14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft first demonstrated a new application from Amazon.com, tailored to Windows 7, during the worldwide launch event for the latest iteration of the Windows client on October 22nd, 2009. At that time, “Kindle for PC,” offering the same range of capabilities as the Kindle device, but translated into an application designed to run on top of Windows, was not offered to the public. This aspect has changed since then, and now a Beta development milestone of “Kindle for PC” is available for download.
While the application from Amazon.com is offered completely free of charge, the content designed to work with “Kindle for PC” is not. PC users that will download and install the app from the online retailer will also be able to buy Kindle books. According to Amazon.com, there are in excess of 360,000 books offered via the U.S. Kindle Store, with prices $9.99 or less.
"Kindle for PC is the perfect companion application for customers who own a Kindle or Kindle DX," noted Ian Freed, vice president, Amazon Kindle. "Kindle for PC is also a great way for people around the world to access a huge selection from the Kindle Store and read the most popular books of today even if they don’t yet have a Kindle."
Even though Microsoft “Kindle for PC” is tailored to Windows 7, the app is also designed to play nice with Windows Vista and Windows XP. However, only users running “Kindle for PC” on top of Windows 7 will be able to enjoy the multitouch capabilities, specific of the operating system, and actually flip through the pages using nothing more than their hands.
Amazon.com revealed that “with Kindle for PC, readers could take advantage of the following features:
•Purchase, download and read hundreds of thousands of books available in the Kindle Store •Read the beginning of any book for free before they buy •Access their library of previously purchased Kindle books stored on Amazon’s servers for free •Read books in full color including children’s books, cookbooks, travel books, textbooks and graphic novels •Choose from more than 10 different font sizes and adjust words per line •Add and automatically synchronize bookmarks and last page read •View notes and highlights marked on Kindle, Kindle DX, iPhone, and iPod touch •Zoom in and out of text with a pinch of the fingers (Windows 7 users only) •Turn pages with a finger swipe (available in a future release for Windows 7 users).”