With just 4 days left till the launch of Windows 7, and if your one of the lucky ones, hosting a Windows 7 Launch Party, are you afraid your guests may just not turn up? Are you struggling to come up with some fun and interesting ideas to prevent them from leaving as soon as they arrive? Well I may just have the solution for you.

I just found this amusing article by Bill Detwiler of Tech Republic, in which he outlines 10 Windows 7 Launch Party Games! This could be the saving grace for all of you who are planning on hosting a launch party. So without further delay here they are:

Content removed at the insistance of TechRepublic’s and CBS’s lawyers.  Read more here.

Are there any other games you think should be added to this list? Will this ensure your launch party is a success?

Let us know in the comments

Thank you very much to Bill Detwiler of Tech Republic for writing this up.

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Microsoft has released an official Windows 7 Upgrade chart that explains the upgrade paths from both Windows XP and Windows Vista to Windows 7. The chart basically tells users if they need to do a clean install of the operating system or can upgrade the operating system directly. Ed Bott already mentioned that the chart is way to confusing for the average user and that it does contain at least one product that does not exist at all. Most of the information displayed in the chart are redundant.

Microsoft probably tried to be thorough by including 32-bit and 64-bit editions in separate rows. It would however been much easier to read by combining these two rows in one as the upgrade paths are the same for both the 32-bit and 64-bit editions. That with the removal of the non-existent Vista Starter 64-bit edition would turn the chart in a readable easy to grasp format.

To sum it up. Windows XP and Windows Vista Starter users need to do a clean Windows 7 install. Windows Vista Home Basic and Home Premium users can upgrade to Windows 7 Home Premium or Windows 7 Ultimate, Windows Vista Business users can upgrade to Windows 7 Professional and Windows 7 Ultimate and Windows Vista Ultimate users can upgrade to Windows 7 Ultimate. Every other combination can only be achieved with a clean install.

It is interesting to note that it is not possible to upgrade from Windows Vista Home editions to Windows 7 Professional directly. There is however another way to tackle the problem than to perform a clean Windows 7 Professional installation. Users could upgrade to Windows 7 Home Premium and use the Anytime Upgrade option to upgrade Home Premium to Windows 7 Professional. This at least would save them the hassle of having to install the system from ground up.

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Rumors were floating around for some time that Microsoft may have made the decision to remove the three applications limit of Windows 7 Starter editions. This limit restricted the number of applications a user could run at the same time in the edition. They did receive lots of bad PR on the subject even though background processes were exempt from the limit and tests showed that the limit was rarely a concern in day to day usage. We called it the biggest complaint about Windows 7 back then.

Yesterday Microsoft announced that they removed the three application limit from the Windows 7 Starter edition. Windows 7 Starter will still be a limited edition compared to the retail editions such as Windows 7 Home Premium or Windows 7 Professional.

It does not include:

• Aero Glass, meaning you can only use the “Windows Basic” or other opaque themes. It also means you do not get Taskbar Previews or Aero Peek.
• Personalization features for changing desktop backgrounds, window colors, or sound schemes.
• The ability to switch between users without having to log off.
• Multi-monitor support.
• DVD playback.
• Windows Media Center for watching recorded TV or other media.
• Remote Media Streaming for streaming your music, videos, and recorded TV from your home computer.
• Domain support for business customers.
• XP Mode for those that want the ability to run older Windows XP programs on Windows 7.

Windows 7 Starter 3-App Limit Officially Removed was posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes. If you are not reading this content in an email newsletter, it is being used without permission.

Users who follow this blog closely already know that the cheaper, low-end editions of Windows 7 will come with limitations and less features than the medium- and high-end editions. Windows 7 Starter and Windows 7 Home Basic are the two editions that are usually considered low end. They miss features like full Aero support, touch functionality or Windows Media Center. The mid range products Windows 7 Home Premium and Windows 7 Professional all come with their own set of features. The core builds up on the lower editions but Microsoft has decided to add features unique to every edition. This is how the editions build up on each other:

Windows 7 Starter > Windows 7 Home Basic > Windows 7 Home Premium > Windows 7 Professional > Windows 7 Ultimate (Enterprise).

Paul Thurrott mentioned additional restrictions that have not been know before in a recent article on his website:

• Windows 7 Starter and Home Basic will not come with AAC, H.264 or MPEG-2 support. Microsoft seems to have the intention to provide upgrades for those systems to add the support.
• 4 Gigabytes of ram are supported by all Windows 7 editions in 32-bit mode. The differences are in 64-bit mode. Home Basic and Starter support a maximum of 8 Gigabytes, Home Premium 16 Gigabytes and Professional, Ultimate and Enterprise up to 192 Gigabytes of ram.
• Windows Media Player Remote Media Experience (RME) is not available in Windows 7 Home Basic or Starter. However, all versions can share media over a home network.
• All Windows 7 SKUs support 20 simultaneous SMB connections. This works out to 10 users, apparently.
• Only windows 7 Professional, Ultimate and Enterprise support the Virtual XP Mode.

New Limitations For Some Windows 7 Editions Revealed was posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes. If you are not reading this content in an email newsletter, it is being used without permission.

The last days have been filled with a debate about Microsoft’s current and future stand in the popular netbook market. Many commenters concentrated their arguments on the Windows 7 Starter edition which is the least expensive but also least functional edition of Windows 7. Especially the three application limit has been cause of criticism. The three application limit is a hard coded limit in the operating system that will not allow the user to run more than three third party applications at the same time. There are a few exceptions like antivirus software programs but it basically means that users are purposely limited on that operating system.

Many argued that Microsoft tried to solve two problems that they were facing in the netbook market at the same time. The first problem was that Vista failed miserably in the netbook market which is dominated by Windows XP. Windows XP on the other hand does not bring in the revenue per copy that Windows Vista would ensure. Microsoft has created the windows 7 Starter To avoid the mistake when Windows 7 gets released. The limited functionality means it can be sold for a lower price per copy than the other Windows 7 editions with an opt in upgrade option that would bring in additional revenue.

The main problem with this strategy seems to be the perception of the customer. Will they think highly of Windows 7 when the first system they work with is crippled like the Windows 7 Starter edition is? Microsoft has probably conducted studies researching the impact and must have come to the conclusion that the advantages top the disadvantages.

Windows 7 Starter is on the other hand not the only edition of Windows 7 that manufacturers can install on netbooks as Mary-Jo pointed out over at ZDnet. Mary-Jo mentions Windows 7 Home Premium as the alternative to Windows 7 Starter. The edition offers several features that Windows 7 Starter does not offer. Here is the list: (take a look at our Windows 7 features article for the complete list)

• Desktop Window Manager
• Windows Mobility Center
• Windows Aero
• Multi-Touch
• Premium Games
• Windows Media Center

Windows 7 Home Premium does not come with the three application limit which is probably the main advantage of it. Manufacturers will have to pay more money per copy and it is very likely that the low end netbook market will be dominated by Windows 7 Starter while the middle and higher end market will see Windows 7 Home Premium in front.

Some users asked why the article by Mary-Jo did not list Windows 7 Home Basic instead of Windows 7 Home Premium. The reason is that the basic edition has been specifically designed for emerging markets.

The more expensive editions of Windows 7 run fine on netbooks as well considering that netbooks will become more powerful until Windows 7 will be released. The main battle for the netbook market will be fought between Windows 7 Starter, Windows 7 Home Premium and Linux. Linux having the cost factor as an advantage. Other operating systems like Google’s Android will not have a huge impact in the near future.

What’s your take on the netbook market? do you think it is wise to offer the Windows 7 Starter edition?

The Netbook Debate was posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes. If you are not reading this content in an email newsletter, it is being used without permission.

We had a poll running for the last days that was asking visitors to rate the beta of Windows 7 on a scale of 1 to 6 with 1 being the best possible rating and 6 the worst. More than 3000 visitors rated the Windows 7 Beta. More than 44% of all visitors rated the Windows 7 Beta with the highest rating possible followed by another 18% which rated it a 2.

About 70% of all visitors gave the Windows 7 beta a rating between 1-3 while 30% rated it between 4-6. That’s a very good result for a beta version of an operating system.

The new poll is asking you to select the edition of Windows 7 that you will most likely purchase when the operating system comes out. This can be a purchase of a standalone edition of Windows 7 or as part of a hardware purchase. Just let us know which edition you would prefer to buy at the moment.

Windows 7 Beta Gets Good Ratings. New Poll Started was posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes. If you are not reading this content in an email newsletter, it is being used without permission.

There was some discussion about which editions of Windows 7 would run fine on netbooks lately after Microsoft’s announcement about the different Windows 7 editions. According to a statement by Brad Brooks, corporate vice president for Windows Consumer Product Marketing, which was published at Arstechnica earlier today. According to his statement all editions of Windows 7 will run fine on netbooks although Windows 7 Starter and Windows 7 Home Premium have been designated for that market.

The low resource usage of the operating system – we mentioned earlier that it would run fine on 512 Megabytes of Ram computer systems – makes it an ideal installation for netbook installations unlike its predecessor Windows Vista. This essentially means that any version of Windows 7 will run fine on netbooks and that it is more a choice of the OEM manufacturer than anything else.

Another thing to remember is that it is possible to upgrade to another edition of Windows 7 at anytime. Users should still expect that most netbooks will ship with either Windows 7 Starter or Windows 7 Home Premium.

All Windows 7 Editions Will Run On Netbooks was posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes. If you are not reading this content in an email newsletter, it is being used without permission.

The so called “edition chaos” was a huge point of criticism for many users who considered buying Windows Vista. Many users felt that there were simply to many editions to chose from and to little explanations on how those editions differed.

Microsoft seems to have learned from the past and announced that they’d be cutting down on the editions in Windows 7. According to Ed Bott over at Zdnet only three editions of Windows 7 will be made available for the general public with additional specialized versions available only for specific countries or OEM computers.

The three editions that anyone can purchase are Windows 7 Home Premium, Windows 7 Professional and Windows 7 Ultimate / Enterprise.

Windows 7 Home Premium will be the equivalent of Windows Vista Home Premium. It will include the Aero interface, Windows Media Center, multi-touch, handwriting features, DVD playback and probably image based backups.

Windows 7 Professional is the equivalent of Windows Vista Business. The name change should probably appeal to Windows XP Professional users who want to upgrade to Windows 7. It includes all features of Windows 7 Home Premium plus business like additions including joining Windows domains, group policy based management tools, Remote Desktop host capabilities, network-based backup features, and support for the Encrypting file system.

Windows 7 Ultimate is the name of the Windows 7 edition with a complete feature set. It will include all features of Windows 7 Professional plus the following:

In either case, the feature set includes everything in Professional edition plus support for BitLocker whole-drive encryption (and the new BitLocker To Go feature, which adds high-grade encryption to removable media). This edition also includes all supported language packs (those cost extra for other editions) and the capability to boot from a VHD.

Windows 7 Enterprise is essentially the same product with a different name.

It is also interesting to note that it will be possible to upgrade the editions to unlock the additional features. That process is said to only take between 5-10 minutes.

via ZDnet

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Many Windows Vista users feel that Microsoft did release to many different editions of the operating system which made it harder for consumers to pick the right product. Even though not all editions were available to anyone it still meant that consumers had the choice among several Windows Vista editions from Windows Vista Basic to Windows Vista Ultimate.

Microsoft on the other hand does not seem to be bothered as much as the consumers are. German news mag Winfuture is reporting that Microsoft is considering to sell country specific editions of Windows 7 in order to make it easier for them to pick the right product. A customer from Germany or France would then buy Windows 7 editions that have been translated to his language. According to the magazine this is just one possible line of thought.

First reactions are quite negative though because it would increase the Windows 7 editions tremendously. The computer magazine is also reporting that Microsoft is having plans to rename some of the editions of Windows 7 to make it easier for consumers to distinguish between the editions. A strong rumor is the reintroduction of a professional edition of Windows 7.

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In a new job offering Microsoft is looking for a Marketing Manager. The job description mentions the requirement to “communicate and generate Partner excitement for Windows Vista Business, Windows 7 for Small Business (future), Office Ready, Server channel programs, and new Server launches with Windows Small Business Server & Essential Business Server 2008″.

This seems to indicate that Microsoft is planning to release a new Windows 7 edition called Windows 7 For Small Business. In Windows Vista two editions were catering to the needs of companies: Windows Vista Business and Windows Vista Enterprise. Microsoft seems to have made the decision to divide the Windows 7 equivalent of Windows Vista Business into two products: Windows 7 Business and Windows 7 For Small Business. It can be seen to create a match for the Windows Server products Windows Small Business Server and Essential Business Server.

Many users will argue that the addition of new Windows 7 editions will cause even more customer confusion. What’s your take on the issue?

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Microsoft is planning a Windows 7 Tech Guarantee Program which will make it possible for Windows Vista owners to upgrade their operating system to Windows 7. They have not released many information yet about the program but some have been published at Neowin today.

Not all editions of Windows Vista will be eligible for the upgrade. Only Windows Vista Home Premium, Windows Vista Business or Windows Vista Ultimate owners will have the chance and only if they have bought it in one of the following languages: Brazilian Portuguese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian (Bokmål), Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Traditional Chinese (Hong Kong), Turkish.

Some languages (like Swedish) might be missing and could be included at a later point. It is also very likely that the upgrade will only be eligible for a comparable edition of Windows 7. Windows Vista Home Premium users for example should not have high hopes to be able to upgrade to Windows 7 Ultimate without costs. Microsoft is said to release additional information later this month.

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One of the major problems customers face when upgrading to or purchasing a copy of Windows Vista is the so called “edition chaos”. Windows Vista was released in so many editions that it was complicated to find the most suitable edition for one’s needs. Many users fear that Microsoft will continue the trend of releasing lots of editions. Some would even go so far to estimate that the number of editions for Microsoft’s next operating system will exceed the number of editions of Windows Vista. Boing Boing mocked the edition chaos by announcing that Windows 7 would ship in 20 different editions using elusive names including Windows 7 Home Basic Premium, Windows 7 Big Business and one of our favorites the Windows 7 Penultimate edition.

The most likely scenario is that Microsoft will release about the same editions that shipped at the release of Windows Vista. Screenshots of current Windows 7 builds display the version that Microsoft is shipping to its partners as Windows 7 Ultimate which could be a hint that we will see a Windows 7 Ultimate edition. If Microsoft stays true to that strategy they will most likely release editions like Windows 7 Home Basic, Windows 7 Home Premium and Windows 7 Business as well.

The interesting question is if Microsoft will increase or reduce the amount of editions of Windows 7. What is your opinion on the matter? Will it be more or less?

How Many Editions Of Windows 7 Will Microsoft Release? was posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes. If you are not reading this content in an email newsletter, it is being used without permission.