At least 10 different copies of Windows 7 Build 7068 have been added to BitTorrent since three days ago. Both 32- and 64-bit versions are available.

It has been downloaded over 65,000 times according to Mininova. There is no hint that this version is a possible release candidate even though the previous build, 7057, was thought of as the release candidate.

Microsoft accidentally revealed that there will be a public download in May with an expiration date of June 1, 2010.

Build 7068 expires on March 2 next year which is the same date as earlier builds according to Computerworld.

Source: COMPUTERWORLD

There are many young computer geeks on the Technibble forums who are looking to make the move into turning their skills into a career. However, many of them have doubts about their knowledge so I have created a list of what skills I believe to be essential to a technician that wants to do basic residential jobs. This is a very general skill set that covers most tasks I have performed in the residential market.
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The second power pack for Windows Home Server has been released. Over 100 add-ons are included in the release which addresses antivirus protection, system performance, and more.

It became available to Microsoft Developer Network subscribers on Monday according to the article at Visual Studio Magazine.

The operating system is marketed as “the world’s first stay-at-home server.”

“[It was designed for] users with lots of data to be backed up and who are technically savvy enough to add and maintain a server on their home network. I’m not even sure such a market exists,” explained Matt Rosoff of Microsoft.

Source: Visual Studio Magazine

Microsoft released two patches this week. One for Windows XP users and the other for Windows Server 2008 users.

The first resolves an issue with Double Bite Character Strings (DBCS). According to the author of the article at Ars Technica, if a user has a non-English version of Microsoft Input Method Editor installed, the users are limited to only inputting English characters. There are five scenarios where this problem occurs.

The Server 2008 patch resolves an issue which stops a user from starting or connecting to Virtual Machines due to expired certificate.

Source: Ars Technica

The networks of the U.K. Houses of Parliament has been hit by the Conficker worm. It slowed Parliamentary computer systems and locked out several accounts.

The issue has yet to be resolved but a memo has been released which notes that the staff were working with third party partners to clean infected computers.

It will be removed by an appropriate software to prevent further attacks.

The memo asked PICT users to remove all unauthorized PCs and laptops from the network according to the article at Channel Web.

Source: Channel Web

The question “Should I charge businesses more?” recently came up on the Technibble forums and the short answer is yes. Heres why:
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BackWeb Technologies, an Israeli firm, has sued Microsoft for using its three Transparent Update Patents.

Microsoft Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) is the feature that is accused on using the patents.  It debuted in Windows XP in 2001. It is also present in Windows Vista, Server 2003 and 2008. It is a file-transfer service and it is a core part of Windows Update.

BITS was updated in Windows Vista in 2007. Version 3.0 adds peer-to-peer characteristics that let computers on the same subnet share files to one another.

Source: COMPUTERWORLD

BBC has posted an article about Windows Touch which is a built-in feature in Windows 7. It is a “first class way to interact with your PC alongside mouse and keyboard,” said Microsoft.

Apple’s Snow Leopard will also have this feature according to the article.

Dell’s Latitude XT and HP’s TouchSmart computers are some of the multi-touch machines that are already available on the market.

Tap, double tap, zoom, flick, and rotate are some of the controls that Windows 7 will be capable of.

Source: BBC

Microsoft has release an update to their Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) notification.

“With this release we’ve improved the design making it easier to install the update and to stay up to date with the latest release of WGA. This release focuses on the product edition that we find is most often counterfeited, Windows XP Professional,” said Alex Kochis who is the senior product manager of Windows Genuine Advantage.

“This update includes the latest validation information including recently stolen or misused product keys and other information,” he added.

Source: Softpedia

Defraggler is a freeware defragmentation tool from the people who brought us CCleaner and Recuva. What makes Defraggler different from other defragging applications is its ability to defragment specific files and folders rather than the entire hard drive. It is also very quick with both the analyze and defragmenting stages compared to other software like the built in Windows defragger.

A great use for this application would be when you are onsite and dont have the time to defragment the entire hard drive. You could just defrag the Windows and Program Files directory since those are the two most used directories by most users and you would see a small speed increase depending on the fragmentation.
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