Compatible with Windows 7 Logo

Posted on July 30, 2009 by Marc Liron

Hardware compatibility is a critical feature of Windows 7. No point buying a printer and finding it will not work with Windows 7.

So Microsoft have been working very hard with the IT industry to make sure there is wide product support for the new operating system.

The Windows 7 Logo Program was designed to help these companies deliver compatible and reliable systems, software, and hardware products.

When they have passed testing they can then display the “Compatible with Windows 7 Logo” on the product:

AMD Ready with Graphics Drivers for Windows 7

Posted on July 22, 2009 by Marc Liron

AMD today announced the release of the company’s first WHQL-certified ATI Catalyst graphics drivers for Windows 7 Release to Manufacturing (RTM), an important milestone in the development of Microsoft’s next generation operating system. For ATI Radeon customers, the ATI Catalyst 9.7 driver is immediately available for download from game.amd.com. Simultaneously, the ATI Catalyst 8.632 driver has been made available for ATI FirePro professional graphics customers.

For maximum simplicity, ATI Catalyst drivers are designed to deliver a single, unified driver installation for both Windows 7 and Windows Vista. When combined with the efficiency, affordability and scalability of AMD platforms, users have an unprecedented PC experience that features:

Rock-solid stability and compatibility for AMD platforms running Windows 7

Full support for the visually stunning desktop environment of Windows 7

Game performance improvements in Windows 7 compared with Windows Vista in single card and multi-GPU configurations employing ATI CrossFireX technology

Windows 7 support for accelerated video transcoding tasks utilizing the system CPU and GPU via ATI Stream technology

Full Windows 7 support for ATI FirePro professional graphics, delivering application performance leadership

“As we approach the final release of Windows 7, possibly Microsoft’s most visually impressive operating system to date, we continue to improve upon the industry leading stability and reliability of ATI Catalyst drivers in order to consistently deliver an incredibly immersive, high performance graphics experience to our customers,” said Ben Bar-Haim, corporate vice president of software, AMD Products Group. “Today’s release of ATI Catalyst 9.7 and ATI Catalyst 8.632 drivers does exactly that, delivering incredibly stable and reliable graphics drivers.”

“AMD continues to be an important Microsoft technology partner,” said Jon DeVaan, senior vice president, Windows Core OS Division, Microsoft Corp. “We’ve worked closely with AMD through all of the Windows 7 milestones to ensure that Windows 7 supports the latest high-performance graphics features such as tessellation and shader model 5.0, which will deliver a stunning visual experience when running Windows 7 with AMD graphics.”

Supporting Resources

Download ATI Catalyst drivers

Video: ATI Video Converter How To

Follow news from the ATI Graphics team on Twitter at @ATIGraphics

About AMD

Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) is an innovative technology company dedicated to collaborating with customers and technology partners to ignite the next generation of computing and graphics solutions at work, home and play. For more information, visit http://www.amd.com.

Microsoft Promotes Steven Sinofsky

Posted on July 8, 2009 by Marc Liron

Microsoft Promotes Steven Sinofsky to President, Windows Division

Microsoft has promoted Steven Sinofsky to president of the Windows Division. Sinofsky, a 20-year Microsoft veteran, most recently led the Windows and Windows Live Engineering Group, contributing to the Oct. 22 availability of Windows 7.

As president, Sinofsky assumes responsibility for the Windows business including both the engineering and marketing functions for Windows, Windows Live and Internet Explorer.

“Steven Sinofsky has demonstrated the ability to lead large teams that deliver great products. The work he and the team have done in getting ready to ship Windows 7 really defines how to develop and ship world-class software,” said Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. “He is a perfect fit to lead the Windows group.”

Sinofsky began his career at Microsoft in 1989 in engineering and has held multiple positions on Microsoft product teams. His full biography can be found here.

In addition, Tami Reller, currently chief financial officer (CFO) for the Windows Division, will take on the additional responsibility for marketing. Bill Veghte will be moving to a new leadership role in the company to be announced later this year. The transition between Reller and Veghte is timed to take place in late July when Windows 7 reaches the release to manufacturing (RTM) milestone.

Reller joined Microsoft in 2001 as part of the acquisition of Great Plains Software Inc. Reller was the CFO of Great Plains at the time of acquisition and had previously served in a number of senior marketing, sales and general management roles. Since joining Microsoft, she has held a variety of leadership positions including corporate vice president of marketing for Microsoft Business Solutions, where she was responsible for the launch of the Microsoft Dynamics brand. She will report to Sinofsky and will retain her responsibilities as CFO.

“In addition to her in-depth knowledge of the Windows business, I’m excited that Tami will bring to Windows her experience in marketing and finance, along with a history of fostering a strong and profitable partner ecosystem in business software,” Sinofsky said.

Jon DeVaan will continue in his role as senior vice president, reporting to Sinofsky. DeVaan managed the engineering team responsible for creating the core components of both Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. DeVaan is a 25-year Microsoft veteran whose full biography can be found here.