Posts Tagged ‘Operating System’
Windows 7 Anytime Upgrade Cheaper for New PCs
Picking up that netbook but not wanting to deal with that Starter Edition of Windows 7?
Are you not entirely happy with the limitations of the Windows 7 Starter or Home Premium of that new computer that you were thinking about buying? Microsoft today announced that discounts are on the way.
Starting next week, those who buy a new computer have the option of picking up an Anytime Upgrade Package at a discount.
Microsoft Boasts 90,000,000 Windows 7 Sold
Even when Windows 7 launched into a warm reception (and brisk sales), Microsoft didn’t reveal exact sale numbers for its new OS – until today.
Microsoft CFO Peter Klein announced at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference that Windows 7 has sold 90 million licenses to-date.
Up until recently, Microsoft’s company line when boasting about Windows 7 sales is that is the fastest selling operating system in history, but without any accompanying number.
This news comes just days after the expiration of the free use of Windows 7 Release Candidate.
Ubuntu 10.04 Now with iPhone and iPod Touch Support
Whenever I mention Ubuntu (or for that matter any other Linux distro), I’m invariably asked whether the OS offers support for Apple’s iPod. The answer has always been “no” … until now.
It seems that the Alpha 3 release of Ubuntu 10.04 “Lucid Lynx” offers out-of-the-box support for the iPhone and iPod touch devices.
Integration seems seamless. The Nautilus file manager accesses the tracks, playlists and apps, while RhythmBox can integrate with the contents much like iTunes can (although it cannot play back any DRMed files you might have …). This has been tested using the latest hardware, and the latest firmware.
In my opinion Ubuntu is fast becoming the most user-friendly and versatile of the Linux distros, and offering iPhone/iPod touch support only makes it even more user-friendly.
This should help open up Linux to a whole new audience.
Microsoft: Windows 7 Isn’t Killing Batteries
Microsoft has said that the battery problems currently plaguing a number of Windows 7 users are not caused by the operating system.
Last week Microsoft said the company was investigating whether or not Windows 7 caused laptop battery life to deteriorate. People who have installed Windows 7 (stretching back as far as the RC release last June) say that their computer’s battery life has taken a huge hit. One user reported that before Windows 7, he used to get seven hours of battery from his brand new laptop. Once he had installed Windows 7, it dropped to four hours on a full charge and even then, it was an optimistic four hours. Others said their laptop was telling them to replace their battery altogether.
Microsoft yesterday posted to its MSDN blog network and explained that to the best of its knowledge, Windows 7 is not destroying customers’ batteries.
“Several press articles this past week have drawn attention to blog and forum postings by users claiming Windows 7 is warning them to “consider replacing your battery” in systems which appeared to be operating satisfactorily before upgrading to Windows 7,” Microsoft says. “These articles described posts in the support forums indicating that Windows 7 is not just warning users of failing batteries – as we designed Windows 7 to do this – but also implying Windows 7 is falsely reporting this situation or even worse, causing these batteries to fail.”
The company clarifies that this is not an issue with Windows 7:
“To the very best of the collective ecosystem knowledge, Windows 7 is correctly warning batteries that are in fact failing and Windows 7 is neither incorrectly reporting on battery status nor in any way whatsoever causing batteries to reach this state. In every case we have been able to identify the battery being reported on was in fact in need of recommended replacement.”
Microsoft goes on to explain how the battery replacement warning works, detailing that Windows 7 has a set threshold of 60 percent degradation (that is the battery is performing at 40 percent of its designed capacity). When your battery reaches this level of degradation, Windows 7 will suggest you replace your battery.
The company reiterates that this is a feature exclusive to Windows 7, so folks running Vista or XP could have thought their battery was fine, when in reality it was deteriorating the whole time.
Microsoft Warns of Win 7 Graphics Security Hole
A new Windows 7 graphics flaw has been exposed that could expose users of the 64-bit OS to experience non-responsive systems, restarts and unauthorized code execution.
Microsoft detailed in Security Advisory 2028859 that the vulnerability is to do with the Canonical Display Driver (cdd.dll), which is used by desktop composition to blend the Windows Graphics Device Interface (GDI) and DirectX drawing, and affects Windows 7 x64, Windows Server 2008 R2 x64, and Windows Server 2008 R2 for Itanium systems.
Microsoft says that there isn’t a big worry because code execution would be “very difficult due to memory randomization both in kernel memory and via Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR).” Still, those who are worried about security can simply disable Aero visual effects to keep this security flaw at bay until Microsoft issues a fix.
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