--Choice was the watchword in the Windows 7 discussion Wednesday, as Microsoft aimed to highlight what it sees as its chief advantage over rival Apple.
A key part of Windows 7 is to enable a full spectrum of choices," senior vice president Steven Sinofsky said in a speech at the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) here.
While the new Windows will enable high-end machines with multi-touch, it will also work on low-end machines. While Vista has largely been absent in the fast-growing Netbook category, Windows 7 is aimed to work well on such low-end devices--a number of which are on display at WinHEC.
Among the machines Microsoft showed was an Eee PC with a 1GB hard drive and a 16GB solid-state drive, which the software maker said could run Windows 7 with "room to spare."
For hardware makers, Microsoft has a feature called "device stage" that lets them offer up things like manuals, links to services and access to content stored on the device in one place.
On stage, Microsoft showed a Nokia phone hooked up to Windows 7, automatically making available all the content on the device.
The company also said it will support a number of additional audio and video formats out of the box, including Divx, H.264 and unprotected AAC.
Windows 7 also has integrated support for sensors, such as light sensors, accelerometers or GPS, or even more exotic kinds of input. For example, Microsoft showed a ThinkPad with a spectrophotometer to help handle color calibration.
As for when folks will actually get their hands on 7, Microsoft didn't offer new details, beyond saying a feature-complete beta will be available in early 2009.
Sinofsky did mention a "release candidate to RTM phase," suggesting that Microsoft is only planning a single beta.
Windows 7 takes center 'stage' | Beyond Binary - A blog by Ina Fried - CNET News
A key part of Windows 7 is to enable a full spectrum of choices," senior vice president Steven Sinofsky said in a speech at the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) here.
While the new Windows will enable high-end machines with multi-touch, it will also work on low-end machines. While Vista has largely been absent in the fast-growing Netbook category, Windows 7 is aimed to work well on such low-end devices--a number of which are on display at WinHEC.
Among the machines Microsoft showed was an Eee PC with a 1GB hard drive and a 16GB solid-state drive, which the software maker said could run Windows 7 with "room to spare."
For hardware makers, Microsoft has a feature called "device stage" that lets them offer up things like manuals, links to services and access to content stored on the device in one place.
On stage, Microsoft showed a Nokia phone hooked up to Windows 7, automatically making available all the content on the device.
The company also said it will support a number of additional audio and video formats out of the box, including Divx, H.264 and unprotected AAC.
Windows 7 also has integrated support for sensors, such as light sensors, accelerometers or GPS, or even more exotic kinds of input. For example, Microsoft showed a ThinkPad with a spectrophotometer to help handle color calibration.
As for when folks will actually get their hands on 7, Microsoft didn't offer new details, beyond saying a feature-complete beta will be available in early 2009.
Sinofsky did mention a "release candidate to RTM phase," suggesting that Microsoft is only planning a single beta.
Windows 7 takes center 'stage' | Beyond Binary - A blog by Ina Fried - CNET News
My Computer
- Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
- Self build
- OS
- Windows 7 Ultimate x64
- CPU
- AMD Phenom II x4
- Motherboard
- Gigabyte 880
- Memory
- 8GB
- Graphics Card(s)
- NVIDIA GeForce HD
- Sound Card
- Realtek HD Audio
- Screen Resolution
- 1920 x 1080
- Hard Drives
- 2 x 1TB
- PSU
- Thermalake 550w
- Case
- XCase
- Internet Speed
- 8MB
