Download Windows Essentials 2012

As you all know the support of Windows Essentials ended in January 2017.  So if you are looking to download and reinstall it in your PC you won’t find it anymore in any Microsoft website.  If I remember it correctly, Windows Live Essentials was introduced as a FREE add-on during Windows 7 times after they removed some apps like Movie Maker.  Live Essentials added more apps, like Messenger (now Skype), Photo Gallery, Mail, and my personal favorite the Writer intended for blogging.

If you have downloaded the offline installer then you are lucky one, you can use and reinstall the app without any problems.  Two weeks ago a customer  called me asking where can he download Windows Live Mail.  Apparently his boss, a Jurassic lawyer, doesn’t want to adapt on what is current, he still wanted the nice and easy interface of the Live Mail.  Good thing I still have the offline installer, so I uploaded it in OneDrive and send him the link, which I also wanted to share with you should you still want to have these apps on your PC.  You can get it in the link below.

Download Windows Essentials 2012

Note:  Since Microsoft has retired this product and won’t get any patches and updates, there will be a risk in using it.  For more information you can go to the following link, Essentials 2012 Release Notes and FAQs

Windows 10 Upgrade Paths

Windows 10 is just around the corner and will come to your devices of the 29th of this month.  As promised Windows 10 will be FREE to all qualifying Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 devices out there.  Right now if you are a Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 user, most of you are now having a notification in the Windows taskbar telling you to reserve Windows 10.  So go ahead and click that button to reserve!

Now let’s talk about the upgrade paths, which edition of Windows 7 or 8.1 will get which edition of Windows 10?  The table below shows  upgrade paths from Windows 7 and Windows 8.1.

Basically when your PC runs on Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 you can get Windows 10 for FREE.  System requirements of the three operating systems are just the same.  But just in case, below are the system requirements.

• You must have the latest version of Windows 7 with SP1 or Windows 8.1 Update
• A 1 GHz processor or faster or SoC (System on Chip)
• 1 GB of RAM for 32-bit or 2GB or RAM for 64-bit
• A 16 GB hard disk space for 32-bit or 20 GB for 64-bit
• A DirectX 9 or later compatible graphics card with WDDM 1.0 driver
• A minimum display resolution of 800x600

To check if your PC/ tablet meets the requirements, use the “Check my PC” in the get Windows 10 app

Note: Windows 7 Enterprise, Windows 8/ 8.1 Enterprise, and Windows RT/RT 8.1 are excluded in the upgrade offer.  Microsoft customers with active SA in volume licensing can upgrade to Windows 10 Enterprise at no cost.

July 29 is the Day! Reserve your Windows 10 now!

Microsoft confirmed Windows 10 will come out on July 29, 2015.  The best thing is that the IT giant is giving it for FREE! Yes no kidding Windows 10 will be free for its first year of availability to qualified Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1 devices. 

To get Windows 10 you need to have the following specifications in your PC or Tablet:

• Latest version of Windows 7 SP1 or Windows 8.1 Update
• 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster processor or SoC
• 1 gigabyte (GB) for 32-bit or 2 GB for 64-bit
• DirectX 9 or later with WDDM 1.0 driver
• A minimum display resolution of 800x600

Right now qualified Windows devices are now receiving the notification in taskbar asking for the user to reserve a copy of Windows 10.  A lot of my friends have asked me if the notification is just a joke or a hoax but it’s not.  As long as you turned on Windows Update you can get Windows 10 on July 29.

Windows 8.1 countdown!

Can’t wait for Windows 8.1? Just today, the Windows Blog announced the general availability of Windows 8.1 in the Windows Store.  Exactly 8 days before Windows 8 turns one year old, on October 18, 2013 the 8.1 update will be available worldwide.  Existing Windows 8 users can get this update for FREE.  It will also be available on retail and beginning October 18, newly shipped PCs will carry Windows 8.1.

This free update will give you more cloud integration with SkyDrive, better transition from desktop to start screen, four sizes of tiles, Internet Explorer 11, unified search across all your apps, workplace join for BYOD scenarios in the enterprise and more!

While waiting for the official update you may download the Windows 8.1 preview at www.preview.windows.com.

Windows 8.1 Preview is here!

June 26, 2013. It’s been more than a month since the Windows 8.1 Preview  - codenamed “Windows Blue” has been available for tech enthusiasts, IT pros, and developers.  One noticeable change in Windows 8.1 is the ability of the tiles to be resized a quarter of the size of the medium tile like that of the Windows Phone 8 and a large tile for you to see more updates on that app.

Now let’s see what more Windows 8.1 have to offer.

• I can now make my desktop wallpaper as a background of my Start screen.  It gives smoother transition from my desktop to my Start screen, it’s like my apps / tiles is just floating in my desktop. Windows 8.1 also gives me more color options to personalize my experience.  Just go to the Settings charm and click / tap personalize.

• Missing the Start Menu button? Visit your desktop and the Start button is back! But no it wont give you the classic Start Menu, clicking / tapping it will direct you to the fast and fluid Start screen. But wait there’s more try Right clicking the Start button and it will give you the option to Shut down, sleep, or restart Windows 8.

               

• Searching something on my local drive, the web, and across my apps has never been this easy with Windows 8.1! With the unified search, one keyword and Windows will give me results from my files, the web and even from my apps!

• The Windows Store has been redesigned which includes app picks for the user, popular apps, and new releases. Of course you can still brose apps as per category.

• Talking about the browser, the first touch optimized and most secure browser has it’s new version! Checkout the preview version of Internet Explorer 11 built in on Windows 8.1 Preview.

• Windows 8.1 also gives me the ability to go directly to the desktop (bypassing the Start screen) after I sign in.

• Another noticeable change is on the PC Settings.  Most of not all of the tools in the classic Control Panel is already integrated. 

• Want to access your corporate network using your own device running Windows 8 or Windows 8 SL? Domain join is a feature native to Windows 8 Pro but on Windows 8.1, Microsoft introduced the Workplace join for a user to access the corp net even your device can’t join to the domain.  This is very useful on BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) scenarios

Get to know and explore Windows 8.1 by visiting www.preview.windows.com

MVPs @ NGO Day in Iloilo

August 24, 2012, Pavia, Iloilo – Microsoft Philippines spearheaded another NGO Day for The Visayas Region. The event is in partnership with ICODE (an umbrella NGO) and with the municipality of Pavia. Before the formal event, Microsoft through its LCA Director, Raul Cortez and Citizenship Specialist Cheryll Ann Selda had a dialogue with the municipal mayor stating the goal and intention of holding such event. This is to help NGOs get software grants through Techsoup Asia – Microsoft partner that manages and evaluate NGOs to be qualified in such grants. The mayor was happy to hear that since his primary program in his administration is education and digital literacy. To achieve this, the mayor proposed that he will channel some of his education budget to a qualified NGOs to procure PCs and Microsoft will be in charge in providing software.

The event was attended by 17 representatives of different NGOs in Iloilo. Part of the event is teaching the NGO representatives some tips and tricks on Windows, Microsoft Office, and how to take advantage of the power of cloud computing for them to be more productive in their organization. This is where Erwin Magno and I comes in. I was given an hour to discuss Windows 7, Windows Live, and also did an introduction on Windows 8. Erwin on the other hand was also given an hour to discuss tips and tricks on Microsoft Office 2010. The participants were so amazed how Microsoft technologies can help them in their organization to be more productive and be more organized. They have learned a lot in our discussions and are excited to join and apply for the grant.

The event was concluded by Ms. Selda’s presentation on the Citizenship Program of Microsoft and how an NGO can qualified for the software grant by registering to Techsoup Asia.

Here are some pictures from the event.

 

NGO Day @ Iloilo VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Work anywhere with SkyDrive!

The advent of cloud computing has made a big impact on how we connect with friends and family and also put computing mobility to the highest level.  Before I usually save my files in and FDD (floppy disk drive), then CDs and DVDs with larger capacities than FDD, then here comes Flash Drives, then external HDDs (Hard Disk Drives), but now I can just drag the file into a Windows Explorer window and access that file anywhere!  As long as I am connected with the cloud, I can create, edit and share files to anyone.  I can just log in into any device, a phone, a PC, a tablet, or a desktop as long as I’m connected to the cloud I can access all my files that I uploaded to my SkyDrive.

SkyDrive is a cloud storage service that is available for Windows Live users.  When you sign up for a Live or Hotmail account, a 7GB of online storage will automatically assigned to you.  You can do a lot with that 7 GB, you can upload your files and photos to share with friends and family plus you can create and edit documents, spreadsheets and presentations using the Office Web Aps, you can even take down notes using One Note and set it to sync on your PC. So how’s that?

SkyDrive has a lot to offer.  It has also an app for Windows, Mac, Windows Phone, iPhone and iPad so you can work with your files anywhere in any device that you have. You can download the SkyDrive App here.

Good news! SkyDrive will be available on Windows 8 as well!

Windows7Ako Joins the Global Windows Community

It’s been more than 2 years since the Philippine’s Windows community (Windows7Ako) was created.  Few weeks after the Build conference, Microsoft decided to merge in all the existing Windows community into the global community of Windows (www.facebook.com/windows).  A lot of community members expressed their sentiments when they can’t find their beloved community page in Facebook.  There was no announcement that the page will be merge with the global Windows community page.  After the merging the word travelled fast and reached every member of the Windows7Ako community. Now here we are celebrating as we move to our new home!

Attendees of he event was the old and new community members, some Microsoft MVPs (Chay Saputil, John Erwin Magno and Eufer Pasion), MSPs, and Microsoft employees.  Hosted by Miss Chay Saputil, the event was full with excitement, fun, freebies, foods.  Gracing the event was Miss Mae Moreno, Microsoft Philippines’ Product Manager for Windows.  Developoer Evangelist Zandra Nicholas did an update and presentation of the newest Windows Phone Mango.  I also had the opportunity to show how to create a VHD in preparation for the installation of the Windows Developer Preview.

		Windows7ako goes Global :) VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL