Windows 7’s overall superiority to Windows Vista has translated into the latest iteration of the Windows client, leaving its predecessor in the dirt in terms of commercial success as well. Windows 7 RTM has been embraced by over three times more customers compared to Vista RTM in the first week on the market alone. Market research company, The NPD Group, indicated that initial sales of the boxed, retail copies of Windows 7 dwarfed those of Vista’s. In the first few days on the U.S. market, Microsoft sold 234% more boxed copies than Vista, noted The NPD Group. “Microsoft’s program of early low-cost pre-sales, high vis... [read more >>] Security company Sophos has tested Windows 7 RTM and found that the latest iteration of the Windows client from Microsoft is vulnerable to no less than 8 out of 10 viruses currently spreading in the wild. The security outfit put a clean install of the gold edition of Windows 7, which hit store shelves worldwide on October 22nd, in the same arena with 10 samples of malicious code, and found the operating system lacking when it came down to offering protection to end users by itself. In addition, Sophos pointed out that Windows 7’s User Account Control, either turned off completely or was running with default settings, was not an ... [read more >>] Microsoft has made available for download an automatic fix designed to resolve failed upgrades from Windows Vista to Windows 7 in scenarios in which the process gets stuck at 64% indefinitely. With Windows 7 having hit the shelves on October 22nd, 2009, eligible users running Vista proceeded to upgrade to their recently acquired copies of Windows 7. And, while the general rule is that the jump from Vista to Windows 7 is nothing short of a smooth transition, some users found that the upgrade process stopped responding at 62%. In such cases, the operating system also creates a file labeled system_drive:\$WINDOWS.~BT\Sources\Pan... [read more >>] A new release of Google Chrome 4.0 is now available for download, full build string 4.0.223.16. Loyal to a Cloud-tailored mantra of simplicity and performance, Google has kicked up a notch its open source browser, revealing the first Beta development milestone of version 4.0. Ahead of the November 2nd launch of Google Chrome 4.0 Beta, version 4.0 was offered exclusively through the Mountain View search giant’s developer channel. This is no longer the case. With the unveiling of the Beta Build 4.0.223.16, Google is now offering Chrome 4.0 to the public. However, not all users will be able to install the release. Version 4.0.223.16 is W... [read more >>] Microsoft released Windows 7 to manufacturing on July 22nd, 2009, and then the operating system to the general public on October 22nd. But this does in no way mean that work on the platform stopped. In fact, as soon as it signed off on the Windows 7 code, the Redmond company moved forward with work on the first major upgrade for the Windows client, Service Pack 1. Wzor indicated that the software giant was planning to finalize the first Beta for Windows 7 SP1 by the end of this year, and to release the service pack to manufacturing in the summer of 2010 (via Neowin). According to Wzor, Microsoft has been hard at work on Windows 7 SP1 since ... [read more >>] A free Microsoft tool is available for download, designed to resolve failed installations of the second service pack for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008. Labeled the System Update Readiness Tool, the utility comes in handy in various scenarios when updates can no longer be integrated on top of Vista SP1 and Windows Server 2008 SP1. An illustrative example of a glitch end users might stumble upon is a failed install of either Windows Vista Service Pack 2 or Windows Server 2009 SP2 accompanied by the following error code: 80070490. “To resolve this problem, run the System Update Readiness Tool (Checksur.exe),” Microsoft in... [read more >>] The first fully-fledged Beta development milestone of the next generation of Mozilla’s open source browser is currently available for download. Testers and early adopters that have been waiting for Firefox 3.6, codenamed Namoroka, to evolve from Alpha stage are now free to access, download, install and start test driving the Beta 1 build. In addition to being the first Beta for Firefox 3.6, the development milestone offered by Mozilla is also the first example of a third-party browser to embrace Microsoft’s latest iteration of the Windows client. Just like the native Internet Explorer 8, Firefox 3.6 Beta 1 is designed to play ni... [read more >>] The next iteration of the Opera browser is slowly starting to take shape, even though the Norwegian browser maker is in no way ready to share details with the general public just yet. Approximately two months after it released its latest major version of Opera, Opera Software has officially confirmed that it is starting to focus on the upcoming version of the browser. Of course, information on Opera vNext is almost inexistent at this point in time, as the company hasn’t even made public the major build upgrade it is aiming for. But make no mistake about it, the next iteration of Opera, beyond Opera 10.0, is coming into focus, already ... [read more >>] Raxco have accustomed us with regular deals for all of their products, regardless of the target they address: home users, professionals, server administrators, businesses, etc. Each season brings a 25% off for both a new purchase as well as an upgrade to the latest product release. This time they hit with a secret offer that is not available on their website. It's a secret 3-day event that lasts until October 29.It is a marketing stunt, no doubt about it, but this does not mean that you can't take advantage of it and get a top-notch defragmenter for less money than it usually sells for. The coupon to be entered for activating the ... [read more >>] At the end of July 2009, just one week after it released Windows 7 to manufacturing, Microsoft revealed that, despite its initial position, testers that helped build the latest iteration of the Windows client with their feedback would be awarded a free copy of the Ultimate SKU of the operating system. Testers could opt between downloading the Windows 7 RTM bits ahead of October 22nd, or simply having a boxed copy of Windows 7 Ultimate (full license) shipped to them after the general availability deadline of the operating system. Windows 7 Technical Beta Program participants that choose to have the Ultimate edition sent to them in the box va... [read more >>] | 
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