People interested in trying or are currently using beta builds of 7APL – a robust Windows 7 application launcher will be interested to know they can get exclusive builds via our forums. Here is a quick screen shot of what’s in store:

Latest Features Include:

• Added application launch arguments support.
• Fixed several minor bugs.
• Updated UI interface.
• Added alt-hide menu functionality.
• Updated max jump-list tasks to 25.

For more in-depth information on 7APL you should visit…

According to TechArp.com, which has accurately predicted past moves by Microsoft, IE8 will be ready for RTM this coming March. According to the source, they say it will most likely be released sometime during the last two weeks. Microsoft, however, has declined to comment.

“Our timeline is driven by the quality of the product,” said a spokeswoman today in an e-mail reply to a request for comment. “Microsoft is deliberate in our approach to releasing new products,

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It is confirmed that Windows 7 will have the following versions:

1. Starter – Similar to Home Basic, no Aero enhancements but it will feature the new taskbar and be fairly bare bones but feature most things that Home Basic will have. This version will only allow 3 running applications at any given time. This will not be available in the US but will be for emerging markets. Expect this to be an extremely low cost option.
2. Home Basic –

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The EU is claiming that Microsoft is harming competition by bundling Internet Explorer with Windows. Described in an article found here, PC Pro explains that either Microsoft or OEMs may have to install competing web browsers such as Firefox, Chrome, and Opera on new Windows-based PCs.

“While computer users and OEMs are already free to run any web browsing software on Windows, the Commission is considering ordering Microsoft and OEMs to obligate users to choose a particular

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Microsoft has just released Internet Explorer 8 RC1 with build number 8.0.06001.18372. Neowin.net notes the following improvements:

• Faster Internet Explorer 8 is more responsive with new pages and tabs, opening up fast and reliably. You can now get to the information you care about most, in fewer steps; one click access to your webmail, favorite news sites or other online services.
• Easier Reduce the steps to accomplish many common tasks, and automate your access to real time

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Though Windows 7 is still early in it’s beta phase, it is already a solid system, with few reports of blue screens and most of the bugs are pretty minor. I will discuss a few of Windows 7’s features and how you can take advantage of them or even enhance your overall experience. Feel free to leave any comments or suggestions if you have any more tips or tricks up your sleeve.

Speed up the taskbar’s thumbnail display

For myself,…

Yesterday was a long day for those trying to get a Windows 7 beta key. Microsoft’s website was getting hammered with huge volumes of traffic — most likely due to the fact that so many people were constantly refreshing pages in hopes of getting a key. I had ignored the initial rush of traffic and was lucky enough to get a beta key within 5 minutes of trying.

This is where things get interesting. Today, it seems beta keys…

The public beta has been released to the public. However, it appears that Microsoft servers are slow/busy as people are having a hard time even accessing the download. I tested this personally and get “server busy”, “page load error” and 404 page errors while trying to access the download. You can visit the download page for yourself and see though it won’t help the influx of people trying to download it. This influx may be caused by the news…

It seems that the Windows 7 public beta will be announced/released tomorrow at the 2009 CES event during Steve Ballmer’s keynote. Previous predictions had put the beta release before/on the Jan. 5th, but since it has been quiet it’s only logical that it will be announced at the CES event tomorrow.

Note: Neowin reports that you’ll be able to watch Ballmer’s keynote live via 100K, 300K, and 750K streams. The keynote is expected to start…

I had posted previously about my excitement and shock at how well Windows 7 Beta 1 seems to perform on a low spec’d laptop (although I didn’t go into much depth). Others have had similar results, but one in particular gave me a shock of disbelief.

According to ZDNet blogger Adrian Kingsley-Hughes, Windows 7 Beta 1 proved to be faster than Vista and XP in 21 of 23 tests across two test machines.

Unfortunately, due to Windows…