Accessing Games for Windows LIVE from within Compatible Games
You're really only participating in the best of what Games for Windows - LIVE offers when you're playing a compatible game, which still amounts to a pretty small selection of titles. Most game developers today are forgoing the Games for Windows - LIVE program and simply doing their own thing. Or, they're signing up for the less inclusive Games for Windows logo program instead. These games supply some of the benefits of Games for Windows -LIVE but none of the online capabilities. That's not to...
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Figure 1-1 When you're buying a new PC, be sure to get the Windows 7 version you really want. Figure 1-1 When you're buying a new PC, be sure to get the Windows 7 version you really want. As you'll see in a moment, the cost of upgrading to a better or more expensive Windows 7 version is almost always lower if you do it at the time of the PC purchase. But regardless of the cost, it will always be easier to upgrade during the purchase process because the PC maker will install and configure the OS...
Figure The Menus button provides a minimenu of its own
The Layout option enables you to determine which UI pieces are visible in the Windows Live Mail application, and, in some cases, where they are located. The Layout dialog, shown in Figure 21-8, expands and contracts as you select individual options. Figure 21-8 Various elements of the Windows Live Mail UI are highly configurable. Figure 21-8 Various elements of the Windows Live Mail UI are highly configurable. Options, of course, opens the Windows Live Mail Options dialog, previously discussed....
Virtual Hard Drive VHD Mounting
Speaking of Windows Virtual PC, the virtual machines VMs created and used by this environment as well as other Microsoft virtualization solutions like the Windows Server-based Hyper-V utilize a virtual hard drive format that Microsoft creatively calls virtual hard drive, or VHD. These files are seen as any other files albeit large ones by the underlying OS and they can be copied around like any other files, which makes them easily deployable in corporate environments. But in Windows 7,...
Step Whittling a Little Further
Rationale aside, you may be looking back over the preceding list and thinking, well, hold on a second there that's still four product editions. Is Microsoft really simplifying anything Yes, because the vast majority of Windows 7 users will really have to consider only two of these product editions Windows 7 Home Premium Windows 7 Professional Microsoft and its partners will focus most of their efforts selling Windows 7 Home Premium and Professional to the retail and consumer markets and...
Figure The Setup Key links an Extender to a single Media Center PC
At this point, the Extender Setup wizard configures the PC to interact with the Extender. This process can take a few minutes, as part of the configuration is locating and identifying all of your media. Meanwhile, the Xbox 360 will load the Media Center Extender software and connect to your PC over the network, and you will see the familiar Media Center experience appear on the Xbox 360 or Extender . From that point, using Media Center Extender via the Xbox 360 should be virtually...
Windows Live Mail Basics
Compared to previous versions of Outlook Express and Windows Mail, Windows Live Mail offers a fresher look and feel and one that is far more customizable to boot but it also adopts the more modern three-pane view that Microsoft first debuted in its business-oriented Outlook application, and features a Windows 7-like look and feel, as shown in Figure 21-5. Figure 21-5 Windows Live Mail, like Outlook, presents a three-pane UI. Figure 21-5 Windows Live Mail, like Outlook, presents a three-pane UI....
Start Menu Customization
While the Windows 7 Start menu is a big improvement over its predecessors, you will likely want to customize it to match your needs. We've already discussed how you access this functionality right-click the Start button, choose Properties, and then click the Customize button. Table 4-3 summarizes the available options. Table 4-3 Start Menu Customization Options Computer Determines whether the Computer item appears as Display as a link a link or a menu, or is not displayed. This was called My...
Introducing the Home Server
In late 2007, Microsoft's PC maker and hardware partners began shipping specially designed home server products based around a new operating system called Windows Home Server. Code-named Q and previously code-named Quattro , Windows Home Server is just what its name suggests, a home server product. It provides a central place to store and share documents, along with other useful services for the connected home. Windows Home Server is designed to be almost diabolically simple, and after 2 years...
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available in the IE status bar, in the bottom-right corner of the window. Opens a new InPrivate Browsing IE window. If you install software that adds a button to the Internet Explorer toolbar, that button is added to the right side of the command bar now. For example, Windows Live Messenger installs a Messenger button, and Microsoft Office 2003 and newer installs a Research button and, if you've installed OneNote, a Send to OneNote button . You might see other similar buttons, depending on...
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Understanding the Movie Maker User Interface
Windows Live Movie Maker is divided into three basic areas from top to bottom the new ribbon interface at the top, which replaces the old menu and toolbar the Preview pane on the left, and the Contents pane on the right. As shown in Figure 13-14, these areas are clearly delineated. This is the first version of Windows Live Movie Maker to utilize a ribbon interface, but you're probably familiar with it from newer versions of Microsoft Office and, of course, the new Paint and WordPad versions...
Search Federation and Enterprise Search Scopes
Windows Search on the desktop was arguably detuned a bit beginning with Windows Vista Service Pack 1 SP1 and then, subsequently, in Windows 7 as well, thanks to antitrust concerns in the U.S. and elsewhere. But the underlying technology remains in Windows 7 and of course has even been enhanced somewhat. That said, you can no longer access Windows Search directly from the Start menu as you could in Windows previous to Vista with SP1. Therefore, you need to access an Explorer-based search box or...
Importing Calendars
Windows Live Calendar can import only calendars that are formatted in industry-standard ICS iCalendar format. This format is supported by applications such as Apple iCal, Mozilla Sunbird, and Microsoft Outlook 2007 or newer . Follow these steps to import an ICS calendar file into Windows Live Calendar 1. Click the Subscribe link to display the Import or subscribe to a calendar page. 2. Select Import from an ICS file. 3. You can now import this file into another compatible calendar application....
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Although the battery meter now offers far more functionality than before, you may find it a bit bewildering. That's because the Windows 7 battery meter offers a completely different experience depending on how you decide to interact with it. Here are the various actions you can perform with the battery meter Mouse-over If you move the mouse cursor over the battery meter, it will display the pop-up window shown in Figure 17-5. This pop-up window summarizes the state of the battery, but unlike...
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This chapter examined some of Microsoft's many Live products and services, which extend Windows 7 with a number of useful Web-based capabilities, including instant messaging, PC safety and security, e-mail, and much more. With Windows Live services, you can communicate with friends, co-workers, and loved ones, publish your thoughts and photos to Web sites, and keep your PC running securely and smoothly. Unlike previous Microsoft online services, the Windows Live services integrate with Windows...
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Secret Be careful when dragging and dropping e-mail messages. Messages you drag are V moved, and not copied, to the destination folder. If you'd rather copy messages, perhaps as part of a manual backup, you can instead select the messages, right-click, and choose Copy to Folder from the pop-up menu that appears. At the bottom of the Folders pane is a new Shortcuts area, which is inspired by a similar UI element in Microsoft Outlook. Basically, it's a box with five buttons, most of which change...
Windows Live Family Safety is installed as part of Windows Live Essentials
If Family Safety is installed, you can access its functionality via the Parental Controls control panel or via the standalone Family Safety Filter application, which is shown in Figure 8-22. The easiest way to find this application is to type family in Start Menu Search. Figure 8-22 Windows Live Family Safety offers a simple interface, but then most options are configured from the Web. Figure 8-22 Windows Live Family Safety offers a simple interface, but then most options are configured from...
Starting Windows Live Movie Maker
Typically, you start Windows Live Movie Maker by launching its shortcut from the Start menu. Type movie in the Search box to find it quickly. You can also find it buried in the Start menu All Programs list under Windows Live. The Windows Live Movie Maker application window is shown in Figure 13-12. Figure 13-12 Windows Live Movie Maker is decidedly simpler than its predecessors. Figure 13-12 Windows Live Movie Maker is decidedly simpler than its predecessors.
Contents Pane Windows 7
To reset the thumbnails to their default size, tap Ctrl 0. You can also enable a little-known Table of Contents pane from the Photo Gallery right-click menu. This adds a pane between the Navigation pane and thumbnail pane that corresponds to the current Group by setting. So, for example, if you're grouping by Date taken, the Table of Contents pane will list dates. If you're grouping by Rating, it will list ratings. The Table of Contents pane is shown in Figure 12-29. Figure 12-29 The Table of...
Using an Xbox or Media Center Extender
The Xbox 360 is an interesting synthesis of video gaming, online services and communities, person-to-person interaction, and multimedia. It is, in other words, everything the first Xbox was plus a whole lot more. While it doesn't make sense to cover the Xbox 360 in depth here, suffice it to say that Microsoft's latest video game console is actually a multifunction device with impressive non-gaming capabilities in addition to its core features. This is especially true since Microsoft created the...
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Figure 4-26 Aero Snaps provides a new way to maximize windows. The Aero Snaps Maximize keyboard shortcut is WinKey Up Arrow. Maximize vertically If you just want the current window to maximize vertically, both up and down but not horizontally, or left and right , you can grab the top or bottom edge of the currently focused and floating window and drag it toward the closest top or bottom edge of the screen. When the cursor hits the edge of the screen, the window will maximize vertically, as...
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The Movies submenu offers access to the following features Movie trailers Inspired, no doubt, by the success of Apple's QuickTime-based movie trailers service, Microsoft has added a similar feature to Media Center, enabling you to stream movie trailers over the Internet to your TV. Shown in Figure 15-29, the movies trailers submenu is a decent way to waste a bit of time. 'Observe and Hannah 'Public Report Montana Fnemie , 'Observe and Hannah 'Public Report Montana Fnemie , T Ri.' r Avon ieTflki...
Working with Aero Themes and Theme Packs
Aero Themes are accessed via the new Personalization option on the context menu that appears when you right-click the Windows desktop. You can also launch this control panel by typing Personalization in Start Menu Search. The Personalization control panel is shown in Figure 4-10. Figure 4-10 Aero Themes are configured via Windows 7's Personalization control panel. Figure 4-10 Aero Themes are configured via Windows 7's Personalization control panel. As you can see, a stock Windows 7 install...
Windows Live Groups
Why you want it It provides a way to collaborate online with groups of people, such as families, sports teams, and the like. Windows Live Groups is an intriguing idea basically, it's like Microsoft's server-oriented SharePoint for consumers, offering a way for any group of individuals to share things such as documents and other files, calendars, and photos, and a place to connect, discuss things, and discover what's going on. Windows Live Groups groups .live.com is shown in Figure 23-18. When...
Flicks and Gestures
Flicks, called gestures in other pen-based systems, are special quick movements you can make with a Tablet PC stylus over the digitizer to navigate quickly or launch shortcuts for commonly needed functionality such as copy and paste. With a flick, you literally flick the pen in a certain way to cause an action. Secret Windows 7 also supports a related type of gesture called a touch flick, which V enables you to perform similar actions using your finger on special touch-screen There are two...
Handling Multiple Email Accounts
If you have multiple e-mail accounts, you can check for new messages on any single account manually. Just choose the Sync button drop-down in the toolbar and then choose the account from the submenu that appears. You can choose which e-mail accounts are polled when you click the Sync button too. Just click Tools O Accounts, highlight a mail account, click the Properties button, and mark or clear the Include this account when receiving mail or synchronizing check box. This also works when...
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You can access Extra Large Icons only by clicking the More options arrow next to the Change your views button and selecting Extra Large Icons from the list. If you simply toggle through the various views with the button, Extra Large Icons will never come up. Figure 12-5 Some of the Windows 7 view styles are particularly nice when used with pictures. Figure 12-5 Some of the Windows 7 view styles are particularly nice when used with pictures. In Windows 7, like Windows Vista, you can view picture...
VLive Mail are visible and accessible via the RSS functionality in Internet
Manually subscribing to RSS feeds isn't particularly enticing, but the real reason you should be interested in this window is that it provides a way to customize how often feeds are updated. The default is daily, which is fine for some feeds, but woefully inadequate for feeds from news sites, blogs, stock updates, and other sources that will update frequently throughout the day. If you're going to use RSS feeds at all, we recommend upping the frequency of feed updates Set it to update every 15...
Windows Live Framelt
Why you want it It delivers photos and other content to digital picture frames. Type Online service. Windows Live Framelt-compatible digital photo frames are available from a variety of companies, including Aequitas Technologies, Pandigital, PhotoVu, Smartparts, and ViewSonic. The idea is obvious enough Windows Live Framelt enables users to publish photo albums and, curiously, certain non-photo content to compatible frames over the Internet. The Windows Live Framelt Web site frameit.live.com is...
Interactive Setup
If you purchased a copy of Windows 7 on DVD at a retailer or online store or e-tailer, as we like to call them , you can install Windows 7 using Microsoft's simpler new Interactive Setup Wizard, which guides you through a series of steps required to get Windows 7 up and running. There are three primary ways to install Windows 7 using Interactive Setup a clean install, where Windows 7 will be the only operating system on the PC an upgrade, where you upgrade an existing operating system to...
Live Mesh Remote Desktop
Live Mesh also includes a handy remote access feature called Live Mesh Remote Desktop. To access this feature, open the Live Mesh menu, either on your local PC or from within Live Desktop, find the PC you'd like to remotely control, and then click the appropriate Connect to Device link. Live Mesh will open a Remote Desktop-type window, complete with a unique Live Mesh Bar that includes remote desktop-oriented functionality such as Send Ctrl Alt Delete, Hide desktop on remote device, and Show...
Figure Media Center provides a simple wizard for connecting an Extender to your
The only tricky part of this Extender Setup process is that you need to enter an eight-digit Setup Key in the Media Center Setup Wizard to link the two machines. When Media Center prompts you for this key, walk over to the Xbox 360 and write down the number displayed on the Xbox 360 Extender. Then, return to the PC and enter the Setup Key to continue, as shown in Figure 15-45. Click Next to continue. Extender Setup WindowsMeduCenlei Enter the 8-digir setup key that is displayed on your TV. To...
Enhanced Address Bar
The Windows 7 address bar works almost identically to that in Windows Vista, but if you're coming from XP, prepare for a bit of a shock. Now, instead of the classic address bar view, the address bar is divided into drop-down menu nodes along the navigation path, making it easier than ever to move through the shell hierarchy. This interface is referred to as the breadcrumb bar, though we're pretty sure there isn't a gingerbread house at the end with a witch living in it. To see how this works,...
Managing Downloads from the Internet
Like previous versions of Internet Explorer, Internet Explorer 8 does not provide a download manager. Instead, it provides only basic functions for downloading files from Internet servers. Each time you click a link to download a file with Internet Explorer, you get a new download dialog. Given this limitation, it will come as no surprise that a variety of enterprising developers have created download managers for Internet Explorer. Our favorite comes with a free add-on called IE 7 Pro www...
Customizing Games Explorer
In addition to the Set up game updates and options window, which is accessible from the Games toolbar menu item, there are a number of ways in which you can configure the Games Explorer in Windows 7. New to Windows 7 is the More Games from Microsoft link in Games Explorer. When you double-click this icon, Internet Explorer or your browser of choice opens and navigates to the Microsoft Web site, as shown in Figure 16-17. From this page, you can explore Microsoft's nonbundled game options, which...
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This graphical interface is only available to those users with administrative privileges. This wasn't always the case, however. During the Windows 7 beta, Rafael and another blogger discovered and reported that UAC did not require confirmation when changing its slider setting, leaving it vulnerable to malware attack. Stubbornly, Microsoft did not budge at first, claiming that UAC worked as designed. It was not until after the issue gained international attention that Microsoft reversed its...
Running as Standard User with Parental Controls
You may be wondering what the experience is like running a standard user account to which Parental Controls have been applied. For the most part, it's just like running a standard account normally, but certain actions will trigger Parental Controls blocks, depending on how you've configured Parental Control restrictions. For example, if the user attempts to log on to the system during a restricted time period, he or she will be prevented from doing so, as shown in Figure 8-18. Your account has...
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Additionally, Windows 7 actually lets you boot your PC using a VHD instead of the native Windows 7 environment you've installed on the physical disk. This capability is obviously more useful in server environments, where you might want a virtual environment to run more efficiently at certain times. But it's an interesting and unique capability on the desktop as well. It requires tools that are available on the Windows Automated Installation Kit AIK , and it is documented on Paul Thurrott's...
Working Online or Offline
If you have a broadband Internet connection, you can work online all the time without thinking about it but if you want to compose e-mail offline, such as when you're on a plane, you sometimes need a way to use communications applications such as Windows Live Mail and Internet Explorer without them constantly trying to access Internet-based servers. For example, when you move from your inbox to a news folder, Windows Live Mail attempts to connect to that news server if you are working online....