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Engadget Podcast 132 - 02.06.2009
Friends -- the Engadget Podcast is here for you once again. It's time to kick off your shoes, twist your hat sideways, whip the tie across the room, and settle in for some good old, homespun tech punditry. Join Josh, a newly-healthy Paul, and Nilay as they whisk you away to the promised land of gadgety goings-on. Today you can hear the boys discuss Windows 7 SKUs, rap about Nüvifone developments, answer reader questions, and so much more. Strap in for the most thrilling ride you'll ever take. Ever. Hosts: Joshua Topolsky, Paul Miller, Nilay Patel Producer: Trent Wolbe Song: 4 Minutes 00:01:09 - Engadget's recession antidote 00:04:35 - Buy this book: Chris Ziegler's 'T-Mobile G1 For Dummies' 00:06:23 - BlackBerry Blowout: Storm vs. Bold vs. Curve 8900 00:16:45 - Windows 7 SKUs announced: your worst nightmare has come to pass 00:35:10 - Windows 7 multitouch: it's a gimmick (for now) 00:47:08 - Toshiba TG01 GUI, video playback demoed on film 00:53:45 - Garmin, ASUS form partnership for phones, nuvifone G60 first model 01:03:54 - Reader questions Subscribe to the podcast [iTunes] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes (enhanced AAC). [RSS MP3] Add the Engadget Podcast feed (in MP3) to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically. [RSS AAC] Add the Engadget Podcast feed (in enhanced AAC) to your RSS aggregator. [Zune] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in the Zune Marketplace Download the podcast LISTEN (MP3) LISTEN (AAC) LISTEN (OGG) Contact the podcast 1-888-ENGADGET or podcast (at) engadget (dot) com.
Ballmer to businesses: deploy WinXP now and face concerns from employees
There's no two ways about it -- Microsoft has moved a truckload of Windows Vista licenses. That said, just 10 percent of all PCs within enterprises in North America and Europe use Vista, with the vast majority sticking to what has worked for years: Windows XP. Company CEO Steve Ballmer had quite the zinger on this topic during a recent interview at an NYC interview to mark the extension of Microsoft's collaboration with EMC, and we're certain you'll love it. Here goes: "If you deploy a four or five-year old operating system today [Windows XP], most people will ask their boss why the heck they don't have the stuff [Vista / Windows 7] they have at home." Of course, a one-off remark from some chap that's not at all pertinent to the day-to-day operations of a company isn't apt to make a business owner rethink their approach to running their own show, but we're sure it's fun for Steve to think that only a handful of consumers out there are still relying on WinXP.[Via PCWorld]
Windows 7 multitouch: it's a gimmick (for now)
We've spent some time with Windows 7 Beta's new touch and multitouch features this week, and came away largely disappointed. It's not that they don't work, at least on occasion, it's that they don't really provide a comprehensive or pleasurable method for using a computer. The primary enhancements to the OS that really make touch usage possible include a taller taskbar, pinch to zoom and tap-and-drag scrolling. There's a fancy new onscreen keyboard that's actually usable, and those quick-swipe gestures from Vista remain for forward, back, copy, paste, undo and redo.
Windows 7 gets Hauppauge HD-PVR support via 3rd party
The HD-PVR FAQ on Hauppauge's website has always been very clear that the reason why there wasn't support for Windows Media Center was because when it comes to Live TV, Vista Media Center couldn't handle h.264. So it should come as no surprise that now that the Windows 7 Beta has been out for a bit, someone has figured out a way to get the two to play together. The DVBSBridge add-on is available now for those who can't wait for Hauppauge's drivers and are of course running Windows 7 -- Vista fans need not apply -- but we'll warn you; we just took a look at the directions and this is not for the faint of heart.[Via Geek Tonic]
Windows 7 SKUs announced: your worst nightmare has come to pass
Remember that screenshot we saw of all those different Windows 7 versions (pictured above)? Well guess what? It's worse than you could have possibly imagined. The following will be the actual new SKUs for the OS: Windows 7 Starter (limited to three apps concurrently) Windows 7 Home Basic (for emerging markets) Windows 7 Home Premium (adds Aero, Touch, Media Center) Windows 7 Professional (Remote Desktop host, Mobility Center, Presentation mode) Windows 7 Enterprise (volume license only, boot from virtual drive, BitLocker) Windows 7 Ultimate (limited availability, includes everything) This information has been confirmed by Microsoft... who never listens to us. At least most consumers will only see Home Premium and Professional options at retail, which is more akin to the XP options of yore, and means WMC will be "baseline" for most PCs.Update: Just to be clear, we've checked specifically with Microsoft on all six versions, and the placement of Home Basic in emerging markets. There's now a full breakdown after the break.
The Queue: Soloing Zul'Gurub like a Q
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW Insider's daily Q&A column where the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Adam Holisky will be your host today.As Alex mentioned yesterday, he and I will be taking turns with the queue. So don't fret, Alex will be back in your loving graces tomorrow. As this is my first post for the queue, I feel like I'm boldly going where no man (Alex is a superman) has gone before. And who better to welcome me than John de Lancie's iconic Q character? With Picard oddly facepalming himself... huh. I hope this isn't a sign of things to come. Anyways, I digress. On with the Q!037 asked... "Is it possible to solo Zul'Durub to farm the mounts? If it makes a difference, I am a 10 Man Naxx geared Enhancement Shaman."
Windows 7 gets installed on Amtek U560 UMPC, what's next?
It may not be quite the all purpose OS that Windows XP has become, but Windows 7 is certainly proving to at least be a good deal more versatile than its immediate predecessor, and folks just can't seem to stop testing its limits. One of the latest to be put through the wringer is the Amtek U560 UMPC, which is based on a pre-Atom A100 processor that clocks in at a mere 600MHz. Despite that, however, and the system's paltry 512MB RAM, the UMPC seems to have been more than up to the task, with it snagging a passable Windows 7 Experience Index rating of 1.2. Head on past the break to check it out in action.[Via SlashGear]
Windows fanperson revs up "Release Windows 7 Now" campaign
It's no secret that the Windows 7 beta that's creeping about the world is generating a lot of excitement -- people want this OS, like, now. To that end, Kelly Poe of Nashville, Tennessee has started up a "Release Windows 7 Now" campaign to get Microsoft to move its behind a little faster. It hasn't gained that much steam yet -- as of this writing, he's only collected 153 votes -- but hey, you just never know, right? Right. Update: Kelly Poe's actually a man... sorry about that, Kelly![Via PC World]
How-to guide explains boxee / Vista Media Center integration
We've already seen boxee for Windows previewed, but if you've been toying with the idea of integrating it into your Vista Media Center setup, you'll probably want to give the read link a look. In short, the step-by-step guide walks you gently through the integration procedure in order to provide easy access to built-in Windows functions (recorded shows, for instance) as well as boxee's portal to the best content the web has to offer. Have a look at the results video just after the break.
Multiple Windows 7 versions coming? Say it ain't so!
These pictures supposedly come from a new build of the Windows 7 beta, 7025. It goes without saying that while we knew this was a possibility, we've been seriously wishing against it. We hope these are fake (and they very well could be), but seriously Microsoft... don't even think about this.[Thanks, Pete]
Microsoft extends Windows 7 beta downloads to February 10
Good news for those of you who haven't yet snagged a copy of the Windows 7 beta -- Microsoft's decided to extend the beta download period to February 10th. That's the second extension we've gotten from Redmond -- the company says that interest is so high in 7 that it doesn't want anyone to miss out. So what are you waiting for? Hit the read link for the download and then snuggle up with our detailed install round-up and hands-on impressions while your bits tumble in. [Via Computerworld]Read - Post on Windows Team BlogRead - Windows 7 download page
Install Windows 7 on a Mac
Raise your hand if you remember when a Mac was a Mac and a Windows machine was a Windows machine, and never the twain shall meet. I sure do. Change has come.Our own Christina Warren has written an exhaustive set of instructions for installing Windows 7 on a Mac over at our sister site, Download Squad. Windows 7 is in beta, so don't try and use it for any mission-critical tasks. Meant to be an incremental update to Vista (Snow Vista?), the current iteration of Windows 7 includes changes like a redesigned taskbar, enhanced touch performance and improvements when run atop multi-core processors.While Intel Macs can run Windows 7 via Boot Camp, Christina points out that virtualization is probably the best bet for most users. She described how to set up an installation with VMWare Fusion 2.0, Parallels 4.0 and VirtualBox 2.1.2 (and the VMware team has posted a guide of their own for Win7 on Fusion).If you're a Mac user who keeps Windows around for compatibility testing or that one proprietary Windows app you can't do without, and you're just itching to try Windows 7, this is the tutorial for you. If you're wondering what the fuss is about over on the Microsoft side, Engadget's deep dive on Windows 7 is a good place to start.
Windows 7 Beta in-depth impressions
We've covered a few tidbits of what the Windows 7 Beta has to offer, including the mess of machines we've installed it on, but we finally gathered together all our thoughts and impressions of the OS into one meaty pile of words and screencaps. Naturally, we're working with a beta here, so things can absolutely get better (or worse), and Redmond might be hiding a feature or two in the wings -- or for the inevitable SP1 -- but we'd say Microsoft has really put its best foot forward here. Check out all our ramblings after the break.%Gallery-43019%
Windows 7 put up against Vista and XP in hardcore multicore benchmarks, XP wins
Now that the Windows 7 beta is out, the benchmarks are coming fast and furious, and while 7's been previously found to best XP and Vista during "real-world" tasks, it looks like XP is still the outright speed champ on current hardware. That's at least the word according to InfoWorld, which pitted all three systems against each other in a suite of tests designed to suss out how each performed on modern multicore systems, and while we won't pretend to grok all the data, there's nothing complicated about the final results, which showed that "any illusions about Windows 7 somehow being leaner or more efficient than Vista can now be thrown out the window." Sure, there was some speedup -- 7 was 60 percent faster than Vista during the dual-core workflow tests -- but overall, 7's just slower on dual- and quad-core hardware than XP. However, there's a silver lining here: InfoWorld says the slowdown is in large part due to the extra code Vista and 7 use to manage multicore processors, and as the number of cores increase, the corresponding performance gains are much bigger than with XP since they can be used more efficiently. Of course, by the time we're all sitting pretty with 48-core Larrabee machines this all might be just a distant memory, so for right now we're just going to get back to installing the Windows 7 beta on anything we can find and reveling in the glory of perceived speedups. Read - Analysis I (against Vista alone) Read - Analysis II (against Vista and XP) Update: The author of one of our sources here has seen been released from InfoWorld due to breach of trust. InfoWorld maintains that Randall C. Kennedy's "insight and analysis [is believed] to be accurate and reliable."
Windows 7 install roundup
After resting up and settling into our post-CES golden desk chairs, team Engadget got busy at installing Windows 7 on pretty much anything they could find. Most installs went off without a hitch, and BSoDs were fairly few and far between. You can check out all our various first impressions after the break... the names aren't made up, but the stories are true.
Windows 7 Beta takes another crown, besting Vista in SSD performance
It's no huge surprise, since Microsoft was planning on improving performance on this front, but now we've got some of our first solid numbers on Windows 7 Beta SSD performance. Nothing crazy spectacular, but Windows 7 looks to have a slight edge over Vista pretty much across the board, with better speed, access time and lower CPU usage -- not bad for a beta, let's hope things continue to improve as we approach "Microsoft would like your money for this" status.
Engadget Podcast 129 - 01.16.2009
Yes! Engadget is back from CES and ready for action. We thought this week might be a little quiet, but it's been quite the opposite. Listen in to Josh, Paul, and Nilay discussing the hot button items of our time: Steve Jobs, Windows 7, and Crapgadgets. Seriously, this is pressing stuff, people.Hosts: Joshua Topolsky, Paul Miller, Nilay PatelProducer: Trent WolbeSong: Popcorn01:56 - Steve Jobs is taking a leave of absence from Apple due to health reasons27:45 - Microsoft temporarily removes Windows 7 Beta download limit57:00 - Crapgadget Crapdown, CES: the best of the worstSubscribe to the podcast[iTunes] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes (enhanced AAC).[RSS MP3] Add the Engadget Podcast feed (in MP3) to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically.[RSS AAC] Add the Engadget Podcast feed (in enhanced AAC) to your RSS aggregator.[Zune] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in the Zune MarketplaceDownload the podcastLISTEN (MP3)LISTEN (AAC)LISTEN (OGG)Contact the podcast1-888-ENGADGET or podcast (at) engadget (dot) com.
DISH Network's Draco project brings programming to Windows Media Center
Aw, snap! Just over a month after DirecTV went and killed its totally promising HDPC-20 tuner, in flies this. DISH Network is apparently gearing up to unveil some sort of HD-capable DISH-to-Windows Media Center liaison, with current test setups involving a modified ViP 211K receiver attached via Ethernet to a PC. The initiative is being coined Draco, and we're even told that dual tuner setups (most likely using dual boxes for now) are in action and working beautifully. It's tough to tell if this is the same project that was rumored way back in April of last year, but it's safe to say DISH is hoping to pick up the pieces that DirecTV inexplicably dropped. Windows Media Center, you've just regained our attention.%Gallery-42371%
Windows 7 beta update saves your MP3s, all other versions get security patch
Microsoft has pushed out its first patch for the Windows 7 public beta. The update saves your MP3s from a rather nasty bug that trims seconds off any song that's been edited, either by you or via automatic updates from Windows Media Player. If you've got afflicted files, there's a chance they're salvageable via properties window, according to the patch notes -- and if not, then here's hoping you backed up your library. Additionally, a new update has gone out to Windows 2000, XP, Vista, and Server 2003 / 2008 that fixes some vulnerabilities in the Server Message Block (SMB) protocol. Beta users won't get their fix until the next public release, explains Microsoft Security Response Team's Christopher Budd, since it's only considered a "moderate" risk for the new OS. Read - Microsoft issues first Windows 7 beta patch Read - Patch notes / how to fix afflicted MP3s Read - Security update
Microsoft temporarily removes Windows 7 Beta download limit
Good news, Windows 7 fanatics -- Microsoft has decided to nix that 2.5 million download limit in order to a) calm everyone down and b) enable its servers to relax just a wee bit. After the Windows 7 Beta download was launched, it took just hours to bring the servers to a screeching halt as consumers 'round the globe attempted to get in before the 2.5 million mark was hit. Now, however, the team has removed that barrier for the next fortnight (through January 24th, being that it was decided on Saturday) in effort to make the download experience more ideal. Crisis averted. Just in case you've forgotten how good it looks, we're including a gallery, and don't remember how much fun we've all had running it on the MacBook Pro and the VAIO P.%Gallery-41385%[Via InformationWeek]
