With more people switching to and using Windows 7, XP continues to see a decline as does Vista (whew) according to PCMag and stats from Net Applications.

“Windows XP closed out 2011 with 46.52 percent of the global OS market, followed by Windows 7 with 36.99 percent, and Vista with 8.44 percent. But while Windows XP and Vista saw their market share decline throughout 2011, Windows 7 picked up the pace, growing 12.9 percent since February 2011.”

In a way, it’s kind of surprising to see so many people continue to use Windows XP since Windows 7 has been out for a couple years now. Then again, if we’re looking at it based on the horrible disaster with Vista, it’s fairly obvious why Microsoft’s 10 year old operating system is still very popular. People just aren’t ready to make the switch and/or they’re using a computer that can’t necessarily handle the latest OS as well.

However, for those who continue to use Windows XP, they won’t have to worry about not getting updates as they’re protected until April 8th, 2014 which is more than 2 years away. At that point there will be no reason not to install Windows 7 or the soon to be released Windows 8.

Microsoft definitely wants people to make the switch too after saying back in October, “10 years is a long time to have the same old technology”. People will eventually warm up to other possibilities from the franchise, that is unless of course Apple grabs their attention and they buy a new iMac which is happening more and more as time goes on.

Windows XP Usage Drops To 46.5%, Thankfully Vista Not Used As Much is a post from: The Inquisitr

A report from the Financial Times says that many Google employees are indicating that Windows has been restricted from use within the company over security concerns.

Two unnamed employees were briefly quoted in the piece about the decision, which reportedly has Google employees offered Mac OSX and Linux as alternatives:

“We’re not doing any more Windows. It is a security effort,” said one Google employee.

“Many people have been moved away from [Windows] PCs, mostly towards Mac OS, following the China hacking attacks,” said another.

According to FT, the policy isn’t exactly new, as they say employees reported new hires being directed towards the other operating systems as early as January. It’s said that use of Windows requires some serious string pulling:

Employees wanting to stay on Windows required clearance from “quite senior levels”, one employee said. “Getting a new Windows machine now requires CIO approval,” said another employee.

While some employees say the move has caused “mild discontent” within the company, others say that there would be more outcry if the Mac OS was banned. The consensus seems to be that the move is really a push to get workers to use Google products internally as well.

The hacking in China hastened the move. “Before the security, there was a directive by the company to try to run things on Google products,” said the employee. “It was a long time coming.”

Some feel that the reports out of Google are just rumors and that it is unlikely such a big player would ban something as ubiquitous as Windows in the workplace. As the reports all cite unnamed employees and Google has not commented publicly on the supposed policy, it is difficult to determine the credibility of the sources. ZDNet points out the limitations of a Windows ban at Google:

This story makes little sense to me.  For starters, Google’s software products are made for — and marketed to — mainly Windows users.   How exactly are software developers expected to build products for an operating system when they’re not allowed to use it?

As it stands, not one named person as confirmed the switch, so the extent of the ban (or whether it exists at all) is still not verified.

Report: Google ditches Windows over security concerns is a post from: The Inquisitr

Western Digital updated their WD TV Live HD units today, giving the media hub the ability to recognize Windows 7, a first for any media hub currently available on the market.

By receiving the patched firmware users can see the hub as a destination for the Windows’ Play To feature. Users can then choose the content from their computer, instead of using the hub, which means you don’t have to first load the media player to watch video, look at photos or listen to music.

According to Electronista:

“It should still support any format and feature that was already recognized by the hub before the update, such as 1080p video and recognition of most common media formats. Internet radio from Live365 or Pandora still needs control directly from the WD TV Live’s remote.”

You can buy the unit for $150 and you’ll have Windows 7 and Mac OS X support at your disposal, definitely not to shabby for the price.

Western Digital WD TV Live HD, First Media Hub To Get Windows 7 Support is a post from: The Inquisitr

Back in February on my Windows related blog I made a prediction regarding the next version of Windows expected some time in 2012. In the post I suggested that we could see something radically different from Redmond and while it was definitely a case of reading the tea leaves it was based on some interesting tidbits of information that has started floating around the web.

Writing that post I spent some time looking over all the images and videos posted to the various blogs covering the conference and Microsoft’s announcement as well as reading a whole bunch of them. As I was reading I was reminded of a recent post over at Microsoft Kitchen by Stephen Chapman about some rumors starting to make the rounds about how Windows 8 would becompletely different and mind-blowing.

While much of the tea leaf reading was centered around the upcoming release of the Windows Phone 7 Series I also suggested that the Metro UI, which is the basis of both the phone and Zune HD, was prime for use in other areas. Specifically – for me anyway – to give the tired old Windows metaphor a completely new refresh.

With the big Microsoft MIX10 conference happening next week we are starting to hear more about this totally new Metro UI with people like Long Zheng and Paul Thurrott digging up more interesting information.

As Long notes in a post today

Fans of the “Metro” user experience which made its debut on Windows Phone 7 Series will be pleased to know desktop applications featuring large fonts and simple shapes too are coming soon to a PC and Mac near you.

Ahead of the MIX10 event next week, Tim Heuer of the Silverlight team let out a sneak peek at some new application themes developed by Microsoft for Silverlight 4, including one inspired by the Zune desktop software appropriately called “Metro”.

This lead me back to an early post in February where  Thurrott  suggests that the Metro UI could be the best refresh – and challenge – to Windows that we have seen to date.

I have no insider information to suggest that this is what Microsoft is actually doing. But it’s very clear to me that something wonderfully innovative has happened here. And if this company is looking for the next mark it can leave on the world, my recommendation is to see where else Metro makes sense and to apply this UI liberally across its other product lines. This new UI, and the thinking it represents, is I think the biggest change that’s come out of the Windows Phone 7 Series launch. And I see no reason why it needs to be limited to just the phone.

It will be interesting to see what kind of take-up of the Metro UI styling we see developers take after MIX10. Suffice to say that is we see a re-invigoration of application user interface design due to Metro I am sure that Microsoft will be taking note; and that could portend for some very interesting things in future versions of Windows.

Could the future of Microsoft’s Windows be all Metro? is a post from: The Inquisitr

The original Elgato EyeTV Hybrid USB tuner was a bit bulky and didn’t support Windows 7, so today the company announced their newest USB flash drive based device which brings Windows 7 to EyeTV with a few other features.

The new device has been downsized by getting rid of the analog connector, although an adapter still comes with the device and they’ve replaced the casing with a much stronger aluminum outer shell that more closely matches the companies Mac roots.

If you’ve become accustomed to the companies old flash drive setup, you’ll still get the same over-the-air HD broadcasts your use to along with EyeTV 3 software and an included remote.

The cost? The same $150 you may have paid for the companies first device. [Engadget]

Elgato Shows Off New Windows 7 Supported EyeTV Tuner is a post from: The Inquisitr

The HP Slate PC wants to send iPad it’s first blow and it plans to do so by undercutting the pricing announced for Apple’s newest gadget, while offering a full Windows 7 operating system and 3G.

According to Electronista:

[The Slate] will cost less than the $629 Apple wants to charge [for a comparable 3G version]. Executives are reportedly meeting both in the US and Taiwan to lock down the costs and feature set within the next few weeks.

Very few other details have been revealed about the device, however since Windows 7 requires at least 16GB of drive space, it’s safe to assume the hard drive offered will be a bit bigger (or at least the same size) of  those found on the iPad, while an Atom chipset is the likely processor of choice if cost cutting is a major concern.

HP Slate Set To Undercut Apple iPad Pricing With Windows 7 OS, 3G is a post from: The Inquisitr

Rumors are beginning to bubble to the surface – again – about Microsoft coming out with their own branded phone. Some suggest that Project Pink will see the Zune media device re-purposed into a hot new phone gadget running Windows Mobile 7. Others suggest that HTC and Microsoft will be responsible for the new Windows Phone.

The window for this announcement is being placed either at the Mobile World Conference, Feb 15-18, or at CITA in Las Vegas in March. Regardless of when and what is announced you can be guaranteed of one thing – no matter how good the product is it will be panned by the majority of tech writers and analysts.

It’s not Microsoft’s fault really. It is just an extension of the opinion that nothing Microsoft does is good enough. It will never be as cool as the iPhone and it will never be as good as the Android based phones.

There well be long diatribes about how Microsoft is too late to market and will never catch-up regardless of how good or cool their product is. Screeds will be written prognosticating just how a Windows Phone is going to fail.

Personally I hope that if they are going down this road they come out with a killer product that will make more than a few people eat some humble pie. Chances are though even if they do launch a great phone everyone will find some reason to say it stinks and that Microsoft is a company out of step.

No matter how good the Zune ‘Pink’ Phone is it will stink is a post from: The Inquisitr

The newest security update for various Windows OS’s (XP, Vista and 7) has led some customers to receive the black screen of death, a case that Microsoft says they are investigating. The issue causes the affected computer to display a black screen with just a single “My Computer” explorer window.

Gizmodo published this simple response from Microsoft:

“Once we complete our investigation, we will provide detailed guidance on how to prevent or address these issues.”

If you need a fix, like yesterday, you can check skip a slow Microsoft response and check out the Prevx website, the software developer have released a tool that can fix the issue if you’re affected. [Prevx]

Newest Windows Security Patch Causing Black Screen Of Death is a post from: The Inquisitr

Verizon Wireless is October added the HP Mini 110 netbook to their lineup of offered devices and proceeded to subsidize the device to any data seeking users who came their way. Now AT&T is following suit, offering the same exact Netbook with built in AT&T 3G data connectivity, opposed to Verizon EV-DO service.

The netbook arrives on November 22nd for a price of $199 after a mail-in-rebate, 2 year contract and minimum monthly data plans.

The Mini 110 features Windows 7, a 10.1 inch LED backlit display with anti-glare and 1GB RAM, plus the already mentioned 3G service and a 160GB hard drive. Everything is pretty standardk  netboo fare right down to the Intel Atom processor.

You’ll need to sign up for at least an AT&T DataConnect plan which provides 200MB of data per month for $35 or you can grab their $60 plan that provides 5GB monthly transfer rates.

Then again you could just go drop $300 on a decent netbook with the same or even better pricing and specs over Black Friday and not have to worry about shoddy 3G service you’ll experience in many 3G areas or for that matter a 2 year contract.

HP Mini 110 Arrives At AT&T, Gets Subsidized, Offers Same Specs As Verizon Model is a post from: The Inquisitr

The NPD Group have released early numbers for Windows 7 sales and they show that the new operating system is performing over two times better than the companies last OS, Windows Vista. Those numbers according to the firm include deep pre-order discounting, a strong marketing campaign and overall better reviews of the product.

While sales are up 234% those deep discounts used to secure pre-orders also cut into the companies earnings potention, allowing for an 82% increase in profits compared to Vista, still a nice chunk of change, but hardly comparative to the over two fold increase in sales.

According to Electronista:

Pre-order discounts dropped the average selling price of a Windows 7 Home Premium upgrade from its official $120 price down to $76. Windows 7 Professional’s average asking price dropped from $200 to $147, while only the Home Premium Family Pack was left virtually unchanged at $149.

Profit margins were also hurt by a distinct lack of new features found in Windows 7 Ultimate, a fact that made many power users gravitate towards cheaper version of the OS compared to those who purchased Vista Ultimate editions of the companies software which came with higher profit margins.

As more netbook manufacturers begin to switch over to the faster and lightweight OS and more PC sales contain the Windows 7 OS sales should continue to pick up with more manufacturers adapting the new operating system.

In any respect it’s a huge win for Microsoft, good job on finally getting it right guy.

Early Windows 7 Sales Eclipes Vista By 234% is a post from: The Inquisitr

If you want to go big this holiday season with a new laptop for a loved one, there’s no better way to say I love you “in geek love” than the Acer Apsire 8940. This Apsire features an LED backlit 18.4 inch display with Full HD output, an Intel Core i7 720QM processor and Windows 7.

The 8940 also comes equipped with a standard 4GB of 1066-DDR3 memory, 500GB HDD and a 1GB Nvidida GeForce GTS 250M graphics card that should satiate many gamers needs.

The 8940 configuration also comes with Blu-Ray (standard), Acer’s touch capacitive media control interface and a surround sound system with 5 built-in  speakers, all for a starting price of $1350.

The system is due before Christmas and can be fully customized by users.

Here’s a full standard spec list provided by Gizmodo:

Acer Aspire AS8940G-6865
• Intel® Core(TM) i7 Processor 720QM (1.60GHz, 6MB L3 Cache, 1333MHz FSB)
• 18.4″ Full HD Widescreen CineCrystal(TM) LED-backlit Display
(1920×1080 Resolution, 16:9 Aspect Ratio)
• 4GB DDR3 Dual-Channel 1066MHz Memory
• NVIDIA® GeForce® GTS 250M with 1GB dedicated DDR3 VRAM
• 500GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive (1)
• 4X Blu-ray Disc(TM)/DVD SuperMulti Double-Layer Drive
• Multi-in-1 Digital Media Card Reader
• Intel® Wireless WiFi Link 5100 802.11a//bg/Draft-N Wi-Fi CERTIFIED®
• Acer Crystal Eye(TM) Integrated Webcam
• Touch-Capacitive Media Control Interface
• 5 USB 2.0 Ports, 1 HDMI Port, 1 eSATA Port
• 8-cell Li-Ion Battery (4800mAh)
• Dolby Home Theater® Audio Enhancement
• Acer CineSurround Sound System (5 built-in speakers)
• Windows® 7 Home
• MSRP $1,349.99

Acer Aspire 8940 Gets 18.4 Full HD Inch Display, Core i7 Processor, Windows 7 is a post from: The Inquisitr

Alex Wilhelm over at The Next Web points out that Apple has begun taking out Google AdWords that are centered around Windows 7. The ads are showing up in searches for `download windows 7`and `windows 7 download`as you can see from the image below (thanks Alex)

Talk about a fine example, and funny, of guerrilla advertising.

Apple ad bombing Windows 7 on Google is a post from: The Inquisitr

Last week Seth MacFarlane the creative genius behind the hit show Family Guy and Microsoft announced a rather interesting partnership. In effect Family Guy Presents: Seth and Alex’s Almost Live Comedy Show would be sponsored by Microsoft in exchanged for Windows 7 product placement in the show.

Of course this created a roar of sell-out and flack galore for both Seth and Microsoft but it wasn’t that bad PR that caused Microsoft to pull out of the deal. Instead it turns out that Microsoft didn’t want to be associated with jokes about deaf people, the Holocaust, feminine hygiene and incest.

That apparently was a bit too much for Microsoft.

“We initially chose to participate in the Seth and Alex variety show based on the audience composition and creative humor of ‘Family Guy,’ but after reviewing an early version of the variety show it became clear that the content was not a fit with the Windows brand,” said a Microsoft spokesperson. “We continue to have a good partnership with Fox, Seth MacFarlane and Alex Borstein and are working with them in other areas.  We continue to believe in the value of brand integrations and partnerships between brands, media companies and talent.”

Source: MacFarlane special loses Microsoft

All the PR spin aside it is interesting to see that Microsoft is taking this stance. Of course because it is Microsoft you can be sure that they’ll get some bad press over pulling out their sponsorship deal with the show.

Microsoft pulls out of Family Guy is a post from: The Inquisitr

I’m sure Apple will have a heyday with this little bit of news, it appears the download friendly Windows 7 Student Upgrade has been failing on Windows Vista 32-bit systems. A problem established due to an ISO error included with the download.

According to Engadget the issue is occurring because the ISO file that is suppose to execute is actually being read as a .EXE file and several bundles. As users attempt to install the upgrade the system eventually outputa a bunch of nonsense about how the 64-bit upgrade is trying to install on a 32-bit system.

Microsoft is offering refunds to anyone who purchased the $29 upgrade. If you really don’t want to deal with a refund DownloadSquad is showing users how to create a CD out of the downloaded files, although ludites may want to avoid the process.

Windows 7 Student Upgrade Kit Fails To Install, Microsoft Offers Refunds is a post from: The Inquisitr

Yesterday I wrote about how Japan Burger King stores were offering their Windows 7 Whopper, a seven beef patty burger that’s 5 inches tall and sure to give you a heart attack. Now the first “victim” of the burger has been filmed.

It was one thing to see a picture of this monster sized burger, it’s a whole new experience to see it in all it’s live glory.

Check out the Windows 7 Whopper Video below:

[Engadget]

Burger King Windows 7 Whopper Video. See An Actual Person Eating 7 Burger Patties At One Time is a post from: The Inquisitr

Microsoft got roundly laughed at for their unlikely gathering of demographics telling us to have Amway-reminiscent launch parties for the release of Windows 7.

Funny or Die imagines a much edgier party for the launch. With space cakes. Where’s my tiny chair?!? (NSFW language at the end.)

Are you throwing a Windows 7 torrenting party? is a post from: The Inquisitr

Oh Japan, how I love your ability to create the most insanely odd advertising campaigns of all time.  But seriously, a Windows 7 Whopper? Why on earth does anyone need a 5 inch tall burger with seven patties of beef? Then again the¥777 (or $8.55) isn’t a bad deal for such a mammoth heart attack waiting to happen.

The burger which was announced today is available for the next seven day in celebration of Microsoft’s release of the Windows 7 operating system.

I should also note that only 30 customers per day can take advantage of the ¥777 price, each customer after that point will pay ¥1,450 ($17.10), which totally doesn’t go with the “number 7 theme.” that they seem to have going for the first 30 customers each day.

Quick tip: bring your own bread and make 7 burgers for the price of three or four. [Electronista]

Japan Burger King Offers Windows 7 Whopper. Bring On The Heart Attacks is a post from: The Inquisitr

As I was getting ready for another wasted morning (and afternoon) getting ready for my trip to get some medical tests done I caught James’ posts about some slick new Acer touch enabled laptops (thanks to Window 7). Then during the trip I got to thinking about this whole ‘touch’ thing and if it really is the next great frontier of computers that everyone seems to be making it out to be.

I’m not saying that there aren’t practical applications for using touch enabled computers but when it comes to both desktop machines and laptops one has to wonder just where the bonuses are – especially given you will need to replace any existing monitors with new ones. Where touch might make sense in kiosk setups or even Surface type setups for specialized uses the idea that we will get any added benefit from using touch at the desktop or laptop level is silly.

Sure I can make the silly comment about having to always make sure the bottle of Windex and paper towels are handy but seriously can you imagine just how dirty our screens are going to get if touch really takes off?

But even more important is the whole ergonomic effect of touch computing will affects us. If we thought that carpal tunnel syndrome was all the rage just wait until we are spending hours having to hold our up in order to point, move or swish stuff around the desktop.

There is no doubt we will at some point evolve to using some really cool user interfaces but at this point I have to agree with Harry McCracken at Technologizer when he says

I’m still not convinced that touch is going to become a pervasive part of Windows anytime soon–as I say in the PC World review, it’s a fun luxury rather than an essential new feature. (It’s hard to make a new form of input essential when it’s been grafted onto an interface that worked just fine with the input options it already had.)

All the fuss about touch computing is just greasy fingerprints and sore arms is a post from: The Inquisitr

The BIOS was demonstrated at the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco last week. Phoenix calls their new BIOS “Instant Boot BIOS” and it works by starting all units (components) at once.

A traditional BIOS starts the components one at a time, which means Windows won’t load before that process is complete. That usually takes from 10 seconds and up. The video below shows the “Instant Boot BIOS” installed on a Lenovo T400S laptop. The machine is equipped with a Solid State Disk and a “clean” Windows 7 installation.

The new BIOS will also improve wake-up time after hibernation. Hopefully we’ll see this in PCs in no time.

Boot Windows 7 in just 10 seconds is a post from: The Inquisitr

Just to clarify – this post is meant for all those windows users that are looking to upgrade to windows 7 when it finally hits the market. It isn’t meant for penguin lovers or apple tart fans so don’t bother with the snide comments because you are only showing how silly you are. Now – let’s move onto the point of this post.

The presales of Windows 7 have started, OEMs are gearing up new machines that will come with Vista installed but some free upgrade coupons for when Windows 7 is finally released in early fall. The question that a lot of current Windows users are going to be asking themselves is which of the three different versions should they get. I know because I’ve been asking myself the same question and thanks to Ed Bott I have a much clear idea of the route to take.

First off only a miniscule number of people are going to need the Ultimate package and chances are you aren’t in that group. I say this with some confidence knowing my own usage of Windows and the fact that  99.99999% of Windows users would be wasting their money by getting it.

This leaves picking between Windows 7 Professional and Windows 7 Home Premium. The decision in my opinion would have been a lot easier if Professional had been called Windows 7 Corporate because in all reality 90% of the Windows consumer market will never need the features in this version.

Which leaves us with the Home Premium version as the best choice for the consumer market, but to clarify the reasons why let’s have a look at what Professional brings to the table and why Home Premium will do just fine for you.

Memory: Professional supports up to 192GB of RAM whereas Home Premium supports up to 16GB of RAM. I would suggest that 16GB of RAM is more than enough for just about any home or small business use and that anymore is pretty well overkill.

Presentation Mode/Network Projector: This feature isn’t included in Home Premium and really I don’t think, outside of some rare cases, that general consumers would miss having the feature.

Encrypting File System: There are enough third party utility programs out there that if this is an important need it doesn’t mean that you need to spend the extra money for Professional. Three examples for this type of software are

TrueCrypt – free

SafeHouse Personal – $29.99

Intercrypto – CryptoExpert 2009 Professional – $59.95

Windows XP Mode: There is some confusion as to what this is but really for the most part this isn’t something that the larger consumer market is going to need. If you would like some clarification about what it is I would suggest reading Ed Bott’s post on the feature. If you to think you need it just remember that chances are you already have a legitimately licensed copy of XP so all you really need is some virtualization software. Some possible virtualization software choices you have are:

Virtual Box – free

Microsoft Windows Virtual PC – free

VMWare ESXi – free

Backup to Network: When it comes to good backup software that will provide you with all kinds of alternatives of where you can backup your disk images or data, so really this isn’t something that should be a selling point to get Professional. Some software alternatives are:

Acronis TrueImage – $49.99

GRBackPro – $59.00

An online option is Carbonite – $54.95 per year

Offline Files: With native Microsoft options like Live Mesh or Live Sync this isn’t a selling point for getting Professional.

Remote Desktop Host: Again there are more than enough third party utility programs out there that cover this so it isn’t a feature that you need to consider as a buying point of Professional. A couple of examples of available software are

Crossloop – free

TeamViewer – free

That pretty well covers any of the possible features that might make you have to make a decision about whether to get Professional or Home Premium. On the whole though I would say that for the vast majority of consumers out there the Home Premium would be the most logical choice. The other two options are pretty well overkill and won’t provide you with anything you really need to justify the price you will pay.

My thanks to Ed Bott for an excellent post clarifying the differences and for the graphic breaking down the differences.

The coming Windows 7 tsunami: OMG which version do I get? is a post from: The Inquisitr