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Italy /ˈɪtəli/ (help·info) (Italian: Italia, [iˈta:lja]), officially the Italian Republic (Italian: Repubblica Italiana), is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia. The independent states of San Marino and the Vatican City are enclaves within the Italian Peninsula, and Campione d'Italia is an Italian exclave in Switzerland. The territory of Italy covers 301,338 km² and is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate. With 60,200,000 inhabitants, it is the sixth most populous country in Europe, and the twenty-third most populous in the world.




The land known as Italy today has been the cradle of European cultures and peoples, such as the Etruscans and the Romans. Italy's capital, Rome, was for centuries the political center of Western civilization, as the capital of the Roman Empire. After its decline, Italy would endure numerous invasions by foreign peoples, from Germanic tribes such as the Lombards and Ostrogoths, to the Normans and later, the Byzantines, among others. Centuries later, Italy would become the birthplace of the Renaissance,[5] an immensely fruitful intellectual movement that would prove to be integral in shaping the subsequent course of European thought.



Through much of its post-Roman history, Italy was fragmented into numerous kingdoms and city-states (such as the Kingdom of Sardinia, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and the duchy of Milan), but was unified in 1861,[6] a tumultuous period in history known as the "Risorgimento". In the late 19th century, through World War I, and to World War II, Italy possessed a colonial empire, which extended its rule to Libya, Eritrea, Italian Somaliland, Ethiopia, Albania, Rhodes, the Dodecanese and a concession in Tianjin, China.[7] Italy was a founding member of the European Community (EC) in 1957, which became the European Union in 1993. It is part of the Schengen zone and adopted the European currency, the euro, in 1999.



Modern Italy is a democratic republic and a developed country with the eighth-highest quality of life index rating in the world.[8] Italy enjoys a high standard of living, and is the world's 18th most developed country.[9] It is a founding member of what is now the European Union, having signed the Treaty of Rome in 1957, and it is a founding member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). It is a member of the G8 and G20, having the world's seventh-largest nominal GDP, and is also a member state of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Council of Europe, and the Western European Union. It has the world's eight-largest defence budget and shares NATO's nuclear weapons.



Italy, especially Rome, has a major global impact in politics and culture, with worldwide organizations such as FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization),[10] International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Glocal Forum,[11] World Food Programme (WFT), and the NATO Defence College being headquartered in the country and the city. The country's European political, social and military influence make it a major regional power, alongside the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Russia.[12][13][14][15][16] The country has a high public education level, high labour force,[17] is a globalised nation,[18] and also has 2009's sixth best international reputation.[19] Italy also has the world's 19th highest life expectancy, after New Zealand and Bermuda.[20] Italy is the world's fifth most visited country, with over 43.7 million international arrivals,[21] and boasts a long tradition of excellence in all the arts and sciences, including the fact that Italy has the world's greatest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites to date (44).

Celebration


Further information: Christmas worldwide

Christmas Day is celebrated as a major festival and public holiday in most countries of the world, even in many whose populations are not majority Christian. In some non-Christian countries, periods of former colonial rule introduced the celebration (e.g. Hong Kong); in others, Christian minorities or foreign cultural influences have led populations to observe the holiday. Major exceptions, where Christmas is not a formal public holiday, include People's Republic of China, (except Hong Kong and Macao), Japan, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Thailand, Nepal, Iran, Turkey and North Korea.



Orthodox churches

While most countries celebrate Christmas on December 25 each year, some eastern national churches, including those of Russia, Georgia, Egypt, Armenia, Ukraine, Macedonia and Serbia celebrate on January 7. This is because of their use of the traditional Julian Calendar, under which December 25 falls on January 7 as measured by the standard Gregorian Calendar.



Around the world, Christmas celebrations can vary markedly in form, reflecting differing cultural and national traditions. Countries such as Japan and Korea, where Christmas is popular despite there being only a small number of Christians, have adopted many of the secular aspects of Christmas, such as gift-giving, decorations and Christmas trees.



Commemoration of Jesus' birth

Main articles: Annunciation, Nativity of Jesus, and Child Jesus

For more detail on religious observances, see Christmas Eve.



Adorazione del Bambino (Adoration of the Child) (1439-43), a mural by Florentine painter Fra Angelico.In Christianity, Christmas is the festival celebrating the Nativity of Jesus, the Christian belief that the Messiah foretold in the Old Testament's Messianic prophecies was born to the Virgin Mary. The story of Christmas is based on the biblical accounts given in the Gospel of Matthew, namely Matthew 1:18-Matthew 2:12 and the Gospel of Luke, specifically Luke 1:26-Luke 2:40. According to these accounts, Jesus was born to Mary, assisted by her husband Joseph, in the city of Bethlehem. According to popular tradition, the birth took place in a stable, surrounded by farm animals, though neither the stable nor the animals are specifically mentioned in the Biblical accounts. However, a manger is mentioned in Luke 2:7, where it states, "She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn." Early iconographic representations of the nativity placed the animals and manger within a cave (located, according to tradition, under the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem). Shepherds from the fields surrounding Bethlehem were told of the birth by an angel, and were the first to see the child.[14]



Many Christians believe that the birth of Jesus fulfilled messianic prophecies from the Old Testament.[15] The Gospel of Matthew also describes a visit by several Magi, or astrologers, who bring gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh to the infant. The visitors were said to be following a mysterious star, commonly known as the Star of Bethlehem, believing it to announce the birth of a king of the Jews.[16] The commemoration of this visit, the Feast of Epiphany celebrated on January 6, is the formal end of the Christmas season in some churches.



Christians celebrate Christmas in many ways. In addition to this day being one of the most important and popular for the attendance of church services, there are numerous other devotions and popular traditions. Prior to Christmas Day, the Eastern Orthodox Church practises the Nativity Fast in anticipation of the birth of Jesus, while much of Western Christianity celebrates Advent. The final preparations for Christmas are made on Christmas Eve.



Over the Christmas period, people decorate their homes and exchange gifts. In some Christian denominations, children perform plays re-telling the events of the Nativity, or sing carols that reference the event. Some Christians also display a small re-creation of the Nativity, known as a Nativity scene or crib, in their homes, using figurines to portray the key characters of the event. Live Nativity scenes and tableaux vivants are also performed, using actors and animals to portray the event with more realism.[17]



A long artistic tradition has grown of producing painted depictions of the nativity in art. Nativity scenes are traditionally set in a barn or stable and include Mary, Joseph, the child Jesus, angels, shepherds and the Three Wise Men: Balthazar, Melchior, and Caspar, who are said to have followed a star, known as the Star of Bethlehem, and arrived after his birth.[18]



Varied traditions

Among countries with a strong Christian tradition, a variety of Christmas celebrations have developed that incorporate regional and local cultures. For many Christians, participating in a religious service plays an important part in the recognition of the season. Christmas, along with Easter, is the period of highest annual church attendance.



In many Catholic countries, the people hold religious processions or parades are held in the days preceding Christmas. In other countries, secular processions or parades featuring Santa Claus and other seasonal figures are often held. Family reunions and the exchange of gifts are a widespread feature of the season. Gift giving takes place on Christmas Day in most countries. Others practise gift giving on December 6, Saint Nicholas Day, and January 6, Epiphany.



A special Christmas family meal is an important part of the celebration for many, and what is served varies greatly from country to country. Some regions, such as Sicily, have special meals for Christmas Eve, when 12 kinds of fish are served. In England and countries influenced by its traditions, a standard Christmas meal includes turkey (brought from North America), potatoes, vegetables, sausages and gravy, followed by Christmas pudding, mince pies and fruit cake. In Poland and other parts of eastern Europe and Scandinavia, fish often is used for the traditional main course, but richer meat such as lamb is increasingly served. In Germany, France and Austria, goose and pork are favored. Beef, ham and chicken in various recipes are popular throughout the world. Ham is the main meal in the Philippines.



Special desserts are also prepared: bûche de Noël in France, panettone in Italy, and elaborate tarts and cakes. The eating of sweets and chocolates has become popular worldwide, and sweeter Christmas delicacies include the German stollen, marzipan cake or candy, and Jamaican rum fruit cake. As one of the few fruits traditionally available to northern countries in winter, oranges were long associated with special Christmas foods.



Decorations

Christmas portal

Main article: Christmas decoration

See also: Christmas tree, Christmas lights, Christmas stocking, and Christmas ornament



The Douglas-fir is commonly used as a Christmas tree

A house decorated for ChristmasThe practice of putting up special decorations at Christmas has a long history. From pre-Christian times, people in the Roman Empire brought branches from evergreen plants indoors in the winter. Christian people incorporated such customs in their developing practices. In the fifteenth century, it was recorded that in London, it was the custom at Christmas for every house and all the parish churches to be "decked with holm, ivy, bays, and whatsoever the season of the year afforded to be green".[19] The heart-shaped leaves of ivy were said to symbolise the coming to earth of Jesus, while holly was seen as protection against pagans and witches, its thorns and red berries held to represent the Crown of Thorns worn by Jesus at the crucifixion and the blood he shed.[20]



Nativity scenes are known from 10th-century Rome. They were popularised by Saint Francis of Asissi from 1223, quickly spreading across Europe.[21] Many different types of decorations developed across the Christian world, dependent on local tradition and available resources. The first commercially produced decorations appeared in Germany in the 1860s, inspired by paper chains made by children.[22]



The Christmas tree is often explained as a Christianisation of pagan tradition and ritual surrounding the Winter Solstice, which included the use of evergreen boughs, and an adaptation of pagan tree worship.[23] The English language phrase "Christmas tree" is first recorded in 1835[24] and represents an importation from the German language. The modern Christmas tree tradition is believed to have begun in Germany in the 18th century[23] though many argue that Martin Luther began the tradition in the 16th century.[25][26] From Germany the custom was introduced to Britain, first via Queen Charlotte, wife of George III, and then more successfully by Prince Albert during the reign of Queen Victoria. By 1841 the Christmas tree had become even more widespread throughout Britain.[27] By the 1870s, people in the United States had adopted the custom of putting up a Christmas tree.[28] Christmas trees may be decorated with lights and ornaments.



Since the 19th century, the poinsettia, a native plant from Mexico, has been associated with Christmas. Other popular holiday plants include holly, mistletoe, red amaryllis, and Christmas cactus. Along with a Christmas tree, the interior of a home may be decorated with these plants, along with garlands and evergreen foliage.





European Holly, traditional Christmas decoration.In Australia, North and South America, and Europe, it is traditional to decorate the outside of houses with lights and sometimes with illuminated sleighs, snowmen, and other Christmas figures. Municipalities often sponsor decorations as well. Christmas banners may be hung from street lights and Christmas trees placed in the town square.[29]



In the Western world, rolls of brightly colored paper with secular or religious Christmas motifs are manufactured for the purpose of wrapping gifts. The display of Christmas villages has also become a tradition in many homes during this season. Other traditional decorations include bells, candles, candy canes, stockings, wreaths, and angels.



In many countries a representation of the Nativity Scene is very popular, and people are encouraged to compete and create most original or realistic ones. Within some families, the pieces used to make the representation are considered a valuable family heirloom. Christmas decorations are traditionally taken down on Twelfth Night, the evening of January 5. The traditional colors of Christmas are pine green (evergreen), snow white, and heart red.



Music and carols

Main article: Christmas music



Trumpeter at a concert of Christmas music.The first specifically Christmas hymns that we know of appear in fourth century Rome. Latin hymns such as Veni redemptor gentium, written by Ambrose, Archbishop of Milan, were austere statements of the theological doctrine of the Incarnation in opposition to Arianism. Corde natus ex Parentis (Of the Father's love begotten) by the Spanish poet Prudentius (d. 413). is still sung in some churches today.[30]



In the ninth and tenth centuries, the Christmas "Sequence" or "Prose" was introduced in North European monasteries, developing under Bernard of Clairvaux into a sequence of rhymed stanzas. In the twelfth century the Parisian monk Adam of St. Victor began to derive music from popular songs, introducing something closer to the traditional Christmas carol.



By the thirteenth century, in France, Germany, and particularly, Italy, under the influence of Francis of Asissi, a strong tradition of popular Christmas songs in the native language developed.[31] Christmas carols in English first appear in a 1426 work of John Awdlay, a Shropshire chaplain, who lists twenty-five "caroles of Cristemas", probably sung by groups of wassailers, who went from house to house.[32] The songs we know specifically as carols were originally communal folk songs sung during celebrations such as "harvest tide" as well as Christmas. It was only later that carols began to be sung in church. Traditionally, carols have often been based on medieval chord patterns, and it is this that gives them their uniquely characteristic musical sound. Some carols like "Personent hodie", "Good King Wenceslas", and "The Holly and the Ivy" can be traced directly back to the Middle Ages. They are among the oldest musical compositions still regularly sung. Adeste Fidelis (O Come all ye faithful) appears in its current form in the mid 18th century, although the words may have originated in the thirteenth century.



Singing of carols initially suffered a decline in popularity after the Protestant Reformation in northern Europe, although some Reformers, like Martin Luther, wrote carols and encouraged their use in worship. Carols largely survived in rural communities until the revival of interest in popular songs in the 19th century. The 18th century English reformer Charles Wesley understood the importance of music to worship. In addition to setting many psalms to melodies, which were influential in the Great Awakening in the United States, he wrote texts for at least three Christmas carols. The best known was originally entitled "Hark! How All the Welkin Rings", later renamed "Hark! the Herald Angels Sing".[33] Felix Mendelssohn wrote a melody adapted to fit Wesley's words. In Austria in 1818 Mohr and Gruber made a major addition to the genre when they composed "Silent Night" for the St. Nicholas Church, Oberndorf. William B. Sandys Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern (1833), contained the first appearance in print of many now-classic English carols, and contributed to the mid-Victorian revival of the festival.[34]



Completely secular Christmas seasonal songs emerged in the late eighteenth century. "Deck The Halls" dates from 1784, and the American, "Jingle Bells" was copyrighted in 1857. In the 19th and 20th century, African American spirituals and songs about Christmas, based in their tradition of spirituals, became more widely known. An increasing number of seasonal holidays songs were commercially produced in the twentieth century, including jazz and blues variations. In addition, there was a revival of interest in early music, from groups singing folk music, such as The Revels, to performers of early medieval and classical music.



Cards

Main article: Christmas card



A Christmas card from 1870Christmas cards are illustrated messages of greeting usually exchanged between friends and family members during the weeks preceding Christmas Day. The custom has become popular among a wide cross-section of people, including non-Christians, in Western society and in Asia. The traditional greeting reads "wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year", much like that of the first commercial Christmas card, produced by Sir Henry Cole in London in 1843. However there are innumerable variations of this formula, many cards expressing a more religious sentiment, or containing a poem, prayer or Biblical verse; while others distance themselves from religion with an all-inclusive "Season's greetings".



Christmas cards are purchased in considerable quantities, and feature artwork, commercially designed and relevant to the season. The content of the design might relate directly to the Christmas narrative with depictions of the Nativity of Jesus, or Christian symbols such as the Star of Bethlehem, or a white dove which can represent both the Holy Spirit and Peace on Earth. Other Christmas cards are more secular and can depict Christmas traditions, mythical figures such as Santa Claus, objects directly associated with Christmas such as candles, holly and baubles, or a variety of images associated with the season, such as Christmastime activities, snow scenes and the wildlife of the northern winter. There are also humorous cards and genres depicting nostalgic scenes of the past such as crinolined shoppers in idealized 19th century streetscapes.



Stamps

Main article: Christmas stamp

A number of nations have issued commemorative stamps at Christmastime. Postal customers will often use these stamps to mail Christmas cards, and they are popular with philatelists. These stamps are regular postage stamps, unlike Christmas seals, and are valid for postage year-round. They usually go on sale some time between early October and early December, and are printed in considerable quantities.



In 1898 a Canadian stamp was issued to mark the inauguration of the Imperial Penny Postage rate. The stamp features a map of the globe and bears an inscription "XMAS 1898" at the bottom. In 1937, Austria issued two "Christmas greeting stamps" featuring a rose and the signs of the zodiac. In 1939, Brazil issued four semi-postal stamps with designs featuring the three kings and a star of Bethlehem, an angel and child, the Southern Cross and a child, and a mother and child.



Both the US Postal Service and the Royal Mail regularly issue Christmas-themed stamps each year.



Santa Claus and other bringers of gifts

Main articles: Santa Claus and Father Christmas



Sinterklaas or Saint Nicholas, considered by many to be the original Santa Claus.Christmas has for many centuries been a time for the giving and exchanging of gifts, particularly between friends and family members. A number of figures of both Christian and mythical origin have been associated with Christmas and the seasonal giving of gifts. Among these are Father Christmas, also known as Santa Claus, Père Noël, and the Weihnachtsmann; Saint Nicholas or Sinterklaas; the Christkind; Kris Kringle; Joulupukki; Babbo Natale; Saint Basil; and Father Frost.



The most famous and pervasive of these figures in modern celebration worldwide is Santa Claus, a mythical gift bringer, dressed in red, whose origins have diverse sources. The name Santa Claus is a corruption of the Dutch Sinterklaas, which means simply Saint Nicholas. Nicholas was Bishop of Myra, in modern day Turkey, during the fourth century. Among other saintly attributes, he was noted for the care of Children, generosity, and the giving of gifts. His feast on the 6th of December came to be celebrated in many countries with the giving of gifts. Saint Nicholas traditionally appeared in bishoply attire, accompanied by helpers, and enquired about the behaviour of children during the past year, before deciding whether they deserved a gift or not. By the 13th century Saint Nicholas was well known in the Netherlands, and the practice of gift-giving in his name spread to other parts of central and southern Europe. At the Reformation, many Protestants changed the gift bringer to the Christ Child or Christkindl, (corrupted in English to Kris Kringle), and the date of giving gifts changed from December the 6th to Christmas Eve.[35]



The modern popular image of Santa Claus, however, was created in the United States, and in particular, in New York. The transformation was accomplished with the aid of six notable contributors including Washington Irving and the German-American cartoonist Thomas Nast (1840–1902). Following the American Revolutionary War, some of the inhabitants of New York City sought out symbols of the city's non-English past. New York had originally been established as the Dutch colonial town of New Amsterdam and the Dutch Sinterklaas tradition, was reinvented as Saint Nicholas.[36] In 1809, the New-York Historical Society convened and retroactively named Sancte Claus the patron saint of Nieuw Amsterdam, the Dutch name for New York City.[37] At his first American appearance in 1810, Santa Claus was drawn in bishops' robes. However as new artists took over, Santa Claus developed more secular attire.[38] Nast drew a new image of "Santa Claus" annually, beginning in 1863. By the 1880s, Nast's Santa had evolved into the robed, fur clad, form we now recognize, perhaps based on the English figure of Father Christmas. The image was standardized by advertisers in the 1920s.[39]





Santa Claus is famous around the world for giving gifts to good childrenFather Christmas, a jolly, well nourished, bearded man who typified the spirit of good cheer at Christmas, predates the Santa Claus character. He is first recorded in early 17th century England, but was associated with holiday merrymaking and drunkenness rather than the bringing of gifts.[24] In Victorian Britain, his image was remade to match that of Santa. The French Père Noël evolved along similar lines, eventually adopting the Santa image. In Italy, Babbo Natale acts as Santa Claus, while La Befana is the bringer of gifts and arrives on the eve of the Epiphany. It is said that La Befana set out to bring the baby Jesus gifts, but got lost along the way. Now, she brings gifts to all children. In some cultures Santa Claus is accompanied by Knecht Ruprecht, or Black Peter. In other versions, elves make the toys. His wife is referred to as Mrs. Claus.



There has been some opposition to the narrative of the American evolution of Saint Nicholas into the modern Santa. It has been claimed that the Saint Nicholas Society was not founded until 1835, almost half a century after the end of the American War of Independence.[40] Moreover, a study of the "children's books, periodicals and journals" of New Amsterdam by Charles Jones revealed no references to Saint Nicholas or Sinterklaas.[41] However, not all scholars agree with Jones's findings, which he reiterated in a booklength study in 1978;[42] Howard G. Hageman, of New Brunswick Theological Seminary, maintains that the tradition of celebrating Sinterklaas in New York was alive and well from the early settlement of the Hudson Valley on.[43]



Current tradition in several Latin American countries (such as Venezuela and Colombia) holds that while Santa makes the toys, he then gives them to the Baby Jesus, who is the one who actually delivers them to the children's homes, a reconciliation between traditional religious beliefs and the iconography of Santa Claus imported from the United States.



In Alto Adige/Südtirol (Italy), Austria, Czech Republic, Southern Germany, Hungary, Liechtenstein, Slovakia and Switzerland, the Christkind (Ježíšek in Czech, Jézuska in Hungarian and Ježiško in Slovak) brings the presents. The German St. Nikolaus is not identical with the Weihnachtsman (who is the German version of Santa Claus). St. Nikolaus wears a bishop's dress and still brings small gifts (usually candies, nuts and fruits) on December 6 and is accompanied by Knecht Ruprecht. Although many parents around the world routinely teach their children about Santa Claus and other gift bringers, some have come to reject this practice, considering it deceptive.[44]

Windows 7


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Windows 7

Part of the Microsoft Windows family





Screenshot of Windows 7 Ultimate

Developer

Microsoft

Website Official website

Releases

Release date RTM: July 22, 2009

Retail: October 22, 2009 (info)

Current version 6.1[1] (build 7600.16385.090713-1255[2])

(2009-10-22; 56 days ago) (info)

Source model Closed source / Shared source

License MS-EULA

Kernel type Hybrid

Update method Windows Update

Platform support IA-32, x86-64

Support status

Mainstream support

Further reading

Development of Windows 7

Features new to Windows 7

Features removed from Windows 7

Windows 7 editions





Windows 7 is the latest public release version of Microsoft Windows, a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, netbooks, tablet PCs, and media center PCs.[3] Windows 7 was released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009,[4] and reached general retail availability on October 22, 2009,[5] less than three years after the release of its predecessor, Windows Vista. Windows 7's server counterpart, Windows Server 2008 R2, was released at the same time.



Unlike its predecessor, 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 fully compatible with applications and hardware with which Windows Vista is already compatible.[6] Presentations given by Microsoft in 2008 focused on multi-touch support, a redesigned Windows Shell with a new taskbar, referred to as the Superbar, a home networking system called HomeGroup,[7] and performance improvements. Some applications that have been included with prior releases of Microsoft Windows, including Windows Calendar, Windows Mail, Windows Movie Maker, and Windows Photo Gallery, are not included in Windows 7;[8][9] most are instead offered separately as part of the free Windows Live Essentials suite.[10]



Contents [hide]

1 Development

1.1 Goals

2 Features

2.1 New and changed features

2.2 Removed features

3 Antitrust regulatory attention

3.1 Editions

4 Reception

5 Editions

6 Marketing

7 Hardware requirements

8 See also

9 References

10 External links



Development

Main article: Development of Windows 7

Originally, a version of Windows codenamed Blackcomb was planned as the successor to Windows XP (codename Whistler) and Windows Server 2003. Major features were planned for Blackcomb, including an emphasis on searching and querying data and an advanced storage system named WinFS to enable such scenarios. However, an interim, minor release, codenamed "Longhorn" was announced for 2003, delaying the development of Blackcomb.[11] By the middle of 2003, however, Longhorn had acquired some of the features originally intended for Blackcomb. After three major viruses exploited flaws in Windows operating systems within a short time period in 2003, Microsoft changed its development priorities, putting some of Longhorn's major development work on hold while developing new service packs for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. Development of Longhorn (Windows Vista) was also restarted, and thus delayed, in August 2004. A number of features were cut from Longhorn.[12]



Blackcomb was renamed Vienna in early 2006,[13] and again to Windows 7 in 2007.[14] In 2008, it was announced that Windows 7 would also be the official name of the operating system.[15][16] There has been some confusion over naming the product Windows 7,[17] while versioning it as 6.1 to indicate its similar build to Vista and increase compatibility with applications that only check major version numbers,[18] similar to Windows 2000 and Windows XP both having 5.x version numbers.[19]



The first external release to select Microsoft partners came in January 2008 with Milestone 1, build 6519.[20] At PDC 2008, Microsoft demonstrated Windows 7 with its reworked taskbar. Copies of Windows 7 build 6801 were distributed at the end of the conference; however, the demonstrated taskbar was disabled in this build.



On December 27, 2008, Windows 7 Beta was leaked onto the Internet via BitTorrent.[21] According to a performance test by ZDNet,[22] Windows 7 Beta beat both Windows XP and Vista in several key areas; including boot and shutdown time and working with files, such as loading documents. Other areas did not beat XP; including PC Pro benchmarks for typical office activities and video editing, which remain identical to Vista and slower than XP.[23] On January 7, 2009, the 64-bit version of the Windows 7 Beta (build 7000) was leaked onto the web, with some torrents being infected with a trojan.[24][25] At CES 2009, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced the Windows 7 Beta, build 7000, had been made available for download to MSDN and TechNet subscribers in the format of an ISO image.[26] The Beta was to be publicly released January 9, 2009, and Microsoft initially planned for the download to be made available to 2.5 million people on this date. However, access to the downloads was delayed because of high traffic.[27] The download limit was also extended, initially until January 24, then again to February 10. People who did not complete downloading the beta had two extra days to complete the download. After February 12, unfinished downloads became unable to complete. Users could still obtain product keys from Microsoft to activate their copies of Windows 7 Beta, which expired on August 1, 2009. The release candidate, build 7100, has been available for MSDN and TechNet subscribers and Connect Program participants since April 30 and became available to the general public on May 5, 2009. It has also been leaked onto the Internet via BitTorrent.[28] The release candidate is available in five languages and will expire on June 1, 2010, with shutdowns every two hours starting March 1, 2010.[29] Microsoft stated that Windows 7 would be released to the general public on October 22, 2009. Microsoft released Windows 7 to MSDN and Technet subscribers on August 6, 2009, at 10:00 a.m. PDT.[30] Microsoft announced that Windows 7, along with Windows Server 2008 R2 were released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009. Windows 7 RTM is build 7600.16385, which was compiled on July 13, 2009, and was declared the final RTM build after passing all Microsoft's tests internally.[4] "The launch of Windows 7 has superseded everyone’s expectations, storming ahead of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows as the biggest-grossing pre-order product of all-time, and demand is still going strong," claimed managing director Brian McBride, Amazon UK on October 22."[4]



Goals

Bill Gates, in an interview with Newsweek, suggested that this version of Windows would be more "user-centric".[31] Gates later said that Windows 7 would also focus on performance improvements.[32] Steven Sinofsky later expanded on this point, explaining in the Engineering Windows 7 blog that the company was using a variety of new tracing tools to measure the performance of many areas of the operating system on an ongoing basis, to help locate inefficient code paths and to help prevent performance regressions.[33]



Senior Vice President Bill Veghte stated that Windows Vista users migrating to Windows 7 would not find the kind of device compatibility issues they encountered migrating from Windows XP.[34] Speaking about Windows 7 on October 16, 2008, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer confirmed compatibility between Vista and Windows 7,[35] indicating that Windows 7 would be a refined version of Windows Vista.[35]



Features

New and changed features



The new Action Center, which replaces Windows Security CenterMain article: Features new to Windows 7



When the action center detects a security threat, it displays a thumbnail with problems listed.Windows 7 includes a number of new features, such as advances in touch and handwriting recognition, support for virtual hard disks, improved performance on multi-core processors,[36][37][38][39] improved boot performance, DirectAccess, and kernel improvements. Windows 7 adds support for systems using multiple heterogeneous graphics cards from different vendors (Heterogeneous Multi-adapter), a new version of Windows Media Center,[40] a Gadget for Windows Media Center, improved media features, the XPS Essentials Pack and Windows PowerShell being included, and a redesigned Calculator with multiline capabilities including Programmer and Statistics modes along with unit conversion. Many new items have been added to the Control Panel, including ClearType Text Tuner, Display Color Calibration Wizard, Gadgets, Recovery, Troubleshooting, Workspaces Center, Location and Other Sensors, Credential Manager, Biometric Devices, System Icons, and Display.[41] Windows Security Center has been renamed to Windows Action Center (Windows Health Center and Windows Solution Center in earlier builds), which encompasses both security and maintenance of the computer. The default setting for User Account Control in Windows 7 has been criticized for allowing untrusted software to be launched with elevated privileges by exploiting a trusted application.[42] Microsoft's Windows kernel engineer Mark Russinovich acknowledged the problem, but noted that there are other vulnerabilities that do not rely on the new setting.[43] Windows 7 also supports Mac-like RAW image viewing through the addition of WIC-enabled image decoders, which enables raw image thumbnails, previewing and metadata display in Windows Explorer, plus full-size viewing and slideshows in Windows Photo Viewer and Window Media Center.[44]



The taskbar has seen the biggest visual changes, where the Quick Launch toolbar has been replaced with pinning applications to the taskbar. Buttons for pinned applications are integrated with the task buttons. These buttons also enable the Jump Lists feature to allow easy access to common tasks.[45] The revamped taskbar also allows the reordering of taskbar buttons. To the far right of the system clock is a small rectangular button that serves as the Show desktop icon. This button is part of the new feature in Windows 7 called Aero Peek. Hovering over this button makes all visible windows transparent for a quick look at the desktop.[46] In touch-enabled displays such as touch screens, tablet PCs, etc., this button is slightly wider to accommodate being pressed with a finger.[47] Clicking this button minimizes all windows, and clicking it a second time restores them. Additionally, there is a feature named Aero Snap, that automatically maximizes a window when it is dragged to either the top or left/right edges of the screen.[48] This also allows users to snap documents or files on either side of the screen to compare them. When a user moves windows that are maximized, the system restores their previous state automatically. This functionality is also accomplished with keyboard shortcuts. Unlike in Windows Vista, window borders and the taskbar do not turn opaque when a window is maximized with Windows Aero applied. Instead, they remain translucent.





The Windows 7 taskbar.For developers, Windows 7 includes a new networking API with support for building SOAP-based web services in native code (as opposed to .NET-based WCF web services),[49] new features to shorten application install times, reduced UAC prompts, simplified development of installation packages,[50] and improved globalization support through a new Extended Linguistic Services API.[51] At WinHEC 2008 Microsoft announced that color depths of 30-bit and 48-bit would be supported in Windows 7 along with the wide color gamut scRGB (which for HDMI 1.3 can be converted and output as xvYCC). The video modes supported in Windows 7 are 16-bit sRGB, 24-bit sRGB, 30-bit sRGB, 30-bit with extended color gamut sRGB, and 48-bit scRGB.[52][53] Microsoft has also implemented better support for solid-state drives,[54] including the new TRIM command, and Windows 7 is able to identify a solid-state drive uniquely. Microsoft is planning to support USB 3.0 in a subsequent patch, support not being included in the initial release due to delays in the finalization of the standard.[55]



Internet Spades, Internet Backgammon and Internet Checkers, which were removed from Windows Vista, were restored in Windows 7. Windows 7 includes Internet Explorer 8 and Windows Media Player 12.



Wikinews has related news: Windows 7 will allow users to disable Internet Explorer



Users are also able to disable many more Windows components than was possible in Windows Vista. New additions to this list of components include Internet Explorer, Windows Media Player, Windows Media Center, Windows Search, and the Windows Gadget Platform.[56] Windows 7 includes 13 additional sound schemes, titled Afternoon, Calligraphy, Characters, Cityscape, Delta, Festival, Garden, Heritage, Landscape, Quirky, Raga, Savanna, and Sonata.[57] A new version of Virtual PC, Windows Virtual PC Beta is available for Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate editions.[58] It allows multiple Windows environments, including Windows XP Mode, to run on the same machine, requiring the use of Intel VT-x or AMD-V. Windows XP Mode runs Windows XP in a virtual machine and redirects displayed applications running in Windows XP to the Windows 7 desktop.[59] Furthermore Windows 7 supports the mounting of a virtual hard disk (VHD) as a normal data storage, and the bootloader delivered with Windows 7 can boot the Windows system from a VHD.[60] The Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) of Windows 7 is also enhanced to support real-time multimedia application including video playback and 3D games, thus allowing use of DirectX 10 in remote desktop environments.[61] The three application limit, previously present in the Windows Vista Starter Edition, has been removed from Windows 7.[62]



Removed features

Main article: Features removed from Windows 7

A number of capabilities and certain programs that were a part of Windows Vista are no longer present or have been changed, resulting in the removal of certain functionality. Some notable Windows Vista features and components have been replaced or removed in Windows 7, including the classic Start Menu user interface, Windows Ultimate Extras and InkBall. Four applications bundled with Windows Vista — Windows Photo Gallery, Windows Movie Maker, Windows Calendar[63] and Windows Mail — are not included with Windows 7, but are instead available for free in a separate package called Windows Live Essentials.



Antitrust regulatory attention

As with other Microsoft operating systems, Windows 7 is being studied by United States federal regulators who oversee the company's operations following the 2001 United States v. Microsoft settlement. According to status reports filed, the three-member panel began assessing prototypes of the new operating system in February 2008. Michael Gartenberg, an analyst at Jupiter Research said that, "Microsoft's challenge for Windows 7 will be how can they continue to add features that consumers will want that also do not run afoul of regulators."[64]



Editions

In order to comply with European antitrust regulations, Microsoft has proposed the use of a "ballot" screen, allowing users to download a competing browser, thus removing the need for a version of Windows completely without Internet Explorer, as previously planned.[65] In response to criticism involving Windows 7 E and concerns from manufacturers about possible consumer confusion if a version of Windows 7 with Internet Explorer were shipped later after one without Internet Explorer, Microsoft announced that it would scrap the separate version for Europe and ship the standard upgrade and full packages worldwide.[66]



As with previous versions of Windows, an N version, which does not come with Windows Media Player, has been released in Europe, but only for sale directly from Microsoft sales websites and select others.[67]



Reception

In only eight hours, orders of Windows 7 at Amazon.co.uk surpassed the demand Windows Vista had in its first 17 weeks.[68] It became the highest-grossing pre-order in Amazon's history, surpassing sales of the previous record holder, the seventh Harry Potter book.[69] After 36 hours, 64-bit versions of Windows 7 Professional and Ultimate editions sold out in Japan.[70] Two weeks after its release, it was announced that its market share had surpassed that of Snow Leopard, released two months previously as the most recent update to Apple's Mac OS X operating system.[71][72] According to Net Applications, Windows 7 reached a 4% market share in less than three weeks. In comparison, it took Windows Vista seven months to reach the same mark.[73]



Reviews of Windows 7 were mostly positive, praising its usability when compared to its predecessor, Windows Vista. CNET gave Windows 7 Home Premium a rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars,[74] stating that it "is more than what Vista should have been, [and] it's where Microsoft needed to go". PC Magazine rated it a 4 out of 5 saying that Windows 7 is a "big improvement" over Windows Vista, with fewer compatibility problems, a retooled taskbar, simpler home networking and faster start-up.[75] Maximum PC gave Windows 7 a rating of 9 out of 10 and called Windows 7 a "massive leap forward" in usability and security, and praised the new Taskbar as "worth the price of admission alone".[76] PC World called Windows 7 a "worthy successor" to Windows XP and said that speed benchmarks showed Windows 7 to be slightly faster than Windows Vista.[77] PC World also named Windows 7 one of the best products of the year.[78] In its review of Windows 7, Engadget said that Microsoft has taken a "strong step forward" with Windows 7 and reported that speed is one of Windows 7's major selling points particularly for the netbook sets.[79] LAPTOP Magazine gave Windows 7 a rating of 4 out of 5 stars and said that Windows 7 makes computing more intuitive, offered better overall performance including a "modest to dramatic" increase in battery life on laptop computers.[80] Techradar gave it a 5 star rating calling it the best version of Windows yet.[81] The New York Times,[82] USA Today,[83] The Wall Street Journal,[84] and The Telegraph[85] also gave Windows 7 favorable reviews.



Some Vista Ultimate users have expressed concerns over Windows 7 pricing and upgrade options.[86][87] Windows Vista Ultimate users wanting to upgrade from Windows Vista to Windows 7 must either pay $219.99[88] to upgrade to Windows 7 Ultimate or perform a clean install, which requires them to reinstall all of their programs.[89]



Editions

Main article: Windows 7 editions

Windows 7 is available in six different editions, but only the Home Premium, Professional, and Ultimate editions are available for retail sale to consumers in most countries.[90] The other editions are aimed at other markets, such as the developing world or enterprise use.[90] Each edition of Windows 7 includes all of the capabilities and features of the edition below it.[90][91][92][93][94] All editions support the 32-bit (IA-32) processor architecture and all editions except Starter and Home Basic support the 64-bit (x86-64) processor architecture. The installation media is the same for all the consumer editions of Windows 7 that have the same processor architecture, with the license determing the features that are activated, and license upgrades permitting the subsequent unlocking of features without re-installation of the operating system.[95] This is the first time Microsoft distributes 2 DVDs (1 DVD for IA-32 processor architecture, the other DVD for x86-64 processor architecture) for each edition of Windows 7 (Except for Starter and Home Basic). Users who wish to upgrade to an edition of Windows 7 with more features can then use Windows Anytime Upgrade to purchase the upgrade, and unlock the features of those editions.[91][95][96] Some copies of Windows 7 have restrictions, in which it must be distributed (If not, sold or bought) and activated in the geographical region (One of the geographical regions can be either: Southeast Asia; India; or Latin America and the Caribbean) specified in its front cover box.



Microsoft is offering a family pack of Windows 7 Home Premium (in select markets) that allows installation on up to 3 PCs.[97] The "Family Pack" costs USD 149.99 in the United States.[97]



On September 18, 2009, Microsoft said they were to offer temporary student discounts for Windows 7. The offer will be running in the US and the United Kingdom, with similar schemes available in Canada, Australia, Korea, Mexico, France and Germany. Students with a valid .edu or .ac.uk email address can apply for either Windows 7 Home Premium or Professional, priced at $30 or £30.[98][99]



Marketing

Microsoft has marketed the whole of Windows 7 as "making your PC simpler". However the different editions of Windows 7 have been designed and marketed towards different types of people. Out of all the different editions (Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate) the Starter edition has been designed for netbooks, Home Basic has been designed for the developing world, Home Premium has been designed and marketed for normal home users, Professional for businesses, Enterprise for larger businesses and Ultimate for corporations and enthusiasts. TV adverts have been made advertising Home Premium's use in the home.



Hardware requirements

Microsoft has published their minimum specifications for a system running Windows 7.[100] Requirements for the 32-bit version are much the same as recommendations for premium editions of Vista, but the 64-bit versions are higher. Microsoft has released an upgrade advisor that scans a computer to see if it is compatible with Windows 7.



Minimum hardware requirements for Windows 7[100] Architecture 32-bit 64-bit

Processor 1 GHz 32-bit processor 1 GHz 64-bit processor

Memory (RAM) 1 GB of RAM 2 GB of RAM

Graphics Card DirectX 9 graphics processor with WDDM driver model 1.0 (For Aero)

HDD free space 16 GB of available disk space 20 GB of available disk space

Optical drive DVD drive (only to install from DVD/CD Media)



Additional requirements to use certain features:[100]



BitLocker requires a USB flash drive to use BitLocker To Go.

Windows XP Mode requires an additional 1 GB of RAM, an additional 15 GB of available hard disk space, and a processor capable of hardware virtualization with Intel VT or AMD-V enabled.

Windows Media Center (included with Home Premium, Professional, Enterprise, Ultimate), requires a TV-tuner to receive and record TV.

History of Microsoft


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Corporate logoMicrosoft is a multinational computer technology corporation. The history of Microsoft began on April 4, 1975, when it was founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in Albuquerque.[1] Its current best-selling products are the Microsoft Windows operating system and the Microsoft Office suite of productivity software.



Starting in 1980, Microsoft formed an important partnership with IBM that allowed them to bundle Microsoft's operating system with computers that they sold, paying Microsoft a royalty for every sale. In 1985, IBM requested that Microsoft write a new operating system for their computers called OS/2; Microsoft wrote the operating system, but also continued to sell their own alternative, which proved to be in direct competition with OS/2. Microsoft Windows eventually overshadowed OS/2 in terms of sales. When Microsoft launched several versions of Microsoft Windows in the 1990s, they had captured over 90% market share of the world's personal computers.



The company has now become largely successful. As of 2008, Microsoft has a global annual revenue of US$ 60.42 billion and nearly 90,000 employees in 105 countries. It develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of software products for computing devices.[2][3][4]



Contents [hide]

1 1975–1985: The founding of Microsoft

2 1985–1991: The rise and fall of OS/2

3 1992–1995: Domination of the corporate market

4 1995–1999: Foray into the Web and other ventures

5 2000–2005: Legal issues, XP, and .NET

6 2005–present: Vista and other transitions

7 See also

8 References



[edit] 1975–1985: The founding of Microsoft



Microsoft staff photo from December 7, 1978. From left to right:

Top: Steve Wood, Bob Wallace, Jim Lane.

Middle: Bob O'Rear, Bob Greenberg, Marc McDonald, Gordon Letwin.

Bottom: Bill Gates, Andrea Lewis, Marla Wood, Paul Allen.After reading the January 1, 1975 issue of Popular Electronics that demonstrated the Altair 8800, Bill Gates called the creators of a new microcomputer, MITS (Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems), offering to demonstrate an implementation of the BASIC programming language for the system.[5] Gates had neither an interpreter nor an Altair system, yet in the eight weeks before the demo he and Allen developed the interpreter. The interpreter worked at the demo and MITS agreed to distribute Altair BASIC.[6] Gates left Harvard University, moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico where MITS was located, and founded Microsoft there. The name Microsoft (a portmanteau of microcomputer and software), hyphenated in its early incarnations, was first used in a letter from Gates to Allen on November 29, 1975,[6] and on November 26, 1976 the company was registered under that name with the Secretary of State of New Mexico.[5] The company's first international office was founded on November 1, 1978, in Japan, entitled "ASCII Microsoft" (now called "Microsoft Japan"), and on November 29, 1979, the term, "Microsoft" was first used by Bill Gates.[5] On January 1, 1979, the company moved from Albuquerque to a new home in Bellevue, Washington.[5] Steve Ballmer joined the company on June 11, 1980, and would later succeed Bill Gates as CEO.[5] The company restructured on June 25, 1981, to become an incorporated business in its home state of Washington (with a further change of its name to "Microsoft, Inc."). As part of the restructuring, Bill Gates became president of the company and Chairman of the Board, and Paul Allen became Executive Vice President.[5]



The first operating system the company publicly released was a variant of Unix in 1980. Acquired from AT&T through a distribution license, Microsoft dubbed it Xenix, and hired Santa Cruz Operation in order to port/adapt the operating system to several platforms.[7][8] This Unix variant would become home to the first version of Microsoft's word processor, Microsoft Word. Originally titled "Multi-Tool Word", Microsoft Word became notable for its concept of "What You See Is What You Get", or WYSIWYG. Word was also the first application with such features as the ability to display bold text. It was first released in the spring of 1983, and free demonstration copies of the application were bundled with the November 1983 issue of PC World, making it the first program to be distributed on-disk with a magazine.[9] However, Xenix was never sold to end users directly although it was licensed to many software OEMs for resale. It grew to become the most popular version of Unix, measured by the number of machines running it[10] (note that Unix is a multi-user operating system, allowing simultaneous access to a machine by several users). By the mid-1980s Microsoft had gotten out of the Unix business, except for an interest in SCO.[7]



DOS (Disk Operating System) was the operating system that brought the company its real success. On August 12, 1981, after negotiations with Digital Research failed, IBM awarded a contract to Microsoft to provide a version of the CP/M operating system, which was set to be used in the upcoming IBM Personal Computer (PC). For this deal, Microsoft purchased a CP/M clone called 86-DOS from Tim Paterson of Seattle Computer Products for less than US$50,000, which IBM renamed to PC-DOS. Due to potential copyright infringement problems with CP/M, IBM marketed both CP/M and PC-DOS for US$240 and US$40, respectively, with PC-DOS eventually becoming the standard because of its lower price.[11][12] Around 1983, in collaboration with numerous companies, Microsoft created a home computer system, MSX, which contained its own version of the DOS operating system, entitled MSX-DOS; this became relatively popular in Japan, Europe and South America.[6][13][14] Later, the market saw a flood of IBM PC clones after Columbia Data Products successfully cloned the IBM BIOS, quickly followed by Eagle Computer and Compaq.[15][16][17][18] The deal with IBM allowed Microsoft to have control of its own QDOS derivative, MS-DOS, and through aggressive marketing of the operating system to manufacturers of IBM-PC clones Microsoft rose from a small player to one of the major software vendors in the home computer industry.[19] With the release of the Microsoft Mouse on May 2, 1983, Microsoft continued to expand its product line in other markets. This expansion included Microsoft Press, a book publishing division, on July 11 the same year, which debuted with two titles: "Exploring the IBM PCjr Home Computer" by Peter Norton, and "The Apple Macintosh Book" by Cary Lu.[5]



[edit] 1985–1991: The rise and fall of OS/2



The sign at a main entrance to the Microsoft corporate campus. The Redmond Microsoft campus today includes more than 8 million square feet (approx. 750,000 m²) and 28,000 employees.[20]Ireland became home to Microsoft's first international production facility in 1985, and on November 20 Microsoft released its first retail version of Microsoft Windows (Windows 1.0), originally a graphical extension for its MS-DOS operating system.[5] In August, Microsoft and IBM partnered in the development of a different operating system called OS/2. OS/2 was marketed in connection with a new hardware design proprietary to IBM, the PS/2.[21] On February 16, 1986, Microsoft relocated to Redmond, Washington. Around one month later, on March 13, the company went public with an IPO, raising US$61 million at US$21.00 per share. By the end of the trading day, the price had risen to US$28.00. In 1987, Microsoft eventually released their first version of OS/2 to OEMs.[22]



Meanwhile, Microsoft began introducing its most prominent office products. Microsoft Works, an integrated office program which combined features typically found in a word processor, spreadsheet, database and other office applications, saw its first release as an application for the Apple Macintosh towards the end of 1986.[6] Microsoft Works would later be sold with other Microsoft products including Microsoft Word and Microsoft Bookshelf, a reference collection introduced in 1987 that was the company's first CD-ROM product.[5][23] Later, on August 8, 1989, Microsoft would introduce its most successful office product, Microsoft Office. Unlike the model of Microsoft Works, Microsoft Office was a bundle of separate office productivity applications, such as Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel and so forth. While Microsoft Word and Microsoft Office were mostly developed internally, Microsoft also continued its trend of rebranding products from other companies, such as Microsoft SQL Server on January 13, 1988, a relational database management system for companies that was based on technology licensed from Sybase.[5]



On May 22, 1990 Microsoft launched Windows 3.0.[6] The new version of Microsoft's operating system boasted such new features as streamlined graphic user interface GUI and improved protected mode capability for the Intel 386 processor; it sold over 100,000 copies in two weeks.[6][24] Windows at the time generated more revenue for Microsoft than OS/2, and the company decided to move more resources from OS/2 to Windows.[25] In an internal memo to Microsoft employees on May 16, 1991, Bill Gates announced that the OS/2 partnership was over, and that Microsoft would henceforth focus its platform efforts on Windows and the Windows NT kernel.[26] Some people, especially developers who had ignored Windows and committed most of their resources to OS/2, were taken by surprise, and accused Microsoft of deception. This changeover from OS/2 was frequently referred to in the industry as "the head-fake".[27][28] In the ensuing years, the popularity of OS/2 declined, and Windows quickly became the favored PC platform. 1991 also marked the founding of Microsoft Research, an organization in Microsoft for researching computer science subjects, and Microsoft Visual Basic, a popular development product for companies and individuals.[5]



[edit] 1992–1995: Domination of the corporate market



The Microsoft sign at the entrance of the German Microsoft campus, Konrad-Zuse-Str. 1, Unterschleißheim, Germany. Microsoft became an international company with headquarters in many countries.During the transition from MS-DOS to Windows, the success of Microsoft's product Microsoft Office allowed the company to gain ground on application-software competitors, such as WordPerfect and Lotus 1-2-3.[6][29] Novell, an owner of WordPerfect for a time, alleged that Microsoft used its inside knowledge of the DOS and Windows kernels and of undocumented Application Programming Interface features to make Office perform better than its competitors.[30] Eventually, Microsoft Office became the dominant business suite, with a market share far exceeding that of its competitors.[31] In March 1992, Microsoft released Windows 3.1 along with its first promotional campaign on TV; the software sold over three million copies in its first two months on the market.[5][6] In October, Windows for Workgroups 3.1 was released with integrated networking capabilities such as peer-to-peer file and printing sharing.[6] In November, Microsoft released the first version of their popular database software Microsoft Access.[6]





The Microsoft sign at the entrance of the Dubai Microsoft campus, Dubai Internet City. Microsoft has developed Arabic versions for most of its products.By 1993, Windows had become the most widely used GUI operating system in the world.[6] Fortune Magazine named Microsoft as the "1993 Most Innovative Company Operating in the U.S."[32] The year also marked the end of a five-year copyright infringement legal case brought by Apple Computer, dubbed Apple Computer, Inc. v. Microsoft Corp., in which the ruling was in Microsoft's favor, the release of Windows for Workgroups 3.11, a new version of the consumer line of Windows, and Windows NT 3.1, a server-based operating system with a similar user interface to consumer versions of the operating system, but with an entirely different kernel.[6] As part of its strategy to broaden its business, Microsoft released Microsoft Encarta on March 22, 1993, the first encyclopedia designed to run on a computer.[5] Shortly after, the Microsoft Home brand was introduced - encompassing Microsoft's new multimedia applications for Windows 3.x., Microsoft changed its slogan to "Where do you want to go today?" in 1994 as part of an attempt to appeal to nontechnical audiences in a US$100 million advertising campaign.[6]



Microsoft continued to make strategic decisions directed at consumers. The company released Microsoft Bob, a graphical user interface designed for novice computer users, in March 1995. The interface was discontinued in 1996 due to poor sales; Bill Gates later attributed its failure to hardware requirements that were too high for typical computers; Microsoft Bob is widely regarded as Microsoft's most unsuccessful product.[33][34] DreamWorks SKG and Microsoft formed a new company, DreamWorks Interactive (in 2000 acquired by Electronic Arts which named it EA Los Angeles), to produce interactive and multimedia entertainment properties.[5] On August 24, 1995, Microsoft released Microsoft Windows 95, a new version of the company's flagship operating system which featured a completely new user interface, including a novel start button; more than a million copies of Microsoft Windows 95 were sold in the first four days after its release.[6]



Windows 95 was released without a web browser as Microsoft had not yet developed one. The success of the Internet caught them by surprise and they subsequently approached Spyglass to license their browser as Internet Explorer. Spyglass went on to later dispute the terms of the agreement, as Microsoft was to pay a royalty for every copy sold. However, Microsoft sold no copies of Internet Explorer, choosing instead to bundle it for free with the operating system.



Internet Explorer was first included in the Windows 95 Plus! Pack that was released in August 1995.[35] In September, the Chinese government chose Windows to be the operating system of choice in that country, and entered into an agreement with the Company to standardize a Chinese version of the operating system.[6] Microsoft also released the Microsoft Sidewinder 3D Pro joystick in an attempt to further expand its profile in the computer hardware market.[6]



[edit] 1995–1999: Foray into the Web and other ventures

On, May 26, 1995, Bill Gates sent the "Internet Tidal Wave" memorandum to Microsoft executives. The memo described Netscape with their Netscape Navigator as a "new competitor 'born' on the Internet." The memo outlines Microsoft's failure to grasp the Internet's importance, and in it Gates assigns "the Internet this highest level of importance" from then on.[36] Microsoft began to expand its product line into computer networking and the World Wide Web. On August 24, 1995, it launched a major online service, MSN (Microsoft Network), as a direct competitor to AOL. MSN became an umbrella service for Microsoft's online services, using Microsoft Passport (now called Windows Live ID) as a universal login system for all of its web sites.[5][6][37] The company continued to branch out into new markets in 1996, starting with a joint venture with NBC to create a new 24/7 cable news station, MSNBC. The station was launched on July 15, 1996 to compete with similar news outlets such as CNN.[6][38] Microsoft also launched Slate, an online magazine edited by Michael Kinsley, which offered political and social commentary along with the cartoon Doonesbury.[5] In an attempt to extend its reach in the consumer market, the company acquired WebTV, which enabled consumers to access the Web from their televisions.[5] Microsoft entered the personal digital assistant (PDA) market in November with Windows CE 1.0, a new built-from-scratch version of their flagship operating system, specifically designed to run on low-memory, low-performance machines, such as handhelds and other small computers.[39] 1996 saw the release of Windows NT 4.0, which brought the Windows 95 GUI and Windows NT kernel together.[40]



While Microsoft largely failed to participate in the rise of the Internet in the early 1990s, some of the key technologies in which the company had invested to enter the Internet market started to pay off by the mid-90s. One of the most prominent of these was ActiveX, an application programming interface built on the Microsoft Component Object Model (COM); this enabled Microsoft and others to embed controls in many programming languages, including the company's own scripting languages, such as JScript and VBScript. ActiveX included frameworks for documents and server solutions.[6] The company also released the Microsoft SQL Server 6.5, which had built-in support for internet applications.[6] Later in 1997, Microsoft Office 97 as well as Internet Explorer 4.0 were released, marking the beginning of the takeover of the browser market from rival Netscape, and by agreement with Apple Computer, Internet Explorer was bundled with the Apple Macintosh operating system as well as with Windows.[6] Windows CE 2.0, the handheld version of Windows, was released this year, including a host of bug fixes and new features designed to make it more appealing to corporate customers.[39] In October, the Justice Department filed a motion in the federal district court in which they stated that Microsoft had violated an agreement signed in 1994, and asked the court to stop the bundling of Internet Explorer with Windows.[5]





A Windows 98 desktopThe year 1998 was significant in Microsoft's history, with Bill Gates appointing Steve Ballmer as president of Microsoft but remaining as Chair and CEO himself.[5] The company released an update to the consumer version of Windows, Windows 98.[5] Windows 98 came with Internet Explorer 4.0 SP1 (which had Windows Desktop Update bundled), and included new features from Windows 95 OSR 2.x including the FAT32 file system, and new features specifically for Windows 98, such as support for multiple displays.[41] Microsoft launched its Indian headquarters as well, which would eventually become the company's second largest after its U.S. headquarters.[6] Finally, a great deal of controversy took place when a set of internal memos from the company were leaked on the Internet. These documents, colloquially referred to as "The Halloween Documents", were widely reported by the media and go into detail of the threats that free software / open source software poses to Microsoft's own software, previously voiced mainly by analysts and advocates of open source software. The documents also allude to legal and other actions against Linux as well as other open source software.[42][43] While Microsoft acknowledges the documents, it claims that they are merely engineering studies. Despite this, however, some believe that these studies were used in the real strategies of the company.[44]



[edit] 2000–2005: Legal issues, XP, and .NET



Bill Gates gives a presentation at IT-Forum in Copenhagen in 2004.Microsoft, in 2000, released new products for all three lines of the company's flagship operating system, and saw the beginning of the end of one its most prominent legal cases. On February 17, 2000, Microsoft released an update to its business line of software in Windows 2000, which some considered to be a significant improvement over previous versions. It provided an OS stability similar to that of its Unix counterparts due to its usage of the Windows NT kernel, and matching features for several of those found in the home line of the operating system including a DOS emulator that could run many legacy DOS applications.[6] On April 3, 2000, a judgment was handed down in the case of United States v. Microsoft,[45] calling the company an "abusive monopoly"[46] and forcing the company to split into two separate units. Part of this ruling was later overturned by a federal appeals court, and eventually settled with the U.S. Department of Justice in 2001. On June 15, 2000 the company also released a new version of its hand-held operating system, Windows CE 3.0.[39] The main change was the new programming APIs of the software. Previous versions of Windows CE supported only a small subset of the WinAPI, the main development library for Windows, and with Version 3 of Windows CE, the operating system now supported nearly all of the core functionality of the WinAPI. The update to the consumer line, Windows Me (or Windows Millennium Edition), was released on September 14, 2000.[5] It sported several new features such as enhanced multimedia capabilities and consumer-oriented PC maintenance options, but is often regarded as one of the worst versions of Windows due to installation problems and other issues.[34][47]





Windows XP introduced a new interface, along with many other new features. This screenshot shows Windows XP Professional.Microsoft released Windows XP and Office XP in 2001, a version that aimed to encompass the features of both its business and home product lines. The release included an updated version of the Windows 2000 kernel, enhanced DOS emulation capabilities, and many of the home-user features found in previous consumer versions. XP introduced a new graphical user interface, the first such change since Windows 95.[5][48] The operating system was the first to require Microsoft Product Activation, an anti-piracy mechanism that requires users to activate the software with Microsoft within 30 days. Later, Microsoft would enter the multi-billion-dollar game console market dominated by Sony and Nintendo, with the release of the Xbox.[5] As of 2005[update], the console ranked distant second to Sony's PlayStation 2 and slightly ahead of Nintendo's GameCube in market share in the United States. The console sold 24 million units,[49] compared with PlayStation 2 at greater than 100 million units, and the company took a US$4 billion loss on the console.[50][51]



In 2002, Microsoft launched the .NET initiative, along with new versions of some of its development products, such as Microsoft Visual Studio.[5] The initiative has been an entirely new development API for Windows programming, and includes a new programming language, C#. Windows Server 2003 was launched, featuring enhanced administration capabilities, such as new user interfaces to server tools.[6] In 2004, the company released Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005, a version of Windows XP specifically designed for multimedia capabilities, and Windows XP Starter Edition, a version of Windows XP with a smaller feature set designed for entry-level consumers.[5] However, Microsoft would encounter more turmoil in March 2004 when antitrust legal action would be brought against it by the European Union for allegedly abusing its market dominance (see European Union Microsoft antitrust case). Eventually Microsoft was fined €497 million (US$613 million), ordered to divulge certain protocols to competitors, and to produce a new version of its Windows XP platform—called Windows XP Home Edition N—that did not include its Windows Media Player.[52][53] Microsoft was also ordered to produce separate packages of Windows after South Korea also landed a settlement against the company in 2005. It had to pay out US$32 million and produce more than one version of Windows for the country in the same vein as the European Union-one with Windows Media Player and Windows Messenger and one without the two programs.[54]



[edit] 2005–present: Vista and other transitions



Windows Vista is one of Microsoft's latest client operating systems, which features a new visual style, Windows Aero.In guise of competing with other Internet companies such as the search service Google, in 2005 Microsoft announced a new version of its MSN search service.[55] Later, in 2006, the company launched Microsoft adCenter, a service that offers pay per click advertisements, in an effort to further develop their search marketing revenue.[56] Shortly afterward, Microsoft created the CodePlex collaborative development site for hosting open source projects. Activity grew quickly as developers from around the world began to participate, and by early 2007 commercial open source companies, such as Aras Corp,.[57] began to offer enterprise open source software exclusively on the Microsoft platform.



On June 15, 2006 Bill Gates announced his plans for a two year transition period out of a day-to-day role with Microsoft until July 31, 2008. After that date, Gates will continue in his role as the company's chairman, head of the Board of Directors and act as an adviser on key projects. His role as Chief Software Architect will be filled immediately by Ray Ozzie, the Chief Technical Officer of the company as of June 15, 2006.[58] Bill Gates stated "My announcement is not a retirement — it’s a reordering of my priorities."[59]



Formerly codenamed "Longhorn" in the early development stages, Windows Vista was released to consumers on January 30, 2007.[60][61] Microsoft also released a new version of its Office suite, called Microsoft Office 2007, alongside Windows Vista. Windows Server 2008 and Visual Studio 2008, the next versions of the company's server operating system and development suite, respectively, have been released to manufacturing, and are scheduled to be released on February 27, 2008.[62]



On December 19, 2007, Microsoft signed a five year, $500 million contract with Viacom that included content sharing and advertisement. The deal allowed Microsoft to license many shows from Viacom owned cable television and film studios for use on Xbox Live and MSN. The deal also made Viacom a preferred publisher partner for casual game development and distribution through MSN and Windows. On the advertisement side of the deal, Microsoft's Atlas ad-serving division became the exclusive provider of previously unsold advertising inventory on Viacom owned web sites. Also, Microsoft also purchased a large amount of advertising on Viacom owned broadcasts and online networks. Finally, Microsoft will also collaborate on promotions and sponsorships for MTV and BET award shows, two Viacom owned cable networks.[63]



In 2008, Microsoft wanted to purchase Yahoo (first completely, later partially) in order to strengthen its position on the search engine market vis-à-vis Google.[64][65] The company rejected the offer, saying that it undervalued the company. In response, Microsoft withdrew its offer.[citation needed]





Windows 7 Release CandidateIn 2009, the opening show of the CES was hosted by Steve Ballmer for the first time. In past years, it has been hosted by Bill Gates. In the show, Ballmer announced the first public Beta Test of Windows 7 for partners and developers on January 8, but also for general public on January 10.



On June 26, 2009 Microsoft started taking pre-orders at a discounted price for Windows 7 which was launched on October 22, 2009.



[edit] See also

Early years


The very first match that the Team Melli played was on January 1, 1941 away at Afghanistan.



Iran has won the Asian Cup three consecutive times (1968, 1972, 1976), a championship record to which the team has not been able to add since, although they have finished third four times.



[edit] 1978 FIFA World Cup in Argentina

In 1978, Iran made its first appearance in the World Cup after defeating Australia in Tehran to qualify. Iran lost two of their three group stage games against the Netherlands and Peru.[3] However, they managed to create a surprise[4] by drawing 1-1 against Scotland with a late Iraj Danaeifard goal.[5]



[edit] After Revolution

After the 1979 Revolution, football was somewhat neglected and cast aside. During the 1980s, the Iranian national team did not feature in World Cup competitions due to the Iran–Iraq War (1980-88) and domestic football suffered the inevitable effects of conflict. The national team withdrew from the Asian qualifiers for the 1982 World Cup, and refused to participate in the qualifiers for the 1986 World Cup because of having to play on neutral ground. The war and political upheavals left Iran without major club competitions until 1989 when the Qods League was established. A year later, the Qods League was renamed the Azadegan League. Despite failing to qualify for either the 1990 or the 1994 World Cups, it was during this period that a number of quality players burst onto the Iranian football scene, laying the foundation for their second stab at World Cup glory in 1998.[6] Iran could count on new talents such as Ali Daei, Mehdi Mahdavikia, Khodadad Azizi and Karim Bagheri.



[edit] 1998 FIFA World Cup in France





Abedzadeh

Mohammadkhani

Pashazadeh

Khakpour

Zarincheh

Minavand

Estili

Bagheri

Mahdavikia

Azizi

Daei



Iran lineup during the 1998 World Cup



Additional information: 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (play-off AFC-OFC)

Additional information: 1998 FIFA World Cup - Group F

In November 1997, Iran qualified for the 1998 World Cup after eliminating Australia in a close playoff series. Both games finished undecided, but Iran managed to qualify due to the away goals rule. Iran held Australia to a 1-1 draw at home, and a 2-2 draw in Melbourne; however, since Iran had scored more away goals, they were able to qualify for the Cup.[7]



At their first game of the Group F at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, Iran played well against Yugoslavia, losing narrowly 1-0, only to a free kick goal by Mihajlović.[6]



Iran recorded their first World Cup victory in the second game[5], beating the United States 2-1, with Estili and Mahdavikia scoring goals for Iran. The Iran vs USA World Cup match was preheated with much excitement because of each country's political stance after the Iranian revolution. However, in an act of defiance against all forms of hatred or politics in sports, both sides presented one another with gifts and flowers and took ceremonial pictures before the match kickoff.[8] Following defeat with Iran the United States were eliminated from the World Cup.[9]



Iran played against Germany in the third game. The game was lost 2-0. The goals were scored by Bierhoff and Klinsmann.[10] The one win and two losses meant Iran became third in the final group standing and failed to make it to the next round.[11]



[edit] 2002 FIFA World Cup

Additional information: 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification

Iran failed to qualify for World Cup 2002 after an aggregate defeat to the Republic of Ireland, losing 2-0 in Dublin and winning 1-0 in Tehran. The elimination saw manager Miroslav Blažević step down from the top spot to be replaced by his assistant Branko Ivanković, who stepped up from assistant coach.



[edit] 2006 FIFA-World Cup in Germany



Iran score against Angola during a 2006 FIFA World Cup match.Main article: Iran at the 2006 FIFA World Cup

Additional information: 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)

Additional information: 2006 FIFA World Cup seeding

On June 8, 2005, Iran together with Japan became the first country to qualify for the 2006 World Cup, making it Iran's 3rd appearance on the world stage of football. The qualification round both in 2001 and 2004-05 resulted in mass celebrations, hysteria and rioting, causing internal chaos and unrest between youth and government officials. The Iran versus Japan leg of the 2006 World Cup Qualifiers in Tehran was the highest attended qualifying match among all confederations.



Iran started their 2006 FIFA World Cup appearance with high expectations from fans and media. Their first match was against Mexico in Group D. The game was level 1-1 at the half-time, but Iran lost at the end because of a defensive mistake. The final score, 3-1, was brought about by goals from Omar Bravo and Zinha for Mexico, with Yahya Golmohammadi scoring the only Iran goal.



Iran played against Portugal in the second game. The game was lost 2-0. The goals were scored by Deco and Cristiano Ronaldo (penalty). The two losses meant Iran was eliminated from the competition, before their third and final game against Angola. Iran drew 1-1 with Angola on the 21st of June 2006, Sohrab Bakhtiarizadeh scoring the Iran goal.



[edit] Temporary Suspension

In November 2006, Iran was suspended by FIFA from all participation in international football, on the grounds of governmental interference in the national football association.[12] The ban lasted less than a month,[13] and as a dispensation was given to allow the Iran under-23 team to participate in the football competition of the 2006 Asian Games,[14] fixtures were unaffected.



[edit] 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa

Additional information: 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification - AFC Third Round

Iran is in the same FIFA World Cup qualifying group as Kuwait, Syria and United Arab Emirates. They will play home and away against each of the other three teams in the group 5. Ali Daei was chosen to become the new coach after Spanish coach Javier Clemente had been close to signing on as Iran's national team manager but talks collapsed when he refused to live full time in the country.[15] Ali Daei got ejected from his position as the Iranian national coach on March 29, 2009.[16] He was replaced by Afshin Ghotbi. Iran failed to qualify for the 2010 World Cup after ranking 4th overall in its group.[17

Persepolis Football Club (Persian: باشگاه فوتبال پرسپولیس, pronounced Perspolis) is an Iranian football club based in Tehran, Iran. While the original name of the club is Persepolis, it is also called Piroozi (meaning victory) in Iran. The name Persepolis means Persian City which was once the richest city in the world located in Persia, and is believed to have been derived from the Greek prefix Πέρσης (Persian) and Πόλις (city).




Among the Iranian clubs, Persepolis has had the most impressive record of titles.[3][4][5] The Tehran derby between Persepolis and its arch rivals Esteghlal, is always a closely followed match and victory or loss can make it or break it for one of teams. According to the AFC, Persepolis is the most supported, famous and popular football club in Asia.[6][7] Only Dalian Shide and Al-Hilal have similar support in Asia. According to Navad, 61% of Iranian football fans support Persepolis.[8]


Persepolis F.C. is the football club of the multisport Persepolis Athletic and Cultural Club.

 
Famous fans (i found this in wikipedia)


Mohammad Khatami,[20] former President of Iran

Sohrab Sepehri,[21] poet †

Mohammadreza Sharifinia,[22] actor

Masoud Kimiai,[23] director

Masoud Behnoud,[24] journalist

Zahra Eshraghi, granddaughter of Ayatollah Khomeini

Mahmoud Khayami, founder Of Iran Khodro

Hossein Sabet,[25] businessman and owner of Dariush Grand Hotel

Tahmineh Milani,[26] director

Golab Adineh,[27] actress

Mohammad Reza Khatami, Politician

Saeed Rad,[28][29] actor

Naser Malek Motiei,[30] actor

Niki Karimi,[31] actress

Behnoush Bakhtiari,[32] actress

Pejman Bazeghi,[33] actor

Kambiz Dirbaz,[33] actor

Morteza Ahmadi,[34] actor

Amin Hayai,[35] actor

Houshang Ebtehaj,[24] poet

Mahmoud Shahriyari, TV Host

Ehsan Hadadi,[36] discus thrower

Mohammad Nasiri,[37] weightlifter

Davoud Rashidi,[24] actor

Maryam Heydarzadeh,[38] poet

Saeed Mohammadi, singer

Elnaz Shakerdoust,[39] actress

Farzad Farzin,[40] singer

Niousha Zeyghami,[41] actress

For more information use this link (wikipedia)

Iran Khodro was founded with registered capital of 100,000,000 Rls. on 18 August 1962 by Aliakbar Khayami, Ahmad Khayami, Mahmoud Khayami, Marzieh Khayami, and Zahra Seyedi Rashti in Ekbatan Street in Tehran.



[edit] Structure



[edit] Size and production

The company has become the largest vehicle manufacturer in the Middle East, Central Asia and North Africa[3]. In Iran, it is the largest vehicle manufacturing company, having an average share of 65 percent of domestic vehicle production.[citation needed]


In 1997, IKCO broke its own production record by producing 111,111 units of various passenger cars and vans. By 2006 Iran Khodro was producing 550,000 vehicles (for the Iranian year 1384, starting on 21 March 2006).






Iran Khodro Wagon Factory in Abhar, Zanjan Province was inaugurated in 2008 and will manufacture 200 rail bus, urban subway, urban light train and monorail wagons, saving $300 million each year on imports.[5]






[edit] Products and relationships




It also makes trucks , buses and E-Class passenger car under license from Mercedes-Benz.






In a joint-venture with Daimler AG, Iran Khodro is soon to start production of sophisticated 900-class Mercedes-Benz engines; Daimler states that Iranian-made engines will be exported to Germany. [9] [10]



In November 2009, Iran Khodro unveiled its new "national diesel engine" with fuel consumption of 5 liters per 100 kilometers in combined cycle.[11] The engine has achieved emission standard of Euro 5, featuring a Diesel Particulate Filters (DPF) as well as a new Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR). The 1.5-liter turbodiesel uses advanced technology to deliver strong power and torque of 256Nm.[12] Iran khodro is currently exporting its productions to almost 40 contries all around the world.