How to make the Windows 7 taskbar better in an instant

Tuesday, September 29th, 2009

I’m a huge fan of the new Windows 7 taskbar. From Jumplists, to pinning icons to the taskbar, to the long-overdue option to juggle icons into whatever order you wish, it makes my working day precisely 62% easier.

However, there is one thing I’m not so keen on: the habit of piling multiple windows from the same application behind one another like a deck of cards, like so:

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Toshiba Satellite T110 and Satellite T130 review: first look

Tuesday, September 29th, 2009

Last night we got our first glimpse of the Toshiba Satellite T110 and Toshiba Satellite T130 for a hands-on, first-look review of the two laptops – both based on Intel’s CULV (Consumer Ultra Low Voltage) processors.

Toshiba claims the new chips are a step above the Atom found in most netbooks, “They offer more performance and features, while allowing better design and battery life,” said Tony Alderson, Toshiba’s consumer product manager, at the central London event where the laptops were launched.

“To misquote Nigel Tufnel from This is Spinal Tap, they go up to 11: you get a full 11 hours of battery life.”

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The truth about the “free” Windows 7 upgrades

Monday, September 21st, 2009

Microsoft launched its Windows 7 Upgrade Option on 26 June to great fanfare: “Get Windows 7 for free” screamed the headlines, with the promise that all participating laptop and PC makers would provide a voucher that you could redeem for Windows 7.

But, as we move closer to the launch of Windows 7 in a month’s time, it’s become clear you could pay up to £30 for the privilege. Just to rub salt into the wounds, that’s as much as it costs for students to buy Windows 7 outright.

There are also a number of catches you should be aware of, although for the thousands of people who’ve bought a new laptop or PC since late June this warning will come too late. (more…)

Cast away with Windows 7

Monday, September 7th, 2009

Well, not strictly cast away – and not strictly Windows 7, considering it was the Release Candidate. However, I did indeed spend a week on a boat with Windows 7 and a Vodafone 3G data dongle as my only contact with the outside world. Was this a careful benchmark test? No. It was getting up at 5:45am to catch the ferry and snagging the rucksack nearest the door.

The test was pretty low key. For one thing, Lough Erne doesn’t have great 3G signal strength; for another, the boat wouldn’t run the inverter for my T60 Thinkpad without the engine going, so opportunities to download mails and surf (that is, spread discord in various online fora) were limited by the need not to throw up from diesel-fume inhalation.

But Windows 7 RC1 grabbed the Huawei device that Vodafone package up, and inserted that in the dial-up networking pop-up (which for some weird reason shows in the taskbar under an icon that looks like a flat-screen monitor with a mouse stuck to the top left corner). It would connect from that presence when in Lower Lough Erne (that is, not roaming) but in Upper Lough Erne (on Vodafone IE) I had to run the Vodafone application so the roaming would kick in. (more…)

Windows 7 and the party faithful

Friday, September 4th, 2009

Have you heard Microsoft’s latest marketing wheeze for Windows 7? They’re sponsoring individuals to throw parties on or around October 22 to celebrate its launch, sweetening the deal for successful applicants with a free copy of Windows 7 Ultimate and a mysterious “Party Pack” of goodies and (presumably) marketing material.

It’s an idea that will, I’m sure, be met with cynicism, distrust and sneering in the streets. But personally I think it’s an inspired notion, and exactly the right way to handle this particular launch. (more…)

Windows 7 review: why PC Pro won’t be rushing its verdict

Tuesday, August 11th, 2009

I’ve already received a couple of emails from readers asking why PC Pro hasn’t produced a Windows 7 review now that the RTM is officially out – and the reason is simple. We don’t want to rush to a verdict we may later regret.

To a certain extent, I think this happened with Windows Vista. Back in the hazy days of late 2006, early 2007 we nailed our colours to the mast and the operating system earned a five-star review. If I’m honest, I think we were too forgiving of its foibles, as we were so used to the OS being a beta. (more…)

Eyes down for Windows 7 upgrade bingo

Thursday, August 6th, 2009

Now that Microsoft’s done away with those silly E versions and decided to offer upgrade versions of Windows 7 in the UK, you might be wondering what versions of Windows can and can’t be upgraded.

Fortunately, Microsoft has produced a chart to show you what’s possible (click to enlarge):

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Our very own Windows 7 chkdsk bug

Thursday, August 6th, 2009

Microsoft’s Steven Sinofksy was right to elegantly demolish rumours that an error with Windows 7’s Check Disk facility could derail the launch of the operating system.

However, chkdsk has been causing a fair bit of irritation in the PC Pro office since long before this particular molehill was Googled into a mountain.

So far, it’s only affected myself and fellow newshound Stuart Turton, but practically every time we boot our Windows 7 RC machines, chkdsk kicks into action. That gives us precisely ten seconds to remember to press a key to cancel the process, or sit there for a couple of minutes while chkdsk diligently scans our drives and reports… no problem whatsoever.

Has anyone else seen this bug? If not, we’re launching a full-scale investigation into why Microsoft’s trying to monkey with the PC Pro news team.

Why Microsoft doesn’t really care about the UK

Tuesday, August 4th, 2009

Here’s a theory, and I’ll admit it’s a wild one, but here goes: the left hasn’t got a clue what the right’s doing at Microsoft.

Here we are, four days after Microsoft first announced that it wouldn’t be selling the Internet Explorer-less Windows 7 E editions after all, and still the UK arm of the company can’t answer the most basic questions on the topic.

What version will people who pre-ordered the E editions receive? Will we now have upgrade versions in the UK? What about the Family Pack? All of these fundamental questions remain unanswered since Friday evening. (Update at 2.20pm: Microsoft has now confirmed some of these details – click here to read our report).

Why? Because (I suspect) the first Microsoft’s UK team knew of the decision to drop E editions was when they read it on the Microsoft blog, like the rest of us. Microsoft UK may have battalions of “product managers” holed up in Reading and its flashy offices in Victoria, but the company is run out of Redmond. Always has been, always will be.

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The scandal that is Microsoft’s Windows 7 pricing in the UK

Friday, July 31st, 2009

So, how much bad news can you take in one lump? Because we’ve just received news of Microsoft’s Anytime Upgrade pricing for Windows 7 in the UK, and it makes for about as much jolly reading as a Stephen King novel.

And just to make things even worse, we’ve now had confirmation there will be no Family Pack of Windows 7 until “at least” 2010. So, if the worst comes to the worst, that means it could be 2011. Or later.

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