Okay, so I intentionally used a salacious headline to get your attention. It’s Thursday. The NSA didn’t really help make Windows 7. Rather, using their “unique expertise and operational knowledge of system threats and vulnerabilities” the National Security Agency helped shape “Microsoft’s operating system security guide”, according to Richard Sharffer, Information Assurance Director at the NSA. The NSA works with other companies, like Red Hat, Apple, and Sun, too. The NSA started the Security Enhanced Linux initiative in 2003, so it should come as no surprise that they’ve been working to help secure Windows, too.

There have, historically, been two competing models of operating systems development. There’s the UNIX mentality, of small pieces loosely joined. That is, you have a whole bunch of little, stand-alone applications that all work together to accomplish more complex tasks running atop a svelte kernel that doesn’t know — or need to know — about the pieces its running. Then you have the “everything and the kitchen sink” mentality, used by Microsoft. All versions of Microsoft Windows have huge dependency chains, and what is rightly called “Windows” is a dizzying amalgamation of interdependent pieces of software, none of which can do much on their own. If you’ve ever wondered why your Windows-powered web server included Windows Media Player, or Solitaire, that’s the reason: the “stuff” that makes up Windows is highly interdependent. Read on for some interesting changes underway.

Apple seems to have bought some keywords on Google including, most interestingly, “download windows 7.” That’s right: every hax0r out to download Win7 will see a little ad from Apple saying “Upgrading to Windows 7? There’s never been a better time to switch to a Mac. Find out why.”

Look at these early Windows start-up sounds. They look primitive now but imagine being a young man in the late 1980s and your parents have just brought you home a new Packard Bell x86 machine. Back in those days sound cards were premium items and to hear an operating system sing to you when you start it up was a really big deal. The vast majority of computer users during that time would have never heard most of these sounds.

What happens when your Windows 7 party gets a little crazy? People start talking about things like “boot sectors,” “man-on-man DIMM insertion,” and “[beep].”

via BBG

Microsoft, will you stop at nothing to protect your hegemony? Your “Linux Facts” campaign from a couple years ago was poorly executed, and trumped up a bunch of selective information to make Windows look better than Linux. You killed that, and replaced it with a Windows Server “compare” site, but it’s still a bunch of selective data points that don’t tell the whole story. Now, you’re even trying to get the sales drones at Best Buy to steer folks away from Linux!

Well look at this, it’s a combination Multi-touch touchpad and a plain ol’ numeric keypad. (Years from now, when we’re all using laptops, or, I guess, touchscreen interfaces, kids will ask, “What’s a keypad?”) It’s from Brando, if you had any doubts at all as to who makes it.

Microsoft has announced the pricing for Windows 7, due to be released on October 22. The Home Premium upgrade version will cost $119.99 — ten bucks cheaper than the comparable version of Vista! Other news outlets are trying to spin this as “8% less”, but we know you, dear readers, aren’t fooled by such sleight of hand. Windows 7 Professional upgrade will run $199.99. The full Home Premium version is $199.99; and the full versions of Windows 7 Professional and Ultimate editions will be $299.99 and $319.99 respectively. Does the Ultimate edition really offer $20 more in terms of functionality? I don’t know!

If you haven’t picked up Battlestations: Pacific for the Xbox 360 (and PC) then you’re doing it wrong. For an RTS, I really, really enjoy it. I just think of it as Battleship. Anyway, the Volcano Map Pack DLC will be available tomorrow for 560 MS points through the Xbox Marketplace while PC gamers will see the expansion on June 25th through Windows Live. Hit the jump for the Volcano trailer.

Hot on the heels of their successful advertising campaign to make consumers see a PC running Windows as a better value than a Macintosh, Microsoft is now declaring “It’s Better With Windows“! The new website, aimed at Asus Eee PC users, reminds us that “Windows helps you quickly and easily get online and connect to your devices and services — without dealing with an unfamiliar environment or major compatibility issues“! Oooh, burn! Watchoo gonna do, Linux?

Poor MacDrive. The latest hot tamale of a rumor says that, starting with Snow Leopard (10.6), Windows users will be able to access Mac files without the use of any special software. You’d mount the Mac as you would any other Windows machine.

This is probably the easiest review I’ve ever had to write. It’s about the Clickfree Traveler, an automated backup solution that works with both Windows and Mac; it’s the size of a credit card, as the video here tries to show! (Presumably Linux folk have all written, in raw machine code, their own backup applications.) Literally, you plug it into the USB port of your computer, a small window pops up with a countdown timer, and then it automatically backs up your home directory—/users/ndeleon/ in my case. Provided there’s enough space on the Traveler for your data, it’s all over in a matter of seconds. It’s pretty darn painless.

So XP Mode is a major bullet point in the list of Windows 7 features. Yay! Except that the way it works — by using Microsoft Virtual PC and a legit copy of Windows XP SP3 — requires that your CPU have Intel VT virtualization support. Whoops, not all CPUs have that!

If you’ve never worked in an office where an unsuspecting co-worker gets an e-mail sent out on his or her behalf announcing that happy hour drinks are on the house, you haven’t LIVED! It’s the perfect way to teach someone that they should always, always, lock their computer whenever they head over to the break room to find that someone drank all the coffee and didn’t bother to make another pot. Those days may be about to end, though, thanks to Phoenix Freeze.

So what game would you consider to be the most played ever? Solitaire? Castle Wolfenstein? Maybe Everquest or Quake? Well, guess again. The oldest (and most frequently installed) game ever is minesweeper.

Hey there, multi-touch! With this, the SmartTrack Neo [JP], you can add multi-touch capability to your PC. A hot $50 for this life saver.

Of the many flavors of Windows 7, due out this summer, the Starter Edition has received perhaps the most flack. It’s limited to running only three applications at a time, something most computer users find absolutely ludicrous. Microsoft isn’t targeting Starter Edition for your everyday desktop PC, though: they’re targeting it at netbooks.

Macalope wrote a great analysis deconstructing the arguments made by the MS “Apple Tax” document as well as all of those freaky little commercials they’ve released so far. Here its. Feel free to frame it:

WRONG: Roger Kay’s Microsoft-sponsored “Apple tax” analysis is out of line! Let me show you a detailed analysis of how he pads and distorts the costs!