Windows Weekly 101

Windows 7 build 7068, Server 2008 Foundation, Encarta dead, Conficker dud, DOSBox, and more.

• Windows 7 build 7068 has leaked
  • Windows 7 Build 7068 Screens Windows 7 Home Basic
  • Windows 7 Build 7068 Screens Windows 7 Home Premium
  • Windows 7 Build 7068 Screens Windows 7 Starter
  • No major changes this time around, but someone has hacked the installer so that you can install all of the retail product versions individually: Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Professional, and Ultimate
  • I've made up detailed tables comparing which features are available in each product edition
  • Some interesting Starter edition tidbits: The 3 app limit, weird limitations around the wallpaper, welcome screen
  • Related: AT&Ts subsidized netbooks starting at $49
  • Related: Gizmodo story about Windows 7 not working with third-party codecs is BS
  • Related: TechEd 2009 launch for Windows 7 RC? Maybe, but Microsoft is recommending that the press does not attend (!)
• Windows Server 2008 Foundation
  • This one is cool
  • Low-cost server aimed for low-end hardware and very small businesses
  • will cost $150, 200 .... only on new hardware, not retail
  • Single proc only, up to 15 users, no CALs, no Hyper-V or virtualization licensing
  • Clearly aimed at Linux
  • Ballmer: It's like a netbook version of Server
• Microsoft kills Encarta: Yet another Wikipedia-related death
• Conficker came and went on April 1: A complete non-event
• Everything Must Go is on for April 4
  • But ... will be the first of a few of these events this month. First one will be the big ticket items
  • Do it again a week from Saturday ... see how it goes
• Tip of the Week: Speed up IE 8! See Bigfoot while you're at it
  • With a nod towards April Fools: Ed Bott does it again ... not the good kind
  • But who knows, it may work if you upgraded on a messy system
• Software Pick of the Week: DOSBox
  • x86 emulator with DOS, lets you run DOS games in Windows XP/Vista/7
  • Like Wolfenstein 3D, mentioned last week, also Duke Nukem, etc.

Audible picks of the week: The Tourist: A Novel, Unabridged, By Olen Steinhauer, Narrated by Tom Weiner. 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.