When Windows 7 was still in beta, I asked 4sysops readers about their opinion of the new taskbar in Windows 7, a.k.a. Superbar. When I wrote the article at that time I was not really convinced of the value of this new feature, but I needed more experience. Using such a feature on test systems is quite different from working with it in a productive environment. I have been using Windows 7 on my laptop for a while, and my final verdict about the Superbar stands now. I also want to share how I use the Windows 7 taskbar.

I think this is an important topic, especially for IT pros, because we usually work with many applications simultaneously and switch between tools all day. Hence, finding the best method to switch tasks can increase your productivity significantly, even if the time needed to change from one tool another is only a second. These seconds add up over a long work day. Even more important is the fact that switching quickly between applications is essential for keeping your focus. If you need two seconds or more to switch between apps, then this will certainly have a negative effect on your concentration and will tire you out quickly.

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Putting on a show as big as Microsoft Tech.Ed is no mean feat. Preparing a convention venue for a few thousand demanding and IT-savvy delegates, not to mention three days’ worth of technically-intense presentations, sessions and labs, involves months of preparation and the combined efforts of many teams.

The focus of the 2009 round of Tech.Ed events is centred strongly around Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2 – Microsoft’s major product releases this year. Microsoft Australia were looking for way to give Tech.Ed delegates as good an experience with Windows 7 as possible, so early this year an idea was floated to give each attendee a netbook (to have, not just to borrow) with Windows 7 preloaded. As if staging the event was not difficult enough, now the infrastructure had to accommodate an additional 2500 machines, using software which was not yet available in its final form.

A project of this scale would challenge any IT team, so how have Microsoft achieved it? I chatted with three of the main organisers and technical managers with Microsoft Australia responsible for making sure that this year’s Tech.Ed Australia netbook extravaganza will go off without a hitch.

Andrew Coates is a Developer Evangelist with Microsoft Australia and is the content owner for Tech.Ed Australia 2009.

Nick Hodge is an evangelist with Microsoft Australia and is responsible for bringing many aspects of Tech.Ed Australia 2009 together

Jorke Odolphi is an Infrastructure Architect Evangelist with Microsoft Australia, and is responsible for the technical infrastructure behind Tech.Ed.

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Using keyboard shortcuts allow you to work more efficiently. Windows has quite a few hotkeys, and it obviously doesn’t make sense to memorize them all. But I recommend skimming over the all available shortcut keys and choosing the ones that seem to be useful for you. I just copied the list from Windows 7 help.

The advantage of the list here is that you can perform a full text search over all keyboard shortcuts without having to expand all sections first. The first section contains all new shortcuts in Windows 7. I have stolen this list from Technet. The article there is about the beta version, but I suppose not much has changed since then.

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I suppose quite a few IT pros are now downloading Windows 7 RTM from Technet and Windows 7. When I started the download yesterday, download speed was extremely slow. It was only 20 KB/sec. After I received some tweets from people located in the US reporting that their download speed is more than ten times as fast, it occurred to me that Microsoft must have limited the bandwidth to Europe. Perhaps someone in Redmond is still annoyed about the European Commission? But then messages from other parts of Europe started pouring in, indicating that other people experienced quite different download speeds.

Finally, Lukas Beeler enlightened me. The download speed depends heavily on the download manager. Akamai’s download applet is much faster than the Microsoft File Transfer Manager. I then downloaded Windows 7 at 700 KB/sec. I am relieved to know that Microsoft has no intentions of cutting off Europe from the IT world.

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Windows 7 RTM is now available on Technet and MSDN. It is time for every IT pro to learn about the new features. In this post, I have collected all 4sysops articles that review or discuss new Windows 7 features. You will also find tips on how to manage Windows 7. The first list gives you an overview of all the new features. The articles in the other categories describe a particular feature in more detail. Whenever I publish a new article about Window 7 in the coming weeks, I will update this page. If you think that an important feature is missing, please tell me!

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Those of you who can’t wait to get their hands on Windows 7, might be interested to hear that a Microsoft blogger posted the Windows 7 RTM CRC and SHA-1 checksums. The article is in German and I didn’t find a corresponding English post. I just copied the hash codes at the end of this article. Somehow I think this was just an independent initiative of a Microsoft employee even though a major German news site puts it as if Microsoft officially published the Windows 7 RTM hash sums. Let’s see how long this blog post stays online.

You probably saw this odd competition on many blogs in the last couple of weeks. Almost every day they reported about a new leaked Windows 7 RTM ISO image. Even though I am also very curious about Windows 7, I usually don’t download software through torrent sites. The risk is too high to install software that contains viruses, rootkits or botnet code. If you have the correct checksum, then you are safe. But usually it is not worth the hassle. After the 30 days grace period has ended or after you have rearmed Windows 7 three times, you need a valid product key anyway.

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This short video was taken yesterday in Atlanta at Microsoft’s internal Global Exchange (MGX) conference. I found it interesting because it demonstrates nicely that Microsoft indeed has got its mojo back. One can sense how enthusiastic Microsoft’s employees are about the positive feedback that Windows 7 has received. Just in case you are wondering who the third guy is who gives the signed DVDs to Steven Sinofsky (President Windows Division); it is Kevin Turner (Chief Operating Officer). Also interesting: 5000 engineers have been working on Windows 7. Does anyone know the number of engineers that worked on Apollo 11?

Windows 7 Sneak-Peak from MGX

If you are an IT pro who reads the news, you would probably wonder what a Windows 7 release date is. I guess you would understand the heading of this article better if it were “Windows 7 release dates”. Well, as far as I am concerned I am still not used to the fact that a software product doesn’t have  just one release date. Things have become a bit complicated with Windows lately. I wonder if there will be an MCSE exam for Windows 8 release dates. It would probably be as thrilling as the one for licensing. Anyway, for those of you who want to warm up a little for this new exam, here is a short summary of the post in Microsoft’s Windows team blog about Windows 7 released to manufacturing release dates:

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It is probably only a matter of days now until Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 will RTM. Thus, it is time for every Windows admin to get acquainted with the enhancements of both operating systems. I’ve already tried to list the new features of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 when both operating systems were still in beta. I didn’t update those posts for a while because one can’t really be certain which features are included until Microsoft actually releases it. There also was only sparse documentation available but this has changed. While I am planning to update the feature list bit by bit, keep in mind that it only gives an overview of the new features.

In this new series, I will introduce one Windows 7 or Server 2008 R2 feature, in detail, every week or so. If you want, then you can help me. There are several ways of doing it. It would be quite helpful if you could tell me which features you want to be explained. You can also send me links to articles about Windows 7 or Server 2008 R2 features you found useful. I will also be posting videos and webcasts that demonstrate features better than a text can. Thus, if you find a nice Windows 7 or Server 2008 R2 video on YouTube or somewhere else, please let me know.

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It is time to discuss the poll results of the new Windows 7 taskbar (aka Superbar). As I write this, more than 1,300 4sysops readers have submitted their votes. It is somewhat surprising to me that 63% of the respondents said they like the Superbar, only 18% said they dislike it and 19% are undecided.

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Microsoft announced Windows 7 prices. This post summarizes the most important facts. I also share my opinion at the end of the article. The video at the end of the article shows the interview about the announcement with Brad Brooks, Corporate VP for Windows Consumer Marketing.

Upgrade prices

• Windows 7 Home Premium (Upgrade): $119.99
• Windows 7 Professional (Upgrade): $199.99
• Windows 7 Ultimate (Upgrade): $219.99

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Remote Desktop tutorial was written by Gilberto J. Perera from LaptopLogic.com. On LaptopLogic you can read the latest news on laptop software and go through the best cheap laptop reviews.

This guide below will walk you through the process of setting up your Windows 7 computer to handle incoming Remote Desktop Connections from authenticated users and how to connect to a remote computer. If you have any comments or questions, please post them below.

Note: Windows 7 build 7000 was used for this guide

Setting Up Remote Desktop

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This review was written by Gilberto J. Perera from LaptopLogic. LaptopLogic.com is a great source for the latest laptop computer reviews. Are you looking to buy a new netbook? Visit their site for the latest netbook reviews!

With the release of Windows 7 Microsoft has done a great job in maintaining user account management pretty consistent compared to Windows Vista. In this article we will explore the key differences and highlight some of the basic operations while managing user accounts s in Windows 7.

What’s New?

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This review was written by Gilberto J. Perera from LaptopLogic.com – A well established guide for laptops. On LaptopLogic you can find the best Toshiba laptop reviews and go through the latest ultraportable laptops.

With the release of Windows 7 less than a year away, Windows enthusiasts are looking forward to the changes and improvements to the new Windows operating system. Among those improvements is the facelift that the taskbar has received in this iteration of the operating system. This article will describe the new taskbar and list some of the improvements made in this version. If you have any comments or questions, please list them below.

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In my last article, I described the different methods you could use to create a Windows 7 VHD. The next step is to add the VHD to the boot manager of the physical machine. This is quite easy if the computer runs Windows 7. If you want to dual boot Windows Vista, things are a bit more complicated because Vista’s boot manager (bootmgr) doesn’t support VHDs. You can skip the following procedure if your host has Windows 7 installed.

Note: I can’t guarantee that you won’t mess up your Vista installation this way. It’s not really an official procedure and probably not supported by Microsoft. However, it worked for me and you will find several other blogs with similar descriptions. You should make a backup before you proceed.

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