Mighty Gadget Blog: The latest technology news & reviews in the UK

There has been quite a few rumours flying around about the Zune recently, including a new HD Zune. This time it is believed that MS maybe released Zune software on mobile phones. According to Adweek Microsoft is auditioning three major ad agencies for the launch of a new mobile service called "Pink".

It is believed that the Zune software will like be the media and software service used on Windows Mobile Devices.

The release candidate of Windows 7 was originally pencilled in for the end of this month however it has been announced that this will now be April 10th.

The RC release should be the first major stepping stone on the way to a commercial release well before year's end..

Microsoft has also revealed that the recently closed beta programme resulted in over half a million suggestions from testers about fixes and changes to the new operating system.

Interestingly MS are releasing updates for Windows 7 on Tuesday, 24 February that will not actually contain any updates or fixes. They are simply to test the updating system.

The users who've installed Windows 7 Beta will have to download and install these updates manually from the Windows Update control panel.

A lot of people seem to be kicking up a fuss at all the versions Microsoft will be offering Windows in. Personally I don't really see what the fuss is about 99% of users will only see 2 or 3 of the versions and the choice is quite simple. For the non techie people you are likely to only see 1 version installed on your home PC and that is the Home Premium version.

Anyway here is a list of the possible options:

Windows 7 Starter

• Available worldwide to OEMs on new PCs
• Missing Aero UI tweaks
• Limited to 3 simultaneous applications

Windows 7 Home Basic (Vista equivalent: $200)

• Only available in emerging markets
• Missing Aero UI tweaks

Windows 7 Home Premium (Vista equivalent: $260)

• Available worldwide, to OEMs and in retail
• Includes Aero UI tweaks
• Features multi-touch capabilities
• Adds "premium" games
• Adds media capabilities (Media Center, DVD playback, DVD creation, etc.)
• Can create home network groups

Windows 7 Professional (Vista equivalent: $300)

• Available worldwide, to OEMs and in retail
• Includes all features of Premium
• Adds enhanced networking capabilities (Remote Desktop host, domain support, offline folders, etc.)
• Adds Mobility Center
• Adds Presentation Mode

Windows 7 Enterprise

• Available only in volume licenses
• Includes all features of Professional
• Adds Branch Cache
• Adds Direct Access
• Adds BitLocker

Windows 7 Ultimate (Vista equivalent: $320)

• Limited OEM and retail availability
• Includes all features of Enterprise

Considering there is currently only a $60(£40?) premium for Ultimate I am not sure why it may have limited availability? I know most people don't need it but there are plenty of tech enthusiasts with more money than sense who would happily pay the extra.

If you haven't got a copy of Windows 7 yet and would like to try it out then you are in luck as Microsoft have extended the Beta download to February 10th.

While beta OS downloads from Microsoft don't normally sound like a whole lot of fun, largely due to MS being notorious for developing buggy software, Windows 7 could be an exception.

So far it has received a lot of praise from the press and public alike and I have read many reports of people ditching Vista to use Windows 7 as their main OS. Even though it is only in Beta a lot of people are reporting that Windows 7 has good driver support, is stable and is faster than Vista. Many people are even claiming better frame rates for gaming.

The most shocking comments I have read are quite a lot of Mac Fanboys loving it. I find it very rare for Mac users to compliment Windows but some are even considering choosing it over Leopard OSX.

So with all these compliments I decided to install it on my home PC. Recently it has been playing up so I was going to do a fresh install anyway so there was no better time to try out Windows 7.

Download and installation was a breeze, you can get Windows 7 beta from here. The download took a while with my speed only reaching around 0.5 Megabyes per second. Once it had downloaded everything went smoothly.

In terms of load times and how the OS performs my initial impressions are quite similar to Vista to be honest. I don't think I have seen noticeable improvements but I have only played around with it for a short period of time.

Without a doubt the biggest difference most people will notice is the new Windows Taskbar. The new taskbar is no longer just used to manage windows but it is now a full application launcher which is being compared favourably to the OS X Dock. In fact Gizmodo have declared it beats the OS X Dock.

Another important difference you will notice quickly is the removal of Windows Sidebar and the ability to use gadgets on your desktop. Side bar was just a pain in the ass it just ended up getting in the way, however having the Gadgets on the desktop means they never really get in the way, when you minimise everything they are just their nicely visible in any spot you have placed them.

If we look at other review the general consensus appears to be that Windows 7 out performs Vista however Infoworld found that XP still outperforms Windows 7 in terms of multiprocessing. Infoworld did state that this is likely due tot he fact that Windows 7 has a lot of extra code for muticore optimisation's and the benefits of these changes won't be felt until core counts climb well beyond today's dual-core and quad-core implementations. Gizmodo also found that Vista was pretty much unusable on a Dell Inspiron Mini 12 but with Aero switch off it was quite usable and more than capable of light multitasking.

Overall Microsoft seem to be be on with a winner with Windows 7.

Check out some more review of Windows 7:

PC Advisor

Gizmodo: First Impressions

Engadget: First Impressions

CNet

Tech Radar

Love it or hate it, it is very likely you will use a Windows based PC at some point during your working week.

Recently Microsoft officially named the new version of Windows as Windows 7. Apparently the decision to use the name Windows 7 is about simplicity and Microsoft VP, Mike Nash, was quoted saying:

The decision to use the name Windows 7 is about simplicity. Simply put, this is the seventh release of Windows, so therefore Windows 7 just makes sense.

Coming up with an all-new 'aspirational' name does not do justice to what we are trying to achieve, which is to stay firmly rooted in our aspirations for Windows Vista, while evolving and refining the substantial investments in platform technology in Windows Vista into the next generation of Windows.

Windows 7 will ship in both client and server versions with the client versions available in both 32-bit and 64-bit editions.

It is generally regarded that Windows 7 will not be a brand new version of Windows, it is more of an improved version of Vista.

Yesterday Microsoft gave an extensive demo of the new version of Windows, Windows 7.

Apparently the new OS will run fine on a 1GHz netbook with 1GB of RAM, but I will believe that when I see it.

Some key points via Engadget from the keynote include:

• Obviously, the big news is the new taskbar, which forgoes text for icons and has new "jump lists" of app controls and options you can access with a right-click. You can select playlists in Media Player, for example. Super cool: when you scrub over the icons, all the other app windows go transparent so you can "peek" at the windows you're pointing at.
• Gadgets now appear on the desktop -- the sidebar has been killed. That makes more sense for all those laptop owners out there with limited screen space, and you can still see gadgets anytime by peeking at the desktop, rendering all other windows transparent.
• Window resizing and management now happens semi-automatically: dragging a window to the top of the screen maximizes it, pulling it down restores; dragging a window to the edges auto-resizes it to 50% for quick tiling. Nifty.
• The system tray now only displays what you explicitly say it should -- everything else is hidden, and the controls have been streamlined.
• User Account Control settings are now much more fine-grained -- you can set them by app and by level of access.
• They demoed multitouch features on an HP TouchSmart PC -- it was pretty cool, although the usual nagging "what is this good for / that'll get old fast" concerns weren't really addressed. The Start menu gets 25 percent bigger when using touch to make it easier to handle, and apps will all get scroll support automatically. There's also a giant on-screen predictive keyboard. Again -- could be amazing, but we won't know until it's out in the wild.
• We've always known Microsoft intends Windows 7 to run on netbooks, and we got a small taste during the PDC keynote: Windows SVP Steve Sinofsky held up his "personal" laptop running Windows 7, an unnamed 1GHz netbook with 1GB of RAM that looked a lot like an Eee PC, and said that it still had about half its memory free after boot. (We're guessing it was running a VIA Nano, given the announcement this morning and since most Atoms run at 1.6GHz.)
• At the other end of the scale, Windows 7 supports machines with up to 256 CPUs.
• Multiple-monitor management is much-improved, as is setting up projectors -- it's a hotkey away. Remote Desktop now works with multiple monitors as well.
• Media Center has been tweaked as well -- it looks a lot more like the Zune interface. There's also a new Mini Guide when watching video, and a new Music Wall album artwork screensaver that kicks in when you're playing music.
• Devs got a pre-beta today; a "pretty good" feature complete beta is due early next year. No word at all on when it'll be released to market apart from that "three years from Vista" date we've known forever.

Read more at Arstechnica, Mcrosoftpdc and Technologizer

The HTC Touch Pro has finally gone on sale in the UK. Unfortunately not subsidised by a carrier as of yet, so you will have to fork out a massive £514.99 via the distributor Devicewire.

This is a mighty good looking device from HTC (in my eyes at least), however after my experience with my TyTn I am not entirely sure if Windows Mobile is for me. Yes it is brilliant functionality wise, however it was glitchy as hell. This included my experience with Windows Mobile 6.

I am currently using a Nokia E90, while it is a great phone it is huge so I would be very very interested in trying this new phone out (and WM6.1) if anyone fancies sending me one for review?

Key HTC Touch Pro Specifications

• Size: 102 x 51 x 18.05mm
• Weight: 165 g
• Connectivity: WCDMA / HSPA: 900/2100MHz. HSDPA 7.2 Mbps
• Operating system: Windows Mobile® 6.1 Professional
• Display: 2.8-inch VGA touch screen
• Camera: 3.2MP, with the second VGA camera for video calling
• Internal memory: 512 MB flash, 288 MB RAM
• Expansion Slot: microSD™ memory card (SD 2.0 compatible)
• Keyboard: Slide-out 5 row QWERTY keyboard
• Bluetooth: 2.0 with EDR
• Wireless: WiFi 802.11b/g
• GPS: GPS/AGPS (11-pin mini-USB 2.0,
• Interface: HTC ExtUSB audio jack, and TV out in one)
• Battery: 1340 mAh
• Talk time: GSM: up to 8 hours
• Standby time: GSM: up to two-weeks MSM
• Chipset: Qualcomm 528MHz 7201A

There are currently several rumours flying around the net that there could be a large price drop for the Xbox 360.

Rumour has it Microsoft might be planning another rather significant slashing of prices for its console again, with the 'entry-level' arcade model suggested to be a bargain basement $199 (£100).

The PS3 seems to be gaining momentum recently so this could help Xbox maintain sales.

Microsoft have been having a lot of problems recently with its live service however it has not stopped them selling a whole load of 360s during the Christmas break.

Apparantly the company has shipped 17.7 Million Xbox 360 Consoles since its launch 2 years ago. On September 30 the figure was apparently at 13.4 million meaning they have sold over 4.3 millions units from October onwards. Pretty impressive really.