Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, one of the world’s hardest-charging
executives, was moved to tears Thursday as he led what is likely his last annual
meeting with employees.
The yearly event–uncreatively named the “Microsoft Company Meeting”–offers
up sneak previews of future Microsoft products, and serves as a pep rally for
some of Microsoft’s roughly 100,000 employees.
This year’s gathering in a Seattle basketball arena also served as one of
the first stops on the Steve Ballmer retirement tour, as he prepares to hand
over the reins in coming months to just the third CEO in Microsoft’s
history.
Ballmer, choking up near the close of the roughly seven-hour meeting, told
more than 10,000 attendees about his love of Microsoft and pledged the company
will keep innovating and “change the world,” according to people familiar with
the meeting. He also alluded to Oracle CEO Larry Ellisonskipping a planned
speech this week to catch his America’s Cup sailing team.
The CEO, wearing a blazing yellow shirt, exited the stage to the song
“(I’ve Had) The Time Of my Life.”
Employees, some who arrived in company buses from Microsoft’s suburban
headquarters, lined up early Thursday morning to file into KeyArena near
Seattle’s downtown. The onslaught was severe enough that some local news outlets
and transportation agencies issued traffic alerts and told people to avoid the
area. Many more Microsoft employees watched on webcasts at home or in local
offices around the world.
Prior Microsoft company meetings have featured celebrity emcees, such as
“Saturday Night Live” star Seth Meyers from and comedian Amy Sedaris. Microsoft
opted to go without a celebrity host this year. (Blitz, the mascot for the
Seattle Seahawks football team, was in attendance, according to a photo posted
on Blitz’s Twitter account.)
Ballmer’s tears weren’t the only moment of drama. Kevin Turner, Microsoft’s
chief operating officer, showed what some attendees said was an emotional video
of children talking about how proud they are of their parents who work at
Microsoft. Terry Myerson, newly in charge of operating software for Windows
computers, Xbox videogame consoles and Microsoft smartphones, was among the
other executives to speak to attendees, as was Mark Penn, the executive
responsible for Microsoft’s marketing.
Executives demonstrated a Halo videogame running over the Internet rather
than downloaded on a videogame console. Myerson hinted at the possibility of a
unified app store for Microsoft-powered phones, tablets, PCs and other
gadgets–to replace scattered hubs for downloading apps for computing devices
running Microsoft software. The demonstrations were more aspirations than
features likely to be immediately available, attendees said.
Outside the meeting, some local businesses sought to take advantage of the
Microsoft throngs. Buckley’s on Queen Anne, a pub located two blocks from
KeyArena, opened its doors early to serve breakfast and Bloody Mary drinks after
getting requests from a couple groups of Microsoft employees, said general
manager Harrison Hegberg.
Asked whether Buckley’s had sold any Bloody Mary drinks well before the 10
a.m. start time for the company meeting, Hegberg said, “I saw a few go out.”
Thursday, September 26, 2013
I’ve also spent numerous time operating with finish
More than the past year, I’ve used Windows 8 on more than 20 different PCs.
Over the past 3 months, I’ve upgraded a dozen or so of these devices to the
Windows eight.1 Preview and, more lately, for the Windows eight.1 RTM code.
Now, when I say made use of, I’m not counting devices where I had some minutes of hands-on time at a tradeshow. That total contains devices I spent top quality hands-on time with, for at the least days and frequently weeks or months. In just about every case, it was extended enough to obtain a strong overview and a feeling for the relative strengths and weaknesses of a very wide range of devices.
I’ve also spent numerous time operating with finish customers at all ability levels, listening to their feedback and helping them adjust for the at times steep Windows 8.x understanding curve. In this post and the accompanying image gallery, I desire to share a few of these experiences along with the lessons I’ve learned.
Very first, the definition of a Pc has expended significantly in the previous year. The Computer industry’s sales could be dropping, but the total continues to be a sizable number-every month, OEMs sell tens of millions of Windows-based devices. Increasingly, those devices are blurring the lines amongst what we used to contact a Pc and what we at the moment get in touch with a tablet. As a lot more hybrid styles attain the market place, we’re seeing a really distinctive answer to the question, “What is often a Pc, anyway?”
Second, Windows and its ecosystem have evolved tremendously within the past year at the same time. There are lots of much more third-party apps right now than there were a year ago, like a brand new wave of apps that the general public will not see until Windows 8.1 is released in October. The new Mail app, for example, can be a profound improvement on its Windows eight predecessor.
That still may well not be enough evolution to satisfy some critics. It may possibly take one more two rounds of refinements and new capabilities to have Windows 8.x to the “good enough” level for a number of people. (Excellent news for them: Windows 7 is years from its expiration date.)
I get the aggravation over Windows 8. I know plenty of people who rejected Windows eight because of a disappointing and confusing initial knowledge, even right after creating a good-faith work to adapt. Immediately after spending three months with the Windows 8.1 Preview and also a couple weeks with all the Windows eight.1 RTM code, I can let you know it does indeed soften the rough edges of Windows eight on hardware developed for Windows 7 or earlier. But those rough edges are nonetheless there.
PCs developed for Windows 7 are extremely unique from those designed for Windows 8.x. In reality, Windows 8.1 actually does not make sense until you start off employing it on hardware that was constructed having a touch-first interface as its explanation for getting. The factors why Windows eight.1 works the way it does come into even sharper concentrate any time you switch amongst many touchscreen devices with apps, settings, personalization, and data files syncing involving them.
I have been covering Windows for greater than 20 years, and I cannot keep in mind any other release exactly where applying the new OS on new hardware is so vital to getting a decent expertise. On older PCs, adding Windows eight.x makes for a mixed bag, with regards to the overall encounter. On mobile devices employing modern hardware (in particular 4th Generation Intel Core CPUs, aka Haswell), the variations are profound. The devices I'm making use of most normally in recent times can boot from a cold start out in much less than 15 seconds and resume from sleep immediately. They get far much better battery life than equivalent models that were built just two years ago, and overall performance is commonly light-years much better, if only thanks to Moore’s Law.
But the most important ingredient for mobile devices, in my opinion, can be a touchscreen. Around the multi-monitor desktop I’m employing to write this post, I do not need a touchscreen-I’ve mastered the keyboard and mouse shortcuts, and also the Logitech T400 Touch Mouse has sufficient gesture support to manage most scrolling (horizontal and vertical). But for every little thing else, if it doesn't possess a touchscreen, I am not interested.
When I sat down and wrote down the names and model numbers of each of the Windows eight.x devices I’ve used over the previous year, I identified that they match neatly into these seven categories:
The initial generation of Ultrabooks shipped a couple years after Windows 7. The contrast using the greatest hardware from just a couple of years earlier, in 2009 and 2010, was eye-opening. I owned and utilised two from the very best examples from that first wave of Ultrabooks: the Samsung Series 9 (which was my wife’s principal Computer for roughly a year) as well as the ASUS ZenBook UX31E (which was my major mobile personal computer for 18 months). They’re nevertheless amazingly light and responsive…or so I’m told by their new owners. They’ve been replaced in our household by newer, lighter, more quickly models that contain touchscreens.
I know it’s probable to make the intellectual argument that touchscreens do not belong on portable devices which have a permanently attached keyboard and trackpad. But that theory does not survive contact with all the genuine globe. Various people will make use of the touchscreen to varying degrees, but I have however to determine anybody who didn’t locate some set of actions which are just simpler to accomplish via direct manipulation than with a trackpad. And also the "gorilla arms" argument turns out to become a non-factor on notebooks. The truth is, I guarantee you that following making use of a touchscreen device for even a couple of days, you may choose up your old notebook and touch the screen, expecting it do one thing. The Haswell-equipped Ultrabook I am at the moment working with is one of the best-engineered devices I’ve ever owned.
http://www.windows7retailpack.com/
Now, when I say made use of, I’m not counting devices where I had some minutes of hands-on time at a tradeshow. That total contains devices I spent top quality hands-on time with, for at the least days and frequently weeks or months. In just about every case, it was extended enough to obtain a strong overview and a feeling for the relative strengths and weaknesses of a very wide range of devices.
I’ve also spent numerous time operating with finish customers at all ability levels, listening to their feedback and helping them adjust for the at times steep Windows 8.x understanding curve. In this post and the accompanying image gallery, I desire to share a few of these experiences along with the lessons I’ve learned.
Very first, the definition of a Pc has expended significantly in the previous year. The Computer industry’s sales could be dropping, but the total continues to be a sizable number-every month, OEMs sell tens of millions of Windows-based devices. Increasingly, those devices are blurring the lines amongst what we used to contact a Pc and what we at the moment get in touch with a tablet. As a lot more hybrid styles attain the market place, we’re seeing a really distinctive answer to the question, “What is often a Pc, anyway?”
Second, Windows and its ecosystem have evolved tremendously within the past year at the same time. There are lots of much more third-party apps right now than there were a year ago, like a brand new wave of apps that the general public will not see until Windows 8.1 is released in October. The new Mail app, for example, can be a profound improvement on its Windows eight predecessor.
That still may well not be enough evolution to satisfy some critics. It may possibly take one more two rounds of refinements and new capabilities to have Windows 8.x to the “good enough” level for a number of people. (Excellent news for them: Windows 7 is years from its expiration date.)
I get the aggravation over Windows 8. I know plenty of people who rejected Windows eight because of a disappointing and confusing initial knowledge, even right after creating a good-faith work to adapt. Immediately after spending three months with the Windows 8.1 Preview and also a couple weeks with all the Windows eight.1 RTM code, I can let you know it does indeed soften the rough edges of Windows eight on hardware developed for Windows 7 or earlier. But those rough edges are nonetheless there.
PCs developed for Windows 7 are extremely unique from those designed for Windows 8.x. In reality, Windows 8.1 actually does not make sense until you start off employing it on hardware that was constructed having a touch-first interface as its explanation for getting. The factors why Windows eight.1 works the way it does come into even sharper concentrate any time you switch amongst many touchscreen devices with apps, settings, personalization, and data files syncing involving them.
I have been covering Windows for greater than 20 years, and I cannot keep in mind any other release exactly where applying the new OS on new hardware is so vital to getting a decent expertise. On older PCs, adding Windows eight.x makes for a mixed bag, with regards to the overall encounter. On mobile devices employing modern hardware (in particular 4th Generation Intel Core CPUs, aka Haswell), the variations are profound. The devices I'm making use of most normally in recent times can boot from a cold start out in much less than 15 seconds and resume from sleep immediately. They get far much better battery life than equivalent models that were built just two years ago, and overall performance is commonly light-years much better, if only thanks to Moore’s Law.
But the most important ingredient for mobile devices, in my opinion, can be a touchscreen. Around the multi-monitor desktop I’m employing to write this post, I do not need a touchscreen-I’ve mastered the keyboard and mouse shortcuts, and also the Logitech T400 Touch Mouse has sufficient gesture support to manage most scrolling (horizontal and vertical). But for every little thing else, if it doesn't possess a touchscreen, I am not interested.
When I sat down and wrote down the names and model numbers of each of the Windows eight.x devices I’ve used over the previous year, I identified that they match neatly into these seven categories:
The initial generation of Ultrabooks shipped a couple years after Windows 7. The contrast using the greatest hardware from just a couple of years earlier, in 2009 and 2010, was eye-opening. I owned and utilised two from the very best examples from that first wave of Ultrabooks: the Samsung Series 9 (which was my wife’s principal Computer for roughly a year) as well as the ASUS ZenBook UX31E (which was my major mobile personal computer for 18 months). They’re nevertheless amazingly light and responsive…or so I’m told by their new owners. They’ve been replaced in our household by newer, lighter, more quickly models that contain touchscreens.
I know it’s probable to make the intellectual argument that touchscreens do not belong on portable devices which have a permanently attached keyboard and trackpad. But that theory does not survive contact with all the genuine globe. Various people will make use of the touchscreen to varying degrees, but I have however to determine anybody who didn’t locate some set of actions which are just simpler to accomplish via direct manipulation than with a trackpad. And also the "gorilla arms" argument turns out to become a non-factor on notebooks. The truth is, I guarantee you that following making use of a touchscreen device for even a couple of days, you may choose up your old notebook and touch the screen, expecting it do one thing. The Haswell-equipped Ultrabook I am at the moment working with is one of the best-engineered devices I’ve ever owned.
http://www.windows7retailpack.com/
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
SnapEDA Wants To Help Fuel Hardware Startups With A Github-Like Community For CAD
There’s a growing number of startups out there that are focusing on
building new hardware, and that’s an immensely different problem compared to
building a software business, in terms of sourcing resources to use to build the
products involved, sourcing talent and solving problems. That’s why Natasha
Baker founded SnapEDA, a website and community dedicated to helping hardware
engineers connect, and helping businesses connecting with them.
Baker was at Disrupt’s Startup Alley this year, showing off her platform, which she says is essentially a Github for hardware. It’s a community based around sharing CAD design for components in circuit boards and electronics, including tools that allow schematics to be downloaded in a variety of formats compatible with all leading CAD programs, and community validation tools that allow users to flag problems with schematics or to verify that they work correctly.
“What we’re trying to do is show people everything they need to know, so data sheet specs, pricing, and availability,” Baker said in an interview, discussing the parts pages aspect of the site. “But our main value add, the thing that hasn’t really been done before is offering CAD files that are convertible to every format.”
Aside from providing crowd-sourced, multi-format exportable design files for chips, SnapEDA also aspires to be a true community for builders and electronics engineers. Part of that is allowing people to vouch for designs and components, but another part is allowing them to build personal profiles on SnapEDA, which lists their community contributions, as well as tags that describe their expertise. The long-term vision is to use those to help connect them with companies who need to find specific talent. Baker says that it’s a big challenge for companies to find the right people to help them design and build hardware, so there’s a big opportunity in becoming a specialist network for that.
“A lot of the startups don’t know where to find designers,” she said. “Or they have designers, but they don’t know where to find the layout engineers [those who actually plot out the circuit board layout]. So our goal is to connect people who are specialized in different areas of electronic design. Electronic design is so niche, but there’s so many specialities even within electronic design.”
Someone needs to provide a central resource not only for connecting these individuals but also for keeping track of what hardware engineers are doing, and which ones are actually qualified to fill the needs of emerging hardware startups.
“We try to aggregate all the actions that people have taken on the site,” she said. “Because just the way that Github has made it so that people look at your online profile before they hire you as a software engineer, we think the same thing is going to happen for hardware.”
SnapEDA also has a manufacturing platform, where they produce their own boards for customers. They have both low-cost options sourced from China, as well as manufacturing partners based in Portland or Toronto for customers who would rather source things domestically.
Startups supporting hardware startups are becoming more numerous as the opportunity expands, with others like Upverter trying to capitalize on this growing movement. SnapEDA has a good model to follow in Github, but we’ll have to wait and see if hardware has matured enough as a startup category to fuel a big need for this kind of product and community. So far, the company is bootstrapped, but Baker says they’ll start looking for funding pretty soon.
Baker was at Disrupt’s Startup Alley this year, showing off her platform, which she says is essentially a Github for hardware. It’s a community based around sharing CAD design for components in circuit boards and electronics, including tools that allow schematics to be downloaded in a variety of formats compatible with all leading CAD programs, and community validation tools that allow users to flag problems with schematics or to verify that they work correctly.
“What we’re trying to do is show people everything they need to know, so data sheet specs, pricing, and availability,” Baker said in an interview, discussing the parts pages aspect of the site. “But our main value add, the thing that hasn’t really been done before is offering CAD files that are convertible to every format.”
Aside from providing crowd-sourced, multi-format exportable design files for chips, SnapEDA also aspires to be a true community for builders and electronics engineers. Part of that is allowing people to vouch for designs and components, but another part is allowing them to build personal profiles on SnapEDA, which lists their community contributions, as well as tags that describe their expertise. The long-term vision is to use those to help connect them with companies who need to find specific talent. Baker says that it’s a big challenge for companies to find the right people to help them design and build hardware, so there’s a big opportunity in becoming a specialist network for that.
“A lot of the startups don’t know where to find designers,” she said. “Or they have designers, but they don’t know where to find the layout engineers [those who actually plot out the circuit board layout]. So our goal is to connect people who are specialized in different areas of electronic design. Electronic design is so niche, but there’s so many specialities even within electronic design.”
Someone needs to provide a central resource not only for connecting these individuals but also for keeping track of what hardware engineers are doing, and which ones are actually qualified to fill the needs of emerging hardware startups.
“We try to aggregate all the actions that people have taken on the site,” she said. “Because just the way that Github has made it so that people look at your online profile before they hire you as a software engineer, we think the same thing is going to happen for hardware.”
SnapEDA also has a manufacturing platform, where they produce their own boards for customers. They have both low-cost options sourced from China, as well as manufacturing partners based in Portland or Toronto for customers who would rather source things domestically.
Startups supporting hardware startups are becoming more numerous as the opportunity expands, with others like Upverter trying to capitalize on this growing movement. SnapEDA has a good model to follow in Github, but we’ll have to wait and see if hardware has matured enough as a startup category to fuel a big need for this kind of product and community. So far, the company is bootstrapped, but Baker says they’ll start looking for funding pretty soon.
The tablet will be marketed to each customers
Dell showed a brand new Windows eight.1 tablet Wednesday called Venue,
which can be a brand name for mobile devices the Pc maker abandoned when it
discontinued shipment of smartphones early last year.
The Venue tablet has an 8-inch screen and runs on Intel’s Atom chip code-named Bay Trail. It was demonstrated as shown above on stage by Neil Hand, vice president at Dell, through a keynote at the Intel Developer Forum becoming held in San Francisco.
The tablet will be marketed to each customers and enterprises, and will have long-battery life and cellular information connectivity. Much more particulars about the new Venue tablet along with other devices might be shared at an occasion in New York City on October two windows7retailpack.com, Hand said, hinting that much more mobile devices from Dell might be on tap.
The new tablet also marks Dell’s reentry into the consumer tablet market. The firm now offers the XPS ten with Windows RT as well as the Latitude 10 with Windows 8, each targeted at enterprises. Dell last year discontinued its Streak line of consumer tablets, but has reiterated its assistance for the customer tablet industry and Windows 8 OS.
Toshiba and Aava Mobile lately announced Windows 8.1 tablets. Asustek also showed a Bay Trail tablet on stage throughout the IDF keynote.
Also on Wednesday, Intel announced new quad-core Bay Trail chips for tablets. Bay Trail tablets could weigh as tiny 14.1 ounces and offer 8 hours of battery life when the users is watching high-definition video.
The Venue tablet has an 8-inch screen and runs on Intel’s Atom chip code-named Bay Trail. It was demonstrated as shown above on stage by Neil Hand, vice president at Dell, through a keynote at the Intel Developer Forum becoming held in San Francisco.
The tablet will be marketed to each customers and enterprises, and will have long-battery life and cellular information connectivity. Much more particulars about the new Venue tablet along with other devices might be shared at an occasion in New York City on October two windows7retailpack.com, Hand said, hinting that much more mobile devices from Dell might be on tap.
The new tablet also marks Dell’s reentry into the consumer tablet market. The firm now offers the XPS ten with Windows RT as well as the Latitude 10 with Windows 8, each targeted at enterprises. Dell last year discontinued its Streak line of consumer tablets, but has reiterated its assistance for the customer tablet industry and Windows 8 OS.
Toshiba and Aava Mobile lately announced Windows 8.1 tablets. Asustek also showed a Bay Trail tablet on stage throughout the IDF keynote.
Also on Wednesday, Intel announced new quad-core Bay Trail chips for tablets. Bay Trail tablets could weigh as tiny 14.1 ounces and offer 8 hours of battery life when the users is watching high-definition video.
Monday, September 2, 2013
Verizon Buys Verizon Wireless from Vodafone for $130B
It's official. Verizon is officially buying back into Verizon Wireless with
a one-hundred-percent controlling interest. Verizon announced today that the
company has reached an agreement with British carrier Vodafone to repurchase the
45-percent stake in Verizon Wireless that Vodafone has owned since 1999.
The fairly massive deal will cost Verizon a total of $130 billion, a mix of $58.9 billion in cash, $5 billion in notes, and $60.2 billion in common stock. Verizon will also sell its minority stake in Vodafone Omnitel back to Vodafone for $3.5 billion, which leaves Verizon $2.5 billion to figure out and generate using other, undescribed methods.
While the rumored deal was officially approved by the boards of both companies today, it still has to face both regulatory and shareholder approval. Which is to say, don't expect to see the deal finalized any time before the first quarter of next year. After that, however – assuming everything goes well – Verizon will finally have a bit more control over its wireless fate which, as Venturebeat's Devindra Hardawar notes, could allow the company to offer up new subscription plans and new business ventures.
"This transaction will enhance value across platforms and allow Verizon to operate more efficiently, so we can continue to focus on producing more seamless and integrated products and solutions for our customers. We believe full ownership will provide increased opportunities in the enterprise and consumer wireline markets," said Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam in a statement.
Vodafone CEO, Vittorio Colao, praised the two companies' partnership over the past decade or so, which has allowed Verizon Wireless to grow "into a market leader with great momentum."
"We wish Lowell and the Verizon team continuing success over the years ahead," added Colao, in a statement issued by Verizon.
As if the announcement isn't enough to get Verizon's stock price moving and shaking when U.S. markets reopen tomorrow — the third-largest corporate deal in history, writesAllThingsD's Ina fried — Verizon also used its press release to announce an increase to the company's quarterly dividend. The new rate, 53 cents per share, is an increase of 1.5 cents (or 2.9 percent) from last quarter, and moves Verizon's annual dividend up to $2.12 per share instead of $2.06.
As for Vodafone, it remains to be seen whether the company will opt to start running some acquisitions of its own or, as Fried reports, whether Vodafone now has a nice, juicy target on its head for other wireless companies that might be interested in some new telecom assets. According to a report from Blomberg, it's possible that AT&T might put in a bid.
The fairly massive deal will cost Verizon a total of $130 billion, a mix of $58.9 billion in cash, $5 billion in notes, and $60.2 billion in common stock. Verizon will also sell its minority stake in Vodafone Omnitel back to Vodafone for $3.5 billion, which leaves Verizon $2.5 billion to figure out and generate using other, undescribed methods.
While the rumored deal was officially approved by the boards of both companies today, it still has to face both regulatory and shareholder approval. Which is to say, don't expect to see the deal finalized any time before the first quarter of next year. After that, however – assuming everything goes well – Verizon will finally have a bit more control over its wireless fate which, as Venturebeat's Devindra Hardawar notes, could allow the company to offer up new subscription plans and new business ventures.
"This transaction will enhance value across platforms and allow Verizon to operate more efficiently, so we can continue to focus on producing more seamless and integrated products and solutions for our customers. We believe full ownership will provide increased opportunities in the enterprise and consumer wireline markets," said Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam in a statement.
Vodafone CEO, Vittorio Colao, praised the two companies' partnership over the past decade or so, which has allowed Verizon Wireless to grow "into a market leader with great momentum."
"We wish Lowell and the Verizon team continuing success over the years ahead," added Colao, in a statement issued by Verizon.
As if the announcement isn't enough to get Verizon's stock price moving and shaking when U.S. markets reopen tomorrow — the third-largest corporate deal in history, writesAllThingsD's Ina fried — Verizon also used its press release to announce an increase to the company's quarterly dividend. The new rate, 53 cents per share, is an increase of 1.5 cents (or 2.9 percent) from last quarter, and moves Verizon's annual dividend up to $2.12 per share instead of $2.06.
As for Vodafone, it remains to be seen whether the company will opt to start running some acquisitions of its own or, as Fried reports, whether Vodafone now has a nice, juicy target on its head for other wireless companies that might be interested in some new telecom assets. According to a report from Blomberg, it's possible that AT&T might put in a bid.
Performance-wise, we haven’t seen any difference amongst
Which OS is ideal for gaming? Windows 7 or Windows 8? There’s lots of
heated debate around the topic, but the answer is relatively simple.
There are actually few technical variations involving the two operating systems where games are concerned, and any game that will run on Windows 7 really should run on Windows eight. See our Windows 8 review.
Because of the fact that Windows 8’s new ‘modern user interface’ supports apps, some casual games are available only on Windows eight due to the fact Windows 7 can not run these apps. See also: what's the difference amongst Windows 8 & Windows 7?
If you’re choosing a new PC or laptop and cannot decide whether to go for Windows 7 or 8, then from a gaming perspective it doesn’t really matter which you choose. From a future-proofing point of view, Windows eight is the obvious choice. However, if you dislike the modern UI then bear in mind that the imminent Windows eight.1 update includes an office professional plus 2010 retail pack option where you can bypass the new Start screen and boot straight towards the old desktop.
You’ll probably want to install a replacement start menu, such as Start eight or Pokki, considering that Windows 8.1 still doesn’t have a ‘proper’ start menu (unless you’re happy to use the Start screen, of course).
Performance-wise, we haven’t seen any difference amongst Windows 7 and 8 when it comes to frame rates, so a given game will run at the same speed around the same hardware regardless of whether you have Windows 7 or Windows 8 installed.
If you’re interested in the technical variations, Windows 7 has only partial support for Direct3D 11.1, which is part of DirectX. Windows 8 has full support.
However, while it’s possible that game developers will use some features that aren’t supported in Windows 7, it’s very unlikely that you’ll notice the distinction. The game will still run in Windows 7, but the graphics quality might be slightly reduced.
There are actually few technical variations involving the two operating systems where games are concerned, and any game that will run on Windows 7 really should run on Windows eight. See our Windows 8 review.
Because of the fact that Windows 8’s new ‘modern user interface’ supports apps, some casual games are available only on Windows eight due to the fact Windows 7 can not run these apps. See also: what's the difference amongst Windows 8 & Windows 7?
If you’re choosing a new PC or laptop and cannot decide whether to go for Windows 7 or 8, then from a gaming perspective it doesn’t really matter which you choose. From a future-proofing point of view, Windows eight is the obvious choice. However, if you dislike the modern UI then bear in mind that the imminent Windows eight.1 update includes an office professional plus 2010 retail pack option where you can bypass the new Start screen and boot straight towards the old desktop.
You’ll probably want to install a replacement start menu, such as Start eight or Pokki, considering that Windows 8.1 still doesn’t have a ‘proper’ start menu (unless you’re happy to use the Start screen, of course).
Performance-wise, we haven’t seen any difference amongst Windows 7 and 8 when it comes to frame rates, so a given game will run at the same speed around the same hardware regardless of whether you have Windows 7 or Windows 8 installed.
If you’re interested in the technical variations, Windows 7 has only partial support for Direct3D 11.1, which is part of DirectX. Windows 8 has full support.
However, while it’s possible that game developers will use some features that aren’t supported in Windows 7, it’s very unlikely that you’ll notice the distinction. The game will still run in Windows 7, but the graphics quality might be slightly reduced.
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Personal jetpack gets go-ahead for manned test flights
Many a morning on a stalled subway car involves dreams of personal jetpacks
wafting through my commute-addled brain. So that same brain lit up with cautious
excitement on news that a much-hyped jetpack from New Zealand's Martin Aircraft
has gotten the green light for manned test flights.
"For us, it's a very important step because it moves it out of what I call a dream into something which I believe we're now in a position to commercialize and take forward very quickly," Martin Aircraft CEO Peter Coker told news agency AFP.
If the manned-flight tests go as hoped, Martin says a jetpack for the general public could hit the market in 2015 (and by general public, we mean people with at least $100,000 to spare). A version designed for the military and first-responder emergency crews could be ready for delivery a year before that.
The jetpack, which Martin Aircraft calls a "motorbike in the sky," is made of a carbon fiber composite with a bit of Kevlar for the rotor. A gasoline engine drives ducted fans that produce enough thrust to lift the one-person aircraft into a vertical takeoff and enable sustained flight before a vertical landing (in a 2011 test, the jetpack stayed aloft, with a dummy on-board, formore than seven minutes -- a record). Fortunately for those of us accustomed to getting from home to work and back with our feet on the ground, it comes equipped with a ballistic parachute system.
Aviation enthusiasts and sci-fi fans -- and annoyed commuters, no doubt -- have followed the Martin Jetpack with interest since an earlier prototype's coming-out party at theOshkosh air show in the summer of 2008. The fact that the craft couldn't get more than 3.5 feet off the ground at that time didn't stem the enthusiasm over the notion of "Jetsons"-style travel being closer than originally thought.
The company's latest prototype, the P12, is the first model to gain Civil Aviation Authority certification for manned flight. "Changing the position of the ducts has vastly improved the jetpack's performance, especially its maneuverability," says the company, which has been testing this prototype via remote control.
The P12 can climb more than half a mile and travel at a speed of about 43 mph.
The New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority says test flights of the P12 will be subject to strict safety requirements, and that flights will not be allowed to go higher than 20 feet above the ground or 25 feet above water. Should the manned tests help lead to futuristic-style jetpack travel, a particular country's regulations will determine whether drivers need a pilot's license to fly one.
"For us, it's a very important step because it moves it out of what I call a dream into something which I believe we're now in a position to commercialize and take forward very quickly," Martin Aircraft CEO Peter Coker told news agency AFP.
If the manned-flight tests go as hoped, Martin says a jetpack for the general public could hit the market in 2015 (and by general public, we mean people with at least $100,000 to spare). A version designed for the military and first-responder emergency crews could be ready for delivery a year before that.
The jetpack, which Martin Aircraft calls a "motorbike in the sky," is made of a carbon fiber composite with a bit of Kevlar for the rotor. A gasoline engine drives ducted fans that produce enough thrust to lift the one-person aircraft into a vertical takeoff and enable sustained flight before a vertical landing (in a 2011 test, the jetpack stayed aloft, with a dummy on-board, formore than seven minutes -- a record). Fortunately for those of us accustomed to getting from home to work and back with our feet on the ground, it comes equipped with a ballistic parachute system.
Aviation enthusiasts and sci-fi fans -- and annoyed commuters, no doubt -- have followed the Martin Jetpack with interest since an earlier prototype's coming-out party at theOshkosh air show in the summer of 2008. The fact that the craft couldn't get more than 3.5 feet off the ground at that time didn't stem the enthusiasm over the notion of "Jetsons"-style travel being closer than originally thought.
The company's latest prototype, the P12, is the first model to gain Civil Aviation Authority certification for manned flight. "Changing the position of the ducts has vastly improved the jetpack's performance, especially its maneuverability," says the company, which has been testing this prototype via remote control.
The P12 can climb more than half a mile and travel at a speed of about 43 mph.
The New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority says test flights of the P12 will be subject to strict safety requirements, and that flights will not be allowed to go higher than 20 feet above the ground or 25 feet above water. Should the manned tests help lead to futuristic-style jetpack travel, a particular country's regulations will determine whether drivers need a pilot's license to fly one.
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