The Windows Team has been continuing to work towards the first BETA release of Windows 7. PDC 2008 previewed some of improvements to the desktops, but Microsoft is not stopping there for this release. The website CNBeta has a video of the latest build 6956 shown at WinHEC 2008 in China, and a new Boot screen animation is now a part of the boot sequence. Check it out:

The Boot animation features 3 glowing blurs combining to form glowing logo. Kinda hard to describe to be honest. :P

Windows Vista currently has a boot screen animation, but its quite conservative with just a simple glowing effect. A lot of folks on enthusiast websites such as NeoWin.net have been discussing this particularly non-interesting part of Windows to most average users. Its one thing for sure, Microsoft is making a major UI overhaul of the Windows interface and its in the details. Its also said that Microsoft will be allowing OEM’s to edit the boot sequence. I remember reading an article on Paul Thurrott’s WinSupersite indicating the reason for Vista’s conservative boot sequence was to actually improve and shorten the boot time. Removing

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Bob Familiar, Architect Evangelist working for Microsoft, has posted a blog entry detailing next weeks MSDN Developer Conferences. The MSDN developer conferences take place across the United States from the 9th December through to the 19th February 2009.

In the blog post Familiar states "attend an upcoming MSDN Developer Conference and you will receive a Windows 7 Beta 1 DVD". It's not clear whether this is post conference or during the conference itself. However another Microsoft employee, Keith Combs, has confirmed the DVDs will be available on the 13th January. Putting 1 and 1 together, and little birdies whispering from across the ocean, next years Consumer Electronics Show runs from the 8th January to the 11th so this would place beta 1 at the right time for a grand unveiling. Judging by the quality of 6801 Microsoft is well placed to release the beta as early as possible. Fellow Microsoft blogger Ed Bott believes Windows 7 beta 1 will feature at CES too.

The only slight hitch in Microsoft's plan? MacWorld. The conference runs from 5th January to 9th January and Steve Jobs is one of the keynote speakers. If Apple have been working overtime then they could...

Here is your chance as a developer to test Microsoft’s next version of Windows!

Quote:

Breaking news!!!

Attend an upcoming MSDN Developer Conference and you will receive a Windows 7 Beta 1 DVD.

Register today and you’ll get the best of the PDC in your own backyard and hear all of the exciting announcements around the Azure Services Platform and Windows 7.

1. Experience Windows Azure
   Create applications that seamlessly bridge the gaps between PC, Web, and phone
2. Be among the first to see Windows 7
   See the latest advances in Multi-Touch Application Development
3. Take your .NET skills to the next level
   See sessions on WPF 4.0, Silverlight 2, The Future of C# and VB, ASP.NET 4.0, Live Mesh and more

The Cost? Just $99.
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Learn more here

Many Windows Vista users feel that Microsoft did release to many different editions of the operating system which made it harder for consumers to pick the right product. Even though not all editions were available to anyone it still meant that consumers had the choice among several Windows Vista editions from Windows Vista Basic to Windows Vista Ultimate.
Microsoft on the other hand does not seem to be bothered as much as the consumers are. German news mag Winfuture is reporting that Microsoft is considering to sell country specific editions of Windows 7 in order to make it easier for them to pick the right product. A customer from Germany or France would then buy Windows 7 editions that have been translated to his language. According to the magazine this is just one possible line of thought.
First reactions are quite negative though because it would increase the Windows 7 editions tremendously. The computer magazine is also reporting that Microsoft is having plans to rename some of the editions of Windows 7 to make it easier for consumers to distinguish between the editions. A strong rumor is the reintroduction of a professional edition of Windows 7.

The Engineering Windows 7 blog is finally starting to integrate the operating system into their articles. Most of the previous articles that have been posted at the website were about theoretical aspects and things Microsoft learned from past operating systems.

It contains
Refreshed Look
Pinning
Unification
Interactive, Grouped Thumbnails
Aero Peek
Jump Lists
Custom Window Switchers
Thumbnail Toolbars
Notification Area
Overlay Icons and Progress Bars
Color Hot-track
Start Menu

The first thing that might catch the attention is the Color Hot-track feature. This is a visual aid that becomes active when the user moves the mouse over a Taskbar icon.
When a person moves her mouse over a running program on the taskbar, she will be pleasantly surprised to find that a light source tracks her mouse and the color of the light is actually based on the icon itself. We calculate the most dominant RGB of the icon and dynamically paint the button with this color.

Overlay Icons and Progress Bars have not been mentioned before as well:
Cleaning the Notification Area warrants us to consider other ways that programs can surface important information. We’ll always had overlay icons throughout Windows (e.g. to show shortcuts in...

The Windows Team delves into some of the improvements that have been made to the popular Windows Taskbar in Windows 7. Interestingly, the new Touch focused Taskbar’s history goes back as far as Windows 1.0 and the Windows Team has a screenshot that proves it.

Quote: Windows 1.0 supported zoomed (full-screen), tiled and icon (minimized) windows. Since there was no support for overlapping [that big debate between charless and billg, Steven], a dedicated portion of the desktop was kept visible at the bottom of the screen to surface non-tiled and non-zoomed windows. By minimizing a window or dragging it to the bottom of the screen, the person was able to populate this rudimentary taskbar with a large icon corresponding to the running window. She could then get back to this window by clicking or dragging this icon to the desktop. As simple as this mechanism seems today, it cemented an important concept that is with us even in Windows 7—when people switch between tasks, they are really switching between windows. Although it took Windows 95 to introduce a mature taskbar with launching, switching and notification functionality, the experience of surfacing and switching between windows via a dedicated region at

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