Windows 7 Review, Windows 7 RC1: Windows XP Mode

Perhaps the biggest surprise - and for Microsoft, possibly the biggest boost - is a feature that has been announced but not yet available: Windows XP Mode, which will run XP applications in an XP compatibility box, but make them appear as if they are running directly in Windows 7 itself. In this way, Microsoft hopes to give users the best of both worlds - the compatibility of XP and the shinier new Windows 7 interface.

The feature sounds underwhelming until you dig into the details. According to Microsoft, you won't actually have to manually run Virtual PC to run those XP applications once you've installed them; instead, they will appear to work directly within Windows 7.

You'll just have to run Virtual PC the first time and run the application - from that point on, it will appear to be just other application running directly in Windows 7 (at least, that's the promise). And you won't have to buy XP separately - your Windows 7 EULA (end-user licence agreement) includes XP as well. In essence, you get two operating systems for the price of one.

This solves one of Microsoft's biggest problems with XP very cleverly - it's such a solid, stable operating system that people simply don't want to give it up to move to a newer operating system. Now they don't have to - they can run XP as if it were a part of Windows 7.

Microsoft says Windows XP Mode will soon be ready for download, and as soon as it is, I'll follow up with a report on how well it works.

Source: www.pcadvisor.co.uk

Microsoft To Launch Free Antivirus Product Next Week

Public beta of the much-anticipated "Morro" tool debuts June 23, replacing OneCare Live for consumers 

Microsoft turned a page in consumer antivirus protection today with the official announcement of free anti-malware software that users can download on their Windows machines. The new Microsoft Security Essentials software -- which had been known by the code name "Morro" -- will be available in a public beta version next Tues., June 23.

Unlike Microsoft's Live subscription-based OneCare consumer offering, Microsoft Security Essentials focuses solely on anti-malware security, detecting and removing viruses, spyware, rootkits, and Trojans, and doesn't bundle in the firewalls or computer maintenance tasks and backup common in many security suites today. And there's no charge or registration required.

"This is real-time protection for consumers," says Alan Packer, general manager of Microsoft's anti-malware team. "We were surprised at the number of people out there not running anti-malware software -- a lot of Windows consumers are not protected."

The new product represents a shift in Microsoft's consumer AV strategy to a freebie model that some other security vendors recently have adopted, and it's likely to pressure AV giants McAfee and Symantec to eventually do the same, security experts say.

Packer says Microsoft decided to give away the software for free as part of its strategy of improving security for the overall Windows ecosystem. "There are a lot of other free anti-malware products out there, but a lot of them are trying to do an 'up-sell,' so there's still an economic model there," he says. "That wasn't a driving factor for us. We were looking at the sheer number of people unprotected in the Windows ecosystem, and we thought we could better serve them at no cost."

"This is the best thing for the buyer," says Roger L. Kay, president of Endpoint Technologies Associates. "It will have the effect of putting [AV] companies out of those [consumer AV] businesses. Consumer AV is in jeopardy because, in some sense, you don't need it. It's an extra bolt-on that's not perfect. And you want things that keep quiet and fit -- you don't want to wear your AV like a ball and chain."

But that's exactly what some consumers have experienced with AV: "Anti-malware is expensive in resources -- CPU and memory consumption -- and that has an impact on the user experience. Some don't think it's worth it," Microsoft's Packer says.

By spinning off the security piece from the suite, Microsoft is focusing on protecting its "main franchise" -- the PC, says Endpoint Technologies' Kay. "They needed to focus on the security problem by itself...giving away security rather than bundling and selling it," Kay says.

Microsoft's new software will include a dynamic signature service that works with Microsoft Update, and it runs on the same anti-malware engine as Forefront and Live OneCare. "We're using the same base technology in Forefront, OneCare, and Defender, with different pieces of it turned on. Microsoft Security Essentials is the next generation of what was in OneCare," Packer says.

All signature and other updates are done in the background, and the software performs CPU-throttling during full scans, for instance, so as not to disrupt other operations, he says.

Rainer Gawlick, CMO at Sophos, says Microsoft's move is a win for the industry. "Unprotected consumer PCs are a security problem for the market, with botnets [and other issues]," Gawlick says. "Overall, we think it's right for consumers to get free protection."

Microsoft also simplified the user interface using the standard green for clean and red for problem. Fixing a problem is just one click on a prominently displayed button on the page, Packer says.

The software, which will be released in its final version this year, is for Windows XP (Service Pack 2 or Service Pack 3), Windows Vista, and Windows 7 (Beta or Release Candidate).

Meanwhile, Microsoft plans to halt retail sales of Live OneCare at the end of the month; existing OneCare users will be given a free extension of their subscription until Microsoft Security Essentials is shipping in production. 

Source: www.darkreading.com

How much Windows 7 Price?

The price of Windows 7 Starter Edition per machine will be around double that of Windows XP Starter Edition. As reported (here - warning: PDF - and here), Windows 7 Starter Edition will be between $45 and $55 compared to $25 and $30 for Windows XP Starter Edition.

It's not clear where DigiTimes, the source of this particular news, got the new price.

The situation is complicated by the fact that the Starter Edition price is generally not disclosed. This version of Windows is an OEM-only edition and pricing comes down to how far OEMs can arm wrestle Microsoft, with agreements then locked up under NDA.

Microsoft refused to comment when asked by The Reg on the Windows 7 Starter Edition price, pointing to the NDA chastity belt that accompanies this SKU.

If Microsoft has bumped the price, it'll put a serious crimp in the appeal of Windows 7 on netbooks. OEMs margins are tight, and on a machine priced at $300, Microsoft will be taking a serious bite out of the margin that would have gone to the PC manufacturer.

In Microsoft's world, a price of between $45 and $55 might count as flat - or no increase. Leaked copies of Windows Vista Starter Edition are available for $52.

With the technology hurdle that hurt Windows Vista gone, that leaves just price as the barrier to OEMs using Windows 7 on netbooks. And for OEMs who had skipped Windows Vista Starter Edition for Windows XP Starter Edition, that price of between $45 and $55 per unit won't count as pricing stability at all. It'll be an effective increase.

The only card Microsoft has left in this game is application and hardware compatibility. Software and devices that consumers know and like will work with Windows on netbooks. This might compel OEMs to swallow the price.

Apart from that - and it's not an insignificant consideration - it'll be up to Ubuntu's chief sponsor Canonical and other Linuxes to lobby Acer, Asus, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, and others making netbooks. Those manufacturers will be concerned about their margins