Weekly tips for Microsoft users in the UK (international too)
Firstly let me apologise for being quite quite this week despite updates to Windows Live as I just haven’t seen the need to write posts for such minor updates however if you have been following me on Twitter you should have heard about most things this week. And now for the main post…
Tips for the UK
Windows 7 for students, just £30
If you are a student in the UK (or US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Korea and Mexico) then you might be very pleased to hear about Microsoft’s latest deal starting October 1st. If you have an email address provided by your educational institution (example@a_uni.ac.uk) then you should be eligible for the offer of paying only £30 for Windows 7, a real bargain when the normal price will be £189.99.
Its a good deal but a lot of students will already have access to a free copy of the OS as their university is likely to be signed up to MSDNAA, but I think a lot wont know about this.
Information for UK students | More interactive site with information for US students
Bing has gone visual
Are you tired of trawling through text when looking for something, maybe a digital camera, a dog, a celebrity? Then perhaps bing is the decision engine for you as they have updated the site with visual search, giving the user the ability to look through lots of images and refine the selection simply and beautifully. However the update is in beta and, as is often the case, only for the US, but there is a way for anyone, anywhere to see. All you need to do is click your country name in the top right hand corner of bing and change your location to the US, quite simple but allows you to see visual search and I guess any new things added to bing.
Zune Software
As some of you might be aware Microsoft released their new Zune device and software this week, I hate the fact I can’t easily get my hands on it in the UK but one good thing is that I people anywhere can download the PC software, which is a superb media player. However, another one I know, if you are outside of the US the software has much turned off, a great shame but not something too difficult to get around.
One option is to set your PC to the US region, by going to the Control Panel –> Clock, Language and Region –> Region and Language –> click the Location tab and change it to the United States.
Another option is to follow these instructions from Rafael Rivera on how to make some changes to make the Zune Software work with all the features.
Office Web Apps
Yesterday Microsoft started letting testers use the new Office Web Apps, I was looking forward to this but I have yet to gain access to them, I have been told they are only for the US and Japan even though there are people I know in the UK and other countries that are using the Web Apps. I have yet to find a way to use them, but if I do I will be sure to let you know.
Other News
There have been lots of minor updates to the Windows Live services over the past week, updated services include, Mail, Photos, Calendar and there has been talk of an updated interface for Writer. These are very small changes and not something I thought needed lots of posts on so I suggest you read about the updates on Liveside about Wave 4.
Rumour Roundup
With the launch of the Zune HD this week I heard from @Zunited that the Zune was coming to the UK and then I heard nothing more from them when I asked where they got that from. They may have been meaning that a part of the service will be coming to the UK on the XBox later this year rather than the whole experience and device. There have been no other mention of the Zune hitting our shores, other than moaning and requests, and so I think we are back to not knowing when/if the Zune HD will ever come to the UK and the rest of the world.
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