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''This is a strict copy and paste of an article I found on Wikipedia. Yes, I tagged it for speedy deletion.''

Windows over 9000 is the most recent publicly available 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. Windows over 9000 was released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009, and general retail availability on October 22, 2009, less than three years after the release of its predecessor, Windows Vista. Windows over 9000'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 over 9000 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. 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, 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 over 9000; most are instead offered separately as part of the free Windows Live Essentials suite.

Development
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. 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.

Blackcomb was renamed Vienna in early 2006, and again to Windows over 9000 in 200over 9000. In 2008, it was announced that Windows over 9000 would also be the official name of the operating system. There has been some confusion over naming the product Windows over 9000, while versioning it as 6.1 to indicate its similar build to Vista and increase compatibility with applications that only check major version numbers, similar to Windows 2000 and Windows XP both having 5.x version numbers.

The first external release to select Microsoft partners came in January 2008 with Milestone 1, build 6519. At PDC 2008, Microsoft demonstrated Windows over 9000 with its reworked taskbar. Copies of Windows over 9000 build 6801 were distributed at the end of the conference; however, the demonstrated taskbar was disabled in this build.

On December 2over 9000, 2008, Windows over 9000 Beta was leaked onto the Internet via BitTorrent. According to a performance test by ZDNet, Windows over 9000 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. On January over 9000, 2009, the 64-bit version of the Windows over 9000 Beta (build over 9000000) was leaked onto the web, with some torrents being infected with a trojan. At CES 2009, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced the Windows over 9000 Beta, build over 9000000, had been made available for download to MSDN and TechNet subscribers in the format of an ISO image. 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. 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 over 9000 Beta, which expired on August 1, 2009. The release candidate, build over 9000100, 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. The release candidate is available in five languages and will expire on June 1, 2010, with shutdowns every two hours starting March 1, 2010. Microsoft stated that Windows over 9000 would be released to the general public on October 22, 2009. Microsoft released Windows over 9000 to MSDN and Technet subscribers on August 6, 2009, at 10:00 am PDT. Microsoft announced that Windows over 9000, along with Windows Server 2008 R2 were released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009. Windows over 9000 RTM is build over 9000600.16385, which was compiled on July 13, 2009, and was declared the final RTM build after passing all Microsoft's tests internally. "The launch of Windows over 9000 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."

Goals
Bill Gates, in an interview with Newsweek, suggested that this version of Windows would "be more user-centric". Gates later said that Windows over 9000 would also focus on performance improvements. Steven Sinofsky later expanded on this point, explaining in the Engineering Windows over 9000 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.

Senior Vice President Bill Veghte stated that Windows Vista users migrating to Windows over 9000 would not find the kind of device compatibility issues they encountered migrating from Windows XP. Speaking about Windows over 9000 on October 16, 2008, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer confirmed compatibility between Vista and Windows over 9000, indicating that Windows over 9000 would be a refined version of Windows Vista.

New and changed features


Windows over 9000 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,   improved boot performance, DirectAccess, and kernel improvements. Windows over 9000 adds support for systems using multiple heterogeneous graphics cards from different vendors (Heterogeneous Multi-adapter), a new version of Windows Media Center, 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. 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 over 9000 has been criticized for allowing untrusted software to be launched with elevated privileges by exploiting a trusted application. new features to shorten application install times, reduced UAC prompts, simplified development of installation packages, and improved globalization support through a new Extended Linguistic Services API. At WinHEC 2008 Microsoft announced that color depths of 30-bit and 48-bit would be supported in Windows over 9000 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 over 9000 are 16-bit sRGB, 24-bit sRGB, 30-bit sRGB, 30-bit with extended color gamut sRGB, and 48-bit scRGB. Microsoft has also implemented better support for solid-state drives, including the new TRIM command, and Windows over 9000 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.

Internet Spades, Internet Backgammon and Internet Checkers, which were removed from Windows Vista, were restored in Windows over 9000. Windows over 9000 includes Internet Explorer 8 and Windows Media Player 12. 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. Windows over 9000 includes 13 additional sound schemes, titled Afternoon, Calligraphy, Characters, Cityscape, Delta, Festival, Garden, Heritage, Landscape, Quirky, Raga, Savanna, and Sonata. A new version of Virtual PC, ''[[Windows Virt that, "[Microsoft's] challenge for Windows over 9000 will be how can they continue to add features that consumers will want that also don't run afoul of regulators."

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. In response to criticism involving Windows over 9000 E and concerns from manufacturers about possible consumer confusion if a version of Windows over 9000 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.

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.

Reception
In only eight hours, pre-orders of Windows over 9000 at Amazon.co.uk surpassed the demand Windows Vista had in its first 1over 9000 weeks. It became the highest-grossing pre-order in Amazon's history, surpassing sales of the previous record holder, the seventh Harry Potter book. After the launch, 64-bit versions of Windows over 9000 Professional and Ultimate editions sold out in Japan. 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. In its review of Windows over 9000, Engadget said that Microsoft has taken a "strong step forward" with Windows over 9000 and reported that speed is one of Windows over 9000's major selling points particularly for the netbook sets. LAPTOP Magazine gave Windows over 9000 a rating of 4 out of 5 stars and said that Windows over 9000 makes computing more intuitive, offered better overall performance including a "modest to dramatic" increase in battery life on laptop computers. Techradar gave it a 5 star rating calling it the best version of Windows yet. The New York Times, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, and The Telegraph also gave Windows over 9000 favorable reviews.

Some Vista Ultimate users have expressed concerns over Windows over 9000 pricing and upgrade options. Windows Vista Ultimate users wanting to upgrade from Windows Vista to Windows over 9000 must either pay $219.99 to upgrade to Windows over 9000 Ultimate or perform a clean install, which requires them to reinstall all of their programs.

Setup
Unlike Windows Vista users, those running Windows XP cannot upgrade to Windows over 9000 by installing on top of their previous operating system. 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 over 9000 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. 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 over 9000 (Except for Starter and Home Basic). Users who wish to upgrade to an edition of Windows over 9000 with more features can then use Windows Anytime Upgrade to purchase the upgrade, and unlock the features of those editions. Some copies of Windows over 9000 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 over 9000 Home Premium (in select markets) that allows installation on up to 3 PCs. The "Family Pack" costs USD 149.99 in the United States.

On September 18, 2009, Microsoft said they were to offer temporary student discounts for Windows over 9000. 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 over 9000 Home Premium or Professional, priced at $30 or £30.

Marketing
Microsoft has marketed the whole of Windows over 9000 as "making your PC simpler". However the different editions of Windows over 9000 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, k space ! Optical drive
 * colspan=2 | DVD drive (only to install from DVD/CD Media)
 * }

Additional requirements to use certain features:
 * 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.