Just right click on a ISO image and select ‘Burn Disc Image’, Windows 7 burns the image onto a blank disc.

No third party softwares needed.

Downloaded and installed Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 and now have Windows XP running inside Windows 7 without any problems.

You will need a Passport ID to login. Also Firefox is not supported for the download. You will need IE 7 and above to download the ISO. Thats because MS uses an Active X Control as a download manager to resume downloads.

Internet Explorer 7 and Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 support the Windows 7 Beta download experience. Please note that Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 users behind a proxy server should use the automatic configuration for their proxy server for the best download experience.

It is good that MS has extended the availability of Windows 7 Beta till 24th January. Hopefully the 3.15 GB x64 ISO will have finished downloading by then on my computer.

P.S. – I have a 160 kbps unlimited internet connection.

Microsoft has announced that it will not be shipping Windows Mail, Photo Gallery & Movie Maker along with Windows 7. Instead users can download the Windows Live programs themselves as and when they need it.

In a follow-up interview on Monday, Windows Vista general manager Brian Hall said Microsoft made the decision to remove the tools from Windows for several reasons, including a desire to issue new operating system releases more quickly than it has in the past. The move also removes the confusion of offering and supporting two different programs that perform essentially similar functions.

“It makes it much cleaner,” Hall said.

A huge step to a cleaner Windows install.

But as to how Microsoft will advertise its Windows Live services inside Windows 7 OS remains to be seen. If users have to download a mail client they can download Thunderbird instead, why to go for Windows Mail. Or for Photo Gallery, Picasa can do the job. So if MS is removing Windows Mail, Photo Gallery it will have to aggressively pursue the users to download the Live programs.

Just open Windows Update on your Vista PC and check for new updates. You will see Windows Vista SP1 available there. You can also download the standalone package of Windows Vista SP1 from Microsoft Download Center here.

Windows Vista SP1 Pre-install check-list

1. Uninstall any pre-release version of Windows Vista SP1 (the Beta or the RC) that you have installed.
2. Update all your system drivers. If you have an incompatible driver then Windows Vista will not show up on Windows Update. Microsoft has a list of known incompatible drivers here.
3. SP1 is available in these 5 languages: English, French, Spanish, German, and Japanese. If you have any other language installed, SP1 will not be offered to you. (You might not even know if you have an additional language installed! Check the Language control panel to see what languages you have installed)

Go install Windows Vista SP1.

Windows Vista Team Blog : Windows Vista released to Windows Update

Download Windows Vista Service Pack 1 for x86 systems

Windows Vista Service Pack 1 for x64 systems

The IE 8 Beta 1 page lists out the new features which will be available in Internet Explorer 8 along with download links to Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1.

The new features in Internet Explorer 8 are :

1. Activities
2. WebSlices
3. Favorites Bar
4. Automatic Crash Recovery
5. Improved Phishing Filter

That’s it. No more new features. Sadly, I don’t find any feature above exciting enough for me to be waiting for Internet Explorer 8. Neither do I find any new UI for Internet Explorer 8 from the screenhots on the page.

Hopefully MS will add more features on the way and also give a new UI to Internet Explorer 8. If not Mozilla Firefox 3 will be THE browser for me. Anywayz it is even now.

Internet Explorer 8 New Features

Download Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 

Download Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 for Window XP SP2

Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 Download Page

Update : Mozilla Links has put up a review of Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 and compared it to the Firefox 3 Beta which is under development now. A post worth reading….

Once connected, Remote Desktop gives you mouse and keyboard control over your computer while showing you everything that’s happening on the screen. With Remote Desktop, you can leave your computer at the office without losing access to your files, applications, and e-mail.

What Remote Desktop basically allows you to do is work on a remote desktop system as if you are sitting in front of it. So here are two tips which can help you utilize Remote Desktop for Microsoft Windows even better.

1. Transfer files between local system and remote system

Using Remote Desktop for Windows, you can easily transfer files to and fro between your local system and remote system. All you need to do is turn on a simple setting in Remote Desktop.

Open Remote Desktop and go to Options. Then click on “Local Resources” tab and tick the checkbox “Disk Drives” under Local Devices. Now you will be able to transfer files between the local and remote system.

2. Shutdown Remote System using Remote Desktop

By default, Remote Desktop does not give you an option to shutdown the Remote System. Instead you get a “Disconnect” option. But you can still shutdown the system. Here is how. When you finish working on the Remote System, open a command prompt and type shutdown -s.

The remote system will be shutdown after 60 seconds and then you will be disconnected.

That’s it. Do you use Remote Desktop ? What do you like about it ?

An excerpt from Microsoft’s press release …

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) today announced that it has made a proposal to the Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) Board of Directors to acquire all the outstanding shares of Yahoo! common stock for per share consideration of $31 representing a total equity value of approximately $44.6 billion. Microsoft’s proposal would allow the Yahoo! shareholders to elect to receive cash or a fixed number of shares of Microsoft common stock, with the total consideration payable to Yahoo! shareholders consisting of one-half cash and one-half Microsoft common stock. The offer represents a 62 percent premium above the closing price of Yahoo! common stock on Jan. 31, 2008.

But what does this mean for me ?

A bigger competitor for Google but no idea how effective the acquisition will be if at all it happens.

Whatever will happen to Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! Messenger and Flickr, three services I use almost all the time.

What do you think of this acquistion ? Does Microsoft buying Yahoo! make sense ?

Microsoft Press Release

The TechCrunch post

Now that I have ditched Windows Vista in favor of Ubuntu Linux, I though I would write a post on why Ubuntu Linux is better than Windows Vista.

5 reasons why you should be using Ubuntu Linux instead of Windows Vista

1. Rock solid stability and better responsiveness

I don’t remember a day when Windows Vista had not crashed on my laptop. Running a Bit-torrent client (any one) will show a BSOD every time on my system. On the contrary I do not remember a day when Ubuntu had stopped responding or crashed.

2.Third-party software just a click away

No more clicking through endless UAC dialogs and Next screens to install the software. In Ubuntu Linux just go to Synaptic Package Manager, search for the software you want to install and click the small checkbox next to it. Then click on Apply. Your software will automatically be downloaded and  installed.

3. The wow is here

If you though Vista’s animations and effects were good, you must try Compiz fusion. It is bundled by default in Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon. Provided you have a decent grahics card, you just need to turn on the effects in System —> Preferences —> Appearance —> Effects.

4. Tune thy Ubuntu

There is absolutely nothing about Ubuntu Linux that you cannot change. Do not like the theme, the icons etc. , just download a new theme  from Gnome Look and drag-drop it on the Appearances dialog box. Your new theme is installed.

5. No antivirus, anti-spyware, firewall required

Damn Windows Security Center and anti-virus software. If Vista is not slow enough for you, then install some anti-virus. Cut to Ubuntu, no such thing needed.

That’s it. So when are you going to try Ubuntu Linux.

P.S. – Reason #5 is there just because I wanted to round off things.