Futurecat - Michael Karek

Red Bull Flugtag was on Saturday, and I’m proud to say that the Phoenix flew 62 feet!  45 of those feet were straight down, but who’s counting?  Have a look at the video (the photographer got our name wrong, but that’s ok)…and pay attention to the mind-blowing dancing.  I’m the one in yellow:

The actual flight wasn’t a huge success, but the event was.  People were cheering their hearts out for us and for Microsoft, and I know I speak for everyone on the team when I say that it was really cool to be part of something so totally off-the-wall crazy.  I think my favorite part of the flight was the reaction from the crowd when we played our launch music, which we laced with system sounds from Windows 7 and Windows XP.  When the Windows XP startup music played, the crowd immediately got into the groove.  Everyone knows that iconic noise and it instantly made the Flugtag/Microsoft connection for the 105,000 people who were watching.

The Windows Project Phoenix Team celebrating the completed craft & tower

We’re all safe and sound and in one piece (I smashed into the wing on the way into the water and banged up my mouth, but nothing major), and happy to be back in Redmond with our friends, families and co-workers.

Below are a few more of my favorite photos from launch day and we’ll be posting many more stills and video clips on our Facebook page over the next few days.  Thanks again to everyone who supported us – we really couldn’t have done it without you.  And be sure to keep an eye on our Facebook page for information on our next crazy adventure.  I’m pretty sure that Project Phoenix will rise again!

Three words: Mad. Dance. Skills.

Seconds before the “flight”.  We were running at full-tilt to get the Phoenix up to launch speed.

Our engineers, Mike, Lucas and Brian, worked their hearts out (and butts off) on this project.

The team with one of our fans.  Support for Project Phoenix was off the charts.

Jay, Ali and Ryan working the crowd.

Calling all Windows fans!  This Saturday, August 21st in Long Beach, CA a team of Microsoft Employees – many from Windows – are participating in Red Bull Flugtag, a competition where teams from all over the world build human-powered flying machines, push them off a 30’ high dock, and see who can fly the farthest.  We’re already getting some love from the press, but we need your support as we take on the competition!

Here’s the deal: each team’s human-powered flying machine can be built out of any material, as long as the wingspan is under 30’ and the weight is less than 450 lbs (including the weight of the pilot).  Only 1 person can fly the craft, and each team can enlist 4 pushers to get the craft up to speed.  And of course, everyone dresses silly and participates in a 30-second skit before you launch.  If that does NOT sound fun to you, please leave this blog immediately, turn off your computer and slowly back away.

Our Flugtag, the Phoenix.  More on how we built it below.

Obviously we’re excited, but we want you to be excited too!  You can join the Windows Project Phoenix team in a few ways:

• Like us on Facebook!  Tweet that you like us on Facebook!  Tell you friends to like us on Facebook!
• Come cheer us on in person in Long Beach
• Follow me on Twitter for up to the minute status of the craft, team and event.

And most importantly:

• Show your support from anywhere in the world by helping us with the Flugtag Popularity Contest! Just text Team15 to RBULL (72855) anytime after 11am on Saturday, August 21st Friday, August 20th. 

The team has been working their collective butts off building an amazing craft, putting in more than 1500 total hours in design, fabrication, construction, event planning, marketing and promotion.  More on the actual flaying machine in a second, but first I wanted to introduce you to the crew that made this whole thing happen:

THE ENGINEERING MASTERMINDS

Brian Lysak

• Real Job:  Senior Program Manager on the Windows Planning & Ecosystem Team
• Flugtag Role:  Engineering Lead, materials and fabrication expert.
• Solution to Everything:  Lay it up with carbon fiber!

Lucas Brodzinski

• Real Job: Program Manager on the Windows Graphics Team.
• Flugtag Role: Self-taught aerodynamics guru with $5.42 worth of library late fees to his name, CAD designer, and all around awesome guy.
• He’s an international man of mystery: Lucas was born in Poland, raised as Canadian, and is now working in the United States – an international triple threat.  He’s working towards his pilot’s license

Mike Arntzen

• Real Job:  Partner Engagement Manager on the Windows Ecosystem Team
• Flugtag Role:  Avionics  Aviation maestro
• High in the sky:  Mike has over 500 flying hours under his belt and served in the Royal Australian Airforce for 6 years.

Mike, Lucas & Brian, with the Phoenix’s wings just before packing them into the moving truck

THE DRAFT HORSES

Ryan Asdourian

• Real Job: PC Product Manager on the Windows Team
• Flugtag Role: Team Captain, Morale and Adrenaline Injection Specialist
• 20,000 screaming fans is a small crowd:  Ryan spends his weekends as Blitz, the Seattle Seahawk’s mascot

James DeBragga

• Real Job: GM, Windows Marketing
• Flugtag Role: Lead pusher (i.e., the biggest guy on the team)
• Fun Fact: James can leg press 850lbs.

Jay Paulus

• Real Job: Director of Product Management on the Windows Team
• Flugtag Role:  Cart pushing technician
• Go fly a kite:  Jay is an expert kitesurfer, so he’s used to high-flying insanity.

Ben Rudolph

• Real Job:  PC Guy on the Windows PR Team
• Flugtag Role:  Shameless promoter
• Cheer us on or die: I’m a certified Krav Maga instructor and holds a black-belt in jiu-jitsu. 

Remember that I’ll also be live-tweeting the event, so be sure to follow me to keep tabs on the action!

OUR FEARLESS PILOT

Ali Driesman

• Real Job: Student Audience Marketer, Education Strategy and Marketing
• Flugtag Role: Piloting the phoenix, resident crazy person
• Brave, or crazy?:  Ali has a severe disorder – FOMO (Fear ­Of Missing Out). The effects have been massive over-commitment issues, and a general dedication to participating in all things fun. Please pray for her.

Your brave & slightly crazy Flugtag flight crew:  Jay, Ryan, Ali & Ben.  James is up top.

(BTW, we built this photo from 5 different shots using Photo Fuse in the new Windows Live Photo Gallery)

THE PHOENIX

The real star of the show is our flying machine, the Phoenix.  I have to say that it’s a pretty impressive sight to behold when you see it completely assembled, and it’s lightness is truly amazing – the whole contraption weighs less than 75lbs, which is a whopping 375lbs under the legal weight limit! Here’s what Brian, Lucas and Mike have to say about its construction and how they made something so light, so strong, and so flyable:

With less than 2 months to design, plan and execute we had a serious challenge ahead of us, especially given that we were a team of opinionated engineers, each with our own ideas.  Our goal was to not only build an aircraft that we could build on time and toss off the dock…  We wanted this thing to fly and fly well.  Project Phoenix also needed to look the part with a simple, intuitive design that functions.

We wanted to have a safe aircraft which would glide far at best or act as a nice parachute at worst so we made it BIG… so we pushed the size limits of the Flugtag rules.  With a wingspan of about 28 feet, the Phoenix is just inches short of the limit.

We settled on a hang glider inspired aircraft due to its simplicity and light weight.  We also quickly opted for a simple straight wing design vs. a swept-back wing for ease of fabrication.  To provide better horizontal stability we decided to build in a 12 degree angle between the two wings.  This would enable one wing to even the other out if the craft started to roll.  Mike, our resident pilot, recommended this design addition so that a tail section would not be needed to laterally stabilize the craft.

Early sketches of the Phoenix.  Our goal was to build something aeronautically sound, safe, and super lightweight

Throughout the design process brainstorming parts, fabrication methods and steps to get “Phoenix” built and assembled was on the top of my mind to enable a clear vision and plan going forward for the team.  After some shopping around and discussion we hand-picked the most feasible ultra-lightweight, strong and reasonably priced materials to build our glider.    Most of the parts with the exception of the carbon fiber are off the shelf components used daily by many hobbyist and DIY’ers.  The keel and cradle, as well as the wing ribs, are made of Macrolux, and incredibly light weight & strong cellular polycarbonate. The wing spars (ie, the pieces that hold the ribs together are used windsurfing masts & kite posts, and we made heavy use of carbon fiber for the center section. We covered the wings with Monokote, a thin, heat-sensitive plastic that’s typically used for model airplanes.  Completed, the entire craft weighs about 65lbs – 385lbs under the weight limit!

The final piece of the puzzle was a launch, which we built out of ABS plastic pipe. The launcher is an impressive site to behold – it hoists the Phoenix about 20’ into the air!

 Ali strapped into the harness on the almost-completed launcher. 

We’ve poured our heart and soul into the Phoenix and hope that it performs well.  Given the time constraints we were not able to perform test flights and we’re excited to see it take flight and learn even more from the experience. For more information on how we built the Phoenix, hit the Facebook page…we’ll be posting more detailed design notes there!

The completed Phoenix!

Thanks again to everyone who chipped in and supported us – this has been a true cross-company effort and we’re really proud to be representing Microsoft and Windows.  Don’t forget to like us on Facebook, follow me on Twitter for the latest news, and text your hearts out on Friday!

If you haven’t noticed, I blog. A lot. I know a lot of you do too, and like me, you’re always trying to make your blog look its best. For me, there’s no easier way to do that than using Windows Live EssentialsIt’s a standard software load on all of my many PCs, and I use it all day, every day to manage my photos and videos, and the posts that in which I’m using them.

My main weapon of choice is Windows Live Writer, which I use to compose and post all of my posts. Why Live Writer (Microsoft connection aside, of course)? Unfortunately, with most blogging sites like WordPress, BloggerLiveJournal you need to have an online connection while you blog or you have to create the content offline in a separate program and then reformat once you’re ready to post. Sometimes I find the inspiration to write but don’t have easy access to an online connection, like when I stole my mother-in-law’s HP G62 for a review.

Windows Live Writer is different. Not only is it a free desktop application, but it offers the ability to work fully-functional offline so you can write whenever the mood strikes you. Like right now, when I’m writing offline because the stupid wireless network in the Hilton isn’t working.

Aside from working offline, it’s super-familiar to use and looks and feels a lot like Word With Live Writer, you can edit offline with inline spell checking, and easily insert, resize and format individual photos and videos, or entire photos albums, and have them automatically published with the blog entry. The best part is that you can complete all of these tasks while seeing exactly what your blog posts will look like before you publish it! Windows Live Writer is compatible with the top blogging platforms and allows for quick preview before posting which is very handy for gut-checking a post before hitting “publish.”

I always try to include as much rich content (nerd for “photos and videos”) as possible to spice things up. For that, I use Windows Live Photo Galleryand Windows Live Movie Maker which are closely integrated into the Writer experience. The new versions of these apps, which are currently in beta, have a pile of new features that make working photos and videos a breeze. For example, I use the new “retouch” feature all the time, because it lets me edit out scratches in the PCs I review. Careless co-worked smashed up that shiny new gaming rig? No problem! I just highlight the damaged section hit the “retouch” button, and voila – the PC looks like it came right out of the box.

And of course, you’ve probably already read about Photo Fuse and how it can seamlessly blend multiple photos into one perfect shot. For example, using Photo Fuse I turned these:

This looks like we shot it at one time, but we actually blended it together from three different shots. It’s basically a pro-grade editing feature for free: BTW, we shot this for a soon-to-be-disclosed ULTRA MEGA AWESOME event that we’re doing. Stay tuned on that for more…

For videos, I love how easy it is to edit a movie in Windows Live Movie Maker. I use this for a lot of my short shoot-‘em-in-my-office videos of PCs, and it gives me all that I need to make an otherwise mediocre video look professional. For example, the video Ash and I shot of Windows Live Sync was edited completely in Moviemaker:

There’s a lot more inside all of these programs than I can cover here, so I highly recommend that you go get the beta right now and try them out for yourself. And if you’re attending BlogHer make sure to sign up for the “Bring Your Blog To Life with Windows Live” session in our Windows suite (#4331).

Good luck and happy blogging!

Have a question about how Windows Live can make your blog rock, or have a PC question?  Post a comment, hit me on Twitter or Ask Ben Anything via email.  Your question might appear in my monthly Ask Ben Anything Q&A column

The last time I planned a summer trip with a group of friends, it was a long process that involved picking the right dates, finding hotels, and looking for activities to do once we got there. It was all pretty disorganized, with long email threads and multiple copies of documents that people had been sending back and forth in email.

It would have been a lot easier if we’d been using Windows Live Groups to plan that trip. It would have helped us organize all the planning and trip information in one place, making it so much easier for everyone going on the trip to be a part of the planning process.

For each group you create on Windows Live, you get a unique URL and email address. Group members can access all group information from the group’s site. Once you invite someone to be a member of your group, they start receiving group email (even if they don’t sign up), and they can view group photos and documents.

Collaborate on documents like never before

Each group has its own 25 5GB of online storage on Windows Live SkyDrive, which gives you a central place to store and collaborate on documents. In this release, we’ve added the ability to share documents and photo albums that you’ve stored in your personal SkyDrive with the group.

Correction and clarification, 8/2/10: Each group’s SkyDrive is still 5 GB (as before), but because each member can now also use their 25GB personal SkyDrive to share files with the group, you have lots more space to share photos and documents than before.

Now that Office Web Apps are integrated with SkyDrive, group members can view and edit Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents right in the browser – even if they don’t have Office installed on their PC.

Group owners can "pin" documents and folders to the group profile page to make it easy for anyone in the group to find an important document.

Your secret weapon – OneNote

Every group also gets its own OneNote notebook on SkyDrive, with different sections and pages just like a regular notebook. Your group’s online notebook is useful for collecting information from members and for storing centralized resources. You can copy in links, images, maps, and random notes, and rearrange them on the page as you get things organized. It’s great for brainstorming with others as you plan your trip, because you can each add your own notes and ideas to the notebook in real time, without fear of overwriting anyone else’s notes In other words, it’s a great companion to trip planning.

Messenger integration

Groups is also integrated into the new Messenger. In one click you can start an IM conversation with the entire group (for groups with less than 40 members).

Group activity is also really easy to keep track of. Each group has its own Messenger social feed on the group’s main page.

Sharing photos with the group

After your trip, everyone in the group can upload photos to the group’s SkyDrive or share albums from their personal SkyDrive folders with the group.

Here we’re uploading photos from Windows Live Photo Gallery directly to the group:

And here’s what it looks like when you’re viewing those photos in a cool Silverlight slide show on the group’s SkyDrive:

A powerful tool for group planning

Windows Live Groups is a simple and powerful tool to plan a trip or event or stay connected with your family, your team, or your social club. In our latest release, we’ve added deeper integration with SkyDrive, which makes collaborating on docs or sharing photos easier than ever. Give the updated Windows Live Groups a spin at groups.live.com, and let us know what you think.

Omar Shahine
Principal Lead Program Manager, Windows Live

I’m sitting here in on my in-laws’ deck overlooking beautiful Lake Chelan. Evan sleeping by my side, Audrey is down for a nap and the house is otherwise empty, so I thought I’d take my mother-in-law’s HP G62 out for a test drive. Yes, this is the same one I was conscripted to configure just a few weeks ago, but last time I was giving it the quickie setup (i.e., installing Microsoft Security Essentials, Windows Live Essentials Beta, and Office 2010), so didn’t have the chance to fully put it through its paces.

The HP G62 is part of HP’s line of everyday computers, meaning it’s optimized for light internet work, basic productivity tasks like writing Word docs, and playing music and movies. It’s a value priced machine – MSRP starts at $499.99, and my mother-in-law got her model for a little over $500 at a major retailer. For that price, you get a lot of machine. The G62 comes with a brand-new Intel Core i3 processor, 4 gigs of RAM, and a 320GB 7200 rpm HDD. Graphics are Intel Integrated HD which put out respectable Windows Experience Index score of 4.2 for desktop graphics and 4.8 for gaming graphics. That’s not top-shelf power, but if you’re just watching DVDs, playing casual games or streaming some web video it’s more than enough to give you a great experience.

As with all HPs, the 15”, 1366 x 768 display is gorgeous. It’s very bright but not too glossy; out here on the deck in bright sunlight the screen is still easy to read. Sound is powered by Altec Lansing speakers which produce solid, deep sound that’s better than most laptops I’ve tried in this price range – you don’t get the tinny, hollow reverberation that you find on cheaper speakers. As someone who’s permanently tethered to his Zune collection (or Pandora), that’s a big plus.

Even though this is part of HP’s value line, they didn’t skimp on design. The chassis is imprinted polycarbonate with a light polygon texture and the default out-of-the-box wallpaper matches the case design, which is kind of cool and a nice touch that brings the PC together inside and out. My favorite bit about the G62’s design is the touchpad – or should I say “lack of touchpad”. Unlike most laptops that have a dedicated, defined touchpad that looks like at touchpad, the G62 doesn’t. Its touchpad is seamless with the rest of the palm rest, so the chin of the laptop is completely unbroken (aside from the right and left mouse buttons). That’s an unusual design choice, but I like it and it’s something I wish more PC manufacturers would do. I’m a minimalist by nature, so anything that cleans up the façade of my PC makes me feel all Zen inside.

I’ve only had a chance to work with the G62 for a few hours, but I like what I see so far. Performance while working on this doc in Word 2010 was snappy and Internet Explorer running Twitter, Facebook, and multiple other tabs like CNN.com, Weather.com, The Consumerist, Gizmodo, Engadget, The Windows Experience Blog, and my favorite non-tech blog, The Sartorialist, was smooth and hang-free even when playing video on both Giz and Engadget simultaneously.

If you’re in the market for a solid 15” laptop and you’re working off of a modest budget, put the HP G62 on your list. For around $500, it’s a tough box to beat.

Have a question about this or any other PC?  Post a comment, hit me on Twitter, or Ask Ben Anything via email.  Your question might appear in my monthly Ask Ben Anything Q&A column!

Today is earnings day and Windows continues to have a strong showing. We announced a new milestone in Windows 7 sales – 175 million copies. This continues our record breaking pace of more than 7 copies sold per second. And as of today – Windows 7 is now running on more than 16% of all PCs worldwide. It’s exciting to see this kind of response from customers who have helped make Windows 7 the fastest selling operating system in history. We are also seeing some strong momentum with businesses for Windows 7. The PC “refresh cycle” for businesses has accelerated and we recorded the second straight quarter of double digital business license growth. And with Internet Explorer, IE8 is now the fastest growing and most popular web browser in the market and we have IE9 coming!

This strong momentum isn’t limited to Microsoft  – in fact we’re seeing strong growth across the tech industry. Last week we highlighted a recent IDC press release that illustrated the growth of the global PC market – more than 22.4% year-over-year for the second quarter of 2010. Intel reported its best quarter ever with second quarter revenue up 34% year-over-year. And AMD reported a whopping 40% growth year-over-year in its earnings release, due to record sales of their chips for notebook computers. It’s great to see this kind of growth across the PC ecosystem and we’re pleased to be part of this growth with Windows 7.

Everyone needs a new look from time to time. After all, you might not know Stefani Germanotta or Norma Baker, but I bet you know Lady Gaga and Marilyn Monroe. The same holds true for companies fighting for eyeballs in a world saturated with imagery.

For reasons large and small, some of today’s familiar logos started life looking quite different – the original Starbucks logo, for example, was brown and advertised tea and spices. Most, however, have been through a gradual evolution. Coca-Cola remains one of the world’s most recognizable brands and Wal-Mart’s evolving design is as impressive as its global retail reach.

Logo design evolution plays a pivotal role in support of brand strategy, whether it’s signaling a change in direction, supporting a new promise, or merely taking a familiar mark and making it more modern, arresting and relevant. There’s always a balancing act between preserving visual equity and moving the design forward.

In Windows, we’ve also had our share of new looks. Below, you’ll find what our iconic Windows logo looked like at the time of each major new release:

Windows 3.1

Windows 95

Windows XP

Windows Vista

Windows 7

Round 4 of the Windows Recession Sweepstakes is now open! To win, leave a comment and let us know which logo you like best. You have until 6:00 am PT tomorrow (July 23) to enter.

Remember to follow me, Brandon, Ben and the Windows Blog on Twitter to find out more and hear about future rounds of the sweepstakes.

Full Terms & Conditions of the sweepstakes are here.

Good luck!

When we told you earlier about what’s coming in the next version of Messenger, one of the things we discussed was how we’re improving the core instant messaging experience, and making big improvements to video chat and media sharing with built-in features like HD support, full-screen video chat, and more engaging ways to share photos and videos.

If you’ve been following the E3 conference, you know that today Microsoft unveiled new details about the controller-free Kinect for Xbox 360 (formerly known as “Project Natal”), including how it enables Xbox LIVE users to have real-time video conversations with hundreds of millions of Windows Live Messenger users.

This functionality will release in the next year, and we’re excited about how it helps make your communication experience even richer by bringing Messenger and your friends directly into your living room.

You can learn more about Xbox and Kinect at www.xbox.com.

- Piero Sierra
   Group Program Manager, Windows Live Messenger & Mail

There’s been some coverage overnight about the security of Windows and whether or not one particular company is reducing its use of Windows. We thought this was a good opportunity to set the record straight.

There is some irony here that is hard to overlook. For starters, check out this story from Mashable a few months ago where it was reported that Yale University had halted their move to Gmail (and their move to Google’s Google Apps for Education package) citing both security and privacy concerns.

The Financial Times article states that:

Windows is known for being more vulnerable to attacks by hackers and more susceptible to computer viruses than other operating systems.

The facts don’t support the assertion.

When it comes to security, even hackers admit we’re doing a better job making our products more secure than anyone else. And it’s not just the hackers; third party influentials and industry leaders like Cisco tell us regularly that our focus and investment continues to surpass others.

An article today by InfoWorld discusses how Macs are under attack by high-risk malware – the article goes on to ask if this is a future sign of things to come for Apple and security. Microsoft makes the security of our customers a huge priority. Here are some examples of the things we are focused on to help make our customers more secure:

• We ship software and security updates to our customers as soon as possible through Windows Update and Microsoft Update to keep our customers safe.
• We highly recommend our customers enable Automatic Update to ensure they are protected from attacks.
• With Windows 7, we added improvements to BitLocker for disc encryption (we also introduced BitLocker-to-Go for external USB devices), and added enhancements to the built in Windows Firewall for better protection.
• Windows 7 has Parental Controls built in that can be combined with Windows Live Family Safety to create a safer experience on the PC for children.
• Windows 7 comes with Internet Explorer 8 which includes SmartScreen Filter which has proven its success time and time again.
• And Windows 7 also uses Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR) as well by randomizing data in memory.

For more on Microsoft and our investment in security, I suggest reading the Microsoft Security Development Lifecycle Blog.

The University of Michigan published their annual American Customer Satisfaction Index report earlier this week and Microsoft shows quite a jump. In 2009, our score was 70. For 2010, our score is 76 – our highest score on the report yet! Ed Bott published a blog post earlier this week diving deep into the results of the report. He highlights that the difference between 2009 and 2010 that likely led to such an amazing improvement in Microsoft’s score was the release of Windows 7. It just serves as another good example that people are not only excited to get Windows 7 (or a Windows 7 PC), they are also very happy with Windows 7 once they have it. I suggest reading Ed’s post for more analysis.