Late last year, Microsoft quietly announced a new server operating system called “ Windows MultiPoint Server 2010 ” aimed at the educations market based on the Microsoft Research project MultiMouse . As it nears its release, the more I look at this product the more I see this as a potential multiseat computing solution even for the home. [See post to watch Flash video] Unix enthusiasts might be quick to point out this type of computing actually originated on Unix long ago, it hasn’t reached the mainstream, yet, it solves a very common computing problem in the home environment – a limited number of computers and everyone who wants to use it at the same time. Granted the average cost of home PCs have been steadily declining in the past decade, the hidden cost of maintaining, running and eventually renewing a PC for every home user is an unnecessary burden for what might only be light web browsing and emails. Whilst thin-client solutions has worked well for the enterprise, the complexity doesn’t really make sense for a home. Furthermore, unless CPUs, memory and motherboards becomes free, then no thin-client can ever match multiseat computing by cost.
A couple of weeks ago some very interesting Windows news flew by under the radars that I think deserves much more credit than it received, considering how much we rely on the web and the impact this has on making it safer. In the September 2009 update to the Windows Root Certificate Program , Microsoft has added to the list of trusted root certificate authorities StartCom Ltd , notably its first member who issues amongst others free SSL digital certificates . What this means in practice is that out-of-the-box in Windows 7 and if installed as an optional patch under Windows Vista and XP, free digital certificates issued by StartCom will be inherently trusted by the operating system and its applications. Besides simple identification, one other benefit delivered by digital certificates is the ability to transparently encrypt and secure the connection to a server via HTTPS and this is what makes what Microsoft did so notable. Up and until now the digital certificates market has been dominated by large corporations who charge quite a pretty penny for the privilege, limiting the use of HTTPS
Image credit: user “arabmed” on mydigitallife.info forums The flawless track record of anti-piracy schemes continues to shine as today Microsoft’s Windows Genuine Advantage just failed every paying Windows 7 customer and customers to be. An advantage I’m sure all those people who pre-ordered Windows 7 sees very clearly now. Cue the Microsoft A-Team. Thinking of simpler times, it looks like things haven’t changed all that much since Windows XP . P.S.: I am not be posting links to how this is done and I’d encourage commenter not to either. It’s too complicated at the moment
Just between you and me, I’ve heard that one could obtain copies of Windows 7, including builds newer than the public betas, from some not-so-sanctioned sources. Of course I would know very little about how this works, but I understand that there is a process of verifying the integrity of files to ensure files are as described and have not been tampered with, however not everyone does this. Leading up to the inevitable leak of the Windows 7 RTM build like a bottle of champagne shaken once too many times, I wanted to make this process of verifying file hashes even simpler by making it easy and convenient to generate and compare the hashes. With the help of Sven Groot , we came up with this little applet for your Windows 7 ISO verifying pleasure. It couldn’t be any easier to use
If any Aussies out there wasn’t entirely sure of going to the Microsoft TechEd Australia conference on the Gold Coast this year or not, then here’s an offer to nitro-boost your thought process a little. Microsoft Australia is going to be hosting the largest hands-on Windows 7 evaluation in the world by offering each paying attendee with one of 2,300 HP Mini netbook preloaded with Windows 7 for free. From a freebie perspective, it’s difficult to imagine anything better. Whilst no person can ever have enough backpacks, drink bottles and glossy printed materials, a netbook on the other hand is not only fun but practical. The particular netbook on offer is a HP Mini 2140 notebook which has actually been discontinued by HP just recently, but still packs a punch
