Question, how do you access data from a large database collection, where there are no easy facts to search from? How many sales were in the 200,000 range or higher category? That question can be easily answered from a database because the collection of data is based on facts. But what if there are no easy facts to build your query? That’s where Trinity comes in.

The Trinity Graph Database

But Trinity is a graph database and graph computation platform. Central to Trinity is a distributed RAM-based key-value store. An example of a graph database is a social media system, like Linked in or Facebook. As a social graph it has over 800 million nodes and 104 billion edges. The World Wide Web contains over 50 billion web pages and one trillion unique links. But try to get facts from that collection of nodes is not easy, and it can be time consuming. So as an all-in-memory key-value process, Trinity provides fast random data access. This feature naturally makes Trinity suitable for large graph processing.

Trinity is a graph database from the perspective of data management. It is a parallel graph computation platform from the perspective of graph analytics. And as a database, it provides features such as data indexing, concurrent query processing, and concurrency control. As a computation platform, it provides vertex-based parallel graph computation on large scale graphs.

Data access on graphs has no locality meaning that the database system is not structured, like a SQL database. This means that graph exploration incurs massive random data access. And it makes large graph processing very challenging. To address this issue, Trinity makes graphs resident in a distributed memory storage. Then it optimizes the use of main memory and communication to deliver the best performance for both on-line query processing and off-line graph analytics.

The architecture looks like this.

What this portends for data analysis is the use of a new type of database system that has a large boundaries, not those formally created, but randomly created throughout the Internet, or on local applications.

Source The Insider, Microsoft Research

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Splashtop, a San Jose California based company with offices in Asia, has a remote desktop product that makes connection to your PC from a remote location easy to use and fast.

Formed in 2006, Splashtop has a variety of products that allow fast remote connection to remote computers. Currently, Splashtop is installed on 40+million PCs around the world. and the hardware compatibility List covers over 600 platforms.

Windows Version

With Splashtop Remote Desktop for Windows you can connect either PC-to-PC or PC-to-Mac to provide remote access support including full audio and video. Here are the requirement to receive connections using Splashtop Remote Desktop app, your computer needs to have:

• Windows 7, Vista, XP, or Mac OS X 10.6+
• 1 GB of RAM
• 1.6 GHz or faster dual-core CPU

Features:

• Watch high-definition movies and videos (up to 30 frames per second), streaming from PC or Mac
• Play interactive 3D games with low latency such as World of Warcraft, StarCraft, or EA Sports games
• Setup with ease through its simple, intuitive interface
• Latency is low with access and video and audio streaming up to 15 times faster than other remote access systems.

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There are many Network Applications available, but the three shown here do specific operations regarding domain names and IP addresses. They are handy and convenient.

WhoIs

If you ever wondered about getting information on domain names, owners, contacts, and status, this program will that kind of information.

Enter a web address ,a host name or any name: e.g. http://www.google.com, google.com or google to get the information you need. You can also enter IP addresses as they are also accepted; it works with ipV4 and ipV6 addresses , e.g. 200.181.196.95 (IPv4), [2002::4a7d:e650] (IPv6).

The program now accepts IPv6 addresses and  internationalized domain names. Finally it works with Windows XP, Vista, 7. But, it requires the Microsoft .NET Framework version 4.0.
There is also a “Replace” utility. This allows you to edit and replace the countries names.

This version updates the “Whois Servers” files (top-level domain, whois server names, geographic type names); it updates the countries names for Domains hack (like speed.cd, bit.ly).

Note this program is in the BestVistaDownloads page. [Download Link]

WinPing

This is a ping program, which you can use to test your network connection. You can also enter a web address or a valid host name, such as http://www.msn.com or msn.com, or a valid IP address IPv4 or IPv6 address, such as 98.137.149.56 (IPv4) ,[2a00:1450:8006::93] (IPv6) to get the connection results. The IP addresses are converted into host names and conversely. An empty input gives local IP address.

What else? The “Options…” button opens several WinPing options. These are:

1. Infinite Loop (runs pings in a infinite loop and shows the average in real time),
2. Time options (Timeout, Temporization between every ping in milliseconds),
3. Multi-ping (for several pings one after the other),
4. Retries, Average of the response times, Hostname List, ip-to-country File.

Other features:

1. There are Sort and Replace utilities that let you edit and save the host name list, countries list, or any text file.
2. The “Auto-Save” option will allow you to save thousands of lines of pinging information (in Infinite Loop Mode).
3. A Ping Graph (with axis scale and Y-offset adjustment) allows you easily to view, in real time, Average and Pings points for every loop.
4. You can easily save and load the Ping Curves using the Graph Options.

This version updates ping error messages, and updates IP address pinging. It will let you ping an IPv6 address.

It works with all versions of Windows. However, if your system is Windows XP or older, it requires the Microsoft .NET Framework version 2.0 or higher.

[Download Link]

IPConfig

Here is another nifty little tool that you should have at your disposal, IPConfig. The purpose of IPConfig is to provide a simple but effective way of seeing your IP addresses, both internal and external (i.e., private and public). This tool is designed and programmed in Visual Basic.NET and is displayed in a nice user interface.

[Download Link]

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The other day I stumbled across an interesting program called AeroWeather. This little application looks at the temperature and current weather conditions of your city and then plays around with the Windows Aero theme colors to reflect it.

Basically it changes the color of your desktop based on the weather outside. For example if it’s cloudy, your UI will go grey, if it’s sunny, it will be blue and it’ll go white if it’s snowing.

There’s even a night mode were it will dim all the colors when the sun sets and then brightens them up once again when the sun rises.

The application sits silently in your system tray and will work away on its on. Once it’s up and running, all you have to do is take a quick glance at your desktops UI and you’ll have a fairly good idea of the current weather conditions outside, handy if you’re stuck working indoors in an office all day.

The one draw back with this program is it only works if you’re based in the US as you have to enter a zip code for your location so it can gather the information.

You’ll find that you can customise lots of things like the maximum temperature color and the minimum temperature color as well as the color range.

It’s memory footprint is a mere 8mb so you shouldn’t find it slowing down your computer anyway.

You can download it and try it out for free here

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Microsoft has just released the final version of Windows Live Essentials 2011, an update for the popular Windows Live Essentials suite of downloadable Windows applications. The suite is a free download from Microsoft, compatible with Windows Vista and Windows 7.

The final version follows several beta versions that have been released since June of this year, following in the footsteps of the large, successful public betas that Microsoft has conducted for Windows 7, Office 2010, and most recently Internet Explorer 9. Like IE9, the suite also drops support for Windows XP, an increasingly common trend.

The programs available in Live Essentials 2011 are largely just updated versions of those available in previous versions of the package. Here they are, in brief:

Messenger, an IM client that also features social networking integration.

Photo Gallery, a photo organizer and simple photo editor.

Movie Maker, a basic but easy-to-use program for editing and publishing movies.

Mail, a fairly straightforward email client.

Writer, a blogging program, and my personal favorite program in the whole suite. Seriously, why can’t anyone else get this right?

The more minor components of the suite include parental controls, a Bing toolbar, and Microsoft Silverlight, among others.

You can download the new version of the suite from download.live.com, or as an optional update from Microsoft Update.

Source: PC World, Microsoft

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I can tell from personal experience that the Windows 7 taskbar has improved the way I interact with the operating system. Before Windows 7, I had to use desktop shortcuts, the start menu, Windows Explorer or application launchers to start programs. With Windows 7, I was able to place the most accessed programs right in the taskbar, to start them with a click of the mouse button.

Microsoft has also changed how themes are handled in the operating system. And with themes I refer to basic themes, not the advanced themes that require system file patching. It has become easier to create, use and distribute themes, as you can see in our Windows 7 themes gallery.

Changing a theme, changes desktop elements that cannot be modified individually; And one of those elements is the taskbar. If you change the theme, the taskbar may change colors as well, depending on how the theme was configured.

I would like to introduce two different options to change the color of the taskbar.

Windows 7 Taskbar Color Changer

The .net application requires the Microsoft .net Framework 4.0 to be installed.

taskbar color changer

The color of the taskbar can be changed by clicking on the Random button, which selects a random color, or by clicking on the color directly, to open the color selection window of the operating system. Please note that the changes can only be applied if Windows Aero is enabled. It throws an error message if a basic theme is used.

taskbar color

The taskbar color changer can be downloaded from the developer’s website.

Color Taskbar

The program has been developed by the same developer. It only works with Windows Aero enabled as well, and will automatically cycle through colors in the taskbar. It makes for an interesting effect, but unfortunately lacks the option to select a color scheme to use.

Program can also be downloaded from the developer’s site.

Do you know of another way to change the color of the taskbar? Let us know in the comments.

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I’ve just stumbled across this great little program called “Piles”. What it does is places recently created or altered files in a Windows 7 jump list on the Windows Taskbar so you can quickly access them.

How many times have you downloaded a program or just finished working on a document and then you need to open it up again. You then have to go and navigate through all the directories until you find that file, but with “Piles” it automatically adds the most recent files to a jump list on your taskbar so you can access them in seconds.

After installing Piles for the first time you will get a new icon in your taskbar which is by default linked to your “MyDocuments” folder, so any changes that you make to files in the folder will automatically be added to the jump list.

You can make your own custom target directory by right clicking on the icon and point it to a new directory. Say for instance you point it to the “Download” directory, every time you download a new file it will automatically be added to that jump list for super quick access, saving you from rummaging around your computers hard drive until you find it.

It’s a great little program, and best of all it’s completely free! You can download it here

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A few days back, Mike Halsey kicked off a series about his software of choice, much to the apparent chagrin of our readers. I think it’s good to take a step back and look what you’re running, so I’ll bite – hopefully my choices and my reasoning are a little less contentious.

What I Do

Before you can choose and run software, you need to have something for it to do. Most of the work I do involves communication via IM and email, quite a bit of writing, audio editing, and some light image editing and gaming. I also move between multiple computers at home and at work, including two laptops and a netbook, and it’s important that I keep everything in a place where all of the computers can reach it. With that stuff in mind, let’s go down the list.

OS – Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit

Yes, of course, the editor of the Windows 7 site is running Windows 7. My primary computer runs the Ultimate version because I got a nice discount on it through work. With that being said, I’d say that Home Premium should have 95% of home users covered, feature-wise. Professional nets you some nice features if you’re in a business environment, but Home Premium hits the sweet spot between feature set and price.

My work computer is a MacBook Pro running OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard and Windows 7 Enterprise (which is basically just Ultimate rebranded for businesses), and my netbook runs Windows 7 Home Premium.

Browser – Mozilla Firefox 3.6

As Mike said, the browser is perhaps even more important in today’s computing environment than the operating system, so one’s choice of browser is crucial.

I switched to Firefox in late 2004 with the 1.0 release on the recommendation of my roommate and my school, and I’ve stuck with it since. Lately, I’ve gotten a little frustrated with constantly slipping release dates, and competitors like Chrome are turning the heat up feature-wise, but Firefox is still a solid, stable browser that rarely gives me trouble. I’d only change browsers if Firefox ever becomes as far behind its competitors as Internet Explorer 6 was six years ago, and I don’t think that’s going to happen any time soon.

I don’t use many add-ons – I favor simplicity in computing, where possible – but one essential extension that I can recommend to anyone using multiple computers is the excellent Xmarks. Xmarks regularly syncs your bookmarks to its server, where they’re available to download to any computer you use. It will even sync your passwords, if that’s something you’re comfortable with. If you haven’t tried it, do so. Now.

Google Chrome is my secondary browser. Unlike Mike, I keep IE8 installed only so that I can occasionally check to see if my other site’s pages are rendering correctly in it.

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The user Perception of the design and default theme of Windows 7 is mainly positive. Every operating system on the other hand has users that love to customize the design by installing new themes and changing system files which often results in a unique design that does not look like all the others out there.

We have covered some tools from basic Windows 7 personalization, over replacing the Windows 7 start menu to customizing the Windows 7 logon screen in the past that can be used to replace standard Windows 7 design elements.

Start Orb Changer is another program in that category. It allows the Windows 7 user to replace the orb image and animation that is used to power up the Windows 7 start menu.

The portable software is compatible with 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows 7. It comes with eight sample orb designs (the first is the original Microsoft orb so that the user can revert the changes back to that orb) that can replace the original design by Microsoft.

It is possible to search on the Internet for additional orb designs. All the user needs to do to replace the existing orb is to start the application, select change orb and pick another orb design.

Windows 7 Start Orb Changer can be downloaded from the developer’s page at Deviant Art. (via Blogs DNA)

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Libraries in Windows 7 allow a user to link multiple directories to the MyDocuments, MyVideos, MyPictures and MyMusic folders which Windows Vista and Windows XP users could not do. Many computer users store files in multiple places these days which can be largely attributed to storage requirements. One prime example would be the main drive with the latest photos taken by the user and an external drive or secondary hard drive containing photos that have been taken in the past to free up space on the primary hard drive.

Libraries are not that complicated to configure and use but there is always room for improvement. The Win7 Library Tool makes it very easy to manage libraries in Windows 7. Its core features are the ability to display and edit the existing libraries and to create new libraries for additional data.

New libraries can for instance be used to divide existing libraries (e.g. work and home photos) or to add new data types (e.g. code or games). All of the functionality is also provided by Windows 7 itself but the application makes it easier and more comfortable and it comes with options to export and import library structures which is handy if libraries need to be configured on multiple computer systems.

Win7 Library Tool is an open Source software for the Windows 7 operating system that can be downloaded from the developer’s website. It might also work in Windows Server 2008 R2.

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The experience of upgrading to Windows Vista has probably put many users off upgrading to Windows 7.  Microsoft have tried hard to reassure users that Windows 7 is ‘not’ Vista, by conducting a very public beta program and working hard to disseminate the good news about Windows 7. To further aid Windows 7 upgrades, Microsoft have released the Windows 7 Application Compatibility List for IT Professionals.

This download comes in a free Microsoft Office Excel-based spreadsheet that lists all the software applications which have met Windows 7 Logo Program testing requirements for compatibility with both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows 7, and have thus earned the right to display the Windows 7 Logo Program logo with the application. These products are identified with the compatibility status “Compatible – Windows 7 Logo.”

For completeness the Windows 7 Application Compatibility list also lists the applications that are “Not Compatible” with Windows 7 or will have “Future Compatibility”.  In total there are 6645 software applications listed in the current Windows 7 software compatibility list :

Download: Windows 7 Application Compatibility List

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Windows 7 ships like previous Windows operating systems with a firewall. The firewall was introduced back then in Windows XP and has since then been constantly improved. The firewall in Windows 7 is a solid software firewall that does a good job of protecting the computer system from attacks. A comparison with commercial software firewalls reveals however that it is still not on pair with those programs especially where usability is concerned. One example would be the configuration of allowed applications in the private and public network space. Most third party firewalls will display a prompt whenever a new application tries to establish a connection. The Firewall in Windows 7 will block that attempt and the user has to configure the firewall rules in the control panel.

The Windows 7 Firewall Control program tries to change that. The software is available as a free version with limited functionality and a pro version that offers all the functionality but comes at a price. The free version is compatibly with 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows 7 and Windows Vista.

The main feature of the free version is the application prompt which is shown whenever a program tries to create a connection, be it to a private network or public network.

The user can then decide to disable or enable all traffic or set the application to only allow incoming or outgoing traffic. That’s a more comfortable way of managing new applications in the Windows 7 Firewall. According to the developers the firewall control works independently from the default Windows 7 Firewall.

Windows7FirewallControl is completely based on Windows Filtering Platform (WFP), the security core introduced in Windows Vista and does not install any third party kernel drivers. The Built-in Firewall is based on the same WFP as well. The both products work entirely independently. Windows7FirewallControl uses the Built-in Firewall only once, at the first start to grab the initial settings. Due to complete product independence you can switch the Built-in Firewall ON or OFF at your option.

What this does mean is that the applications that are configured in the Windows 7 Firewall Control are not synced with the Windows 7 Firewall configuration. This could be a problem if the user decides to uninstall the Firewall Control software at a later time.

Windows 7 Firewall Control is available at the developer’s website. The Pro version enables additional features like port forwarding management, group security zone configurations, a security zone editor, desktop integration or additional options.

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The Windows 7 Taskbar has been one of the most prominent new features in Windows 7 ever since it was first introduced by Microsoft. The new taskbar changes the way users interact with the taskbar by adding several new features that make it more comfortable to work with the operating system. Many users – even those that have not used Windows 7 yet – know that the new taskbar offers thumbnail previews for selected applications, jumplists and abilities to pin applications to the taskbar. What many do not know is that the taskbar icons are also displaying progress meters where applicably. Copying or moving files in Windows Explorer will for instance display the progress of that operation in the Windows 7 taskbar.

Taskbar Meters is a third party program for Windows 7 that can add up to three new icons to the Windows 7 taskbar displaying the computer system’s computer memory, hard disk and cpu utilization. The program makes use of the aforementioned feature to display meters in the taskbar icons in the operating system.

The portable software program comes with three executables after download and extraction. Each executable will place one new icon in the Windows 7 taskbar that is displaying the utilization level of that component.

It is possible to customize the update frequency and color scheme used by any of the three meters individually. A right-click will open the jumplist containing links to the Windows 7 Resource Monitor and Task Manager.

Each individual icon is using roughly 10 Megabytes of computer memory while running raising the computer memory usage by 30 Megabytes if all three icons are displaying values in the taskbar. Users who are interested in the program can download it from the developer’s website. The software program is only compatible with Windows 7 (and probably Windows Server 2008 R2 as well).

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Microsoft has added native vhd (that’s virtual hard disk) support in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. This basically allows a user to create a virtual hard disk that uses space of one of the physical hard disks but displays with its own drive letter. You can read up on virtual hard drives in Windows 7 by reading Robert’s two in depths articles How to Create and Configure a VHD in Windows 7 and How to Attach/Detach VHDs in Windows 7. One interesting application for VHDs in Windows 7 is the ability to use them to store a different operating system which can then be booted into as if it were normally installed on a separate partition.

If you read Robert’s article about attaching and detaching VHDs you might have noticed that it requires some menu fiddling to do so. The user needs to go into Computer Management, click on Disk Management under Storage and select Attach VHD (or Detach) from there. It is not a problem if this is a once-a-lifetime operation but users who work regularly with different VHD images might prefer a faster solution.

That’s where VHD Attach comes into play. The software program adds options to attach and detach vhd images to the right-click context menu in Windows Explorer. All that it takes to attach a vhd is therefor to right-click it in Windows Explorer and select the attach option. The same is true for detaching vhd images which can be done by right-clicking the mounted vhd image in My Computer.

VHD Attach is a free software program for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. It can be downloaded directly from the developer’s website. (via Download Squad)

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There is certainly no shortage of logon screen editors for the Windows 7 operating system. We here at Windows 7 News have reviewed several in the past (see: Windows 7 Logon Changer, Windows 7 Logon Background Changer or Customizing the Windows 7 Logon Screen) and the Windows 7 Logon Screen Editor is another program that falls right into that category.

The portable software program needs to be started with administrative rights but that’s the only requirement. The application offers two main functions: To change the background image and to change the shadow type of the logon screen.

The background image can be easily changed by selecting another image from the local computer system. The shadow type by clicking on the + icon in the lower right corner of the screen. The program comes with an option to reset the logon background. The Windows 7 Logon Screen Editor can be downloaded from Deviant Art.

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If you want to install a specific edition of Windows 7, say Windows 7 Professional, you need a Windows 7 Professional setup disk or iso image. If you only got another edition of Windows 7 you are out of luck. The Windows 7 ISO Edition Switcher provides users with a solution to patch a Windows 7 ISO so that it will install a different version of the operating system during setup. It is for instance possible to turn a Windows 7 Ultimate edition into Windows 7 Professional. The user installing the operating system still needs a valid product key for the Windows 7 edition that gets installed afterwards but the need to re-download or create an ISO image is no longer delaying the installation.

The portable software programs comes with patch files which need to be loaded after execution. Users simply need to pick the target version that they want to install and then the iso image on the computer’s hard drive. The program will then patch the ISO image so that the selected edition of Windows 7 can be installed.

The very same website contains another patch that will turn a Windows 7 iso into an universal disk which can be used to install all different editions of Windows 7. Visit Win7Utils for downloads and additional information. (via Download Squad)

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Microsoft have launched the compatibility centre for Windows 7.  A website simply containing a database of software and hardware that is known to work fine with their new operating system.

The database is by no means exhaustive.  The first software package I searched for, Microsoft’s own Photodraw v2.0 failed to appear in the database even though I know it works fine in Windows 7.  The website does give you the opportunity though to add additional hardware and software yourself if you know it to work, which is a nice touch.

With hardware you’re always better first visiting the manufacturer’s website and downloading any Windows 7 drivers, at the same time checking whether those drivers will support both 64 bit and 32 bit versions of Windows 7.

For seeing if some of your older software will work though, this is a useful tool when you’re considering upgrading.

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Windows Live Writer is quite possibly my favorite tool in the Windows Live Essentials package. When I found it I had just started my own blog with a couple of college buddies, and we were looking for a good freeware editor – copying and pasting text from Word into Blogger’s lackluster Web interface just wasn’t cutting it. Imagine my excitement when I found just such a product, developed by none other than Microsoft, free for all legitimate users of Windows XP, Vista and 7.

Jason has already written an excellent guide on installing the Windows Live applications, so I’ll skip those steps and assume you’ve already downloaded and installed the application.

Let’s start by opening Writer. When you first run it, a setup wizard should appear, but if it doesn’t just go to Blogs >> Add Blog Account.

Pick your poison

Writer will give you the option of starting a new blog using Microsoft’s Windows Live service, or tying the program to a blog you already have. Since it supports Blogger, WordPress, TypePad and others, almost all blogs will work with the tool.

You’ll need to enter your blog’s URL and your login information. Writer may also ask if you’d like to let it publish a temporary post – let it, because this step will make it so that you can preview what your post will look like before publishing.

That’s all there is to setting the program up – we’re now ready to start using it.

Ready to write

Writer has three main tabs, located near the bottom of the screen. The Edit tab is where you’ll spend the majority of your time, as it’s where you’ll be writing your posts. The Preview tab will give you a complete preview of your page, with frames and ads and all. Of course, for people familiar with code you can always look at the code using the Source tab.

One pleasant surprise is how clean the code that Writer generates is – Word inserts all manner of strange strings into what looks like plain text, and it can play hell with your blog’s layout if you use any special code in the body of the post. Writer just does what you tell it to, and the result is good, clean code that is easy to edit.

In Edit mode, you can write, insert images and links, and do other text formatting – it works basically like a version of Word optimized for blogs, with standard font and paragraph settings. You can also insert pictures, videos, tables, bulleted lists, and other things.

Font, paragraph, and insert options

Once you’ve inserted an image, Writer also gives you some easy ways to tweak them so they look just the way you want them to.

Image options

The Picture tab is the main one, and it’s here where you’ll position the image in your post and adjust margins and borders. The Advanced tab will allow you to change the image’s size, as well as do some simple cropping and rotating – you can also watermark images, if you’d like. The Effects tab allows you to manipulate the image in more significant ways, with greyscale and sepia-tone filters among others.

Saving and opening drafts as you work on them is also easy in Writer. You can save them to your local computer by using good old Ctrl + S, but you can also save them to your blog by clicking Save Draft and then Save Draft to Blog. Now, anytime you want to edit the post, hit Open and select your blog’s name.

Edit a post that has already been published

You can open and edit any post or draft you’ve posted at any time, from any computer with Writer installed. It’s really handy if you use more than one computer over the course of the day.

So now you’ve got a fully-written post, and you’re ready to Publish. Great! Check the bottom of the screen – the long drop-down menu on the left contains a list of all your blog’s tags – pick and choose the ones that apply, or create a new one if you need to.

To the right of the tag toolbar, you’ll see the set publish date box. Fill in the date and time you want the post to go live – you can use this to schedule posts. If you finish something in the morning and want to post in the afternoon, set the it to post on that day at the desired time and click the Publish button in the upper left-hand corner. The post will go up, but won’t appear on your blog until the time you specified.

And that’s Windows Live Writer in a nutshell. I’ve found it to be an invaluable tool, and head-and-shoulders above any other product for Windows or OS X, especially given the price. Any serious blogger needs to give this one a shot.

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Users who tried opening help files (those with the .hlp extension) in Windows 7 might have noticed that it was not possible. Microsoft has removed the Windows Help Program from the operating system since the release of Windows Vista and continued that tradition in Windows 7. Windows Vista users were able to download the Windows Help Program WinHlp32.exe from Microsoft servers to view help files. Windows 7 users were not that lucky until now as Microsoft did not offer an official download for the program for Windows 7 operating systems.

This has changed yesterday with the release of the Windows Help program (WinHlp32.exe) for Windows 7. The download is now available and Windows 7 users who want (or need to) view help files can now do so after installation.

The download is provided at the Microsoft website. A genuine validation is performed before the download can be initiated. Further information about the removal of the Windows Help Program are provided at the Microsoft Knowledgebase.

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And we’re back! The second part in this two part series on the “leftovers” of Windows 7, those little features that are nice to have but ultimately too small to earn an entire article devoted to their inner workings. Join me, as I take a look at the redone Calculator, the Snipping Tool, and the Math Input Panel.

Calculator

At first glance, the Calculator is little changed.

Good ol' Calculator

Digging into the View menu shows a much deeper set of changes, however, very nearly on the same level as the redone Paint and WordPad applications.

Look at all the new stuff!

In addition to the traditional Standard and Scientific calculators, Windows 7 throws in a Programmer and Statistics calculator as well, making Windows 7 (and the netbooks it will come with) that much more useful in math class.

Of more interest for home users are some of the options lower down on the menu, starting with Unit Coversion.

Unit conversion

This is, of course, useful for converting one unit of measurement to another unit of measurement – Celsius to Fahrenheit, feet to meters, and so on. This has already saved me a couple of trips to Google.

Date conversion will tell you the number of years, months, weeks and days between two calendar dates.

Lastly, the Calculator provides a number of basic but useful worksheets, which will allow you to plug in some numbers and calculate figures on fuel economy, mortgages and car payments.

These additions to Calculator are small but definitely useful – if that is starting to sound familiar by now, it’s because “small but useful changes” is practically Windows 7′s tagline.

Snipping Tool

Snipping tool isn’t new to Windows 7 – it first came with Windows XP Tablet Edition, and later shipped with Windows Vista. However, since there are plenty of people out there who never used either of those operating systems, I thought it best to highlight the tool’s existence.

Snip away

That screenshot encapsulates most of the product’s features – choose the way you want to snip and the section of screen you’d like to snip, and then the program will let you save it as a .PNG or .JPG or any of Windows’ customary image formats.

Math Input Panel

The Math Input Panel allows you to draw mathematical formulas with the mouse or a stylus (on a tablet or touchscreen PC).

Math Input Panel

This is definitely on the “odd” side of “odds and ends,” but even so I can see it being useful to academics. Go ahead and draw in a formula (go to Help  and select “Which areas of math are supported? to see what math you can use).

A simple equation. Still too much math for me.

The Select and Correct button will allow you to fix certain symbols if the program detects them incorrectly.

When you’ve got the formula looking just the way you want it, you can click Insert to copy it to the clipboard. To put it into Word or your word processor of choice, just Paste it. Definitely useful for people writing papers for math or science class who don’t want to deal with the charatcer map.

And that’s all there is! I hope this series has been useful. If there are other odds and ends you’d like to see covered, by all means sound off in the comments section.

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We all know that Windows 7 has a lot of new features, large and small – some of those, like WordPad and Paint, merit a close look and some in-depth analysis. Other improvements are more subtle, often slipping through the cracks – this post (and its follow-up later in the week) looks to shine the spotlight on a few of the little features of Windows 7.

Sticky Notes

Sticky Notes is a great tool for those of you who, like me, have a monitor that always has post-its hanging off of it everywhere.

Straddling a line between Gadget and application, Sticky Notes puts up one lone note on your desktop where you can write anything you want.

Thanks for the reminder

Clicking the plus sign (or typing Ctrl+N) will give you a new sticky note, and you can have as many as you want. Pulling on the lower right-hand corner will, of course, resize the note.

A busy day

Since Sticky Notes runs as a standard application and not a Gadget, you can bring your notes to the front by clicking on their icon in the Taskbar – they fade from view if you use Aero Peek.

I personally think these would work better as a Gadget – I’d like to be able to keep these on the desktop and view them with Aero Peek as happens with the Clock and the other Windows 7 Gadgets. Still, Sticky Notes is a useful application in spite of that shortcoming.

Magnifier

This is a handy little accessibility feature that is especially useful for hard-of-sight users, or users trying to read PDFs or other documents with small text on a low resolution screen.

The Magnifier

It’s a very small program, and when it hasn’t been interacted with in awhile it shrinks to a small, semi-transparent magnifying glass until it is needed again.

The Magnifier when idle

Magnifier works in three main modes. First is Full Screen mode – this mode magnifies the entire screen to your specified zoom level – moving the cursor around will magnify different parts of the screen.

It's hard to tell from the thumbnail, but this screen has been magnified

The second mode is Lens mode, which literally turns your pointer into a “lens” that magnifies anything you pass it over.

Lens mode

The last mode is Dock mode, which enables you to put a “lens” anywhere on the screen. The view in the docked lens follows your cursor around.

Dock mode

Bluetooth File Transfer

The last feature we’re going to look at today is the Bluetooth File Transfer utility, which will let you share files between Bluetooth-enabled devices without the hassle of setting up a network share or putting it on a flash drive or emailing it.

You can find the tool under Accessories in the start menu. When you open it, it will ask you whether you’ll be sending or receiving the files, an easy enough question to answer.

The receiving computer will now begin waiting to be contacted by the sending computer, and the sending computer will display a list of devices to which it can connect.

Select a device

Single click to select a device. Security-minded users will want to check the “Use Authentication” box, which will prompt the receiving computer to generate a pairing code – only when that code has been typed into the sending computer will the file be sent. Unchecking the “Use authentication” box will remove this step, but any Bluetooth-enabled device could potentially intercept the file.

Now, click Next a couple of times until the file transfers – the time this takes will, of course, depend on the amount of data being transferred and the strength of the Bluetooth connection. Once the file has transferred, the receiving computer will ask you where you’d like to save it.

Where should it go?

Once you’ve selected the file’s new home, you’re all done!

Those are the features we’ll be covering today. Come back tomorrow for an in-depth look at the Snipping Tool, the Math Input Panel, and the Calculator!

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Windows DVD Maker was originally introduced in the Home Premium and Ultimate editions of Windows Vista. Windows 7 changes the application subtly, and sees it bundled with all editions from Home Premium and up.

Opening the application presents you a blank slate, into which you can add video or pictures by dragging and dropping or by clicking the “Add Items” button.

Windows DVD Maker

Each separate video clip that you add to the project is treated as its own separate “chapter” on the DVD, and pictures you add are automatically placed into a slideshow that will cycle through all of the added pictures. A characteristic pie graph in the lower right hand corner of the screen lets you know how much more stuff you can fit on the DVD.

Some advanced options can be found by clicking Options in the lower right-hand corner of the screen.

Advanced options

Those looking for a high degree of control over their DVDs will be disappointed by these simple options, but you can choose between aspect ratios (4:3 fullscreen and 16:9 widescreen) and regional settings (NTSC for North America and Japan, PAL for Europe), as well as the DVD burner’s speed and how your DVD will act when it’s inserted into a player.

Once you’ve put all of your pictures and clips in, it’s time to customize your DVD’s menu.

Menu customization

On the right side of the screen, you’ll see several different basic menu styles that you can choose from. These are largely unchanged from the Winodws Vista version of the application, but they’re nice, and people coming to Windows 7 from Windows XP won’t know the difference.

Clicking Preview, of course, will show you what your finished menu will look and sound like, while Menu Text lets you customize what your menu says and the font it says it in. Customize Menu gets you into some more advanced options:

Customize your menu

Here, you can insert music, choose the video that will play in your menus, and select what you scene selection page will look like.

Lastly, the Slide Show button will allow you to customize what a slide show of still photos will look and sound like.

Customize a slide show

You can set your pictures to music, choose how long pictures will stay on the screen before cycling to the next one, and choose what the transitions between pictures will look like. Like the rest of the application, it’s simple but streamlined, making it easy for just about anyone to use.

Once you’ve gotten everything just right, insert a blank DVD and click Burn – depending on the length and complexity of your movie, as well as the speed of your computer, this process could take a few minutes or a couple of hours. When everything’s finished, you’ll have a DVD you can play in just about any computer or standalone DVD player.

Would it be nice if Windows DVD Maker was a little more full-featured, or if there were a few more advanced options? Sure. But Microsoft’s not targeting professionals with this application. Windows DVD Maker is aimed largely at your mother and mine, the light-to-moderate computer user who wants to make a nice-looking DVD and wants it to be easy. In that capacity, Windows DVD Maker is an excellent application.

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A few days ago we looked at the improvements in Windows 7 Paint. Today, I want to pay some attention to one of the other long-standing applications in Microsoft’s operating system, the venerable Wordpad. Doomed to forever straddle the line between Notepad and Microsoft Word, Wordpad has been upgraded in some useful ways, though in others it remains frustratingly limited.

The Good

Like Paint, Wordpad has been given the Ribbon treatment this time around. The more I see this interface in applications, the more convinced I am of its superiority to the old File/Edit/Tools/Help/Etc. menus that most Windows and OS X applications continue to use. In Wordpad, the effect is best described as “Word Lite.”

The new WordPad

Wordpad’s best new feature is its ability to read and save files in the OpenDocument format (.odt), which will make open-source proponents happy, and also in Microsoft’s Open XML format (.docx). This is the same file format used by default in Microsoft Word 2007 and 2010, and is great for reading or doing basic edits to those documents on a computer without Office installed.

Unfortunately, the new Wordpad still cannot work with Word 97-2003 (.doc) files. Viewing these files will still require the installation of a Word viewer, and editing them will require Word or a Word-compatible word processor.

Aside from that, most of Wordpad’s new features are right on the surface. You’ve got standard Font and Paragraph options…

Font and Paragraph settings

Here, you can change spacing and alignment along with Font, size and color. Also included is the ability to do subscript and superscript, bulleted and numbered lists, and a highlighter.

Next, the Insert menu, mostly for inserting pictures into documents.

The Insert menu

Inserting a picture is self-explanatory. Inserting a Paint drawing will open Paint and insert whatever doodles you make into the document. Date and time is another easy one. Insert object is less easy to explain – basically, it’s a way to embed pictures, other documents and PDFs into a document. I can’t imagine a use for this, but I’m sure someone somewhere will appreciate it.

You’ve got a few editing options as well, including a basic find-and-replace function that’s great for basic editing.

Editing options

Lastly, the View tab houses a few basic display options, including zoom and the ability to make some taskbars appear and disappear.

View menu

The Bad

Most notably, Windows 7 Wordpad does not include spellcheck – apparently people who aren’t willing to pay extra for Microsoft Word are not good enough to be allowed to spell correctly. This is the single feature that keeps Wordpad from being a usable basic word processor, and its exclusion doesn’t make any sense.

Free Web browsers like Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome include spellchecking. Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard includes a spellchecker with autocorrect that works with every application in the operating system. I know that Wordpad isn’t used as a full-featured word processor, but is that because it can’t be, or because it is arbitrarily limited by Microsoft in an effort to get you to buy something else?

This gripe can be addressed by installing a third-party spellchecking program, but it’s 2009, and I shouldn’t have to do that to enable basic features in my word processor.

The Conclusion

The new Wordpad is a solid upgrade to a program that has been with us since the Windows 3.1 days. However, just as the new Paint isn’t meant to be a replacement for Photoshop, Wordpad is obviously not meant to replace a full-featured word processor. It’s great that Wordpad can work with .docx and .odt files, but the exclusion of a spellchecker is a major downside. Maybe next time?

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Windows 7 Logon Background Changer is a similar program as Windows 7 Logon Changer which we reviewed earlier this week. The software program which is compatible with both the release candidate and RTM release of Windows 7 can turn images that are located on the local computer system into logon background wallpapers that can then be shown during the Windows 7 logon process.

The program comes with the option to automatically resize images of a selected folder into the supported size so that they can be used as Windows 7 logon backgrounds. The processed images will be saved using a good balance between compression and image quality.

The Windows 7 user can then select one of the available backgrounds for the Windows 7 logon process. No system files are altered by the program and admin rights are only required to create a folder and an initial Registry key.

Windows 7 Logon Background Changer is more comfortable than the previously reviewed Windows 7 Logon Changer. The program is based on the Windows Presentation Foundation which means it requires a decent video card to display the 3D animations smoothly. The software program can be downloaded from the developer’s website.

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The first software programs that are making use of the new features that Microsoft introduced in Windows 7 are slowly appearing on the Internet. One of the first is a program called 7 Stacks which basically allows Windows 7 users to add as much as ten different applications into one icon in the Windows 7 taskbar.

Why would someone want to do that? The answer is space and probably better manageability as well. Instead of having to deal with up to ten separate icons in the taskbar users only have to deal with one that contains all the ten applications that they want to access. This is for instance ideal to combine applications of a similar type, e.g. Internet applications like web browsers, email clients and messengers or Office programs like Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint. It’s also possible to combine folders with applications in one Windows 7 icon which could be used to open documents quickly this way that are related to the applications.

A new stack is simply created by right-clicking any open stack in the Windows 7 taskbar and selecting the “Create New Stack” option in the jumplist. This will create a new shortcut which can then be pinned to the taskbar and customized there.

The design of the software can be modified heavily. 7 Stack is can also be used on previous versions of the Windows operating system. It can be downloaded from the developer’s website.

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One problem that many users face who download a build of Windows 7 from unofficial sources is that they have to verify that the ISO has not been tampered with. In other words: That the hash of the ISO turns out to be exactly the same as that of the version that was distributed by Microsoft directly. Some users who release Windows 7 builds on the Internet post the hash values of these images along with the download to make it convenient for users. Problem that can arise here is that downloaders need to trust the uploader.

The Windows 7 ISO Verifier has been created by Long Zheng and Sven Groot. It basically allows users to verify a Windows 7 ISO image without knowing the hash of it or the has that it is supposed to have. Iso images can simply be dropped onto the exe after download. Another option is to execute the Windows 7 ISO Verifier and pick the exe this way.

The program will then calculate the hash of the local ISO image and compare it with a database of hashes on the Internet that gets constantly updated. The process is fast and tells the user right away if the ISO is verified or not. It can obviously happen that a hash is not listed in the online database either because the release is to new, human error or because it has been tampered with (say another language was added).

Still, Windows 7 ISO Verifier is a nice tool for users who download ISO images of Windows 7.

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Windows 7 does not provide its users a way to change the start menu to the classic start menu. This is probably a feature that not many users want but there are surely some users who prefer to work with the classic start menu than the new one. The only way to work with a classic start menu is to use a third party software program since there is no built in way to activate a classic start menu.

The application Windows 7 Classic Start Menu has been created just for that purpose. It can be pinned to the Windows 7 from where it can be executed. Please note that this does not replace the existing start menu in Windows 7.

The installation could be a bit tricky as it requires UAC confirmations. After downloading the software run the installer. The installer will place icons on the computer desktop including a CS Menu First Run icon which needs to be executed after the installation. The current user needs to logout afterwards.

All that’s left to do is to move the pin the program icon into the Windows 7 Taskbar. A click on that icon will display a classic start menu which can be configured further to suite the needs of the user.

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Microsoft has released a beta version of the Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit 4.0 which makes it easier for ” Microsoft customers and partners to quickly identify what servers, workstations, and network devices are in their IT environment”. The toolkit can be used to “discover all computers within Active Directory and workgroup environments” that include “hardware and device inventory, hardware compatibility analysis, and generation of actionable, environment-specific IT proposals for migration to most major Microsoft technologies”.

The following new features have been added in the Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit 4.0 Beta:

• Windows 7 Hardware and Device Compatibility Assessment
• Windows Server 2008 R2 Hardware and Device Compatibility Assessment
• Virtualization Candidates Assessment for Hyper-V R2 Server Consolidation
• Integration with the Microsoft Integrated Virtualization ROI Calculator
• Inventory of VMware Server Hosts and Guests
• User Interface and Proposal Customization for Partner co-branding
• Enhanced Usability and Improved Inventory Performance

The Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit 4.0 Beta can be downloaded from the Solution and Accelerators website over at Technet.

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Robert published an article not long ago in which he outlined how to customize the Windows 7 logon experience. The article might have been a bit techy for some users as it involved working with the Windows Registry and system files.

The Windows 7 Logon Screen Rotator is a computer program for the Windows 7 operating system that is much easier to use. It has been designed to rotate the logon screen on every logon. The main benefit of using this program is that it does not require the user to tamper with the Windows Registry at all. Up to ten different logon screen images can be added to the software program that get then rotated automatically.

New logon screen images can be added by clicking on the Choose Image buttons which will open a file browser window. The application itself will take care of the rest and rotate the logon screen images from then on. You can download the software directly from Neowin.

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The Taskbar Overlord application for the Windows 7 operating system was born out of frustration with how some aspects of the Windows 7 taskbar were working. The software developer decided to create the program to fix two issues that he had with the Windows 7 taskbar.

The first issue was that he did not like that a left-click on a taskbar icon would open the thumbnail preview if multiple windows were open which made it difficulty to find the last active window. This also meant that it takes two clicks to restore a minimized window instead of one. The fact that the thumbnails were also being displayed when hovering over the taskbar item made the issue even more pressing.

The second issue was a simpler one. A middle-click on an icon in the taskbar opens a new instance of that window. The very same result can also be achieved by left-clicking the item while holding down the shift key on the computer keyboard.

Taskbar Overlord therefor changes the behavior of the Windows 7 Taskbar the following way:

• A left-click on a taskbar item will now open the last active window immediately. Additional clicks will open the other windows that are grouped into that taskbar item.
• A middle-click on a taskbar item will now close that window instead of opening a new instance of the window.

Taskbar Overlord (via Lifehacker) is a Autohotkey script which can be directly downloaded from the developer’s website.

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Microsoft has released updates for the Window 7 Remote Server Administration Tools software to reflect the changes made between Beta and Release Candidate. Remote Server Administration Tools allow system administrators to manage roles and features “that are running Windows Server® 2008 R2, Windows Server® 2008, or Windows Server® 2003, from a remote computer that is running Windows 7 RC”. The tool has been released in all five Windows 7 Release Candidate languages (English, German, French, Spanish and Japanese) and is available for download at the Microsoft website.

Remote Server Administration Tools can only be installed on computers that are running the Professional, Enterprise, or Ultimate editions of Windows 7 RC. Downloads are provided for 32-bit and 64-bit operating systems. Only one copy of Remote Server Administration Tools can be installed on a computer system which includes different language versions of the software package. Previous versions have to be uninstalled before the new version can be installed. You must be either a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to install the Administration Tools pack, or you must be logged on to the computer by using the built-in Administrator account.

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Microsoft has released the alpha version of the Windows 7 Client Software Logo Program Toolkit as expected earlier today. The release is only available on Microsoft Connect and requires the following invitation code: LOGO-RX8Y-64B9. The toolkit allows companies that develop software to test and verify that their applications meet the requirements of the Windows 7 Client Software Logo Program. This is a step in the process of being allowed to add a compatible with windows 7 logo on the products.

The beta version of the Windows 7 Client Software Logo Program Toolkit is expected to be released in the second half of 2009 which is also the start of the submission phase for the logo.

via Arstechnica (thanks to Sicarius for the tip)

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The beta and the later builds of Windows 7 have already shown that Windows 7 is a stable operating system. There is still the nagging question for many users if the computer software programs that they use run on the new Microsoft operating system. That’s where the marathon test of our new partner blog Brothersoft Blog comes into play. They will test 200 applications for compatibility with Windows 7 and report their findings on their website.

They have published already four of the 200 Windows 7 compatibility tests and will publish the rest in the next months. The software programs already reviewed are Winzip, GOM Media Player, EVEREST Ultimate Edition and Kaspersky Antivirus.

The compatibility tests contain information if and how the application is performing under the Windows 7 operating system. A good way to keep up to date with the latest tests would be to subscribe to the RSS feed of the blog.

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If you compare previous installations of the Microsoft Windows operating system like Windows XP or Windows Vista with the soon to be released Windows 7 you notice that several software programs and applications have been removed from the latter. APC Mag is running a rather short but informative post about some of the programs that have been removed in Windows 7. The most prominent ones are applications like Microsoft Outlook Express (or Windows Mail, or Mail), Microsoft Movie Maker and Microsoft Photo Gallery.

Microsoft made an announcement regarding the removal of those default applications. They are replaced by Windows Live which is giving the user the choice to install applications with a similar or even wider functionality. The main emphasize lays on choice. Outlook Express and the other applications where default applications in previous operating systems which could not be removed easily even if they were not used at all by the user.

With Windows Live the choice is solely on the user to install those applications. It is possible to use third party applications like Gmail or Thunderbird solely without having a copy of Outlook Express on the computer system. That’s a big advantage for experienced users. It remains to be seen on the other hand how inexperienced or novice user come along with this choice. Microsoft better make sure that it is easy and straightforward to install those Windows Live applications during or after the Windows 7 installation.

There are other applications that got canned or changed. There is no word about Windows Dreamscene anymore which was part of Windows Vista Ultimate and allowed users to display videos as desktop backgrounds. The Windows Vista Sidebar got redesigned and practically removed. Windows 7 is still working with the gadgets but those can be placed anywhere on screen making the sidebar obsolete.

Do you know of any other applications or features that will not make it into the final version of Windows 7? Let us hear about them in the comments.

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The popular security software developer Kaspersky has released a first technical preview version of the upcoming Kaspersky Anti-virus solution for Windows 7. The release can be downloaded directly from the Kaspersky ftp site. Its current version is 8.0.0.1015. Below is the full Kaspersky press release:

Kaspersky Lab, a leading developer of secure content management systems, announces the release of a technical prototype of Kaspersky Anti-Virus for Windows 7.

Windows 7 is the next release of the Microsoft Windows operating system which will replace Windows Vista and is a step forward in the development of Microsoft operating systems. The new OS will incorporate enhanced reliability, greater efficiency, an improved interface and extended working features both in global and local information networks.

The technical preview is a complex solution for securing computers running under Windows 7. The prototype includes not only an antivirus component but an effective and fully functional firewall and anti-spam filter.

At the heart of the new technical prototype is Kaspersky Lab’s new antivirus engine which is even more effective at detecting malicious programs than its predecessor. The new engine dramatically increases system scanning speed thanks to improved processing of objects and optimized use of system resources, particularly on dual- and quad-core processor platforms. The unique product architecture ensures high productivity and one of the lowest uses of system resources in the industry.

The technical preview includes a highly effective heuristic analyzer. The heuristic analyzer detects and blocks as yet unknown malicious programs. If a program signature is not included in the antivirus databases, i.e., the malicious program is unknown, the heuristic analyzer will safely launch the program in an isolated virtual environment, analyze the program’s actions and conclude with a high degree of probability whether it is potentially harmful before it is launched in a live environment.

In addition, the technical prototype includes a new user interface developed to meet the needs of both inexperienced and advanced users.

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If you are a Windows Vista user and cannot wait another year before Windows 7 arrives you might want to pimp your operating system to look and feel like Windows 7. The following article is a guideline on how to tweak several areas of the Windows Vista interface to resemble Windows 7. Some changes, like a new wallpaper, do not tinker with system data at all while other changes require to patch system files so that the changes can be applied. It would therefor be a good idea to create a system restore point or backup before you continue reading and applying.

Here is what we will do:

Install the Windows 7 theme
Install the Windows 7 boot screen
Install the Windows 7 login screen
Install one of the Windows 7 wallpapers
Add Aero Shake to Windows Vista
Add Aero Snap to Windows Vista
Add the Windows 7 Calculator to Windows Vista

1. Install the Windows 7 theme

Download: Windows 7 Vista Style

Adding another theme to Windows Vista can only be done if several system files are patched first. You can find instructions on how to patch a system file at uxtheme.dll patcher or directly download the required files for your operating system here.

The Windows 7 Vista Style theme has to be downloaded and unpacked on the system. The whole directory has to be moved into the directory C:WindowsResourcesThemes if Windows Vista is installed on drive c:. The theme can then be selected by clicking on the Windows 7.msstyles file in the Windows 7 folder of the theme. Click here for more Windows 7 Themes.

2. Install the Windows 7 boot screen

Download: Windows 7 Boot Screen for Windows Vista

The zip comes with two files: VistaVG Seven Boot Screen for Vista.tbs which can be used with the Tuneup Utilities or winload.exe.mui which can be used if the Tuneup Utilities are not installed on the system. Using the winload.exe.mui file requires to replace the original file located in the system32en-US folder with the one downloaded. You need to take ownership of the file by right-clicking it in system32en-US to be able to replace it with the new one. It might be a good idea to backup the file before replacing it. You could also move the old file out of the folder and the new file in. Restart the computer system to see the new boot screen. You might need to enable No Gui Boot in the Boot tab of msconfig.

3. Install the Windows 7 login screen

Download: Windows 7 Login Screen

Download the file from the link above and unpack it on the hard drive. Start by installing Logonvista (LogonStudioVista.exe). Start the application afterwards and load the Windows7.logonvista file.Then take permission for basebrd.dll which is located in c:windowsbrandingbasebrdbasebrd.dll and replace it with the one in the dll folder of the unpacked file. It is again advised to backup the file before replacing it. Logout to see the changes.

4. Install Windows 7 Wallpapers

Download: Here

You can view all Windows 7 wallpapers that have been installed in the M3 build of Windows 7 by following the link at the beginning.

5. Install Software

Download: Aero Shake, Aero Snap and the Windows 7 Calculator

Aero Shake:

One of the new features of Windows 7. Shaking the active window with the mouse will minimize all visible windows. Shaking it again will display the minimized windows again.

Aero Snap

Aero Snap can be used to snap windows to the left or right side of the desktop which will change their size so that they will be displayed on half the screen. Moving a window to the top will maximize that window.

Windows 7 Calculator

This replaces the original Windows Vista Calculator with the new and updated Windows 7 calculator.

Turn Windows Vista Into Windows 7 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.

Windows 7 PC Safeguard is another new Windows 7 feature that recently came to light. The feature can be enabled on Windows 7 standard user accounts and has the effect that changes to the system will only be temporary. Microsoft is offering a similar feature in the form of Windows SteadyState for computers running Windows XP and Windows Vista. It seems that they have taken some time to evaluate Microsoft software programs and made the decision to integrate quite a few into Windows 7.

PC Safeguard does not provide many configuration options yet but it could be that Microsoft has plans to integrate some of the more advanced SteadyState features such as blacklisting applications to the software program before they release Windows 7. The only available option is to provide some disk space for data storage. The restricted user will be reminded after login that the changes that he makes to the operating system will be undone after logging off.

Windows 7 PC Safeguard 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.