Make Windows XP Look & Behave like Windows 7 in Three Steps: 

1. Install Updated Microsoft Windows Components
2. Install Free Windows 7 "Style" Programs
3. Make Windows XP "Look like" Windows 7

AutoPlay Malware Protection - disables the AutoPlay feature which has been abused by malware (like Conficker)

ClearType Tuner makes it easier to read text on your screen by installing ClearType technology in the Control Panel just like Windows 7.

 

Data Execution Prevention (DEP) monitors programs to verify whether they are using system memory securely.  Unlike Windows 7, Windows XP's DEP is only enabled for necessary operating system programs and services because not all software programs run smoothly with DEP.  To enhance security, you can turn on DEP for all programs and then define exceptions for individual programs and services.

How to enable DEP for all programs

1. From the Control Panel, click System
2. Click the Advanced tab, then click <Settings> under Performance
3. Click the Data Execution Prevention tab, select Turn on DEP for all programs and services except those I select, and then click OK.
4. Save & Restart the computer for this change to take effect

Defining exceptions - If certain programs cause problems, define them as exceptions.

1. From the Control Panel, click System
2. Click the Advanced tab, then click <Settings> under Performance
3. Click the Data Execution Prevention tab, then click <Add>
4. Search & select the program file you want to add as an exception, click Open, and then click OK.
5. Repeat Step #4 as needed
6. Save & Restart the computer for this change to take effect

Desktop Search 4.0 updated search component included in Windows 7. (Available for Windows XP & Windows XP 64)

 

exFAT advanced file system format support for Windows XP.

 

Fingerprint Reader - Windows 7 has advanced built-in support for biometric devices. However, if you don't own a biometric device, there's no reason to install Microsoft's DigitalPersona Password Manager 2.0  (Support: How to . . .)

 

Image Mastering API v2.0 (IMAPIv2.0) enables IMAPIv2 dependent applications to stage and burn images to CD and DVD optical storage media.

 

Internet Explorer 8  - Currently in its second beta, this upgrade to Microsoft's Internet Explorer has lots of great new features; which is why it's built-in to Windows 7! (Available for Windows XP & Windows XP 64)

 

Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) - Built-into Windows 7; support for this new suite of standard protocols for the Network layer of the Internet, was updated beginning with Windows XP Service Pack 1 (you better have SP3 installed!) or the Advanced Networking Pack for Windows XP.

 

Link Layer Topology Discovery (LLTD) Responder - The network map on a computer running Windows 7 shows a graphical view of the computers and devices on your network and how they are connected by using the LLTD protocol. The LLTD responder must be installed on a computer running Windows XP before it can be detected and appear on the network map.

 

MSCONFIG - Window XP's System Configuration Utility has been updated to add a Tools tab "just like" Windows 7.

 

.Net Framework 3.5 - Actually you can one-up Windows 7 by installing .Net Framework 3.5 with Service Pack 1 (Available for Windows XP & Windows XP 64)

 

PowerShell command-line shell & scripting language allows managing computers via commands or scripts, improving productivity through system automation. (Available for Windows XP & Windows XP 64)

 

VHD Support is native to Windows 7 -- but you can have this same functionality with Microsoft's Virtual PC 2007. (More Info: B# .Net)
 

WIM Image Deployment - While Windows 7 is distributed as a WIM image file (resulting in a quicker and more streamlined installation), Windows XP is not distributed as a WIM image. Tools included in the Windows Automated Installation Kit (Windows AIK) and Microsoft  Deployment Toolkit (MDT) 2008 do support creating file-based Windows XP images, but these images are not componentized in a way that allows IT pros to inject drivers. (Support: Windows Automated Installation Kit (Windows AIK) User's Guide)

 

Windows Defender provides AntiSpyware protection that's built-in to Windows 7 (Available for Windows XP & Windows XP 64)

 

Windows Feature Pack for Storage 1.0 - enables the Windows platform to do master style optical burning on Blu-Ray media, as well as support for new Smart Card Driver form factors, such as ICCD.

 

Windows Live Beta Program Bundle - Windows 7 will come with Microsoft's Windows Live software preinstalled. 

 

• Family Safety
• Mail
• Messenger
• Microsoft Office Live Add-in
• Microsoft Office Outlook Connector
• Movie Maker Beta
• Photo Gallery
• Toolbar
• Writer

Windows Media Player 11 - this updated media player is almost as good as version 12 which is standard within Windows 7 (Available for Windows XP & Windows XP 64)

 

• DivX Video Codec Support - Windows 7 includes support for a wide range of advanced video & audio codecs (i.e. AAC, H.264 & DivX) . . . currently you can install the Windows DivX codec. 

Windows Rights Management Services Client is required for your computer to run applications that provide functionality based on Windows RMS technologies.

 

Windows 7 Fonts - The Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel and Powerpoint 2007 File Formats  also includes the following Windows 7 fonts: 

 

• Calibri
• Cambria
• Candara
• Consolas
• Constantia
• Corbel

XML Support: Microsoft Core XML Services (MSXML) 6.0 & XML Paper Specification Essentials Pack view, generate & index XPS Docs is now built-in (and enhanced) within Windows 7.

Alt-Tab Preview Replacement in addition to the icon of the application window you are switching to, you see a preview of the page similar to Windows 7.

 

Updated Calculator(s) - Windows 7's Calculator has many new built-in features which can be found in these two free Microsoft programs.

• Calculator Plus also performs many types of conversions.
• Power Calculator graph and evaluated functions as well as performs many conversions. 

CaptureIt - A utility for capturing screenshots like the "Snipping Tool" in Windows 7.

Edison - Microsoft's free energy monitoring application to actively control PC’s energy consumption "sorta like" Windows 7.

 

GAMES - Windows 7 introduces 3 new Windows Internet Games: Backgammon, Checkers, and Spades. But don't feel left-out; Microsoft has you covered with Free On-Line Games from MSN:

 

• Internet Backgammon
• Internet Checkers
• Internet Spades 

Image Resizer Poweryoy & Image Resizer Powertoy 64-bit resizes one or many image files with a right-click. (Support: How to . . .)
 

ISO Recorder PowerToy makes images of CDs & DVDs to create ISO images.

 

Microsoft Product Support Reporting Tool (MPSReports) facilitates the gathering of critical system and logging information used in troubleshooting support issues. This information helps diagnose problems in the software quicker and provide solutions.

 

Network Diagnostics for Windows XP Tool (xpnetdiag) analyzes information about your network connectivity to help troubleshoot common connection problems.

 

Open Command Window Here adds an "Open Command Window Here" context menu option on file system folders, giving a quick way to open a command window.

 

Schedule Automatic Disk Defragmentation helps maintain your hard disk’s performance. (Don't worry, it's much easier within Windows 7.)

 

Time Zone conveniently runs in the system tray (similar to Windows 7) and allows you to easily view the date and time in various locations around the world. You can also quickly and easily add your own personal locations to customize Microsoft Time Zone the way you want.

 

Touch Screen - Windows 7 includes multi-touch screen technologies. While not as cool, here Microsoft released software updating Windows XP Tablet PC's capabilities:

 

• Calculator – An updated pen based calculator for writing the numbers for calculations on your Tablet PC.
• Microsoft Office - These updates improve ink recognition when using Office XP or Office 2003 on your Tablet PC.
• Snipping Tool –  Use your tablet pen to select a portion of a website, document, or other content on your screen.

Stop Using Windows Classic Settings

TURN-ON ALL VISUAL EFFECTS

1. From the Control Panel double-click System
2. From the Advanced Tab click-on the Performance Settings button
3. From the Visual Effect Tab click-on Adjust for best appearance
4. Click OK

TURN-ON WINDOWS XP STYLE START MENU

1. From the Control Panel double-click Taskbar & Startmenu
2. From the Start Menu Tab click-on Start Menu radio button
3. Click OK 

TURN-ON MOUSE SHADOWS

1. From the Control Panel double-click Mouse
2. From the Pointers Tab select Enable pointer shadow
3. Click OK 

TURN-ON FOLDER TASKS

1. From the Control Panel double-click Folder Options
2. From the General Tab select Show common tasks in folders
3. Click OK   

Install the “secret” Microsoft Royal Noir Desktop Theme (no, you will not have translucent Aero title bars - but this official Microsoft theme is "close" to Windows 7) 

 

Change the Windows system colors. Microsoft spent a great deal of time and money developing this specific Windows 7 color theme. 

CHANGE WINDOWS XP TO WINDOWS 7 COLORS

1. From the Control Panel double-click Display
2. From the Appearance Tab click-on the Advanced button
3. From the Items pull-down menu select & change the color values below
4. Repeat for all colors below
5. Click OK twice

• 3D OBJECTS

ITEM Color 1 

Hue 160 – Red 240
Sat 0 – Green 240
Lum 226 – Blue 240

 

FONT Color 

Hue 160 – Red 0
Sat 0 – Green 0
Lum 0 – Blue 0

• ACTIVE TITLE BAR

ITEM Color 1 

Hue 141 – Red 153
Sat 91 – Green 180
Lum 170 – Blue 209

 

ITEM Color 2 

Hue 140 – Red 185
Sat 129 – Green 209
Lum 197 – Blue 234

 

FONT Color 

Hue 160 – Red 0
Sat 0 – Green 0
Lum 0 – Blue 0

• ACTIVE WINDOW BORDER

ITEM Color 1 

Hue 160 – Red 180
Sat 0 – Green 180
Lum 169 – Blue 180

• APPLICATION BACKGROUND

ITEM Color 1 

Hue 160 – Red 171
Sat 0 – Green 171
Lum 161 – Blue 171

• DESKTOP

ITEM Color 1 

Hue 160 – Red 0
Sat 0 – Green 0
Lum 0 – Blue 0

• INACTIVE TITLE BAR

ITEM Color 1 

Hue 140 – Red 191
Sat 67 – Green 205
Lum 193 – Blue 219

 

ITEM Color 2 

Hue 141 – Red 215
Sat 122 – Green 228
Lum 215 – Blue 242

 

FONT Color 

Hue 134 – Red 106
Sat 28 – Green 124
Lum 113 – Blue 134

• INACTIVE WINDOWS BORDER

ITEM Color 1 

Hue 145 – Red 244
Sat 137 – Green 247
Lum 233 – Blue 252

• MENU

ITEM Color 1 

Hue 160 – Red 240
Sat 0 – Green 240
Lum 226 – Blue 240

 

FONT Color 

Hue 160 – Red 0
Sat 0 – Green 0
Lum 0 – Blue 0

• MESSAGE BOX

ITEM Color 1 

Hue 160–  Red 0
Sat 0 – Green 0
Lum 0 – Blue 0

• SELECTED ITEMS

ITEM Color 1 

Hue 140 – Red 51
Sat 240 – Green 153
Lum 144 – Blue 255

 

FONT Color 

Hue 160 Red – 255
Sat 0 – Green 255
Lum 240 – Blue 255

• TOOL TIP

ITEM Color 1 

Hue 40 – Red 255
Sat 240 – Green 255
Lum 226 – Blue 255

 

FONT Color 

Hue 160 – Red 0
Sat 0 – Green 0
Lum 0 – Blue 0

• WINDOW

ITEM Color 1 

Hue 160 – Red 255
Sat 0 – Green 255
Lum 240 – Blue 255

 

FONT Color 

Hue 160 – Red 0
Sat 0 – Green 0
Lum 0 – Blue 0

 

Windows 7 Desktop Wallpapers

 

• Windows 7 Wallpaper from PDC 2008 1600x1200 & 1920x1200 (widescreen) (Thanks LZ)
• Windows 7 RC1 Wallpapers  (30)
  

Turn-on the "Quick Launch Toolbar" - Windows 7 uses the Quick Launch and the new "Jump Lists" for easy access to applications and data.

1. Double-Click "Taskbar and Start Menu" from the Control Panel
2. From the "Taskbar" Tab, select "Show Quick Launch" and UNselect "Lock the taskbar"
3. Click <OK>

Widen the Windows Toolbar - Windows 7's system tray clock displays both the time and date.  (See “Show the system icon clock” below)

1. Hover the cursor at the top of the Windows Toolbar until the double-arrow appears.
2. Click-n-Hold to "stretch" the Windows Toolbar to display both the time and date.

Tame your System Tray Icons - Windows 7 has an easy method to enable / disable your system tray icons. While not quite as convenient, here's how to manager your Windows XP icons.  (Note: The system clock is "on" by default).

UNHIDE SYSTEM CLOCK ICON

1. Double-Click "Taskbar and Start Menu" from the Control Panel
2. From the "Notification area" section , select / unselect “Show the clock”

HIDE APPLICATION ICONS

1. Double-Click "Taskbar and Start Menu" from the Control Panel
2. From the "Notification Area" section select "Hide inactive icons" then Click "Customize..." 
3. Change the behavior of each icon:

• Hide when inactive
• Always Hide
• Always Show 

Tame your Desktop Icons - Windows 7's Desktop is extremely clean with only the Recycle Bin displayed.

1. Double-Click "Display" from the Control Panel
2. Under the "Desktop" Tab, Click "Customize Desktop"
3. From the "General" Tab select / unselect various desktop icon choices:

• My Documents
• My Network Places
• My Computer
• Internet Explorer (If  the icon is "missing") 

 

Many companies have “dismissed” employees and canceled their Holiday Parties. And my company is no exception.

 

But even though our staff was reduced - we still held a small, quick, "we're thankful we still have jobs" party in our office's lobby.

In this YouTube video you'll see our Receptionist Chuck, celebrating with part of our crazy staff.

 

--> Watch Chuck & My Friends Get Down!

 

Sean Alexander's Microsoft blog "Addicted to Digital Media" has released an updated Windows installer allowing the old Yule Log Visualization for Windows Media Player to run on Windows Vista 32 and 64-bit.

--> Download Yule Log Visualization for Windows Media Player 

1. Install Yule Log Visualization for Windows Media Player
2. Open Windows Media Player
3. Go to Now Playing --> Visualizations -->Yule Log
4. Play your music

NOTE: To tweak the effect, choose "Options" then select the "Yule Log Visualization," click the <Properties> button for the sensitivity slider.

Make Windows Vista Look & Behave like Windows 7 in Three Steps:

1. Install Updated Microsoft Windows Components
2. Install Free Windows 7 "Style" Programs
3. Make Windows Vista "Look like" Windows 7

AutoPlay Malware Protection disables the AutoPlay feature which has been abused by malware like Conficker - (Available for (Windows Vista & Windows Vista 64)

Desktop Search 4.0 updated search component included in Windows 7. (Available for Windows Vista & Windows Vista 64)

 

DirectX 11 - The update Windows Graphics, Imaging, and XPS Library contain the latest advancements in modern graphics technologies for gaming, multimedia, imaging and printing applications. It includes updates to DirectX 11, DirectCompute, and XPS Library.  (Available: Windows Update or Download for Windows Vista & Windows Vista 64-bit)

 

Fingerprint Reader - Windows 7 has advanced built-in support for biometric devices. However, if you don't own a biometric device, there's no reason to install Microsoft's DigitalPersona Password Manager 2.0  (Support: How to . . .)

 

Meiryo UI is a new Japanese font added to Windows 7.

 

.Net Framework 3.5 - Actually you can one-up Windows 7 by installing .Net Framework 3.5 with Service Pack 1 (Available for Windows Vista & Windows Vista 64)

 

Internet Explorer 8  - Currently in its second beta, this upgrade to Microsoft's Internet Explorer has lots of great new features; which is why it's built-in to Windows 7! (Available for Windows Vista & Windows Vista 64)

 

PowerShell command-line shell & scripting language allows managing computers via commands or scripts, improving productivity through system automation. (Available for Windows Vista & Windows Vista 64)

 

VHD Support is native to Windows 7 -- but you can have this same functionality with Microsoft's Virtual PC 2007. (More Info: B# .Net)

 

Windows Feature Pack for Storage 1.0 - enables the Windows platform to do master style optical burning on Blu-Ray media, as well as support for new Smart Card Driver form factors, such as ICCD.

 

Windows Live Beta Program Bundle - Windows 7 will come with Microsoft's Windows Live software preinstalled.

 

• Family Safety
• Mail
• Messenger
• Microsoft Office Live Add-in
• Microsoft Office Outlook Connector
• Movie Maker Beta
• Photo Gallery
• Toolbar
• Writer

AeroNotes is a full featured notepad alternative using the Aero Glass technology. While not as cool as Windows 7's updated Calculator, Paint & WordPad, this free notepad replacement is a nice example of things to come.

 

Battery Saver saves up to 70% of your battery by disabling those nice, but greedy Vista features. While you won't be getting Windows 7's cool new "Adaptive Display Brightness" feature, this free program from Microsoft's Codeplex is great for Windows Vista portable computers.

 

Updated Calculator(s) - Windows 7's Calculator has many new built-in features which can be found in these two free Microsoft programs.

• Calculator Plus also performs many types of conversions.
• Power Calculator graph and evaluated functions as well as performs many conversions. 

DesktopNotes is a small program that resemble the notes gadget from windows 7.

 

DivX Video Codec Support - Windows 7 includes support for a wide range of advanced video & audio codecs (i.e. AAC, H.264 & DivX) . . . currently you can install the Windows DivX codec.

 

Edison - Microsoft's free energy monitoring application to actively control PC’s energy consumption "sorta like" Windows 7.

 

Equation Writer (part of the Experience Pack) handwritten mathematical equations convert into a typewritten image; similar to Windows 7's "Math Input Panel".

 

GAMES - Windows 7 introduces 3 new Windows Internet Games: Backgammon, Checkers, and Spades. But don't feel left-out; Microsoft has you covered with Free On-Line Games from MSN:

 

• Internet Backgammon
• Internet Checkers
• Internet Spades 

ISO Image makes images of CDs & DVDs to create ISO images. (MSDN Recommended)

 

Microsoft Product Support Reporting Tool (MPSReports) facilitates the gathering of critical system and logging information used in troubleshooting support issues. This information helps diagnose problems in the software quicker and provide solutions.

 

Speech Recognition Macros creates powerful macros triggered by voice command to interact with applications.

 

TweakUAC quickly Turns On & Off (UAC) User Account Control - While this is not how Windows 7 will implement their UAC enhancements, it's a nice free tool thanks to Microsoft's Joe Stagner.

 

XML Paper Specification Essentials Pack view, generate & index XPS Docs is now built-in (and enhanced) within Windows 7. 

Turn-on the "Quick Launch Toolbar" - Windows 7 uses the Quick Launch and the new "Jump Lists" for easy access to applications and data.

1. Double-Click "Taskbar and Start Menu" from the Control Panel
2. From the "Taskbar" Tab, select "Show Quick Launch" and UNselect "Lock the taskbar"
3. Click <OK>

 

Turn-on "Show window previews (thumbnails)" - While there's no taskbar preview, it's still a cool feature.

1. Double-Click "Taskbar and Start Menu" from the Control Panel
2. From the "Taskbar" Tab, select "Show windows previews (thumbnails)"
3. Click <OK>

 

Widen the Windows Toolbar - Windows 7's system tray clock displays both the time and date.

1. Hover the cursor at the top of the Windows Toolbar until the double-arrow appears.
2. Click-n-Hold to "stretch" the Windows Toolbar to display both the time and date.

 

Tame your System Tray Icons - Windows 7 has an easy method to enable / disable your system tray icons. While not quite as convenient, here's how to manager your Windows Vista icons. (Note: The system clock is "on" by default)

HIDE SYSTEM ICONS

1. Double-Click "Taskbar and Start Menu" from the Control Panel
2. Select the "Notification Area" Tab
3. From the "System icons" section, select / unselect various icon choices:

• Clock
• Volume
• Network
• Power

HIDE APPLICATION ICONS

1. Double-Click "Taskbar and Start Menu" from the Control Panel
2. Select the "Notification Area" Tab
3. From the "Icons" section select "Hide inactive icons" then Click "Customize..."
4. Change the behavior of each icon:

• Hide when inactive
• Hide
• Show

 

Tame your Desktop Icons - Windows 7's Desktop is extremely clean with only the Recycle Bin displayed.

1. Double-Click "Personalization" from the Control Panel
2. Under the "Tasks" Section, Click "Change desktop icons"
3. From the "Desktop" Tab select / unselect various desktop icon choices:

• Computer
• Control Panel
• Network
• Recycle Bin
• Users' Files

Change the default desktop colors - Oddly, there's only ONE change in the default desktop Windows Vista color theme.

1. Double-Click "Personalization" from the Control Panel
2. Click "Theme"
3. From the "Theme:" pull-down menu select "Windows Aero" (if supported) or "Windows Vista" & click <OK>
4. Click "Window Color and Appearance"
5. Click "Open classic appearance properties for more color options"
6. From the "Appearance" Tab, Click <Advanced> button
7. From the "Items" pull-down menu select & change

INACTIVE WINDOWS BORDER - ITEM Color 1
Hue = 145 – Red = 244
Sat = 137 – Green = 247
Lum = 233 – Blue = 252

 

Install Windows 7 Desktop Wallpapers

 

• Windows 7 Wallpaper from PDC 2008 1600 × 1200 (Thanks LZ)
• Windows 7 Wallpaper from PDC 2008 1920 × 1200 (widescreen)  
• Windows 7 RC1 Wallpapers  (30) 

 

WS-Dev Remote Extensions for Windows 7 Beta Documentation compliance for WSDAPI (2005/04 WS-Discovery specification).

"Microsoft’s implementation of WS-Discovery and Devices Profile for Web Services (DPWS) in Windows, WSDAPI, will support an extension of the WS-Discovery protocol to allow discovery clients to search for devices and services spanning different physical subnets by sending requests to centralized proxies instead of to the services themselves.  This support includes a mechanism for sending proxy locations to clients and services, extensions to WS-Discovery messages, and behavioral rules for clients and services.

This protocol extension is designed to augment, not replace, traditional ad-hoc multicast WS-Discovery.  It is expected that clients and services will continue to participate in multicast WS-Discovery even if they can communicate using these extensions.  These extensions are suitable only for direct connections between a client and a proxy, or between a service and a proxy.

These extensions are different from the Discovery Proxy protocol as defined in section 2.1 (and described in section 3) of WS-Discovery.  The proxy described in WS-Discovery involves a unicast implementation of the WS-Discovery protocol, and describes multicast suppression behavior so the proxy can respond on behalf of local services.  In contrast, this document describes extensions designed for searching remote subnets for services, which include enhancements for provisioning, and which clearly define the request and response patterns for two-way operations.  Both documents use the term “proxy” to describe the service that receives discovery requests; but, this document uses “proxy” solely to describe a service capable of understanding the extensions described herein."

 

Microsoft's Live Gallery has released three new plug-ins for their new Windows Live Writer 2009 blog authoring tool.

FLICKR UPLOAD - Uploads an image to your Flickr account and inserts an inline picture into your post.

 

DIGG THIS - Automatically adds a DiggThis badge to your blog post after you publish it from Writer.

 

TWITTER NOTIFY - Automatically generates a TinyURL and sends a Tweet about your blog post after you publish it from Writer.

 

Microsoft's Office Outlook Connector 12.1 (along with Outlook 2003 / 2007) to access and manage your Microsoft Windows Live Hotmail or Microsoft Office Live Mail accounts, including e-mail messages, contacts and calendars for free!

Outlook Connector enables you to use your Live Hotmail accounts within Outlook:

 

• Read and send your Office Live Mail/Windows Live Hotmail e-mail messages.
• Manage your contacts in Windows Live Hotmail.
• Use advanced options for blocking junk e-mail messages.
• Manage multiple e-mail accounts in one place.
• Manage, and synchronize multiple calendars, including shared calendars to Windows Live Calendar from Outlook.

 

Note to Premium Subscribers: If you are currently using MSN Calendar service, the Outlook Connector 12.1 will automatically migrate your calendar to the new Windows Live Calendar service. Once upgraded to Windows Live Calendar, you will be able to synchronize multiple calendars, including shared calendars to Outlook! However you will no longer be able to access MSN Calendar through Microsoft Office Outlook.

 

Microsoft Answers Beta is where you get Windows Vista questions answered, and share your knowledge with the community.

 

• FIND ANSWERS: Get answers to the most common Windows Vista questions.
• ASK THE COMMUNITY: Tap into the expertise and enthusiasm of Windows Vista customers and Microsoft support professionals worldwide

--> Try Microsoft Answers Beta

 

Microsoft's Windows Live Writer team announced the release candidate of Windows Live Writer 2009 blog authoring tool.

New Features for 2009:

 

• “Instant photo” border treatment
• Insert multiple photos
• Insert and upload Windows Live photo albums
• Insert and publish video to YouTube
• Spell checking in: Arabic, Basque, Bulgarian, Catalan, Croatian, Czech, English (Australia), Estonian, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Indonesian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Malay, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Slovenian, Turkish, and Ukrainian
• Server-side tagging with Wordpress.com or WordPress 2.7
• Type-down filtering in the Open dialog
• Improved blog account setup
• Windows Live Spaces inline preview support
• Support for bidirectional languages
• Updated look and feel

 

--> Download Windows Live Writer 2009

The Windows Live team has "refreshed" their Windows Live Essentials software bundle before they take their "beta" tags off.

--> Click Here for All Free Windows Live Software

 

It's that time of year again . . . I'll be busy this weekend working the KROQ's Almost Acoustic Christmas Concert. I'm extremely pleased this year's KROQ concert is being streamed using Microsoft's Silverlight!

DIGITAL CONCERT GUIDE:

SATURDAY (Dec 13) SET TIMES

5:30 - KROQ Pre-show
6:00 - Hollywood Undead
6:25 - Slightly Stoopid
6:50 - Three Days Grace
7:20 - Staind
7:50 - AFI
8:20 - Rise Against
9:05 - Stone Temple Pilots
9:50 - The Offspring

 

 

SUNDAY (Dec 14) SET TIMES

5:30 - KROQ Pre-show
6:00 - Vampire Weekend
6:30 - Snow Patrol
7:00 - Scott Weiland
7:30 - Franz Furdinand
8:00 - Paramore
8:35 - Death Cab For Cutie
9:15 - The Kilers
10:15 - The Cure

 

WATCH THE (DIRECT FEED) LIVE WEBCAST:

--> Low Resolution

--> Medium Resolution

--> High Resolution

 

Windows Home Server Toolkit User Manual v 1.1 helps install and use the Windows Home Server Toolkit v1.1 (also available in 64-bit). The Windows Home Server Toolkit is a powerful collection of diagnostic tools that run on your home computers and home server. The Toolkit also has features that you can use to configure the performance of Windows Home Server.

--> Download Windows Home Server Toolkit User Manual v 1.1

 

Report a Webpage Problem Internet Explorer 8.0 Beta Add-On appears as a toolbar button and allows users to submit a report to Microsoft for webpages they believe are having rendering problems, scripting errors, or various other types of problems.

 

Microsoft's Windows Server 2008 Foundation Network Guide provides instructions on how to plan and deploy the core components required for a fully functioning network and a new Active Directory domain in a new forest.

Using this guide, you can deploy computers configured with the following Windows server components:

 

• The Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) server role
• The Domain Name System (DNS) server role
• The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server role
• The Network Policy Server (NPS) role service of the Network Policy and Access Services server role
• The Windows Internet Name Service (WINS) feature
• Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol version 4 (TCP/IP) connections on individual servers

This guide also serves as a foundation for companion guides that show you how to deploy additional network technologies in Windows Server 2008.

 

Thanks to the MSDN blog for pointing out that many of Microsoft's partners have free templates, software and resources available for download.

• Avery Dennison's collection of Avery label templates, products and software.

--> Avery's "Free" Resources Website

 

• Animation Factory's collection of unique templates and animations.

 

• PowerDESIGNS is a collection of PowerPoint PresentationPro templates.

 

• StockLayouts collection of Office Word & Publisher templates  - brochures, newsletters, flyers, cards and more!

 

Microsoft's HealthVault Connection Center 2.1 is a desktop utility used with your HealthVault account to add data to your Health Records from health and fitness devices such as heart-rate monitors and blood pressure monitors. Data from your medical device is imported into your computer and then uploaded to HealthVault, for you and your physician.

--> Download Windows XP = Microsoft HealthVault Connection Center Beta 2.1

 

--> Download Windows Vista = Microsoft HealthVault Connection Center Beta 2.1

 

Creative Commons Add-in for Microsoft Office 2007 v1.01 enables you to embed a Creative Commons license into a document that you create using Microsoft Office Word, Microsoft Office PowerPoint, or Microsoft Office Excel. With a Creative Commons license, authors can express their intentions regarding how their works may be used by others.

--> Download Creative Commons Add-in for Microsoft Office 2007 v1.01

 

 

Messenger Central is the new home for all Windows Live Messenger related content. (Thanks Matt) 

• Activities – Featuring Time for a Story, MSN Wallpapers and more! 
• Agents – Find out all you need to know by chatting to one of our agents, from astrology to translation
• Alerts – Keep up to date with all the MSN channel updates and XBOX news
• Expression packs – Create your own wink with the wink workshop or get some ‘geek-chic’ with the new Techicons pack
• Games - Fishticuffs! Amongst other things . . .