Windows 7 Beta Preview

Windows 7, the latest version of Microsoft’s industry-spanning operating system, is on the horizon. What does it mean for you? 

Introduction

The brickbats hurled at Microsoft over the last two years regarding the most recent version of its flagship operating system, Windows Vista, must have startled even the software giant. While Vista wasn’t universally hated, it certainly wasn’t loved by all, and with its longer-than-usual gestation period for drivers, updates, and Service Packs, Vista did little to broker goodwill between Redmond and the rest of the computing world. With Vista, it looked—and to some degree, still looks—like Microsoft lit a damp firecracker.

But that might change with the next next-generation Windows, casually titled Windows 7. Don’t plan on a full-scale step back to the innocent days of Windows XP, but don’t expect many game-changing revisions, bloat-inducing features, or productivity-strangling hardware and software problems, either. When the new OS was released in public beta earlier this month, we installed it on a Cyberpower Gamer Xtreme XE. Although we’re not convinced Microsoft has learned everything it should have from Vista, this latest OS just might be able to point the best elements of Vista toward a brighter new horizon.  

Evolution of the Netbook

Netbooks as we know them didn't just spring into existence with the Eee PC. Here's a look at some of the milestone machines that paved the way for today's netbooks.

Netbooks have become big news despite--or perhaps because of--the small packages they come in. Elsewhere we look at the current cream of the netbook crop (see "Top 5 Netbooks" [a chart] and "Top 5 Netbooks in Photos" [a slide show]), offer advice on what to look for in buying a netbook (see "Netbooks: All About the New Ultraportables"), and preview some of the the newest members of this category (see "Six New and Notable Netbooks" [another slide show]). But these devices didn't spring fully miniaturized out of the head of Zeus. Today’s netbooks are the most recent in a long line of petite but increasingly functional computers. Too small to be laptops and too big to be handhelds, these machines have quietly evolved as vendors sought an identity and a market niche for them. Here are a few of the milestone systems along the way to the modern netbook.

1991 - Psion 3

Closer to an overpowered personal organizer than to a mini-laptop, the Psion 3 ran various programs and included a modem to handle dial-up Internet.

1996 - Toshiba Libretto 20

With a 6.1-inch display, a 486 processor, and Windows 95, the Libretto was cute and impressive for its time--and ten years later it earned an honorable mention in our article "The 25 Greatest PCs of All Time."

1998 - Casio Cassiopeia

Running Windows CE 1.0, the Cassiopeia set new standards for tiny computers, with a 480-by-240 backlit LCD touch screen and a (relatively) usable keyboard.

1999 - Psion netBook

The Psion netBook sported a 7.7-inch VGA touch-screen display, accommodated an optional PC Card modem, and promised 8.5 hours of battery life.

2000 - HP Jornada 720

Like the Psion netBook, the HP Jornada had a StrongARM processor and long battery life, though its design was more svelte.

2004 - OQO Model 01

Not quite a notebook, not quite a tablet, and way more than a PDA, the OQO Model 01 set a new standard for miniaturization while still running full-blown Windows.

2004 - Sony VAIO X505

At the narrow edge of its wedgelike design, the VAIO X505 was actually thinner than today's MacBook Air, and it ran Windows XP at a respectable clip while offering a comfortable keyboard layout.

2007 - Asus Eee PC 701

The current netbook craze began with the Asus Eee PC 701, which shipped with a tiny 7-inch display but could be had for less than $300.

Netbooks: All About the New Ultraportables

Small, cheap, and surprisingly powerful, netbooks are the new ultraportables. Here's a look at the upcoming crop of netbooks, with advice on what to look for and how to buy wisely.

The term netbook, coined by Intel, conveys little useful information about this category of machines. Sure, they all have wireless networking, but so does every other laptop. Originally what the term helped to identify was a class of small, ultralightweight, cheap-as-dirt mobile PCs. Netbooks are tiny--usually between half and two-thirds the size of a garden-variety laptop--and they typically weigh only about 2 pounds. With their cool, slim designs, they outclass some fancy ultraportables. And best of all, these diminutive laptops start at around $200 (in some cases $100, when purchased as part of a mobile broadband promotional deal).

But as the next generation of mini-notebooks emerges--with some examples illustrating this article--the distinguishing characteristics named above are in flux, spurring debate here at PC World. Is price still a decisive criterion? What about the size of the device, the operating system it runs, or the CPU under its hood? Ultimately all of these things factor into the category; but as new systems with an expanding array of features arrive, our definition of netbook will continue to evolve.

The Lenovo IdeaPad S10.

Then there's the blizzard factor: So many netbooks have reached market in the past year--and so many more are on the way--that selecting the right model can be a daunting task. There is no such thing as perfection in a category that is ultimately defined by compromises, but with a little grounding in the basic features of mini-notebooks, you can make an informed buying decision.

Microsoft, Citrix Join Forces Against VMware

Microsoft and Citrix Systems have tightened their virtualization partnership to help both companies compete more effectively with market leader VMware, they announced Monday.

Citrix said it plans to release a new suite of virtualization management tools in April, called Citrix Essentials, that will be offered in two versions -- one for Microsoft's Hyper-V software and another for Citrix XenServer.

Citrix has more advanced management tools than Microsoft for virtual environments, and Microsoft hopes the partnership will help spread the use of Hyper-V in data centers. In return, Microsoft has pledged to manage XenServer environments with the next version of its Systems Center management software, which currently works only with Hyper-V and VMware's ESX. It will also market and sell Citrix Essentials for Microsoft Hyper-V to its customers worldwide, the companies said.

In another move to counter VMware's lead, Citrix will offer its XenServer software free starting in April. One or two high-end features from that product, including the high-availability features, will be moved to Citrix Essentials for XenServer, but many of the existing capabilities will be available for no charge, said Citrix CTO Simon Crosby.

Citrix Essentials for Hyper-V and Citrix Essentials for XenServer each will be priced at US$1,500 to $5,000 per server, depending on the features selected, Crosby said.

The announcements were made just as VMware's customer conference kicked off in Cannes, France.

"What this is really about is Microsoft and Citrix as a team going against VMware," said Mark Bowker, an analyst with Enterprise Strategy Group.

The tools in Citrix Essentials include StorageLink, for provisioning and managing virtual machines across large storage area networks; dynamic provisioning, which allows thousands of virtual machines to be booted simultaneously from a single master image; and a new "lab management" tool for creating virtualized test and development environments. It will also have a graphical tool for automating a workflow of complex management tasks.

The version of Essentials for XenServer will include the high-availability features that are currently in the Platinum edition of XenSource 5. Those features will not be in the version for Hyper-V.

"Citrix Essentials for Hyper-V is a much-needed step, especially for Microsoft," according to Chris Wolf, a senior analyst with Burton Group.

The storage and provisioning capabilities will be a boost for Microsoft, although the lack of a high-availability option will make some enterprises hesitant about using Hyper-V for production applications, Wolf said. At least initially, he expects the Microsoft platform to be more widely used for virtual test and development environments.

The cross-management capabilities between Hyper-V and XenSource will also give Citrix a boost, Wolf said. Customers could deploy XenServer now, with the knowledge that they can adopt Hyper-V later and manage both from Microsoft Systems Center, he said.

However, both vendors still face a formidable challenge in VMware, Bowker and Wolf said. VMware retains a technology lead in server virtualization, and it has an established presence in many data centers.

"A lot of large enterprises have mature VMware deployments; they're a bit cautious about splitting their infrastructure across multiple hypervisors." Wolf said, adding that Monday's announcements may have the most impact for small and midsize businesses.

Microsoft and Citrix both said they have a price advantage that makes them competitive with VMware. Customers would have to pay VMware $5,000 per server to get the functionality offered in the free XenServer, according to Crosby. However, VMware's Infrastructure 3 software does include features that XenServer will not have.

Microsoft wants to make virtualization part of the Windows platform, just as networking capabilities are a part of Windows today, said David Greschler, Microsoft's director of Systems Center marketing. The fact that companies are familiar with Windows lowers their training costs, he argued. "When they know Windows, they know virtualization."

Both companies see plenty of room for growth in the market.

"Today we're seeing [virtualization] at about 20 to 30 percent penetration," Greschler said, "but we expect that to grow very fast, and it will be in the upper 80 to 90 percent range very quickly."

OpenOffice.org: 7 Things You Didn't Know You Could Do

OpenOffice.org–an application suite, not just a Web site—has tricks even Office can't manage. Here are a few that may not be obvious, plus a few ways to make it less annoying out of the box.

OpenOffice.org 3.0 costs absolutely nothing but comes closer than anything else to letting you delete your copy of Microsoft Office (which probably cost you a lot). Even though OpenOffice.org—which is, yes, an application suite, not just a Web site—can't do everything Office can, it can do a lot, and it has some of its own tricks that even Office can't manage. Here are a few that may not be obvious, as well as a few ways to make OpenOffice.org less annoying out of the box.

1. Edit two or more parts of a document at the same time. Microsoft Word has a nifty split-window feature that lets you divide the current window into two panes, so you can edit page 5 of your document in the top pane and page 505 in the bottom. To switch from one pane to the other, you don't have to waste time scrolling back and forth—you simply click in the other pane. OpenOffice.org doesn't let you split a window into two panes, but it offers an even better feature. Click the Window menu, then New Window, to open a new window that displays the same document you're working on. You can open as many windows as you want, each at a different place in your document; any change you make in one window immediately appears in all others. You can reduce screen clutter by turning off toolbars in one or more windows (use View | Toolbars), and you can tile or cascade the windows by right-clicking on the OpenOffice.org button on the Windows taskbar.

2. Use OpenOffice.org to open legacy documents. Years ago, older versions of Microsoft Office could open documents created by almost any of the myriad word processors and spreadsheet programs that were widely used before Microsoft monopolized the market. Recent versions of Office can't open many of those older formats—including old Microsoft Word versions such as Word 6.0. By contrast, OpenOffice.org continues to open Word documents dating back to Version 6.0. OpenOffice.org also opens WordPerfect documents, including files created in WordPerfect for the Macintosh 3.5 Enhanced, which not even WordPerfect for Windows tries to open.

By the way, there's something confusing about OpenOffice.org's claims. The product purports to support at least one format that never existed: The list of supported file types in its File | Open dialog includes "Microsoft WinWord 5.0," even though there never was such a version. Word for Windows skipped from 2.0 to 6.0 in its version numbers.

3. Play a vintage Space Invaders game. Remember the days of software "Easter Eggs"? They were not-very-secret keystrokes or mouse clicks that brought up silly graphics in some programs and games in others. Even Microsoft Excel used to have a secret game built in before Redmond lost its sense of humor. OpenOffice.org's Calc spreadsheet program still includes a 1990s-era shoot-'em-up Space Invaders game. Open the Calc app, and in any cell enter:

=GAME("StarWars")

Make sure to copy the capitalization shown here. Calc will open a StarWars game in which you shoot down a fleet of evil alien ships. The explanatory text is in German (the original version of OpenOffice.org was written in Germany), but you don't need to know even English to play the game. Calc has a slightly Teutonic attitude toward fun-and-games, however: After you quit the game, you'll need to shut down Calc and start it up again before you can play a second time.

4. Turn off the blinking light bulb. By default, a light-bulb icon appears in a tiny window whenever OpenOffice.org does anything that isn't exactly what you typed—for example, when it replaces two hyphens with a dash. It doesn't exactly blink, but after the third or fourth time it opens, you may think of it as "that blinking light bulb" (you might use a word other than "blinking"). To turn it off permanently, go to Tools | Options, and then, in the left-hand pane, expand the menu tree by clicking the plus sign next to OpenOffice.org. In the General dialog, remove the check mark next to Help Agent.

5. Save files in Office formats by default. By default OpenOffice.org saves files in its own format, which most Microsoft Office users can't open. You can save individual files in Office format by using OpenOffice.org's File | Save as… menu and selecting a Word format from the Save as Type dropdown. But you can tell OpenOffice to save in Office formats by default by choosing Tools | Options, then find the Load/Save category, and the General subcategory. In the Document Type dropdown, choose Text Document, and in the Always Save As dropdown, choose Microsoft Word 97/2000/XP. Then, in the Document Type dropdown, choose Spreadsheet, and in the Always Save As dropdown, choose Microsoft Excel 97/2000/XP. These choices will create files that can be read by any modern word processor or spreadsheet.

6. Automate actions easily. Many advanced Microsoft Office users take advantage of macros that run automatically when you open, print, or close a file, but Office's interface doesn't provide built-in clues for creating an AutoClose macro that will run whenever you close a document. OpenOffice.org goes Office one better by providing a menu-driven interface that lists all the actions that can automatically trigger macros—and these include a wider range of actions than the ones that can be automated easily in Office. For example, you can create a macro that is triggered every time the number of pages in a document increases and that inserts a header with a page number if the number goes above, say, two. Other actions that can automatically trigger macros include saving a document under a different name and running a mail merge. To use this feature, record the macros you want to use, then go to Tools | Customize | Events and assign your chosen macro to specific events.

7. Fix those single quotes. By default, OpenOffice.org Writer creates good-looking, curly "typographic" double-quotation marks as you type, but when you type a single quotation mark (or an apostrophe) it uses a vertical line, as if you were still using your grandfather's manual typewriter. Fix this by going to Tools | AutoCorrect…, then go to the Custom Quotes tab and, under Single Quotes, add a check mark next to Replace.

Software libre! Cuba develops own free Linux called ‘Nova’

February 12, 2009 (Computerworld) Cuba released its own distribution of the free Linux operating system this week, as the communist island seeks to wean its citizens and institutions from what it says is insecure, capitalist-produced Microsoft Corp. software, according to a report.

The Reuters news service reported Wednesday that the new version is called Nova, and was introduced at a technical conference in Havana.

Based on a Linux variant called Gentoo that is popular with highly technical users, Nova has been in development since 2007, according to the Associated Press, after Free Software guru Richard Stallman visited the island and persuaded government officials to move off Windows.

Microsoft software, such as Windows, is widely used in Cuba, though much of it is pirated, according to Reuters.

About 20% of the computers in Cuba, where PC sales to the public only began last year, run Linux, Hector Rodriguez, dean of the School of Free Software at Cuba’s University of Information Sciences, told Reuters.

“I would like to think that in five years our country will have more than 50% migrated [to Linux],” he said.

A three-minute video demonstrating Nova Baire, the Cuban Linux’s name in Spanish, is available on YouTube.

It is based on Gentoo, a Linux variant introduced in 2002 and run by a foundation in New Mexico.

It is a source-based distribution, meaning that the Gentoo operating system is downloaded and compiled on each individual computer. That can offer performance benefits for enthusiasts, though it may be complicated for less technical users.

According to Distrowatch.com, a Web site devoted to Linux enthusiasts, Gentoo was the third most popular Linux version in 2002, behind Mandrake (now called Mandriva) and Red Hat.

Last year, it ranked 18th among Distrowatch.com readers.

Donnie Berkholz, a developer and head of public relations at Gentoo Foundation Inc., confirmed that Nova is based on Gentoo Linux, though he said the Cuban variant is being developed independently without the U.S.-based foundation’s help.

Ironically, Gentoo’s creator, Daniel Robbins, went to work for Microsoft’s Linux lab for eight months in 2005 after resigning from the Gentoo organization. Robbins later left, reportedly “frustrated” because he “wasn’t able to work at my full level of technical ability.”

Cuba chose Linux generally because it is free, its source code is accessible and it is less vulnerable to malware, Rodriguez said.

“Private software can have black holes and malicious codes that one doesn’t know about,” Rodriguez told Reuters. “That doesn’t happen with free software.”

Microsoft did not immediately return an e-mailed request for comment.

Rodriguez also said that free software better suits Cuba’s politics.

Some government ministries and the Cuban university system have already switched to Linux. But some government-owned companies have grumbled about incompatibility with their own custom applications, Rodriguez said.

Cuba is one of several countries, generally communist or developing nations, whose governments are backing the use of Linux or open-source software as an alternative to expensive proprietary software.

The Venezuelan government, for example, has been moving its ministries to dump Windows for Linux and open-source software, and is reportedly making and selling its own “Bolivarian Computers” running Linux to the general public.

China has for several years had its own government-supported version of Linux called Red Flag that is supported by U.S. vendors, including Oracle Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co.

In 2007, Nigeria chose Mandriva Linux over Windows for 17,000 Intel Classmate PCs aimed at elementary school students.

Intel Surprises With 32-nm Roadmap: Westmere and Nehalem Details

In the last couple of days, Intel has made some major new announcements about its transition to 32nm production, covering everything from the underlying technology to its capital spending plans to a revised roadmap for its desktop processors. The resulting changes mean that we may see 32nm parts in mainstream PCs much faster than expected, even as the underlying technology continues to improve at a steady pace.

As PC Magazine explained yesterday, Intel has updated its roadmap to include two new 32nm dual-core chips, known as Clarkdale (for desktops) and Arrandale (for mobile systems), that are expected to be released in the fourth quarter of the year. These will be the first chips in the “Westmere” family of core designs, replacing the 45nm “Nehalem” designs introduced recently with the Core i7 family and the earlier 45nm “Penryn” designs that represent most of the current Core 2 Duo and Quad processors.

What makes this particularly interesting is that it’s the first time that I can think of where a new process technology is being introduced in a mainstream processor instead of a performance version. The first Penyrn processor released was the Core 2 Quad Extreme QX9650, and the first Nehalem was the Core i7 ; both were high-end quad core chips. Similarly, when AMD introduced its first 45nm chips recently, the first designs were the “Shanghai” server chip and the Phenom II X4 940 Black Edition.

We’ve long expected 32nm parts to be released at the end of 2009, but what makes this surprising is that Intel is leading with mainstream dual-core chips instead of a high-end chip. The company did say it plans a new 32nm chip for high-end systems, called Gulftown with 6 cores and supporting 12 threads, but said that wouldn’t be out until 2010. That would replace the current 45nm Core i7, known as Bloomfield.

(Recall that Intel’s schedule calls for a new family each year, alternating between process shrinks and major architectural changes. Thus Nehalem was the big architectural change, while Westmere is primarily a shrink to 32nm, although the company says it has made some minor changes to enable on-chip encryption. The next big architecture change would be Sandy Bridge, due in late 2010 or early 2011.)

This is a change from Intel’s previous roadmap, which had two 45nm dual-core parts, called Havendale (desktop) and Auburndale (notebook), which Intel now says are “deprioritized.” My guess is this means we’ll never see these chips at all - in other words, for dual-core chips, Intel will skip the Nehalem generation and go straight to the 32nm Westmere chips. Clarkdale (desktop) and Arrandale (notebook) will have 2 cores, 4 threads; and will now be the first of the Intel chips to come with integrated graphics and memory controller on the chip. (These are actually on a separate die than processor core, but I doubt that makes much difference to end users.) The graphics will be switchable, meaning they can be turned on and off in systems that also have discrete graphics. This is a “re-partitioning” of the chip platform - instead of two supporting chips in Intel’s current “4 series”, there will now need to be only one (which will be used to connect to input/output devices and the display) in the upcoming “5 series” also known as “Ibex Peak.”

That chipset will form the basis for Intel’s upcoming new platforms, called Piketon/Kings Creek (for corporate and consumer desktop s) and Calpella (for mobile systems.) These platforms will also support upcoming 45nm Nehalem-based quad-core processors called Lynnfield (desktop) and Auburndale (notebook). Those processors will have four cores and support 8 threads, and will include an integrated memory controller, but not integrated graphics. Expect to see these in systems with discrete graphics. These chips are expected to ship in the second half of this year.

In other words, it sounds like Intel is both simplifying and stretching out its platform road map - this will leave it with fewer different designs, but will bring the 32 nm parts to market faster. This should have a number of benefits. At this week’s International Solid State Circuits Conference (ISSCC), Intel fellow Mark Bohr gave a keynote talk that described the company’s 32 nm technology as part of a discussion on system-on-chip designs. In that talk, he described some of the techniques the company was using, including a new generation of “strained silicon,” a new generation of High-K/Metal Gate transistors; and immersion technology to create smaller transistors; and said the overall result could mean a 22 percent increase in performance over 45 nm processors. Of course, we won’t know performance in the real world until we see shipping processors. Also - and certainly of interest to Intel - is that 32 nm chips by definition should be less expensive to produce than 45 nm ones.

To get to 32 nm, Intel yesterday announced plans to spend $7 billion in 2009 and 2010 on 32 nm manufacturing technology, to update its plants in Oregon, New Mexico, and Arizona. Although this really isn’t surprising - the company has long said it would migrate to 32 nm - it’s good to see investments in U.S. manufacturing in this economy.

Also at ISSCC, Intel disclosed a number of details on its upcoming Nehalem-EX processor, its next generation high-end server processor. This will have 8 cores and 16 threads, 16MB of shared L3 cache and two on-chip memory controllers. This will be a Xeon 7000 series processor, joining the current high-end Xeon processor, known as Dunnington, which has six cores. This chip will contain a record 2.3 billion transistors.

When you consider that the Pentium 4 came out in 2000 with 42 million processors on 180 nm technology, it’s really impressive. No matter what’s happening with the economy, it looks like chip technology is marching along.

Source : PCMag.com