I am Microsoftie 4 ever (15+ 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.
If you ever wondered where the wonderful pictures where taken for the UK Windows 7 Theme pack?
Oak Tree by Ullswater Lake in the Lake District
http://www.ullswater.co.uk/
Rob
I have been thinking of creating a list of all the great Windows 7 guide type content but looks like Gizmodo has beaten me to it with Windows 7 Guides: The Best Of - Windows 7 guide – Gizmodo
Covering content from
I am sure there are more please send me anything else you think is good or add it tot he comments below
These are 10 great videos from cnet TV.
The top videos cover (plus some links to Windows help and how-to content)
Really smart real-time view of what people are saying about Windows 7
What People Are Saying About Windows 7
I could spend hours watching all the comments come in
and if you want to join the conversation follow these tips
with Halloween around the corner I expect to see lots of related stuff popping up around the web like this from the Bing team
Saw this great article on Microsoft Press pass: Windows 7: The Next Generation of Customer Support: Automated diagnostics, new online forums, and “Fix its” in Windows 7 help customers help themselves.
“Traditional live support via the phone, e-mail and chat are still there, but so are a host of resources, many available through a new online forum. There is support through Twitter, a library of software “Fix its” that can solve problems with a single click, and other diagnostic and repair tools available directly through Windows 7 itself.”
Also love the little Evolution of Microsoft Customer Support silverlight app
Some of the self help features for Windows 7 include:
Anything free is good? so this e-book from Microsoft press looks something worthwhile for anyone trying to troubleshoot Windows 7
Microsoft Press : Free e-book: Windows 7 troubleshooting tips
“Mitch Tulloch, a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional and lead author of the just-published (and hot-selling) Windows 7 Resource Kit (Microsoft Press, 2010; ISBN: 9780735627000; 1760 pages), has created a short e-book called “What You Can Do Before You Call Tech Support.” Here are the opening paragraphs: Your sound card has stopped working, your computer seems sluggish, the network is down, your hard drive is clicking, you can’t view a website, your monitor is hard to read, your new webcam isn’t working, your favorite program won’t run, and a funny burning smell is coming from your computer. What can you do on your own to try to troubleshoot the issue before you pick up the phone to call tech support? If you’re running Windows 7, quite a lot. Microsoft has included a lot of self-support tools in Windows 7 that you can try using before you seek the help of others, and we’ll examine these in a moment. Then there are the tools you were born with—your five senses (see, hear, smell, taste, touch) and most importantly your brain. And by brain I’m including your memory, experience, and capacity for logical reasoning. Finally, there is ancient and sacred lore passed on in secret from Master to Disciple over the millennia. We’ll see shortly how your brain, your senses, and the secrets of the Wise Ones can be very helpful for troubleshooting computer problems. But first let’s look at what troubleshooting tools are built into Windows 7. You can download the e-book in XPS format here and in PDF format here. Enjoy!”
“Mitch Tulloch, a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional and lead author of the just-published (and hot-selling) Windows 7 Resource Kit (Microsoft Press, 2010; ISBN: 9780735627000; 1760 pages), has created a short e-book called “What You Can Do Before You Call Tech Support.” Here are the opening paragraphs:
Your sound card has stopped working, your computer seems sluggish, the network is down, your hard drive is clicking, you can’t view a website, your monitor is hard to read, your new webcam isn’t working, your favorite program won’t run, and a funny burning smell is coming from your computer. What can you do on your own to try to troubleshoot the issue before you pick up the phone to call tech support?
If you’re running Windows 7, quite a lot. Microsoft has included a lot of self-support tools in Windows 7 that you can try using before you seek the help of others, and we’ll examine these in a moment. Then there are the tools you were born with—your five senses (see, hear, smell, taste, touch) and most importantly your brain. And by brain I’m including your memory, experience, and capacity for logical reasoning. Finally, there is ancient and sacred lore passed on in secret from Master to Disciple over the millennia. We’ll see shortly how your brain, your senses, and the secrets of the Wise Ones can be very helpful for troubleshooting computer problems. But first let’s look at what troubleshooting tools are built into Windows 7.
You can download the e-book in XPS format here and in PDF format here. Enjoy!”
thanks to @MarkWilsonIT for the tip
I really like this initiative for Windows 7 Ways to Change the World from Microsoft Citizenship(although a pity it is just for US Residents).
The competition encourages people to create short videos explaining how they believe a Windows PC could help a non for profits organisation make a greater impact. For instance helping a food bank manage their inventory or helping to deliver after school care for kids.
There will be 7 winners, and each person who submits a winning entry will receive a new PC with Windows 7 and a $7,000 grant for their chosen NGO.
The plan is also to keep all the entries online, providing NGOs with a great resource of ideas on how they can use technology
If you want to be able to display and read the Windows help files, those that have a .hlp extension then you will need to install Download details: WinHlp32.exe for Windows 7.
“Windows Help (WinHlp32.exe) is a Help program that has been included with Microsoft Windows versions starting with the Microsoft Windows 3.1 operating system. However, the Windows Help program has not had a major update for many releases and no longer meets Microsoft's standards. Therefore, starting with the release of Windows Vista and continuing in Windows 7, the Windows Help program will not ship as a feature of Windows. If you want to view 32-bit .hlp files, you must download and install the program (WinHlp32.exe) from the Microsoft Download Center.”
Of course this doesn't me there isn’t help within Windows 7, just press F1 at any time to get the latest help, or visit Windows.microsoft.com to see the latest help online.
There is also a version for Windows Server 2008 R2
I love these quick (in 7 seconds) demos of some of the Windows 7 features
See more Windows 7 Videos