When I synced my Zune HDs today, I got an alert about updating to a new device firmware version, 4.3. (The previous version was 4.1.) No word on what's changed, if anything, and I don't see anything about it online yet. Anyone?

Windows expert Ed Bott offers up an excellent guide to getting Windows 7 on the cheap , along with some great advice. It's a must-read: Only suckers pay retail. If you’ve read any reviews of Windows 7, you’ve seen references to its price list, which...

Microsoft will soon make the Vista-era Ultimate Extras games Tinker and Texas Hold 'Em available for one and all, for free, via Games for Windows Live: Tinker and Hold 'Em are coming to Games for Windows! Need a break? If you like classic platform...

So I had an in-person discussion yesterday with Microsoft about how its Windows 7 Upgrade media does (or does not) work. I'm going to update my Clean Install Windows 7 with Upgrade Media article to include this information, but I wanted to communicate...

I've been hoping and looking for some kind of solution that would let people access their 25 GB of free storage space on Windows Live SkyDrive using simple, Explorer-based drag and drop. It's been kind of a tough slog all year, however, with only...

In a very long-winded post, Microsoft's Eric Ligman (he of the "you are probably a pirate" post ) does some furious backpedalling from his previous position on doing clean installs with Windows 7 Upgrade media. That is, where he previously...

In the wake of Microsoft's illogical and wrong-headed attack on the so-called Windows 7 installation "hack"--really just a workaround designed to let legitimate Windows customers upgrade their activated copies of XP or Vista to Windows 7...

I love the self-righteous nature of this little Microsoft post , which quite clearly addresses the "hack" I published the other day without actually providing a link or naming names. Unfortunately, it looks like it is time to have this conversation...

I was reading another great Todd Bishop article about Microsoft's attempts to sell crapware-less Windows 7-based PCs and came across an interesting bit. Sure, selling crapware-less PCs is great. But Microsoft is formally defining what it calls Microsoft...

Ed Bott just uploaded a very timely post about the Windows 7 upgrade issues that have arisen this week. You may recall my previous posts and article in which I have tried to sort through the mess of how it is you can clean install Windows 7 with Upgrade...

From Microsoft: As more and more information is stored and shared in digital formats, the ability for people to reuse their data across various applications and platforms has become increasing important. As part of an ongoing effort to enable this kind...

Just in case this was a concern: I've done a file compare between the Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade media and the Windows 7 Family Pack media and they are indeed identical. The weird thing is that you only get one product key with the Family Pack...

I was so hoping to have better news to share, but with all the conflicting reports and my own troubles testing this while on the road, it's been a messy 24 hours. However, after staying up late last night and working through a few different scenarios...

I've gotten a number of emails from people who received an Upgrade version of Windows 7 in the mail and installed it on a new or formatted PC without having to resort to any tricks (like the Vista-era "install it twice" hack ). If true,...

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