While this blog is committed to bringing you the latest info on Windows Vista, I wanted to take a moment to take a look at what everyone's been talking about today: PDC, WinHEC and Windows 7.

The Professional Developer Conference (PDC) , taking place in Los Angeles Oct. 27th - 30th, is an event designed for leading-edge developers and software architects that are interested in the future of the Microsoft platform. If you're responsible for the technical strategy in your organization, or you're a highly skilled developer who likes to delve deep into the heart of the platform, then PDC is for you! You can register today for PDC by heading over to http://www.microsoftpdc.com/. Hurry, spots are filling fast!

The Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC), taking place in Los Angeles Nov. 5th - 7th, focuses on designing PCs, servers, and devices that run and interface with Microsoft Windows with a focus on Windows 7. WinHEC brings together engineers, developers and testers, and product planners giving them a opportunity to stay aligned with Microsoft technology roadmaps and new product opportunities. To register for WinHEC - click here (register before Oct. 3rd and save $400!).

At each event you will hear from lead Windows Engineers including Steven Sinofsky, as well as see firsthand the next Windows OS. Just announced today - at both shows we will handing out a pre-beta build of Windows 7. By attending these events, you will be one of a select few to receive a pre-beta build of Windows 7 to take with you. If that's not incentive to head to these events, I don't know what is ;-)

As reported by Neowin, Windows 7 is set to bedazzle at Microsoft’s PDC 2008 conference in a couple of weeks with news now that attendees will even receive a pre-beta build of Windows 7. With the fast internet access available at the event, I reckon Microsoft might as well just seed a torrent.

The event website has also been updated today with a couple new Windows 7 sessions to the agenda, of which the following caught my privy eyes:

Windows 7: New Shell User Experience APIs
Nicolas Brun
TBD

Windows 7: New APIs to Find, Visualize, and Organize
David Washington
TBD

Windows 7: New Text and Graphics APIs
Leonardo Blanco
TBD

Windows 7: Design Principles for Windows 7
Samuel Moreau
Together, we can increase customer enthusiasm, satisfaction and loyalty by designing user experiences that are both desirable and harmonious. In this session, we will introduce the Windows User Experience Principles approach to shipping software. Along the way we will share stories and lessons learned along the journey of designing the user model and experience for Windows 7, and leave you with a set of principles that you can apply as you build your applications for Windows.

Windows 7: Integrate with the Windows 7 Desktop Taskbar
Rob Jarrett
This session dives into new APIs that enable integration with the latest Windows desktop features. Learn about new extensibility methods to surface your application’s key tasks. Discover how enhancements to the taskbar, Start Menu, thumbnails and their desktop elements provide new ways for you to delight your users. This talk is a must for application developers who wan to provide the best user experience for their applications on Windows 7.

Windows 7: Welcome to the Windows 7 Desktop
Chaitanya Sareen
The Windows desktop is evolving-is your application ready to evolve also? This session sets the stage for exciting enhancements to the taskbar, Start Menu, and other desktop elements.

Windows 7: Deep Dive - What’s New with Win32’s user32 and comctl32
Raymond Chen
This talk focuses on the lowest level user interface components (user32, comctl32) that appear in almost every Windows application. You’ll learn about recent changes and enhancements in these subsystems, and talk extensively about debugging, localization, tools, testing, and shipping. We’ll also talk about how Windows 7 changes (such as High DPI) impact user interface code. Get the best tips and techniques that Microsoft development teams use to build great user experiences with these components.

But hide and seek isn’t over yet. Apparently there’s even some secret Windows 7 sessions only to be revealed after the keynote presentation, which makes scheduling extra fun for attendees I guess). However from at least what’s above, it looks like the user-interface is in for some pretty radical enhancements.

Today we are excited to announce that 3 new Windows Ultimate Extras are now available for installation via Windows Update! This is the 6th wave of Ultimate Extras released by Microsoft exclusively for Windows Vista Ultimate users. Users will find the following Ultimate Extras waiting to be installed: 

 

The default e-mail reader for Dapper Drake is called Evolution. This program is an open source clone of Microsoft Outlook. Besides viewing and composing e- mail, it also manages your calendar, task list, and contacts. Evolution also enables you to manage multiple e-mail accounts. While it natively supports many different mail server configurations, it does have a couple of quirks.


Configuring an Account
The most powerful part of Evolution is its list of supported mail protocols. It natively supports the Post Office Protocol (POP, also called POP3) and Instant Message Access Protocol (IMAP), as well as Microsoft Exchange and Novell GroupWise. This means that you should be able to use Evolution at home and in most corporate and small office environments.

When you first run Evolution (by clicking the mail icon in the default top panel or by selecting Applications -- > Internet -- > Evolution Mail), it asks you to set up an account. You can later add or edit accounts by running Evolution and selecting Edit -- > Preferences -- > Mail Accounts. You will be asked to provide three main types of information.

• Identity-This specifies the e-mail address and the name of the person on the address.

• Receiving options-This identifies how you retrieve your e-mail. For example, if you use a POP mail server, then you will specify the server's address and your account name.

• Sending options-The way you receive mail is not necessarily the same as the way you send mail. For example, you may receive mail using POP, but send using SMTP.

Your specific configuration will depend on your mail server. Most ISPs provide some type of mail server and instructions for configuring mail readers. Although they are unlikely to specify the configuration for Evolution, they should list the server's host name, protocol (for example, POP3 or IMAP), and any required security steps such as using SSL (or TLS) for encryption.

There are other options you can configure after creating a new account (select the Edit option under Mail Accounts). For example, you can specify how often to check for new mail and whether to save a copy of every out-going e-mail message.

Besides using e-mail from your local ISP, you will probably want to manage your free e-mail accounts. Some of the most common free e-mail accounts are Google Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, and Microsoft MSN Hotmail. Knowing how to configure e-mail for these free mail services will help you configure mail for most other mail services.

Source of Information : Hacking Ubuntu byNeal Krawetz