SOFTWARE

I.
1. Latest OS from Microsoft

Windows 7

• Windows 7 (formerly codenamed Blackcomb and Vienna) is the next release of Microsoft Windows, an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, Tablet PCs, and media center PCs.
  
• Microsoft stated in 2007 that it is planning Windows 7 development for a three-year time frame starting after the release of its predecessor, Windows Vista, but that the final release date will be determined by product quality.

• Unlike its predecessor, Windows 7 is intended to be an incremental upgrade with the goal of being fully compatible with existing device drivers, applications, and hardware.Presentations given by the company in 2008 have focused on multi-touch support, a redesigned Windows Shell with a new taskbar, a home networking system called HomeGroup, and performance improvements. Some applications that have been included with prior releases of Microsoft Windows, most notably Windows Mail, Windows Calendar,[citation needed] Windows Movie Maker, and Windows Photo Gallery, are no longer included with the operating system; they are instead offered separately (free of charge) as part of the Windows Live Essentials suite.
  
  

2. Latest OS from SUN Microsystems

Solaris

• Kuala Lumpur, 5 November 2008 – Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ: JAVA) today announced the latest version of the Solaris 10 Operating System (OS) - Solaris 10 10/08. The new version builds on the core strengths of the Solaris 10 OS to help customers maximize asset usage and systems performance, manage datacenter complexity, preserve business continuity and reduce costs. Solaris 10 10/08 includes numerous product updates and enhancements, several of which were done through the OpenSolaris community. Solaris 10 10/08 is available now on Sun systems and will be available for download in early November at: http://www.sun.com/solaris.
• "Now more than ever, companies are under pressure to do more with less - from deploying new services faster and complying with new regulations, to adding more servers within their same datacenter space - all while their budgets are shrinking and headcount is frozen," said CP Loo, managing director, Sun Microsystems, Malaysia. "With the latest virtualization enhancements, updates to ZFS file system and Intel system optimization, Solaris 10 10/08 is an ideal platform to help customers with consolidation and datacenter simplification."
• The Solaris 10 10/08 release is the result of the collaboration between Sun engineers and OpenSolaris community members. All the new features Sun is delivering with this release were first delivered into OpenSolaris before being included in the enterprise Solaris 10 10/08 release.

New Features in Solaris 10 10/08 :

• ZFS File System Enhancements: The ZFS file system has been enhanced with recent work from the OpenSolaris community, providing ease of data management with no additional cost for acquisition or support. The new version of Solaris ZFS file system offers increased data integrity and fully integrated disaster recovery capabilities. ZFS file system can be used as the sole file system for any class of system, with support for booting and/or for use as a root file system.
• Virtualization and Solaris Containers Updates: Solaris 10's virtualization technologies, such as Solaris Containers, have been enhanced with new features to make it even easier for customers to migrate workloads among Solaris systems and reducing the administrative overhead necessary to move a container between unlike system configurations.
  Intel architecture optimization: Sun and Intel continue to collaborate to help ensure Solaris 10 will support for Intel's latest Intel Xeon processor line so customers can benefit from the improved functionality, power efficiency and reliability of systems that contain those CPUs. In addition Sun and Intel have achieved several new world records(*) for Solaris 10 on Sun Systems powered by Intel Xeon processor 7400 series.
• Compatibility continues to be a key feature of the Solaris 10 OS. Through the Solaris OS update model, customers can easily upgrade to Solaris 10 10/08 without requiring additional hardware/software upgrades or recertification of existing projects and applications. In addition, Solaris 10 10/08 preserves full compatibility with over 7,000 third-party products and customers internally-developed applications.
• With built-in, open source, no-cost virtualization via Solaris Containers and Sun Logical Domains (LDoms), Sun and Fujitsu's recently announced Sun SPARC Enterprise T5440 server is an ideal platform for consolidating hundreds of existing enterprise class workloads onto a single system. Additionally, for existing Solaris OS customers, the Solaris 8 and 9 Containers capability enables customers to run multiple Solaris 8 or 9 environments on a single SPARC-based system. As a result, customers can quickly and easily move existing physical environments to virtual containers on Solaris 10 and take advantage of the performance, scale and cost savings of new SPARC Enterprise CMT-based servers today.
  

3. Latest OS from UNIX/LINUX

II. Installation Procedure in Windows XP

• Method 1: Perform a clean install of Windows XPUse this method for a clean installation of Windows XP. A clean installation removes all data from your hard disk by repartitioning and reformatting your hard disk and reinstalling the operating system and programs to an empty (clean) hard disk.

• Method 2: Upgrade to Windows XPUse this method if you are upgrading to Windows XP from Microsoft Windows 98, Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition, or Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional.

• Method 3: Install Windows XP to a new hard diskUse this method to install Windows XP to a new hard disk. This is typically done when a new hard disk is installed on your computer.

• Method 4: Install Windows XP to a new folder (parallel installation)Use this method to install Windows XP to a new folder (parallel installation) to either run two operating systems, or to access, repair, or retrieve data from a damaged disk

• Method 5: Perform a multiple boot operationUse this method to install Windows XP as a separate operating system on your computer. This lets you install more than one operating system on your computer and select which operating system that you want to use every time that you start your computer.