Microsoft to offer Windows 7 upgrade deals

Microsoft announced Tuesday that Windows 7 will start selling on October 22. They also announced that they will offer a special deal to consumers who buy a computer with Vista before the launch of the new OS.

"This program enables participating retailers and OEMs to offer a special deal to upgrade to Windows 7 for customers purchasing a qualifying PC," said Microsoft spokesman Brandon LeBlanc in a post made on the Windows 7 blog.

Details about the cost and eligibility requirements are still unknown and Microsoft has yet to say anything else.

Vista SP 2 now available

I think I may be one of the few people on earth especially in my field, that likes Windows Vista. If there are any others out there, this is good news for you. Windows Vista Service Pack 2 is now available for download.

You can download SP2 from Microsoft's Web site or it will be automatically delivered to your computer via Windows Update within a few weeks. The update weighs in at 384mb and you must have Vista SP1 installed on your system to install SP2.

Vista SP2 also:

• Fixes Wi-Fi issues when Vista awakes from sleep mode.
• Support for recording Blu-ray discs straight from the OS
• Bug fixes that address slow shutdowns and mysterious crashes.
• Updated support for Bluetooth v2.1
• Improves performance of Vista desktop sidebar gadget allowing RSS feeds to perform better.
• Addresses overall Vista system performance issues. Microsoft says SP2 repairs nearly 700 nagging Vista bugs and security updates.
• Boosts power management efficiency by 10%.
• Adds support for VIA Technologies' new 64-bit CPU
• Allows Vista to support exFAT, which can handle larger files and can also use UTC timestamps so you can synchronize files across different time zones.

Voice your opinion about Windows 7

Microsoft has created a website which right now is mostly being used as an advertising tool for Windows 7 in which IT Professionals and Microsoft developers are talking about how great Windows 7 is. Technicians have the ability to give the Microsoft devs feedback on Windows 7 and hopefully help make it a better product.

There are some videos to check out and you can then comment to the developers about the features and new ideas in Windows 7.

If you have tried Windows 7 (which I currently am), leave some feedback. If you haven't, you can get it here Check it out and then leave some feedback. This is important so we don't end up with another of what many regard as a real stinker (Vista)

The sites URL is: http://www.TalkingAboutWindows.com & requires the Microsoft Silverlight plugin to run.

Microsoft looking to release Windows 7 in time for the holidays.

Microsoft confirmed on Monday that it is planning to release Windows 7 this year, in time for the Christmas shopping season.

"We are tracking well to a Windows 7 holiday," Microsoft Senior Vice President Bill Veghte said in an interview. Veghte will be making a statement Monday at Microsoft's TechEd event in Los Angeles. Until recently, Veghte had said publicly that such a release was unsure. Microsoft issued a release candidate for the server operating system last month, alongside an almost final version of Windows 7.

For some time now, Microsoft's "official" position has been that Windows 7 would ship by January 2010. Now it seems, the software maker has been aiming and planning for a 2009 release the whole time.

Early feedback (which has been good thus far) from the Windows 7 release candidate that came out late last month, convinced Microsoft it could commit to a 2009 launch, Veghte said.

Veghte said that Microsoft has seen the number of crashes being experienced with the release candidate drop as opposed to the beta version.

"You know pretty quickly if you've got any big gotchas," he said. "You can get a pretty good sniff pretty quickly."

Equally important, Veghte said the company has seen the needed level of partner support. According to him, the first couple of companies have gotten Windows 7 logo certification. Among that first group are some graphics chip vendors. A big "whew" from many of the early Vista adopters that suffered with limited chip support.

Veghte didn't provide a specific time for launch. He did say that generally the ecosystem needs anywhere from nine to fourteen weeks from the product being declared final to be ready for launch.

I've been beta testing the RC and it does look promising for Microsoft this time. It's speedy, quite speedy actually. Surely....surely they have learned from past mistakes and will make sure this release is ready instead of rushing it out so it will be on all those new Christmas PCs.

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