[apcmag] Got Windows 7 on your PCs and a Windows Home Server box sitting in the corner? Then you’ll want to grab the Power Pack 3 update as soon as it’s released next week.

Critics may consider it more as WTF than WHS, but Microsoft continues to plug away at its Windows-based home server platform.

Next Wednesday sees the third major update since Windows Home Server made its debut in 2007, with Power Pack 3 bringing the platform in line with Windows 7.

Windows 7 PCs can be set to wake from standby at a scheduled time for automated backup to the home server, and then go back to sleep after the backup is done.

[computerworld] Excitable Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer actually had something to be excited about at yesterday's shareholder meeting, where he announced that Windows 7 sales are "fantastic."

"Since launch, we've already sold twice as many units of Windows 7 than any other operating system we've ever launched in a comparable time," Ballmer said.

Speaking Thursday at the company's annual meeting, Ballmer said Windows 7 sales are "fantastic," but provided no numbers to support his claim. The Wall Street Journal helpfully puts the number at 40 million copies sold since the new operating system's Oct. 22 release.

That estimate is based on Vista having sold 20 million copies in its first month, the Journal said.

[cnet] With Internet Explorer 9, Microsoft showed Wednesday it's trying to retake the browser initiative.

IE remains the Net's dominant browser. But perversely, it became something of a technology underdog after Microsoft vanquished Netscape in the browser wars of the 1990s and scaled back its browser effort.

That left an opportunity for rivals to blossom -- most notably Firefox, which now is used by a quarter of Web surfers, but also Apple's Safari, which now runs on Windows as well as Mac OS X, and Google's Chrome, which aims to make the Web faster and a better foundation for applications.

Microsoft has been pouring resources back into the IE effort, though, and at its Professional Developers Conference in Los Angeles, some fruits of that labor were on display. In particular, Windows unit president Steven Sinofsky showed off IE 9's new hardware-accelerated text and graphics.

[technewsworld] Windows 7 has sometimes been referred to as "Vista SP3," but under the new OS's hood, critical changes have been made, swapping out technologies that have been in place for 20 years for seemingly more complex but more efficient replacement parts. Two years ago, these ideas may have been forecast to come along around 2015. So maybe Windows 7 is more like Windows 9.

The reason Windows Vista seemed slow, and somehow, strangely seemed even slower over time, is now abundantly clear to Microsoft's architects: The evolution of computer hardware, particularly the CPU, exceeded anyone's expectations at the time of Vista's premiere in early 2007. However, the surge in virtualization, coupled with the rise of the multicore era, produced a new reality where suddenly Vista found itself managing systems with more than 64 total cores.

[windowsitpro] Microsoft Windows chief Steven Sinofsky took to the Professional Developer Conference (PDC) 2009 keynote stage on Wednesday morning to bask in the afterglow of Windows 7's successful launch and ask that developers create compelling new applications that build on Windows 7 technologies. He also showed off a very early version of Internet Explorer 9, which Microsoft says will be more standards compliant and offer huge performance improvements.

"The tremendous support behind Windows 7 equates to tangible opportunity for developers on the Windows platform," Sinofsky said. "We're looking forward to the new ways that they will bring Windows and the web to life for all of our customers."

[betanews] Google announced its open source Chrome OS last July and it has been a little more than a mystery to the wondering public since that time. Now, an official first look is mere hours away.

At 10:00 am PST (1:00 pm EST), Google will present a live webcast of Chrome OS, the search giant's attempt to "rethink what operating systems should be." Speakers this afternoon will include Sundar Pichai, Vice President of Product Management and Matthew Papakipos, Engineering Director for Google Chrome OS.

Besides finally getting to see just how Chrome will be laid out, we will get an overview of the underlying technology and find out about the operating system's 2010 launch schedule.