Ok, I am a bit late with this post but Rich over at WindowsObserver.com posted something on Sunday that is quite an eyebrow raiser.  According to rich:

After seeing a few tweets on this I had to go check it out myself and was quite amazed at what I saw. On the Amazon.com MAC OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard product page it shows what customers ultimately buy after viewing the item – and it shows that 75% of them head over and purchase either the Windows 7 Home premium Upgrade (50%) or the Windows 7 Professional Upgrade (25%).

If the OS X update is #1 in Software already then that means a lot of people are buying the Windows 7 upgrade from that page. I would love to talk to some of those folks and find out how they got on that page in the first place and then ended up buying the Windows 7 upgrade.

WHAT?!  Some interesting developments.  What does all this mean? One thing is for sure, the Win7 vs. OSX debate will be a fantastic one once both OS’s are ready to go.

Any thoughts?  We welcome your comments.

Is the iPhone going double-wide with iTablet?  Is Microsoft photocopying Apple with their stores?  Plus, Cal gives you an assesment on his netbook and Win7.

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You have to almost do a double take now adays at how cool some of the new is surrounding Windows 7.  Especially if you are a Mac person.  Because, let’s face it, we are not used to Microsoft being very user-centric and cool.  BUT (very big but here) Microsoft, it is rumored, is planning to sell Windows 7 on a USB key aimed at installation on netbooks.  Windows7news.com reports:

According to a source which was not revealed by CNET, Microsoft could end up selling Windows 7 on a USB drive, whereas right now the only way that a user can obtain a retail copy (legally) of Windows 7 is via retail or by download. This would be a good move for Microsoft as they had announced that any edition of Windows 7 will be able to run on a netbook; however, the trick would be getting it installed.

According to CNET, not selling Windows 7 on USB drives would be detrimental to Windows 7’s success:

The challenge of getting Windows 7 on to older Netbooks threatens to cast a shadow over the technical work Microsoft did to get Windows 7 running on Netbooks. Its predecessor, Windows Vista, proved ill-suited to Netbooks forcing Microsoft to continue selling Windows XP as its answer to the low-cost notebook phenomenon.

Complicating matters further is the fact that most Netbooks are running Windows XP. Those moving from Windows XP can buy an upgrade version of the software, but must back up their data, do a clean installation of the operating system and then reload their applications.

So here we have Microsoft actually focusing on Netbooks just when you thought they didn’t care.  VERY slick move.  I have to say I am really liking the consumer focus Microsoft is maintaining these days.  What are your thoughts?  Leave a comment.

Someone up in Redmond made a boo boo.  Of course, it could have been on purpose so that people like me would make a blog pos like this about it.  I found this article via WindowsObserver.com.  ZDnet reports:

Someone in Redmond accidentally published a page offering downloads of the Windows 7 release candidate to MSDN and TechNet subscribers. Here’s the text that appears in the middle of that page at the Microsoft OEM Partner site:

The link goes to the Windows 7 download page at MSDN, where the only software available today is the Windows 7 beta release (build 7000) from January, along with some updates intended for that beta.

Based on this unintentional announcement, the May 5 date appears to be a solid bet for the public release. (In fact, it appears to be a more specific schedule than last month’s now-you-see-it-now-you-don’t download announcement.) If past patterns hold true, the actual head start for MSDN and TechNet subscribers will be a week or so ahead of that date.

Update: Emil Protalinski at Ars Technica confirms that the download is not imminent:

A few faithful readers got this quote from the Microsoft Online Concierge Chat: “Currently the Windows 7 RC has not been avaiable through the TechNet subscription yet, only the Microsoft OEM partners such as Dell, Siemens are taking part in the RC’s this period of test.”

That matches what I’ve been told from other sources as well.

Update: Several unconfirmed newsgroup posts report that Microsoft Gold Partners who are part of the Technical Adoption Program (TAP) have download access to the release candidate now.

Update 3: As of approximately 9PM Pacific time, the Microsoft partner page has been updated and no longer contanis a download link.

So what is going on here? I little leak, a little buzz, a little….let the blogosphere go a bit nuts? Hmmmm….something in the windows world is stirring. What do you all think?

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windows7news.com has a great article that lists some of the changes being made between the beta release of Windows 7 and the release candidate.

The list contains 27 additional changes between Windows 7 Beta and Windows 7 Release Candidate that are worth exploring. The changes are divided into categories like Desktop Experience, Windows Explorer and Libraries or Device Stage and contain detailed explanations.

Among the requested features by the Windows 7 Beta test group are multi-touch support for Windows Explorer, trimming sound schemes to decrease Windows startup and shutdown time, a size reduction of the Windows Page File, improved driver support and support for digital cameras using Firewire.

This should be interesting.  To read the entire article, and I suggest you do, head over to windows7news.com

I saw on windows7news.com today an article that brings a bit more clarity to the upgrade path for Windows 7:

Although Microsoft is not revealing that many information about its Windows 7 upgrade plans some information have come to light. Probably the most important is that both Windows XP and Windows Vista users will be entitled to upgrade to Windows 7. This means that both Windows XP and Windows Vista users will be able to purchase an upgrade to Windows 7 at a discount. Microsoft has not revealed a pricing structure yet and there is still a strong rumor that Windows Vista users who purchase the operating system shortly before the release of Windows 7 will receive a free upgrade.

What’s already known is that Windows XP users will get a discount when purchasing Windows 7. They will however not be able to update Windows XP to Windows 7 directly. Windows 7 can only be installed independently which also means that Windows XP users have to find a way to transfer the data from the old operating system to the new one. This could be in the form of installing Windows 7 on a second partition or extensive backups of the data. Microsoft will probably release some guidelines to aid users in the process.

The upgrade structure for Windows Vista looks like the following:

• Windows Vista Home Premium to Windows 7 Home Premium
• Windows Vista Business to Windows 7 Professional
• Windows Vista Ultimate to Windows 7 Ultimate

For even more info check out the article from Windows7news.com

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Just when you thought it was safe to love the new Windows 7 beta here comes some news to kill the buzz.  Philip Elmer-DeWitt posts for CNN Money.com that the upgrade path for business may not be a bed of roses with Windows 7.

Part of the problem is that you can’t install Windows 7 beta directly from Windows XP. Instead, you have to upgrade to Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) or later before attempting an install — a process the Channel Web team found to be non-trivial.

Among the scariest quotes in their report:

• “While Microsoft has assured the world that if the hardware works with Windows Vista it will work with Windows 7, the reality is that is misleading at best.”
• “We’ve almost lost count of the number of blue screens we’ve seen in the CRN Test Center during the Windows 7 evaluation process.”
• “We tried to do the upgrade on an Acer TravelMate, but were stopped in our tracks by Bluetooth driver incompatibilities.”
• “On a series of 3-and-a-half year old ThinkPad T43s, an IBM security processor refused to let the notebooks boot up with Windows 7. We needed to crack open a couple of four-year old desktops … to add memory just to try to get a system image.”
• “Across the XP-Vista-Windows 7 landscape, Microsoft has fostered an ecosystem that now holds out the prospect of a mind-numbing number of incompatible drivers, unsupported devices, unsupported applications, unsupported data, patches, updates, upgrades, “known issues” and unknown issues.”

Now here is something I don’t quite understand.  If I own a PowerMac G5 and I am running say…Panther, which is two versions of OSX ago, and I want to upgrade to Leopard….no problem.  I buy the $129 upgrade and all is well.  But if I’m a business, and I run XP I have to go THROUGH Vista. Wow, just wow.
I welcome your thoughts.

Ok, I’m not usually gushing over a PC but a friend of mine tipped me off on this and I have to say I am impressed.  Dell announced last Thursday on QVC about a new Mini 10.  You can’t find a normal link to it on Dell’s website but if you go to the Mini 9 site and scroll all the way down, you will see the link in the mini catagory.  But, hey relax.  Here is the link for you.

Why am I making a fuss over this?  Look at how it is almost a full size keyboard but pushing it out towards the edges.  That is the only thing that was concerning me about netbooks is having a cramped typing space.

There isn’t pricing yet but I am inclined to make this my PC for the show.  Yeah I said it.  I’m going to skip Vista all together and just move to Win 7 Beta for the show.  I know it expires in August but really folks…do you really want me to have to suffer Vista when it is about to get replaced anyway?

I welcome your thoughts.

Wow! Who would have thought that a blog post rebuttal would cause this much trouble.  We talk about the three app restriction with Win7 starter, the possible new Mac Mini, and the whole rebuttal….thing.

Episode #80

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