Today during the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference, our Chief Financial Officer Peter Klein announced that Windows 7 has sold 90 million licenses to-date! That's a lot of Windows 7.  We're humbled and excited that people are responding so positively to Windows 7 - our customers have made it the fastest selling operating system in history.

Peter also had an opportunity to show off some of the great hardware innovation coming from our partners in the PC business. He brought three great PCs on stage to show off: the Sony VAIO X which is so sleek and portable it could fit inside a MacBook Air, the Dell Adamo XPS which is the thinnest PC in the world, and the HP Envy 13 which combines breakthrough industrial design with tons of power. I had a hand in helping to get these PCs to Peter for the conference and it was fun to hear him talk about them on stage.

All in all, some great momentum for Windows 7 and some great PCs!

It is great to see the excitement for Windows 7 translating into customer satisfaction with Microsoft overall. Earlier this week, Bloomberg posted an article headlined “Microsoft Outpaces Apple in Customer Satisfaction” that examined data gathered by YouGov Plc showing that Windows 7 has contributed more than twice as much to Microsoft’s customer satisfaction than Snow Leopard has to Apple’s. The data shows that customer satisfaction for Microsoft was at 64% the day before Windows 7 launched on Oct. 22nd, rose to 67% in the following week, and grew to 73% by the end of 2009 for a total increase of 14%. After Apple’s August 28th release of Snow Leopard, customer satisfaction rose 1% to 65% in the first week and grew 6.9% by the end of the year.

Business buyers will also likely take note, according to InformationWeek who said, “For CIOs, this news is likely to inspire additional confidence that Windows 7 can be regarded as a viable upgrade strategy.”

Today, Sony has announced a new series of VAIO Windows PCs – the VAIO E Series. This new 15.5” laptop will come in 5 high-gloss colors: Caribbean Green, Iridescent Blue, Coconut White, Hibiscus Pink and Lava Black. 3 matte colors can also be chosen: Maple Brown, Silver White and Gunmetal.

I don’t know about you but I’m sold on the Caribbean Green. I love this color.

The keyboard on the VAIO E Series is edge-to-edge with the numeric pad built-in. Sony did this to give users the experience of using a “full” keyboard but in a smaller space. The touch pad is dimpled and integrated into the palm rest.

The VAIO E Series will ship with the following specs:

• Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
• Processor: Intel Core i3 Processor (Select models ship with a Core i5 Processor)
• Memory: 4GB DDR3 (Up to 8GB max)
• Graphics: Intel Graphics Media Accelerator HD - HM55 Express Chipset (1366 x 768 screen resolution)
• Network: 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n Wireless
• Optical: Blu-ray with DVD and CD read/write
• Storage: Up to 500GB

It comes with an eSATA/ USB port and 3 convenient USB ports and a HDMI port for connecting the PC up to an HDTV. It will also support Bluetooth as well.

The VAIO E Series notebook will retail for about $700 is currently available for pre-order today online via Sony’s website at www.sonystyle.com/pr/e.

On February 15th, people still running the Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC) will receive a notification reminding them that starting March 1st, 2010, their PC will begin experiencing bi-hourly shutdowns. These shutdowns will continue through June 1st, 2010.

On June 1st, 2010, a non-genuine experience is triggered where your wallpaper is removed and “This copy of Windows is not genuine” will be displayed in the lower right corner above the taskbar. This means your PC will no longer be able to obtain optional updates or downloads that require genuine Windows validation.

To avoid any data loss, I suggest making plans to move to a released version of Windows 7 before the automatic shutdowns start. During these shutdowns, your work will not be saved.

Remember, pre-release versions of Windows are unsupported. For more information on the expiration of the Windows 7 RC, see this KB article.

To move to a released version of Windows 7, you’ll need to do a custom (clean) install to replace the installation of the Windows 7 RC. I suggest install, reinstall, uninstall Windows page on Windows.com which covers all kinds of installation scenarios.

Do you need more time to test your application and hardware compatibility in Windows 7? If so, the Windows 7 Enterprise 90-day Trial provides a great opportunity for IT Pros to finish critical testing with a full version of Windows 7 Enterprise.

If you’re an IT Pro ready to move to Windows 7, I suggest visiting the Springboard Series on TechNet which provides the latest tools, whitepapers, walkthroughs and tips and tricks to help you with your Windows 7 Deployment. On the Springboard Series on TechNet, you’ll find resources such as Deploying Windows 7 from A to Z and Installing Windows 7 on an Existing XP PC. You can visit the Window 7 TechNet Forum for more information as well!

Kicking off the new year with a bang, our Partners announced and showcased all kinds of awesome new products for Windows 7 at the 2010 International CES. I spent some time over the week compiling many of those announcements which include PCs, hardware and apps. This list is in no particular order. And just to warn, this is a pretty lengthy blog post!

HP: HP announced several new PCs this week at CES including the HP TouchSmart tm2, and additions to their Mini line. The HP Mini 5102 brings multitouch!

Dell : Dell has announced new Alienware PCs, Inspiron and Studio laptops and a new Studio XPS desktop PC and many of these PCs will be shipping with Intel’s i3, i5 and i7 processors (desktop and mobile versions) processors. For more on what Dell showed off at CES, read this post from Lionel over on Direct2Dell.

Lenovo: You can catch all of Lenovo’s new PCs on their CES 2010 page. I’m diggin’ their IdeaCentre A300 All-in-One desktop PC.

AMD: AMD has shipped 2 million of its DirectX 11 capable graphic processor. Holy cow that’s a lot of DirectX 11! They also introduced the ATI Mobility Radeon 5000 series graphics – bringing DirectX 11 capable graphics to laptop PCs. The 13” Lenovo ThinkPad Edge will be shipping and is the first laptops to ship with AMD’s Vision Pro Technology which includes the ATI Mobility Radeon 5000 series graphics.

Samsung: This press release talks about Samsung’s new PCs being shown off at CES.

Toshiba: Here’s what Toshiba announced at showcased at CES this year. Toshiba is shipping custom touch apps on PCs that support multitouch in Windows 7 – the Toshiba Bulletin Board and Toshiba ReelTime apps. They also announced the Satellite E205 series, the SatelliteT100 series, and the NB300 netbook series.

NVIDIA: At CES 2010, NVIDIA showed off their new “GF100” (Codename) graphics chip. The GF100 is based off NVIDIA’s Fermi architecture and supports DirectX 11. They also showed off their impressive 3D Vision technology including 3D Vision Surround which allows gamers to play games in 3D on up to 3 screens. 3D was huge for NVIDIA this year – they also showcased Blu-ray movies playing in 3D on PCs on top of gaming. ASUS also showed (introduced) the G51J 3D Gaming Notebook powered of course by NVIDIA’s 3D Vision! You can expect me to be blogging more about 3D Vision from NVIDIA in the coming months. For more on 3D Vision, check out this blog post from NVIDIA.

Sony: Sony announced an eco-friendly netbook PC – the VAIO W Series – that is 23% made out of recycled CDs. They also announced the VAIO Z and F series laptop PCs and the VAIO Y Series as well for high power at an affordable price.

Acer: A few new PCs were announced at CES this year from Acer. The Gateway EC14D is an 11.6” ultraportable ULV notebook with a DVD drive that will cost $629. And the Acer Aspire Gemstone series laptop PCs will be shipping with Intel Core i3 and Core i5 processors starting at $599. They also announced the Acer Aspire One 532h and Gateway LT netbooks. Acer also revealed the Aspire AS5740 and AS7740 series of laptops. These will ship with the new Intel Core i3 and Core i5 processors and select models will also come with AMD’s ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650 or ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5470 graphics – supporting DirectX 11!

MSI: MSI this year at CES revealed several new Ultra-Thin PCs: the 13" X350 and X360, the 14" X420, and 15.6" X600Pro.

Silicondust: Silicondust has announced a new addition to their HDHomeRun product line – HDHomeRun CableCARD. HDHomeRun CableCARD is the first network attached TV tuner with CableCARD support for PCs running Windows 7 & Windows Media Center. I’ve heard a lot of great things about HDHomeRun so you can bet I’ll be checking this out!

Ceton: Speaking of TV tuners with CableCARD support, Ceton has announced it will release a quad- tuner CableCARD capable PC card. With this card, you’ll be able to record up to 4 HDTV shows at once in Windows Media Center!

While PCs and devices were front and center at CES, I thought I would take a look at some really cool software for Windows 7 that was highlighted at CES this year.

Ambient Design: You can use ArtRage 3 to use a real paintbrush or your fingers on a Windows 7 PC with multitouch capabilities through Windows Touch to create a painting just like you would on a real life canvas or you can recreate a photo by tracing it.

Nuance: OmniPage 17 is software that converts paper, PDF and pictures into files for editing in Office. If you are a student, you can use OmniPage 17 photos of blackboards or scans of notes into Word docs, or send them to a Kindle. Check out the OmniPage 17 page on Nuance’s website for more information.

Sabi Games: Based off an IP Ventures spinout from Microsoft, leveraging multi-year research, Sabi Games introduces multi-touch support for their award winning new game called ItzaBitza. ItzaBitza is a children’s game that takes their sketches and brings them to life using the game’s built in drawing recognition technology. Sketches become interactive and the game encourages reading. If you have a young kid, this game is worth checking out. Sabi Games will also be announcing upcoming multi-touch enhancements. They support single touch today.

Graphic.ly: a digital comic book plus a whole lot more. Read my Q&A with Graphic.ly CEO Micah Baldwin for the lowdown on Graphic.ly and why comic book fans should pay attention to this app! 

Blio (KNFB Reading Technology): The Blio eBook reader will provide full-color, interactive reading of tons of books. The Blio eReader software will include features such as annotation, embedded multimedia and web look-up, translation, a "read-aloud" option for hands-free reading, and a multi-device synching personal library.  For more on Blio, read this guest blog post on the Windows Partner Blog from Forrest Dobbs, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at KNFB.

Betty Crocker Kitchen Assistant: I’ve talked about this app before – Kitchen Assistant from Betty Crocker helps you find the right recipe for dinner through an interactive experience. This app is perfect for a Windows 7 PC serving as a Kitchen PC and is even more perfect if that PC supports touch. You can download the Betty Crocker Kitchen Assistant here. At CES, they announced the app will support multitouch (right now, it only supports single touch through 1 finger).

I also wanted to take a moment and remind everyone to check out the videos I posted late last week and over the weekend sent to me by Mark Relph. Mark stopped by several of our Partner’s booths on the CES showroom floor and talked to them about what they are doing, new products, and of course Windows 7.

#1: A Closer Look at the Microsoft Booth at CES 2010 and Partner Products Inside!

#2: AMD bringing DirectX 11 to Laptop PCs

#3: Canon Cameras & Printers with Compatible with Windows 7 Logo

#4: NVIDIA Showcases 3D Vision Technology on Windows 7

#5: Kodak talks using Windows 7 to offer ease of use for their customers

#6: D-Link shows their concept of “Link your Life” at CES 2010

As a comic book fan, I’m stoked about Graphic.ly (previously known as Take Comics). We mentioned Graphic.ly during Steve Ballmer’s keynote at CES this year. Graphic.ly is an app that will digitally bring comic books to your Windows PC. But Graphic.ly will also go beyond simply being a digital comic book reader. You’ll be able to interact with friends that are also comic book readers. They will also be providing an outlet for you to check out merchandise related to the comic books you’re reading – right from the app! You will be able to rate and leave comments on comic books you read. 

The above screenshot is from one of the latest beta releases. They are doing quite a bit of work right now on the app so some aspects are subject to change (see below on beta info and release timing).

I sent along some questions to Graphic.ly CEO Micah Baldwin about Graphic.ly and their plans.

Brandon LeBlanc: So Micah, tell us about Graphic.ly.

Micah Baldwin: Graphic.ly provides an immersive social experience and marketplace for digital comics and associated merchandise. We like to think of Graphic.ly as a place for all people that, like us, love the art and storytelling that lives within the pages of a comic book or graphic novel, and enjoy nothing more than sharing that enthusiasm with their friends. 

Brandon LeBlanc: What kinds of things does Graphic.ly take advantage of in Windows 7? Why do people wanting to use this app would also want to do it on Windows 7?

Micah Baldwin: The Windows version of our app is built with WPF, and takes advantage of all the touch features Window 7 has. Have a touchscreen with Windows 7? Then there are some great bells and whistles for you...

Brandon LeBlanc: Tell us about what kinds of comics we’ll find in your Comic Store.

Micah Baldwin: There is a wide selection of current comics and back issues, plus graphic novels and other great books. We are also working on bringing Marvel and DC comics to our service in the future as well – including the Windows application.

Brandon LeBlanc: You’ve worked closely with Microsoft in developing this app. You’re also a BizSpark company. Dave Drach, a Managing Director for the Emerging Business Team here at Microsoft, posted a blog post about working with you. Can you elaborate on that experience?

Micah Baldwin: It’s been a great experience. We are getting introductions and mentorship that would have been really difficult or take a long time to develop. It has truly accelerated our growth. 

Side note from Brandon: For more on BizSpark, click here.

Brandon LeBlanc: Graphic.ly’s entire backend service is hosted on Windows Azure correct?

Micah Baldwin: Yes.

Brandon LeBlanc: You guys launched the Private Beta for Graphic.ly this week at CES right? How can someone get on that Private Beta?

Micah Baldwin: They can sign up at http://graphic.ly or shoot me an email at micah AT graphicly dot com and I can probably work something out. :)

Brandon LeBlanc: When do you expect to have a more public release?

Michael Baldwin: Probably closer to the end of January, maybe middle of February. We are currently receiving a ton of beta tester feedback and it has really added to what we will deliver.

Brandon LeBlanc: Thanks Micah for taking the time to answer my questions!

Once Graphic.ly announces their public release, I’ll be sure to update everyone on where they can go and grab it. Stay tuned!

For more on Graphic.ly, visit their website.

You may have read my post from last week on the great momentum we’re seeing with Windows 7 to-date. I thought I would share some more good news – not just for Microsoft and Windows, but for the entire technology industry.

According to IDC early projections, PC shipments in 2009 were up 2.3% overall over 2008.  In the US, the PC market established a new record of nearly 20.7 million units shipped in the fourth quarter – a year-on-year growth of 24%!  Also in the US, four of our OEM partners make up the top 4 vendors for PC shipments. You can find the original report from IDC here, including information on international PC markets.

According to the Gartner press release “Gartner Says Worldwide PC Shipments in Fourth Quarter of 2009 Posted Strongest Growth Rate in Seven Years,” Gartner Newsroom, January 13, 2010, Worldwide PC shipments surpassed 90 million units in the fourth quarter of 2009, a 22.1% increase from the fourth quarter of 2008, according to preliminary results by Gartner, Inc. It was the strongest quarter over quarter growth rate the worldwide PC market has experienced in the last seven years. More information can be found here. 

Why the huge upswing? Both Gartner and IDC gave two key reasons:

1. The launch of Windows 7 sparked renewed interest in the PC market. Essentially, customers heard great things about Windows 7 and were anxious to get their hands on it.

2. A wide variety of powerful, affordably priced netbook, laptop and desktop PCs hit the market and gave customers a chance to get a great machine at a great price.

It’s great to see the worldwide market’s excitement for the wave of sleek new PCs running Windows 7. 

And in our last video from Mark Relph from CES 2010 – he visits the D-Link booth. There, he talks with Dan Kelley about what D-Link is coming out with including network area storage devices, routers and wireless cameras.

Many of D-Link’s products use Windows Connect Now which allows their consumers to experience a fast and easy installation. Click here for more information on Windows Connect Now.

Kodak has done a lot of work taking advantage of new features of Windows 7 such as Devices and Printers and Device Stage, for ease of use for their consumers using Windows 7. Mark Relph talks with Kodak at CES 2010 about seeing value with the Windows 7 Logo Program and what they’ve done to take advantage of Windows 7 with their products.

They also showcase the Kodak ESP 7200 All-in-One Printer.

I am continuing the series of videos Mark Relph sent me last from the CES 2010 showroom floor. Mark stopped by the NVIDIA booth at CES 2010 and talked with NVIDIA’s Ujesh Desai about their 3D Vision Technology running on Windows 7. Check out the video:

NVIDIA also offered a sneak peek at their upcoming GeForce GF100 graphics card.

Canon was showing off their cameras and printers that have earned the Compatible with Windows 7 Logo at their CES booth. Mark stopped by to chat with Lisette Ranga and Nicole Centrone from Canon. They also discuss how their cameras and printers take advantage of Device Stage. Check out the video:

I recently had a chance to check out their PIXMA MP990 printer. What’s great about having printers such as the MP990 support Device Stage is that all that you need for all your printing and scanning needs are all on one screen. It’s a one-stop-shop for managing your printer.

The PIXMA MP990 also supports Jump Lists in Windows 7 too!

Special thanks to Canon for giving me the chance to check out the MP990.

Mark stopped by AMD’s booth to talk to Bob Sison about what AMD was showcasing this week at CES. AMD announced their Mobility Radeon Premium graphics in laptop PCs – supporting DirectX 11. Check out the video:

Did you know AMD has shipped 2 million of its DirectX 11 capable graphic processors?

For many of you who couldn’t make it CES 2010 this year (including myself) in Las Vegas, we thought we would try to bring a little CES to you here on the blog. Mark Relph, Senior Director on the Windows Ecosystem Team and fellow blogger here on The Windows Blog, sent along a few videos for me to post for you. Our booth had a great setup this year with a wide range of Partner products being showcased. In the first of several videos, Mark takes us through the Microsoft Booth and stops to talk about several products along the way…

Stay tuned – we’ve got video interviews from Mark with AMD, D-Link, Canon, NVIDIA and Kodak on the way!

For more about Mark, see his post talking about the Windows 7 Logo Program. He also posted before the holidays about looking for the logo when shopping for new devices and software for your Windows 7 PC.

And I also recommend watching this video from Larry Larsen on Channel 9 with Gary Schare. Gary works for the Windows Ecosystem Team as well and does a few demos of several Partner products at the Microsoft Booth.

Wow – it’s hard to believe a year ago at CES we were launching the beta for Windows 7. And it’s been over 2 months since the launch of Windows 7 – the result of all the great feedback and testing we received by you from both the beta and RC releases. Now that Windows 7 has been out for a few months, people have been asking us how things are going. We thought this year’s CES would be the perfect place to share updates about Windows 7 momentum.

First off - Windows 7 is being well received all around. We saw strong demand for Windows 7 through the holidays – Year-over-Year PC unit sales increased over 50% for each of the 4 weeks of December according to NPD’s Weekly Tracking Service. This is on the heels of a strong start to the holiday season, where NPD reported that PC sales increased 63% Year-over-Year on Black Friday 2009. Netbooks were one of the hot items where Windows 7 has been strong. According IDC’s recent survey and its resulting paper “Mininotebooks: the New PC Phenomena” (which was sponsored by Microsoft), more than 99% of the netbooks sold today in the US (95% worldwide) now run Windows. And just 2 months after launch, more than half of those netbooks are running Windows 7. Of course it’s only natural to also want to know how Windows 7 did in comparison to its predecessor. In early November, I had blogged that Windows 7 out-sold Windows Vista by 234%.

It’s great to see so many people excited for Windows 7! Tech website Technologizer ran a survey and with results showing a 94% satisfaction rate among early adopters.

Our Partners are also excited for Windows 7, demonstrating fantastic ecosystem support. As of today, there are than 800,000 unique apps and 238,000 unique devices that work great with Windows 7. That’s more than a million reasons to choose Windows 7.

When it comes to PCs and devices, it’s all about choice and flexibility. There are fantastic looking, stylish, and sleek PCs for people to choose from - including 1,400 Windows 7 logo’d PCs. These PCs span a range of prices, starting at around $300 to $3,000. And more PCs are being showcased this week at CES! PCs, devices, and apps continue to get better and better thanks to our partners building great products for Windows.

During Steve Ballmer’s CES keynote tonight, several great examples of cool PCs, devices, and apps were showcased that were designed to work great with Windows 7. There are more great PCs on display at the Microsoft booth. I thought I would do a little re-cap of what was showcased onstage or will be at our booth and add a little more context.

All-in-One PCs: check out these very cool All-in-One PCs:

• Sony VAIO L Series – has a 24” screen great for TV, movies and more and an available built-in TV tuner so watch live TV through Windows Media Center. It also includes a HDMI input so that you can connect your Xbox 360 and play your favorite Xbox games.
• Lenovo IdeaCentre A300 – only 18.5mm deep with a 21.5” Full HD 16:9 widescreen display that uses the latest LED panel technology for super clear and clean images.
• Medion The Touch X9613 - has a voice-controlled UI with a multi-touch display that can act like a PC, TV, audio system, and Blu-ray and DVD player all in one system.

A digital comic book reader called Graphic.ly was demoed – a perfect app for an All-in-One PC. With Windows Touch, you can use your finger to swipe through the digital “pages” of comic books!

Because many people use All-in-One PCs as “Kitchen PCs” – you should also check out Kitchen Assistant by Betty Crocker. This app lets you use Windows Touch to browse a variety of Betty Crocker recipes.

You can download Kitchen Assistant here if you already have an All-in-One PC!

Gaming PCs: there are a number of PCs perfect for mid-to-high range gamers.

• Toshiba Qosmio X505 - offers fantastic Dolby Home Theater sound booming though Harman/Kardon speakers. Also multicore processing!
• ASUS G51-J 3D - features 3D gaming with NVIDIA 3D Vision and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX260M graphics with an Intel i7-720QM processor. You can watch movies in 3D on this PC too!
• HP Envy 15 with DirectX 11 – HP will be updating the Envy 15 to support DirectX 11. The perfect laptop to play some DiRT 2 on!

The demo showcased the Games for Windows – LIVE title Batman: Arkham Asylum in 3D on the ASUS G51. Check out NVIDIA’s website for more on 3D Vision.

Ultra-Thin PCs: Ultra-Thin PCs are designed to reflect people’s desire for small, lightweight but powerful PCs - especially for people on-the-go.

• Dell Adamo XPS - super thin laptop at 9.99mm thick (thinnest laptop on the market) with a 13.4-inch widescreen LED HD display, a solid state drive, full-size keyboard that fold seamlessly into the display, and weighs 3.2 lbs. Wow.
• ASUS NX90 - Was designed by David Lewis with speakers certified by Bang & Olufsen, dual touchpads that lets you act like a DJ.
• MSI X340 - has a size of 0.24” at its thinnest point, 0.79”at its thickest, and weighs a total of 2.7lbs with the battery!

These are some extremely thin, light PCs!

Netbook PCs: Everyone knows what netbooks are these days. They are just small notebook PCs. But they’ve changed over the past few years and have gotten more powerful and packed with more features.

• ASUS Eee PC “Seashell” 1008P - designed by Karim Rashid, features organic waves in the finish, to the exact hue, tint and saturation of the Hot Pink and Coffee Brown colors.
• Acer Aspire One 532 - features Intel’s new Atom processor, 10.1” LED-backlit display, and a comfortable keyboard.
• Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3T- is a 10.1” multitouch convertible tablet. Perfect for OneNote 2010!

As I’ve said before, netbooks are the perfect companion PCs!

TV: Anyone who’s been reading this blog for a while knows that Windows Media Center controls my living room for my TV and Home Entertainment needs. They keynote showed off several PCs perfect for Windows Media Center, TV, and your living room.

• iiView Media Center TV- is the first true hybrid computer/ HDTV for the consumer market offering full HDTV on screens up to 52” with some great features such as Blu-ray, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, HDMI and DVBT. The TV signal can be run through the PC and used through Windows Media Center in Windows 7.
• Acer Aspire Revo AR3610 - a slim and compact PC for full-on HD entertainment can either stand alone or snap to the back of your monitor.
• Dell Zino HD – a power Windows Media Center PC in a perfectly small 8” by 8” square.

A slim and compact PC for full-on HD entertainment can either stand alone or snap to the back of your monitor.

My current HDTV is currently on the fritz. The iiView Media Center TV is looking mighty tempting! But at the same time, the inner-geek in me wants to put the new Ceton TV Tuner powered by CableCARD that allows you to record up to 4 HDTV shows at once!

More people today than ever before connect their PCs to the TV in order to view videos. Or they use their PC as their TV. This trend is expected to increase 20x in the next 5 years (according to Broadband-Enabled TV: Evolution of OTT Platforms - The Diffusion Group Q4 2009)! With Windows 7 today using Windows Media Center, it’s very easy to turn your PC today into your personal DVR.

Slate PCs: PCs come in all shapes and sizes (different form factors). Slate PCs are PCs which are simply displays – usually with no physical keyboard. The Archos 9 and Villiv S5 are a couple of examples. During tonight’s keynote, Steve Ballmer had the distinct honor of previewing a Slate PC from HP coming out later this year. Here is a teaser video of that PC:

You can grab a downloadable guide to many of the above PCs talked about here and showcased in Steve Ballmer’s keynote here on the brand new Microsoft News Center as an XPS document.

Quite a few of the PCs highlighted above feature multitouch capabilities. The Microsoft News Center also has an excellent article on Touch worth reading – check it out!

I encourage folks who are at CES to be sure and stop by our booth check out some cool PCs, great devices, and cool apps that all work great with Windows 7!

Channel 9’s Larry Larsen pinged me earlier today to let me know of a video they just posted to Channel 9 on the default background in Windows 7. Larry was able to talk to Denise Trabona who is a Senior UX (User Experience) Lead on the Windows Design and Research Team. Denise shares insight into how we went about designing the default background see on Windows 7 desktops (the default) and also the logon screen. If you’re someone interested in UI and the thought processes behind how and why we make things look the way they do in Windows, this video is just for you.

Denise also stopped by Channel 9 back in August to talk to Larry about the other fantastic backgrounds see in Windows 7. You can check that video out here.

Another post worth checking out is this post from the E7 blog. In this post, Karen Wong who is a Program Manager on the Core User Experience Team shares how we designed the Windows 7 boot animation.