Archive for April, 2009
Notebooks to lean towards Windows 7
Over the last few years notebooks have dropped in price and becoming more popular than desktop PC’s. All the main players in the notebook market (Dell, HP, Compaq, MSI and so on) are gearing up to push sales by including Windows 7 with most notebooks.
Microsoft have confirmed that all Windows 7 SKU’s will run on notebooks / laptops, most laptops these days are Atom based systems, so this comes as good news however the notebook market is flooded with options and new notebook manufactures are popping up daily, the notebook market is very competitive and most options & specs remain the same across the board in terms of price range, In theory the lowest price usually wins out.
If your in the market for a notebook / laptop in the coming months please take note of the version of Windows 7 included, past trends have shown that these manafactures will include the cheapest SKU of windows and if this is the case with upcoming notebooks that come installed with Windows 7 then the version included is likley to be the Aero-less “Windows 7 Starter Edition” so you may end up paying for a laptop with great specs / hardware but the Windows 7 starter edition will not be able to produce much eyecandy (Aero Glass) and wont help get the most out of your purchase. Just make sure you get an understanding of the Windows 7 SKU’s before getting sucked into a “Great Deal” that might come back to bite you on the behind.
We will cover all the Windows 7 SKU’s in the coming weeks.
Windows 7 system requirements
Some people are assuming that they will need to upgrade their PC to run Windows 7 and that certainly is not the case. Windows 7 uses less resources than any other operating system, so if your running Windows XP now than there is a fair chance you will be able to install and use Windows 7 without any problems. Below are the official Minimum System Requirements for Windows 7.
* 1 GHz processor (32- or 64-bit)
* 1 GB of main memory
* 16 GB available disk space
* Support DirectX 9 graphics with 128 MB memory (if you want the Aero interface)
* DVD-RW drive
As you can see these specs are very average most systems going back 3-4 years should meet the specifications, we have tested Windows 7 on a system with lower specs than mentioned above and it still boots in and is usable. That said to gain the best experience out of Windows 7 you will need a better PC.
Windows 7 UAC prompts reduced
Microsoft Windows XP and mainly Windows Vista will understand the sheer frustration that comes from Windows User Account Control prompts, for many years now these annoying pop ups have been occurring just about every time you turn you pc on. However we have some good news Microsoft Windows 7 will show at least a 30% drop in UAC(User Account Control) prompts.
If you don’t know what a Windows 7 UAC is please view the screenshot below:
Windows 7 UAC
Now if that picture is not recognizable then you must either be a Linux user or an Mac user. Microsoft Windows vista received much criticism over the UAC, this was somewhat toned down a little with the release of service packs for Vista but still caused many headaches.
The new Windows 7 UAC is going to allow you to set the sensitivity of how often the UAC effectively pops up by way of a scrollbar slider, this is a great step forward for Windows 7. Had Microsoft not addressed this issue Windows 7 would be in the firing line just like Vista was. Some key features of being able to tone down the sensitivity of the Windows 7 UAC include, Being able to change hardware, update your Windows 7 (Update.Microsoft.com), install known software with digital signatures, modify desktop settings all of these and many more you will now be able to change without the annoying UAC pop up box asking you for permission on your own PC.
The 30% figure comes from feedback and statistics from Windows 7 beta testers so one would assume that the percentage should go up once Windows 7 is released. Again great to see Microsoft listening to their user base and responding.
Tags: Windows 7 UAC prompts
Windows 7 security explained
Paul Cooke has updated the Windows Team Blog website with a great article explaining Windows 7 security and Windows 7 Mobile security, Paul article is a great read and i recommend you have a read if you want a better understanding of just how far the Windows 7 dev team have gone to ensure that Windows 7 is the most secure OS to date.
Some of the topics Paul covers include:
- Windows 7 Multiple Active Firewall Policies
- Windows 7 DirectAccess (VPN of the future)
- Windows 7 BranchCache
- Windows 7 BitLocker To Go
- Windows 7 AppLocker
You can read the full article here: READ HERE
Tags: Windows 7 security
Windows 7 themes
Just a quick update, we get a lot of people asking us where to download Windows 7 themes, we thought we would put together a few Windows 7 theme packs over the coming months. Windows 7 themes are a great way to spice up your desktop. Some of these Windows 7 themes you may have seen before some you may not.
Windows 7 Themes
Our First Windows 7 Theme pack cotains 13 new themes for Windows 7, this will be the first of many theme packs that we post so please bookmark our Website and check back often.
How to install Windows 7 themes ? Installation of Windows 7 themes is very easy, in order to install a theme on Windows 7 simply open up the theme that you downloaded using Windows 7 file explorer and double click on the Windows 7 theme that you wish to install.
Win7connect.com Windows 7 theme pack #1 :
- Mirror 1: Download Here
Kaspersky for Windows 7
This is just a quick article to help those of you who are already using Microsoft Windows 7 and are looking for extra security for your PC. Firstly we do not work for Kaspersky or have we been “paid to post” this article, I do however regard Kaspersky Anti-Virus very highly after using Kaspersky products for years i cant begin to tell you how many virus, malicious software and malicious websites Kaspersky has saved me from.
For those of you who have not heard about Kaspersky here is a brief overview: “At the heart of the new technical prototype is Kaspersky Lab’s new antivirus engine which is even more effective at detecting malicious programs than its predecessor. The new engine dramatically increases system scanning speed thanks to improved processing of objects and optimized use of system resources, particularly on dual- and quad-core processor platforms. The unique product architecture ensures high productivity and one of the lowest uses of system resources in the industry.” Kaspersky is working along side Microsoft Windows 7 developers to ensure their products stand out from other antivirus / internet security programs.
You can download and install Kaspersky Anti Virus for Windows 7 for free (for the time being) it is classed as a “Technical Preview Program” for Windows 7 and is considered close to a beta version. Not only are you helping protect your PC from virus and other nasties you will also be shaping the future releases of Kaspersky by providing the Kaspersky labs with important statistics and feedback.
Please Download and Install: DOWNLOAD KASPERSKY FOR WINDOWS 7
Tags: Kaspersky for Windows 7
Follow Win7connect on twitter
With a few complaints that we were not on twitter, we have FINALLY set up a twitter page and will update it as often as we can. Keep up to date on all the breaking Windows 7 news, Windows 7 downloads, Windows 7 tutorials, Windows 7 tips & tricks, Windows 7 networking and so much more.
If your using Twitter please follow us here: FOLLOW US ON TWITTER
Tags: Follow us on Twitter
Windows 7 RC leaked details
Microsoft has updated their “Microsoft Partner Program” website and they suggest you will be able to publicly download Microsoft Windows 7 Release Candidate as early as the 5th of may. Technet and MSDN subscribers are “apparently” able to download this now, but as a Technet Subscriber myself i am unable to download this at the moment. Some other Windows 7 websites are suggesting that this document was not supposed to have been posted and that it will soon disappear from the Microsoft Partner Program website. Anyway here is a screenshot of the Windows 7 rc details.
Windows 7 rc leaked
Also here is the link to the Microsoft Partners Program Website: CLICK HERE
We will keep you updated as more comes to hand, but from all reports this has been an accidental post and should be removed shortly, Microsoft however don’t mind tooting their own horn to drum up business so it would not surprise many if this was just another game from the MS camp.
Windows 7 rc should still be availible to download from the 5th of may, that should make many interested users very happy as it is much earlier than previous predictions.
Windows 7 Creative Drivers
Here is a list of Creative Sound Blaster drivers for Windows 7 32 bit, Creative are hard at work creating 64 bit drivers, well will keep you posted when they become available.
As creative mention these are beta drivers from Windows 7 32-bit and they are currently working on Windows 7 64-bit drivers, Please bookmark our site and check back regulary as we will keep updating all the popular Windows 7 Drivers.
Tags: creative drivers windows 7, Windows 7 Creative Drivers, Windows 7 sound blaster drivers
Windows 7 build codes explained
For months now you have been hearing about Microsoft Windows 7 and in particularly “Windows 7 build ****” we get many emails asking what the build codes mean and what one is the best to download so today we a going to briefly explain the meaning behind the Windows 7 builds. In the past few months every second website is posting an article “Windows 7 build 70** leaked” so i am assuming that you have seen something or other relating to the build number.
For example just a couple of moths ago Windows 7 build 7068 popped up, and today you can download Windows 7 build 7106, now as the latest number is higher this does not necessarily mean that the newest version is better or more stable, most people who are illegally downloading and installing the latest builds are probably unaware of this.
Lets take a quick look at how to decode the Windows 7 build number. for example here is a build code that was leaked not that long ago: 7068.0.winmain.090321-1322.
7068: The major build (version) number.
0: Minor internal revision number which has flipped between 1 and 0 several times.
Winmain: The code branch from which the build originates.
090321: The date in YY-MM-DD.
1322: 24 hour time, presumably in Pacific Standard Time
Now “Winmain” is the body of the project (Windows 7) this has been used since the beginning of Windows 7 development. See image below: (First public beta build)
Windows 7 winmain
As you can see in all builds of Windows 7 the “winmain” always remains the same (up until now that is), here are past build numbers: Read more
