1. LATEST OPERATING SYSTEM FROM MICROSOFT
Windows 7 (formerly codenamed Blackcomb and Vienna) is the next release of Microsoft Windows, an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, Tablet PCs, and media center PCs.[1]
Microsoft stated in 2007 that it is planning Windows 7 development for a three-year time frame starting after the release of its predecessor, Windows Vista, but that the final release date will be determined by product quality.[2]
Unlike its predecessor, Windows 7 is intended to be an incremental upgrade with the goal of being fully compatible with existing device drivers, applications, and hardware.[3] Presentations given by the company in 2008 have focused on multi-touch support, a redesigned Windows Shell with a new taskbar, a home networking system called HomeGroup,[4] and performance improvements. Some applications that have been included with prior releases of Microsoft Windows, most notably Windows Mail, Windows Calendar,[citation needed] Windows Movie Maker, and Windows Photo Gallery, are no longer included with the operating system; they are instead offered separately (free of charge) as part of the Windows Live Essentials suite.[5]
DEVELOPMENT
Originally, a version of Windows codenamed Blackcomb was planned as the successor to Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. Major features were planned for Blackcomb, including an emphasis on searching and querying data and an advanced storage system named WinFS to enable such scenarios. Later, Blackcomb was delayed and an interim, minor release, codenamed "Longhorn" was announced for 2003.[6] By the middle of 2003, however, Longhorn had acquired some of the features originally intended for Blackcomb. After three major viruses exploited flaws in Windows operating systems within a short time period in 2003, Microsoft changed its development priorities, putting some of Longhorn's major development work on hold in order to develop new service packs for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. Development of Longhorn was also "reset" in September 2004.
Blackcomb was renamed Vienna in early 2006,[7] and again to Windows 7 in 2007.[2] In 2008, it was announced that Windows 7 would also be the official name of the operating system.[8][9]
Bill Gates, in an interview with Newsweek, suggested that the next version of Windows would "be more user-centric."[10] Gates later said that Windows 7 will also focus on performance improvements;[11] Steven Sinofsky later expanded on this point, explaining in the Engineering Windows 7 blog that the company was using a variety of new tracing tools to measure the performance of many areas of the operating system on an ongoing basis, to help locate inefficient code paths and to help prevent performance regressions.[12]
Senior Vice President Bill Veghte stated that Windows 7 will not have the kind of compatibility issues with Windows Vista that Vista has with previous versions.[13] Speaking about Windows 7 on 16 October 2008, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer confirmed compatibility between Vista and Windows 7.[14] Ballmer also confirmed the relationship between Vista and Windows 7, indicating that Windows 7 will be an improved version of Vista.[14]
On 27 December 2008 Windows 7 Beta was leaked onto the Internet.[15] According to a performance test by ZDNet,[16] Windows 7 Beta has beaten both Windows XP and Vista in several key areas, including boot and shutting down time, working with files and loading documents. On 07 January 2009, the 64-bit version of the Windows 7 Beta (build 7000) was leaked onto the web.[17]
The official beta, announced at the CES 2009, was made available to MSDN and TechNet subscribers on 07 January 2009[18] and was made briefly available for public download on Microsoft TechNet on 09 January 2009 before being withdrawn and replaced with a coming soon message. The servers were experiencing difficulty in dealing with the number of users who wished to download the beta. Microsoft had to add additional servers to cope with the large volume of interest from the public.[19] Due to the unexpectedly high demand, Microsoft has also decided to remove its initial 2.5 million download limit and make it available to the public until January 24th 2009.[20]
FEATURES
Windows 7 includes a number of new features, such as advances in touch, speech, and handwriting recognition, support for virtual hard disks, improved performance on multi-core processors[21][22][23][24], improved boot performance, and kernel improvements.
Windows 7 adds support for systems using multiple heterogeneous graphics cards from different vendors, a new version of Windows Media Center,[25] Gadgets being integrated into Windows Explorer, a Gadget for Windows Media Center, the ability to visually pin and unpin items from the Start Menu and Taskbar, improved media features, the XPS Essentials Pack being integrated, Windows PowerShell Integrated Scripting Environment (ISE), and a redesigned Calculator with multiline capabilities including Programmer and Statistics modes along with unit conversion.
Many new items have been added to the Control Panel including: ClearType Text Tuner, Display Color Calibration Wizard, Gadgets, Recovery, Troubleshooting, Workspaces Center, Location and Other Sensors, Credential Manager, Biometric Devices, System Icons, Action Center, and Display.[26] Windows Security Center has been renamed the Windows Action Center (Windows Health Center and Windows Solution Center in earlier builds) which encompasses both security and maintenance of the computer.
The taskbar has seen the biggest visual changes, where the Quick Launch toolbar has been merged with the task buttons to create an enhanced taskbar or what Microsoft internally refers to as the "Superbar". This enhanced taskbar also enables the Jump Lists feature to allow easy access to common tasks.[27] The revamped taskbar also allows the reordering of taskbar buttons.
Screenshots have appeared demonstrating a new feature called 'Peek'. Peek is a quick way of making all visible windows transparent for a quick look at the desktop.[28] A Microsoft spokesman said that "this will be useful for users who want a quick look at the news" in reference to RSS gadgets on the desktop.[citation needed]
For developers, Windows 7 includes a new networking API with support for building SOAP based web services in native code (as opposed to .NET based WCF web services),[29] new features to shorten application install times, reduced UAC prompts, simplified development of installation packages,[30] and improved globalization support through a new Extended Linguistic Services API.[31]
At WinHEC 2008 Microsoft announced that color depths of 30-bit and 48-bit would be supported in Windows 7 along with the wide color gamut scRGB (which for HDMI 1.3 can be converted and output as xvYCC). The video modes supported in Windows 7 are 16-bit sRGB, 24-bit sRGB, 30-bit sRGB, 30-bit with extended color gamut sRGB, and 48-bit scRGB.[32][33]
Windows 7 adds online versions of Spades, Backgammon and Checkers.
LATEST OPERATING SYSTEM FROM SUN MICROSYSTEMS
SOLARIS 10 and SunOS 5.10
includes "x64" or x86-64 (AMD64/Intel 64) support, DTrace (Dynamic Tracing), Solaris Containers, Service Management Facility (SMF) which replaces init.d scripts, NFSv4. Least privilege security model. Support for sun4m and UltraSPARC I processors removed. Support for EISA-based PCs removed. Adds Java Desktop System (based on GNOME) as default desktop. [26]
- Solaris 10 1/06 added the GRUB bootloader for x86 systems, iSCSI Initiator support and fcinfo command-line tool.
- Solaris 10 6/06 added the ZFS filesystem.
- Solaris 10 11/06 added Solaris Trusted Extensions and Logical Domains.
- Solaris 10 8/07 added Samba Active Directory support,[27] IP Instances (part of the OpenSolaris Network Virtualization and Resource Control project), iSCSI Target support and Solaris Containers for Linux Applications (based on branded zones), enhanced version of the Resource Capping Daemon (rcapd).
- Solaris 10 5/08 added CPU capping for Solaris Containers, performance improvements, SpeedStep support for Intel processors and PowerNow! support for AMD processors [28] [29]
- Solaris 10 10/08 added boot from ZFS and can use ZFS as its root file system. Solaris 10 10/08 also includes virtualization enhancements including the ability for a Solaris Container to automatically update its environment when moved from one system to another, Logical Domains support for dynamically reconfigurable disk and network I/O, and paravirtualization support when Solaris 10 is used as a guest OS in Xen-based environments such as Sun xVM Server.[30]
LATEST OPERATING SYSTEM FROM LINUX
Mandriva Linux 2009 goes further in its innovations and offers a thoroughly modern and cutting-edge graphical environment: KDE 4.1. Personalizable, modular, scalable, and full of visual effects that enhance the environment, KDE's new version is usable everywhere, from the oldest hardware to the newest.
Mandriva’s team has gone to great lengths to integrate this new environment in a way that ensures everyone can jump right in to using it, with a customized graphical theme, careful choice of the most powerful applications, and a default configuration tuned to your system's particular hardware.
Beyond the features that contributed to the success of Mandriva Linux 2008 and Mandriva Linux 2008 Spring, Mandriva Linux 2009 integrates the latest innovations, from office applications to the latest virtualization technologies. Mandriva Linux 2009 gives you not only the most advanced and
easy-to-use Linux operating system on the market but also the latest software demanded by the community.
Changes include:
An updated set of commercial applications in the Powerpack edition: Fluendo audio and video codecs, advanced touching-up of digital images with LightZone, virtualisation with VmWare, and Google applications;
Complete overhaul of the graphic installer;
Simplification and improved reliability of application installations and updates: notification of new distribution versions via Mandriva Online, and automatic configuration of official repositories;
Latest versions of leading open source applications: integration of KDE 4.1, GNOME 2.24, OpenOffice.org 3, Firefox 3;
Faster boot time;
Improved parental control utility, now with time-based restrictions;
Installer now capable of detecting low-resource systems or netbooks, and installing an appropriate environment (GNOME is default for netbooks);
Detection and optional automatic removal of packages known as orphans (packages previously installed which are no longer required) to optimize free space and future updates;
Constantly improving hardware support (kernel 2.6.27) with particular attention paid to netbooks.
Easy, 100% graphical synchronization with mobile devices: Windows Mobile 2002 and 2003 as well as Windows Mobile 5 and 6, all Blackberry devices, and many Nokia devices.
Mandriva Linux 2009 is available in three editions: Powerpack (the commercial edition, including exclusive commercial software, support, and services), One (a live CD which can also be installed to the system permanently) and Free (an edition which contains only free / open source software).
II. WINDOWS XP INSTALLATION PROCEDURES
Step 1 - Start your PC and place your Windows XP CD in your CD/DVD-ROM drive. Your PC should automatically detect the CD and you will get a message saying "Press any key to boot from CD".
Step 2 - At this stage it will ask you to press F6 if you want to install a third party Raid or SCSI driver. If you are using a an IDE Hard Drive then you do not need to press F6. If you are using a SCSI or SATA Hard drive then you must press F6 otherwise Windows will not detect your Hard Drive during the installation. Please make sure you have the Raid drivers on a floppy disk. Normally the drivers are supplied on a CD which you can copy to a floppy disk ready to be installed. If you are not sure how to do this then please read your motherboard manuals for more information.
Step 3 - Press S to Specify that you want to install additional device.
Step 4 - You will be asked to insert the floppy disk with the Raid or SCSI drivers. Press enter after you have inserted the disk.
Step 5 - You will see a list of Raid drivers for your HDD. Select the correct driver for your device and press enter.
Step 6 - You will then get a Windows XP Professional Setup screen. You have the option to do a new Windows install, Repair previous install or quit. Since we are doing a new install we just press Enter to continue.
Step 7 - You will be presented with the End User Licensing Agreement. Press F8 to accept and continue
Step 8 - This step is very important. Here we will create the partition where Windows will be installed. If you have a brand new unformatted drive you will get a screen similar to below. In our case the drive size is 8190MB. We can choose to install Windows in this drive without creating a partition, hence use the entire size of the drive. If you wish to do this you can just press enter and Windows will automatically partition and format the drive as one large drive.
However for this demonstration I will create two partition. The first partition will be 6000MB (C: drive) and second partition would be 2180MB (E: drive). By creating two partition we can have one which stores Windows and Applications and the other which stores our data. So in the future if anything goes wrong with our Windows install such as virus or spyware we can re-install Windows on C: drive and our data on E: drive will not be touched. Please note you can choose whatever size partition your like. For example if you have 500GB hard drive you can have two partition of 250GB each.
Press C to create a partition.
Step 9 - Windows will show the total size of the hard drive and ask you how much you want to allocate for the partition you are about to create. I will choose 6000MB. You will then get the screen below. Notice it shows C: Partition 1 followed by the size 6000 MB. This indicates the partition has been created. We still have an unpartitioned space of 2189MB. Next heighlight the unpartitioned space by pressing down the arrow key. Then press C to create another partition. You will see the total space available for the new partition. Just choose all the space left over, in our case 2180MB.
Step 10 - Now you will see both partition listed. Partition 1 (C: Drive) 6000MB and Partition 2 (E: Drive) 2180MB. You will also have 8MB of unpartitioned space. Don't worry about that. Just leave it how its is. Windows normally has some unpartitioned space. You might wonder what happened to D: drive. Windows has automatically allocated D: drive to CD/DVD-ROM.
Select Partition 1 (C: Drive) and press Enter.
Step 11 - Choose format the partition using NTFS file system.This is the recommended file system. If the hard drive has been formatted before then you can choose quick NTFS format. We chose NTFS because it offers many security features, supports larger drive size, and bigger size files.
Step 12 - After the setup has completed copying the files the computer will restart. Leave the XP CD in the drive but this time DO NOT press any key when the message "Press any key to boot from CD" is displayed. In few seconds setup will continue. Windows XP Setup wizard will guide you through the setup process of gathering information about your computer.
Step 13 - Choose your region and language.
Step 14 - Type in your name and organization.
Step 15. Enter your product key.
Step 16 - Name the computer, and enter an Administrator password. Don't forget to write down your Administrator password.
Step 17 - Enter the correct date, time and choose your time zone.
Step 18 - For the network setting choose typical and press next.
Step 19 - Choose workgroup or domain name. If you are not a member of a domain then leave the default settings and press next. Windows will restart again and adjust the display.
Step 20 - Finally Windows will start and present you with a Welcome screen. Click next to continue.
Step 21 - Choose 'help protect my PC by turning on automatic updates now' and press next.
Step 22 - Will this computer connect to the internet directly, or through a network? If you are connected to a router or LAN then choose: 'Yes, this computer will connect through a local area network or home network'. If you have dial up modem choose: 'No, this computer will connect directly to the internet'. Then click Next.
Step 23 - Ready to activate Windows? Choose yes if you wish to active Windows over the internet now. Choose no if you want to activate Windows at a later stage.
Step 24 - Add users that will sign on to this computer and click next.
Step 25 - You will get a Thank you screen to confirm setup is complete. Click finish.
Step 26. Log in, to your PC for the first time.
Step 27 - You now need to check the device manager to confirm that all the drivers has been loaded or if there are any conflicts. From the start menu select Start -> Settings -> Control Panel. Click on the System icon and then from the System Properties window select the Hardware tab, then click on Device Manager.
If there are any yellow exclamation mark "!" next to any of the listed device, it means that no drivers or incorrect drivers has been loaded for that device. In our case we have a Video Controller (VGA card) which has no drivers installed.
Your hardware should come with manufacturer supplied drivers. You need to install these drivers using the automatic setup program provided by the manufacturer or you need to manually install these drivers. If you do not have the drivers, check the manufacturers website to download them.
To install a driver manually use the following procedure:
(a) From the device manager double click on the device containing the exclamation mark.
(b) This would open a device properties window.
(c) Click on the Driver tab.
(d) Click Update Driver button.
You now get two options. The first option provides an automatic search for the required driver. The second option allows you to specify the location of the driver. If you don't know the location of the driver choose the automatic search which would find the required driver from the manufacturer supplied CD or Floppy disk. Windows would install the required driver and may ask you to restart the system for the changes to take affect. Use this procedure to install drivers for all the devices that contain an exclamation mark. Windows is completely setup when there are no more exclamation marks in the device manager.
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