I'm pleased to announce we've expanded support for the Windows 7 Compatibility Center.  The fantastic Windows 7 momentum continues with a 150 million licenses sold to date, so ongoing support for the huge number of products that work with Windows is critical.

Since my first announcement on the Windows Compatibility Center and Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor, we’ve had over 25 million visitors and have been busy adding thousands of compatible applications and devices to our database.  We now track over 100,000 consumer and business products across the globe.  While this is just a sample of everything available on Windows 7, we aim to provide compatibility information for the most popular products with links to software upgrades, device driver downloads, and help resources should you need them.

So here’s what we’re releasing today….

The Windows 7 Compatibility Center now supports searching and browsing over 100,000 products across 17 markets and 12 languages.  When visitors in Australia, Brazil, Canada (English & French), China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, Netherlands, Russia, Spain, Taiwan, United Kingdom, and the United States go to www.windows.com/compatibility, they will automatically be directed to the market and language that matches their browser setting.  From there, visitors can search and browse applications and devices relevant to their local market or use the ‘market picker’ at the top of the page to see what’s available in other languages.

We also have a couple of new search tools for Internet Explorer 8 that hook right into the Compatibility Center. You can download this IE8 Search Provider to search from your browser’s toolbar and this IE8 Accelerator which lets you right-click a product’s name on any website to get instant results from the Compatibility Center. (These are only available in English for now.)

Finally, we really want to hear from our customers about how it’s going with your devices and applications on Windows 7, so we encourage you to let us know by using the Compatibly Center feedback forms. Also look for links to the Microsoft Answers forum where you can post questions and search for answers from the community and Microsoft folks.

Cheers, Mark

Get The Windows Live Beta Here

Over the last few weeks we have launched the first two of the three content tracks:

• The Devices track launched on May 25 and focused on how to differentiate your devices from the rest of the market by taking advantage of Windows 7.
• On June 2, the Systems track launched and focused on helping you learn how to leverage Windows 7 features and technologies to create the best system possible.

Feedback from those who have already viewed the series has been extremely positive.  To date, the sessions have been viewed more than 15,000 times and people continue to tune in to the series.  If you haven’t had the chance yet you can access the content from those sessions at the Windows Summit 2010 website.

Today, the Software track launches with Dean Hachamovitch as the opening speaker.  Dean is focusing on how to build applications that are easy to use, visually appealing, and offer high performance on Windows 7.  Following Dean, you’ll have access to the fantastic Software track sessions such as Developing Multi-Touch Applications for Natural Experiences and Windows 7 Ribbon: The Next Generation User Experience for Presenting Commands in Windows Applications. With all other Summit content, the videos can be found here.

The good news doesn’t stop there! Based on the feedback we’ve received from you, the Summit team will extend the Devices Track and launch 17 new sessions on June 30, 2010.  Eleven of those sessions are virtual workshops that will walk you through creating Device Stage experiences and will cover tools that simplify implementation of Device Stage for your products.

Our goal for the Summit, as with all our outreach to the ecosystem around Windows, is to deliver you the content and tools you need to bring innovative software and hardware to life. Remember that all our content is on demand for you to view 24x7 so you can watch it at your own pace.

Enjoy!

Mark Relph, Sr. Director – Developer & Windows Ecosystem (@mrelph)

Hello Everyone -

It is my pleasure to announce that the Windows Summit 2010 kicks off today.

Those of you who have heard about Windows Summit 2010 know that it is a virtual comprised of three tracks – Device, System and Software. The event designed for hardware and software designers, developers, engineers and testers who want to build great products on Windows. Members of the Windows team have been working hard for weeks to prepare and record a full agenda of great sessions. The event opens today with comments by Michael Angiulo - General Manager, Windows Planning & Ecosystem.

After Mike, 10 sessions from the Device Track will go live. The Windows Summit 2010 doesn’t stop there - the Systems track launches on June 2 with a kickoff by Brad Brooks and Dean Hachamovitch is kicking off the Software track on June 16.

I’m excited to let you know that I’ll be kicking off the Device Track this morning. I am a real gadget geek and I love to take advantage of Windows 7 features like Device Stage and Play To. The Device Track is going to walk you through those technologies (and more!) and learn how to differentiate your products with Windows 7.

Here are some of the sessions that I am most excited about from each track (but be sure to check out the website for a full list!)

Devices Track: May 25

• Windows 7 Device Experience Overview
• The Windows Logo Kit: What’s New in WLK 1.5
• Windows 7 Device Content and Web Resources
• Developing Your Device Experience Strategy

Systems Track: June 2

• Windows 7 Imaging and Deployment Tools Overview
• Understanding the Windows Logo Program for Systems
• Building Troubleshooters
• Using the Mobile Broadband Platform in Windows 7

Software Track: June 16

• Developing Multi-Touch Applications for Natural Experiences
• Unleashing the Latest Innovations in Modern Graphics Hardware with Windows 7
• Windows 7 Scenic Ribbon: The Next Generation User Experience for Presenting Commands in Windows Applications
• Extending Battery Life by Creating Energy-Efficient Applications

It should be a great event and we hope you can join us for it! The content will be available for download, so you can consume it at your own pace. Go to the Windows Summit 2010 website to register and hear Mike Angiulo open the event at 9am PST today.

https://community.winsupersite.com/blogs/paul/default.aspx

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