Technology, Gadgets, IT, Games

As a result of a series of lawsuits claiming that Microsoft is unfairly forcing its browser on users, by making Internet Explorer installed by default on all Windows systems, they are unveiling the Browser Ballot in March.

This is a small webpage that will pop up for all Windows 7 users in March, allowing them to choose a default web browser from a list of 11. The first six browsers are arranged randomly (IE, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, Safari) then the next seven are also random (Flock, FlashPeak, K-Meleon, Avant, Maxthon, Sleipnir & GreenBrowser).

Not only does this update let all users freely select a browser, but it also un-pins IE from the SuperBar (the Windows 7 replacement for Quick Launch).

You can view the browser ballot directly at: www.browserchoice.eu

Do you think this browser ballot is enough to give users adequate choice? Do you think it is fair for Microsoft to have to do this? Will the ballot suppress the critics? Leave a comment to tell us your views.

At CES last night, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced the public beta for Windows 7.

MSDN, TechBeta and Technet subscribers can download the software now, whilst the rest of the public can get their hands on it on Friday 9th Jan (tomorrow) from microsoft.com/windows7

I’ve been using a pre-beta build of Windows 7 (build 6801)as my main PC for a month or so now. With the exception of a couple of drivers missing (which also don’t exist for 64-bit Vista), and the system bluescreening when I overclocked too much, there have been no problems. At all.

It has been a lot more stable than I’ve ever seen Vista, and appears to be just as fast as a ‘used’ installation of XP. Now imagine what the final build will be like!

It has loads of nice features, and seems to be much more logical than Vista. All the changes are necessary and concise, rather than anything feeling like they changed it because they “could”. The new taskbar (which you can enable in 6801) took a small amount of getting used to, and can be slightly confusing if you don’t see the orange glow, or you can’t tell if a programs running, or you accidentally bring up the menu instead of the list of windows. But overall it’s a good feature.

I suggest that anyone who ever tries out new operating systems gets the Windows 7 beta. Your faith in humanity (and Microsoft) might just be restored…

Check out our (small) Windows 7 Image Gallery, or google for images.

EDIT: You can now download the beta version of Windows 7 here – choice of 32 or 64 bit. The server seems to be busy (and refusing requests), and there are only 2.5 million downloads available, so you might not be lucky!

EDIT: It’s gone! “Due to very heavy traffic we’re seeing as a result of interest in the Windows 7 Beta, we are adding some additional infrastructure support to the Microsoft.com properties before we post the public beta. We want to ensure customers have the best possible experience when downloading the beta, and we will be updating this page once the beta goes live. Stay tuned! We are excited that you are excited!”

EDIT: “Thanks for your interest in the Windows 7 Beta. The volume has been phenomenal — we’re in the process of adding more servers to handle the demand. We’re sorry for the delay and we’ll re-post the Beta as soon as we can ensure a quality download experience.”

EDIT: The links are still down (Saturday 4pm GMT) but the downloads are actually still available on the Microsoft servers. Click to download 32 Bit or 64 Bit Windows 7.

Microsoft today unveiled Windows Azure – a new could-based Operating System and part of the new Azure cloud computing platform.

A previous quote from Microsoft Chairman Steve Ballmer made Azure sound unattractive, even before it had been officially announced:

“Just like Windows Server looked a lot like Windows but with new properties, new characteristics and new features, so will Windows Cloud look a lot like Windows Server.”

The Operating System is apparently just one component of the platform, which will eventually be fully rolled out alongside Windows 7. This will include geo replication, a network management model,an SOA model, and will also encompass Microsoft’s existing Live services, SQL services, and .NET services.

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Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer demonstrated Windows 7 for the first (official) time at D6 got on stage at D6 – the All Things Digital conference.

The main ability of the OS is multi-touch, and a collaboration with the Microsoft Surface team has made that a reality.

Many have accused Windows Vista of being overcomplicated, overhyped and underperforming, with a large number of companies and retailers still deploying and selling Windows XP in favour of Vista. Windows 7 has a massive expectation to live up to, but there are still fears that it will consist entirely of marketing rhetoric and a slightly tweaked version of Vista.

The short demonstration of Windows 7 at D, running on a Dell Latitude XT tablet, shows multi-touch being the centre of operation, with a keyboard being used briefly and no mouse in sight. Microsoft claim that now they have the technical foundations of multi-touch in place, they will be reworking the user interface around it.

However, they are still working off the Vista codebase, as mentioned in this interview with Steven Sinofsky, the senior vice president for the Windows and Windows Live Engineering Group at Microsoft:

“We’re very clear that drivers and software that work on Windows
Vista are going to work really well on Windows 7; in fact, they’ll work
the same. We’re going to not introduce additional compatibilities,
particularly in the driver model. Windows Vista was about improving
those things. We are going to build on the success and the strength of
the Windows Server 2008 kernel, and that has all of this work that
you’ve been talking about. The key there is that the kernel in Windows
Server 08 is an evolution of the kernel in Windows Vista, and then
Windows 7 will be a further evolution of that kernel as well.”

Do you think Windows 7 will live up to its potential? Would Microsoft have been better ditching Vista and starting again? Only time will tell, and they claim Windows 7 will be available 3 years after Vista (early 2010).

Video after the break…

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Although there have been a fair few remote controls for Windows Vista and XP Media Centre Edition, Royal Philips have launched a large range of their own.

These range from a more standard style remote (RC1974501/00) with the huge number of buttons up and down to its slightly upgraded counterpart, the RC1974502/00, which appears to be the same, except with backlighting on the keys. The third version of the family, the RC1974603/00 also has backlighting, but adds ‘advanced IR learning,’ although we’re not really sure what makes it more advanced than a remote with standard IR learning. However, the top model of the family includes an RF receiver and transmitter, just in case you need that extra range. Beyond that, there’s also some PC-card remotes that’ll jack in with your laptop, but the best one out of all of them is the TINO SRM7500/xx — this larger model comes with its own built-in LCD so that you can navigate and control music playback without turning on the screen of your home entertainment center. Plus, its got them learnin’ smarts too, so it can show those other remotes who’s boss.

There is no word on when this will be available nor how much it will cost.

See our sister site VistaSector for the latest information on Windows Vista. Read more