Windows 7 Family Pack Out the Door

In a weird, scrooge-like holiday move, Microsoft has "sold out" of their Windows 7 Family Pack allotment, and it will no longer be available new from retailers. The Family Pack, which gave users three Windows 7 Home Premium upgrade licenses, was $150 new, compared to $120 for an individual Home Premium license. This nice discount was set to expire from the start, but it makes you wonder why Microsoft would pull this around the holiday. I can only imagine it's an attempt to get consumers to buy a new system or pay more for an upgrade, but neither sounds like something your average user would be overly eager to do in this economy.

Easier Windows Update Access in Windows 7

For those of you who have picked up Windows 7 already, you may have noticed that you can't pin Windows Update to the start menu as you could in Vista. However, I've found a couple sites that mention ways to quickly access Windows Update regardless. HowToGeek.com mentions a way to actually pin Windows Update to the taskbar, if that's your kind of thing.

However, I prefer the "no tweak needed" access mentioned by a fellow Blogger on Cool Thing of the Day, who mentions you can pull up Windows Update with just two clicks. Just right click the Action Center (flag) icon on the right side of the taskbar, and "Open Windows Update" will be the bottom option! A nice, clean, easy way to access Windows Update compared to the start menu, especially if you've cluttered it with a lot of programs.

Podcast Wednesday - 11/11

I'm going to start doing weekly podcasts every Wednesday here on the Cold Boot website. Despite my current sickness, I do (try) to touch on podcast submissions to iTunes, Blogger vs. Wordpress, and a few Windows 7 tips and tricks. Soak it all in.

Subscribe with iTunes!

Using Windows Live Writer – A Windows 7 Experience

I woke up this morning still not feeling great (I’ve had the flu in one form or another for the last 8 days or so), so I thought I’d make a slideshow to music of a recent trip my girlfriend and I took to Leelanau County, Michigan. For those of you not from the Mitten State, the upper portion of the lower penninsula is generally referred to as “Up North” by us Michiganders, while the upper penninsula is the “UP.”

When deciding to make the slideshow, I realized that Windows 7 doesn’t natively come with an application capable of making such a thing. The application you would see Kylie using in the Windows 7 commercials is Windows Live Movie Maker, and is available through Windows Update. I went onto Windows Update, and also noticed another

application when choosing what Windows Live programs to install; Windows Live Writer.

The description mentioned that Windows Live Writer was primarily a blogging tool, that allowed you to more easily insert photos, videos, tables, and other more “advanced” items into your blog. I went through the simple setup of telling Live Writer about my Cold Boot blog, and now I’m using it to write

this column. It’s more of a test than an actual article, but it seems to be fairly intuitive. I’m not as limited as to where I would like to insert a picture, or what size it’s going to be, and the “preview” tab at the bottom of the program does a great job of giving an accurate portrayal as to what the blog post will look like once finished.

Windows Live Writer doesn’t add a ton over what I have available to me through Google’s Blogger, but it’s just user friendly enough for me to continue to use it for at least the next few posts. It still drives me kind of crazy that there’s no native support for a “caption” underneath a picture (how hard is that?), but there are ways around it.

Windows 7 Student Upgrade - Not an Easy Path

As some of you may already know, especially considering it's now almost a full couple weeks after release, the Windows 7 Student Upgrade from win741.com was not really the easiest of tasks when it came to install. When it comes to "upgrading" an operating system, I always try to get the freshest start I possibly can by doing a clean install. That can be difficult with upgrade media, but I was able to get a pretty spotless install, and here's how.

The main issue I had with the win741.com upgrade download was burning it to disc. The download did not come as a disc image, or ISO file, but an executable that unzipped the disc contents to their own folder. This seemed fine, since I just dragged the disc contents to another window to be burned. However, the resulting disc would not boot on startup, and I was left pounding my fists repeatedly against the top of my desk for a good half-hour. How could I get a clean, custom install if I'm forced to install from within Windows XP?

That being the question, I eventually decided to try another trick. What if I installed Windows 7 onto the same partition, my 15 GB C:. as I had Windows XP at the time? Windows 7 was barely too big to fit, but, after deceasing the paging size on the disk, I was able to do the install. This method actually worked fine, as, once the install was entirely complete and Windows 7 booted, the contents of Windows XP were neatly placed into the good old windows.old folder on the C:, which I promptly dragged to the Recycle Bin.

So, that's it! Just thought I'd share another install method with anyone. There were no "dual boot" confusions on startup either, despite the two operating systems still being on the disk at first. If anything, just make sure you really defrag heavily once all that file shifting's over.

Mossberg Pumps Up Windows 7

He may trash Vista in the article, but WSJ tech author Walter Mossberg enjoys his experience with Windows 7. He mainly boasts about the usability of the operating system, and how it finally gives XP users a reason to abandon the now 8 year old operating system. Despite seeming to be somewhat of an Apple fan, I've never read his articles before, Mossberg mentions he feels Windows 7 beats out OS X in terms of taskbar and window organization, as well as touch features.

The real question, and one that I've felt was answered for me in my testing with betas, was whether Windows 7 was faster than Vista in terms of booting, loading applications, etc. PC World seems to think not, particularly in terms of loading apps. Performance within the applications, however, once they were loaded seemed to improve with 7. I guess we'll all just have to see for ourselves October 22nd.

Windows 7 Student Discount - Tips and Tricks

Obviously this information's been out for a while now, but I'm hoping to add a little bit to what you may have already heard. The website win741.com is running a promotion, managed by Digital River, that allows "students" to purchase copies of Windows 7 at a discounted rate. The Windows 7 copies available are upgrade versions of either Home Premium or Professional. Now to the interesting aspects of this promotion:

Trustworthiness - For one, you may be suspicious of the website, as there appears to be little to tie Digital River, or the website itself for that matter, to Microsoft. Things should be kosher, however, because Digital River actually ran a promotion for Windows Vista, of which I was a participant, that resulted in FREE copies of the FULL VERSION (not upgrade) of Vista Business.

Who REALLY can participate? - Next, the fact that only "students" are supposed to be able to participate in this promotion can seemingly be easily worked around. All that appears to be required is an academic e-mail address by an "approved institution." As a recent alum, and also a result of having attended a higher education institution during the digital age, I have an academic e-mail address. Many of you may as well, or you may know someone that does who is also a recent alum, or a current college student. This is a great way to save approximately $80 on the Home Premium upgrade, or a whopping $170 on Professional.

Pricing - Speaking of the price for Professional, I was informed that it may be $39 compared to the $29 for Home Premium, but I have yet to see that confirmed outside of a rumor. The $10 difference may be worth it anyway, but there are differences between the two versions that you may want to take a look at before pulling the trigger, whether upgrading with this promotion or otherwise.

Where's Professional? - Also, in regards to actually ordering the Windows 7 Professional upgrade through the promotion, it's been my experience that it's very difficult to find. I can't precisely recall how I stumbled upon it, but I believe the option comes after you've registered for the promotion and clicked the link e-mailed to you. Once you navigate to that page, there should be an option somewhere for you to go after Professional instead of Home Premium. It's out there, and is well worth the extra effort if the promotion price is the same for Professional as it is for Home Premium.

How is it delivered? - How the download of the product is going to work, or even how it's going to be formatted, still remains a slight mystery. I've heard, and suspected so far, that it will come in the form of a disc image, or ISO file. The website also lists an option to have a physical disc delivered to you, but it'll cost $12. If you've got a DVD burner with some blanks laying around, I'd probably just fire that puppy up, but, if not, the physical media may be worth it considering the deep discount you're already getting on the product.

It may seem simple, but this is, clearly, one complex promotion. If you follow these steps, and consider these options, however, you should be in pretty good shape with your wallet once general availability hits on October 22nd.

NOTE: The student discount offer will run through January 3, 2010.

Windows 7: Overhyped?

Now that I've been using Windows 7 Beta 1 for a couple weeks, I do feel as if I've developed a bit of an affinity for the new OS on the block. However, I really have a hard time understanding this "world beater" attitude that some on the web (and yes, some of them are other no-name bloggers such as myself) have gotten when it comes to Windows 7 compared to its oft-bashed predecessor.

I was also a Windows Vista beta tester, and had the unfortunate fate of downloading, and using on my main computer, Windows Vista Beta 2. Those of you that were also a part of the beta testing, and maybe even some of you that weren't, already know that Vista Beta 2 was one of the worst debacles in Microsoft OS history. I do like to water down the Beta 2 flub by arguing it was simply a beta, and betas can't be expected to be flawless, but, let's face it, Vista Beta 2 was a constantly crashing, ever-incompatible mess that's singlehandedly responsible for frying my laptop battery.

However, once Vista RC 1 was released, everything seemed magically better. The crashes were gone, the UI was cleaner and faster, driver support was improved, and Vista was on the right track. I upgraded my computer to Vista within a couple days of its release, and, outside a couple minor driver issues that have since been corrected, I haven't looked back. I feel like Marty McFly whenever I happen to go back to the future and mess around with somebody's XP system.

Windows 7 will likely make me feel the same way about Vista, but I don't have some overwhelming drive to upgrade like the only way I can save my system from the computer apocalypse is if I do. When it comes to those things people nag on about Vista, and beam about how Windows 7 has fixed 'em, there's usually a pretty easy workaround/explanation for their Vista issue:

UAC: The most popular of Vista knocks, the UAC can simply be shut off. It's not easy to figure out, but it can be done, and a quick Google search will usually suffice for the instructions. Vista might get mad at you for doing it, but, if you hate it that much, you may as well go for the jugular.

Overall Speed: Generally, a clean machine means a fast machine, and Vista isn't much different. Are there sacrifices in speed compared to XP, sure, but not so drastic that it makes me want to yank my hair out. As long as the install is clean, bloatware removed, and startup apps are kept to a minimum (this is where I falter most often), you shouldn't have too many issues in terms of speed with Vista.

Incompatibility: Another favorite of mine. As I mentioned in one of my first posts, people will praise 7 for it's amazing compatibility out of the box. Vista, as of 7's release date, will have the exact same compatibility as its new cousin, but nobody will care. They'll just say that 7 is so much more compatible upon release than Vista, even though Vista really was the OS that did the driver dirty work for the kernel the two OS's are based on.

Edition Names: Who the hell cares!? It's not too difficult to discern between Windows Home Premium, Business (Professional for 7), and Ultimate. Also, for that matter, the feature set isn't exactly radically different, with the main shift probably being Windows Media Center's absence from Business (although the lack of a DVD codec in Business is also incredibly baffling to me). Windows 7 really keeps essentially the same labeling structure, and I don't see any real reason to change it or why people struggle so mightily with what each one entails.

Windows 7 Beta 1: My Experience

Back after some time off during the holiday, I had a chance to install the Windows 7 Beta on my 3+ year old HP Pavilion zd8200, and here's a summary of my experience so far:

When using the Pre-Beta builds, I had created a 20gb partition upon which to install my test subjects, and that's also where I installed Beta 1. Starting off, I decided to go with the 32-bit version for compatibility reasons, even though I have little issues running x64 Vista on my main partition. Funny thing is, this ended up NOT being the way to go, as I had unrepairable sound card driver issues that caused unbearably choppy video/audio.

So, after downloading Windows 7 x64, I encountered a couple driver issues I figured I would considering I originally had the same problems under Vista x64. The sound card, this time, decided not to work at all, and neither did my media card reader. However, even though Windows Update wasn't able to find the correct drivers, I was able to pull them same drivers I use in Vista over to 7 using my USB flash drive, and, as long as I run in "Disable Driver Enforcement" mode, both devices now work.

Once the driver issues were resolved, I was pretty happy with the overall experience. I enjoy the window preview that brings particular windows to the forefront when highlighted in the taskbar, and the "Desktop Slideshow" feature, which I have set to change wallpapers every 5 minutes, is pretty cool. Shutdown time, more so than startup, is extremely peppy as well.

The only real issue I have with 7 comes in the form of sleep mode, from which it has had a couple issues recovering. The biggest issue here was when it woke up once without recognizing, or even powering, my USB flash drive that had been plugged in even before it went to sleep.

All-in-all, 7 has been a decent experience so far, but I've only used it for a couple days, so I'll let you know more of what I think as I become more ingrained in the interface.

NOTE: If you are also having sound issues with a 2005-2006ish HP Laptop (remember, I have a zd8200) and are having problems finding drivers, follow this link:

http://cid-5fdf5d7e24cea71d.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/Public/Windows%20Vista%20x64%20HP%20Audio%20Drivers

Put all the files into a folder where you would keep your drivers on your local hard drive, and then manually install them through the Device Manager in the Control Panel. Also, you can get ReadyDriver Plus, a program to ease your pain when attempting to boot into "Disable Driver Enforcement" mode, here.

Windows 7 - Build 6801 Already Leaks

I won't give out any information on where you can get the file, but, suffice it to say, it appears at least one attendee of PDC couldn't keep their software to themselves, and decided to put build 6801, or Windows 7's M3 build (the 32-bit version only at the time of this post), out into the open.

This should come as no shock to anyone really, considering some that attended PDC had certainly no allegiance to Microsoft, and no reason to hold back on letting everyone else join in the fun. Build 6933, which some feel could be the Beta 1 version Microsoft releases either later in '08, or in early '09, will be a tougher find on torrent sites and elsewhere. This build has only been released for internal testing, and those that actually do have a copy certainly have a vested interest in making sure it doesn't go out.

Build 6933 screenshots, taken from PDC itself and posted on Teknobites, show an all new taskbar, a simplified interface for syncing external devices, and a cool graphical feature that entirely glasses open windows so that gadgets and other desktop items can be seen.

Windows 7 It Is

When it all comes down to it, I guess I agree with vice president of Windows product management Mike Nash, it "just makes sense." Windows 7 will be just that in production, "Windows 7," according to multiple sources, including Gregg Keizer over at Computerworld.

I am a bit surprised at the sudden decision to go with the build number as the final name of the OS, but there are some interesting customizations that could be had with such a name. One such customization could come in the form of turning the "v" in "Seven" into the number "7." As shown by this wallpaper, the "7" in Se7en sort of looks like a sideways "v," and could certainly make a pretty cool product package.

I would also imagine the change is coming simply due to Microsoft running out of ideas for arbitrary names (i.e., XP and Vista). Going to the build number makes more sense, but will it result in future name decimals such as Windows 3.1?

Windows Cloud: Bad Timing?

With all the hype surrounding Windows 7's Pre-Beta 1 being debuted at PDC, Microsoft definitely wouldn't do anything to steal the thunder from under the next version of their flagship product . . . or would they? Well, Steve Ballmer actually seems to have done just that by, likely prematurely, mentioning that Windows Cloud, a cloud-computing based OS, will also surface at PDC.

Despite mentioning the product, not a whole heck of a lot was mentioned about Windows Cloud by Ballmer, but it does appear as if it will compete directly with Google App Engine and Amazon EC2. Microsoft wants to go beyond just web-based application use within browser windows, and move onto integrating these apps with Windows Cloud.

So, what the heck does this all mean? As John Brandon mentions over at Computerworld, a "cloud" OS isn't really a tangible thing, but more of an idea. From what I understand, it would include an incredibly light infrastructure from the OS itself, and then have straight web-based apps that ran so that the system resources wouldn't be bogged down.

It almost sounds like Ballmer wants to turn Windows into a web-based form of Linux: a quick, stripped down OS where open source apps rule the world. I'm getting ahead of myself, thinking Microsoft would open up Windows Cloud to programmers galore . . . but I can dream, can't I?

Back to the timing of all this. Why would Ballmer drop this ball when Windows 7 is slated to be the focal point of the PDC? He dropped the news at a Microsoft-sponsored conference in London, and apparently went on to bash Google's web-based offering, saying that wants "software more powerful than software that runs in a browser."

Oh snap Steve! They're reeling at the Google HQ now. I'm a Microsoft guy, but he's gotta get past the jealousy, and recognize that Google has gotten to the "cloud" realm first, and is doing a pretty good job laying the foundation for web-based apps to come.

Windows 7 M3 - Build 6780

Despite having checked numerous sites (for research purposes, clearly), I've determined that Microsoft has done an admirable job of keeping Windows 7 Milestone 3, or Build 6780, from leaking onto torrent, or other download, sites. The TAP testing pool must be fairly exclusive, and very loyal, to pull of such a feat when Microsoft products in the past (including Vista builds and other software) have all found their way onto the computers of unauthorized users.

The build, which was released some time during the week of September 15th (not sure exactly what day), appears to be coming along nicely. As I noted in last week's post, it doesn't appear to be very different from Vista, and keeps a good portion of the Vista UI at this point. I do expect this to change as things progress, but not on a drastic level.

Also, as rumored, the ribbon interface has indeed worked its way into Paint and Wordpad. ThinkNext.net happens to have posted a few of these shots, so take a look:

Insert picture feature, and integrated Paint . . . step in the right direction I suppose.



At least more asthetically pleasing, if nothing else.



Windows SOLUTIONS Center???



Integrated themes = GREAT idea.

Windows 7 Beta Coming Sooner Rather Than Later?

According to a couple sources, it actually sounds as if the first beta of Windows 7 (possibly still codenamed "Vienna," although I haven't heard it called that name for quite some time) will likely be dropping before the end of the year.

Mary Jo Foley, an author on all things Windows who I particularly enjoy reading, has made it known that she belives that Microsoft will not introduce Beta 1 at either PDC (October) or WinHEC (November), two upcoming Microsoft conferences. Although, she does mention that it appears as if Microsoft will be on target for a mid-Decemeber release of Beta 1, which would mean it would be public in beta form for about a year before its consumer release target in early 2010 (NOTE: Many people posting around have now seem to come to the conclusion that Microsoft is dead set on late 2009, but they've said 3 years after general availability of Vista, which was January, 2007, so I still look at it as early '10).

However, there is another source claiming that Beta 1 goodness will reach the public even earlier than December. Andy Patrizio at InternetNews.com apparently has a source that puts the RTM release of Windows 7 in June, 2009, and a Beta 1 release at PDC. In fact, Patrizio believes that the Beta 1 will actually be released to the general public on the first day of PDC, October, 27.

Considering I'm a tech guy, and love beta testing, I really hope that Patrizio is right. For those of you out there thinking a 2009 release means that certain proposed additions to Windows 7 will get cut as a result of the early release, you're really missing the main thing here:

Windows 7 will NOT, mark my words, be a major OS release. Those who have tried, or currently have, Vista will be surprisingly familiar with 7, because it will simply be Vista +. Is this a bad thing? No. I assume Windows 7 will have all the reliability that Vista will have one year from now, which should mean the OS will be pretty stable.

Upgraders from XP who initially tried to upgrade to Vista in 2007 will probably say "wow, this Windows 7 recognizes a lot of my devices, and never crashes on me!" Well, guess what, Vista in 2009/2010 would do the same thing! Windows 7 is going to retain the Vista kernel, and devices that work under Vista will also work under 7. Windows 7 will simply add the touch capabilites, Office ribbon, and faster boot times that have already been talked about.

If you haven't upgraded to Windows Vista, you may as well try it out, because what it represents as an OS will be the Microsoft standard for the next few years to come.