I had the pleasure of attending our HP press tour to launch many of our new products this month, and let me tell you - across all of our product lines, we’re offering better performing and more visually pleasing desktops than ever before and they’re all Windows 7 ready. You’ll find that we offer a variety of quality desktop PC’s for consumers, small businesses, Enterprise and Public Sector customers – from the stylish HP TouchSmart 600 for the home to our powerful HP Compaq 6000 Pro series for business.

Check out some of the highlights that we shared on the press tour: 

Touch really does make the computing experience come alive. We’ve been innovating in Touch since 1983 when we launched the first touch PC, the HP 150. Fast forward to 2009 and HP is still investing in both hardware and software to help people reduce the complexity in computing. We’ve worked with Microsoft to share HP’s learnings and award-winning touch technology and best practices for integration into Windows 7. The deep collaboration between the companies offers customers the most advanced computing experience they have grown to expect from HP. 

We all know that customers want a great experience, interaction and the total “it was made just for me” feeling when they buy a product. Just recently, I was in a la00rge scale, popular hotel lobby. In a period of about 30 minutes, my husband and several other people walked up to this PC and touched it to start interacting…..not seeing the disclaimer at the bottom of the screen.

That’s right, it said: “THIS IS NOT A TOUCH SCREEN”. To that end, HP is striving to create personal, engaging experiences through applications that you absolutely can touch. The finger is the natural pointing device.  One of my favorite applications that we showcased on the press tour is the HP TouchSmart RecipeBox. In talking with customers, we found that many people have put their PCs in the kitchen.  The TouchSmart RecipeBox lets aspiring chefs discover, explore and learn recipes by voice or touch commands.  It also lets you collect, format and store all your favorites together in a “digital” cookbook that is all yours. 

Not only has HP created specific applications that meet your needs, but you can also see it in the HP TouchSmart software. Partners recognize the PC is a critical piece to the entertainment, communication and multi-media equation and have developed applications with us that work in the touch environment. There are built-in, interactive tiles with key applications from third parties from the likes of Hulu, Twitter, and Netflix.The Hulu TouchSmart tile provides quick access to Hulu’s vast library of hit TV shows, movies and video clips with the touch of a finger. Users can browse, search and watch their favorite comedies, dramas, sci-fi and web-original shows from nearly 200 leading content companies. In addition, users with Hulu.com accounts also can access their queue, subscriptions and viewing history.

Touch is not limited to consumers; there are a number of businesses who are investigating or using HP TouchSmarts already to deliver a better experience to their customers.  At Compass Bank in Houston, the bank is able to extend more services by providing “virtual loan officers” by using TouchSmarts with Webcams at their banks but saving costs by locating the loan officers centrally; they provide a unique, personalized experience to each customer and get the forms submitted and approved in less time. Priscilla of Boston is helping their customers find the perfect wedding dress using HP TouchSmarts (if you’ve ever been married, you know how the dress choice is a very “personal” decision).  Lastly, Sheraton Hotels are using TouchSmart PCs to provide a customized experience for their patrons with immersive touch technology that brings interaction, connectivity and play to the Link@Sheraton – the heart of the Sheraton brand’s new lobby experience. We’ve even launched a new product line of Digital Displays including the 42” HPLD4200tm Interactive Digital Sign which brings touch to more people in more places (hospitality, education, and point-of-sale). 

Besides Touch, HP has expanded on the Compaq Portfolio and brand for the home and business PC user. The Compaq portfolio delivers great design, strong performance and reliability that customers need for ‘just right computing’ at ‘just the right price.’ The Compaq Presario 4010f desktop PC delivers all the productivity of a traditional PC in a sleek, streamlined desktop design. Then there’s the Compaq 500B Series desktop PC which are designed for the budget-conscious small businesses that need PCs that are easy to set up, use and expand. The Compaq 500B and 505B desktop PCs, available with Intel or AMD processors respectively, offer businesses efficient and reliable performance with Windows 7, and configurable hard drives and memory.

Lastly, I wanted to mention this idea of “year of the refresh.” Customers have told us that they have held onto their desktop PCs for 4-5 years. We know the recessions around the world have squeezed budgets. We have heard you ask questions about the environmental impact of the products you buy and how you can manage your costs when it comes to power usage. We know people have been anticipating Windows 7. At HP, we used your feedback and planned for this; we designed a portfolio of products to hit the right price and performance equation for you.  As of today, all of our PC’s are Windows 7 ready. When you’re using your new HP desktop PC at home or work, our testing shows you’ll get up to three times better overall performance because of our HP hardware combined with Windows 7 (when compared to a similar PC from a few years ago.) Boot time is 45 percent faster, suspend time is 50 percent faster and resume time is 90 percent faster. All of these things will help you save time, be more efficient and have a better PC experience. (The testing was conducted by HP Desktop R&D)

These are just a few of the HP Desktop products that launched in the last month. Be sure to check out all of our cool business products here for business products and here for our home and home office products and upgrade to the PC you deserve.

Anneliese Olson
Director of Desktops for HP

Many of you may be on the market for a new Windows 7 PC. Our partners are delivering new PCs we think you will love and just in time for the holidays! Below are hot and slick looking Windows 7 PCs in categories we think will be big for holiday 2009.

Please note that many of the PCs with features mentioned below are just one of many configurations these PCs come with. Many of these PCs can be configured and customized to your liking.

All-in-one PCs:

• Sony VAIO L Series: Features a Quad Core processor, 24” widescreen touch display, discrete graphics, lots of memory and storage.
• Dell Studio One 19: Features a Quad Core processor, lots of storage, a Blu-ray combo drive and an 18.5" multitouch HD widescreen display.
• HP TouchSmart 300z Series: Features discrete graphics, an optional built-in TV tuner and a 20" multitouch widescreen display.

Ultra-thin PCs:

• Acer Aspire 4810T: Offers a 14" screen, good battery life, and weighs only 2.4 lbs.
• Dell Adamo 13: Features a slick looking aluminum chassis, 13.4" edge-to-edge HD display, ultra-slim .65" profile, Bluetooth and optional Mobile Broadband.
• Toshiba Satellite T135: Features a 13.3" HD widescreen display, full size keyboard, 1.5" profile and weighs 4.7 lbs.

Touch PCs:

• Lenovo ThinkPad T400smt: A lightweight Laptop PC with a 14.1" multitouch display, integrated webcam, and dual-channel digital microphone.
• Toshiba Satellite M500: Features a lightweight, 14.1" touch screen and specializes in mobility. Note that not all M500 models feature Windows Touch however.

Netbook PCs:

• HP Mini 110 by Studio Tord Boontje: Features both style and mobility with its 10.1" HD widescreen – and just 2.35 lbs.
• Toshiba mini NB205: Weighs 3 lbs., has 3G Mobile Broadband and good battery life.
• Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2: Features a multitouch pad, and a 10.1" LED backlit screen.

But wait! There’s more! Here are some other great PCs that really show off some of things customers do on their PCs everyday (yes, some people game every day):

Great Gaming PCs:

• Falcon NW Fragbox: A portable desktop PC with a Quad Core processor, discrete graphics, lots memory and storage.
• Alienware M17x: Features Dual GPUs, a Quad Core processor and 12GB of DDR3 memory (that’s a lot of memory!).
• Asus G51Vx: A 15" gaming laptop PC featuring NVIDIA graphics with dedicated 1GB of memory, and a backlit gaming keyboard.

More Multimedia PCs:

• Dell Studio XPS 16: Features premium ATI graphics, optional Intel Core i7 processor configuration, and your choice of either a 15.6" LED or 16" RGBLED seamless display.
• HP Pavilion dv8t: Features an 18.4" HD widescreen, Blu-ray drive, TV tuner, and premium sound system with subwoofer and Dolby audio.
• Toshiba Satellite A505: Features discrete graphics (certain configurations), a dual-core CPU, and premium surround sound speakers, and a HD 16" screen.
• Lenovo IdeaPad Y650: A very stylish, thin, and light notebook at only 1 inch thick and weighing only 5.6 lbs.

All Around Great Everyday PCs:

• Dell Studio XPS 13: Features a 13.3" edge-to-edge display, backlit keyboard and NVIDIA graphics.
• Toshiba Satellite U500: Versatility, power and style and touch capable. A 13.3” mobile do-it-all machine.

Work from Anywhere (Mobility):

• HP Pavilion dm3: Features a 13.3” ultra wide screen display and NVIDIA graphics, under 4 lbs. and 1 inch thin with great battery life.
• Lenovo ThinkPad X200T: Features a lightweight form factor, Intel Core 2 Duo processor, and is a Tablet PC (great for taking notes during meetings!).

Safeguard Your Work:

• Lenovo ThinkPad X301: Features GPS, Bluetooth and Unified wireless capabilities.
• HP ProBook 5310: Features a 13.3” HD LED display with integrated mobile broadband and a thin and lightweight design.

We are also making it easier for customers to choose which Windows PC is right for them with an updated version of Windows PC Scout (previously known as Windows Laptop Scout).

Windows PC Scout has been completely updated with new PCs and new ways of helping customers better identify the PC they want based on their needs. Essentially Windows PC Scout “Simplifies your search” for the right PC. There are a couple of ways Windows PC Scout will help you find the PC you want:

• Laptop 101: Educates you on Laptop PCs.
• Usage: Discover how certain Laptop PCs are used for specific needs.
• Recommend: Match your needs with quality-checked Laptop PCs by Microsoft. Windows PC Scout provides clear recommendations on Windows PCs at a variety of price points.
• Buy: Once you’ve found a PC, Windows PC Scout makes it easy to click through to purchase the right PC for them through major retailers, the online Microsoft Store or PC manufacturer websites.

If you’re looking for a new Windows 7 PC – give Windows PC Scout a spin!

As you can see, there is such an amazing variety of Windows 7 PCs for you to choose!

Tomorrow’s our big day – Windows 7 officially launches and hits General Availability (or GA as we have acronyms for everything). That means Windows 7 will be available for purchase worldwide! I thought I’d take a moment to highlight some things to look out for as Windows 7 becomes available in stores and online around the world.

We have big events happening in many countries, including: Japan, UK, Germany, France, China and more. Plus we’re hosting a launch party in New York City tomorrow, which will be hosted by our own CEO Steve Ballmer. Even if you’re not in New York, you can still attend online.

Watch the New York City Windows 7 Launch Party LIVE – Starting 8am Pacific / 11am Eastern!

Customer-hosted Windows 7 Launch Parties will also be taking place starting tomorrow. As you know, Microsoft employee Windows 7 launch parties have been happening already. If you don’t live in a country where Launch Parties are available to host, you can hold a Windows 7 Meetup instead! We are providing people with the resources they need to host a Meetup here on Windows.com.

We will be updating our Virtual Press Room on Microsoft PressPass for Windows 7throughout the day tomorrow. You will be able to find all kinds of goodies including the webcast of our New York launch party, video clips and b-roll footage, photos, fact sheets and other materials, and more. If you’re planning to blog about Windows 7 tomorrow, this will be an excellent resource for you!

I’ve got several important (and pretty exciting) blog posts coming tomorrow that you’ll definitely want to read. So be on the lookout for these. And we have quite a few partners lined up doing guest blog posts for the Windows Partner Blog as well! I’m pretty stoked about what we’ve got lined up in terms of blogging for tomorrow.

Tomorrow is shaping up for one exciting day!

Beginning tomorrow, several very cool new offers will start that customers can take advantage of to get Windows 7:

Screaming Deals: We worked together with our partners to introduce a series of limited-time offers with great deals on hardware, software, upgrades, support, and other options. New offers will be released daily and available for the next 7 days on Windows.com (site goes live tomorrow – stay tuned for link!) as well as through participating retail and OEM partners. These “7 Days of Windows 7” offers are available in the U.S. only (other countries have specific deals as well). Tomorrow is Day 1 and those offers will include:

• Best Buy Bundle: HP Laptop, Desktop PC with monitor, Netbook, wireless router and set-up by Geek Squad for $1,199. For the price of one average Mac, you can outfit your entire family with 3 great Windows 7 PCs and a home network!
• Dell: Save more than $100 on a Dell Studio XPS13
• Gateway: All-in-one Acer Gateway ZX6800 23" for $899

Buy a PC - Get a Discounted Upgrade for another PC: Customers who buy a PC with Windows 7 Home Premium, Professional or Ultimate will be able to purchase a discounted copy of Windows 7 Home Premium, Professional, or Ultimate to upgrade an existing Windows PC. For people wanting to add a 2nd or 3rd PC in their home (and take advantage of HomeGroup) this is the perfect deal. This offer will run through January 2nd, 2010 and be available in Germany, UK, Czech Republic, Greece, Slovakia, Poland, Latvia, Hungary, U.S., Canada, Denmark, France, New Zealand, Australia.

Windows 7 Family Pack: The Windows 7 Family Pack is also available today while supplies last. Customers can buy 3 licenses of Windows 7 Home Premium for one low price – for the U.S. it’s available for $149.99. The Windows 7 Family Pack is available in the U.S., Japan, Canada, Germany, UK, France, Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, Ireland, Luxembourg, Sweden. One of my favorite features in Windows 7 today is HomeGroup. And with the Windows 7 Family Pack, you can truly take advantage of this feature for easy sharing of your music, pictures, video, and document libraries with the Windows 7 PCs in your home, as well as your Xbox 360.

Windows 7 Student Offer: If you are a student (an .edu email address is required), you can upgrade to Windows 7 at the LOWEST PRICE offered, $29.99 in the U.S. This offer runs through January 3rd, 2010 for US, Canada, France, Germany, Korea, Mexico and UK and March 31st, 2010 for Australia.

UPDATE: For more information on the Windows 7 Student Offer, click here.

One more thing… How would you change the world? We have a contest running asking folks to submit an idea they have on how they would use Windows 7 to help their local community. Record a video of yourself explaining your idea and submit it here on the 7 Ways to Change the World website. You have until November 11th to submit your video. The 7 people with the best submissions, as chosen by our judges, will each win a new PC running Windows 7. Each winner's chosen (eligible) community organization will receive a $7,000 grant.

Too many companies today are struggling to make do with fewer technical resources and they are looking to maximize the efficiencies of their technologies in order to reduce costs and business risks. HP is working with Microsoft to address these challenges and give companies the competitive edge they need to differentiate themselves in the marketplace.

Working with Microsoft on the launch of Windows Server 2008 R2, Exchange 2010 and Windows 7 has been an exciting venture for the HP team. HP and Microsoft are continuously building on our expertise in providing customers with an unparalleled technology experience for business-ready technology environments.

Our collaboration with Microsoft on Windows 7 showcases the extensive capabilities and functionality of Windows 7 on HP’s portfolio of PC’s, notebook’s and workstations. The sooner companies adopt Windows 7, the sooner they can start reducing overall support costs- that is why HP is ready to design, plan, migrate, manage and deploy Windows 7. In addition to services, HP Virtual Desktop Infrastructure solutions are helping to control the cost, manage the complexity and improve security of desktop computing with Windows 7. We’ve also been working with Microsoft on unified communications and collaboration solutions so customers can integrate their choice of endpoint devices, including Windows 7 platforms, and connect people seamlessly regardless of technology used.

We’re excited to join forces with Microsoft in their mission to create the most efficient enterprise technologies across the board with Windows Server 2008 R2. HP’s collaboration on Windows Server 2008 R2 is helping customers build a secure, infrastructure that is scalable and adaptable to meet changing business requirements.

With Windows Server 2008 R2, organizations can now make a serious reduction in power consumption and improve consolidation ratios with HP ProLiant G6 servers. HP’s support of Windows Server 2008 R2 provides a unique cost savings by reducing network real estate and improving server consolidation ratio- HP Flex-10 technology reduces network real estate by up to 75% reduces networking costs by up to 66% and reduces power consumption by up to 50% and can help improve virtualization ratios in network constrained environments.

HP provides a significant advantage for Microsoft Exchange 2010, foundational element for a complete, end-to-end unified communications and collaboration infrastructure. With this solution companies can reduce risk by relying on a strong partnership. HP has the broadest base of servers and storage that help reduce power and floor space requirements, lower cost of storage while improving availability with DAS storage and allows for greater choice in deployment options with a broad portfolio of storage solutions.

HP offers a number of services for Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2, Exchange 2010 and Windows 7. HP VDI standard set of services provides strategy and value workshop, planning and design, implementation and support services. Application Virtualization services help customers with the implementation of server infrastructure and support administration monitoring and management of server based computing servers.

HP is looking forward to the future of Windows Server 2008 R2, Exchange Server 2010 and Windows 7 and we’re excited to be a part of this exciting development with Microsoft.

Meg Shea-Chiles
Director, Microsoft Strategic Alliance, HP Enterprise Business

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.

A short presentation on how blade server systems and blade switches from BLADE Network Technologies are changing the datacenter. If you enjoyed...

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