Microsoft bought Skype for $8.5 Billion

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After the rumors that either Facebook or Google will buy Skype the deal was closed by Microsoft. Microsoft bought Skype for astonishing $8.5Billion USD. This is the biggest acquisition of Microsoft in its 36years of history. According to AllthingsD Microsoft and Skype will formally announce the deal tomorrow.

The Skype is said to have a value of 2.75Billion dollars and a debt of 686 Million dollars this is a good deal for Skype.

Skype will be integrated to Windows Live and other Microsoft services. With a huge amount of money involve I hope that Skype will remain FREE as we know that Microsoft wants money on every services they are into.

IPEVO S0-20 WiFi Phone for Skype

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Windows 8 Build 7955 leak - download via private FTP

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It seems I am late with the news about Windows 8 leak, regardless I am pretty excited with this new version from Windows. If this leak is not intentional or perhaps some good Samaritan was able to crack the golden vault that keeps this Windows 8 precious build we should be thankful because we can have the first taste for the upcoming version from Microsoft.

The latest leak is the Windows 8 Build 7955 Milestone 2 and is available for download at private FTP servers.

    Microsoft Windows 8 (”Windows 8” 6.2.7955.0) (Ultimate) (m2)
    ISO Size: 2.47GB (2,657,079,296 bytes)
    ISO MD5: 40861A02CB14B0D2D7930910DB6CC6E4

    It is now available on the FTP :) Enjoy!

    Notes provided by the leaker:
    You can unlock the following:
    - Ribbon UI
    - Application Folder (now working, in 7850 it was broken)
    - Full DWM (hideblur)

    The following requires the ”red pill”:
    - Webcam
    - Login (that ugly guy with ctrl+alt+del, the fishy wallpaper, pattern login)
    - TaskUI (new taskmanager)
    - PDF Reader
    - Immersive Browser

I do not have the FTP link but for sure we can have the copies soon via bittorrent.


via: Technobolt source BetaArchive

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Download Microsoft Internet Explorer 9

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Microsoft Internet Explorer 9 is out! The on IE9 shows the score of 95/100 where Firefox 4 RC scored 97/100 and Chrome 10 scored 100/100 (higher is better). Internet Explorer 9 is HTML5 rich browser by Microsoft which is said to perform brilliantly on Windows PC.

Here is an excerpt from the Microsoft Press Release,

Microsoft Corp. today announced the launch of the latest version of the world’s most-used browser with the release of Windows Internet Explorer 9 in 39 languages at an event at the SXSW Interactive conference. Internet Explorer 9 is Microsoft’s most-downloaded browser beta of all time, with more than 40 million downloads, and it has already has gained more than 2 percent usage on Windows 7. Already more than 250 top sites from around the globe are taking advantage of the capabilities in Internet Explorer 9 to deliver differentiated experiences to their customers, with many featured on http://www.BeautyoftheWeb.com. Together, these partners reach more than 1 billion active Internet users on the Web.
“The best experience of the Web is on Windows with Internet Explorer 9,” said Dean Hachamovitch, corporate vice president, Windows Internet Explorer, at Microsoft. “Today, the Web can unlock the power and performance of the best PC hardware through Windows and Internet Explorer 9. Websites also can act more like applications within Windows 7, with features such as Pinned Sites. In less than a year, Internet Explorer 9 went from early preview to final release with the help of hardware partners and the Web community.”

You can download the latest IE 9 via Microsoft Download Center.

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Windows 8 screenshots leaked - cloud log-on via Windows Live

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Windows 8 pictures leaked! - I dug this from Mashable and pretty interesting, according to Win7China the Windows 8 is a fast installation roughly 8 minutes to install and 2.5 times faster than Windows 7.
 According to  Windows8News the test system is a 8-core system, 24GIG of RAM and 2TB of HD probably SSDs to get this number.

The above picture is focused on the very interesting capability of Windows 8. You can use Windows Live to log-in on Windows 8. This is one of the focus of Microsoft to integrate their system to the cloud. I guess CLOUD is really the future.



via Mashable
Images credit: Win7China and Windws8News

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Microsoft Campaign to kill IE 6

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Microsoft has a new campaign. Kill IE6, in the recent announcement by Microsoft “Friend's don't let friends use Internet Explorer 6,".

IE6 Countdown site:

Its name was Internet Explorer 6. Now that we’re in 2011, in an era of modern web standards, it’s time to say goodbye.

Internet explorer 6 is a 10 year  old browser with outdated web standard, as a web designer we usually pay much attention in building websites that is compatible with this browser and this adds to our work load.

So why there are still IE 6.0?
There are two  reason why IE 6 is still being used. First, It is the default brower for Windows XP. The second reason is piracy. Pirated installation of Windows XP limits the user to upgrade to the latest  version of Internet Explorer because users are afraid to Microsoft license tracking. Using IE 6 posses security threat since it is an old browser and loaded with vulnerabilities.

China (34 .5%), South Korea (24.8%), Saudi Vietnam and Taiwan (10%) are among the highest number of IE 6 users. While the Philippines has only 2.2% mainly because of the use of open-source browser like Firefox and Chorme which are modern and updated browsers.

The goal of Microsoft is to bring the global use of Internet Explorer  6.0 to less than to 1%.

If you are using Windows XP you can upgrade to IE 7 or IE 8. For Vista and Sev7n you can test the IE 9 beta.

My suggestion is use open-source like Firefox, Chrome, Opera and Safari. This browser are updated with latest web  standards and also don't forget to update your IE even you're not using it. This will add security to your system.

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How to Make Windows 7 USB Installer

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This tutorial will guide you on how to make USB bootable windows installer. This is useful for installing Windows 7 on systems with no optical drive e.g DVD-ROM.

Requirements:
Copy of Windows 7 Installer
USB Flash drive (4GIG) Minimum
Computer with DVD-ROM

Step 1: Format the Drive
Plug in your USB Flash Drive
Open a command prompt as administrator (Right click on Start > All Programs > Accessories > Command Prompt and select \"Run as administrator\")

We need the drive number of your USB Drive, on Command Prompt window type the following:

diskpart
list disk

The number of your USB drive will be now listed.In this tutorial I will assume that your USB drive no. is "1"

Format the drive by typing the next instructions into the same window. Replace the number \"1\" with the number of your disk below.

select disk 1
clean
create partition primary
select partition 1
active
format fs=NTFS
assign
exit

The USB drive is now formatted and ready for bootable process..

Step 2: How to make the Drive Bootable

Insert your Windows Vista / 7 DVD into your drive.

Change directory to the DVD’s boot directory where bootsect lives:

d:
cd d:\\boot

bootsect will make your USB bootable and ready for Vista or Windows 7 image. The "g" is the drive letter of your USB just change it to your current USB drive letter.

   bootsect /nt60 g:

We're done!

Step 3: Copy the installation DVD to the USB drive
Step 4: Set your BIOS to boot from USB

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How to Download Windows 7 service pack 1

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Downloading Windows 7 SP 1 via Windows Update is the easiest way to be updated. However the downside of doing this is when you need to update multiple clients. It would take a while if you do this kind of updating. The easiest way to this is to download the service pack via Microsoft download center.

Here is a simple tutorial on how to download the Windows 7 service pack 1.

• Go to Windows Download Center
• You will be asked to validate your system; this is a security measure by Microsoft against pirated copy.
• Download the validator and install it, you will be given a validation code.
• Paste the validation code in the box and that’s it, you can now choose what build you need.
• Download the service pack your windows 7
  
  windows6.1-KB976932-X64.exe (932MB) – Windows 7 64-bit version
  windows6.1-KB976932-X86.exe (537MB) – Windows 7 32-bit version
  
  
  
  

Further information:

7601.17514.101119-1850_Update_Sp_Wave1-GRMSP1.1_DVD.iso - This DVD image contains standalone update for all architectures.
windows6.1-KB976932-X86.exe - This application installs Sp1 to a 32-bit machine running Windows 7.
windows6.1-KB976932-X64.exe - This application installs Sp1 to a 64-bit machine running Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2.
Windows_Win7SP1.7601.17514.101119-1850.X86FRE.Symbols.msi - Standalone debugging symbols (free) for 32-bit machines.
Windows_Win7SP1.7601.17514.101119-1850.X86CHK.Symbols.msi - Standalone debugging symbols (checked) for 32-bit machines.
Windows_Win7SP1.7601.17514.101119-1850.AMD64FRE.Symbols.msi - Standalone debugging symbols (free) for 64-bit machines. This contains debugging symbols for both Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1.
Windows_Win7SP1.7601.17514.101119-1850.AMD64CHK.Symbols.msi - Standalone debugging symbols (checked) for 64-bit machines. This contains debugging symbols for both Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1.

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Download Windows 7 SP1 via Microsoft Download Center

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Starting today, Windows 7 service pack is available to everyone via the Microsoft Download Center . The service pack will also be available via Windows Update.

Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1) is an important update that includes previously released security, performance, and stability updates for Windows 7. Additional improvements to services and features in Windows 7, such as improved reliability when connecting to HDMI audio devices, printing using the XPS Viewer, and restoring previous folders in Windows Explorer after restarting.

Estimated amount of free disk space required

Windows Update

• x86-based (32-bit): 750 MB
• x64-based (64-bit): 1050 MB

Downloading SP1 from the Microsoft website

• x86-based (32-bit): 4100 MB
• x64-based (64-bit): 7400 MB

Installing SP1 using an installation DVD

• x86-based (32-bit): 4100 MB
• x64-based (64-bit): 7400 MB

Currently downloading the update and after installing it on my system I will create a tutorial on how to integrate it to your current Windows 7 installer.

via WindowsBlog

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Microsoft Windows 8 roadmap leaked

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Its no longer a secret that Microsoft is currently developing the Windows 8. A recent Windows 8 development plan  leaked and ZDNet revealed the Microsoft Windows 8 internal roadmap.Windows 8 is expected to be release in 2012.

Based on the roadmap Windows 8 is currently in the M3 stage and according WinRumors:

Milestone 3 work should take around five months, assuming it has to go through the same coding, integration and then fixing and lockdown stages as M2. The software giant has compiled a number of Milestone 2 builds recently ready for the final M2 build that will be distributed internally and externally to the company’s closest partners. Microsoft compiled 6.2.7947.0.winmain_win8m2_escrow.110218-1608 on Friday following a number of Windows 8 builds over the past couple of weeks.

Microsoft only reveal there Windows logo last CES 2011 in Las Vegas but no further details was announced.

via Technobolt

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Windows 7 SP1 release on Feb 22, 2011

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The long wait is over! Microsoft just confirmed the public release of Wndows 7 Sp1 (Service Pack 1) on February 22, 2011. Basically the service pack is just a collection of Windows update plus some additional addons. In the case of Windows 7 most of the service pack contents is already provided via Windows update (if you regularly update your system).



For Windows 2008 they added Remote FX and Dynamic Memory which are two new virtualization features enabled in Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1.

Windows 7 and Server 2008 schedule of release:

•  February 16th Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 will be available for MSDN and TechNet Subscribers as well as Volume License customers.

• February 22nd, Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 will become generally available for folks to download via the Microsoft Download Center and available on Windows Update.

Source: Windows Blog

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