PSP2 to be More Powerful than Xbox

Sony’s PSP Go was a god attempt to smother PSP2 rumours but it failed miserable. A new rumour is out saying that the PSP2 will have the PowerVR GPU, which is just as powerful as iPhone 3GS GPU. The SGX543MP cited has four cores, and generates 113 Polygons per second on the low end potable 200 megahertz model. What's interesting is that GamesIndustry.biz calls the PSP2 just a "ballpark match" for the original Xbox. They also point out that Imagination Technologies calls the chip a GP-GPU, capable of handling computing tasks in addition to graphics, and potentially giving the PSP2 the power savings of not needing a separate CPU to operate.

Windows 7 Running on a Pentium II Based PC

The moment I herd that Microsoft was designing Windows 7 to run on netbooks I was wondering what hardware it would run on.

A Windows Club Forum member that goes by the name of “hackerman1” has impressively installed Windows 7 on an ancient PC.  He installed it on a system packing a 266MHz Pentium II, 128MB of RAM and a 4MB graphics card. After succeeding, he decreased the RAM capacity to 96MB, which also handled 7. His experiment came to a temporary halt after dropping the RAM to 64MB. Hackerman’s fun won’t end there, though. He plans to try and get Windows 7 up and running on a 166MHz Pentium I and 1MB graphics card next.

Hackerman1 did not say how long it takes Windows 7 to boot or how long the install took. Other forum members said that on an ancient PC it took 17 hours to install, and 17 minutes to boot.

Zune HD is confirmed and is coming your way this fall

Today Microsoft Corp. confirmed the top secret Zune HD and it will be shipped this fall. The Zune HD will have a 3.3 inch OLED multitiuch screen, built-in HD Radio receiver, HD output (utilizing a new dock -- not on-board), and... not much more right now. We expect more details during E3 2009.

Microsoft is doing away with the famed squircle in favor a full multitouch device, and they seemed to indicate that some new touch-friendly apps and games would be headed our way, though they were fairly mum when it came to details. The device will boast an IE-based, customized browser, but little else was said in the way of software.

Details about CPU performance, memory and other specs have not been released yet.

The Zune HD official website has also been launched. It does not have any information that has not already been leaked:

  

Zune HD Website

Touchscreen: Get quick and instant access to your content with multi-touch navigation. With a 3.3 inch screen and vivid 16:9 OLED display (480x272 resolution), premium entertainment is at your fingertips.*

HD Radio: Tune into all your favorite stations with crystal clear reception. With an integrated HD Radio receiver, you can access a variety of HD Radio stations at no additional cost. Plus, tag the songs you like for later purchase

HD Video Out: Watch supported 720p HD movies, TV shows and videos in high definition on your HDTV through the Zune HD & AV Dock (sold separately). Or take them with you for premium entertainment on the go. Additional dock and HDTV are required

Wireless: Connect, update, and buy content wirelessly from Wi-Fi hot spots. Stream millions of songs over Wi-Fi directly to your Zune HD and turn it into a portable digital jukebox.

Web Browser: Surf the web anytime, anywhere you have a Wi-Fi connection. Enjoy your favorite websites with a full-featured web browser including tap to zoom technology, built-in accelerometer, and touchscreen QWERTY keyboard

How to Upgrade From Windows XP to Windows Vista

At this point you still use the old Windows XP and your looking to upgrade to the new Windows Vista. Here is how to do it:

 

Before Upgrading to Vista

1. Back up your files.
2. Run disk clean up and uninstall unnecessary application.
3. Uninstall your anti virus, disable spyware protection and third-party firewalls.
4. Defragment your hard drive.
5. Run the Windows Vista Upgrade Adviser to check if your PC is capable of running Vista.
6. Prepare your Windows Vista DVD installer.
7. Prepare your license key or the product key.

 

Procedure

1. Log in to Windows XP and insert the Windows Vista installer to the DVD drive.
2. Note: Don't boot the Windows Vista DVD to perform an in-place upgrade; it won't work. You have to run the Setup program from within Windows XP.
3. After you insert the DVD, an autorun will pop up. Click on install now.
4. Click the recommended option which is to go online for the latest updates.
5. Enter the license key or the product key.
6. Click upgrade,to upgrade your OS.
7. Wait while Windows upgrades your computer to Vista.
8. After the installation is complete, Windows will reboot. After the reboot click Use recommended settings.
9. Click work and click start.
10. Wait while windows finishes the upgrade.
11. After the reboot,log in to your Vista and enjoy.

United States Army Deploying Windows Vista on 400,000 PC’s

The United States Military is currently in the process of upgrading  hundred of thousands of their PC’s to the latest version of Windows, Windows Vista.

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.

Maximum Windows 7 Netbook specs

Future Windows 7 Starter users who were looking for a bargain got the good news that the 3 app limit has been lifted, then disappointing news came. Microsoft is planning to impose strict limits on what types of machines get to run the stripped-down Starter build. Windows 7 Starter will run on a netbook with a maximum of 1 GB Ram, 250 GB HDD or 64 GB SDD hard drive, maximum 1GHZ single core processor and a maximum 10.2 inch screen. Microsoft thinks that OEM’s will not ship Windows 7 Starter and would rather ship netboks with Windows 7 Home Premium instead. Remember that these specs are only for Windows 7 Starter.

Microsoft Removes 3 App Limit on Windows 7 Starter

I have some good news for the people who plan to buy Windows 7 Starter for their computers. Microsoft is going to drop the 3 App limit which allowed onlythree programmes to run at the same time. Now you can run all of your favourite programs at once. Now I'm just wondering how they will get all the Windows 7 Starter users to upgrade to Windows 7 Home Premium.

If your wondering I am currently running 14 programmes.

Windows 7 Minimal Requirements Released

Along with the release of the Windows 7 release candidate came new system requirements for Microsoft's next operating system. This updated set of requirements has been declared final, making them the official system requirements for Windows 7 final. Seeing Microsoft's rather... Dubious past dealings with minimum system requirements, let's take a look at Windows 7's.

The updated requirements have changed little since the Windows 7 beta, and they are almost identical to those of Windows Vista - but when Windows 7 is released, we will be three years down the road. Without further ado:

• 1 GHz processor (32- or 64-bit)
• 1 GB of RAM (32-bit); 2 GB of RAM (64-bit)
• 16 GB of available disk space (32-bit); 20 GB of available disk space (64-bit)
• DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver

My AMD Phenom X4 quad-core (4x2.2Ghz), with on-board Radeon HD3200 graphics and 4GB of Geil RAM obviously runs Windows 7 RC (32bit) blazingly fast.

The only machine where it could've gotten interesting is my Aspire One netbook, which has the well-known Atom 1.6Ghz processor with an on-board Intel-something video chip and 1.5GB of RAM. Sorry to disappoint some of you, but this netbook has no problems running Windows 7 RC either.

Then again, none of these three machines had any troubles running Windows Vista anyway (I never ran Vista on the quad-core though) so to me, there's really no surprise there. I have already accepted that my apartment is a magical Windows-problem-free zone inhabited by fairies who keep my machines tidy and clean at night while taking sips out of my Martini bottles.

Anyway, looking back upon the increases in system requirements for Windows, here's a nice little table I made of all the official minimum specifications as listed by Microsoft.

Louis Mark

May 9

Upgrading to Windows Vista/7

Most people tend to think that when you want to get a new version of Windows you’re only option is to get a new computer. This is not the case, you can upgrade to a newer version of Windows usually pain free.

Fresh Install

Note: If you’re upgrading from Windows 7 Beta to RC1 you should install using this method.

I have always discouraged people from upgrading to a new version of Windows, by installing it on top of the old one, because often it leads to system instability, errors, slow computer performance and in makes Windows seem “old”. When you do a fresh install Windows performs much better, and in many cases gives you computer a new lease on life. Unfortunately a fresh install is often painstakingly hard and slow, so people who are not computer savvy may not want to try this. A fresh install requires:

• That you back up all of you files
• Find all of your application disks and product keys
• Erase everything on your hard drive, which can take a long time
• Install the new version of Windows
• Restore all of your settings
• Install your programs all over again
• Restore all of your files

Doing all of those things depending on how fast you computer is can take up to a day to complete. The pros and cons to doing this are:

Pros	Cons
Your computer should be much faster	Takes a very long time to complete
Your computer feels newer and fresher	You have to be computer savvy
Less system errors, and crashes	There is some risk
Often fixes computer issues

 

If you decided that you want to upgrade here is what you need to do:

1. Make sure you have lots of time on your hand

2. Gather up all of your applications and product keys. If you don’t have your product key the software maker may be able to give you a new one

3. Get an external hard drive or an other storage device

4. Back up all your documents to the storage device

5. Format (erase) your hard drive. You can find out how to do this from your computers owner’s manual or from technical support.

5. Install Windows

6. Restore all of your documents to your computer

7. Re-install all of your programs

As you can see this method of upgrading is not an  easy task, but in the end pays off. I recommend this way most times.

Traditional Install

The traditional install is very basic and is the method that most people use to install. You can view some screenshots of what a traditional install looks like here. A traditional install requires that you:

• Install Windows

A traditional install can take about 1 hour to complete but the end result is not as good as a fresh install.  The pros and cons of a traditional install are:

Pros:	Cons:
Easy to do	Can often lead to computer instability, errors and application not working properly
Quick	Not as satisfying
Don’t have to be computer savvy	More dangerous that a fresh install

If you choose to do this you’ll need to

1.Insert the Windows DVD/CD into you’re PC

2. Follow the on screen setup instructions

3. Install

 

Like I said above I recommend a fresh install of a new version of Windows, but if you don’t feel comfortable doing that you should do a traditional install. Anyway you choose to install Windows it will still be Windows, and there is no changing that.

Note: Windows 7 is not yet released, and this guide applies to installing any version of Windows. People upgrading to Windows 7 RC1 should always do a fresh install, or install on a separate hard drive because it is still a beta Operating System.

Louis

May 7

Improve Your Computers Performance

Is your computer slow, do applications crash often. Many people would consider buying a whole new computer to fix the problem. Buying a new computer would solve the problem but there are built in tools to help you do this cost free.

Disk Defragment

Disk Defragment sounds quite scary doesn't it. It sounds like it is designed to destroy everything on your Hard Drive, it is actually designed to rearrange items on your Hard Drive so Windows and Applications can get access to the files faster. I recommend you do this at least every month(In Windows Vista you can schedule times to defragment).

To access Dick Defragment:

• In Windows Vista click start and type in Disk Defragment and click Disk Defragment”
• In Windows XP go to start, all programs, accessories, system tools, Disk Defragment

In Windows Vista a window (screenshot above). In Windows XP a different window will appear (screenshot below).

In Windows Vista click “defragment now” in Windows XP click “Defragment”

Defragmenting can take quite a while so be patient.

Disable Start-up Programs

When you start up your computer some applications load in the background(many that you don’t use) causing start-up times to slow down.

To access “msconfig” in Windows Vista press start and type in msconfig, than click msconfig. User Account Control my pop up asking for a username and password.

In Windows XP press and hold down together the Windows Key and “R”, type in “msconfig” and press enter.

BE VARY CAREFUL HERE. DONT DISABLE RANDOM THINGS WITHOUT KNOWING WHAT YOU ARE DOING.

Go to the “startup” tab. Uncheck all programs you don’t need to startup in the background. (Note: Don’t uncheck security software). Click apply and close the window.

Disable Services

Services are like mini programs running in the background. Unfortunately these little programs take up lots of power. To disable certain services get to “msconfig”again. This time click the Services tab. Make sure to check “hide Microsoft services”. Now disable all services you don’t need. If you don’t know what a service is (ie.syshep) expand location header and you will find out that it is an iTunes helper. Don’t disable any services that say essential on them.

Remove Documents

It is quite easy to remove documents. Press start click documents, select what documents you don’t need, and press the delete button on your keyboard.

To be continued…

Remove Unused Programs

Most people have many unused programs on thier computer which causes the computer to slow down. Removing unused programs will help allot .

To remove programs:

• In Windows XP click start, Control Panel, click add or remove programs
• In Windows Vista click start, search programs and click Programs and Features

Select the programs you don’t need and click remove.

Disable Visual Effects

Disabling Aero in Windows Vista and visual affect’s in Windows XP will also speed up your computer

You can disable visual effects in XP by going to the Performance options window.

You can disable Aero in the Appearance Settings window in the Control Panel

After doing these things your computer will start to speed up

Written By: Louis Mark