CES has reminded us that some great things are coming out this year from many companies, but of course the focus here is on Microsoft.

This year we can expect to see Natal hit shelves, one of the most interesting input devices to appear in a while, and by the end of the year you will be able to try it as well.

We will also see a great way to play classic arcade games, on both the XBOX 360 and Windows PC, called GameRoom, with 1000 games to be added over 3 years. (30 games on launch)

Not only that, but many cool games are coming, including Halo Reach, which is sure to be a huge launch. (Lets see if it can beat XBOX sales for Modern Warfare 2)

Gaming aside, there should be more details on IE9, Windows Live Wave 4, Windows 7 SP1, and Office 2010. Although I do not know what deals will be available for students yet, I think that there will be some cool stuff (going off last year) and you can expect some cool events this year as well, so keep an eye on this blog.

I will be attending the MSP boot camp some time in January/February, and hope to get some great information and opportunities that I can pass on to everyone.

For those interested in XNA after the Game Camp last year, I have been posting resources and information on my own blog about XNA, you can check it out at http://mquandt.com/blog hopefully you find some of the stuff on there interesting, and I will be keeping it updated with more information, samples and resources as I make/find them.

So enjoy the rest of the summer break, and have a great 2010!

The blogosphere is reporting that Windows 7 is an excellent Operating System, and the beta is very stable. Of note: if you have a Netbook, install the beta on there to replace XP, it is more secure and you can even run Aero on the small Intel GMA950 chip that exists in most Netbooks.

If you have a netbook, or even just a widescreen monitor, Windows 7 is great. Finally the taskbar has been designed with widescreen users in mind. Make the most of the screen width by placing your taskbar on the left or right side of the monitor, and it works wonderfully.

Don’t forget to also grab the latest Windows Live Essentials, which includes everything you need to work with the Windows Live services.

Application compatibility is of course one of the big questions with this new version of Windows, and I am happy to say that there is an extremely high chance that if your application worked with Vista, then it will work with Windows 7. Some applications, primarily those that install drivers, may have some issues, however this is rare as even drivers for Windows Vista work fine with Windows 7.

I have only had two applications have issues so far:

• Daemon Tools – Fails to install the SPTD drivers, however Virtual CloneDrive does work
• Skype reports an incompatibility, however I have had no issues with the latest Skype beta

There are also reports that the anti-cheating service Punkbuster has an issue with Windows 7 and will kick players from some games that use it. Hopefully Punkbuster updates to support Windows 7 soon.

For a slightly more thorough review of Windows 7, check out a fellow MSP’s blog: The League of Paul for more information, or head to Paul Thurrott’s SuperSite for Windows for even more information (and the excellent Windows Weekly Netcast with Paul Thurott and Leo Laporte).

-Michael Quandt

So this means that early Saturday the beta will be available for download from one of four locations on www.microsoft.com

In the meanwhile you can read more about other announcements at CES through Microsoft PressPass, and also watch for the beta release using the Windows Team Blog RSS Feed.

Also in the news is the final release of Windows Live Essentials, which includes Windows Live Messenger 2009, Windows Live Mail 2009, amongst many other great tools. This can be found through http://www.windowslive.com/explore and although at the time of writing the download is not up yet, it should be soon. This, combined with the upcoming release of Internet Explorer 8 will complete the Windows 7 experience.

-Michael

Edit: Read this post on the Windows 7 team blog to find out more information about the upcoming beta http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/windows7/archive/2009/01/07/information-on-downloading-and-installing-windows-7-beta.aspx

Edit #2: My bad, 9th of Jan, aka the Friday in the USA.

• Steve Ballmer, CEO, Microsoft Corporation
• Gianpaolo Carraro’, Senior Director, Microsoft Corporation
• Tim Sneath, Director, Microsoft Corporation

Those three will be giving inspiring talks on the state of software+services with Microsoft, with a focus on the new Windows Azure and Windows 7.

Watch online at http://www.microsoft.com/australia/powertodevelopers/

It begins at 3:30PM AEST, simply head to the above link and watch using the player on the page. Enjoy the nice Microsoft Keynote music before it begins!

There’s a new version of:

• Mail beta
• Messenger beta
• Photo Gallery beta
• Movie Maker beta
• Writer beta
• Toolbar beta
• Family Safety beta
• Microsoft Office Outlook® Connector beta

I’m using the new Windows Live Messenger Beta and really liking it! Apart from the cool feature of letting you be signed in to WLM in more than one location, it has a new looking interface, new features within the contact list – and that’s only what I’ve noticed in the last hour.

I know Michael likes it too. I can see it in his Windows Live Messenger status

Go check it out at http://download.live.com

-Chris