It would appear as though rumours which surfaced around a month ago are going to be proved correct, as sources close to multiple technology sites have confirmed that Windows 7 will be released to manufacturing on 13th July. Although general availability is still not until 22nd October, this is a significant milestone as the RTM build will be the final code which also gets shipped to the general public later this year. As well as OEMs, the build should also be available to TechNet and MSDN subscribers and will also no doubtedly find its way on to torrent sites shortly after. The wait for Microsoft's highly anticipated operating system is less than four months away, but for many of us little more than a week of waiting stands in our way.

QNAP Systems, Inc. today introduces the SS-839 Pro Turbo NAS, the world's smallest 8-bay, Intel Atom network attached storage solution supporting eight 2.5-inch hard drives or solid state disks (SSD). Targeted at business users who require a storage solution of high performance, stability, scalability, low noise and low power consumption, the SS-839 Pro adopts low power Intel Atom N270 1.6GHz CPU, disk on module (DOM) architecture, and 2GB DDRII memory. The total storage capacity of the NAS is up to 4TB. It also features 2 eSATA and 5 USB ports for storage expansion and external storage backup. With ultra silent and excellent energy-saving design, the power consumption of the NAS with 8 hard drives installed is about 34W, which is almost 60% less than general 8-bay, 3.5-inch NAS. Moreover, the SS-839 Pro is compatible with Windows, Mac, Linux, and UNIX operating systems. It offers abundant software features such as built-in iSCSI application (up to 8 iSCSI targets) with Thin Provisioning, Online RAID Capacity Expansion, Online RAID Level Migration, AES 256-bit volume-based encryption, Wake on LAN, automatic policy-based IP blocking, network share status report, instant SMS and email alert, BT download, Touch-N-Go RAID configuration by the LCD panel, scheduled power on and power off (max 15 schedules), 2 Giga LAN ports, 4 IP cameras for network surveillance, etc.

AMD announced the availability of ATI Catalyst version 9.6 driver suite, that provides driver support for ATI Radeon series graphics processors (driver version 8.62), Hydravision, AMD Southbridge/Chipset driver, and Catalyst Control Center (version 8.62). The new version brings along the following application-specific performance increments:

• Company of Heores - performance gains of up to 25% for the ATI Radeon HD 4600 Series, and performance gains of up to 10% for the ATI Radeon HD 4800 Series.
• Crysis Warhead - performance gains of up to 11% for ATI CrossFireX configurations.
• Crysis - performance gains of up to 13% for ATI CrossFireX configurations.
• World in Conflict - performance gains of up to 30% for settings are were previously CPU limited.

The Linux version of this driver suite adds production support for SuSE Linux Enterprise Desktop (SLED) and SLED 11. It also provides early support for RedHat Enterprise Linux 4.8.

DOWNLOAD: ATI Catalyst 9.6 for Windows XP 32-bit | Windows 7/Vista 32-bit | Windows XP 64-bit | Windows 7/Vista 64-bit

Release Notes can be read here

ASUS, a leading producer of innovative server and workstation solutions, today announced three cutting-edge solutions designed to address the specific needs of SOHO and Business Enterprises. First in the line-up is the ASUS P6T7 WS SuperComputer motherboard, which provides users with sublime graphics capabilities and flexible high speed data input/output. Next is the ASUS RS700D-E6 Duo Nodes 1U Server, which features independent power supplies for superb reliability-giving business owners complete peace of mind-while offering exceptional space savings in the form of 4 + 4 hot-swappable 2.5-inch SATA/SAS hard disk drives. Finally, the ASUS Z8NA-D6 is the world's first slim dual processor server and workstation motherboard, making it the best workstation foundation for all forms of businesses.

Today during a keynote address at Computex 2009 in Taipei, Microsoft's OEM Division Corporate Vice President Steve Guggenheimer revealed that the company is confident with the progress made with Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2, and that as a result, Microsoft will deliver Release to Manufacturing (RTM) code to partners in the second half of July. Windows 7 will become generally available on Oct. 22, 2009, and Windows Server 2008 R2 will be broadly available at the same time.

"As we've said many times, quality is our primary goal," Guggenheimer said. "We announce each milestone once we're confident of where we are in the development cycle and that it is ready to be shared with customers and partners. We've received great feedback from our partners who are looking forward to offering Windows 7 to their customers in time for the holidays."

Other World Computing (OWC), a leading PC and Mac technology company, announced today the OWC Mercury On-The-Go Pro, the largest capacity, fastest bus powered portable storage solution on the market. The Mercury On-The-Go Pro is a high-performance, 500GB 7200RPM pocket-sized portable storage solution for Mac or PC users featuring FireWire 800, FireWire 400, and/or USB 2.0 interfaces for data transfer speeds up to 100MB/s. With its 500GB of storage capacity, the Mercury On-The-Go Pro can hold up to 500,000 JPEG photos, 250 DVD movies, 38 hours of digital video, or 175,000 MP3 songs.

The Mercury On-The-Go Pro 500GB 7200RPM line features three models, including a "Triple Interface" model for FireWire 800/400 and USB 2.0; a "Combo Interface" model for FireWire 400 and USB 2.0; and a USB 2.0 model priced starting at $189.99.

QNAP Systems, Inc. today announces the first 2-bay network-attached storage (NAS) which supports both 2.5-inch and 3.5-inch SATA hard drives - TS-219P Turbo NAS. Dedicated to home and SOHO users, the TS-219P is an advanced version of the previously released TS-219. Powering Marvell 1.2GHz high performance processor and 512 MB DDRII memory, the NAS comes with 3 USB ports and 2 eSATA ports to deliver the best storage expansion capability compared with other 2-bay NAS in the market.

The TS-219P supports two hot-swappable 2.5" or 3.5" SATA hard drives with maximum 4TB storage capacity. The device can be accessed across Windows, Mac, Linux, and UNIX. It is a highly reliable and powerful NAS with abundant business-class features, such as built-in iSCSI target service (max 8 iSCSI devices) with Thin Provisioning, Online RAID Capacity Expansion, Online RAID Level Migration, automatic policy-based IP blocking, hard drive status report, instant SMS and email alert, built-in TwonkyMedia UPnP/ DLNA media server, BT and eMule download, schedule power on and power off, one Giga LAN port, and 2 IP cameras for network surveillance.

ASUS today proved that TV quality and CPU bandwidth do not have to be trade-offs with the launch of its new ASUS My Cinema-EHD3-100/NAQ/FM/AV/MCE RC PCI-express Dual TV card. Designed for users seeking to watch and record both digital (ATSC/QAM) and analog (NTSC) TV channels simultaneously without taking a CPU hit, the ASUS My Cinema-EHD3-100/NAQ/FM/AV/MCE RC is embedded with a MPEG2 hardware encoder that dramatically reduces CPU loading while guaranteeing high quality video. With the ASUS My Cinema-EHD3-100/NAQ/FM/AV/MCE RC PCI-express Dual TV card, any PC can easily be turned into a smart multimedia center.

LaCie announced today the availability of two new high capacity Network Attached Storage (NAS) solutions - Big Disk Network and d2 Network. These professional file servers are optimized for users to instantly store, share, and back up files, from any PC or Mac on a wired or wireless network. LaCie's new NAS solutions deliver high-performance and professional-class reliability, in an easy-to-use network solution for the home or small office.

The d2 Network supports up to 1.5TB capacity, while the Big Disk Network combines two drives in a RAID 0 setting, for up to 3TBs of storage. Both NAS solutions are perfect for advanced users or small to medium sized offices that want to develop workgroup environments for up to 50 users (15 at one time). Network administrators can choose from various security levels for user profiles, groups, and public or guest access. Users can connect an external USB drive to increase security through scheduled backups, or even expand capacity. The d2 Network also includes an eSATA connection for storage expansion.

In a conversation with Pocket-lint, Acer's UK MD Bobby Watkins, has said that Windows 7 will be available pre-loaded on their upcoming All-In-One Z5600 PC from the 23 October 2009. Any of these models which come pre-loaded with Vista which are purchased up to 30 days before this date are also eligible for a free upgrade to Windows 7.

"23rd October is the date the Windows 7 will be available. There is a 30 day upgrade time so that customers don't wait to buy a new computer, so if you buy during that 30 day period, you'll get a free upgrade to Windows 7", Bobby Watkins, Acer's UK MD told Pocket-lint.

The Z5600 comes with a built-in touchscreen which one would presume is the reasoning behind Acer's decision to start pre-loading their AIO PC with Windows 7, so as to take advantage of the new OS's capabilites. Also mentioned was the fact that the new Asus Eee Top shipping at the end of september will be in store for people to "touch and feel".

There is still no official word from Microsoft on the matter, but although Windows 7 may be released to manufacturing from the end of October, it could still be a long wait to the expected date of January 2010 for Windows 7 to hit retail.

Microsoft has announced the Release to Manufacturing (RTM) of Service Pack 2 (SP2) for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008. Except applying all updates released to date, this issue of SP will bring some key features to both operating systems. Those are:

• Windows Search 4.0 for faster and improved relevancy in searches
• Bluetooth 2.1 Feature Pack supporting the most recent specification for Bluetooth Technology
• Ability to record data on to Blu-Ray media natively in Windows Vista
• Adds Windows Connect Now (WCN) to simplify Wi-Fi Configuration
  Windows Vista SP2 enables the exFAT file system to support UTC timestamps, which allows correct file synchronization across time zones.

A single installer of SP2 will be supplied by Microsoft, and it will work with both Windows Vista and Server 2008. For a complete overview of the changes introduced in SP2 for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008, check TechNet. As usual, a final date hasn't been set. At present, the final SP2 release for Vista and Server 2008 is scheduled for the Q2 2009 period, but this might change.

Buffalo Japan introduced the HDS-CU2 USB external hard drive. Coming in capacities of 500 GB and 1 TB, this product is targeted to the SME and SOHO markets. The biggest USP of the HDS-CU2 is its automatic data encryption feature. Once configured with what type of data to auto-encrypt, the drive automatically manages encryption, using the 128-bit AES algorithm.

The drive can be configured to use Windows-level login authentication and a more compulsive authentication every time files are accessed. The encryption is care of the drive's own hardware, and has no overhead on the host computer, to which it uses USB 2.0 for connectivity. It is supported by most recent versions of Windows (2000 SP3+, XP, 2003, Vista, and 2008), and Mac OS 10.4.

The CUDA architecture continues to blaze a trail as the leading platform for developing and running GPU Computing applications, with support for C, OpenCL, DirectX Compute, Fortran and other languages and APIs. The latest CUDA 2.2 Beta contains a host of significant new features, including:

Hardware debugger for the GPU
Linux developers can now use a debugger on CUDA-enabled GPUs that offers both the familiar interface of the popular open-source GDB debugger and the ability to debug kernels as they execute on the GPU. The GPU-side debugger has all the features that developers expect from GDB, including the ability to have breakpoints, watch variables, inspect state, etc., as well as additional functions for CUDA-specific features.

It looks like NVIDIA's attempts to let Tegra make it to bigger platforms are beginning to bear fruit. LaptopMag got its hands on one of the first mini-notebooks based on Tegra, a fully-integrated computing architecture that focuses on making more powerful and visual portable computing devices possible. The Tegra CPU core is based on the ARM11 architecture, working along with NVIDIA's own graphics processing, and system controlling technologies.

The model in use with the mini-notebook is Tegra 650, which runs at 750 MHz (core clock speed), supports hardware HD video decoding, an S-Video out, and USB. It supports DDR memory running at 200 MHz, and an IDE channel for a sold-state drive for primary storage. Apart from the IDE interface, Tegra has its own NAND-flash controller so small amounts of flash memory (up to 8 GB) could be embedded onto the main PCB. The mini-notebook features an OS that lets the user achieve all the tasks one would ask from this 90~200 Dollar mini-notebook. Windows CE and Linux are the likely candidates. The screenshot below is that of the Windows CE-based prototype that takes advantage of the 3D processing power of the core. Also pictured is the prototype system board by NVIDIA.

As expected, both Windows Vista Service Pack 2 RC and Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 RC were made available for public download today. This build is the same one that was sent to testers last week. Download links follow:

• Five Language Standalone DVD ISO for Windows Server 2008 x86/x64/ia64 and Windows Vista x86/x64
• Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista x86 version
• Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista x64 version
• Windows Server 2008 - Five Language Standalone for ia64-based systems

QNAP Systems, Inc. today introduces the enterprise-grade TS-809U-RP Turbo NAS, the 2U chassis 8-bay NAS with high redundancy, performance, and reliability. Featuring the powerful Intel Core 2 Duo 2.8 GHz CPU and 2GB DDRII memory, the giant TS-809U-RP delivers superior performance in high density data access environment. It supports 8 hot-swappable SATA hard drives and is able to serve up to a whopping 16TB storage capacity. Designed with excellent power and network redundancy, the NAS supports redundant power supply and two Giga LAN ports for load balancing or failover. Other advanced features include RAID 0/ 1/ 5/ 6/ 5+spare/ 6+spare, Online RAID Capacity Expansion, Online RAID Level Migration, iSCSI with Thin Provisioning, AES 256-bit volume-based encryption, automatic policy-based IP blocking, hard disk drive S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology) etc.

"The TS-809U-RP is equipped with two power supply units, which share the load equally in normal operation. When one of them fails for any reasons, the other one will take over to supply the power of the entire NAS to ensure continuous operation. The IT administrator can replace the failed unit without turning off the server. This largely enhances the productivity of the business environment and minimizes the system maintenance cost," said Troy Lin, Product Manager from QNAP.

Maximum PC, a major computer player in both the cyber space and publishing media, has put together a list of what they think are the most essential PC apps every user of Windows ought to have installed. All 32 apps (except one) in the list are absolutely free for use. It's very important to mention that our GPU-Z utility is among them. Here's what Maximum PC has to say about GPU-Z:

Sure, you know you have a GeForce 295 card, but what do you know about it? If you want something that'll brace the card for all of its specs, GPU-Z (no relation to CPU-Z) will do the dirty work for you. Offered for free by techpowerup.com, this handy utility will tell you the clocks, the card revision, the number of transistors on the card as well as the process technology used to build the card.

I would like to use this occasion to thank my boss and creator of GPU-Z W1zzard for all the good work he has done, and I think we all should be thankful for his efforts.

Tech ARP has managed to get a hold of a copy of a draft document, preliminarily named the Windows 7 Upgrade Program. It is said to have been distributed to Microsoft's OEM partners on 10th December giving them a month to provide feedback. Obviously nothing is set in stone yet, but Microsoft provided similar upgrade programs for Vista and XP. The extract follows:

Kaspersky Lab, a leading producer of secure content management solutions, announces the release of a technical prototype of Kaspersky Anti-Virus for Windows 7. The prototype is based on the new antivirus engine which provides complex antivirus protection from all types of Internet threats.

The new technical prototype of Kaspersky Anti-Virus is designed to secure computers running under Windows 7. The beta test version of Microsoft Windows 7 operating system was released at the beginning of January 2009. Kaspersky Lab simultaneously released its technical prototype providing greater efficiency and complex antivirus protection for the new operating system.

It is not the first time that Microsoft has had run-ins with the European Commission. The problem that keeps coming up is what the commission believes to be anti-competitive practices, being that Microsoft is bundling its own software with Windows instead of offering them separately. As has been seen with Windows 7, Microsoft has tried to keep them happy this time, by only including Windows Media Player and Internet Explorer. The rest can be downloaded free of charge, by what Microsoft has named the Windows Live Suite. It seems that this is not enough however, despite Internet Explorer being included in Microsoft's operating systems for over ten years, they have decided that this is an anti-competitive move by Microsoft, and as such have issued a Statement of Objections. The commission has given Microsoft approximately two months to respond, the official statement from Microsoft follows:

AMD today launched the first official version of its Fusion Gaming Utility. Working on AMD systems only, the Fusion Gaming Utility turns off various Windows processes and thus gains some additional performance when needed. AMD Fusion works with both Microsoft Windows XP 32/64-bit and Windows Vista 32/64-bit.

DOWNLOAD: AMD Fusion Gaming Utility Version 1.0

Some of the most severe worm attacks in memory include the infamous w32.nimda, w32.sasser and w32.blaster: all pieces of software affecting Windows PCs, and their ever-fragile defenses against new-forms of malware. Enter Downadup aka Conficker worm. This worm targets Windows PCs and servers. Mikko Hypponen, chief research officer at anti-virus firm F-Secure points out to the possibility of this new worm originating from Ukraine, after the security software firm reverse-engineered the virus. It is said to have a unique "phone back home" property that makes it potentially dangerous to let stay on an infected machine, as it could steal and send back vital/confidential data. The worm transmits itself across local networks and the wide-area networks over internet, scanning for and infecting as many machines as it finds. Microsoft on its part had dispatched a security update for all its current Windows operating systems (MS08-067) that fixes the vulnerability the worm takes advantage of, available via Microsoft Update.

The infection rate of this worm is severe to very-severe. Corporate networks are the worst hit despite them - usually - having the best security measures in place. "On Tuesday there were 2.5 million, on Wednesday 3.5 million and today [Friday], eight million, It's getting worse, not better." said F-Secure's Hypponen. The makers of the worm have put in a great deal of work to ensure it is difficult to detect and remove. Not much more is known about the purpose of this worm, except that it steals data and replicates itself at phenomenal rates. While the worm doesn't send itself stray over the internet or by e-mail, for home and corporate networks, it immediately scans and discovers new machines to infect. The worm also has the intelligence to guess passwords for password-locked shares. The best way to counter this worm is by securing your networks, downloading and applying Microsoft's patch to all machines of the network, and setting tough, long alphanumeric passwords for your network resources such as routers and shares. Individual machines are easy to disinfect, but not large corporate networks with layers of security. The problem is for companies with thousands of infected machines, which can become re-infected from just one computer even as they are being cleared.

Right on time, Microsoft today released the public beta of Service Pack 2 for both Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista. Both Service Packs are available now here in 32-bit and 64-bit versions. Initially the Service Packs are downloadable in five different languages: English, French, German, Japanese, and Spanish. Service Pack 1 for both operating systems is necessary in order to obtain the second Service Pack. Find more information here.

In the month of November, the market share of Microsoft Windows fell below the 90% mark, to 89.6%. This is a 15 year low in market share for the OS, according to market share data by Net Applications, sourced by TG Daily. The market share fell from its position same time, last year, at 92.4%.

One of the prime movers of this figure is the growth in market share of Apple's Mac OS X at 8.87%, slightly over 2% growth from its market share last year. According to the same data, Linux is still below the 1% mark.

Back when Redmond was gearing up for the launch of Windows Vista, the PC hardware industry had its own plans, of brandishing support for the new operating system. Microsoft then came up with its "Windows Vista-Capable" hardware tag, which eventually put the company into an embarrassing situation where users would rant about their hardware, more so branded PCs and notebooks, being anything but capable of the OS. That was because vendors sold PCs with dated DirectX 9 supportive hardware, which didn't quite qualify to be "capable" of the DirectX 10 API the OS shipped with. The company even saw itself facing charges for false marketing.

To avoid that happening with the next release of the OS, Windows 7, Microsoft shaped up the Windows Advanced Rasterization Platform (WARP10). WARP10 is a component of the DirectX 10 API that provides software rasterization for all DirectX 10 calls, using every available hardware component the PC has. Think of it as 100% software acceleration in the absence of compliant hardware. It is shipping in beta form in the November 2008 DirectX SDK. Now, even a Pentium III 800 MHz will be "capable" of rendering Direct3D 10 scenes, as Microsoft puts it. With this, Microsoft guarantees that any and every PC or notebook carrying the "Vista Capable" sticker would be able to use every single feature the OS has to offer, including DirectX 10. WARP10 benefits from multi-threaded and multi-core CPUs, with specific benefits coming out from the availability of SSE4.1 instruction sets. Microsoft claims that even the CPU in Windows Vista's minimum system requirements list will be capable of WARP10. The excitement however, dies down when you find out just how capable today's CPUs are in accelerating 3D: An Intel Core i7 was able to "run" Crysis, on a resolution of 800 x 600, churning out a proud 7.36 frames per second (at least it managed to beat Intel's best integrated graphics). To learn more about WARP10, visit this page.