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Watch the Wii U's quick boot in action, due in summer update
Last time we saw the Wii U quick boot, it was just a simulated demonstration of how it would work. Now Nintendo's posted a real-time video in real-life glory (via Nintendaan), and the good news is that it's quicker than shown last time. Back in January, after selecting a recently played game and profile it took around 19 seconds to load up into New Super Mario Bros U. Four months on, and the real deal makes it in 14 seconds. Nintendo says the update featuring quick boot is due either before or during the summer. Who knows, it might swerve over the line just in time for Mario Kart 8. [Image: Nintendo]
Wii U to get from startup to games faster thanks to quick start menu
Nintendo is looking to cut the time from booting the Wii U to playing a game by introducing a quick start menu, one of the things planned for a system update in the early summer. As CEO Satoru Iwata said in this week's corporate briefing, Nintendo believes it can halve the time between starting the system and getting on with the playing. As showcased in a vid from the briefing (via GoNintendo), the menu brings up a selection of the games you've recently played when you boot up the Wii U. Select one, then your user profile - and bear in mind you can make the Wii U select a profile automatically - and voila, you're a-bouncing on goombas. This isn't the first time Nintendo's addressed the Wii U's load times, as last year it cut down the time it took to return to the Wii U menu after exiting a game. Presumably by 2015 we'll be able to just glare at the Wii U and it'll start playing Super Smash Bros., albeit with some minor cowering on the GamePad's part.
Microsoft details Windows 8's pre-boot world, helps you skip the F8 F8 F8 routine
Microsoft has been going into very exacting detail as to how Windows 8 works, but one area it hasn't explored much is what happens before you even see the Start screen. As user experience manager Chris Clark notes, the days of mashing F8 repeatedly to reach a pre-boot configuration are (mostly) over: you can invoke it either through an "advanced startup" in settings, through Start menu shortcuts or, if your PC is truly sick, let it show automatically. At least on systems blessed with UEFI instead of an aging BIOS, you'll get a lot more to tinker with as well, including going straight to the command prompt, recovering from a system image or booting from external storage. The emphasis on choosing your environment before you hit the power button is virtually necessary. A Windows 8 PC with a solid-state drive leaves just a 200-millisecond slice of time for any user input, and Microsoft would rather not have users caught in an infinite loop of restarting their systems as they unsuccessfully try to boot from USB drives. You'll likely discover the pre-boot space first-hand when the OS ships later this year, but for now you can check the source for more.
Acer Aspire 3951 photos leaked, new Ultrabooks to launch in September
We don't mind eyeballing a few impossibly clean renders when we get wind of a new toy, but there's nothing like the real McCoy. Today's bones slipped out of a (now pulled) HDblog hands-on of the Acer Aspire 3951 Ultrabook, possibly leaked ahead of an IFA 2011 embargo. The genuine article looks nearly identical to its rendered counterpart, albeit a bit thicker and more plasticky. The unveiled 13.3-inch MacBook Air competitor reportedly sports a second generation Intel Core processor, boots from sleep in under two seconds, and is only 13mm thick. The price? While there is no official word on this exact model, Acer head-honcho JT Wang mentioned last week that the outfit was prepping to launch a new Ultrabook in September for about $800. Lines up nicely with the Acer 3951's rumored $770-960 price range, doesn't it?
Acer's Aspire 3951 leaks with MacBook Air-like specs, available in October?
It looks like Acer may be dropping down to the lightweight laptop division, now that images of its so-called Aspire 3951 have leaked out of Vietnam. An ostensible rival to the recently refreshed MacBook Air, the 13.3-inch 3951 reportedly boasts a similarly slim design, measuring 13mm thick and weighing less than 1.4 kilograms (about three pounds). According to Sohoa, the aluminum-cased device is powered by a second generation Intel Core processor, features an optional 160GB SSD, and offers more than six hours of battery life, along with Bluetooth 4.0 support. Much like the Air, this Aspire can purportedly boot up pretty fast, as well, rousing from sleep mode in just 1.7 seconds. It's rumored that Acer will release this new line in October within the curiously affordable price range between $770 and $960, but we'll have to wait and see whether that actually comes to fruition. In the meantime, you can check out an extra image of the Aspire 3951 below, or hit the source link for the full collection. [Thanks, @tranquochuyvn] Update: Oddly enough, it appears that we've caught a glimpse of this exact same laptop before, except it was portrayed by M.I.C. Gadget as a Thunderbolt MacBook Air leak. Perhaps the folks received some bad intel, be it intentional or not.
Apple faces infringement lawsuit over fast booting patent once owned by LG
Apple's facing yet another patent infringement lawsuit -- this time, in Florida, where a company called Operating Systems Solutions (OSS) is taking aim at OS X's fast booting operation. According to court documents, the plaintiff alleges that Cupertino's function (most prominently displayed on this year's MacBook Air refresh) violates at least one protected claim, which details a four-step method for speedy booting, and involves files like config.sys and autoexec.bat (seriously). Interestingly enough, the patent in question was originally granted to LG Electronics, back in 2002, but is currently owned by the little-known OSS. It's still unclear whether or not LG has any involvement with the suit, but we'll bring you the details as soon as they emerge. In the meantime, you can hit the coverage link below to dig in to the full complaint. [Thanks, Lucian]
Drama Mamas: Too sexy for your group
NSFW warning: Video may be slightly NSFW (bikinis and shirtless guys). Drama Mamas Lisa Poisso and Robin Torres are experienced gamers and real-life mamas -- and just as we don't want our precious babies to be the ones kicking and wailing on the floor of checkout lane next to the candy, neither do we want you to become known as That Guy on your realm. Does Right Said Fred hold the answer to the latest WoW drama? This week, the Drama Mamas help a frustrated player who can't figure out why so many of her groupmates seem to feel they're simply too sexy for their groups. To my dearest Drama Mamas, In a random heroic I did earlier, I kept getting prompted to kick members of my party. I saw nothing wrong with the way these players were performing, and I always voted against it. After it happened again, I asked my party why there were so many random kick attempts. I was told by a hunter in my party that the tank, who was in a guild with the hunter, was being an ass and that it was funny, after which the tank sent a smiley face in party chat. I did not say anything further and continued healing, only to be kicked a minute later. Oh, did I mention we were in the middle of Falric? Was I right to question why there were so many kick attempts? Is there anything I could have done to avoid this situation? It seems like kick abuse is happening more and more frequently. It is not uncommon for me to be in a party where a tank or DPS will start a vote simply because that player won a piece of gear they wanted; I have even been in groups where a member has started a vote to kick a player who is pumping out higher DPS.
Drama Mamas: When the boot feels like Das Boot
Dodge the drama and become that player everyone wants in their group with the Drama Mamas. Lisa Poisso and Robin Torres are real-life mamas and experienced WoW players -- and just as we don't want our precious babies to be the ones kicking and wailing on the floor of checkout lane next to the candy, neither do we want you to become known as That Guy on your server. We're taking your questions at DramaMamas (at) WoW (dot) com. Das Boot is the story of a U-boat crew: the adrenaline of battle and the tedium of the hunt. The film shows what IMDb calls "the claustrophobic world of a WWII German U-boat; boredom, filth and sheer terror." If the words "boredom, filth and sheer terror" bring to mind your most recent PUG raid, there's something wrong. And if even the act of getting into and then successfully staying in a PUG raid makes you feel more like a U-boat crewman than a PUG raider ... Well, we've got some drama to torpedo.
Mac 101: Boot options
We've had some questions recently on Ask TUAW about boot options so I thought it would make for a good Mac 101. Obviously, Boot Camp has brought dual-booting to the fore on the Mac platform, but there are actually a variety of boot time options built into your Mac which allow you to interact with it to some degree before loading the OS. The most important of these, of course, is choosing the boot partition and this is easily done by holding down the option (???) key after restarting the machine. This will bring up a menu of all bootable volumes (such as a Windows Boot Camp partition), including mounted external USB and FireWire drives as well as optical discs. However, there are more handy shortcuts as well: You can force OS X to boot from a mounted optical disc by holding down the C key. Holding down the T key will put that Mac into FireWire Target disk mode, which will allow another Mac to access its hard drive over a FireWire cable as if it were an external hard drive. Holding down the Shift key will boot into Safe Mode, which can be very useful if your Mac is misbehaving. Apple has a nice list of a few more boot time key combos that are worth keeping in mind.
Found Footage: a Mac Classic booting
The Mac Classic was an early 90's 'budget' Mac running System 6 (check out Low End Mac's history and profile of this model), and I've personally never seem one in action. Since pictures are worth only so many words, I thought I'd post a YouTube video I stumbled across of a Classic starting up. The res/frame rate flicker (funny thing: I had to edit 'flicker' because I originally and instinctively typed 'flickr') and crummy Flash compression certainly don't propel this video to the top of the list in terms of video quality, but I figured this might still be a fun, though brief, look at an old school version of the Mac OS.If ya'll know of any better videos of older versions of Mac OS booting or running, feel free to link them in the comments. If we can collect enough, I'll round them up in another post.
