End User

Windows 7 Family Pack prices, Anytime Upgrade details

The upcoming Windows 7 Family Pack will be priced at $149.99, and it will be available for purchase in stores upon the operating system's Oct. 22 launch, Microsoft said this morning.

The Family Pack, which will let PC users upgrade to Windows 7 Home Premium on up to three existing Windows Vista or XP computers, represents a discount of more than $200 from buying the Windows 7 Home Premium upgrades individually.

It's one of a series of steps Microsoft is taking to make the new operating system more affordable. The company is trying to pull off a successful Windows 7 launch, reviving its flagship product, in the middle of the turbulent economy.

"Our goal is to make sure customers can easily move up to Windows 7 Home Premium on a bunch of different PCs," said Microsoft's Michelle Haven, a product manager in the Windows business group.

Microsoft today also announced pricing and details for Windows 7's implementation of Windows Anytime Upgrade, which lets people with a lower-priced Windows 7 edition shift subsequently to a Windows 7 edition with more features, without having to use an installation disc.

For example, upgrading from Windows 7 Starter Edition to Windows 7 Home Premium adds features including Media Center PC capabilities and advanced Windows graphics. Going from Home Premium to Professional adds business-related features.

In many cases, Microsoft has reduced the price of the Windows Anytime Upgrade for Windows 7 when compared to shifting between similar Windows Vista editions. For example, going from Windows 7 Starter to Windows 7 Ultimate will cost $164.99, about 17 percent less than moving between comparable Windows Vista editions. Moving from Windows 7 Home Premium to Windows 7 Ultimate will cost $139.99, about 12 percent less, and going from Windows 7 Professional to Windows 7 Ultimate will cost $129.99, about 6 percent less.

Shifting from Windows 7 Home Premium to Professional will cost $89.99 through Windows Anytime Upgrade, and going from Windows 7 Starter to Windows 7 Home Premium will cost $79.99.

See this earlier post for details on standard retail pricing for the new operating system.

Windows Anytime Upgrade takes advantage of the fact that various editions of the operating system are contained in what's known as a single "image," creating the ability to unlock more-advanced editions by purchasing a product key online or in a store. The previous iteration of Windows Anytime Upgrade, introduced with Windows Vista, required the use of an upgrade installation disc.

"This is really taking a lot of the feedback we heard with Windows Vista, and improving the process with Windows 7," Haven said. "We're pretty excited about how simple it will be for any end user to go get it."

In a demonstration this week on Microsoft's Redmond campus, Haven showed how to upgrade from Windows 7 Starter Edition to Windows 7 Home Premium on an Asus Eee PC netbook computer in less than 10 minutes after purchasing a product code online. In some situations, the process could take slightly more than 10 minutes, she said.

In either case, that's significantly less than the 60 to 90 minutes that it can take to use Windows Anytime Upgrade to go from one version of Windows Vista to another.

In Windows 7 Starter Edition, the Start menu will contain a shortcut to the Windows 7 Anytime Upgrade service for a limited time after the lower-end version of the operating system is installed. Users of higher-end versions, such as Windows 7 Home Premium, will be able to find Anytime Upgrade by searching from the Start menu.

Read more of Todd Bishop's posts at TechFlash.com, and follow him on Twitter @toddbishop

It's Sequel Time at Nikon

It's not just Hollywood that loves sequels. Nikon has just announced a new line-up of cameras and lenses, and they might look a little bit … familiar.

First is the Nikon D300s. As the name implies, it is very similar to the Nikon D300. The biggest difference is the addition of video, the same 720p video in the D90 and D5000 -- perhaps Nikon is saving the 1080p for the big, bad professional line? Other big differences are 7 fps shooting even without a battery grip and a dual card slot, with one CF and one SD card. That comes in really handy as backup in situations where you can't afford to lose a shot to corruption, but I prefer the simple card management of the two CF cards on the D3 and D3x.

Next is the D3000, a kid-brother to Nikon's still-new D5000. It breaks Nikon's recent 12-megapixel streak with a 10 megapixel sensor, and is aiming for the entry-level market, people who haven't moved up to DSLRs yet because they didn't want to lose video capabilities, but for whom the current options were too large or expensive. This target is reinforced by the new Guide Mode, essentially a system to teach you how to use a camera as you shoot.

But the real sequels are in the "new" lenses, the 70-200mm f/2.8 VR II and the 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR II.

Let's pause for a moment here while I release my traditional, Nikon-release primal scream: WHERE ARE THE FAST WIDE PRIMES? WE'VE BEEN WAITING 28 YEARS FOR A NEW 35mm f/1.4!

Ok, now that that's out of the way, what we can see is that Nikon is upgrading lenses that have been popular workhorses but which have also drawn heavy complaints -- the 70-200 for vignetting and softness on FX cameras and the 18-200 for zoom creep and softness in the mid range. These lenses will be popular eventually if they fix these issues, but at their initial price -- $2400 for the 70-200 II! -- many people will be looking for deals on the old ones.

The 18-200 seems to seek to fix just that one design problem by putting in a "zoom lock" switch, which is the cheap and easy way to do it. Many people have been using thick rubber bands as their zoom locks. The new 70-200, though, is an entirely new design, slightly shorter and fatter and with the "Nano Crystal Coat." It will be interesting to see how it performs, since all of Nikon's current N lenses -- mostly primes and exotic telephotos -- are optically excellent.

What this also means is that the "Nikon roadmap" that has been bandied about camera sites for many weeks, seems to be totally false. Which is why we didn't report on it.

Windows 7: Don't Discount the Little Things!

Windows 7 is coming. Having written a book on Windows XP and Windows Vista, I often get asked if it would be worth upgrading to Windows 7. I’ve been using Windows 7 for a long time in pre-release form and I’ll confess, it is my favorite of the Windows operating systems. Windows 7 avoids the issues that plagued Windows Vista’s release. Additionally, its little features make it hard to live without once you’ve started using it.

Before talking about Windows 7, it is worth mentioning Windows Vista. When Windows Vista was released, it was definitely worth avoiding. There was a lack of hardware support — drivers were missing or didn’t work. This meant that many peripherals you might have attached to your computer wouldn’t work correctly. The issues were fixed by the companies that make the hardware, and now Vista actually seems to be a stable operating system that is worth using.

If hardware works on Windows Vista, then it should work on Windows 7 without issues. For this reason, Windows 7 is positioned to be a lot more stable than Vista was on release. It is also why you shouldn’t expect to see the huge amount of bad press you saw when Vista was released.

I stated that the little features of Windows 7 are hard to live without once you start using them. Once you start using features like snap, jump lists, shake, and the Show Desktop features on Windows 7, you’ll find you miss them when you use a computer with older operating systems.

SNAP

Snap is a new feature of Windows 7 that lets you drag a window to the edge of the screen. This will then “snap” the window to the edge. This is extremely useful if you want to compare things in two windows side by side. You can simply drag one window to the left and one to the right. If you move it towards the top of the page, you can make the window go full screen.

SHAKE

Another feature that is as fun as it is useful is the shake feature. With this, you can click on a window’s title bar and then shake your mouse while holding the button down. This shakes the window you are clicking on. The result of this is that all other windows are minimized, thus clearing the desktop of everything except that window. If you shake the window again, all the other windows are shown.

SHOW DESKTOP

It has become more common to have gadgets on your desktop. Such gadgets might show the time, stock values, the weather, or a variety of other things. Of course, most of us have several windows on our desktops, thus blocking the gadgets. With Windows 7, you can move your mouse cursor to the bottom right corner. This will hide the windows so you can see the desktop. You’ll actually still see outlines where the windows are, but you won’t see the windows themselves. When you move the mouse back to the desktop, the windows will return.

THE NEW TASK BAR

Windows 7 also has a new task bar. This is a contentious change from previous versions of Windows, but if you are like most people, you’ll like the results after you start using them. In Windows 7, the task bar and quick launch bar from previous versions have been combined. Additionally, you’ll find that the wide, wordy icons in the task bar are gone for squarer, concise icons. When you hover over these icons, if there are open windows, you will see a preview displayed. These are not just static previews, but views of the actual windows. You can even click the little close buttons in the preview to close them, or if you hover over the preview, you’ll see a full preview displayed on the desktop.

Another simple feature of the task bar is that if you don’t like the order of the icons, you can simply drag them to the order and locations you want them. You can also drag icons and shortcuts to the task bar. These will then work for launching the application with a single click.

And wait, there is even more with the Task bar. If you right click, you’ll find that there are a lot of options displayed for the application. This includes a jump list of items related to the icon. For example, with Internet Explorer, you’d get a list of the frequently visited places, the ability to launch Internet Explorer “In Private”, and much more. With a program like Microsoft Word, when you right click on the toolbar option, you’ll see the most recent documents you’ve worked with. This all makes it easy for you to do things quicker and easier.

AND MORE...

Snap, shake, show desktop, and the new task bar are all things that seem simple and somewhat trivial. To some extent they are; however, when you start using them, they become like power locks and power windows in a car. These are features that are not necessary, but once you get use to them, you come to expect them. In fact, you don’t realize how important things like power windows and power locks in a car are until you get into a vehicle without them. Then you quickly realize how valuable such little options can be. Are the similar options in Windows 7 worth the price of an upgrade for Windows? By themselves, not likely, but they sure do help make the decision easier!

- Bradley L. Jones
  Microsoft MVP
  Author: Windows Live Essentials and Services: Using Free Microsoft Applications for Windows 7

Using Your Mobile Device with Windows 7: No Muss, No Fuss

If you use a smart phone or other mobile device, you may be wondering how to synchronize it with Windows 7. Windows Vista comes with the Mobile Device Center, but it’s not built into Windows 7. Never fear – like Windows Mail, Windows Messenger, and other applications that some people use but many others don’t, Microsoft has made the Mobile Device Center an optional component that you download only if you need it.

MDC is not a Windows Live component, though, and isn’t on the Live  download site. Don’t worry, though – you don’t have to go hunt it down. When I plugged my Omnia (the iPhone Killer!) into a USB port on my Windows 7 computer, MDC was automatically downloaded and installed. This is version 6.1.6965.

You then have the option of either setting up the device, or connecting to it without going through the setup process. If you want to sync your smart phone with your Outlook .PST, you’ll want to go through the setup. If, like me, you connect with your device over the air to an Exchange server to get your mail, contacts and calendar information, and you only want to transfer some files (for example, to upload a bunch of photos taken with your smart phone camera to your PC), you can just connect.

If you do choose to set up the device, you’ll be asked what kinds of items you want to sync: contacts, calendar, e-mail, tasks, notes, mobile favorites (web links), files, and/or information from OneNote. You’ll be given the option to create a shortcut on your PC desktop to the MDC.

If you choose to connect without setting up the device, you’ll get the following choices:

• Programs and Services
• Pictures, Music and Video
• File Management
• Mobile Device Settings

If you select Programs and Services, you can add or remove programs on your mobile device, get updates and downloads, or connect to the TotalAccess web site, where you can find wallpapers, ringtones, applications such as Facebook for Windows Mobile, and much more. TotalAccess membership is free.

Adding or removing programs is easy; you just check or clear a checkbox. 

If you select Pictures, Music and Video, MDC will detect how many new photos or video clips are available on your phone. You can import them quickly and easily, and you can assign a tag (such as a date or the location or subject of the photos).

 

You can also change the import settings, including the folder on your PC to which the photos/videos are to be saved (by default, it’s your My Pictures folder. You can also designate how you want the subfolder named (for example, date imported + tag, date taken + tag, tag only, etc.). You can also choose whether you want to be prompted for a tag when you import photos, whether to always erase the photos from your mobile device after they’re imported, whether to rotate vertical photos automatically on import, and whether to open Windows Explorer to view the photos on your PC after you import them.

When you select File Management, you can browse the contents of your mobile device, in Windows 7’s Windows Explorer. It’s far easier to view your files here than in the smart phone’s file manager program. Your phone shows up along with hard disks and removable storage devices in the left pane of Windows Explorer, and if the phone has a separate internal storage area or a microSD card inserted, each of those will also show up and you can browse the contents of each.

I couldn’t help noticing that not only is device setup easier in Windows 7, but subsequent connections to the device are established more quickly and reliably than they ever were in the Vista Mobile Device Center, too. With Vista, it was always a hit or miss thing; sometimes my phone would be recognized, other times it wouldn’t, and there was never any indication of why. With Windows 7, I actually like using MDC. With Vista, it was so bad that when I took photos with my phone, I usually just emailed them to myself (a time consuming process because I had to mail one at a time from the phone) whereas now I connect the phone to the computer and import all the photos quickly and easily.

Windows Mobile Device Center is an example of one more thing that simply works better with Windows 7.

Debra Littlejohn Shinder
MVP (Enterprise Security)
deb@shinder.net    www.debshinder.com

Technorati Tags: Windows 7,Microsoft

Pro Video: Panasonic is Showing Tape the Way Off-Stage

Panasonic has just released their new professional camcorder, the AG-HMC40. That mouthful of letters and numbers is different from many others in the space in two important aspects: its lightweight design (2.6 pounds) and solid-state recording. What does that mean? It means that filmmakers will get more shooting flexibility with this camera: lightweight means it’s easier to transport and utilize for handheld shots where necessary, and the solid-state recording functions allow for some efficiencies you don’t get with tape.  Such functions as:

• Shotmark: Add a mark to the thumbnail image for each clip, you then can sort/play clips with shot marks
• Pre-Rec: This eliminates the just missed it moment. You actually will capture the three seconds *before* you hit the REC button.
• REC check: one-touch checking the end of your most recently recorded clip
• Last clip delete: no need to store a bad footage, delete the last clip with one-touch
• Meta-data recording: allow for easy sorting by stamping data with date, operator, location, title or other data

The camcorder shoots in AVCHD (on a SDHC memory card) which allows for greater pixel count recording than HDV (1920 x 1080 with AVCHD as opposed to 1440 x 1080 with HDV) and the latest H.264 motion image compression (twice the compression of MPEG-2 with HDV).  Shooting on a memory card also gives you more durability with this camera. The AG-HMC40’s stated operating range is -13ºF to +185ºF. Now, I am not certain who is going to record inside a convection oven as they warm day-old pizza, but I am sure the option is nice to have.

Along with standard features, a few other enhancements and improvements caught my eye with this camcorder:

Lens and Zoom
The Leica Dicomar lens is a necessity for shooting in this level of HD. The lens gives you a 40.8mm wide-angle shot; I have not seen a pro video camcorder this small with that wide a range. The 120x zoom will get you up close, just remember that it's 12x optical and 10x digital. Be sure to bear that in mind when going for the uber close-up.

Recording Technology
Panasonic’s AG-HMC40 has 3MOS image sensors to capture full-raster HD images in each of the primary colors. This means that there is a dedicated image sensor for red, blue and green. When rendered, you get a more precise image than a device with 1MOS sensor. You also have the ability to apply Dynamic Range Stretch (DRS), meaning that each pixel matches contrast with one another. Images with DRS have superior gradation for each shade because blocked shadows and blown highlights are suppressed.

Check out more details about the AG-HMC40 in Amazon’s Pro Video store.

--Brandon Baker

Bites from the Apple: Invisible iTouch, Becoming More Visible

Last week we noted the resurfacing of the long-gestating rumor of the Apple tablet-ized touchscreen-enabled Mac (dubbed by many as the iTablet or iTouch) via a news report from The China Times that said the device could be announced in the fall of this year. Well, the march from rumor to reality is advanced again this week as AppleInsider posted an exclusive story that seems to definitively place the iTablet--or, as AppleInsider refers to it, the "reincarnation of its beloved-but-defunct Newton MessagePad"--in Apple's product release roadmap for 2010:

(T)he past six months have reportedly seen the critical pieces fall into place. Jobs, who's been overseeing the project from his home, office and hospital beds, has finally achieved that much-sought aura of satisfaction. He's since cemented the device in the company's 2010 roadmap, where it's being positioned for a first quarter launch, according to people well-respected by AppleInsider for their striking accuracy in Apple's internal affairs.

That means that the device, which is expected to retail for somewhere between the cost of a high-end iPhone and Apple's most affordable Mac notebook, is bound to turn up any time between January and March...

Naturally, this pronouncement has produced many a ripple through the gadgetosphere, including Gizmodo believing that the new iTablet will take over the MacBook moniker (as the 13-inch unibody MacBook just recently went Pro), the Mac Observer pondering whether the iTablet is really Apple's next stab at the Apple TV, and Jason Schwarz Seeking Alpha going so far as to declare the "iTouch Tablet is about to change society as we know it" based on its ability to take full advantage of affordable, download-on-the-fly mobile apps among others.

I don't know about wholesale societal change, but I can certainly see that light, nimble, wirelessly connected (Wi-Fi and cellularly) touchscreen PCs are the next step in personal computing. All I have to do is look at my own toddler and some of his compatriots who constantly clamor for the iPhones that their parents sport. At just 2-1/2, they've already mastered the basics of the touch user interface, and they get frustrated when other devices with LCD screens don't offer the same easy touch controls. Apple has a long view of where computing is going and it looks like they're ready to make a bold technological statement. The question remains, though, whether the public is truly ready for this device and willing to fork over the dough so that the iTablet doesn't suffer the same fate as the Newton. But for now, onto the Apple-y goodness from the week that was...

• In other rumor mongering, it's looking more and more likely that the new iPods that get announced at Apple's traditional September iPod redux rollout will be getting cameras based on leaks of cases for the new iPod nano and iPod touch. Interestingly, there doesn't seem to be any camera-enhanced iPod classic coming down the pike, and CNet's Fully Equipped blog surmises that the iPod classic is being put out to pasture.

• Apple reported strong financials for its third quarter (which ended June 27), with an acceleration of MacBook sales, a 134 percent year-over-year increase in iPod touch sales, and a profit of $1.23 billion. The new MacBook lineup--with lower priced entry-level model and improved battery life in the Pros--seems to be quite popular, as HardMac reports that MacBook sales in June were up 25% in year-over-year comparisons.

• Navigon announced the availability of its turn-by-turn navigation iPhone app for North America (as well as for Europe) this week, and iLounge has a detailed review of it (giving it a disappointing C grade). Other recently released GPS navigation apps include the one-time-fee-based XRoad G-Map apps (introduced at Consumer Reports) and AT&T's subscription-based AT&T Navigator app (video review at Insanely Great Mac). And the 9to5Mac blog reminds us that TomTom's iPhone software should be released by the end of summer.

• Sascha Segan wonders whatever happened to the Apple TV over at PCMag.com. As an owner/user of an Apple TV, I wonder, too.

• Remember Apple's first iTunes-enabled mobile phone? It wasn't the iPhone, but the Motorola ROKR, which debuted five years ago this weekend (via 9to5Mac).

• Professional videographers can rejoice now that Final Cut 7 got released this week--now with the ability (for the first time) to burn a Blu-ray disc.

• And Palm Pre owners can rejoice as Palm has re-enabled iTunes compatibility with the release of the WebOS software update 1.1... at least until Apple issues a new updated to iTunes that kills it.

• A couple of Apple-related items of note from Etsy, an online storefront for hand-crafted goods: a wall clock made from the side panel of a Power Mac G3 (via Macworld) and a felt iPhone case (via Cult of Mac) in the guise of a happy Mac Classic computer.

• I've recently ditched my old Timex clock radio and replaced it with the Touch Flip Clock app running on my iPhone (which is plugged into an Apple dock). Thanks to my early rising toddler, I don't need an alarm clock, but if I did I'd check out some of the more robust alarm clock apps (as Touch Flip Clock is a bit limited) enumerated over at Wired's Gadget Lab.

• Nicole Martinelli at Cult of Mac suggests five Apple Store locations diehard Apple fans should visit before they die. I'm looking forward to the possibility of visiting the two currently under-construction Paris locations (via HardMac)--including one at Le Louvre--next spring as my wife and I gear up for a long-overdue trip back to the City of Lights.

• I'm a bit of a public radio junkie, and so I was thrilled to see that the Public Radio Player app got updated to 2.0 with the ability to listen to on-demand shows as well as live streams of public radio stations from across the country (NPR as well as smaller local public stations, such as the excellent KBCS from Bellevue Community College here in Washington). Many of the NPR on-demand shows are already available as podcasts, but the Public Radio Player provides instant gratification via streaming (instead of having to wait to download podcasts and then subsequently sync your iPhone or iPod touch).

• And finally... The Daily Show covers the battle of two iPhone fart applications (with potential civil rights implications???):

  The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
  iFeud
  www.thedailyshow.com
  Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Joke of the Day

--Agen G.N. Schmitz

Easiest Hack Ever: Theme Your OS X Desktop with Magnifique

OS X has many virtues, but one thing it's always lacked is a comprehensive approach to theming--you either love Aqua or you don't, but historically there wasn't much you could do about it other than change the orientation and size of your docks, or the layout in the Finder view.

But Magnifique changes all that.  A completely free download for Mac OS X, Magnifique is a theming engine that lets you change the look and feel of OS X.  After installing the program, you can use its menu-based interface to select from a list of indexed themes.  You can browse details and preview each theme before installing, and install changes take place in real time (although sometimes you have to restart any open programs before the theme fully "takes").

The Magnifique format is open-source, so you can create your own themes as well--although the Magnifique interface has a database of themes that are stored on its own servers, you can make your own themes and pack them into .mfq files that anyone can download and use.

The current version of Magnifique is 2.1 and supports the theming of the Finder, the Dock, and iTunes.  Check out the Magnifique site, and download the program for your Mac here.

--Aric A.

Windows 7 RTM: When Can You Get It?

As reported by another blogger here, Windows 7 was released to manufacturing today, Wednesday, July 22nd and will go on sale to the public on October 22nd. But when (and where) can you get it? That depends.

Today’s announcement in the Windows 7 Team Blog said the RTM code will be released to partners “within the next few days.”  This will allow software and hardware vendors who are Microsoft partners to create third party applications that run on Windows 7 and to test hardware products with the final code and ensure that they’re compatible.

If you’re an IT professional with a TechNet subscription or a developer with an MSDN subscription, you’ll be able to download the final bits starting August 6th from the respective web sites. Businesses with volume licenses and Software Assurance licenses can get it the next day, August 7th, from the Volume License Service Center. Microsoft Partner Gold/Certified members will get it August 16th, on the Microsoft Partner Network (MPN) portal site. Microsoft Action Pack subscribers have to wait a little longer but will still get the RTM early, starting August 23rd. And volume license customers who don’t have Software Assurance will be able to purchase Windows 7 September 1st.

The above applies to the English version of Windows 7.  Other languages are expected to be available to the same groups on or before October 1st. 

Whew! Keeping all those dates straight isn’t easy, so here’s a chart to help you determine at a glance where you fit in:

OEMs	“within the next few days”
Microsoft Connect members	August 6
TechNet subscribers	August 6
MSDN subscribers	August 6
Volume license w/SA	August 16
Action pack subscribers	August 23
Volume license w/o SA	September 1
Languages other than English	October 1
Retail customers	October 22

We can expect computers pre-installed with Windows 7 to be on the shelves in plenty of time for the holiday shopping season.

Debra Littlejohn Shinder
MVP (Enterprise Security)
deb@shinder.net    www.debshinder.com

Microsoft Finishes Windows 7, On Track for Oct. 22 Release

Microsoft has completed Windows 7, reaching a landmark moment in its efforts to revive its flagship PC operating system.

The company this afternoon announced that it has released Windows 7 to manufacturing. The milestone, commonly abbreviated as "RTM,"  means the company has finished the development process and dispatched the operating system to be put onto installation discs and pre-installed on computers. For the record, the build number chosen as the final version was 7600.16385.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was slated to announce the news this afternoon at the company's internal MGX sales convention in Atlanta. Neowin has photos and details from MGX, culled from employees posting about the event on Twitter and other sites.

In addition, the company today announced that it has finished Windows Server 2008 R2, a major update for its server operating system.

Windows 7 is slated for public release Oct. 22. The company has gone to great lengths to try to avoid the compatibility problems that hampered the January 2007 debut of its predecessor, Windows Vista. The previous operating system suffered repeated delays. The Windows 7 development process, under newly minted Windows President Steven Sinofksy, has been much smoother.

ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley reports that there will be "a bunch of new hardware that has yet to be seen from a variety of manufacturers that will be preloaded with Windows 7" on the Oct. 22 release day. Microsoft is hoping that PC makers and other tech companies will capitalize on Windows 7's new features, including touch-screen technologies.

Other new features in Windows 7 include simplified home networking, an overhauled taskbar, and the ability to snap open windows against the side of the screen to quickly resize them.

Microsoft announced pricing for the different Windows 7 versions last month, offering Windows 7 Home Premium for $40 less than the comparable Windows Vista versions. The company yesterday also confirmed that it will offer a Windows 7 Family Pack, for installing the operating system on up to three computers, but it didn't announce the expected pricing for that package.

The RTM announcement comes a day before Microsoft reports its fiscal year-end and fourth-quarter financial results.

Read more of Todd Bishop's posts at TechFlash.com.

Yep, Windows 7 Family Pack Is Real, Microsoft Confirms

Pricing and other details are still scarce, but Microsoft this afternoon confirmed that it will offer a "Family Pack" version of the upcoming Windows 7 operating system, with a license that will let people install it on as many as three machines.

"I know there have been some rumors going around about a 'family pack' for Windows 7," writes Microsoft's Brandon LeBlanc. "We have heard a lot of feedback from beta testers and enthusiasts over the last 3 years that we need a better solution for homes with multiple PCs. I’m happy to confirm that we will indeed be offering a family pack of Windows 7 Home Premium (in select markets) which will allow installation on up to 3 PCs. As I’ve said before, stay tuned to our blog for more information on this and any other potential offers."

Presumably those details will come sometime before the Oct. 22 launch of the operating system. Previous online clues have suggested that a Windows 7 Family Pack upgrade will be available for around $150. That compares to a $119.99 price for a standalone upgrade to Windows 7 Home Premium.

Apple has said it will offer the family pack of its upcoming Snow Leopard Mac OS X for $49, as an upgrade from the existing Leopard operating system, for installation on up to five computers.

Read more of Todd Bishop's posts at TechFlash.com