Dual OS of Aspire One Happy from Acer

IT IS a minor thing but it's great that Acer has done away with model numbers for its netbook. Instead, it's simply called Aspire One Happy.

It's probably called Happy because it's available in two colours - Candy Pink and Lavender Purple, both of which you'll probably be happier to see than just boring black. We got the Lavender Purple model for review.

The netbook is slim and compact and can easily slip into an oversized ladies' handbag or a backpack.

The experience

It's not just the look that's nice about the Happy netbook because it also comes with two operating systems - the standard Windows 7 Starter edition and Android 2.1.

We tested the boot up time and was not surprised to find out that Windows takes almost 50 seconds to start up but Android only takes 20.

This makes Android great for starting up the netbook really quick to just check e-mail messages or chat online with friends.

Or if you just want to kill time, there are games and applications that can be downloaded from the Android marketplace.

However, there is no way to tell if the application is optimised for the netbook because some will only work with phones or Tablet computers with touchscreen.

Also, currently you are only limited to downloading free applications from the Android Marketplace.

Windows, on the other hand, is great for getting work done. We typed this review on the trial version of Microsoft Word Starter edition that's bundled with the netbook.

And what's really handy about the Happy netbook is that you can seamlessly switch from Android to Windows with just a click of an icon.

The Happy has a decent keyboard and a wide touchpad. The keyboard was comfortable to use and it was responsive. The touchpad supports multitouch which is great when handling photos.

For storage, the Happy netbook has a whopping 320GB of hard disk drive. That's really big for a netbook although very common for notebooks.

COOL: The netbook has a whopping 320GB of hard disk space.

The netbook has a new dual-core Intel Atom processor, the N550 running at 1.5GHz. Thanks to the speedy processor and 2GB RAM, the notebook is no slow poke.

We ran multiple applications like Word, web browsers and Windows Media Player and the notebook was still responsive.

Switching between applications was also fast and crash-free.

Watching videos

It wouldn't be a nice experience if you can't watch movies on the Happy netbook.

The netbook has an Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3150 graphics chip which should be able to handle videos.

We used Windows Media Player to play HD videos - both 720p and 1080p ones - and the netbook was able to play them without any hiccups.

However, the 10.1in screen and the non-HD resolution of 1,024 x 600-pixels isn't the best way to fully enjoy a HD movie.

Also, the Realtek HD audio chip and built-in speakers weren't up to par. The speakers were not loud enough even at the highest volume level.

We had to be really close to listen to the audio but a good pair of earphones should solve this problem.

Battery life is also great. We played several short videos, surfed the Net and worked on this review and it lasted almost seven hours before needing a recharge.

That's really great for working and playing casual games on the go.

Conclusion

We are happy with this netbook. The two operating systems - Android and Windows - are a great ­combination and it's so easy to switch from Android to Windows.

It has a decent processor and enough memory to handle multiple applications running simultaneously and a spacious hard disk to store all your files.

Also, the screen's resolution is not HD but it is still good enough for watching movies.

The one minor complain with the netbook is that the speakers are too soft.

At RM1,299, the Happy netbook is also affordably priced and has a lot of features.

Overall, the Acer Aspire One Happy will make a great Christmas gift for anyone who needs a netbook.

Pros: Runs on Windows and Android; spacioius hard disk; affordable.

Cons: Speakers are too soft.

ASPIRE ONE HAPPY 
(Acer)
Netbook
PROCESSOR: Intel Atom N550 (1.50GHz)
MEMORY: 2GB RAM
DISPLAY: 10.1in with LED backlight
GRAPHICS: Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3150
STORAGE: 320GB
CONNECTIVITY: WiFi 802.11b/g/n, Ethernet port
OPTICAL DRIVE: None
PORTS/SLOTS: Three USB ports, VGA port, microphone/line-out jack
BATTERY: Six-cell Lithium-ion
OPERATING SYSTEM: Windows 7 Starter and Android 2.1
OTHER FEATURES: MMC/SD card reader, 1.3-megapixel webcam
DIMENSIONS (W x D x H): 258.5 x 185 x 24mm
WEIGHT: 1.25kg

Microsoft hypes smartphone, browser

ENTHUSIASTIC: Ballmer addressing a sold-out crowd of developers at the Microsoft Professional Developers Conference (PDC10) in Redmond, Washington. - Microsoft

REDMOND (Washington): Microsoft Corp CEO Steve Ballmer pumped up unique features in the company's new web browser and smartphone software at a software developer conference.

The event was the company's annual pep rally for people who will build programs for the Web, Windows computers and phones.

Ballmer is known for his onstage enthusiasm. This year, he joked with the crowd that he wouldn't repeat the memorable "developer prance" of years past, when he loped around hollering, "Developers! Developers!"

Dean Hachamovitch, a top executive in Microsoft's Internet Explorer division, showed off how developers can program websites to take advantage of new features.

Internet Explorer 9, which is in beta test form, uses more of a PC's hardware to make pages load and run faster. A new version of the underlying code has been released for developers.

IE9, which is only available for computers running Windows Vista and Windows 7, lets computer users "pin" websites to the taskbar at the bottom of the screen, creating a permanent shortcut that makes the site feel more like a desktop program.

Microsoft also unveiled some new apps - add-on programs that can be downloaded - for Windows Phone 7, its new smartphone software.

One was a version of Amazon.com Inc's Kindle e-book reader software. Microsoft's app marketplace now has 1,000 approved programs and games; the first Windows Phone 7 devices go on sale in the United States in early November.

Most of the keynote presentations centered on what software programmers can build with Microsoft's tools.

Microsoft is far behind Apple Inc with its iPhone and Google Inc with its Android smartphone software; tens of thousands of apps are already available for those phones and have been critical to their success.

But one of Microsoft's greatest strengths is its relationship with developers. The company's tools, which it is updating, will be familiar for developers who already make programs for Windows PCs, and Microsoft is hoping that will encourage them to build apps even though the popularity of the phone is unproven.

"We need your best work," Ballmer said to developers. "Make no mistake about it, when it comes to Windows Phone, we're all in."

Ballmer said Microsoft will give all developers who attend the conference at its Redmond, Washington, headquarters a Windows Phone 7 smartphone - more than a week before it goes on sale.

Microsoft also updated developers on its Azure system, which it describes as an operating system for "the cloud" - in other words, technology that allows programs to run not on a single computer or server, but across thousands of machines in datacentres scattered around the world.

Walt Disney Co's Pixar Animation Studios demonstrated a real-world example of how Azure works. The maker of the Toy Story movies is also responsible for the visual-effects rendering software used by many other movie studios.

Rendering effects is computing-power intensive, and in the past it required studios to invest in massive datacentres to crunch files.

Pixar built a version of the rendering software so it runs on Azure. It lets movie studios upload their raw files to the cloud.

The studio can decide how fast it wants the computing done, and the service ramps up the right number of machines to complete the work. The studio pays based on how much computing resources it uses, but doesn't have to buy a huge server farm. - AP

Google`s mobile browser ready to smoke Iphone

The new google mobile web browsing engine seems to show their best performance ever in December. Although Android still trails the iPhone in absolute share of the web with just 0.05 percent versus Apple’s 0.44 percent, it grew a much faster 54.8 percent versus just 20.1 percent for Apple’s platform. The BlackBerry too had a better month at 22.2 percent growth while the only major platforms below them are Symbian (19 percent growth) and Java ME (15.6 percent).

In Desktop site also represented a major if symbolic victory for Chrome, which for the first time in the analysis has overtaken Safari for share on the web. The browser jumped exactly 0.7 points to 4.63 percent, or enough to pass Apple; even though it continued to grow, Safari grew only modestly versus November and topped out at 4.46 percent. Firefox saw a rare decline in use to 24.61 percent, while Internet Explorer continued its long descent and reached 62.69 percent.

While the rise of Chrome is explained through both the launch of Chrome for Mac in beta form as well as extensions becoming available for Windows, Android’s efforts are more complex. It was helped both by a wider overall shift to mobile as well as the launch of key phones like the Motorola Droid that have fueled Android market share with runaway sales.

Proof of the downturn for desktop browsing comes through desktop operating system share. Despite sustained availability of Windows 7, Microsoft’s combined OS share dropped to 92.21 percent while the Mac dropped a hundredth of a point to 92.11 percent. Linux was the only desktop platform to see a gain as it edged forward slightly to 1.02 percent. The iPod touch is broken out separately from iPhone share and claims 0.09 percent.

Web bowser share

source : NetApplication study

Windows 7 - New transform from slumpy Vista product or backward roadmap?

Microsoft has recently announced a new baby birth from Microsoft family, called Windows 7, which will be a predecessor for Windows Vista and Xp soon. Well, hearing this kind of thing would give a lot in mind. Why they have to come with new windows product very soon? Is the vista not good enough to sustain the requirement of global need? or the XP already run out of petrol so then they cannot boost further?

Any of the answer you might have if you browse the google website a little deep further. Most of the internet savvy said that the Vista is suck!. Is it true? Well, some is right and some of the little is not really actually. At the first time when Vista is launched, the current hardware cannot support this giant truck. Just imagine a giant Bigfoot try to walk on the half lane road. Really slow right. In fact, not as claimed by brother gates from Microsoft, who said that This kitty Vista will finely run with single Core and 512 MB RAM, the Windows vista only can really work with Quad core 9300 series together with more than 2 GB RAM. Off course, you have to count enhanced display also, like HD 4850 or Nvidia 8600GT for minimum optimal performance and . Then this giant can run as fast as windows Xp as it is full with petrol and boosted by hydrogen + nitrogen + turbo charger. The price? That actually the main factor why this giant vista still walking in the darkness. Don`t surprise if some of people out there call VIsta as Me of NT.

Then, why this Windows 7 come out so soon? This is because Microsoft sees that people are starting to look into other alternative , like Ubuntu, or just simply go back to Windows Xp, which really can promise on stability and great performance even though its kernel safety is really suck no matter how many patch you fed him. Not good investment and reputation right?So, This Windows 7 will come out with lesser memory consumption while still remain the vista look. See? This is Microsoft. Sell it. see what happen. “Oh! got problem”.then come out with new backward thing in 2010. Done.

Windows 7 64-bit : Frequent hangs, lock-ups and freezes

Last time I decided to install Windows 7 64-bit enterprise edition on my machine ( HP DC 7800 c, dual core, 8Gb RAM, NVIDIA 285). I managed to copy and install all setting from my previous Vista 64 bit using easy migration tool in windows. Windows 7 detected all the hardware correctly even my bluetooth device that was not detected in windows vista. I install all my office and work related apps without a hitch.

However, after a while my windows 7 machine would occasionally freeze or lock-up and the only way to restore is to do a hard reset; pushing the on/off button on my machine. Looking around for assistance I turned to the internet for possible solution.

Among the key suspects were the NVidia driver and the power saving plan. I also suspected the setting in bios which enabled the hardware assisted virtualisation. so what I did was to install latest nvidia driver… well it didn’t help. So was changing the power saving options….. I even reset the setting I did in bios… all to no avail. It was frustrating to me.


Then, I got a new workstation from a project. It’s Dell workstation T5500, Intel Xeon Quad Core, 12 GB RAM, 2 TB HD and dual NVidia FX580 with 512Mb memory. I thought all is fine. It came with windows vista 64 bit. I let it run for a 2-3 days with out problem. Then I upgraded it to Windows 7, and it was fine for a couple of days. Then I install all the software that I need. It sure seems to em that everything was OK.

Unfortunately it wasn’t so. My new PC show the same strange behavior. It would randomly lock up and I had to do a hard reset. There wasn’t any particular reason. Sometimes it just stop when I was doing Word, at other times when I was browsing. Yet it also stop dead in the water even when I was not running any apps ( except those that run in the background). I was at lost.

So I tried all find the root cause. The event viewer does not offer much help. Nor does logging. and doing performance logging. I downloaded the new Nvidia driver.. still it hangs. I reset the power saving plan.. same result. I undo any settings in the bios by resetting to default factory setting… and still same problem occurs. Thinking that the CPU was heating up, I downloaded Core Temp to monitor its temperature. All the cores are functioning within normal parameter (.. refering to Lt. Cmdr Data in ST:TNG ). So what was the problem…..

Finally I read somewhere that some anti-virus program were causing strange behaviour in 64-bit OS. SO I uninstall AVG Free version (v. 9.0)… and my PC is working fine.. it has been 30 hours of operation without any hiccup….. Go Figure.

It seems to me that somehow AVG 32 bit causes my OS to stop responding. However, I also installed a 64bit windows 7 on my old HP pc, but without the Nvidia graphics board.. just using the onboard Intel Chip, and the PC does not display any symptom of freezes or lock-up.

So I guess that 9.0 free edition + NVIDIA Graphics + 64Bit WIndows 7 = frequent lock-up expected. Hopefully this is true. I shall see for the next week if my machine would still function normally. Any input from readers will be appreciated.

added: I have to conclude that my Av program is the cause for this misery since I have had no problem with my machine now, even when the system is running continuosly for 5 days. Right now I am testing my machine with Avast! pro (trial version).

NVidia GeForce GPUs on Windows 7

NVIDIA demonstrated leadership in the GPU computing revolution by receiving Windows Hardware Qualification Lab (WHQL) certification for a driver supporting DirectCompute and Windows 7. With hundreds of applications that take advantage of the power of NVIDIA GPUs in development or already available, DirectCompute enables more than 100 million users of GeForce GPUs to run applications optimized for DirectCompute so they can spend less time waiting and more time creating and sharing content with friends and families.

“Windows 7 combined with applications that take advantage of the new DirectCompute technology have the potential to transform the personal computing experience for millions of customers using GPUs to turbo-charge scenarios in digital media applications,” said Mike Ybarra, general manager for Windows Product Management at Microsoft Corp. “We’ve already seen some applications come to market that take advantage of the GPU, Windows 7 and DirectCompute will make it even easier for developers to write applications and deliver these benefits to millions of additional customers.”

In addition to multimedia content, Windows 7 is proving to be a powerhouse platform for gaming too. Windows 7 and NVIDIA SLI® technology will deliver the fastest gaming platform in the world, exceeding the performance of previous operating systems by up to 14% across top gaming titles1. Windows 7 also adds GPU accelerated H.264 high-definition video playback to Windows Media Player, enabling smooth playback with low CPU utilization.

Windows 7 vs OS X Snow Leopard

Exchange Support
Snow Leopard's got it built-in, your copy of Windows 7 doesn't. Freaky but true.

Overall
Both Windows 7 and Snow Leopard are designed to be faster, leaner, stronger and more stable than the OSes they're building on. Windows 7 is markedly more responsive, and you simply feel like you're more in control. We'll have to see with Snow Leopard, but if it lives up to Apple's promises, we're definitely looking forward to the performance prowess.

There' s a whole lot that goes into deciding whether you're a Mac or PC, but whatever one you pick, you definitely won't go wrong upgrading your OS this fall.

Source: Gizmodo.com

Touch capable Windows 7

I read this blog about Windows 7 multi touch ( not Multi-Touch, as it is patented byApple ) support. It is the extension of borrowed feature from Microsoft Surface Computing include in Microsoft Surface. Microsoft Surace is a table like computer with its screen acts as tabletop; where user is able to use their fingers to navigate. Users are able to use multi fingers, hence multi touch, to make gestures which the computer interprets into action. For example moving one’s finger across the surface to move a window from one side of the screen to another, or spreading one’s fingers to  zoom in on a picture. Surface computing is also made popular in CSI:Miami tv series as well as in lates James Bond’s ‘Quantum of Solace’.

Microsoft has announced that Windows 7 will support multi touch. Good feature to be included as the concept is being adopted by some manufacturers such as HP and Dell. Although there are still not many  computers supporting it, I believe that with the release of Win7, many companies would start to produce one. Perhaps as early as 1st quarter next year we might even have a netbook with multi touch screen produced. I wonder if with the next generation e-Book program in Malaysia especially would sport this feature also?

Windows 7 RC : Built-in applications & tools.

Last time I wrote about setting up Windows 7 RC in a virtual environment, namely VMWare. The testing is stil on-going. Now I want to concentrate on the built-in applications and tools within Windows 7.

First of all the Desktop Gadget. A gadget is like a mini apps that placed on the desktop, each programed for a particular task or job. For example a clock gadget; its task is to display the current time. Windows 7  includes several desktop gadget built-in.  Mostly these are the same as those in Vista, but now it is not required to run sidebar to use the gadget.

To put a gadget on the dektop just right click on the dektop and select gadgets. You will get a windows with list of available gadget. The default includes clock, calendar, CPU meter, slide show and a few others. Select the gadget you wish to use and drop it on to the desktop. You can always download more gadgets online. There are a variety of gadget available, system tools, e-mail helper, monitoring gadget etc.

There are several mini tools included in Windows 7. One of them is sticky notes. It is the electronic version of your Post-It-Note. You can change the colors and resize it. To change the color right click on the note and select the color you want. To add sticky note just click on the + icon placed on top-left.

Another tools is math input panel. This tool allows you to write mathematical expression on a writing pad much like a tablet input and convert the handwriting into proper math expression.

 Wordpad is also included in Windows 7, with upgraded interface like in Office 2007. Nice improvement . All other features remain the same. It will work well as a basic word processor.

Windows 7 included a new  tool called snipping tool. It allows you to capture the screen output. You can select from the whole screen, just the selected window, a rectangular area or free-form. Great tool to do documentation. Once you capture the contet, you can edit it by highlighting, send via e-mail, save it or put it into clipboard.

The calculator has been upgraded. It has additional views programmer and statistic; in addition to standard and scientific. Paint has got upgraded interface, with additional features throws in such as brushes and shapes. Pretty decent for a basic drawing program.

With Windows 7 Microsoft has included support for Powershell. As the name imply it is a spruce up shell scripting program. Think of it as an upgraded Windows Shell Script joined with the command line. With Powershell you are able to lots of cool scripting within the command line which otherwise you couldn’t do with the normal command line (CMD). For example, you could select objects such as files or directory, of certain size or type,  sort the display  according to your specified format. With Powershell you could actually automate your routine administrative tasks. But with Windows 7 Microsoft also included Powershell ISE (Integrated Shell Editor). Much like an IDE, it is a GUI program that allows you to program Powershell. Cool.

Many other standard programs sucah as task manager, resource monitor and task scheduler also got upgraded. Most of the upgraded interface are Windows 2008 inspired.

Overall I am satisfied with the improvements in the basic apps included with Windows 7.

Windows 7 on Laptop

I got 1 Dell Notebook D600 from ITD yesterday. I’m going to use it for testing Windows 7 on laptop. It has Pentium M 1.6GHz,with 2 GB of RAM, with built-in wireless (Intel Pro/Wireless LAN 2100). It has windows XP Installed.

Upon inserting the CD, it pop up a windows 7 installation dialog, which allow the user to check for compatibility online or install. I tried to click install now which led me to another dialog with 2 options, to check lates updates or not. I choose not to. Then the standard EULA.

I just accept the term. It then pop up another dialog asking wheteher I want to upgrade or choose custom. First I tried upgrad.. and Windows 7 says “You cannot upgrade from this Operating System..” and exit. Well have to try again from the beginning.

I choose custom, since I had been given the green light to reformat the laptop. It seems that it need about 12 GB of free space to install. Unfortunately none of the partition have enough space… so I have to install using the installation disc.

I opted to remove all partitions and create 1 partition since it it only have 40 GB storage. The installation took about 45 mins. It cannot detect the network card, multimedia card and the cardbus. Perhaps the drivers are not included. These needs to be resolve first.

Since I have to pick up my kids.. I have to stop. I ‘ll continue to resolve the issues other time.

Windows 7 versus Linux : over the netbook market

You can be sure when Microsoft blitzes the world with a massive advertising campaign for Windows 7, they’ll be spending many millions promoting Windows 7 on netbooks. And given that marketing muscle, Linux most likely won’t stand a chance, regardless of which operating system is superior. (More reasons Windows 7 will kill Linux)

AND

Windows 7 features a much slicker interface than Windows XP, is easier to use, and Microsoft will spend many millions of dollars to push its use on netbooks. So when it’s released, expect Linux use on netbooks to drop. (One more reason Linux must fear Windows 7)

Both quotes mentioned above obviously biased to Windows 7. It sounds like Windows 7 is really confident to make bold claim that they're able to monopolize the worldwide netbook share. Are they able to make it happen or it is just a marketing strategy only. Microsoft exaggerating their strength. As we know Linux will continue to be a Linux... and no matter how much money Microsoft spends or what Windows 7 does. If we really drill down the term of Linux, it could be Suse, Ubuntu, Fedora, Redhat and etc community. Each Linux community progressively develop their own best product. Linux will not going away unless, one day the worldwide Linux community decides to disperse and stop developing and growing... and also shutdown all the Linux forum. Hmmmm... another mission impossible (MI-IV) for Microsoft. The possibility for them to stop is very... very... small and probably negligible.