Posted by on under interface ideas, laptop owners, impressive job, hp touchsmart pc, beta stage, transparent window, giant screen, netbook, screen space, lts, start menu, system tray, taskbar, keynote, peek, new features, gadgets, laptops, sidebar, demo | 
Filed under: Desktops, Laptops
Microsoft's
Windows 7 announcement earlier today was followed up by an extensive demo of the new features during the PDC keynote, and since then even more info about the new OS has flooded out, so we thought we'd try to wrap up some of the more important bits here for you. Microsoft seems to have done an impressive job at this early pre-beta stage, folding in next-gen interface ideas like multitouch into the same OS that apparently runs fine on a 1GHz netbook with 1GB of RAM, but we'll see how development goes -- there's still a ways to go. Some notes:
- Obviously, the big news is the new taskbar, which forgoes text for icons and has new "jump lists" of app controls and options you can access with a right-click. You can select playlists in Media Player, for example. Super cool: when you scrub over the icons, all the other app windows go transparent so you can "peek" at the windows you're pointing at.
- Gadgets now appear on the desktop -- the sidebar has been killed. That makes more sense for all those laptop owners out there with limited screen space, and you can still see gadgets anytime by peeking at the desktop, rendering all other windows transparent.
- Window resizing and management now happens semi-automatically: dragging a window to the top of the screen maximizes it, pulling it down restores; dragging a window to the edges auto-resizes it to 50% for quick tiling. Nifty.
- The system tray now only displays what you explicitly say it should -- everything else is hidden, and the controls have been streamlined.
- User Account Control settings are now much more fine-grained -- you can set them by app and by level of access.
- They demoed multitouch features on an HP TouchSmart PC -- it was pretty cool, although the usual nagging "what is this good for / that'll get old fast" concerns weren't really addressed. The Start menu gets 25 percent bigger when using touch to make it easier to handle, and apps will all get scroll support automatically. There's also a giant on-screen predictive keyboard. Again -- could be amazing, but we won't know until it's out in the wild.
- We've always known Microsoft intends Windows 7 to run on netbooks, and we got a small taste during the PDC keynote: Windows SVP Steve Sinofsky held up his "personal" laptop running Windows 7, an unnamed 1GHz netbook with 1GB of RAM that looked a lot like an Eee PC, and said that it still had about half its memory free after boot. (We're guessing it was running a VIA Nano, since most Atoms run at 1.6GHz.)
- At the other end of the scale, Windows 7 supports machines with up to 256 CPUs.
- Multiple-monitor management is much-improved, as is setting up projectors -- it's a hotkey away. Remote Desktop now works with multiple monitors as well.
- Media Center has been tweaked as well -- it looks a lot more like the Zune interface. There's also a new Mini Guide when watching video, and a new Music Wall album artwork screensaver that kicks in when you're playing music.
- Devs got a pre-beta today; a "pretty good" feature complete beta is due early next year. No word at all on when it'll be released to market apart from that "three years from Vista" date we've known forever.
That's just the good bits -- hit the read links for piles of more info and screenshots, and we'll keep our eyes out for anything else interesting. Exciting times!
Read - Keynote videos on the PDC site
Read - Technologizer Windows 7 hands-on
Read - Ars Technica Windows 7 interface walkthrough
Read - Laptop Windows 7 hands-on
Read - Windows 7 Media Center revealed
Windows 7 details galore: interface tweaks, netbook builds, Media Center enhancements originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 28 Oct 2008 13:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tagi: interface ideas, laptop owners, impressive job, hp touchsmart pc, beta stage, transparent window, giant screen, netbook, screen space, lts, start menu, system tray, taskbar, keynote, peek, new features, gadgets, laptops, sidebar, demo
Posted by on under global mobile computing, vivienne tam, netbooks, tier vendors, global mobility, mini 1000, netbook, life cycles, compas, global markets, emerging markets, price tag, related news, clutch, denial, laptops, atom, intel, array, hp |
Filed under: Laptops
Here in the US of A, most netbooks come stocked with a predictable array of hardware: a 1.6GHz Intel Atom CPU, 80GB HDD, 1GB of RAM and a price tag ranging from $399 to $699. Elsewhere on the planet, things are a bit different, and if
VIA has anything to say about it,
it will be the name people think of when hearing "
netbook" in Asia and beyond. Said outfit has just cranked up a Global Mobility Bazaar program to "drive [global] mobile computing adoption," and it has already managed to pull 15 companies (including Microsoft, for a little thing called WinXP) onboard. In essence, the program will enable second-tier vendors to get in the netbook game and offer products with shorter life cycles and lower prices -- both of which are mighty useful in emerging markets. In somewhat related news, we're also hearing a sketchy report that HP has chosen the Intel route for its future netbooks, and considering that the
Vivienne Tam Digital Clutch has already selected Intel, we suppose the forthcoming
Mini 1000 will likely be the real confirmation / denial.
[Via
Liliputing]
Read - VIA's Global Mobility Bazaar
Read - HP choosing Intel?
VIA teams with Microsoft to drive low-cost netbooks in global markets originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 28 Oct 2008 11:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tagi: global mobile computing, vivienne tam, netbooks, tier vendors, global mobility, mini 1000, netbook, life cycles, compas, global markets, emerging markets, price tag, related news, clutch, denial, laptops, atom, intel, array, hp
Posted by on under presidential motorcade, staircase, crocodile, onion, kidney, briefs, bush |
latest in a series of briefs, including
Bush Passes Three-Pound Kidney Stone,
Crocodile Bites Off Bush's Arm, and
Bush Tumbles Wildly Down Washington Monument Staircase
Tagi: presidential motorcade, staircase, crocodile, onion, kidney, briefs, bush
Posted by on under asus eeepc 701, netbook, coming to grips, coby, rite aid, kroger, wi fi, new category, category of computer, ports, hasn, laptop, models, linux, marketing |
Just as we're coming to grips with the entire netbook phenomenon, low end manufacturer Coby comes up with something even lamer. "[Midget PCs] are smaller than a netbook but not THAT small." Midget PCs. Lovely.
What's makes a midget PC different than a netbook? If you listen to Coby's marketing director, they're a whole new category of computer meant for leaner times. As far as I can tell though, the PoqetMate-7 and PoqetMate-9 are just netbooks, albeit extremely cheap ones. Coby hasn't offered many specs to ponder, but the models, primarily differentiated by screen size (7in and 9in) will run Linux atop a Chinese Longsoon processor. Past that, I wouldn't expect much more than a Wi-Fi adapter and a few ports, bringing the PoqetMate in line with low-end netbooks like the Asus EeePC 701.
Coby plans to bring these to discount retailers, including traditionally computer-averse stores like Kroger and Rite-Aid, by March, making the PoqetMate-7 the first $100 computer to be widely available in the US. [AKIndi via TheGadgetSite]
Tagi: asus eeepc 701, netbook, coming to grips, coby, rite aid, kroger, wi fi, new category, category of computer, ports, hasn, laptop, models, linux, marketing
Posted by Jonathan Schwartz on under microprocessor strategy, open source software, sun microsystems, trade journals, april fool, strategic intent, litigious society, byproduct, crackpot, source files, thirty days, microprocessors, ticker symbol, datacenter, outset, chat rooms, derivatives, |
As you know, Sun's open source software and microprocessor strategy has been, at times controversial. We've filled trade journals and chat rooms with all kinds of dialog and the occasional crackpot conspiracy theory.
As many have rightly assumed from the outset, that controversy was, in fact, not a byproduct of the strategy - it was the strategy: if you're talking about Sun, you're not talking about the other guy. And then you'll buy a datacenter.
But now that we've firmly established our reputation for open source leadership, I'm very worried there's no more controversy to be had. There's too much trust in the system, and too much clarity around our strategic intent. So it's getting tougher and tougher to kick up a storm - and we can't very well spend a billion dollars or change our ticker symbol every time we want to generate a headline. Now can we?
So today I'd like to unfurl the second chapter of our strategy.
We want you to give it all back. You couldn't possibly believe we'd let you keep it, did you?
We specifically request that all free software originally distributed by Sun Microsystems, related to software or microprocessors, including but not limited to source files, binaries, derivatives, extensions, applications, patents, patent applications, copyrights, ideas, thoughts, and derivative thoughts, along with any and all mirrors thereof, be returned immediately.
In addition, (we know this is the risky part, but we need to get the privacy advocates twittering, too), we demand all data processed, stored or created by such intellectual property, up to and including all data held within file systems, databases or open source productivity applications be returned, as well. Up to and including the book report your kid just typed on OpenOffice.
We'd like to request this all be returned within thirty days.
Thank you for your understanding.
______________________________
And although it pains me to say this, we do live in a litigious society, so: YES, this is an April Fool's joke, as defined by relevant sections of the United States Securities Act of 1933.
Tagi: microprocessor strategy, open source software, sun microsystems, trade journals, april fool, strategic intent, litigious society, byproduct, crackpot, source files, thirty days, microprocessors, ticker symbol, datacenter, outset, chat rooms, derivatives,
