If you missed the keynote this morning for the Windows 7 launch in NYC you can catch it here. There are great demos of features in the latest version of Windows along with some fantastic new hardware. Check it out!

Email, a great tool but, sometimes it  a real time killer. One fantastic tool that has helped me better manage email is Xobni.  It’s an add-on for Outlook 2003 and 2007 and the latest version, 1.8, adds some great new features. Here are a few of my favorites:

Search

Xobni indexes all of your email for super fast, ‘as you type’ searches. You can put in all kinds of keywords, names or even partial phone numbers. Xobni breaks email into more that just messages, it also manages your connections. A simple search for “‘Bob”, (because you  have forgotten that potential new clients last name) returns a list of every “Bob” you have ever had an email conversation with and every message where ‘Bob’ is referenced. Now, you can be quickly reminded of “Bobs” last name, click on him and see all the messages you have exchanged.

Conversations

Xobni groups all of those threaded conversations together so you can quickly find the parts that matter most to you without having to track back through each message one at a time. Xobni also relates all of the people you have been talking to by analyzing the To, From, and CC lines to make connections with people you may not have seen before.

File Attachments

Finding that report from last week or last quarter can really be difficult. Xobni has a special section for files. If you can find “Bob”, you’ll see a list of every file you and “Bob” have ever exchanged.

If you live in your Outlook inbox, you should try Xobni.

With the big launch in just a few days I wanted to provide a short comparison of the features and pricing for Windows 7. For home users, we have to recommend ‘Home Premium’ .  The starter edition just won’t provide the experience you’re probably used to. For our business users, we think you’ll get everything you’ll probably need in the professional edition. The price difference is negligible but, unless you’re a gadget geek who has to have it all, we’d suggesting saving a little money.

For more details about moving to Windows 7 visit Microsoft’s Windows for Business site.

Way back in 2007, Microsoft made a huge leap by making a major redesign of the user interface in its’ Office suite.  Like most, I found the new design a bit strange at first. I had many questions like: where was my old friend the ‘file menu’, what happened to the print settings, and what do mean older versions can’t see this new format? But then, after using it for a while and seeing some of the new features in action, I was sold on the new approach and wouldn’t go back. It’s so much easier to make fantastic looking documents in Word and a breeze to do some really fancy stuff in Excel. I’m excited with the announcement of Microsoft Office 2010 and some of the new features that will be included. Here is a sample:

Common features:

• Co-Authoring lets multiple people work on the same document and tell you who else is working on the document.
• Online Files.  Access your files from anywhere and edit right in your browser.
• New Smart Art Templates help you create engaging document and presentations.
• Improved author permissions.
• Improved Copy / Paste from the web.

Microsoft® Word 2010

• New features to create high quality and professional documents.
• Screen clippings allow you to grab snapshots from your screen right from Word.

Microsoft Excel 2010

• Sparklines. This new features allows you to display data trends in a single cell.

Microsoft PowerPoint 2010

• Background removal tool allows you to edit graphics to match your PowerPoint slides.
• Video editing.
• Enhanced Transitions.

Microsoft Outlook 2010

• Threaded conversations allow you to follow a conversation without hunting through your inbox.
• Inline views allow you to see your calendar right inside a meeting request.

Office Web Apps

• Access online Word, Excel®, PowerPoint® and OneNote® applications.
• Allows you to access documents from anywhere.
• Simultaneously share and work on documents with others online.
• View documents across PCs, mobile phones, and the Web without compromising document fidelity.
• Create new documents and do basic editing using the familiar Office interface.