The magazine ZDnet reports that in the instructions for manufacturers of components for Windows 7, Microsoft does not encourage the development of hybrid graphics technology.

The hybrid systems have a graphics controller embedded on the motherboard and a dedicated graphics card for software requiring better performance. For a laptop, the life of the battery will be slightly improved with the use of graphics controller. To the great displeasure of ATI, Nvidia and Microsoft OEM stated:"Windows 7 does not offer native support for hybrid graphics systems. We strongly encourage manufacturers not to develop such systems could be unstable and unpleasant for the user."

At the time of writing, the record in question is no longer available on the official site and it is being edited. Microsoft would be in the process of amending this section?

Back when boutique OEM system builders operated as standalone entities, owning a custom built rig by the likes of a Voodoo PC often required a hefty investment up to several times more than what you could expect to pay if going the DIY route. This scenario has changed somewhat in recent years thanks in part to falling hardware prices and acquisitions by mainstream OEMs. Such is the case with Voodoo PC, who was acquired by HP back in 2006. More recently, HP decided to merge its Voodoo PC unit with its consumer business unit, a move that Raul Sood, CTO for HP's Global Gaming Business, said would "ultimately mean that Voodoo and Voodoo-influenced products will be easier to buy, faster get, they will feature local service, and they have the full power of HP's marketing and sales channel behind them."Fast forward to today and HP is making good on Sood's promise. Effective immediately, the price of the Voodoo Envy 133 drops a couple of C-notes from $2,100 to $1,900. As an added bonus, each Envy shipped will also include a second battery at no additional charge, an offer that stands until November 30. On the desktop side, the HP Blackbird 002 also gets a price cut and can now be had for $1,800.

Could the days of high-priced boutique builds be nearing an end? Probably not, but gamers on a budget who aren't interested in building their own machine have more options today than in year's past. In addition to HP's price cuts, Alienware (a Dell acquisition) this week announced an affordable dual-GPU CrossFireX gaming notebook.

If you were to name one product that was an instant success in the last quarter, chances are that you'll say "GeForce 8800 GT". And I'd totally agree with you, if you look at the price versus features and performance, then this series of cards is absolutely worth every penny. For that reason alone we try to review as many of these cards as we can to get you guys a broad overview in the purchasing options you have.

It took NVIDIA a while to supply enough of these boards to its partners. Rumored was that a component (fan control IC) worth merely a couple of cents was out of supply for weeks, slowing down production of these cards. It's now February 2008 and we slowly see the production ramping up. The cards are available in much better volumes and at pretty much any board partner.

Once the supply meets demand, prices come down and we'll also see product diversion. And that's what's happening as we speak, prices are coming down and we see a good diversity in the 8800 GT line of products. Today we'll test a GeForce 8800 GT as supplied by ECS Elitegroup. You all know ECS or either heard about them. They are huge in the OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) market. OEM refers to companies that make products for others to repackage and sell. Resellers buy OEM products in bulk, minus the costly retail packaging that comes with individually sold units. The product itself is essentially the same as its more expensive, retail-packaged sibling. OEM products are used in many industries, but are perhaps most prevalent in electronics. Slowly, but steadily ECS is surfacing in the retail market as well. They recently released their GeForce 8800 GT in retail and quite honestly, they are doing that properly by releasing this product with a custom cooler. Equipped with slightly higher than reference clock-speeds and custom made cooling made by Arctic Cooling they unleash their ECS Geforce 8800 GT Dual Turbo. The dual in that name refers toward two fans, not dual GPUs by the way.