InfoWorld has a somewhat long-ish article about how to beat the drop-dead date for Windows XP sales, which Microsoft has set as June 30th of this year. That’s in less than a month! What to do?! Well, here are a couple of options. First, June 30th is the last date that Windows XP can be sold. However, retailers and manufacturers can still sell copies of XP to the public and/or load copies of XP onto computers after that date, they just won’t be able to buy more copies of XP from Microsoft once stock runs out. So you’ll probably see retail stores and PC makers buying up copies of XP this month, lots and lots of copies. Second, manufacturers have the option to provide downgrade rights to customers who buy new computers that would normally be pre-loaded with Vista. Dell is apparently offering downgrade rights until January 31st of next year and HP will be offering downgrade rights until July 30, 2009. So for many custom-built PCs, you’ll have the option of loading them up with XP instead of Vista. → Read More
Looks like Microsoft is serious about this Windows 7 thing. Starting Monday, hardware makers will have to make their drivers compatible with Windows 7 as well as Vista to get that coveted “Certified for Windows Vista” badge on their gear. Seems kind of unnecessary right now, since 7 won’t be out for another couple years, but I guess they don’t want a repeat of the XP/Vista driver debacle. I’m more surprised that they have a build of 7 that the hardware testers can use to certify their stuff. We all saw the Windows 7 video last week, but is the OS really complete enough at this point that display drivers can be written for it? Luckily, that’s not really my problem. → Read More
So Microsoft’s Sinofsky had a pretty good dance with CNET about Windows 7, really not saying much of anything. But a picture’s worth a thousand words, right? Howzabout a ton of pics? We can confirm these are indeed screen shots of the current build of Windows 7 as it will be introduced in 2010, but keep in mind that’s three years away and many changes might be made. We’re hoping it’s better than Vista. Click the jump for lots of screen grab goodness. [UPDATE] A Microsoft rep has pointed out that these are older versions of the concept renderings for Windows 7 and, as stated above, not likely what we’ll see when it’s released in 2010. In other Windows 7 UI news, the latest version will be demoed later tonight at the All Things D conference. It’ll be interesting to see how close to these older renderings it turns out to be. → Read More
Look out Intel and AMD, there’s a new kid on the block. He comes from the wrong side of the tracks, kicked out of his former school for staying out at recess long after the bell rang. His name’s Isaiah and he’s gunning for the both of you. Something like that, anyway. The Isaiah chip by VIA will be here later this month and will be aimed at regular notebooks and desktops. VIA’s C7 processor has been somewhat popular with lower-end notebooks and things like fanless media center PCs and car PCs. The Isaiah chip, though, will be interesting to watch, as VIA’s formed a partnership with NVIDIA for an embedded platform that costs less than $50 but is capable of running Vista. via CNET → Read More
Apple needs to revamp their ad campaign. I’m perfectly content with their iPod/iTunes commercials, but these “Get a Mac” ads are getting old and not as funny as they used to be. What do you guys think? → Read More
Gateway is said to be launching three new lines of desktop computers tomorrow. One aimed at gamers, one for online media enthusiasts, and a line of entry level computers for average users. For gamers, the FX series is the place to start. Gateway is highlighting the FX541, with it’s SLI motherboard, dual PCIe x16 slots, and has a factory overclocked NVIDIA 8800 GT video card. If you’re into watching movies on your desktop or you’re a BitTorrent freak, you’ll want to look at the GT series. They feature a variety of configurations and can include AMD’s odd triple-core processor. Starting at $549, they have 15-in-1 card readers in the front, integrated NVIDIA GeForce 6150SE or ATI Radeon HD 3200 graphic cards. The machines all have large hard drives to manage your large media libraries. The DX series is a no-frills budget line for Mom and Dad. They’re similar to the GT line, but also include A/V in/out jacks on the front for editing home movies. These lines come pre-loaded with Windows Vista, except the DXDX442XP which can ship with Vista or XP. It’s notable that a PC giant like Gateway is still bundling XP as an option, something that can’t make Ballmer happy. You’ll be able to get machines from these lines tomorrow at Gateway.com → Read More
Apparently the service packs for Microsoft’s Windows XP and Windows Vista operating systems aren’t playing nicely with another one of Microsoft’s products; Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management System. The incompatibility is a big enough problem that the automatic updates for Windows XP Service Pack 3 and Windows Vista Service Pack 1 have been shut down for a while. Here’s more from CNET… “We are temporarily holding any additional automatic distribution of Windows Vista SP1,” Microsoft said in response to an inquiry from CNET News.com. The company said it will continue to make Vista SP1 available for manual download. Microsoft had just started pushing out the Vista service pack last week via automatic updates. “While we are recommending that customers running Microsoft Dynamics RMS should not install SP1, there are many other customers who can benefit from installing Windows Vista SP1 immediately, so we are maintaining availability via (Windows Update),” Microsoft said. “We are delaying the release of Windows XP SP3 and holding any additional automatic distribution of Windows Vista SP1 as a precaution and to help ensure that our customers have a great experience with Windows.” Nice, huh? Oh well. Pobody’s nerfect. via [H]Enthusiast → Read More
Will Microsoft extend the life of Windows XP after all? Steve Ballmer told reporters today that “If customer feedback varies, we can always wake up smarter,” according to the Associated Press. He conceded that most of the customers who are still buying XP are IT departments but said that “most people who buy PCs today buy them with Vista. That’s the statistical truth.” Gee, thanks Steve. I’m not sure about the last time you were in a Best Buy store, but you may have noticed that XP isn’t an option on most new computers unless you order them online and/or customize them yourself. → Read More
Okay then. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer recently told a group of Microsoft MVPs (Most Valuable Professionals) that Vista is “a work in progress” and then asked, “Can we just sort of kiss that stone and move on? Because it turns out many things become problematic when you have those long release cycles.” → Read More
The Mac vs. PC battle is an old one that’s not going to find resolution anytime soon. It’s all about different tastes, I like OSX, Devin likes Windows, fine, that’s his problem. But what about just hardware? What happens if you take the operating system out of the equation? The Mac still wins, at least according to the hardware guys at Popular Mechanics, who installed Vista on an iMac and a similarly configured Gateway. The Mac ran everything better. PopMech has the details, but I’m feeling smug just knowing the results. I hope this somehow makes it into the next “I’m a Mac, I’m a PC” commercials. → Read More
That HP Mini Note? Yeah, it’ll be available with Windows XP, the preferred Windows OS of, oh, I don’t know, pretty much everyone I’ve spoken with. Some sleuthing by Laptop mag turned up the goods, discovering that XP will be available as a pre-configured option by mid-May. That’s just one month from now, and a few weeks after the Vista and Linux models launch. Remember the Google gag where “miserable failure” linked to George W. Bush’s bio? Might want to amended that so Vista shows up instead. I’ve never seen such vitriol directed at an OS. → Read More
Here’s what appears to be a Springsteen-inspired internal promotional video about the awesomeness of Windows Vista that may or may not be floating around Microsoft, allegedly leaked by one of its employees. No telling whether or not this is legit, but the video seems almost polished and cheesy enough to have come from inside a corporation of some type, unless someone really went to a lot of trouble to hire a band, a bunch of extras, and write a song about Vista. In that case, it’s wonderful. Either way, this poor man’s Springsteen seems to have a southern accent. Nice. via Neowin.net → Read More
On June 30th, Microsoft will stop selling Windows XP. According to the Associated Press, some people aren’t too thrilled “that Microsoft has the power to enforce the phase-out from a stable, decent product to one that many consider worse, while profiting from the move.” Better start a petition, huh? Galen Gruman of InfoWorld has done just that with the “Save Windows XP” online petition. It’s gathered over 100,000 signatures since January but Microsoft “has declined to meet with Gruman to consider the petition.” While some may point to the immortal words of Homer Simpson — “Kids, you tried your best and you failed miserably. The lesson is; never try.” — the real key to keeping XP around for a bit longer may rest with businesses. Analysts predict that Windows XP’s business usage will be at around 70 percent by year’s end and, although support for XP will be offered until April 2009, it’ll be pretty interesting to see how companies react to any new computers they order after June of this year being preloaded with Vista. → Read More
I can’t wait until more and more of these things come out and all of a sudden you go to a baseball game and see everyone sitting in their seats half-sideways with one leg all the way outstretched so they don’t damage the huge phone in their pockets. Ha! Anyway, that dream is coming to Japan in June thanks to Sharp and mobile carrier Willcom. The Intel Atom-based cell phone/pocket computer is called the D4 and is “the first of its kind.” It’s got a 1.33GHz processor, a 40GB hard drive, 1GB of memory, and it runs Windows Vista (slowly). Other features include a QWERTY keyboard, 5-inch 1024×600 slide-up display, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, MicroSD slot, two-megapixel camera, USB port, and TV tuner. → Read More
I think we all knew when this joker decided to run 150 apps at once on his MacBook Pro (actually close to 95, not that that isn’t a lot). A Windows fan has put up a video of Vista running 108 applications at once . Of course, not only has this been done before to similar reception, but it’s really an awful way of measuring anything at all, really. For one thing, it took about 10 minutes for the applications to open up on the mac, Vista was visibly chunking, and I simply don’t believe the fables of computers running smoothly with their RAM and swap file filled to capacity. I happen to know my MacBook Pro takes 30 seconds to load iTunes alone, and when you combine it with Aperture and Camino or Firefox, well let’s just say I always bring a book wherever I go. It’s fun for a lark, but it’s also spurring serious debates on which OS is better, as if this test revealed anything significant about either one. The test of a computer is usability and effectiveness, not the fanciful and irrelevant benchmark on display today. But damn if it didn’t bring the fanbois out of the woodwork! Update: Actually, what’s next was 165 apps running on Linux. Bam! → Read More
Let’s try to stay with me here. Microsoft released a service pack for Windows Vista because Vista kind of sucked as it shipped. The service pack, SP1, made many people’s Vista installs reboot permanently. So then it released an SSU (Servicing Stack Update) that Vista users were supposed to install before the SP1. This caused many people even more problems. So Microsoft today has announced a second patch, a pre-SSU update, that is to be installed before the SSU that is to be installed before SP1. In other words Microsoft has issued a patch for its patch of its patch for its flagship OS. Ta-da! → Read More
Here’s the thing. Bill Gates doesn’t really do anything at Microsoft anymore except stir the pot once in awhile. He’s basically retired and bored, so in order to liven things up he’ll say something like “Windows 7 will be available next year!!!” and then he’ll steal a bunch of pencils from the supply closet and run down the hall singing ‘Renegade’ by Styx. So last Friday, Gates told Reuters that he expected Windows 7 to be released “sometime in the next year or so,” to which the people at Microsoft who actually work all day long said, “Ho-ho-hold it,” and announced that Windows 7 would be available three years from when Vista was first available to consumers, which would put it into 2010 according to InformationWeek. → Read More
A possible Vista successor: Now blurry and boring. Billy boy let slip that Windows 7 AKA Windows Vista# will launch “next year” and explained that XP will be phased out for everything except low-cost PCs in some markets. Is he telling the truth? Who knows. He may mean an update to the Windows internals with a Vista shell, which is the most possible roadmap seeing as how they just redid the UI. You can’t spring two major UI overhauls on people that quickly, right? Comments? → Read More
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