Windows 7 Beta Available on BitTorrent

Pirated copies of aWindows 7 build pegged by many as the beta Microsoft will release next month have leaked to the Internet, according to searches at severalBitTorrent sites today.

A search on the Pirate Bay BitTorrent site, for example, returned two Windows 7 Build 7000 listings, both of which had been posted Friday.

As of Saturday afternoon, one torrent on Pirate Bay showed more than 1,800 "seeders" -- the term for a computer that has a complete copy of the torrent file -- and about 8,500 "leechers," or computers that have downloaded only part of the complete torrent. The torrent is a disk image of the 32-bit version of Windows 7 Ultimate, Build 7000, according to users commenting on the site and elsewhere on the Internet.

Pirate Bay and other BitTorrent sites, including Mininova, listed the beta build as a 2.44GB download.

This is not the first time Windows 7 has escaped from Microsoft's limited testing pool. Just hours after the company unveiled an earlier version at its Professional Developers Conference in late October, the alpha edition hit BitTorrent.

Users first reported the newest Windows 7 leak on Neowin.net's forums Friday, with the opening message and screenshots coming from someone identified as"+fivestarVIP", who said he was from Beijing, China.

Build 7000 is what Microsoft will issue next month as Windows 7 Beta, according to other reports by Windows bloggers who have copies. Paul Thurrott, for example,posted a review and screenshots of Build 7000 today on his "SuperSite for Windows" site, naming it as the Beta build.

Although Microsoft has promised to open the beta to all users in early 2009, it has been mum on an exact release date. Information published on its own Web site earlier this month, however, hinted that the beta will be availableno later than Jan. 13.

Some commentators and bloggers have maintained that Microsoft may release the beta as early as Jan. 7, afterCEO Steve Ballmer delivers a keynote that evening at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, where he is expected to talk about Windows 7.

The successor to the perception- and problem-plaguedWindows Vista will ship in late 2009 or early 2010, according to previous statements by Microsoft executives.

Reinstall and Restore Your Windows PC in Eight Easy Steps

Maybe your PC won't boot. Or it could be infected with some kind of persistent malware. Perhaps Windows puts up a Blue Screen of Death every time you type the word aardvark.

No matter what kind of trouble your computer is having, someone will probably tell you to reformat your hard drive, reinstall Windows and your applications, and then restore your documents, photos, and music from a backup.

That isn't always good advice--according to a 2004 Salon.com article, incompetent tech support people use it to get customers off the phone. But if nothing else fixes a problem that's impossible to live with, starting over from scratch may be the best solution.

Don't do it unless you've tried everything else, however. If your PC refuses to boot, see "Diagnose and Repair an Unbootable XP or Vista PC" and "Six Downloadable Boot Discs That Could Save Your PC" for better options. If Windows boots and then horribly misbehaves, check for malware, remove unneeded autoloaders, and update drivers. You might even considercleaning the Registry.

If after all that you determine that you must wipe out and reinstall Windows, follow these seven steps to make the process as safe and painless as possible.

Step 1: Find and Know Your Restore Tool

You need some sort of bootable environment that can restore or reinstall Windows--and you probably have one. PCs that ship with Windows all come with one of the following options.

A restore disc is a bootable CD or DVD that can restore your hard drive to the exact contents it had when the PC left the factory. In most cases the recovery disc will destroy all of your data--documents, photos, and so on--while "saving" your system. Some manufacturers don't actually ship a separate restore disc with your PC, but instead install software on the hard drive that you can use to create your own restore discs. If your PC came with a restore disc, but you can't locate it, see "How Do I Restore Windows If I've Lost My Restore CD?"

A restore partition lies hidden on the hard drive. You access it by pressing a particular key combination at boot time. Check your documentation to learn whether you have one and how to access it. The partition does the same thing as a restore disc does.

An actual Microsoft Windows CD or DVD is the best tool of them all, but unless you bought an upgrade to a newer version of Windows, you probably don't have one.

Step 2: Gather Everything Else You Need

Make sure you have all of the following before you take any action.

A driver backup: See "How Do I Back Up My Drivers?" for instructions.

Backup media and software: You'll want an external hard drive (or better yet, two of them), some blank DVDs, and backup software. I'll cover more details in Steps 3 and 4.

Your applications: For every program you use that didn't come with your PC, you need the CDs they came on, their serial numbers, their registration codes, and so on. If you downloaded an application, make a backup of the download file or check to be sure that you can easily download it again.

Time: In reality, this project will probably take only a few hours, but you want to leave yourself a day of wiggle room in the event that you can't locate an important driver or software disc. This project is best tackled at the start of a long holiday, or at least over a weekend, to avoid disrupting your business if something goes wrong.

A good book or some other diversion: You're going to spend a chunk of time in front of a nonworking PC. If the PC is a laptop, plop it down on the coffee table so that you can watch a little TV while the installers are running.

Apple: 300 million iPhone apps downloaded

Apple on Friday said 300 million iPhone apps have been downloaded from its App Store since it opened in July.

The news comes in the form of two ads placed in the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. The ads highlight some of the applications available for the iPhone, but the print on the bottom of the ads reveal some new, previously unreleased, information.

In addition to the 300 million apps download, Apple also confirms that the App Store also passed the 10,000 app mark in the store.

The App Store opened almost five months ago on July 11, 2008 with 500 apps available for download. As of the last earnings announcement, Apple reported 200 million downloads of its then 5,500 apps.

Building The Next Generation Of Text Messaging

Text messaging has exploded in popularity in the last few years, and it has become a large revenue generator for wireless carriers.

But the industry isn't resting on its laurels, and the wireless association CTIA has laid the groundwork for the next generation of SMS messaging. The group Monday released documents that are aimed at helping mobile operators create interoperable "Enhanced Messaging" services.

Enhanced Messaging would be similar to SMS, but users could integrate sound clips, animation, texts, and locations with messages. It would differ from multimedia messaging because of presence integration, which could potentially let users alert others to where they are, as well as when they are available.

All the major U.S. carriers have agreed to the "Use Cases and Calls Flows" that the CTIA released Monday, and the industry group said Enhanced Messaging services could be available in the third quarter of 2009.

"Enhanced Messaging communications has the potential to revolutionize mobile data communications," said Steve Largent, president and CEO of CTIA, in a statement. "Text messaging has long been a huge growth opportunity in mobile data communication, and we fully expect Enhanced Messaging to take it to the next level."

The move shows the growing importance of messaging for mobile operators, and ABI Research said the market for mobile messaging will rise from $151 billion in 2008 to greater than $212 billion by 2013. Even with Enhanced Messaging, SMS is still expected to be the biggest earner, accounting for nearly 83% of all messaging revenue by 2013.

Mobile marketers may be drawn to Enhanced Messaging because of the integration of presence. This messaging could potentially make it easier for advertisers to tailor cross-carrier campaigns to a specific locations or regions.

Intel Ships 160 GB Solid State Drives For PCs

Intel on Monday started shipping a 160-GB, 2.5-inch solid-state drive for laptops and desktops.

In addition to the new X25-M, the chipmaker said it would ship next month a 160-GB, 1.8-inch SSD called the X18-M. Intel shipped 80-GB versions of the same two drives in September.

Computer manufacturers are offering SSDs in ultralight laptops and mini-notebooks, which are used primarily for e-mail and Web browsing. SSDs are particularly useful in these machines because the drives are lighter and use less power than hard disk drives. Major computer makers such as Dell, Hewlett-Packard, and Lenovo offer SSDs in notebooks.

The X18-M and X25-M are based on Intel's multilevel cell memory. The technology that differentiates the SSDs from competitors, according to Intel, includes highly parallel 10x NAND flash channels and "native command queuing" that enable up to 32 concurrent operations for faster performance.

The drives have read speeds up to 250 MBps and write speeds up to 70 MBps. Both are available with SATA interfaces of 1.5 Gbps and 3.0 Gbps.

The life expectancy is 1.2 million hours of mean time before failure, and power consumption is 150 milliwatts during a typical PC workload and 0.06 of a watt at idle. Pricing was not released.

Along with the two mainstream SSDs, Intel also makes the X25-E Extreme SSD for servers, storage, and high-end workstations. The SATA drive is availability in capacities of 32 GB and 64 GB, and has a life expectancy of 2 million hours of MTBF.

Intel's mainstream drives are far from the largest in the industry. Toshiba last week introduced a 512-GB, 2.5-inch SSD for notebooks. Toshiba also makes 2.5-inch and 1.8-inch SSDs in 64-GB, 128-GB, and 256-GB capacities

Microsoft Extends Windows XP Cutoff Date

Microsoft is extending the deadline for making its supposedly retired Windows XP operating system available to custom PC builders.

Under the plan, system builders will be allowed to take delivery of XP licenses and media through May 30. Previously, Microsoft had announced a Jan. 31 XP cutoff date for system builders, which are typically smaller, build-to-order vendors. The news was first reported Friday by InformationWeek.com sister site ChannelWeb.

It's just the latest in a string of reprieves for XP, which Microsoft may be reluctant to pull from the market given the poor reception that its successor, Windows Vista, has received from business customers. Many are unhappy with Vista's system requirements and lack of compatibility with older software. As a result, few large enterprises have upgraded their computers from XP to Vista.

Microsoft also originally planned to stop distributing Windows XP media to large OEMs, like Dell and Hewlett-Packard, on Jan. 31. But the company announced in October that it would move that deadline to July 31.

If Microsoft is on schedule with Windows 7, that would leave a gap of about just six months between the end of the XP program in most markets and Windows 7's general availability in early 2010. It's a sign that Microsoft has conceded that Vista is a flop in the key corporate marketplace.

Few large companies are eyeing Vista. A recent survey by the United Kingdom's Corporate IT Forum showed that only 4% of businesses in that country are using Windows Vista on workplace systems, while 35% said they were "not yet interested" in Vista. Fifty-eight percent said they were still using Windows XP, which is now 7 years old

Not all touchscreen phones are created equal

Touchscreen phones are among the hottest phones out now, with the iPhone 3G, the Google Android G1, HTC’s Touch Diamond and the BlackBerry Storm leading the pack.

But after some comparison shopping it becomes clear that not all touchscreens are created equal. Some won’t work if you have gloves on and some are slow to respond.

Other models have a nearly perfect interface between your finger and the phone; menus flow smoothly with a flick and gestures zoom and pan complex Web pages. That’s why it’s definitely wise to try before you buy if you’re considering a touchscreen phone.