Microsoft has revealed that is the DirectX Diagnostics Tool included in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 can incorrectly report DirectX 11 devices as DirectX 10.1.

Microsoft explained: “When you run the DirectX Diagnostics Tool (Dxdiag.exe) on a computer that is running Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2, the diagnostic tool incorrectly reports a DirectX 11 device as a DirectX 10.1 device. This incorrect version information is shown in the DDI field on the Display tab. This problem is only a reporting error. This problem does not affect the DirectX 11 hardware or software functionality of the graphics card,”.
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According to Internet metrics vendor Net Applications, Windows 7′s share has been steadily growing since its October debut.

Windows 7’s rise is happening astoundingly fast. The week after it launched its market share was 2.7 percent, the second week it was 3.3 percent, the third week it was 3.7 percent, the fourth week it was 4 percent. And now the weekend average has hit the 5 percent mark and overtaken Apple’s OS in the process.

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Microsoft a few weeks ago promised to re-release the Windows 7 RTM USB/DVD Download Tool which let Netbook users install Windows 7 using a USB flash drive, without the requirement of a DVD drive, after it was found that the utility lifted code from an open source project hosted on CodePlex while managing to break GPLv2 in the process.

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Microsoft only released Windows 7 to the general public last month, however Microsoft has now revealed that it expects to deliver the next major release of Windows – codenamed Windows 8 – in 2012.

According to the Microsoft Kitchen blog, the Professional Developers Conference in Los Angeles last week saw Windows 8 mentioned in a slide detailing the future roadmap for Windows. It was mentioned by name and with a firm but flexible 2012 release date.

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In Microsoft’s annual shareholder meeting in Bellevue, Washington last week, CEO Steve Ballmer said that Windows 7 has sold twice as many units as any other Microsoft operating system in the same time period. According to a Microsoft press release he is quoted as stating:

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Microsoft’s security team has been quoted as stating that Windows users running 64-bit versions of the operating system are less likely to get infected by attack code.

Joe Faulhaber of the Microsoft Malware Protection Center in a blog post said: “64-bit Windows has some of the lowest reported malware infection rates in the first half of 2009, … 64-bit malware is still exceedingly rare in the wild.”

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So you are interested in buying Windows 7 as a fresh install or upgrade, but need to check whether your existing applications will work with it. Microsoft has now provided a number of ways to determine if your applications are compatible with Windows 7

• Windows 7 Compatibility Center – This allows you to enter the name of your application or computer hardware to check Windows 7 Compatibility. You can also download drivers or updates

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Last week Microsoft pulled the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool (WUDT) from their web site, this was a handy free tool that let Netbook users install Windows 7 using a USB flash drive, without the requirement of a DVD. Microsoft has now confirmed that its inquiry confirms that the tool does contain open-source code from the General Public License (GPLv2) ImageMaster project

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