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Google is developing an operating system (OS) for personal computers, in a direct challenge to market leader Microsoft and its Windows system.

Google Chrome OS will be aimed initially at small, low-cost netbooks, but will eventually be used on PC’s as well.

Google said netbooks with Chrome OS could be on sale by middle 2010.

“Speed, simplicity and security are the key aspects of Google Chrome OS,” the firm said in its official blog.

The operating system, which will run on an open source license, was a “natural extension” of its Chrome browser, the firm said.

The news comes just months before Microsoft launches the latest version of its operating system, called Windows 7.

To continue reading this article on the BBC click here

Watch this space!!

So our first post on Windows 7 RC was relativly short, this one comes after a bit of use and testing and we stand by the previous title “Windows 7 RC is BRILLIANT”  we are very impressed.

If you don’t want to read on then you can take these three things away from our findings

• Speed
• Stable
• Compatible

For those with the time to read on we will explain what we are meaning by these three findings.

Speed

We have Windows 7 running on a pretty average system, Intel Core 2 Duo, 2GB Memory, 160GB Hard Drive. Nothing hugely special by today’s standards but we have found it to run very nicely.

The sort of use it has got is in the list below and at no point have we found it to be slow, non-responsive or sluggish. Obviously it is a new install and this helps but still we are impressed! So it has been used for the following over the last few weeks

• Website design
• Internet / Email
• General Office work
• FTP
• Remote Support

Stable

No crashes or hanging to date! What more can we say…?

Compatability

Software / Hardware we have successfully working on the Windows 7 system is as follows:

• Dell Optiplex 360 – ok, this is actually the hardware it is running on, but still useful to know!
• T-Mobile Mobile Broadband Adaptor – this didn’t work on the Beta so we are very impressed it works now!
• Macromedia Dreamweaver MX
• Microsoft Office 2007
• Hamachi VPN
• Filezilla
• Firefox
• Crossloop
• AVG 8.5 Internet Security
• Windows Home Server Connector Software

We still have got a bit more testing before we would be happy to adopt it as a operating system for a production office machine, but I am very tempted! Roll on Final Release…

We have been testing the Beta version of Windows 7 since that was released and downloaded the RC as soon as we could get our hands on it. In short we still think it is brilliant and are really looking forward to the final release.

Without writing pages and pages on this the best way to sum up Windows 7 is this  -  “Windows 7 is in short a refined version of Windows Vista”

If you have a spare machine then download the Release Candidate for free here: Microsot Windows 7 RC Download. And see what you think.

Have a read of our other Windows 7 posts and we will post back soon with of first impressions of Windows 7 RC !

Google have recently brought out a new tool in which you can sync the items on your Microsoft Office Outlook Calendar with your Google Mail Calendar.  It is a great application which is ideal for anyone who is always on the go!  You can schedule the application to sync the calendars as often as you want.  This means that any changes you make in your Outlook Calendar will be synced to your Google Mail Calendar!  Check out the images below to compare the calendars (click on the image to make it larger)…

It is pretty easy to set up.  There is a great tutorial on the Google Website which is worth ready whilst setting up the program!  For those who knew it the application is very similar to the SBS 2003 Server Setup.

So far we’ve been really impressed!

You don’t have to have all these snazzy photo programs to print a decent photo on your PC.  Vista have a great tool which is easy to use and comes preinstalled on your machine.  Here’s how to use it…

1. To Start click on the Vista Start Orb and select Pictures
   
2. Click once on the photo you wish to print.  If you wish to print multiple photos hold down ‘CTRL’ on your keyboard whilst clicking on the photos you want to print.  Then click print at the top of the window.  (Click on the image to make it larger)
   
3. A window will then appear.  You will than have a few decisions to make…
   • First of all select your printer, paper size and print quality from the drop down.
   • You can also choose how you wish the photos to be laid out on your paper by browsing the options on the right hand side (please note, if the options aren’t there it is because the paper size you have selected has no options to choose from).
   • If you want to print more than one copy of each picture you can by changing the number in the box.
   • The ‘fit picture to frame’ stretches your photos so they fill up the entire space that you have given to each photo, but beware in some cases an edge of the photo maybe cut off by selecting this option.
   • If you click options you are taken to ‘print preferences’, colour management etc.
     (Click on the image to make it larger)

   

4. When you’re happy with all your choices click print!

Any questions?

Here are our Top 3 Keyboard and Mouse Desktop Sets!

1. Microsoft Desktop 1000 – Its cheap, reliable and has good battery life…what more could you want!?  We use these here in the office and they’re brilliant, a really nice feel to type with and we seem to replace the batteries every 6 months, Simple and Cheap is sometimes the best and most reliable way!  It’s easy to install and on Vista it doesn’t seem to need a disk!
2. Microsoft Desktop 3000 – For those who liked the old style natural keyboard this might be the one for you.  The curve isn’t quite so sharp but this is certainly a comfortable keyboard to use.  A bit more than the desktop 1000 but if you need the natural layout well worth considering!
3. We don’t have a third keyboard.  If you don’t want to use the one that came with your machine then we would personally go for one of the two above.  If you really don’t like those options then the best suggestion is to visit a local PC supplier and have a try on a few.  Most big stores have a variety of Microsoft and Logitec keyboards and mice on display for people to try out!

Do you have a keyboard and mouse desktop set that you can recommend?

It is almost unbelievable that Microsoft are bringing out a new version of Windows when Vista was only released two years ago…but I suppose it is only in Beta.  But we have it here to test and have been playing with it for some time.

First impressions are that it is very Vista-like!  But we are fans of Vista here so that is a good thing.  The install went very quickly and smoothly on a fairly basic Dell Optiplex 360 Intel Core 2 Duo machine.

So here is the desktop….

As you can see, it has the Vista Sidebar with the clock at the top, and the big Vista style icons.  The most noticeable change here is the taskbar at the bottom.  The quick launch icons have got bigger!  And the open applications are just the program icon which is nice.

One note about the Sidebar, this is actually no longer just a Sidebar because the gadgets that you can choose to have there can actually be positioned anywhere on the screen.

If you hover over one of the icons on the taskbar that is representing an open application you get a preview of what is open, see image below….

And then you just click on the one you want to work with.  Easy.

Also, if you right click on one of the icons on the quick launch/taskbar you get a menu specific to that application, rather then the good old standard right click menu.  So for example you might get recent documents if you right click on the word icon that is down there or shortcuts to desktop, pictures, music, videos etc if you right click on the documents folder.

The main aim here I believe is to make things more accessible for users, ways to quickly get where we want rather than having to wait for windows to load before we can get to pictures etc.

Another nice, yet simple feature I would like to bring to your attention is a change to the start menu,

You will notice that in the top picture that programs such as Word and Paint have arrows next to them, if you were to hover over the program for long enough or click the arrow and you get….yes you’ve guessed it, a list of recent documents (see  bottom image of the two above).  Now that is a feature we really like!

That’s it for the first glance, coming up soon will be some nice simple features of Windows 7 Beta!  Keep an eye out for that one.

See Also:
Windows 7 Beta

You may find that your AVG Anti-Spam isn’t catching some of your SPAM Emails.  There are two different ways to catch SPAM emails.  The below tutorial will show you both ways, starting off with HAM.  HAM training of Anti-Spam teaches AVG what emails you want.  The other method is SPAM training, this teaches AVG which emails you don’t want.  Both methods are pretty straightforward and we highly recommend you teach AVG to do it in both ways.  You may have to do this a few times but AVG catches on pretty quick!

Read the rest of this entry »

SyncToy 2.0 is a free software download from Microsoft.  It is a Backup Tool and very very simple to use.  Click to Download SyncToy 2.0.  The download itself is fairly small so doesn’t take long to download on the typical Internet connection.  The installation process is again straightforward and isn’t very time consuming.  The software is extremely user friendly and couldn’t be any simpler to use.  In fact, it’s so simple my Nan who learnt to change a battery 4 years ago would be able to use it!

The key element to the software is pairing folders, e.g., folder A and folder B.  With the folder pairings you can choose one of three processes:

• Sync – Where any changes made in folder A are copied to folder B.  And any changes made in folder B are copied to folder A.
• Echo – Where changes made in folder A are copied in folder B, but any changes made in folder B won’t be copied to folder A.
• Contribute – Very similar to Echo.  Where changes made in folder A are copied in folder B, but any changes made in folder B won’t be copied to folder A.  However, you cannot delete in either folder.

SyncToy is a great little application which I am very impressed with.  Have you used it before?  What do you think of it?  Any questions?

See Also:
SyncBackSE
Backup Tools – Two Worth Looking At
Cobain Backup 9

We like to be on the ‘cutting edge’ when it comes to Microsoft Software..so I think we must have been one of the first to download the Windows 7 Beta when it was made available last week!

So far we haven’t done much with it other than

• Install it on a Dell Optiplex 360 with no problems, it was very quick to install and installed all the drivers automatically so that was a nice surprise!
• Downloaded and installed AVG Trial which again works so it is good to know there will be Anti-Virus protection out there as soon as Windows 7 is released!
• Connected the machine to a Windows Home Server…again a breeze!

So there have been no problems as yet. As it is a beta I do expect them but let’s see what happens.

First Impressions are that Windows 7 is very quick. It is obviously a build on Vista but there are some nice touches that make working on a computer faster and easier   We’ll keep you posted but if you have had the chance to play with it share you findings

Cheers. Graham.