release candidate
Microsoft Office 2010 RC Download Released
February 3, 2010
Every few years or so we are all presented with a new version of Microsoft’s hugely popular office suite of applications. The last time this happened was in 2007 and please correct me if I’m wrong, not all that many people/companies took kindly to it with the majority choosing to stick with the perfectly capable 2003 version.
Microsoft Office 2010 has now hit the Release Candidate (RC) stage after a period of beta testing which started in November and now the beta testers will be getting to play around with this Office 2010 RC download. As of last month, there were a total 2 million downloads of the beta release. This is no doubt a major milestone on the way to releasing the final version which will be offered in both 32 and 64 bit editions for the first time ever.
Continue reading »Thunderbird 3 RC1 Review (Desktop Email Client)
November 29, 2009
I’ve used Mozilla Thunderbird for as long as I can remember; I much prefer desktop e-mail clients to their web counterparts and Thunderbird’s my number one choice on Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. When I downloaded the Release Candidate 1 of Thunderbird 3, I was faced with a plethora of new features to sink my teeth in to, so where do I start?
After mourning the loss of my many incompatible add-ons, I struck up the courage to create an account in Thunderbird 3, and if you’re new to Thunderbird or you’re setting up another account, you’ll appreciate how easy it is to get up and running.
Rather than manually input the details of your email provider, all you need to do is type in your email address and password and Thunderbird sorts the rest out for you. I tested this with 3 email accounts, each on different providers and Thunderbird set up each one with no problems. If you want/need to set up an account manually, don’t worry, you can still do so!
Continue reading »Windows 7 Review – Introduction
October 19, 2009
Well the final Windows 7 release is now upon us; in fact I received my full retail Windows 7 pre-order copies this morning which I’ll be looking to install as soon as possible, that is once I’ve managed to get some new computer parts ordered to actually build a new computer with. It’s been quite a ride if you’ve been following the tech news of this operating system; it’s had various potential versions (especially for EU customers) and browser options talked about, but thankfully those issues have now all been settled and we have a fairly straight-forward line up of potential versions of Windows 7 to buy.
Windows 7 – Cheap Student Offer Price (UK)
September 28, 2009
You may have seen our article on the special price offer for pre-ordering Windows 7, at the time I jumped at the chance to get myself a discounted price, and bagged a copy from Amazon for £45. Great, right? Well, I thought so at the time; I can’t remember Windows ever being so cheap, even if this is the year of cheap operating systems… (£23 for Snow Leopard!) That is, until I came across yet another offer for Windows 7.
Using Windows 7 RC? There’s Still Time For Vista!
July 25, 2009
I put the Bill-gasam of pictures up there because it makes me smile. Nothing to do with the story, but man, look at that nerd go.. Top left is “yeah, we’re really gonna screw ‘em”.
Anyway, if, like me, you’ve downloaded the Windows 7 RC and have been happily using it for several months as your primary operating system, there is something I’d like to draw attention to.
I’m sorry if this sounds like on of 14 life lessons from He-Man, but I had a conversation with a colleague today at work which made me realise that it might be a good idea to point out the obvious, so here it is: No one should be relying on Windows 7 right now.
Continue reading »Windows 7 Cheap Price Deals! (UK)
July 15, 2009
Not so long ago, we reported that Microsoft were going to be offering special Windows 7 pre-order pricing deals ahead of its 22nd October 2009 release date, well now it is our turn to scramble around the various stores that are offering the special pre-order pricing after North America has already had its chance to preorder Window(s) and get it on the cheap.
Windows 7 Prices Announced
June 25, 2009
Ahead of the much anticipated October 22nd 2009 Windows 7 release date, Microsoft have finally announced how much their new o/s will cost and some more information about the upgrade options as well as explaining how you will be able to potentially save on the full price.
Firstly the bad news: the full price will be, as ever, pretty hard on your pocket. The three versions that will be available (Home Premium, Professional and Ultimate) will be priced at £169.99, £219.99 and £229.99 respectively although we still don’t know about the starter edition (designed for netbooks) – but seeing as it will only be sold to business the pricing isn’t a massive problem for most of us.
Continue reading »Windows 7 RC Essentials: Getting Started Guide – Part 3
June 15, 2009
You’ve read and followed part 1 and part 2 of my Windows 7 RC essentials guide to getting started with Microsoft’s latest operating system, so now here’s the 3rd and final part!
Part Three: Explore and Connect
So after your lightning-fast install of Win 7, it’s all gravy, right? Well.. no. Windows 7 contains this fuck-nut called HomeGroup. I’ve commented before on how simple and universal the HomeGroup networking infrastructure is with the X-Box, and that’s certainly true here. Unfortunately, it seems to absolutely disrupt network connectivity with anything that isn’t Windows 7 (such as Vista). I’m on a Windows Server 2003 Domain, so file sharing worked for me, but network printing didn’t.
Continue reading »Windows 7 RC Essentials: Getting Started Guide – Part 2
June 9, 2009
So you’ve got your PC all ready for installing Windows 7 RC by following my Getting Started Guide – Part 1? Right then buckle up for the next bit!
Part 2: Install and Configure
Boot from the DVD and install to your blank partition. If you’re lucky, you might witness a boot-loader, through to install sequence, then final configured desktop, without a single re-start. I must say, this didn’t happen on my Toshiba Satellite laptop, or the good old Acer Netbook, but it did happen on my aging HP tower. Even a single re-start was fine, but the HP went from BIOS to streaming Flash video in 22 minutes without restarting. Sorry, but that’s just amazing.
Continue reading »Windows 7 RC Essentials: Getting Started Guide – Part 1
June 7, 2009
Windows 7 puts up with me, my obscure software, and my nerdish habits. It takes everything that was good about Vista and runs like Server 2008. It’s happy on any Pentium 4, Atom or Core processor, providing you have at least 1GB of RAM. This is absolutely the trump card for Windows and it’s the reason why I think Microsoft should bring back switcher ads, but targeted at the antiquated Unix-based OS-X. Windows 7 RC really is that good!
Microsoft has made a near-complete version available to everybody and while it’s not intended for the family computer, it’s far-enough above and beyond Vista for the typical recreational nerd to give it a go. It’s free until spring 2010, and rumours suggest that there will be a direct upgrade option to the final version (paid, of course). If you’re comfortable with partitioning or installing hard drives, here’s a rough and ready guide, presented in 3 parts, to getting up and running with the best version of Windows yet, without loosing your current Vista installation.
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