Scooopy – Scoops about Gadget, Mobile & Technology
Posts tagged Windows7
Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 (SP1) Beta is now Available
Aug 4th
Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Beta includes previous updates delivered over Windows Update as well as continuing incremental updates to the Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 platforms.
Overview
Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Beta helps keep your PCs and servers on the latest support level, provides ongoing improvements to the Windows Operating System (OS), by including previous updates delivered over Windows Update as well as continuing incremental updates to the Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 platforms based on customer and partner feedback, and is easy for organizations to deploy a single set of updates.
Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Beta will help you:
In order to download and install the Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Beta you must currently have a Release to Manufacturing (RTM) version of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 already installed.
To learn more about piloting, deploying and managing Windows 7, visit the Springboard Series on TechNet.
To learn more about SP1 Beta and Windows Server 2008 R2, visit the SP1 Details Page.
*Windows 7 Minimum System Requirements:
- 1 GHz or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
- 1 GB of RAM (32-bit) / 2 GB RAM (64-bit)
- 16 GB available disk space (32-bit) / 20 GB (64-bit)
- DirectX 9 graphics processor with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver
- DVD-compatible drive
- Internet access (fees may apply)
Note: Some product features of Windows 7, such as the ability to watch and record live TV, BitLocker, or navigation through the use of “touch,” may require advanced or additional hardware. Windows XP Mode requires an additional 1 GB of RAM and 15 GB of available disk space.
Each version is available in these languages: English, French, German, Japanese and Spanish.
For More Details
The Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Betas are concurrent releases that are in a single download for a more streamlined and cost effective deployment. Businesses can begin realizing the advancements of the Windows Server platform for virtualization through two key features: Dynamic Memory and RemoteFX.
- Read the Windows Server 2008 R2 Technical Whitepaper for a technical overview of Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Beta release features and benefits.
- Download the Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Beta Reviewer’s Guide to evaluate the core features of Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Beta release in your environment.
Download SP1 Beta Software
The Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 (SP1) Beta is a joint release for both Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7. SP1 Beta for Windows Server 2008 R2 includes previously released updates and delivers a number of powerful new features for virtualization and Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI): Dynamic Memory and RemoteFX.
By registering for the Service Pack 1 Beta, you will receive updates on new builds and beta expiration dates. You are encouraged to register but if you wish, you can opt out of registration and proceed directly to the download. If you choose to opt-out of registration, you will not be contacted further. To opt-out, please proceed to the download.
Opera 10.60 is now available
Aug 1st
Opera 10.60 is now available for download.
Opera 10.60 for Windows changelog
Release date: July 1, 2010
Opera 10.60 is a recommended upgrade offering new and improved features, plus security and stability enhancements. For your reference, please see the previous Opera 10.60 beta 1 for Windows changelog on the Opera changelogs website.
New features
Opera Presto 2.6 rendering engine
- Opera 10.60 final contains the Opera Presto 2.6 rendering engine, which improves stability and adds support for the following new Opera features.
Geolocation services
- User-enabled geolocation services are provided through Google Location Services (GLS).
- IP address and WiFi recognition are implemented.
- IP address recognition works with GLS by recognizing your IP address and telling you the cordinates based on it.
- WiFi recognition works with GLS by gathering and then sending a list of all nearby wireless networks including MAC (Media
Access Control) address, SSID (Service set identifier) name, and signal strength, which returns your coordinates.
- An address bar map pin icon indicates a Web page is accessing the Geolocation API.
- Opera geolocation services support the W3C Geolocation
API Specification (http://www.w3.org/TR/2008/WD-geolocation-API-20081222/).- A user decides to share or not share their device location with a Web site based on trust; see
section 4.2 (http://dev.w3.org/geo/api/spec-source.html#privacy_for_recipients) of the W3C Geolocation specification. - Further information is available at the Opera Desktop Team blog: “The
return of Geolocation” (http://my.opera.com/desktopteam/blog/2010/02/05/skin-fixes-unite-and-then-some).
- A user decides to share or not share their device location with a Web site based on trust; see
- See this Opera demo (http://html5demos.com/geo).
Offline Web Applications
- Support is added for Offline Web Applications (http://dev.w3.org/html5/spec/offline.html#offline)
implementing the user interface for caching. - This allows documents to communicate with each other regardless of their source domain, and is designed in a way which
does not enable cross-site scripting attacks. - See this Opera demo (http://html5demos.com/offlineapp).
Web Workers
- Web Workers (http://www.w3.org/TR/workers/) is an API for running scripts
in the background independently of any user interface scripts. This allows for long-running scripts that are not interrupted
by scripts that respond to clicks or other user interactions, and allows long tasks to be executed without yielding to keep
the page responsive. - See this Opera demo (http://html5demos.com/worker).
WebM
- The WebM format consists of the VP8 video and Vorbis audio
codecs wrapped inside a .webm container. It is based on the Matroska media container format, and offers high-quality
video with fast seeking. - WebM works together with the HTML5
<video>element supported in the Opera Presto rendering engine. - See these Opera articles:
- Welcome, WebM <video>! (http://labs.opera.com/news/2010/05/19/)
- Opera supports the WebM video format (http://dev.opera.com/articles/view/opera-supports-webm-video/)
Google Chrome Dev Channel has been updated to 5.0.342.3 for Windows, Mac and Linux platforms
Mar 14th
Google Chrome Dev Channel has been updated to 5.0.342.3 for Windows, Mac and Linux platforms
This release improves stability and fixes some known crashers (such as Issues: 37035, 37674, 37567)
Known Issues
- All: Form auto-fill is not enabled by default (Issue 37466) – Fixed on Trunk
- Windows: Browser crashes on quiting with Authentication dialog opened (Issue: 37698) – Fixed on Trunk
- Linux: Chromium Bookmark Sync Not Working (Issue: 36460)
More details about additional changes are available in the svn log of all revisions.You can find out about getting on the Dev channel here: http://dev.chromium.org/getting-involved/dev-channel.
If you find new issues, please let us know by filing a bug at http://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/entry
Direct Download Link:
Connectify 1.0 is now available
Dec 21st
Connectify Releases Connectify 1.0 for Windows 7
Connectify 1.0 (http://www.connectify.me) is now available.
For downloading Connectify, click here to start the download.
Here is their press release about this release:
Connectify is proud to announce Connectify 1.0 (http://www.connectify.me), a free software application for Windows 7 that turns any Wi-Fi enabled computer into a real wireless access point. With Connectify, users can share any Internet connection: a cable modem, a cellular card, or even another Wi-Fi network with any device that supports Wi-Fi. Connectify has hit a market need: since its beta release on October 27th, Connectify has had over 97,000 downloads, and 26% of Connectify users state they upgraded to Windows 7 specifically to be able to use Connectify.
Consumers can use the software to connect their computers, smart phones, music players, game systems and other devices onto personal Wi-Fi networks, or to extend the range of their home Wi-Fi networks. Because the Connectify software is free to download and use, users can save money on multiple Wi-Fi connections while on the road and still get all their devices online simultaneously. “Everywhere you go, users congregate in groups and have multiple devices including notebook PCs, Wi-Fi enabled handsets and mobile internet devices,” said Alex Gizis, CEO of Connectify. “We simply noticed a tremendous problem: There was no easy way for all of the user’s mobile devices to get and stay online. Connectify is our solution.”
For teams of mobile professionals, Connectify plus file sharing is a mobile office to go. Only the machine sharing the Internet connection needs to be running Connectify. Other Wi-Fi enabled devices can see and join the hotspot just like any other Wi-Fi access point and do not even need to be running Windows.
“MiFi has been a raging success providing a standalone device to enable Wi-Fi access for up to five nearby Wi-Fi enabled systems,” said J. Gerry Purdy, Ph.D., Chief Analyst for Mobile & Wireless at Frost & Sullivan and Managing Director, Yosemite Ventures. “Now, any new notebook PC can be turned into a Wi-Fi hotspot using free software from Connectify.”
Connectify is available at no charge. The company plans to offer Connectify on a wide range of mobile devices and provide a number of value added services within the software that will be made available for a small fee.
To download Connectify for free now, go to http://www.connectify.me .
ABOUT CONNECTIFY
Connectify is a Philadelphia based company that has developed innovative wireless solutions for the military and (now) the consumer market. The Connectify team is dedicated to bringing real wireless sharing to everyone, saving people money, and improving the cross platform wireless experience.
Upgrading to Connectify 1.0
For downloading Connectify, click here to start the download.
Changes since Beta 4.1
- Improved Notification tray icons (including a warning icon if the selected Internet connection is not currently working)
- Support for even more wireless cards and configurations
- Improved memory and CPU management
- Recover from sleep/hibernate
- Support for machines where multiple users install Connectify and log on at same time
- Ability to remove clients from the Client History list (right click to get menu)
- Autohiding of the Mode box. By default we hide the “Mode” box to choose between AP or Ad Hoc mode. If your wireless card supports both, then we default to Access Point mode. To keep the mode box visible, there is an option on the Option menu (right click on the Connectify logo to show the menu).
- Fix device capability detection
Download/Upgrade Connectify 1.0 now.
Using System Imaging and Restoral on Windows 7
Dec 5th
One of the claims of Windows 7 is making your everyday tasks easier. One of the areas that Microsoft has made much simpler to use is the backup feature in the OS itself.
For anyone who has ever lost data due a hard drive or computer crash and did not have a backup system in place, I am one of these folks myself, then you know how important that backup process is. Especially if it was your significant others computer and it resulted in the loss of irreplaceable files. Again, I am raising my hand right here!
Today I use Windows Home Server to back up my home computers and it takes care of business. However, not everyone has a Windows Home Server and may be looking for a different method of backing up those critical files on your home PC’s.
One way included in Windows 7 is the Backup Applet in the Control Panel. There are two types of backups available to you. The first is your file by file back up process which you can set to incrementally back up your system each day, week, month etc.
The second one is what I am going to cover today and that is creating a System Image of your Windows 7 installation that can be restored in case of a catastrophic failure of your hard drive which has Windows installed on it.
The process is quite simple, only has a few steps and takes about 30 minutes or so. I base that 30 minutes on my system which backed up 69GB to my extra internal hard drive. Your mileage will vary based on the size of your installation and whether you back up to hard drive or DVD (lots of DVD’s). I recommend an external or spare internal hard drive.
So to get started you need to bring up the backup/restore applet in the control panel which is located at Control Panel>System and Security>Backup and Restore. Easy way to get there is via the Start Menu search bar and just type in Backup.
Select the Create System Image link.
Select the media you want to store your back up on.
Once selected it summarizes what will be backed up. Start the back up.
System Image in the process of being created.
Once the image is created you will be prompted to create a system repair disc that will allow you to restore your system image as well as a few other things top repair your system.
Select the drive to use for creating your repair disc. Notice no hard drive options – that is on purpose.
System repair disc being created.
Final dialog showing the disc is created. Label it and store it in a safe place and hope you never have to pull it out 
There ya go – just a handful of steps to have a solid system image of your computer in case of a system crash. I think this process in combination with a daily file based back up will keep your data safe.
