beta

LOS ANGELES--After unveiling most of the details around Windows 7 to developers last week, this year's Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) isn't expected to be the barn burner it is in some years.

WinHEC will have the same venue as last week's Professional Developer Conference, the same Windows 7 bits and, indeed much of the same pitch that Microsoft gave last week, albeit with a more hardware-oriented bent.

Still, I expect to find enough tidbits about the OS to make it worth your (and my) time. I'll have full coverage starting Wednesday.

In particular, look for … Read more

LOS ANGELES--In addition to getting to spend a few minutes playing around with Windows 7's new desktop, I had a chance to play around with its multitouch gestures.

The brief look came on a machine running a later build than the one Microsoft handed out to developers last week. More similar to the version that was shown onstage Tuesday, the machine I used had the new desktop featuring the Aero Peek and other features.

I thought it might help to show some of the features in a short video. (It was me holding a Flip video camera, so apologies … Read more

LOS ANGELES--The differences between Vista and Windows 7 are subtle--sometimes so subtle that they can go unnoticed.

This point was exacerbated by the fact that the build that developers were given a chance to take home last week doesn't have the new taskbar that represents the most visual difference between Windows 7 and today's Vista desktop.

Microsoft went to the trouble of shifting all the computer kiosks at the Professional Developers Conference over to Windows 7 on Tuesday. But because the version lacked some of the key visual features, some attendees didn't even notice they were running … Read more

Since Monday, I have been running a prebeta copy of Windows 7, the next operating system from Microsoft.

At first glance, build 6801 of Windows 7 appears very much like Windows Vista; that's because enhancements to the look and feel part of the operating system typically come late in the development process. Right now, the core programming is being set, and there are already some changes in how Windows 7 will handle computer security.

Gone is the Security Center, introduced in Windows XP SP2. Instead, there will be an "Action Center" that incorporates alerts from 10 existing … Read more

Some companies are planning to skip Windows Vista, and that's OK, according to Steve Ballmer. But Microsoft's CEO hopes that those companies come back for Windows 7.

Ballmer said that "if people want to wait they really can," ZDNet's Larry Dignan reports. "But I'd definitely deploy Vista," he said.

Speaking on Thursday at Gartner's Symposium/ITxpo conference in Orlando, Ballmer defended Vista and noted that "The adoption rate of Vista is faster than the adoption rate was of XP at two years in."

Ballmer did note that Vista has … Read more

In many ways, Microsoft's decision to keep the Windows 7 name was entirely logical.

It was the product's code name, something relatively simple, and it is generally seen as a lucky number (at least here in the United States).

But to arrive at the number 7, Microsoft does some strange math, as general manager Mike Nash outlined in a blog posting Tuesday. Nash writes:

The very first release of Windows was Windows 1.0, the second was Windows 2.0, the third Windows 3.0.

Here's where things get a little more complicated. Following Windows 3.0 … Read more

Mozilla fans can now play with the anticipated speedier JavaScript engine in the first beta for Firefox 3.1, as well as explore improvements to the Smart Location Bar and a slick interface for hotkey tab switching. Now available for Windows, Mac, and Linux users, the new JavaScript engine, called TraceMonkey, is not turned on by default.

To activate it, type "about:config" into the Smart Bar, then type "javascript.options.jit.content" into the filter. Double-click on the preference listed to change the boolean setting from "false" to "true." Close the … Read more

Information Appliance Associates, the creator of the original Mac-to-BlackBerry sync solution (also known as PocketMac for BlackBerry), announced on Tuesday a beta release of the first tool to sync Linux user data to the BlackBerry. The tool is dubbed "PocketMac for BlackBerry Linux Edition."

This beta version is the result of more than 18 months of development and testing; it's now open to the public for more input before a final version is created. The beta period starts Tuesday and is limited to a set number of users; if you're interested, you'd better sign up now.… Read more

Google has an infamous propensity to keep projects in beta for an unusually long time, and now somebody has gone to the trouble of quantifying just how widespread the testing tag is at the Internet giant.

"Of the 49 Google products we could find, 22 are in beta. That's 45 percent," not including Google Labs projects, according to a Wednesday blog post at Pingdom, a Web site performance monitoring company. "We're so used to seeing the little 'beta tag next to the various Google product logos that we almost don't register it anymore. We … Read more