Windows 7 - News, Features, and Slideshows

News

• Fan starts campaign for Windows 7's immediate release

  A Windows enthusiast is calling for Microsoft to release Windows 7 now, only a few weeks after the company made available the software's first public test version.

• How many flavors will Windows 7 come in?

  Windows Me may not have had much going for it, but it has one claim to fame: it was the last major release of Windows to come in a single edition, or SKU.

• Windows 7 to be 'thoroughly' tested by antitrust regulators

  Technical advisers to the antitrust regulators who monitor Microsoft's compliance with a 2002 antitrust settlement will test Windows 7 "more thoroughly" than earlier versions of the operating system, according to a recently-released status report filed with the federal judge watching over the company.

• Windows 7 beta availability extended

  Microsoft has extended the general availability of the Windows 7 beta until Feb. 10 due to the software's popularity, the company said.

• Microsoft issues first Windows 7 beta patch

  Microsoft Tuesday issued its first patch for the just-released Windows 7 beta, but it passed on plugging a hole in an important file-sharing protocol that it fixed in older versions of the operating system.

• Microsoft ditches Windows 7 beta download limit

  Microsoft on Saturday ditched the download limit on Windows 7 beta, saying that users will be able to grab the preview through January 24 -- even if the total exceeds the 2.5 million cap it had set earlier.

• USB has yet to win nod from monitor makers or Microsoft

  Two video connectors can be found on nearly every PC, monitor or graphics card in use today. Developed 21 years ago by IBM, the analog VGA (Video Graphics Array) clings on, despite the rise of the (DVI) Digital Visual Interface, which is tailored for LCD displays.

• Windows 7 beta available for public download

  Microsoft made the Windows 7 beta available for public download Saturday after its servers were overwhelmed by users trying to download the operating system.

• Windows 7 is less of a resource-hog than Vista

  Good news: the next version of Microsoft's Windows OS appears to be less of a resource hog than Windows Vista.

• Ballmer sets loose Windows 7 public beta

  The rumors turned out to be true. Microsoft will release a public beta this week of its next desktop operating system, Windows 7, hoping it will address the problems that have made Windows Vista perhaps the least popular OS in its history.

• Report: Microsoft to do free Windows 7 upgrades

  Microsoft Corp. will offer free or discounted Windows 7 upgrades to users who buy <a href="http://www.computerworld.com/action/inform.do?command=search&amp;searchTerms=Microsoft+Windows+Vista">Vista</a> PCs after July 1, according to a Web site that has accurately predicted the company's moves in the past.

• Downloads of pirated Windows 7 beta candidate soar

  Downloads of a new build of Microsoft's upcoming Windows 7 operating system have soared in the past two days, with thousands of systems now pulling pirated copies from BitTorrent sites.

• Microsoft may release Windows 7 beta at show

  Attendees at next month's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) could get the first public look at Windows 7, the next version of Microsoft's client OS.

• Windows 7 beta leaks to Internet

  Pirated copies of a Windows 7 build pegged by many as the beta Microsoft will release next month have leaked to the Internet, according to searches at several BitTorrent sites.

• How Windows 7 will, and won't, work better with SSDs

  The first generation of solid-state drives (SSDs) introduced in PCs last year failed to live up to the hype.