Windows 8 Release Preview

the Start Screen

On a few occasions some of my co-workers have asked me if I plan to upgrade to windows 8.  I am sure they are not the only ones who find themselves asking this question as I myself have been reading the reviews and wondering if I am going to upgrade when the time comes around. In order to make a more informed decision I decided to download windows 8 Release preview and try it for myself.

SET UP

First off I want to mention that I did not wipe away windows 7 to load windows 8.  Having done things like that when I was younger I decided to do my test on a virtual Machine.  After some failed tries to load up windows on the virtual machine I finally had success.  My recommendation for anyone trying to follow in my footsteps here is to download the install file for windows 8 from Microsoft instead of the ISO.  For some reason the ISO did not seem to work properly.

WINDOWS 8

The first thing that appeared when I got windows 8 up and running and got through all the set-up questions was the start screen pictured above.  This start screen is a replacement to the start-up menu that windows has had since windows 95 and as far as I can see it is the major difference between windows 8 and windows 7.

My Google Calendar as it appears in windows 8

The start screen has some very nice features including live tiles for email, calendar, weather, music and games.  For the most part these tiles were compatible with my Google account and I was able to easily get my calendar and e-mail working in the live tiles.  I can easily see how these live tiles can add a new sense of convenience to Windows and also seem as if they would boost productivity.

Google Chrome in Windows 8

Although the live tiles are nice for the most part I did find the new start screen to be inconvenient.  First off I am not a major fan of Internet explorer, so I quickly went to download chrome.  Although Google Chrome is functional in Windows 8 it does not work directly in the new screen (at least not right now) this caused a major inconvenience as in order to use many other apps I had to keep opening and closing the start screen.  Despite this chrome worked fine and seemed to run quite smoothly.

Another minor annoyance to me was how you scroll through the start screen.  I will just face the fact right now that the start screen will probably work better on a tablet or phone than on a regular laptop without a touch screen.  Using a scroll bar on the bottom just seems like a blast from 1995 and I really just wanted to move my mouse to the corner and see the tiles move along with it.

Despite these minor annoyance I do have to say that even for a release preview running on a virtual PC on top of another operating system windows 8 seems to be very snappy, I ran it running 2GB of ram and it work great which is something I cannot always say about Windows 7. 

In looking at recommending upgrading to Windows 8 in the future, my answer is really up in the air to me Windows 8 seems as similar to windows 7 as Office 2010 is to Office 2007.  So in other words it just seems to have more annoying and inconvenient menus but there are basically no major differences between the two versions.

I would also say that it might be worth waiting 6 months to a year to get windows 8 as well.  In a long term perspective Windows 8 will probably have more apps that are usable from their start screen in the future, such as Google Chrome.  

To conclude I think that I would recommend windows 8 to anyone who is still using windows XP or Vista as it is a lot better. However, unless you are a student and can get the student discount on windows 8 I would recommend keeping windows 7 as there doesn't seem to be any major tactical advantage to upgrading as of now.

Gods and Generals

To date this is the fourth book by Jeff Shaara that I have read.  Before this book I read both of his Revolutionary War books and Gone for Soldiers which is about the American-Mexican war.

I realize that this is the first book of this type that he wrote however, I find that it has the same strengths and weaknesses of his other books.  In my opinion Jeff Shaara is an excellent writer when it comes to character development and political fiction however, he lacks quality when writing about battles and attacks which is unfortunate as much of this book revolves around the beginning battles of the Civil War.

His descriptions of Colonial Chamberlain, General Hancock, General Lee, and Jackson truly take the readers into the minds of leaders during the civil war.  At the same time it is hard to grasp the actuality's of war in 350 pages.

Despite the books weaknesses I would recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in Historical Fiction and the Civil War.

Chrome OS version 19

I have never really thought of Chrome OS as an actual competitor to Microsoft Windows or Mac OS until this current update. For those who don't keep up I have been using chrome OS from the very start and currently have a Samsung Series 5 Chromebook. Although there are many negative things about the chromebook (mainly dealing with processing speed) my overall experience has been very positive.

With the new release of the beta version for Chrome OS I noticed perhaps the most major change to the OS since it was released. Instead of having everything inside of a browser window the new version instead looks a little more like a traditional OS by adding a start bar, and an actual non-browser desktop.

Others can give you the technology overview of this new chrome OS, but the thing that really gets this reviewer is the fact that it works a little more like a traditional OS. While there doesn't seem to be any real purpose for the desktop now as everything is still run in a browser window perhaps in the future this new style will make the OS more competitive.

Samsung Galaxy Player 4.0

Lets just face the facts. Apple is overrated and for those of us who don't have smart phones but want the features that they offer there is some good news for you!

The Samsung Galaxy Player, which was released last October is the first good android alternative to the Ipod Touch. This being said it has many similarities and many differences to the touch. The first difference is that it runs android and is made by Samsung. This obvious differences gives a drastically different user experience to the Ipod.

at the same time there are many similarities to the Ipod touch, in that it has a front and rear facing camera, a touch screen and lots of cool android features.

After extensive testing on the Galaxy Player 4.0 for about six months this blog has come to the conclusion that if you are willing to deal with the ads that come along with android this is actually a really good alternative. The screen is bigger than the Ipod touches and with all the awesome features of android minus the monthly 3G or 4G bill how could you go wrong?

The CR-48

Well Good has officially sent out their beta computers for the new Google OS, as such we are giving you a first look at the CR-48 and the Chrome OS. to start out with lets talk about all the good stuff that is involved with the CR-48

first off is the amazing redesigned keyboard. yes it is still a qwerty keyboard but the hot keys are changed a lot to make it easier to use, I mean truly why didn't someone come out before with a keyboard so nice and easy to use.

another plus is the OS itself, imagine having an operating system that is a web browser, well now you can with Chrome OS! with its easy to use new layout you can now use Chrome OS and have the settings carry over to all your other computers with the chrome browser.

lastly we come to the Nicest thing of all. the OS starts up instantly, no more waiting for 5 minutes to just surf the web just open the notebook and it starts up instantly and you can be online in 30 seconds.

along with the good stuff the cr-48 isn't perfect, I have found two major flaws in the computer. the first and biggest is the touch pad. while there is nothing new about touch pads with no buttons. the cr-48 touch pad is very quirky and annoying I can't explain just how annoying it is, so you will just have to see for yourself.

the other weakness in the computer is the speed of flash. while it works excellent for watching full episodes of the original Star Trek it lags in a major way when playing many online games.

all in all for an unexpected package from Google the cr-48 is a wonderful and useful machine and when it goes retail I would recommend Chrome OS for all my friends on a netbook computer.

Samsung q430-11

The Samsung q430-11 is one of the newest comptuers in the Samsung US brand Line, not only is this machine sleek when I was looking at buying a new computer I looked mostly at getting a Toshiba, because that is a brand i trust well, however after using this 14in screen Samsung I am very glad that I didn't. with it's reasonable price the Samsung q430 is possibly one of the best deals on the current market.

Unlike other computers in the price range this laptop comes with a nice brushed aluminum case, this gives it a look of a high end computer like a apple powerbook pro, along with this its edge to edge glass screen gives it a sleek look, although it is very good at collecting your finger prints so this isn't the computer for someone who is going to commit a crime!

other good stuff about this computer includes the processor, it is perhaps on of the cheapest Core i5 notebooks on the market right now!

yet with every good thing there is also a downside, for example this computer doesn't come with bluetooth which a laptop of similar price would, it also doesn't come with a blue ray player, but if you are like me and don't have any blue rays to watch don't worry about it

overall the Samsung q430-11 is an excellent system and I would highly recommend it to anyone, a college student, light gamer or a business executive.

for more information visit http://www.samsung.com/us/consumer/office/mobile-computing/notebooks/NP-Q430-JSB1US/index.idx?pagetype=prd_detail

Windows 7

Windows 7 its the new thing in computer technology but should I really put it on my computer?

I can honestly say from my own experience that new things are nice, like a new puppy or a new hamster or even sometimes a new computer and windows 7 while it is awesome and much better than windows Vista still can have upgrade problems so let me give you the facts straight and balanced the good and the bad.

THE GOOD: Windows vista was simply put "bad enough it makes windows 3.2 look good" so windows 7 is a nice change it has all the class of Vista, like the same look, windows Aero and such things but its better, along with this it has easy wireless connection. for the first time ever you can connect up a wireless internet with one click!

one of my favorite things is the look, after using windows XP for so long the start menu is new and hip. along with this the control panel is much better organized and easier to understand than any of the versions of windows before 7

along with the good is the name, lets face it, there is just something cool with a number like 7 after all 7 "eight" 9

along with all of this another plus is that 7 is not a memory hog like vista, while it runs slow on 1GB but it works!

THE BAD: I can say from my own experience that windows 7 runs good, but I have faced some problems with it on my Aspire one netbook which it did not come installed on, while it works, it starts up slow and has problems with the internet it works! which is something that vista could not claim to on a netbook

in the end the vote is in. Windows 7 is despite its weaknesses is an excellent operating system, while caution should be practiced in loading it on lower power computers (1gb or Ram or less) it is a major improvment over Vista on any computer and i would highly recommend it for anyone

and in closing, Don't do drugs.