Windows 7 in pictures

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  9-year-old plots his fifth Microsoft certification
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  Windows 7 in Pictures: The Coolest New Hardware
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  Windows 7 in pictures: The coolest new hardware
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  Slideshow: Retailers and channel celebrate Windows 7 launch

• OnLive's train wreck: Office on the iPad

  By Galen Gruman | 07 February, 2012 22:11

  Demos, like appearances, can be deceiving. At the recent Consumer Electronics Show, one of the media hits was OnLive Desktop, a service that provisions a Windows 7 desktop environment that includes Microsoft Office 2010 to the iPad over an Internet connection. For many, the idea of being able to run the full Office suite is very appealing, given some of the limitations of the iPad's native office productivity tools such as Apple iWork suite (Pages, Keynote, and Numbers), Quickoffice, and Documents to Go.

• Tech stories of 2011: Jobs, Android and Anonymous rank in top 10

  By Marc Ferranti | 14 December, 2011 03:32

  In 2011, the increasingly mobile and socially networked world of technology became more intertwined than ever with politics and the law. Patent wars shaped competition in tablets and smartphones, hacktivists attacked a widening array of political and corporate targets, repressive regimes unplugged citizens from the Internet, and the U.S. government moved to block the giant merger of AT&T and T-Mobile USA. With the passing of Steve Jobs, the world lost a technology icon who redefined the computer, entertainment and consumer electronics industries. These are the IDG News Service's picks for the top 10 technology stories of the year:

• Microsoft posts record quarter but says tablets have “cannibalized” netbooks

  By Julie Bort | 21 October, 2011 11:36

  Despite weak consumer demand for PCs, Microsoft posted record first quarter revenue of $17.37 billion for the period that ended Sept. 30. This beat analysts' reported expectations of $17.2 billion. Revenue increased 7% percent over the year-ago period. Microsoft credited the increase to enterprise demand for Office, server and development tools.

• Liquidware opens Aussie branch for partner support

  By Julia Talevski | 23 September, 2011 11:46

  US-based desktop virtualisation vendor, Liquidware Labs, has established an office in Melbourne and appointed Anne Waterhouse as its regional sales director.

• Windows XP to Windows 8: Don't go there

  By Shane O'Neill | 22 September, 2011 07:17

  A majority of enterprises have migrated to Windows 7 or are planning to do so. But for Windows XP holdouts ready to side-step Windows 7 for the upcoming Windows 8 OS, you are risking a gap in support, stresses research firm Gartner in a new "first take" analysis of Windows 8 migration in the enterprise.

• How to Max Out Your Windows Performance for $1000

  By Marco Chiappetta | 09 September, 2011 23:51

  Ever since Microsoft released Windows Vista, all Windows PCs have included a benchmark tool called the Windows Experience Index, which gives you a quick look at how well you can expect the system to handle basic Windows tasks, Aero graphics, more-demanding applications, games, and more. Hitting the overall maximum score--7.9, at the time of this writing--isn't easy without investing in a lot of expensive, specialized hardware, but we've found a PC build that you can tweak to reach 7.8 overall (with a 7.9 in every category except processor speed) for about $1000.

• Six big Windows 8 features for small business

  By Katherine Murray | 07 September, 2011 00:03

  With Microsoft's big BUILD conference right around the corner on September 12, people are buzzing about the Windows 8 news that's sure to come, and for the last couple of weeks, Microsoft has been parceling out information. So far, the features we’ve seen look colorful, fast, flashy, and flexible—but how much of a difference will they make for small business users?

• Security rundown for the week ending Sept. 2

  By Ellen Messmer | 03 September, 2011 02:37

  A mish-mash of security issues came up this week, everything from how to protect virtualized environments to a system that protects copper in utility sites from robbery and a story about digital certificate thefts.

• Staying at the top

  By David Ramli | 27 October, 2009 15:54

  Harvey Norman started as a lone shopfront in the Western suburbs of Sydney. Now customers from as far afield as Northern Ireland and Slovenia can shop at its retail stores and super centres. But staying on top has never been easy, as the company’s computers and communications general manager, Luke Naish, well knows.

• Q&A: Microsoft's Windows marketing chief says Apple's 'scared'

  By Eric Lai | 09 June, 2009 08:51

  Do you love Microsoft Corp.'s recent TV ads? Hate its "Apple Tax" marketing campaign? Then meet Brad Brooks. As Microsoft's corporate vice president for Windows consumer product marketing, Brooks approved both campaigns as part of his goal of burnishing Windows 7's image in advance of its October launch (and tarnishing Apple's).

• IN DEPTH: A detailed look at Windows 8

  By Jason Cross | 14 September, 2011 03:21

  The buzzword is "reimagine" here at Microsoft BUILD conference where Windows 8 is being shown for the first time in detail to developers and the media. Reimagine refers to the operating system's radical new look, new support for tablets, revamped Start Screen, and integration of a new class of "metro-style" applications. --

• Asus unveils three tablets and a slate

  By Jason Cross | 05 January, 2011 12:32

  At CES 2011 today, Asus announced three new Android tablets and a Windows 7 based slate PC. The tablets, all Android-based, go by the moniker "Eee Pad" while the Windows 7 device is called an "Eee Slate." Each one offers some unique features, from stylus input options to sliding keyboards or docking stations. Unfortunately, we don't yet have exact shipping dates or prices for the Android tablets, and the Eee Slate looks to be fairly pricey.

• Is Linux really harder to use?

  By Katherine Noyes | 03 August, 2010 08:17

  Not surprisingly, the misperception that Linux is harder to use than other operating systems is also one that competing vendors routinely use to scare potential new users away from Linux.

• Microsoft, get back to work!

  By Tony Bradley | 31 July, 2010 04:13

  Steve Ballmer assured analysts and the world that Microsoft is hard at work developing a Windows 7-based tablet to compete with devices like the Apple iPad.

• Five reasons it's time to switch to Windows 7

  By Tony Bradley | 13 July, 2010 02:06

  Tomorrow is D-day for Windows XP SP2 users. Granted, Windows XP SP2 will still work, but tomorrow is the last Patch Tuesday for the venerable OS which means it will become more unstable and less secure as time goes on.

• The best Windows 7 downloads

  By Preston Gralla | 08 July, 2010 10:24

  Not quite happy with the way Windows 7 works, or looking to get more out of the operating system? You've come to the right place. We're big fans of Microsoft's latest OS, but we're also big fans of making Windows better. In this article, we've rounded up the best Windows 7 downloads. They'll let you customize it in any way possible, give it features that Microsoft removed or neglected to include, and more. So get ready to download--you're about to take Windows 7 to a new level.

• 55 super software secrets

  By Patrick Miller | 24 June, 2010 00:23

  The apps you use most--your Web browser, productivity tools, media managers, and Windows and its built-in accessories--are more powerful than you realize. They are loaded with unpublicized features that make your PC easier to use, they respond to superquick keyboard shortcuts that you've never heard about, and they support add-ons and plug-ins that can shave minutes or even hours off of mundane daily chores.

• SP1 coming soon to a Windows 7 PC near you

  By Tony Bradley | 08 June, 2010 08:14

  While most of the attention of the tech world is focused today on the Steve Jobs keynote at Apple's WWDC event, Microsoft is hosting its own major event this week--TechEd. At TechEd, Microsoft revealed that it is working on service pack 1 (SP1) for Windows 7 and expects to have a public beta version available in July.