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Windows Weekly [#88] NetCast

Zune Takes A Holiday

Hosts: Paul Thurrott and Leo Laporte

I see dead Zunes, Windows 7 Beta, HP MediaSmart Servers, Windows Live Essentials, and more.

The day (some of) the Zunes died

  • Zune 30 had a date-related software glitch
  • Devices shut down for one day (Dec 31, 2008), are back up now
  • Related: Xbox 360 flaw that causes discs to get deep scratches.

Windows 7 Beta arrives … for some

  • Tech beta testers should get it soon … public sometime in January
  • Not much has changed post-M3 but its feature complete

Next-gen HP MediaSmart Servers announced early

  • Paul really likes them
  • Windows Home Server
  • Mac compatibility (Time Machine)

Holiday season – sales supposedly horrible

  • But were really down just 2 percent year over year
  • Amazon had ‘best ever’ season (again) but its unclear what that means
  • Laptops are now (barely) outselling desktops – MS tells me that “businesses are still buying desktops, but individuals are overwhelmingly choosing portable computers

Tip of the week: Windows 7 users: Make the new taskbar work properly

Software of the week:

  • Windows Live Essentials
  • Near-final version is now available
  • Only Movie Maker is still in beta

Audible pick of the week: The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream, Abridged, By Barack Obama, Narrated by Barack Obama.

Check out Paul’s blog at the SuperSite for Windows for more information.