Microsoft Will Start To Explain The Future Of Windows Tomorrow Morning

Gird thyself, a new Windows approaches. Tomorrow morning in San Francisco, Microsoft will show off some part of its next operating system in a long-awaited event whose existence leaked before it was formally announced. The market is expectant, and the technology and business media will have its eyes trained on what Redmond has on offer.

In the past few days, odd rumors have cropped up: Will the technical preview be ready to go, or released several weeks after the event? Does the code even have a formal name? We’ll find out soon enough.

Given that the market is only expecting a preview, whatever Microsoft shows off will be feature incomplete by definition. I missed it, but apparently there was some sort of recent rumor saying that Windows 9 — provided that that actually is its name — was set to touch down, outside of preview in October. No. That’s not happening.

The Windows community is, unsurprisingly, most excited about the consumer-facing bits that the operating system is likely to contain. Tomorrow isn’t about that. Microsoft didn’t brand the shindig an enterprise event for no reason.

So, if you don’t get to see your favorite, expected goodies, don’t lose it. They are probably still coming. Though, of course, for Microsoft, the more good stuff it can quickly release, the better.

Why do the technical, and not consumer bit first? Windows 7 has a shelf life. Windows XP is dead, and Windows 8 is not something that business customers have welcomed. Microsoft has a massive interest in catering to its enterprise clients as they provide it with mammoth revenues and profits. And since Windows 8 didn’t do the trick, Windows 9 will have to land with a touch more poise. Also larger companies need more time to make choices, so showing off what is being built for them first is a reasonable exercise. This of course sets aside the technical

Also on a technical note, there is no livestream of the event, I’ve confirmed with the company. This is irksome, but here we are. It’s annoying when Apple does it, and it’s annoying Microsoft does. So, I’ll be on the ground, blogging as fast as I can.

If we get a build tomorrow, and I’ve heard two different build numbers floating around that could either be the correct code lockup, TechCrunch will have notes up as fast as possible, along with video and the rest. Hold tight, we’re almost there.

How To Hide Text In Microsoft Word 2007, Reveal It & Protect It

Sometimes what we hide is more important than what we reveal. Especially, documents with sensitive information, some things are supposed to be ‘for some eyes only’. Such scenarios are quite common, even for the more un-secretive among us. You want to show someone a letter composed in MS Word, but want to keep some of the content private; or it’s an official letter with some part of it having critical data. As important as these two are, the most common use could involve a normal printing job. Many a time we have to print different versions of a document, one copy for one set of eyes and others for other sets. Rather than creating multiple copies and therefore multiple printing jobs, what if we could just do it from the same document? That too, without the hassle of repeated cut and paste. We can, with a simple feature in MS Word – it’s just called Hidden and let me show you how to use it to hide text in Microsoft Word 2007. It’s a simple single click process. Open the docum...

Boom, the startup that wants to build supersonic planes, just signed a massive deal with Virgin

Have you heard about Boom? Boom is a relatively new startup that’s aiming to build something pretty crazy. They’re not building an app… or a social network… or even some new gadget for the Kickstarter crowd. Boom wants to build planes. Really, really, really fast planes. Specifically, they’re trying to design and build a supersonic passenger plane that goes 2.2x the speed of sound. If all goes to plan, they’ll be able to shuttle people from New York to London in 3.5 hours, and SF to Tokyo in 4.5. Sound crazy? I wouldn’t disagree. It’s worth noting that the company is in the very early days for something as intensive, massive, and hugely expensive as designing and producing a passenger aircraft. They’re still working on their first prototype, and hope to fly it by late next year. But it’s also worth noting that the team behind the plane has some serious talent in its blood: the company’s 11 employees have collectively contributed to over 30 aircrafts — having worked on thin...

Build Your Own Awesome Personal 3D Avatar with Avatara

Do you use social networks and want to build your own awesome 3D avatar? Maybe you want to send someone a cute cuddly image of yourself (kind of)? Or maybe you have your own ideas of what you would do with an Avatar… Well look no further than Avatara which I discovered from the MakeUseOf directory . You can create 3d avatars out of pre-set up templates or create your own from scratch. To start, visit Avatara’s homepage . You will see this screen: Click Get Started to umm, get started! That will take you to this screen: You see that you can build your own Avatar using an uploaded head shot like the Obama one above (just an example, guys). Or roll with one of their awesome avatars. I chose to start with a blank avatar by clicking Start with a blank avatar at the bottom of the screen. That takes you to here: I clicked on the filter at the top and told it to filter out everything but male characters and then I saw this: I rolled with Buck and continued. You need to click Select...

Kiran Upadhyay

Search This Blog