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Microsoft are looking to take Zune into the living room
, at least if a job advert posted by the company is to be believed. The Zune team is apparently looking for a software engineer to develop “innovative user experiences” for living room media, including on-demand music and video.

Placing Windows on a USB and booting it is not as easy as it may seem, mainly because Windows was not built for live sessions. For some GUI addicted users the result may not be at all what they expected, plus the functionality is cut off drastically. Virtualizing the operating system and running it from a removable storage device has its advantages but it will not pull you out of a jam in case the host operating system is damaged

Here's How:

1. Open the Windows Control Panel.

2. Open the Network Connections item in Control Panel. A list of existing dial-up and LAN connections will appear.

3. Choose the 'Create a new connection' item from the left-hand side of the window. The Windows XP New Connection Wizard will appear on the screen.

4. First click Next to begin the wizard, then choose the 'Connect to the network at my workplace' item from the list and click Next.

5. On the Network Connection page of the wizard, choose the 'Virtual Private Network connection' option and click Next.

6. Enter a name for the new VPN connection in the 'Company Name' field and click Next. The name chosen need not match the name of an actual business.

7. Choose an option on the 'Public Network' screen and click Next. The default option, 'Automatically dial this initial connection' can be used if the VPN connection will always be initiated when the computer is not already connected to the Internet. Otherwise, choose the 'Do not dial the initial connection' option. This option requires that the public Internet connection be established first, before this new VPN connection will be initiated.

8. Enter the name or IP address of the VPN remote access server to connect to, and click Next. Company network administrators will provide this information.

9. Choose an option on the "Connection Availability" screen and click Next. The default option, 'My Use Only,' ensures that Windows will make this new connection available only to the currently logged on user. Otherwise, choose the 'Anyone's use' option.

10. Click Finish to complete the wizard. The new VPN connection information has been saved.

Windows 7 simplifies how you work with the windows on your desktop. You'll have more intuitive ways to open, close, resize, and arrange them. You can drag open windows to screen borders, so you'll no longer have to click on tiny objects in the corner of a window to make it do what you want.

Maximize a window by dragging its border to the top of the screen, and return the window to its original size by dragging it away from the top of the screen. Drag the bottom border of a window to expand it vertically.

It's easy to copy files or compare the contents of two windows by dragging the windows to opposite sides of the screen. As your cursor touches the edge, the window will resize to fill that half of the screen.

To see all your desktop gadgets, just drag your mouse to the lower right corner of your desktop. That'll make all the open Windows transparent—making your desktop, and the gadgets on it, immediately visible. Want to minimize all your windows? One click and it's done.



Better device management

One of the great things about PCs is how they let us use such a wide array of devices. In the past, you had to use several different screens to manage different types of devices. But With Windows 7, you'll use a single Devices and Printers screen to connect, manage, and use whatever printers, phones, and other devices you have on-hand.



A new technology in Windows 7 called Device Stage takes device management a step further. Device Stage helps you interact with any compatible device connected to your computer. From Device Stage you can see device status and run common tasks from a single window. There are even pictures of the devices which makes it really easy to see what's there.

We're still filing this away in the rumor folder for now, but we'll be honest -- this is totally believable. GigaOM has it on authority that a bona fide Skype for iPhone client will be launched as early as next week, and with CTIA kicking off on April 1st, we'd say the timing is just about ideal. Of course, we've already seen a variety of alternatives for bringing Skype and other VoIP apps to Apple's...