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Officially download Windows 7 / Windows Server 2008 R2 Service pack 1 Beta Build 6.1.7601.16562

Mr. Spark (admin) — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 07:11:42 +0000

As many of the internet user knows that Windows 7 Service pack 1 has been leaked to Torrent sites. The leaked Windows 7 SP1 release has the build number 7601.16562.100603-1800 and it was originally distributed to select beta testers, and will expire in-between April – July 2011.

Users, who don’t like to download the leaked Service Pack 1 beta (7601.16562.100603-1800) from torrents and other file sharing sites, can now officially download Service Pack 1 directly from “Softpedia”.

Links :

Public Beta version of Windows 7 Service Pack 1 availability announced

Mr. Spark (admin) — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 06:04:45 +0000

Now no more wait, Microsoft has announced the imminent availability of public beta version of Service pack 1 for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 at TechEd 2010 annual conference held in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA (June 7-10 2010).

” Today, at TechEd, we are pleased to announce that by the end of July we will be releasing the public beta of Service Pack 1 for Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7. ” - Microsoft Corporation

According to them expectation seems that we will be having SP1 Public Beta in the next one or two weeks.

Current assembly build tag for Windows 7/ Server 2008 R2 SP1 as follows :
6.1.7601.16562.win7sp1_beta.100603-1800 – actual build in win7sp1_beta branch
6.1.7601.16561.win7sp1_beta.100527-1447 – previous build
6.1.7601.16560.win7sp1_beta.100524-1800 – previous build
6.1.7601.16559.win7sp1_beta.100506-1349 – previous build

Download Patch to remove Hardware Virtualization Requirement to Run Windows XP Mode

Mr. Spark (admin) — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 19:22:20 +0000

According to my previous post Microsoft was thinking to add a support for Windows XP mode without hardware Virtualization in the next Service pack. But they released the patch to Remove Hardware Virtualization Requirement to Run Windows Virtual PC and XP Mode in Windows 7.

You may receive one of the following error messages when you try to start or configure any other virtual machine in Windows Virtual PC.

To overcome this error Microsoft has expanded the Virtualization technology with this patch to run XP Mode on non compatible hardware infrastructure.

Download - x86 | x64

Announcing Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 Service Pack 1

Mr. Spark (admin) — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 17:42:04 +0000

Today Microsoft has announced Service pack 1 (SP1) for Windows 7 and Windows server 2008 R2. They didn’t enclosed more details about SP1 for windows 7 but they pointed the new important features in the coming Service pack of Windows Server 2008 R2 which primarily focuses to help organizations of all sizes increase flexibility, employee productivity and IT cost savings.

Microsoft RemoteFX will enable users of virtual desktops and applications to receive a rich 3-D, multimedia experience while accessing information remotely and Microsoft Dynamic Memory will allow customers to adjust memory of a guest virtual machine on demand to maximize server hardware use.

Microsoft remoteFX and Dynamic memory are not the standalone application of microsoft rather they will be shipped as the update package of Windows server 2008 R2 Service pack 1.

Windows XP Mode without hardware virtualization technology

Mr. Spark (admin) — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 17:06:26 +0000

Today, During the Desktop Visualization Hour Webcast , Microsoft has talked about the investments around desktop virtualization technologies and solutions, including virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI), to help organizations of all sizes increase flexibility, employee productivity and IT cost savings.

Within this session Microsoft outlined improvements that make it easier to access desktop virtualization. Like New technology agreement with Citrix Systems, features coming in Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 and about Windows XP mode.

Microsoft had included Windows XP mode in Windows 7 to access the backward compatible application in Windows 7 with the help of hardware visualization technology which force people to upgrade a new infrastructure to run the XP mode and leads to high drop on financial budget.

But now by having a eyes on IT cost savings, Microsoft has decided to give the support for Windows XP Mode that will no longer requires hardware virtualization technology.

This update is not available now but for more information which will go live later at Windows XP mode Homepage.

All about Windows 7 BranchCache

Mr. Spark (admin) — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 15:57:45 +0000

Now a days transfer of Application and data access over WAN is slow in Branch Offices. By this nature of slow connection which results the dissatisfaction of user and on their productivity though improving network performance is expensive and difficult to implement.

The Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 operating systems introduce BranchCache, which enables content from file and Web servers on a wide area network (WAN) to be cached on computers at a local branch office. It not only speeds up access to data and documents from Web and file servers by reducing web and file access over a WAN link, it frees up bandwidth over the WAN link for other uses.

BranchCach has two operating modes:

Hosted Cache mode
Distributed Cache mode.

Hosted Cache mode specifies a local server for caching content downloaded form a content server over the WAN. Caching occurs at the very first request from a user in a branch office. A user from the same branch office subsequently requests for the same content will establish a connection with and retrieve the cached content from the local Hosted Cache server. Host Cache mode is recommended for a branch with more than 50 clients and does require some form of infrastructure for caching and accessing the content in a local server.

Distributed Cache mode, on the other hand, is for a small branch without a local file server that can be used as a hosted cache server. This configuration caches content downloaded from a content server over the WAN at a user’s computer. Caching occurs at the very first request from a user in a branch office. A user from the same branch office subsequently requests for the same content will locate the cached content by broadcasting, and then retrieve the content from that user’s computer in the local area network. Peer-to-peer sharing is the basic idea. There is no central repository in the branch. There are no requirements for servers or services in the branch office beyond client computers running Windows 7.

This is how the BranchCache™ process works:

A Windows 7 client connects to the content server in the central office and requests a file (or file segment) exactly as it would if it were retrieving the file without using BranchCache™.
The content server authenticates and authorizes the client exactly as it would without BranchCache™. If successful, it returns content metadata over the same channel that data would normally have been sent. If this is the first time any client from the branch office network is requesting a file not already cached on the local network, the client retrieves the file directly from the content server.
In Distributed Cache mode, the client sends a request on the local network for the required file by using the Web Services Discovery (WS-Discovery) multicast protocol. The segment hashes provide a unit of discovery. This helps reduce the total number of lookups performed for a given piece of content (versus looking up each block). The client that previously cached the file sends the file to the requesting client. The data is encrypted using a key derived from the hashes sent by the content server, as part of the content metadata. The client decrypts the data, computes the hashes on the blocks received from the first client, and ensures that it is identical to the block hashes provided as part of the content metadata by the content server. This ensures that the content has not been modified.

While in Hosted Cache mode, the client uses the hashes in the metadata to search for the file in the Hosted Cache server. A key difference in Hosted Cache mode is that a client establishes an SSL connection with the Hosted Cache server, and it offers content identifiers over this encrypted channel. The Hosted Cache server connects to the client and retrieves the set of blocks that are not cached.

To implement BranchCache, client computers must be running Windows® 7, with the BranchCache feature enabled. Web servers and file servers must be running Windows Server 2008 R2, with the BranchCache feature enabled

Useful Links :

Download

BranchCache Executive Overview (.doc)

BranchCache Technical Overview (.doc)

BranchCache Security Guide (.doc)

Video guide

Remote Connectivity in Windows 7 (Snack)

Windows 7 Enterprise Demo of BranchCache

How to link Online IDs with Windows User Account

Mr. Spark (admin) — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 18:24:04 +0000

If you have an online account, such as an e?mail account, you can link that account with your Windows user account. Linking these accounts provides the following benefits:

People can share files with you on a homegroup using your online ID instead of having to create a Windows user account for you on their computer.
You can use your online ID to access your information on other computers on a network, such as accessing files on a home computer from your work computer.

Follow the Procedure to link Online IDs

Open User accounts from Control panel.
Click Link online IDs from Left Menu.
Next to the online ID provider that you want to link your user account with, click Link Online ID.

Type your user name and password for the online ID, click Sign in, and then click OK.

Windows Demo Toolkit Foundation Suit 3 with Windows 7 RTM

Mr. Spark (admin) — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 05:48:47 +0000

Now its time to show Off your Windows 7 RTM to your customers and peers with exclusive Demo materials available in Windows Demo Toolkit and this time its featuring Windows 7 RTM. Microsoft has announce the availability of the Windows Demo Toolkit Foundation Suite 3 featuring Windows 7 RTM.

About WDT

The Windows Demo Toolkit is a collection of demo materials you can use to show Windows to your customers. The WDT Foundation Suite is a deployment of Windows 7 tailored specifically for use in demonstrations. The Foundation Suite is the heart of the Windows Demo Toolkit, a collection of resources that makes demoing the Windows OS as easy as possible. Every demo offered in the WDT includes all necessary materials, easy-to-follow setup instructions, and clearly written scripts that are easy to learn and resonate with customers.

You can download it through Microsoft Connect or it is available to registered partners at Partner Center

Windows 7 release date delayed

Mr. Spark (admin) — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 06:22:59 +0000

Long time back i have posted about the release date of Windows 7 RTM which was coming on 24th for MSDN and Technet subscribers.

According to latest news on WindowsTeamBlog, Windows 7 RTM scheduled at the end of July that this will be launched on August 6th.

For Partners & OEMs:

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. By October 1st, the remaining languages will become available to download.

Microsoft Action Pack Subscribers will be about to download Windows 7 RTM in English starting August 23rd. By October 1st, the remaining languages will become available to download.

OEMs will receive Windows 7 RTM software images beginning approximately 2 days after they officially RTM.

For Business Customers:

If you are a Volume License (VL) customer with an existing Software Assurance (SA) license you will be able to download Windows 7 RTM in English starting August 7th via the Volume License Service Center (VLSC). The rest of the languages for Windows 7 RTM should be available within a couple of weeks after that.

Volume License customers without a SA license will be able to purchase Windows 7 through Volume Licensing on September 1st as we announced last week at WPC09. Mark these dates on your calendar and start making your deployment plans!

For IT Professionals:

There are a few ways you can get Windows 7 RTM. IT Professionals with TechNet Subscriptions will be able to download Windows 7 RTM in English on August 6th and remaining languages by October 1st.

For Developers:

Developers with MSDN Subscriptions will be able to download Windows 7 RTM in English on August 6th and remaining languages by October 1st.

All about Windows Shell

Mr. Spark (admin) — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 16:05:04 +0000

Windows Shell is an variety of Objects necessary for accessing the resources of the computer as well as the resources of connected devices and networked computers. These resources include applications such as folders and shortcuts, files, printers, Control Panel, and other virtual objects, shell services, and certain UI components.

Windows Shell is the container in which the entire Windows user interface is presented, including the taskbar, the Desktop, Windows Explorer, and many of the dialog boxes and interface controls.

Examples of shell services include file operations, Web and file browsing, drag-and-drop operations, and file and device synchronization.

The availability and functionality of DLLs changed with each version of Windows, although Microsoft changes many GUI controls and looks in every successor of previous windows version.

The Shell is distributed over a number of dynamic link libraries, including these primary DLLs:

Shell32.dll	: Implements the core Shell runtime and APIs.
Shlwapi.dll	: Offers a range of lightweight utility and wrapper functions. For example, this DLL provides limited Unicode functionality for legacy Windows operating systems.
Comctl32.dll	: Contains the Windows Common Controls.
Shdocvw.dll	: Contains the Internet Explorer browser component.
Url.dll	: Contains APIs for working with URLs, their associated content, and also other Internet information protocols.
Dwmapi.dll	: Implements the Desktop Window Manager runtime and APIs.
Propsys.dll	: Handles PROPVARIANT, VARIANT and VARTYPE, and PROPERTYKEY structure types.

All but a handful of the programming elements are contained in three DLLs: Comctl32.dll, Shell32.dll, and Shlwapi.dll.

Version	DLL	Distribution Platform
4.0	All	Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0
4.7	All	Windows Internet Explorer 3.x
4.71	All	Internet Explorer 4.0. See note 2.
4.72	All	Internet Explorer 4.01 and Windows 98. See note 2.
5.0	Shlwapi.dll	Internet Explorer 5 and Windows 98 SE. See note 3.
5.5	Shlwapi.dll	Internet Explorer 5.5 and Windows Millennium Edition (Windows Me)
6.0	Shlwapi.dll	Windows XP and Windows Vista
5.0	Shell32.dll	Windows 2000 and Windows Millennium Edition (Windows Me). See note 3.
6.0	Shell32.dll	Windows XP and Windows Vista
5.8	Comctl32.dll	Internet Explorer 5. See note 3.
5.81	Comctl32.dll	Windows 2000 and Windows Me. See note 3.
5.82	Comctl32.dll	Windows XP and Windows Vista. See note 4.

The following table outlines the different DLL versions and how they were distributed dating back to Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0, Microsoft Windows 95, and Microsoft Windows NT 4.0.

Microsoft is going to release Windows 7 with New API and GUI which contains new Shell Interfaces, Properties and Functions | Listed here.