Please Note: This early release of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Beta is not available for home users. The SP1 Beta does not provide new end-user features, and installation is not supported by Microsoft.   Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Beta helps keep your PCs and servers on the latest support level, provides ongoing improvements to the Windows Operating System (OS), by including previous updates delivered over Windows Update as well as continuing incremental updates to t

Just a day before Microsoft drops support for Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2), the company has announced that people running some versions of Windows 7 can "downgrade" to the aged operating system for up to 10 years.   The move is highly unusual. In the past, Microsoft has terminated downgrade rights - which let customers replace a newer version of Windows with an older edition without paying for two copies - within months of introducing a new OS.   While few consumers may want to downgrad

Are you running a 64-bit edition of Windows 7? There is a high likelihood you are. As of June 2010, we see that 46% of all PCs worldwide running Windows 7 are running a 64-bit edition of Windows 7. That is, nearly half of all PCs running Windows 7 are running 64-bit. Compared to Windows Vista at 3 and a half years after launch, only 11% of PCs running Windows Vista worldwide are running 64-bit. With Windows 7, running a 64-bit OS is becoming the norm.     A primary benefit of 64-bit Windows

IE increased usage from 59.8 per cent to 60.3 per cent, according to new statistics from Net Applications, an analytics company that monitors browser usage across a large network of websites. It was buoyed by increasing usage of IE8 that offset the decline in IE7 — and by what web developers no doubt hope will be only a temporary pause in the decline of the despised IE6.     The change in fortunes was significant enough that Microsoft couldn't resist crowing about IE's progress in a blog p

Hi-tech criminals are "escalating" attacks on an unpatched bug in the Windows XP help and support system.     Microsoft said it had seen more than 10,000 machines hit by the attack that, so far, it has not found a fix for.   Windows PCs falling victim will have control of that machine handed over to attackers.   Microsoft said the attacks had gone from theoretical to real very quickly and urged users to take steps to protect themselves. 'Nightmare' attack   Microsoft revealed the upt

An Italian Windows site called "Windowsette" has published some purported secret Microsoft documents outlining some design and strategy plans for Windows 8. The Microsoft Kitchen blog has provided some analysis of the documents. The documents appear genuine, and there's lots of interesting information there.     In a big surprise, Microsoft is looking to Apple for inspiration, and these documents contain high praise for Apple's "virtuous cycle" of UI quality and user productivity. They even

As we announced in 2008, support for Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) will end on July 13, 2010. Support for Windows 2000 will end on the same date. Support for Windows Vista Release to Manufacturing (RTM) will end on April 13, 2010.   NOTE: There is no Service Pack 3 for the 64-bit version of Windows XP. If you are running the 64-bit version of Windows XP with Service Pack 2, you are on the latest service pack and will continue to be eligible for support and receive updates until April 8, 2014

Microsoft said on Wednesday that it had sold 150 Million licenses of Windows 7, seven copies every second.   The extraordinary fact was announced on the Windows Team Blog by Microsoft blogger Brandon LeBlanc. "We are excited to announce that Windows 7 has sold 150 million licenses to-date. As I’ve said before, Windows 7 is the fastest selling operating system in history with 7 copies of Windows 7 sold every second", said LeBlanc.   Microsoft made the headlines in January when it announced th