Free Copy Windows7

Windows 7 beta testers to get free copy of final product

Microsoft will announce today that they will be offering a free version of Windows 7 Ultimate to those who participated in the Windows 7 Beta Program.

A letter from Microsoft will be sent to the participants stating :

Thank you for doing your part in making Windows 7 great! As a member of the technical beta program you took the time to download, install and give us your feedback on Windows 7 during development. Over the last 7 months you have participated in chats, live meetings and newsgroups as well as reported bugs to help us find and fix many issues. To recognize your outstanding contribution to the product we are pleased to offer you a complimentary copy of Windows 7 for your personal use.

Details:

• All current members of our English technical and international mini-beta programs are eligible.
• We are offering you a full (non-upgrade) copy of Windows 7 Ultimate Edition for your own personal use, not to be resold.
• You will be able to get access to your copy one of two ways:

A) To get up and running quickly you will be able to download your copy and get your product key via Microsoft Connect. English downloads will be available August 6th and other languages will follow as they become available.

B) Members of our English beta program have an alternative. We have reserved a limited amount of boxed retail copies that you can choose to receive instead. These are ‘first come, first served’. If you opt to have us ship you the boxed copy you should be aware that it will take much longer until you will be up and running on the final version. We will need time to manufacture and ship the copies to you. This means that you may not receive them until they are available on shelves October 22nd or later. Also, for people outside the United States you may be required to pay duties or other local taxes upon receipt.

Instructions and forms for choosing one of the above options will be available on Microsoft Connect on Monday August 3rd.

On behalf of the entire Windows product team, THANK YOU!

Paul

P.S. : Lot more Unofficial News about Windows 7 coming your way @TechNYK .

Microsoft India GTSC @ Leela Kempiski

I got a invitation for ‘Talking Tech’ an event hosted by Microsoft India GTSC in my mailbox last week  so I immediately registered for it as it was first come first serve basis and I didn’t want to miss it any cost. As soon as I registered for it I called up my buddy Aditya Manchanda and asked him if he is willing to join in. As,  he was also game for it so we finalised the program and kept the event day i.e. 6th June ’09 reserved for it. Here is the copy of the invitation :

Microsft India GTSC

After 3 days of registration I got a confirmation mail stating : Dear Mr. Chawla, Thank you for your response. We are glad to confirm your registration for ‘Talking tech’ by Microsoft India GTSC.

Date:	Saturday, June 6th, 2009
Time:	11:00 AM – 3:00 PM
Venue:	Leela Kempenski, National Highway 8, Gurgaon

For more information, please contact us at talkingtech@endtoend.in. We look forward to seeing you at the event. Thank you, The Talking Tech Response Team So,that was the confirmation mail giving the Date/Time/Venue Information. Now everything was set and I was raring to go for it. On 6th morning, I got a text message from Microsoft India stating : Gentle Reminder – Talking Tech Event today at Pearl Ball Room 2, Leela Kempiski Hotel, Ambience Island Mall, NH-8 Gurgaon from 11 am onwards. I was impressed not because I got a reminder message but the way it was mentioned ‘Gentle Reminder’ 🙂 Me and Adi though as always left quiet late for the event but still managed to reach way before time as we reached by 11:15 and the event started at 11:30 am. At the reception we were handed over a newsletter and a feedback form by helpful ladies,we entered and took the first table on the far left of the stage right next to the entrance. A notepad and pencil was kept for us to jot down the points if needed.

Savitha Prasad addressing the audience

Event Overview: The lady from MS who first walked on to the stage was the compere for the show and had a very charming personality matched with excellent humor. She started by sharing a story with us about how “A tree cutter named Mahesh cut trees for 5 years at the same rate giving his best output but his still Gupta who just cut trees for 2 years was promoted by their boss. A dejected Mahesh went to his boss and asked why wasnt he promoted and a guy who has been doing similar work as him just for 2 years was promoted in his place. His boss replied that Gupta was giving far more output than him so he was the choice as growth is directly proportional to the output and serviced provided. So, Mahesh took the challenge and tried everything but could not reach upto the level of Gupta in terms of productivity. Finally, Mahesh gave up and went to his boss asking him that what special does Gupta do to have such a high productivity, to which his boss replied lets go and ask Gupta himself. Both of them went to Gupta and asked “What do you do that you cut so many trees compared to anyone around?” Gupta smiled and replied “I take a 5 mins break after cutting each tree and in those 5 mins I sharpen my axe and that’s only reason for me to be so good at what I do.” She concluded this by asking the audience that when was the last time they sharpened their skills to match the industry standards as technology is changing everyday at a very fast pace. After this the Tech session started and the first topic was – Virtualization. The following speakers spoke on the topic of Virtualization:

• Nischay Anikar
• Rohit Gulati

As they mainly focused on Virtualization for the Server Environment the session was about Windows Server 2008 R2, this is what the had to share – With Hyper-V, the next-generation hyper-visor-based server virtualization technology, as a role, plus flexible licensing policies, it’s now easier than ever to take advantage of the cost savings of virtualization through Windows Server 2008. This enables you to make the best use of your server hardware investments by consolidating multiple server roles as separate virtual machines (VMs) running on a single physical machine and also efficiently run multiple different operating systems—Windows, Linux, and others—in parallel, on a single server, and fully leverage the power of x64 computing.

• Increased availability for virtualized data centers
• Improved management of virtualized data centers
• Increased Performance and Hardware Support for Hyper-V Virtual Machines
• Improved Virtual Networking Performance
• A simplified method for physical and virtual computer deployments by using .vhd files
  

  Hyper V Architecture

For SQL 2008 R2 it was:

• Vishal Anand
• Amit Banarjee

As the CTP ( Community Technology Preview) is available on the MS website now here are things that you need to know about SQL 2008 R2. SQL Server 2008 R2 expands on the value delivered in SQL Server 2008 by providing a wealth of new features and capabilities that can benefit your entire organization. This release will further improve IT Efficiency with new and enhanced management capabilities and empower business users to access, integrate, analyze and share information using business intelligence tools they already know. New Feature’s in R2:

• Capitalize on Hardware Innovation
• Optimize Hardware Resources
• Manage Efficiently at Scale
• Enhance Collaboration Across Development and IT
• Improve the Quality of Your Data
• Manage User-Generated Analytical Applications
• Report with Ease
• Get More Out of Your Data
• Build Robust Analytical Applications
• Consolidate Your Data
• Share and Collaborate with Confidence

SQL 2008

Followed by Azure (Cloud Computing):

• Tulika Chaudharie
• Wriju Ghosh

Tulika Chaudharie talking about Azure

Azure(Cloud Computing) is a service platform, In layman’s terms its like Pay-Per-View TV where you only pay for the service you receive. For Example – In India Dish/Satellite TV has just been launched an year ago but still most of the TV viewers receive Cable TV through cable guy at fixed monthly charges with fixed and limited channels unlike Dish TV where in a user only has to pay for the channels he wants to watch and not for the whole bouquet.

The Azure™ Services Platform (Azure) is an Internet-scale cloud services platform hosted in Microsoft data centers, which provides an operating system and a set of developer services that can be used individually or together. Azure’s flexible and interoperable platform can be used to build new applications to run from the cloud or enhance existing applications with cloud-based capabilities. Its open architecture gives developers the choice to build web applications, applications running on connected devices, PCs, servers, or hybrid solutions offering the best of online and on-premises.

Azure reduces the need for up-front technology purchases, and it enables developers to quickly and easily create applications running in the cloud by using their existing skills with the Microsoft Visual Studio development environment and the Microsoft .NET Framework. In addition to managed code languages supported by .NET, Azure will support more programming languages and development environments in the near future. Azure simplifies maintaining and operating applications by providing on-demand compute and storage to host, scale, and manage web and connected applications. Infrastructure management is automated with a platform that is designed for high availability and dynamic scaling to match usage needs with the option of a pay-as-you-go pricing model. Azure provides an open, standards-based and interoperable environment with support for multiple Internet protocols, including HTTP, REST, SOAP, and XML. Microsoft also offers cloud applications ready for consumption by customers such as Windows Live™, Microsoft Dynamics™, and other Microsoft Online Services for business such as Microsoft Exchange Online and SharePoint® Online. The Azure Services Platform lets developers provide their own unique customer offerings by offering the foundational components of compute, storage, and building block services to author and compose applications in the cloud.

Azure

As this was the last presentation from the Devloper’s & Experts it was followed by a Question/Answers round. Right after all the question’s were answered we were informed that we have an opportunity to work on all the above mentioned technologies on the Hand’s On LAB setup in the hall.

The Hands-on Lab Experience

After we were done asking questions and scrutinizing the technology in the LAB we were asked to fill out the feedback forms to receive our surprise gifts (Slick Microsoft  2gb Memory Stick) before we left. Just before I left,I got an opportunity to meet Miss Savitha Prasad  and personally thank her for her inspiring set of stories as that kept the event lively even after the delicious lunch 🙂

A personal thanks to all the speakers for such an enlightening session looking forward to attend more and Blog it!!

Before I bid goodbye here is my contact me page link, wherein you can contact me for White-papers/Case Studies/Presentations/Web-casts that might help in additional research on the above mentioned technologies:

http://nikhilchawla.wordpress.com/contact-me/

Nikhil Chawla @ Microsoft India GTSC

Warm Welcome

A warm welcome to everyone who has landed on this page.  This is my first post for TechNYK i.e. a part of http://nikhilchawla.wordpress.com but will cater only Tech Updates as I would not be posting Tech articles on http://nikhilchawla.wordpress.com anymore.

Few Things about TechNYK:

• A-Z of Technology
• Unofficial Microsoft News
• Free Software & License Giveaways
• Hardware/Software Reviews (On Demand)
• Regular Updates
• Twitter Inspired  Theme
• User queries & comments most welcome

Now lets get it started to begin with I would like to share my experience at Microsoft India GTSC event held on 6th June 2009 at Hotel Leela Kempiski in my first post.