Happy Birthday DOS, You’re 30!

DOS or Disk Operating System (MS-DOS), as it was called back then celebrates its 30th birthday. The MS in MS-DOS stands for Microsoft. The OS was the backbone of most PCs for the following decade or longer. In schools across India, DOS was one of the first things taught in computer classes. While there was no graphical user interface that we’re so used to on Windows, the operating system had everything from text editors to games and mouse support. For example, titles such as Wolfenstein and Doom on PCs originated on DOS. Ever since Windows 95 or so, DOS has been present as a standalone product only to kickstart downed systems. The last operating system to use DOS-based startup disks was Windows XP. The last commercial product used was DOS 6.22.

Three decades and counting...

Three decades later, DOS is still present on Windows systems, often hidden away. You can use it by type CMD in the Run diag box. There are also DOS emulator and free versions of DOS on the web. If you want to go back in history and try out a few DOS apps and games, do check outDOSBox. 

Windows Phone 7 Connector Allows WP7 Syncing on Macs

Windows 7 connector is not a software that many people would be typically interested in. However, if you're someone who uses a Windows phone or who likes everything portable and accessible, you might find this interesting. Windows 7 connector is a package for your phone and Mac desktop. The application is a free 2.6 MB file and can be downloaded here. It helps you to backup your data, manage users as well as view alerts and also helps you to sync your Windows phone and Zune media player to your Mac. Windows Phone 7 syncing now on the Mac OS X Windows phone 7 connector has also been made available in the iTunes app store, however, only for computers running on Mac OS X 10.6.6, or higher. With this application you can retrieve pictures and videos from your mobile phone and import it to your iPhoto or iTunes.  Although, you cannot copy files from your PC to your phone, you can import them onto your computer wirelessly. This software can be downloaded on your Windows phone at the market place app on your handset.

Windows Phone 7 Connector Allows WP7 Syncing on Macs

Windows 7 connector is not a software that many people would be typically interested in. However, if you're someone who uses a Windows phone or who likes everything portable and accessible, you might find this interesting. Windows 7 connector is a package for your phone and Mac desktop. The application is a free 2.6 MB file and can be downloaded here. It helps you to backup your data, manage users as well as view alerts and also helps you to sync your Windows phone and Zune media player to your Mac.

Windows Phone 7 syncing now on the Mac OS X

Windows phone 7 connector has also been made available in the iTunes app store, however, only for computers running on Mac OS X 10.6.6, or higher. With this application you can retrieve pictures and videos from your mobile phone and import it to your iPhoto or iTunes.  Although, you cannot copy files from your PC to your phone, you can import them onto your computer wirelessly. This software can be downloaded on your Windows phone at the market place app on your handset.

Rumour: Samsung Prepping a WP7 Version of the Galaxy SII

We were left thrilled with the Galaxy SII from Samsung, so much so that we believe it’s the best Android handset out there. Probably building up on this fact, Samsung is trying their luck on running the same hardware, on a different platform. The latest about the Galaxy SII is that the company is possibly prepping a Windows Phone 7 version of it.

Look! The Galaxy SII running on WP7!

The rumours are based on the suspicion that sources have spotted a Bluetooth profile of the Samsung SGH-i937. They feel that the profile that this handset boasts of is exactly the same as the Mango Windows Phone 7 stack. Also the handset was seen on an Occasional Gamers list of Windows Phone 7 handsets running its games.

From what we can make out, Samsung is possibly preparing a WP7 smartphone. Another thing is that the Galaxy SII possibly has the most favourable hardware for running Windows Phone 7 and thus the rumours. What do you think? A Galaxy SII running WP7, or a completely different device doing the same? You can give us your opinions in the comments section below.

Microsoft Merges GFW Marketplace and Xbox.com

In a move that was probably anticipated months ago, Microsoft has decided to move its Games of Windows service to Xbox.com. This merger’s main aim is to make sure gamers get “all their gaming needs in one place”. For those who don’t know, Microsoft’s Games for Windows marketplace is similar to Valve’s Steam where gamers can digitally purchase entire games online.

Coming soon to Xbox.com

Eurogamer managed to get in touch with a Microsoft spokesperson about this merger and here’s what they had to say, “All of the same content from GamesForWindows.com will be available on Xbox.com so members of communities across Xbox 360 and Games for Windows can purchase and get details on their favorite games, all in one place. All account information will remain the same and community members can still take advantage of their Xbox Live profile in their Windows games and stay connected to friends who are playing on the PC.”

Both these services are expected to come together by the 11th of this month.

End of the Line For MS Office XP

Microsoft’s Office suite has come a long way. One of its oldest, most used versions, Office XP will be discontinued on the 11th of July, 2011. In doing this, Microsoft will no longer offer patches and updates to the aging office suite. Just last week, Microsoft released a service pack for their Office 2010 office suite. Users of Office XP received five years of support and another five years of extended support. Office XP was released in May 2001 and it’s been more than a decade since its launch.

Program continues to function, service updates halted

Microsoft has stated that the version of Office will continue to function, but future updates won’t be available, and so they do not recommended using it. Microsoft also has been in the news for their new Office 365 web suite that's direct competition to the Google Docs Office suite. It’ll be interesting to see how many users actually move from Google Docs and the entire Google suite to Microsoft’s alternative. Most users, including large organisations have moved from their traditional mail services to Google. Those on tighter budgets are using Oracle’s OpenOffice suite.

Windows Gets Another App Store

Yesterday, we announced the arrival of Pokki, an app store for the PC. Today, yet another one has arrived and this one's called "Avenue". While Pokki puts mobile-like Applets on the PC, Avenue is an avenue for fully functional Windows apps. The Avenue App store comes from a company called Netvolution, and provides a way for Windows users to browse and download Windows compatible desktop applications. Users can browse applications by popularity or by category and as well as by new and featured apps. Categories include games, communication, reference tools, utility, entertainment and multimedia.

Another app store for the PC

Commenting on the safety of Avenue, Netvolution CEO, Matt Smith says, "While there are plenty of websites that allow Windows PC users to download software, most target only a specific niche user or are filled with unscreened and unlicensed software. Avenue is the first centralized marketplace for all kinds of Windows PC software that’s safe and on par with the app stores that exist for Mac and mobile users."

To shop in Avenue, you can either add apps to your wishlist or to your shopping cart. Your user account works across computers, so if you log in from another computer, downloads that were in progress on say, your home machine, will continue on the new computer. Right now, apps are a little sparse, but as the popularity of apps for the Windows desktop grows, both Avenue and Pokki, as well as the others that come up, will have greater variety in the apps they carry.

Microsoft Launching Google Docs Competitor, Office 365 This Month

Google took the lead ages ago by providing a free Office suite replacement on the web. Microsoft followed suit and it has been working on a web-based office suite called Office 365. It’s been in beta for a long time and it’s finally time to be launched. According to Neowin, the suite is all set to launch sometime this month.

Free services for consumers also available

According to a Tweet post by Jon Roskill from Microsoft, the date set for the launch this year on the 28th of June. He also states there are some 100,000 customers on beta. The beta first launched in late 2010 to limited users after which it was made available as a public beta in April, this year. Those who register for the beta will also get an additional month of free access to the service. The Office 365 suite will include Exchange, SharePoint, Lync (which isn’t available to Mac users) and Office Web Apps 2010. To compete with Google’s mostly free Docs service. Microsoft also has a free version available for non-business or enterprise users. Docs.com is one of them. For business users, the schemes for Office 365 start from $10 a month to $27 a month.

Buying Guide: How to Choose a Notebook

Notebooks have evolved from being computers for businessmen to mainstream computing machines. There are those who continue using notebooks on the move, while some others use notebooks as their everyday computers. In the midst of all the upgrades and updates being made by notebook manufacturers, marketing jargons and competition between brands, the consumer is left confused as to which notebook to buy. There are quite literally hundreds of models you can find in the market today. By the end of this guide, we hope to leave you with a clear picture of what a good notebook ought to have.

 

Choosing the correct type of notebook

Like we mentioned earlier, each person has different needs from the technology he or she buys. The needs differ from person to person and it’s important to choose a notebook that fits your needs. It’s important to set budgets for the purchase accordingly, as well. For example, don’t expect to find a high-end gaming notebook for anything less than 80,000 or so and don’t expect a Rs. 40,000 notebook to play high-end games.

Plenty of notebook types to choose from

The cheapest of notebooks in the market start from around the Rs. 23,000 range. Netbooks start at prices closer to Rs. 13,000. Broadly, there are four segments of notebooks that most people look at. Most people spend between Rs. 23,000 and Rs. 40,000 on a notebook. Many of these users are going to use these notebooks as their primary computer at home and maybe at work. These notebooks won't offer excellent performance for gaming and content generation purposes, but they will do just fine for desktop applications. Although cheap, they cover most of the needs that majority of the people have.

The slightly more power hungry user will want more performance than these notebooks can offer. While the feature set of costlier notebooks doesn’t change a whole lot, notebooks priced above Rs. 40,000 have faster processors and even entry-level discrete graphics solutions. Screen sizes also drop at this point. While most mainstream notebooks that we talked about earlier have 14 and 15-inch screens, notebooks above Rs. 50,000 or so can be found with smaller 13-inch screens.

Compact and portable, but might not offer excellent performance

Gaming notebooks are more expensive and way more powerful than the cheaper notebooks that we’ve been talking about. Prices of gaming notebooks start roughly from Rs. 80,000 and go on well over a lakh. These notebooks come with powerful graphics solutions and have large screens, as well. They offer poor battery life in comparison and carrying them around is a pain. On the other hand, there are ultraportable notebooks that are designed for people who travel a lot. They aren’t as powerful as the gaming notebooks but will offer way better performance than netbooks.

Processor

The processor is one of the key components of a notebook. An entry-level Intel Core i3 i380M might be sufficient for most purposes, but when you start using more CPU intensive software and multitask with a number of browser windows open, CPU performance is essential and a faster processor can come handy. Majority of all the notebooks sold around the world come with Intel’s processors, so although AMD too has solutions in the market, you’re more likely to come across a wider range of Intel processor-based notebooks. A decent speed Core i5 such as the 480M processor is a good start. Also look for one of the newer Sandy Bridge processors from Intel.

HDMI connectivity

HDMI connectivity is handy when at home you want to connect a notebook to an external display.

HDMI connectivity is handy if you own a LCD or Plasma display

Most notebooks these days that come with an HDMI port are also capable of playing full HD content smoothly. You can watch movies on your TV or use it as a primary display and use the notebook like a desktop PC. Simply connect a USB keyboard and mouse, disable the notebook display and you’re good to go.

Graphics solution
A discrete graphics solution is always a good idea. It allows you to play games on the notebook. The integrated graphics solution on the notebooks these days allow users to run HD content without any problems. If you’re looking at some gaming, or some 3D modelling on the notebook, then a discrete graphics solution is necessary. Obviously, the budget for the notebook should be above Rs. 50,000 to get a decent solution. A GT540M graphics solution on a notebook should offer decent graphics performance for playing most of the recent games at a normal graphics setting. The downside of using a discrete graphics solution is usually a somewhat lower battery life.

Screen and speakers
For a good entertainment experience, it’s important to have a large enough screen. The downside of this unfortunately, is that the laptop gets bulky. If you’re looking for a notebook that is a desktop replacement or is going to be used only in one place, then a 15 or a 17-inch can be a good thing to have. If you are going in for a smaller screen, try and find a notebook that offers higher resolutions. A resolution of 1366x768 is sufficient but having a high-density 1920x1080 does add a lot to the experience and offers you a lot of workspace.

A large screen and good speakers means you compromise on the size of the notebook

Most notebooks also have poor speakers that sound horrible and tinny. Before you buy the notebook, it’s a good idea to play some music or movies on it to ensure you get a good sound, but don't expect much. Speakers that are placed facing downwards often sound muddy so look for notebooks that have speakers at the front near the screen. If you’re particular about your audio quality, it makes sense to buy a pair of portable speakers, or good headphones as well.

Keyboard and trackpad
Cheaper notebooks have cramped keyboard layouts. Look for notebooks with isolated, chiclet-style keys. They are somewhat easier to type on.

A good chiclet-style keyboard makes typing a little easier

In the hunt of finding a large spacious keyboard, don’t ignore the trackpad. If you’re using the notebook on the move, you’re very unlikely to be using an external mouse, so you’ll have to depend on the trackpad to get the job done. Make sure that it’s large and has two separate buttons.

A good trackpad eliminates the need for an external mouse

The feel of the buttons should be sturdy, but have a soft feel to themselves, as well. Many notebooks these days have multi-touch support, so you can use gestures to complete simple functions quickly.

Bundled operating system
While looking for a really cheap notebook, you’re likely to find deals that might sound unbelievable. Manufacturers also offer notebooks without any operating system preinstalled or they might come bundled with Linux, which is free. If you’re specifically going to be using Windows applications, you might want to look out for a notebook with an operating system preinstalled, so you’ll have to spend additionally for the OS. If you get a really good deal on a notebook without an operating system installed and you don’t absolutely require Windows, you can choose to install a Linux distribution such as Ubuntu.

Battery life
Battery capacity is extremely important when it comes to notebooks. Most notebooks will only last around two hours on moderate use. Before you go out and buy a notebook, make sure you do your homework on the capacity of the battery. Some manufacturers will give you the option of choosing a larger battery with the notebook. If the price difference isn’t much, then take the higher capacity battery over the smaller one from the get-go.

Armed with that bit of information, you should be able to able to find the best notebooks deal by skipping all the jargon that the shopkeepers hurl at you. Happy hunting!

Computex 2011: Windows 8 Build 7985 Demoed

At Computex 2011, several attendees managed to get a glimpse of the latest build of Windows 8. The build - 7985.fbl_core1_kernel was reportedly readied on May 3 to make a partner preview of the same possible at the event in Taipei. The complete build string, 7985.fbl_core1_kernel_cptx.110503-1501 clearly reveals the same. The Milestone 3, however, comes sans a couple of shell changes that Microsoft introduced, among which was the superbar user account image integration.

Heavy buil(d)t!

The Windows 8 interface does pick up some cues from Windows Phone 7, but that ends there. Windows 8 allows users to launch apps using the tile-based start screen, and will be a replacement to the good old Windows 7 start up screen. Among the applications included are live tile notifications and the ability to naturally switch between applications. Users now also have the provision to snap and resize an application to place it on the side of the new touch screen user interface. 

At the All Things Digital D9 conference, Microsoft did raise the curtains over the new Windows 8 user interface. It was at the conference that Steven Sinofsky, Microsoft's President of the Windows Division mentioned the company’s plans to reveal some more details at the BUILD conference in September.

Windows 8 unveiled for your tablet

Bangalore: Microsoft unveiled its windows 8 for tablets in D9 conference assuring the fact that they are a strong contender in the tablet market.

Microsoft displayed a demo of windows 8 through a video which showed that this next generation operating system will be a user and touch-friendly experience that will work seamlessly on tablets, desktops, and laptops. It also added that it will also respond to keyboards and mouse if they are attached.The rapidly evolving PC world has forced Microsoft to evolve new mechanism and hence Windows 8 file-sharing tools will be much to the friendlier, touch-tacular mobile interface will be more advance. One can tap locally stored and networked photos to select them in a glance and also add them to your albums. This similarly will work the same for documents, videos, and music.

One of the interesting revelation that was made by Microsoft in the event was that developers will be provided with application programming interfaces (APIs) and a software development kit (SDK) that will allow them to create Windows 8 tablet applications in HTML and/or JavaScript. Windows 8 is expected to work in the new version of Internet Explorer 10; however, it was not cleared if the Internet Explorer 10 browser will support the Silverlight plug-in.

One question that remained unclear as to who's support will Microsoft opt for - Intel x86 or ARM versions of Windows 8 PCs and tablets. However Microsoft said it has no plan to add any kind of compatibility layer to enable legacy Windows apps to run on ARM-based PCs and tablets.

CEO Steve Ballmer indicated last week that Microsoft is planning to release Windows 8 in 2012 but the event did not announce the date on which the operating system will be available in the market for consumers. 

HTC HD 7 - Tremendous Potential

It’s HTC in the lead, bringing us yet another Windows Phone 7 handset - enter the HTC HD 7. I wasn't altogether too pleased with their initial offering, i.e. The HTC 7 Mozart. While the handset proved to be mediocre at best, the new look and feel of the Windows Mobile UI didn't really do it for me either. Having said that, their latest offering had the community wanting more and I was hoping that that's just what HD7 would offer. Here’s a closer look.

Form Factor
Taking its cue form big brother HTC HD2, the HD7 is pretty much just an upgrade in some instances and a downgrade in others. For instance, while the HD7 is a classier, more elegant and refined looking handset, it’s a tad heavier than the HD2 but not enough to hamper portability or usage. Like the Mozart, the HD7 doesn’t have support for external memory. It’ll be available with 8GB or 16GB internal storage. It’s big phone to say the least, with display size and resolution almost identical to the HD2 – 4.3-inches, 480 x 800 pixels, only the HD7 features 16million colors while the HD2 could only handle 65,000.

Large as heck, but what a looker

The physical keys under the display of the HD2 have been replaced with 3 simple touch sensitive options – return, a Windows key to get to the Home Page and search. A micro USB connectivity/charging port is located at the bottom right next to the 3.5mm handsfree socket with the volume/zoom keys on the right side above the camera activation/shutter release key.

At the rear of the handset is a neatly engineered kickstand to prop the handset up in landscape making it really easy to view while watching videos. The bundled handsfree, while extremely comfortable and able to provide excellent quality audio, has the microphone built into the control pad which is situated too far. This makes it harder for the person on the other side of a call to hear you too well.

Features and Performance
Interface
There’s really no difference or changes made to the HD7’s UI as compared to the Mozart’s. It’s still as smooth as ever thanks to the 1 GHz Scorpion processor, Adreno 200 GPU and Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset which incidentally was also available on the HD2. At least with HTC’s Windows Mobile version of Sense UI, functionality was a lot better even if the layout wasn’t so simple. The little drop down menu from the top of the screen doesn’t any more information other than battery power, time and signal strength. A few more details would have helped. New messages and a small music player UI shows up when necessary but doesn’t stay there too long.

The older Windows Mobile edition looked cluttered and too much like most other smartphone UIs at the time, WP7 is far more refined. From accessing menus to animations that happen while the accelerometer is in use and even pinch zooming, it’s all very iPhone-esque. It’s a fluid UI and the large virtual QWERTY keypad even in portrait mode makes for quick and comfortable typing. Multi-tasking on the WP7 platform isn’t very well thought out since there’s really no way you can access apps running in the background other than the music player.

WP7, smooth as silk but far from complete

The Tile system and side scrolling for most menus is easy to navigate but the lack of an actual ‘homescreen’ could take a little getting used to. There’s no way to adjust the background except with a light or dark (white or black) theme and tile color options. Almost anything can be pinned to the desktop making it somewhat easy to access. However, with platform like iOS or Android with their smaller icons and widgets, you have slightly more options per screen. Nevertheless, the Tiles are large and clear for viewing and access. Sadly though, the entire menu system does not switch to landscape, so if your handset’s neatly propped up on your desk, you’ll have to manage viewing the desktop, menus page and a few others in a sideways angle. Settings are minimalistic and that’s not a bad thing.
Media
There’s just one thing wrong with the handset’s media set up – Zune! The fact that I have so much space to play around with but restricted to using a proprietary system of data transfer is just annoying, pure and simple. There’s absolutely no issue whatsoever with the audio quality or decibel level in this device. With Dolby Mobile and SRS sound enhancement technology for both audio and video, the HD7 handles audio out put really well. EQ presets are not available from within the players interface. A separate app has been provided (Sound enhancer) for it and that includes a few preset options. The FM radio worked out quite well providing a decent amount of reception in most places even while on my daily commute and that’s something to be a little impressed about.

Dolby takes quality up a notch but Zune has got to go!

Unlike iTunes that has issues with conversion of all kinds of files for the ‘i’ products, Zune manages to accept all formats but takes an insanely long time to convert them to the appropriate size and resolution for the device. My advice is, convert them to iPhone size MP4 files using any converter software available and then transfer them through Zune. The process is much faster. It’s a pity a device with such a fabulously large and clear display has no support for DivX or XviD codecs.

There’s also no option for stretching videos to fit the screen or viewing them in their actual resolution. Sometimes videos that I converted from a 16:9 aspect ratio got unexpectedly stretched to the size of the HD7’s screen. While clarity was not an issue, it did bother me to see Bruce Willis’  bald head look more egg shaped than usual.  A photo enhancer app is also available for adding a few choice flavors to your photos.

Connectivity
The WP7 platform seems to be the only one that automatically captures and stores my Loop Mobile EDGE settings without any manual intervention. The HD7 supports 3G, EDGE and Wi-Fi with no frills. At least the HD2 and its much older Windows Mobile system allowed you to use the handset as a Wi-Fi router. The platform also doesn’t allow for tethering. Bluetooth connectivity is still limited to just A2DP with no file transfer options. Images can be shared only via Wi-Fi/EDGE by uploading them to Facebook, or Microsoft’s SkyDrive server for storage. They can also be emailed or sent via MMS of course.

No Flash but not even Sliverlight? C'mon!

Setting up email accounts is as simple as it is in any new Smartphone platform. Basic details are required, a verification protocol is run and that’s it. The UI for emails is neat and designed for comfortable viewing. WP7 also comes with a preloaded Stock market app which, once again, is oddly similar to what Apple used to do for iPhone customers. HTC’s Hub interface is more like an immersive weather application where you can also add a few shortcuts to various apps. It could have been an option for a secondary desktop but instead it’s an additional app that you’ll need to activate each time you want in.

The IE browser, as brilliantly as it performed while browsing, does not support Flash or Silverlight making the over experience a little underwhelming, all things considered. The App market is not yet available for India so it’s quite an offset for HTC to have launched two WP7 handsets in the country without app support. There are work-around methods of accessing the store via a PC but apps are a little pricey and the ones that are free just didn’t seem all to impressive. App development for WP7 is still a work in progress, as is the platform itself. Good luck Nokia.

Bing could be big

One of the perks to the WP7 platform is Xbox Live integration. Though the Windows Phone 7 Games Hub you can access titles from Xbox LIVE, Microsoft Game Studios and other publishers as well as your stats and other account related information. It even allows you to play online. Facebook, Google, Windows Live and Twitter account integration with your contacts is quite well fashioned. The absence of any preloaded chat applications and the extremely limited availability of the same on the App Market is another peeve one has to deal with on the WP7 platform for now.

Bing is the native browser of course and Bing Maps handle the handsets GPS (with A-GPS support) capabilities. They’re no match for Google Maps just yet but you never know. As is though, they’re not a bad option even when it comes to navigation (no voice guided option).

Misc. Features With some mobile standard apps like a unit converter, calendar (that does not sync with your Facebook account), alarm, calculator you’re good to go as far as basic features are concerned. What’s missing is a Notes application and Facebook or Google integration with the calendar. Then again, this is a Microsoft enabled handset so Google really isn’t given too much priority. The suite of Microsoft Office functions with OneNote and SharePoint adds quite a bit of value to the device but still not enough to cover all that's missing from the OS. Good stuff but we want more... Camera The HD7’s 5 megapixel autofocus camera is provided with a dual LED flash and features a few scene modes. Effects, flicker adjustment, metering and of course geo-tagging. Image quality isn’t as sharp as some of HTC’s previous offerings and does appear a bit on the dull side with colors looking just a tad washed out. In native resolution details are not really as clear as you’d expect either. Not the most clear of them all Battery Battery life proved to be a big drawback. With silly Tiles being unnecessarily animated, FB and emails on Push and the large LCD sucking up power, I found the HD7 doesn’t offer too much usage without needing to be charged each and every day. On an average talk time ran into the 3 hours 30 minutes span which is not really too great. The Bottom Line With a price tag of Rs. 28,990 (MOP), the HTC HD7 might seem like a great handset but do keep in mind handsets with far superior capabilities and operating systems that provide you with more functionality exist. The HD7, while a classy piece of hardware is saddled with an OS that is not yet full functional and, like I said before, a work in progress. For the record, the HTC HD7 is a handset to keep your eyes on.  It’s quite future-proofed, however there’s no telling just how frequently the updates will come though. This means you’ll be stuck with a handset with tremendous potential that’s just waiting to be unlocked to its optimized capability. Prop it up and sit back If you’ve got the patience, I say go for it, but we’ve been though this before with the iPhone and even the Android OS. Let’s not forget handsets like the Hero were seriously flawed but new age handsets like the Desire models have unlocked a whole new realm of mobile usability. It might be better to simply wait and see what the next update brings to the table and then decide. The only big hurdle you’ll have to conquer is the poor battery life.

Computex 2011: Microsoft Previews Windows 8 OS

A major player on the third day at Computex was Microsoft. They dropped some major news by previewing the next generation of the Windows operating system code-named Windows 8. Mike Angiulo, Corporate Vice President of Windows Planning, Hardware and PC Ecosystem at Microsoft demonstrated how the new operating system is optimized for newer touch-centric hardware, including tablets in a technical preview. Windows 8 new Start menu (Image credit: All Things D) This demonstration highlighted the ability of the new OS to work across both x86 and ARM-based architectures, with a variety of early prototypes shown running the new operating system. Speaking about the new OS, Angiulo said that their aim with Windows 8 is to make the user experience a natural extension of the device, from the time you turn on your PC through how you interact with the applications you know and love. He goes on to say that this represents a fundamental shift in Windows design that they haven’t attempted since the days of Windows 95, presenting huge opportunities for their hardware partners to innovate with new PC designs. In January, it was announced that Microsoft and silicon chip makers AMD, Intel Corporation, NVIDIA Corp., Qualcomm Inc. and Texas Instruments Inc. would work together on the next Windows OS. The announcement also says that the new user experience extends to how applications will run on “Windows 8,” with controls naturally fitting into the device experience. It said that developers would also be able to use common Web technologies, such as HTML5 and JavaScript, to create applications for the PC, further easing integration and adoption. In order to aid developers in building applications for the new operating system, Microsoft formally opened registration for its new developer conference, BUILD, which will take place Sept. 13–16, 2011, in Anaheim, California. A brief view on the features of Windows 8 – Apps can be launched faster from a tile-based Start screen; thus replacing the Start menu with a customizable full screen view of apps Apps can be switched between in a fluid manner Snap and resize an app to the side of a screen; thus enabling multitasking capabilities Developers can use common Web technologies such as HTML5 and JavaScript to create apps for PCs

Microsoft demonstrates Windows 8 with HTML5 apps

Microsoft has provided a look at how it plans to bring Windows to more mobile devices in the future, leveraging ARM processors and using HTML5 as the basis of a new app platform.

As demonstrated at the D9 conference, Windows 8 will deliver a touch-centric new interface for apps built using HTML5 and JavaScript that runs on top of the existing, conventional Windows platform.

The company showed off a new Start screen patterned after the tiled home page of Windows Phone 7. The company says the new tiled interface "replaces the Windows Start menu with a customizable, scalable full-screen view of apps."

Microsoft's mobile Windows CE core operating system differs dramatically from its desktop Windows operating system, but the two will grow closer together in appearance as Windows 8 adopts a similar, top level interface to Windows Phone 7 and the Zune.

In contrast, Apple's desktop Mac OS X and mobile iOS share the same core operating system and use optimized versions of the company's proprietary Cocoa development platform to deliver native apps, but differ in the interface they present, with Mac OS X retaining a mouse-based windowing environment while iOS devices like the iPhone and iPad present a completely rethought, touch-based interface.

Microsoft's own efforts to build a cohesive development environment for both the Windows CE-based Windows Mobile 6 and its desktop Windows XP/Vista/7 platform initially revolved around the company's .Net APIs before shifting Windows Phone 7 to use Microsoft's Adobe Flash-like Silverlight as its mobile app platform.

Now, Microsoft is announcing a new shift that leverages the interest in HTML5 to deliver "web-connected and web-powered" apps (similar to HP's webOS platform acquired from Palm) that will run alongside legacy Windows apps on the forthcoming Windows 8. Microsoft says this approach "is designed and optimized for touch," although the company also says "it works equally well with a mouse and keyboard."

This all happened before

Microsoft took a simmer approach to catching up to Apple's Macintosh in the early 90s, layering a Mac-like user interface on top of DOS to initially deliver Windows, resulting in an operating system that looked like a Mac but could still revert to running text-based DOS apps.

The new HTML5 layer of Windows 8 works like the Dashboard layer of Mac OS X, although rather than only supplying quick assess to simple widgets, the new "Windows 8 apps" are intended to supply a layer of highly animated, full screen, touch-based apps capable of competing with native apps running on Apple's iPad.

Like Apple's iOS, Windows 8 is intended to be deployed on highly mobile devices such as ARM-based tablets in addition to the conventional PCs Windows has powered in the past. Unlike Apple's iOS, which became instantly popular on the iPhone before expanding to the iPod touch and iPad, Microsoft's tile-based Zune interface hasn't yet found a significant, sustainable audience. After the Zune failed, Microsoft KIN and Windows Phone 7 have both found little interest among consumers.

Microsoft's radical experimentation with Windows Vista in 2007 caused a negative backlash from Windows PC users, which has only settled down with the more conservative release of Windows 7. Sales of PCs have yet to rebound to levels prior to the release of Vista, and new mobile devices, in particular Apple's iPad, have siphoned off a significant amount of demand among generic PCs.

Microsoft does have considerable clout among its developers and hardware makers however, and describes the new Windows 8 as its biggest risk yet, hoping the new release, due sometime over the next couple years, will bring it back into relevance among new generations of consumers.

Dell Venue Pro - Stylish review

As we saw with the HTC HD7, there were some issues with the OS. The Dell Venue Pro however may have just set a benchmark where Windows Phone 7 devices are concerned. Even though I didn’t think it is possible, the Venue Pro does manage to showcase a slightly smoother UI as compared to other WP7 devices we’ve tested. A new a'Venue' from Dell Design and Build Quality  The Dell Venue Pro can pretty much be considered the WP7 version of the Dell Venue Android handset that came sans QWERTY keypad. The Pro manages to out shine its competition with other WP7 devices when it comes to looks, but not much else. The slightly curved full screen display adds a touch of class to the phone. The sides of the phone and the Dell logo are finished in chrome. The back of the phone is also finished with a stylish patterned design. To say that I am completely awestruck by the beauty of this phone is an understatement. The Dell Venue Pro features a 4.1-inch AMOLED display with an 800 x 480 (WVGA) resolution (Gorilla Glass). This handset comes with a portrait side QWERTY pop slide keyboard which has elegant hard plastic keys. The spacing of the keys is made to precision and typing is not a problem at all. The keyboard however would have been much better if it was in landscape mode thus fully utilizing the massive size of this device. On the face of the phone are three capacitive buttons - back, home and search, which light on contact.                                                                                           27,900  The top of the phone sports the circular power/ sleep button to the right and on the left is the 3.5 mm audio jack. On the right side of the phone are the volume keys and below them is the camera shutter release. All these are flushed along the side of the phone and made with the same chrome finish that adds to the elegance of the device phone. The bottom of the phone features a set of stereo speakers with a micro USB port for charging or syncing with a computer in between. Features and Performance Interface The Dell Venue Pro operates its WP7 UI with a 1 GHz Scorpion processor and a 512 MB RAM. Even first time WP7 users should have no problems navigating through the new OS. The responsiveness of the interface is as smooth as an iPhone’s with no lag. The designated search button allows you to connect easily to Microsoft’s Bing search engine through either 3G, Wi-Fi, GPRS or EDGE. Bulky in design The ‘Start Screen’ is customizable to an extent and just about anything can be added to it. This can be an interesting feature to have all your most used items on the main screen.  The Tile system of the Home screen is very attractive in a ‘modern art’ sort of way with the tiles being either square or rectangular in shape. Navigating through the main menu is only available in portrait mode. UI auto-rotation is possible while texting, web surfing, emailing or viewing images. Social networking on the Dell Venue Pro is seamless as it connects your phone contacts with your Facebook, Windows Live, etc. accounts. Automatic social updates, Facebook style, can be viewed through the ‘What’s New’ tab in the People hub.  Through this feature you can also update your Facebook or Windows Live status while also being able to comment on posts. There is no Twitter integration but a third party app can be used to post your tweets. Patterned back with chrome Dell logo One feature where iOS (now) and Android are ahead of WP7 is multitasking. Along with Office, People, Music & Videos, Internet Explorer hubs there is also an Xbox Live Games hub; where Xbox Live games can be downloaded on to the phone and played. Overall the interface of Microsoft Windows Phone 7 is sure to be a force to be reckoned with in the future. Multimedia WP7, being a closed interface like iOS, multimedia can only be transferred by syncing with the Zune software on a PC. The audio/ video playback on this device truly does provide a sensory feast to the user. There are five different options in the media hub – music, videos, podcasts, radio and the marketplace for media related content. The handset supports - MP3, WAV, WMA and eAAC+ audio formats. The music hub interface is very smartly designed - not only does the album art show but also a picture of the artist as well in a sort of wallpaper layout. There audio playback was excellent even at high volumes, no distortion noticed whatsoever. Tones were well balanced however, the lack of any presets negate any personal customization, which not everyone will be ok with. The Dell Venue Pro also has an inbuilt radio, something that is lacking on the iPhone. The radio reception was good and no signal loss was noticed. A variety of video codecs like - H.263/H.264, 3GP, MPEG4, WMV and VC-1 are supported. Viewing videos on this 4.1-inch AMOLED screen was a delight. The performance of the video was tested by using a file converted by the Zune player whilst syncing it to the device. It was encoded at a resolution of 1280 x 720p which fit the entire screen of the phone.  The Venue Pro features a 1400 mAh lithium Ion and comes loaded with 8GB or 16GB of internal storage with unfortunately, no expansion option. A big issue with WP7 devices. (Apple anyone?). As opposed to the Venue’s 8MP camera, Dell has downsized and equipped the Pro with a 5 megapixel auto-focus camera and LED flash. Dell went to great lengths to manufacture a phone that could live up to our ever increasing high standard in terms of design and build quality. It looks like it could take a couple of knocks and still come out on top. It weighs in at a whopping 192.8g. Size and weight apart though, this is one beautiful looking handset. Connectivity This smartphone has 3G capabilities as well as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1 and USB. The call quality of the Dell Venue Pro was a little poor as there was some voice distortion and static noticed. However, the person on the other end didn’t seem to notice any distortion and found the calls quite clear. There was also no dropped calls or loss of network during the usage of this phone even in areas where cellular reception was low. Stylish design The Wi-Fi speed on this device is on par with any other smartphone in the market and the speed of file transfer or downloads were good. Browsing the internet on this phone is really pleasing as the page load rate is really quick thanks to the IE browser on board. The Marketplace is Microsoft's answer to Google's Android Market and Apple's App Store.The WP7 Marketplace allows you to purchase music, videos, apps and podcasts. It has apps ranging from games to lifestyle, health & fitness to finance and many more. Although, it may not seem like much now, the number of apps are steadily increasing. The games option in the Marketplace directs you to the Xbox Live page. In this page you can download Xbox Live games (online multiplayer as well) made especially for WP7. Here’s the big catch with the Marketplace though, it’s not yet available for India. But, where there’s a will there’s a way, and work arounds are possible if you want to access it. Bing maps for WP7 are also available for use with the Venue Pro’s built in GPS module. Misc. Features Office on WP7 is great as you can not only view but also edit and email the content you work on. MS Office on the Dell Venue Pro has PowerPoint, Excel and Word applications. OneNote which is Microsoft’s answer to the hugely popular Evernote is of course also part of the Office set up. Basic mobile features like – a calculator, Alarm clock and calendar (syncs to Windows Live) are also onboard. Besides the highlighted features above, the Dell Venue Pro also has other interesting features like People, Hotmail, maps, Internet Explorer, G-sensor, e-compass, proximity sensor and ambient light sensor. However, one major issue with WP7 is the lack of a chat application.

Camera The Dell Venue Pro sports a 5 megapixel, auto-focus camera with an LED flash it is also able to record videos at 720p. Settings include white balance, a few scene modes and geo-tagging, ISO levels (up to 800) which are quite limited when compared to others available in the same price bracket. The outdoor images were decent with a fair amount of detail and no color supplementation was noticed. All the natural hues are visible and no pinkness was seen in sunlit areas. Overall the outdoor picture quality is good. A lot of detail is visible with outdoor pics The same cannot be said about the indoor image quality with there being a lot of color supplementation and even with the LED flash on, the area photographed could not be lit up enough. Further to this, in low light environments the images came out quite grainy. Indoor pictures are grainy The performance of the auto-focus fluctuates and can frustrate a bit when it sometimes captures blurry images. However, when macro images were clicked using the Dell Venue Pro the outcome of the same was quite sharp. To sum it up, the quality of the camera on this WP7 handset is decent. Macro pics are crisp Battery The 1400 mAh battery of the Dell Venue Pro is decent where normal usage is concerned that is making calls, browsing the net over Wi-Fi, listening to music, watching videos or playing games all in moderation and had lasted around 17 hours. Under somewhat heavy usage (playing music continuously) the battery got fully discharged in just over 14 hours.   Verdict At a market price of  27,900, this may not be the most ideal phone to purchase. With the size and weight of the Dell Venue Pro being a major issue there is also no proper weight distribution when the keyboard slides out. The Pro has some great features and it's fitted with an operating system that is surely going to do well in the future, right now though, there's plenty of room for improvement. The Zune Marketplace is not available in India thereby, making it difficult to download apps. Though the Dell Venue Pro is a good looking phone, with a price tag of 27,900, you would be better off with the HTC Mozart or a phone with another operating system that can offer better specs and at the same time be easier on the pocket.