What to Expect with Windows 8

After looking around online for what Microsoft's next Operating System would be like and features it might contain I found some interesting and exciting things to come. These things are just hints at what is to come. Some may call them "leaks". Here are some of the things I gathered from the references listed at the end of this writing.

I personally was very impressed with Window 7 and it's fresh new look and feel from that of Windows Vista which was a failure for the most part. Let's hope Windows 8 continues on with the Windows 7 tradition of being fresh, quick and with a smaller amount of overhead to hardware ratio than it's predecessors.

Faster Boot Times:

A blogger called Francisco Martin Garcia said the following on his blog:

We can expect some interesting functionality that includes USB 3.0, and Bluetooth 3.0 support, video recognition and 'instant on' booting – which will obviously be seen as a response to Google's Chrome OS. One of Chrome OS' big selling points is the speed of boot-up, and Microsoft is keen to bring the functionality to Windows.

"Windows 8 PC's turn on fast, nearly instantly in some cases, and are ready to work without any long or unexpected delays," said the document.

It also states, "When customers want to check e-mail, sports scores, or play media they love to reach for their PCs because they can get to what they want quickly."

Connect with Kinect:

Another key addition will feature Kinect – the next generation motion sensor video technology that is being brought to the Xbox 360 in the near future.

"Windows 8 could detect my presence and log me automatically," adds the document. This latter nugget of information is intriguing – with person recognition one of the well-appreciated functions of Kinect. Microsoft has long talked up the fact that Kinect tech could be brought to Windows – and there will now be hope that it will be arriving as soon as the next generation of the operating system.

Windows Native PDF Reader:

Windows 8 is also set to feature a native PDF reader, meaning PC owners will no longer need to install a third-party app such as Adobe Reader to view PDFs. The new PDF reader is known as 'Modern Reader', and uses the new AppX application package type, which is similar to that in Windows Phone 7 and likely to be used in Windows Phone 8.

Windows 8 Mulitmedia:

Better media playback and recording, but it will balance using hardware acceleration to save battery life and using the CPU when it gives a better result.

Audio will use hardware acceleration more because that does improve battery life. There will be post-processing to take out blur, noise and shakey video filmed on a phone or webcam, and support for more codecs including AVC and as-yet-undetermined 3D video codecs (stereoscopic3D support is coming, for games and for 3D movies in Media Center, but there are format issues).

Microsoft talks about sharing 'with nearby devices'; one way that will work is adding the Play To option currently in Windows Media Player to the browser for HTML 5 audio and video content, so you can play it on any device that supports DLNA, another is APIs to let other software do the same.

Improved Task Manager:

Task manager will make it easier to see why an app might not be performing; here the Zune software is using all the network bandwidth to download podcasts, so video in the browser keeps pausing. We hope the white on black isn't the final design!

The Windows pre-boot recovery environment will be simpler, combining the safe mode and 'last known good' options into one interface. It will use what Microsoft calls 'superboot' to remove malware and rootkits

If you have to reset your PC, Windows 8 will restore "all the files settings and even the applications" although you'll have to go to the Windows Store to download apps and get a list of apps that didn't come from the store, so it's not clear how automatic this will actually be.

Windows 8 Release Date:

From what I've seen online several sources are speculating that a release for the "Holiday Season" 2011 is in the cards. I'd epxect to see an oficial release in late 2011.

References:
http://www.techradar.com/news/software/operating-systems/windows-8-leak-hints-at-kinect-functionality-699604
http://www.techradar.com/news/software/operating-systems/windows-8-everything-you-need-to-know-701764

In the Sacramento Area and need your computer repaired visit us at http://www.sacramentopcpros.com

“GeekBusters” - Tech Myths Debunked!

This Tech Tips article is brought to you by our friends at Computer Geeks.
Tech Tips Article - http://www.geeks.com/techtips/default.asp

In this tech tip, we expose the myth and reality surrounding some of the biggest trends in our technology-oriented world. Hopefully, this will shed some light which can help you better understand how these crazy gadgets work!

1. Why a cable Internet service provider's (ISP) advertised speeds are not actually reality.

While it's attractive to see that ISPs advertise 10-15 megabits per second download speed, the reality is that you share the same network node as your neighbor (and neighborhood) when it comes to network logistics. So if you and 15 of your neighbors who have the same cable Internet provider are all online, that 10-15 mbps is split between each of you. What's worse is that if one of your neighbors is downloading 24/7, then you'll see reduced speed all the time. The highest chance of your network's peak performance is late in the evening when everyone else is asleep.

2. True or False - Your CD burner's 52X speed is truly 52X speed.

False-ish - The fine print here is that first, in order to achieve 52X speed, you would need a 52X compact disc. Second, when the cd burner starts, it begins at the inside of the disc and works its way out. That's why some burning programs that show real-time speed will say it's burning at 2.5X speed after 1-2 minutes. The 52X speed is achieved as the burner gets closer and closer to the outer edge of the disc. This is the same for burning DVDs.

3. True or False - Megabits and Megabytes are the same thing.

False - Keep in mind that MEGABITS (Mb) is a unit of measurement for network transfer speed. Megabytes (MB) is a unit of storage such as hard drives. That's why when Internet service providers pitch their fast speeds, they always reference megabits. Therefore, a 1 megabit transfer speed does not mean being able to move 1 megabyte across a network. 1 megabit is about .125 megabytes.

4. Why your 500GB hard drive only shows 465GB of space when you look under MY COMPUTER.

Your computer reads information in different ways.

So for example:

BASE 2

1 Megabyte (MB) = 1024 Kilobytes (KB) - BASE 2 (2 ^ 20 = 1,048,576 bytes)

1 Gigabyte (GB) - 1024 Megabytes (MB) - BASe 2 (2 ^ 30 = 1,073,741,824 bytes)

BASE 10

1 Megabyte (MB) = 1024 Kilobytes (KB) - BASE 10 (10 ^ 6 = 1,000,000 bytes)

1 Gigabyte (GB) = 1024 Megabytes (MB) - Base 10 (10 ^ 9 = 1,000,000,000 bytes)

Because we know that 1024 Megabytes (MB) => 1 Gigabyte (GB) => BASE 2 (2 ^ 30 = 1,073,741,824), 500 GB equals 500 x 1,073,741,824 bytes or 536,870,912,000 bytes.

We also know that in BASE 10, 1 GB = 1,000,000,000 bytes

So let's look at what we have:

536,870,912,000 (500GB IN BASE 2)
--------------------- = 1.073741824
(500 x 1,000,000,000) (500GB IN BASE 10)

And if we multiply 1.073741824 x 465, we get 499.28994816, which, if rounded up equals 500 GB

Hard Drive Manufacturers use the binary method when manufacturing their drives but Windows reads the information in the decimal format to show the size. However, which would be more attractive? Buying a hard drive advertised as a 536,870,912,200 byte drive or having it say a simple 500 GB?

5. True or False - The 750 watt power supply you just purchased for $22 is really putting out 750 watts.

False-ish - Similar to how a car with 236 lb-ft of torque provides 100% of it at a certain engine rpm speed, PSU manufacturers know that power supplies hit their max wattage at certain points in time.

For example, 750 watts might be attained with 1 hard drive and 1 optical drive while the computer is idling. Also, it's a dead give-away if you paid only $22 for a high-powered PSU. Look for a PSU that certifies their wattage. So if you see an Antec TRUE 550W power supply, it's Antec's way of saying that the PSU provides 550 watts of power at any given time. Another way to tell that a PSU is reliable is if it’s heavy. Quality-made PSUs are engineered with heavy-duty and longer-lasting capacitors.

6. True or False - Buying a larger-screen size notebook automatically equals more viewing space.

False - Between 15.5" and 16" screen sizes, most entry-level notebooks have a resolution of 1366 x 768 which is fine but doesn't offer more space. Most 17" notebooks have 1440 x 900 resolution.

If you're looking for more viewing space, opt for a higher resolution.

In other words:

15" - 1680 x 1050 or 1920 x 1080

17" - 1600 x 900, 1680 x 1050 or 1920 x 1080

The images, icons and text appear crisper and you can fit browsers side-by-side along with being able to simultaneously view all folders without having to press Alt-Tab to switch windows/folders.

7. Buying a computer with more cores (more than dual-core) equals much faster performance.

False - Mathematically-speaking, more cores would theoretically yield better performance but the issue is that many simple, everyday programs like Microsoft Word, FireFox and Excel won't know to use the extra cores to run the program faster. However, gamers and graphic designers whose programs will see (and utilize) the additional cores will benefit from it. If you want more performance, focus on optimizing the hard drive such as defragmentation, reducing programs that run on start-up (which slow the system down), adding more RAM and cleaning the Windows registry. So ultimately, you really won't see much of a speed difference between a dual-core cpu computer and a hexacore (6-core) computer both running FireFox and Microsoft Word simultaneously.

In Conclusion

The common denominator for these tech myths is that their “validity” is usually exaggerated marketing hype and manufacturer/retailer buzz words in order to entice customers to buy their products, thus adding confusion to the reality. So the next time you’re in the market for a new cheap laptop, digital camera, phone, discount mp3 player, etc., don’t automatically digest the excessive marketing that salespeople throw to close the sale."

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