Windows 8–What?

 

Microsoft has done a very good job on Windows 7 and Windows 7’s market share has out broken XP’s. What about the next version?

Microsoft has been showing off Windows 8 from the start of 2011. The video that they put out on YouTube was not very informative but it did give us an idea on what the next version on Windows will be.

At first glance at the video, I was very confused. The interface shown looked really different. At first I thought that it was very confusing and to a normal consumer it was going to be very hard to get around the user interface. The narrator showed of a user interface that looked very different. He showed of something called the metro interface.

The interface made me wonder why they are calling the Operating system Windows. The narrator mostly used the Metro UI, but when he came to the point where he showed of the file browser in Windows 8 (Windows Explorer) he took us to the similar interface that looked exactly like Windows 7. There was a lot of confusion going on in the start and some of them already had their opinions on whether to upgrade or not. But they managed to convince themselves. Because it was just a preview.

Soon, around November of 2011,  Microsoft put out developer preview of Windows 8 for the developers to download. Most of the people (Including usual consumers) actually installed it. Most of the reviews on the internet was telling that the whole operating system was confusing. Even for the basics like shutting down the computer. Many people also said that it was like a tablet operating system being used with a mouse and a keyboard. Most people said that Windows 8 will surely push users towards Mac and Linux. After all this talking, let me show you the first screen you see after logging in:

 

That is what you will see. You see the users name on top left. And you see the word start on the top right.

The whole OS seemed as if it was made for a tablet. When when people found a tile named desktop and they clicked it, it took them back to the old traditional desktop. But when they clicked start to launch a program it took them back to the metro user interface. It never made sense. Start was to start programs. But why did it have to take them to a completely different interface? Everybody had a very tough time getting around. Also, there are two types of apps – Metro apps and Desktop apps. The metro and the desktop apps are launched using the metro screen. The Metro apps are full screen and are especially made for tablets. The Desktop apps run in a windows like a usual Windows 7 app. So it confused the user so badly that they never wanted to use a Windows computer again.

This was a huge problem to us but not Microsoft. The first thing that I could ever think is Microsoft is going to lose their enterprise customers as well, the market where Microsoft was shining. I thought Steve Ballmer does not know how to run a company. Why would any company make a product that is not at all friendly to a market the they are shining in, and Microsoft states that their users, enterprise or home, they are going to love. Microsoft still does not understand that it is not easy to use.

I have been talking about the bad for a long time, let’s get to the good stuff.

Microsoft has introduced a new booting technology that makes windows 8 boot 5x faster. The OS installed with most of the basic programs booted in 5 seconds to the login screen and 2 seconds to the start screen. This was one of the reasons why people might consider getting Windows 8 .

In previous versions of Windows, aero was like a texture and the Windows classic was the one that used to run most of the time. In Windows 8 aero has been made the traditional interface. People don’t need high end video cards any more to run aero. It all works out of the box. This is great as your (and mine)  Windows 8 desktop looks cool out of the box.

Microsoft, previously had a program called Windows defender for basic viruses and Windows firewall for firewall. But for advanced malware, you needed to go out and purchase a additional software such as MacAfee or Norton. But in Windows 8 Microsoft has built in all of the security essentials for a operating system and you no longer need to worry about viruses as you get virus protection out of the box and free.

It is very interesting how Windows 8 is going to perform in the outside world as Microsoft has a lot good and bad. Let’s see how it will.

 

- Hemanth

Ubuntu 11.10

Ubuntu 11.10 review



Ubuntu 11.40  was a very good operating system for either home, business or other uses. My use for Ubuntu was mainly for programming purposes. The Linux kine of operating systems were not so famous because they looked at as third party consumer product. After the Ubuntu 11.40 the number of users that Ubuntu has has increased. People love Ubuntu for various reasons.

The first thing that I noted when I looked at Ubuntu is in its requirements. I use a IBM think pad T42. I know its a pretty old laptop but I wanted the laptop for my programming purposes. I wanted to make an operating system and make it work well. People insisted me on using Linux because it was the operating system that supported most of the compilers and things like that. I thought that the NASM compiler I wanted to run would not run Ubuntu because it was a newer operating system that looks more cool and sleeker. It occurred to me a while ago that when I was using windows 7, I tried running some ms – dos applications such as lotus 123 and NASM. Lotus 123 failed to run but NASM worked. I got a mindset that the newer and modern you go, the past and the older you lose. I mean that the newer versions of operating system back backwards compatibility. But Ubuntu was not like that. It ran every application smoothly.

The Unity Desktop that they call has been updated to run on older PC's running older graphic cards. My computer has 32 MB graphic card and it still runs unity. Its unbelievable because the windows aero needs minimum of 64 MB to run. Here is a picture of Unity Desktop.

The Unity runs very well. Although there is some freezing when there is a lot of stuff opened up.

Overall I really liked the operating system. I have no problems asking you to upgrade to it. Thanks for reading.

Anirocks11. V

Windows 7

My impression after using Microsoft Windows 7.

Windows 7 is a very good operating to work to play and also to get fast computing.
I am generally a WIndows Vista user and i am used to the old taskbar with icons, labels and the old quick launch area.
But when i got my hands on Windows 7 it was really great. The taskbar looks more good and the computer is more faster than i thought. WIndows Vista which is old as you people know has got a very bad reputation as it was slow in performance and also was not working well with devices. I have also expierienced it. My computer would take upto Five minutes to boot, Load and to startup all the hardware. I was annoyed because i would switch on my computer, Go make a sandwitch, eat it and come out, till that time my computer would be ready to use.
Due to this I became very annoyed. I even thought that i have to go back to XP but my programs that i have installed on my computer does not work with Windows Xp. Then in a few months microsoft released Windows 7. As it took time to buy a new computer, After a few months i got a new laptop loaded with Windows 7.
This was totally a new expierience for me and i said the only word "WOW" when i laid my hands on WIndows 7.This "WOW" was expected in the commercial of Windows Vista. The aero, The performance, The speed, The smartness, The Look, The Device and drivers - I was stunned after seeing the performance of all of these.
When i started writing this review I am sitting in front of Windows 7. The only problem of WIndows 7 is it is way to costly in othet country's other than United States.
Windows 7 is a very good operating system. This Operating system is based on the NT kernel. Microsoft realized that in windows vista they have stuffed a lot of devices and graphics which made windows vista hevier and also slower. And when they stuffed everything some of them do not work properly either. Due to this Windows vista got a very reputation.
Microsoft relealized that they need a much better environment to work. They need a environment where everybody can work esier and the environment is fast and safer to use. So they brought in WIndows 7.
The fast, reliable, esier and better operating system. Due to WIndows Vista people lost faith in WIndows Vista and started to use Windows XP. So Microsoft made Windows 7 Upgrade compatible to Windows XP.
When people upgraded from Vista to 7 (Like Me) or from Xp to 7 they were also stunned (Like Me).
WIndows 7 desktop looks very good nad beautifull. Here is a small screen shot:

So this is how the WIndows 7 Desktop looks like. 

OLD WINDOWS VISTA - 

As you can see the taskbar is totally changed and also looks cool in here. Most of you who have used windows and are seeing this for the first time then they will susrely get thsi in their mind - Windows 7 shows only icons not the whole text - That's right. 

But including this it shows you previews not like vista, but in its own way.

When you open multiple windows you are going to notice several changes here. 

In WIndows Vista when you open multpile Windows it will create one taskbar button with a taskbar and a label and then after the label it will write how many number of Windows were opened in Brackets. When you click on it, It will open up a menu with the name of each windows. This will occupy more taskbar space and also makes it fussy.

NEW WINDOWS 7 - 

In Windows 7 it is simplified. Se the screenshot of the taskbar below:

You might notice the Internet Windows Explorer button that there is a another patch under the button?

This is because there are two Windows opened.

In Windows Vista when you click them it shows up the menu and when you place your cursor on the menu it will show you the preview of the windows. Now, In WIndows VIsta there are three items - The Taskbar buttons, The Menu's and the previews.

In WIndows 7 it is simplified - There are only two things - Taaskbar buttons , Previews.

DId you understand what it is?

This is better.

In WIndows 7, When you click on the button it will show the previews like this:

You see there are no menus. And also it is totally simplified this time. The previews work like menu's.

This is a very good feature. The previews make the menu work esier and save space and ram. This feature is known as aero. 

Maybe it is a transparent windows or whatever it is, It is aero. Aero is included in the following editions:

Windows 7 Home Premium (32 & 64 bit)

WIndows 7 Professional (32 & 643 bit)

Windows 7 Ultimate (32 & 64 bit)

Windows 7 starter and Windows 7 home basic does not support aero. A Windows 7 Computer without aero looks like this:

So this looks totally basic. It looks like XP. This UI was first introduced in WIndows Vista. And Aero was also introduced in WIndows Vista.

Well this Windows 7 guys.

Thanks for Reading.

Ubuntu 11.04

Hello All.

Here is the new version of Ubuntu 11.04 'Natty Nawarhal'. The very big release of the ubuntu desktop edition. This was released on April 2011.

For those who don't know what is Ubuntu, Ubuntu is a Operating system written totally on Linux kernel and is open source. The source code of this operating system can be edited and can be distributed by anyone. This operating system was written in assembly and C++. The Ubuntu community says that they encourage everyone to use free and open source software. Well, some people will not be knowing what is a operating system. Operating system is the software which starts up and communicates with your hardware. Some operating system provides Graphical user interface (GUI) and some do not.

In the new version of Ubuntu there are many changes with a improved desktop. As you might be thinking i am writing this review in Ubuntu inside a tab of Google Chrome. As you can see in the screenshot, this operating system has a application launcher in its menu's. So for the first time after i installed Ubuntu when i went into the applications menu it had undergone a lot of changes. In the software side, The inside the office tab the open office org. was replaced by another set of softwares called libre office,  And under the graphics Tab the Gimp photo editor had also disappeared. These were some of the changes under the softwares side. And i see that the performance in this version is also better. Some of the amazing things about this operating system is it has got a software named evolution mail where you are notified about  your mails and chats. So you need not open your browser and login and do all sorts of things. When your computer starts up it logs you in and gives you updates about new mails and stuffs. The Ubuntu's scroll bar has also been changed. They dont look like the before version. They are very thin and when you place your mouse cursor on them they show the scroll up and down buttons.

The Classic new feature that was made was the Unity. The unity was not enabled because there was not enough system requirements.

The firefox which is one of the default browser in Ubuntu has also been updated. This time it has got a new feature named tab groups where you can put a group of tabs into a groups so that your browsing will not be confusing.

The Ubuntu games are also very intresting. They have many games including Asleriot Solitaire, G Brainy, Mahjongg, Mines and Souduku. You can also download new games at ubuntu software center.

And most importantly i forgot to mention about Ubuntu software center where you can get softwares and install it on your computer. It has got lots of softwares in groupes fro accessories to Internet, developer tools and more customizations like themes and color.

Ubuntu has also got support and also releases new versions every eighteen months and they give updates every six months.

Ubuntu has a inbuilt media center where you can listen to songs, watch a movie, and more.

You can also purchase media from Ubuntu Media center.

The Ubuntu has also got upgrades where you can upgrade to the latest version without having to delete your current settings and files.

Ubuntu has also got security where it asks you password. As most of the operating systems this also gets locked when there is no activity for a long time.

Ubuntu has also got a Gadget named panel where you can create one, customize it and add shortcut or more gadgets to it.

Ubuntu also starts up very quickly. It boots very fast and loads all your personolised settings very fast.

This os has also got many workspaces where you can work in multiple workspaces and group your work in each.

Ubuntu has also got a Command Line based application named Terminal. This application is used to run command line based applications such as qemu and nasm.

Ubuntu has also got an in-built security system where it gives you internet security, Antivirus, Malware protection and more. This is very helpful because you need not purchase a Anti-Virus program online.

Hey guys that's it for linux ruling the world. You have also got the linux magazine which you can easily in any magazine store. This magazine includes whole lot of information on linux and also the CD of the latest version of ubuntu.

Thanks for reading.

Play Station Portable

Well.....This post is to tell you about the Play Station Portable which i have bought. It looks cool!
There are two types of psp's. One is psp Go and Another is psp 3004. Well the pic. you 're seeing below shows the pic. of psp 3004.

Note: You can see an adapter and a wire. Well....this 's India and i have only got the plug.

You can see five things on the psp screen (Actually more 2 should be: The settings menu, Playstation Store). This screen is called the XMB menu.

Well....people think psp is only for playing games. Well actually it has many features other than games. You can listen to songs, watch movies, videos, view photos, read books, access the internet, share photos, stay in touch with your friends using skype, Connect to pc, Connect to other devices using bluetooth, download fun apps, Connect to PS3, Connect with a tv and PLAY GAMES!.

The games in psp 3004 will be in the form of files or Universal Media Disc(UMD). This disc is designed by sony. Take a look at the pic.:



Well you get many games in the form of UMD's. Not only games but also Movies, Videos, Songs, Books etc..

Take a look at the games for psp:

 - Need for Speed Most Wanted 5-1-0

 - Fifa 11
                                                                          



- Final Fantasy Ciris core

 - Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City

The gameplay in the psp looks similar like computer. Take a look at the pics:

Gameplay showing GTA: Liberty City

Gameplay of Fifa 11

Gameplay of Need for Speed Undercover

Well.... My games currently are:












A example for gameplay in psp:


Need for Speed Undercover (PSP)


Well...That's all for this time.

Goodbye.