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Vista & Server 2008 SP2 is now available in all languages

Microsoft has now posted the all language standalone & dvd iso image editions of Windows Vista SP2 & Windows Server 2008 SP2. Here are the links to get them:

Vista/Server 2008 SP2 – all language standalone (32bit)

Vista/Server 2008 SP2 – all language standalone (64bit)

Vista/Server 2008 SP2 – All Language DVD ISO Image

Even though the download center info on “Date Published” says June 22 on these downloads, they were not actually available until the evening of June 30 pacific time as I checked myself.

New recap of the release of Vista/Server 2008 SP2:
RTM (release to manufacturing) or finalized April 29, 2009 for 5 languages
released to MSDN/Technet subscribers as 5 language standalone downloads April 30, 2009
released to MSDN/Technet subscribers as integrated SP2 DVD ISO images May 11, 2009
RTM (release to manufacturing) or finalized May 21, 2009 for all languages
released to MSDN/Technet subscribers as all language standalone downloads May 22, 2009
RTW (release to web) or GA (general availability) > May 26, 2009 for 5 languages
RTW (release to web) or GA (general availability) > June 30, 2009 for all languages
Automatic Update distribution of Vista/Server 2008 SP2 also began on June 30, 2009

If you don’t want Automatic Updates to download & install SP2, turn off Automatic Updates or use the SP2 blocker tool whenever available.

Firefox 3.5 has been officially released

A little over a year since Firefox 3.0 was released back in mid June 2008, Firefox 3.5 has been released. Get it here:
http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/

Windows 7 VERY Cheap

Would you believe a Windows 7 Home Premium upgrade for $39.99?

If you own any version of Windows, and you can get to a Micro Center store this weekend, you can pick up a coupon that will allow you to buy the Win7 Home Premium upgrade for $39.99. You have to go back to Micro Center to redeem the coupon and buy the product between October 22 and November 4.

It’s strictly while supplies last, but you don’t have to pay anything now.

I’m admittedly a HUGE Windows 7 fan, as you all know, but this is ridiculous.

UPDATE: Costco is offering the Win7 Home Premium upgrade for $44.99. Order online. No need to go to the store, get a coupon or come back and redeem it: order now and it’ll be delivered in October. Offer expires July 11.

MORE UPDATES: Reader JS wrote to tell me that the $44.99 offered by Costco doesn’t include shipping. There’s also a non-member surcharge if you aren’t a Costco member. Since Costco (and most online stores these days) charges state sales tax, at least in some states, you may get socked for that, too, depending on where you live.

Most of the companies listed on the Microsoft order site don’t charge shipping. If any of you have experience with those companies’ sales tax charges, or with shipping overseas, please post your comments here!

Windows 7 Cheap

Microsoft just dropped the last big shoe in the Windows 7 rollout: pricing. Details are on the MS Windows 7 blog.

Steep discounts are on offer if you order soon. Amazon, for example, has the Win7 Home Premium upgrade available for $49.99. I think that’s an astonishing price. Really. And you will be able to perform a clean install of Win7 with the upgrade CD.

Stay tuned for a more thorough analysis.

Tell MS you want better formatted email in Outlook

When I first heard about the “Outlook’s broken – let’s fix it” movement, it was like deja vu all over again. Those of you who read my stuff years ago know that I railed about sloppy formatted email rendering in Outlook 2003, and it seems that nobody cared.

A brief history: in Outlook 2000, whenever you opened or previewed a formatted email message, Outlook cranked up Internet Explorer, behind the scenes, to “render” the formatted message. Starting with Outlook 2002 (the version in Office XP), you had the option of using the “normal” editor (which owed its existence to IE) or using something called WordMail (where Word was used instead of IE to render and edit the message). In Outlook 2003, WordMail became the norm.

IE didn’t do a very good job of rendering email, and its manifest security holes provided wriggling room for untold legions of infected messages. Word did an even worse job of rendering email – but it was substantially more secure.

The problem right now is a simple one: Word sucks as an email rendering machine. It doesn’t understand many common HTML constructs and because of that a message you view in Outlook 2007 can look positively awful compared to the same message viewed in Outlook 2000. On the other hand, you’re much less likely to get infected by a malicious message in Outlook 2007. Outlook 2000 runs around with a sign on its back saying, “Kick me.”

Now, finally, a group has taken up the cause. The Email Standards Project explains, “The very early stages of the Email Standards Project have involved just a few passionate teams and individuals who decided to stop just complaining about HTML email standards and start doing something about it.” Like a breath of fresh air.

What’s most important, to me, is that this group understands the source of the problem – Word’s poor HTML rendering. They aren’t trying to bring back IE as an Outlook rendering engine. Instead, they’re twittering to get Microsoft to improve Word, so email messages render properly in Outlook 2010.

Want to send a message to Microsoft that you’re tired of poorly rendered email? Drop by the Outlook’s broken – Let’s fix it site and add your voice to the chorus of 20,000 and counting.

UPDATE: Long Zheng at istartedsomething knows whereof he speaks. See his comments on the matter. I, too, am distressed that many of the people joining the drive are trying to get MS to replace Word with Internet Explorer as a rendering engine. As explained above, that would be a huge mistake. What we need is improved HTML rendering of formatted messages in Word.

Microsoft Security Essentials beta is closed, at least temporarily

Man, that was fast.

If you wanted a copy of the Microsoft Security Essentials beta bits, you’re officially too late. MS originally said it would only allow 75,000 downloads and it looks like they hit that number in a day.

A quick visit to the download site brings up this announcement:

Alert!

Thank you for your interest in joining the Microsoft® Security Essentials Beta. We are not accepting additional participants at this time. Please check back at later a date for possible additional availability.

This has all the earmarks of a marketing ploy. We’ll see if MS relents and allows more downloads. In the interim, copies of WSE are available in a zillion places.

UPDATE: Ed Bott advises via Twitter that MSE is still available from Softpedia.

Microsoft Security Essentials available – but don’t install it yet

As promised, Microsoft has just posted Microsoft Security Essentials, formerly known as Morro, in both 32-bit and 64-bit flavors. MSE is Microsoft’s free antivirus/antimalware product that replaces both the old Windows Live OneCare (which is no longer available) and Windows Defender.

Yes, installing MSE automatically disables Windows Defender. That confirms a feeling I blogged about a couple of months ago, that Microsoft intends to orphan Windows Defender.

I’m playing with the official version right now. It’s interesting, but you shouldn’t use it on anything but a test PC. If you don’t have a test computer that you’re willing to sacrifice, don’t install MSE just yet.

If you do have a test PC and want to take Morro for a ride, follow the usual precautions for switching antivirus products:

1. Download the new product (MSE), but don’t install it.

2. Unplug your computer from the Internet.

3. Uninstall your old antivirus product.

4. Re-boot your computer.

5. Install MSE. It will tell you when you need to re-connect to the Internet.

UPDATE: Microsoft supposedly restricts MSE downloads to computers that are in the US, Brazil and Israel: the download site says, “This beta is available only to customers in the United States, Israel (English only), People’s Republic of China (Simplified Chinese only) and Brazil (Brazilian Portuguese only).”  Tosh. I didn’t have any trouble at all downloading and installing it in Phuket, Thailand. The trick? Use Firefox.

Official Windows 7 RTM date July 13?

Russian site WZor reports that Microsoft is planning to officially sign off on the Windows 7 RTM version on July 13. The Google translation of WZor’s posting:

FINAL ROADMAP FOR WINDOWS 7 [CLIENT-SERVER]:

01.06 – 19.06 BUILDING RTM ESCROW – already assembled RTM ESCROW.

22.06 – 10.07 RTM RECALL – assembly and search for candidates to the final RTM release.

10.07 WINDOWS 7 RTM FINAL BUILD TARGET – build day “gold code”.

13.07 WINDOWS 7 RTM SIGN-OFF – the date of signing the final RTM release!

On the RTM build of the day signed an official final release and you can begin to consider profit

WZor gives the following status for the Release builds:

The branch builds WIN7_RTM, candidates for the finals:

6.1.7260.0.win7_rtm.090612-2110 – RTM branch build – no sign-off!

6.1.7261.0.win7_rtm.090615-1900 – RTM branch build – no sign-off!

6.1.7262.0.win7_rtm.090617-1900 – RTM branch build – no sign-off!

6.1.7263.0.win7_rtm.090619-1900 – NEW candidate in RTM branch build.

Which means the June 19 build of Windows 7 RTM, build number 7263, may – emphasis on the word may - become the version of Windows 7 that appears on new PCs and in shrinkwrapped boxes on October 23.

I’m still astounded by the quality of information coming out of Russia, and the truly bizarre graphics on WZor’s news page. Drop by the WZor site, use Ku! for the user name and password, and take a look.