Windows-HQ.com

Windows XP Mode final release coming October 22

admin — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 02:16:52 +0000

Microsoft’s Windows XP
Mode for Windows 7 Professional or higher has RTM’d (Release to Manufacturing) today and will be available for download from Microsoft Download Center on October 22. OEM manufactures will be able to offer Windows XP Mode on their PC’s, based on their shipping schedules to consumers.

The design purpose for Windows XP Mode is to help put businesses minds at ease when upgrading to Windows 7 to ensure their applications are backwards compatible. Windows XP Mode will allow any program to run smoothly in Windows 7 Professional or higher just as it does in Windows XP. This also includes USB peripherals such as printers and pen drives, when they are run through the Windows XP Mode application.

Windows XP Mode offers users a free virtual-PC based edition of Windows XP SP3 on Windows 7 Professional or higher. Windows XP Mode is now compatible with not only Windows XP software but Windows Vista software too. Windows 7 integrates XP Mode into the desktop so applications run just like any normal application would.

ASUS EeeBox EB1501 comes packing Windows 7, Atom 330

admin — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 02:12:37 +0000

We just caught a glimpse of ASUS’ EeeBox EB1012 nettop last month, but it looks like the company is already doing things one better with its new, redesigned EB1501 model. As before, this one packs the increasingly common one-two punch of NVIDIA’s Ion chipset and Intel’s Atom 333 dual-core processor, but makes its mark by being the first EeeBox (and one of the first nettops) to come pre-loaded with Windows 7, which also means it’s not shipping until the end of the month. Otherwise, you’ll get the usual 2GB of RAM (expandable to 4GB) and 250GB hard drive, a built-in DVD burner, and an HDMI port to make it feel right at home in your home theater. No official pricing over here just yet, but it looks like this one will start at €399 (or about $580) when it hits Europe.

Reminder: Windows 7 beta bi-hourly shutdowns start next week

admin — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:41:23 +0000

As reported by Ars Technica, beginning July 1, 2009, Windows 7 users who are still on the beta (build 7000) will begin to receive bi-hourly shutdowns reminding the user to upgrade to the release candidate (build 7100). On August 1, 2009, all Windows 7 beta licenses will expire triggering the non-genuine experience for any user still using the beta. The user’s wallpaper will be removed and a message with the words “This copy of Windows is not genuine” will be displayed in the lower right corner above the taskbar.

Users who would like to continue testing the next Microsoft operating system are asked to download the Windows 7 Release Candidate that was released to the public in May 2009. The release candidate will be available to download until August 15, 2009 when the software will no longer be offered by Microsoft. Windows 7 users who are currently on the release candidate will not have to worry until March 1, 2010 and June 1, 2010 when bi-hourly shutdowns and license expirations will begin.

With the given dates taken into consideration, Windows 7 users will have an ample amount of time to move over to the RTM build that is rumored to be released on July 13.

System76 Bonobo Professional

admin — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:37:57 +0000

Back in March we reviewed the System76 Serval Professional notebook and found it to be an excellent contender at the time. This notebook, which shipped with Ubuntu 8.10, had packed an Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 processor with a GeForce 9800M GTS graphics card and other great hardware, but since then System76 has rolled out notebooks with newer and better hardware. One of the new notebooks to recently leave the System76 facilities is the Bonobo Professional, which packs an Intel Core 2 Quad Q9000 processor and an impressive NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280M discrete graphics processor. In this article today we are seeing how this high-end notebook performs with Ubuntu 9.04.

Icy Dock MB876SK

admin — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:35:54 +0000

Quick swap Hard Disk Drive bays have been around for a long time. The reason is becuase many companies can not afford to have their servers down for an extended period of time, so they clone the drive and put in a brand new working drive to keep the system up. It is a fact that many of us are not buisness owners, so what use would we have of this technology? If you happen to have tech savy friends, this is very easy to answer. You can all get the same hot swap bay and swap HDD’s to share the latest game update without downloading the same file multiple times. This can save a lot of time in the long run.

Kingston DataTraveler 200 (128GB)

admin — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:34:20 +0000

No matter how resistant USB flash drives are compared with mechanical drives, they can still be damaged or corrupted by serious physical abuse. The circuitry of a flash drive can even be harmed by improper wiring of a USB port. And while USBs flash drives are appreciated for compact size, at the same time they can be easily left behind. This brings us to the biggest issue of the DT200. While most of us will love having 128GB of highly portable storage at hand, that’s a heck of a lot of data waiting to get lost or stolen. Individuals and small-business users should question whether carrying around so much data is wise. In spite of the security issues, the DT200 is a very good drive that could be put to a wide range of uses. It’s not the fastest or most individually styled but it’s practical and functional. Having said that, I’d have liked some auto-backup software included in the bundle. The biggest drawback is price, which is shockingly expensive considering you can buy an external 500GB hard drive (2.5-inch) for under £100. Still, this is far pocket-friendlier. It is backed by a 5-year warranty and 24/7 tech support.

Enermax Aurora Micro Aluminum Keyboard

admin — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:22:26 +0000

Some users just like really tiny keybaords. Personally I am an ergonominc fan, so the wider my hands can be apart, the better. For those who like tiny keyboards (programmers love them for some odd reason), then you’ll be glad to know that there’s finally one that’s built like a tank: the Enermax Aurora Micro. This review was actually written using this keyboard entirely, in addition to some all-day testing.

At first look, the keyboard is very attractive. While the bottom of the keyboard is a sturdy plastic, the top frame is brushed aluminum, which has been anodized pitch black.

SlySoft CloneCD v5.3.1.4

admin — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:20:49 +0000

CloneCD is a sweet tool to make backup copies of your music and data CDs. It’s easy to use and is mostly effective at removing and emulating today’s game copy protections. If you are looking to create high quality backups of your favourite games, data CDs and DVDs quickly and easily, CloneCD is one – if not the – best tool on the market. Downsides are that it can’t create a Virtual Drive, there’s no built-in copy protection scanner, and it can’t (currently) bypass SecuROM copy protection. In this case, BlindWrite or even Alcohol 120% are a better choice.

Serif PhotoPlus X3

admin — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:19:31 +0000

PhotoPlus X3 is a very powerful program that’s up there with Adobe’s Photoshop Elements and Corel’s Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 in its ability to cater for digital photographers of all levels. While most of the editing can be done via the various tools in the toolbar, to the beginner the toolbar is overwhelming. That’s where PhotoPlus X3’s Quick Fix Studio comes in handy. You’ll love the way you can view your changes in real time with the Before and After pane enabled, and the Export Optimizer is great for getting the right balance between size and quality for both Web and print output. Sadly, organising your photos is clumsy as it relies on a second program, AlbumPlus SE Pro, and there isn’t a way to automatically publish your photos to image sharing sites like Flickr, Picasa, etc, or back them up to an off-site server. If you are an existing PhotoPlus user, PhotoPlus X3 is a major improvement and worth the upgrade. While Serif has done its best to cater for beginner and advanced users alike, PhotoPlus X3 isn’t as intuitive as some. If you’re not afraid to spend a little time following the 25 or so PDF tutorials, PhotoPlus X3 is one of the most powerful and flexible – if sluggish – image editors in its class. For a better all-round package, Adobe’s Photoshop Elements 7 or even Corel’s Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 are better choices.

WD My Book World Edition II External 2TB NAS Drive

admin — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:17:40 +0000

The Western Digital My Book World Edition II 2 TB network storage system uses RAID 1 (Mirrored) technology to automatically and continuously maintain a second copy of user’s data using supplied software that you need to install on each computer that you want to keep backed up. When running in RAID 1, if one drive in the two-drive system ever fails, the system continues to run and the data is safe. The My Book World Edition II storage device can be run in RAID 0 (Striped) mode as well if speed over redundancy is required. All My Book World Edition II’s ship in mirrored mode, though, as the main purpose of this drive is for data security. As a result, that means you can only use half the rated capacity for file storage since one drive is used for a mirror…