HTC Windows Phone 8X review

It hasn't been a good 2012 for HTC. The Taiwanese mobile phone manufacturer started the year fine, announcing a new range of One series flagship phones at MWC, including the One X, one of my favourite smartphones of last year. They promised to streamline their products and not dilute the brand name. Such promises did not last long as they went back into their bowl of alphabet soup to dish out devices after devices with no real differentiation. Count them: Desire C, V, VC, VT, X, SV, U, One SU, SC, ST, X+, VX, SV. Phew.

Thankfully, HTC were much more restrained when it came to releasing their first Windows Phone 8 devices. Two smartphones were announced, the high-end 8X and mid-range 8S, both which adhered to Microsoft's strict chassis guidelines. Nonetheless, the two features unique design and more importantly, for me at least, a coherent naming scheme. The HTC Windows Phone 8X is what I will be reviewing here, and it is a wonderful thing.

Specifications!

• Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8960 SoC with dual core 1.5 Ghz Krait and Adreno 225 GPU
• 1GB RAM and 16GB built-in flash storage (no expansion slot)
• 4.3" Super LCD2 capacitive touchscreen with 720 x 1280 resolution (342 ppi)
• Quad band GSM and 3G (LTE on select models)
• 42 Mbps DC-HSDPA and 5.76 Mbps HSUPA
• 8 Megapixel autofocus camera with single LED flash and 1080p30 video recording
• 2.1 Megapixel front camera with 1080p30 video recording
• Bluetooth 3.1 and WiFi 802.11a/b/g/n
• GPS receiver with A-GPS, GLONASS
• NFC and microUSB
• Available in black, red, blue and yellow
• 1800mAh battery (none user replaceable)

The 8X features a brand new polycarbonate unibody design by HTC, something they very rarely do. It is refreshing to see a HTC device with a very none-HTC look. Despite the design not setting my heart fluttering as their One X did, it grew on me. And thanks to the tapered edges, it feels great in my palm. The colour scheme is not exactly my cup of tea, particularly the decision to have the ear piece coloured. Either way, like the Nokia Lumia 920, the 8X is available in a wide range of colours. The choice of rubber'ised matte finish is certainly unique and is one that makes me happy. Finally, a flagship that isn't glossy.

With a resolution of 720x1280, the 4.3" Super LCD2 display offers a pixel density of 342 ppi and is immensely sharp. I am honestly surprised by the size of the display. With the trend moving towards 4.7" and 5" displays, it takes a lot of guts by HTC to release a flagship Windows Phone 8 smartphone with a now relatively small 4.3" screen. While I am no fan of the 16:9 aspect ratio chose here, it does have it advantages - namely, it makes the phone narrower, and thus easier to hold. Unfortunately, while the Super LCD2 display technology used is the same as the One X - the contrast ratio and level of blacks is noticeably less. It is still a great display, but I consider it a downgrade compared to even the iPhone 4/4S and Lumia 920.

Microsoft details Windows 8 desktop mode

In what can be only be described as a ridiculously long blog post Microsoft has detailed the desktop mode of Windows 8 and how it will differ from the glossy effect-driven Aero-look as seen on Windows 7. With Windows 8 set to a tablet-driven interface, there has been concerns raised that Microsoft would do away with the desktop mode altogether. After all, while Metro is pretty - it isn't exactly the most intuitive UI for keyboard + mouse PCs. Due to the need to maintain usability on desktop, the need for a classic mode was always going to be important.

But the move to flat, minimalist Metro UI would mean that switching between the two modes would be jarring. Microsoft has addressed this by Metro-fying the desktop mode. The much disliked Aero Orb Start button is now gone replaced by the Metro start interface. I am also glad to see all the gloss, fake 3D effects, and unneeded effects gone. Shadows and transparency effect (which any sensible person would have turned off on older version of Windows anyway) has also been consigned to history, and the use of gradients has been scaled back, reaffirming Microsoft's new design commitment to simplifying the UI and removing unnecessary effects. Even rounded corners weren't safe from the cutting floor.

Microsoft demonstrates Windows 8 tablet UI

Microsoft today demonstrated the new Windows 8 OS with tablet-optimised UI running on ARM-based tablets, inspired by the Metro UI as seen on their Windows Phone 7 mobile OS. The UI, which appears to be a shell with regular Windows running underneath ala Windows Media Centre for Media PC, looks very impressive and I for one can not wait to get my hands on it when it gets released in 2012.

Opera moans about Internet Explorer icon now

I love Opera. In fact I use the browser occasionally whenever I need a quick web check (not browsing for more than a couple of minutes), as it is a hassle to boot up Firefox (seeing how RAM hungry it is).

But dear Opera (and the European Commission), please shut the hell up. First you complained that Microsoft is wrong to bundle a web browser with their own product, which even I do not understand. When Microsoft relented and announced that Windows 7 will be shipped Internet Explorer-less in Europe, you moaned about that too. And now Microsoft is doing exactly what you wanted them to do, allowing customers to pick the browser of their choice via a ballot screen in future releases of Windows. And still you take the time to bitch.

According to The Register, Opera Software's Hakon Wium Lie is reported to have questioned the use of the Internet Explorer icon on the ballot screen.

"The blue 'e' has become so associated with the Internet in general, due to the bundling with Windows. We think using the blue 'e' might not be such a good idea,"

Jesus. If you spend more time actually marketing your own browser like the peeps at Mozilla, maybe you will actually gain more marketshare. Firefox is a proof that you do not need regulations within the browser market to succeed. Sigg, if Microsoft drops the use of logo, I am sure the guys at Opera will moan about the 'Internet' in 'Internet Explorer' next... I love the browser, but the politics is just terrible.

FFS Opera. Instead of whining about everything, how about allocating some actual development time to make Opera Mini faster and Opera Mobile better?

EU bureaucrats

As much as I hate Internet Explorer I do not buy EU's argument against Microsoft for bundling IE in their Windows OS. Jesus, Apple bundles their crappy Safari web browser with Mac OSX and until recently would not allow people to install third party web browsers on the iPhone despite calling it a 'smartphone'. What about iTunes? Nokia bundles a webkit browser on their Series 60 phones. Hell, even Nintendo is going to bundle a crappy web browser on the next DS revision. For fuck's sake how the fuck am I going to download Firefox and Opera if my system does not come with a web browser.

Fucking hypocrites.

Stop wasting our money and work on improving our lives instead. Jeez.

Software Impressions: Agnitum Outpost Firewall Pro

Today I uninstalled ZoneAlarm Pro on my notebook and installed the trial version of Agnitum Outpost Firewall Pro as recommended by Timur, who may or may not be a shrill for Agnitum. Before I did that I read a couple of reviews on the firewall first and found that generally most people found it to be a robust firewall and to be as good as ZoneAlarm Pro. I didn't download the Security Suite as apparently their anti-firewall and anti-malware kit is a bit pants. My PC is also installed with both AVG and Avast's free antivirus kit, Spybot's Search and Destroy spyware detector and Lavasoft's AdAware so I feel pretty confident on recklessly surfing the web.

So far I am very impressed. A couple of things, the GUI lacks the intuitiveness of ZoneAlarm or Norton Internet Security. It isn't something you want to install on your grandmother's spanking new notebook for example, as everything on it seems baffling to a newb (although actually the learning curve is almost minimal, but the UI can seem 'scary' at first). You can tell that Agnitum created an application that first and foremost aims to inform the user best in security issues rather than burying them deep under pretty UI. Outpost Firewall Pro also allows the creation of new configuration files based on your security preferences, which I like. Rules can also be created based on predefined presets - perfect for newbs who does not understand the rules of disallowing dishonest applications from phoning home.

Next I tested the firewall's robustness through a couple of online firewall tests. It passed McAfee's simple port scan test as well as PC Flank's advance TCP SYN random port scan test. Finally I went to Steve Gibson's Shields Up! website which announced that my system achieved a perfect "TruStealth" rating through probing the first 1056 ports. A couple of leak test confirmed that this firewall application is simply invisible. Colour me impressed!

Outpost Firewall Pro so far has been a very impressive application though it is still a pretty bloated software (14MB download similar to ZoneAlarm Pro). And as far as advance configurations go, as long as you practice common sense and sit behind a firewall router you probably do not need a pro version software firewall. As I sometimes leech over neighbour's wireless broadband connection or use the free unsecured one down the pub, a software firewall is a must. If you constantly sit behind a router you can probably make do with the excellent and free Comodo Firewall Pro. But if you require something more advance you can't go wrong with either Outpost Firewall Pro or ZoneAlarm Pro.

Vista firewall

I have been experimenting with software firewalls for Windows Vista recently. It isn't for me (as you may know from previous posts I am still resisting Vista, at least until SP1 is released). My favourite software firewall on my XP SP2 machine is of course ZoneAlarm Pro, but it isn't Vista compatible as yet. Some has recommended Sygate, but as it now belongs to Symantec and I have no intention of going back to using Norton bloat ware after years of battling with their Internet Security Suite, I guess that rules it out.

There is a free firewall for Vista called PC Tools Firewall Plus and it is pretty handy, but the interface is less robust when compared to ZoneAlarm, but I guess this is a personal preference. I have also tried the free and acclaimed Comodo firewall on XP when I had problems with ZoneAlarm and ActiveSync. I loved it but I had to uninstall it in place for ZoneAlarm Pro (I found the solution to the ActiveSync issue) due to Comodo being accused of bundling their other free products with 'spyware' - although I have seen no evidence that it effects their firewall product (but still...). The Vista version is currently in Alpha stage, but if you require a more robust XP firewall than the free ZoneAlarm give Comodo firewall a try. But back to Vista.

Check Point recently released a Vista compatible ZoneAlarm (7.1). Right now their website has yet to be updated with the new software (download links still points to 7.0 Vista-incompatible packages), so you will have to dig around to actually download it. It works well on Vista (not mine, again I have to stress) and despite the fact that it loses OS-level firewall protection, I guess you can take comport that you are better protected than the basic built-in Vista firewall, at least against most malwares.

Software Impressions: Safari 3 for Windows Beta

Readers of this blog will know how much I dislike Apple, but I was wiling to give it a go today when Steve Jobs announced the availability of the Safari browser for Windows XP and Vista platform. Personally I hate Safari 1.x on its native Mac OS platform. I know of no-one, not even die hard MacBots, who like Safari. It is the worst mainstream browser in existence.

But Steve Jobs reality distortion field does work wonder. A lofty claim of '2x' faster than other browsers would surely catch your eyes. So I did a sinful thing and visited Apple's website to download Safari. The default download actually contained a QuickTime installer, but fortunately I caught that and switched to a QuickTime-less download. Seriously why people bother with QuickTime, the worst media player ever created next to RealPlayer is beyond me (go download VideoLan Macboys). Five minutes later I was surfing. And I hated the experience.

The good stuff first. Safari's renderer works well on most websites I visited including YouTube. That's it. It apparently passed the Acidtest so rendering should not be a problem. Now the bad stuff. The font-smoothing engine passed over from OS X lacked clarity. The cleartype technology displayed is the worst I have seen and it makes pages unreadable. I got a migraine just for looking at the ugly anti-aliased fonts as displayed through Safari. You can change the font smoothing to 'light' under 'preferences', but it is still ugly as hell. It would be great if I could turn it off and use the native cleartype technology, but I guess this is a covert operation from Apple to make PC users hate Windows.

Then there is the GUI which is based on Apple's own Mac OS X, which is an eyesore. It may work well on a Mac OS X machine, but it looks oddly out of place on a Windows environment, especially with that god ugly Aqua theme. It would ignore any skinning request from my Styler program or WindowBlinds (for times when I need reminiscing of BeOS). And it would also ignore my Windows preference of not doing window animations visual effects! Plus it wouldn't scroll when I tried my mouse scroll button.

As far as speed goes it is sometimes slow and sometimes fast, so nothing too special there. But Firefox 2 seems to be much faster. Maybe that is because I optimised it through about:config to speed up the renderer and other stuff, or maybe Steve Jobs is lying. Who knows? It wouldn't be the first time. But right now Safari is sitting as a niche product on my PC as a 'backup' browser in case Firefox, then Opera and finally IE7 fails to render a page properly (eBay UK is a known offender). It is probably useful in the future if I decide to change the layout of this blog to see if Mac OS X/Safari users can enjoy more Apple related rants.

Here is a quick comparison of the memory footprint of each program when opening a single tab loaded with BBC News frontpage:

Safari 3.0 (522.11.3) - 57MB
Opera 9.20 - 17MB
Firefox 2.0.0.4 with tons of extensions- 70MB
Internet Explorer 7.0.5730.11 - 41MB

Here are a couple of comparison screenshots between the various browsers rendering BBC News and this website:

Firefox 2





Internet Explorer 7





Opera 9





Safari 3 Beta

World Community Grid

Rather than donating money to charity chuggers, who pocket 50% of the monies for 'administrative' and tax purposes, do something better for a change by donating surplus computing power to research institute that can, in the long-run, benefit man-kind. And I know for a fact that everything I donated will be put to good use, unlike that of charities.

For the past month I have been donating computing power to the World Community Grid via United Devices client (you can also use the more popular BOINC client). Because the client only takes up idle CPU time (and it rarely put the processor under stress), electricity consumption is minimal. I only turn it on when I am actually using the computer, rather than leaving my PC on 24/7. Right now there are four projects on WCG, two of which my PCs are crunching for: FightAIDS@home and the Fiocruz Genome Comparison Project.


United Devices client calculating a WU for the Genome Comparison project on Windows XP

There are plenty of distributed computing projects around to suit anyone. CERN's LHC@home would probably suit physics geeks and Einstein worshippers more. Sci-fi nerds would most likely prefer to run SETI@home. Then there's the PS3 - Folding@home does demonstrate the crunching capability of STI's Cell processor.

Forget about Vista (for now)

While I am not a big fan of Dell, I have to say good for them on offering Ubuntu to their customers. Personally I would prefer if they offered Fedora Core but I guess with its Red Hat roots, it might seem too nerdy! Plus Ubuntu's awareness is rising. Ubuntu should prove to be a hit - if Dell could market it outside the usual geeky demographic that Linux is usually associated with. I probably won't be a huge problem as some Dell customers has proven themselves to be pretty tech savvy (though not as savvy as an IBM user!) - even managing to force Dell to start offering PCs with Windows XP again rather than Microsoft's newer, sexier but unproven and rather bloated new OS.

Speaking of Windows Vista, I had the opportunity to test the Home Premium edition on some one's new notebook (and also learnt that manufacturers do not give out recovery discs today, even on uber-expensive PCs). As I mentioned one the previous paragraph, the new OS is pretty nice to look at. But strip the glossiness away and what you have is effectively Windows XP with an updated GUI shell and some annoying security 'feature' and tacked XP Media Centre features.

The new Aero interface is a pretty slick but useless feature with no advantage to increasing productivity (that I know of! - although to be fair the GUI is now vector based making everything pretty, even when magnified). Flip 3D (win+tab) which was meant to be a GUI replacement to the alt-tab task switcher is a novelty feature at best. The first thing we did was to strip away all the useless 3D feature and special effects, then found that everything worked much faster. My opinion on Vista is if you have already have XP SP2? Don't buy it, yet. It is too expensive and it doesn't do anything that XP can't do with the right third party applications (eg. Yahoo! Widget). If your new PC happens to come with it bundled and only have 1GB of RAM, tweak it to allow for best performance or get another 1GB RAM stick. If not wait for Vienna due in 2008/09.

Better yet save that extra hard drive space and instead triple-boot Windows XP, Fedora Core/Ubuntu and Solaris.

Before I sign off I want to mention that I am currently watching the Liverpool-Chelsea match on ITV1. First live football match on the telly that I bothered to watch in a long long time (actually I am not watching, but merely leaving the telly on, with the occasional glance). I guess Jose's child-like behaviour tends to get to you. Not a fan of either... but go Liverpool!

Configuring IBM ThinkPad's TrackPoint middle button

If you are a fan of a ThinkPad notebook like I am, you would know that they come with old school TrackPoint mouse system, something I referred to as the "nipple" when I first used it ten years ago. As I am a TrackPoint veteran having played with them on selected Toshiba notebooks, so it worked well with me.

The thing about the TrackPoint is there are three buttons for it. The usual left and right are there but also a light blue middle button which the previous owner does not know what it does. I believe IBM calls it the scroll button, but it is a mainly disabled button for most part of this decade. Apparently. It used to work well in applications like MS Office and IE, but is now 'broken' due to it being not supported by newer versions of those software. It does not work with Firefox 2.x as well as the new IE 7.

Here's a tip that I swiped off jdavidb, download Logitech's Mouseware if you have any intentions of using the TrackPoint's middle button. After rebooting Windows XP, the Mouseware application would allow you to configure the middle button to do almost anything, including scrolling if you wish. As a person who missed the Windows button on the IBM keyboard (it doesn't have that until Lenovo changed the policy recently), I configured the middle button to launch the start button. Yay.

Not upgrading to Vista just yet

About five years ago I walked into HMV Oxford Circus and bought the Windows XP upgrade pack. I believe that was the first time I ever purchased and installed a new Operating System during the launch period. I never looked back since. XP, while annoying at times, quickly matured, and for the past six years since I installed, I have yet to format my harddrive and reinstall (I did change harddrive but I didn't clean install the OS, merely cloning the original drive), even when I created new partitions for my Linux stuff.

Anyway the reason I upgraded to XP was because back then I was using Windows 2000 (which was a robust OS, but a pretty 'boring' one) and I wanted something fresher. I just completed building my PC and XP happened to be released during the period. Right now everything on my PC works fine the way it should (software wise at least) - so I see no reason to upgrade to Vista just yet (maybe once SP1 comes out and any clear advantage to PC gaming becomes apparent).

The problem I see in Vista is its requirements, which I see as being all flash and offering no genuine advantage over its 'classic' GUI. There are improvements in the kernel, no doubt about that (such as Widgets - but I can already download Yahoo!'s free Widget software, or DVD Maker - again I already have Nero 7 for that), but do we need a bloody graphic card to waste its resource on the GUI? And even if the Aero GUI is worth it, is it worth the upgrade cost of £150? Unless you go OEM, which I will once the time is right.

So I did not buy Windows Vista, but the hell am I blogging about it then? Well since every other people on this tiny planet is talking about the Vista launch I thought I would chip in my two pence and join the crowd. Keeps my blog updated too.

Note: I should have blogged about this instead: Sega's Yakuza + Takashi Miike = Ryu Ya Gotoku film! With him producing it is unlikely the film will feature Audition style torture, but one can only hope.

Technorati tags: Window Vista Windows

British Summer Time

The clock went forward by an hour roughly two weeks ago, and I am still not used to it even after eight years of BST changeovers. That one hour less sleep during the changeover meant that my body clock is truly fucked up. I can easily recover in a day or two from a 8 hours jet-lag, but for some reason BST can screw me up so badly.

The worst thing about BST, apart from losing an hour and then gaining an hour months later, is the confusion it causes. When BST came in the wee morning hours of the 26th, I had no idea which clock to trust. Windows XP automatically took care of the clock but my mobile phone did not. The telly was still displaying the old time. At one point I actually thought that we gained an hour. I was kinda hoping that my Fossil would magically move its longer arm by itself but alas it did not.

And it is not like "British Summer Time" actually mean anything. The evenings may get longer, but it is still chilly! To be fair though, last year I did gained an extra hour of birthday when BST ended.

On a happier note, the postman should be delivering something truly special for me tomorrow. \o/

Technorati tags: British Summer Time

Excited over nothing

As usual whenever Apple releases something, the fans (many of them posers) would praise it. In this case, its the new Mac Mini and iPod Shuffle.

The Mac Mini is supposed to compete with low cost PCs by NOT including a monitor, keyboard and mouse. It comes with a rather pathetic 256Mb RAM and 40Gb Harddrive although to Apple's credit, they did include a DVD writer. Oh wait! No its not included! Instead the optical drive would be a DVD/CD-RW combo drive. It would costs £340 in the UK.

While that sounds cheap, it is not. Comet UK for example sells a Hewlett-Packard A708 base PC with 256Mb RAM, 80Gb Harddrive storage and a DVD writer for only £300. Yeah, so the Apple might look 'nicer', but technology wise, their customers are getting a bad deal for what is essentially yesterday's technology. I have to admit it is small, half the size of the doomed Mac Cube, but there are small PCs out there too.

The iPod Shuffle is even worse! It costs £99 for a 1Gb version. While this is not a bad price for flash based digital music player - this one does not come with a LCD screen! So you can't see what you are playing! In the Sandisk Silver contains a 1Gb drive and screen for £100.

Unfortunately the media seems to be taking Apple just too seriously. Remember the iMac that made a big splash in the 1990s? Well where are they now? The iPod Shuffle and Mac Mini will undoubtly sell to many, especially those ill imformed or too caught up in the hype (trend followers and fashionist). If you really need to use Mac OS X, then by all means get the Mac Mini - however be warned that OS X is not at all polished as it seems. It looks nicer than Windows XP or any Linux distributions but its as buggy as hell (I am forced to use one at work).

Avoid the iPod Schuffle though. There are way better flash based digital music players out there.

Worm Spread by Banner Ads

Several variants of the Bofra worm is being spread through banner ads in various European Web sites.

This attack takes advantage of a well known buffer overflow flaw on Internet Explorer 6 and has been confirmed on computers running Windows XP Service Pack 1 and Windows 2000. PCs running Windows XP Service Pack 2 are unaffected.

What's up with that? First, I cannot believe people are still clicking on banner ads. Second, people with Windows XP should really patch their PC to Service Pack 2. And third, why are people still using Internet Explorer 6 to surf the web? Use a more secure, faster and generally better web browser like Mozilla, Firefox or Opera.

Source: Yahoo! News

The Sims 2 review...sort of...

Installed the 4 CD game into my PC the other day and when I attempted to launch the game, a program error came out asking me to stop running any CD emulation software. What!?

I have no bloody CD emulation software installed on my PC. No Alcohol 120%. I used to have Clone CD but has been uninstalled since 2003. I only have a legal copy of the excellent Ahead's Nero v6 that came bundled with my LG's CD-RW drive installed. I attempted to close all my background running programs including essential temperature tracking programs but to no avail.

Flicking through the manual to find a solution I found a completely ridiculous advice that EA Games seems to think its okay to give out. It advises users to shut down all anti virus and firewall programs before running the game. This is totally irresponsible of the publisher to ask users to disable security programs from their PC. But I did shut down my anti virus and firewall softwares since I have already disconnected myself from the local LAN because I had no choice. Was my Norton Anti Virus program a CD emulation program. I just had to find out.

No... It was not. What CD emulation software am I running I ask you EA? Can you e-mail me a list of all CD emulation software that your program scans for?

All this and it was the original copy of The Sims 2. Feeling angry I went to GameCopyWorld to download a patch executable in order to run the game (this even with the original game disc in my drive). But the game kept crashing every hour. Frustrated I took the game back to WHSmith (£32.99) and asked for a refund. I told them that the game was not playable due to the incompetence of the programmers at Maxis and EA and advised WHSmith to sue EA for selling faulty products.

I am now waiting for a sensible publisher to develop a The Sims 2-killer game. Have been an avid fan of The Sims but sadly I would not be joining The Sims 2's very small users of satisfied customers.

Note: Do not purchase your games at Electronic Boutique or HMV. They would not refund your money even if the game is at fault. The would attempt to get you to buy another game or DVD. WHSmith might not be a savvy place to purchase PC games but it has the best refund policy (30 days).

Update: I found out that it was likely that Sims 2 was scanning through my registry for Clone CD entries. It is possible that few remnant files from my old Clone CD was left behind when I uninstalled it. Still that does not give EA the right to sift through my computer looking at what I have installed. Isn't that illegal and invasion of privacy? Has EA become the Microsoft of the gaming World. First they made a racist game in the name of Command & Conquer : Generals and now this.

Update 2: Apparently, according to this bulletin board, Nero could be the culprit. Ahead is quite a big company and their software is bundled with alot of leading CD-RW and DVD burner packages.

Now what EA is doing is making us think Nero is a bad program and wants us to uninstall it. Is this legal? I actually think not. EA (and Macrovision) is actually dictating to us what we can have installed on our PC and what can't be.

If such a thing happened when people are installing Windows XP SP2 update (and the update asked users to uninstall Firefox or Netscape) then there would be an uproar.

Who wants to wager a bet that EA would be marketing a CD/DVD burner software in the near future? This is illegal and I hope someone sues EA for this.

SP2 again...

Updated my PC to Windows XP SP2 today. Kept getting the blue screen of death pointing to a software/hardware failure. I removed my Hauppauge WinTV Nova-T PCI card and still BSOD keeps haunting me. Damn it!

Finally using common sense, I removed all my USB & Firewire devices and plugged in a spare trillion year old PS2 mouse, defaulted my AMD processor to spec'ed clock speed, reboot to Safe Mode and started the installation. Finally after almost one hour its done.

Thank you God whoever you are.

I have yet to encounter a software that was crippled by the update. Most of the programs are video editing and encoding programs.

SP2 CD

Look what I received in the mailbox today. My Windows XP Service Pack 2 CD. Well done Microsoft! And they did not charge me just as they promised. Apart from the CD, there is nothing much except an order sticker for a 'Microsoft Anti Virus Updates CD' which costs US$35. Bizarrely the form is in German!

Unfortunately I have already updated my sister's PC and both my parents laptop. But we are going to keep this just in case some idiot format our computers. Downloading the update is extremely slow even on broadband.

Once I have the time I will attempt to slipstream the original Windows XP CD with SP2 CD giving me a single installation CD. That way any future re-installation of Windows XP with SP2 will be much faster.

Microsoft Windows XP Starter Edition

Microsoft has finally announced a stripped down version of their popular consumer Operating System dubbed the Windows XP Starter Edition. It would be test marketed in five countries including Malaysia and will be available in three languages - Malay, Indonesian and Thai.

It is good that Microsoft has finally see fit to release a cheaper version of their key OS. Many in Malaysia has sought for pirated copies of Windows XP because it is too expensive. By marketing a cheaper option to OEM and hopefully retail alike users would not have to spend alot for an illegal version of XP. This is also great for Malaysian businesses as the Malaysian government is taking a hardline against businesses who uses any pirated software. Windows XP is a much more stable OS than the previous consumer OS Windows ME and Windows 2000 therefore it is only in the best interest for businesses to upgrade to Windows XP even if it is just a Starter Edition.

Other than that - run Linux!

Microsoft to reinvent desktop UI in Longhorn

Microsoft Corp. is working away on the next-generation of Windows, code-named Longhorn, due in 2006. According to developers, the new operating system will reshape the Windows graphics architecture, from 2D to 3D, with the Windows Graphics Foundation.

The new architecture was given a sneak peek at Microsoft's Meltdown conference, which is all about building games on Windows. Originally started as a compatibility test-fest for hardware makers and software developers, the event has matured into a Windows game developer convention. Highlights from this year's gathering, held July 27th and 28th in Seattle, included presentations about the company's XNA development tools and how to get the most out of Direct3D and DirectSound.

Well it seems that Microsoft has done it again. They are reworking the desktop graphics on their next major Operating System - Windows codenamed Longhorn. This could only mean one thing for those waiting for it - more wait. Sure it will only be released around 2006/07 period but Windows XP is starting to look plain and I don't want to install any third party skinning application to improve the look. I am also running Linux on my other partition but it is not my main OS. And don't even start on MacOS. The hardware is too pricey and I can't build my own Mac. Steve Jobs won't let me.

Source: eWeek