windows xp
Dell Mini Inspiron 10 Netbook (Atom N450) Announced
December 31, 2009
In the crowded world of netbooks, Dell have always been a major contender, with their Mini series and we’ve written two reviews here on Zath for the Dell Mini 9 netbook.
With a new year, comes a new netbook from Dell. The new Dell Mini Inspiron 10 netbook will be released early this month and Dell are offering a variety of options as always.
In terms of performance, it is the same as always, 1.6Ghz N450 Atom processor, 1Gb DDR2 RAM and the option of either 160Gb or 250Gb hard drives. Not much improvement since the last model there, however they also give you the choice between 3 and 6 cell batteries with the latter providing up to 9.5 hours of battery life. This puts it right up there with its greatest competitors in terms of endurance.
Continue reading »Technology Of The Noughties: The Modern Operating System (Windows & Mac OS X)
December 30, 2009
When you see how much technology has advanced in the past decade, it’s hard to see ourselves going back to old operating systems (OS) to carry out everyday tasks. Plagued by troublesome networking setups, kernel panics and third party hardware setup (plug and what?), I could never go back to using an OS prior to Windows XP or Mac OS X – could you?
Has Microsoft Turned Into The New IBM?
December 30, 2009
Surfing the web today, I came across a very interesting interview on SeattlePi with Don Dodge, who was Microsoft’s Director of Business Development for the Emerging Business Team until getting laid off last month. During the interview, he revealed his opinions on Microsoft, their current situation and where they’re heading. He also revealed that he thinks “Microsoft is a lot like IBM was in 1985”, going on to say that “after 20 years they are losing the innovation edge.” This got me thinking; has Microsoft lost the ability to innovate after being the most dominative force in computing since the late 1980’s? And if so, why?
I think a key to the solution is the sheer amount of things Microsoft does. When you think of the number of markets Microsoft compete in, you can understand that it’s extremely difficult, maybe impossible, to dominate every market. Not only do Microsoft develop and maintain the Windows OS, they also compete in the market for smart phones with Windows Mobile; the gaming market with the Xbox 360 and internet search with Bing.
Continue reading »Windows Live Essentials Review: Mail
November 17, 2009
When you download Windows Live Essentials, you won’t find a calendar application or even an address book application. What you will find, however, is Windows Live Mail, which covers not only your e-mailing needs, but also comes with calendar and contacts functionality. To switch between Mail, Calendar and Contacts you can select which function you wish to use in the bottom left hand corner of the screen. If you open Calendar, it opens in the current window, but Contacts opens its own window, which I found a little strange and inconsistent.
The mail section of the application provides you with a consistent and familiar layout similar to other mail clients. On the left, you’re presented with a sidebar containing three categories: “Quick Views” where you can view all unread e-mail and feeds; all the mailboxes of the linked account and the “Outbox” section. You can also add another e-mail account from here, as well as select different functions from Mail, Calendar and Contacts.
Continue reading »Windows Live Essentials Review: Messenger
November 16, 2009
When I first installed Windows 7, it somehow felt incomplete without MSN Messenger waiting for me in the start menu. In fact, the first thing I did was download it as part of the Windows Live Essentials package from the Microsoft. If you’re not aware of it, Windows Live Essentials is a collection of applications including the ever popular Windows Live Messenger, Microsoft’s instant messaging application. Also included in the package are applications such as Live Mail, Photo Gallery, Movie Maker and Writer – all of which I’ve been running on Windows 7. I’ll review the package in several articles, starting with Messenger.
Compared to the Windows Messenger you can find within install of Windows XP, Windows Live Messenger is quite an advancement, having gone through many changes (and names) over the years. When you log in to your Windows Live account, you’re presented with a list of all your contacts, just like in previous versions, with a few visual refinements.
Continue reading »Ninite Review (Automated Batch Software Installer)
November 5, 2009
Ninite is a free web service which brings all your favourite free windows applications (including most of our Top 5 Open Source Apps) into one single installer. Which could be very useful for anyone who is resisting the upgrade to Windows 7 because they can’t be bothered with the hassle. With over 60 apps to choose from it provides a great service that is useful after a long winded upgrade to the latest and greatest version of Windows. However, it is also compatible with XP and Vista if you fancy a downgrade or just a fresh install.
The site itself is very basic. Consisting of just a single page listing all the different applications. The layout is neat and extremely easy to use. Each application is coupled with a checkbox which allows you to select multiple applications from the lists easily. The apps are divided into groups based upon their main functions. For example file sharing or web browsers.
Continue reading »Windows 7 How To: Ungroup Icons & Put Text Back On The Taskbar
October 29, 2009
You may have caught the Windows 7 review week on Zath last week, with a 7 part review on the various features of, you’ve guessed it, Windows 7! If you’re already set up with 7 in tow, you may have noticed quite a few differences between it and your previous OS, be it XP or Vista (or Windows 95 depending on how clingy you are).
One thing you’ll definitely have noticed is the new Windows 7 taskbar, and the fact that all your applications are just represented by icons with no text describing what the application does! Being a minimalist individual, I quite like the new look, but if you want to get text back on your taskbar, don’t worry because there’s a way to do it!
Continue reading »Windows 7 Digital Download To Install On Netbooks Via USB (US Only)
October 28, 2009
With sales dwindling, the economy taking a nose dive and Vista failing to impress the masses Microsoft are pretty much jumping on any bandwagon going with the latest version of Windows, and now (after months, or quite possibly years, of rumblings) Windows 7 has been made officially available to the netbook market.
That isn’t to say that it would have been out of bounds to anyone with a netbook (they would just have to have gone through the irritatingly tedious method that I had to do with XP) but now it will be easy to just download Windows 7 onto a USB stick, which will then install it straight onto your ‘optical-drive-lacking’ device.
Continue reading »Microsoft Security Essentials – The Best Free Anti-Virus / Anti-Spyware Software?
October 24, 2009
This one slipped out quietly, as most people don’t even seem to know it exists.
Anyway, fact is, Microsoft now give you complete anti-virus and malware protection, free of charge. So is it any good? Well that’s a very difficult question to answer, because unlike many other kinds of software, anti-virus is typically proven to be good over time, in the real world and with demonstrated resilience. Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) hasn’t been out that long, so its competency is yet to be proven.
I must say though, I already like it more than any of the other free offerings. It does exactly what AV should do, it installs without fuss and it leaves you alone. I wouldn’t necessarily advise you to bin the likes of AVG or Avast just yet, but I’d certainly recommend it over horrid, paid-for bloated-beasts like McAfee or the satanic monster known as Norton.
Continue reading »Windows 7 Review – Part 5: File and Software Compatibility
October 23, 2009
The majority of testing I’ve been doing with Windows 7 has taken place on my Unibody Macbook. Every time I install Windows on one of my OS X machines, one of the first things I do is install Mac Drive so that I can read files from my OS X partition. You can imagine my surprise when on first boot, my ‘E’ drive, also known as ‘Snow Leopard’ was visible in Windows Explorer, with every file on the partition visible.
Functionality is limited, as from what I can tell from testing, you can only read from the HFS formatted partition – whenever I try to write to it, I receive an error message telling me that I don’t have the privileges to write to the drive. Even so, being able to read from my Mac’s partition without third party software in Windows is a very nice addition to Windows 7 for us Mac users!
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