Skip to main content

Windows 7 For Christmas?

Windows 7 For Christmas?

In a webcast devoted to Windows 7 and its abilities, Microsoft has dropped a massive hint that the new OS will be on sale before Christmas.

“The goal for Windows 7 RTM (released to manufacturers) is to be three years after Windows Vista RTM date,” the company said. Vista was released in October 2006.

Discussing Windows 7 features, Mark Manasse, principle researcher at Microsoft Research, admitted that “performance was a huge problem with Vista,” but on Windows 7 said:

“But I am pleased, and quite surprised to say, that I was pleasantly surprised at performance. I’ve run it on bespoke and virtual systems and am very impressed by the way it runs.”

The company has spent a lot of time over a number of issues, including the compatability headache so many Vista users faced:

“If it worked with Vista it should work with Windows 7 and if it runs Vista it should run 7 faster,” said Erik Lustig, a senior product manager responsible for Windows Fundamentals.

Windows 7 will also have a Power Configuration function; that scans the user’s computer and list ways to cut power output, and Microsoft has spent “a ton of time” on battery time, Vnunet reports.

Editors' Recommendations

Digital Trends Staff
Digital Trends has a simple mission: to help readers easily understand how tech affects the way they live. We are your…
Windows 11 might nag you about AI requirements soon
Copilot on a laptop on a desk.

After recent reports of new hardware requirements for the upcoming Windows 11 24H2 update, it is evident that Microsoft is gearing up to introduce a bunch of new AI features. A new report now suggests that the company is working on adding new code to the operating system to alert users if they fail to match the minimum requirements to run AI-based applications.

According to Albacore on X (formerly known as Twitter), systems that do not meet the requirements will display a warning message in the form of a watermark. After digging into the latest Windows 11 Insider Build 26200, he came across requirements coded in the operating system for an upcoming AI File Explorer feature. The minimum requirement includes an ARM64 processor, 16GB of memory, 225GB of total storage, and a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite NPU.

Read more
The next big Windows 11 update has a new hardware requirement
Windows 11 device sitting on a stool.

Microsoft’s upcoming Windows 11 24H2 update is expected to arrive with yet another hardware requirement. Centered around SSE4.2 or Streaming SIMD Extensions 4.2, a crucial component for modern processors, the new Windows 11 24H2 with build 26080 will only boot on CPUs that support the instruction set.

This information comes from Bob Pony on X (previously known as Twitter), following earlier reports in February where he claimed that CPUs lacking support for the POPCNT instruction were no longer compatible with Windows 11. The updated requirement is essentially the same, except that they now mandate the entire SSE 4.2 instruction set instead of just the POPCNT instruction within it, as was previously required.

Read more
You’re going to hate the latest change to Windows 11
A laptop running Windows 11.

Just two weeks after rolling out a preview build to Windows Insiders, Microsoft is pushing out an update to Windows 11 that adds advertisements to the Start menu. Build KB5036980, which is now slowly rolling out to the wider Windows 11 user base, includes recommendations in the Start menu, and they sneakily sit beside your real apps.

These apps comes exclusively from the Microsoft store, and they sit in the Recommended section of the Start menu. This section includes recently used, frequent, and new apps, but one (or more) slots will now be dedicated to an ad. As the update reads: "The Recommended section of the Start menu will show some Microsoft Store apps. These apps come from a small set of curated developers. This will help you to discover some of the great apps that are available."

Read more