Recently the Windows 7 Team Blog posted a very informational article about Device Stage in Windows 7.
For those of you who are not familiar with the technology, “Device Stage helps you interact with any compatible device connected to your computer. From Device Stage you can see device status and run common tasks from a single window. There are even pictures of the devices which makes it really easy to see what's there. Device manufacturers can customize Device Stage. For example, if your camera manufacturer offers a custom version of Device Stage, then when you plug your camera into your PC, you could see things like the number of photos on your camera and links to helpful information”.
In other words, Device Stage is designed to give you the most of what you need from your device without installing any third party drivers and application to support its features and services.
Device Stage is an extension of Microsoft’s new device management in Windows 7, available from Devices and Printers in the Start Menu.
Devices and Printer – Device Experience for the poor…
Devices and Printers is available from the Windows 7 Start Menu. Devices and Printers gives you tools to manage and use your devices. For example, if you right click your wireless card, there is a shortcut to Network Settings. Right clicking your mouse enables you to change mouse settings.
One of the icons you’ll see in Devices and Printers is your Computer. Right clicking your computer name gives you general management tools to manage your computer. A cool thing you can do is creating a shortcut of the computer icon on the desktop and access these management tools directly from there.
This is the regular device experience you’ll see in Windows 7. Its better that what Windows XP had, but it’s not what Device Stage is going to be.
Device Stage – I guess we’ll have to wait…
As said earlier, “Device Stage is designed to give you the most of what you need from your device without installing any third party drivers and application” (and I know it’s wired I’m quoting myself…), and as you can see in the images below, the device management is much more intuitive than what was in earlier versions of Windows. To check if your device works with Device Stage, just double click its icon in Devices and Printers.
The next examples are two devices connected to my home computer supported with Device stage.
One of them is Microsoft Multimedia Keyboard, rather old hardware (I bought it at least 5 years ago…). This old device is working with Device Stage but it doesn’t have any special features accept “Configure My Keyboard” and some help and promotional information.
On the other hand, the second one is a new SanDisk Sansa View Player I bought a few months ago. This device experience has more features like Firmware Upgrade, Media Converter, Sync Configuration, Charging Status, Media Management option and more. Some of the options direct you to Windows applications (‘Manage Media on Your Device’ opens Windows Media Player...) and others direct you to SanDisk Web site (to download Firmware Updates, for example…).
As you can see, this device experience ease your device management, but it’s still lacks the features to manage the device directly from the device page. I’ll expect that a feature like the ‘Firmware Updates’ option will check and download the firmware directly to Windows instead of directing me to SanDisk site to download an installer that downloads the Firmware, for example.
Device Stage is a really cool feature in Windows 7, which helps you use your devices without using any third party drivers or applications that can damage your computer stability, but as for know there are only few devices that support it. As any new technology, it takes some time until hardware manufacturers add their support for it, but I believe that in a world where Microsoft operating systems control the market, it won’t take long until new devices will emerge and work with Device Stage. If not in Windows 7, maybe in Windows 8.
As for now (and probably in the near future…) Google is the best search engine around. Although Microsoft released their new shiny Search Engine Bing (based on Windows Live Search, Live Search,…) with new enhancements and look, Google is still the #1 search engine available.
But, is the Search giant copying from Bing?
One of Bing features is the Left Navigation Pane, something that Google didn’t have until now (well, at least not like the Navigation Pane they are working on…)
It seems that Google is working on a new interface for their Search Engine, adding a new Navigation Pane in search result and a new look in Google’s homepage. This new interface is not yet public, but someone already found a way to enable it with a small tweak.
This is what you need to do:
- Go to Google.com
- Paste the following in the Address Bar (only this, with no Google.com at the beginning):
BLOCKED SCRIPTvoid(document.cookie="PREF=ID=20b6e4c2f44943bb:U=4bf292d46faad806:TM=1249677602:LM=1257919388:S=odm0Ys-53ZueXfZG;path=/; domain=.google.com");
- Hit Enter.
- Refresh the page or enter Google.com again.
You’re Done.
Now, you’ll see that the Google’s homepage has a new look:
Before After
Besides the new look, a new navigation pane is added to your search result:
The new navigation pane helps you categorize your search result ,just like Bing…;-).
I know Microsoft has a lot to learn from Google in the Search Engines area, but it’s nice to see that Google is learning something from Microsoft as well….
Recently, Microsoft released an RC version of Windows Virtual PC and Virtual Windows XP, Now called Windows XP Mode.
Windows XP Mode is a new free separate install feature for Windows 7 that gives you a full Windows XP environment running as a virtual machine on your Windows 7. This feature enables you to launch the applications you install on Windows XP Mode from your Windows 7 desktop.
I covered the Beta version a few month ago when it was just released, so if you are not familiar with Windows Virtual PC and Windows XP Mode, you should read this post first.
And now, lets see what changed since the Beta version.
Install
The install is pretty much the same as in the Beta version. After downloading the two files needed for Windows XP Mode (Windows Virtual PC update KB958559, Windows XP Mode Package) you’ll need to install Windows Virtual PC first and then the Windows XP Mode package.
The install is quiet simple. Windows Virtual PC is installed as an update and the installation is done after few clicks.
After installing Windows Virtual PC (which requires a restart) you can start the Windows XP Mode Installation. During the install process you can watch an updated tutorial on how to use Windows XP Mode. The install is the same as in the beta version and when it finishes, you got a full functional Windows XP.
Installing Windows Virtual PC and Windows XP Mode creates a new program in the start menu. As I mentioned earlier, in the Beta release, Windows XP was called Virtual Windows XP, and now its Windows XP Mode, as you can see in the following screenshots:
Windows XP Mode Release Candidate Virtual Windows XP Beta
Management
As in the Beta version, Windows Virtual PC does not have a Management Console and the Virtual Machines management is integrated with Windows Explorer. When you click Windows Virtual PC in Start Menu, the following window opens, giving you tools in the upper side of the window to manage your Virtual Machines:
Regarding Hard Disks management, there is an option now to create a new virtual hard disk or modify the location of existing one. Windows XP Mode VHD’s are installed by default to your C drive, something I personally don’t like… so after installing Windows XP Mode my first step is to shutdown the VM, move all files (VHD,VMC,…) to a different partition, modify the location in Windows Virtual PC and start the machine.
The Integration Features has improved and now you can select the drives that you want Windows XP to connect to.
Integration Features – Windows XP Mode (RC) Integration Features – Virtual Windows XP (Beta)
All other components in the Integration Features are the same.
Integration with Windows 7
Windows Virtual PC RC and Windows XP Mode now have better integration with Windows 7. If you’ll hover over Windows Virtual PC in Start Menu, or right click the Taskbar Icon, you will see an option to manage Virtual Machines and view the latest Virtual Machines used.
Auto Publish
When I covered the beta version of Windows Virtual PC and Windows XP Mode, I demonstrated how you can run on your Windows 7 two versions of Microsoft Office and how you get remote alerts on Windows 7 Desktop from the Virtual Machine.
The Publish Application engine, which can be disabled through the virtual machine settings, is the same, with no new features. Applications that are installed to All Users will be available under Windows XP Mode Applications in the Start Menu. Another option is dragging an application shortcut to the All Users folder or the Start Menu which work for some applications, like Internet Explorer.
The way to RTM…
As you can see, there are no major changes from the Beta version except a better integration with Windows 7 and a few improvements to the Virtual Machine Settings. Microsoft did not mentioned an RTM release date but I can assume it will take no more the 6 month for Windows Virtual PC and Windows XP Mode to go RTM.
For additional reading, check Windows 7 Team Blog announcement for Windows XP Mode and Windows XP Mode / Windows Virtual PC Home Page
If there’s something you’ll like to see in the RTM version, feel free to comment.
Enjoy!
Two days ago (24.08.09) Microsoft released SP2 for Exchange Server 2007.
As we know, most of Microsoft Service Packs are collection of all updates released for a product since it was RTM, but that is not the case with Exchange Server 2007 SP2. Exchange Server 2007 SP2 adds some new features to your Exchange Organization which I will summaries here.
Deploying Exchange Server 2010 - You can deploy Exchange Server 2010 in your organization once all of the Client Access servers in your organization have been upgraded to Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 2 (SP2).
Exchange Backup Functionality - Exchange 2007 Service Pack 2 includes a VSS plug-in for Windows Server Backup to support Exchange backups. Once SP2 is installed, you can use Windows Server Backup to back up and restore your Exchange 2007 SP2 databases
Enhanced Auditing - New Exchange auditing events and audit log repository enable Exchange administrators to more easily audit the activities occurring on their Exchange servers
Dynamic Active Directory Schema Validation - The dynamic AD schema update and validation feature allows for future schema updates to be dynamic deployed as well as proactively preventing conflicts whenever a new property is added to the AD schema.
Public Folder Quota Management - Exchange 2007 Service Pack 2 provides a more efficient way to manage Public Folder quotas by improving the current Cmdlets and removing the dependency on the Public Folder Distributed Authoring and Versioning Administration to perform management tasks.
Centralized Organizational Settings - There are several new Cmdlets parameters that have been added that enable centralized management of many of the Exchange organization settings.
For a list of new Cmdlets and additional info about what’s new in Exchange Server 2007 SP2, visit the What’s New page.
You should also read the Release Notes for Exchange Server 2007 SP2 for more information about installing SP2 in your Exchange Organization, especially the Upgrading to Exchange 2007 SP2 part .
Enjoy!
Yesterday, August 14, Microsoft made Windows Server 2008 R2 available to download through TechNet and MSDN.
You can find the the announcement at the Windows Server Division Weblog.
From the announcement: “TechNet and MSDN subscribers also get access to RTM in the form of full bits. This version requires you to enter a product key for activation, but that key is supplied when you download the code. Just log-in with your account credentials and start downloading. Enjoy the new server!”
Windows Server 2008 R2 brings great new and updated technologies. These technologies include Web Application Platform, Virtualization, Scalability and Reliability, Management', better integration with Windows 7 and a lot more!
For those who are not TechNet or MSDN subscribers, there is a 180 day evaluation version of Windows Server 2008 R2.
Well, the download is in progress… Can’t wait to check it out!
Now, after Microsoft announced Windows 7 is RTM, it’s time to check if your PC is compatible with Windows 7.
Two month ago, Microsoft released the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor. “Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor scans your PC's system, programs and devices to check if it's able to run Windows 7. After a few minutes, the report will let you know if your PC meets the system requirements, if there are any known compatibility issues with your programs and devices, and will also provide guidance on your upgrade options to Windows 7”.
Download Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor
Good Luck! ;-)
Yesterday, Microsoft announced that Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 are Released to Manufacturing.
Unfortunately, the ISO’s are not avaliable for download at the moment through MSDN/TechNet or any other Microsoft source. For specific release dates check the Windows 7 Team Blog and the Windows Server Division Weblog.
In General, Windows 7 will be available to download starting August 6th (Partners and OEMs) and Windows Server 2008 R2 starting July 29th (OEMs). In the following weeks after, Windows 7 and 2008 R2 will be available to download in more languages to other customers.
Check out the announcements:
Windows 7 RTM announcement
Windows Server 2008 R2 announcement
(Read this post in Hebrew at Newsgeek.co.il)
As you probably already know, Microsoft Office 2010, the next version of Microsoft Office has a Technical Preview release. This release is not publicly avaliable but I’m sure you can manage to get a copy if you want to… ;-). Several builds of Office 2010 TP were already leaked to the internet, but be aware that Microsoft checking those builds and they confirm that several copies are infected with Malware…
If you want to get a genuine copy of Office 2010, check out Microsoft Office 2010 Technical Preview Program, that’s where I got my copy from. The Technical Preview Program build is the Professional Edition which includes Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Access, Publisher and OneNote.
Office 2010, including Office Web applications, SharePoint Server 2010, Visio 2010 and Project 2010 — entered a technical preview in the third quarter of 2009 and are scheduled for RTM in the first half of 2010. Other Office-Related products like Microsoft Exchange 2010 will become available in the second half of 2009.
After mumbling enough about the release, lets see what Office 2010 has to offer. Forgive me for not covering all of Office 2010 application. I will focus on, what I think, the most used applications: Outlook, Word and PowerPoint.
Outlook 2010
The New Ribbon
In Office 2007 Applications, a new Ribbon was introduced, providing more flexible and intuitive way to get the job done, showing us features we didn’t know about and made them easier to use. This new Ribbon was not built into Outlook 2007, but now, in Outlook 2010, the new Ribbon is built-in. The Ribbon in Outlook 2010 is divided to four sections: Home – for general mailing operations, Send/Receive – for Send/Receive operations, Folder – for folders management and View – to manage your Outlook and mail way of view.
If we’ll compare Outlook 2010 to Outlook 2007, we can see a big difference:
Quick Steps
One of the new features in the new Office Ribbon, providing quick access to new mail operations. If the built-in commands are sufficient for you, you can add other commands:
Conversation
This new nice feature, group mail items with the same subject into one email that you can expand, taking less space in the Inbox:
Word 2010
New Formatting Tools
New formatting tools, easy to access from the Home tab, enhance and improve the look of your documents by using WordArt-like fonts with effects like Shadow, Reflection and Glow.
New SmartArt Shapes
The new SmartArt shapes help you illustrate processes and more:
Document Map
This new feature, maps the document according to the documents heading
Using Document Map, you can edit Headings configuration and change the document view to a Thumbnail View:
Collaborate
If you are using SharePoint Workspace 2010, you can publish the document to a team workspace, check if someone is editing the document at the moment, chat with him, call him and a lot more.
PowerPoint 2010
Photo Effects
New photo editing tools let you edit the photos you are using in your presentation: correct to brightness and colors of photos and apply artistic effects.
Video Editing
New Video editing tools let you format the shape of the video and recolor the video (Brightness, Contrast, Grayscale,…):
Another great video editing tool, Trim Video, let you choose the start and end point of the video.
Slideshow Transitions, Animation and Recording
New Transitions and Animation effects, gives a better look and feel of your presentation:
Another cool thing is the Slideshow Recording that lets automate the time between slides transition:
Office 2010 Backstage
Another great new feature, is the Office Backstage, available on all Office 2010 applications. Office Backstage will give you tools and options you need according to the application you use. Among others, you will find media compression in PowerPoint, New Print Preview functions in Word and Mailbox Cleanup in Outlook:
Off Topic
Running Office 2010 as a Virtual Application
I’m running Office 2010 on Virtual Windows XP that’s installed on Windows 7 RC. I had to try running Office 2010 applications directly from Windows 7 as a virtual application, but unfortunately its not working… for now… :-\
Office 2010: The Movie
Microsoft also came up with a site called Microsoft Office 2010 Backstage, with Office Backstage-like design, avaliable at http://www.office2010themovie.com.
If you’ll check YouTube, there is also a funny Office 2010 Movie teaser:
Summary
Office 2010 has a lot to offer and as you can see there are lots of new features and enhancements in the applications I covered here and a lot more on other Office Applications like Visio, SharePoint Workspace, Project and more.
You can find more information about Office 2010 applications on the Microsoft Office 2010 Engineering Blog and at the Office 2010 Home Page where you can also register for the Microsoft Office 2010 Technical Preview Program. If you are encountering bugs and other problems after installing Office 2010, check out Office 2010 Forum.
After getting your invitation and installing Office 2010, don’t forget to send a feedback, using the Microsoft Office Send-A-Smile utility, by pressing the Frown or Smile icons at the taskbar:
Have Fun!
A month ago, in the last Google I/O Conference, Google announced a new software for communication and collaboration on the web, called Google Wave.
This new software, developed by the two brothers who developed Google Maps (Lars and Jens Rasmussen), formally from the mapping startup called ‘Where 2 Tech’, describe a "Wave" as equal parts conversation and document, where people can communicate and work together with richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more.
So, how it works?
Lars Rasmussen, a Software Engineering Manager at Google and one of the lead developers of Google Wave, describes:
“In Google Wave you create a wave and add people to it. Everyone on your wave can use richly formatted text, photos, gadgets, and even feeds from other sources on the web. They can insert a reply or edit the wave directly. It's concurrent rich-text editing, where you see on your screen nearly instantly what your fellow collaborators are typing in your wave. That means Google Wave is just as well suited for quick messages as for persistent content — it allows for both collaboration and communication. You can also use "playback" to rewind the wave and see how it evolved.”
Want to see it in action? Check this Google Wave Keynote Video:
(Forward to 0:02:45 to start with the demo…)
This software is scheduled for release later this year.
More information can be found at the Google Wave Homepage and in the Official Google Blog - Went Walkabout. Brought back Google Wave.
Following my post The Evolution of the Microsoft Office UI (Ribbon), this post will cover some Office 2007 prototypes demonstrated at “An Office User Interface Blog” by Jensen Harris.
These screenshots provide some nice prototypes that were developed until a decision was made and Office 2007 got the UI that you are using today.
(Also, take a look at the windows themes on some of the pics… those were probably the prototype themes for Windows Vista before it was RTM’d)
The next one is the one you already know…
Soon, I will publish some information about Microsoft Office 2010, Microsoft’s next office version…
Stay tuned!
I would like to share with you an old post I encountered by Jensen Harris from “An Office User Interface Blog”.
The post is talking about the evolution of the Microsoft Office Ribbon. In this short post, Jensen provides download links to his MIX presentation about “The Story of the Ribbon”.
Among the links there is a PowerPoint presentation, providing some nice pics about how to Office UI evolved and about the Office 2007 prototypes before it was RTM’d.
So here are some pics from the first to last Microsoft Office (Click an image to enlarge):
If your looking for Office 2007, this one is in my next post: The Evolution of the Microsoft Office UI (Ribbon) – Office 2007 Prototypes.
The post is covering the Microsoft Office 2007 Prototypes before it was RTM’d.
Avi.
When Windows XP was launched, Microsoft also release an an Anti-Piracy tool called WGA (Windows Genuine Advantage).
The tool is downloaded and installed when you run Windows Update on the first time or when you try to download specific tools or software from Microsoft Download Site that requires Genuine check. When Windows Vista was launched, WGA was still the tool that checked if your copy of Windows Vista is Genuine.
Windows Activation Technologies
On May 07 (2009), The Genuine Windows Blog, published a post regarding the activation experience in Windows 7. This activation experience is now called Windows Activation Technologies or WAT.
The make the story short, the team at Genuine Windows Blog are saying that the activation experience will be similar to the activation experience in Windows Vista SP1. That means, alert users that they need to activate their copy of Windows or help them if they are victims of software piracy, but will include several improvements designed for Home Users and Enterprises.
WAT for Home Users
The updated activation experience in Windows 7 for home users will include better ways to help customers make decisions with confidence about which action they should take. The Activation Technology in Windows 7 will be more descriptive about what Windows is actually doing and providing more information about what, if any, actions the user should take as a result of being a victim of software piracy.
WAT for in Enterprise and Large Organizations.
The updated activation experience in Windows 7 in the organization level will help IT Professionals to ease the burden of Windows Activation. One of the improvements includes support for activation in virtualization scenarios where KMS (Key Management Services) will count virtual clients, very important for customers who have fully virtualized environments.
The changes in activation notifications in Windows 7 can be found in the following post.
Additional Reading
Genuine Windows Blog - Windows Activation Technologies: Activation and Validation in Windows 7
Microsoft Technet - What's New in Volume Activation in Windows 7
On the day Microsoft released Windows 7 RC and Windows Server 2008 R2 RC they also released the Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 7 RC.
“Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows® 7 RC enables IT administrators to manage roles and features that are installed on computers that are running Windows Server® 2008 R2, Windows Server® 2008, or Windows Server® 2003, from a remote computer that is running Windows 7 RC.”
Download is available from Microsoft Download Center.
Important: Don’t forget to read the system requirements, installation instructions and configuration instructions on the client and server side before and after installing RSAT. All information is avaliable in the download page.
Enjoy!
Microsoft announced today the Release Candidate of Windows Server 2008 R2.
Windows Server 2008 R2 is the next version of Windows Server operating system from Microsoft. A Beta version of Windows Server 2008 R2 released exactly 3 month ago, and now it’s already in RC stage.
Windows Server 2008 R2 RC can be download from Microsoft Download Center.
As published with the beta release, Windows Server 2008 R2 is going to include several improvements from it’s predecessor. These improvements include the following:
Improved Web Application Platform
“Windows Server 2008 R2 includes an updated Web server role, Internet Information Services (IIS) 7.5, and greater support for .NET on Server Core. The Design goals for IIS 7.5 concentrated on improvements that enable Web administrators to more easily deploy and manage Web applications, that increase both reliability and scalability. Additionally, IIS 7.5 has streamlined management capabilities and provides more ways to customize your Web serving environment….” (Read More)
Server and Desktop Virtualization
“Windows Server 2008 R2 provides the following virtualization types: Client and Server virtualization provided by Hyper-V and Presentation virtualization with Remote Desktop Services. Hyper-V virtualizes the system resources of a physical computer allowing you to provide a virtualized environment for operating systems and applications. Remote Desktop Services (formally known as Terminal Services) virtualizes a processing environment and isolates the processing from the graphics and I/O, making it possible to run an application in one location but have it be controlled in another. Presentation virtualization allows users to run a single application, or a complete desktop offering multiple applications…” (Read More)
Improved Power Management and Streamlining Management
“Windows Server 2008 R2 has new features to reduce the ongoing management of Windows Server 2008 R2 and to reduce the administrative effort for common day-to-day operational tasks. And these administrative tasks can be performed on the server or remotely…” (Read More)
Scalability and Reliability
“Windows Server 2008 R2 is capable of unprecedented workload size, dynamic scalability, and across-the-board availability and reliability. A host of new and updated features will be available, including leveraging sophisticated CPU architectures, increased operating system componentization, and improved performance and scalability for applications and services. Also, Windows Server 2008 R2 is the first Windows operating system to be offered for only 64-bit processors…” (Read More)
Better Together with Windows 7
“Windows Server 2008 R2 has many features that are designed to specifically work with client computers running Windows 7, including simplifying remote connectivity for corporate computers by using the DirectAccess feature, Secured remote connectivity for private and public computers by using a combination of the Remote Workspace, Presentation Virtualization, and Remote Desktop Services Gateway features, and Improved performance for branch offices by using the BranchCache feature…” (Read More)
For more information visit Windows Server 2008 R2 Resources, Top Reasons For Windows Server 2008 R2 and the Articles and White Papers pages.
Today, Microsoft also released Windows 7 Release Candidate and Windows Virtual PC with Virtual Windows XP/Windows XP Mode.
Read my posts about Windows 7, Windows Virtual PC and Virtual Windows XP/Windows XP Mode for more info and download links.
Virtual Windows XP or Windows XP Mode is a new free separate install feature for Windows 7 that gives you a full Windows XP environment running as a virtual machine on your Windows 7. This feature enables you to launch the applications you install on Virtual Windows XP into your Windows 7 desktop.
To get the thing working you need to download two installation files:
1. Windows Virtual PC (KB958559) – Avaliable in x86 (Windows6.1-KB958559-x86.msu) and x64 (Windows6.1-KB958559-x64.msu). This is the Windows Virtual PC Installer.
2. Virtual Windows XP – (VirtualWindowsXP.msi). This is the Virtual Windows XP installer.
All Downloads Are avaliable from Windows Virtual PC Download page.
After you install these two files (first the Windows Virtual PC and then the Virtual Windows XP), you will see new folders under Windows Virtual PC in the Start Menu: Virtual Windows XP and Virtual Windows XP Applications.
Hitting the Virtual Windows XP icon will launch, after few short steps, the Virtual Windows XP environment:
What you are probably saying right now is that this is simply a Windows XP Virtual Machine installed on Windows 7 with a virtualization application, in that case, Windows Virtual PC. Well, you are mostly right, but this Windows XP functionality is far more than a VM running on a host.
As you can remember, one of Windows Vista problems when it was just RTM, was application compatibility. It took some time for applications to support Windows Vista and it was probably one of the reasons that it took a while for Vista to go into mainstream… Now, after they learned the lesson, Microsoft provide a free Windows XP environment for Windows 7 that lets you publish the applications you install on Virtual Windows XP into your Windows 7 desktop.
The reason for this is that Microsoft wants the migration to Windows 7 will be easier and quicker for both home and business users who are running application that are only supported on Windows XP or for users who need to run multiple versions of the same application simultaneously.
Here are few examples:
You can run both Internet Explorer 6 and Internet Explorer 8 (IE6 is actually installed on Virtual Windows XP, IE8 is on Windows 7):
Or, even more cool thing is running different versions of the same application in different languages, like I did with Word 2007 (in English, installed on Windows 7) and Word 2003 (in Hebrew, installed on Virtual Windows XP):
Another cool thins is that you get the notifications from the Virtual Windows XP to your Windows 7, like the one I got with the Antivirus not installed:
So, how it works?
Basically, when you install an application and you choose to install it to All Users, the application is automatically published to your Windows 7 under Virtual Windows XP Application folder in the Start Menu. So if I install Office 2003 in Virtual Windows XP it will look like that in Windows 7 Start Menu:
With Internet Explorer 6, which is already installed in Virtual Windows XP, I simply dragged Internet Explorer shortcut icon to the All Users Programs folder. If you check the settings of Virtual Windows XP, you will see it is configured to Auto Publish Virtual Applications and it also mentioned that dragging a shortcut to the Start Menu, will publish the application to Windows 7 desktop.
Dragging the Internet Explorer icon to the All Users folder did work, but dragging Paint, Calculator and other built-in application didn’t do the trick, maybe just for, still investigating…
Another application I tested, was CheckPoint VPN Client – Secure Remote. As for today, there is no x64 version of Secure Remote. I’m running Windows 7 RC x64 so it’s a bit of a problem. After I installed Secure Remote in Virtual Windows XP, I got a shortcut under Virtual Windows XP Applications and I was able to configure and connect to a site from Windows 7:
I thought for a minute that I can launch Remote Desktop from Windows 7 and connect to a server residing at the site I connected to, but unfortunately it didn’t work and I was not able to publish Remote Desktop from Virtual Windows XP to Windows 7… :(
According to Microsoft Windows Virtual PC Page, (Under Support > Requirements) you will see that Virtual Applications feature is also supported on Windows Vista (Enterprise and Ultimate) and Windows 7 (Enterprise and Ultimate). Didn’t test it yet…
So, Virtual Windows XP is still in his dippers, but I’m pretty sure that this new feature will be fully functional and will have a lot more capabilities when Windows 7 goes RTM.
For more information about Virtual Windows XP you should read the following posts:
Rafael Rivera’s Blog - Secret No More: Revealing Windows XP Mode for Windows 7
Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows - Windows XP Mode for Windows 7 Preview
Have Fun!
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