Using Windows 7 (beta)

(originally posted here)

Earlier yesterday (Sunday), I had downloaded the beta version of Windows 7. Downloads can only be done up to February 10, 2009, incomplete downloads on that day will have an additional 2 days to complete. Due to the nature of installation, the download file was a DVD iso image (~2GB) and had to be restarted several times. Knowing that this would work until August 1st, 2009, it would be best to install it on a different partion, as a virtual OS, or another PC that you don't mind formatting over. The requirements are a 1Ghz processor, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of free space, and whatever graphic requirements. It was so good that, apart from some bugs, that it does seem ready to be released as the RTM version. There wasn't any major problems with the hardware or software I tested.

Partitioning wasn't really an issue as there were already 2 equal partions on the laptop drive between Windows Vista (C: Drive) and another without an OS on it (D: Drive). I just need to backup the files on the C: drive and move existing files on the D: drive onto one of the 3 portable hard disk drives I have. By backing up, I mean copying personal files to a different physical drive and not using the program that came with the operating system (or any 3rd party software), mainly because it is more troublesome to recover and, in some circumstances, may not work.

Installation, compared to earlier versions, was quite fast. Except for prompts asking me to restart, and selecting between the Windows 7 Setup and Windows Vista afterwards (this appears if the PC has 2 or more OSes on it), the begining (downloading of updates, upgrade or custom install), and the end (serial key), they never ask me for anything.

(check out someone's post for more details)

One of the first things I did was to check how different things are from Windows Vista Home Basic (and earlier) first hand. I know I have read a lot of reviews, most of it positive, but it would be better if I would experience it first-hand.

I know Aero came with Windows Vista, but the one I had is a Home Basic version, and there isn't any, or the very least, a pseudo version. And the only other operating I have use in recent years are Ubuntu Linux, Windows XP, and a tiny bit of Mac OS 9/X. So, the first time I experience it first-hand and using it as I like, I actually liked it.

The taskbar is different, if you hover over the Windows Media icon in the taskbar, you can control the song from that pops up with the control buttons. For the IE8 (beta) icon, hovering over it would show all the tabs that are open in it. I tried with Crome earlier (at least, the version as as the time of this post), but that don't seem to work unless all the tabs are separated. This is a major overhall since the earlier version was introduced in Windows 95.

The background can be set to change from every 10 seconds to 1 day. Of course, the order can be shuffled. Also, when setting the wallpaper, there is also the option to fill and fit, on top of the existing center, tile, and stretch options.

Movie Maker is missing, but is included in the version of Windows Live Essentials suite that was released last month (January). However, at the current state, the features are somewhat limited as compared to the one that came with Vista.

As a comparisian of how far Windows 7 has come, I have opened smillar things to Windows ME (which came out 10 years ago) and you can see how different it is. Both screenshots were taken on the same day.

Windows 7 (beta)

Windows ME

Recorded: Google maps car hits a deer

It's a sad fact that deer get hit by cars everyday but not everyday does a Google Maps car hit a deer and record the event. It's a sad fate for the deer but the entire event was recorded and uploaded to the live version of Google Maps.

You can attempt to view the picture here but that particular spot is being hit pretty hard by traffic; a screen capture is posted below.

The Google employee had to have known that they hit the deer but the more interesting thought is why did they proceed to upload the images? Is Google that determined to be the first to map the roads by street view that they don't care what goes live on their site?

Regardless this can be added to the long list of odd and funny things that have been caught on Google Maps.






Google has responded and states "the deer was able to move and had left the area by the time the police arrived".

Wikimedia Foundation raises $6.2 million for Wikipedia

The Wikimedia Foundation announced Friday that it has reached its goal of raising over $6 million to sustain Wikipedia.

With the help of over 125,000 donors from around the world, the Wikimedia Foundation raised a total of $6.2 million, sustaining Wikipedia for the foreseeable future. The money will be used to maintain and grow the foundation's technical infrastructure.

"This campaign has proven that Wikipedia matters to its users, and that our users strongly support our mission: to bring free knowledge to the planet, free of charge and free of advertising," Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia and the Wikimedia Foundation, wrote in a thank you letter posted on Wikipedia and the Wikimedia Foundation's Web site. "We deeply appreciate the generosity of our supporters."

The Wikimedia Foundation was behind in its total contributions in late December, but Wales published a personal appeal on the foundation's site to increase funding. In the eight days trailing that message, more than 50,000 contributions flooded in, totaling $2 million and closing the gap toward the goal.

The Wikimedia Foundation is still accepting funding on its donations page.

Facebook gets hit with a virus

Facebook has been hit with a virus that could spread to its 120 million users. The virus has been dubbed "knobface", which tries to gather personal information from users computers such as credit card numbers.

The virus dubbed "knobface" sends a message to all the friends of the infected titled "You look just awesome in this new movie". Users who opened the messaged where asked to download a fake update for Adobe flash player, which was actually the virus itself being downloaded and installed onto victims computers. If users attempted to use any of the major three search engines such as Yahoo, Google, or Live search, users would be taken to contaminated sites.

All users are being asked to run their updated anti-virus scanners to check for potential contamination. Facebook has also posted a response to help users clean infected machines on their security web site.

The "knobface" hit MySpace in August, where users had a similar situation where the virus took over their computer. Researchers believe that this is not the last of the "knobface" virus we will see, but the hacker or hackers are improving it.

Windows Live Wave 3 rolled out

Earlier this week Microsoft updated their Hotmail service to the new Windows Live Wave 3. Though Home and Spaces remained the same. Yesterday however, those were also updated with new features and gadgets.

The New Live Wave 3 which seems to have been rolled out feaures Dynamic themes, updated Weather forecasts, and the ability to add pictures. The page itself also integrates a number of services. All your messenger contact info is sent to Windows Live Home, additionally, Office Workspaces has also been integrated to show all files and folders added.

Now let's talk about SkyDrive. SkyDrive got a major boost. Last week you were able to store up to 5GB, now it has been boosted to 25GB. Folders have also been neatly organized, however, the ability to view friends SkyDrive's seems to have been removed.

Downloads have also been included. These Downloads are the new Live Wave 3 Programs which include WLM 9.0, WLMD (Windows Live Mail Desktop), WLMM (Windows Live Movie Maker), WLW (Windows Live Writer) etc, however they are ALL BETA and will not be released until Feb, 09. Finally, Spaces. Spaces seems to be out of service at the moment unfortunately, this has been confirmed by a number of people.

To check this out and more, go to: http://home.live.com