SuperSite Blog : Windows 7

Windows Home Server Power Pack 3: November 24

pthurrott — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:05:24 GMT

Microsoft contacted me yesterday about Windows Home Server (WHS) Power Pack 3 (PP3) but I was traveling so I had to just tweet a short version of the news: WHS PP3 will ship publicly November 24. Here's the full release:

We are announcing that the Windows Home Server Power Pack 3 will be available in all shipping languages (Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish) on November 24 2009. Power Pack 3 will be a free update to existing Windows Home Server users via Windows Update.

Windows Home Server Power Pack 3 improves the Windows Home Server experience with Windows 7 and Windows Media Center by providing features like backup and restore of computers running Windows 7, Windows 7 Libraries integration, enhancements for Windows Media Center, and better support for netbook computers. Microsoft released the Beta of the Windows Home Server Power Pack 3 in July 2009 and received positive community support and feedback from Beta testers throughout the testing cycle. We let you know back in September that we were going to continue testing the Beta and would not ship the final release of Power Pack 3 until the community has validated our work. We are pleased to now announce the November 24, 2009 availability.

Windows 7 users should be sure to download Power Pack 3 via Windows Update for the most optimal experience on a Windows Home Server network. For more information on this topic and details on the Windows 7 enhancements, please visit the Windows Home Server blog.

Top 7 Ways to Enhance Your Windows 7 Experience

pthurrott — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:21:58 GMT

Microsoft sends along some interesting information today about Windows 7:

Top 7 Things to Do After Installing Windows 7

Personalize your PC: Make your Windows 7 PC your own by pinning your favorite programs to the enhanced Windows Taskbar, to easily preview and switch between Windows. Then, customize your desktop with one of the many new themes available in Windows 7 (or easily download a new one that suits your personality), and drag your favorite gadgets where you want them on your desktop.

Download Windows Live Essentials – the killer apps for Windows 7: Once you have Windows 7 installed, go to download.live.com to download free programs for email, IM, movie-making, photos and more!

Organize your multiple email accounts in one place: Organize your multiple email accounts using Window Live Mail (including Hotmail, Yahoo! Mail Plus and Gmail) so you can receive email in one place, organized into separate folders. You can even add RSS feeds to stay up on your favorite sites and blogs.

Import and organize your photos: Your new operating system is a great excuse to finally organize the thousands of digital photos you’ve accumulated over the years. Windows Live Photo Gallery allows you to sort your photos easily by tags, folders or dates, then clean them up with easy editing features, including auto-fix, sharpen image, panoramic stitch, and more.

Make a movie in less than five minutes: Now that you have your favorite photo and video memories on your Windows 7 PC, make them into movies and slideshows that you can share on the web (including easy publishing to YouTube and Facebook) or burn onto a DVD in high definition (if your camera supports it). Windows Live Movie Maker features the simple-to-navigate Windows 7 ribbon, and time-saving features like AutoMovie that automatically turn your photos, videos and music into an impressive movie – complete with titles and transitions.

Snap to it! Need to compare two documents side-by-side? Snap, a new feature in Windows 7, is a quick (and fun) way to increase your productivity. Snap allows you to resize open windows simply by dragging them to the edges of your screen – left or right. Then, the window will expand vertically and fill the screen, so you can easily position windows side-by-side.

Shake away the clutter: Need to cut through a crowded desktop and quickly focus on a single window? With Windows 7, you can click a pane and give your mouse a shake. Voila! Every window except that one disappears. Jiggle again, and your Windows are back.

Is it OK to Use OEM Windows on Your Own PC? Don't Ask Microsoft

pthurrott — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:16:46 GMT

While researching my most recent article, No OEM For You: Windows 7 OEM Packaging is Not For Individuals, I ran into an issue that I should have foreseen: Microsoft's licensing reads like the Dead Sea Scrolls and you need to be an expert in Aramaic to understand it. I don't speak this EULA language, but I know someone who does, Ed Bott. And coincidentally, but not surprisingly, he was actually working on his own post about the OEM versions of Windows 7 when I pinged him. And as he promised, his own more thorough post is now available. It's a must-read.

If Microsoft expects its customers to take license agreements seriously, it has a responsibility to communicate the terms of those agreements to its customers clearly and unambiguously. As I noted earlier this month, Microsoft does a generally poor job of explaining its complicated rules for how Windows licensing works. But I deliberately left one type of Windows license off that list, because it deserves its own special place in the Corporate Communications Hall of Shame.

I’m talking about OEM System Builder licenses for Windows desktop editions. If you look at any online shopping site that caters to PC enthusiasts, you’ll find these copies displayed alongside the upgrade and full license packages that Microsoft says retail customers are supposed to buy.

According to Microsoft, [those who] bought that software and installed it on their own new (or old) PC ... are violating the terms of the OEM System Builder license agreement, which says, in convoluted language, that you must install the software using the OEM Preinstallation Kit and then resell the PC to a third party. If you install that software on your own PC, you don’t have a “genuine” copy of Windows.

Be sure to check out the full post which, thanks to Microsoft's secretive practices, reads like a Dan Brown mystery, except of course that Ed's post is well-written and has to do with EULAs, and not the Masons. You get the idea.

Rafael is Vindicated: Microsoft Did Steal Open Source Code for USB/DVD Tool

pthurrott — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 21:30:05 GMT

Microsoft just confirmed to me that it has completed an investigation of allegations made by my Windows 7 Secrets co-author, Rafael Rivera, concerning the unauthorized and illegal use of open source code in its Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool. The software giant has found that it did, indeed, use the code in question. Here's their official statement about this issue:

As you've likely read, we've been investigating a report that the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool might contain GPLv2 code. The WUDT is a free tool which was offered by the Microsoft Store that enabled customers to create bootable USB drives or DVD backup media from the electronic software (ESD) edition of Windows 7 that comes in an ISO format.

After looking at the code in question, we are now able to confirm this was indeed the case, although it was not intentional on our part. While we had contracted with a third party to create the tool, we share responsibility as we did not catch it as part of our code review process. We have furthermore conducted a review of other code provided through the Microsoft Store and this was the only incident of this sort we could find.

When it comes to our attention that a Microsoft component contains third party code, our aim is to be respectful of the terms under which that code is being shared. As a result, we will be making the source code as well as binaries for this tool available next week under the terms of the General Public License v2 as described here, and are also taking measures to apply what we have learned from this experience for future code reviews we perform.

Bravo, both to Microsoft for owning up to this and to Rafael for doing what he does. It astonished both Rafael and I over the past week that so many weirdos came out of the woodwork to misrepresent his claim and complain that, somehow, one example of source code theft wasn't enough. One instance of theft is still theft, people. Now that Microsoft has admitted to what it did, I hope the rest of the doubters see the light as well.

Windows 7 Battery Life Worse on Netbooks

pthurrott — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 20:59:49 GMT

Laptop Magazine has some surprising news for Windows 7 battery life, at least on three netbooks: It's not as good as it was on XP. Here's what they found:

Back in August when we started testing the final version of Windows 7, we noticed that several netbooks didn’t last as long on a charge with the new OS installed as with Windows XP. Microsoft claimed that Win 7 notebooks would see longer battery life than Vista, and for the two full-size systems we upgraded that rang true. The Dell XPS Studio 16 only got an extra few minutes, but the Gateway NV lasted an extra hour. Netbooks have been a different story.

Recently we tested Windows 7 versions of the Toshiba mini NB205 and ASUS Eee PC 1008HA, and now HP’s Mini 311 with Windows 7 has been released. The results don’t look good. In each case we tested the three systems using the LAPTOP Battery Test (continuous web surfing over Wi-Fi) and in each case the Windows 7 machines got less battery life.

What's interesting about this is that netbooks are one of the few ways in which to accurately test Windows 7 battery life vs. that of XP, since this is the only market where you can find the same machines in which both OSes have been included. With mainstream laptops, the battery life differences (between Vista and 7, in that case) seem to be less dramatic.

How We Really Designed the Look and Feel of Windows 7

pthurrott — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:04:20 GMT

While the Mac community has been chortling over a supposed Microsoft admission that Windows 7 copies the Mac OS X look and feel, the company decided to set the record straight, or at least provide a more official comment about this claim:

An inaccurate quote has been floating around the Internet today about the design origins of Windows 7 and whether its look and feel was “borrowed” from Mac OS X. Unfortunately this came from a Microsoft employee who was not involved in any aspect of designing Windows 7. I hate to say this about one of our own, but his comments were inaccurate and uninformed. If you’re interested in learning more about the design of Windows 7, I suggest reading this AP story with Julie Larson-Green as well as these WSJ (membership required) and Fast Company articles. And here is one of many blog posts on the E7 blog discussing the design process of Windows 7.

That said, there is little doubt that Windows has followed Mac OS X into the world of hardware-backed transparent graphical effects in their respective UIs. And anyone who believes that the Windows 7 taskbar is anything other than a copy of the Mac OS X Dock just isn't paying attention.

Microsoft's Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool Uses Open Source Code

pthurrott — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 16:18:21 GMT

And apparently does so illegally. Rafael has written up a great post, with a side-by-side code comparison, about how Microsoft's Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool uses code that was obviously taken directly from open source code that is licensed under the GPL.

While poking through the UDF-related internals of the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool, I had a weird feeling there was just wayyyyyyyyy too much code in there for such a simple tool. A simple search of some method names and properties, gleaned from Reflector’s output, revealed the source code was obviously lifted from the CodePlex-hosted (yikes) GPLv2-licensed ImageMaster project. (The author of the code was not contacted by Microsoft.)

I see two problems here. (I’m not a FSF professional, so there may be more.)

First, Microsoft did not offer or provide source code for their modifications to ImageMaster nor their tool. According to GPLv2.

Second, Microsoft glued in some of their own licensing terms, further restricting your rights to the software (TermsOfUse.rtf). According to their terms .... "You may not ... publish the software for others to copy."

I understand Microsoft is a big company and that this could have been externally contracted work, but someone dropped the ball during code review/licensing.

Yes, yes they did.

Seven Perfectly Legal Ways to Get Windows 7 Cheap (or Even Free)

pthurrott — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:03:57 GMT

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 ranges from $120 for a Home Premium upgrade to $320 for a fully licensed copy of Windows 7 Ultimate.

Well, guess what? You don’t have to pay that much. Most people have much better options available, if you know where to look. As I’ve detailed here, the best deals go to PC manufacturers, which you benefit from if you buy a new PC.

But there are plenty of other discounts available as well. In this post, I’ve researched deals in three separate categories: upgrade offers available to anyone, special deals just for students, and subscriptions intended for technical professionals and developers.

My goal in this post is to point you to deals that customers legitimately qualify for. I am not trying to encourage attempts by anyone to get away with something you’re not entitled to. If there are restrictions for a specific offer, I’ve noted them here.

Go forth and save.

Get Tinker and Texas Hold 'Em ... For Free

pthurrott — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:00:21 GMT

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 puzzles, or just want to play a quick hand of cards, we have a couple of great new games coming soon to Games for Windows!

Tinker
Even robots get lost, sometimes! Help this one get home by solving puzzles that untangle a surreal and misleading world...but be careful! Tinker only has a limited amount of energy, so you'll have to use it wisely or he'll be lost forever! A classic mental challenge for the entire family, Tinker features an original score, compelling visuals, and 60 levels of classic puzzling fun!

Hold 'Em
Pit yourself against the computer for a high-stakes experience that won't empty your pocket! Play with up to five computer opponents, and customize the look of the card deck and playing table. Have fun and bet what you want — the computer can't make you pay up!

Here's the best part...both of these games will be absolutely FREE!!

Keep an eye out here on www.gamesforwindows.com, both here and in the forums...we will be sure to let you know when these games are released!

Thanks to Resplendent for the tip!

Talking Windows 7 Upgrade Media with Microsoft

pthurrott — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:31:26 GMT

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 it to you as quickly as possible. So here are some data points to consider...

If you run Setup from an existing install of Windows ... Windows 7 will always activate.

If you boot your PC with Windows 7 Upgrade media ... and there is an existing install of Windows on the first partition, Windows 7 will always activate. If the existing install of Windows is on some other partition, Windows 7 should still activate. There are instances in which this won't work--especially when people really muck around with directory structures and so on, but it should activate.

There is one major and important change between Windows Vista and Windows 7 Setup with regards to compliance checking ... In Windows Vista, Setup did the compliance check (to see whether you have a valid prior version of Windows and thus qualify for the Upgrade version) after the phase where you can format the disk. This means you could actually format the disk, thus destroying your previous install, and then fail the compliance check. Microsoft fixed this in Windows 7. That means you can format the disk during Setup: Windows 7 will still activate because the compliance check occurred earlier.

A recovery partition will never qualify you for the Upgrade version. Setup does not understand or parse recovery partitions.

If you clean install Windows 7 with Upgrade media and it does not work for some reason, Microsoft's recommendation is that you call Microsoft Support immediately ... They will get you activated immediately, no questions asked, and the call is free. You're provided with free support calls as part of your purchase.

The Full and Upgrade media for Windows 7 are indeed identical. The only difference is the product key. The code on the discs is the same.

The double-install trick is documented and supported by Microsoft. It's dumb and slow, but Microsoft does support the double-install method (Method #3 in my Clean Install Windows 7 with Upgrade Media article) for clean installing Windows 7 with Upgrade media. They do not support the Registry hack (Method #2 in my Clean Install Windows 7 with Upgrade Media article) but couldn't think of a reason why it should be avoided otherwise. (I think they just don't like it.) The vibe I got was that if you ever had problems later, you could always call Microsoft support for free and they'd just fix it.

A Bit of Backpedaling and an Apology from Microsoft

pthurrott — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:05:50 GMT

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 came off very strong about how people doing this could be pirates ("technically possible" does not always mean legal), he's apparently woken up to the fact that many of Microsoft's customers agree with me. ("technically possible" does not always mean illegal. In fact, in this case, it almost always means legal.) The issue here isn't just semantic. This is very much about how Microsoft communicates with his customers, and while Ligman tries to make the case that Microsoft cares very much about it's customers, this little episode is telling them otherwise. Sorry, Eric. There's a lot of ill will for you to get over now.

Anyway. To the relevant portions of his latest post.

"Conspiracy-theorism" (yes, I know theorism is not in the dictionary) is very present.

i.e. it's your fault, those Microsoft customers who misunderstood his first post, which was in fact innocent and not an attempt to scare anyone.

There appears to be a lot of reading through "pre-determined conclusion" lenses

Sorry, you're 0 for 2. I read through "customer" lenses. I look at what Microsoft did, and what you wrote, and, in this case, deemed it to be anti-customer, because Microsoft is punishing the many (almost 1 billion legit Windows users who qualify for Windows 7 Upgrade pricing) for the sins of the few (actual software pirates). This is, of course, the primary complaint about all anti-piracy controls, when you think about it.

Anyway.

Where in there did I state that the solutions proposed by either of these gentlemen cannot be used, are illegal to use, and/or should not be used? I flat out stated that if you own the right licenses, you can do the clean install, without calling out any procedure that can/cannot be used. Where did I state that either of them is not trying to help customers in their posted solutions?

If only you had said it like that. If only you had said, hey, in most cases, this is perfectly legal, but I would like to remind a tiny minority of our customers that the Upgrade versions of Windows 7--which we as a company pre-sold to you at bargain pricing without any warnings whatsoever--might not actually work and/or possibly (but not usually) violate our licensing rules, you know maybe you'd have a point. But you didn't. You said, "technically possible" does not always mean legal. That's a very strong statement, and you keep repeating it in this new post. It's a warning. It has intent.

Welcome to my life, Eric. I do this all the time. I can commiserate. Really, I can. But when you screw up--and you did--I've found it's best to just apologize. Sure, explain why you did what you did, but just leave it with the apology.

Also, I don't appreciate the way he mischaracterizes what I wrote by only referencing a quickie, heat-of-the-moment, throw-away blog post and not the full-fledged Upgrade with Clean Media article(s) I've written, where I've always clearly stated the rules. I don't like that. The losing side of an argument always takes things out of context. And changes the subject. (Witness the lengthy exploration of the word "hack".)

But he does apologize. Eventually.

It's too bad I never heard from him directly, as the volume of my email suggests others have figured out how to do so pretty easily. And it's too bad that I and others had to wade through a bunch of self-serving text to get to this apology I'd never have known about if a friend hadn't forwarded the link. But this isn't about me. The real shame here is that Microsoft is still not effectively communicating how this process works, explaining why it sometimes doesn't work, or apologizing to the many, many people it fooled into buying Upgrade versions with very special pricing--especially XP users--expecting it just to work. Based on my email, it's not working for a great many people. And that's why I do what I do, to help people. Not to help people pirate. Just to help people.

Again, I sort of assumed this was obvious.

Apology accepted. I'm sure you're a good guy and this was all well-intentioned.

Windows 7 Workaround Does Not Allow for Multiple Installs with One Product Key

pthurrott — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 14:25:36 GMT

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 in the manner they prefer--I've started wondering why Microsoft reacted so strongly. After all, their central argument is completely bogus: Most people out there already qualify for Upgrade pricing. And those who really do wish to just save money (by not paying for more expensive Full media) will simply buy OEM media, which costs less than Upgrade media. So it's not about money. Why bother? Why even bring attention to this, especially in such an idiotic, anti-customer fashion?

One theory that occurred to me was that perhaps this workaround would enable a user to install multiple copies of Windows 7 using a single product key. But after testing this, I've found that not to the be case: Each product key (with the exception of those supplied by the Windows 7 Family Pack, of course) allows for only one electronic, automatic activation. I'm not sure how I would have handled this had I somehow unearthed a way to activate multiple PCs on the same key (I probably would have simply told Microsoft about it). But that doesn't happen, thankfully.

So the question still remains. Why would Microsoft allege that many of its customers are thieves? And why would they accuse people like me, who were (and still are) very clear about the licensing requirements of being dishonest about that?

It just doesn't make sense.

Enough, Microsoft. No One Is Endorsing Piracy. Obviously.

pthurrott — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:30:50 GMT

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 again though. Over the past several days there have been various posts, etc. across a variety of social media engines stating that some “hack” (be it a person or a procedure) shows that a Windows 7 Upgrade disc can perform a “clean” installation of Windows 7 on a blank drive from a technical perspective. Of course, from the posts I saw, they often forgot to mention a very basic, yet very important piece of information… “Technically possible” does not always mean legal.

Hey, Microsoft. Duh.

Let's be very clear about something here: I'm not endorsing piracy. Obviously. I'm just trying to support the millions of people that Microsoft fooled into pre-ordering Windows 7 by offering steep discounts, only to discover later that the Upgrade version they purchased unknowingly might not actually install properly. I've gotten hundreds of emails about this. I suspect Microsoft has gotten many times that number. So you know what? I'm going to continue supporting Windows users. Even as Microsoft throws them to the wind with this kind of baloney.

What really cracks me up is that this post quotes the most relevant EULA-based part of this argument. Which is this:

To use upgrade software, you must first be licensed for the software that is eligible for the upgrade.

Exactly. That's who I'm supporting. Millions and millions of people. Many of which are discovering that their Upgrade version of Windows 7 will not install properly on their existing, Windows-based PCs. The PCs that are supposed to support upgrades.

This should be obvious. Please stop suggesting it's not, or that I am doing something else.

And for the nth time, you could (and should) have clearly documented how this works months ago. Or allowed myself and others to do so. You chose to ignore this need. So this is a problem of your own making. It's that simple. You make it too hard. And then you complain when someone else tries to make it easy.

Brilliant.

Microsoft Signature Software

pthurrott — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:46:53 GMT

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 Signature software, preinstalled Microsoft software and technologies that turn a stock Windows 7 PC into a "Signature PC."

This is interesting to me because, in the writing of Windows 7 Secrets this year, I decided it was important to not just cover what comes in the (increasingly irrelevant) box, so to speak, but to also include chapters and information about the "sticky" Microsoft products and technologies that I think are as key to the Windows experience as some of the stuff that does come in Windows itself. So I'm fascinated to see that the list of Microsoft Signature software is very close to the additional software I cover in Windows 7 Secrets. This includes:

Microsoft Security Essentials
Microsoft Silverlight
Bing 3D Maps
Zune 4.0
Windows Live Essentials - Windows Live Messenger, Windows Live Mail, Windows Live Photo Gallery and more
Some third party technologies like Adobe Flash and Adobe Reader

I would love to see Zune simply become part of Windows in the future and wouldn't be surprised to see that happen. But then, why not Security Essentials and Windows Live Essentials as well?

Finally, Some Answers to Windows 7 Upgrade Questions

pthurrott — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 18:40:19 GMT

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 media. Ed takes it further, however, and if you're wondering about what's going on or struggling with your own upgrade, this is a must-read:

What's the difference between the full and upgrade versions?

It’s all about the product key. When you enter the product key, the setup program checks to see whether you installed the product on a clean system that didn’t previously have any version of Windows installed. If the answer is yes, it blocks you from entering that key.

What happens if I try to do an install without a product key, then add the product key from my upgrade package later?

It fails.

How about 32-bit to 64-bit upgrades?

You can’t run the 64-bit installer from an existing 32-bit Windows installation (or vice-versa). Here’s how you have to do it instead. Start your computer using the 64-bit installation media. When prompted, choose the Custom installation option.

There is a lot more. Be sure to read this full post.