Windows 7 rokin, does Snow Leopard Stand a Chance

Windows 7 has hit the ground running. It is getting five star reviews from the worlds toughest tech critics and many blogs have said that Windows 7 Beta is ready for prime time. Meanwhile we know nothing about Mac OS X Snow Leopard. As far as we know Snow Leopard adds new features are:

• Microsoft Exchange Support
• Better support for Multicore Mac’s
• Open CL
• Minor Media and Internet upgrade
• Support for 64-Bit

Not really what I call exciting. (You can see that list with more details at: http://www.apple.com/macosx/snowleopard) Snow Leopard doesn’t have half the features as Windows 7. I do not think that the average Snow Leopard users would appreciate the new features. The only people who would appreciate the new feature are programmers.

There are too many new features in Windows 7 to talk about so here are some of them:

• Graphic thumbnails for open windows
• Switch between multiple windows by just hovering over the taskbar thumbnail
• Icons are big enough to be selected easily with the new touch feature
• Applications can use the taskbar to provide information (a progress bar for example)

Libraries (new)

• Libraries are containers similar to folders, but their content is based on file properties such as file type, pictures by date taken, or music by genre
• There are default libraries (documents, music, pictures, etc.) and one can create personalized libraries
• Libraries can contain files, not network shares, which are indexed by Windows Search

Jump lists (improved)

• Jump lists are automatically populated links in the Start Menu to frequently accessed sources (apps, documents, etc.)
• Taskbar items, the Internet Explorer, and Windows Media Player will have them too, allowing you to jump directly to a certain task of a program

Windows Sidebar (improved)

• Is no longer a sidebar
• Gadgets are now placed on the desktop
• Gadgets are resizable
• Aero Peek lets you see gadgets behind open windows

Windows Explorer (improved)

• New user interface (have to find out more)
• New copy engine: fewer prompts, shows file names being copied, more reliable

Scenic Ribbon (new)

• Paint and WordPad now have a ribbon similar to the one in Office 2007
• Third-party developers can integrate ribbons into their apps

Start Menu Search (improved)

• Searches in Libraries (also external files)
• Search results are grouped according to Libraries
• System administrator can define up to five external search destinations
• Search will be executed on the server

Windows Search 4 (improved)

• Input recommendations based on previous searches
• Dynamic filters to narrow down results
• New relevance algorithm
• Word highlighting in results
• Search Federation: search external resources (servers, Sharepoint, Web sites (OpenSearch))

Tablet PC enhancements (improved)

• Supposed to have improved handwriting recognition
• Supports handwritten math expressions
• Personalized custom dictionaries, and supports new languages

Sticky Notes (improved)

• Ink support
• Paste support
• Note colors
• Resize possible

Accessibility (improved)

• Improved speech recognition
• Magnifier (whole desktop or portion of the screen)
• Accessibility support tools for developers

Windows Touch (new)

• Windows 7 can be controlled by touching the screen
• It also supports multi-touch allowing you to use more than one finger

Other desktop enhancements (improved)

• More styles
• Region specific styles
• Multilingual browsing no longer requires font installation, language-based font

What will hapen in the next 12 months?

After, weeks of research and thinking I have finally came out with my technology forecast. Personally I think the most difficult thing to predict is games. Gamers are changing their minds all of the time about what are “killer games”

 

 

Things are looking good for Sony for the next twelve months, but not so good for Nintendo and Microsoft. Due to expected price cuts for the Playstation 3 I’m expecting a huge increase in Playstation 3 sales. I also expect lots more games to come out for the console. You can expect Wii sales to decrease due to less games going to come out for the Wii and because people are finding better consoles for the Wii. The Xbox 360 will have sales starting to drop because of the amount of problems with the console and very little desirability right now. PSP sales will continue to increase, due to price cuts and lots of games said to be coming out. Nintendo Ds sales will just simply drop by June because of NO good games planed for the console. Playstation 2 sales will drop because of not many good games coming out for the console. Sadly 2008 may be he last year of life for the Playstation 2. All good things must sadly come to an end.

 

Mac os x Leopard sales will increase just because Leopard is a great operating system. Vista sales will slowly increase because just about all the bugs have been fixed. The reason Vista sales will be slowly increasing because some people will be waiting for Windows 7 that may come out in late 2008 or early 2009. I also expect more viruses to be made for Leopard because so much people are using it.

 

I expect iPhone sales to increase because of huge demand and because it will come out in Canada before the end of 2008.

 

 

That’s all I have to predict about 2008 and like all years it will be a exciting year for all computer users.

Sony Vaio cr Review

Like all Vaio laptops each inch of this laptop is perfectly designed. At about only $1000 you will get a high resolution web cam, Intel’s latest Core 2 Duo Processors and DVD player/re-writer. You have a choice of 5 colors if you get this laptop on Sony style. This laptop comes backed with Windows Vista and wi-fi encryption so you never have to worry about someone getting their hands on you passwords. Though just about everything about this laptop is perfect the battery becomes shaky and might fall out if you don’t put it in lock mode. Unlike most laptops this one does not have a automatic battery lock feature. If you’re a little clumsy you don’t have to worry about your laptop being totally destroyed since it has stabilization system. This laptop also comes packed with Intel’s latest  802.11 n wi-fi technology , wich is very rear on computers. 802.11 n gives you greater wi-fi range and longer battery life.Overall this laptop is very stylish, strong, un-costly (for a vaio) and powerful. I would definitely recommend this laptop for students, work, or play.