In the fast moving world of technology, it can become impossible to keep up with the ever changing landscape. This is why I have introduced this new series of posts to give you guys an idea of what is upcoming in the world of computers and whether it is worth the wait or better to just buy what is currently on offer. New technology also leads to price drops in the older (but not outdated) technology. For example, when Sandy Bridge processors from Intel came out, they offered a large jump in processing power as well as efficiency but laptops with the older generation of i5 and i7 could be found for $500-700, a far cry from the $1700 they were available for 6 months before. If you're willing to buy slightly older technology, the newer components can lead to massive savings for you especially as manufacturers and shops try to clear out their stocks. So what's new in the world of CPUs?

Intel

Intel is on the verge of releasing its new Ivy Bridge processors built on the 22nm architecture. They should by unveiled early next year and released soon after. It promises processors with more cores, more power and more efficiency than the previous generation as well as bringing 6 core processes to a more mainstream level (although still at the higher end). Obviously the high end will be well above $1000 but it should bring prices of existing Sandy Bridge processors down significantly. Sandy Bridge should be fine for the majority of people and is perfectly adequate for gaming as well. The potential cost savings are huge for those who want to build a cheap desktop or buy a new laptop. The advantages of upgrading to Ivy Bridge would be significant mainly for laptop users. The 22nm manufacturing process means less heat generated with more power. It should also be good news for overclockers especially due to the already high clock speeds and availability of multiplier unlocked processors.

AMD

AMD has already released their Bulldozer processors which includes the highest clock speed processor currently available however benchmarks have been disappointing. An interesting direction AMD seems to be taking is in launching Accelerated Processing Units (APUs) which aim to combine the roles of CPUs and graphics cards into one. This has the advantage of utilising the power of often unused graphics cards for everyday tasks. This also provides the benefit of lower power usage and less components in the system. This new concept will be of particular importance to laptops due to these key aspects. AMD is expected to replace its Bulldozer processors with the new Piledriver architecture in mid-late 2012. One key point about AMD processors is they are also significantly cheaper than Intel ones but offer similar performance. These soon to be released processors are capable of competing directly with both Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge processors from Intel and can be an excellent choice for those with a tight budget not looking to skimp on performance.

This is a brief summary of things to come in 2012. If you are considering building or buying a new computer, you might want to wait a few months for these new technologies to be released, either to have the latest and greatest or save a few bucks on the previous generation products. Please note that this information is based on leaked roadmaps and may not be 100% accurate, it is just meant to be used as a rough guide. The next post will cover motherboards.

UPDATE: I found this link to some tweaking software for the Developer Preview which fixes a few of these problems. You can add shutdown, restart and sleep buttons to the start menu now and also completely remove the Metro Start screen. Here is a link to the download

By now we've all had a chance to play around with the Windows 8 Developer Preview. Now, I know this isn't the final version but there are several things which Microsoft has done which annoy me to no end.

Firstly, there is the placement of the shutdown button. One of the most known commands on every single computer is usually kept in the most conspicuous place possible. What puzzles me to no end is why Microsoft chose to put it in the Settings menu. It makes no sense and to most people who think logically, it is the last place they would look. Clicking on the username gives the user the option to log off but not to shutdown. Obviously tablet users will not be bothered by this since most will just put their tablet to sleep but since this is meant to be a full blown desktop OS, many users will want to shutdown at the end of the day. It seems like a bit of an oversight to me.

The new Metro interface seems pretty cool when you first try it out but it's only when the fun is over and you need to do actual work that you realize how useless it is for productivity. First, it is not very clear what applications are currently running in the background. If you have 2 apps open you can easily switch between them by dragging from the left side of the screen but when there is more than this, it just becomes annoying. You have no idea what you are doing and having to keep returning to the Start screen to open new apps and search just adds an extra click to every process. A feature similar to Expose (but not a copy) on Mac OS X would be awesome for this purpose so I could have a birds-eye view of everything which is happening.

As well as this, Windows 8 offers both a Desktop mode and Metro mode. The Desktop mode is for compatibility applications but ends up being used quite often anyway. But what bothers me is that there seems to be absolutely no integration between the two. An app which I open on desktop mode cannot be dragged over to Metro and made full screen, it will just change that monitor to desktop mode as well. If I wanted to take a Metro app out of full screen and make it windowed, there is no way for me to do this either. To add insult to injury, there are TWO versions of Internet Explorer and Windows Explorer, one for each interface. Neither has any connection with one another and they seem completely different. Essentially this means that anyone who is new to computers is going to have to learn how to do the same thing on both modes in two different ways. Something which is honestly just stupid. It seems kind of like using two different operating systems at once and I don't think this is the way to go. It adds confusion and basically shows that Microsoft isn't really sure what they're doing. Finally, there is the lack of a list with all of your programs in it. You only have a choice of manually pinning it to the Start screen or searching for it. All this again requires an extra click or an extra two clicks if you are on Desktop mode.

So, quite obviously, the Metro interface is almost specifically designed to be used with touch screens. But since it is meant to also be a full blown desktop OS, it should also be keyboard and mouse friendly. Unfortunately, I often find that the mouse isn't two suited to Metro. It feels very out of place with all the random gestures and flicking, scrolling etc. Maybe there should be a few more options about how the OS handles the mouse, making it more mouse friendly when someone prefers to use that rather than an awkwardly placed touchscreen. I mean, let's face it, How many people actually have touch screen computers?

I feel that the new Metro interface is nice to look at but productivity is where it falls short. Everything you are used to doing takes an extra click. It feels more suited to tablets and phones rather than proper computers. I think there are quite a few improvements which can be made to improve the OS and it isn't a total lost cause. There are still plenty of aspects which I like about it but obviously those don't really fit with the title.

So what do you think about the new developer preview? Is it something you would like to use on a daily basis?

Stocks

A new stocks app. Looks pretty nice with good graphs. No ASX stocks available yet though

Windows Developer Build Windows Explorer

The new windows explorer is only available in the desktop mode. It does have the ribbon interface which isn't too bad but it should be better integrated

Windows Developer Build App Store

The marketplace is full of apps as you can see!

Connect 5 game

A kind of boring connect 5 game

Windows Developer Build Paint

I'm not actually sure whether this is the official pain app but it looks pretty good

Windows Developer Build Podcasts

A new podcast app integrated into the OS. The interface is good with podcasts able to be sorted into groups. It is similar to Windows Media Centre

Internet Explorer 10

A new version of Internet explorer. It opens websites full screen with the address bar at the bottom and tabs at the top. These pop up when you hover near them. Not so sure about the address bar at the bottom though. It seems a bit strange and unintuitive

Measure

Kind of like the measuring app on iOS where you take a photo, set a scale and can semi-accurately measure objects as king as you have no need for depth measurements

Search menu

A nice layout for the new search menu

Piano app splashscreen

Here is an example of the app full screen splash screens

Piano app

A nice piano app for touch screens, not so for mice and keyboards

RSS reader

An RSS reader with a similar layout to the podcast app

RSS reader gesture

If you look on the left side of the screen you can see a pop up of another app. You can just drag another open app from the left side of the screen and bring it up as full screen. Supposedly there's a way of making them split a screen but I haven't figured it out yet

Here is a quick overview of some of the apps included in the developer build of Windows. Most have pretty good concepts but need a bit more work to make them useful. Overall, it gives you an idea of how the OS works and the power of the system.

More pictures will come soon as I discover new features

Windows Developer Build Installation

The initial screen once the computer is started and files are loaded. Pretty similar to Windows 7

Windows Developer Build T&Cs

Again, this screen is pretty similar to the Windows 7 install

Windows Developer Build Installation

This first part of the installation is extremely similar to Vista and 7

Windows Developer Build Installation

20 minutes later...

Windows Developer Build opening screen

One of the first hints that you're installing a new version of Windows

Windows Developer Build Personalise

Finally, something new. The personalise screen is pretty easy to read and nice to look at

Windows Developer Build Settings

A convenient option for express settings is provided which keeps the installation moving along quickly

Windows Developer Build Login details

The login screen. Pretty standard

Windows Developer Build Welcome

Again, pretty standard stuff.

The new start screen

The awesome new start screen. It looks pretty similar to Windows Phone 7 but a bit bigger. There's a scroll bar down the bottom to go across to more apps

Start screen menu thingy

There is a menu which pops up which allows you to access settings for the home screen. It also pops up will you're in apps so you can press the start button to exit the app. I found it a bit difficult to get it to pop up with a mouse pointer as it wouldn't work if I let the mouse hover in the area, only if I moved the mouse to the bottom of the screen quickly. I guess it could work for tablets but not so sure about desktops

The new control panel

Although it looks nice and is easy to use, a lot of the time it would need to go to the desktop version (Windows 7esque) to get to more advanced settings such as changing the screen resolution. i found this a bit unintuitive and clunky

Windows Developer Build Desktop Mode

Desktop mode opens like a regular app. It basically looks the same as Windows 7 with a few slight changes. Everything works the same way and you can access everything as normal. It's a good idea for backwards compatibility but honestly, the new stuff should probably all go into the Metro interface so you don't have to keep switching between the modes to get to more advanced settings

Windows Developer Build Lock Screen

You drag the picture up with your mouse (or finger) to get to the actual logon area. It has the capability to show information from apps but none are available yet. The dragging gesture is awesome for tablets but not so good with mouse. The layout is very touch oriented and doesn't work as effectively with mouse and keyboard

Windows Developer Build Weather App

This is the new weather app. It looks really nice with a video playing in the background depending on the type of video. It can get a bit bogged down if you have too many cities added though. Overall it's nice and easy to read and quite good to look at as well. This also shows the new right click menu along the bottom. Pretty awesome, I'm confused about how you would access this with a touch screen. Maybe I should buy a touch screen computer to find out....

So the new developer build of Windows looks pretty cool. It is pretty similar to what you've been reading in the news lately. There are a few bugs for example, after leaving it on for a while, the screen goes black and the computer freezes. It also sometimes randomly crashes while in any app so it isn't something you want to use permanently. Overall, its a pretty good idea but needs a few improvements. There are a few preinstalled apps which I still have to look at and I'll make another post with more information on that stuff. For now, enjoy the slideshow!

UPDATE: Another small flaw is how difficult it is to access the shutdown button. It is hidden away in the most difficult to find spot. It probably should be located somewhere on the home screen

UPDATE: Here is the download link if you want to install it yourself. I used virtualbox to install it but beware that it will probably run a lot slower than what it should

Do you want a quick way to get Microsoft points? Well actually its not that quick but at least it is legal and free. You don't here those two words together often.

Microsoft has launched their latest campaign to bribe users to use their Bing search engine. Essentially, you install the Bing Bar and everytime you make five searches using the bing searchbar you get 1 point upto a maximum of 10 per day. Then occasionally there are certain offers which when clicked (usually boasting the features of Bing) gives you 3 points. These points can be exchanged for prizes which for now is only available for US residents. However the downloadable content such as music, ringtones and Microsoft points can all be available to everyone as long as you give them a US address (The best way is to use a hotel address) and they will email you the redemption code.

There are a few problems with this plan though. An average game for PC costs 2400 Microsoft points. It will take you 240 days to get this many points if you search each and every day for a maximum of 10 points. Adding in the occassional offers, you will still take ages to collect the points necessary to get anything decent. On top of this there is the privacy concern. You are basically giving everything you search for to Microsoft so they can "analyse" it.

After several failed attempts like Searchperks and Cashback do you think Bing Rewards will be enough to make users switch to Bing?

New Xbox 360

Microsoft will release a smaller, redesigned Xbox 360 console in Australia on July 1 featuring built-in wireless networking support and an internal, removable 250GB hard drive.

Don Mattrick, Xbox Senior Vice President, says the new console is "sleeker, smaller and whisper-quiet". It will cost $449 in Australia.

Microsoft's unveiled the redesigned machine at its press conference today at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles, the first official event of this week's Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). E3 is the biggest annual event on the world's gaming calendar.

The 90-minute presentation was evenly split between hardcore games designed to keep existing Xbox 360 fans glued to their consoles, and new motion-sensing games for the Kinect add-on, which Microsoft hopes can attract a wider audience to their system.

Kinect, which was previously known by the code-name Project Natal, will launch on November 4 in the US and before Christmas in Australia. Around 15 titles will be available at launch.

“For lots of people, that controller is a barrier,” says Microsoft creative director Kudo Tsunoda. “We set out to make a new control paradigm where anybody can get in and play, without having to read the instructions or learn a complicated set of controls.”

Read the Full Story

In my opinion, the Kinect seems like a way to cash in on Nintendo's success with the Wii. The Wii is extremely popular with whole families and younger kids and this is different target is what i think led to its success. For this reason both microsoft and Sony are trying to copycat Ninendo's moves to stay in the competition. But, Microsoft's new console looks absolutely awesome.

Pros:

-Free

-Effective virus protection

-Small file size

-Easy to understand interface

Cons:

-Lacks high end features such as email scanning and anti spam

-Full scan takes a long time to complete

Recently Microsoft launched their new security suite to combat the many viruses which plague PCs and give Mac people a point to argue about. But this isn't just another competitor in a huge market; this product is free and is built to put virus protection in almost every Windows computer due to its simple interface and low file size.

this new security suite is quite basic, consisting of an anti virus only. It has no anti spam, firewall or any other bells and whistles which other security suites have. Instead it relies on Windows' built in firewall as protection. Despite lacking some of the features of other security suites, it is incredibly light weight and only a 4MB download. The interface is simple and easy to use and understand. It shows all security threats visually but is very unobtrusive. It only interrupts when necessary, otherwise it quietly runs in the background.

Not only is it a quiet antivirus, it is also very effective in detecting and getting rid of viruses. It easily detected several trojans on my computer after visiting a dodgy site. This was after performing a quick scan which, for normal users is all that is needed. A quick scan only takes a few minutes and is quite good. The full scan which, as the name suggests, scans everything is quite slow, often taking a few hours to complete a scan. The program also constantly scans in the background while you are browsing the internet and warns you of potential threats. It quickly immobilises any viruses which get onto your computer through the internet. I doesn’t,  however, scan email as it comes through. This means that any viruses which get to you by email will only be detected after your computer has been infected. Visual cues make it easy for anyone to know whether something is wrong with your computer and large, clear buttons make this program easy to use and understand for anyone. In general, the software is reliable but the fact that it lacks may  high end features such as email scanning and software firewall, it is not a good solution for people and businesses with sensitive data. For any home user it is a perfect and cheap solution.

Overall, this anti virus package from Microsoft is an excellent free solution to a problem which has plagued PC users for years. It really leaves no excuse for having no virus protection as it is a good piece of freeware. Although it lacks some of the more advanced features of other security packages, it is free and you can't complain about that.

After a week of testing Microsoft's latest operating system out, here is a full review on how it is.

Pros

• Redesigned Taskbar
• Gesture Controls
• Faster than Vista
• Smaller Footprint

Cons

• Similar Appearance to Vista (Not really a bad thing but I like change)
• Some features are a bit gimmicky
• Pricey for Australians (unless you buy the OEM version)

Overview

I don’t have to remind everyone of the epic failure Vista was but Microsoft has now released their latest operating system, Windows 7. It has promised to be everything Vista was not. Judging by first impressions, I was very impressed. Installation was incredibly fast and easy (I performed a clean install) and surprisingly Windows found the drivers for ALL my devices automatically. My wireless card drivers were even there. I didn’t need to touch any of the CDs I got with the devices or manually go to websites to download 64-bit drivers. So far Windows 7 was living up to its claims.

Features

The most obvious new feature is seen as soon as the desktop has loaded. It is the new taskbar. I must say that it is nice to have large icons for a change. The taskbar is much tidier than the older windows ones as when a program is running, all you see is the icon of the program lit up on the taskbar. You can preview all the windows just by hovering over the icon and Windows will even maximise that windows will the mouse pointer is over the thumbnail. The new taskbar is very similar to Mac’s dock however minus the visual effects of bouncing icons and Mexican waves. Another new feature is the fact that the system tray is not clogged up with icons anymore. Instead all of the icons can go to an overflow area unless you specify that you want the icons on the system tray. Also, instead of having annoying pop ups saying your anti-virus is turned off etc. there is a new action center which is indicated by a flag. You just need to click on it to see what problems there could be on your computer and you can easily disable the message. Another new feature is Aero Peek which is a little button on the far right of the taskbar. If you hover over it, it turns all the windows transparent and allows you to see the desktop. Clicking on the button will minimise all windows. I honestly don’t see any point for this feature except for eye candy. The only thing you could use it for is if you needed to see the weather or check the currency exchange rates but it still is a fun thing to play with. Windows 7 also features a new search bar which I found extremely useful. The search is much more detailed and covers Control panel items as well. Once you use it you will never want to go back. This covers most of the new taskbar improvements.

Another feature which I really like is the gesture controls. For example, if you want to maximise the window you simply grab the top of it and drag it to the top of the screen. To restore it, you just drag down again. There is Aero Shake which means if you have hundreds of windows open on your desktop and you wanted to focus on that one window, you simply shake the windows you want to focus on and all the other windows will be minimised. If you want all the windows back, you just shake the same window again. Finally, there is Aero Snap where you can drag one window to the right of the screen and the other to the left and they will fit side by side making it easy to copy text from one to the other. When the two windows are side by side, you don’t to click twice to activate the other windows and do something. Instead you can just normally copy text without having to click the other window hundreds of times just to get it to activate. These small features easily become second nature and increase your productivity however I feel these features will be much more effective on a touchscreen rather than with a mouse. Another thing is the boot up time. This is significantly improved over Vista. Not only this but while everything is loading, you can use programs. You don’t have to click the Internet Explorer logo and wait 10 minutes with just the blue loading ring going on. It will load as fast as it does everytime. This just about covers the major Windows 7 improvements and the ones which are worth covering.

Installation

Windows 7 was a piece of cake to install. It is like installing any other program. You just keep clicking next and it will be installed. I managed to get it fully installed with updates and drivers in less than one hour. The OS also takes up a smaller footprint partly because Microsoft hasn’t included Windows Photo Gallery and Movie Maker. These can be installed as part of the Live Essentials program though and both programs are an improvement over their Vista counterparts. The new Movie Maker has the Ribbon interface which makes it easy to use and there are several new effects. it still can’t match iMovie though. Microsoft also but their Ribbon interface on Wordpad (The free version of Microsoft Word) and Paint. Microsoft has significantly improved Paint. It has new brushes and is a lot of fun to use. The brushes look realistic as well and some even “run out” of paint! Windows 7 also has new types of themes which allows you to have a line up of wallpapers which will change after a specified amount of time. In these themes you can also set the colour of the Aero glass. There are many downloadable themes from Microsoft’s website including ones for different countries. There are also a few themes from different companies such as Coca-Cola and Porsche. Microsoft has included quite a few themes pre installed and you can easily create your own theme if you want to.

Along with Windows 7, Microsoft released a free Security suite called Security Essentials. It is basically just an anti-virus. I tested this program out and it is actually really good. it doesn’t eat up RAM and is easy to manage. It is non intrusive and barely slows down start up time. I would highly recommend this product for average computer users. Those who need a lot of protection for their valuable data might want to look elsewhere as this suite doesn’t have some of the advanced features which many payware suites do have. There is a full review of this coming soon.

Conclusion

Overall, Windows 7 really has lived up to its claims. Although there are no real gaming performance advantages, Windows 7 loads faster and overall feels more polished than Vista was. There are several new features and although some may be gimmicky, it is still fun to use. Honestly, Windows 7 is on of the best Microsoft OS’s I have ever used and I highly recommend it to anyone. It will work on many computers, even those with low system specifications. Windows 7 really is what Vista never was.

Apple has launched a new line of Mac a day before Microsoft is set to release Windows 7. Apple's new iMacs have the latest Core i7 and i5 processors and a new "Magic Mouse". They also feature larger screen sizes (21.5 inches and 27 inches). The screens also have a Full HD (1920x1080) resolution as well as a 16:9 aspect ratio.

Apple's new mouse features multi touch technology allowing you to control everything using gestures such as pinching to zoom. This is similar to the trackpad found on Apple's laptops. The new iMac also has more USB ports and an SD card slot. The new Mac is also wall mountable showing how Apple is designing their computers more and more for the living rooms.

Judging by the overwhwelming response I got from all these people in my last post. I thought I would even the argument out a little. Here are 7 Reasons why a Mac is better than a PC.

1. Almost No Viruses

The majority of Mac users don't even have an anti virus. This is because there are very few viruses out there for Macs. This is due to the fact that there are more PCs in the world so people only want to make viruses which can spread quicker. This makes a PC the medium of choice. This is great news for Mac users who don't need an additional anti virus which means there is no additional program to slow their computer down and eat up RAM. There is a built in security to stop viruses if they do come. This is of course free as opposed to Microsoft's Live One Care.

2. Heaps of Software Built In

Macs come with so much useful software built in to them. These are mainly part of the iLife suite which includes things like iMovie, iPhoto and Garageband. These pieces of software are so much better than their PC alternatives as they are easy to use and not to mention free. For designers, the software they need is much cheaper than any comparable software on PCs and it is the same, if not more powerful. Take for example Final Cut Studio which is cheaper than Adobe's Premiere. This makes a Mac almost ready to go as soon as you buy it.

3. Dock

The Dock in OS X is so much easier to use and access than Windows' start menu. All the programs you need are conveniently viewable and much more accessible than the "All Programs" menu. The Dock is also more flexible as it can be made bigger, hidden etc. This also leaves the desktop free of clutter and gives it room to put all the drives on it. This makes it easier to quickly access all your drives instead of going into My Computer and searching through there.

4. Display

Apple Monitors are always very bright and vibrant. They reproduce colours very well. Their Macbook displays are especially good when compared to other Windows laptops. This makes Macs a very good choice for designers who need accurate colour reproduction.

5. Build Quality

Even PC users will agree that Apple's build quality is excellent. Their computers always feel expensive and oozing of quality. An example is the Macbook Pro. These have a unibody aluminium shell, glass screen and glass touchpad. Their iMacs are also similar in design.

6. It Runs Windows!

The fact that Apple supports Windows means that it has a bigger software pool to choose from. This means that a Mac user can have the advantage of getting things like iPhoto and iMovie, which outweigh their Windows competitors, as well as having support for Aperture 2 and Final Cut Studio. They can also choose from a wide range of PC software and hardware should they want something which Mac doesn't support. There are no Windows computers that can legally run a copy of Mac OS X.

7. Seamless Backups

Apple's Time Machine makes backing up your Mac easy. It is a powerful software which can perform backups at regular intervals. Compared to Vista's backup solution, Apple's software is incredibly easy to use. Anyone who hasn't backup up a computer before wouldn't find this a challenge.