Windows 7 details galore: interface tweaks, netbook builds, Media Center enhancements

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

Microsoft’s Windows 7 announcement earlier today was followed up by an extensive demo of the new features during the PDC keynote, and since then even more info about the new OS has flooded out, so we thought we’d try to wrap up some of the more important bits here for you. Microsoft seems to have done an impressive job at this early pre-beta stage, folding in next-gen interface ideas like multitouch into the same OS that apparently runs fine on a 1GHz netbook with 1GB of RAM, but we’ll see how development goes — there’s still a ways to go. Some notes:

• 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, 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.

That’s just the good bits — hit the read links for piles of more info and screenshots, and we’ll keep our eyes out for anything else interesting. Exciting times!

Read - Keynote videos on the PDC site
Read - Technologizer Windows 7 hands-on
Read - Ars Technica Windows 7 interface walkthrough
Read - Laptop Windows 7 hands-on
Read - Windows 7 Media Center revealed

Windows 7 details galore: interface tweaks, netbook builds, Media Center enhancements originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 28 Oct 2008 13:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Share This

Mathmos Glowing Wind Lights Probably Best For Breezier Locales [Wind Lights]

Mathmos‘ eight-inch tall windlights are pretty simple—just a generator, 2.4-inch propeller and two LED lights—but that doesn’t stop them from having their own cute, glowing eco-charm. Basically when the wind blows strongly enough, they light up: dot them about your garden and you’d have a great display, but only if the wind is blowing. If you’re in London, Jason Bruges Studio has arranged hundreds of them into a 45-foot high Aeolian Tower scultpure at the Southbank which is showing until November 16th. But if you want just one, it’ll cost you around $18. [Technabob]

Share This

Dealzmodo: New MacBook $200 Off at Fry’s [Dealzmodo]

Apple might get a bit crazier than usual with their typically staid Black Friday deals, but Fry’s is offering a pretty great deal right now: $200 off the new MacBook, making it only $1099. You probably won’t see a better MacBook deal than that. Quantities are limited, so get crackin’. [Mercury News - Thanks David!]

Share This

AMD’s Quad-Core “Shanghai” Server Opterons Go 45nm, Desktop Version In ‘09 [Amd]

AMD’s just revealed its quad-core Opteron chips manufactured with its new 45nm process. Based on the “Barcelona” chipset, the new “Shanghai” chips have a few extra tweaks: the L3 cache has risen from 2 to 6MB, giving it about 35% boosted power performance over the previous generation. The new chips also have better power management, meaning they can draw up to 35% less power under idle conditions, are compatible with DDR2-800 memory for faster memory accessing, and are backwards compatible with existing Socket-1207 mounting. These 75W server chips are out now, between 2.3 and 2.7 GHz clock speeds, and a desktop variety, dubbed “Dragon” is due early 2009. [AMD and PCWatch]

Share This

Sony Sets 2012 Goal For 12MP Cell Cameras, Meets it in a Week [Crooked Bookies]

Last week Sony Ericsson predicted quite a few things for the cell phones of 2012: faster processors, high-resolution screens, superfast connectivity and most specifically, 12-20MP cameras. Well what do you know! Sony — that Sony — has just announced a 12.25MP CMOS sensor for phone cameras. Looks like either a horrible breakdown of internal communication or a hilariously obvious example of gaming expectations. In either case, expect these to start showing up in CyberShots (and others) well before 2012. [Akihabara]

Share This

Filed under: Portable Audio, Robots

Oh Rolly… we know you’re an overpriced, 2GB dancing robot with convoluted controls and questionable sound quality. But dammit, your impractical, big-corporate ways have gnawed a soft-spot deep into the noxious cesspool we call a heart. Now this: Rolly model SEP-50BT with Bluetooth control from your cellphone or laptop. Shipping in Japan on November 21st for an expected ¥40,000 or about $427. Sold. Watch it all unfold in the video after the break.

[Via Impress]

Continue reading Sony’s Rolly learns the Bluetooth trick

Sony’s Rolly learns the Bluetooth trick originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 28 Oct 2008 04:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Via [Engadget]

Share This

Sony Sets 2012 Goal For 12MP Cell Cameras, Meets it in a Week [Crooked Bookies]

Last week Sony Ericsson predicted quite a few things for the cell phones of 2012: faster processors, high-resolution screens, superfast connectivity and most specifically, 12-20MP cameras. Well what do you know! Sony — that Sony — has just announced a 12.25MP CMOS sensor for phone cameras. Looks like either a horrible breakdown of internal communication or a hilariously obvious example of gaming expectations. In either case, expect these to start showing up in CyberShots (and others) well before 2012. [Akihabara]

Share This

ASUS rolls out Eee PC 1002HA, still mum about next week’s model

Filed under: Laptops

Still haven’t found an Eee PC to your liking? Then perhaps ASUS’s new 10-inch Eee PC 1002HA model will be more to your liking, with it bringing some of the S101’s stylings to the company’s standard 1000 series. Otherwise, you can expect most of the usual specs that now haunt our dreams, including a 1.6GHz Atom N270 processor,1GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive and, apparently, a two-cell, 4200 mAh battery. No word on a release ’round here just yet, but it looks like this one will be available in Europe in the not too distant future for €449, or about $565.

ASUS rolls out Eee PC 1002HA, still mum about next week’s model originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 27 Oct 2008 13:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Share This

Filed under: Portable Audio, Robots

Oh Rolly… we know you’re an overpriced, 2GB dancing robot with convoluted controls and questionable sound quality. But dammit, your impractical, big-corporate ways have gnawed a soft-spot deep into the noxious cesspool we call a heart. Now this: Rolly model SEP-50BT with Bluetooth control from your cellphone or laptop. Shipping in Japan on November 21st for an expected ¥40,000 or about $427. Sold. Watch it all unfold in the video after the break.

[Via Impress]

Continue reading Sony’s Rolly learns the Bluetooth trick

Sony’s Rolly learns the Bluetooth trick originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 28 Oct 2008 04:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Via [Engadget]

Share This