#20 – Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010 Beta is out

Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010 Beta is now available for download to TechNet subscribers. At the moment I’m downloading it so I’ll try to write my impressions in few days. I’ve been using Microsoft Office 2010 Technical Preview for some time and it’s working just fine. I expect beta version of Office 2010 to be even better.

#19 – Upgrading Widows Vista or Windows XP to Windows 7

One of the most popular articles on this web site is “Problem with Windows Vista Enterprise upgrade to Windows 7 Ultimate RC“. Windows 7 beta and RC where available only in Ultimate version and that was the reason why the only upgrade option was from Windows Vista Ultimate to Windows 7 Ultimate.

At the moment TechNet and MSDN subscribers can download following versions of Windows 7:

• Starter
• Home Basic
• Home Premium
• Professional
• Ultimate
• Enterprise

#18 – Microsoft Career Offer Get up to 25% off Select Microsoft Certification Exams

From today until end of this year Microsoft offers discount for some exams that can be taken at Prometric test centers. Microsoft offers vouchers for 15%, 20% or 25% discount for selected exams. 15% and 20% discount is offered for some Technology Specialist  (TS-Level) exams and 25% discount is for Professional-Level exams.

#17 – Windows 7 RTM is available on MSDN and TechNet

Today Windows 7 RTM was released today and is available for download from MSDN and TechNet.

#16 – Final version of Windows 7 is coming to stores in October 2009, RTM should be available in July

Good news for every one that are currently running Windows 7 RC, RTM should be available in 2nd half of July. There is still some time before RTM will be available for distribution but still take a look at what is Windows 7 team writing regarding upgrade installation form RC to RTM.

#15 – Microsoft search engine is now called “bing”

After a testing phase of their new search engine, codename Kumo.com, (as previously mentioned on this blog) Microsft has decided to change it’s name before public release to Bing. Bing is out now so you can test it by yourself. If you want to find out more about Bing and hot to use it be sure to check out “bing & decide” web site.

#14 – Windows 7 RC and Realtek HD Audio Manager – problem with sound reproduction on headphones connected to front panel

Base of my computer is Intel Desktop Board DG33BU cased within Chieftec CX-03SL-A . After installation of Windows 7 and all necessary drivers I’ve noticed that I audio isn’t reproduced on my headphones that are connected to front panel. After checking that device isn’t muted within Volume Mixer I started to look around what could be the cause of this problem. I’ve found out that I have to enable option called “Disable front panel jack detection” in Realtek HD Audio Manager to get my front panel jack working.

#13 – Microsoft Second Shot offer – grab it while it lasts

If you are planing to take one of Microsoft exams before end of June think about registering for Second Shot offer from Microsoft. Second shot offer is available for academic series of certification exam and for regular certification exams.

#12 – Free learning resources for Windows 7 (E-Learning Clinics, samlpe book chapters, Learning Snacks)

Microsoft has published a web site called “Windows 7 – Learning Portal“. On that web site you can find various resources which you can use to learn and adopt new features and technologies implemented in Windows 7.

#11 – Wolfram|Alpha “computational knowledge engine” is available for use

Wolfram|Alpha website is now available for public use. Wolfram|Alpha is, as described on Wolfram|Alpha web pages, “computational knowledge engine”. What does this actually mean? This means that Wolfram|Alpha doesn’t search the web to give you answers to your questions. They use their own knowledge base when Wolfram|Alpha want’s to answer your question.