Windows Weekly 88

I see dead Zunes, Windows 7 Beta, HP MediaSmart Servers, Windows Live Essentials, and more.

The day (some of) the Zunes died

• Zune 30 had a date-related software glitch
• Devices shut down for one day (Dec 31, 2008), are back up now
• Related: Xbox 360 flaw that causes discs to get deep scratches.

Windows 7 Beta arrives … for some

• Tech beta testers should get it soon … public sometime in January
• Not much has changed post-M3 but its feature complete

Next-gen HP MediaSmart Servers announced early

• Paul really likes them
• Windows Home Server
• Mac compatibility (Time Machine)

Holiday season - sales supposedly horrible

• But were really down just 2 percent year over year
• Amazon had ‘best ever' season (again) but its unclear what that means
• Laptops are now (barely) outselling desktops - MS tells me that "businesses are still buying desktops, but individuals are overwhelmingly choosing portable computers

Tip of the week: Windows 7 users: Make the new taskbar work properly

Software of the week:

• Windows Live Essentials
• Near-final version is now available
• Only Movie Maker is still in beta

Audible pick of the week: The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream, Abridged, By Barack Obama, Narrated by Barack Obama. For a free credit toward the audiobook of your choice, visit Audible.com/windows.

Check out Paul's blog at the SuperSite for Windows for more information.

Thanks to CacheFly for the bandwidth for this show. The Windows Weekly theme music is courtesy of Derek K. Miller.