My Technology Guide

Microsoft has recently released Microsoft Touch Pack for Windows 7 users. The Microsoft Touch Pack for Windows 7 was first introduced last May as a series of 6 applications that are designed to showcase Windows Touch in Windows 7 and to help people learn touch gestures. It consists of 3 casual games, and 3 Microsoft Surface applications that are created for Windows 7.

Before the release of the Microsoft Touch Pack for Windows 7, it was only available for OEMs to put on new Windows 7 PCs capable of Windows Touch. Now, Microsoft Touch Pack for Windows 7 is released for everyone. Users with Windows Touch capable devices can download and install it.

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Windows XP Mode is freely available for Windows 7 Professional, Ultimate and Enterprise users. It allows you to run legacy applications inside a Windows XP virtual machine running in the background. Windows XP Mode was primarily designed to help businesses move from Windows XP to Windows 7. Almost all programs that are compatible with Windows Vista and a majority of Windows XP programs, run well in Windows 7. But, if a program doesn’t run properly even after trying the Program Compatibility troubleshooter, you can run the program in Windows XP Mode.

Windows XP Mode runs in a separate window on the Windows 7 desktop, much like a program, except it's a fully functional version of Windows XP. When you install a program in Windows XP Mode, the program appears in both the Windows XP Mode list of programs and in the Windows 7 list of programs, so you can open the program directly from Windows 7. Do note that it isn’t optimized for graphic-intensive programs such as 3D games or for programs with hardware requirements such as TV tuners.

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The DVD and ISO image of Windows Vista contained all the editions, which was very convenient for any techie like me. But what about Windows 7 DVD or ISO images? Bad news is that Windows 7 is no longer "One Disc To Rule Them All" like Vista. This presents challenges to people who are downloading multiple editions from their MSDN or TechNet subscriptions, and for people who want to backup and archive their ISO, because instead of just two disc images - one each for 32-bit and 64-bit versions, there will be now eight different images. Frustrated techies were looking for ways to deal with this annoyance, like the developer behind Windows 7 ISO Image Edition Switcher. The Windows 7 ISO Image Edition Switcher is a set of small binary patches (and a tool to apply these patches) that will convert an official Windows 7 ISO disc image into an official Windows 7 ISO disc image of another edition. The resulting ISO images are bit-for-bit identical with those posted on MSDN or TechNet, and their SHA-1 hashes should match the official hashes posted by Microsoft. Continue Reading

Microsoft in an official announcement has released pricing information for the Windows 7 Family Pack and Windows Anytime Upgrade. For homes with multiple PCs, Microsoft is providing an affordable solution with their Windows 7 Family Pack. This special edition of Windows 7 is basically consisting of Windows 7 Home Premium which will be licensed for installation on up to 3 PCs. It is really useful if you want to run Windows 7 on more than one PC on a home network, and share files, music and photos with your family easily. The Windows 7 Family Pack will be available starting on October 22nd until supplies last here in the US and other select markets. In the US, the price for the Windows 7 Family Pack will be $149.99 for 3 Windows 7 Home Premium licenses. Its a great value pack as you can save more than $200 for three licenses. Continue Reading