computers, the industry consortium known as CableLabs, the cable industry’s R&D group who licenses the CableCARD specification, decided that they didn’t want consumers to install such tuners on their own. Instead, only pre-approved and pre-certified computers from select OEMs would come with the appropriate tuners installed.

This was clearly a blow for “do-it-yourselfers” who were hoping they could simply upgrade their current machines to take advantage of the new CableCARDs and their related benefits. Specifically, those benefits include access to the full line-up of channels provided by your cable company – even HDTV and premium channels – assuming you have the right subscription.

Now, thanks to the newly announced series of initiatives from Microsoft and CableLabs, anyone can install these CableCARD-powered tuners into their Windows 7 PCs. You don’t have to buy a new PC with the cards already installed.

Will Your PC Support a Digital Cable Tuner with CableCARD?

To see if your PC will support the tuners, a new tool called the “Digital Cable Advisor” is being released by Microsoft which will scan your system and analyze if your computer meets the necessary requirements. If so, then you’ll be able to grab one of the CableCARD-ready tuners (like the popular ATI TV Wonder Digital Cable Tuner) and install it in your PC yourself.. Oh, and while you’re at it, you may want to grab a few more because now in Windows 7, you can install as many as four CableCARD TV tuners instead of two, which was all that was supported in Vista. With four tuners, you can record or watch four channels at the same time. That certainly beats what the cable company’s own DVR can handle! Using multiple tuners is a great solution for all the various TV conflicts that occur thanks to the major networks pitting their best programs against each other all on the same night.

To be clear, you’re not really limited to four tuners in Windows 7, you’re limited to four tuners of each type. There are actually three types of TV tuners currently available – analog tuners, digital tuners, and CableCARD tuners. So, if you’d like, you can install the other types of tuners as well in addition to your CableCARD tuners.

The Digital Cable Advisor tools will be made accessible on October 22nd from within Windows Media Center under the “Extras” menu. To use it, run the installation program to install the tool into the Extras library. (Note: This tool is for Windows 7 only.)

6 Tuners, 1 Card!

There are other ways to get more than four tuners in a Media Center PC than having to worry about the different types of tuners, though. For example, check out the upcoming Ceton Multi-Channel Cable TV Card. This new card, expected in Q1 2010, allows you to play or record up to six live channels of HDTV at once and stream live HD channels or recordings to multiple HDTVs through the home. Unfortunately, the 6-tuner card won’t be sold as a standalone product, only in PCs manufactured by certain OEMs. That’s because those OEMs license something called the “Advanced Entertainment Pack (AEP) for Windows,” a technology which allows for more than four tuners. The 6-tuner card is a solution for those systems. However, a 4-tuner and 2-tuner version of the card will both be available as standalone retail offerings early next year.

Windows 7 and SDV Support

In addition to the news about customer-installed CableCARD tuners, Microsoft also announced that you’re now able to use the CableCARD tuners with switched digital video (SDV) cable systems, a newer architecture for switching digital video which several cable companies began to use thanks to its bandwidth-saving abilities. Because of this change on the cable providers’ part, many Windows Media Center users who were previously streaming and recording video with their TV tuners were not able to receive the SDV content. Now, by using a device called a “tuning adapter” which is provided by your cable provider along with your CableCARD, you’ll be able to tune into SDV broadcasts when using Windows Media Center in Windows 7.

Your cable company will inform you if you need one of these tuning adapters when you purchase your CableCARD.

You will also need to do a firmware update for your digital cable tuner to enable SDV support. For the ATI TV Wonder Digital Cable Tuner, the 1.19.12 firmware will be made available on October 22nd. The new firmware also delivers stability improvements, UPnP support, and “Copy Freely” support (see below). However, note that the SDV support only works with Windows 7, not Vista.

To install the tuning adapter, you’ll need to plug its USB port into your computer’s USB port as the following diagram shows:

Image courtesy of The Green Button

If you are using multiple TV tuner cards, you’ll need separate tuning adapters for each and separate high-speed USB ports on your PC as well.

In Windows 7, You Can Now “Copy Freely”

The final announcement was that both Microsoft and CableLabs were going to make it easier for consumers to move the recorded content off their Media Center PCs. For any digital cable TV content marked as “copy freely” (CF), you’ll be able to easily move it from your Windows 7 PC to other PCs, devices, and portable media. Whether or not a show is tagged “CF” depends on the media content’s producer, but in the past, Media Center tended to lock down all the content, whether tagged CF or not. You could then only play back the content via a Media Center PC or extender. Now that will no longer be the case.

To determine if a particular program is copy protected or not, you can view the program’s details in Media Center’s Recorded TV library. Here, you’re able to see whether or not it’s listed with the “Copy Protected” label. If not, you can move or stream the content elsewhere.

Installing a TV Tuner and Configuring Media Center

Once you have physically installed the TV tuner and associated CableCARD into your PC, you’ll need to set it up by installing the necessary drivers and configuring Windows Media Center settings. Windows 7 should automatically detect and install the appropriate drivers for you but if, for some reason, there are not Windows 7 drivers available, the Windows Vista drivers will likely do the trick.

Next, after connecting the video source to your PC, launch Media Center and go to “Live TV Setup” under the TV menu. Then choose “Set Up TV Signal” from the options provided. Here, you’ll provide additional information like your zip code and TV signal provider (like your cable company) so Media Center can download the correct program listings. You should then let Media Center automatically detect the tuner – although you can configure these settings manually, it’s much easier this way.

Configuring Your Program Guide

After the initial configuration completes, you can then set up the program guide to your liking. To do so, go to “Settings” –> “TV” –> then “Guide” in the Media Center menus. Here, can add or remove channels from displaying in the program guide, place them in the order you prefer, and sort them by name or number – whichever is more to your liking.

In Windows 7, you can also edit the individuals channels’ names and numbers. To do so, select the channel in the Program Guide and then choose “More Info.” If you’re using multiple TV tuners, one that’s copy-protected and one that’s not, you can edit the channel on each tuner to have the same number, effectively combining them. Then, under the channel’s settings, you can go to the “Edit Sources” section and change it so the non copy-protected tuner is the primary source for recording from that channel.

Windows Media Center also supports “Favorite” channels, just like most cable companies’ DVRs do today. With this feature, accessible upon right-clicking the Program Guide, you can configure lineups of channels to group favorites together. For example, you may want to have a lineup of just the major networks, just the movie channels, or just kids’ programming.

Recording TV Programs

Finally, you can configure what programs to record. The easiest way to find your favorite shows (besides browsing through the guide, that is) is to go to the “Search” option from the “TV” menu in Media Center. Here, you’re not just able to search by program title as is common with many of today’s DVRs, but you can also search by actor/actress, director, category, or even keywords.

Once you find a show or other listing you want to record, you can do so by pressing the “Record” button on your remote control (if you’re using one) or by accessing the “Details” page for the program listing (Press “OK” with the program highlighted in the guide to show the Details page. Then choose “Record”). From here, you can also choose to record the series or configure advanced options like the start and stop time, how many copies to retain and for how long, etc.

Watching TV

Now the fun part! After all the configurations are complete and you’ve set up which shows to record, you can simply sit back and watch TV.

You can, of course, watch live TV in Media Center and you’re even able to pause and rewind TV programs on your PC, just as you could if you were using your cable company’s DVR.

To watch your recorded programs, head over to the “Recorded TV” section of Media Center’s “TV” menu. The programs are listed by name and also display a thumbnail image for easy reference. From here, you can select the shows you want to watch, delete those you’ve seen, or copy the video to a CD or DVD.

Of course, many people still prefer to watch TV from the comfort of a sofa in their living room on a big-screen TV. That, too, is possible thanks to Media Center extenders. The Xbox 360 is a well-known and popular extender that many people already have in their homes, but there are others too, including products from HP, Linksys, D-Link, and Samsung. You can check out those other options here. No matter what extender you use, any of the programs you record via Windows Media Center will play thanks to built-in Windows Media Codec support.

Windows 7 Features Designed for Media Center

In Windows 7, a new feature of the OS called “HomeGroups” lets you connect your home’s Windows 7 PCs together for easy file and printer sharing. This feature also works with Windows Media Center content which is stored using Windows 7’s “Libraries.” With previous versions of the Windows OS, there was some confusion due to the specialized libraries set up by both Windows Media Player and Windows Media Center. But in Windows 7, the operating itself has built-in Windows Explorer libraries for content like music, video, pictures, and documents. Both Windows Media Player and Windows Media Center use those built-in libraries now instead of creating their own.

You can decide what content in those libraries, if any, is to be shared with other computers on your home network (your “HomeGroup”). If you do decide to share content, however, it will show up within Windows Media Center under the appropriate menus (Picture Library, Video Library, etc.). Just looked for the “Shared” section within each menu.

In addition, under the “Recorded TV” menu, other HomeGroup computers can access the shared content recorded by your TV-tuner connected Windows Media Center PC. This is an easy way for you stream video from one PC to another, like from your home office PC to your laptop for instance. And because your Windows Media Center content is stored in the same libraries as your Windows Media Player content, you can also take advantage of Windows 7’s “Remote Media Streaming” feature to watch your Recorded TV shows from anywhere in the world as long as you have an internet connection. This feature isn’t turned on by default, but you can easily enable it following the instructions here.

Other Options

If you find out, after running the Digital Cable Advisor, that your PC doesn’t meet the requirements for using CableCARDs, there is the possibility that you can update your system to enable digital cable support. The tool will provide you with additional information about how you can make this happen and what corrective action is needed. After updating your system, you can re-run the tool to be assured that it is now ready.

However, not all PCs, Windows 7 or otherwise, will be able to meet the requirements. If yours doesn’t, you may want to look into installing Windows Media Center plugins instead for viewing TV and movies on your PC. Although you won’t be able to stream live TV or record shows, there are a number of plugins that deliver video content from sites like Hulu, from major TV networks, from YouTube, and other popular web video destinations.

Image Credits for WMC screenshots from The Windows Experience Blog

Mark Russinovich: Inside Windows 7 Redux

Charles — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 16:30:00 GMT

Windows 7 is here, available to all for purchase and ships today with new PCs! To celebrate this momentous occasion for Windows and Microsoft, Technical Fellow Mark Russinovich joins me in a discussion that extends the great conversation we had last year on Windows 7 internals. In his previous C9 interview, Mark told us about many of the new additions to the Windows kernel which enable Windows 7 (and Windows Server R2) to scale to large numbers of processors. Well, removing the kernel dispatcher lock is not all that the great Arun Kishan did. He also developed a new scheduling mechanism known as Distributed Fair Share Scheduling (DFSS). Mark describes what this is and how it works.

We also discuss NUMA, non-uniform memory access, (and Mark explains NUMA to us while showing a demo or two on a 256 processor machine!)

Moving on to Windows memory management, the domain of the great engineer Landy Wang, Mark discusses the new additions to the Windows Memory Manager and explains why they matter to those of us who spend all of our time and in user mode.

Learn about all of this and much more as Mark digs into the insides of Windows 7, way deep down in the system (the culmative effects of which help to make Windows 7 Microsoft's most reliable, scalable and efficient general purpose operating system to date). As usual, Mark explains very complex mechanisms and concepts in a readily understandable way. This is a very conversational piece and we cover a lot of ground in a relatively short period of time. We also learn exactly why Mark is so passionate about operating systems and what the spark was that set off his passion and curiosity of how things work internally.

Mark will be presenting at PDC09 in the Technical Leaders track and the free Windows 7 Developer Boot Camp. His talks will be very deep and will explore all aspects of the new, improved Windows 7 kernel. I highly recommend that you attend both of these talks if you are going to PDC (you're going, right?!).

Check out the Windows area on 9 for more great Windows 7 content, all rolled up into a nice experience!

Enjoy!

Note: Check out all the 9 Guys Mark has. :) Also, you should subscribe to his incredible blog.

Windows 7 and your Xbox 360

tina10 — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 15:29:00 GMT

Most of us own a PC, most of us own an Xbox 360 and most of us will be installing Windows 7. So what exactly can Windows 7 and your Xbox 360 do together? I sit down for a chat with Ben Reed as he takes us through the new Windows 7 Extender for Windows Media Center. I also ask him the questions you suggested in the coffeehouse.

Podcast 9 - Выпуск N18

Михаил Черномордиков — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 04:37:00 GMT

В восемнадцатом выпуске Петр Диденко и Михаил Черномордиков обсуждают с Александром Ильичевым выход операционной системы Windows 7, отвечают на собранные вопросы слушателей и объявляют о конкурсе на лучший вопрос - победитель получит свежую Windows 7!

Ссылки:
Задать вопрос и получить Windows 7 - http://vsevteme.ru/network/516/posts/show?id=10831
Problem Steps Recorder - http://bit.ly/2FuZDe
Windows Error Reporting - http://www.techdays.ru/videos/1327.html
Устройство Windows с Марком Руссиновичем - http://bit.ly/g571q
Работа с сенсорами в Windows 7 - http://bit.ly/2CJ8yx
Что мы делаем с авторами ошибок - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-c0YSsF_O0
Наше сообщество на ВсеВТеме - http://kip.ru/p9vv
Наши спонсоры Scalaxy - http://twitter.com/mixen, http://twitter.com/pdidenko

Адрес нашего подкаста - http://podcast9.ru/
RSS нашего подкаста - http://feeds2.feedburner.com/podcast9ru
RSS блога Петра Диденко - http://feeds2.feedburner.com/pdidenko
RSS блога Михаила Черномордикова - http://blogs.msdn.com/mikcher/rss.xml