Microsoft released recently a Harry Potter theme for Windows 7 and is completely free for download; take a look in this link.
The end of the incredibly popular Harry Potter saga is coming to the end with the first part of the final movies: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1. And Microsoft is offering for all those fans the complete theme pack of the movie with wallpapers, sounds, icons, pointers, etc.
Download it directly from here (4.6 MB).
Channel 9, one of the most known Microsoft’s Internet channel with thousands of interesting videos, created a very complete guide regarding Windows Phone 7 Development: Step-by-step guides for absolute beginners.
There are almost 70 different videos, available for free, covering all you need to know if you want to start working with the development of Windows Phone 7 applications and if you don’t have any experience working with development.
Microsoft also invites you to use free tools to achieve this like Visual Studio 2010 Express and the Windows Phone 7 Emulator (included in Windows Phone Developer Tools).
These videos also include the possibility to download in different versions: High quality WMV, MP3, MP4 (compatible with iPod and ZuneHD), and medium quality WMV.
Windows 7 SP1 will be released any time soon, meaning that the internal builds for this Service Pack are already available in Microsoft. And now there are some screenshots available and even a download around the web.
There are no official statements just yet but apparently, people will be able to download the Windows 7 SP1 RC (release candidate) in the following week, October 23 maybe.
Take note that this build is not the final RC, represents the pre-RC (build string 7601.17104.100921-1630). Here are some of the screenshots that appeared recently:
We would highly recommend for you to wait the final version of the RC before installing it.
Microsoft is not a company known for great marketing. In the past, the marketing department has been ridiculed by the media, by the internet, and even by some of its most rabid supporters. Most recently the biggest commercials were the ones featuring Seinfeld and Bill Gates in random situations making much ado about nothing.
While Apple has retired it’s “I’m A Mac” campaign which prominently featured funny man John Hodgeman and actor Justin Long. The two compared one another on various tasks showing how Apple reigned supreme. Microsoft started running a similar campaign called “I’m A PC” to coincide with the launch of Windows 7. The idea was to show how Windows 7 was made for people by people, as well as show the diversity of those that would use the platform. Essentially Microsoft was looking to appeal to the “everyman” while alluding that Apple was for “elitists” for charging high prices for image as opposed to functionality.
Microsoft as now apparently started a campaign to discourage people from converting to a Mac by covering six topics of interests to show how working with Microsoft and Windows 7 offers more choice then Apple offers with their high priced machines. Rather than a mud slinging campaign, this looks like something a little more permanent.
It will be interesting to see what Microsoft does with this in the long run, but I’m more curious what Apple’s next move will be in response to this.
For those geeky ones always looking for new ways to improve their websites and web apps, here’s a cool plugin which you can use with JavaScript. AeroWindow is a new jQuery plugin which you can use to create pop-ups with a very neat Aero Glass style.
Access the demo site here.
jQuery is a JavaScript framework which allows programmers to interact with HTML objects, design interfaces and add some interaction with other technologies like AJAX. The scalability you can achieve using this is tremendous, and this plugin is a fine example of that.
You can see on the demo, that the similarity with common Aero windows on Windows Vista or Windows 7 is incredible. Plus, working with the plugin you can use a lot of configurations to customize it anyway you want to.
The following browsers are compatible:
Microsoft, once the dominant giant in the technology industry, has more recently been forced to share the stage with a number of competitors. Apple and Google being major players on the field now, not just in technology and research but in the consumer market with devices like set top boxes, hand helds, and entertainment apps. Microsoft is quickly losing ground in this arena, and they are determined to change the course.
Recently it was announced that J. Allard, a major influence in the shaping of the X-Box, would be leaving the company on a rumored disagreement with Steven Ballmer over the cancellation of the Courier Tablet project. While questions remain, what is for certain is that Microsoft may be making some major changes in their executive management in the Entertainment and Devices division. This change would mean more than just replacing, but rather a full scale revamp to find their footing in a race that Microsoft has been steadily losing ground in.
The division is more than just the X-Box, but also includes the Zune and their mobile operation systems. This comes as a relief for me because I’ve personally felt that Microsoft has always missed the mark on their efforts for mobile consumer devices. Whether it’s phones or the Zune, Microsoft seems so divided, with so many fragmented operation systems that lack consistency or the attention to detail that their competitors show. It will be interesting to see where Microsoft ends up after these changes.
If it exists on someone’s hard drive, then there’s a torrent for it. That seem to be the one of the main truths regarding torrent downloads. And that is the case for Windows 7 SP1, which can be found on torrent sites to download.
There are no official dates for the release of this Service Pack, and there is no much information about it, but let’s take a closer look.
There are some screenshots available as well.
Even though there’s no official date of the release, the impact among Windows 7 to the public have been amazing; so thinking about waiting for a Service Pack does not change the idea for most organization for migrating now their platform to Windows 7.
Around 50% of Windows organizations are considering to migrate now to Windows 7 and not to wait for SP1. This behavior did not occur with Windows Vista.
Today, LG have unveiled their first ever laptop which is also the first ever laptop to get the official Windows 7 touch screen seal-of-approval sticker from Micrsoft. This is different to other touch screen laptops out there which use primitive overlay touch screen technology found on many budget touch screen phones. By using an inbuilt screen technology which leaves the screen firm and doesn’t reduce picture quality and responsiveness, LG are sure to have success with this model.
Undoubtedly, Samsung will be unveiling a competitor to this new product in the coming weeks and months, perhaps a little disgruntled having been bet to the post. Perhaps these touch screen laptops will be the new ‘iPad’ seeing as that doesn’t have enough computing power for most of us.
The LG model will go into mass production in the second half of this year although I’m sure some review units will be floating around. For now, we have this video from LG.
If you thought that the advertisements made with Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates weren’t all that good, then don’t get your hopes with this series.
I’m a big fan of Family Guy, but definitely these are not clips that I would like to remember.
Enjoy… or not:
As many of you already should know, Windows 7 media, as it was for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008, includes all the versions inside the same disc. But, the difference from Vista is that Windows 7 does not let you choose from the different versions available when you install the operating system.
Windows 7 Edition Switcher will let you easily do that, and the possibility, for example, to switch from Windows 7 Home to Ultimate.
This new and simple app will let you convert any Windows 7 ISO file to the version that you need, and it only takes a few clicks.
Just select the patch from the zip file that you downloaded from the website, select the ISO file that you wish to convert and done.
Oh, did I mention this app it is also portable? 
Enjoy!
