Geevz Tech Blog

Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor Beta

Geevz — Sat, 09 May 2009 07:22:00 +0000

Microsoft has released the Windows Upgrade Advisor for Windows 7. It is still in its beta and supports Windows 7 RC. You can run Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor on Windows 7, Windows Vista and Windows XP SP2. Plus you need .NET Framework 2.0 as well.
You can download the upgrade advisor here. Just download and install this on your computer and run it.

Windows Server 2008 R2 - Better Support for Win 7

Geevz — Tue, 05 May 2009 08:59:33 +0000

So.. after the release of Windows 7 RC release, there might be a question? -What will be the suitable server edition for a Windows 7 client ? Oh yes! Microsoft already have the answer for that. That is Windows Server 2008 R2. The interface of the Win Server 2k8 R2 is so similar to Windows 7 and Microsoft have added number of new features to this edition to support Windows 7. Actually the Beta version of Windows Server 2008 R2 has been released on January this year. I think I’m too late for this. but however I would like to talk about this matter. First I will introduce you to the installation and the interface of the Win Server 2008 R2. Then tomorrow I’ll tell you about the new features of this edition.

These images were downloaded from Redmond Pie. [Click on a thumbnail to enlarge.]

Project Icon Set by Navdeep Raj [Dezinerfolio]

Geevz — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 06:47:48 +0000

This cool icon set is designed by Navdeep Raj from Dezinerfolio and Released By Smashing Magazine

You can download this here.

Windows 7 Tutorials - Part 2 - Taskbar

Geevz — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 06:22:27 +0000

Ok. Let’s talk about the taskbar of Windows 7. As you can see from the image, the default taskbar of Windows 7 is a little bit larger than other Operating Systems. Same old Windows Vista transperancy applies here too but the highlighted features are

Mouse Hover effect : The color of the icon will be the color of the hover effect
You can pin frequently used programs to the taskbar so you don’t need go through the programs menu.
If you open multiple windows of the same program, they will shown as stacked on the same icon on the taskbar.
As shown in the image,
- 1. Start Button
- 2. Stacked Windows and inactive icon
- 3. Pinned Icon
- 4. Mouse Hover effect
- 5. Active Window (More white in background)

When you move your mouse pointer on top of a stacked Windows set they will shown in as thumbnails and if you move your mouse pointer on top a thumbnail it will be shown in full scale preview.

The notification area of the taskbar is just the same like before but you can choose which icons should be displayed always and which icons should not.

As you can see you have three options to display icons.
- Show icon and notifications [ This will permanently put the icon on the notification area. ]
- Only show notifications [ This will hide the icon and will only show the icon when there's a notification. But still you can reveal the hidden icons by clicking the small arrow on the notification area. ]
- Hide icon and notifications [ This will completely hide the icon and its notifications. ]

Let’s talk about the ” Taskbar Properties “.

Taskbar apperance
- Lock the taskbar [sections of the taskbar (such as toolbars) will be locked in their current place making them unmovable.]
- Auto-hide the taskbar [Hides the taskbar from its location until you move your mouse over it.]
- Use small icons [This will reduce the size of the icons shown on the taskbar. see picture]

- Taskbar location on screen ( Top | Bottom | Left | Right )[ Sets the location where the taskbar should be positioned. ]
- Taskbar buttons
  - Always Combine, hide labels [ Always shows the open windows of the same program as stacked icons. ]
  - Combine when taskbar is full [ This will switch back to the normal taskbar mode like Windows Vista but change into the Win7 mode when taskbar is full. ]
  - Never combine [ Standard Windows taskbar mode. ]
Notification Area
- When you click the ‘Customize’ button, it will take you to the Nofication Area Icons window we have seen before.
Preview desktop with Aero peek
- Use Aero peek to preview the desktop [ Sets to use Windows Aero peek which allows you see through windows if you want to see the desktop when you move your mouse on top the 'Show Desktop' button situated at the end of the taskbar . see picture]

And just one small thing - When you move your mouse on top of the start button, the Windows Logo glows.

Well, that’s all for now folks. How it will be helpful to you. See you later with Part 3.

Windows 7 Tutorials - Part 1 - Installing Windows 7

Geevz — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 11:23:50 +0000

Windows 7 32bit(x86) Installation DVD has nearly 2.6GB of space while 64bit has nearly 3.2GB. When u download the RC released by Microsoft Corporation, It will be in a DVD image (iso), Burn it to DVD and Keep it with you.

You can Install any Windows operating system by several methods.

1. You can do an upgrade from your existing operating system. ( XP to W7 / Vista to W7)

2. You can do a complete fresh install.

3. You can dual boot it with your existing operating system.

1. Upgrading from your existing operating system

Upgrading to Windows 7 from Windows XP is possible. But I personally believe that it will be painful process. So first upgrade to Vista and then upgrade to W7.
Upgrading Vista to W7 is ok for me.
But however upgrading process takes longer than clean install.
Log in to your existing operating system. (e.g. Vista)
Load your W7 DVD.
Click ” Install Now” when prompted. Click “Upgrade”
Follow the instuctions to complete the setup. (see gallery)

2. Fresh (Clean) Install

Setup your BIOS to boot from your DVD-ROM first.
Boot from your DVD
Click Install Now when prompted. Choose “Custom” when asked.
Follow the instructions to complete the setup.
You can delete / format / create partitions in this method.

3. Dual Booting with your existing operating system

Create a free partition in your drive.
Follow method 1 but select custom when asked. Select the new partition.
Or follow step 2 and select the new partition to install.

Images from : Softpedia.com

Windows 7 Tutorials

Geevz — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 02:29:06 +0000

Wow! Windows 7 RC is out. I’m sure that most of us will move to Windows 7 directly from Vista because of the performance of W7. SoI thought of writing a whole set of tutorials for those who are new to Windows 7. So Let’s get Started.

Windows 7 Build 7100 is out now!

Geevz — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 03:12:20 +0000

Windows 7 build 7100 is out today for download (Not officially by Microsoft!). There are many torrent sites promoting the download and it is one of the famous subjects on the internet today. So I searched for some screenshots and found this one.

(thanks to http://arstechnica.com)

I can’t wait until i get hold of this build and to go through the features. That’s all for now guys. Catch u later with more news.

Windows 7 Build 7100 is the official RC version of Windows 7

Geevz — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 12:02:00 +0000

Since the first beta version of Windows 7, we have seen many builds of Windows 7 leaked into the wild such as such as 7048, 7057, 7068, 7077. Microsoft had confirmed that the RC will be released in May 2009 (Most probably on 5th May). Neowin has reported that the Windows 7 Release Candidate was compiled on tuesday (21-Apr-2009) as 7100.0.winmain_win7rc.090421-1700 is the name of the release. Also the build will be 7100.
This build has been reportedly been handed out to OEM partners and TAP gold customers. Microsoft had recently said that MSDN and TechNet subscribers would be receiving this RC build.

Copenhagen User Experience

Geevz — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 10:26:46 +0000

User interface designer Cullen Dudas have created a stunning user experience concept for Windows Operating Systems.

Copenhagen is a User Experience concept that I designed. It is unique in the fact that it manages to bring together classic design, contemporary design, usability, and art.

Copenhagen shatters the composite prototypical event patterns people have developed for their OS, Windows.

It is a collision of months of research, high visibility, proper affordance, accurate conceptual models, visceral experience, behavioral experience, and reflective experience, all coming together to create an amazing user experience.

- Cullen Dudas -

Adding images to gmail : Now Available

Geevz — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 09:04:30 +0000

Now it’s much more easy to add images to gmail messages. Now Gmail officially supports uploading images to mails directly from your PC.

1.) Just go to your Gmail labs page(green color icon on top of your gmail).

2.) Find “Inserting images” and enable it.

3.) then you can find the image icon in your compose window.