Windows Weekly 110

Windows 7 RTM/GA, Starter gets more apps, Bing goes live, E3 Zune and Xbox 360, Winfox, and more.

Windows 7 RTM and GA dates set

• Will be completed (RTM) in second half of July
• Will be made generally available (GA) on October 22, 2009
• These dates apply to Windows Server 2008 R2 ("Windows 7 Server") as well
• Related: New builds in past week, 7137 and 7201 - no changes at all
• Related: Concept of Windows 7 as "the new NT"

Microsoft confirms that Windows 7 Starter will lose the 3-app limit

• I first reported on this about two weeks ago
• But Starter is still hobbled and should be avoided if possible
• Here's what's really happening

Bing goes live

• Can be added to browser search box; supports visual search in IE 8

E3 announcements: Zune and Xbox 360

• No big deal really
• Instant On 1080p HD video streaming to Xbox 360
• Microsoft needs to get more Zune into the Xbox 360 as soon as possible
• Some good games coming up
• "Project Natal" is the vaporware announcement of 2009. This reminds me of the robot from the original NES. That is, it will not do what people think it will.

Tip of the Week: Create custom jump list items for Explorer locations

• Create a shortcut on the desktop to the target folder
• Rename the shortcut to the desired name (Getting rid of the "- Shortcut" text)
• Pin that to the Explorer icon, so it gets added to the jump list
• Delete the shortcut from the desktop - The item remains on the jump list even after the shortcut has been deleted.
• Thanks to Mark Osborn for the tip.

Software Pick of the Week

• Winfox Adds jump list, multi-tab preview support to Firefox in Windows 7.
  Thanks to Robert Benson for the tip.

Audible pick of the week: In Defense of Food, Unabridged, By Michael Pollan, Narrated by Scott Brick. 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.