3542689
submission
Anonymous writes:
Microsoft executives have been telling the tech industry that if hardware supports Windows Vista, it will support Windows 7, but it now looks like that may not entirely be the case. According to CRN: "But after a series of tests on older and newer hardware, a number of noteworthy issues emerged: Microsoft's statement that if hardware works with Windows Vista it will work with Windows 7 appears to be, at best, misleading; hardware that is older, but not near the end of most business life cycles, could be impossible to upgrade; and the addition of an extra step in the upgrade process does add complexity and more time not needed in previous upgrade cycles."
Also: "Across the XP-Vista-Windows 7 landscape, Microsoft has fostered an ecosystem that now holds out the prospect of a mind-numbing number of incompatible drivers, unsupported devices, unsupported applications, unsupported data, patches, updates, upgrades, 'known issues' and unknown issues.
Sound familiar? That's what people used to say about Linux."
3516463
submission
Anonymous writes:
If you go by Geekbench, which Channelweb did, it would seem to be Windows XP — compared to Windows Vista, Windows 7, Ubuntu or gOS. But price, functionality, etc., would also seem to come into play and that would seem to make it an even muddier choice. Since netbooks don't seem to be taking hold as a primary PC, but a second, third or fourth PC, it would seem like much more of a crapshoot. Thoughts?
3490973
submission
Anonymous writes:
This piece at CRN explores the potential of the gOS to damage Microsoft's standing in the desktop space — - and not just because it's competitive on the netbook platform. gOS highlights free, competing software from Mozilla, Google and OpenOffice.org, as well. Plus, "it's slick."
3481291
submission
Anonymous writes:
Channelweb loaded five different operating systems onto the same netbook test bed, and benchmarked all of them. Interesting result was how well gOS did compared to all the others. Will manufacturers give gOS any love?
3475371
submission
Anonymous writes:
Intel's Atom platform has gotten a lot of attention for its use in netbooks, but there's an interesting side story, too: Desktops built with an Atom and supporting motherboard can consume fewer watts than a light bulb. According to this piece, the system consumed 46 watts while running a work load, and its bill of materials only ran $250, too.
3012329
submission
Anonymous writes:
The New York Times is out with a 1,000-word-plus feature on Mark Shuttleworth and Ubuntu, and this line sort of jumps out: "Close to half of Google's 20,000 employees use a slightly modified version of Ubuntu, playfully called Goobuntu."
That alone won't change the world, but the drumbeat continues and Ubuntu is now becoming recognized as a better OS than Vista in head-to-head comparisons.
2980143
submission
Anonymous writes:
If you want to upgrade from Windows Vista SP1 to Windows 7 Beta 1, you're in luck as soon as you can access the new code. But if you want to try out the upgrade from Windows XP to Windows 7 Beta, you're out of luck. (Screen shots here.) Microsoft could turn on XP-to-Win7 migration between now and GA but the question is: would they? Or would they require an upgrade from XP to Vista, and then from Vista to Windows 7?
2841257
submission
Anonymous writes:
2008 may not be another "Year of Linux," but looking back it sure seems there were a lot of nifty open source apps and updates this year. Although, can something be a "product" if it's free?
1326005
story
Anonymous writes
"Here's a step-by-step look at building a PC with the new Antec Skeleton PC chassis. It's obviously not for everybody, but at least Antec is trying out something relatively new for hard-core users. Not sure if you'd need an air spray can to keep the dust off all the components, though ..."
