Text in Windows 7

WPF has been providing a feature that people wanted for a very long time.  Have you ever wonder why a screen with a very high resolution will give you application and text that are too small to use and read properly.  If you take a look at printed material, no matter how big the medium is or how high the dpi used for printing, a 10 point text will always appear as a 10 point text, the higher dpi will just make it appear so much smoother and nicer.  WPF set out to mimic that, thus a WPF application will always appear the same size no matter where you view it.  This is achieved by making the graphic display truly device independent.  A 10cm line will appear as a 10cm line no matter how big the screen or how high the resolution.

Windows 7 will finally bring this feature to the masses, you don’t need to run a WPF application to get this benefit for text.  And I hope that this will also be true for other elements in the Windows.  If this is true, that Vaio P will definitely be good to ship in Windows 7, since the current one under Vista shows text that are way too small to read properly (cause Sony choose to put a high resolution screen on a 8.9” screen).

Vista is fast on HP Mini

I’ve always been wondering why netbook can’t run Vista properly.  Somehow a lot of review have put it that if a netbook is using Vista it will take a performance hit.  A modern processor at 1.6Ghz and 1GB of RAM can’t run a modern Vista OS?  I know that Vista is resource hungry but I don’t think it is that resource hungry.  After some thoughts, I felt that the reason might be due to the slow hard disk that most netbook are using, since Vista is always doing file indexing on the fly and will thus cause a performance dip if the hard disk is slow.

After trying out Sony Vaio P at the Sony shop, it is confirmed that Vista felt sluggish on the Vaio P which is using a 1.3Ghz Atom but with 2GB of RAM.  But I still have my doubts. Then when I get my hand on a HP Mini 1000 (1012TU), I’ve decided to install a dual boot Vista on top of the XP to try out the theory.  I was thinking that if it is slow then I’ll just turn off the file indexing and see whether the speed will become decent.  However, after successfully getting Vista installed, I feel that it is fast, as fast as the XP that was originally installed and I did not do any tweaking and this is even with Aero turn on!  This confirm the theory that with 1GB of RAM Vista should be as fast as XP.

So why is it that people are saying that netbook can’t take Vista?  I feel that this is because the manufacturer want to sell the netbook cheap, the first netbook came installed with Linux but Linux is not something that people are comfortable to use (not all people, at least) and soon people are asking for a Window version.  But if HP, Dell, Lenovo and what not put Vista on their netbook, the cost will be much higher than those netbook that comes with Linux.  Thus Windows XP came into the scene.  Being cheaper than Vista, manufacturer can thus keep the price range of netbook.  To justify the choice, they make use of the negative image of Vista, since netbook comes with cheap setup, it can’t run Vista.  And it seems like they are successful in this marketing gimmick.

Reluctance of Microsoft to make it simple

The latest information out for Windows 7 is that there are basically 3 editions for consumers to purchase, Windows 7 Home Premium, Windows 7 Professional and Windows 7 Ultimate.  However, the other editions are still available, Windows 7 Starter and Windows 7 Home Basic are available for OEM builder and Windows 7 Enterprise is for those Enterprise customer who wants volume licensing.  Although off the shelf consumer will only get to see 3 edition of Windows 7, when buying or using computer system, be it desktop or laptop or netbook, personal or belonging to the company, there are still 5 edition that user will see.  Thus this is definitely still confusing to the average Joe.

I would think that Microsoft should ditch all other editions and stay with only 3, Home, Professional and Ultimate.  Windows 7 Home is for home users and it will include special license that will limit some of the features, for example, Windows 7 Home found on netbook will not have Aero and some other features that are not available under the previous Home Basic.  Users who want these features can purchase a full Home license from Microsoft and these features will then unlock (as what Windows 7 upgrade will currently do).  Windows 7 Ultimate is also the edition for the Enterprise customers.  In this case there are really just 3 editions of Windows 7 and it serve the purpose of the previous 6.

Windows 7, Vista on steroid

After using Windows 7 for a few weeks, the one thing that keep surprising me is that it is so much faster.  The start up is faster, the shut down is faster, opening of application is also much faster.  This is even when compared to Windows XP.  I can say that it is as fast if not faster than the Mac OS X in terms of start up and shut down of course.

The new taskbar is also much easier to use, as it is no longer cramp up by all those windows titles.  Only application icon is left on the taskbar.  The mixture of pin up application and already launched application also make the taskbar simpler and more efficient.  No longer does the launch bar needs to fight for spaces with the active taskbar.  Further you can move all this icons around on the taskbar to suit your personal taste even when the application has been launched.

All features of the Windows has also been made much more accessible.  For example you can now change the resolution of the display by simply right clicking on the desktop.

But speed will still be the one reason why I will switch to Windows 7 as soon as it is launched.  It is really like using a Vista that is on steroid.

Next generation Windows, officially known as Windows 7

I was just talking about the change in codename from Vienna to Windows 7 and Microsoft officially announced that the new name for the next generation Windows is going to be Windows 7.  Simplicity? Copied from Apple?  I hope they didn’t pay some expensive product consultant to come out with this name.  Personally I’m neutral to the new name, it is the OS itself that matter.  And I sure hope that the pre-beta that Microsoft is going to review is closer to the one that they are going to ship.

Windows 7

It been a while, Microsoft has changed the codename of the next generation of Windows to simply Windows 7 instead of the previous Vienna.  With the PDC 08 coming real soon and Microsoft promise of letting the attendee have the first public bit of the OS, more and more information on the OS has been released.  It will be interesting to see the new features that Windows 7 is going to offer.

So much for Apple’s ease of use claim

I was helping my elder sis setting up her iPhone 3G.  She actually had her iPhone 3G for a while already but wasn’t able to download any application into her phone.  I was a bit puzzled when I heard that but it became clear once I sat down in front of her computer.  Her iTunes can’t run, somehow iTunes seems to crash every time it start up.  Data Execution Prevention (DEP) of Vista prevented iTunes from illegally accessing the system memory.  A bit of search found out that this kind of incompatibility happened for quite sometime already, since the days of iTunes 7.x but my sis is actually using the latest 8.0.  OK, so this might be some Vista problem, but a company as big as Apple can’t get their act together to make their software compatible with the latest OS?  And the OS has been out for nearly 2 years already!

Luckily my sis has another laptop with XP instead of Vista, thus I managed to install iTunes 8 on that laptop.  iTunes managed to startup with no problem this time and we quickly get to the part whereby iTunes ask to register the iPhone.  We were thinking “Why not” and so we started the registration process but the problem quickly came in the middle of trying to submit the payment method.  No matter how many times we try to click the submit button, iTunes just stay at the request for payment method page.  Finally we’ve got no choice but to choose “Cancel”, but that doesn’t help as well. iTunes needs to be restarted.  We tried to re-register but were told that the account is already in used.  We tried the apple account and everything seems OK.  Thus I decide just to carry on.

Since the iPhone 3G has some problem with the WiFi (all other devices can access the WiFi in the house with no problem but the iPhone just don’t like the WiFi, it can connect to the WiFi with no problem but it won’t display any website, keep saying that the server is busy) and that I’ve read somewhere in the papers that the original firmware that comes with the phone cause a lot of problem, I decided to help my sis upgrade her iPhone to the latest 2.1 firmware.  It seems simple, iTunes 8 detected that the phone needs the latest 2.1 firmware and there is this “Update” button.  So I click the update button and iTunes prompt an error, something like “unknown problem, code 9006″.  Good it tell me the problem is 9006 but what is 9006!  My goodness this is Apple software!  I quickly realize that iTunes was trying to download the firmware, I click on the downloading page and saw that the download goes until about 10Mb and the error appear.  I decided to try again, this time 12Mb and I tried again, 9Mb, and again 15Mb.  So it seems that there is some problem while trying to download the about 200Mb of firmware update and since there is no way the iTunes going to help, I’ve decided to keep trying.  Fortunately the download went through after several more retry and luckily the download didn’t stop at 199Mb.  But the thing is that automatically resuming an aborted download has been around for so long already, can’t iTunes just help to do that?

Sure enough the 2.1 firmware helps to make the iPhone agrees to work nicely with the existing WiFi and web surfing is now possible.  What a relief.  So we decided to try the Apple store and download some free applications into the iPhone.  Again problem strike, clicking the “Install” button produce nothing, then I realized that it is again trying to download something but the download status quickly disappear.  This time though I can’t get the download to work, but then I realized that there isn’t any error and I decide to check the iPhone “tab”.  Under the “Applications” tab, sure enough the application that we are trying to install was listed, but from the page you can see that the application is on the PC but it wasn’t sync to the iPhone.  When we were trying to setup the phone, we choose not to automatically sync the PC to the iPhone.  So we need to manually sync the downloaded application to the iPhone but iTunes didn’t tell us that we need to do this, after it download the application, it just stop there.

Yeah, so much for Apple’s claim that their software are easy to use and that their products never fail.  They are also human and they also make mistake, just like any other software or hardware company.

Vista launch press coverage inaccuracies, corrected

With all the big hoo ha and bashing of Windows Vista on the web, a web post finally do some justice.  A point that I especially like is:

“Any “expert” that says that you should not buy Windows Vista for security should be locked up and never allowed to write ever again.

As  a developer I know for a fact that patching an inherent flaw within the software architecture does not solve the problem entirely.  This is especially true when security is concerned.  This is like when a weak point is found in a defence wall and breached, patching the hole later on does not give you a stronger wall.  The whole structure of the wall has already been weakened and thus future breach will be possible.

The "Wow" starts now!

This is an event that I need to go.  Its sort of a wrap up for the journey that was started on September 2005, when I attended the Professional Developer Conference at L.A. and first saw an updated Windows Vista that is very similar to the one launched worldwide on 30th January 2007.  A journey that “wow” me, not because of Windows Vista itself, but because of the new platform that software developer can now leverage on.

Its a Wrap!

Vista Fiesta!

Finally!  Some information on the Windows Vista launch date in Singapore!  Its Fiesta indeed!  2 days after the world wide launch of Windows Vista, the Wow is coming to Singapore!

Where is the launch party?

So the day of Windows Vista Launch is here, 30th Jan 2007.  I’ve read about the launch party in New York: the wall dancers that pull down the flag which make up the Windows Vista logo that signify the start of the “Wow”.  Eager to see or even read about the launch event that will happen in Singapore, I’ve check out our local computer store.  One of our major computer store, the Challenger, even had the original Windows XP shelves change to bare the Windows Vista Logo, though the products on display are still Windows XP.  Puzzled, I ask the store assistant and the store assistant told me that they are indeed selling Windows Vista.  I was so happy and immediately follow the store assistant to check out the Windows Vista they are selling.  I was to be disappointed again, they are selling Windows Vista alright, but the OEM version, a version that is use by computer manufacturer to install on new PC.  A version with just a transparent slim plastic box which seems to mean that Vista is not launch in Singapore.  Yet.  Checking with Microsoft Singapore website?  No news.  Local Sony, HP websites are still selling PC that is preloaded with Windows XP.  No deal.  The only OEM that sell PC with Windows Vista is Dell, and they are saying that it is a special promotion period until 5th Feb.

Thus on the launch day of Windows Vista, nothing seems to have change in Singapore, no launch party, no Windows Vista.  Guess the wait is still on.

Go ahead, buy that PC

To help you in making that decision on whether to buy a new PC this holiday season or to wait until Windows Vista is launched, Microsoft announced the Express Upgrade program.  This program allows any Windows Vista Capable PC bought between 26 October 2006 and 15 March 2007 to be upgraded to Windows Vista or even Office 2007 if that PC comes pre-installed with Office 2003.  This program is provided by Microsoft for a nominal fee.

The catch is that, it is still unknown what this “nominal fee” will cost you and which edition of Windows Vista this program will get you.  Thus it is still best to wait for PC manufacturers to announce their own program which will definitely be some form of free upgrade.  But with this push from Microsoft, you can be sure that a free upgrade is definitely on the way.

Updated: In US, Gateway and Dell have announced that customers who buy systems from now till March 2007 will get free upgrade to Windows Vista when the OS is shipped.  Dell on the other hand is going to charge customers US$45 for a Windows XP Home to Windows Vista Home Basic upgrade and shipping/handling cost for a Windows XP Pro to Windows Vista Home Premium upgrade.

It is also available to those on CPP

Microsoft will also let those users who have Windows Vista RC1 (which means that they are on Customer Preview Program, CPP) to download RC2 as well.  Those who are interested can visit this page.  The download will be for a limited period only.  Microsoft also states that RC2 will not receive as much support as RC1 via Windows Update and that RC2 might not be able to upgrade to the full RTM version when Windows Vista ships.

Windows Vista RC2 is available

Yes, it is now available to tech beta testers and soon MSDN subscribers will be able to download it.  RC2 will be the last preview build for Windows Vista.  Microsoft is targeting 25th October to release Windows Vista to those who are holding the enterprise volume license (or something like that).  Thus normal user should be able to purchase it come next year’s January.

The First Release Candidate for Windows Vista

Finally, the highly anticipated RC1 (Release Candidate 1) of Windows Vista has been released.  Build 5600 of Windows Vista is now the official RC1 at least according to Paul Thurrott’s RC1 review.  I can’t verify whether Beta Testers have received this RC1 or not, as it is weekend and I am not at work.  However, MSDN subscribers have not received it; I can verify this because MSDN subscribers can access their account online, and I’ve log on to my account and checked; The latest is still August CTP (Build 5536).  This means that I can only get my hand on RC1 when I get back to work on Monday.

If you are interested in knowing what is new since Beta 2, you can check out Paul Thurrot’s review that I have linked in the first paragraph.

Problem with Volume

Microsoft took a big knife and chop away the old audio architecture in Windows XP.  With that gone, they came up with a new audio architecture from ground up, aiming to make audio in Windows Vista less affected by any sudden peak in CPU usage.  When they are at it, they also make audio easier to use by changing the perspective from devices to end points like speakers, and headphones.

All these changes should be all well and good for users of Windows Vista, however, it make the job of audio application developer so much harder.  For example, in the midst of all these changes we lost the ability to change the master volume.  At first this seems to be OK, as Windows Vista implemented per-app volume and any application that is changing the master volume through the MMSystem API, Windows Vista will route it to the per-app volume.  However, it turns out that for certain media stream, this is not working, which is especially true for MIDI.

After several days of hard work, I’ve finally managed to chop up my application and make the old master volume into a brand new volume that truly affect only my own application.  But I’ve decided not to take part in Vista’s per-app volume eco-system; My argument is that since this is a feature that is being push by Microsoft, they have the responsibility to make it work for all application.

Microsoft still targeting November

Seems like Microsoft will be releasing their up and coming OS, Windows Vista, this November after all.  After several votes of “no-confidence” from online journalists, beta testers and die-hard supporters, Microsoft has instead crank up the gear and shifted into fast speed.  July saw the coming of the July CTP at the end of the month.  Then 1 week later, interim build 5483.  Another week later, interim build 5492.  This thursday, we saw the coming of interim build 5520.

So… Yes, they are definitely in the fast speed lane and November is the goal they are heading for.

Bye Bye Hour Glass, Hello Blue Circle

Windows Vista July CTP (Build 5472) springs a surprise.  The “Busy” hourglass has been replaced by a revolving blue circle.  If you have tried out the Internet Explorer 7 Beta 3, you will be familiar with the new “Busy” or “Working in the background” animation of the mouse cursor; the “Busy” animation while a web page is loading is also using a revolving blue circle.

Seems like the Windows Vista is really getting a “wax and polish” for each version that came out after the Beta 2.  I believe that more changes will be coming our way.

Windows Vista should be delayed?

I’ve just got back from a week long vacation and stumble upon a post which doesn’t seems good for Windows Vista.  One of the beta tester and outright supporter of Windows Vista, Robert McLaws, had declared that Vista needs more time.  He finds that Windows Vista is still not stable enough to call for a Release Candidate.  Though newer interim build had solved some of the stability and performance issues of the Beta 2, newer bugs came popping out.  He recommends that Windows Vista be delayed by another 4-6 weeks, so that the whole Vista team can get their acts together to deliver a fantastic OS.

One interesting thing that he pointed out is that developers have been using too much of “by design” or “not reproducible” to close bugs report.  This is something quite common for software developers, once a bug can’t be reproduce they tend to move on quickly to another bug.  This will cause inaccuracy to any software report as potential bugs will stay hidden by the tag of “by design” or “not reproducible”.  Developers should always find time to try and reproduce any bugs that are “not reproducible”, so as not to leave any hidden “surprise” for the customers.  For my company, we will not close any bugs that are tag as “by design” or “not reproducible” automatically, developers will need to work with the testers and convince the project engineer that these bugs are really “by design” or “not reproducible”.

What? What OSR2?

I was reading some articles that mention about FAT32 disk format and this remind me of something interesting that happened when I was trying to purchase a copy of a so called “specialized” version of OS.

Time warp to the era of the Windows 95.  Windows 95 has just been released into the world not too long ago and I’ve just started work, fresh out from the U.  Later on, Microsoft decided to release a newer version of Windows 95 that is much more stable and has a particular feature that I wanted badly once I’ve heard about it.  This newer version is targeted mainly for Microsoft’s OEM customers and thus was called OEM Service Release 2, in short OSR2.  The new feature?  FAT32, support larger hard disk partition and will create smaller file fragments so that hard disk usage is dramatically reduced if you have a lot of small files on your machine.

Thus I went down to a local computer shop and asked them whether they sell a copy of Windows 95 OSR2.  “OS what?” said the salesman, “Oh you mean OS/2 is it?”, before I can even start to react, he follow up and said “Nope, we don’t carry IBM’s software product here.”, pointing to his Microsoft authorized dealer sign he continues “You mean still got people want to use other OS meh?”.  From that I know I have to rest my case, this guy has obviously never heard of an OSR2 before.  But at least he still know about the once highly regarded IBM’s OS, the OS/2.

Mac Attack!

Recently Apple released a new slew of ad campaign which target “so called” PC’s weak point.  They have a nerdy looking guy acting as a PC and a young guy dressed in jeans acting as a Mac.  So the ad start with these 2 guys standing beside each other and goes “Hi I’m a Mac”, “And I’m a PC”.  You can check out the clips from here (oh yeah, if you’re not on a Mac, you will need to install the Quicktime player, dude) .

These ads actually created a back lash from the community.  Check out this article on Slate just to see what one of these guys think.  And because of this someone actually came out with a spoof to get back at Apple.  Be sure to check out this spoof just for a good laugh.

So do you mean stupid stupid or cool stupid?

Did you download a copy?

What is your guess?  How many people downloaded the Windows Vista Beta 2 Customer Preview Program (CPP)?  Apparently, Microsoft has not release this information yet.  However the bandwidth needed to cater for everyday download had reached a stage whereby increasing the bandwidth some more will potentially bring down the whole Internet!

Incidentally, if you have not download a copy, the Customer Preview Program has already been closed.

Finally, Microsoft is going to change that ugly theme

This is one benefit of releasing beta software for users to try out; Users can then feedback on what they dislike about the software.  With so many negative feedback, Microsoft is finally going to change the theme that is shown when Windows Aero^TM cannot be enable, known as the Windows Vista Basic theme.

You can see from the diagram above, the middle window is the old look for the Windows Vista Basic.  The new look (the window at the bottom) in my opinion is much better, at least now it convey a certain professionalism instead of the half-hearted effort that was done for the old look.  Though I would prefer that Microsoft enlarge the 3 top-right buttons some more, ditched the old icons for the 3 buttons and use the icons that the Aero theme is using (the difference is small, but the Aero’s icons look nicer).  This is what I feel from looking at the picture, I am sure seeing the new theme in action would give a different perspective.

If you haven’t know …

Bill Gates is stepping aside for new blood.  After 6 years as Microsoft’s Chief Software Architect, he is giving up the post to Ray Ozzie, who was the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Microsoft.  Craig Mundie, another CTO, will become Chief Research and Strategy Officer.  The reason for Bill Gates to step was that he wants to focus more on his other obligation, his philanthropy work, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation which he founded together with his wife in year 2000.

So we will be seeing more of Ray Ozzie and hopefully even better OS with lesser delay time.  Ray Ozzie will face a different battle in the arena from what Bill Gates face in the 80’s and Steve Ballmer face in the 90’s.  So we shall see what turns out in the end.

Windows Vista Beta 2 is looking good

After using Windows Vista Beta 2 (Build 5384.4) for about one whole day, I find that this is the most polish Windows Vista OS ever since Microsoft releases CTP build at the PDC 05.  It seems that Microsoft has gotten their act together to deliver a much better experience.  The look and feel are all iron out nicely with more consistency.

Performance is also much better.  It used to be that after you login, you’ve got to wait a while before you can get hold of the command to order the computer around.  This time round a fade out and fade in, then you can straight make use of the quick launch bar, the start menu or even right click to personalize your computer.  Even the installation take shorter time than last build.

Its getting better and better; I am looking forward for the actual release so that I can use it daily for all my regular business.

Windows Vista Beta 2 is out – But its not for public yet

So Windows Vista Beta 2 (Build 5384.4) is out for Connect (those who are in the Beta program) and MSDN Subscribers.  I am currently downloading the iso and hopefully will be able to install it come tomorrow.  During the keynotes for WinHEC, I think it is also mentioned that public will be able to get their hands on Windows Vista Beta 2 by this coming few weeks.  So anyone who is not on the above 2 programs will need to be patience and wait for it to go public.

I believe a bunch of bugs has been solved for this Beta 2 and hopefully there will also be some performance boost from the last CTP.

Capable or Premium Ready?

Microsoft has officially announce the actual system requirement to run Windows Vista when its launch in Jan 2007.  A logo system will also be implemented so that consumer will know whether the system they buy now will be able to run Windows Vista or not.  A system that has a logo of Windows Vista Capable can run Windows Vista’s core experiences at a minimum.  Core experiences of Windows Vista include things such as innovations in organizing and finding information, security, and reliability.  Some features like the Windows Aero Glass effect will need additional hardware upgrade.

Premium Ready PC will give you even better Windows Vista experience like the Windows Aero user experience (actually currently other than the Windows Aero glass effect, I don’t know what “even better experience” gives).  Below is a summary of the requirements.

A Windows Vista Capable PC includes at least:

• A modern processor (at least 800MHz).
• 512 MB of system memory.
• A graphics processor that is DirectX 9 capable.

A Windows Vista Premium Ready PC includes at least:

• 1 GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor.
• 1 GB of system memory.
• A graphics processor that runs Windows Aero.
• 128 MB of graphics memory.
• 40 GB of hard drive capacity with 15 GB free space.
• DVD-ROM Drive.
• Audio output capability.
• Internet access capability.

Microsoft is Gearing Up to Release Public Beta 2?

C|Net news has reported that a top engineer at Microsoft has issued a challenge over the weekend to his Windows Vista team: Find and fix a bug in the current code and earn US$100.  The one who fixed the most bugs before Monday will also get an extra US$500.

Will we see a much stable OS in the upcoming public beta 2 release because of this?  Hmmm…. I hope so, though the current build is already quite stable.

Glass? Can’t see which is the active window?

So Paul Thurrott is reviewing again.  I must says that his review is often times quite good.  But this time round I feel that he is trolling.  Is it because he had run out of ideas to write already?

User Account Protection might be a bit annoying now, but I believe this is what interim and CTP releases are all about.  That is to find out what is wrong with the code and UI.  Although Microsoft claims feature complete but it doesn’t mean that UI can’t be tweak for better usability.  I have confident that Microsoft will get this right.

Glass window don’t highlight focus window, thus user won’t know which window is in focus?

Come on, I can tell which is the focus (or topmost) window with just one look.  I don’t even need to guess like what Mr. Thurrot is suggesting.  50% chance to get it right?  I believe you can do better than that.  The one on the right is the focus window, how do I tell?  Notice the close button is highlighted with a red tint but the one on the left is not?  That is the indication, the focus window is the one with the tinted red close button.  Not obvious enough?  I don’t think so.

Media Center is ugly?  This is so subjective.  I happens to think that the look is OK.  The navigation is also pretty OK, although I think that it needs some polish.

I feels that so far Windows Vista is quite OK as a successor to Windows XP.  It does not disappoint me.  Of course the performance needs to go up another few notches but other than that it is pretty OK.  I am actually looking forward for the launch day in January 2007.

So rumour is just rumour

There was a rumour at a popular Windows website (the same one that I have mentioned before) saying that Microsoft is going to release another build of Windows Vista (specifically build 5365) this week to their beta testers.  This would be the second such release before an actual CTP release.  The one that has been released to beta testers is build 5342.

But it is just that, a rumour.  Nothing more.  However, I was actually looking forward to the said build, as rumour also has it that this build will be a lot faster in performance and much more stable as well.  A bit disappointed that it turn out to be just another rumour, but Paul Donnelly, from Microsoft, who confirm that the release is a rumour did say that they are preparing for a release but just not plan for this week.  He hope that it will be sooner than later.

I am still eagerly waiting for the full public beta 2 (rumour has it that it should be release around the last week of May, but again, just another rumour).

Boot Camp Anyone?

No, not that type of boot camp, is the all new catch phrase in Mac world.

Boot camp is a software that is going to be in the next release of Mac OS X, Leopard, which will let Mac user boot into their *favourite* oops, sorry, should be *disgusted* OS, Microsoft Windows XP.  So Mac user can now enjoy another different world.

So if Mac OS X is so good why do Mac users need Windows XP anyway?  All needs should be taken care of by Mac OS X, isn’t it?

Gaming might be one aspect that make Mac users cling on to Windows XP.  I believe most games still run faster on Windows than Mac, this is because most game developer still base their game on Windows and just port it over to Mac.  Also a lot of games are still Windows only, developers just don’t see why they need to take care of the smaller market, time might be better spent at making the next big version of the game.

As a side note, don’t you think Apple should not charge its user for all these minor refresh of Mac OS X?  Tiger and Leopard sound to me like just mere service packs.

Windows Vista is delayed till January 2007

So its official.  It has been delayed.

Do I care?  Yes I think I do.  Its a disappointment.  After waiting for a September 2006 release, it is now a January 2007.  But I would rather get a quality software rather than a half-baked one.  So a delay really is better than Microsoft rushing the product and then users need to wait for a service pack to solve their problems.  So I hope Windows Vista will really be a good one after 2 delay.

But I think that a January 2007 date is all thanks to PC makers since businesses can still get their hands on Windows Vista in November 2006 as long as they purchase volume license.  PC makers can’t really get their act together to release their PC pre-installed with Windows Vista earlier if Microsoft release Windows Vista in November (at least they can’t meet the holiday season).

So those people who DIY their system got to wait 2 more months to a January 2007.

Windows Vista Product Lineup

Microsoft has finally make it official.

“the Microsoft^® Windows Vista product lineup will bring clarity to customers’ digital world by helping them easily accomplish everyday tasks, instantly find what they want, enjoy the latest in entertainment, improve the safety of their personal information, stay connected at home or on the go, and help ensure PCs are up-to-date, more secure and running smoothly.

There are a total of 6 versions, 2 for businesses, 3 for home users and 1 for emerging markets.  Windows Vista Business and Windows Vista Enterprise are for businesses.  Windows Vista Home Basic, Windows Vista Home Premium and Windows Vista Ultimate are for home users.  Windows Vista Starter is for emerging markets.

Windows Vista Enterprise is only available for business customers participating in Microsoft’s Software Assurance program and it will contain certain features that is only available in this version.  Windows Vista Starter is only for emerging markets, giving these markets a basic and low-cost OS.  The rest of the versions will be available for retail and on new PC.

Windows Vista Home Basic and Windows Vista Starter will not contain the new user interface Windows Aero.  The Home Basic only comes with the classic look and feel of Windows and the Starter will be a much simpler OS which only available in 32 bit.  The rest of the versions will let users experience the new Windows Aero, including the now so famous Aero Glass.

Windows Vista Home Premium and Windows Vista Ultimate will also get the new Vista Media Center capabilities.  Windows Vista Business and Windows Vista Enterprise on the other hand will get the all new tablet PC capabilities.

The interesting thing to me is that if Home Basic does not contain the Windows Aero, what is the price point that it is going to launch?  If this package is of the same price as the current Windows XP, then Microsoft is really trying to collect a premium for their latest Windows Aero.  I hope this is not the case.

Windows Vista Feb CTP and WinFX Feb CTP

So they are officially released.  Although, currently only Beta Testers can get their hands on Windows Vista Feb CTP, but it will be out soon for the MSDN subscribers.  In this feature complete build, Windows Sidebar finally make a debut and user can now try out the new rss feed gadget that lies on top of the sidebar.For WinFX Feb CTP, it is now publicly available.  There will be some changes as compared to the Jan CTP that will break any application that was build base on Jan CTP.Since the Windows Vista Feb CTP came out on 22nd Feb, the popular rumour “starter” is wrong again.

Microsoft is shipping 2 Beta 2 for Windows Vista

Jim Allchin, Co-president of Microsoft, has confirmed that there will be 2 release for Windows Vista Beta 2.

“We’ll produce one this quarter and one next quarter. We’re targeting each CTP at a particular audience. The one coming up this quarter will be targeted toward our corporate accounts.

From what I know, ever since the first CTP for Windows Vista (which came out during the PDC 05), every build has been tagged as Beta 2.  You can see this tag at the lower right of the desktop once you startup Windows Vista.

Why do I need Vista – take 3

In my last post, I’ve forgotten to talk about another major improvement in Windows Vista.  This is in their audio architecture.  Microsoft has always let user interact with devices in the audio environment.  For example if you go to Windows XP control panel and then find and launch Sounds and Audio Devices, you will get to choose the default playback device and the default recording device from one of the tab page.  Microsoft is going to change this in Windows Vista, users are going to interact with speakers, headphones, microphone etc., which is more natural for most people.  You will want to lower the volume of your speakers if you find that the sound coming out from your computer is way too loud and not that of the playback device.  Furthermore, you will be able to adjust the volume of system sound and leave the volume of your MP3 playback at the same level.  This will make sure that when you are listening to your favourite music on the headphones, a sudden new mail notification will not make you deaf.  Finally, the audio will also be more smooth even when there is a sudden surge in CPU usage.

Why do I need Vista – take 2

There is a comment about my previous post on Windows Vista.  I have to say that to a certain extent, I agree with the comment.  The look and feel of Windows Vista is going to be just “incrementally better”.  But the user experience is going to be substantially better, at least from the look of the current build, it has the potential to be substantially better.

For example:

1. Microsoft is going to take bulky dialog boxes (that give too much information) and simplify them to become much more task oriented.  When user need more information, they can then follow the link that is on the simpler dialog
2. Another aspect would be security, it would be much harder for spyware and virus to attack Windows Vista, and user can then feel more secure when surfing the Internet
3. The revamp of the Graphic pipeline will mean that for the first time adding a decent 3D Graphic card will make your system become much more responsive as all graphic related rendering will then be offload to the GPU

Google and Apple started to talk about having a indexed file system so as to enable a better desktop search after Microsoft announce their intention at PDC 2003.  Both Google and Apple then race to beat Microsoft by coming out with the desktop search way before Microsoft did.

Having said that, I find that the “spectacular improvement” might not come from the OS itself but by the tools that Microsoft is going to make available for developer to use.  Namely, Windows Presentation Foundation, Windows Communication Foundation and Windows Workflow Foundation.  You can take a look at this video for a glimpse of what can happen in the future.

Why do I need Windows Vista?

Manuel Clement, Designer of Microsoft’s upcoming Expression Suite (a set of tools to aid in software development), blog about why you will need Windows Vista after people keep insisting that Windows Vista is actually Windows XP SP3 and nothing more.  He gave a list of 15 things that differentiate Windows Vista from Windows XP.

My take is that people are falling into the trap of negative publicity.  After Microsoft announce that it is removing WinFS (the future storage system that will revolutionize how we interact with Computer), skeptics are putting off Windows Vista as just another service pack.  After playing around with Windows Vista December CTP for about 2 weeks, my  point of view is that Windows Vista is a substantial step forward.  Though it has its own set of problems now, it is still in beta, when it finally ships, it will be better than Windows XP.

Feature Complete Windows Vista and Blu-Ray support?

Rumour has it that Microsoft going to release Windows Vista Feb CTP in the week of Feb 15 and that a week later they will add Blu-Ray support into their internal build.  I am still quite skeptical about the rumour “starter” but I will go with it for now.  See whether he is going to be right this time.

Move aside Blackcomb, here comes Vienna!

So it has been confirmed.  That the codename for the version of Windows after Windows Vista is going to be called “Vienna”, no more “Blackcomb”.  According to a Microsoft spokesman the codename has always been selected base on locations in the world known for great “vistas“.