Windows 7 name is final for the next windows OS

Microsoft settled for Windows 7 as the final name for the next windows OS code named Windows 7, Mike Nash announced on Windows Vista blog. Microsoft will share pre-beta releases of windows 7 with developers at PDC and WinHEC conferences.

Windows 7 name is finalized because it is the seventh release of windows, and Microsoft doesn’t want to come with an “aspirational” name like XP and Vista for the OS.

The decision to use the name Windows 7 is about simplicity. Over the years, we have taken different approaches to naming Windows. We’ve used version numbers like Windows 3.11, or dates like Windows 98, or “aspirational” monikers like Windows XP or Windows Vista. And since we do not ship new versions of Windows every year, using a date did not make sense. Likewise, coming up with an all-new “aspirational” name does not do justice to what we are trying to achieve, which is to stay firmly rooted in our aspirations for Windows Vista, while evolving and refining the substantial investments in platform technology in Windows Vista into the next generation of Windows.

Simply put, this is the seventh release of Windows, so therefore “Windows 7″ just makes sense.

Microsoft Updates WGA Notifications for Windows

Microsoft is rolling out new Windows Genuine Advantage notifications for Windows XP. According to Microsoft along with the usual validation of Windows XP OS to detect stolen or fake product keys, this release will also include significant updates to detect pirated copies of Windows OS.

Looks like Windows XP Pro is the most pirated version of windows and it will effect the users of this OS. These update notifications will works like the ones implemented in Windows Vista.

After installing this version of WGA notifications, XP users whose OS failed to validate will discover on their next logon the their desktop has changed to plain background. Users can revert to their background image but the black background will reappear after 60 minutes, this will continue until users get the genuine windows OS. Also users will see notifications on their desktop system tray, you can’t click on it or do anything to it. Via ZD Net

Firefox 3.1 beta 1 is available for download

Firefox 3.1 beta 1 is available for download for testing from Mozilla. It brings some new features along with the features it supported since 3.1 alpha 2 release.

The new release brings some standards improvements to the Gecko layout engine, support for CSS 2.1 and CSS 3 properties. Now Ctrl+Tab tab switching shows thumbnails of the opened tabs. There are some shortcuts available to use “awesome bar” (i really hate this thing). While using awesome bar you can use shortcuts like * for restricting search to your bookmarks or ^ for searching history. To make the keywords you type match the url use @ and for title or tags use #.

Geode which i mentioned few days back is available in this release, the TraceMonkey Javascript engine is disabled by default but you can enable it using about:config command. The private browsing mode is not yet available in this release.

Check out release notes, download Firefox 3.1 beta 1.

Stumbleupon for Opera, Chrome, Safari and other browsers

Stumbleupon finally decided to support other browsers like Safari, Opera and Google Chrome apart from IE and Firefox. You can stumble sites in any other browser with out any tool bar.

Now any one can stumble sites with stumbleupon new interface, you don’t need to register also for stumbling sites but if you want rate sites or review then you need to register for a free account.

Visit the stumbleupon home page and start stumbling the sites displayed there, if you prefer to see sites related to a category, select a category from the top menu and go on stumbling. If you like the page you can click the stumble button, there is no ‘dislike’ button at this moment in this version. If you want a review you can click on ‘Rating Stars’ to revies and you can save the site to your favorites using save button.

If you are already a registered user, join this beta group to get the new stubleupon interface and features. Once you join this groups you can access all the new features.

The profile pages of stumblers have changed, now the links to your favorites are aligned just below the main menu. On the right sidebar now profiles have quick stats regarding the stumber. These include subscribers, no of faves, reviews etc. This is gives a quick information about the stumbler you are visiting.

Overall the profile pages look better, the most interesting feature is that you can use any of your favorite browser to stumble sites. The new stumble bar is not full featured as browser addon but it lets you use stumbleupon on other browsers. There is no way to switch categories, or stumble sites like wikipedia and Flickr. Via Cybernet, Stumble Blog

T-Mobile Lifts Bandwidth Cap for Google Phone

T-Mobile raised some eyebrows Tuesday when it disclosed that buyers of its highly touted new Internet phone, the HTC G1 that uses Google’s Android software, would face restrictions if they exceeded 1 gigabyte of cellular data a month.

That’s no problem for people who simply check their e-mail. But heavy users of photos and online video — just the sort of thing that the super fancy G1 is meant for — might find that limit a problem.

On Tuesday afternoon, (and possible limits to openness) , I asked T-Mobile about that cap. They finally got back to me at 7 p.m. Wednesday, saying they have removed the cap. They plan other restrictions to manage their network, but they haven’t decided on them yet.

Here is their statement:

Our goal, when the T-Mobile G1 becomes available in October, is to provide affordable, high-speed data service allowing customers to experience the full data capabilities of the device and our 3G network. At the same time, we have a responsibility to provide the best network experience for all of our customers so we reserve the right to temporarily reduce data throughput for a small fraction of our customers who have excessive or disproportionate usage that interferes with our network performance or our ability to provide quality service to all of our customers.

We removed the 1GB soft limit from our policy statement, and we are confident that T-Mobile G1 customers will enjoy the high speed of data access over our 3G network. The specific terms for our new data plans are still being reviewed and once they are final we will be certain to share this broadly with current customers and potential new customers.

I asked the T-Mobile spokesman to explain the fast change of heart. We’ll see how long it takes to come back this time. But I suspect that they don’t want to offend the sort of early adopters who make up one target market for the G1.

Google and Yahoo Agree to Delay Ad Deal

“The companies have agreed to a brief delay in implementing this agreement to continue our ongoing discussions with the Department of Justice,” Yahoo said in a statement. “We have had discussions with regulators and look forward to responding to their questions about this agreement.”

In its statement, Google said: “As we are still in conversation with the Department of Justice, we have agreed to a brief delay in implementing the agreement while those discussions continue.”

The companies have been saying that they would go ahead with their plans in early October, regardless of whether the Justice Department had completed its review. Under the partnership, Google would place ads alongside some of Yahoo’s search results.

“Time is money in our business,” Eric Schmidt, Google’s chief executive, said in a meeting with reporters last month.

Google and Yahoo announced the deal in June and said they would voluntarily delay its implementation for about 100 days to give regulators time to review it. But the companies refused to publicly set a date for the start of the partnership.

Last month, the Justice Department hired a top antitrust lawyer to consider whether to block the agreement. Several major advertising groups and agencies have opposed the deal, saying it would further cement Google’s dominance of the search advertising market and could lead to higher prices.

Bloomberg News first reported the companies’ decision to delay the start of the ad partnership.