Tweak-7 - the world's first tweaking and optimization software designed for Windows 7 - currently in development - coming later this year. Tweak-7 comes with heaps of fantastic features, all packed into one single application:
• Be prepared ... Tweak-7: not just another tweaking software. • Tweak-7: all the vitamins your Windows 7 needs! • Packed with hundreds of tweaks. Everything you need to customize and tweak your Windows 7 to fit your needs. From startmenu, to desktop tweaks, from taskbar customization to system tweaks. • Packed with features to optimize your Windows 7 experience. A system cleanup suite never seen before in just one application: an incredible fast registry cleaner, a registry defragmentation feature (compresses the Windows registry), a disk drive clean up utility, and much more ... • All the vitamins your Windows 7 needs. 3D system performance analyzation combined with heaps of system related tweaks to optimize your Windows 7 in speed and reliability. System restrictions: you allow what is allowed on your system and what is not: protected folders, protected applications. • Automatic internet connection optmization. Tweak-7 includes an internet connection analyzer, which automatically inspects your internet connection to speed it up by up to 25% - this incredible new feature is a must for every Windows 7 user used to browse the net at high speed!
Changes in Tweak-7 Beta v1.0 Build 515 - May 15th 2009: - Several changes and minor fixes in the FileWiper feature - Several changes and fixes in the System CleanUp feature - Fixing an issue in the Registry Defrag feature that caused a crash when the Defragment button was clicked - Fixing a GUI issue that mixed up the user interface when the main window was restored from the system tray * Several changes to the Startmenu tweaks feature * Some design changes
A public beta version of Tweak-7 is available for download below. The beta version is fully functional for a period of 14 days and can be downloaded and installed by everybody running any version of Windows 7. Upcoming beta versions will extend the testing period.
Just barely a week after Microsoft officially made available Windows 7 RC download with the build version of 7100 publicly, a newer build of Windows 7 has been compiled by Microsoft and released to internal testers. And of course, the Windows 7 build 7127, which is post-Release Candidate build on the RTM-branch of Windows 7 operating system development tree has also been leaked to BitTorrent (BT) network, in the form of complete ISO files.
Microsoft has specified that there will only one and final release candidate available officially before the final RTM general availability release of Windows 7. Thus, unofficial leaked post-RC builds are the best shots Windows 7 enthusiasts can get a hand on the newer interim build of Windows 7. However, Windows 7 Build 7127 appears to not much different from Windows 7 RC build 7100 in term of user interface. However, there will be bug fixes and under the hood changes.
Windows 7 Build 7127 has full build version number of 7127.0.090507.1820, appears to be finalized on May 7, 2009. Windows 7 Build 7127 is the first post-RC build that leaks to date. Windows 7 Build 7106, which only has Chinese version leaked, are likely to be a pre-RC release.
Windows 7 Build 7127 has 32-bit (x86) and 64-bit (x64) DVD ISO images ready for authorized testers on Microsoft Connect, in the following name:
Mehdi Magnon has announced the release of Sabily 9.04, an Ubuntu-based distribution containing a selection of Islamic software, including prayer times, a Quran study tool, Arabic learning software and a web content filtering utility: "The Sabily team is proud to announce the release of Sabily 9.04, code name 'Taibah'. Sabily is the new name of Ubuntu Muslim Edition. New in this release: hijra, a Hijri Islamic calendar tray applet; mus-haf Othman, Othman Quran browser which displays Quran text in Othmani script style; updated artwork; Thwab can now open Shamela books. Main features: WebStrict parental control tool; Zekr 0.7.2 (Quran study tool), able to play Quran recitations; prayer times applications - Minbar and Firefox Pray Times add-on; Thwab (encyclopaedia); full support for Arabic...." Read the remainder of the release announcement for further details. Download: sabily-9.04-desktop-i386-full.iso (1,394MB, torrent).
Tweak-7 - the world's first tweaking and optimization software designed for Windows 7 - currently in development - coming later this year. Tweak-7 comes with heaps of fantastic features, all packed into one single application:
• Be prepared ... Tweak-7: not just another tweaking software. • Tweak-7: all the vitamins your Windows 7 needs! • Packed with hundreds of tweaks. Everything you need to customize and tweak your Windows 7 to fit your needs. From startmenu, to desktop tweaks, from taskbar customization to system tweaks. • Packed with features to optimize your Windows 7 experience. A system cleanup suite never seen before in just one application: an incredible fast registry cleaner, a registry defragmentation feature (compresses the Windows registry), a disk drive clean up utility, and much more ... • All the vitamins your Windows 7 needs. 3D system performance analyzation combined with heaps of system related tweaks to optimize your Windows 7 in speed and reliability. System restrictions: you allow what is allowed on your system and what is not: protected folders, protected applications. • Automatic internet connection optmization. Tweak-7 includes an internet connection analyzer, which automatically inspects your internet connection to speed it up by up to 25% - this incredible new feature is a must for every Windows 7 user used to browse the net at high speed!
Changes in Tweak-7 Beta v1.0 Build 507 - May 12th 2009: - Fixing several exceptions that occurred in relation to missing files and directories - Fixing an incorrect date format conversion on start up - Fixing a delay during setup that caused the setup to freeze for a couple of seconds - Fixing a few issues in the 'Autostart Manager' feature where autostarts were not created properly if UAC was enabled * Date conversion on start up improved to work with some special system date formats - Fixing some unlogical behaviors related to the password protection feature of Tweak-7 - Several minor changes and fixes
A public beta version of Tweak-7 is available for download below. The beta version is fully functional for a period of 14 days and can be downloaded and installed by everybody running any version of Windows 7. Upcoming beta versions will extend the testing period.
Potential Windows 7 box art leaked earlier this week from Polish site Centrumxp.
Originally many speculated that these images were fake but blogger Long Zheng has unearthed Microsoft using the same logo on the box art, elsewhere.
Microsoft has created a Windows Lounge site for internal employees to join a Facebook group for information, training and marketing for Windows 7. The group uses the following image for its logo:
Compared to the box art that was leaked it's too similar. It appears as though this could be concept or final box art for the Windows 7 packaging. Microsoft officials have said "off the record" that Windows 7 will RTM in the Summer and be available for the Fall. It's not unreasonable for the company to be finalising marketing materials, logos and packaging at this stage.
The ALC882 series 7.1+2 Channel High Definition Audio codecs with UAA (Universal Audio Architecture), featuring five 24-bit stereo DACs and three 20-bit stereo ADCs, are designed for high performancemultimedia PC systems. The ALC882 series incorporates proprietary converter technology to achieve over 100dB Signal-to-Noise ratio playback quality; easily meeting PC2001 requirements and also bringing PC sound quality closer to consumer electronic devices.
The ALC882 series provide 10 channels of DAC that simultaneously support 7.1 sound playback, plus 2 channels of independent stereo sound output (multiple streaming) through the Front-Out-Left and Front-Out-Right channels. Flexible mixing, mute, and fine gain control functions provide a complete integrated audio solution for next generation multimedia PCs.
Features of Realtek High Definition Audio Driver : - High-performance DACs with 103dB SNR are ideal for Dolby Master Studio - ADCs with 90dBA SNR - Meets performance requirements for audio on PC2001 systems - 10 DAC channels support 16/20/24-bit PCM format for 7.1 sound playback, plus 2 channels of independent stereo sound output (multiple streaming) through the - Front-Out-Left and Front-Out-Right channels - 3 stereo ADCs support 16/20-bit PCM format, two for microphone array, one for legacy mixer recording - All DACs support 44.1k/48k/96k/192kHz sample rate - All ADCs support 44.1k/48k/96kHz sample rate - Applicable for DVD-Audio solutions - 16/20/24-bit S/PDIF-OUT supports 44.1k/48k/96k/192kHz sample rate - 16/20/24-bit S/PDIF-IN supports 44.1k/48k/96k/192kHz sample rate - Up to four channels of microphone input are supported for AEC/BF application - High-quality analog differential CD input - Supports external PCBEEP input and built-in digital BEEP generator - Software selectable 2.5V/3.75V VREFOUT - Six VREFOUTs are supported by default, with additional four VREFOUTs available by sharing unused analog I/O pins - Two jack detection pins each designed to detect up to 4 jacks - Reserve analog mixer architecture for backward compatibility with AC'97 - Wide range (–80dB ~ +42dB) volume control with 1.5dB resolution of analog to analog mixer gain - All analog jacks are stereo input and output re-tasking for analog plug & play - Built-in headphone amplifiers for each re-tasking jack - Supports both analog DC volume control and GPI digital volume control - 2 GPIOs (General Purpose Input/Output) for customized applications - Optional EAPD (External Amplifier Power Down) is supported - Power support: Digital: 3.3V; Analog: 5.0V (Minimum AVDD is 3.6V) - Power management and enhanced power saving features - 48-pin LQFP lead (Pb)-free package - Meets Microsoft WHQL/WLP 2.0 audio requirements - EAX 1.0 & 2.0 compatible - Direct Sound 3D compatible - A3D compatible - I3DL2 compatible - HRTF 3D Positional Audio - Emulation of 26 sound environments to enhance gaming experience - 10 Software Equalizer Bands - Voice Cancellation and Key Shifting in Karaoke mode - Realtek Media Player - Enhanced Configuration Panel and device sensing wizard to improve user experience - Microphone Acoustic Echo Cancellation (AEC), Noise Suppression (NS) and Beam Forming (BF) technology for voice application - ALC882D features Dolby Digital Live output for consumer equipment - ALC882H features Dolby Home Theater software - ALC882M features Dolby Master Studio software
Changes in Driver Package R2.23: Realtek HD Audio Driver support all of Realtek HD Audio Codec . 1. Vista WHQL Supporting: ALC882, ALC883, ALC885, ALC888, ALC889, ALC861VD, ALC660, ALC662, ALC663, ALC665, ALC260, ALC262,ALC267, ALC268, ALC269, ALC272, ALC273, ALC887 2. Windows 2000/XP WHQL Supporting: ALC880, ALC882, ALC883, ALC885, ALC888, ALC889, ALC861VC, ALC861VD, ALC660, ALC662, ALC663, ALC665, ALC260, ALC262, ALC267,ALC268, ALC269, ALC272, ALC273, ALC887 3. HDMI Device WHQL Support: ATI HDMI Devices 4. OS Supporting: Microsoft WindowsXP, Widnows2000, Windows Server 2003, Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows7 - x86/x64 5. Pack with Microsoft High Definition Audio UAAV1.0a(5013) 6. Add/Fix 1.) Driver : 1. Customizations. 2. Fix DTM 1.4 lullaby test & wave pull mode test issue.
Firefox 3.5 (CodeName Shiretoko) Beta 5 is a public preview release intended for developer testing and community feedback. It includes many new features as well as improvements to performance, web compatibility, and speed. We recommend that you read the release notes and known issues before installing this beta. Firefox 3.5 (formerly known as Firefox 3.1) Beta 5 is now available for download. This milestone is focused on testing the core functionality provided by many new features and changes to the platform scheduled for Firefox 3.5. Ongoing planning for Firefox 3.1 can be followed at the Firefox 3.5 Planning Center, as well as in mozilla.dev.planning and on irc.mozilla.org in #shiretoko.
nVIDIA ForceWare software unleashes the full power and features in nVIDIA's desktop, gaming, platform, workstation, laptop, multimedia, and mobile products. Delivering a proven record of compatibility, reliability, and stability with the widest range of games and applications, ForceWare software ensures the best experience with your nVIDIA hardware. • Incredible 3D and video performance for all of your applications. • Rock-solid system stability, greater compatibility, and reliability with nVIDIA® Unified Driver Architecture (UDA). • Industry-leading features for graphics, audio, video, communications, storage, and security. • Robust product support for over ten unique operating systems. • Continual product performance and feature updates for the life of your nVIDIA hardware.
NVIDIA has released the following WHQL certified drivers for use with Windows Vista RTM that will enable you to test the basic features and capabilities of the new operating system. NVIDIA is committed to supportingMicrosoft Windows Vista on current and previous GPU generations. It's important to us that you have an excellent experience through the Vista transition, and driver development is the highest priority in our company.
This is a WHQL-Certified driver supporting GeForce 6, 7, 8, 9, 100, and 200-series desktop GPUs and ION.
New in Release 185 drivers: * Adds support for the new GeForce GTX 275 GPU. * Adds support for Ambient Occlusion – the newest NVIDIA Control Panel feature to offer enhanced 3D gaming realism exclusively to GeForce GPUs. * Adds support for CUDA 2.2 for improved performance in GPU Computing applications. See CUDA for more details. * Expands GPU hardware acceleration for the NVIDIA Video Encoding library to GPUs with less than 32 cores. Applications using this library include CyberLink PowerDirector 7, Nero Move it 1.5, Loilo SuperLoiloScope MARS, and CyberLink MediaShow Espresso. * Accelerates performance in several 3D applications. The following are examples of improvements measured with Release 185 drivers vs. Release 182 drivers (results will vary depending on your GPU, system configuration, and game settings): o Up to 25% performance increase in The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena o Up to 22% performance increase in Crysis: Warhead with antialiasing enabled o Up to 11% performance increase in Fallout 3 with antialiasing enabled o Up to 14% performance increase in Far Cry 2 o Up to 30% performance increase in Half-Life 2 engine games with 3-way and 4-way SLI o Up to 45% performance increase in Mirror’s Edge with antialiasing enabled * Automatically installs the new PhysX System Software version 9.09.0408. * Supports GeForce Plus Power Pack #3. Download these FREE PhysX and CUDA applications now! * Numerous bug fixes. Refer to the release documentation notes. * Users without US English operating systems can select their language and download the International driver here.
Existing Support: * Supports single GPU and NVIDIA SLI technology on DirectX 9, DirectX 10, and OpenGL, including 3-way SLI, Quad SLI, and SLI support on SLI-certified Intel X58-based motherboards. * Includes full support for OpenGL 3.0. * Supports NVIDIA SLI Multi-monitor support, giving you the ability to use two monitors with your GeForce graphics cards in SLI mode. Learn more here. * Supports NVIDIA PhysX acceleration on a dedicated GeForce graphics card. Use one card for graphics and dedicate a different card for PhysX processing for game-changing physical effects. Learn more here. Note: GPU PhysX is supported on all GeForce 8-series, 9-series and 200-series GPUs with a minimum of 256MB dedicated graphics memory. * Supports GPU overclocking and temperature monitoring by installing NVIDIA System Tools software.
When Microsoft released the official beta for Windows 7 a while back, it also published a set of system requirements. These were a general overview, and it seems that they have been updated to match the Windows 7 RC recently made available.
Here's the list of initial system requirements Microsoft made available:
* 1GHz processor (32- or 64-bit) * 1GB of RAM * 16 GB of available disk space * Support for DirectX 9 graphics with 128MB of memory (for the Aero interface)
And here, you will find the updated and final list of requirements:
* 1 GHz processor (32- or 64-bit) * 1 GB of RAM (32-bit); 2 GB of RAM (64-bit) * 16 GB of available disk space (32-bit); 20 GB of avaiable disk space (64-bit) * DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver
According to ZDNet, however, "If you are planning to run Windows XP Mode along with Windows 7, Microsoft is recommending a PC with a minimum of 2GB of memory and 15 GB of additional disk space." Microsoft stated, "In addition, Windows Virtual PC requires a PC with Intel-VT or AMD-V enabled in the CPU, as it takes advantage of the latest advancements in hardware virtualization."
If you're interested in comparing, here is the list of final specifications for Windows Vista:
* 1 GHz processor (32- or 64-bit) * 512 MB of RAM (for Home Basic); 1 GB of RAM for all other versions * 15 GB of available disk space * Support for DirectX 9 graphics and 32 MB of graphics memory (for Home Basic); 128 MB of graphics memory plus WDDM support for all other versions
These specifications are not specific to any particular SKU, and again, are final. Thoughts?
The wait is over folks, Microsoft has published the download page for the Windows 7 RC. As we noted earlier, the download was scheduled to launch tomorrow and was to be available worldwide. Coming straight from the download page, here are Microsoft's notes for the release candidate:
You don't need to rush to get the RC. The RC will be available at least through July 2009 and we're not limiting the number of product keys, so you have plenty of time.
Watch the calendar. The RC will expire on June 1, 2010. Starting on March 1, 2010, your PC will begin shutting down every two hours. Windows will notify you two weeks before the bi-hourly shutdowns start. To avoid interruption, you'll need to install a non-expired version of Windows before March 1, 2010. You'll also need to install the programs and data that you want to use. (Learn more about installing Windows.)
Protect your PC and data. Be sure to back up your data and please don't test the RC on your primary home or business PC.
Tech details/updates: Before installing the RC, please read the Release Notes and Things to Know for important information about the release.
Keep up with the news. You can keep up with general technical information and news by following the team blog. And, you can get non-technical news, tips, and offers by subscribing to the monthly Exploring Windows newsletter.
Keep your PC updated: Be sure to turn on automatic updates in Windows Update in case we publish updates for the RC.
Installation: You can install the Windows 7 RC on a PC running Windows Vista without backing up the PC—but we encourage you to make a backup for safe keeping. If you're running Windows XP or the Windows 7 Beta, you'll need to backup your data, then do a clean installation of the RC, then reinstall your applications and restore your data. If you need to do a backup, please see How to back up your PC for more details and a suggestion for how to backup a PC running Windows 7 Beta or Windows Vista.
So without further a-do folks, click here to go to Microsoft's download center and download the Windows 7 RC. Microsoft has also launched the Technet download which you can find here. On a side note, it appears as if you will be issued a new product key for the RC. It is most likely going to give you the extended time for using the RC if you have downloaded from another source. Installation instructions can be found here.
Microsoft has finally compiled the final RTM version of Service Pack 2 (SP2) for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008. As usual, the setup installer for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 SP2 have been leaked to Internet for free download by all, way ahead of official Microsoft release.
The final RTM of SP2 for Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista has the file build version of 6002.18005, with full string of 6.0.6002.18005, as mentioned in article about SP2 RTM-Escrow, and confirmed by Windows Team Blog post. mychaelo has posted on My Digital Life forums the leaked Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 standalone setup installers, for both 32bit and 64bit, in the form of RapidShare and DepositFiles HTTP download links plus torrents for BT download.
32-bit (x86) Windows Vista and Server 2008 SP2 RTM (All 36 Languages)
The standalone setup installer for Windows Vista and WS 2008 SP2 contains all 36 languages to support all localized operating system. No need to wait for any separate language waves to be released. However, for Windows Vista users who want to download a smaller SP2 update files, standalone SP2 installers for specific waves are also available.
32bit (x86) Windows Vista and Server 2008 SP2 RTM (Wave 0 - English, Japanese, Spanish, German and French)
Windows Vista Users will require to download and install Windows Vista SP1 prior to updating SP2. Officially, the roll out of Windows Vista SP2 and Windows Server 2008 SP2 via Windows Update will take months, although the installer will make available publicly soon, during the second quarter of 2009. Those not intends to install SP2 onto their system should download and install Windows Service Pack Blocker Tool Kit. However, Windows Vista SP1 will be made mandatory and started to deploy to all Windows Vista soon.
For Windows users who prefer to fresh install Windows Vista with SP2 from clean state (after reformatting hard disk), Windows Vista with SP2 slipstreamed or integrated DVD ISO images are also leaked to Internet.
The 2007 Microsoft Office suite Service Pack 2 delivers important customer-requested stability and performance improvements, while incorporating further enhancements to user security. This service pack also includes all of the updates released for the 2007 Office suite prior to February 2009. Service Pack 2 adds the ability to open, edit and save documents in version 1.1 of the OpenDocument Format for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. These applications now let users save, open, and edit files as OpenDocument Text (*.odt), OpenDocument Spreadsheet (*.ods), and OpenDocument Presentations (*.odp).
The 2007 Microsoft Office Service Pack 2 is the first service pack to support uninstall of client updates through the Microsoft Service Pack Uninstall Tool for the 2007 Microsoft Office Suite as well as via Windows Installer command line. The Service Pack Uninstall Tool will be available as a separate download,” the Office Service Pack team member added. “The Microsoft Save As PDF or XPS add-in has been built into Office applications in SP2. Users no longer have to download and install the add-in separately.”
The 2007 Microsoft Office servers Service Pack 2 (SP2) package gives customers the latest updates to the 2007 Office server products. This service pack includes two main categories of fixes: • Previously unreleased fixes that were made specifically for this service pack. o In addition to providing general product fixes, SP2 includes improvements in stability, in performance, and in security. • All the public updates, security updates, cumulative updates, and hotfixes that were released through February 2009.
Microsoft Enterprise Content Management (ECM): * Improves the performance and stability of the content deployment feature and of the Variations feature. * Adds a new command to the Stsadm.exe tool. This tool provides the following functionality: o Lets a SharePoint administrator use the Variations feature to scan a site for errors, report the errors, and fix certain problems. o Finds and repairs missing peer relationships and corrupted entries in the internal variations relationships list. o Handles the propagation of large volumes of variations content in a more manageable way.
Microsoft Office Excel and Microsoft Office Access services: * Fixes Open Snapshot so that snapshots open more reliably, even if there is no SharePoint root site. * Fixes display issues that cause calculations to appear incorrect in some cases. * Improves connections to cubes by using .odc files in non-English cases. * Improves the performance of programmatic scenarios. * Fixes conditional formatting in Mozilla Firefox browsers. * Improves support for generating Excel Web Access Web parts on new sites.
Microsoft Office Groove Server (64-bit version only): * Office Groove Server 2007 Data Bridge now limits the number of file-sharing workspaces to 64 to make sure that all workspaces can be synchronized. This limit applies only to newly added file-sharing workspaces. If you already have more than 64 file-sharing workspaces, you can continue to use them. * Improves synchronization reliability. * Groove Server 2007 Manager can be installed and run with SQL Server 2008. * Improves the Groove Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) connectivity and auto-activation functionality. * Improves error reporting in the Groove Relay Server. * Improves the robustness of Groove Relay Server.
Microsoft Office Forms Server: * Improves performance of large browser forms on InfoPath Form Services, both for memory usage and for page load time. * Improves reliability of Forms Server and of Microsoft Office SharePoint Server by addressing the previous behavior in which an upgrade of an administrator-approved form template triggers an IIS reset. * Improves the Digital Signature functionality for InfoPath Forms Services.
Microsoft Office Project Server: * Modifies the queue service to prevent it from using large volumes of memory over long periods. * Improves the performance of certain database table indexes. * Improves cost resource functionality. For example, the server now correctly handles tasks that have material or work resources assigned to the same task. * Improves certain areas such as resource plans, build team, and the server scheduling engine.
Microsoft Office Search Server: * Improves the reliability and stability of WSS crawl, of SharePoint crawl, of crawling through a very large corpus, and of backup restore. * Introduces a new command to the Stsadm.exe tool that lets a SharePoint administrator tune the Query processor multiplier parameter. For example, the Query processor multiplier can be used to tune the query performance for SSP indexing content sources that have highly restrictive permissions and many duplicates. * Improves the accuracy of searches that involve numbers. For example, there is additional support for large numbers in which a comma is used to separate every three digits (for example, 1,000,000), for numbers that are between 9 and 40 characters, and for numbers that are separated by spaces.
Platform support: * Provides full support for Windows Internet Explorer 8. * Provides level 2 browser support for Mozilla Firefox (versions 2 and 3).
Note: Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Service Pack 2 is required for 2007 Microsoft Office servers SP2.
