Windows 7

Back in December I told you about Windows 7's little-known application-compatibility troubleshooter, which I'd used to try to resolve a problem with iTunes.

Microsoft's Windows 7 took just three months to reach a penetration benchmark that Vista needed almost a year to make, Web measurement firm NetApplications.com said today.

Last year's free preview of Windows 7 will start nagging users to pay for the operating system in two weeks, and begin automatically shutting down PCs in one month, Microsoft reminded customers today.

Want to run Windows 7 on the new Apple iPad? Citrix says it will soon be possible--at least virtually--using a new version of its Citrix Receiver software.

Shipments of graphics chips worldwide went up in 2009 and could rise again this year as the PC industry emerges from the recession and consumers open up wallets, Jon Peddie Research said in a study on Tuesday.

Today, let's look at a very common source of confusion for novice users: saving and retrieving file attachments.

My aunt recently told me about a problem with her new laptop: Whenever she'd step away from it for more than a few minutes, she'd close the lid. Upon returning, she'd open the lid, only to be faced with a blank screen and no response from the mouse or keyboard.

Back in January 2009, I published the first half of my groundbreaking study on multicore support under Microsoft Windows. The article featured an in-depth look at multicore/multiprocessor performance under Windows 7, Vista, and XP, including extensive benchmark data for each platform. At the time, I concluded that Windows 7 -- and to a lesser degree, Vista -- delivered better scalability moving from single-core to dual- and quad-core architectures. However, I also noted that this advantage was not yet sufficient to allow Windows 7 to overtake the leaner, more efficient XP under heavy workloads.

Windows 7 comes with a pretty good migration tool--certainly better than the XP or Vista versions--but it's not perfect. I won't give you step-by-step instructions (it's very intuitive and you don't need them), but I'll help you through the major decisions and pitfalls.

I'm a big fan of Windows 7's Libraries feature, which makes it easy to find the documents, music, pictures, and videos scattered across various locations on your hard drive.

Microsoft doesn't have a business model problem in the mobile market, but its phones are skewed toward business users at the expense of consumers and are not as modern as they need to be, Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft's entertainment and devices division, told financial analysts Thursday at the Consumer Electronics Show.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer bragged up Windows 7 success last night in his keynote speech at CES.

Disk partitioning--separating one physical hard drive into multiple independent volumes--can relieve all sorts of computer-related headaches, and thanks to the Disk Management tool included with Windows 7 and Vista, you can perform the task without expensive third-party software. Here's how to use Disk Management to make the most of your hard drive.

With Windows 7, Microsoft (MSFT) aims to please both consumers and businesses large and small.