Windows Genuine Advantage becomes Windows Activation Advantage

Ah, the spinmeisters are at it again.

Mary Jo Foley reports that Microsoft is replacing its “Windows Genuine” terminology with the kinder, gentler “Windows Activation” sobriquet.

Apparently only the name has changed. The rest remains the same.

… and Windows 7 book writers are scrambling…

Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor beta

If you have a Windows XP SP2 or SP3 computer, or a Vista computer, and you’re wondering whether it’ll handle Windows 7, this one’s for you.

Microsoft just released the beta version of its Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor.

The installer (which puts a copy of .NET Framework 2.0 on your XP machine if you don’t have .NET Framework already) works just fine, and teh advisor runs great, even on a 100% pirate copy of Windows XP.

It tells you about potential problems with hardware and with incompatible software. Give it a shot if you’re sitting on a fence about installing th Windows 7 Release Candidate.

What’s up with Steve Riley?

This from Steve Riley’s blog:

as a part of Microsoft’s second round of restructuring, my position was eliminated yesterday and my employment with Microsoft has ended.

That hit me like a ton o’ bricks. Steve Riley may be the best “face” – presenter, spokesman, raconteur – that Microsoft has ever had, and his status among security types is legendary. He has a rare combination of technical savvy and the ability to fire people with his speaking.

Wonder where he’s headed?

We’ll miss ya, Steve…

New round of job cuts at Microsoft

Mary Jo Foley reports that Microsoft has started its second round of planned cuts, with emphasis on sales, marketing, and support.

When the layoff announcement came in January, MS immediately cut 1,400 people, anticipating that 3,600 more would be cut in the ensuing 18 months. Looks like this round of cuts will come close to the 3,600.

Roughly half the people cut are in the US, the others are overseas.

Still, MS expects to hire 2,000 to 3,000 more people in the next year, primarily for its Online Systems Division, which has been enormously unprofitable, according to MS’s latest earnings report. Online Systems seems poised to post a $2,000,000,000 loss this fiscal year, ending June 30, 2009, give or take a penny.

Windows 7 Release Candidate now available for everybody

Don’t rush.

As expected, Microsoft has just posted the official Windows 7 Release Candidate. (Actually, they got it out a day early Redmond time.)

Be sure to read the admonitions on the download page before you install it. While Windows 7 is remarkably stable, it still isn’t fully baked.

UPDATE: AT 2 a.m. on May 5, Redmond time, the 32-bit and 64-bit consumer downloads are running at full speed.

Windows 7 RC Release Notes are up

In preparation for The Next Server Meltdown, Microsoft has just posted the Release Notes for the Windows 7 Release Candidate.

Some interesting stuff. For example, if you have any of these PCs,

HP 2140 Mini-Note PC, HP Compaq 2230s Notebook, HP Compaq 6530b, HP Compaq 6530s, HP Compaq 6531s, HP Compaq 6730b, HP Compaq 6730s, HP Compaq 6830s, HP EliteBook 2530p, HP EliteBook 2730p, HP EliteBook 6930p, HP EliteBook 8530p, HP EliteBook 8530w Mobile Workstation, HP EliteBook 8730w Mobile Workstation

The install of Windows 7 RC may fail with an error message saying Iastor.sys is missing. If that happens to you, look at the Release Notes for a solution.

There are also known problems with AppLocker, IE8 page rendering, VPN, the Windows Live Photo Gallery connection to Windows Media Player, some extra see-through parts in the taskbar, playback of high bit rate MPEGs, and Search under very unusual circumstances.

Let the games begin…

Windows Vista Service Pack 2 is available – but only on MSDN and TechNet

As I erroneously announced a few days ago, Windows Vista Service Pack 2 is now available for download, but only if you subscribe to (and pay for) Microsoft’s MSDN or TechNet services.

The official description:

Windows Vista Service Pack 2 and Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 for all editions (x86, x64, i64) – DVD (English, French, German, Japanese, Spanish)

I expect it’ll be posted for general download in the next week or so.

I continue to advise you to hold off on the patch. It’s a biggie, and it’s bound to have a few teething problems.

What’s a Service Pack?

Reader D writes:

Hi Woody, Thanks for all your help.

I have upgraded to Firefox 3.0.10.

I give up, I thought I knew what Windows Service Pack is, but I guess I don’t.

I don’t think I ever loaded any update with Service Pack in it. Vista is running fine.

I have KB955430 as an update in waiting. I checked out the “details” online and found a page saying that some PC have trouble rebooting after the update, instructions on removing it, nothing positive…

What exactly is a Service Pack ?

A Service Pack is  a big rollup of patches, sometimes including new features, that Microsoft releases from time to time. Some Service Packs are relatively minor. Others are tantamount to an entirely new release of the product.

KB 955430 is [a prerequisite for*] Vista Service Pack 2. For now, I recommend that you hold off on installing it – for precisely the reason you mention, people are reporting some problems. That’s expectable with a Service Pack. Microsoft is “pushing” it through Automatic Updates and, like most changes pushed through Automatic Updates, there’s no reason to run out and blithely install what Microsoft says you should install. Far better to wait and see what problems develop.

Watch the MS-DEFCON level.

[* Thanks to JP for pointing out that this KB article is NOT the Service Pack. It's a prerequisite for Vista SP2, which isn't out yet.]