Microsoft begins Windows 7 push

The first public trial, or beta, version of Windows 7 has been released.

Microsoft boss Steve Ballmer used his keynote speech at CES to announce that software developers would get at the trial version on 7 January.

On 9 January members of the public will get the chance to download the successor to Windows for themselves.

Mr Ballmer said Windows 7 would be the pivot of a broader Microsoft push to improve the way its separate software and service families work together.

In delivering the opening keynote, Mr Ballmer has taken over from Bill Gates - who in 2008 bowed out of day-to-day involvement with the company he founded.

In a nod to the chilly economic climate, Mr Ballmer said: "We face some really big challenges. We are all feeling it and its impact will likely be with us for some time."

But, he said, the global economic slowdown would not hobble the pace of technological change.

"I believe our digital lives will only continue to get richer," said Mr Ballmer. "There's no turning back from the connected world."

The newest version of the Windows operating system would, he said, be the "linchpin" of an effort to make it easier for customers to do more with the different Microsoft gadgets and services they use.

Although Windows 7 was a trial version it was, said Mr Ballmer, almost "feature complete" and would help to re-define the way people thought of the software.

Instead of it being an operating system mainly associated with a PC, he said, Windows was becoming a "connected platform and experience".

Microsoft is expected to cap the number of copies of the beta version of Windows 7 available to the public. The minimum requirements for running Windows 7 are a PC with a 1 Ghz processor, 1GB of RAM, 16 GB of disk space, 128MB of video memory and support for DX9 graphics.

Some of the Windows 7's features help it work with other devices. A "home group" system makes it straightforward to enrol PCs, Xbox consoles, media servers and other gadgets into a local network that can share media and content.

Demonstrations during Mr Ballmer's keynote also showed changes to Windows Live online services that let it act as a co-ordinating centre for many of the things people do on the web.

In connection with this Mr Ballmer announced a deal with Facebook which would mean any changes a member made to their page on the social networking site would be echoed on their Windows Live pages.

Microsoft tackles auction pirates

Many sellers were offering fake versions of Windows XP

Microsoft has launched 63 separate lawsuits against people peddling counterfeit software on auction sites.

The legal action targets sellers in 12 nations including the US, UK, Germany and France.

Most of those Microsoft has targeted have been selling fake "Blue Edition" versions of Windows XP.

Microsoft said the operating system was proving popular on auction sites as it is reaching the end of its commercial sales cycle.

Windows XP stopped being installed on new PCs at the end of June 2008 to make way for the newest version of Windows, Vista.

While Microsoft has claimed strong sales for Vista many businesses and consumers have shunned it in favour of the older software.

Global trade

In a statement David Finn, Microsoft's general counsel on worldwide anti-piracy and anti-counterfeiting, said auction sellers were taking advantage of unsuspecting customers.

"These dealers are peddling bogus products that can put customers and their personal information at serious risk," he said.

Research by Microsoft into the quality of fake software sold on auction sites found that 34% did not install properly and 43% contained tampered code that could expose buyers to identity theft or other attacks.

Many of the fake copies of Windows were being pushed with the help of a bogus marketing campaign based around a so-called Blue Edition of the software.

"Consumers should be aware that the so-called 'Blue Edition' software is nothing more than low-quality counterfeit software burned onto a CD," said Mr Finn.

Mr Finn said Microsoft provided tools and information to help customers spot fake software.

In pursuing auction sellers Microsoft has found that the trade in counterfeit software is now global. One of the cases it is handling spans four continents and involves peddlers in New Zealand selling Chinese copies of XP to customers in the Australia, North America, the Netherlands, New Zealand and the UK.

Firm makes one billionth mouse

Logitech says its factory in Suzhou, in western China, has produced the firm's billionth computer mouse. Video courtesy of Logitech.

Swiss company Logitech has hailed as a major landmark the production of its one billionth computer mouse.

Logitech's description comes at a time when analysts claim the days of the mouse are numbered.

"It's rare in human history that a billionth of anything has been shipped by one company," said Logitech's general manager Rory Dooley.

"Look at any other industry and it has never happened. This is a significant milestone," he told the BBC.

But sounding the death knell for the device is Gartner analyst Steve Prentice who said "the mouse will no longer be mainstream in three to five years".

However he did acknowledge the manufacture of the one billionth mouse was a "tremendous achievement".

"It speaks volumes to the success of the mouse that they (Logitech) have produced a billion and good luck. But past performance is not a guarantee of future success.

Touch screens aim to be an alternative to the computer mouse

"The world has changed and the nature of machines has changed. The multi-touch interface I believe really does seal the coffin of the mouse," added Mr Prentice.

He claimed the other technologies that would consign the mouse to the dustbin of history would involve facial and movement recognition for the mainstream market.

Mr Dooley, however, believed the new technologies would have a place alongside the computer mouse and that it did not have to be an either/or situation for users.

"The fundamental functionality of the mouse has not changed for 40 years and that is one of the keys to its success. We do not envisage unlearning all those years of learning but that doesn't mean to say there will not be a place for touch interfaces.

"Touch will augment the things you can do today with the mouse and keyboard interface," he added.

Challenge

The mouse faces some stiff competition. Laptops and notebooks use a touch pad and are increasingly taking the place of the desktop computer. Apple's iPhone and Nintendo's Wii game have introduced a new generation to the world of touch screens and movement sensors.

HP is pushing a mouse-less TouchSmart PC while Microsoft have invested heavily in "surface" computers which react to gestures and touch.

Mr Dooley, however, put talk of the death of the mouse down to hyperbole.

With the world's first mouse about to hit 40, Mr Dooley defends its future

"The reality is it's always easy for people to drum up interest in a story by making an extreme statement. And in the story of the 'mouse is dead' campaign by Bill Gates a few months ago, that was started to drum up interest in Windows 7, the next version of the operating system.

"The challenge with these new technologies is going to be will you touch a screen that is two feet away from you a thousand times a day? Is touch accurate enough to let you get into the cell of a spreadsheet?

"Those are just some simple questions we believe will not necessarily be answered by the touch interface of tomorrow," Mr Dooley explained to the BBC.

Mr Prentice strongly disagreed and said that the pace of progress could not be denied.

"Just look forward five years and computer screens will be built into the walls of our homes and that would make it difficult to drive with a mouse. That's where all the new technology like multi touch and facial recognition comes in. This is where the computer stops being a computer and becomes part of a building.

The world's first mouse was given the name because a tail came out the end

"Push things back 30 years and we would never have said we'd sit in front of a computer or that computers would hold all our music when everyone bought gramophones. Computers are not just computers anymore, they are part of our lives," added Mr Prentice.

Logitech's one billionth mouse rolled off the production line in the middle of November.

As part of the fanfare around that, the company has launched a global competition to find the mouse with a reward of $1,000 of Logitech products going to the winner. Clues to its whereabouts will be posted on the company's blog.

The computer mouse will achieve a milestone of its own next week when it turns 40.

It was 9 December 1968 when Douglas C Engelbart and his group of researchers at Stanford University put the first mouse through its paces.

Microsoft's latest operating system

Software giant Microsoft on Tuesday unveiled Windows 7, saying its latest operating system won't be as annoying.

At the company' Professional Developers Conference here, Microsoft said the new version will not have the rampant notifications that have irked many users of Windows Vista.

People can choose to see fewer alerts and warnings from their computers in the new Windows 7, said the company, adding that people will be able to test out the next version of Windows early next year.

The design of Windows 7 will make it easier for people to switch between open windows, files and applications.

It also is supposed to give PC users faster access to recently used files, making home networking more automatic, according to the company.

And overall, the version is faster and can run on less-powerful computers, said the company.

Windows 7, the successor to Windows Vista, is scheduled to premiere in early 2010.

Microsoft expects that the new product would eliminate some of the problems that hampered Vista's premiere two years ago and continue to define the operating system's reputation.

Users have complained that the Vista system requires much more memory than its predecessor Windows XP and fails to run some applications.

Many corporate users even reportedly asked to have their computers downgraded to XP.