Xandros Presto seems like a really neat idea: being able to get on your computer to do a few simple tasks without waiting for Windows to boot is a smart time saver for people on the go. But in reality, that’s all it accomplishes in its Open Beta. The 483 MB download and quick installation basically attaches itself to your motherboard, and works just like putting a second operating system onto your hard drive, allowing you whether to boot Presto or Windows when you start your computer. This is a similar approach enjoyed by Mac owners who prefer Windows operating systems, only a with much less space and a whole lot faster.
I was impressed by the fact that it booted relatively quickly. My computer (2.66 Intel Core 2 Duo, 4 Gigs DDR2 RAM) boots Vista from turning the computer on to letting me get to work in 53 seconds, which is not terrible considering…that it’s Vista. Presto was able to embarass the boot speed by booting in 27 seconds, almost half of what it takes to get Vista going. And with the bare bones approach: Firefox, Skype, the ability to chat using any other IM service, and being able to pull up existing files using Open Office, I was able to get started on whatever I wanted to right away. So for people on the go with laptops and netbooks, Presto gets my recommendation.
Desktop users may want to avoid it, however. A 26 second difference isn’t going to be huge for a lot of people, and Presto doesn’t pick up on most devices. So your camera, iPod, even your wireless connection, are compeltely out of the picture when using Presto. Putting drivers in conjunction with Presto seems to be a big hassle as well, since there won’t be much of a market for developers to have their products work with a small-scale developer like Xandros. It’s easy to tell that Presto is built from the ground-up using Linux, cutting as many corners as possible to achieve a fast bood speed. The convenience is no match for actually being able to do things on your desktop.
Another thing that bugged me was how ugly the interface looked. There wasn’t nothing but a stoic grey background, accompanied with a few buttons on the left side of the screen that was stretched out because of my widescreen monitor.
Xandros 4.1 doesn’t look that bad, why can’t Presto look a little more like that? Widescreen support would be nice, but the target audience seems to be those with laptops and netbooks, the latter which doesn’t offer any widescreen format for the sake of its compactness.
I honestly don’t see any desktop users picking up the full product, but there should be plenty of gold to mine with the laptop and netbook crowd. The Open Beta will at least look at getting some of the bugs out of the way for the April 13 launch, hopefully Xandros will work on getting it to work with wireless connections and devices more efficiently. The product will retail for $19.99.
Anybody who owns a gadget in today’s world faces frequent issues with electricity, especially those of us with environmental concerns. Apple’s new MacBook, though an expensive endeavour, has a new lithium ion battery that can be recharged fully over a thousand times in the battery’s lifetime. But a lot of other companies are starting to see the amount of money and PR that can be earned by going green.
Byoungwoo Kang and Gerbrand Ceder of MIT have a different story. While going green is a solid goal, convenience has its place in the business world, and charging up products sometimes takes a while. MIT, meanwhile, thinks that they could recharge the next generation of batteries mere seconds. In a story by Nature.com, the researchers found that the compound used in today’s lithium-ion batteries has a natural “crystal tunnel expressway” that, when tweaked to support the speed in which the electricity travels through, would likewise up the charge rate.
Still, it’s not unreasonable to question how much power these new batteries will be able to hold. Rechargable batteries have been closing the gap in recent years to their nonrechargeable cousins in terms of how long they can go, and since the new technology hasn’t been tested on a wide-scale, it’s unclear whether or not they’ll be able to support the devices of tomorrow.
However, that wide-scale experiment may come sooner than we think. Given the social push and the world’s governments ideologies shifting to a more reasonably environmentally friendly power gird, portable electronics may be one of the first things on the list to take advantage of the speedy recharge times. Though for more practical purposes, being able to charge up a car in ten minutes could be the pushing point for enough people to ditch the gasoline-powered vehicles and go with an electric car. But honestly, who wouldn’t like to charge up their laptop in under a minute? There’s a great market for this kind of thing, whoever jumps onto it first will no doubt see the public torrenting in their direction.
A lot of people noticed something when they downloaded Internet Explorer 7–released five years after IE6 and the death of its main competitor: Netscape–it looks a lot like Firefox! There’s a good reason why they took a few pages out of Mozilla’s playbook, the third-party Internet browser had surpassed IE6’s (and IE7 with its upgrade to 2.0 and buried it in the ground with 3.0) power, reliability, and sheer amount of user add-ons available over the scant allotment of what Microsoft offered to upgrade it. So with IE8 in development for Windows 7, there’s a chance Microsoft can come back to be relevant in the market, right?
Maybe not. A week ago, Microsoft announced that users can turn off certain system aspects in Windows 7, including, but not limited to: Windows Media Player, Microsoft Office, and Internet Explorer 8. Perhaps they have come to realize that in this day and age, independent makers of commonly-used programs are beginning to surpass those of the paid content found automatically on packaged operating systems. Open Office is a huge example of how to do freeware right, because who in their right mind will pay $150 for the current Office offerings when one can get a freeware version that can read the same files and do virtually the same thing for no cost?
Microsoft seems to be looking the direction of its increasing amount of competitors (this, by the way, is a must read), and with Google having entered the game with Chrome, a lot of companies are wondering if the search engine giant will become the next internet browser giant. In a page taken right out of the classic flash animation, Epic 2015, we see that the company’s growth, innovation, and accessibility are starting to take a real toll on its competitors, with no end in sight. While Apple’s Safari has grown more powerful thanks to the push of Apple’s desktops and notebooks, and Opera slowly becoming a more popular choice among independents, it’s tough for Microsoft to find its niche in the internet browsing market, other than inexperienced users (whose numbers are drastically dwindling).
The current rumor goes that IE8 will be made with WebKit, which was used for the core development of Safari and Chrome. Other than a few security features made famous by Windows Vista, Microsoft doesn’t have a lot of extra ground in this market. The icing on the cake may very well be the option to turn off IE8 in Windows 7, possibly showing Microsoft’s intention that there is little to be made from the market, where resources could be used to make the new OS more efficient, creatue new intellectual properties, or add ground-breaking features to existing ones. Because, let’s face it, there isn’t much to be made from something that’s available for free. With the market getting cluttered with superior products at no risk, spending too much to feebly compete is absurd.
If there’s one thing Microsoft knows how to do, it’s making money. They would be very wise to stop production of newer versions after IE8, keep a development team to make security and efficiency upgrades to the web browser, and focus more of their manpower on beating Google, Mozilla, and Apple, in the innovation game.
Just announced a few days ago, operating systems maker Xandros announced a new program that will allow users to get onto the Internet through Mozilla Firefox, instant message through Skype, and do other basic programs before Windows will even boot. The product is called Presto, and will be available for $19.99 on April 13, along with a free open beta that will be available on March 16 by signing up on their website.
A little digging around the Presto website and the Internet shows that Presto looks almost exactly like the Xandros operating system (by the way, Xandros company, I’m not sure it’s great PR to name your product after yourself in this business), only with most of the features taken out.
Having not heard of the Xandros OS prior to this, it didn’t take me long to find that it’s not exactly the answer to Windows Vista, but it’s a fairly uncomplicated Linux-based OS that is compatible with most Windows applications. But what the Xandros company claims about Presto could be a game changer.
Like installing Windows on an Mac, Presto will prompt you when you turn on your computer if you would like to run Presto or Windows. Apparently choosing Presto is a lot quicker than Windows in this case, as the site claims that one should be able to get online within seconds of turning on their PC using Firefox, access files through Open Office, and use other Linux-based applications through their free online “store.” But there isn’t enough proof in the pudding, a simple YouTube video should have the Internet talking more about this, but nobody outside the Xandros company has had real hands-on experience with it.
The product is aimed toward laptop and netbook users, but those with desktops can still get in on the action. It’s clearly not intended to be the replacement for any other operating system–since most of the corners look to be cut out with its Linux-application only approach–but rather as a “I just need to get on for three seconds to check out the website” approach for people on the go. We’ll find out more on March 16 when the open beta rolls out.
Regardless of how you feel about Vista, nobody can deny the amount of time and effort that GPU maker Nvidia has put into the operating system, often yielding superb results in an otherwise resource-hogging environment. The great news is that they plan to expand their support of Windows platforms through Windows 7, Ars reports. Along with Intel and a handful of other hardware makers eager to get a jump start on the competition within the next year, Nvidia has provided Driver updates for the Windows 7 beta (complete with 32-bit and 64-bit flavors, although in this stage of the game most of us should definitely be opting for the 64-bit option if the computer can power it).
While Ars still claims that Nvidia had a lot of issues regarding Vista…who in the beginning stages of the operating system didn’t? It started off as a buggy mess than hogged resources, and is now really being held back for the latter. The company has grown leaps and bounds since 2007: releasing new GPUs, adding support for the older ones to let them catch up, and updating all of their products with reliable drivers that have allowed them to expand in an amazingly frustrated market. No doubt their early support of Windows 7 will give top competitor AMD a run for their money.
With the new Windows still impressing everybody with its beta, it’s a wonder that companies still haven’t jumped on this train yet.
Every year, the people at Deloitte run a security survey to figure out the current status of the world’s IT security systems. The good news: breaches, leaks, hacking, and all sorts of bad things that could happen to a company’s security have gone down as people have gotten smarter with existing and in-development technologies. Which is great, with the world’s economy teetering further into uncertainty, a lot of people obviously don’t want to lose their assets. The bad news: people who work at said companies are often the ones responsible for breaches, leaks, hacking, and all sorts of…you get the point. I think it all boils down to one thing:
“Well, yeah.”
So what can companies do increase the good and decrease the bad? Simple, keep going down the path you’ve been going down for the past five to ten years: strengthen your firewall, add new features that make your current system more effective and efficient, and best of all, train your employees well so that everything that makes your company valuable remains safe and sound. Obviously every company is going to have mistakes every now and then, and it’s certainly become less commonplace during the stretch, but keep going down the path you’ve been traveling and your problems will definitely decrease as people become more accustomed to your technology.
It works both ways as well. Security companies have gone leaps and bounds to make their systems more effective and easier to use. Therefore, the same example still follows. Keep making them more effective and ergonomic, and the problem will fix itself.
So now that we’ve all figured out what we do know, how about a study figuring out when Windows 7 comes out? We’re waiting.
With the world in a credit crisis and cultures all over are seeing the gap between rich and poor getting wider and wider, cheap solutions to common problems have been all the rage in recent months. India may have raised the bar on everybody, by announcing a laptop that will retail for $20 in its country. While very few details have been released thus far (there isn’t even a public image of the final product as of this writing, I’ll try to remember to update the site with another post about it when it does), what we do know is that it has 2 gigabits (not gigabytes…let’s not get ahead of ourselves here) of RAM, Wi-Fi, an Ethernet Connection, and a low-powered battery. Even if the laptop was incredibly tiny and didn’t include basic functions (mouse control, keyboard, screen, efficient OS), this is still quite an amazing feat for a country that is well-known for its treatment of lower-classe, with quite a debate raging on how it could be done.
John Morris of ZDNet has a few ideas, including that it would very likely use a freeware OS such as Ubuntu, that it would possibly be more of a netbook or e-book reader–the former in which have become all the rage in recent times in America–and the idea that rather than have a screen, it would be something more of a projector…which seems incredibly inneficient in a classroom setting.
What a lot of these debaters seem to be neglecting is the idea of bulk manufacturing; India is the second-most populated country in the planet, not at all far from China. While 256 MB of Laptop RAM isn’t available in America, or at least extremely difficult to find since there’s virtually no use for it any more, 512 MB of Laptop RAM currently sells on Newegg for $6.99. Being very liberal with these assumptions, after massively manufacturing these, it’s likely that the RAM could only cost maybe $3Â a piece, an essential part of the bold claim.
And honestly, does anyone expect fast processors, bright screens, or even durable cases? These laptops are supposed to cost $20, and anyone who has owned a product made in China knows that there are plenty of manufacturers who will cut corners to keep the costs down and the profits up, India will not hesitate to do the same if it saves them from having to subsidize these laptops.
So really, the big enigma comes from the Wi-Fi connection, which can once again be explained by recent developments in Wi-Fi Technology. As a gamer who owns a Nintendo DS, it certainly has come a long way to be to get decent wireless connection in a small package. It’s no T1 network, but definitely serviceable enough to do the job. And assuming that all users would be sending would be text and the occasional image with these $20 laptops, setting up a speedy broadband connection will not be a priority.
So is the $20 Laptop a reality or pure Science Fiction? After all, the Tata Nano retails for around $2,000 and it re-revolutionized the way the world is starting to think about cars. Hopefully India will let us know soon, because American companies will most certainly jump on this bandwagon if it turns out to be a marketable endeavour.
What, couldn’t think of something witty, Microsoft?
Eager to try to improve on Vista, Microsoft has been pushing through the Windows 7 Beta like a snow plow through soapy bubbles, with many rumors claiming that the new Operating System should hit sometime this year. While there have been significant upgrades to how the OS handles hardware resources, some are still worried that some of the unlikeable features of Vista will continue to be seen at the Windows 7 level. Today, Microsoft confirmed that at least one of the unpopular ideas from Vista will return–the amount of versions to be released with it.
Like a fresh paint of coat, some of the versions will be similar to those found in Vista, only with the much anticipated Windows 7 in its place. The Starter Edition, aimed towards netbook users, “will be able to run only three applications at the same time” according to PC World, but will at least benefit from faster speeds for said purposes. Huh. Home Basic and Home Premium will be along the same as Vista’s versions of the same name, as will Enterprise and Ultimate. Windows 7 Professional will replace Windows Vista Business, and will handle more security features such as file encryption and an advanced network backup system. Whether or not a Limited Edition of Ultimate will come alongside Windows 7 is unknown at this time, but if Microsoft is eager to push this, expect Bill Gates to pick up a Sharpie and autograph some boxes.
It’s still an enigma to understand just why Microsoft wants to keep going with this, as the multiple version idea of Vista was universally deemed as a confusing and worthless plan, especially since the differences between each one seem so minute in comparison to one another. Sure, while the extra media programs are a good incentive to those getting started, most users will likely end up with the Home Basic or Premium versions, with few going for the higher-end models. A company can only push a Business version of an OS to a company for so long before an IT guy figures out that they could save a lot of money by just using the regular release.
Hopefully the quality of Windows 7 will be great enough to forgive such an odd business decision.
Unless you’ve been living under a cave for the past few years, Windows Vista is not exactly the hottest thing in the computer world right now. Ever since its release, it’s been plagued with compatibility issues, performance issues, a messy user interface, and unsupported drivers. It’s caused a lot of its users to switch back to XP, or adventure into some of Apple’s offerings, forcing Microsoft to force its hand with Windows 7 (which is rumored to be available this year). Most people would rather do without it.
So why has it taken The New York Times so long to finally get behind the vast majority of users?
Granted, it’s not like The New York Times is the world’s source for IT-based news and opinion. They have a lot of stories to report on, seven days a week, and griping about the unpopular OS is hardly front-page material. But this long? After numerous entries on the blogosphere–formal and informal alike–about its faults? What about the vast number of professional opinions from people with years of dedicated IT experience? Is the prestigious newspaper simply ignoring the encyclopedia of knowledge from the culture of the Internet, or are they simply not observant about things not effecting them?
I guess the moral of this quick and easy story is to just figure out where you get your tech news. Obviously a few good sites come to mind: PC World, Ars, Gizmodo, and dozens of other websites. (Including us? Throw us a bone here!) This is simply more proof that the truly tech-savvy are the ones that should be handling this sort of thing.
There’s a lot of talk about DICE’s Mirror’s Edge, but don’t take my word for it, as there are plenty of articlesdiscussing itsworth as a game. Whether you enjoyed it or not is up to you, but we can at least take the comfort of know that NVIDIA is still supporting the product with a new driver for its graphics cards.
Just released yesterday, the new driver is compatible with the 8-, 9-, and 200 series of graphics cards as long as they have at least 256 megs of memory attached to them. Since that will be about 99% of those of you reading this, maybe this could be the reason to finally grab Mirror’s Edge for PC. If not, then perhaps watching a side-by-side comparison of the new driver does for you may entice you to fork over the $49.99 for the game.
Personally, while the add-on is nice and definitely pushes the boundaries of what PC gaming can do, having it for the purpose of Mirror’s Edge seems like kind of a moot point. True, the engine will definitely be used in other games in the future, but the fact that it’s only going for this one right now kind of makes it not worth it. Things are definitely looking good in the near future, however.
Xandros Presto seems like a really neat idea: being able to get on your computer to do a few simple tasks without waiting for Windows to boot is a smart time saver for people on the go. But in reality, that’s all it accomplishes in its Open Beta. The 483 MB download and quick installation basically attaches itself to your motherboard, and works just like putting a second operating system onto your hard drive, allowing you whether to boot Presto or Windows when you start your computer. This is a similar approach enjoyed by Mac owners who prefer Windows operating systems, only a with much less space and a whole lot faster.
Anybody who owns a gadget in today’s world faces frequent issues with electricity, especially those of us with environmental concerns. Apple’s new MacBook, though an 
Regardless of how you feel about Vista, nobody can deny the amount of time and effort that GPU maker Nvidia has put into the operating system, often yielding superb results in an otherwise resource-hogging environment. 
Every year, the people at Deloitte 
With the world in a credit crisis and cultures all over are seeing the gap between rich and poor getting wider and wider, cheap solutions to common problems have been all the rage in recent months. India may have raised the bar on everybody, by 
What, couldn’t think of something witty, Microsoft?
Unless you’ve been living under a cave for the past few years, Windows Vista is not exactly the hottest thing in the computer world right now. Ever since its release, it’s been plagued with compatibility issues, performance issues, a messy user interface, and unsupported drivers. It’s caused a lot of its users to switch back to XP, or adventure into some of Apple’s offerings, forcing Microsoft to force its hand with Windows 7 (which is rumored to be available this year). Most people would rather do without it.