Update: I have just found the first photos of the Vaio X, which are below:
Update 2: We now know why this netbook has such a long battery life, it has a weak Atom processor. I would not take these specs too seriously, considering that Sony still has to confirm them.
An XBOX 360 program manager "Fitret” has posted on Twitter a photo of the Zune HD showing the Zune Marketplace selection, specifically an artist sub-menu for The Hold Steady. It does not show much but it does look nice. We just hope there is an app store.
A Microsoft fan boy’s concept Fenêtres 3.1 is a normal house decorated with all of the accouterments of the classic Windows 3.1 OS. And yes the dreaded BSOD is also featured in the house, by pulling down the blinds. The designer thought of everything except the installation disk you need to get into the house.
Capture a portion of your screen so you can save, annotate, or share the image" is the tag line of the Snipping Tool, a new feature for some versions of Windows Vista to capture a screenshot of any object on your screen and save, annotate or share the image. The Snipping Tool is a huge improvement from built-in screenshot functions used by older Windows operating systems by offering a clean, simple and user-friendly functionality.
1. Open the Snipping Tool. Click Start>All Programs>Accessories. The Snipping Tool window will open and a white overlay appears over the screen.
2. Select the type of snip. Click on the arrow next to the New button and and choose from the options.
Free-form snip. To draw irregular shapes and lines, such as triangles and circles.
Rectangular snip. Draw a custom and precise line by dragging the cursor around an object to form a rectangle.
Window Snip. Capture the browser window or dialog box in a snip.
Full-screen snip. Capture the entire screen, such as desktop background.
3. Save, annotate and share the image. The snip will be automatically copied to the mark-up window. The toolbar hosts options for saving, creating, copying, e-mailing and editing the snip.
Having dual monitors not only gives you a really cool desktop, but it can also increase productivity by up to 60%. When working with dual monitors I noticed that using my computer was much easier and faster. There are many myths about dual monitors so I am going to separate fact from fiction:
1. Look at the backside of your computer to see if your video card can run dual monitors. If you have a laptop, look for a single blue monitor port. Check the monitor you have. If it came with the cord you need (a cord ending in a blue connector for a laptop, or a cord ending in what you have on the back of your computer for desktops) you can proceed to the next step. If not, you will need to buy the cord that matches the ports on your machine and on the monitor. For example, if you have a DVI port, and the monitor uses a VGA port, you will need to purchase a DVI to VGA adapter. Find out what you need, and shop around a little, checking prices online and in your preferred electronics retail establishment. This is important, as this little cable will probably run you about $30.
2. Obtain the monitor you wish to add.
3. Attach the cables to your monitor and to your machine. Plug everything that has a power cord in, and turn on your computer and the monitor.
4. Tell your computer what you've done. Right click on the desktop and select Properties. On the window that pops up, select the Settings tab. Select the grayed-out screen so that a blue box sits around it. Near the bottom of the window will be a checkbox labeled Extend my Windows desktop onto this monitor. This is so that you can extend your desktop onto two monitors instead of having both running the exact same thing. Check this box, and note what appears in the Screen resolution area. There is a sliding bar here. It should have defaulted to a resolution supported by your new monitor. If not, move it to a resolution the box or manual of your monitor says is supported. Click 'Apply'.
5. Be prepared for your screens to freeze up, go black, or see a message that may pop up telling you to wait. This is normal. Your computer is simply talking with the monitor, and figuring out what information it needs to send. After some period of time (could be a second, could be thirty), your new monitor should come to life, showing your desktop. Assuming everything looks in order, click 'OK'. You now have dual monitors.
Today, you may have a network in your home that you use to share an internet connection. But it can be hard to share other things, like files and printers. Do you have one or more computers in your home but only one printer? If you’re like most people, when you need to print a file that’s on your laptop in your bedroom on the printer in your den, you probably e-mail the file from one PC to another or transfer it on a USB drive. And if you need to find a file but don’t know which computer it’s stored on, chances are you’re in for a long night as you traipse from PC to PC and search each one.
HomeGroup, a new feature in Windows 7, makes connecting the computers in your home a painless process. HomeGroup is set up automatically when you add the first PC running Windows 7 to your home network. Adding more PCs running Windows 7 to the HomeGroup is an easy process. You can specify exactly what you want to share from each PC with all the PCs in the HomeGroup. Then, sharing files across the various PCs in your home—and many other devices—is as easy as if all your data were on a single hard drive. So you can store digital photos on a computer in your den and easily access them from a laptop anywhere in your home. Similarly, once in a HomeGroup, the printer in your den is shared automatically with all of the PCs in your home.
While great for a lot of tasks, using a keyboard and mouse is not always the easiest way to do things. With Windows 7, if you've got a touch-screen monitor, you can just touch your computer screen for a more direct and natural way to work. Use your fingers to scroll, resize windows, play media, and pan and zoom.
The Start menu, Windows Taskbar, and Windows Explorer are touch-friendly, with larger icons that are easier to select with your finger. Browsing the web with Internet Explorer 8 is easier too—just use your finger to scroll down a Web page or browse your favorite links. You can even use your finger to arrange the pictures in a photo album.
Windows 7 also introduces support for new multi-touch technology, so you can control what happens on the screen with more than one finger. For example, you can zoom in on an image by moving two fingers closer together, like you're pinching something, or zoom out by moving two fingers apart. You can rotate an image on the screen by rotating one finger around another, and can right-click by holding one finger on your target and tapping the screen with a second finger.
Windows 7 is focused on keeping the things you use most right in front of you. One example: The new Jump List feature. It's a handy way to quickly reach the files you've been working with. To see the files you've used recently, just right click on the icon on your taskbar. So right-clicking on the Word icon will show your most recent Word documents. Plus, if there are other files you want to keep handy, you can just pin them to the Jump List so they’ll always appear. That way, the documents you’re likely to want are just a couple clicks away.
Some programs, such as Windows Media Player, can pre-populate their Jump Lists with common tasks. For example, on the Jump List for Windows Media Player, you’ll see options to Play All Music or resume your last playlist. On the Jump List for Internet Explorer, you’ll see frequently and recently viewed websites. With some programs, you’ll even have quick access to tasks that, in the past, were only available from within the program, such as composing a new e-mail message.
With Windows 7, it’s easier to do things you do all of the time. For example, before, when you wanted to compare two open windows, you had to manually resize your open windows to show them side by side. With Snaps, you can simply grab a window and pull it to either side edge of the screen to fill half the screen. Snap windows to both sides, and it’s easier than ever to compare those windows.
Another thing you may want to do is quickly see your gadgets or grab a file from your desktop. To see your desktop just move your mouse to the lower right corner of your desktop. That'll make all the open Windows transparent—so your desktop is immediately visible. Want to get all but one window out of your way? Grab the top of that window, shake it and all the other open windows will minimize to the taskbar. Shake the window again, and they’ll all come back.
Looking for something on your PC? What’s your first instinct? If you use the web a lot, you probably start by looking around for a search box. Now, you can find things on your computer the same way. Introduced with Windows Vista, Windows Search helps you find virtually anything on your PC quickly and easily. Windows 7 also makes search results more relevant and easier to understand.
Looking for a file, e-mail, or application? While you can easily look through folders and menus, there’s an even faster way. Just click on the Start button and you’ll see a search box at the bottom of the Start menu. Just enter a word or few letters in the name or file you want, and you’ll get an organized list of results.
Windows 7 uses libraries to show all content of a particular type in one spot. Say you’ve got photos in several locations on your PC. A lot will be in your Photos folder. But you might have some in documents folders too. Your photos library makes it easy for you to browse and use all your photos, no matter where they are on your PC.
By collecting things into a single view, libraries make it simpler to find what you’re looking for. They’re even more powerful with Windows Search. You can search your Libraries using filters to customize your search. For example, when you’re looking for music you can search by album. Or search for photos by the date they were taken. You can go to your Documents Library, click on authors, and see all the documents on your computer sorted by author name.
One of the great things about PCs is how they let us use such a wide array of devices. In the past, you had to use several different programs to manage different types of devices. But With Windows 7, you'll use a single Devices and Printers screen to connect, manage, and use whatever printers, phones, and other devices you have on-hand.
A new technology in Windows 7 called Device Stage takes device management a step further. Device Stage helps you interact with any compatible device connected to your computer. From Device Stage you can see device status and run common tasks from a single window. There are even pictures of the devices which makes it really easy to see what's there. Device manufacturers can customize Device Stage. For example, if your camera manufacturer offers a custom version of Device Stage, then when you plug your camera into your PC, you could see things like the number of photos on your camera and links to helpful information.
Microsoft designed Windows 7 to improve battery life by adding power-saving enhancements,such as adaptive display brightness, which dims the display if you haven't used your PC for a while. Other improvements include using less power to play DVDs (handy on a trip) and using processing power more efficiently.
In previous versions, Windows was often able to tell you when something on your computer needed attention. Unfortunately, it often did so by interrupting you with pop-ups or other messages. These were helpful if the problem required immediate attention. However, they were less helpful if the problem was not urgent and you didn’t want to take care of it at the time.
Rather than popping up with a message in the lower right of your screen, if Windows 7 needs your attention, you'll see an Action Center icon and can find out more by clicking it. If you don't have time to look at the alert immediately, Action Center will keep the information waiting for you to address later.
Action Center will keep the information waiting for you to address later
Windows 7 helps you solve more problems, and it helps you solve them on your own schedule. The Action Center is a new, integrated Control Panel experience that gives you a central place to go for tasks and notifications associated with keeping your computer running smoothly. It makes it easier for you to fix problems yourself by providing a new streamlined experience for addressing notifications and managing computer issues.
Simplifying maintenance, quieting the system: Action Center consolidates notifications
The taskbar at the bottom of your screen is what you use to launch programs and switch between them when they're open. In Windows 7 you can pin any program to the taskbar so it’s always just a click away, and you can rearrange the icons on the taskbar just by clicking and dragging. Microsoft’s made the icons considerably bigger, too, so they’re easier to use. Hover over the icons and you’ll see thumbnails of every file or window that open in that program, and if you hover over the thumbnail, you’ll see a full-screen preview of that window. Move the cursor off the thumbnail and the full-screen preview disappears.
About 13% or 440,000 computers are in the process of upgrading to Windows Vista. The switch from Windows XP includes desktop computers on classified and unclassified networks.
The migration to Windows Vista in happening while they are upgrading from Office 20030 to Office 2007. The migration to Office 2007 started before the migration to Windows Vista. Currently half the Army’s PC’s have Office 2007.
The Army has been testing Vista since its release in late 2006 and expects that users comfortable with XP and Office 2003 will need time to adjust to the new "look and feel" of the upgrades.
“During this process, we are offering several in-house training sessions, helpful quick-tip handouts, and free Army online training,"Sharon Reed, chief of IT at the Soldier Support Institute
Vista has not been a huge success for Microsoft like Windows XP was. Reviews found that the Operating System was buggy and that applications and drivers did not work.
Given the Army bureaucracy and testing requirements, it's unlikely it would move to Windows 7 anytime soon, despite it's being rated as a better OS in terms of usability. Nevertheless, in response to the Army migration, Microsoft said in an e-mailed statement Friday that the switch from Vista to Windows 7 would not present the same challenges as moving from XP to Vista.
For a few months now Mac’s and their owners have had the privilege of using iPhoto 09. The next version of Microsoft’s Windows Live Photo Gallery, which is expected to have more features than iPhoto 09, is not due out for another few months; which leaves us Windows users feelling left out. 
iPhoto 09
iPhoto 09 has many innovative features like:
I have combed the internet trying to find an iPhoto 09 equvilent (or close) for free and for Windows.
Picasa 3
Picasa 3 is a free equivalent to iPhoto. I am not too much of a fan of Picasa 3 (I'm a Photoshop guy) but it should suit the average user. It has all of the iPhoto features except facial recognition. Some users may find the interface somewhat difficult to use. You can download Picasa 3 at http://picasa.google.com.
Yes, I know that I said that Windows Live Photo Gallery is worse than iPhoto but it comes close.
Windows Live Photo Gallery
I have yet to have any issues with Windows Live Photo Gallery, and yes it is less advanced than Picasa, but I do prefer it. Windows Live Photo Gallery has a much cleaner interface than Picasa, and has basic photo editing features. Windows Live Photo Gallery will satisfy the cravings of most users. Unfortunately you need a Windows Live ID and you need to run Windows. A few months from now Windows Live Photo Gallery will have all the features of iPhoto and Picasa.
If your a user of Windows Vista you have Windows Photo Gallery. Windows Photo Gallery is the worse of any of the products I mentioned above. I reccomend if you use Windows Photo Gallery to upgrade to Windows Live Photo Gallery. You cannot download Windows Photo Gallery, only Windows Live Photo Gallery.
Windows Photo Gallery
So there you have it, three iPhoto equivalents for Windows.
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