SuperSite Blog

July 2009 - Posts

• Microsoft reveals Windows 7 Windows Anytime Upgrade and Family Pack details

  I've been waiting on this announcement so I could update my WUA feature focus for RTM; I'll do that over the weekend. Here's the scoop: Most people buy a PC preinstalled with the edition of Windows that meets their unique needs. However, for some customers their needs may change over time. Windows Anytime Upgrade With Windows Anytime Upgrade (or WAU), we make it super easy and convenient for the small number of customers who’s PC needs evolve to need a higher edition of Windows 7. Windows 7 Starter to Windows 7 Home Premium: $79.99 Windows 7 Home Premium to Windows 7 Professional: $89.99 Windows 7 Home Premium to Windows 7 Ultimate: $139.99* * You’ll note that we’ve reduced the price of moving from Home Premium to Ultimate 12% in the US as compared to Vista pricing If you live in Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK or the US (13 countries) – you will be able to purchase the upgrade from Microsoft online directly within Windows 7. Windows 7 Family Pack Now let’s talk about the Windows 7 Family Pack. The Windows 7 Family Pack is an easy and affordable way to get all your PCs in your household running Windows 7 through licensing to install Windows 7 Home Premium on up to 3 PCs. The Windows 7 Family Pack will be available starting on October 22nd until supplies last here in the US and other select markets [emphasis mine --Paul]. In the US, the price for the Windows 7 Family Pack will be $149.99 for 3 Windows 7 Home Premium licenses. That’s a savings of more than $200 for three licenses. This is a great value and we’re excited to be able to offer it to customers. "While supplies last"???? OH COME ON. This is all such good news. Until that last bit. Geesh. Posted Jul 31 2009, 05:16 PM by pthurrott with 19 comment(s) Filed under: Windows 7

• Microsoft's proposed browser ballot screen

  I'm embarrassed to say I missed this last week, but when Microsoft announced its proposal to let EU customers choose a browser via a so-called ballot screen, they also provided an image of what that screen could look like. Here it is. Under our new proposal, among other things, European consumers who buy a new Windows PC with Internet Explorer set as their default browser would be shown a ‘ballot screen’ from which they could, if they wished, easily install competing browsers from the Web. If this proposal is ultimately accepted, Microsoft will ship Windows in Europe with the full functionality available in the rest of the world. As requested by the Commission, we will be publishing our proposal in full here on our website as soon as possible. The icons above were no doubt the inspiration for Opera's newest complaint, that icons should not be used because IE's blue "E" logo is, to many people, the Internet. I suppose a more valid argument could be made about the order in which the browsers appear. In the shot above, the browsers are listed by usage/market share, with IE first. Posted Jul 31 2009, 04:53 AM by pthurrott with 53 comment(s) Filed under: Windows 7, XP, Internet, Internet Explorer, Vista, Commentary

• Yet another new version of Windows for Europe

  Or, to be more specific, for Amsterdam. The Red Light District of Amsterdam. :) Seen while waiting on my kids, who were shopping for souvenirs. It's called "Windows XXX." Posted Jul 30 2009, 05:57 AM by pthurrott with 21 comment(s) Filed under: Humor, Travel and events

• Microsoft's Zune continues to struggle

  I think we all realize the Zune isn't exactly setting the world on fire. But in these days leading up to the release of the Zune HD, things have apparently gotten worse than ever. To be sure, the Zune provides a tiny, and apparently deteriorating portion of Microsoft's business. Revenue for the non-gaming side of Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices unit, which includes the Zune, tumbled 42% to roughly $211 million for the fourth fiscal quarter ended in June - or about 2% of the software giant's total, according to regulatory filings. Microsoft said revenue at its Entertainment and Devices division was undercut by a 54%, or $100 million, decline in Zune platform sales. In a survey conducted last fall, IDC's Kevorkian said only 4.8% of those with a portable media player reported having a Zune, while 61% had some sort of iPod. So, in late 2008, the Zune actually had 50 percent more usage share in the MP3 player market than the Mac did in the worldwide PC market. (Hey, math can be fun.) When you consider how little advertising Microsoft did/does for the Zune, that's rather astonishing. What's Apple's advertising budget? $10 gazillion or something? Comedy aside, it gets worse. More recent data from NPD Group Inc. indicates that the Zune's already slim market share may have slipped further. NPD Group analyst Ross Rubin said in the first half of this year, Zune's share was 2%, compared to about 70% for the iPod. Put simply, I am a fan of the Zune. The PC software is superior to Windows Media Player and iTunes by a wide margin. The current devices are decent, but now lagging behind the touch screen/App Store goodness Apple offers. The online marketplace is good, but not as good as iTunes Store, though that matters less with music because MP3/AAC is universally compatible. (For movies and TV shows, there's simply nothing like the iTunes Store.) And of course Zune offers various features and functions that simply aren't available on the iPod at all. It's competitive from a technical/usage standpoint at least. But it's not competitive, apparently, where it arguably matters most: In the market. It's unclear whether Microsoft can turn things around with the Zune HD, no matter how good it is. I fear a small but temporary bump on its release and then another long, slow slide into irrelevance. And that's too bad. The Zune is actually a neat platform for digital media. Posted Jul 30 2009, 04:12 AM by pthurrott with 82 comment(s) Filed under: iPhone, Apple, Zune, iTunes, iPod, Alt. Windows, Digital media, Commentary

• Browser ballot screen isn't just for Windows 7

  Mary Jo Foley reports on an interesting tidbit I missed while traipsing around The Netherlands this week: Microsoft's proposal to let EU users choose from competing web browsers isn't relegated to Windows 7. They'll offer this capability on Windows XP and Windows Vista as well. The “ballot screen” isn’t for Windows 7 users only. Microsoft is proposing that it be allowed to provide the ballot screen to European users running Windows XP, Vista and/or Windows 7. The ballot screen — which will include a list of browsers including IE, plus a number of choices from  competing vendors — will be delivered to current and future XP and Vista users over Windows Update, according to Microsoft’s proposal. Microsoft is advocating that the ballot screen include 10 or fewer of “the most widely-used web browsers that run on Windows with a usage share of equal to or more than 0.5% in the EEA (European Economic Area).” The choice of browsers should be presented “in a horizontal line and in an unbiased way” a display of icons and “basic identifying information” on the Web browsers. The top five of the browsers listed (by market share) will get additional “prominent display,” Microsoft is advocating. XP and Vista users will get the ballot screen three to six months after the European Commission’s final ruling in the Opera antitrust case. For XP users, Microsoft plans to designate the ballot screen a “high priority” update when it pushes it out over Windows Update; for Vista and Windows 7 users, the ballot screen will be designated “important,” the proposal says. Here's to hoping that this condition leaves Opera off the list. I'm not sure if I mentioned this here in the blog yet, but I'd advocate a boycott of Opera if I thought anyone was actually using the damn thing. I'm so tired of these complainers. Here's a new example why. The people have spoken, Opera. Please go away. Posted Jul 28 2009, 04:48 AM by pthurrott with 63 comment(s) Filed under: Windows 7, XP, Internet, Internet Explorer, Vista, Commentary

• Microsoft's statement about Windows 7 in the EU

  Just in... Statement by Brad Smith, General Counsel July 24, 2009 As the European Commission has just announced in a statement, Microsoft has made a new proposal in an effort to address competition law issues related to Internet Explorer and interoperability. Under our new proposal, among other things, European consumers who buy a new Windows PC with Internet Explorer set as their default browser would be shown a ‘ballot screen’ from which they could, if they wished, easily install competing browsers from the Web.  If this proposal is ultimately accepted, Microsoft will ship Windows in Europe with the full functionality available in the rest of the world.  As requested by the Commission, we will be publishing our proposal in full here on our web site as soon as possible.  While the Commission solicits public comment and considers this proposal, we are committed to ensuring that we are in full compliance with European law and our obligations under the 2007 Court of First Instance ruling. As we said June 11th, we currently are providing PC manufacturers in Europe with E versions of Windows 7, which we believe are fully compliant with European law.  PCs manufacturers building machines for the European market will continue to be required to ship E versions of Windows 7 until such time that the Commission fully reviews our proposals and determines whether they satisfy our obligations under European law.  If the Commission approves this new proposal, Microsoft will begin work at that time to begin implementation of it with PC manufacturers. As the European Commission announced, Microsoft’s proposal also includes a public undertaking designed to promote interoperability between third party products and a number of Microsoft products, including Windows, Windows Server, Office, Exchange, and SharePoint. Like the Internet Explorer proposal, the interoperability measures we are offering involve significant change by Microsoft.  They build on the Interoperability Principles announced by Microsoft in February 2008, which were also based on extensive discussions with the Commission, and they include new steps including enforceable warranty commitments.  We believe that if ultimately accepted, this proposal will fully address the European competition law issues relating to the inclusion of Internet Explorer in Windows and interoperability with our high-volume products.  This would mark a big step forward in addressing a decade of legal issues and would be good news for European consumers and our partners in the industry. Posted Jul 24 2009, 04:27 PM by pthurrott with 54 comment(s) Filed under: Windows 7, Alt. Windows, Internet Explorer

• Microsoft announces RTM for Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2

  With the completion of this development phase, Microsoft is calling on partners to ready products in time for the Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 worldwide general availability. Windows 7 will be generally available to customers around the world on October 22, and Windows Server 2008 R2 will be generally available on or before that date.  As always, current Windows Volume License customers, MSDN subscribers and TechNet subscribers will get first customer access, getting Windows 7 on August 6 (MSDN/TechNet) and August 7 (VL), and Windows Server 2008 R2 the second half of August.  Microsoft will make the announcement on its Windows Team Blog and Windows Server Blog. Here's the official release: Steven Sinofsky, President of the Windows Division, has just announced on the Engineering Windows 7 Blog that Windows 7 has reached the Release to Manufacturing (RTM) milestone. As I mentioned previously, RTM officially happens only after sign-off occurs. What happens is a build gets designated as a RTM contender after going through significant testing and meeting our quality bar for RTM. Then, it goes though all the validation checks required for RTM including having all languages of that build completed. If all the validation checks have passed – sign-off for RTM can occur. Today after all the validation checks were met, we signed off and declared build 7600.16385 as RTM. Included in Steven’s blog post is a video of sign-off happening from the "Ship Room." Sign-off consists of representatives from all the teams here at Microsoft who helped build Windows 7 signing-off for RTM. Also happening very shortly, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer will get on stage for his keynote address to the Microsoft field community at MGX in Atlanta. MGX is an internal Microsoft event held every year. This is where we bring in our folks in the field from around the world and talk about selling Microsoft’s latest products. We’re a global company and this event is super important to us. As you can imagine, Windows 7 is a hot topic at this year’s MGX and we’re anxious to hear what Steve has to say, and I will update that here. Not only is RTM an important milestone for us – it’s also an important milestone for our partners. Today’s release is the result of hard work and collaboration with our partners in the industry to make Windows 7 a success. We delivered Windows 7 with predictable feature set on a predictable timetable that allowed OEMs to focus on value and differentiation for their customers. Our customers told us what they want (and expect) and we defined those specific experiences and then built features to support them (like HomeGroup and the Windows Taskbar enhancements). Our customers also told us that “fundamentals” on both the hardware and software side was extremely important. Windows 7 today runs great on the broadest array of hardware types ranging from netbooks to the high end gaming machines. We worked closely with OEMs so that their PCs ignite features in Windows 7 to excite their customers. Of course, today’s release is also the result of the amazing amount of feedback we received from the millions of people who tested Windows 7 – from Beta to RC. We actually had over 10 million people opt-in to the Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP). That’s a lot of people opting in to help us make Windows 7 a solid release. Through CEIP, our engineers were guided by customer feedback all the way to RTM. We also have had a great group of beta testers who have dedicated a great deal of their time to testing Windows 7 too. A special thank you goes out to all the people who helped test Windows 7. I’d also like to give a shout-out to my friends over on the Windows Server Team. Today they are also announcing that Windows Server 2008 R2 has RTM’d. Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 together can help businesses cut costs and increase productivity. Click here to read their blog post on Windows Server 2008 R2 RTM. The RTM code will be delivered to our partners within the next few days who will then start preparing to deliver some amazing new products timed to hit at General Availability (GA) of Windows 7. And going forward, I expect to be showcasing MANY of these new products here on The Windows Blog. We continue to be overwhelmed at the community’s response to Windows 7 and it has been an extremely rewarding experience to witness. We hope the enthusiasm will continue to grow even more as our partners build amazing experiences with their products and Windows 7. Posted Jul 22 2009, 05:38 PM by pthurrott with 60 comment(s) Filed under: Windows 7

• Microsoft shutting down MSN Soapbox

  No big surprise, since I was apparently the only non-Microsoft employee to ever use the service. (Never heard of it? You're not alone. It was Microsoft's "answer" to You Tube.) Here's an email I received this week: MSN will no longer offer Soapbox, the user generated video service within MSN Video, as of August 31, 2009. Beginning on July 29, you will no longer be able to upload videos to Soapbox. People who have uploaded videos to Soapbox will have until August 31, 2009 to download them. Please make sure you download your videos by this date if you would like to keep them. We will have a notice running in the Soapbox service to remind you to download your videos. It is our goal that you download and keep all of the videos you uploaded that are important to you. Online video is a key part of the MSN experience and we will continue to offer a rich experience on MSN Video. We will also continue to invest in delivering great customer experiences, while keeping a keen eye on our business objectives during this tough economic climate. Thank you for your support of MSN Video. More details and download instructions are available at: http://video.msn.com/shutdown.html Thank you for using Soapbox. The MSN Video Team Posted Jul 22 2009, 06:37 AM by pthurrott with 31 comment(s) Filed under: Internet, Windows Live, Digital media, Cloud computing

• Microsoft dangles a few more Windows 7 release details over our heads

  So, they're trying. Microsoft last night (for me) posted some more information about Windows 7. Here are the pertinent (and new) bits… I have nothing new to add regarding RTM today. Many believed that Microsoft would have announced RTM last Monday at WPC, and there are indications that that was the original plan. Expect news this week, however. ISV (Independent software vendor) and IHV (Independent hardware vendor) Partners will be able to download Windows 7 RTM from Microsoft Connect or MSDN on August 6th. Microsoft Partner Program Gold/Certified Members will be able to download Windows 7 RTM in English through the Microsoft Partner Network (MPN) Portal on August 16th. Microsoft Action Pack Subscribers will be about to download Windows 7 RTM in English starting August 23rd. OEMs will receive Windows 7 RTM software images beginning approximately 2 days after we officially RTM. Volume License (VL) customers with an existing Software Assurance (SA) license will be able to download Windows 7 RTM in English starting August 7th via the Volume License Service Center (VLSC). Volume License customers without a SA license will be able to purchase Windows 7 through Volume Licensing on September 1. TechNet and MSDN subscribers will be able to download Windows 7 RTM in English on August 6th and remaining languages by October 1st. We are going to release an evaluation of Windows 7 Professional for IT Professionals via the Springboard Series shortly after RTM A special thank you to our beta testers is needed for their time and effort in helping make Windows 7 a solid release ... Beta testers will not receive a free copy of Windows 7. [Emphasis mine] !!!! The painful thing here, for beta testers, is that they've been screwed. The rationale here is priceless, too: "Many beta testers are already subscribers to TechNet; those of you who fit that description will be able to download Windows 7 RTM shortly after RTM." But later in the post, it notes that "over 40% of beta testers are IT professionals." So roughly 50 percent of beta testers probably don't, in fact, have TechNet access (as TechNet is an IT pro service). Enjoy your special thank you. I know there have been some rumors going around about a "family pack" for Windows 7. We have heard a lot of feedback from beta testers and enthusiasts over the last 3 years that we need a better solution for homes with multiple PCs. I'm happy to confirm that we will indeed be offering a family pack of Windows 7 Home Premium (in select markets) which will allow installation on up to 3 PCs. As I’ve said before, stay tuned to our blog for more information on this and any other potential offers. You know, one of my big complaints here is that we need to know the cost (and, apparently, availability) of the Family Pack in order to determine which is the better deal (the individual retail pre-orders or the Family Pack). But the promotional pre-order offer is over in the US, so it's too late there. I still think it would have been a lot classier to announce this Family Pack, and its pricing, with the promotion. That would have let customers make better educated decisions about which was best for them. Here, we see how Microsoft's lack of clarity just ends up hurting people. And I don't get that at all. I'll update the Windows 7 FAQ with this date information today. Posted Jul 22 2009, 02:31 AM by pthurrott with 59 comment(s) Filed under: Windows 7, Commentary

• Gorgeous Firefox 3.7 for Windows mockups

  Some may recall that I got excited about Mozilla's original plans for the Firefox 3 UI on Windows, only to have my hopes dashed when they came out with something half-baked. (The shipping Firefox 3.x "chrome" is just horrible looking, in my opinion, and as much as I hate wasting time configuring things that are better left alone, I always replace it.) Well, they're at it again. On the Mozilla Wiki, you can now see a mockup for what Mozilla calls Firefox 3.7, on Windows. And man, is it looking good. I won't get my hopes up again. But here's to hoping they make this happen. And unlike with the current theme/chrome/whatever they call it, this one looks as nice on all the major platforms: Windows Vista/7, Windows XP, and Mac OS X. (The current version curiously looks best on XP, to me.) Check out the Wiki for XP shots. Thanks very much to Stan B. for forwarding this info. Posted Jul 21 2009, 11:14 AM by pthurrott with 78 comment(s) Filed under: Windows 7, Mozilla, Vista

• I Amsterdam

  My family and I are flying to Amsterdam this evening. We'll be in Europe for about three weeks and should be doing some side trips around Belgium and The Netherlands, as well as five days in Paris visiting friends. I don't believe this will impact the site or blog here too much, but if things slow down a bit, well, that's why. :) Also of note: Steven Bink (of bink.nu fame) and his family are swapping homes with us, so they will be in our house for the duration. (And we'll be in theirs.) They've had a horrific time getting here because of plane issues, sadly, but they're on the way now and will be arriving soon. We'll be meeting at the airport instead of having time to show them around, which is too bad, but at least that's behind them. I'll be speaking in Amsterdam on July 31, by the way. (Topic: Are we entering a post-Microsoft world?) So if you're in the area, let me know. :) BTW, Leo and I didn't record the podcast this week because Leo is in China. But we should have a new episode available next week. See you on the other side (of the ocean, that is)... Posted Jul 18 2009, 01:18 PM by pthurrott with 52 comment(s) Filed under: Personal, Travel and events

• Firefox 3.5.1

  Not a huge deal, but Mozilla has bumped up Firefox 3.5 a bit in the past 24 hours. What’s New in Firefox 3.5.1 Firefox 3.5.1 fixes the following issues: Several security issues. Several stability issues. An issue that was making Firefox take a long time to load on some Windows systems. Please see the complete list of changes in this version. You may also be interested in the Firefox 3.5 release notes for a list of changes in the previous version. Posted Jul 17 2009, 08:58 PM by pthurrott with 12 comment(s) Filed under: Internet, Mozilla, Security

• Microsoft adding Windows 7 support to Windows Home Server

  Via a free upcoming update called Power Pack 3, which just entered beta today. I have to say, I had not heard this was coming, and that somewhat surprises me. Here's the word, from Microsoft: Today we are announcing Windows Home Server Power Pack 3 Beta, which improves the Windows Home Server experience with Windows 7 and Windows Media Center by providing the following new features: Backup and restore of computers running Windows 7, Windows 7 Libraries integration, enhancements for Windows Media Center, and better support for netbook computers. We are targeting users that are running Windows 7 Release Candidate on their home computer and already have Windows Home Server.  Beta participants will need to join the Windows Home Server program on Microsoft Connect in order to download the Power Pack 3 Beta. https://connect.microsoft.com/WindowsHomeServer The Windows Home Server Blog has more info: New in Power Pack 3 Beta Windows 7 Backup & Recovery Windows Home Server performs a full image-based backup of Windows 7-based computers, allowing for a complete computer recovery in the case of a hard drive failure, or restoration of a single file or folder in the event of accidental deletion or loss. After the Windows Home Server Connector software has been installed on a computer running Windows 7, Windows 7 Backup warnings will be suppressed and users will no longer receive a notification to back up their computer. Windows Home Server can back up Windows XP SP2 or later, Windows Vista and Windows 7-based computers. Windows 7 Libraries Power Pack 3 Beta will add Music, Photos and Videos shared folders on the home server to Windows 7 Libraries making the content available for applications such as Windows Explorer, Windows Media Center, Windows Media Player and other applications that use Windows 7 Libraries. This allows users to quickly access all their content in one organized place that is always available, searchable and expandable. Users can also search a specific library without having to know where the files are stored. Windows Search Windows Search 4 has been included with Power Pack 3 Beta to improve query search times, indexing times and reliability. If users are searching across multiple computers, extended remote discovery increases the efficiency of searching across all document libraries. Files encrypted with Encrypting File System (EFS) are now supported with search. Netbooks Power Pack 3 Beta makes Windows Home Server compatible with netbook computers that have small screen sizes and low resolution. A home server makes a great storage and backup solution for ultra-portable computers. Windows Media Center Enhancements Last March, Power Pack 2 added functionality that allowed Windows Media Center and Media Center Extenders to easily access the content on a home server. Power Pack 3 Beta builds on this functionality. When the Windows Home Server Connector software is installed or updated on a Windows Media Center computer, the next time a user starts Windows Media Center they will be prompted to install the Windows Media Center Connector. Users will notice a new Home Server selection in Windows Media Center menu. TV Archiving The TV Archive tile in Windows Media Center will give users the option to move recorded TV content to the home server in a variety of resolutions. The recorded TV shows are archived in the correct resolution for the type of device that will be used for playback. TV Archive is optimized for Windows Media Center computers, Windows Mobile-based phones, and the Zune player, however, any device capable of playing WMV files can take advantage of this feature. · TV – Original Resolution · Windows Mobile – 320 x 240, 500 Kbps, .WMV · Zune – 640 x 480, 1500 Kbps, .WMV Users can select individual TV shows, a series of shows, or all TV recordings to automatically be moved to the home server. Because Windows Home Server storage space can be easily expanded, users can keep all the TV shows that they want in their collection. Console Quick View Console Quick View allows users to see statistics about the home server through Windows Media Center and Windows Media Center Extenders. This is a convenient way to view many aspects of the home server without needing to access the Windows Home Server Console. This feature allows users to view and monitor a number of home server indicators: · Storage – Pie chart listing the percentage allocation of the home server storage · Drives – List, size and health of hard drives installed on the home server · Backup – List of computers being backed up and their current backup status · Shared Folders – List of Shared Folders by name with health status and duplication status · Media Counters – Count of music, photos, videos and recorded TV files on the home server · Health – Health of the entire home network · Home Server – System information of the home server’s hardware and manufacturer info Timing of the Power Pack 3 final release has not been determined. With your help to test the Beta, we hope to release the update prior to the Windows 7 General Availability date of October 22.  Power Pack 3 will be a free update to existing Windows Home Server users via Windows Update. Thanks for your support! Wow. Good stuff. Posted Jul 17 2009, 04:08 PM by pthurrott with 13 comment(s) Filed under: Windows 7, Windows Home Server

• Do you still believe Microsoft is effectively communicating how the Windows 7 Upgrade process will work?

  You're so cute. Now read this. Outrage spread like wildfire across the Internet this week with criticism of Microsoft's alleged new upgrade process for Windows 7. People were concerned if they wanted to upgrade to Windows 7 they would be required to activate the current version of Windows they were using prior to upgrading. If true, this would be a departure from the Windows Vista upgrading process and add a mammoth hassle-factor to upgrading your PC to Windows 7 or reinstalling the OS. If you have to go back and reinstall Windows 7 for whatever reason, you'll have to both reinstall the previous operating system and put in a call to Customer Support. That's because the key to said operating system--the one that Windows 7 checks for activation--would no longer be valid. To put it bluntly, the Windows 7 upgrade experience shoots itself in the foot the first time you run it. The confusing part? Another Microsoft employee is directly contradicting the unnamed spokesperson that Silverman's post references. Answering questions related to this alleged new Windows 7 upgrade policy, Microsoft IT Pro Evangelist Harold Wong attempted to clarify the situation in a response on his Technet blog yesterday afternoon. So Who's Right? Well. This is why I've been calling for actual testing of the Upgrade media, which I hope to have by the end of the month. And for Microsoft, please, to work to clarify this and other related issues that no one--including Microsoft, apparently--really understands. Silly. Posted Jul 17 2009, 11:31 AM by pthurrott with 47 comment(s) Filed under: Windows 7, Commentary

• How to download a web browser in Windows 7 E (which doesn't come with its own browser)

  Rafael offers up an interesting step-by-step guide to finding a web browser in the supposedly browser-less Windows 7 E Editions, which will be afflicting folks in Europe in about 3 months: Mom and Dad will likely get a pre-built machine, by either a popular manufacturer or their kids, so this isn’t a problem for them. Us, on the other hand, are incredibly lazy. We won’t want to bend down and grab one of a million USB fobs. Or put yet another executable on our NAS. Or heaven forbid, waste a CD. We need something clever. Step 1 – Launch (and configure) Windows Media Player Step 2 – Search for your browser, using the Windows Media Guide Step 3 – Click an ad, download your browser Read the original post for the full details, of course. Good stuff. My advice, however, is to just avoid this silliness and download a browser before installing Windows 7 E, copy it to a USB thumb drive or whatever, and just plug it in after the OS is up and running. BTW: Anyone who mentions the word "Trident" like that's news just doesn't get it. Windows Media Player has long been documented to use the IE rendering engine. And Microsoft has been very upfront that the Windows 7 E Editions do not have IE, the application, but do have the underlying rendering technologies required by other applications. Posted Jul 16 2009, 11:57 PM by pthurrott with 30 comment(s) Filed under: Windows 7, Internet, Internet Explorer, Commentary