Next you’ll begin to notice the new features subtly sprinkled through the new interface: the new dashboard that you can arrange with drag and drop to put the things most important to you on top, QuickPress, comment threading, paging, and the ability to reply to comments from your dashboard, the ability to install any plugin directly from WordPress.org with a single click, and sticky posts.

Digging in further you might notice that every screen is customizable. Let’s say you never care about author on your post listings — just click “Screen Options” and uncheck it and it’s instantly gone from the page. The same for any module on the dashboard or write screen. If your screen is narrow and the menu is taking up too much horizontal room, click the arrow to minimize it to be icon-only, and then go to the write page and drag and drop everything from the right column into the main one, so your posting area is full-screen. (For example I like hiding everything except categories, tags, and publish. I put categories and tags on the right, and publish under the post box.)

For a visual introduction to what 2.7 is, check out this video (available in HD, and full screen):

It’s all about you. It’s the next generation of WordPress, which is why we’ve bestowed it with the honor of being named for John Coltrane. And you can download it today.

Last, but certainly not least, this may be the last time you ever have to manually upgrade WordPress again. We heard how tired you were of doing upgrades for yourself and your friends, so now WordPress includes a built-in upgrade that will automatically notify you of new releases, and when you’re ready it will download them, install them, and upgrade your blog with a single click.

(As with any interface change it may take a little bit of time to acclimate yourself but soon you’ll find yourself whizzing through the screens. Even people who have hated it at first tell us after a few days they wonder how they got by before.)

The Story Behind 2.7

The real reason Coltrane is such a huge leap forward is because the community was so involved with every step of the process. Over 150 people contributed code directly to the release, our highest ever, with many tens of thousands more participating in the polls, surveys, tests, mailing lists, and other feedback mechanisms the WordPress dev team used in putting this release together.

For some of the back story in the development of 2.7, check out these blog posts (thanks to WeblogToolsCollection for the list):

• Usability Testing Report: 2.5 and CrazyHorse
• The New 2.7 Dashboard
• The Visual Design of 2.7
• WordPress 2.7 wireframes
• Comprehensive Codex Article on WordPress 2.7
• WordPress Development Updates from Jane Wells
• WordPress Usability Testing in New York
• WordPress 2.7 UI Configurability from Ryan Boren
• Customizable Post Editing Screen from Mark Jaquith
• WordPress 2.7 Navigation Survey from Jane Wells
• Shortcuts/Favorites Menu from Jane Wells
• CrazyHorse Presentation at WordCamp SF
• WordPress 2.7 Walkthrough by Matt
• WordPress 2.7 and beyond from Matt at WordCamp Utah

This was interesting to us, a blogging software release we actually blogged about, but the process was hugely informative. Prior to its release today Crazyhorse and 2.7 had been tested by tens of thousands of people on their blogs, hundreds of thousands of you count .com. The volume of feedback was so high that we decided to push back the release date a month to take time to incorporate it all and do more revisions based on what you guys said.

For those of you wondering why we didn’t call this release 3.0, it’s because we abhor version number inflation. 3.0 will just be the next release after 2.9. The major features in new point releases approach also works well for products like OS X, with huge changes between a 10.3 and 10.4.

The Future

Those of you following along at home might have noticed this was our second major redesign of WordPress this year. Whoa nelly! While that wasn’t ideal, and I especially sympathize with those of you creating books or tutorials around WordPress, there’s good news. The changes to WordPress in 2.5 and 2.7 were necessary for us to break free of much of the legacy cruft and interface bloat that had built up over the years (gradually) and more importantly provide us with a UI framework and interface language we can use at the foundation to build tomorrow’s WordPress on, to express ideas we haven’t been able to before. So at the end of 2009 I expect, interface-wise, WordPress to look largely the same as it does now.

That said, we couldn’t be more excited about the future with regards to features. Now that we’ve cleared out more basic things, we are looking forward in the coming year to really tackling media handling including audio and video, better tools for plugin and theme developers, widgets, theme updates, more integrated and contextual help, and easier integration with projects like BuddyPress and bbPress.

Thank Yous

In no particular order, I wanted to take a moment to thank the following WordPress.org users for being a part of 2.7: demetris, vladimir_kolesnikov, azaozz, iammattthomas, filosofo, ryan, jacobsantos, AaronCampbell, corischlegel, noel, codestyling, janbrasna, DD32, Viper007Bond, mdawaffe, Matt, sambauers, jeremyclarke, alexrabe, nbachiyski, josephscott, FFEMTcJ, roganty, Ozh, yoavf, johnconners, thinlight, markjaquith, tott, mrmist, st_falcon, johnbillion, mattyrob, scohoust, yonosoytu, apeatling, ydekproductions, bobrik, janewells, simonwheatley, sivel, abackstrom, sekundek, hailin, strider72, byrnereese, tai, jick, kpdesign, mcs_trekkie, dtsn, g30rg3x, wfrantz, andr, Simek, johnhennmacc, fitztrev, stefano, regulatethis, jhodgdon, rboren, zedlander, tellyworth, misterbisson, Jean-LucfromBrussels, Speedboxer, kashani, Speedbozxer, aaron_guitar, Joe Taiabjee, mani_monaj, 112502, yoshi, thee17, filosoof, Malaiac, ShaneF, RanYanivHartstein, MtDewVirus, anderswc, Viper007Bind, betsyk, jamierumbelow, reinkim, jmini, MichaelH, dwc, rdworth, x11tech, bubel, caesarsgrunt, Otto42, BjornW, technosailor, capripot, rnt, raychampagne, ionfish, Sam_a, dougal, paddya, jdevalk, msw0418, Aaron Harp, rickoman, Mike Schinkel, matthewh84, andy, lloydbudd, _ck_, hansengel, donncha, mictasm, pishmishy, rmmccue, Txanny, pedrop, bendalton, Terragg, Latz, sandbox theme, takayukister, techcookies, wet, docwhat, mtekk, count_0, xorax, dsader, noael, zamoose, Po0ky, guillep2k, xknown, JohnLamansky, error, dbuser123, brianwhite, wasp, msi08, axelseaa, tschai, schiller, robertaccettura, redsweater, rm53, 082net, paul.

It’s not quite that time yet, but we’re as close as we’ve ever been, hence the immediate availability of 2.7 Release Candidate 2, or RC2 for short.

Of course if you were already testing 2.7, you can just use the built-in core updater (Tools > Upgrade) to download and install RC2 for you (and later upgrade you to the final release when it’s available) but if not you can use the download link above.

We feel this release is pretty much exactly what we’re going to ship as 2.7, barring any final bugs or polish tweaks that you report or we find.

Taskbar Repair Tool Plus!

This application allows you to Repair and Customize the Quick Launch, Taskbar and Notification Area in Windows XP. These are the options available via this tool.

Features

1. Taskbar Problems

1. - Taskbar is Missing
2. - Lock Taskbar Greyed Out
3. - Minimized Programs Missing
4. - Stuck in Classic View
5. - Reduce Size of Buttons
6. - Restore to XP Default   (clickable)
7. Toolbars Greyed Out or Missing
8. Remove Specific Toolbars or Remove All
9. Remove System Icons from Desktop Toolbar
10. Disable Taskbar Context Menus
11. Remove Taskbar and Start Menu from the Control Panel
12. Disable Right Click/Properties
13. Lock Size and Position of the Taskbar
14. Remove Open, Explore and Find from Start Button Right Click
15. Remove Open All, Explore All Users from the Start Button Right Click
16. Hide or Show the Taskbar
17. Repair Taskbar Icon Views
18. Hide or Show the Start Button
19. Restore Taskbar to Default Position
20. Enable or Disable Taskbar Grouping (Removes the options from Properties)
21. Repair, Disable or Enable the Task Manager

2. Notification Area

1. Hide or Show All Listed Icons
2. Hide or Show All Inactive Icons
3. Remove Past Items
4. Show Missing Icons
5. Restore/Remove the Clock
6. Disable Balloon Tips
7. Remove the Notification Area
8. Remove Selective Icons (also from Msconfig/Registry)
9. Disable Low Disk Space Warning Message and Icon

3. Quick Launch

1. Can’t Create Toolbar Error Message (Create)
2. Can’t Create Toolbar Error Message (Repair) This one corrects the current issue that spyware cleaners break.
3. Restore Show Desktop Icon
4. Remove the Quick Launch Area
5. Save Quick Launch Sort Order
6. Auto Add Specific Links to Quick Launch
7. Set Quick Launch as Default for any new user added

Download Here or Rocketdownload.Com

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How to dual boot Windows Vista and Windows XP
(with Vista installed first)

The step-by-step guide with a new version of EasyBCD.

Scenario:

You want to install Vista on your PC alongside your XP installation,on the same drive. You have installed Vista already.

Tutorial Summary:
We’re going to use the DISKPART on the Vista DVD to shrink the Vista partition on the hard disk and create enough space for an installation of Vista. We’ll then install XP, repair the Vista bootloader which will be overwritten during the XP installation, and then use the EasyBCD utility to configure Vista’s bootloader to boot the XP partition.
This is an updated tutorial, based on our first Windows Vista/XP dual-booting workshop. The main difference is that EasyBCD has been updated, but the processes are essentially unchanged.This tutorial was tested on a BenQ Joybook R56 system.

Prepare Windows Vista:
This tutorial assumes that Vista has been installed on a partition which takes up 100% of the hard drive, so we need to create some space. Boot off the Vista DVD. Hit Next from the start screen and then select “Install now”. (If Vista came preinstalled on your machine and you don’t have a Vista install DVD, you can use the Gnome Partition Editor Gparted to do it.Our earlier tutorial on dual-booting XP and Vista if you’ve installed XP first describes how to use it.)

Pic.1 Install Vista

Pic.1 Install Vista – Don’t type in your product key and untick “Automatically activate Windows when I’m online”, then hit “Next”, and “No” when asked whether you want to enter the key.

Pic.2 Vista Product Key

Pic.2 Vista Product Key – When prompted to choose the edition of Vista you’re installing you can actually select any of them as we’re not doing a Vista install at this point. Also tick “I have selected the edition of Windows that I purchased” and hit “Next”.

Pic.3 Vista Version

Pic.3 Vista Version – Accept the license terms and hit “Next” again, then choose a Custom installation.On the screen where you’re asked where you want to install Windows, you should see a single large partition marked Primary – this is where Vista is already installed.

Pic.4 Vista Partition

Pic.4 Vista Partition - Press SHIFT + F10. This is a Windows PE 2.0 shortcut to open up a command window – very useful trick.

Pic. 5 Command Tool

Pic. 5 Command Tool – Type in DISKPART and press Enter. This opens the Microsoft DiskPart application. You need to select the active disk, so type in:
list disk
The primary disk is generally Disk 0, so type in:
select disk 0
Now we need a list of volumes on this disk, so type in:
list volume

DISKPART Disk

DISKPART Volume

In this case Volume 0 is the one we want, so type in:
select volume 0

Now type in:
shrink

DiskPart will go off and reclaim as much of the drive as it can – you should get at least 50% of the space back. Now type
EXIT
and
EXIT (again)
to quit the command window and get back to the install screen. Click Refresh and the partition window will update – you should now see the original Primary partition plus a brand new partition.

Pic.6 New Partitions

Pic.6 New Partitions - This is where we will install Windows XP. Eject the DVD, restart the machine (just hit the reset button) and boot off the Windows XP CD.

Now, install Windows XP

When the Windows XP setup reaches the point where you’re prompted where it is to be installed,
you’ll see that while XP can see the space we created earlier, it can also see the partition with Vista on it.

You should be able to see the space you reclaimed on the disk earlier which has become “unallocated space”.
Create a second partition using the Windows XP installer screen above by selecting the free space on the drive and pressing “C” to create a partition (if prompted, choose NTFS as the file system.) Irritatingly, XP assigns a drive letter to this partition (C:) which means that it will use the next available drive letter after all the other physical drives have been taken into account.

This means that the system drive of the XP installation won’t be C:. From XP’s perspective this isn’t really a problem – it’s smart enough to figure out where everything should go – but some applications make assumptions about where they should install to, and can’t cope with a non-standard Windows configuration.
This was also the case with our tutorial on dualbooting Ubuntu and XP, where Ubuntu had been installed first. However in that scenario, even though the XP system drive had a non-standard drive letter, it couldn’t read the Linux partitions so there was no danger of the two systems overlapping.
This is not the case with Vista/XP.
Nonetheless, install XP as normal – there’s no need to do anything differently.

IMPORTANT NOTE – after the initial file copy, Windows XP reboots and loads up the GUIbased
component of the install. You may get the following error: “A disk read error occurred –
press Ctrl-Alt-Del to continue”. This is caused by a corrupt bootloader – click here to see how
to fix this problem.

When the system reboots it won’t bring up a boot menu. Although XP recognises the Vista partition it
doesn’t recognise Vista itself.
The Windows XP bootloader gets installed to the MBR and Vista can no longer boot.
When XP loads, open up Windows Explorer and you’ll see something interesting – a C: and (in this
case) an E: drive.
The C: drive contains Windows Vista, and as Windows XP can read NTFS partitions, it can browse
and modify Vista’s file structure.
More importantly, applications which have installation paths hard-coded into their install scripts rather
than using Windows system parameter variables could easily dump files into C: when they should be
installing to E:. This isn’t such a great situation.

Restoring Vista and dual booting
Because you can’t use the Windows XP bootloader to boot Vista, we have to reinstate Vista’s
bootloader to the MBR and configure it to manage both operating systems.
Compared with scenarios involving Ubuntu where you have to reinstall the GRUB bootloader, getting
Vista up and operational again is very easy.

Boot from the Vista DVD and on the screen where you’re prompted to “Install now”, select “Repair
your computer”.
Repair Vista
The next screen searches for local Vista installations – there should only be one, so click Next.
Choose Vista
This loads the System Recovery Options screen. Select the first option – Startup Repair. This looks

for problems which would prevent Vista from loading (like a missing bootloader) and automatically fixes them.

If you click on “Click here for diagnostic and repair details” and scroll to the bottom of the list, it shows

that the problem detected and repaired was a corrupt boot sector (according to Vista, anyway).

Click Close and then Finish, and the system will restart and boot into Vista.
Now we need to enable dualbooting with XP, and EasyBCD is the best application to achieve this.
Download and install EasyBCD.
Launch the app and go to Add/Remove Entries.
Under “Add an Entry” and under the Windows tab and select in the Version drop-down list “Windows
NT/2k/XP/2k3”.
Change the Drive to E: and the name to “Windows XP”, then click “Add Entry” and “Save”.

Vista & XP – EasyBCD
Reboot the system and you’ll have two entries in the Vista bootloader, and can boot into either
operating system.

Vista Bootloader
Removing Windows XP
If you eventually decide that dualbooting XP as the second OS isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, it’s pretty
easy to undo the changes made.
Use EasyBCD to remove the Windows XP boot entry, and then go into Computer Management (rightclick
on Computer, Manage) and go to Disk Management.
Right-click E: drive (the Windows XP partition) and select Delete Volume.
Right-click the newly-created partition and select Delete Partition.
Then right-click the C: drive (the Vista system partition) and click Extend Volume – this opens up the
Extend Volume Wizard

The wizard gives you a readout on how much space is actually available to extend the partition –
enter in how much you want to use and press Next. Vista will extend the system partition to reclaim
the disk and Windows is well and truly gone.

Fixing the corrupt bootloader
If the Windows XP bootload corrupts during the install, performing a reinstall won’t fix it, nor will going
into the XP Recovery Mode and attempting to repair the MBR.
Luckily, the install was up to the stage where all you need to do is be able to boot from the Windows
XP partition, and the install will pick up from where it left off.
To achieve this, follow the procedure outlined above to restore the Vista bootloader (under “Restoring
Vista and Dualbooting”).
This allows the system to boot into Vista, and then you can use EasyBCD to create an XP boot entry
and boot into that to continue on with XP’s installation. (For details on using EasyBCD, also see the
section “Restoring Vista and Dualbooting”.)

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click “Save settings” to activate your changes.

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