Archive for: operating system
Things just keep getting worse for the Windows 8 team. A claimed “official build” of Microsoft’s Windows 8 operating system has been leaked and posted over at BetaArchive Forums. But before you get too gung-ho, a quick look at the file name, “6.1.7850.0.winmain_win8m1.100922-1508_x86fre_client-enterprise_en-us.iso” shows that is quite an old Milestone 1 build and was actually compiled way back in early September of 2010. Essentially what it means is that yes, you’ll be getting your hands on the latest albeit early build of Windows. However, many of the new features of Windows 8 such as revamped explorer window, Smartscreen file checking, etc. will not be present.
Is it really worth the hassle of setting up a new machine (or restoring your own) just for the sake of a few differentiating build numbers? We don’t think so. Nonetheless, keep those eyes peeled to the torrent search engines of your choice if that sort of thing tickles your fancy.
Finally: Windows 7 is about to do (or already done) what Vista should have done several years ago — overtake Windows XP in total market share. According to the latest StatCounter metrics (pictured above) Windows 7 has finally edged out Windows XP in market share. The 10-year veteran continues its decent into the realms of locked IT cabinets and recycle bins as Microsoft’s latest and greatest finally woos people over, unlike their previous attempt with Vista. Overall, it’s pretty joyous and simultaneously sad that a 10-year old OS is finally being unseated from its reign at the top.
The next big test: Consumer adoption of Windows 8 vs. Windows 7.
In recent days we’ve seen a lot of back and forth commentary as to whether the Windows Phone 7 NoDo update utilities are actually harmful to future updates. Developer of ChevronWP7.Updater, Chris Walsh has maintained that his utility isn’t flawed. Naysayers have said that it has the potential to prevent future updates from happening. And today, Microsoft weighed in on the issue with their own official commentary. As one would assume, Microsoft’s stance is that NoDo utilities that forcefully and unofficially update phones can cause issues down the road up to and including updated devices from receiving future, official updates from Microsoft and carriers.
Of course, the debate could go on for days on end with people both for and against such tools. Taking a trip through various Windows Phone 7 forums will find plenty of users that have updated without any hassle whatsoever and then even received official upgrade notifications afterwards.
In short: if you’re paranoid or not the most technologically literate, wait. The way we see it is that if a future issue does crop up, the active dev/hacker community will find a way to fix it. They already “fix” phones unnecessarily gimped by manufacturers and carriers for monetary purposes. Why not this?
For several iterations now, OS X’s “About this Mac” panel has been rather Apple-like in that it’s basically endless lists of text. For a company that lives by visual elegance and eye candy, it was odd to say the least. But new leaked images compliments of Softpedia show a much more user friendly, visually dynamic About this Mac section.
Initially, you’re presented with two options: Mac OS X Lion and your current hardware. Clicking on one will give you specific menus for either software or hardware. From there, it’s a nicely designed trip through several tabs in the typical Apple-esque style. The most interesting aspect of the new design, however, is the storage tab for hardware informaiton — it features an iTunes approach to categorizing data on your hard drive into audio, movies, photos, apps, other, and free.
For portable users, a special battery tab is present that gives detailed (and graphical) information about your laptops battery.
Overall, the importance of this redesign is rather small. (How often do you actually venture to that part of the OS?) Nevertheless, it is just one more small piece to the overall puzzle that is OS X Lion. Hop inside for a few more screenshots.
If you weren’t a fan of Microsoft’s move to the “Ribbon” for navigational purposes in the latest versions of Microsoft Office 2007/2010, you’re going to have a hard time adjusting to Windows 8 if a fresh leak of images are indeed real. In the image above, one can see the revamped left navigation pain and top navigation area where the main toolbar currently resides. Though in anti-ribbon readers’ defense, there appears to be options to revert back to a more traditional pre-Windows 8 menubar type of layout.
So far from what we’ve seen, Windows 8 is looking to be a lot less revolutionary than once claimed and more evolutionary. Though keep in mind Windows 8 isn’t set to hit the market until 2012 at the earliest so there’s still plenty of time for things to change. Hop on past the break for a few more screenshots…
WebOS hasn’t really taken off in popularity as some other mobile alternatives have to date. But as we see it, that’s mainly because of a lack of exciting hardware or worthwhile hardware updates thus far. Now that Leo Apotheker is at the helm, however, things are quickly turning around. Take for example a claim made by Apotheker today, stating that every HP PC will be able to run the webOS experience by next year. This is but one bold claim made by a man who’s already far surpassed his rather useless predecessor, Mark Hurd, in a mere fraction of the time.
HP has a media event set for March 14th in which we’ll learn a good deal more about HP’s upcoming plans. Check back soon…
If you’re still rockin’ a computer with everyone’s favorite OS, Windows Vista, and only have up to Service Pack 1 installed, Microsoft has a message for you: Upgrade or…upgrade. That is, upgrade to at least Service Pack 2 or just move on to Windows 7 entirely. While we’d highly suggest the latter, taking a mere bump in service packs is understandable.
The official date for the transition is July 12, 2011. After said date, users will no longer have access to security updates or patches from Microsoft.
While it may seem rather quick given Vista’s young age, the OS — which seems universally hated now that Windows 7 has matured — Windows 7 has proven the exact opposite. We have to ask: Who’s running Vista still?
If the countless millions of reported iOS devices sold ever puts the notion into your head that iOS rules the internet, think again. In the grand scheme of things, iOS web presence is a paltry 1.69% (December) according to the latest Netmarketshare study. Compare that to another big mover, Windows 7, and it’s 20.87% and you can see just how far Apple has to go to conquer the world. But if you look a little deeper, you’ll discover that Apple’s added market share came from mostly new iOS devices thanks in part to the Christmas season. Microsoft’s Windows 7 on the other hand is enjoying increased web presence and marketshare at the expense of previous version of Windows. Granted, the same scenario will eventually play out for Apple and older iDevices too.
As we move further along into 2011, expect to see Android continue its own growth surge as well as more smartphones and the tablet explosion continue.
- December 14, 2010 7:14 am
Think every ex-Googler is gung-ho about the company’s current service roadmap? Think again. Gmail creator-turned-investor Paul Buchheit, came out with some sharp criticism for his former employees latest Chrome OS efforts. Specifically, he states that ChromeOS will either die, or merge with Android.
Thus far, Google has stood by multiple claims that Android and ChromeOS are two distinct, different operating systems that cater to two very different types of users. At the same time, Google’s own Sergey Brin has said that Google will “produce a single OS down the road” as recently as late-2009. Adding to the speculative nature (and grim outlook) of this topic, ChromeOS’ top architect Matthew Papakipos, left the company for Facebook earlier this past summer.
I can certainly see Buchheit’s outlook playing out. At the same time, the two OS model has survived years of experimentation by Microsoft. Thoughts?
