Windows 7’s deranged desktops

Friday, May 8th, 2009

For the sake of comparison, take a look at the default desktop wallpapers from Ubuntu, Mac OS X and Windows Vista.

Obviously, none of these images are particularly ugly: Mac OS X looks attractive in a sort-of celestial way, and Windows Vista looks clean and modern. Ubuntu, which has received plenty of criticism for its lack of style, has a certain minimalist charm about it. Even if some people would suggest that it looks like Glastonbury after everyone’s left.

Imagine my surprise, then, when I installed the Windows 7 Release Candidate, got rid of the insipid little fish, and browsed to the gallery of default wallpapers that Microsoft has supplied.

The variety is astonishing. One looks like a bizarre, rejected Pokémon, and another is full of Tim Burton-esque dark charm. There’s even one that looks like Terry Pratchett’s Discworld, albeit after the turtle it’s based on had spent the night taking some very interesting substances.

I must admit that, despite its demonic quality – like an army of evil, face-eating Tic Tacs on an unstoppable march to minty glory – the following image is my favourite.

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Why my desktop is like a space station and other assorted thoughts

Monday, November 24th, 2008

Way back in 2001 I set off for university armed only with a rudimentary grasp of the object-orientated programming model and my trusty desktop computer. Actually, that’s a slight misnomer; my PC at the time was a reclaimed, bright blue server case that stood nearly as tall as me.

It weighed an absolute ton, and virtually no desk could support it. Inside were 4 or 5 hard disks, of random size and origin, a bizarre selection of scrounged components and enough fans to build a quite effective hovercraft, all linked to a controller that I’d built myself.

Needless to say, it wasn’t the most stable PC ever created. It fell over, a lot – very often because a screw had been worked loose by the vibration from all those fans and landed on a circuit board. In the halls of residence we used to hold regular movie nights, with media streamed all over the super-fast campus network. If the film stopped, I would have to run back to my room to find the offending screw, remove it and reboot. (more…)

Small but beautiful?

Friday, May 23rd, 2008

Just arrived at the PC Pro offices is the small but perfectly formed Transtec Senyo mini desktop PC. Unlike the MSI Titan David Bayon reviewed earlier in the week, which looked nice, but seriously underwhelmed when it came to the details, this one looks as if it has more of a chance.

It has a proper slot-loading DVD writer, a DVI output on the rear plus a host of other useful ports (including mini FireWire and three USB ports plus an SD, MMC and Memory Stick card reader).

More to the point, it’s notable for it’s lack of irritatingly pointless flaps. Check the reviews section next week for full a appraisal.

Aren’t PCs brilliant?

Friday, April 25th, 2008

It never ceases to amaze me just what you can do with a modern PC. I had a think last night about all the things I rely on my PC for and came up with a list quite mind-boggling in length.

Just check out the list of things I’ve used a PC to do in the last seven days: I’ve analysed how my fitness is improving, looked for a local Thai takeaway, looked up campsites in Brittany, researched facts and checked prices for a list of reviews as long as your arm.

I’ve downloaded free (legal, of course) house music to my laptop and practised my mixing skills, I’ve played a couple of games of scrabble, planned a walk, and processed and ordered a batch of prints from my digital camera.

Somewhere in there I also edited and archived some HD video, streamed music to my hi-fi, watched some BBC programs on iPlayer and checked in on the cat over the network camera at home. I’ve even sent the odd email.

It just goes to show what an essential tool a computer is these days – what would we do without them?