Google's Chrome OS-running Cr-48 netbook is quite a hot item nowadays, so coveted that, despite only being available directly from Google, it's already become available for sale in China.

As you will certainly remember, search-engine giant Google officially introduced a couple of weeks ago its first-ever netbook, the Cr-48, meant to offer at glimpse at the future Chrome operating system's capabilities, and made it available within its Pilot program (sort of a beta-testing initiative).

However, as GizInChina reports, it seems that, if you happen to live in China and you have 7,777.77 Chinese yuan (roughly 1,170.84216 U.S. Dollars) to spare, you'll be able to get one of the new Cr-48 netbooks even if you haven't qualified for the aforementioned program, since the item was listed as being available for saleon one of China's largest online sales portals, Taobao (with no less than 77 pieces being available in stock)

While the photos posted within the respective listing seem to be genuine enough (we've also added them to our article, so you can check them out directly), there's very little technical info to go on, the vendors informing possible customers that the device sports a 12-inch display, an Atom CPU running at 2.66 Ghz, a built-in 3G module and 64GB of built-in flash memory.
As far as we're concerned, the listing on Taobao has two possible explanations: either we're talking about clones (which shouldn't be much of a surprise, given the fact that, after all, Chine is the land of knock-offs), or about genuine Cr-48 netbooks that were more or less voluntarily misplaced (we seriously doubt that Google would actually sell these things in China, since it's not doing it anywhere else around the world).

However, we wont' probably get to know the truth about these netbooks unless someone actually gets to purchase one, and if one of you happens to do so, please, don't hesitate to drop a line in our comments section.

After months of waiting, India has finally gotten its first Windows Phone 7 release – and there are two of them! The HTC India website has showcased the HD7 and the 7 Mozart, smartphones running the Microsoft smartphone OS. The phones mobilepack in plenty of features like a 1GHz processor, 720p video recording and an internal GPS antenna along with the standard WP7 features like Zune and XBOX Live integration.

The HD7 sports a 4.3-inch multi-touch display at a 480x800 (WVGA) resolution. Its connectivity options include GPRS, EDGE, 3G and Wi-Fi along with Bluetooth 2.1, a standard micro-USB interconnector and a 3.5mm headphone jack. It has 16GB of internal storage and 576MB RAM, a 5 megapixel camera with auto-focus and LED flash and 720p HD video recording.

The HTC 7 Mozart is nearly identicalto the HD7, apart from the following specs. The internal storage and screen size are a reduced 8GB and 3.7-inches respectively, but it sports an improved 8 megapixel camera with auto-focus and Xenon flash and supports 720p HD video recording as well.

We’re glad we’re finally getting to see some Windows Phones 7, and we can’t wait to get our hands on these two babies. Fore more information, check out the official HD7 and the Mozart pages.

Earlier today, December 23rd, Mandriva announced the 2010.2 release of its popular Mandriva Linux distribution, available for download on mirrors worldwide.

The new release of the Mandriva Linux operating system is an incremental update for the Mandriva 2010.1 version, released this year on July 8th. Mandriva Linux 2010.2 comes in three editions: One Edition, Free Edition and Powerpack Edition.

Mandriva Linux 2010.2 is available for both 32-bit and 64-bit architectures, with GNOME and KDE4 LiveCDs. See download links at the end of the article."As announced previously, Mandriva 2010.2 is an incremental update on top of Mandriva 2010.1, incorporating all the security and bugfix updates since its release."

"Since the 2010.1 release, the secteam has released a total of 5055 RPMs via official updates, counting both security and bugfix advisories, across 272 different packages." - was stated in the official release announcement.

Highlights of Mandriva Linux 2010.2:

· Linux kernel 2.6.33.7;
· X.Org 7.5;
· Xorg Server 1.7.7;
· Nouveau video driver;
· Intel video driver 2.11.0;
· Mesa 7.8.1;
· KDE SC 4.4.3;
· GNOME 2.30.0;
· Amarok 2.3.1;
· Mozilla Firefox 3.6.13;
· Oracle OpenOffice.org 3.2.0;
· Avant Window Navigator 4.0;
· The GIMP 2.6.8;
· GNOME Shell 2.29.1;
· NTFS-3G 2010.3.6;
· Spamassassin 3.3.1;
· libgpod 0.7.93;
· Glibc 2.11.1;
· GDB debugger 7.1;
· Python 2.6.5;
· OpenSSL 1.0.0a.

Canonical announced a few minutes ago in a press release that the Ubuntu project, with Google's help, released today the amazing Ubuntu Font Family to the world. The font is available to any web designer from the Google Font Directory.

The Ubuntu Font Family was especially designed by Canonical for the Ubuntu 10.10 (Maverick Meerkat) operating system. Starting with today, any web developer can add the Ubuntu font on their websites. This means that visitors will be able to see the text on the respective webpages as it was intended, even if they don't have the font installed on their computers!

"Our focus on design and usability in Ubuntu led us to create a font which is at once beautiful and readable. We're delighted to share the Ubuntu Font Family with web designers around the world who want their websites to be stylish and readable in as manylanguages and browsers as possible."

Windows vs. Chrome OS, so it begins, or at least it’s about to. At the end of the past week, Google started sending out invitations to a Chrome team event on December 7th, 2010, in San Francisco.

The promise from the Mountain View-based search giant is that some exciting news about Chrome will be made public. No other details were offered, but the general consensus among various third-party sources seems to be that the event is related to Chrome OS.

Google’s open source Linux-based operating system has been cooking for some time now, and the company now seems closer than ever to place a foothold in Windows territory.

Speculation indicates that Google might ready a Beta preview of Chrome OS which would ship on a netbook offered to developers.However, this is not the actual general availability deadline of Chrome OS, which was postponed to 2011, with Google refusing to detail the reasons of the delay. Chrome OS was initially planned for availability by the end of 2010.

And Windows is about to get a new rival. Windows 7 at least, since, despite still being present on the market, Windows XP and Windows Vista are largely irrelevant in terms of new sales.

Just a few years ago, Google was launching the Chrome browser, and now the company is extremely close to the 10% mark of the market.

Granted the OS market is not as crowded as the browser one, and Windows is in a far more dominant position than Internet Explorer was when Google’s browser shipped, but if the success of Chrome is any indication, Microsoft needs to brace for impact.

Chrome OS comes with a new approach to the classic operating system model. There’s very little local storage, and there are no application programming interfaces (APIs) to support applications running locally.

Instead, Chrome OS is built for the Cloud, and is browser-centric, with the Chrome browser at the core. The user data, settings, content, applications sit in Google’s servers rather than being stored locally.

Meanwhile, Windows 7 still has the same Cloud connections as its predecessors, largely related to the Windows Live Essentials suite.

Microsoft does have the chance to push Windows 8 into the Cloud, linking it with Windows Azure, but there’s no telling whether the Redmond company will actually do it, or wait for the next version of Windows, after Windows 7’s successor.

Meanwhile, Google is extremely close to have the operating system rendered all but useless, and shift the focus entirely to the web.

Estimates indicate that Chrome OS will be available on netbooks in early 2011, but a release date has yet to be disclosed.

What’s interesting is that Chrome OS was created in a time when netbooks were extremely hot, which is no longer the case.

Consumers seem to prefer tablets / slates to netbooks more and more, especially for media consumption scenarios, and in this regard, Chrome OS might just have betted on a losing horse, at least in the long run.

And the operating system cannot simply be transitioned to tablets, since it’s not sufficiently touch-centric, but tailored to machines with keyboards instead.

Windows 7 dominates the netbook market for the time being, although it will take a while before slates sporting the OS will gain traction, and not until 2011 at the latest, even according to Microsoft estimates.

As far as netbooks are concerned, the Redmond company has won the OS war with Linux, and it did it with XP, before Windows 7 was launched.

Now Chrome OS comes to challenge Windows’ dominance, the shadow of Linux is still in the background, and it’s time for Microsoft to take on a new rival.

Microsoft Corp is developing a feature in its new operating system that allows users to turn off Internet Explorer and other key Microsoft programs.

The new feature is a major step for the world's largest software company, which has been accused by competitors and regulators of forcing consumers to run its own software, squeezing rivals' offerings out of the marketplace. "In addition to the features that were already available to turn on or off in Windows Vista
, we've added the following features to the list in Windows 7," said a Microsoft blog published on Friday, listing Internet Explorer 8, Windows Media Player and a host of other Microsoft programs.

The publicly available blog was written by Jack Mayo, a manager in the team developing Microsoft's new Windows 7 operating system, which will replace the unpopular Vistaearly next year. The new design will make it easier for users to remove any traces of Internet Explorer from their desktop, although the software will remain installed on the computer, and allow them to run other browsers more smoothly.

Last month Google Inc, which recently launched its own Chrome browser, joined the Mozilla foundation, producer of the Firefox Web browser, and Norway's Opera, in protesting Microsoft's dominance in the browser market. In January, European regulators brought formal charges against Microsoft for abusing its dominant market position by bundling its Internet Explorer Web browser with its Windows operating system, which is used in 95 percent of the world's personal computers. In the past decade, Microsoft has fallen afoul of both U.S. and European antitrust regulators for bundling key programs with its operating system.

It seems that Microsoft is really in a tearing hurry, to put the specter of Vista very quickly behind it. Windows 7 that was only recently announced, has already been displayed to developers and is now all set to enter a beta by sometime in January. This fact has been confirmed in this blog,by Microsoft’s Keith Combs. It seems that copies of the new OS will be available, to people who attend the Microsoft developer conference, that will take place in January, in Chicago and Minneapolis.
This marks probably the fastest turn-around time for a new OS, by Microsoft. Keeping in mind just how long Windows Vista was in development and how badly it has been panned by consumers, Microsoft is now just focusing on taking Vista, polishing it up with improved UI features and performance related tweaks and just introducing it as a new OS called Windows 7.

Good OS, most known for its gOS Linux that debuted in Wal-Mart computers, today announced “Cloud,” a new operating system that boots into a browser with Google, Yahoo! and Live in seconds, and optionally boots into Windows. Good OS will preview Cloud on a GIGABYTE Touch-Screen Netbook at the Netbook World Summit and online at http://www.thinkgos.com. GIGABYTE Touch-Screen Netbooks will be preloaded with Cloud and Windows XP together early next year.

“We are excited to preview the GIGABYTE Touch-Screen Netbook with Cloud and Windows together, said a Good OS spokesperson. “With Cloud, GIGABYTE Netbooks will power on to the Internet in seconds, while still supporting killer applications together with Windows XP.”

Cloud uniquely integrates a web browser with a compressed Linux operating system kernel for immediate access to Internet, integration of browser and rich client applications, and full control of the computer from inside the browser.Cloud features a beautifully designed browser with an icon dock for shortcuts to favorite apps, tabs for multi-tasking between web and rich client apps, and icons to switch to Windows, power off, and perform other necessary system functions. Users power on their computers, quickly boot into Cloud for Internet and basic applications, and then just power off or boot into Windows for more powerful desktop applications.

“Cloud is my favorite gOS product yet,” said David Liu, Founder and CEO of Good OS. “Just seconds after I power on, I’m Googling, Yahooing, and truly Living. I am very excited about the upcoming GIGABYTE Touch-Screen Netbooks with Cloud and Windows. I think the GIGABYTE Touch-Screen Netbook’s forward thinking hardware and software will make it the best Netbook to hit the market!”

More details about Cloud and GIGABYTE Touch-Screen Netbooks will be released on Januaary 8 2009 at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Opera Software has released the final version of Opera Mini 4.2 for mobile phones, giving G1 handset users looking for change from Android's built-in WebKit browser a third party alternative to play with. Opera Mini, which is the first web browser alternative on Android, sports a number of enhancements, including what Opera claims is up to a 30 percent performance boost.

"With Opera Mini 4.2, we are showing the world that Opera never gets complacent. We will always be improving our product, adding speed, new functionality and features, and ensuring that it is accessible by all,” says Jon von Tetzchner, CEO, Opera Software. “Our support of the Android platform helps fulfill our mission to be available on more platforms, for more devices and reach more users, anywhere in the world."Opera Mini also boasts greater multilingual support with more than 90 language versions, personalization through skins, Opera Link support for notes, and support for mobile video on a wider range of phones.

ARM and Canonical Ltd, the commercial sponsor of Ubuntu, have announced that it will bring the Ubuntu Desktop operating system to the ARMv7 processor architecture.

The deal will produce a version of the operating system for small net-browsing computers known as netbooks.

The new operating system for Arm-powered machines looks set to be available in April 2009.

"This is a natural development for Ubuntu, driven by the demand from manufacturers for an ARM technology-based version,"said Jane Silber, COO of Canonical. "Joining the considerable community of free software developers working on the ARM platform ensures that a fully-functional, optimized Ubuntu distribution is available to the ARM ecosystem, providing wider choice for consumers looking for the best operating system for their digital lifestyles."This version of the Ubuntu Desktop operating system will target the ARMv7 architecture including ARM Cortex-A8 and Cortex-A9 processor-based systems.

ARM produces chip designs that firms such as TI, Qualcomm and many others turn into processors that power 70-80% of the world's mobiles.

ARM-designed chips also drive many smartphones such as the G1 - the first phone powered by Google's Android software.

Today at the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) 2008, Microsoft Corp. showcased new innovations in Windows 7 that make it easier for hardware partners to create new experiences for Windows PC customers. Windows senior vice presidents Steven Sinofsky and Jon DeVaan encouraged hardware partners to start testing their current products and building new products on the application programming interface (API) complete pre-beta that was distributed to WinHEC attendees. Microsoft also provided a pre-beta release of Windows Server 2008 R2 to attendees.

“We’ve done a great deal of work in Windows 7 to enable new scenarios with our hardware partners, and we are excited by the partner innovation we have shown today,” said DeVaan, senior vice president of the Windows Core Operating System Division at Microsoft. “Windows 7 presents tremendous opportunities for hardware developers. This innovation will enable our hardware partners to provide customers with even greater choice in rich computing experiences.”

Opportunities for Hardware Vendors With Windows 7
Microsoft demonstrated new features in Windows 7 that optimize how customers interact with Windows PCs, manage devices, access broadband and engage with wireless experiences, providing new opportunities for partners to improve their customers’ experience.The following features in particular were highlighted:
* Devices and Printers. To make it easier for customers to interact with all the devices on their Windows PC, Microsoft has created a new feature in Windows 7 called Devices and Printers. Devices and Printers provides a single place for customers to interact with devices, browse files or manage settings. Devices can be connected to the PC using USB, Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, with simple wizards that simply the setup process.

* Device Stage. Device Stage enables hardware manufactures to create an even richer user experience, especially for more specialized devices such as cell phones, multifunction printers and digital cameras. Device Stage is designed to help Windows 7 customers take advantage of advanced features for devices. For mobile phones, portable media players, cameras and printers connected to a Windows 7 PC, Device Stage provides information on the device status and runs common tasks in a single window customized by the device manufacturer.

* Mobile broadband. Windows 7 delivers a simpler and more reliable way to connect to the Internet using wireless modems. The process is similar to connecting to any other wireless network, and is done using the View Available Networks feature. A consistent experience for customers and a common infrastructure for partners enables lower support, maintenance, deployment and management costs, and allows partners to focus on higher-value services rather than basic connectivity development.

* Windows Touch. Controlling the computer by touching the screen is a core part of the Windows 7 experience, with visual feedback provided for tap and double-tap gestures. The Start menu, Windows Taskbar and Windows Explorer are touch-ready. Windows 7 also introduces support for multitouch technology, which enables customers to control what happens on the screen in new ways by zooming in, zooming out and rotating images with their fingers.

Windows 7 reflects an evolved approach to engineering that weaves partner feedback more closely to the development process, and enables the delivery of innovative new features while preserving compatibility and performance.

“We’re helping protect partner investments in Windows Vista as we build Windows 7,” DeVaan said. “Our goal is to maintain very high compatibility with products designed for Windows Vista.”

Device-Makers Laud Microsoft’s Early Partnership Efforts
Microsoft also announced early industry support for Device Stage from partners including Brother, Epson, HP, Motorola, Nikon, Sansa, Canon and Sony.

As part of the keynote, Microsoft demonstrated Canon’s SD990 digital camera and a Nokia N95 smartphone to show how Device Stage makes it easier for people to use multifunction devices and makes it easier for hardware companies to package custom applications and services as part of the user experience.

Early-partner adoption of Windows 7 and Device Stage illustrates the larger industry opportunity for device manufacturers to increase customer satisfaction by providing customized device information that can be updated at any time. It also provides a platform for device manufacturers to offer customers built-in support for common features and direct access to services such as ring tones, ink cartridges and photo printing. The investments being made in Windows 7 not only help customers get the most from their devices, but also create new opportunities for partners.

“Canon and Microsoft share a history of working together, responding to customer needs through each company’s outstanding technologies and products,” said Yoshiyuki Suzuki, senior general manager of the Office Imaging Products Planning Center at Canon. “We look forward to further developing our relationship with Microsoft as we lay the groundwork for high-performance Windows 7-compatible Canon products.”

“We have been working closely with Microsoft to help ensure compatibility and seamless connectivity between our leading smartphone software S60 on Symbian OS and Windows 7,” said Eero Kukko, head of S60 Platform Marketing at Nokia.

“For the past year, HP has been working closely with Microsoft to ensure maximum reliability, compatibility and an enhanced user experience for our imaging and printing products with the Windows 7 operating system,” said John Crandall, director of Strategic Alliances for the HP Imaging and Printing Group.

Windows Server 2008 R2
Also at WinHEC, Microsoft will be demonstrating Windows Server 2008 R2 to attendees. Microsoft is working with original equipment manufacturers, independent software vendors and developers to help ensure that customers can make full use of the latest industry hardware advancements in 64-bit, as well as multicore and manycore processing and power management efficiencies, with Windows Server 2008 R2. Additional technology investments include virtualization, Web, power management and scalability, while delivering an enhanced experience for Windows 7 customers.

About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

source:Microsoft News

What if Microsoft waved a magic wand and everything people hated about Windows Vista went away? You might have an operating system that you liked--and that's what Microsoft appears to be striving for with Windows 7. We checked out an early beta of the future OS, and though at this point many features are either missing or works in progress, the improvements to everything from user interface to memory management look highly promising.

Along with several dozen other reviewers and analysts, we got our first real look at the OS, preinstalled on loaner notebooks, over the weekend at a workshop on the eve of the Microsoft Professional Developers Conference. Microsoft planned to hand out installation discs later Tuesday, after the head of engineering for Windows and Windows Live, Steven Sinofsky, delivers his scheduled keynote formally introducing Windows 7 to PDC attendees. (We'll report on our experiences upgrading PCs from Vista to 7 later on.)

Of course, some of the promised features are things that Microsoft has pledged--and failed to deliver--before. Wasn't Vista supposed to be faster than its predecessor? We won't be able to test performance (and other under-the-hood features) for some time, obviously, but we can share with you what Microsoft is saying to back its claims.

On some details, Microsoft has said very little. As of Monday, the company had offered no new word on when the OS will ship--the official target date continues to be early 2010, but some insiders say that the actual date may move forward by a few months. Likewise Microsoft hasn't said anything about editions (and pricing) other than to indicate that they probably won't mirror the Vista lineup.Microsoft has said all along that Windows 7 would refine (but not rewrite) the Vista kernel. However, some of the anticipated changes depend on support that Microsoft may not be able to control. For example, a number of cool network features will work only if your employer installs Windows Server 2008 R2 (also handed out to reviewers). Other new features require cooperation by hardware vendors, though this time their contribution won't extend to rewriting drivers. Still other changes involve slimming down the code by offloading applications (such as e-mail and photo management) that were once bundled with the code. With Windows 7 you'll get them either as downloadable apps or as Web services.

But the OS that remains tries very hard to please users by addressing some of the biggest gripes people had about Vista, and by generally making everyday tasks accessible and easy to perform. To the extent that these efforts are visible in our early beta, they look pretty good.

The Interface: A Kindler, Gentler Windows

Windows Vista's interface makeover emphasized style over substance: Among its most-hyped new features were the Aero user interface's translucent window frames (woo-hoo!) and the Flip 3D window switcher (flashy, but not particularly useful). It didn't do much to repair Windows'

Microsoft has released key details of the next generation of software that it hopes will run the world's computers. The software giant, whose dominance is increasingly under threat, said Windows 7 will replace the disappointing Windows Vista in January 2010.

Microsoft said the new operating system will be designed to function like a tighter version of Vista, which launched in 2006 but was widely derided as a system hog that slowed down computers with features that most users never used.

Speaking to participants at a Microsoft developers' conference in Los Angeles, Steven Sinofsky, senior vice president of Windows, said Microsoft was learning its lessons from Vista, and making sure that Windows 7 would be fully compatible with all relevant devices and applications on launch.

Among the innovations unveiled by Microsoft was a touchscreen capability that will allow users to select folders and control programs without using a mouse.Windows 7 will also feature faster bootup times, an updated task bar that includes previews of open windows, a new desktop look, and a set of features optimised for laptops. It would also make it easier to coordinate and access files over networks, and to automatically configure settings for different networks.

The new software will ditch some prominent features included in Vista, including Calendar, Windows Mail, Movie Maker, Contacts and Photo Gallery, which will now be available for free download from the Microsoft website.

Microsoft operating systems still power some 90 percent of the world's personal computers, though Vista has only racked up an 18 percent share since its launch.

Microsoft has been hit by the growing success of Apple's Mac computers and by the long-term switch of many computing functions to mobile phones and the internet.

Google has been threatening Microsoft's Office Suite, with online word processors, spreadsheets and presentation programs.

Microsoft Tuesday said it would launch free online versions of Office that would be supported by advertising. Many analysts fear that offering an online version could cannibalize Microsoft's most profitable line of products.

But Rob Helm, a senior analyst at research firm Directions on Microsoft, said that both Windows 7 and Office Online should work out well for the company.

"Both are good improvements," he said. "Windows 7 will help Microsoft overcome the weakness of Vista, while Web-based Office is a direct response to Google. Many businesses will like it because they have lots of users who don't use many of the Office features."

The evolution of the Windows client, involving both Windows Vista (now with Service Pack 1) and Windows 7, appears to be closer than Microsoft is ready to acknowledge officially. Of course, Windows XP, even with Service Pack 3, is the past, with the exception of customers abandoning Windows Vista by exercising their downgrade rights. Windows Vista, even with SP1, is a present that makes the future seem to not get here fast enough. And Vista SP2 along with Windows 7 and Windows Cloud (Strata) are the future. But at the same time, both Vista SP2 and Windows 7 are nothing more than the evolution of Vista, to a lesser, and respectively a larger degree.

Come the end of October 2008, and the start of November, Microsoft will deliver a rather consistent taste of where it is heading with Windows, not only Windows 7, but also Windows 7 Server and Windows Strata (the label continues to be unconfirmed by the company). Events such as the Professional Developer Conference 2008, Windows Hardware Conference 2008 and TechEd EMEA will be focused on Windows 7 and Windows Cloud, although less on Windows Vista.

While at TechEd Brasil, at the start of this week, Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer indicated that the company planned to unveil a range of new products by July 2009. Microsoft's CEO mentioned that, by the end of June 2009, the software giant would offer "client operating system releases." Microsoft is, of course, already cooking Windows Vista SP2 and Windows 7.Ballmer stated that "Microsoft technologies: Windows, Windows Server, .NET, Visual Studio, Silverlight, SharePoint, Office (...) over the course of the 12 month period that ends June of next year, [are] just a subset of all of the exciting new innovations Microsoft will bring to market: client operating system releases, information management tools, security, gaming products and systems. The range of new technologies in some senses is growing and growing quickly." (emphasis added)


Windows Vista Service Pack 2 (SP2)

Microsoft released Windows Vista RTM at the end of January 2007, not counting the business launch of the operating system in November 2006. Vista SP1 was released to manufacturing on February 4, 2008 concomitantly with Windows Server 2008, but was only made available for download starting March 18. Now the Redmond company has already moved onward to Service Pack 2.

In fact Vista SP2 invites to the Beta program have already started to be sent out, according to Neowin. It is not Windows Vista SP2 that Microsoft is cooking, but also Windows Server 2008 SP2, Beta invites for which have also been sent out. Microsoft has yet to confirm anything officially, but the first Beta bits for Windows Vista SP2 and Windows Server 2008 SP2 are reportedly going to testers in just four weeks.

Still, while Service Pack 1 was the catalyst that took Vista RTM out of coma, making the operating system worthy of a long forgotten and discarded Wow label, SP2 is bound to be nothing more than a standard service pack release. At best, SP2 will take Vista forward just as much as SP1.

The equation is rather simple for Microsoft. The company will end up with a repeat of the Windows XP SP2 – Windows Vista scenario in which both operating systems are available at the same time on the market, although this situation would involve Vista SP2 and Windows 7 RTM. The last thing that Microsoft needs is to evolve Vista with SP2 sufficiently enough that it will be capable to rival Windows 7. In this context, the answer is rather simple. The Redmond giant needs to keep Vista at a relative stand-still even with SP2, and focus all innovation on Windows 7.


Windows 7, or Windows 6.1, or Windows Vista R2, or Windows Vista but "a lot better"

The seventh major version of Windows, but only according to Microsoft's math, comes with no differentiation between the codename and the brand. However, Windows 7 will, for the sake of perpetuating the existing level of Vista software compatibility, be in fact Windows 6.1. At the same time, according to Ballmer, Windows 7 will be Vista, but “a lot better.” This makes Windows 7 an excellent candidate for the Windows Vista R2 label, just as Windows 7 Server is in fact Windows Server 2008 R2. Still, the early feedback on the Windows 7 moniker indicates that the management of the Windows 7 project made the right choice.

"There you have it, Windows 7 now has a name. It’s called – Windows 7,” revealed Steve Clayton, Microsoft's UK Partner Group CTO. “To be honest I was quite surprised but also pretty pleased. The naming decision as Mike Nash says is about simplicity. It’ll certainly save us from all having to unlearn the name we’ve all had for it to date. I expect this naming decision will be debated to death on all the usual sites, but me, I’m just happy we settled on a name. Now let’s get to the PDC and get the bits!"

"Win7 to officially be called . . . Win7" said Robert Hensing, Microsoft security software engineer. "I actually for once - LOVE that we are keeping the name of the OS simple and leaving it at Win7. I will admit – I was somewhat disappointed when XP's name was announced internally (internally it was known as Whistler) and I was downright horrified when we decided to call Longhorn "Vista" (my friends call it "Veesta"). Longhorn sounds cool . . . manly . . . Vista is pretty much the exact opposite in my mind . . . it sounds serene and 'pretty'."

"Steve Ballmer was at Gartner's Symposium/ITxpo conference today, talking about a number of issues. The big question was about Vista deployments and what should companies do. He answered by saying that the adoption rate for Vista, is two times that of where XP was after the same period," stated Neil Hutson, Microsoft evangelist. "Then in Jedi style, Neil MacDonald from Gartner said that 61% of respondents are thinking of skipping Vista. To that, Ballmer said that Microsoft would be ready for that outcome, but if he was the audience, he would not wait. I think that this is a good call. Vista SP1 is really stable and the big question is whether companies are going to wait for the first SP of Windows 7 before they deploy? That will leave them with a lot of very outdated machines and OS software that will take them a lot longer to replace."


Windows Cloud – To Strata or not to Strata?

At PDC2008 Microsoft plans to unveil the first Beta of Windows Cloud, which could be labeled Windows Strata, although the company has yet to confirm this aspect. Windows Strata goes beyond the Windows client and server operating systems, and is a new platform tailored to the Redmond giant's Software plus Services business model.

"We have our Professional Developers Conference in Los Angeles in a couple of weeks, we're going to roll out new technologies and a new platform for this software plus services world. The new platform has a lot of work to do. First, it requires a new platform in the cloud. In the Microsoft kind of way of thinking every new major trend requires a new version of our operating system. So, we did Windows, then we did Windows Server, then we did Windows CE and Mobile. And you'll see us bring Windows technologies in a new form to the cloud," Ballmer explained.

Microsoft is essentially looking to keep up with the changes associated with the development paradigm. But what the company is doing is transition the Windows style of development to the cloud and make it available in the browser. Silverlight, .NET, Windows Presentation Foundation and Visual Studio will all contribute to enabling developers to built web-based solutions running on Microsoft's new Internet platform. In this regard, the software giant is working to ensure that services will "be available as a system construct in Windows Server, in Windows desktop and in Windows in the cloud," Ballmer stated, adding that "with this evolution to a new world of distributed computing, we Microsoft will introduce a new cloud platform, some new cloud services around Web 2.0, some advances to our development tools and development runtimes, as well as tools and technologies that really support new business models."

There is trouble ahead for Microsoft's Windows operating system. The Redmond company's flagship product is in for a tough run because of the U.S. credit crunch and the global financial problems it generated. In this context, both IDC and Gartner, two market analysis companies, warned that the PC industry have been affected by the impact of the worldwide economic crisis. Still, that is just a part of the picture. If the PC industry is hurt in terms of lower volumes of PC shipments, Microsoft will also be affected with sales of the Windows operating system intimately connected with the company's OEM partners.

The “global PC market finally felt the impact from global economic downturn. The U.S. professional market experienced the biggest hit from the economic crunch. The U.S. home market saw definite softness in PC sales after a few quarters of strong growth,” revealed Mika Kitagawa, principal analyst for Gartner's Client Computing Markets group. “The Asia/Pacific PC market was impacted by a slowdown in China. PC growth in Latin America was slow relative to historical levels, but it was still in line with the forecast.”According to statistics made available by Gartner, PC shipments worldwide climbed to 80.6 million units in the third quarter of this year. The figure represents an increase of 15% compared to the same quarter of 2007. Still, Gartner explained that the growth is supported by strong unit sales in the mini-notebook segment with a focus on EMEA, the region composed of Europe, Middle East and Africa. Gartner put Hewlett-Packard in the lead worldwide with 14,7 million shipments and a 18.4% share of the market, Dell in second place with 10.9 million units sold and a market share of 13.6%, and Acer third with 10 million shipments and 12.5%.

IDC also emphasized computer sales barely managed to meet expectations. IDC claims that OEMs sold 80.1 million PCs worldwide, with HP having a market share of 18.8% and accounting for 15 million sold units. Dell comes in second with 14.2% of the market and sales of 11.3 million units and Acer gets the bronze for a market share of 12.5% and 10 million shipments.

Top 5 Vendors, Worldwide PC Shipments, Third Quarter 2008 (Preliminary) (Units Shipments are in thousands)
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"The difficult economic environment accelerated toward the end of the third quarter. The commercial segment has been constrained due to tight IT budgets, while back-to-school spending helped somewhat in maintaining momentum," said Doug Bell, research analyst, Personal Computing. "IDC expects the ongoing economic woes in the U.S. to further impact consumer and commercial PC spending during the holiday season."

No less than 80% of the revenue attributed to the Windows Client division comes from original equipment manufacturers, namely sales of Windows operating systems pre-loaded on personal computers. In this context, if the PC industry slips, Microsoft will also slip. Of course, Microsoft is not relying strictly on sales of Windows in order to survive. In the 2008 fiscal year, sales of Windows generated a revenue of $14.45 billion out of the company's total $68.0 billion.

South Korean manufacturer LG announces its latest entrant in the netbook segment dubbed Xnote Mini. The company had previously released the LG X110 netbook.

The device weighs 1.19-kilogram and is claimed to be the lightest 10-inch netbook.

The Xnote Mini is powered by a 1.6GHz Intel Atom processor. It includes 160GB HDD, 1 GB RAM, Wi-Fi, 3G, USB ports, an SD card reader, VGA port, Ethernet jack and an integrated 1.3-megapixel camera.

Besides, the LG Xnote Mini features stereo audio connections and easy-to-operate keyboard with enlarged Shift key.LG is said to have developed the Xnote Mini by keeping its female audience into the mind. The netbook comes in white, black and pink color options.

It runs on Windows XP operating system.

Although, the exact pricing and availability details are not known, the LG Xnote Mini netbook will expected to cost around $600 (approx. Rs. 27,888).

Mark Shuttelworth, the father of the Ubuntu distribution, has announced the next major update (9.04) to be christened Jaunty Jackalope. Expected to arrive in April next year, the development of the same will start from November of 2008, with notes on what needs to go in the new version gathered together come December, at the Ubuntu Developer Summit.

Ubuntu follows of cycle of a new release every six months; bundled with the latest version of key open-source applications.Named after lightening fast Jackalope, this version's major goal would be to reduce the boot-time and also tighten web integration with the desktop. Shuttleworth claims that Ubuntu 9.04 will be fast and will create a new experience through desktop applications that seamlessly integrate web technologies. Eventually, Ubuntu 9.04 will blur the lines between desktop applications and web services.

The Ubuntu development community is currently gearing up for Interpid Ibex -- Ubuntu 8.10 release scheduled next month. With improved support for netbooks and Mobile Internet Devices, Ubuntu 8.10 will serve as an incremental bump.

Shuttelworth claims that Ubuntu is ready to provide an experience comparable to operating systems from Microsoft and Apple. Ubuntu version for MIDs and netbooks is already in the works and expected soon.

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd and Symbian Limited today announced the Samsung INNOV8, equipped with high-end features and multimedia including an 8-megapixel camera, internet browsing and ergonomics.INNOV8 is based on Symbian OS v9.3, bringing the highest level of power efficiency, platform security and phone performance. It includes demand paging, an OS component which enables shorter start-up times for applications and advanced memory management resulting in more responsive applications and phone features. This ensures INNOV8 works as quickly as mid-range phones only with better quality features suitable for consumers who want more from their handset.

This is Samsung's eighth mobile phone based on Symbian OS , the open operating system for mobile phones. Samsung INNOV8 will be available in Europe from August 2008.

With the all the brouhaha surrounding solid state drives (SSDs), there remains a question of exactly how big of a performance advantage flash memory really holds over today's hard drives. On paper, most SSDs scream ahead in both read and write speeds, but real-world benchmarking paints a different picture. So why the discrepancy? At SandDisk, they're blaming Vista. The company's CEO, Eli Harari, says SSD "performance in the Vista environment falls short of what the market really needs. Vista is not optimized for flash memory solid-state disks."It's not hard to find fault with Vista, but blaming the OS for underperforming SSDs qualifies as a new one that even Apple hasn't yet exploited in its many mocking commercials. To be fair, Harari made the statement as part of a pitch to improve SSDs' next generation controllers, which he says "need to compensate for Vista's shortfalls." Because of this need, the company claims it is behind schedule bringing competitive SSDs to market.

Is SanDisk justified in pointing the finger at Vista?