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Microsoft Windows XP No Longer: Either love Vista or wait for Windows 7

Microsoft retires Windows XP; Microsoft has stopped making available Windows XP to large computer firms such as Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Lenovo and even software retailers. There will be a few exceptions where Windows XP will in fact be unavailable to retail shoppers and computer makers; this is a big blow to some because it means forcing quite a few Microsoft PC users to migrate to Windows Vista OS, or if you hate Vista then having to wait to 2010 for Microsoft Windows 7.

This new move has been panned for months, they will continue to offer the operating system to system builders that is, small, independent PC makers, through July of next year. What we do like is the fact that Microsoft are still offering to make Windows XP available to builders of ultra-low-cost laptops and PCs, you know like Asus, they will do this until the end of 2010, Windows 7 will be out then. This has apparently been seen as an attempt to prevent the likes of Linux from being a more established beachhead in emerging markets. Also, some PC makers, including Dell (Dell), are giving customers continued access to XP for an indefinite period if they buy certain models of Vista-based computers. There is a loophole in Microsoft’s licensing terms that lets users of its most current operating system “downgrade” to a previous version at no additional cost. There are many hardcore users who love XP and they are not going to give up their beloved OS without a hard fight, there has been a petition to save XP which has been launched by a computer industry publication and has so far more than 210,000 online signatures.

Like I many users hate Windows Vista and love XP, XP is what I am using still and will continue to do so, the reason I hate Vista so much is because of its compatibility with older software. One thing is for sure and that is users will not sway away from XP anytime soon. Microsoft has said that they will extend support for the OS until 2014.

Open Source vs. Profit: Google Android (iPhone 3G), Linux (Microsoft Vista)

The world of software for computers, cell phones and other gadgets has been changing to benefit the consumer for a while now and today change is moving faster than ever. Thanks to the world of Open Source we have many options to get great software for free, sadly not every consumer knows this and still decide to buy software that can be downloaded in a similar form for free thanks to Open Source.

There are many factors to think about when considering Open Source vs. For Profit software, but one of the biggest and prominent examples of free software and open source development would be the Linux operating system. This alternative to Microsoft Vista is free and if you get it installed with laptops then you will save a lot of money off the price, just look at the Eee PC.

You may not want to change all the underlying source code of Linux, but if you choose that option, you can. There are some benefits to buying Vista, but are these still worth the price compared to today’s versions of Linux?

Open Office is another software package that is available thanks to open source, this project gives you some free to download software that’s compatible with all other major office suites. This software is packed with features including databases, graphics, presentations, spreadsheets and word processing. You are able to read and write files from some of the top office software packages.

When it comes to the cell phone world it has been rocked since the launch of the Apple iPhone and this has a lot to do with the expandability of the device and with the 3G iPhone coming this year, things will only get better. When it comes to phones another application is about to rock that world and this will be from the Open Handset Alliance.

This is a group of more than 30 mobile and technology companies, they have joined to give the very first “complete, open and free mobile platform”. When Google Android hits the market later this year we will see it become a direct competitor to the iPhone, what will the outcome bring?

Open source will keep growing and as it makes its way to more devices in our homes like Linux, the user will want more open source software for the savings it brings. How has Open Source affected your life?

ATI Catalyst 8.6 driver for Radeon graphics cards: XP and Vista performance

The new ATI Catalyst 8.6 driver for Radeon graphics cards has just been released by AMD and you may want to know how well this driver performs under Microsoft Windows Vista and XP, Tweak Town take a closer look and show the results over 11 pages. They found that the new Catalyst driver has some good performance promises but wanted to give it a run on their mighty test bed.

In the final thoughts, they had this to say “While in the applications we tested there hasn’t been any notable gains with the HD 3870 X2 actually taking a hit in a few cases, the new drivers generally seem to be increasing performance in the promised sections for people.

What’s really interesting about this driver is if you take the time to read the performance improvements, they all revolve around DX10 improvements. It will be interesting to see if this is something we begin to see more of over the coming months; Vista has really picked up momentum in the gamers market with most people jumping onboard.

Considering how hard at work AMD has been on the new HD 4800 series, it’s surprising to see any real gains from this month’s driver, but they’ve managed to do it. No doubt over the coming months AMDs focus will begin to move to the HD 4800 series of cards in a continuing effort to compete against NVIDIA”.

If you want to get a detailed look at the results and how well these drivers perform on different games in XP and Vista then click the read link below.

Read the 11 page review.

Crysis Test: ATI Catalyst 8.4 on Microsoft Windows XP & Vista

With AMD just releasing their new Catalyst driver for Radeon graphics cards, its interesting to see how it performance looks in Microsoft Windows XP and Vista. Tweak Town have gave the ATI Catalyst 8.4 a full review and in the Crysis test they found that the HD 3870 manages to have a small drop in performance while the HD 3650 and X2 remain relatively unchanged. You can see the results in the image below.

They summed up the ATI Catalyst 8.4 driver review by saying “It’s good to see that the performance that we lost in Windows XP with the HD 3870 X2 is back, but apart from that the Catalyst 8.4 driver on a whole isn’t that exciting. The HD 3870 manages to lose a bit of performance in a number of applications while the HD 3650 saw some gains under Vista in our OpenGL based benchmarks.

X2 Windows XP users might take the chance to upgrade the drivers since they missed the last lot, and HD 3650 users may as well take the upgrade since performance under OpenGL has gone up a little without any drops elsewhere.

HD 3870 users might choose to skip the driver with a slight performance decrease in a number of applications. The only reason that you probably want to update to the latest Catalyst driver is if one of the bug fixes are important to you.”

Read the full 13-page review.

Windows XP SP3 operating system update: release date April 21

Well if the rumors are true then people who still run their computers on Windows XP will finally be able to get their hands on XP SP3. A release date for this service pack update will start on April 21; however that is for OEMs as well as subscribers to TechNet and Microsoft’s MSDN.

However everyday users like me and you, yes I still run and prefer XP will have to wait a week later to get our hands on this update. So going by this information the general release date for Windows XP SP3 will be April 29, these next two-weeks can’t come quick enough it seems as if Microsoft are giving me a Birthday present as it is my birthday the day before. Thanks Guys.

Some people have already been treated to a preview of this service pack update, however this was just a nearly final beta version that Windows released to only a handful of people just to get their opinion. Well they must have given it the thumbs up because Windows XP SP3 is almost upon us.

When I first purchased my laptop it came with Windows XP, however a couple of months later I did receive a free upgrade to Windows Vista. Well I have to say what a mistake that was, Vista in my opinion is inferior to XP, and as a result I formatted my laptop and went back to Vista. So you can imagine my joy to hear that Microsoft is improving my favorite Operating System.

Source - Information Week

Asus unveil new Intel G35 series chipset motherboards supporting DirectX 10

Asus have just unveiled new Intel G35 series chipset motherboards which are the worlds first to support Microsoft Vista DirectX 10 graphics, the Intel platform which has an onboard integrated VGA solution featuring built-in support for Windows Vista DirectX 10 maybe a godsend for the masses.

These new motherboards which have DirectX 10 will include ASUS P5E-VM HDMI, P5E-V HDMI and P5E-VM SE motherboards.

The Asus P5E-V HDMI and P5E-VM HDMI features G35/ICH9R chipset, 1333/1066/800 MHz FSB, Intel® GMA X3500 and has HDMI support. The P5E-VM SE features the same chipset, FSB, VGA but with NO HDMI support.

Source – Asus

Corporate Satisfaction Survey: Apple Leopard users happier than Windows XP or Vista

So it seems after a survey it revealed that corperate users of Apple Inc.’s Leopard operating system are apparently 5 times more happier or should I say satisfied with the OS than business users of Microsoft Corp.’s Windows Vista.

When the survey was done back in February 2008 of 2,200 U.S corporate computer users a staggering 53 percent of those using Apple Mac OS X 10.5 reported that they were indeed satisfied with their operating system.

But of those using Microsoft Windows Vista or Windows XP 40 percent of the former and only 8 percent of the latter were indeed very satisfied.

Paul Carton, director of research at ChangeWave Research said “”Apple continues to set the standard for corporate customer satisfaction,” and that it is fact that corporate buying plans for Macs remain at high levels and indicate that users like what Apple’s doing, continued Carton.

Look at it this way, we all know laptops are big business and will get stronger and stronger as time moves on and according to the ChangeWave’s survey 7 percent of the corporate respondents would likely purchase laptops in the next 90 days and that they are planning on buying Apple.

For the full survey results please visit Computerworld.

Microsoft Windows Vista with SP1 download official: Boxed version on sale 19th March

Oh yes it is finally here and official, you can as of today get your hands on Microsoft Windows Vista with SP1, you will be able to download SP1 as of today or get boxed copies from Amazon (Details Below).

The exact date was a little scare of when we would get to see the real SP1, well now you can rest your mind easy. The details below are definitely showing that you can get the 3 different boxed versions of Microsoft Windows Vista with SP1.

The boxed versions will be ready for release tomorrow (19th March).

Microsoft did drop the price of Windows Vista Ultimate (Full), Windows Vista Ultimate (Upgrade), and Windows Vista Home Premium (Upgrade) to $319, $219, and $129, but what is interesting is the fact Amazon are selling these products as of tomorrow (19th March) and the software prices range from -

Windows Vista Home Premium with SP1 Upgrade - $94.99

Windows Vista Ultimate with SP1 Upgrade - $194.99

Windows Vista Ultimate with SP1 - $299.99

Asustek’s UMPC: Eee PC with either Microsoft Windows XP or Linux, no Vista

In 2008 over two thirds of Asustek’s Eee PCs shipped will include Microsoft Windows XP (not Vista), the rest will be Linux. The reason for this change is because computer users are more comfortable with Windows and XP is a more suitable than Vista for this UMPC.

In 2007 we saw the 7-inch Linux-based personal computer with a price of only $200, this new one will be higher thanks to Windows XP and other features, it will be priced at around $390 to $400. The Eee PC should ship 5 million units in 2008, compared to 300,000 units in 2007.

Source: NZHerald

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