Media Player Classic Download For Windows 8.1, 8 And 7

First, GDR3 will now offer Start screen support for screens between 5 and 7 inches, with resolution support now set at a maximum of 1080p (both of which lend credence to the leaks we've seen of the Lumia 1520 , Nokia's upcoming 6-inch device).  But for now, this is what we've been told is coming to later preview builds of Windows 10 for phones. In its quest to turn Xbox from isolated hardware into more of a platform , Microsoft is making console compatibility a priority in Windows 10. For PCs and tablets , this means cross-platform titles and multiplayer, game streaming and more, but we're still not exactly sure what part phones will play in the equation. Obviously a new app is in the works, but the only details we can really glean from promo footage is that it'll keep you better connected with your gaming alter ego, and perhaps let you view saved game clips of epic frags on your phone. Lastly, the unified messaging experience Microsoft has teased on Windows 10 for phones isn't up and running in this first Technical Preview. Similar to how iOS blends SMS and iMessages, or Android's option to incorporate texts in Hangouts, Windows 10 will combine comms from various services into single threads (provided they're from the same person, of course). Some people just like to be on the bleeding edge, and while there's no overwhelming reason to make the jump from comfortable, fully functional Windows Phone 8.1 to the Windows 10 preview yet, you can. As such, the Windows 10 preview for phones includes a built-in feedback app, so you can report bugs and provide other feedback straight from your phone - you can launch the app from anywhere, too, by simply pressing the power and volume-down buttons simultaneously. And while Microsoft will no doubt appreciate your observations, you should also let us know what you think of the Windows 10 preview for phones in the comments below. Upgrade confidently - 100+ million fans have upgraded and are loving it. You'll have a free, full version of Windows 10 - not a trial or a lite version - if you complete your upgrade before July 29, 2016. Estimated retail price of Windows 10 Home shown, actual retail prices may vary. To take advantage of this free offer, you must upgrade to Windows 10 within one year of availability. Windows 10 Upgrade Offer is valid for qualified and genuine Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 devices, including devices you already own. VLC is a free and open source cross-platform multimedia player and framework that plays most multimedia files, and various streaming protocols. VideoLAN, VLC, VLC media player and x264 are trademarks internationally registered by the VideoLAN non-profit organization. The next server version of Windows is Windows Server 2016 , which is expected to be released in early 2016. Windows PE : A lightweight version of its Windows sibling meant to operate as a live operating system , used for installing Windows on bare-metal computers (especially on many computers at once), recovery or troubleshooting purposes. In addition to full Windows-packages, there were runtime-only versions that shipped with early Windows software from third parties and made it possible to run their Windows software on MS-DOS and without the full Windows feature set. The early versions of Windows are often thought of as graphical shells, mostly because they ran on top of MS-DOS and use it for file system services. Unlike MS-DOS, Windows allowed users to execute multiple graphical applications at the same time, through cooperative multitasking Windows implemented an elaborate, segment-based, software virtual memory scheme, which allows it to run applications larger than available memory: code segments and resources are swapped in and thrown away when memory became scarce; data segments moved in memory when a given application had relinquished processor control. Windows 3.2, released 1994, is an updated version of the Chinese version of Windows 3.1. 15 The update was limited to this language version, as it fixed only issues related to the complex writing system of the Chinese language. After Windows 2000, Microsoft also changed its release schedules for server operating systems; the server counterpart of Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 , was released in April 2003. After a lengthy development process , Windows Vista was released on November 30, 2006, for volume licensing and January 30, 2007, for consumers. On July 22, 2009, Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 were released as RTM (release to manufacturing) while the former was released to the public 3 months later on October 22, 2009. Unlike its predecessor, Windows Vista, which introduced a large number of new features , Windows 7 was intended to be a more focused, incremental upgrade to the Windows line, with the goal of being compatible with applications and hardware with which Windows Vista was already compatible. Windows 8 , the successor to Windows 7, was released generally on October 26, 2012. A number of significant changes were made on Windows 8, including the introduction of a user interface based around Microsoft's Metro design language with optimizations for touch-based devices such as tablets and all-in-one PCs. Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 has been subject to some criticism, such as removal of Start Menu. Components for all supported input languages, such as Input Method Editors , are automatically installed during Windows installation (in Windows XP and earlier, files for East Asian languages, such as Chinese, and right-to-left scripts, such as Arabic, may need to be installed separately, also from the said Control Panel). Interface languages for the operating system are free for download, but some languages are limited to certain editions of Windows. Language Interface Packs (LIPs) are redistributable and may be downloaded from Microsoft's Download Center and installed for any edition of Windows (XP or later) - they translate most, but not all, of the Windows interface, and require a certain base language (the language which Windows originally shipped with). Full Language Packs, which translates the complete operating system, are only available for specific editions of Windows (Ultimate and Enterprise editions of Windows Vista and 7, and all editions of Windows 8, 8.1 and RT except Single Language). These languages cannot be downloaded through the Download Center, but available as optional updates through the Windows Update service (except Windows 8). The interface language of installed applications are not affected by changes in the Windows interface language. Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 introduces a new Language Control Panel where both the interface and input languages can be simultaneously changed, and language packs, regardless of type, can be downloaded from a central location. The PC Settings app in Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2 also includes a counterpart settings page for this. Changing the interface language also changes the language of preinstalled Windows Store apps (such as Mail, Maps and News) and certain other Microsoft-developed apps (such as Remote Desktop). With the introduction of the Intel Itanium architecture ( IA-64 ), Microsoft released new versions of Windows to support it. Itanium versions of Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 were released at the same time as their mainstream x86 counterparts. Windows XP 64-Bit Edition, released in 2005, is the last Windows client operating systems to support Itanium. Windows Server line continued to support this platform until Windows Server 2012 ; Windows Server 2008 R2 is the last Windows operating system to support Itanium architecture. On April 25, 2005, Microsoft released Windows XP Professional x64 Edition and Windows Server 2003 x64 Editions to support the x86-64 (or simply x64), the eighth generation of x86 architecture. Windows Vista was the first client version of Windows NT to be released simultaneously in IA-32 and x64 editions. An edition of Windows 8 known as Windows RT was specifically created for computers with ARM architecture and while ARM is still used for Windows smartphones with Windows 10, tablets with Windows RT will not be updated. The latest current version of Windows CE, Windows Embedded Compact 7 , displaying a concept media player UI. Windows CE (officially known as Windows Embedded Compact), is an edition of Windows that runs on minimalistic computers , like satellite navigation systems and some mobile phones. Windows Embedded Compact is based on its own dedicated kernel, dubbed Windows CE kernel. The OEMs and device makers can modify and create their own user interfaces and experiences, while Windows CE provides the technical foundation to do so. Windows CE was used in the Dreamcast along with Sega's own proprietary OS for the console. Its successor, Windows Phone 7 , was based on components from both Windows CE 6.0 R3 and Windows CE 7.0 Windows Phone 8 however, is based on the same NT-kernel as Windows 8. Windows Embedded Compact is not to be confused with Windows XP Embedded or Windows NT 4.0 Embedded , modular editions of Windows based on Windows NT kernel. While the Windows 9x series offered the option of having profiles for multiple users, they had no concept of access privileges , and did not allow concurrent access; and so were not true multi-user operating systems. The Windows NT series of operating systems, by contrast, are true multi-user, and implement absolute memory protection. However, a lot of the advantages of being a true multi-user operating system were nullified by the fact that, prior to Windows Vista, the first user account created during the setup process was an administrator account, which was also the default for new accounts. Though Windows XP did have limited accounts, the majority of home users did not change to an account type with fewer rights - partially due to the number of programs which unnecessarily required administrator rights - and so most home users ran as administrator all the time. All Windows versions from Windows NT 3 have been based on a file system permission system referred to as AGLP (Accounts, Global, Local, Permissions) AGDLP which in essence where file permissions are applied to the file/folder in the form of a 'local group' which then has other 'global groups' as members. These global groups then hold other groups or users depending on different Windows versions used. On February 14, 2006, Microsoft AntiSpyware became Windows Defender with the release of Beta 2. Windows Defender is a freeware program designed to protect against spyware and other unwanted software. Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 users who have genuine copies of Microsoft Windows can freely download the program from Microsoft's web site, and Windows Defender ships as part of Windows Vista and 7. 57 In Windows 8, Windows Defender and Microsoft Security Essentials have been combined into a single program, named Windows Defender. Cedega - proprietary fork of Wine by TransGaming Technologies , designed specifically for running Microsoft Windows games on Linux. A version of Cedega known as Cider allows Windows games to run on OS X. Since Wine was licensed under the LGPL, Cedega has been unable to port the improvements made to Wine to their proprietary codebase. Linux Unified Kernel - A set of patches to the Linux kernel allowing first-class Windows executable files in Linux (using Wine DLLs) to use Windows drivers and be faster than interpreted Wine. ReactOS - an open-source OS intended to run the same software as Windows, originally designed to simulate Windows NT 4.0, now aiming at Windows 7 compatibility. As far as we know, T-Mobile Poland is the first operator to bring Windows 10 Mobile to existing devices, although we've heard of numerous operators around the world planning to begin offering the update beginning this month. Editor's Note: this article was written a few weeks ago but we're republishing it today because the new update has just been released. We did the research and explained how to clean install Windows 10 , which was an unnecessarily confusing process. When you install Windows 10, you can enter your PC's Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 product key and it should activate properly if that PC was eligible for the upgrade. Under Settings > Upgrade & security > Activation, you'll now see Windows 10 on this device is activated with a digital entitlement” if it activated without requiring a product key. The Start menu will now show you occasional suggestions” recommending apps you should install when you open it. It's just another feature that makes the Start menu noisy for Windows 10 users. But, like the app advertisements in Microsoft Edge, this feature encourages Windows 10 users to install and use more apps from the Store. Windows 10 now includes a Find My Device” option under Settings > Update & security. This means Windows 10 finally has built-in tracking, so you can track your laptop or tablet if you lose it via GPS and location services — without using a third-party application like Prey You can also tell Windows 10 to periodically send your device's location to Microsoft's servers, allowing you to view its last known location if you ever lose it. The big two user-facing features are tab previews — just mouse over a tab in the titlebar — and syncing of your favorites and reading list across all your Windows 10 devices. Edge updates seem to be held back for major new versions of Windows 10, unlike Windows 10's other included apps, which are updated more regularly. These three apps all use Skype's service — for video calls, text chat, and audio calls — replacing the big Skype Metro” app offered for Windows 8. These simplified apps are designed to integrate Skype with Windows 10, although the standard Skype for desktop app is still available. You can also choose where Windows 10 stores its offline maps at Settings > System > Offline maps.

The feature that lets you install Windows 10 apps to another drive — for example, an SD card on a tablet or laptop with a small amount of storage — has been re-enabled. Windows 10 apps and tiles can now have jumplists, and you can show more tiles on the Start menu. Windows 10's odd mixture of context menu styles have been improved, and they're more consistent — on the Start menu and on the rest of the desktop. A few tablet mode features work more like they did on Windows 8. When you're in Task View, you can now drag an application's thumbnail to the bottom of the screen to close it — just like on Windows 8. If you do, you can touch (or click) and drag the handle between two side-by-side apps and it will resize both of them at once, just like resizing two Metro apps did on Windows 8. Cortana can also understand inked notes, track movies and other ticketed events, warn you when you miss a phone call, and sync your messaging and call history. You can disable this by going to Settings > Devices > Printers & scanners and disabling the Let Windows manage my default printer” option. Windows 10 no longer forces you to edit your registry if you want to use a plain-color background instead of the Windows 10 hero image” as a background on your sign-in screen. Just head to Settings > Personalization > Lock screen and disable the Show Windows background picture on the sign-in screen” option if you'd rather use a plain-color background. Windows 10 Fall Update also features new icons, other visual tweaks, and under-the-hood improvements, including ones to memory management. The more I see and read about Windows 10 the less I see it being used in a business environment. I agree to that except that these reviews are covering the consumer version of Windows 10 (Think Home Edition). I have been testing the Enterprise edition and it allows for much more control over the features of Windows 10. The Consumer version does not allow you to turn off automatic updates, while the Enterprise version allows me to control what updates to apply and when to do so. I also have control over the update sharing feature to allow only on my network or to get them only from Microsoft servers. I'd rather Microsoft give me the opportunity to downgrade to windows 7 from 8.1 than give me a OS that is full of crap I didn't want in the first place. No I don't want to do a refresh...I just built the damn thing and the last update screwed it all up! Glad to see they are changing it. They need to just admit that they won't be charging end-users for Windows from now on. I simply couldn't see the top of the windows & it took several passes to move the darned things. The 5 products don't even have to be the same title, so buying three copies of Windows and two copies of Office can qualify a small business for volume licensing. I like Windows 10. After turning off the stuff that gets sent to MS and uninstalling some of the apps I am more comfortable with it. So, all in all, it appears MS is listening to us users, but the new Windows looks to be an ongoing 'work in progress'. Expand the Control Panel to tons more items and bring them all in one window instead of tens of windows popping open when I want to change something in the printer driver or LAN or Wifi driver section. Hire everyone at howtoogeek and sevenforums and make them the head of Windows development. Windows needs to be a TOOL to help people do what PEOPLE want to do. Windows shouldn't be a PRESENTATION market for Microsoft to sell stuff. Hey how about completely locking up Windows like Android and iOS so users have to root to do anything serious. I get it. Eventually, one won't even have the option to download and install apps outside the Windows ecosystem and all personal files should be in the cloud. HowtoGeek, I think you should make it clear that this article is talking about a Preview Release of Windows 10. The 'Threshold 2' (TH2) release is ONLY available to those of us who are still enrolled in the Windows Insider program. While Windows 10 does seem to be very much a work in progress, it is definitely a huge improvement over 8/8.1 for those of us who are wedded to a keyboard and mouse. Not really.Microsoft actually started with only being able to get Universal Apps via the Windows Store in Windows Windows 10 Microsoft actually changed it so you can get Universal Apps outside of the Windows Store if you turn on sideloading like on Android. It's a little weird that Microsoft figured out that people wanted the freedom to do things like install apps from any source they want but then decided for Windows Updates to give no options to control when it downloads and what it installs. Update: During a Q&A session after the event, Myerson promised that Windows RT users would get an upgrade to 10 as well. Phone-support reps from Dell and HP told us they discourage users from upgrading to Windows 10. An HP rep even tried to help us roll back to Windows 8.1 during one of our support calls. A Lenovo rep had nothing negative to say about Windows 10, but was confused about how Cortana works. We shared our experiences with Mike Nash, HP's VP of customer experience, who said that his company is bullish on Windows 10 and that all of HP's 2015 laptops, including our x360, were designed with the new OS in mind. Even if you're still on Windows 7 or 8, calling for support should be your last resort. We've been doing our Tech Support Showdown feature annually for more than five years, and over that time, we've seen that phone support for most PC vendors is getting progressively worse. In the UK they are still selling laptops with Windows 8.1, with a big advert saying upgrade to Windows 10 for free, these manufactures should of tested each machine with Windows 10. My advice to anyone buying a PC today, is either look for one that has Windows 10 installed, so you know all will work drivers and software, or buy a PC, keep Windows 8.1 on it and upgrade the month before the free Windows 10 upgrade stops, so that hopefully that all of the manufactures have got the drivers that will work, and the support is in place, so any issues can be fixed more easily. But no, a clickbait title designed to make it seem like 'experts' were competently recommending an OS downgrade, as if there was actually anything whatsoever wrong with Windows 10. Geez! After yanking botched patch KB 2949927, which failed to install on some machines, Microsoft is now warning users to uninstall the update - even though there has been no mention of problems after the patch is installed. KB 2995388, a Windows 8.1 patch rollup, has a well-known conflict with VMware that isn't documented anywhere on Microsoft's site. The patch at hand, KB 2949927 (and its associated Security Advisory), brings SHA-2 hashing capabilities to Windows 7. The update addresses an issue in which an application such as Microsoft Word or Microsoft PowerPoint seems to freeze when you open a document that contains a large EMF file. KB 2984972: Update for RDC 7.1 to support restricted administration logons on Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. The October 2014 Windows RT 8.1, Windows 8.1, and Windows Server 2012 R2 update rollup package resolves issues, and includes performance and reliability improvements. We recommend that you apply this update rollup as part of your regular maintenance routines. We've rounded up the best apps for Windows Phone to help you be more productive, and included a couple of options if you're looking for additional apps. The app enables users to record when their phone screen is locked and includes the ability to geotag recordings. CalendarPro is among the highest-rated scheduling apps on Windows Phone, offering a smart interface and deep integration with Live accounts. Box offers 10 GB of free storage space out of the gate - that's currently 8 GB more than competitor Dropbox (2 GB). If that's not reason enough to use this reliable and, so far, secure cloud storage service, we don't know what it is. It's also cross-compatible with Windows 8 and 10. One shift to note in Windows 8.1 is that we will be offering full version software” at retail and online for download that does not require a previous version of Windows in order to be installed. The copy of Windows 8 that is currently available for sale at retail and online is an upgrade version.” This shift allows more flexibility for customers in specific technical scenarios and is in response to feedback we've received. It will be easier for those consumers who want to build PCs from scratch, run Windows 8.1 in Virtual Machine (VM) environments, or run Windows 8.1 on a second hard drive partition. Windows 7: Consumers can upgrade a Windows 7 PC which will bring along all their files, but will require them to reinstall desktop apps including Microsoft Office. Windows XP & Windows Vista: Windows 8.1 is not designed for installation on devices running Windows XP or Windows Vista. Although not designed or recommended for devices running Windows XP or Windows Vista, consumers still wanting to upgrade from Windows XP or Windows Vista should buy the retail DVD instead of using the download and boot from the DVD to do a clean install of Windows 8.1. Note: files, settings and programs will not transfer - Consumers will need to back up their files and settings, perform clean installation, and then reinstall their files, settings and programs. If you buy a device later this year that comes with the Windows 8.1 edition, you will be able to purchase the Windows 8.1 Pro Pack for $99.99 ERP (U.S.), which unlocks all of the great features unique to Pro, as well as Windows Media Center. If you are on Windows 8.1 Pro, you can buy Windows Media Center for $9.99 (U.S.). If you are on the market for a new device today, I suggest taking advantage of our PC Selector to find the right Windows 8 device that is perfect for you. And remember, you will be able to update your device to Windows 8.1 for free through the Windows Store. Windows 8.1 evolves Windows 8 , bringing the latest advancements in hardware, apps and services and the OS to enable a unique experience in everything you do. The very first twice it will be contacted of a problem, it provides hints about how to fix the particular puzzle; around the third period, it simply finishes the problem for that participant so the player can easily proceed through the sport. Back in July we took a deep dive on Windows Phone 7 using a developer device that Microsoft handed out to journalists, and now we're back for the full review. And of course, we finally had a real chance to use Xbox Live and third party applications - two of the crucial elements of this OS. So, below is our re-edited, refreshed take on Windows Phone 7, complete with real answers to nagging questions, and our definitive score of Microsoft's great smartphone hope at version 1.0. Read on for the full story! What you've likely already seen of the Windows Phone 7 user interface has barely changed since our last look. For notifications, Windows Phone 7 relies on a drop down, Android-like window shade for messages, so Microsoft is already besting Apple there, and if you're playing music in the background, you're able to bring up your controls by tapping one of the volume buttons. Let's just put this up front: the keyboard in Windows Phone 7 is really, really good. All in all, unless you're a hardcore Facebook user (which, let's be honest, many people are), you're going to be annoyed by how deeply and irrevocably integrated the service is in this phone. As with most smartphones these days, email setup in Windows Phone 7 is relatively automated and painless, and there are plenty of options to go with most people's leanings. On the email setup screen, you're provided with self-configuring options for Windows Live, Outlook, Yahoo! Push seemed to work relatively smoothly, though we definitely noticed a harder hit on the battery when using it in conjunction with heavy use of the phone. The email app on the phone is pretty terrific on the whole, providing a clean, clear layout and upfront options for your most-used functions. The SMS / MMS app in Windows Phone 7 is fairly barebones, but it definitely gets the job done, and looks pretty good while doing it. Microsoft has adopted the all-too-familiar speech balloon motif for this view, and while we can't gripe too hard about that, we wish the company would differentiate sender and receiver by color (even lighter and darker shades of the same color). Creating and sending messages is fairly straightforward, and MMS (at least photos) display inline, but can be saved to your phone as well. For as much crap as Internet Explorer gets (less, admittedly, now that the debacle of IE6 is finally starting to fade), we've got to say that web browsing on Windows Phone 7 is actually a really pleasant experience. We're tremendously impressed with how well the browser works - it's certainly competitive with Windows Phone 7's contemporaries.