Thursday, June 23, 2011

Dell Streak



Specifications
Rs 34,990
www.dell.co.in/streak
Dimensions (WxHxD): 79x153x10 mm;
Weight: 220 g;
Display: 5-inch 480x800 TFT Capacitive;            
Memory: 16 GB internal;
CPU 1 GHz;
OS: Android: 1.6;
DATA: GPRS,EDGE,3G,Wi-fi-b/g,
Camera: 5 MP
Contact: Dell India
Phone:1800-425-4050
EMAIL: NA

 
The Dell Streak is a lot smaller than your average tablet and a lot bigger than a large touchscreen mobile phone. So the question is, just where does it fit in?
Dressed in all black, we have to admit that it’s quite a looker. It’s just 10 mm thick, which actually makes it a lot slimmer than quite a few smartphones. Weighing just 220 g, it’s comfortable to hold as well. It’s got 2.2 GB of internal memory and it also supports microSD cards of up to 32 GB. Although there’s a hot swap under the rear panel for the memory card, for some strange reason, the handset tends to auto switch-off if the panel is opened. The 3.5 mm hands-free port is located on one side, or rather the top of the device, since it’s typically supposed to be used in landscape mode like the Nokia N900. The volume/zoom keys, screen lock and the camera’s shutter release are also located on this side.
Dell’s first mistake is incorporating a proprietary USB/charging port (bottom) into the Streak. Since it’s pretty much a large mobile handset, it would have been a whole lot simpler on us if they went with a standard micro USB socket. Dell has gone with touch-sensitive buttons on one side of the display. A microphone is also located on the same side. A light sensor and front-facing VGA camera are located on the other side just near the phone’s speaker. Using this rather large device to answer calls takes a lot of getting used to, so we’d recommend using the hands-free instead. The large 5-inch touchscreen display sports a 480x800 pixel resolution, which makes it clear and easy to view even in the bright outdoors.
Dell’s second mistake is launching a device like this with an outdated version of the operating system. The Streak comes with Android 1.6 and we were told that it’s upgradeable to 2.1 (although we were unable to do so). Donut just doesn’t cut it anymore, and while Éclair has its flaws, it left 1.6 in its dust long ago. If you’re removing shortcuts/widgets from the desktop, there’s no click-and-drag-to-Trash option; you’ll have to select the icon and then select the menu button to remove the item. It allows you to create multiple desktops, and wallpapers can be set individually to each. The drop-down menus make it easy to access various options, notifications and settings.
We had a couple of issues with the UI. Firstly, multi-touch wasn’t a universal function. On any Android 2.1+ handset, Angry Birds would allow you to pinch zoom out so you can see just where you’re firing. Thankfully, the browser and image gallery allow for multi-touch zooming without a hitch. It still isn’t as smooth as the iPhone’s, but it’ll do. We expected a bit more in terms of speed from the Qualcomm Snapdragon 1 GHz processor. It’s not a slow handset, but activating apps and opening menus wasn’t as smooth as we’d hoped. The keypad could also have been a little better designed. With the num pad on the side, it means your right thumb is going to have to do a bit of stretching. In portrait mode, the Zero and ‘O’ are too close together since the num pad moves above the QWERTY keypad. It’ll take some getting used to.
There was quite a bit of confusion while syncing Facebook and Google accounts with the device’s phonebook. Most contacts that were downloaded didn’t allow us the option of sending them text messages until we had synced them with those transferred from the SIM phonebook, which is strange.
 
The music player is pretty standard in functionality, and it’s loud enough to listen to comfortably in a crowded train. The problem is that neither the hands-free nor the device’s earpiece provide proper clarity on calls. The volume on calls was just too low most of the time. The device also features a voice recorder, but no FM radio. Dell has included an MP3 Store application with the Streak that lets you search for music files and albums to download for a fee. The media player has no frills, except that it allows you to create playlists on the go. Sadly, the device doesn’t support DivX or XviD formats, so you’re going to have to convert videos before you can play them on the Streak. Once converted properly and optimized for the resolution, though, the viewing experience is not bad at all.
Like any high-end mobile phone, the Dell Streak is also well equipped for connectivity. From 3G (HSDPA, HSUPA), EDGE and Wi-Fi to Bluetooth (just version 2.0) with A2DP and USB 2.0, it’s all packed into this device. The Streak also comes with support for Microsoft Exchange and regular POP/IMAP accounts. For added functionality for Exchange, Dell has thrown in the TouchDown App with Active Sync support. Browsing the Internet on the large screen is absolute bliss and the native Android browser works just perfectly for rendering pages in a convenient, easy to read format.
While the integrated Facebook widget worked out just fine, the one for Twitter refused to let us sign in. Images can be easily shared or sent to email accounts, posted on Twitter, Facebook, Picasa or Flickr with just a couple of easy clicks. The Streak also has a GPS module, but there’s no preinstalled application other than Google Maps. There really aren’t too many other extras thrown in that are worth mentioning. A sync option for your Outlook Notes and tasks is available, Voice Control (which incidentally works really well) from Nuance Technologies, and Google Voice Search are on board as well. Productivity app QuickOffice is also available.
The 5 megapixel camera on the Streak comes with a dual LED flash and features that include a few scene modes, white balance, multi-shot, self timer and flicker adjustment.  Image quality is not bad at all. Whether outdoors or indoors, colors remain quite vivid and the details are quite good for a mobile phone sensor. The Streak isn’t going to win any awards for its 1530mAh battery. Thanks to its large display, battery life is quite low. On an average, it ran for a little over a day and a half with just over three hours of talk time.
So here’s the Rs 35,000 question – should you buy the Streak or go in for a mobile handset like the HTC Desire or Samsung Galaxy S? The handsets offer the same functionality as the Streak does and more, especially with Android 2.2 on board. Stick to a handset, we’d say. Don’t forget that the Galaxy S also comes in a 16 GB capacity and it’s more convenient to carry around. The Dell Streak just doesn’t fit in. Had it come with Éclair and better preloaded apps, it could be worth considering. On the plus side, it’s still smaller than a standard tablet, so you could just hold it up to your ear to talk, but it’s really not worth the price when a smaller device that does more is easily available. 

The Future of Computer Technology


Apart from this, scientists aim to use nanotechnology to create nanorobotsthat will serve as antibodies that can be programmed. This will help to protect humans against pathogenic bacteria and viruses that keep mutating rendering many remedies ineffective against new strains. Nanorobots would overcome this problem by reprogramming selectively to destroy the new pathogens. Nanorobots are predicted to be part of the future of human medicine.

 

 

• SPRAY-ON NANO COMPUTERS

Consider that research is being done at the Ediburgh University to create "spray-on computers the size of a grain of sand” that will transform information technology. The research team aims to achieve this goal within four years.
When these nanocomputers are sprayed on to the chests of coronary patients, the tiny cells record a patient’s health and transmit information back to a hospital computer. This would enable doctors to monitor heart patients who are living at home.

QUANTUM COMPUTERS

A quantum computer uses quantum mechanical phenomena, such as entanglement and superposition to process data. Quantum computation aims to use the quantum properties of particles to represent and structure data. Quantum mechanics is used to understand how to perform operations with this data. The quantum mechanical properties of atoms or nuclei allow these particles to work together as quantum bits, or qubits. These qubits work together to form the computer's processor and memory. Qubits can interact with each other while being isolated from the external environment and this enables them to perform certain calculations much faster than conventional computers.
By computing many different numbers simultaneously and then interfering the results to get a single answer, a quantum computer can perform a large number of operations in parallel and ends up being much more powerful than a digital computer of the same size.
"In the tiny spaces inside atoms, the ordinary rules of reality ... no longer hold. Defying all common sense, a single particle can be in two places at the same time. And so, while a switch in a conventional computer can be either on or off, representing 1 or 0, a quantum switch can paradoxically be in both states at the same time, saying 1 and 0.... Therein lies the source of the power." Whereas three ordinary switches could store any one of eight patterns, three quantum switches can hold all eight at once, taking "a shortcut through time." [Scientific America.com]
Quantum computers could prove to be useful for running simulations of quantum mechanics. This would benefit the fields of physics, chemistry, materials science, nanotechnology, biology and medicine because currently, advancement in these fields is limited by the slow speed of quantum mechanical simulations.
Quantum computing is ideal for tasks such as cryptography, modeling and indexing very large databases. Many government and military funding agencies are supporting quantum computing research to develop quantum computers for civilian and national security purposes, such as cryptanalysis.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

The term “Artificial Intelligence” was coined in 1956 by John McCarthy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It is a branch of computer science that aims to make computers behave like humans. [Artificial Intelligence] Artificial Intelligence includes programming computers to make decisions in real life situations (e.g. some of these “expert systems” help physicians in the diagnosis of diseases based on symptoms), programming computers to understand human languages (natural language), programming computers to play games such as chess and checkers (games playing), programming computers to hear, see and react to other sensory stimuli(robotics) and designing systems that mimic human intelligence by attempting to reproduce the types of physical connections between neurones in the human brain (neural networks).
Natural-language processing would allow ordinary people who don’t have any knowledge of programming languages to interact with computers.
So what does the future of computer technology look like after these developments?
Through nanotechnology, computing devices are becoming progressively smaller and more powerful. Everyday devices with embedded technology and connectivity are becoming a reality. Nanotechnology has led to the creation of increasingly smaller and faster computers that can be embedded into small devices.

This has led to the idea of pervasive computing which aims to integrate software and hardware into all man made and some natural products. It is predicted that almost any items such as clothing, tools, appliances, cars, homes, coffee mugs and the human body will be imbedded with chips that will connect the device to an infinite network of other devices. [Pervasive Computing]
Hence, in the future network technologies will be combined with wireless computing, voice recognition, Internet capability and artificial intelligence with an aim to create an environment where the connectivity of devices is embedded in such a way that the connectivity is not inconvenient or outwardly visible and is always available. In this way, computer technology will saturate almost every facet of our life. What seems like virtual reality at the moment will become the human reality in the future of computer technology.

Extending the Life of Your Laptop Battery


NotebookThe year 2006 marked a fundamental shift in PC hardware sales as laptop computers (also called “notebooks”) outsold desktop PCs for the very first time. As society becomes more mobile, laptops become ever-more powerful, portable, and affordable, and as wireless networks become ubiquitous, this trend will continue.
Obviously, the primary advantage of laptops is mobility. Naturally, however, laptops need power to run on. Even though electrical outlets are plentiful and can be found nearly everywhere, there are times when we have to resort to using the laptop’s battery – airplane trips, meetings, etc. I have also seen sudden power failures when I could have lost all my work had the laptop not had a charged battery. Despite the ongoing evolution of battery technology, there are limits to their usage, and that leads to a discussion of ways to preserve and improve battery functionality. We can start by discussing what a battery is, how it works, and the different types of batteries in use today.

What is a Battery, Anyway?

LemonIn simple terms, a battery is chemical energy stored in a container. The chemical energy is then converted to electrical form. A battery has two terminals, negative and positive, that must be connected for the current to flow. This connection is usually provided by a liquid or solidelectrolyte that is a conductor; it has the ability to transfer current.Cathode and anode are two electrodes, an electrical conductor that makes contact with the metallic part of a circuit, present in a battery.
Current flows from the cathode to anode inside the cell or device.

Different Types of Batteries

In contemporary portable electronic devices, especially given environmental concerns, batteries must not only store energy in a compact form, they must be rechargeable.
Batteries are usually named based on the metal used to make either the electrodes or the electrolyte. A lithium-ion battery (“LiOn”) has a lithium anode, a zinc-carbon battery has a zinc anode, and a nickel-metal hydride battery (NiMH) or a nickel-cadmium battery(NiCD) has a hydrogen-absorbing alloy for the anode.
Early rechargeable batteries were composed of Nickel-Cadmium (or “NiCad”). NiCads were great because they were rechargeable, but early NiCads held comparatively small charges as well as suffering from “Memory Effect” – if the battery was only partially drained and then recharged, it lost its ability to be fully recharged.
Most portable devices these days use Lithium-Ion batteries.
Lithium is the lightest metal and the one with the highest stored (“potential”) electrochemical energy. These qualities, along with the fact they do not contain poisonous metals (such as cadmium) make lithium-based batteries the most widely used to power portable devices such as laptops.
Now that we understand the basic functionality of a battery, let’s discuss ways to preserve and prolong battery life, specifically laptop computer batteries.

Life Preserver

Life PreserverJust as proper use and maintenance of your car will result in longer life and better performance, taking certain steps with your portable electronics’ batteries will result in longer use per charge, and a longer overall battery life. With replacement laptop batteries ranging from anywhere between $100.00 and $300.00, getting all the use you can out of your battery will save you lots of aggravation and keep more money in your pocket longer.
As soon as your portable device leaves the manufacturer’s premises, its battery starts losing capacity to store a charge. In some cases, it may show more charge stored than there actually is. You may end up exhausting what’s available without knowing it and the computer may end up shutting down causing you to lose your work. Now that is not a situation you want to find yourself in. The fact of the matter is it is unavoidable after a certain period of time as the battery goes through gradual degradation. There are, however, ways to extend your battery life.
If your device always (or usually) runs on external power, you may be inadvertently decreasing your battery life. At least once a month, let the device use up all the battery power. In other words, let the battery drain until the computer goes to sleep (“hibernate mode”) and then let it re-charge. This can help avoid capacity degradation.
Some notebooks, using a combination of specialized hardware, intelligent batteries, and special “services” (small programs running in the background) offer a “recondition” feature that will automatically prompt you to condition your battery and then attempt to do so in the background. If you are prompted by your system to condition your battery, you should probably allow it to do this.
Operating temperature is another important factor when we talk about battery life. Extreme high temperatures can cause degradation rapidly, just as extreme low temperatures can damage batteries— don’t leave your notebook in your car for extended periods on hot days or overnight on cold nights.
It is recommended that you do not use your laptop without a battery in the bay. Doing so may cause the electrical terminals in the battery bay to become dirty or get corroded. It should be avoided for these reasons and the fact that you may lose your work since there is no backup power supply.

Micro-Manage Your PC Power

battery lifeLet’s talk about power management settings on your laptop. “Power management is a feature of some electrical appliances that turns off the power or switches the system to a low-power state after a period of inactivity” (“Power Management”). On a laptop, power management is accomplished by a specialized chip working together with the Operating System. Many modern battery packs are “intelligent batteries” – they contain microprocessors that continually monitor capacity and communicate this information to the Operating System. This information is used by the system in conjunction with power management settings, specifically for determining when to issue low capacity warnings and switching to hibernate mode. In order to use these settings, your computer must be Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) compliant, which most recent computers are.
In Windows XP, you can control the power management features of your display, hard drive, shut down, stand by and hibernate, and low battery warnings.
Even though modern monitors do not consume a lot of electricity, monitors, hard drives, and the CPU are the three biggest electricity consumers on your laptop. Big, bright LCD monitors with backlights require comparatively large amounts of electrical current, as do the spinning motors and actuators inside hard drives. It is a good idea to shut your monitor off when you are not using it.
Power management allows you to set a fixed time, and if the computer sits idle for that long, the monitor is turned off. The same can be accomplished using power management when it comes to “spinning down” (temporarily turning off) the motor of your hard drive, and even toggling the CPU into a lower power consumption “idle speed”.

You are Getting Sleepy…

hibernateHibernate and Standby are two main energy conserving features provided by Windows XP. The standby state turns off devices such as your monitor and the hard drive and the entire computer switches to a low-power state. It is easy to return where you had left off as standby leaves applications and files open on your laptop. You should only use it for short term purposes such as a short term break you may need. Keep in mind that nothing is written to the hard drive and everything is still only being stored in memory. This means that data has not been stored permanently and can be lost. Hibernate mode is another feature that can be used if you want to leave the computer overnight or even over the weekend and come back to where you left off. It writes an image of your entire laptop’s current “state” to a special file on your hard drive. It takes a little longer to hibernate than it does to stand by as data are written to the hard drive before the system shuts off, but you can leave your computer in hibernate mode for days without any adverse effects.
Low battery warnings are provided when the charge drops to a certain level and the battery needs to be recharged. You can adjust these settings using power management features according to your needs. You should set it to allow ample time to switch to external power and save your work. 10-15% charge remaining is considered a safe setting to trigger such a warning so you can not only switch to external power but also save your work. Windows XP also allows for your laptop to automatically enter hibernation mode when your battery level reaches this pre-set threshold, thereby saving all of your open work (and maybe your job or your sanity in the process.)

Power v. Performance

tortise&hareTo access the power management features on your laptop, simply double-click the battery icon in the lower-right corner of your screen (on the Task Bar), or go to Start > Control Panel > Power Options. Proper power management of these devices is an extremely useful feature, and will help you to strike the ideal performance v. battery life balance.

Even though battery performance declines over time, it is possible to prolong per-charge and overall battery life by taking simple steps.

Friday, June 10, 2011

Myth Regarding a Computer Career

It is this time of the year that frustrates me no end. Time when the 10+2 students need to opt for a career path. Inadvertently all and sundry who have secured 60% and above opt for a career either in medicine or engineering, given the society trends. Of the lot that opts for engineering, more than 50% would already have decided to pursue a job in the booming computer science field irrespective of which branch of engineering they have secured. With all this in place, I usually have a stream of visitors who drop in with their parents and guardians with a single query in mind. Though worded and mouthed differently, all of them convey this

"People of late have been saying that the computer industry has already reached saturation. So think wisely before you send your ward off to engineering. Who knows whether the industry will be flourishing by the time he/she passes out of college"

It beats me as to how people turn so naive as to believe any Tom, Dick and Harry's views on the computer industry and worry themselves to death. When I question them as to who mentioned so, I get ridiculous answers. "Our college principal told us" ( The college principal is a Sanskrit professor ) or "My neighbour warned me" ( the neighbour turned out to be a hotel owner ) or "My friend, a local press correspondent happened to mention about bad times ahead for the computer industry" ( turns out that the so-called press correspondent happens to be a small time reporter who covers local events in the town and who incidentally does not even know what an e-mail address is ). The most amazing one and common one is where the people quote with all seriousness their computer tutor, having asked them to reconsider their decision. When I investigate who this person is, it is almost always the computer teacher from the local computer center who has reconciled himself to teaching BASIC and FORTRAN all his life to students who unwittingly join his institute. Some even go to the extent of pointing out examples of students who finished a degree in computers and yet are jobless. A background check reveals that he has never even made a honest attempt to find himself a job or that he was pushed to learn computers following his parents dictum.

Gosh !!! People are indeed naive and gullible and ...I am at a loss for words. I don't blame them. I just blame the meteoric rise of the computer industry in India. Being bitten by the meteoric rise and fall of the Indian Sensex, the layman can be excused for his mistrust on anything that has gained center stage so rapidly.

I take different approaches to convince people that the computer industry though booming will never all of a sudden disappear into oblivion. The global economy, society, man's luxurious ways are too potent a force to allow such a thing to happen. My debate starts with a question that tries to draw their attention on the all too obvious. Something like this...

  • Didn't you see Narayan Murthy's concern about lack of work force in the newspapers yesterday?
  • Do you think the world will one day decide to just shut down all computers and decide to go back to stone age ?
  • Do you think that the people in the developed world will suddenly take a decision to accept salaries that Indians are paid and avoid further outsourcing?
For people who flash the "I am unconvinced" look on their face, I persist...with more sublime questions.

  • Will you stop using Microsoft Word one fine day and announce I am going back to the typewriter? That might be a strong reason for Microsoft to stop working on new software and cut down on its employees.
  • Will you accept if your bank decides to switch back to the traditional manual teller and withdraw its ATM services?
  • What if Airtel, Spice, Hutch and BSNL stop their mobile services and ask their customers to revert back to land line use?
My whole attempt is to get them to realize that the computer industry is here to stay albeit a few ups and downs. Most people realize the folly of their uncalled fears and beat a hasty retreat.

For the ones who still refuse to accept the stark reality, I serve my punch line that catches them totally off guard. I look into their eyes and ask, "Do you actually believe what your friend/neighbour just shot from his mouth?".

The majority quickly take refuge with an understandable, 'No'.

For those who answer 'Yes', I indicate that the conversation has come to an end with, "Medicine I feel would be a better option for your ward...'coz the doctor's profession has shown itself never to die as long as there are humans on this planet"

They get the message.

10 reasons Windows 7 will rule the desktop OS space


Takeaway: In the battle for desktop OS supremacy, both Linux and Mac OS proponents say their platforms are gaining ground. See why Deb Shinder thinks Windows 7 has nothing to worry about.
In the battle for desktop OS supremacy, both Linux and Mac OS proponents say their platforms are gaining ground. See why Deb Shinder thinks Windows 7 has nothing to worry about.


There has been much hype over the last few years about Linux and Mac gaining market share, and even though their numbers are still small (both in single digits), some have gone so far as to predict that Windows is in danger and that Linux will “triumph over Windows” or that Mac OS is “set to become the dominant operating system in the world.”
The perceived failure of Windows Vista — whose death was greatly exaggerated by a series of clever but not entirely accurate Apple commercials — only added fuel to the fire. Based on some of the headlines, you would have thought that individuals and companies were abandoning Microsoft in droves and flocking to the alternative operating systems. The impressive sales of the original EeePC and other Linux-based netbooks seemed to support that contention. Then, vendors started making netbooks that run Windows XP and the reports started coming in that Linux netbooks were being returned at a rate four times that of their Windows-based counterparts.

As of October 2009, according to Net Applications, Windows still had more than 92% of the total OS market share but Windows 7 only made up 4%. On the other hand, Windows 7 achieved that number only two weeks after being released; it took Vista seven months to reach 4%. Linux is nowhere near that figure (at around 1%), and Mac is only slightly higher (5.27%).)
So how will it all play out now that Windows 7 is in the game? Here are 10 reasons I believe Microsoft’s new OS will rule the desktop operating system space just as XP does now.
Note: This article is also available as a PDF download.

1: XP users are (finally) ready for something new

Windows XP currently holds more than 70% of the OS market share, according to Net Applications. But XP was released in 2001, and despite three service packs, it’s getting a bit long in the tooth. Although service packs have added features as well as fixes, XP still lacks many of the usability features that were added to Vista and Windows 7.
Of more concern, especially to businesses, XP lacks many of the security mechanisms that are built into Vista and Windows 7, such as UAC, protected mode IE, BitLocker encryption (some editions), system services that are more isolated and run with fewer privileges, a new TCP/IP stack with better authentication and encryption, Address Space Layout Randomization, and more.
Even many XP diehards are beginning to yearn for something new, and companies that want to take advantage of enterprise technologies such as DirectAccess and AppLocker will need to upgrade.

2: It’s (usually) an easy upgrade from Vista

For those who are already running Vista SP1 or above, an in-place upgrade to Windows 7 is quick and easy on most computers. (However, note that there have been reports among a small number of users of an “endless reboot loop” problem with Vista-to-Win7 upgrades.)
Nonetheless, I have upgraded a number of adesktops and laptops from Vista to Windows 7 with no problems, and the vast majority of my readers have reported the same experience. Unlike with in-place upgrades with past operating systems, I have seen no performance or stability problems in the upgraded systems.

3: It’s better, but not too different

Moving to any new OS always involves a learning curve. Some people love discovering new features and learning new ways of doing things. Others hate change, even when it’s good change. In general, computer users just want to be able to get their work done. Most are used to the way things are done in Windows, and the basics are still there in Windows 7. Switching to an entirely different platform, such as Linux or Mac, takes much more getting used to.
It’s certainly true that the graphical user interfaces for Linux have gotten better over the years, but computer users coming from a Windows environment will still find some challenges awaiting them there. The terminology is different — you have a root account instead of administrator. The file system is different — you have mysterious locations such as /dev for your peripherals (mouse, keyboard, monitor), /bin for binary (executable) files, and /etc for editable text configuration files. An application’s files are spread out on your hard drive in different directories, not installed in their own separate subdirectories as they are in Windows. Installing a program may or may not involve having to compile the source code or create your own installation package. In addition to getting used to a new OS, in many cases you’ll have to get used to new applications, too, since many Windows apps don’t have Linux versions.
The Mac OS is a little more intuitive, but if you’re coming from Windows, it’s still a bit like entering a foreign country. There are none of the installation and setup problems you might experience with Linux, since OS X runs only on Apple hardware. However, you’ll find that things are “arranged” differently. For instance, a program’s menus appear at the top of the screen, rather than in the program’s own window as they do in Windows. Once again, many of the productivity programs you’re used to using won’t run on the Mac, so you’ll need new ones and, unlike with Linux, most of them are not free.
Windows 7 has a new, sleeker look and a number of new features, but it still retains the Windows feel. It generally takes XP users much less time to get to know the OS than when switching to a Linux or Mac platform.

4: Hardware requirements are reasonable

Many computer users were unhappy with the increased hardware requirements of Windows Vista. Those with older XP machines often found that their systems wouldn’t support the new operating system. That led some to switch to Linux, which would run on less powerful computers.
By almost all accounts, Windows 7 runs much better on old or low cost machines than Vista did. Many users have been able to install and run Windows 7 on computers that would not run Vista satisfactorily, if at all. Fewer users will be forced to buy new hardware to upgrade to Windows 7, which might mean fewer will be moving to Linux to get a new OS without upgrading the hardware.
Of course, the Mac OS can’t be installed on non-Apple hardware, so moving from XP or Vista to a Mac necessitates buying new hardware, regardless of how powerful your current system might be.

5: Most computer users aren’t geeks

Geeks love the challenge of getting the hardware and software to work, and they don’t mind spending hours or days experimenting with configuration settings or swapping out cards. Linux is the perfect OS for geeks — but most computer users aren’t geeks. They care about the task, not the technology. They just want to be able to get their work done or play their game without worrying about hunting down the right drivers or compiling code themselves.
When a geek is told to “Just extract the tarball and use flex or bison to compile the app,” hey, no problem. When typical home or office computer users encounter those words, they blink in confusion or cower in fear. Sure, new distros of Linux are easier to use than ever, but they still aren’t as easy to use as Windows — especially when you factor in the familiarity aspect.

6: Most computer users don’t care about “cool”

For some folks, it’s all about being cool. And Apple products are undeniably cool, from the super thin Macbook Air to the charming Mini to the sleek and sexy iPhone. The goal is to be on the cutting edge, to own what’s “in” (remember Cabbage Patch Kids?). Form takes precedence over functionality. It’s also about elitism: being able to afford the “very best.” Those people naturally gravitate to high priced, showy Macs.
However, the majority of computer users don’t use their computers to make a fashion statement; they use them to run applications… which brings us to the next point.

7: There are a lot of apps for that

No matter how nice those Macs look, they don’t run all the applications that many users need. Apple brags that one of the reasons to choose an iPhone is the fact that there are more apps available for it than for some other mobile phone operating systems. Well, that same principle applies when choosing a desktop OS — but in that case, Windows wins hands-down. There are more programs. Even more important, more of the programs that function as the de facto standard for a particular purpose (such as the Microsoft Office programs) are made for Windows. Yes, there’s Office for Mac, too, but it doesn’t have all the features and functionality of its Windows counterpart.
The same goes for Linux. There are substitutes available, such as Open Office instead of Office, or GIMP instead of PhotoShop, but it’s just not the same. Even though these alternatives may be free, most people who rely on their applications for important work prefer the commercial versions (which run on Windows).
Mac and Linux fans will quickly point out that you can always use Parallels or Wine to run Windows apps in a virtualized environment. But the fact that those options are so popular just reinforces the argument that Windows has the best apps.

8: You get more — and less

Windows 7 gives you more new features, while at the same time providing a leaner and meaner OS. You no longer have to install a third-party application to get handy little functionalities like Sticky Notes, and Windows 7 adds major improvements to the interface, such as multi-touch support. You also get more keyboard shortcuts to speed up input, as well as the ability to encrypt removable drives with BitLocker to Go, better support for solid state drives, and virtual hard disks. Windows 7 has built-in biometric support, and Windows Media Center now comes with the Pro edition (but can easily be blocked via Group Policy in the business environment). Standard built-in apps such as Paint, Wordpad, and Calculator have been made more feature-rich so that you can do much more with them.
Yet all of these additions don’t make Windows 7 a more bloated operating system. Microsoft also cut out many of the apps that were built into previous operating systems, but which many users never used. The email client (Windows Mail), more sophisticated Photo Editor (Windows Photo Gallery), Contacts, and Calendar programs are no longer installed with the OS. Yet for those who want them, all of those programs are still available as free downloads from the Microsoft Windows Live Web site.

9: The price is (generally) right

Sure, there have been many complaints that Windows 7 costs too much. But Microsoft actually dropped the price of the Home Premium edition, in comparison with the same edition of Vista, and it kept the prices the same for other editions. The list price for the full version of Windows 7 Professional is the same as for Windows XP ($299.99).
Although the full version prices may sound a tad high ($199.99 for Home Premium, $299.99 for Pro, and $319.99 for Ultimate), the vast majority of people will already have a qualifying Microsoft operating system. So they’ll pay the upgrade price ($119.99 for Home Premium, $199.99 for Pro, and $219.99 for Ultimate) or buy a new computer with Windows 7 preinstalled (with drastically discounted OEM pricing).
A number of discount programs are also available, such as the student discount (one copy of Home Premium or Pro for $29.99 for students enrolled in colleges and universities) and the family pack discount (three Home Premium upgrade licenses for $149.99).

10: Businesses care about the bottom line

Speaking of price, what it all comes down to in the business world is the bottom line. Companies compare total cost of ownership of different software options, not just the initial price point. That includes support costs, hardware costs, training costs, and productivity impact. And the majority of businesses, after doing such an analysis, choose to stick with Windows.

PLAY ALL GAMES ON YOUR PC WITHOUT GRAPHIC CARD.

PLAY ANY LATEST GAME WITHOUT GRAPHICS CARD – 1000+downloads
Found this interesting…and 3000+ downloads, so sharing it.
NOW U CAN PLAY ANY LATEST GAME WITHOUT GRAPHICS CARD!!!! JUST INSTALL THIS SOFTWARE IN UR PC AND PLAY GAME WITH IT…
3d analyze is a Graphics Card Emulator that can emulate all the feature of a 3d graphics card like pixelshader 1.1, 1.4, 2.0, bump maps and a lota stuff. If a game stops running on your system just because u dont have a graphics card, dont worry 3d analyze will do it for ya. run 3danalyze select the game exe, select a few options u wanna emulate and there u go the game run perfectly now.





like POP1, POP2, THE HULK, MX vs ATV are few to mention though. the list goes on if i start writing all of them here. The most basic option selection i used is as in attached screenshot… changed a bit here and there for few games….
SO JUST DOWNLOAD THIS SOFTWARE AND PLAY GAMES WITH IT….


Put one of this Graphics id in specific field
  1. NVIDIA Geforce Ti 4600
  2. VendorID: 4318
  3. DeviceID: 592
  4. NVIDIA GeforceFX 5900 ultra
  5. VendorID: 4318
  6. DeviceID: 816
  7. Ati Radeon 8500
  8. VendorID: 4098
  9. DeviceID: 20812
  10. Ati Radeon 9800 pro
  11. VendorID: 4098
  12. DeviceID: 20040






TO DOWNLOAD CLICK ON THE IMAGE ABOVE.