Archive for October, 2008

The OS Formerly Known as Vista

I’ve always enjoyed the “I’m a Mac” commercials that Apple has been playing over the last few years. When Microsoft finally came out with an advertising campaign to counter it, Apple got much more aggressive, however. I thought with the last few that they had gone a bit too far, but then I realized that with the “V Word” ad that Apple may have hit the nail on the head. Then the last couple of ads released have been hammering Microsoft over spending tons of money on advertising rather than actually fixing Vista’s problems. They have pretty much nailed it again.

It’s hard to find news coming out about Windows Vista any more. All the (Microsoft) technology news is about Windows 7 these days, it seems. Since I’m not one of the few who have actually gotten to play with the pre-beta versions, I’m going to have to go off promised features and reviews from others. However, what advantages do we get with running Windows 7 over Windows Vista? Well, what’s been promised so far is better performance, better reliability, a new OS X-like task bar (dock?), and multi-touch.

Okay, so they’re offering better performance and better reliability. I should hope it would do better than previous versions. I haven’t noticed any other operating system ad that didn’t say that it was the fastest or more reliable than the last. The biggest performance boost that I’ve read about is that Windows 7 won’t render application windows while the window is not actually being displayed. That’s something that should have been done with the first release of Vista, now it’s a pay-for upgrade.

Windows 7 is supposed to have a new taskbar that acts like the dock in OS X, even with a feature much like Apple’s “Stacks”. This isn’t much different from the Quick Launch menu in older versions of Windows, but it has a few additional features. I’ve always hated the idea of the start menu so this is definitely a welcome feature.

The big new killer feature that Microsoft has been talking about is its new multi-touch technology. Multi-touch technology has been around for a while in several products, both Microsoft (Surface) and others (specifically the iPhone and MacBooks). Microsoft has had its Windows Tablet Edition for several years and been a leader in built-in natural input on notebooks. The multi-touch technology is expected and a rather boring development, though necessary.

So what does Windows 7 give us over Vista? From what I’ve seen so far, it’s a pay-for feature that should have been a service pack. However, Microsoft’s marketing department has made it sound like a killer new OS, just like the Apple ads are saying. During this time of recession in the economy, Microsoft has found a great way of keeping profits high: sell features that should have already been delivered in previous sales. Microsoft didn’t even deliver on features promised to paying customers of Vista Ultimate. Why should we pay for a release that should be a service pack with a new theme? I think Apple had it right. The reason Microsoft is releasing Windows 7 rather than another service pack to Vista is to get rid of the Vista name. They have to add a few features to at least give the appearance of a new OS and then over-hype it to make us believe we’re getting something better.

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Filed under Tech Trends : Comments (1) : Oct 30th, 2008

Possible Yahoo, AOL Merger?

According to Reuters, sources close to Yahoo and AOL say they are in the midst of due diligence for a possible merger of some services. This comes in the wake of a series of offers from a Microsoft buyout over the last few years. Sources say they are interested in how AOL’s content and advertising services could be integrated into Yahoo’s. A deal between Yahoo and Google was rumored earlier this summer, though it would have some serious antitrust concerns to overcome. The aim of the consolidation is to cut costs by joining duplicate services.

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Filed under News : Comments (0) : Oct 30th, 2008

Ubuntu 8.10 To Be Released Today

Ubuntu 8.10 is scheduled for release later today. The new version builds on previous releases with a few new features. Probably the most notable on the server side of things is the new virtual machine builder that now comes with the JeOS (Just enough Operating System) which was also just introduced last year. Ubuntu is bragging that virtual machines can be installed and booted within 5 minutes using the new JeOS virtual machine builder. JeOS acts as a kind of hypervisor as it’s just a stripped down version of the OS as the name implies, perfect for running other guest operating systems on top of it. Other features and improvements include better RAID controller support, support for encrypted home directories, simplified firewall management, and full support for the Apache Tomcat/OpenJDK platform.

On the desktop side, we see, of course, a newer version of the Gnome Desktop Environment, claiming better support for multi-monitor setups. They have added a new “guest session” feature which allows a “guest” user to login and have a limited set of applications and directories to use. Support was added to allow the OS to be installed and booted off a flash drive. Ubuntu has also made it simpler for connecting to 3G wireless networks using 3G modems, a cable or Bluetooth connection to a wireless phone.

The release will be available at Ubuntu.com.

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Filed under News : Comments (0) : Oct 30th, 2008

Microsoft Enters Cloud Computing Game

In true Microsoft style, Microsoft has finally (almost) entered the cloud computing arena with its new Windows Azure services. Azure’s offerings are similar to the Google App Engine in that they are storage and processing services rather making the costumer manage the instances at an OS level such as the Amazon EC2 cloud. Of course, this lack of responsibility and management also means a loss of control and customization. Azure will offer on-demand versions of Exchange, Microsoft CRM, Sharepoint, Microsoft Office Live services as well as the .NET and “Live” application platforms for web developers. Ballmer talked of these new services just a month ago saying it would be announced towards the end of October.

Microsoft’s new offerings come just a few weeks after Amazon announces plans to enable Windows in its EC2 cloud which allows customers the ability to manage its machines fully by running them on top of Xen and giving customers full “root” access. Since Microsoft apparently doesn’t call its pre-release products beta anymore, you can now check out a “technology preview” here.

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Filed under News : Comments (0) : Oct 28th, 2008

Free Crossover Office, Get It While It’s Hot!

This summer, Codeweavers decided to offer its products for free if some fairly unlikely events were to occur. Whether it was meant as a marketing ploy to get its name and software out there, or if it was a low blow against President Bush (I’m guessing the latter), we’re getting CrossOver for free today. Of the events that CEO Jeremy White said needed to happen, gasoline dropped below $2.79 per gallon. True to their word, Codeweavers is offering its CrossOver products for free to anyone who registers today (10/28/2008). The CrossOver products allow Mac and Linux users to run Windows applications on their machines. You can register for the free software here.

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Filed under News : Comments (1) : Oct 28th, 2008

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