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Confirming our belief that Japan is at once among the coolest and craziest places on this planet we all call home is Burger King's exclusive Windows 7 Whopper. Seven stacked beef patties extend your usual Whopper to over five inches in height and the whole thing costs an appropriate ¥777 (or $8.55). It'll be available for one week only -- or seven days, get it? Join us past the break to see the full towering size of this meaty monstrosity. [Via Electronista] Update: Andy Yang, our Engadget Chinese editor, has read the smallprint and noted that in fact only the...

HOW TO UPGRADE WINDOWS 7 BETA OR RC TO WINDOWS 7 RTM (RETAIL VERSION) You can’t upgrade directly from a pre-release version—at least, not without a quick and easy workaround. Here is that workaround...The ProblemWindows 7 checks whether or not the current version you are running is a pre-release copy, and prevents you from upgrading further. For reference purposes, this is the error you’ll see when you try and upgrade.The SolutionThe solution is to edit a file inside the Windows 7 DVD—which you’ll have to extract to the hard drive to proceed. If you are using an ISO image for...

Several big tech companies depending on revamp of flagship product SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Toshiba Corp. has long maintained a staff of engineers at Microsoft Corp.'s headquarters, to consult on the development of products compatible with the Japanese conglomerate's personal computers. But collaboration between Toshiba and Microsoft on the newest version of the Redmond, Wash.-based company's flagship Windows software, dubbed Windows 7, was far more involved than it had been in the past - highlighting a need to dull memories of the product's flawed predecessor, and to bolster the fortunes of both Microsoft and the many technology companies that depend...

Through its XP Mode, Microsoft Windows 7 can extend the useful life of legacy applications and peripherals. With a feature called XP Mode in Windows 7, Microsoft hopes to make it easier to use legacy applications and equipment. In this video, ZDNet’s Ed Bott, blogger of Ed Bott’s Microsoft Report, shows you how the new XP Mode works and suggests a few possible uses for the feature.

Here's some important information for anyone thinking about upgrading to Microsoft's new Windows 7 on an existing machine, or using an existing device or peripheral (such as a printer or camera) with a new Windows 7 PC. Microsoft today released a new version of its Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor, which scans a computer to see if it can run the new operating system; along with a Windows 7 Compatibility Center, letting you see if your devices will work with Windows 7. Although many people will get Windows 7 when they buy new PCs, the automated Windows 7 Upgrade Adviser will...

Computer Weekly, in association with ResearchNow Business, surveyed 500 users to discover which web browser they use at work and at home. Over half of the panellists predicted IE 8+ was the browser that they will be using by the end of 2010, both personally and for their business.

Personal computers are about to get a makeover with the launch of the latest Windows operating system.**************************************************************** The BBC's Jason Palmer investigates Windows 7's pros and cons***************************************************** Microsoft is hoping the successor to Vista will be more of a hit with users when it launches on 22 October. Many of the features take into account multimedia applications and the fact that users are beginning to store their data on the internet. In the UK some computer stores are due to open at midnight so keen PC users can get their hands on the software.

If you’re like of lot of Windows users out there, you skipped Vista and are still running XP on your computer. You’ve been waiting for October 22 and now that it’s here you’re ready to try Windows 7. You’re system is relatively new, about three- to four-years old, and you’ve run Microsoft’s Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor and your hardware is well on par with Windows 7’s requirements. However, you’re not quite ready to give up XP just yet. Maybe you have some applications that failed the Upgrade Advisor’s compatibility check or maybe you got burned during the Vista debacle. No...

When Windows 7 is released on Thursday, many who'll rush out to buy it will be users of Windows XP. Unfortunately, Microsoft has not made it easy for XP users to move to Win7. You won't be able to run the upgrade disk and have the newer operating system install on top of XP, leaving your data and programs in place. Instead, you have two options: 1. You can do a Clean install, in which you wipe the hard drive clean and install a virgin copy of Windows 7, then reinstall your software and copy your data back to the...

XP's long reign over the hearts and minds of corporates will end on October 22 when Windows 7 is launched, predicts analysts Forester. Soothsayers in Forester's tarot reading division have pulled the Death card for Windows XP on the corporate desktop. Forrester’s Benjamin Gray said that businesses needed refresh aging IT infrastructure. There was also a predicted end to XP support and getting copies of the operating system was becoming trickier. Windows 7 had an XP mode which means that most of the software that businesses have will run on the new operating system. This will improve the OS's chance...

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Microsoft Corp.'s new Windows 7 computer operating system hopes to pull off a major trick with memory. Not computer memory, but ours. It's supposed to make us forget Vista. The Vista operating system, which Windows 7 will officially replace later this month, had a terrible reputation almost from the time it debuted in 2007. Because of Vista's technical foibles, sluggish operation and inability to play nicely with some other programs, consumers and professionals shunned it in droves, refusing to update from Microsoft's old, reliable XP operating system. Apple Inc. made fun of Vista in a set of hilarious TV commercials,...

Microsoft unveiled the details of the Windows 7 logo program today. The requirements for earning the Windows 7 compatibility label are stricter this time around--partially to boost support and acceptance of 64-bit systems, and partially to avoid the pitfalls Microsoft encountered with the Vista logo program. The Windows 7 logo program beefs up the testing requirements, while reducing the red tape and expense it takes for partners and vendors to certify their products as compatible. Products that achieve the Windows 7 logo certification should perform optimally and experience minimal crashes, reboots or other issues. There is a key change from...

Hackers just like the PC more. Regardless of which side you're on (though as a true computing enthusiast, you shouldn't be taking sides), you've heard the arguments back and forth on the which operating system is truly safer – Mac OS X or Windows. It is of the opinion of Charlie Miller, a well known Mac security guru, that even Snow Leopard, the latest version of Mac OS X, isn't as safe as Windows. One key point is that Snow Leopard still doesn't have ASLR, or address space layout randomization, which randomly arranges the position of key data making it...

Microsoft: We're not gouging Europe on Windows 7 pricing Company exec denies that higher EU prices stem from antitrust action A top Microsoft executive today denied reports that European users will pay more for Windows 7 because of the company's wrangling with antitrust regulators. In a statement first posted as a letter to the Financial Times Web site, Bill Veghte, the senior vice president for the Windows business group, said "nothing about this [case] will mean higher prices for Windows 7 in Europe." Today, Microsoft's public relations firm forwarded the same Veghte statement to Computerworld. Veghte was countering a Financial...

(CNET) -- Microsoft recently announced retail pricing for Windows 7 that was at or below comparable Windows Vista prices, while also offering a chance for people to preorder the software at a substantial discount. Microsoft confirmed that a program offering Vista PC buyers a free copy of Windows 7 will kick off on Friday. From Friday through July 11, consumers in the U.S. will be able to buy an upgrade copy of Windows 7 Home premium for $49 or Windows 7 Professional for $99.

According to NetApplications, Windows XP is still the OS of choice for users out there in ComputerLand, with some two-thirds of users still making use of the aging OS. By comparison, Vista is struggling to capture a quarter of the market share. Vista’s “WOW!” failed to capture the attention of users, as many chose to stick with their older OS. If you are an XP user, has what you’ve seen of Windows 7 made you willing to ditch XP? The way I see it, Microsoft needs to be putting effort into marketing Windows 7 to those currently using XP. After...

Microsoft Corp's next version of Windows is stirring fresh complaints of anticompetitive behavior from rivals who say the new version of the operating system gives unfair advantage to Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser, the Financial Times reported. "Our initial review suggests this is a blatant use of the Windows operating system to change the market dynamics of browser usage," Mitchell Baker, chairperson of Mozilla, developer of open-source Firefox browser, told the paper.

If you're feeling adventuresome, you can get a jump on the rest of the world by being one of the first to try out Windows 7, the next version of Windows. I've tested out the beta version for the last few months and, so far, my experience has been quite positive. Microsoft still hasn't announced the date of the final commercial version of the upcoming operating system, though it's widely expected to be out by the end of this year. But Microsoft is allowing anyone to download and install a free copy of the operating system so it can be...

Some pirated builds on file-sharing sites harbor attack code... Pirated copies of Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC) on file-sharing sites contain malware, according to users who have downloaded the upgrade. Windows 7 RC, which Microsoft Corp. will officialy launch tomorrow, leaked two weeks ago, with copies first appearing on BitTorrent tracking sites on April 24. Some of the pirated builds include a Trojan horse, numerous users said in message forums and in comments on BitTorrent sites such as Mininova.org. "Just a warning for anyone downloading the new RC builds of windows 7. Quiet [sic] a lot of the downloads have...