It was announced Friday that Windows 7 “E” will not be launched, rather, shortly after new Windows PC is set up by the user, Microsoft will update them over the Internet with a consumer ballot software program. If IE is the default browser, the user will be presented with a list of other leading browsers and invited to select one or more for installation.

http://microsoftontheissues.com/cs/blogs/mscorp/archive/2009/07/31/windows-7-and-browser-choice-in-europe.aspx

At five locations in Switzerland from 28 September up to 8. October 2009, Microsoft Connection Days (ex Partner Days), an event for Partners and IT professionals will be held.

This year, Microsoft Partners and now IT Professionals will have the opportunity, under one roof, to network and make interesting contacts. Five IT professional topics will be available for you to obtain the latest information about cloud computing  (key note), Windows 7, Office/Exchange 2010, Windows Server R2 and Hyper-V R2, SQL Server and Online Services (BPOS).

Interesting post from Michael Gannotti on how to become a SharePoint Professional. Some good tips and resources.

http://socialmedia.mikegannotti.com/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=203

Be among the first with access to Windows 7 RTM along with support and technical content included with your subscription. Download now from Subscriber Downloads.

https://technet.microsoft.com/subscriptions/securedownloads/default.aspx

Jason Perlow, a ZDnet columnist who has been writing about Open Source for over 10 years, was so intrigued by the new capabilities in Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V and Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 that he spent the last week installing various Linux distros (CentOS, Scientific Linux, OpenSUSE) atop Hyper-V R2. The result is a detailed article on ZDnet documenting the step-by-step instructions for each distro.

http://blogs.zdnet.com/perlow/?p=10830