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Windows 7 will be officially released on October 22, 2009. It is built on the basis of Windows Vista with features to smooth out the rough spots of the Microsoft operating system. Windows 7 has been going through testing and beta releases during the last several months. Discounted upgrades have been offered to Windows users over the summer months but as the launch of Windows 7 approaches, the discounts are running out.

If you are upgrading from Windows XP to Windows 7, you will need to perform a clean install of the new operating system. Windows 7 is expected to run well on computers that meet the recommendations for Windows Vista; before upgrading it will be important to check that your system meets the requirements. Windows 7 will be distributed in six different editions Home Basic, Home Premium, OEM, Enterprise, Professional, and Ultimate.

The most highly promoted of the Windows 7 editions will be the Home Premium Edition and Professional edition. The Windows 7 Home Premium is well suited to most users and will include all the features that are expected of a MS Windows OS such as networking support and media player. Windows 7 Professional is suited to power users who will enjoy the advanced networking capabilities and the ability to run apps in a virtual Windows XP environment.

Depending on the system you are planning to upgrade, you will also have the choice of running a 32 bit or 64 bit version of the Windows 7 OS. If you have an older computer you may need to use the 32 bit version of Windows 7. Even if you have a 64 bit computer but use older hardware, you may want to play it safe with the 32 bit version of Windows 7 to ensure that you don’t require extra upgrades.

You may want to proceed with the 64 bit version of Windows 7 If you have the newest hardware if you work with resource hungry apps that are optimized for 64 bit. Processes such as video editing and CAD will benefit from the ability to work with over 4 GB of RAM. Until 64 bit computing becomes the common standard it may be advisable for most computer users to stick with a 32 bit operating system to ensure compatibility with needed software, etc.

Windows 7 is expected to correct the complaints that many people who have upgraded to Vista from XP have been having. Many Windows XP users have been hesitant to upgrade to Vista but are expected to be more welcoming to Microsoft’s Windows 7. Windows XP applications are said to be compatible with Windows 7 and those that aren’t should be able to run with the use of the virtual XP environment feature of the operating system.

Windows XP was introduced about eight years ago and many people are still very happy with it but an upgrade to this OS is due. Those that have upgraded to Vista are expected to be happier with the Windows 7 operating system than with their present OS. Whether this is the case is yet to be discovered and anxiously awaited.

Get your PC questions about Windows 7 answered for free at http://www.pchelpforum.com

Although Microsoft are one of the largest companies in the world they sometimes get it wrong, and this can precisely be said for Windows Vista. The operating system never really caught on with the public, simply because XP was still a much better alternative. But let’s have a look at a few reasons as to why Vista never really took off, this is going to be from a user perspective and not a technical article you may have previously come across.

Wrong Time
The launch of vista was at the wrong time, laptops were growing a huge amount and most of the laptops could not handle the operating system, so what Microsoft did instead was re promote Windows XP all over again. People were getting into fast loading and communication and with things such as fast internet on the rise it was just not acceptable.

Startup Times
Now personally I had a very fast laptop with two gigabyte RAM and Windows Vista start up times were still very slow. I mean when I was in a rush to open the computer to quickly go online and check something, it just took ever so long.

System Response
Trying to install a piece of software was again very time consuming, not just because it took ages to load, but the constant pop ups saying allow access to install were a bother. I mean if I have clicked to install something, obviously I want to allow access.

Web 2.0
Probably the most important thing in my opinion was the rate at which I could get online. I do not just say this for myself, but probably for half the population now. Computers, especially laptops are no longer used for just accessing things such as paint or word. Almost every one that I know uses them to access the internet. We have all seen the rise in online web applications and social sites. But what I found a bother with Windows Vista is that because it was so resourceful, it was quite hard to do anything online. Because it was either slow at loading or just completely crashed on me, which is especially annoying if you are in the middle of filling out a form.

Now don’t get me wrong I like Microsoft’s operating system and XP was truly brilliant, but Vista just did not cut it and myself and a lot of people will definitely be looking forward to the highly anticipated Windows 7 operating system.

For great Family Holidays, Christmas Holidays and Dancing Holidays

Is your computer running extremely slow or crashing frequently? This problem is often mistaken as a need to reformat your computer or to reinstall Windows. The solution, however, may be much simpler. The most common solution to this takes only about ten minutes a month and very little effort; the solution described is registry cleaning. The Windows registry is a database containing all of a computers configuration information; definitely not something to mess with.

As more programs are installed and uninstalled, the registry will begin to get messy and unorganized. As this piles up, the computer becomes more unstable and tends to crash much more often. While manual cleaning could work, the chance of you ruining some important information can be very high. There are a few things that may tell you that your computer needs to have its registry cleaned.

The most common symptoms that should tell you that your registry needs to be cleaned are:

* Your computer runs much slower than it used to.

* Error messages commonly pop up for no known reason.

* You get much more ads when surfing the internet than you used to.

* You get ActiveX or other errors.

* Blue screens, freezing, and crashes are common.

Registry cleaners are programs that go through your registry and find entries that are either invalid or empty and delete them. This can often make your computer seem almost new again. Over half of the time that the computer seems to go slow, it isn’t because it needs to be reformatted or have Windows reinstalled, it just needs to have the registry cleaned. Using a good registry cleaner is safer, faster, and much easier than trying to do it manually.

The first step to learning how to effectively clean out your registry is to learn how it works. The free downloadable report named Registry Cleaning does that and much more. You’ll definitely want to download and check out the report, after all, it’s free. This report will not only teach you what causes system slowdowns, but how the registry works, how to clean it, and precautionary steps to take. The entire point of registry cleaning programs is to make your life easier, but if you fail to learn how to use them properly, you’re just making it harder.

Registry cleaning is a very important step to proper computer maintenance. It’s extremely surprising about how many people don’t even know what registry cleaning is. If you want to make your computer seem like new again, the first step is registry cleaning. Get a registry cleaner to scan how many problems your computer has and you’ll see just how important it is; once again, the free report covers all of this as well.

The worst case scenario is that this FREE report doesn’t greatly help you. Regardless, it’s worth the twenty minutes it takes to read.

To learn more about registry cleaning, check out the free Registry Risk report. Feel free to distribute this article in any form as long as you include this resource box. You can also include your affiliate link if you sign up at Clickbank Pirate.

Videogames have brought about a revolution in the field of entertainment. They bring instant excitement, suspense, thrill and the exhilaration of getting under the skin of the protagonist of the story in the game.

What started off as basic entertainment for kids has developed into one of the best-loved pastimes for adults. The intricately woven stories, the exquisite graphics and special effects and the unadulterated delight of fighting battles gives endless pleasure to anyone who plays videogames. Among the many makers to jump into the bandwagon of making these interesting videogames, Microsoft is one of the leading manufacturers.

What is DirectX?

In order to ease the compatibility issue between the gaming consoles and PC architecture, Microsoft evolved the DirectX. You must understand that all gaming consoles have the same hardware which was not the case with PCs. Therefore to ensure that all video gaming consoles could be connected to the PCs, Microsoft introduced a common interface between gaming hardware, operating system and multimedia application. DirectX is the name of this interface. This is a piece of software which can coordinate between gaming consoles and multimedia programs.

Along with the evolution of hardware and software, DirectX has also come of age. Currently, Direct-X 9.0 is the accepted version. This is compatible with Windows98. If we go down the line then version 8.0a is acceptable on Windows95 and version 3.0a on Windows NT 4. With the advent of Windows Vista, there was the need for DirectX 10.0. All these versions are backward compatible. DirectX is available on all versions of Windows. You can also upgrade it in case the game you have purchased does not run on the PC.

The war ensues between Direct-X 9.0 and Direct-X 10.0

Once we come down to the comparison of DirectX9.0 versus 10.0 there will not be much of a difference. Although the hardcore Direct-X 9.0 fans will swear by its name and say that Direct-X 9.0 is by far the better interface, Direct-X10.0 has a better graphics display. The video effects on the Direct-X 10.0 are to be seen to be believed. The images are of the best quality, the graphics are just mind blowing and the games give the best entertainment possible. But this does not mean that the graphics on DirectX 9.0 are by any means less worthy. In fact, the difference is very subtle.

Most users claim that version 9.0 is much better than 10.0. Measuring the frame rate of various videogames on both the interfaces shows that DirectX 9.0 gives a better performance. When similar minutes of a videogame were run in both interfaces, DirectX 9.0 showed more efficiency. There was a difference of almost 20fps in both. However, more evidence is necessary to support the fact that DirectX 9.0 is better.

Although Direct-X 10.0 is exclusive to Microsoft Vista, it is backward compatible. This means that although games made to be run on Direct-X 9.0 can be run on version 10.0, the reverse is not possible. Once the games are tailor-made to be run on Direct-X 10.0, they cannot run on any other platform except Windows Vista. As several enhancements were made in DirectX10.0 over DirectX 9.0, it is not possible for games made for the latter to be run on the former.

Overview

However much discussions continue on the comparison between both the interfaces, it is difficult to reach a conclusion. Although Microsoft claims heavy advancements made in version 10.0, the users are not ready to be convinced yet. They need more proof of the fact that DirectX 10.0 is indeed better. As of now, most of the proof points to the fact that version 9.0 has stolen a march over DirectX 10.0.

You can have access to articles about computers in portuguese language from page Computador

Roberto Sedycias works as IT consultant for Polomercantil

Microsoft have been dominating the operating system market since the PC was first released. The company creator Bill Gates has been at the edge of cutting technology right from the forefront. Nowadays Microsoft is the only operating system that is used on PCs, almost every computer comes pre bundled with the whole Microsoft package.

No one has even dared to launch an operating system for one of two reasons, the first being that they are very complex to program and build and the second is that no one could really compete with the billions of dollars and partnerships that Microsoft has created over numerous years.

But things could now be changing, because as we know there is another billion dollar company around the corner and that is Google. Google have indicated that they will be creating a new operating system for PC’s. They went on to say that by mid 2010 the operating system could be on sale to the vast majority of people.

Google have said that they are going back to basics with their operating systems stating that, “We’re designing the OS to be fast and lightweight, to start up and get you on to the web in a few seconds,” said the blog post written by Sundar Pichai, vice-president of product management, and Google’s engineering director Linus Upson.

Google have also indicated that operating systems have never really been designed to be used for the internet, so now they will make internet access and web based programs faster and easier to use then ever before.

I personally feel that Microsoft could be getting a bit scared, we already know that Google are one of the largest companies in the world, they also have a huge amount of web based applications. They are going to be creating this operating system from scratch, so they will be able to structure it around the current way in which users use computers. Google want to bring everything online and allow people to access their documents and work from any computer, for so long people have relied on their hard drives which then crash and make you lose everything. Google will be making everything and anything web based, which will also ultimately help their search engine in the future.

This will be one battle that a lot of tech guru’s simply will not want to miss, there may be room for only one operating system.

If you want to buy New Cars, Buy a BMW and Buy a Mercedes

Despite encountering its fair share of naysayers, technological laggards and operational glitches, Windows Vista has been slowly but surely proving that it is here to stay. Before making the leap away from Windows XP, the previous and much lauded Microsoft operating system, it is important to assess the features, security and overall user experience provided by Windows Vista, in order to determine whether your computing needs make the switch necessary.

Windows Vista offers quite a few new and enhanced features above Windows XP. These features are inclusive of Windows Aero, a completely redesigned look for the user interface that boasts a cleaner, more transparent appearance with graphic quality that is impressive as well as Live Icons and the new Windows Flip 3D feature.

Another important feature offered by Windows Vista is Windows Search; a helpful feature that allows you to search for files or applications from almost anywhere. Unlike the search tool in Windows XP, Windows Search will auto fill the search field after the user types only a few letters. The biggest question Windows XP users have asked in reaction to this interface overhaul is, “Why?” Change just for changes sake is never good, especially when it causes dedicated Windows users considerable frustration because familiar things, like folders, buttons, icons, and files, are no longer in the places where they’re expected to be.

Windows Vista also offers enhanced computer security- a major concern for both home-based and commercial Windows users. For home users, Windows Vista includes Parental Controls that allows the computer’s administrator to create separate user accounts for each child with search and operation boundaries that are set specifically for their respective ages.

Another new security feature, Windows Vista User Account Control (UAC), allows the user to operate the computer as a standard user instead of an administrator. The UAC makes it so that password permission or validation from the administrator is required before allowing changes or deletions of certain features, which are denoted with a multi-colored shield, thus preventing these changes from being made accidentally. Critics of Windows Vista point to UAC’s multiple confirmation dialogs and the significant difficulty involved in enabling or disabling multiple network connections rapidly or transporting a file to a protected folder as some of the drawbacks of this particular security feature.

Unlike Windows XP, Windows Vista also includes two different firewalls: the standard firewall that was available in Windows XP and Windows Firewall with Advanced Features. From a security standpoint, these features may sound tantalizing, but today, many third party providers, like MacAfee or AVG can deliver similar computer security, with less hassle.

Jason Oh has an interest in computers and technology. His blog Refurbished Computer Explained provides detailed information on refurbished desktop computers. The website also offers useful tips of what to look for before purchasing refurbished desktop computers.

Here is the list of the most important shortcuts to know:

Option: Display all bootable volumes (Startup Manager)
Shift: Perform Safe Boot (start up in Safe Mode)
C: Start from a bootable disc
T: Start in FireWire target disk mode
N: Start from NetBoot server
X: Force Mac OS X startup (if non-Mac OS X startup volumes are present)
Command-V: Start in Verbose Mode
Command-S: Start in Single User Mode
Command-A: Select all items in the front Finder window (or desktop if no window is open)

Option-Command-A: Deselect all items
Shift-Command-A : Open the Applications folder
Command-C: Copy selected item/text
Shift-Command-C: Open the Computer window
Command-D: Duplicate selected item
Shift-Command-D: Open desktop folder
Command-E: Eject
Command-F: Find any matching Spotlight attribute
Shift-Command-F: Find Spotlight file name matches
Option-Command-F: Navigate to the search field in an already-open Spotlight window
Shift-Command-G: Go to Folder
Shift-Command-H: Open the Home folder of the currently logged-in user account

Command-I: Get Info
Option-Command-I: Show Inspector
Control-Command-I: Get Summary Info
Shift-Command-I: Open iDisk
Command-J: Show View Options
Command-K: Connect to Server
Shift-Command-K: Open Network window
Command-L: Make alias of the selected item
Command-M: Minimize window
Option-Command-M: Minimize all windows
Command-N: New Finder window
Shift-Command-N: New folder
Option-Command-N :New Smart Folder
Command-O: Open selected item
Shift-Command-Q: Log Out

Option-Shift-Command-Q: Log Out immediately
Command-R :Show original (of alias)
Command-T: Add to Sidebar
Shift-Command-T: Add to Favourites
Option-Command-T: Hide Toolbar / Show Toolbar in Finder windows
Shift-Command-U: Open Utilities folder
Command-V :Paste
Command-W :Close window
Option-Command-W: Close all windows
Command-X: Cut

Option-Command-Y: Slideshow (Mac OS X 10.5 or later)
Command-Z: Undo / Redo
Command-1: View as Icon
Command-2: View as List
Command-3: View as Columns
Command-4: View as Cover Flow (Mac OS X 10.5 or later)
Command-,: (Command and the comma key) Open Finder preferences

Command-`: (the Grave accent key–above Tab key on a US English keyboard layout) Cycle through open Finder windows
Command-Shift-?: Access Mac Help
Option-Shift-Command-esc: Force Quit Finder
Command-[: Back
Command-]: Forward
Command-Up Arrow: Open enclosed folder
Control-Command-Up Arrow: Open enclosed folder in a new window

Command-Down Arrow: Open highlighted item
Command-Tab: Switch application -cycle forward
Shift-Command-Tab: Switch application -cycle backward
Command-Delete: Move to Trash
Shift-Command-Delete:Empty Trash
Option-Shift-Command-Delete: Empty Trash without confirmation dialog

Spacebar (or Command-Y): Quick Look (Mac OS X 10.5 or later)
Command key while dragging: Move dragged item to other volume/location (pointer icon changes while key is held - see)
Option key while dragging: Copy dragged item (pointer icon changes while key is held)
Option-Command key combination while dragging: Make alias of dragged item (pointer icon changes while key is held)

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Here is the list of the most important ones:

Windows system key combinations
F1: Help
CTRL+ESC: Open Start menu
ALT+TAB: Switch between open programs
ALT+F4: Quit program
SHIFT+DELETE: Delete item permanently

Windows program key combinations
CTRL+C: Copy
CTRL+X: Cut
CTRL+V: Paste
CTRL+Z: Undo
CTRL+B: Bold
CTRL+U: Underline
CTRL+I: Italic

Mouse click/keyboard modifier combinations for shell objects
SHIFT+right click: Displays a shortcut menu containing alternative commands
SHIFT+double click: Runs the alternate default command (the second item on the menu)
ALT+double click: Displays properties
SHIFT+DELETE: Deletes an item immediately without placing it in the Recycle Bin
General keyboard-only commands
F1: Starts Windows Help
F10: Activates menu bar options
SHIFT+F10 Opens a shortcut menu for the selected item (this is the same as right-clicking an object
CTRL+ESC: Opens the Start menu (use the ARROW keys to select an item)
CTRL+ESC or ESC: Selects the Start button (press TAB to select the taskbar, or press SHIFT+F10 for a context menu)
ALT+DOWN ARROW: Opens a drop-down list box
ALT+TAB: Switch to another running program (hold down the ALT key and then press the TAB key to view the task-switching window)
SHIFT: Press and hold down the SHIFT key while you insert a CD-ROM to bypass the automatic-run feature
ALT+SPACE: Displays the main windows System menu (from the System menu, you can restore, move, resize, minimize, maximize, or close the window)
ALT+- (ALT+hyphen): Displays the Multiple Document Interface (MDI) child windows System menu (from the MDI child windows System menu, you can restore, move, resize, minimize, maximize, or close the child window)
CTRL+TAB: Switch to the next child window of a Multiple Document Interface (MDI) program
ALT+underlined letter in menu: Opens the menu
ALT+F4: Closes the current window
CTRL+F4: Closes the current Multiple Document Interface (MDI) window
ALT+F6: Switch between multiple windows in the same program (for example, when the Notepad Find dialog box is displayed, ALT+F6 switches between the Find dialog box and the main Notepad window)
Shell objects and general folder/Windows Explorer shortcuts

For a selected object:
F2: Rename object
F3: Find all files
CTRL+X: Cut
CTRL+C: Copy
CTRL+V: Paste
SHIFT+DELETE: Delete selection immediately, without moving the item to the Recycle Bin
ALT+ENTER: Open the properties for the selected object

To copy a file
Press and hold down the CTRL key while you drag the file to another folder.

To create a shortcut
Press and hold down CTRL+SHIFT while you drag a file to the desktop or a folder.

Fool around with all the keys to learn new shortcuts. You may learn new ones not listed here.

Practice makes perfect. Use these often and sooner or later they will become second nature. There is no other way you can remember all the shortcuts.

Find all the shortcuts on Microsoft support pages.

John E, Media Relations Adviser Easily.co.uk - Domain name registration, register your low cost domain name today! Search domain names quickly, all major extensions and no catches.

The Windows registry is very daunting to some and for good reason. Windows comes with a registry editor but it seems you have to be Vulcan or something to know how to use it to your advantage. However, with a little guidance one can navigate this tangled web called the registry with relative ease.

There is a lot of information on the Internet about registry errors. There are also a lot of registry errors that can occur on your computer. I will tell you about two such errors and how to correct them.. helping you become your very own computer whiz along the way.

In order to apply any of the fixes that are presented here you need to know how to launch regedit. To launch regedit:
1.Click on the Windows Start button to open the Start menu.
2.Then click on Run… in the Start menu.
3.Type regedit in the text field and click on OK.

Slow Registry Access
If you find that your computer is taking a long time to boot and software is slow to install, then your computer registry may be suffering from slow registry access. When software is removed, sometimes registry keys are left behind. This results in a registry bloated with unnecessary information and slows your system down.

To fix slow registry access you need to remove keys related to applications that no longer exist on your computer. You can do this using the following steps:
1.Get out a pencil and sheet of paper and make a list of applications that you have removed from your computer.
2.Open regedit.
3.Navigate through the keys in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT, HKEY_CURRENT_USER, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and remove the keys related to the applications on your list.

Buttons Appear Blank on Office XP Shortcut Bar
If you’ve ever tried to customize your Office Shortcut bar and you can’t or the customized buttons are blank then you may have a corrupt registry. Fortunately for you, you don’t have to be a computer whiz to fix this registry error. You can fix this problem with the following steps:
1.Launch regedit
2.Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER - Software - Microsoft - Office - 10.0 - Shortcut Bar and remove the sub-key called Shortcut Bar. Important note: All previous Shortcut Bar settings will be erased when you do this and you will have to start from scratch, but the error will be fixed.
3.Restart all Microsoft Office Applications.

It’s important to realize that you can end up with a corrupt system registry if you’re not careful making edits to your registry. If you’re uncomfortable doing this you can rely on registry cleaner software that has been designed to make the task more user friendly. You can also uncover many other errors, lurking on your system, by doing a free scan of your system.

Here is a Registry Easy review. You can download the software and do a scan for free. If you don’t like Registry Easy check out some of the other software reviews at http://www.registry-fixer-review.com.

Usually when you buy a new computer that comes installed with windows vista, it will work perfectly when it is brand new and continue to work well for months or maybe even years into the future. However after continued use and after you have installed many different types of software, you might start to notice that your system becomes sluggish and certain actions or programs may cause it to crash.

One problem that myself and many others have had with vista is that when you open up control panel it can cause the explorer to restart, and it will continue to do this and not let you access the control panel. In windows the control panel is where you control the most important functions, so if you need to fix your internet or adjust the screen resolution but you are blocked out of the control panel then you are in a real mess.

The reason that control panel can crash windows like this is that sometimes when you install a new software it will add a .cpl element to the windows registry, which is not natural to the system and it will cause problems. Here is the way to fix this problem: Open up ‘My Computer’ and go to the C drive. Navigate to the windows file and then go to ’system 32.’

In this file you will see a very long list of many different essential programs that make windows run properly. Do not edit these as it can mess up your system, but what you want to do is order these files by type and then find the files that end in “.cpl.” Create a new folder on your desktop and then highlight all of the cpl icons and drag them into this new folder. You will need administrator rights to do this and then once you do you will see that many of the files will not move out of the folder and create an error message if you try to move them.

These items are not meant to be moved out of this folder, however you might see that one or two of them will move while the rest cannot leave that folder. The ones that stay in the system 32 folder are supposed to stay there and are not causing any problems, however it is likely that the ones that could move out of the folder were put there by a different software program and are probably the ones that were causing your problem.

Delete these cpl elements and then try opening up control panel again. This time it should open up just fine without causing any problems.

Nathan Navachi is a professional writer, blogger, internet marketer and forex trader who lives in Ohio. He is the writer and webmaster for http://TheCurrencyMarkets.com which contains a wealth of information about making money with forex trading and how to live a rich life.