by Andy Brudtkuhl on May 29, 2008
We are two years away (should there be no more delays) from Windows 7, while most people have yet to upgrade to Vista from XP. I have and love it. Vista Rocks. But will Windows 7? It seems like Vista is turning into the ugly stepchild of the Windows family (although he’s got to be cooler than Windows ME). What will Windows 7 bring us that Vista did not? Well here are a few details…
Windows 7 is a *minor update* to Vista
I am not entire sure this constitutes a new version, but whatever … you know Microsoft and their love of versioning the hell out of everything. Basically this means Windows 7 will build on the same driver base as Vista did – hopefully eliminating the same problem Vista had with drivers (although I’ve never had driver issue with any of my Vista machines).
Integrated Virtualization
This is a very cool feature of Windows 7 and I’m sure they borrowed some of the technology from the latest release of Windows Server 2008. Basically this functionality will allow legacy applications (no word on how far back) in a virtualized mode. Again, this will eliminate the other major Vista issue that crippled its adoption. You will be able to run all your older apps and Windows 7 will do its best to reduce any backwards compatibility problems.
Touch Functionality
There have been other versions of Windows that were “touch friendly” although it seems the market did not want that (tablet PC’s). Apparently with the success of the iPhone it seems Microsoft wants to jump back onto the touch bandwagon. I wonder if it will eventually mesh with Microsoft Surface. Altough nothing is that innovative with the initial demo of the touch technology … it is cool nonetheless.
Windows Live Integration
Not sure this is a good idea (Passport anyone?) but they have to push their Windows Live services somehow.
“We have an opportunity to make it much easier for customers to ‘get started’ with Windows Live. Our goal should be to have customers log in, type their Live ID, and then they are automatically ’set up’ with Live. For new machines, we want Windows Live to come with the experience and will consider investments to make this experience easy. For customers who are upgrading from Windows Vista to Windows 7, we will explore ways to make it easy for them to get Windows Live – particularly for photos, calendar, and movies where our applications complete the experience.”
Link
Again… I don’t think this is something customers want. It’s one of those “Wouldn’t It Be Cool” ideas that does not appear to be useful (see Passport again).
Tighter Integration with Windows Mobile
Don’t get me wrong – Windows Mobile is an awesome mobile platform. And with Windows 7 there will be even tighter integration between the two. By that time it should be Windows Mobile 7.
“Improved collaboration and connectivity between Windows PCs and cell phones is going to get a major shot in the arm with Windows 7, according to Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates.” Link
There are several other features coming in Windows 7. You can watch for them with this Fresh Feed. And of course, I’ll keep you posted on anything cool.
Technorati Tags: Windows 7
by Andy Brudtkuhl on May 29, 2008
Official Google Mac Blog: Mac OS X 10.5.3: sync Google Contacts
“We’re happy to tell you that starting today, it’s easier to sync up your contact lists. The Address Book application in Mac OS X 10.5.3 now lets iPhone users sync their Address Book with Google Contacts. To try it, go to the Address Book menu, choose Preferences, and then check Synchronize with Google. It’ll ask for your Google account and password, then automatically update your contacts every time you sync your iPhone.”
I just installed OSX 10.5.3 Update so I cannot wait to try this my MacBook. Now all I need is an iPhone… It’s pretty easy to do. Just open your Address Book, go to Preferences and check the box that says “Sync With Google”.
Technorati Tags: OSX Update, Google Contacts, Sync, iPhone
by Andy Brudtkuhl on May 29, 2008
-
The Exec-PHP plugin executes PHP code in posts, pages and text widgets.
-
-
-
Bezos says he is “very serious” about the business
by Andy Brudtkuhl on May 29, 2008
That’s right … your beloved blogger is back in action after a six month hiatus. Yes, yes it has been a long time but trust me … I was busy. Here’s what’s been going on:
I fired my boss
Yes, yes. I finally did it. After contemplating the move all of 2007 I made the jump and quit my full-time code monkey job to venture out on my own to fulfill my serial entrepreneur dreams. As of January 1st, 2008 I became a free man.
I started a new company
We had yet to share this on the blog (due to the hiatus) but TJ and I dissolved our company (Simplifive) when he moved to Chicago to pursue a new design gig. In the ashes of all our work I formed 48Web … a web strategy, consulting, and development *firm* (i hate the term firm but it’s all I got right now). I love it and it’s going great. It’s already growing and I am looking for my first intern.
I started some more projects
Although continuing to work on some of the projects TJ and I had started (Iowa Blogs, CIB, and Fresh Feeds) I have gone and gotten myself into a host of other projects. I have been working with Doug Mitchell to create his Interactive Learning Environment (ILE) called RentalMetrics. Whilst plugging away at that we realized we had a product developing. Now there’s a line out the door and turning into a success.
I started another community site, #dmtweetup … more on that later.
Not to mention several other projects that are in the pipeline… See, I have been busy.
I got a Mac
As many of you who used to read Get A New Browser know I was (and still am) a Windows fan. Bill Gates is still my idol. It came time to buy a new laptop since I couldn’t take mine with me from my old job. I dwelled on the decision for a couple months and finally pulled the trigger and got a MacBook. I have loved it ever since. But don’t worry Bill, I have Vista running on it well thanks to some fantastic software from Parallels. More on the SWITCH later.
Twitter Happened
Aside from being ridiculously busy starting new companies over the last six months I fell face first into the land of Twitter. This curtailed my blogging down to, well you know, nothing. Instead of blogging my thoughts and sharing links here, I started doing it there … just because it was easier. Pretty soon we had a community going of Twits in Des Moines. The group has organically grown from 6 of us to over 50 in a matter of months. It spawned #dmtweetup we could start keeping track of all the members and aggregate all of the tweets to a single location. Follow me at http://twitter.com/abrudtkuhl
So here we are now. I finally got some time to get back to blogging. You may notice a new GANB design… It’s the Blogging Pro theme. I didn’t have time to design one from scratch this time around and this theme gave me everything I wanted. So now back to your regularly scheduled blogging.
by Andy Brudtkuhl on May 28, 2008
