Updates for Feb 26th 2010

WINDOWS 97 2010 Finally Arrives
Time to upgrade from Windows 7 Release Candidate

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I posted this in the Seven Forums but thought it should go in here somewhere too.....this came in as a Microsoft Newsletter today.

It’s time to upgrade from the Windows 7 Release Candidate

While most people who tested Windows 7 have now moved to the final version, some are still running the Release Candidate. If you haven’t moved yet, it’s time to replace the RC.

Starting on March 1, 2010 your PC will begin shutting down every two hours. Your work will not be saved during the shutdown.

The Windows 7 RC will fully expire on June 1, 2010. Your PC running the Windows 7 RC will continue shutting down every two hours and your files won’t be saved during shutdown. In addition, your wallpaper will change to a solid black background with a persistent message on your desktop. You’ll also get periodic notifications that Windows isn’t genuine. That means your PC may no longer be able to obtain optional updates or downloads requiring genuine Windows validation.

To avoid interruption, please reinstall a prior version of Windows or move to Windows 7. In either case, you’ll need to do a custom (clean) install to replace the RC. As with any clean installation, you’ll need to back up your data then reinstall your applications and restore the data. For more details about replacing the RC, see the Knowledge Base article KB 971767.

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Haiti Earth Quake

A major earthquake has devestated Haiti, and in particular its capital Port-au-Prince.

Windows97 recommends these charitable relief organizations, all of which have significant personnel and resources deployed in Haiti, and 4 out of 4 stars from Charity Navigator:

Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières) - 900 relief personnel in Haiti

Oxfam America - 200 relief personnel in Haiti

Save the Children - 200 relief personnel in Haiti

Partners in Health - 150 physicians; intact medical center in Haiti

CARE - 100 relief personnel in Haiti

UNICEF USA - 75 relief personnel in Haiti

Google News feed for Haiti Earthquake

Haiti entry from Wikipedia

A divided island: the forces working against Haiti - Jared Diamond, writing for UK Guardian

Special Tip: Windows 7: Released to Manufacturing

It had been expected to happen this month, and last Wednesday evening Microsoft announced that Windows 7 had been released to manufacturing (RTM).

Build 7600 has been validated and signed off as being the RTM build of Windows 7. At the same time Microsoft also signed off on Windows Server 2008 R2.

RTM means the code is considered finished from an engineering perspective and is ready to be pressed on DVDs, installed on manufacturers' PCs, and put on Microsoft's servers for download. You can read the dates on which various Microsoft clients/customers will have access to the RTM build in the article I posted yesterday.

In the release note posted on the Windows Blog, Brandon LeBlanc, Windows Communications Manager at Microsoft wrote: "Today's release is the result of the amazing amount of feedback we received from the millions of people who tested Windows 7 - from Beta to RC. We actually had over 10 million people opt-in to the Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP). That's a lot of people opting in to help us make Windows 7 a solid release. Through CEIP, our engineers were guided by customer feedback all the way to RTM. We also have had a great group of beta testers who have dedicated a great deal of their time to testing Windows 7 too. A special thank you goes out to all the people who helped test Windows 7."

I'll be posting a review on the RTM build of Windows 7 one I get access to the build.
The 2010 Votes Start on April 2nd 2010 and ends April 24th 2010 (Saturday)
New Videos are coming this year!
Videos: