标签归档：Windows

Windows 7 themes: candlelight, snowflakes, and new dynamic themes

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If you checked the Windows Personalization Gallery last week you might have noticed the quiet arrival of a lovely new Windows 7 theme: Candlelight. This theme brings the serene illumination of candles year-round to your desktop, with images not only of lighted tapers reflected in frosted windowpanes, but also of flickering candles amongst springtime cherry blossoms and in a lush summer forest scene.

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Speaking of frosted windowpanes, our next theme – Snowflakes and Frost – zooms in on the delicate perfection of ice crystals.

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In early October I announced the launch of our open call for art and photography. Since then we’ve received at least 2,000 submissions from the community, and published several new Windows 7 themes and desktop wallpapers featuring some of the best images we received. And now we’re kicking off two new themes to showcase gorgeous nature and landscape photos – Flora and Terra.

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Flora will focus on close-ups of plants, flowers, and foliage; whereas Terra will celebrate the beauty of planet Earth with wider landscape shots, including beaches, forests, waterfalls, cityscapes, sunsets, and more. Best of all, since these are dynamic themes, they will update via an RSS feed with new photos every week.

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Microsoft rolls out Exchange 2010 Service Pack 2

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Exchange Server 2010 Service Pack (SP) 2 is available for download as of December 5. The latest SP includes functionality that is aimed at helping users navigate and manage their cloud-on-premises hybrid environments.

The newest SP adds new protection and compliance tooling; additional deployment options; and the return of Outlook Mobile Access (OMA). SP2 also includes a new hybrid configuration wizard, which, as Softpedia explained, can help automate “the setup of a hybrid connection between Exchange Online running in Office 365 and an on-premises Exchange 2010 organization.”

Exchange 2010 SP2 is supported on Windows 7 Professional 64-bit, Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1, Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard, Windows Server 2008 Standard.

Exchange 2010 SP2 isn’t the only  Microsoft offering that bridges the cloud-on-premises gap. Microsoft is in the midst of a strategy shift in terms of how it intends to encourage customers to move from private to public clouds, officials have said recently.

Windows 8 will be ‘largely irrelevant’ to traditional PC users: IDC

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t’s that time of year: The time when prognosticators get out their crystal balls and make predictions.

The researchers at IDC have just released to their clients their “Worldwide System Infrastructure Software 2012 Top 10 Predictions.” (Al Gillen Program VP, System Software, tweeted the list of ten on December 2.)

One of those predictions caught my eye: “Windows 8 Will Launch with Split Success.”

IDC analysts didn’t mince words about Windows client. “Windows 8 will be largely irrelevant to the users of traditional PCs, and we expect effectively no upgrade activity from Windows 7 to Windows 8 in that form factor,” according to IDC’s prediction document. (IDC is predicting Windows 8 will be released to manufacturing in time for new Windows 8 PCs to emerge by August 2012, at the latest. And they are very bullish about Windows Server 8’s prospects, for what it’s worth.)

IDC’s skepticism on uptake isn’t out of left field. Other company watchers (including yours truly) have wondered about the applicability of the Metro tiled interface on anything other than a tablet. Microsoft officials have hinted there may be some changes on the Windows 8 usability front for those wielding keyboards and mice by the time the Windows 8 beta hits in early 2012. But the developer preview that Microsoft released in September has led to lots of user uncertainty regarding Microsoft’s promise that Metro will be just as navigable with a mouse/keyboard as with fingers/stylus.