I am Microsoftie 4 ever (18+ years) working in Windows Services and Content team in the UK, my blog is mainly focused on the Windows family of products and trying to provide help pointers and resources for customers on our products.
Paint – is a little application that has come free with every version of Windows that I can remember, it even has its own Wikipedia entry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Paint . I think to most this application is either unknown or under utilised as you can do some neat and smart things with it. Adobe illustrator it isn’t, but it does come free with Windows.
I saw this article MS Paint Features You May Not Know and it reminded me how good it actually is. We have some good article on the Windows Help and how-to site as well such as
and if you ever thought that paint was not good for anythign check out this video on how you can use Paint to draw the Mona Lisa.
Rob
As you may know one of my main area of responsibilities is the windows help and and how to site which is mainly focused on Windows Vista. So we have put up a new site which is more focused towards Windows 7
Windows 7 Help & How-to
On the site you will find loads of articles and demos on using Windows 7. We will be getting more content up as we come up to Windows 7 Launch and beyond.
Please give us your feedback and let us know if there is any content that you think is missing or could be improved
Great list of 49 Free Windows Mobile 6+ Smartphone Apps and Services Via Specky boy Magazine, which is a site I visit from time to time, including:
Thought you might be interested.
So we don’t get these in the UK but really liked the TV adverts that are showing in the US at the minute. Wonder if we will get price predictor in the UK ?
Thanks to Kip on LiveSide for the tip
Want some free downloads for Windows 7 then @imhassan at I think different has started a list of free downloads you can get. Also check out the comments as people are adding more and more free downloads.
Free Windows 7 Downloads | ithinkdifferent
If you wanted to get an over view of how Microsoft has a corporation is tackling some of our environmental challenges and what we have done so far then check out this video:
Software Enabled Earth : New Microsoft Environmental Practices video
Just some of the things I took away from this short video include:
This is a really smart little project coming out of Microsoft Research called Page Hunt that aims to improve search results in Bing, whilst at the same time having a little fun :)
Seattlepi.com has a little more on this project at http://blog.seattlepi.com/microsoft/archives/174721.asp?from=blog_last3
Give it a try and tell us what you think. Personally I think it is a nice little diversion and something with all the little improvements you see with bing that helps it become a better place to find what you are looking for.
There is a pretty good and comprehensive review of Windows Media Center on Windows 7 by Ben Drawbaugh over on engadgetHD Windows 7 Media Center review
The videos include
Windows 7 Media Center in action on an Xbox 360.
and
Windows 7 Media Center in Windowed mode
The rest of the article goes in detail about what Ben was pleasantly surprised with, what he is happy is finally in WMC, what he is still waiting for in WMC as well as some more commentary about WMC and the ecosystem.
In conclusion Ben writes
”Once you switch to Windows 7 Media Center there is no going back. It might not seem like that much at first, but when you try to go back to Vista or even another solution like Moxi or TiVo, it is like going back in time. The fact is that Microsoft has been in a league of its own with Vista Media Center and while the competition is still sitting idle suing each other, Microsoft has yet again raised the bar. There is no doubt in our mind that it is the all around best DVR solution available today, but we recognize it isn't for everyone. The upfront cost is the most glaring barrier to entry, with the potential maintenance a close second. That being said, we say with confidence that Windows 7 Media Center is extremely stable and don't worry about missing recordings -- at the same time we leave automatic updates disabled and leave it be by not using it for anything else. We have high hopes that between now and the official release of Windows 7, that Microsoft will improve the value proposition by building a comprehensive ecosystem, while at the same time hardware prices will come down to reduce the upfront costs. All of this combined with what might happen with Windows Home Server 2, makes us believe that we won't be moving on from Windows 7 Media Center in our home anytime soon.”
Well worth watching and reading if you are at all interested in Windows Media Center on Windows 7
The online team in the UK have launched a new really cool (and not just because my blog is in it) web site called Microsoft Wave that aims to be:
‘…the site that brings you the freshest developments and products to come out of Microsoft.’
really liking the design of the site, which isn’t the usual corporate look for Microsoft and some of the nice little touches here and there. Kudus to Paul (student Interm!!) and the rest of the team for getting this site up and running.
If you like your Windows Vista in Maori (New Zealand) then you can download the latest Windows Vista Language Interface Pack (LIP) now:
Click here to download the Māori Vista LIP .
Click here to view the Māori Download page for more Maori downloads
Updated 4th August 2009 – to fix poor formatting