If you are happy with Windows 7 on your personal laptop, but grumble every time Windows XP boots up on your work computer, it may be time to tap your company's IT pro on the shoulder and ask for Windows 7. You might be surprised at the response you get.
A common piece of advice runs through recent conversations with companies migrating to Windows 7: test early and often and don't be afraid of virtualization.
Windows Mobile 6.5 doesn't officially launch until tomorrow, but according to well-known industry blog The Boy Genius Report, users running unofficial, pre-release versions of Windows Mobile 6.5 can now browse and buy applications at Windows Marketplace for Mobile, Microsoft's first mobile phone app store.
But those running pre-release versions of WinMo 6.5 are not the only users who can tap into Windows Marketplace for Mobile. AT&T announced that it has started selling the HTC Pure and Tilt 2 smartphones running Windows Mobile 6.5 days before tomorrow's official launch of the OS.
Microsoft must perform a tricky balancing act as it tries to keep Windows on netbooks but not get stuck in a market that generates little revenue, say industry analysts.
Windows 7 is proving a divisive subject even in its infancy. One example: Last week, reviews from CIO.com's sister sites, Computerworld and InfoWorld, offered radically different opinions about what Microsoft has in store for the successor of Windows Vista, expected to ship in early 2010.
Microsoft made Bing, its new "decision engine", <a href="http://www.bing.com">publicly available</a> yesterday with a background image of hot air balloons lifting off in the countryside on the Bing homepage.
Possibly <a href="http://www.cio.com/article/476421/subject/Microsoft+Corporation">Microsoft</a>'s most important strategic goal for Windows 7, in addition to redeeming the brand damage done by <a href="http://www.cio.com/article/476421/subject/Microsoft+Windows+Vista">Windows Vista</a>, is to dominate netbooks, now the fastest selling segment of the PC market.
With the just-released Windows 7 beta, Microsoft is touting the OS's ease of use and ability to run on all types of computers. But it's an open question whether Microsoft can convince its most skeptical critics: Windows XP holdouts.
It's been a hard road for Microsoft's Windows Vista, but even though negative perceptions have followed the operating system since its release, recent data and positive user feedback show a glimmer of hope for Microsoft that Vista's ship is turning around.
Though it's tempting, skipping a Microsoft Vista migration and jumping right to Windows 7 could be disastrous for your enterprise, Gartner advises. Here's five points to consider before writing off Vista for its successor.
Microsoft's announcement last week that Windows 7 would be the official name for the next big OS after <a href="http://www.cio.com/article/455535/subject/Microsoft+Windows+Vista">Vista</a> was met with a curious combination of confusion and yawns.
