Today Microsoft announced Windows XP mode no longer require virtualization technology. Windows XP Mode for windows 7 makes it easy to install and run many older Windows XP applications directly from your Windows 7-based PC. It utilizes virtualization technology such as Windows Virtual PC to provide a Windows XP Mode environment for Windows 7.

If you are an existing XP Mode customer, there will be no need to get the new bits, Microsoft officials said. If you are not and will be downloading the new bits, there’s no need to worry about whether your CPU has built-in virtualization support

Customers already using Windows XP Mode with hardware virtualization should continue using it. Customers not yet using Windows XP Mode can start using the product without having to worry about hardware virtualization. For Windows XP Mode, we expect the performance will be more than acceptable with or without hardware virtualization. For developers using Virtual PC with Windows Vista or Windows 7 virtual machines we recommend HAV as the non-HAV is only tuned for XP Mode

Windows XP Mode was designed for the small and medium business user who doesn’t have a lot of resources to spend on IT or on revamping important software. Windows XP Mode extends the lifecycle of many older Windows XP applications to continue providing business value. Once you install these applications directly in your Windows XP Mode environment, they will be published to your Windows 7 desktop With just one click, the business user can run many Windows XP applications from a Windows 7 desktop just as if it were a Windows 7 application. There’s no need to re-train the user, or to re-learn the application.

You can find more information and download the update which will go live later today here.

The update to Windows Virtual PC to support running on systems without hardware virtualization is now available for download.  You can grab it here:

• For 32-bit host operating systems: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=837f12aa-1d37-464e-ae59-20c9ecbebaf6
• For 64-bit host operating systems: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=e70dd043-e262-43c0-a002-446567f1e2b4

Symantec, which has migrated more than 300 million desktops and notebooks to Windows 2000, XP, Vista, and now Windows 7, recommends the following seven-step approach.

Step 1: Asses your environment and plan your deployment.

Discover devices across the network and capture inventory. Determine hardware readiness through reports. Prioritize applications to test and migrate. Evaluate costs and SLAs, and identify potential risks.

Step 2: Build standard Windows 7 images.

Create standard images with settings and configuration for multiple users. Include applications that are required on all computers in the base image. Create generic image.

Step 3: Prepare and verify applications.

Identify the applications supported on Windows 7. Test applications on Windows 7 and with each other to ensure compatibility in your environment. Remediate issues through policies, packaging, virtualization, or—if absolutely necessary—debugging and code changes.

Step 4: Capture user settings and personality.

  If there’s one thing that makes or breaks an OS migration, it’s the successful transfer of each computer and end users’ unique network, operating system, application, and data settings, along with other customizations. In this step, identify global settings to migrate (printer and network drive mappings, favorites, security settings, etc.); determine applications settings to migrate, including custom applications; include data to be moved or require end users to transfer; and communicate with end users about things that won’t get migrated (e.g., MP3 files).

Step 5: Assemble and automate

Now that the pieces are in place, you need to hook them together and encapsulate the templates and files into an automated job or a workflow sequence. (This ensures that when one task completes, the next is triggered automatically.) Create single process flow that includes the following steps: Deploy the image (Step 2); install prepared applications (Step 3); capture personality settings (Step 4); restore personality settings.

Step 6: Migrate systems.

Position any additional servers purchased as part of the deployment plan in Step 1. Make any required network adjustments, such as enabling multicasting. Identify test candidates. Document test cases. Create a phased pilot. Perform migration.

Step 7: Measure and report.

Post-migration reporting and analysis will enable your executive team to track the migration from a distance and help you analyze key aspects of the migration. In this step, identify the total number of migrated systems; report problems encountered during migration; provide overall migration status; verify licenses.Symantec Windows 7 Resource Center for Business Customers.

Microsoft has released a free theme tool for Windows7 and other versions Windows called Windows Experience Pack. Windows Experience pack is a cloud application and it produces an executable with Windows7 and Windows live messenger customization package according to user preferences. Once downloaded and executed, the customization package will offer customers the possibility of saving the avatar locally and choose Bing as the default search engine and MSN as the default home page. For users that don’t have Microsoft’s IM client, the package is designed to also download and install Windows Live Messenger.

With the Windows Experience Pack, you are able create an alter-ego of yourself in a specific destination – a beach, mountain, safari, or city. When you create your alter-ego, you create a fully customized avatar for that destination that becomes a part of a Windows Live Messenger and Windows 7 theme for your PC. You’ll also be able to download a .jpg image of your avatar to share, print, or use as your icon on social networks. Windows Experience Pack is capable of creating a Windows 7 theme complete with a desktop background, out of a plethora of wallpapers, a screensaver, and an avatar which can be personalized and bundled with pictures of end users.

For a specific destination you pick, the following Windows Live Messenger elements are created for you to use in Messenger for your alter-ego:

• 1 static Display Picture
• Up to 4 Dynamic Display Pictures
• A Wink
• 7 new Emoticons
• A new Messenger Scene

For Windows 7, you are given the choice between 3 desktop backgrounds for your destination and a screensaver featuring multiple photos from your destination.

The Windows Experience Pack was created and optimized for Windows 7, but it can be downloaded and used on PCs running Windows XP or Windows Vista too (although performance and features may vary).

After the launch of Windows7 it is the largest selling operating system according to Microsoft. Apart from this Windows7 supports more than 800,00 unique applications and more than 240,00 unique devices.

Ballmer revealed at CES 2010

The Windows platform represents the broadest ecosystem of developers in the world from casual games to the most powerful software running the world’s biggest organizations. There are over four million Windows applications in all, and Windows 7 allows software to become even better. Developers are creating rich applications that take advantage of the new technologies in 7. Our partners have delivered over 800,000 new unique Windows 7 applications exploiting these new technologies with over 240,000 new devices, peripherals, and machines just since we delivered the beta release.

Windows 7 Facts

• Windows 7 is by far the fastest selling operating system in history. PC sales jumped nearly 50 percent the week Windows 7 launched.
• On Black Friday, retailers sold 63 percent more PCs than they did the year before.
• According to NPD, the 2009 holiday season saw greater than 50 percent year-over-year growth for Windows PC sales.

ZoneAlarm has released a new version of Firewall that is fully compatible with Windows 7. ZoneAlarm version 9.1.007.002 includes a new browser security toolbar that detects spy sites, offers website safety checks and ratings as well as a signature and heuristic phishing detection. ZoneAlarm users running older versions of ZoneAlarm Firewall will be asked to upgrade their software. It is highly recommended that you should uninstall previous version of ZoneAlarm before installing this new version.

According to Ghacks

It also has to be noted that Zonealarm 9.1 should be run as the only software firewall on the computer system. It is therefore highly recommended to uninstall other software firewalls and to disable Windows firewall to ensure that the firewall protects the PC properly. Zonealarm 9.1 is compatible with both 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows 7 and previous Windows operating systems.

Download ZoneAlarm Firewall for Windows 7

Windows 7 is now hit the retails stores and PC vendors are also offering Windows 7 to their customers. We can say that Windows 7 is one of the most secure operating system by Microsoft but it also need an antivirus program for protecting your computer from Malwares, viruses and from other malicious software programs.Here are antivirus programs that have earned the Compatible with Windows 7 logo.

Windows 7 Bing theme is now available for download and Bing theme consists of some of the best Bing backgrounds. If you not yet installed Windows 7 or than these desktop backgrounds for you. Windows 7 users can download Windows 7 Bing theme from Here.

If you are using Windows 7 and want to keep eye on your Windows Live and Google Calendar events then Windows Live Calendar Gadget is perfect for you. This program also has a capability to read .ics files.

Features

• Upcoming events display
• Events highlighting
• Compatible with *.ics format
• Supports any calendars in iCal (should work with Google Calendar too).
• New Aero skin which changes it’s base color according to actual Aero theme color.
• Multilingual support

Requirements:
MS Windows Vista or MS Windows

Download Windows Live Calendar Gadget for Windows 7

As Widows 7 is launched on 22 October 2009 ,Microsoft added some more new themes in their Windows 7 download website. Most importantly finally they added a Windows 7 theme for India.

Some of the themes are featured themes and they are mainly products or brands.

You can find the India theme under International themes.

Microsoft Hong Kong launched Windows 7 Personality quiz website. The quiz has a total of 13 questions and these questions are not technical questions. You can also participate in Windows 7 Quiz by by clicking here