f you've been wanting to try out Windows Media Player 11, Internet Explorer 7, .NET 3.0 Framework, Remote Desktop Protocol 6.0, or User-Mode Driver Framework (UMDF) on Windows XP Embedded, here is your chance!
In addition to the new features included in Feature Preview 2008 there have also been some bug fixes and functional enhancements made to File Based Write Filter ( additional disk size reporting option) and to USB Boot (Improved power management).
Windows XP Embedded SP2 "Feature Preview 2008" is now available for download at Connect. ActiveWin

The Extended Security Update Inventory Tool is used to detect security bulletins not covered by MBSA including MS04-028, February 2005 bulletins, and future security bulletins that are exceptions to MBSA. ActiveWin

The and retiring, softly-spoken CEO of Microsoft, Steve Ballmer is blaming software pirates for Vista's poor sales.
Ballmer admitted to financial analysts that the predictions for Vista had proved 'overly optimistic' and he blamed the pirates in China, India, Brazil, Russia and other emerging markets. Read on at Inq

Microsoft is warning customers that the switch to early daylight-saving time this year isn't accounted for in a number of its products, including Windows XP, and that users will need to update their software to avoid potential problems.
U.S. daylight-saving time will start on March 11 this year -- three weeks earlier than usual. The change was authorized by the U.S. Energy Policy Act of 2005, but Microsoft says its Y2K-like implications mean computer users need to parry like its 1999. I-Week has more.

Office 14, the follow-on to Office 2007, is due out in the first half of calendar year 2009, according to a slide deck allegedly from Microsoft, posted on the AeroXperience blog.
The timeline states that the first beta of Office 14 is due out in the first half of calendar 2008. The second beta is slated for the second haalf of 2008. This year, the plan is to "lock" certain "key innovation areas," the timeline states. ZdNet

Microsoft delivered its monthly batch of security updates on Feb. 13, delivering fixes for 20 individual problems in its products included in a dozen bulletins, six of which were dubbed as critical, the firm's most severe vulnerability rating.

Brief Description February 2007 The Microsoft DirectX® End-User Runtime provides updates to 9.0c and previous versions of DirectX ? the core Windows® technology that drives high-speed multimedia and games on the PC.

A Microsoft-sponsored open-source project is expected on Friday to release a translator that will convert file formats between Microsoft Office and rival standard OpenDocument, or ODF
Microsoft started the project at SourceForge last year, relying on three partners to develop the code that lets a user open and save word processor documents in two different formats.
The Microsoft format is called Office Open XML (OOXML), which is the default document format in the company's recently released Office 2007 suite. The other is ODF, which is backed by Microsoft competitors IBM, Sun Microsystems and Novell.

This week, Microsoft finally admitted what many of us have suspected for quite some time: Its Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) anti-piracy tool is faulty and has mistakenly identified hundreds of thousands of valid Windows installs as pirated. Meanwhile, over 22 percent of all Windows installs that have gone through the WGA validation process have been correctly identified as pirated, making the program a huge success, at least from Microsoft's perspective. Read on at WinItPro

Microsoft announced today that it will double the support life cycle for the consumer versions of Windows XP to ten years, matching the support life cycle for XP Professional, the version of XP aimed at businesses. This change affects both Windows XP Home Edition and XP Media Center Edition (MCE, all versions), Microsoft says. Read on at WindowsItPro

Microsoft disclosed Monday that over one in five Windows installations were deemed non-genuine through the company's Windows Genuine Advantage program, which requires users to validate their operating system before downloading updates from the company.
Since WGA launched in July 2005, over 512 million users have attempted to validate their copy of Windows, Microsoft said. Of those, the non-genuine rate was 22.3 percent. 56,000 reports have been made by customers of counterfeit software, which grants that user a free replacement copy of Windows. Source: ActiveWin

Whoops, missed that... Windows Media Player 11 for Windows XP offers you unmatched choice and flexibility for your digital media. You can easily manage your libraries of digital music, photos, and video on your computer; explore a new world of music through the integrated URGE music service; and connect with mobile devices so you can have your digital media collection wherever you want it. Requires Windows XP. MajorGeeks

Microsoft will make Windows Vista and Microsoft Office 2007 available for direct download via Windows Marketplace starting January 30 at suggested retail prices (but without the discs, packaging and manuals of the retail version). Windows Vista editions offered through Windows Marketplace will be available in English only, in either 32-bit or 64-bit versions. Windows Marketplace visitors also can find a wide variety of Windows-compatible hardware and software, including products carrying the Certified for Windows Vista logo. More at DailyTech

For 32bit and 64 bit clients. When Windows Automatic Updates tries to download updates on a Microsoft Windows Server 2003-based or Microsoft Windows XP-based computer, an access violation error may occur in the Esent.dll file. Again powered by Digital Dave over @ WinOsCentral

Spotted over @ WinOsCentral Not a bad deal actually. All you have to do is register and attend a Vista/Office/Exchange launch event (coming to a city near you soon) and you can get a free copy.

Windows DreamScene Your desktop background comes to life with Windows DreamScene?. When you download this Ultimate Extra, you can select a video for your desktop background the same way you select a stationary picture.

Running Windows Vista's new Aero graphical interface doesn't impact PC performance, a study sponsored by Microsoft claims.

TechWeb

Vistasp1.net has posted links to six hotfixes set to appear in Windows Vista SP1 (Service Pack 1) codenamed Fuji. All six fixes can be obtained via Microsoft Support if you can prove that you are indeed having the problem listed. The site links directly to Microsoft KB articles that describe each problem in Vista.

The Release candidate includes one new feature, PXE boot. In addition it address a number of issues including installation on Windows 2003 as a host; Audio in Vista; DVD support for Vista installation; binding to wireless network cards etc.

Microsoft PowerPoint Viewer 2007 lets you view full-featured presentations created in PowerPoint 97 and later versions. This viewer also supports opening password-protected Microsoft PowerPoint presentations. You can view and print presentations, but you cannot edit them in the PowerPoint Viewer 2007.