Here is a list of versions of Windows, since Windows Operating System 1.0. The distinguish of versions rather than OS names are important for developers and the distinguish of Windows structure. The list can also be found on MSDN OSVERSIONINFO Structure

This Windows Logo Key is getting more and more use on Windows and its application. And it gets utilized even much more in Windows 7. Almost each function and new feature in Windows 7 have the keyboard shortcuts alternative that does the same thing, a lot of which are the combination of Windows Logo Key and the letters. Here are numbers of use in Windows 7 that are quite commonly used.

Windows logo key + U	Open the Ease of Access Center
Windows logo key + Tab	Aero 3D program flipper
Windows logo key + Pause	Display System Properties dialog box
Windows logo key + D	Display Desktop
Windows logo key + M	Minimize all windows
Windows logo key + E	Open Windows Explorer
Windows logo key + F	Search for a file or folder
Windows logo key + L	Lock the computer
Windows logo key + R	Open the Run dialog box
Windows logo key + T	Cycle through programs on the taskbar

see more Tricks @ Windows7Hacker

When you turn off your computer using hibernate, the operating system needs to store all your current running program states onto hard disk so that programs can resume where they left off when you power up your PC again. To achieve this, the OS need to save all the information into a file called hiberfil.sys. Windows OS (7, vista, XP) usually stores this as a hidden file under your C directory or your main OS partition.
The size of the hibernation file (hiberfil.sys) will be the same as the amount of installed RAM on your computer.So all the data from RAM is copied directly into this hiberfil.sys on harddisk and RAM loads it when you power up your computer again.
You can also use an Utility VJSTD made by VJ to automate hibernate & other shutdown options.

There is a utility to install Windows Vista or 7 in a system using a bootable USB drive which can be used to install Windows without using DVD drive.
This utility automates the task of installation of Windows.Aris@ AskVG has created this utility which creates a bootable USB drive to install Windows Vista, Server 2008 or 7.It works with both 32 bit & 64 bit Windows Versions.

Requirements :

• A USB Drive (4 GB or more)
• Windows Vista, Server 2008 or 7 ISO image or DVD
• Host OS: Windows Vista (SP1 or SP2), Server 2008 or 7

Its a portable utility so doesn't need installation. Simply run it & Use it.

Download Link (Rapidshare)

Download Link (Mediafire)

Download Link (Skydrive)

Often Techies feel to have the Built number of OS they r using.Like I felt .Few OS versions have this info at the Desktop screen like Windows 7 Beta,RC had but few dont have .To find out these details and much more info like product edition, build number and revision number for Windows Vista,Windows Server 2008,Windows 7 that is installed, follow these steps:

• Open Registry Editor by typing Regedit in Start Search, then hit Enter.
• Go to the following registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion
• In the right side pane, you will see lots of registry subkeys and its value date. These keys will give you the required information about your OS.....

1. ProductName : of Windows
2. EditionID : edition aka flavour of the OS.
3. BuildLabEx: Contains build and revision number
4. Current Build : contains build number
5. Registered Owner
6. Registered Organization

Ever wondered which program has a particular file or directory open? Now you can find out. Process Explorer shows you information about which handles and DLLs processes have opened or loaded.

The Process Explorer display consists of two sub-windows. The top window always shows a list of the currently active processes, including the names of their owning accounts, whereas the information displayed in the bottom window depends on the mode that Process Explorer is in: if it is in handle mode you'll see the handles that the process selected in the top window has opened; if Process Explorer is in DLL mode you'll see the DLLs and memory-mapped files that the process has loaded. Process Explorer also has a powerful search capability that will quickly show you which processes have particular handles opened or DLLs loaded.

The unique capabilities of Process Explorer make it useful for tracking down DLL-version problems or handle leaks, and provide insight into the way Windows and applications work.

Download Process Explorer
(1.6 MB)

VJ Tool Kit is an application through which you can perform various mathematical functions and calculations easily.
It has String conversion feature as well.
You can also view Information about your System as well.

Features of VJTK:

1.) Logarithmic Calculation
2.) GCD,LCM Calculation
3.) Calculation of factors of a number
4.) String Functions
5.) Base Conversions
6.) Fibonacci Series
7.) Computer OS Information
8.) Date Time Information
9.) Stopwatch

Screenshot of the Application :

• Download Fully Functional Free Version of VJ ToolKit for Windows 7 , XP / Vista, or any other Windows Operating System.
• Feel free to mail me any bugs,suggestions @ vasu_jain2002@yahoo.com

Download here : http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?m3dwnwihdmk [421 KB]

VJ shutdown timer is an application through which you can easily shutdown,restart your pc within time duration from 1 minute upto 12 hours.All you need to do is simply select the option and select the time after which you want to shutdown or restart your Machine.
Additional Instantaneous Hibernate and Logoff functions are also available.

Screenshot of the Application :

• Download Fully Functional Free Version of VJ Shutdown Timer for Windows 7 , XP / Vista, or any other Windows Operating System.
• Feel free to mail me any bugs,suggestions @ vasu_jain2002@yahoo.com

Download here : http://www.mediafire.com/?ift3vz8mhlw [578 KB]

I always wanted to find the precise meaning of the acronyms Microsoft uses to refer to the stage of a product in the software release life cycle. I found the most comprehensive explanation on mvark 's blog and copied it verbatim here for future reference.

Community Technology Preview/CTP

CTP stands for Community Technology Preview. It's generally an incomplete preview of a new technology in progress. These usually come out before beta and are a way to gather feedback from the community during the development of a product. This is similar to an Alpha release per Jeff’s hierarchy, except that at Microsoft, we generally do put CTPs in a public location.

Release Candidate/RC

RC's are pretty much like less buggy BETA releases. These are candidates to become the actual release and there is a very small chance of adding new features between the RC and the RTM. Any changes from an RC to an RTM are usually just bug fixes.

Released to Manufacturing/RTM

RTM stands for "Released to Manufacturing" and is a throwback to the days when software was mostly released as CDs. When a project went "Gold", it was released to manufacturing who then burned a bunch of CDs and packaged them up to be put on store shelves. True, this still goes on today believe it or not, but this mode of delivery is on the decline for certain types of software.

Released to Web/RTW

RTW is a related term that stands for "Released to Web" which is more descriptive of how software is actually shipped these days. For example, while we like to use the term RTM internally out of habit, ASP.NET MVC will actually be RTW.

Fully Supported Out-of-Band release

A Fully Supported Out-of-Band release is a release that is not part of the Framework (i.e. it's not included in an installation of the .NET Framework), but is fully supported as if it were. For example, you can call up PSS (Microsoft's Tech Support) for support on a fully supported OOB release.

One example of this was “Atlas” which later became Microsoft Ajax and was rolled into ASP.NET 3.5. ASP.NET MVC 1.0 will be an example of an OOB release.

Service Pack/SP

A Service Pack (or SP) is simply an RTM (or RTW) release of fixes and/or improvements to some software.

A Graphical User Interface (GUI for short) allows users to interact with the computer hardware in a user friendly way.

Over the years a range of GUI’s have been developed for different operating systems such as OS/2, Macintosh, Windowsamiga, Linux, Symbian OS, and more.

We’ll be taking a look at the evolution of the interface designs of the major operating systems since the 80’s.

I should mention that this article showcases only the significant advances in GUI design (not operating system advances) and also not all of the graphical user interfaces and operating systems existing today.

The first GUI was developed by researchers at Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) in the ’70s. This research opened a whole new era of computer graphic innovations.

The first personal computer which used a modern graphical user interface was the Xerox Alto, developed in 1973. This was not a commercial product and was intended mainly for research at universities.





In this year Microsoft finally caught up with the whole graphical user interface craze and released Windows 1.0, its first GUI based operating system (although no one would dare to refer to it as one). The system featured 32×32 pixel icons and color graphics. The most interesting feature (which later was omitted) was the icon of the animated analog clock.


In this version, the actual management of the windows had significantly improved. The windows could be overlapped, resized, maximized and minimized.




By this version, Microsoft had realized the real potential in GUI’s and started to significantly improve them.

The operating system itself supported standard and 386 enhanced modes, which made use of higher memory capacity than 640 KB and hard disk space, resulting in the ability to use higher screen resolutions and better graphics, such as Super VGA 800×600 and 1024×768.

Also, Microsoft hired Susan Kare to design the Windows 3.0 icons and to add a unified style to the GUI.




This version of Windows included TrueType fonts which were pre-installed. This effectively made Windows a functional desktop publishing platform for the first time.

Previously, it was only possible to achieve such functionality in Windows 3.0 using the Adobe Type Manager (ATM) font system from Adobe. This version also contained a color scheme named Hotdog Stand, which contained bright hues of red, yellow and black.

This color scheme was designed to help people with some degree of color blindness see text/graphics on the screen easier.



The user interface was completely re-designed since version 3.x. This was the first Windows version where a small close button was added to each window.

The design team gave states (enabled, disabled, selected, checked, etc.) to icons and other graphics. The famous Start button appeared for the first time.

This was a huge step forward for Microsoft regarding the operating system itself and the unified GUI.



The icon styles were almost the same as in Windows 95, but the whole GUI could use more than 256 colors for rendering. Windows Explorer changed almost completely and the “Active Desktop” appeared for the first time.



As Microsoft tends to change their GUI completely with every major operating system release, Windows XP was no exception. The GUI itself is skinnable, users could change the whole look and feel of the interface. The icons were 48 x 48 in size by default, rendered in millions of colors.




This was Microsoft’s response to their competition. They also included quite a lot of 3D and animation. Since Windows 98, Microsoft has always tried to improve the desktop. With Windows Vista they released widgets and a somewhat improved replacement of the Active Desktop.

Dear Microsoft,

Congratulations on recently releasing the Windows 7 release candidate. As I've mentioned before, it's shaping into an excellent product and I have given my reasons why I think people should upgrade.

But let's pause for a moment and look ahead to your supposed next version of Windows, Windows 8, since it's already in planning stages. Now that you've gotten a way to get some kind of backwards compatibility in your OS virtually, this presents an opportunity to rebuild Windows from the ground up and turn it into an excellent product. Here are some ideas I think should be implemented into the next version of Windows:

One version, one price
There's no need for so many different editions of Windows. It can get confusing to the end user. Just keep it to one edition and one price, say, $129 for example.

Get rid of the registry
The registry is an outdated Windows component that is very confusing to work with. Sure, it does have some advantages like for tweaks and things, but surely there must be a more efficient way to implement the heart of Windows.

Make a new web browser from the ground up
While I do think Internet Explorer has been moving in the right direction, the Trident engine is old and insecure. But I see you're working on a new web browser codenamed "Gazelle" that's supposed to be better than Internet Explorer. This gives you the opportunity to make a brand new web browser from the ground up and possibly give the competing browsers a run for their money. By the way, please make a better UI, I still think IE 8's is a bit messy.

Consider replacing Windows Media Player

with your Zune software
Don't get me wrong, I do like Windows Media Player

and have it as my default media player, but I've also used your Zune software, and think it's excellent. But don't take my word for it, Paul Thurrott thinks so as well. If Zune is one of your big products and it's going international, why not replace Windows Media Player with your Zune software?

Make applications

easy to install and un-install
Let's face it, sometimes applications can be a pain to install and un-install. DLL files, registry keys, all kinds of stuff scattered everything. I'm sorry but I have to pick out OS X as an example here. To install an application, the user simply downloads the .dmg file, drags it into the application folder, and they're done. To uninstall, they just drag that application from the applications folder into the trash bin. See how easy that is? No DLL files, registry keys to deal with.

With these ideas in mind, the next version of Windows could become an excellent product. Granted, Windows 7 isn't even out yet, and we have got a while to go before its successor is out, but in the computer world, there's never a perfect product, only there's always room for improvement in the future. I wish you all the best with your future products!

Sincerely,
Kevin, a long time Windows user

Well about this article its your say what all you agree with but personaly i believe that app install/uninstall is the most interesting thing.for other points v have had a discussion earlier on as well like 1Version1price,IE is gng good but a new Browser can b thought upon but registry removal doesnt sounds kool 2 me ATM.lets c what MS brings in the pack o Win 8.

In Office 2007 Microsoft introduced a new file format called the Microsoft Open Office XML Format (.docx). This format is not compatible with older versions of Microsoft Word or with alternative operating systems like Linux or Mac OS X. Nor is it compatible with other word processing applications like OpenOffice, Lotus 123, or NeoOffice.

Docx-converter.com offers a portable solution for your compatability needs. It will convert a Microsoft Office .docx file into a simple html file. It strips out some of the formatting, but now supports bold, italic, and underlined text. Left, right, center, and justified alignment. Unicode characters. Tables. And more!

Do a quick online conversion of your file for free! It's fast, easy and quick!

1. Click the Browse Button Below
2. Select Your .docx File
3. Enter your email
4. Click "Convert It!"
5. Check your email

Docx Converter Can convert files in the following format

• Microsoft Word (*.doc)
• Microsoft Word 2007 (*.docx)
• Microsoft Excel 2007 (*.xlsx)
• Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 (*.pptx)
• Portable Document Format (*.pdf)
• Comma-Separated Values (*.csv)
• HTML1 (*.html)
• Macromedia Flash (*.swf)
• MediaWiki wikitext (*.wiki)
• Microsoft Excel (*.xls)
• Microsoft PowerPoint (*.ppt)
• OpenDocument Drawing (*.odg)
• OpenDocument Presentation (*.odp)
• OpenDocument Spreadsheet (*.ods)
• OpenDocument Text (*.odt)
• OpenOffice.org 1.0 Presentation (*.sxi)
• OpenOffice.org 1.0 Spreadsheet (*.sxc)
• OpenOffice.org 1.0 Text (*.sxw)
• Plain Text (*.txt)
• Rich Text Format (*.rtf)
• Scalable Vector Graphics (*.svg)
• Tab-Separated Values (*.tsv)
• WordPerfect (*.wpd)

Visit and convert : http://docx-converter.com/

you can use Win+B, then Left, then Enter to pop up this calendar with the keyboard (or you can just click once on the clock).

But this can be done with a single keystroke with an AutoHotkey script.

What we'll do is assign the F12 key to send the keystrokes instead of having to do them manually. Create a new file named something.ahk and then paste in the following:

#InstallKeybdHook
#Persistent
#HotkeyInterval,100
SetKeyDelay, -1

f12::
{
send, {lwin down}b{lwin up}
sleep 10
send, {left}
sleep 10
send, {enter}
Return
}

Save the file, and now you can double-click on it to launch it.

At this point you can use the F12 key to pop open the calendar. If you want to close the script out, there's an icon in the system tray.

Note: You can substitute another key instead of F12 if you want. You could also add #NoTrayIcon to keep it from putting an icon into the system tray.

Source:how2geek.com

Have you ever wanted to hit a shortcut key to turn off the monitor? Sure, you can use the Win+L combination to lock the screen, but that leaves your monitor on… and those of us with multiple monitors find it a pain to hunt down the power buttons all the time.

First we'll show you how to simply power off the monitor, and then how to both lock and power it off.

Create a Shortcut to Turn Off the Monitor

To create this shortcut, we'll first need to grab a tiny multi-purpose utility called NirCmd from the great folks over at NirSoft. This Swiss-army knife tool can do an amazing array of tasks, including powering off the monitor. All we really need to do is create a shortcut to it.

Right-click anywhere on the desktop and choose New \ Shortcut

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/create-a-shortcut-or-hotkey-to-turn-off-the-monitor/

The Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) Award is an annual award that is given to outstanding members of Microsoft's peer-to-peer communities, and is based on the past year's contributions those members make in those communities online and offline.

Individuals are nominated to be considered for MVPs by their peers or Microsoft based on activities in the offline or online technical communities. The MVP Program and annual award is based solely on an individual's contributions from the previous year and those contributions are then compared amongst the other candidates for any given nomination cycle to determine who will be awarded. To know more, see the FAQ.

MeraWindows & WinVistaClub nominates members for the MVP award. While a nomination by a MVP or an reputed community does carry weight, if you feel or wish, you can also nominate yourself for this Award.

Currently, Microsoft India is actively looking for good technical community leaders to be considered for the Microsoft MVP Award.

So, if you feel you fit the bill and if you have been actively contributing to online or offline technical communities over the past year, here is your chance to get recognized.

Nominate yourself for the Microsoft MVP Award - a program that recognizes exceptional technical community leaders from around the world who voluntarily share their high quality, real world expertise with others. Go here for more on this.

FSQUIRT.EXE Application/Process Description Below is a basic description of FSQUIRT.EXE. This application is safe to have on your computer.

	Summary of FSQUIRT.EXE Microsoft BlueTooth File Transfer Wizard
	Description of FSQUIRT.EXE Microsoft BlueTooth File Transfer Wizard appeared in the XPSP2 beta and can be accessed from the Start Menu->All Programs->Accessories->Communications->Blue Tooth File Transfer Wizard menu.
	Hidden blue tooth software in win. XP and vista Now you don't need 2 install any software for ur blutooth device. you don't know but u already had it in ur window xp nd vista it can b used as:- 1.open d run command 2.now type 'fsquirt' without quotes '' 3.now just select weder u want 2 send or receive any file very easy ......

To change the name of the Recycle Bin desktop icon,
open Regedit and go to:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT/CLSID/{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}

and change the name "Recycle Bin" to whatever you want.

Just chnage the name into right hand side pane.

Windows OS :Historical Time line of Windows

Windows based on 9x Kernel
Windows based on NT Kernel
Nov 1983 - Announces Windows OS
Nov 1985 - Windows 1.0
Apr 1987 - Windows 2.0
May 1990 - Windows 3.0
Apr 1992 - Windows 3.1
Aug 1993 - Windows NT 3.1
Feb 1994 - Windows 3.11
Sep 1994 - Windows NT 3.5
Aug 1995 - Windows 95
Jun 1995 - Windows NT 3.51
Aug 1996 - Windows NT 4.0
Jun 1998 - Windows 98
May 1999 - Windows 98SE
Sep 2000 - Windows ME
Feb 2000 - Windows 2000
Aug 2000 - Windows 2000 Data center
Oct 2001 - Windows XP
Mar 2003 - Windows Server 2003
Jan 2007 - Windows Vista