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- ZDNet Author Biography
Ed Bott is an award-winning technology writer with more than two decades' experience writing for mainstream media outlets and online publications. He's served as editor of the U.S. edition of PC Computing and managing editor of PC World; both publications had monthly paid circulation in excess of 1 million during...- more about Ed Bott »
ZDNet Resources
- With Vista SP2, Microsoft is back on track
- Reliable reports suggest that Microsoft plans to release Windows Vista Service Pack 2 to manufacturing in April 2009, roughly a year after it delivered SP1. Some observers are inferring from this schedule that ista SP2 is being "rushed out the door" and that "Microsoft seems to be in a hurry...
- Tags: Service Pack 2, Microsoft Windows Vista, Service Pack, Microsoft Corp., Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2, Microsoft Windows Vista (Longhorn), Microsoft Windows XP, Operating Systems, Software, Ed Bott
- Blog posts 2008-12-01
- Hands-on with the Zune Pass subscription music service
- This week, Microsoft announced a major change to its all-you-can-eat music download service. The new Zune Pass costs $14.95 a month and gives subscribers the right to download anything in the Zune marketplace. In addition, the monthly fee includes 10 song credits, which can be used for DRM-free MP3. Here's...
- Tags: Microsoft Zune, Digital Music, Personal Technology, zune, mp3, drm, Ed Bott
- Image galleries 2008-11-24
- Why the new Zune Pass should be irresistible
- The music industry has been stumbling and bumbling with subscription-based music services for years. This week, Microsoft announced a sweeping change to its Zune Pass music servicewhich gives you the right to download any album from the Zune Marketplace and convert 10 tracks to purchases each month. That effectively lowers...
- Tags: Microsoft Zune, Service, Digital Music, Digital Media, Personal Technology, Consumer Electronics, Ed Bott
- Blog posts 2008-11-21
- A deep dive into Windows 7
- In this gallery, I look carefully at the new and redesigned features in the pre-beta release of Windows 7 (build 6801). What's changed from XP and Vista, and will it make a difference in the way you use Windows? By Ed Bott by Ed Bott
- Tags: Microsoft Windows 7, Ed Bott, Microsoft Windows, Operating Systems, Software, Windows 7
- Image galleries 2008-11-18
- A deep dive into Windows 7 (build 6801)
- Microsoft took the wraps off Windows 7 for the first time at the Professional Developers Conference in Los Angeles three weeks ago. Since returning from PDC, I've been installing and using Windows 7 on a variety of hardware platforms eight distinct desktop and portable systems so far. My immediate goal...
- Tags: Microsoft Windows 7, Microsoft Windows, Operating Systems, Software, Ed Bott, Network, Change, Backup, Microsoft Windows Vista, UAC
- Blog posts 2008-11-17
- DirecTV's HD tuner set to debut with Windows 7?
- DirecTV's HD tuner for Media Center PCs, first announced at CES three years ago, has achieved the same notoriety as Bigfoot, the Yeti, and the Loch Ness monster. The occasional sighting is always enshrouded in fog and mystery, and no one has ever reported spotting one of these mythical creatures...
- Tags: Microsoft Windows 7, DirecTV, Creature, Microsoft Windows, TVs, Media Center PCs, Tv & Home Theater, Operating Systems, Software, Personal Technology, Home Entertainment, Ed Bott, Media Center PC, Microsoft Corp., Satellite, H.264
- Blog posts 2008-11-08
- My favorite Windows Vista gadgets
- When I first began using Windows Vista, I dismissed the Sidebar as a gimmick. It didn't help that the default gadgets Microsoft offered were of limited utility and that some early gadgets caused performance problems. Over time, though, I've become a Sidebar convert. I haven't encountered a...
- Tags: Microsoft Windows Vista, Gadget, Sidebar, ShareMaster Gadget, Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Windows Vista (Longhorn), Operating Systems, Servers, Software, Hardware, Ed Bott
- Blog posts 2008-11-06
- That "unlocked" Windows 7 taskbar is also unfinished
- My hat's off to blogger Rafael Rivera, who returned from last week's Microsoft Professional Developers Conference and apparently didn't sleep until he figured out how to unlock the flashy new Superbar interface that Microsoft showed off at PDC but didn't make available to PDC attendees. Rafael's clever hack does indeed...
- Tags: Microsoft Windows 7, Rafael, Microsoft Windows, Blogging, Operating Systems, Software, Internet, Ed Bott, PDC
- Blog posts 2008-11-03
- Clearing up the Windows Live confusion
- The single most confusing part of the Windows 7 intro last week at the Professional Developers Conference was the part about Windows Live. Judging by the comments I've read and heard, many people mistakenly concluded that Microsoft is planning to deliver a suite of Internet-based applications in tandem with Windows...
- Tags: Microsoft Windows 7, Microsoft Windows Live, Microsoft Windows, Operating Systems, Software, Ed Bott, Microsoft Corp.
- Blog posts 2008-11-02
- You've got Windows 7 questions, I've got answers
- My first look at the pre-beta PDC release of Windows 7 inspired plenty of great feedback and questions, along with an understandable amount of confusion and apprehension. Is it really faster? Is the new desktop/taskbar UI just a fresh coat of paint on the Vista interface? What's in it for...
- Tags: Microsoft Windows 7, Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Windows Vista (Longhorn), Operating Systems, Software, Ed Bott, Microsoft Windows Vista, PDC
- Blog posts 2008-10-29
- A first look at the Windows 7 PDC release
- After months of keeping Windows 7 under tight wraps, Microsoft has finally showed off its long-awaited OS upgrade in public, at the Professional Developers Conference in Los Angeles. This gallery shows features from the pre-beta release as well as later internal builds not yet publicly released. by Ed Bott
- Tags: Microsoft Windows 7, Microsoft Windows, Operating Systems, Software, Ed Bott, Windows 7
- Image galleries 2008-10-28
- A first look at Windows 7's pre-beta PDC release
- Is it a major release or just a revamped Windows Vista? That's the big question surrounding Windows 7, which made its public debut in a keynote address by Steven Sinofsky today at the Microsoft Professional Developers Conference in Los Angeles. Microsoft executives showed off the new Windows...
- Tags: Screen, Microsoft Windows 7, Network, Window, Microsoft Windows Vista, Feature, PowerShell Scripting Language, Microsoft Windows, Operating Systems, Software, Ed Bott
- Blog posts 2008-10-28
- Seven questions Microsoft won't answer about Windows 7
- Microsoft's news embargo on Windows 7 lifts tomorrow. Today, though, I can confidently report on a handful of questions about Windows 7 that you won't see answered in those announcements. Want to know how many editions of Windows 7 will be released? Looking for the ship date? Wondering about whether...
- Tags: Microsoft Windows 7, Microsoft Corp., Microsoft Windows, Operating Systems, Software, Ed Bott
- Blog posts 2008-10-27
- Transcript: PDC08 Keynote – Ray Ozzie, Amitabh Srivastava, Bob Muglia and David Thompson
- Todd Bishop, TechFlash; Ed Bott, ZDNet; Kip Kniskern, Liveside; Rafael Rivera, Within Windows; Paul Thurrott, Windows Supersite; and Tom Warren, Neowin; and Long Zheng, Istartedsomething — and yours truly--did a group blog of the first PDC keynote. Here's the live blog transcript (speakers: Ray Ozzie, Amitabh Srivastava,...
- Tags: Keynote, Ed Bott, Mary Jo Foley, Ray Ozzie, Microsoft Corp., Service, App, Liveside, Neowin.net, Tom Riley, Signal God, Paul, MJ, Azure, Z, Red Dog, Download Link, Saruhan, Bluehoo, MOS, SSDS, Microsoft Windows, Operating Systems, Software
- Blog posts 2008-10-27
- OS X versus Vista, RAM division
- Now that I have a recent-vintage MacBook for testing, I'm finally able to make some head-to-head comparisons between OS X and Vista. Because this system has a mere 1GB of RAM, I was curious to get a sense of how thrifty OS X Leopard is when it comes to memory...
- Tags: Microsoft Windows Vista, RAM, Apple Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows Vista (Longhorn), Operating Systems, Software, Apple Mac OS, Microsoft Windows, Ed Bott, Memory, Semiconductors, Hardware, Components
- Blog posts 2008-10-24
- Adding up the Apple tax
- Through the graces of an anonymous benefactor, I have a recent-vintage white MacBook to use for the next few months. As a newbie Mac user, I paid special attention to Apple's announcements of new MacBooks last week. And Microsoft paid special attention, too, as I received multiple e-mails from folks...
- Tags: Apple Inc., Taxes, Free Trade, Notebooks, Financial Planning, Finance, Hardware, Notebooks & Tablets, Ed Bott, Apple Macintosh, Tax, Apple MacBook, RAM, Mac Way, Microsoft Windows, Desktops, Operating Systems, Software
- Blog posts 2008-10-21
- The Windows 7 name game, continued
- It is rare that you get to see a Microsoft executive tap dance and juggle at the same time, but that's what I felt like as I read one senior executive's attempt to explain why the next version of Windows will be called Windows 7, even though it's technically version...
- Tags: Game, Microsoft Windows 7, Microsoft Windows, Operating Systems, Software, Ed Bott, Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Corp.
- Blog posts 2008-10-15
- And the new name is ... Windows 7
- Last week I wondered whether the product currently code-named Windows 7 would get a new name for its release. The answer, made official a few minutes ago, is no. In a post at the official Windows Vista Team Blog, Microsoft VP Mike Nash announced that Windows 7 will in fact...
- Tags: Microsoft Windows 7, Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Windows, Operating Systems, Software, Ed Bott
- Blog posts 2008-10-13
- Six money-saving secrets to help stretch your tech budget
- The recent collapse of worldwide financial markets has everyone on edge. If you're like most people, tough times have you looking around at ways to cut back on spending. You might be tempted to impose a freeze on all new purchases of hardware and software, but that draconian strategy only...
- Tags: Software, Dell Computer Corp., PC, Microsoft Office, Discount, Product, Price, Tools & Techniques, Desktops, RSS, Management, Hardware, Internet, Ed Bott
- Blog posts 2008-10-12
- Are there really too many Windows editions?
- Ask any Windows pundit about all the different versions of Windows Vista that Microsoft offers and you'll invariably get the same response. There are too many! Consumers are confused! It all needs to be simplified! To which I say: Be careful what you wish for. The case for reducing the...
- Tags: Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Corp., Edition, Microsoft Windows, Operating Systems, Software, Ed Bott
- Blog posts 2008-10-10
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