Powershell is a command-line shell utility and associated with scripting language from Microsoft. Power Shell supports Windows XP SP2/SP3, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008. The latest version of PowerShell is Windows PowerShell 2.0 released with Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. Microsoft Windows PowerShell is a new command-line shell and scripting language designed for system administration and automation. Built on the .NET Framework, Windows PowerShell enables IT professionals and developers to control and automate the administration of Windows and applications.

Remote management : You can run commands on one computer or hundreds of computers with a single command. You can establish an interactive session with a single computer. And, you can establish a session that can receive remote commands from multiple computers.

New cmdlets : Cmdlets are specialized commands in the PowerShell environment that implement specific functions. These are the native commands in the PowerShell stack. Windows PowerShell includes more than 100 new cmdlets, including Get-Hotfix, Send-Mail Message, Get-Computer Restore Point, New-Web Service Proxy, Debug-Process, Add-Computer, Rename-Computer, Reset-Computer Machine Password, and Get-Random.

Modules : Windows PowerShell modules let you organize your Windows PowerShell scripts and functions into independent, self-contained units. You can package your cmdlets, providers, scripts, functions, and other files into modules that you can distribute to other users. Modules are easier for users to install and use than Windows PowerShell snap-ins. Modules can include any type of file, including audio files, images, Help files, and icons. Modules run in a separate session to avoid name conflicts.

Windows PowerShell Integrated Scripting Environment (ISE) : Windows PowerShell ISE is a graphical user interface for Windows PowerShell that lets you run commands, and write, edit, run, test, and debug scripts in the same window. It offers up to eight independent execution environments and includes a built-in debugger, multiline editing, selective execution, syntax colors, line and column numbers, and context-sensitive Help.

Events : Windows PowerShell includes a new event infrastructure that lets you create events, subscribe to system and application events, and then listen, forward, and act on the events synchronously and asynchronously.

Advanced functions : Advanced functions behave just like cmdlets, but they are written in the Windows PowerShell scripting language instead of in C#.

Script internationalization : Scripts and functions can display messages and Help text to users in multiple languages.

Background jobs : With Windows PowerShell background jobs, you can run commands asynchronously and “in the background” so you can continue to work in your session. You can run background jobs on a local or remote computer, and you can store the results locally or remotely.

Debugger : The Windows PowerShell debugger can help you debug functions and scripts. You can set and remove breakpoints, step through code, check the values of variables, and display a call-stack trace.

Transactions : Windows PowerShell now supports transactions, which let you manage a set of commands as a logical unit. A transaction can be committed, or it can be completely undone so that the affected data is not changed by the transaction.

Windows 7 RTM is available to download for Technet and MSDN subscriber. The initial MSDN launch will involve the English version only, and the second phase of downloads will include the French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Japanese client bits of Windows 7. Second phase is scheduled on October 1st for both MSDN and TechNet customers. MSDN and TechNet subscribers, as well as Volume License customers will have access to product keys (PIDs) when Windows 7 is made available to them. Product keys for Windows 7 RTM will be different than the product keys used for Windows 7 Beta and the release candidate.

• TechNet subscribers (English only, downloadable via Microsoft Connect or TechNet Downloads)
• MSDN subscribers (English only, downloadable via Microsoft Connect or MSDN)
• Independent software vendors/Independent hardware vendors (English only via Microsoft Connect or MSDN)

For customers Windows 7 is on its way to manufacturers, and will be available on October 22. If you pre-ordered Windows 7, it should be delivered sometime around the October 22nd. You can pre-order Windows 7 today through many online retailers like the Microsoft Store.

If You want to test Windows 7, without impacting your current installation of Windows XP or Vista on your desktop? A possible solution is: Boot from VHD. Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) Image Format trained to deploy in the real and virtual environments without the need to install the system on a real disk partition HDD.The convenience of such virtual VHD images is the rapid deployment of virtual environments as well as isolated systems, with possible direct download from Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) images. Installing fro VHD is always a pain but still you can review this excellent post originally written by MasterMind from TechArena.

1. Befor getting started back up your data to avoid any risk
2. Free up space on your physical disk to be at least 6 GB of free space (to allow more applications to be installed / tested later)
3. Restart your system from the installation DVD of Windows 7
4. Instead of proceeding with the installation, choose “Repair”

5. The setup program offers to repair the system, this has no impact because we do not really fix the current system. Select the version of Windows currently installed.

6. Among the options, select Command Prompt.

7. We will then create a virtual disk (*. vhd) and then install Windows 7, using the utility Diskpart.exe, monitoring of the following commands to create a virtual disk.

create vdisk file = c: \ vhd \ \ win7beta.vhd max = 32000
select vdisk file = c: \ vhd \ win7beta.vhd
attach vdisk
exit

Vdisk create command file = “xxx” maximum = yyy can set the size of your virtual disk. Allow enough space for

your applications. In the example, I chose to create a virtual disk represented by c: \ win7beta.vhd size of 32 GB. The command attach vdisk, preceded by select vdisk file = xxx is used to mount your virtual disk to physical disk.

8. Then the Windows Setup program by typing setup.exe 7.

9. Take the home screen, select language and keyboard and user license (EULA). Then proceed to installation mode Custom (Advanced).

10. Windows will then display a selection screen of the destination disk for the new facility. Select the newly created virtual drive (you find in relation to the size set with the command create vdisk file = “xxx” yyy = maximum, 32 GB in the example), then click Next.

The setup continues as normal, and you managed your installation of Windows 7 VHD on a disc!

Source [TechArena]

As known already Microsoft awarded MSDN and TechNet subscriber Windows 7 RC.For those who are interested in previewing Windows 7 and experiencing the new features firsthand but are not TechNet or MSDN subscribers, the Windows 7 RC will be publicly available May 5 on the Microsoft Download Center (http://microsoft.com/downloads). Windows 7 RC is loaded with several new feature one of the most promising feature is Windows XP Mode. Microsoft defines Windows XP mode in Windows 7 as “ Utilizing Windows Virtual PC, Windows XP Mode allows Windows 7 users to run many Windows XP productivity applications, launched right from the Windows 7 desktop. Windows XP Mode will be available to Windows 7 Professional and Windows 7 Ultimate customers via download or, for the best experience, pre-installed directly on new PCs. As part of today’s announcement, Microsoft is releasing the beta of Windows XP Mode and Windows Virtual PC. For larger businesses where management is important to reduce the total cost of ownership, Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization (MED-V) within MDOP adds management to Windows Virtual PC including centralized policy, administration experience and deployment. ”

Windows 7 Beta lacks with FAT32 support so Redmond Giant takes care this time, local FAT32 hard disk drives were not support in libraries for Beta. RC libraries will now support non-removable FAT32 and NTFS hard disk drives. Windows Touch is also improved with Controlling the computer by touching a touch-enabled screen or monitor is a core Windows 7 user experience. Improvements in the RC include several Windows Touch updates, including the ability to drag, drop and select items with touch, even inside Web sites that scroll both horizontally and vertically.

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Windows 7 rocked almost everybody who was disappointed with Windows Vista. Microsoft Windows 7 Team working round o clock for developing & improving Windows 7 UI n Performance. At the moment Windows development team is using kernel 6.1 Kernel 6.1 is a slightly improved version of Kernel 6 which was implemented in Windows Vista & Windows 2008. You can notice the kernel version from the string of build as 6.1.7112.0.winmain.090416-1820 First part of String indicates it’s kernel version. So where is Kernel 7?

James Wault a Neowinian found a clue check the image below. While exploring the instructions of Windows driver kit he found that Microsoft already got their hand on kernel 7. Something is striking me that Kernel 6.1 is the kernel 7. Now the question is why? and the answer is given by a Microsoft employee “ We named it Windows 7 from the beginning, it wasn’t even marketing that originally chose that brand, it was our internal "code name." The builds were versioned at 7.0. It broke compatibility for too many apps/drivers, so we changed the versioning APIs to report 6.1 to reflect the level of compatibility that should be expected by pre-existing software.”

Yes the kernel 6.1 is actually kernel 7 and it was left intentionally at 6.1 – so that existing vista based installers will install under Windows 7. If you followed our site you may noticed that we have published a trick to run iLife’09 under Mac OS X 10.5.5 The iLife’09 suite was limited to run over Mac OS X 10.5.6 So what we did a simple trick to by pass this limitation. We edited SystemVersion.plist and changed the 10.5.5 to 10.5.6 means when iLife installer reads System Version from .plist file it reads 10.5.6 while it was 10.5.5 Same thing is done by Microsoft If they released Kernel 7.0 as kernel 7.0 most of software & drivers will refuse to install. So basically what they did they renamed it as kernel 6.1 to make it compatible.

But the kernel panic is still not solved one question is still alive Will the final version of Windows 7 is shipped with Kernel 7 or Kernel 6.1 Or RC release will be released with Kernel 7????

It has been already rumored that the Windows 7 RC will be ready in April for Special group of beta testers but Microsoft could make the RC available publicly in May. Yesterday Microsoft updated a page with Windows 7 RC download link to it’s partner site but sooner the page was disappeared. May be Microsoft was testing the page. The page states “ Partners: If you have a subscription to MSDN or TechNet, you can download Windows 7 RC now. Otherwise, you can download Windows 7 RC starting May 5, 2009.”  According to internal sources at the moment the Windows 7 RC has not been available through the MSDN or TechNet subscription yet, only the Microsoft OEM partners such as Dell, Siemens are taking part in the RC’s this period of test.

The page will likely be taken down, so here is a screenshot of what was originally posted:

Now the question is What build this is ? It’s not cleared now but forums indicating it will be build 7200 or build 72XX. The peoples are going crazy over forums to find a clue when will the Windows 7 RC will leak on Torrent, Rapidshare, Usenet or similar. I think Microsoft was very successful to create a buzz on forums and blogsphere for RC.

RoadMap of Windows 7 :

05/05/09 = Release Candidate 1 (Build 71XX)
XX/08/09 = Release Candidate 2 (Build 72XX)
XX/09-10/09 = RTM (Build 73XX)
XX/11-12/09 = Release final version for Manufracturers (Build 74XX / Build 76XX)

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As far you know that Windows 7 build 7048 64 bit version is leaked on internet and easily available on Green Demon and Bay of Pirates. The noticeable change in build 7048 is it’s RC1 release, You can disable IE8 Beta, Paint – Calculator – Sticky Notes icon changed, 24-39% more icons available on taskbar before scrolling and Start button changed. New Wallpapers are also added. Here you can take a look and download complete set of Wallpapers available with build 7048. This wallpaper pack contains wallpapers of all five zones (Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, United States & South Africa).

Download From Rapidshare Here

VirtualBox is a free software for creating and running virtual operating system installations called virtual machines. VirtualBox was originally created by German software company innotek, now developed by Sun Microsystems as part of its Sun xVM virtualization platform.VirtualBox Supported host operating systems include Linux, Mac OS X, OS/2 Warp, Windows XP or Vista, and Solaris, while supported guest operating systems include DragonFlyBSD, FreeBSD, Linux, OpenBSD, OS/2 Warp, Windows and Solaris.As you know Windows 7 beta is released and everyone is exited about the upcoming release. Since the Windows 7 is in beta form so it is not a good idea to wipe out your existing installation for experiencing the features of Windows 7. In this tutorial we’ll show you how to install Windows 7 inside Windows XP or VISTA or Linux with the help of VirtualBox.

1. Fire the Virtualbox and click on Newbutton located at top left hand corner.

2. Now you will be in new Virtual Machine Wizard, Click Next.

3. Name the Installation like Windows 7 etc. In Operating System Pane select Microsoft Windows and in Version pane select Windows 7.

4. Allocate the Random Access Memory { RAM } to virtual machine, 1GB is recommended. Every time a virtual machine is started, VirtualBox will allocate this much memory from your host machine and present it to the guest operating system, which will report this size as the (virtual) computer’s installed RAM.

5. specify a virtual hard disk for your VM. If you have previously created any virtual hard disks which have not been attached to other virtual machines, you can select those from the dropdown list in the wizard window.Otherwise create a new Virtual HDD by Click on New >> Next >> Fixed Size Storage >> Specify the Size and Location.

A dynamically expanding file will only grow in size when the guest actually stores data on its virtual hard disk. It will therefore initially be small on the host hard drive and only later grow to the size specified as it is filled with data. A fixed-size file will immediately occupy the file specified, even if only a fraction of the virtual hard disk space is actually in use. While occupying much more space, a fixed-size file incurs less overhead and is therefore slightly faster than a dynamically expanding file.

6. Now you have a virtual Machine with Virtual Ram, Virtual HDD and Virtual Lan now Installa Virtual Operating System. Insert your DVD of Windows 7 in your Physical drive or mount the ISO image into virtual drive and note the letter of drive. Fire the Start button.

Click Next.

7. In Media type select CD / DVD-ROM Device and in media source pane select the drive letter or mount the image directly in Image File option.

8. That’s it sit back, releax and enjoy the taste of Windows 7.

I spend 8 hours to make this guide, but it takes only one minute to digg the story go ahead and promote the story.

Windows 7 Developement is on GOD speed, Microsoft is looking to release the stable version sometime before the end of 2009. Windows 7 is getting a huge response before releasing the first offiicial beta version. Near about 80,000 copies were downloaded before the Official Microsoft release. When Microsoft Released the public beta Redmond Server failed to satisfy the eagerly waited folks. Beta versions are over now and RC release is on the floor. E7 Engineering team Blog of windows 7 posts a very long post unveiling the feature added in to RC release the Complete changelog can be Viewed here. 

Desktop Experience

Windows Flip (ALT + TAB) with Aero Peek

We’ve received overwhelmingly positive feedback about Aero Peek and how it helps customers switch windows with increased confidence. Daniel wrote to tell us “I’m wondering why Peek was never implemented for the ALT + TAB window. The thumbnails look/behave the same way as the taskbar thumbnails when you hover the mouse over them. It seems logical that they would exhibit the peek behavior, too”. We decided to make this change since we heard many requests for it. One can still quickly flip between and cycle through running windows using the ALT+TAB keys, but when more window information is needed Aero Peek will appear.  This is triggered by a time delay as you pause while keyboarding through running windows.

Fig 1.

Aero Peek triggered from Windows Flip (ALT+TAB)

Touch

• Aero Peek for touch

We’re excited about Peek and we further refined its functionality. Our touch customers enjoy the benefits of direct manipulation, but inform us they feel left out of some of new functionality that’s available for the mouse and keyboard. We’ve made two improvements that spreads the love. First, the taskbar’s thumbnails now support a touch gesture so one can drag her finger across the UI and trigger Aero Peek. Also, the Show Desktop button is improved so a press-and-hold will allow the customer to peek at the desktop. A regular tap in both these scenarios still to commits the switch.

• Multi-touch touch keyboard

A funny thing happens when one uses touch to interact with a software keyboard for the first time. The natural instinct is to press multiple buttons simultaneously like they do with a real keyboard. It’s quite reasonable to try to use SHIFT + <letter> to capitalize, for example. RC ushers in multi-touch support for the Touch Keyboard so that customers enjoy a more realistic experience.

• Multi-touch right-click

People who are rely on touch give us mixed feelings towards tap and hold to bring up a context menu. This approach works, but it also involves a slight delay. We now have a fast new multi-touch gesture for right-click. Simply touch an item with one finger and use another finger to tap and summon a context menu.

• Drag/Drop and selection

In Beta there was no discoverable way to select text in a website that scrolled both horizontally and vertically. Customers are now able to drag/drop and select items with touch, even inside scrolling pages. The new behavior is optimized for the two most common actions by touch customers—scrolling up and down and dragging left to right.

Control Panel

• User Account Control

If you’ve been following this blog, then you already know about a recent design change we’ve made that will prompt for any modification made to the UAC Control Panel. For more information, please refer to the earlier post on UAC Feedback and Follow-Up.

• Locking a machine without a screensaver

It isn’t uncommon for IT administrators to want their corporate machines to auto-lock after a certain amount of time. In Beta, enabling this functionality required a screensaver to be set. We’ve since made a change to allow this functionality even when no screensaver is specified.

• Faster access to High Performance power plan

Clicking on the battery flout from the taskbar notification area offers two different power plans: Balanced and Power saver. Windows 7 laptops are configured by default to use the Balanced plan since this setting best balances a good experience while promoting more environmentally friendly power use. However, some customers tell us they want to be able to quickly toggle between Balanced and High Performance (yet another power plan). We’ve taken a change to now show the latter in the flyout menu when it is enabled under the Power Options Control Panel.

Windows Media Player

• Improved Internet Radio playback

Internet radio playback continues to gain in popularity. We received feedback that sometimes playback of radio streams may be inconsistent depending on network conditions. It’s worth noting that our understanding of this issue was greatly helped by the broad scale of usage across so many customers and network topologies and our telemetry in the Beta. Windows Media Player has made changes to make streaming playback more reliable and resilient.

• Improved playback support for video content from digital camcorders and cameras

Customers loved the increased range of formats natively supported by the Windows 7 Beta, but noticed areas where they wanted broader support.  For example, one was unable to seek to a specific spot in the video in Windows Media Player or Windows Media Center for AVCHD content that was imported from a digital camcorder. We’ve addressed this.  Also, while the support for video from some digital cameras worked great, we also got feedback about supporting a broader set of devices out of the box.  We’ve since added support for Windows Media Player to natively support the .MOV files used to capture video for many common digital cameras.

• Cleaner Now Playing view

Customers are sharing positive reviews of Media Player’s new light-weight Now Playing view. Still some have asked to make the experience even cleaner. We’ve responded with a visual update that is more lightweight and compact.

• Filtering content that cannot be played

Media Player’s library view is designed to surface and showcase one’s content. However, in some cases items were displayed that couldn’t be played. For example, Apple’s lossless .M4A or .H263 MPEG-4 content would be shown in a library even though Media Player could not play them. In RC, this content will no longer appear in the library view so that there is better expectation of what is supported by the player.

Last Time we talked about the Product Editions to be released of Windows 7 this time we got the complete comparison of the all Windows 7 Editions. In this chart you can check the available features of various flavour of Windows 7. The next operating system will be available in 6 editions Windows 7  Stater, Basic, Home Premium, Professional, Enterprise and Ultimate. It is rumored that redmond company will release te Windows 7 sometime around the christmas this year.Till then check our blog daily for latest Win 7 and Tech News.