Windows 8: multi-monitors and double standards?

Thursday, May 17th, 2012

I’m encouraged by reports that Microsoft has been working to improve multi-monitor support in the Release Preview of Windows 8. Admittedly, the information emerged in a rather strange way: it was published on Tuesday night on the MSDN “Building Windows 8” blog, then rapidly removed again for reasons unknown. But there’s no reason to doubt the details – after all, they came from an impeccable source, namely Microsoft’s Mark Yalovsky.

I’m encouraged by this, not because I think multi-monitor support was an area that urgently needed improvement. I’m using the Consumer Preview with two monitors right now, and frankly it’s not causing me any trouble.

Rather, I’m heartened because the now-deleted post presented the changes as a direct response to “vocal and clear” feedback from users. This implies that, as Microsoft continues to refine and develop Windows 8, it’s listening to the buzz around the Consumer Preview, and tacking accordingly. And this raises the possibility that it might also be listening to feedback regarding the Metro Start screen on desktop systems. (more…)

Bringing the Start button back to Windows 8

Monday, March 19th, 2012

Relations here at PC Pro have been a little strained these past few weeks, the main bone of contention being the merits (or otherwise) of Windows 8’s new approach to finding and launching desktop applications. There’s no dispute that, for touch devices, Metro is a workable and even likeable system. But there’s plenty of frustration over the way Microsoft seems determined to force it on desktop users too, to the extent of replacing the Start menu with a full-screen Metro page.

So I’m indebted to reader Neale Killick for bringing to my attention a free little tool called Start8, by Stardock software, which promises to “bring back the Windows Start menu”. Install it within the Windows 8 Consumer Preview and a comfortingly familiar Start orb appears at the left end of your primary taskbar. Click it, though, and what opens isn’t the much missed Windows 7 Start menu – but a miniature Metro Start screen.

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SuperMicro showcases Xeon E5 GPU supercomputer

Thursday, March 8th, 2012

Intel’s new Xeon E5 series will be powering plenty of application servers in the near future. But at CeBIT, high-end hardware company SuperMicro has demonstrated another use for the platform: as the basis of a GPU-based supercomputer. (more…)

Carl Zeiss Cinemizer OLED review: first look

Thursday, March 8th, 2012

Last September, at IFA, Sasha Muller experienced Sony’s HMZ-T1 Personal 3D Viewer and was suitably impressed. Now, at CeBIT, optics giant Carl Zeiss has got in on the action with its slightly sinister-looking Cinemizer OLED headset display.

As the name suggests, Zeiss’ 3D goggle display uses OLED technology to produce an image that’s startlingly bright and vibrant – though, it must be said, not as immersive as Sony’s, owing to a conservative frame size that simulates a 40in display at two meters. Resolution isn’t stellar either: at 870 x 500 per eye, there’s enough detail to enjoy movies and the like, but the image has a definite pixelated quality. On the plus side, the 3D effect is rock solid – as it should be, since each eye gets its own dedicated screen. (more…)

Archos 80 G9 Turbo ICS tablet review: first look

Thursday, March 8th, 2012

The original Archos 80 G9 Android tablet was released in October. It turned heads with its unusual 8in frame and, more to the point, its £200 price tag for the 8GB model. The general consensus, however, was that it felt cheap and plasticky, and the screen suffered from an annoying “ripple” effect when the slightest pressure was applied to the casing.

Archos hasn’t given up on the idea, though, and at CeBIT we had the chance to play with its revision of the 80 G9.

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Hardware diagnostics at the push of a button

Wednesday, March 7th, 2012

When your PC is behaving erratically, tracking down the culprit can be a titanic task, involving swapping out the memory, CPU, graphics card, power supply, motherboard and more. At CeBIT, German system specialist Toolhouse has been demonstrating hardware diagnostic tools which can take the pain out of the process.

The principle is simple: boot from a USB stick into ToolHouse’s bespoke test environment and all components will be thoroughly tested, including the CPU, drives, memory, graphics and networking hardware. For more insidious problems, ToolHouse also makes a PCI card with its own two-digit LED display providing easy-to-decode numeric status codes (useful for motherboards that lack them) and convenient contact points for attaching your own electrical meter.

For now, ToolHouse’s main business is in Germany, though English-language versions of its tools are available on request. If you’d like to try out its tools, and brush up your German at the same time, you can download trials of some of ToolHouse’s products. Be warned, it doesn’t come cheap: the Windows-based diagnostic suite costs €229, while the full Linux-based suite costs a steep €299. But for a busy IT department that could pay for itself very quickly indeed.

Turn your iPhone or iPad into a projector

Wednesday, March 7th, 2012

Tucked away in a corner of CeBIT, Taiwanese manufacture Aiptek – manufacturer of one of the first “pico-projectors” back in early 2009 – has been showing off a novel idea: pico-projector modules that plug into an iPhone or iPad, turning the device into a portable slide viewer or movie projector.

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Gigabyte’s Ivy Bridge U224 Ultrabook review: first look

Wednesday, March 7th, 2012

Gigabyte’s motherboards are a regular fixture on our A-List. Now the company hopes to break into the vibrant Ultrabook market with the Ivy Bridge-based U224, unveiled for the first time at CeBIT and due to be offered through UK resellers as soon as Ivy Bridge processors are officially released.

At first glance it’s an attractive beast, boasting the familiar MacBook-like design in tasteful silver and grey with black, backlit Scrabble-tile keys. It’s a 14in LED screen with a resolution of 1,600 x 900; demo models at Gigabyte’s CeBIT stand were running Windows 8, but these aren’t touch panels.

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Intel makes a splash at CeBIT

Tuesday, March 6th, 2012

It’s an open secret that Ivy Bridge will be with us soon, but for the time being Intel is keeping its lips discreetly sealed. Under the circumstances, you might expect it to keep a low profile at an event such as CeBIT.

In fact, the chip giant has booked out the (very large) entirety of Deutsche Messe Hall 23, pictured above.

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Windows 8: what benefits for business?

Tuesday, March 6th, 2012

Microsoft COO Kevin Turner opened this year’s CeBIT expo in Hannover with a hotly anticipated keynote address. Expectations were high, as Microsoft’s press office had trailed the presentation as “a demonstration of Windows 8 Consumer Preview, focusing on features that benefit business” – a crucial aspect of the new operating system that so far has received little attention.

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