Continue reading "FT techtalk - Your lucky number is Seven"

It’s official. The final Windows 7 bits have been set in stone. With today’s Release to Manufacturing, Microsoft can finally close its sorry Windows Vista chapter. Along with the global consumer launch on 22nd October, Microsoft is planning a business launch for the new versions of both the Windows client and server operating systems on 9th November.

This will be the first time the new server software is launched at the same time as a new client, says Bill Laing, head of the Windows server division. Expect some heavy “better together” marketing later this year as Microsoft tries to convince IT departments of the cost savings and greater manageability from upgrading both client and server at the same time. Continue reading "Windows 7 on the launch-pad"

• The board of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, better known as ICANN, picked as the nonprofit group’s chief executive Rod Beckstrom, who until earlier this year served as cyber-security czar at the US Department of Homeland Security. Like his predecessors, Mr Beckstrom didn’t accomplish much there, but it later emerged he had a skeleton staff and equivalent funding. ICANN is as close to a governing body as the internet gets, but its core mission is minding the process by which Website names and numeric addresses are assigned.
• Some early buyers of Windows 7 will get it for the knock-down price of $49.99. Rob Enderle thought the limited-time special offer was a direct response to the $29 Apple is charging for an upgrade to Snow Leopard. Michael Gartenberg called it a “missed opportunity” to give all Vista users the chance to move beyond the much-maligned operating system.

Continue reading "techfile 26.6.09"

Microsoft has announced what consumers will be paying for Windows 7 when the new operating system is launched in October, which may seem a bit rich to those who feel they have been paying for a long time for choosing to use the current Windows Vista.

Vista has been a clunker of an OS from Microsoft, so bad its 8-year-old predecessor Windows XP is a joy to use in comparison and remains the safe OS of choice for the corporate world. Continue reading "The price we pay for using Vista"

• Acer said it would start producing the world’s first mainstream notebook computer using Google’s Android operating system before the end of September. The move opens a new front in Google’s battle with Microsoft by offering an alternative to the Windows operating system on small, low-priced PCs.
• Sony has unveiled a new motion-sensing technology for its PlayStation 3 following a trend set by Nintendo’s Wii. The announcement at the E3 video-game trade show came a day after Microsoft demonstrated its Project Natal motion-sensing device for the Xbox 360.

Continue reading "techfile 3.06.09"

The forthcoming Windows 7 will be a big test of Microsoft’s ability to segment the market for the operating system and persuade more users to pay up for higher-end versions.

So it isn’t a good sign for the company (though it is a good sign for consumers) if Microsoft is forced to add more capabilities to cheaper versions of the software. Continue reading "Low-end Windows 7: Now, with more Windows 7!"

Intel, the world’s biggest chipmaker,  threw its weight this week behind a new version of an operating system - but it was not Windows 7.

That may come as some surprise to observers who have always put Intel in the Microsoft camp with their “Wintel” alliance. Continue reading "Intel’s Moblin is Microsoft’s next big software rival"

From Digital Business:

“Something weird and rather wonderful is happening to operating systems, and it is not just the new psychedelic wallpaper designs for Windows 7.”

Continue reading View from the Valley