UPDATED 09/01 2:14PM

I’ve moved the content of this blog post to a separate stand-alone page on the site due to it being so long and how it reads more like a whitepaper rather than a blog post. You can find the new page here.

I want to provide a couple of updates for my friends in Europe today in regards to Windows 7.

I want to start off with an update to our plans for the Windows 7 Family Pack. As I mentioned last month, starting with the launch of Windows 7 on October 22nd, customers will be able to buy a Family Pack in the US & Canada. This allows users to install Windows 7 Home Premium on up to 3 existing Windows PCs for a reduced price. It’s an easy and cost effective way to get customers entire household on Windows 7.

I can now tell you of several more countries that will have a chance to take advantage of this great deal: the UK, Ireland, Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria, the Netherlands and Sweden. This will also be a limited offer, but is just one more way that our customers can save on Windows 7.

So what changed to make this possible? Basically, the fact that we are now able to have an upgrade version of Windows 7 available at launch.

On July 24th, 2009 – we announced a new proposal to the European Commission address competition concerns regarding the Windows OS and Internet Explorer web browser.

Under this new proposal, customers in Europe who buy a new Windows PC with Internet Explorer set as their default browser would be shown a “ballot screen.” Through this ballot screen, people can easily download and install the browser of their choice from the web.

As the result of our new proposal, as announced on July 31, we will no longer offer E versions of Windows 7 in retail, OEM or other channels. European Economic Community countries will have the same version of Windows 7 as the rest of the world.

As well as allowing for a Family Pack offer, it means that we are now able to have an upgrade version of Windows 7 available in Europe at launch. Windows 7 retail boxes will be available in both Full and Upgrade versions via pre-orders through Microsoft online stores where available and our retail partners starting September 1st and at General Availability on October 22. We will, however, continue to make Windows 7 N versions available that does not include Windows Media Player.

For customers who have already pre-ordered the full version of Windows 7 E in the EU – either as part of special pre-order offers or otherwise – they will receive full versions of Windows 7 that include Internet Explorer 8. These customers, and any other customer who pre-orders Windows 7 before upgrade versions are available on September 1, will still be able to get upgrade pricing for Windows 7 full versions.

Customers can also wait for September 1^st, 2009 when they will have a choice of an upgrade or full version of Windows 7 at separate pricing. So essentially if you’re in Europe, you will have the product and pricing options available on a worldwide basis as of September 1st through the Microsoft Store and our retail partners.

I hope to continue to keep people updated on our ballot screen proposal as we have more to share.

It may be the 100th Anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America, but this future Eagle Scout has picked a  project on the cutting edge.  16 year-old David Browning is already a tech volunteer at his former elementary school, Bellevue Eastside Christian School, and is taking it to the next level by helping the school deploy the Windows 7 RC. Pulling guidance from online resources, his High School’s IT Director, and from his dad (a Microsoft employee), David constructed five different imaging scenarios for the school’s small IT program deployment.  The school was running Windows XP on machines that were 5-7 years old, and got a set of new PCs this summer.  Instead of moving to Windows Vista, and then to Windows 7 later in the year, David thought his Eagle Scout project provided the perfect opportunity to help move them to Windows 7 early so teachers wouldn’t have to train for two operating systems in one year.

After learning the ropes of Group Policy and IT imaging for the past month (primarily through reading on the weekends), David helped deploy donated hardware and software across 67 new computers this week. The school will run on the Windows 7 RC until upgrading to final code this winter. I’m totally impressed by his eagerness and dedication!

As we previously announced, today MSDN & TechNet Subscribers will be able to download Windows 7 RTM in English. On October 1st, the remaining languages will be released.

The bits are available now!

And tomorrow, our Volume License (VL) customers with an existing Software Assurance (SA) license will be able to download Windows 7 RTM in English via the Volume License Service Center (VLSC). In a few weeks, the remaining languages will become available to them. If you are a VL customer without a SA license, you will be able to purchase Windows 7 through Volume Licensing on September 1st.

For more information on Windows 7 Availability, please see this blog post. The post has been updated - including a nice chart.

Hi everyone!

My name is Gary Schare and I run our hardware ecosystem marketing team. Building on Mark’s recent post on software readiness, I wanted to provide a deeper look at hardware readiness.

Hardware compatibility is a critical feature of Windows 7. We must have strong support from the hardware ecosystem to ensure that all of you have a great experience using Windows 7 with the devices and peripherals you rely on every day. This experience can range from “it just works when I plug it in” to “it lights up a new feature of Windows 7” (like Device Stage, Play To, etc.). The ultimate endorsement of this experience is the “Compatible with Windows 7” logo which is earned by products that pass rigorous compatibility and reliability tests.

We have been working closely with hardware partners on readiness since very early on in Windows 7 development. These activities range from 1:1 technical engagement with top-tier OEMs and device makers, the Windows Ecosystem Readiness Program which scales out to tens of thousands of vendors, webinars and readiness events in the US, Asia, and Europe to assist our hardware partners as they prepare their products for the Windows 7 Logo.

All these efforts have paid off, and Windows 7 Logo momentum is very strong. We now have printers, scanners, networking cards, storage devices, video capture cards, and ultra mobile systems that have already earned the “Compatible with Windows 7” Logo, and many more on the way. Represented in this group of devices are some of the biggest names in the industry. Here are a few examples, organized by topic:

Home Networking

Home networking was once very intimidating for the average customer. That is why we have improved Windows Connect Now (known to the Windows hardware industry as Windows Rally) to help consumers easily set up a wireless network or add a device to the network in seconds. Top companies such as Linksys by Cisco and D-Link are taking advantage of this technology to help their customers.

The Linksys group at Cisco is integrating Windows Connect Now into new and currently shipping routers and network media devices. These devices will earn the “Compatible with Windows 7” logo.

Robert Berlin, Director, Home Networking and Peripheral Product Management, Cisco Consumer Business Group:

The Windows 7 platform approach to open standards, such as Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS), Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) and Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) help to enable easier connectivity of computers with home networking products such as our Linksys by Cisco routers and media entertainment products. We look forward to providing the added benefits of Windows 7 to our products for our customers to experience on their home networks. 

Other great companies like D-Link are also taking advantage of Windows Connect Now to help lower support calls for their products and create a streamlined set up experience for their customers.

Dan Kelley, D-Link:

The key to a great user experience is connectivity and Windows 7 provides D-Link with a platform and the proper resources to insure our devices provide a seamless connectivity experience out of the box.

Device Experiences

One of the great innovations in Windows 7 is Device Stage. Device Stage lets you see your device status and run common tasks from a single, branded window that’s customized for each device. Device manufacturers around the world are building customized experiences for Device Stage so their customers can easily discover new features in their devices (and even some old ones too!).

One of the many partners taking advantage of Device Stage is Sandisk.Their full line of Sansa portable media players support Device Stage allowing their customers to easily sync audio and video, access the user manual and forums, update firmware, purchase accessories, and more.

Greg Stevens, Director, Integration & QA, Sandisk:

We’re very excited for the upcoming launch. All our current and legacy Sansa portable media players support Windows 7. We also were the first company to earn the “Compatible with Windows 7” logo for any portable media players. The Sansa Clip, View, and Fuze have passed Microsoft testing for compatibility and reliability with Windows 7 under the Windows Logo Kit program.

Graphics Performance

Our partners have also been making lots of headway with Direct X. DirectX 11, introduced in Windows 7, provides an unprecedented visual experience for next-generation games on new hardware. It’s an experience that accelerates elegantly across multiple processor cores, display resolutions, memory configurations, and graphic adapters.

I’m especially excited by Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), which delivered the first DirectX 11 graphics processor! This is fantastic for the adoption of the DirectX 11 platform, and great news for all the gamers out there.

Ben Bar-Haim, Corporate Vice President, Software Engineering, AMD:

The development of Windows 7 has been a tremendously collaborative effort, with the Microsoft and AMD teams working together to help ensure that today's customer-centric platforms can take full advantage of Windows 7, as well as preparing Windows 7 for the rapidly evolving future of computer hardware. Everything from the development of DirectX 11, improved memory efficiency, superior display management, driver model robustness, and the new GPU acceleration infrastructure for desktop and scientific applications points to an advanced operating system designed to the needs of the computer industry for years to come.

And More …

There are many other partners getting ready for Windows 7 across a variety of device categories. To learn more about what they’re doing, you can visit ReadySet7.com where we’ve brought together stories and videos from our hardware and software partners. Here are a few examples.

Dwight Diercks, Vice President of Software Engineering at NVIDIA:

All of our hard work teaming with Microsoft over the past two years will pay off for NVIDIA GPU owners when Windows 7 launches. Our customers are demanding an experience that is faster and more visual, and the new GPU-accelerated features like DirectX Compute are sure to blow people away.

Hanoz Gandhi, Vice President of Products, Belkin:

Belkin is committed to giving our customers the ability to create a reliable network that seamlessly integrates with the upcoming release of Windows 7. We are working closely with Microsoft to test Windows 7 with our products and plan to provide support for Windows 7 after it’s publically available.

Ikuaki Kitabayashi, General Manager of Planning and Design, Epson:

One of the key innovations in Windows 7 is Device Stage, which brings together the formerly independent features of Epson’s multifunction printers into one location, allowing users to see device status and run common tasks from a single window, thereby providing seamless device usability. Also, a photo-realistic icon that represents their physical device further improves the ability to interact with Epson’s multifunction printers. With HomeGroup, Epson printers are easily shared with other PCs in the home, while being protected by dependable security measures. In addition, Epson’s network projectors support the Windows Network Projection feature in Windows 7. Finally, the Windows Rally program has really allowed Epson to focus on making the most of Windows 7’s advanced device management and networking features, and optimizing the user experience.

Tzumu Lin, CEO of WonderMedia Technologies, Inc:

We are pleased to offer support for Microsoft’s much-anticipated Windows 7 throughout our portfolio of feature-rich Networked Media Devices. Our WonderMedia PRIZM platform offers proven and certified building blocks for Windows 7-based devices, allowing end-users to enjoy the full Windows 7 experience and optimal system performance.

Scott Rader, Director of Product Management, WD Branded Products:

Our close working relationship with MSFT allowed us to take advantage of the features of Windows 7 to provide our customers a seamless, user-friendly experience while keeping their content secure and readily accessible.

Frank Martin, Sr. Director of Product Planning, Brother International Corp:

Windows 7 will take the user experience to the next level of features and usability. Brother is ready to utilize these new resources which can offer a truly rich user experience. We can’' wait for our customers to have such a great experience with Windows 7 and Brother Products.

James Brailean, PhD., CEO, Packetvideo:

PacketVideo is working with Windows 7 to leverage the innovations for Device Stage to enable consumers to enjoy their photo, video and music files on connected devices throughout the home without limitation or hassle. This is through PV’s TwonkyMedia server, a best-in-class solution that has been adopted by leading consumer electronics manufacturers in the industry, and mobile handset connectivity solutions to the PC.

RK Parthasarathy, Vice President of Marketing, Ubicom:

Ubicom is expanding the definitions of the connected home and digital lifestyle through our flexible, highly integrated technology for networking, media and peripheral functionality. The ability to interoperate with Windows 7 ahead of public release ensures compelling user experiences for our customers’ products when they hit the market.

Todd Antes, Vice President of Computing and Consumer Networking, Atheros:

Robust support for Windows 7 is another important way that Atheros is demonstrating our commitment to delivering the best possible wireless experience in devices throughout the digital home and in the growing array of computing products, including notebooks and netbooks. We are pleased to have obtained the Compatible with Windows 7 logo for both our networking and computing solutions.

RELATED BLOG POSTS:

• Partner Software Ecosystem Continues to Line Up to Support Windows 7
• An Ecosystem Update for Windows 7
  

Back in April, we introduced the Windows XP Mode beta and after a few months of incorporating your enthusiastic feedback, today we are announcing the availability of the Windows XP Mode Release Candidate.

Download: Windows XP Mode Release Candidate

As you may know, Windows XP Mode is specially designed for small and medium-sized businesses to help ease the migration process to Windows 7 by providing additional compatibility for their older productivity applications. The newly updated Windows XP Mode now works with the RC and RTM versions of the Windows 7 Professional, Ultimate and Enterprise SKUs.

Before I get into what has changed from beta to RC, I’d like to take a moment to clarify what Windows XP Mode is designed for, and highlight the point that in many cases Windows XP Mode will not be necessary. Windows 7 has a strong compatibility story with Windows Vista, and many applications that currently run on Windows XP-based or Windows Vista-based PCs should just run natively on Windows 7 – allowing you to take advantage of better performance, better management and better security built into Windows 7. In most cases, we recommend running applications natively in Windows 7. Windows XP Mode provides what we like to call that “last mile” compatibility technology for those cases when a Windows XP productivity application isn’t compatible with Windows 7. Users can run and launch Windows XP productivity applications in Windows XP Mode directly from a Windows 7 desktop. I also strongly recommend that customers install anti-malware and anti-virus software in Windows XP Mode so that Windows XP Mode environment is well protected. For customers that manage several Windows PCs running Windows XP Mode and want to simplify management tasks, we offer Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization (MED-V) as part of the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack.

New Features in Windows XP Mode RC

Based on feedback from the Windows XP Mode beta, we’ve made several improvements to the usability of Windows XP Mode for small and medium-sized business users:

• You can now attach USB devices to Windows XP Mode applications directly from the Windows 7 task-bar. This means your USB devices, such as printers and flash drives, are available to applications running in Windows XP Mode, without the need to go into full screen mode.
• You can now access Windows XP Mode applications with a “jump-list”. Right click on the Windows XP Mode applications from the Windows 7 task bar to select and open most recently used files.
• You now have the flexibility of customizing where Windows XP Mode differencing disk files are stored.
• You can now disable drive sharing between Windows XP Mode and Windows 7 if you do not need that feature.
• The initial setup now includes a new user tutorial about how to use Windows XP Mode.

Customer and Partner Comments on Windows XP Mode

We are very excited that our customers and our partners see the value of Windows XP Mode. We collected testimonials from some customers testing Windows XP Mode; you can view videos from some of these customers here.

Many PCs can take advantage of Windows XP Mode, thanks to hardware capable of virtualization. 

PC manufacturers are using Intel processors with Intel Virtualization Technology on virtually all of their Intel systems aimed at small- to enterprise-size businesses. All PCs using Intel Core 2 processors with Intel vPro technology include Intel Virtualization technology. You can verify that an Intel processor has Intel Virtualization Technology here.

In addition, by Windows 7 launch all AMD CPUs shipping to customers, except Sempron, will include hardware virtualization. Here is what Margaret Lewis, Director of Commercial Software and Solutions from AMD says about supporting hardware virtualization and Windows XP Mode:

With XP Mode, Microsoft has built-in client virtualization technology that makes it easy to install and run Windows XP applications directly from a Windows 7-based PC, allowing users to enjoy the benefits of Windows 7 while maintaining support for legacy applications. AMD has worked closely with Microsoft to deliver highly optimized virtualization platforms and this new operating system continues the maturation of client virtualization while making use of AMD innovations.

We are also working with OEM partners to include Windows XP Mode preinstalled on new PCs.

Michelle Pearcy, director of Global Software Marketing at Dell, discusses the importance of integrating with Microsoft for Windows XP Mode:

Our customers expect their applications to simply work, regardless of their selected operating system. Windows XP Mode provides them with the confidence to migrate to Windows 7 while maintaining access to mission critical applications. Dell worked closely with Microsoft on the development of Windows XP Mode and provided input so that our customers can easily transition to Windows 7, which is a safer, more secure and efficient operating system.

Carlos Montalvo, Vice President of Experience Marketing on the Personal Systems Group at HP, talks about how HP intends to take full advantage of Windows 7 with their products:

For more than two years HP has collaborated closely with Microsoft on the development of Windows 7, contributing important innovations. HP is working to ensure our customers can take full advantage of the latest Windows 7 technologies such as offering our small and medium business customers the flexibility to run legacy applications. Our latest high performance multi-core enabled Windows 7 PCs will take advantage of Windows XP Mode once it is released.

Peter Schrady, Vice President and General Manager of Software, Peripherals and Enterprise Products at Lenovo discusses optimizing their PCs for Windows 7 and Windows XP Mode:

We’ve optimized our Think-branded PCs for Windows 7 and Windows XP Mode so businesses can enjoy the latest computing platform while still being able to use legacy applications that are supported only in Windows XP. Giving users seamless integration in a virtual environment is another way we’re working together to support commercial customers that have limited resources to spend on IT.

At the beta, there were concerns about the licensing for anti-virus and security software under Windows XP Mode and as we progressed to RC, we worked closely with those partners. Today, Kaspersky and Symantec confirmed their software will be supported in Windows XP Mode in addition to running on Windows 7 natively. We continue to work with additional anti-virus and security vendors to ensure their software will also support Windows XP Mode.

Here’s what Alexey Kalgin, Director of Product Marketing on the Corporate Business Division at Kaspersky Lab says:

By working with Microsoft, we are confident that Kaspersky Lab will provide XP users running Windows 7 in a virtual environment with an excellent security option that is easy to manage, and protects their valuable data without slowing them down. With the continued dramatic increase in malware and web attacks, our mission is to provide the best security possible for end-users and keep them educated and aware about the evolving threats.  Our Kaspersky Lab technical prototype for Windows 7 has been installed by more than 950K people since January. Thanks to collaboration with Microsoft, we have received an exceptional amount of valuable feedback from testers that will enable us to ensure that our products are fully compatible and permit everyone to safely take advantage of the new and unique features of Windows 7.

Blake McConnell, Senior Director, Product Management, SMB Security Solutions, Symantec, discussed the importance of running security software in Windows XP Mode:

Symantec has a long history of securing, managing, and assuring the availability of millions of desktops, laptops and servers running Microsoft Windows and other Microsoft applications. Symantec security products will give customers running Windows XP Mode on Windows 7 the peace of mind that their systems are up-to-date and protected from complex security threats including malware, spam, and viruses.

Please note: Windows XP Mode RC requires RC or RTM version of Windows 7 Professional, Ultimate or Enterprise. It also requires additional 1 GB of RAM, 15 GB of available disk space, and processor capable of hardware virtualization with AMD-V or Intel VT turned on in the BIOS.