Microsoft: 46% Windows 7 installations are 64-bit

For the first time in history, 64-bit operating systems are gaining serious traction with the arrival of Windows 7. In a blog post today, Microsoft revealed that 46% of Windows 7 users are running a 64-bit version, which compares to only 11% of those on Vista and less than 1% on XP. Steam recently released stats showing an even higher adoption rate among its customers, with around two times more people running Windows 7 x64 than x86.

OEMs have finally embraced the architecture, with some converting their entire consumer lineups to 64-bit-only machines. NPD says that 77% of retail PCs sold in the US during April 2010 ran the updated architecture – but it's not just end users buying into 64-bit computing.

Gartner estimates that 75% of all businesses will ditch 32-bit systems by 2014, and Intel recently migrated to a 64-bit environment to take advantage of features such as support for more than 4GB of RAM and additional security benefits.

Microsoft readies Windows 7 SP1 public beta for July

The first public beta of service pack 1 (SP1) for Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 is coming by end of July. Microsoft confirmed this bit of news at their TechEd conference in New Orleans, after first sharing some details of the update a couple months ago. Echoing previous statements, the company said SP1 will bring a couple of big additions on the server side of things, but for home users it's mostly the usual patches and hotfixes rolled up into a single update.

Among the new features in Windows Server 2008 R2 is a graphics acceleration platform known as RemoteFX, which can deliver high-definition video, the full Aero interface, and even high-end apps like AutoCAD to remote clients using a new codec that runs in hardware or software. This means graphics hardware on the server will be able to handle the graphics needs of multiple virtual guests, which in turn need only an low-end card and a virtual GPU driver. The result is something very close to an old mainframe environment, with "terminals" that are smarter than their predecessors but still less expensive than PCs, requiring far less maintenance and consuming very little power under load.

The other major addition to Server 2008 R2 is called "Dynamic Memory," which allows virtual machine memory to be configured on the fly as applications need it. No exact dates were given for the final release of SP1 on Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7, but rumors has been circulating that it will be before the end of this calendar year.

Microsoft reveals updated Windows Live Essentials suite

Microsoft has previewed a major refresh to its freely downloadable Windows Live Essentials suite, which includes Photo Gallery, Movie Maker, Messenger, Mail, Sync and others. According to CNET, Redmond hopes the overhaul will make Windows more appealing to consumers during this year's holiday season since no significant updates are planned for the OS itself.

The revamped version of Photo Gallery will add facial recognition to make life easier when it comes to managing and organizing tons of photos. Photo Gallery will also receive new editing tools, such as Photo Fuse, which lets you take the best parts from similar pictures and fuse them together. This feature is demonstrated in the image above, where a woman swaps her face in a group shot.

Movie Maker will get new themes, the ability to import photo caption data from Photo Gallery, export HD videos, and you'll be able to upload content directly to Facebook, and other sites. Mail will let you manage multiple email accounts, calendars, RSS feeds, contacts and newsgroups in one place. It'll also let you send up to 10GB of photos per email, chat via IM in the inbox, and more.

Microsoft unveils Windows Embedded Compact 7 for tablets

Microsoft has unveiled a version of Windows 7 designed specifically for tablets and other specialized devices. The platform, dubbed Windows Embedded Compact 7, is expected to be released to manufacturing in the fourth quarter, but can already be downloaded from Microsoft's Web site in its preview form. Details are a bit slim at the moment, but it seems to be a compartmentalized version of Windows 7 compatible with non-Intel architectures.

Features listed in the official product page include an updated version of Internet Explorer with support for Silverlight and Adobe Flash 10.1, MPEG4 and HD video playback, support for Microsoft Exchange 2010, Microsoft Office and Adobe PDF viewers, and Windows 7 Device Stage for transferring files between a mobile device and a PC. A multi-touch interface is also mentioned, complete with custom gestures like panning and pinch zooming.

One of the first tablets to launch with Windows Embedded Compact 7 will reportedly be the recently announced Asus Eee Pad EP121. Microsoft has posted a few videos of the new operating system here, showcasing its "connected experiences", "rich user experiences", and platform reliability.

Updated Windows Phone 7 videos show Office doing awesome things

As much as Microsoft has revealed about Windows Phone 7 thus far in the past two months, one critical, differentiating element that it's going to be able to lord over its competitors -- true Office support -- has been a bit of a black box. We're starting to see a little bit more about the Office team's next-gen mobile product now, though, thanks to a pair of new videos that have been published this week. The first focuses on the email and calendar experience, but we do see one pretty awesome trick when the demo opens a PowerPoint file inline from the email client, edits it, and sends it back to the original sender. The second video dives deeper on the actual Office hub, where we get a quick look at the Word editor -- and as you might expect, it's squeaky-clean and nearly UI-free, just like pretty much everything else in the platform. Peep the videos after the break.

Silverlight 4.0 to be released this month

While Adobe has been getting most of the press recently for their Flash 10.1 RC, Microsoft has quietly announced their plans to release the final version of Silverlight 4.0 as early as next week. This major update will provide more fundamental changes than prior iterations, including Google Chrome support, better performance (up to 200% over Silverlight 3), improved security with digital signing and sandboxing, and greater control for developers.

Silverlight will also be the primary development environment for Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 Series platform -- the full programming model, not a mobile version -- so those interested in writing apps for these devices may want to tune in to see what's coming. The company is offering a Windows Phone 7 development toolkit for free, including Silverlight, Expression Blend for Windows Phone and a preview of Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Express.

The release candidate of Silverlight 4 has been available for download since mid-March 2010, with Microsoft releasing the preview code at the MIX10 conference in Las Vegas. A quick overview of new features can be found here, or you can opt for the gritty details in this technical white paper (Word 2007 format).

Windows 7 Service Pack 1 beta build leaked‎

Microsoft still hasn't announced a release date for the first Windows 7 Service Pack, but apparently it can't be too far off judging by a recently leaked version of the code. Technology blog GeekSmack was able to get hold of a copy of a Windows 7 SP1 beta build and posted some pictures to prove it. Marked 6.1.7601.16537.amd64fre.win7.100327-0053, it appears the file was compiled very recently, on March 27, using an AMD 64-bit system.


Installation reportedly went much faster in comparison with Vista service packs, but other than that not many changes are immediately apparent. Among the handful of new features expected is an updated Remote Desktop client that takes advantage of a new remote access platform known as RemoteFX, and an addition to Windows Server 2008 R2 called "Dynamic Memory," which allows virtual machine memory to be configured on the fly.

Other than mostly minor updates, along with the usual inclusion of previous patches and hotfixes, many are also hoping that Microsoft bakes in native support for USB 3.0 as well as newer versions of Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. The final version of Windows 7 Service Pack 1 is expected to land sometime in September of this year, with a beta build in June.

Microsoft removes XP Mode hardware requirements

Along with other virtualization announcements today, Microsoft has updated XP Mode to be less confusing when it comes to hardware compatibility. XP Mode is a free virtual machine package for business-class versions of Windows 7, intended to ease OS migration for enterprise customers. When it launched alongside Windows 7, the software required a processor with support for hardware virtualization, but many users found it difficult to determine whether their CPU had the feature.


Fortunately, Microsoft has removed that requirement, and anyone left confused or stranded with the original version of XP Mode should now be able to use it. "This change simplifies the experience by making virtualization more accessible to many more PCs for small and midsize businesses wanting to migrate to Windows 7 Professional or higher editions, while still running Windows XP-based productivity applications," Microsoft said today.

Users of Windows 7 Professional or higher can download XP Mode, or the latest update: 32-bit, 64-bit.