Today marks an important milestone in the Windows 7 project. The Windows 7 team is proud to share with you that a short while ago we have started to release Windows 7 to PC OEM and manufacturing partners. This means our next major milestone will be the availability of PCs loaded with Windows 7 and store shelves stocked with Windows 7 on October 22, 2009.
This is a milestone we could not have achieved without the broad participation across the PC Ecosystem we have talked so much about on this blog. Windows 7 is a product not just of Microsoft, but of a whole industry of partners of all kinds. Throughout the development of Windows 7 we’ve seen an incredible engagement from so many people that have contributed to making the Windows 7 engineering project one we, collectively, feel good about. The feedback and collaboration throughout the development of Windows 7 has been outstanding and valuable beyond measure. This work has created the kind of experience so many of you have talked about in this blog—the ability to use a broad range of PC hardware and peripherals with a great setup and out of box experience. On behalf of the Windows team and all of the successful installations and device connections, please let me extend an incredible “thank you” to all of our hardware partners who have done such excellent work.
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Now that Bing is live, you would like to try out the new search engine. If you want to add Bing as one of the search providers in your Internet Explorer browser, you can do so from here
You can add Bing to your Internet Explorer by installing the Bing search add-on available at the Internet Explorer add-ons website.
And if you want to add Bing to Windows 7, you can do so by downloading this small file and enjoy Bing in Windows 7!
Microsoft has released the Windows 7 Demo Toolkit (W7DT) which makes it easier to demo Windows 7 to your customers or friends. This is very helpful if you are presenting to a small group or to your company regarding Windows 7. The W7DT includes demos for Consumers and Enterprises.
The W7DT is available in the form of an iso image which includes:
- Windows 7 Beta Ultimate (build 7000)
- Windows Live Wave 3
- Internet Explorer 8
- Office 2007 Ultimate (you might need to activate Office if you want to use the full Office features)
- Forefront Client Security
- Windows Automation Toolkit
- Application Compatibility Toolkit
- Sample demo content
- Pre-configured settings
- Scripts for demos
The W7DT will be available to Microsoft Certified or Gold Certified partners towards the end of April, but for now you can download it from Microsoft Connect by joining the Windows Demo Toolkit program.
Its been a while since Microsoft announced the new Windows 7 SKU lineup. Below are the Windows 7 editions announced
- Starter
- Home Basic
- Home Premium
- Professional
- Enterprise
- Ultimate
Microsoft expects that a majority of customers will be best served by two primary editions of Windows 7
- Windows 7 Home Premium for consumers
- Windows 7 Professional for businesses
Below is a picture which shows each edition in detail
And what about features? Below is a picture comparing the features in each of the edition
Images Courtesy: Jeff Alexander's Weblog