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New Catalyst driver for Radeon graphics cards under XP and Vista

There is a new Catalyst driver for Radeon graphics cards and if you are wondering how it will perform under Microsoft Windows XP and Vista, then you need to check out Tweak Towns 12 page review and test.

The ATI Catalyst 8.7 analysis under XP and Vista goes into depth to find out the real performance and in their final thoughts Tweak Town said, “While the new drivers don’t offer massive performance gains or anything like that, there are a number of nice little bumps on offer here today.

With the fixes implemented in the driver, they’re a good upgrade for most users. People who will be particular happy, however, are mid-range HD 3650 users who want an extra few FPS here and there.

There’s no doubt that the AMD guys are extremely busy at the moment with the HD 4800 series of cards, but with the X2 just around the corner, hopefully it begins to calm down a little bit and the team can get stuck into the drivers and try and get us some more performance from the new cards”.

Read the 12 page review and test.

Microsoft gives in: Windows XP Support until 2014

It seems that Microsoft has listened to public demand; the software giant has decided to extend their offer of technical support of Windows XP. Microsoft will now offer extended support for updates and security patches on the XP operating system until April 2014. However it seems that Microsoft has not reversed their decision to stop selling XP after June 30.

I am so happy that there will still be full support for Windows XP until 2014, I have tried twice now to use Windows Vista and both times I went back to my old faithful that is XP. Many people will not be happy that they will not be able to get a copy of XP anymore after June 30, but if you are lucky you might be able to find a few copies in a few stores or new computers for a few months to come.

It seems that Microsoft are doing a lot to try and keep people happy, they have just announced that they will allow customers to downgrade Vista systems to XP. This is possible through a loophole in the company’s licensing terms. Let me explain it to you in simple terms, those of you who purchase a copy of Vista will also be able to run XP at no additional cost.

According to Tech Tree, The decision for Microsoft to extend XP support is more for large business customers, as many of them still have not upgraded to the newer operating system. Many of these businesses have delayed upgrading to Vista, as it will be a huge cost to them and they might have to upgrade some of their hardware systems.

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.

Video of Microsoft revealing Windows 7 at D6: The scoop shows multi-touch support

We are all up for Windows 7 and when Microsoft showed off a snippet of it working we fell in love because the scoop is it reveals multi-touch support. Steve Ballmer and mastermind Bill Gates was on stage at D6 talking all about Microsoft.

The company have not said much and are of course being “coy” about Microsoft Windows 7, some have said that some people have blamed chit chat early on in Vista development for saddling the operating system with too high of expectations which makes things difficult for developers. Ballmer is a lovely man because he was good enough to show off the smallest snippet as they call it of Windows 7, the main thing that stands out here is the fact it reveals multi-touch support which is fantastic and of course something I would love to play with. The demo was running on a Dell Latitude XT tablet notebook and apparently Microsoft is working the whole interface with multi-touch experience in mind.

Expect Windows 7 in late 2009 or early 2010 which for us is too far away, we would love to buy it now as it seems something we would love to use everyday, well that of course if it works good. To me Windows Vista is a pile of crap and has gone back to XP. Maybe I am old fashion but I need something that stands out and with Windows 7 featuring multi-touch support which is great.

Source

MSI Wind in both Linux Novell and Windows XP for $500

MSI Computer, a leading manufacturer of computer hardware products and solutions, is ready to clear up some of the questions surrounding the MSI Wind (Wi-Fi Network Device). MSI Computer will offer both Linux and Windows (XP Home Edition) based configurations, for under $500 starting in early June on msimobile.com.

The Wind weighs a mere 2.6 lbs, but offers many of the amenities customers would expect from a much larger notebook. Business travelers and students on the go will enjoy the Wind’s comfortable keyboard, which is only 20% smaller than a full size layout, and the 5+ hours of battery life the Windows based units provide. The Wind also features a 1.3M webcam, up to a 1GB of RAM, a 4-in-1 card reader, 3 USB ports, and Bluetooth capabilities with the Windows version.

“With Wind we struck the optimal balance of price, performance, and convenience” said Daniel Wang, General Manager of MSI US. “We designed the Wind to offer mobile consumers all the features of bulkier more expensive notebooks, but with a sleeker lightweight footprint and an affordable sub $500 price point.”

The Linux Novell version will feature a 1.3mp webcam, 802.11b/g, 2.5 hrs battery life, 80G / 2.5” SATA hard drive, 512MB DDR2/ 667MHz memory, 10″W (1024×600) LED display, Intel 945GMS, ICH7-M chipset and weighs 2.3 lbs.

The Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition versions sports a hevier weight of 2.6lbs, the same 1.3m webcam, 80G / 2.5” SATA hard drive, 802.11b/g, Intel 945GMS, ICH7-M chipset, a better 5.5 hrs battery life, Bluetooth, 1GB DDR2/ 667MHz memory, and a 10″W (1024×600) LED display.

Microsoft Windows XP support not to end June 30

It seems that many people who still use Windows XP are getting a little nervous as the Operating System will not be available to buy in the stores soon and that means that there will no longer be anymore support. However; Microsoft has tried to calm people down by reminding people that Windows XP support will be available until 2014.

Jared Proudfoot one of the managers from Microsoft’s support lifecycle group has said “Recently, there have been a number of posts in the blogosphere about Windows XP and the upcoming end of direct OEM and retail license availability,” he also added “Some people are interpreting this as the end of support for Windows XP.”

So the mainstream support will go on until April 14, 2009 which will offer free fixes as well as security patches. The extended support lasting until April 8, 2014 will offer just security updates. This would mean that Windows XP will be 13 years old once the support comes to an end; this is not something that did not happen with previous Windows operating systems.

I am so thankful of this as it gives me just a little longer with XP, before I have to make the choice and switch over to Windows Vista.

Source - Computer World

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

Microsoft Listen: 111,543 Signatures for Save XP Web Petition

I have heard of many petitions and not many get the results they want, but the “Save XP Web Petition” has had over 111,543 Signatures on its last count (April 9). Microsoft needs to listen to that, the people are speaking and they want to keep Windows XP available indefinitely.

While I can remember when XP first released and people were moaning about it, its funny now how computer users are now fighting to keep it. Microsoft is planning to end most sales of Windows XP on June 30 and they want people to move to Vista (even if many businesses and individuals do not).

You can help save Windows XP by signing the Save XP Web Petition

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

The New Look Vespa GTS 250 Complete With Touch-Screen LCD PC

It seems everyone is obsessed with bringing the latest gadgets and technology into their car but what about the scooters? No one has bought them bang up to date with technology? Well they hadn’t, until now! This brand new Vespa GTS comes rocking a Windows XP PC will touch screen LCD display. Read more

Windows 7: Vista replacement as early as 2009 not 2010

Remember not so long ago that the world was buzzing of the prospect of a new operating system from Microsoft called Windows Vista, well as we know this OS failed to capture our imagination and it seems that Microsoft have been working Read more