All about Microsoft Office 2010

Now Microsoft Office 2010 is fully final and ready for sale. The event of Office 2010 has been a long road and with all that time, Microsoft's Office team been hard at work to incorporate a large number of new features into the brand new model to assist make Office even better than ever. The staff strongly centered on the pace of the software as well as including neat options, like grabbing screenshot in Word, and the ribbon interface in Outlook.

With this overview of the Office 2010 RTM, I hope to spotlight several of the new features in Office 2010 that may affects you, the top user. Perhaps a very powerful change right off the bat in Office 2010 is

Microsoft Research’s 3D multi-touch Technology

Multi-touch interaction has always been a dream of the future. Movies like Ironman 2 and Minority Report, present 3D multi-touch systems as an advanced technology available only in the world of science fiction. But Microsoft Research is turning fantasy into reality. At the 2010 Computer-Human Interaction Conference MSR (Microsoft Research) revealed that it has been working on for about a year now that has been dubbed the “Pinch-the-Sky Dome”.

The Pinch-the-Sky Dome projects Omni-directional images in a dome that will enclose the user. The user can navigate through the virtual space with multi-touch gestures. This system uses an infrared

80% of companies plan to upgrade to Windows 7 in 2010

Despite the fact that Microsoft has steadfastly refused to provide statistics on adoption of Windows 7 in a corporate environment, a company specializing in automated test applications for compatibility, says that current levels of adoption is very high.

Under the company ChangeBASE , developer AOK, no less than 80% of its customers planning to migrate to the latest version of Windows over the years since its release. More than half of organizations expected to have 64-bit (x64) Windows 7, said Greg Lambert (Greg Lambert) from ChangeBASE.

"It was a surprise for us,but taking into consideration the current nature of the hardware and software ecosystem,

No Slim Xbox 360 !

Sorry, no skinny Xbox 360 will be available... ever...

Microsoft's director of product management Aaron Greenberg told Kotaku in a recent interview that the company is quite happy with the Xbox 360 console. Actually, he said that they "feel great" about the console although Microsoft should actually be ashamed in regards to the inexcusable 54.2-percent hardware failure rate.

Still, Greenberg talks as if the console is king of the world now that the company revamped the operating system with the cheesy New Xbox Experience interface, and added "extra value" with Netflix and more multimedia features coming in future updates (Facebook, Last.FM, Twitter).

With that said, don't expect anything drastic to change for a long time on the hardware front, if ever. "We feel like our system has done very well for us in the current form," he told Kotaku. "We have no plans for a slim."

In fact, Greenberg added that the Xbox 360 has "plenty of future," that the console is not even middle-aged in regards to the console's expected lifespan. Greenberg even revisited the subject of Project Natal working on the current consoles. "I think it will add to the longevity of the system," he said.

"I think what we did with the New Xbox Experience is a sign of what we want to do with the console," he admitted.

7 Reasons for PC Gamers to Get Windows 7

Yes, it will run Crysis, Call of Duty, GTA IV...

With Windows 7 now finished, Microsoft's next challenge is to drive adoption. Those with high performance PCs made for gaming will only switch if there is a decent incentive to do so. While the nice Aero effects and new taskbar are reason enough for some of us who spend most of our time working on our PCs, gamers will need a little bit more.

Microsoft's Games for Windows site lists the following seven reasons for a PC gamer to get Windows 7:

1 - Performance:
To quote a coworker: 'Across same hardware, Crysis runs awesome on Win7! Even better than XP!'. Code for the OS has been optimized for better all around performance for games. Whatever you're playing now should be a better experience in Windows 7.

2 - Compatibility:
The top third-party games, services, and international versions of games have been tested in Windows 7, so you should not worry about Windows 7 breaking your games. Feel free to move to Windows 7 because whatever you're playing now should work fabulously in Windows 7.

3 - Discoverability:
You can use Start -> Search to find any game you just downloaded or installed. No need to launch a separate application. Likewise, you won't need to launch a game to get more info about it: The Windows 7 Games Explorer can show you in-game statistics within a preview pane plus delivers up-to-date info about your favorite game publishers and gives you the opportunity to try new games.

4 - Easy updates:
The new Games Explorer will notify you whenever updates are available for your games so you don't have to go searching for them yourself or have to launch the game to see if there's an update waiting.

5 - DirectX 11 support:
DirectX 11 means better games, pure and simple, with more advanced features for games to use.
6 - Multitouch support:
An increasing number of gamers are using multitouch devices. Windows 7 supports multitouch-capable machines, so you can buy the latest and greatest multitouch laptop or desktop confident it's going to work in Windows 7.

7 - Classics:
Here's a bonus reason for you: Windows 7 is going to bring back Internet Backgammon, Internet Spades, and Internet Checkers because you can't spend all your time hardcore.

Via : Tom's Hardware US

FREE Nero 9 download - CD/DVD Burning

To grab users attention by providing free tools with limited features, is becoming a hot trend now a days. Recently Norton IS'09 free version was announced and now NERO doing the trick. This version of NERO does not require any crack, keygen or serial product key. The NERO 9 Free Edition supports only following features

* CD/DVD Copying
* Data CD/DVD burning

This can be used with unlimited amount of time without any restriction.
It is 55MB in size which can be downloaded from nero official site and supports both 32-bit (x86) and 64-bit version (x64) Windows XP SP2 or SP3, Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 with SP2.

Download it from here: nero.com

Note: It does not needs any kind of key what so ever and is recommended not to install Ask.com toolbar.

YouTube testing 3D stereoscopic video uploads !

In last 9-10 years Google brought us Gmail, Google News, and AdSense, to name just a few. The latest innovation to come out of a Googler's one-day-a-week personal project time is 3D stereoscopic videos in YouTube.

How it works ?
The concept is simple; upload a video that contains both the left eye and right eye frames side-by-side. To make your video viewable as in 3D, tag it with "yt3d:enable=true" as well as "yt3d:aspect=3:4", setting this one to the actual aspect ratio of your video.

Check out above site for details on working.

The YT3D tag will enable a drop-down menu under your video that gives the viewer the option to view it using various 3D technologies, from Red / Cyan glasses to simple Parallel or Cross-eyed modes that don't require special glasses to view. The video is manipulated for each of these various viewing modes on the fly, so you can switch between instantly.

The news is quite impressive. So, what do you think about this product ? Let me know in comment.

Facebook Freak ? Upload Photo via email !

In order to maintain the "Facebook" hype among users, a new cool feature has been announced which adds more richness to be social. Apart from manual upload and sharing of pictures, now you can use your E-mail address to socialize pictures.

Previously this service for held for iphone users but now anybody can email their photos to their facebook accounts.
To do so:
1.Go to m.facebook.com from your phones.
2.Request for personalized Email account.
3.Use it in 'To' Adress bar with subject line.
4.Click send button.

For more check out Facebook Mobile.

First manned solar plane unveiled in Switzerland

The first aircraft designed to run exclusively on solar power was introduced near Zurich, Switzerland after spending six years in stealthy development. Record-setting hot air ballooner Bertrand Piccard plans to take the plane, dubbed the Solar Impulse, on several test flights by the end of the year, demonstrating that air travel is not off limits when it comes to cleantech innovation.

The craft, made out of lightweight carbon fiber and shaped like a wasp with the wingspan of a Boeing 747 jumbo jet (207 feet), was built so that it can continue flying at night, even in the absence of the sun. If the Solar Impulse makes the first trek in the anticipated two days and one night without incident, the technology will be adapted for a second, slightly different solar plane to be completed and flown around the world in 2012.

Weighing less than a mid-size car (3,306 pounds), the Solar Impulse only seats one passenger. Sunlight is absorbed by about 12,000 solar cells distributed across its wings. It is then used to power four 10-horsepower compact electric motors — and what isn’t used immediately is stored in 882 pounds of batteries. This reserve energy is used to keep the plane aloft at night. If the plane performs correctly during an initial daytime flight, Piccard plans to take it on a continuous 36-hour flight to prove the efficacy of its battery systems.

Via : venturebeat.com

Windows 7 official pricing announced

Microsoft just laid out the Windows 7 pricing grid for us, and here's the big takeaway:

• Windows 7 Home Premium: $199.99
  
• Windows 7 Professional: $299.99
  
• Windows 7 Ultimate: $319.99
  

The prices are lower for users who are upgrading from Windows XP or Vista:

• Windows 7 Home Premium: $119.99
  
• Windows 7 Professional: $199.99
  
• Windows 7 Ultimate: $219.99

But wait, there's more. Starting tomorrow, US customers will be able to pre-order the operating system at much lower prices:

• Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade pre-order: $49.99
• Windows 7 Professional Upgrade pre-order: $99.99

Oh, and don't you worry about scoring a place in line, because we're here to help: later today we'll be giving away 100 codes that guarantee a pre-order spot at the discounted prices, and you'll be able to share the code with two friends. You'll have to act fast, though -- the codes will only be valid for 48 hours. Keep your eyes peeled for our recession antidote post around noon EST, and get your clicky-fingers ready.

Source : engadget.com

Microsoft Bing is Growing, ComScore Reports

Research from Comscore reports that Microsoft latest search endeavor, Microsoft Bing, experienced slow and steady growth during its second week online.

ComScore announced yesterday via press release that during its second week, Microsoft saw its daily searcher penetration increase by 3 percentage points to 16.7 percent, compared to the week before Bing launched. This is up from 15.8 percent of daily searcher penetration during Bing’s first week online. Bing also garnered 12.1 percent of internet searches, compared to 11.3 percent during the week of launch and up from 9.1 percent before Bing launched.

“It appears that Microsoft Bing has continued to generate interest from the market for the second consecutive week,” said Mike Hurt, ComScore senior vice president. “These early data reflect a continued positive market reaction to Bing in the initial stages of its launch.”

The news comes about the same time Google decided to include a “Discover the Web” button on its homepage. The link brings you to a page that shows off all of the nifty things that irregular users might not know Google could do. Included is weather forecasts, movie times, a flight tracker and unit conversion.

Source : tech.yahoo.com

Is Windows 7 Driver FREE ?

If someone wants to install a new Operating System on their machine, first thing come into their mind....oops I will need to get drivers first before installing...and also some others questions regarding the compatibility of the softwares which they are using.

As I had already written about an article on " 12 Days with Windows 7 " , you can consider it as next part of that. I mean " 1 and half months with Windows 7 ".

In that article I had written about the installation process of Windows 7. Since the installation was quite impressive and won my heart, while I installed it on my Laptop. Since then I have installed it on more than 16 laptops and PCs. And one thing I noticed that their was no need to install any drivers of their hardware. Also all PCs have quite different hardwares varying from processor, graphic cards, sound card, network adapters and many others. And for updating the driver " Windows Update " updated them automatically. I even installed it on those PCs which had minimum requirement i.e. had only 1 Gb of RAM. But the result was same, the installations was quite fast, impressive and also they run quite smoothly.

Now , moving on to the next topic, I had also discussed about the problem which "Kaspersky Anti-Virus " was giving and slowing down of my lappy. I got solution for all. After few days of searching on web I came to that the Built of " Kaspersky s8.0.0.1081en " is not compatible with Windows 7 RC on some machine. Finally I uninstalled it and you know what I got after restarting the system - Now my machine was faster than before it was. Now I was searching a new anti-virus for Windows 7 and I finally decided to install " Avast Anti-Virus 4.8 ". But unfortunately it is not listed on " Windows 7 security software providers " website. Even though I installed it. And until now I'm not facing any problem also the system is running smoothly. Don't know why Microsoft have added this anti-virus on their list !

Troubleshooting option in Action Center is quite useful, whenever I got any problem I used to fix it with this option and the result was quite satisfying..

Since now for those users on whose PCs I had installed Windows 7 RC are quite happy and they are eagerly waiting for the Retail Release. Also when I talk to them on this topic they want to sahre the new discovery on 7 and also asks Tips and Tricks regarding the same.

Final word of Experience is that " Why Windows 7 do not require Driver, it is driver FREE ? "

Windows on 98 Percent of New Netbooks

There’s an undeniable strength behind Microsoft’s operating system: its ubiquity. It’s everywhere, and it’s what most people learn how to compute on.

When a typical consumer goes to purchase a new computer, it’s understandable that he or she would want an interface that’s familiar to him or her. It’s like buying a car – those who already know how to drive don’t want to learn a whole new way to steer the vehicle.

For that reason, as netbook popularity grew, so too did the market share for Windows in that segment. Early adopters of netbooks may have been more comfortable with working in a Linux environment, but the mainstream consumer still wants to stick with what’s already known.

“The latest data from NPD’s retail tracking service showed that Windows now account for a whopping 98 percent of all small notebook PCs sales at retail in the U.S.,” wrote Brandon LeBlanc, Windows Communication Manager at Microsoft.

According to NPD, Windows had less than 10 percent of the netbook pie during the first half of 2008.

While there isn’t much more room to grow when you hold a near sweep in the market, Windows on netbooks grew two percent since early April.

LeBlanc added, “I think it’s important to note that all of this momentum is happening before Windows 7 is even out! When Windows 7 does arrive (and brings slick new stuff like HomeGroup, Aero Peek/Snap, PlayTo and Remote Media Streaming, Windows Media Center that lets you watch and record TV, and more), I think the demand for Windows on these devices will increase even more.”

Of course, several of the Windows 7 features that LeBlanc listed won’t be immediately available to netbook users, as they aren’t included in Windows 7 Starter Edition.

Source : debianmexico.org

Windows 7 box art confirmed, product page now live on MS Store

There's a new product page for Windows 7 on the Microsoft Store. And while there's no word on official pricing yet, there are pictures showing what the Windows 7 retail packaging will look like. And wouldn't you know it, it looks exactly like the leaked images that were first found floating around the web last month.

The product page also has a list of reasons to buy the new operating system, including the fact that it's faster and more responsive than Vista, allows users to stream media over a network, and has a a new and improved taskbar. No surprises there, but I have to agree, these are all pretty good reasons to upgrade from Windows Vista, as are the other highlights listed on the product page. Whether they'll be enough to get holdouts to upgrade from Windows XP remains to be seen.

Source: I Started Something

Microsoft announces "Project Natal" motion controller for Xbox 360

Unveiled for the first time to the public was “Project Natal,” pronounced “nuh-tall” and a code name for a revolutionary new way to play, no controller required. See a ball? Kick it, hit it, trap it or catch it. If you know how to move your hands, shake your hips or speak, you and your friends can jump into the fun. The only experience needed is life experience.Compatible with any Xbox 360 system, the sensor is the world’s first to combine an RGB camera, depth sensor, multi-array microphone and custom processor running proprietary software all in one device. Unlike 2-D cameras and controllers, Project Natal tracks your full body movement in 3-D, while responding to commands, directions and even a shift of emotion in your voice.

In addition, unlike other devices, the sensor is not light-dependent. It can recognize you just by looking at your face, and it doesn’t just react to key words but understands what you’re saying. Call a play in a football game, and players will actually respond. Want to log onto Xbox LIVE? Simply step in front of the sensor.

Steven Spielberg who is the visionary and producer of Project Natal said:

“This is the next step in interactive entertainment With ‘Project Natal,’ we’ll see games that bring everyone together through technology that actually recognizes us.”

Source: Microsoft Press

Add Bing to Windows 7 Explorer

Now as Bing is live, you would like to try out the new search engine. And if you are using Bing outside North America, chances are that you seeing a localized version of Bing that may be missing some features. For instance, the Indian version of Bing.com doesn’t have search history and the image on the Bing home page here is not interactive as in the US version.

To explore the full version of Bing, go to this page and set English - US as your default region. You can now enjoy all the Bing features from anywhere.

You can add Bing to your Internet Explorer by installing the Bing search add-on available at the Internet Explorer add-ons website.

Further if you want to add Bing to Windows 7 Windows Explorer as connector , you can do so by downloading this small file and enjoy Bing in Windows 7!

Click here to download connector.

Install the downloaded file by double clicking it. And enjoy web search in Windows Explorer. This is only for windows 7.

Source: www.chakkaradeep.com

Final Details of Windows 7 Starter Edition

According to The Windows Blog, Microsoft have confirmed that the "3 applications at a time" limit that hobbled earlier versions of the Starter Edition has been removed for Windows 7. Now the only effective limit on the number of programs you can run concurrently is set by the amount of your memory.

Windows 7 Starter Edition will have other limits, however, in order to differentiate it from other versions of the OS.

"Windows 7 Starter does not include:

* Aero Glass, meaning you can only use the "Windows Basic" or other opaque themes. It also means you do not get Taskbar Previews or Aero Peek.
* Personalization features for changing desktop backgrounds, window colors, or sound schemes.
* The ability to switch between users without having to log off.
* Multi-monitor support.
* DVD playback.
* Windows Media Center for watching recorded TV or other media.
* Remote Media Streaming for streaming your music, videos, and recorded TV from your home computer.
* Domain support for business customers.
* XP Mode for those that want the ability to run older Windows XP programs on Windows 7."

These limits are, for the most part, not technical ones, but rather they are designed to encourage people to upgrade their netbooks to other versions of Windows 7, which, according to The Windows Blog, are all optimized to work on any hardware--from netbooks up to powerful gaming systems.

Windows Vista SP2 now Available for Download

Windows: Service Pack 2 is officially available for download, which brings better Wi-Fi and BlueTooth connectivity, processor compatibility, native Blu-Ray support, and many more features.

Just as with the release candidate, installing SP2 technically requires having SP1 installed.

Still, for those waiting on even more fixes for Windows Vista, SP2 should be a welcome download. You should see it through Windows Update around June 30, but you can download and install it directly from the links below, as well as check out the official list of changes.

Read Changes in Windows Server 2008 SP2 and Windows Vista SP2 here.

Downloads: Windows Vista Service Pack 2 (32-bit)
Windows Vista Service Pack 2 (64-bit)

Source: OS News

Virtual Wifi brings mesh networks to Windows 7

Wifi mesh networks certainly aren't a new idea. Heck, it's a trick even the inexpensive OLPC XO Laptop can pull off.

Utilizing a project Microsoft Research began working on in 2002, Windows 7 will allow us to connect to multiple wireless access points or act as a repeater using a single wireless adapter.

Does your current wireless adapter support VWifi? Probably not right now. Manufacturers will need to make some minor tweaks and recompile drivers. The good news is that Microsoft is requiring VWifi support for Windows 7 logo certification.

If you're into the more technical aspects, Long Zheng has an architecture diagram and detailed explanation about the inner workings of VWifi on his blog. There's also a PowerPoint 2007 presentation from WinHEC that you can check out, courtesy Microsoft.

Source: I Started Something

12 Days with Windows 7 RC

Since Beta stage of Windows 7, i am using it as primary Operating System on my HP Pavilion laptop, which was 64-bit. And also installed 32-bit RC Built.7100 on 6 May. Installation of RC was pretty good and smooth, one of the best feature I seen that, I did not required to install any drivers. It automatically took almost 95% of the drivers and for that which it did not took, searched for Windows Update and installed automatically, further whole process took only about 20 minutes to reach to new Windows 7 desktop screen. This was the first impression and definitely won my heart !

After reaching the desktop I checked Windows Experience Index, it was like 3.5, 4.3, 3.7, 3.6, 4.5 for Processor, RAM, Graphics, Gaming Graphics and Primary Hard Disk respectively. And my System Configuration is
Processor: Intel Core2 Duo T5200 @ 1.60Ghz ,
Installed RAM: 4Gb ,
Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce Go 7400 with 126 Mb dedicated Memory, and
Hard Disk: 128 Gb.
The Base score was 3.5 which was 3.2 in Vista. It was OK, as my laptop is a bit old with low config. !

Microsoft has already announced the system requirements for Windows 7 and they're as expected: a 1GHz or faster CPU, 1GB of RAM for 32-bit systems (and at least 2GB for 64-bit PCs), 16GB of hard drive space (20GB for 64-bit) and a DirectX 9-compatible graphics capability with WDDM 1.0 or higher. This is just for reference.

After searching for new things in 7, for hours. And started installing some important softwares for my use like CCleaner, Mozilla FireFox, Picasa, FeedDemon, Digsby, Comfort Keys, Diskeeper 2009 and " Kaspersky Anti-Virus 8.9 Technical Preview foe Windows 7" which also gave me trial for about 170 days. And after installation of these and Windows Update, restarted my system. It took normal time to restart.

||A Problem and solution: After restart I felt that the system was hanging and even after some 10 minutes I was not able to use it as I was only able to move mouse pointer and nothing else was responding neither Alt+Ctrl+Del was responding nor right click of mouse. Then finally I switched off my laptop and again started, this time I was able to do every thing , and after some time a window pop up which said to send report to Kaspersky Lab, from Kaspersky Anti-Virus as previous start of anti-virus was failed. Then I got the reason why windows was hanging, it was Kaspesky Anti-Virus. After this time I was comfortable with this Anti-Virus.||
A week gone fine without any problem and also discovered many new things which was quite useful and also attractive. This time Internet Explorer 8 and Windows Media Player 12 was much stable & fast and I also tried to see the new feature called " Virtual Xp Mode " but I was unlucky to install it as my processor did not supported visualization. Windows Media Player 12 was able to play a large number of video formats without installing any codec pack. But unfortunately I was not able to play very few formats which forced me to install " Win7codecs " from Shark007. Now I was able to play all formats in WMP 12 smoothly. I love to play all video files in WMP as the video quality is much clear and better as compared to other Media Player like VLC Media Player. WMP 12 also took very low processor as compared to previous one, i.e. WMP 11 in Vista. Now USB drives with media automatically show up in Windows Media Player without interrupting you with dialogue boxes.

In mean time I tried out new features like " Troubleshooting in Action Center " , which I felt a very important feature for general/simple users to trouble-shoot many type of problem related to Audio, Video, Internet and others. It got very user friendly interface and have solution to many related problems to drivers and so on. Windows Online Troubleshooters Pack is also available which have too many options to solve the related problems. Overall, I can say this is the feature which Windows was missing in previous OS.


Paint and WordPad both have interfaces based on the Office 2007 ribbon – although with so many fewer commands, relegating zoom to a second tab doesn't feel like an improvement. It also have new photorealistic icons to match the rest of the Windows interface, and the Brush menu in Paint gives you a much better idea of the different effects you can get, from calligraphy to crayon.

Windows DVD Maker also looks much more like a wizard than an application, but we do get all the options I need to create a DVD with a custom-animated menu.

Coming to network, It was quite easy to share file across other PCs which is connected to our wi-fi LAN. Since 12 days I never got a single error regarding LAN and even multi-player games, they run quite smoothly. Coming to Bluetooth, I can't say anything about this as this got wonderful feature of searching new BlueTooth Devices and moving files between them. Now using bluetooth we can easily connect and pair mobile phones and bluetooth enabled stereo earphones.

Power management is quite good as a new feature of dimming display is also available. Now I get more backup on Battery as compared to Windows Vista and others. Further looking deep, my Battery health is not good, it displays a red cross sign over the battery icon in tray. On putting mouse over it shows " Consider Replacing Batteries ", which again is an important feature which was not present in last version of OS.

Now you can choose whether you want your favourite music or what you've been playing recently on the jumplist. Jumplists are one way of doing this, but to avoid them becoming unwieldy they're now limited to 10 items by default. The streamlined control panel is also full of links to related options and buttons with key options along the top.

On 9th day, don't know why my system got slow. After checking a lot, removing junk file and softwares which I don't use, also checked system performance but did got any clue which could give any trace, why system got slow. Finally I again refreshed Windows Experience Index and the result was shocking, as you can see in the screen-shot:


Don't know why the scores became low, I'm still searching for the possible reasons as the hardware did not change, the scores would have remained same.

Again one thing happened, even though the WEI scores were low , after two days system started working in the same way as it was 3-4 days ago, I mean It again became fast, even this time I don't know how this happened ? I think it may be due to Hard-Disk overheating for last 2 days !

Till this I never got any problem regarding Software Compatibility issue with any softwares on this OS as this was the main drawback of previous OS, i.e. Windows Vista. Now the Security is much more advance and we can also adjust the setting of " User Account Control " according to user need and experience, which was also an annoying feature for some people in Vista.

Finally, I can say this is the perfect OS which I needed for present needs. In these 12 days I installed Windows 7 RC on 8 different systems which belonged to my friends of my college and again it took almost all ( i mean 90 %) drivers of the hardware. And it is working quite well. According to this one can say is Windows 7 going to become driver free OS ??....an ultimate OS from Microsoft.