« September 2007 | Main | November 2007 »

Knocking spots off Leopard?

Apple's latest operating system, OSX Leopard, has just launched amidst a fanfare of publicity. Like Windows Vista, it's a major upgrade to a well loved operating system - but does it have any significant new advantages over the latest Windows? A look at the Apple website's list of key new features suggests that the two systems are more alike than many would like to admit.

• The new version of Finder and Quick Look allow users to quickly preview files before opening them. So far, so useful, but Vista users will know that it, too, includes new and much improved preview tools. None are quite as, well, shiny as Quick Look, but they work well enough.
• Leopard's Time Machine is a system backup tool. Windows XP included System Restore, and Vista includes a plethora of backup tools, including image-based backup in some versions.
• Leopard Mail has a new range of email stationary. Whether you like or loathe HTML email it's been around for some time, and is present in Vista's Windows Mail.
• Leopard's iChat video chat software allows video conferencing and AIM integration, rather like older versions. There is no real equivalent in Vista - to get something similar users need to install Live! Messenger.
• Leopard's Spaces multi-desktop system is a similar story - Linux users will know that it's hardly a new or unique feature, but there's nothing equivalent in Vista.
• The Safari web browser is also available for Windows. Vista users get IE7 by default, and like Mac users can choose to install Firefox if they wish.
• Parental Controls are also a key new feature in Vista.
• And finally - Bootcamp. Vista users will be reassured to know that they, too, can choose to run Windows.

So - nice video chat application and multi-desktop interface aside, the new features in Leopard aren't a million miles from those in Vista. Of course, having a feature is not the same as making a feature worth using, or easier to use than similar rivals - look out for Computeractive's verdict on Leopard any day now - but it's interesting to see two of the largest operating systems clearly moving in the same direction, and towards a number of features (parental controls, previews, backup) that are obviously useful for many people.

Personally I'm equally happy using OSX as I am with Windows, and I can't see the latest products from either Microsoft or Apple dragging me off the fence and into either camp of fans - but what do you think? Is Leopard tempting you away from Windows, or do you think it's simply (horrible, tortured metaphor warning) an attempt to teach an old cat new tricks?

Posted by Tom Royal on October 31, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

The difference ClearType makes

As I mentioned the other day, I recently had my Windows computer refreshed to its original state. Getting rid of all the random software from the last two years has radically increased performance (reducing my stress levels by a similar amount).

The downside is reinstalling all the software that I actually need. It's not been as painful as I was fearing but today I realised that there were some important settings that I forgotten about.

As the screenshot suggests, it was ClearType that had got missed. This clever technology improves the quality of onscreen text on LCD monitors by controlling the three elements that make up each dot onscreen rather than controlling the pixel on its own. This gives a smoother look to fonts. I tried some screengrabs but they didn't show how radical the change is.

I had been wondering why Word looked so dreadful the last couple of weeks, especially as I wasn't using any odd fonts. Turning ClearType on was really simple. Read on for the full instructions.

Right-click on an empty part of the Desktop and select Properties. Click on the Appearance tab and then on the Effects button. Make sure there is a tick in the box labelled 'Use the following method to smooth edges of screen fonts:' and then select ClearType in the menu below in favour of Standard. Click on OK and then on Apply to force the change. Click on OK to close the Display Properties window.

If it doesn't seem to give that much of an improvement, there is a ClearType Tuner PowerToy that can tweak the settings for individual monitors.

Posted by Tim Smith on October 31, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Asus eee PC "includes XP drivers"

We're still waiting to get our hands on the tiny, inexpensive (around £200 plus VAT) Asus eee PC - but the first reports appearing on the web confirm that Windows XP drivers are included in the box. This is great news for anyone who has a spare copy of the operating system, although we'd recommend only trying it on the version with 512MB of memory rather than the cheaper 256MB model.

The Asus website also suggests that the process for installing Windows is covered by the notebook's manual, and a press announcement confirms that models with Windows preinstalled will be available in future.

Posted by Tom Royal on October 30, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Pro level gaming hardware

We can't claim to be real hard core gamers here, though we have enjoyed the occaisional multiplayer game at lunchtime. The guys from Steelseries popped in to see us yesterday and show off their latest products.

What interested me most about the meeting was that really serious gamers, the ones who actually make money, don't want any of the fancy bits and peices that are pitched as gaming devices. Just high quality keyboards and mice.

What is undeniable is that the products did look very professional. The keyboard uses PS/2 if possible rather than USB. This is because USB is limited in the number of keypresses it can respond to. Eight sounds like enough but this is often split up across different areas of the keyboard, so the limit may be even smaller in practice

The mouse on the left, the Ikari, is a little special because it is possible to adjust the dpi in increments of one. Two settings can be saved to switch between normal movement and careful aiming. The LCD screen shown here on the bottom of the mouse is used to set the dpi.

It will probably take a little while to find the perfect setting but this is an investment most gamers would be willing to make.

Posted by Tim Smith on October 26, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Lost for words - Just not for the right reason

Forget WOW, there's another Micrsoft website promoting Windows Vista, 100 reasons why everyone's so speechless.

Honestly, how many people, unconvinced about Vista and looking for good reasons to upgrade, are actually going to read 100 reasons?

Having read through them all (now there's committment for you), what irratates me the most is that rather a lot of them refer to the same feature in Vista, so it's not really 100 reasons.

The highlights (or should that be lowlights) for me were:

23. Because it's like a digital candy store - Don't really know what that means.

26. Because you're a multitasker - Tabs in Internet Explorer 7, or in my case since I started using Opera five years ago. And IE7 works in Windows XP

40. Because you love what you do - Again fairly meaningless

50. Get more out of the web - Tabbed browser, again

70. Your PC is ready when you are - You're all bored of my rants on Sleep by now I'm sure

87. Play the hottest new games - Bioshock is hot, Chess Titans isn't

This isn't to say you shouldn't buy Vista but listing 100 reasons isn't the best way to go about it.

Posted by Tim Smith on October 26, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

The benefits of regular Windows reinstall

It finally got to much. Having reached the point where I had a book or paper on hand to keep me entertained while waiting for Windows to limp through something as mundane as starting Word, I asked our systems department to reimage my computer, taking it back to a completely clean state.

I'm completely blaming Windows/Microsoft for this situation. I have to install lots of software for reviews and even with occaisional clean ups it all takes its toll.

It got me thinking that there are other benefits to regular reinstalls. Security being one of them, especially in the light of my earlier posts about the Storm worm. If you can't tell for certain whether or not a computer has been infected this is the only way to be sure.

Of course, you could just use a Linux Live CD, but I like to keep some settings from one session to another thanks.

Posted by Tim Smith on October 25, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Storm worm disables antivirus software

More details are coming out about the actions of the Storm Worm. According to a blog post by Sophos analyst Richard Cohen Storm (they call it Dorf) stops antivirus software from working but fools Windows into thinking that nothing is wrong.

As Lisa Vaas on eweek points out, this is even worse than shutting the antivirus software down because it generates a false sense of security.

What worries me even more is that there is no word of fixes or patches at the moment.

Posted by Tim Smith on October 25, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Get your bookmarks on the move and the desktop

The latest bit of software wizardry from the browser people Opera synchronises bookmarks between Opera on the desktop and Opera Mini on compatible mobile phones. Opera Link works with a My Opera account.

I saw it in action the other day and it looked quite useful. I use Opera Mini if I access the web on the move, not least because it compresses webpages both to increase speed and to reduce data transfer charges.

I do like the idea and welcome a more consistent approach to using the internet. My concern is the increasing number of accounts that I need to sign up to for using the web. I am already a del.icio.us user, not so much for the sharing but for having bookmarks available over the web. Tom from Opera did recognise this and told me that the purpose of Opera Link is slightly different as it is more of a private service, and having the same nine sites in the new tab speed dial page would be very useful. I say that as I have just had Windows restored and remembering the bookmarks I used everyday is easier said than done.

Perhaps the solution for me is to have different 'classes' of bookmarks. Del.icio.us is great for building up a library of links on a wide variety of subjects that I can then share with friends. And then use the bookmarks in Opera for more important links,

The My Opera service is pretty comprehensive, especially as there other benefits of a My Opera account are an email address, blog, photo sharing and forums.

Posted by Tim Smith on October 25, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Microsoft XPS format gets support from Xara

Xara has added XPS support to the Xara Xtreme graphics editing software. XPS is a vector based graphic, that means that the shape is described in mathmatical terms rather than per pixel as bitmap images do. That means you can increase the size of the shape almost indefinately without it getting jagged.

Xara is worth a look if you do any kind of graphics work. The interface is very clean and doesn't really show quite how much there is going on in the background. I've used both Xtreme and the open source version on Linux and found them easy to get going with. It's also much cheaper than similar products from the likes of Adobe.

XPS still seems to be taking a while to get going since it was introduced by Microsoft. It is built into Vista but XP users will need to install some extra software to view and print XPS documents.

Posted by Tim Smith on October 24, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Hooray for the Recovery Console

Rather ambitious I know, but I've been running my notebook as triple-boot with Windows Vista and XP, with a dash of Linux on the side. It all worked fine until I changed the version of Linux to Ubuntu. That's not a criticism of Ubuntu in and of itself but that the installation process damaged Windows XP.

Selecting Windows XP in the startup menu produced an error message that ntldr couldn't be found. Normally in this situation the easiest way to get Windows working again is to reinstall/repair. But this meant a lot of work reinsatating Vista and Ubuntu.

So I had a nose around the Microsoft KnowledgeBase and found instructions of how to replace ntldr from a Windows CD. Once I'd got my hands on one it was the work of moments to copy the ntldr file back onto the computer.

Sadly this solved one problem only to reveal another. Now it seemed hal.dll could not be found. Back to the KnowledgeBase and an article that said this is actually a problem with the boot.ini file. Why the error message can't say this is a rant all of its own.

Thankfully there is a utility for repairing the boot.ini file and it gives a reasonable degree of control; I didn't want a utility that didn't ask me first because of the risk to the other operating systems. Well the bootcfg did allow me to add another entry rather than rebuild the list from scratch.

Maybe I should take this as a lesson not to be so ambitious (even though it's all working now), but it is boot problems are very frustrating. And I would have been completely lost without a Windows install CD.

Posted by Tim Smith on October 23, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

New version of Firefox released today

The update should appear automatically but just in case it hasn't, Firefox 2.0.0.8 has just been released.

The security fixes are a little technical but will help to keep you safe online and improve the stability of the browser.

If you want to update by hand, click on the Help menu and select Check for Updates.

The update does require a restart of the browser.Thankfully Firefox can remember what pages were being looked at when it was shut down.

Click on the Tools menu and then on Options. In the Main tab select "Show my windows and tabs from last time". Click on OK to save the changes.

Posted by Tim Smith on October 22, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

In remembrance of Windows past

If you ever find yourself wondering why Windows takes so long to run, or marvelling at the amount of hard disk space taken up by all the bells and whistles in Windows Vista, you might find this video interesting. It shows Microsoft's Eric Traut demonstrating the oldest versions of Windows - including Windows 1, Windows 2 and the infamous Microsoft Bob, as well as a special, tiny version of Windows - MinWin - that's being developed inside Microsoft's headquarters as they work on Windows 7 (which will supercede Vista).

It's particularly interesting to see the evolution of the Notepad and Paint tools still found in Windows today - not to mention the garish user interface of Windows 1 - and geeks will appreciate the idea of a complete operating system, with a running web server, running in under 40MB of memory. Also, did you know that when Windows 1 was written the arrow keys found on most keyboards today had yet to be invented? Interesting stuff.

Posted by Tom Royal on October 19, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Dixons profits hit by Vista

Dixons Stores Group International, which owns Dixons, Currys and PC World, has told journalists that profits for the first half of 2007 will be £20 million lower than expected. The company's Group Finance Director, Kevin O'Byrne, blamed the news on the slow uptake of Windows Vista products, explaining that the company had been forced to clear stock by offering it at lower prices.

In a statement, the group's chairman, Sir John Collins, said that "The reduction in laptop stocks that arose out of disappointing sales of VISTA related products and a changing sales mix have reduced gross margins by around 2% in the computing division, impacting Group profits by around £20 million in the first half.

He added that "Stocks are now at normal levels and we expect to recover some of the lost margin through the second half."

Posted by Tom Royal on October 18, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Update on Java Adverts

Having wondered if the Java advert for OpenOffice was a hoax, it appeared on my computer today and that of another reader, Russ.

As much as I like OpenOffice, I'm not sure if I like the idea of adverts like this appearing all over the place. It will be very interesting to see if there are any reactions from anti spyware/pop up companies.

Posted by Tim Smith on October 16, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Use a PocketPC to control a Robot

Now this might make a fun science project now that rainy days are more likely. Use an old Pocket PC to control a robot. Quite a lot of wiring and soldering is required but the results look like a lot of fun.

The instructions are well written and easy to follow. There is also a blog for the latest help and advice.

Now all I need to do is to attach a robotic arm to get me a snack from our biscuit shelf here in the office...

Posted by Tim Smith on October 16, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

The Storm Worm worries

It's easy to get complacent about security these days, partly because it is quite a lot of work to keep all the different programs up to date, but mostly because it seems very quiet. The days of distorted screens and completely wiped systems are long gone. Even Blaster, that annoying worm responsible for disconnecting computers from the internet are a thing of the past.

The problem is that it doesn't mean that nastyware writers have gone away, just discovered that if they don't make a big impact, they might make a lot of money.

The security software writers have been saying this for a little while, but the lack of big attacks makes their job even harder.

So the ripples of news on the web about a worm called Storm are no surprise, though they do little to ease my worries.

Storm seems to very well planned, as Bruce Schneier says, more like an ant colony than a worm. That is to say that it appears in different versions. Some act as controllers to the rest.

So far, Storm has not been responsible for any real damage yet, either in proper attacks or in reduced performance on the host computers.

I find myself wondering what I can do to make sure I'm not part of the problem. Making sure I'm up to date with antivirus and firewall software an obvious start. More importantly perhaps we all need to keep our eyes and ears open and be ready to act quickly should any outbreak start.

Posted by Tim Smith on October 16, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Why I use Windows

Responding to a couple of posts complaining about how annoying Windows can be, mattOB reasonably asked why I bother using it.

Sometimes the decision is made for me by work; I think our Systems department would take a dim view of me unistalling Windows and replacing it with openSuse. But often the decision is mine and this is why....

Photos

Perhaps the main use of my computer at home is organising, editing and printing digital photos. F-Spot on Linux is good but Photoshop Elements is much better. Now that I have a larger memory card than I can easily fill, I also take quite a few videos. There is nothing I've found on Linux that comes close to Roxio Converter. The longest part of creating a video DVD is waiting for the project to encode.

Music software

I enjoying playing music and making it with my computer. Now this is an area where Mac does score highly. I went to a very entertaining Apple presentation called Guitarists and the Mac (link does require registration for the online seminar) and left seriously considering buying a Mac Mini. Then I remembered that I had actually done everything that had been demonstrated with my PC and Cakewalk Guitar Tracks Pro 3. And even music software from the cheaper end of the market such as Magix Music Maker is supplied with gigabytes of samples to use.

Games

Not that much of a pastime these days but important none the less. I enjoy Frozen Bubble but there's just more written for Windows. Not to mention the better support from graphic card manufacturers.

Because every else does

Ok, I know what sort of reaction that reason deserves, but bear with me. As a writer/review I need to understand the experiences of my readers and the vast majority use Windows. When I'm designing web pages I need to recognise that while I use Firefox and Opera, most people use Internet Explorer.

Now that can be maddening. I was reading this morning about creating rounded boxes on webpages. Firefox can do this with one line of code. One line. That's it. The same thing in IE involves using Javascript of reams of code with lots of small fiddly images. But what's the point of a great design if only 15% of people will ever see it.

This isn't an exhaustive list but hopefully shows that there are some good reasons why I use Windows.

Posted by Tim Smith on October 15, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Teens love Vista, their parents disagree

MIcrosoft CEO Steve Ballmer faced grilling from an analyst over the pain of moving to Windows Vista.

Yvonne Genovese installed Vista after her 13 year old daughter saw Gadgets on a friends computer and wanted them as well. Two days later it was all too much and Windows XP was welcomed back onto the family computer.

For me, the sad part of the tale is that she could have installed the Yahoo Widget Engine for much the same effect. But then that probably shows that I understand technology better than teenagers.

Posted by Tim Smith on October 11, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack

OpenOffice Templates download

Sun has decided to make the templates that used to be restricted to StarOffice available to OpenOffice users at no cost.

Templates can be a mixed bag, but if nothing else they are a great way to get started even if they end up being changed completely.

Highly recommended.

Posted by Tim Smith on October 10, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Advertising in the Notification Area?

As much as I like OpenOffice, I'm a little concerned by this screengrab posted on the Channel 9 forums.

Lets hope it's another hoax, if everyone starts doing this it could get very nasty.

Posted by Tim Smith on October 10, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

October Updates

It's that time again as Microsoft releases six security updates for Windows. Well, five for Windows and one for Office.

If Automatic Updates hasn't kicked in already, head over to Windows Update to collect them. I have a yellow shield in my Notification Area so I might do that myself now.

If you are of a very technical mind, more details can be found on the Microsoft Technet Site.

Posted by Tim Smith on October 10, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Internet Explorer 7 for all

Internet Explorer 7 is no longer dependant on a successful Windows validation, so even pirated copies can use it. That may not be the real reason but it will at least make installation easier.

One view in the comments thread is that there is more benefit in bringing the added security to a wider audience.

What caught my attention is that the menu bar has been made visible by default. Recent Microsoft releases have tried to move away from having a menu bar.

I'm not really sure why the menu bar has suffered in this way. The consistency of placing Save in the File menu etc makes a huge difference to ease of use. It's also worth noting that Apple has always kept menus both in OS X and Windows programs.

Posted by Tim Smith on October 9, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Internet explorer 8, what's the story

There are reports of murmerings on the web (via All about Microsoft) over silence from Microsoft about Internet Explorer 8. Granted IE7 has only been around for about a year but it's always important to know what's around the corner. With growing sophistication from websites, knowing what sort of standards support is going to be included is vital to developers.

For example, the key commands behind the Web 2.0 or AJAX powered websites are different for Firefox and Internet Explorer, making life even more complicated than it already is. Knowing what is on the horizon will help web designers plan for the future.

Having said that, the fatalist in me wonders whether Microsoft really needs to worry about rumblings from the web design community. All the time Internet Explorer is an integral part of Window (and I don't really see Windows without a web browser as a likely scenario), it will be the dominant browser. To exclude 80% of a target audience is madness.

It was one thing for a website to ban Firefox (because of Adblock) but to try the same with Internet Explorer wouldn't work.

Posted by Tim Smith on October 9, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Cashpoint fails due to unactivated Windows

Apologies for quoting the Inquirer again so quickly but I coulnd't let this pass. A cash point in Tbilisi, Georgia crashed because Windows had not been activated.

There's actually all kinds of rather scarey thoughts that occur. The first is that I'm not sure about the whole security thing running a cashpoint with Windows. I hope that they have at least turned wireless and File and Printer sharing off.

The other is that the corporate version of Windows XP Pro does not need activation, which rather begs the questions what version this is. Home? Or maybe Media Center to play some funny videos while the account details are being checked?

Or even worse, Clippy might come back as a financial salesman. "It looks like you're making a withdrawl, do you want to extend your mortgage?"

Posted by Tim Smith on October 4, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Sony forgets about fair use

Sony took the stand yesterday in a court case about copying music and claimed that making a backup of a bought music CD is piracy.

What confuses me is that spokesperson, the head of litigation for Sony BMG, also said that uploading bought music to an MP3 also constitued piracy. I'm confused because Sony sells quite a few MP3 players.

Reading the manual for the Sony NW-E013F MP3 player (direct link to PDF) reveals references to copying from CD on pages 71,93. The quick start guide for Sonic Stage also talks about importing music from CDs.

As the Inquirer points out, that's technically true in the UK but not really enforced. Not that it would be very hard to enforce. Sorry, it would due to the sheer volume of PCs that would be implicated.

Posted by Tim Smith on October 4, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Human thoughtlessness beats Computer security every time

Great post from the guys at the AvertLabs. Another heartfelt plea (and these guys are on the front line) for people to think before acting. Just because the email came appears to have come from someone you trust doesn't mean that the attachment is safe.

The video they included to illustrate their point is hilarious and does show that people rarely see what's happening in front of them. Enjoy, but please think about the moral of the story

Posted by Tim Smith on October 4, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Sour grapes from Nokia

Ad campaigns that criticise a competitor must be hard to get right. Particulary when they produce the reaction that Nokia's latest anti-Apple campaign did for me.

True there are all sorts of restrictions being reported about the Apple iPhone, but I don't really think you could describe the N Series as without limits. Not after finding out that a new chip means they can only be unlocked with a code from the mobile phone company. I can't say I've tried, but I imagine they won't be that keen on giving the code out.

That said, a friend said that he had heard of someone getting an N Series mobile unlocked so it is possible.

I bring this up because, I would probably choose neither phone but go for a Windows Mobile based device. I try hard to like Symbian in fond memory of my Psion 5mx but the lack of interesting software makes this something of a trial.

Posted by Tim Smith on October 2, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Internet TV for Media Center - but not in the UK

Microsoft has announced a trial service that will allow Media Center users to stream TV programmes directly via the internet - as long as they live in the US. The Windows Media Center Internet TV Beta, which will be free to the user and supported by advertising, will apparently include "shows such as the critically acclaimed Arrested Development", which sounds interesting, and "music concerts by artists such as Chris Cornell, Snoop Dogg, Elton John, Pink, John Mayer and the Pussycat Dolls", which sounds, well, less interesting. In any case, Microsoft is claiming that over 100 hours of programming will be available at the start of the Beta.

This technology sounds promising - if it works, TV on demand is certainly more convenient than even a good PVR, and the Media Center inferface works well - but, once again, the UK is left in an extremely weak position when it comes to the availability of online and on-demand TV programming. The UK iTunes store's selection of shows is currently more amusing than enticing, catering largely for fans of MTV and Dora the Explorer, and despite the largely-impressive 4od service there's currently no UK equivalent of the US's Amazon Unbox video download store. Even Virgin Media's nascent TV on demand system suffers from programming quirks (incomplete seasons) and delivery problems (occasional black screens and out-of-sync audio). Even if Microsoft does bring the on-demand technology to us sooner rather than later, it would be a surprise if it included a schedule to match its US counterpart.

Microsoft also unveiled more details of the new media center extenders we mentioned a few days ago. The new extenders, based on a technology that Microsoft knows as "pica", include standalone products from D-Link and Linksys, as well as an LCD TV with an integrated extender from HP. More information about the new products can be found here but, again, there's no news on when they'll be available in the UK.

Posted by Tom Royal on October 2, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Hooray for the UK

I think we in the UK can afford ourselves a pat on the back. According to a survey by Panda software, UK PCs have the least amount of malware globally.

The results came from a tool callled Nanoscan that was available as a plug in from the Panda website. It seems that only 1 in 25 computers in the UK had active malware installed. Latent malware was far more comman with 1 in 5 computers infected.

The French fared rathe badly with nearly 1 in 3 computers having malware and the United States was just less than 1 in five.

The point, according to Panda, was that many of these computers already had antivirus software installed, thus proving that traditional detection methods are not working. I was warned of several infections once by Webroot Spysweeper on a computer with an up to date copy of AVG. I don't know if that was a failing on the part of AVG of whether those infections were considered spyware and therefore not important.

Posted by Tim Smith on October 1, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

New Nvidia drivers for Windows XP

There are new drivers for all Nvidia graphics cards from the FX series and later. They can be downloaded from the Nvidia website.

The usual assortment of performance improvements and bug fixes are promised.

Posted by Tim Smith on October 1, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

New Windows Smart Phones from HTC

HTC has just announced some new phones and related PDAs, all running Windows Mobile.

The new Touch Dual adds a slide out keyboard to the touch screen interface. It's slightly larger as a result but still small enough to fit comfortably in the pocket.

HTC also provides a different home page in the place of the usual Windows Mobile page. The clock is bigger (lets face it, apart from missed calls that's the first thing most people look at their phone for), and the colour scheme is a trendy grey, rather than bright green.

I have to say that after not being keen on Windows Mobile, I think it is a really good system now. The initial comparison with with a large Casio Windows CE device and a Palm Vx. The Palm was easy to use and had fantastic battery life (OK, that had a lot to do with the monochrome screen). I also found far more programs for the Palm.

Times have changed and Windows Mobile is very capable. I used an XDA II for a year or so and, although large for a phone and not that new, found it very capable.

I found software for everything I wanted and the ease of syncing with Outlook made life much easier.

I'm not about to advocate writing long missives on a phone sized device, but it looks great for communicating and web surfing on the move.

Posted by Tim Smith on October 1, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Review: Skate. Xbox 360 game

The Tony Hawk skating games have had such success in the genre since they first appeared on the original Playstation that it’s hard to imagine a newcomer being able to take away Tony’s crown. But that series has become dated and repetitive, so it’s with that in mind that EA’s Skate comes along to steal Hawk’s kingdom from under him.

It’s promising from the outset, with an intro that takes the form of a skate video, that maligned but occasionally witty class of films that’s at least half about watching people crash in funny ways. In this one, the main skater (that’s you) is involved in an accident and gets taken to hospital. The gag is that all the characters taking you there, from the ambulance-men to the doctors, is a famous skater. Most of them also appear in the game, as characters you can go and see to learn new tricks.

Tricks are what the game is all about – using one stick to navigate and another to control the board, it’s possible to quickly pick up the nuances of fairly complicated tricks, building them up from a simple beginning into a complicated routine.

Play is quite open – you’re given the run of the city and are able to go wherever you like, although there are challenges and new things to learn waiting at certain designated spots. Advancing in the game involves beating the challenges, but if you like you can simply skate around as you wish. The graphics are superb, with realistic skaters and passers-by who can be easily knocked over (although the numerous security guards give as good as they get).

Sound is also good, although the commentary of the cameraman, who follows you around, gets annoying quite quickly. That’s the only real flaw, though, in a game that really reinvents the skating genre in a spectacular way.

Posted by Anthony Dhanendran on October 1, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack