Microsoft adding windows 7 ‘XP Mode’

Microsoft reveled it was working on a Windows 7 mode which will allow you to run Windows XP applications that windows Vista cannot run. The software is using a virtual pc technology.

To run this mode a much more powerful computer is required. You need 2GB of ram vs. the standard of 1gb and system that supports chip level virtualization from Intel or AMD. The problem with this system is it’s hard to tell whether or not the computer’s CPU actually supports this.

The whole thing only consists of two things the Windows Virtual PC engine and a fully licensed copy of windows xp sp3. While this doesn’t come in the Windows 7 box you can download it from Microsoft assuming you own Windows 7 Pro, Ultimate or Enterprise.

This new mode was designed for small businesses looking to run legacy programs that don’t support windows Vista and are required by the business. This is actually really smart on their part because in the end if Windows 7 gets good press then this could allow small business to upgrade. The system is said to act just like VM Ware or Parallels meaning you have program shortcuts on your windows 7 desktop and start menu. This should keep things more uniform and easy to access.

The downside of this is that if you want to run this it requires you have antivirus in both the Windows 7 part and the Virtual pc which is kind of a bummer but understandable.

You will be able to try this yourself by getting windows 7-release candidate that will be launching to the public on may 5^th. A final release is dependant on the results that beta testers give.

An Android based netbook

These days you have only two choices when it comes to buying a netbook, either windows or Linux. Well it now looks like MSI is going to bring an
Android based netbook to the table soon. However it’s not just MSI, others are working on this as well.

I really think this could be a great thing to happen. Right now these computers are running systems that aren’t designed to cope with these low powered chips that netbooks are built with. I think Android could benefit them because it’s designed for mobile devices meaning it s designed to manage with lower power CPU’s and GPU’s. It could also provide a neat experience with new things being developed in order take full advantage for the OS. Perhaps we could see something like the Touch tablet apple is supposed to be releasing but with Android instead of OS X.

It would especially be nice with the application storefront that I really wish normal computers had so it would make browsing applications much easier and faster. There are many possibilities with these little computers and android is one of them.

A New PSP at E3?

Finally,  a new PSP. I know Sony just released the 2000 and 3000 models but come on those weren’t really “new.” It looks like Sony finally gets the drift they need to move on. As of now the Psp is using very dated technology. I mean for god sakes most blackberry’s have a much more powerful processor than what is supposed to be a gaming device. That’s just sad! Also the Psp is using UMD a technology that never really took off. While it’s not bad isn’t just another format that people have to support which means more work and no one likes that.

The new one is said to ditch UMD and move on to flash memory and I have to say this is the best move Sony has made for formats in a long time. People don’t want another proprietary format that will never take off. I imagine that with this we will be getting digital downloads which doesn’t require you to go to the store to purchase games anymore. This would also make it possible to store movies and music on your device without having to go out and buy a ton of memory sticks. The only problem with this solution is that you can only have so many games before running out of internal space, and my guess is that Sony will have a slot for memory stick cards.

The device is also said to be slider based which has me worried. I’m wondering how comfortable it is to be playing games on a slider device. From the mockups I’ve seen floating over the Internet it looks bad! I hope Sony can pull off a miracle and make a device that is comfortable to game on while in the slider format.

Overall the device does look pretty good. All we need is a powerful processor and GPU with a good amount of memory, and we should have a device worthy of playing our favorite games.

5 Reasons why downloadable games are better

These days were seeing a move to downloadable games and content and here’s 5 reasons why this is a good decision.

1.      One Format. These days were using blu-ray DVD and Downloads why not have just one if we switched to all downloads then we can get rid of all these formats and stick with one simple format that requires less work for all of us.

2.      Easier to get. If things are downloadable you are no longer required to have to drive to the store or order a game online. Instead you can just download them over the Internet. There is also an unlimited quantity, if a game is really popular then stores always run out of copies but with downloads it’s unlimited and everyone gets one.

3.      Saves costs, now we don’t have to create discs or cases for the games, and don’t have to pay for all that shipping. Not to mention all the environmental damages this disregards.

4.      Cheaper prices Now that we don’t have to pay all this money for cases and discs perhaps we can have lower pricing and save customers money in hope they will buy more.

5.      Easier to Manage. Now there are no discs to lose or to have to physically store especially with the increasing capacity of hard drives it’s easy to store things on hard drives.

There’s many other reasons why to use Downloadable games and in the future I think were going to be moving away from physical media to virtual media.

SSD Drives finally getting cheaper

A few month’s back I wrote about Intel’s new X-25 Solid state hard drives which were going to be faster cooler and just all around better. The only downside to them is the price! They are very expensive to make and therefore very expensive for you to buy so generally people don’t order them in their computers and not very many are upgrading either. Price is one of those reasons  the other is capacity.

Intel stepped up and is slowly fixing one of those problems and by reading the title I’m sure you have already guessed which one. Yes they are finally starting to drop in price. The 160GB version Intel has slashed prices by $100 USD, which is pretty significant in one shot. The drive should now retail for about $670 MSRP. The 80GB version received a more modest cut at about $50 USD and will now retail for about $320. That still sounds pretty expensive but hey it’s one big step in the right direction for customers. I know I wouldn’t really mind having one of these Intel drives when the price drops more and I’m sure others would too.

While they were at it Intel also increased production on these drives which is why I’m guessing they were able to lower price as much as they did in one shot. Apparently they were hard to get previously. So obviously someone is buying them.

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