http://www.pvtech.com.au Mon, 06 Sep 2010 01:43:04 +0000 http://www.pvtech.com.au/news/8/Microsoft-confirms-final-Windows-7-system-requirements.html Mon, 25 May 2009 14:06:04 +0000 http://www.pvtech.com.au/news/8/Microsoft-confirms-final-Windows-7-system-requirements.html
Here's the list of initial system requirements Microsoft made available:

* 1GHz processor (32- or 64-bit)
* 1GB of RAM
* 16 GB of available disk space
* Support for DirectX 9 graphics with 128MB of memory (for the Aero interface)

And here, you will find the updated and final list of requirements:

* 1 GHz processor (32- or 64-bit)
* 1 GB of RAM (32-bit); 2 GB of RAM (64-bit)
* 16 GB of available disk space (32-bit); 20 GB of avaiable disk space (64-bit)
* DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver

According to ZDNet, however, "If you are planning to run Windows XP Mode along with Windows 7, Microsoft is recommending a PC with a minimum of 2GB of memory and 15 GB of additional disk space." Microsoft stated, "In addition, Windows Virtual PC requires a PC with Intel-VT or AMD-V enabled in the CPU, as it takes advantage of the latest advancements in hardware virtualization."

If you're interested in comparing, here is the list of final specifications for Windows Vista:

* 1 GHz processor (32- or 64-bit)
* 512 MB of RAM (for Home Basic); 1 GB of RAM for all other versions
* 15 GB of available disk space
* Support for DirectX 9 graphics and 32 MB of graphics memory (for Home Basic); 128 MB of graphics memory plus WDDM support for all other versions


These specifications are not specific to any particular SKU, and again, are final. Thoughts? ]]>
Here's the list of initial system requirements Microsoft made available:

* 1GHz processor (32- or 64-bit)
* 1GB of RAM
* 16 GB of available disk space
* Support for DirectX 9 graphics with 128MB of memory (for the Aero interface)

And here, you will find the updated and final list of requirements:

* 1 GHz processor (32- or 64-bit)
* 1 GB of RAM (32-bit); 2 GB of RAM (64-bit)
* 16 GB of available disk space (32-bit); 20 GB of avaiable disk space (64-bit)
* DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver

According to ZDNet, however, "If you are planning to run Windows XP Mode along with Windows 7, Microsoft is recommending a PC with a minimum of 2GB of memory and 15 GB of additional disk space." Microsoft stated, "In addition, Windows Virtual PC requires a PC with Intel-VT or AMD-V enabled in the CPU, as it takes advantage of the latest advancements in hardware virtualization."

If you're interested in comparing, here is the list of final specifications for Windows Vista:

* 1 GHz processor (32- or 64-bit)
* 512 MB of RAM (for Home Basic); 1 GB of RAM for all other versions
* 15 GB of available disk space
* Support for DirectX 9 graphics and 32 MB of graphics memory (for Home Basic); 128 MB of graphics memory plus WDDM support for all other versions


These specifications are not specific to any particular SKU, and again, are final. Thoughts? ]]> http://www.pvtech.com.au/news/7/Feds-want-hackers-to-secure-the-nation%27s-networks.html Tue, 21 Apr 2009 12:36:45 +0000 http://www.pvtech.com.au/news/7/Feds-want-hackers-to-secure-the-nation%27s-networks.html ResumeWare.net, asking for an applicant who will "understand hacker methodologies, tools, and tactics. Additionally, the candidate will have an understanding of common operating system and domain structures, servers, services, and associated vulnerabilities."

This report comes from Fox News, who say the job posting is on behalf of the Homeland Security Department, and that they (the applicant) would receive payment to secure the nation's networks. It seems everybody is getting on the cyber security bandwagon; the Pentagon is increasing the number of security experts they have from 80 to 250 by 2011. David Powner, who is the director of technology issues for the Government Accountability Office, said that, "We're clearly not as prepared as we should be." The U.S. has not kept up with technology innovations which are needed to protect the country from cyber attacks, of which there are a vast amount each day. The Pentagon has reportedly spent over $100 million in the last 6 months, on repairing damage from these attacks, and responding to them.

It's good to see security against cyber attacks being stepped up, and it will be a vital step in many respects. The U.S. is ill-prepared for a cyber attack, as Fox News states, and this job posting will fill a position in the government that is greatly needed.]]> ResumeWare.net, asking for an applicant who will "understand hacker methodologies, tools, and tactics. Additionally, the candidate will have an understanding of common operating system and domain structures, servers, services, and associated vulnerabilities."

This report comes from Fox News, who say the job posting is on behalf of the Homeland Security Department, and that they (the applicant) would receive payment to secure the nation's networks. It seems everybody is getting on the cyber security bandwagon; the Pentagon is increasing the number of security experts they have from 80 to 250 by 2011. David Powner, who is the director of technology issues for the Government Accountability Office, said that, "We're clearly not as prepared as we should be." The U.S. has not kept up with technology innovations which are needed to protect the country from cyber attacks, of which there are a vast amount each day. The Pentagon has reportedly spent over $100 million in the last 6 months, on repairing damage from these attacks, and responding to them.

It's good to see security against cyber attacks being stepped up, and it will be a vital step in many respects. The U.S. is ill-prepared for a cyber attack, as Fox News states, and this job posting will fill a position in the government that is greatly needed.]]> http://www.pvtech.com.au/news/6/First-512GB-SSD-offered-for-sale%3A-%241500.html Thu, 16 Apr 2009 16:19:28 +0000 http://www.pvtech.com.au/news/6/First-512GB-SSD-offered-for-sale%3A-%241500.html SSDs have always been for those with a lot of cash and a lot of demand for speed, and after this new product introduction, things are still the same. SSDs, or solid state drives, are popular because they're fast and reliable. They feature no moving parts, so they don't suffer nearly as badly from knocks or drops as regular hard drives. Although, these benefits come with a price; these drives are typically much smaller in storage, and because they're a lot harder to manufacture, they're a great deal pricier too.

According to Techworld, a company named Super Talent has made a world first and debuted a 512GB SSD ready for consumers; the largest to ever be sold. There have been storage solutions similar to this, like a setup from OCZ that features 1TB of SSD storage by tightly packing four 265GB SSDs, but none have had this level of space in one drive before.

Now that Super Talent have come out and done this, expect to see others do the same. Toshiba have plans to get their own range of these ready; in the technology world, having the competitive advantage never lasts long. And yes, as you may have deducted from the title, this will render your wallet about $1500 worse off, so be sure to get a mortgage before you plan to upgrade to these.]]> SSDs have always been for those with a lot of cash and a lot of demand for speed, and after this new product introduction, things are still the same. SSDs, or solid state drives, are popular because they're fast and reliable. They feature no moving parts, so they don't suffer nearly as badly from knocks or drops as regular hard drives. Although, these benefits come with a price; these drives are typically much smaller in storage, and because they're a lot harder to manufacture, they're a great deal pricier too.

According to Techworld, a company named Super Talent has made a world first and debuted a 512GB SSD ready for consumers; the largest to ever be sold. There have been storage solutions similar to this, like a setup from OCZ that features 1TB of SSD storage by tightly packing four 265GB SSDs, but none have had this level of space in one drive before.

Now that Super Talent have come out and done this, expect to see others do the same. Toshiba have plans to get their own range of these ready; in the technology world, having the competitive advantage never lasts long. And yes, as you may have deducted from the title, this will render your wallet about $1500 worse off, so be sure to get a mortgage before you plan to upgrade to these.]]> http://www.pvtech.com.au/news/5/New-Leopard-10.5.7-build-released%2C-public-release-imminent%3F.html Thu, 16 Apr 2009 16:16:13 +0000 http://www.pvtech.com.au/news/5/New-Leopard-10.5.7-build-released%2C-public-release-imminent%3F.html Apple has released another build of the upcoming 10.5.7 operating system, which builds on the existing Leopard iteration, to developers and many people are whispering that a release is coming very, very soon. The news comes from AppleInsider, who states that developers have been getting weekly betas for nearly two months, the most recent of which being late Tuesday. There are a few signs that the release is coming soon, one of which being extremely frequent builds that only fix one or two issues at a time. This is a sign they're just hunting and killing minor bugs as they find them, and that development is closing up.

Mac OS X 10.5.7 brings with it 108 documented code corrections, and is currently in it's seventh week of testing. It will bring with it updates to 20 of the core OS X components, such as iCal, MobileMe syncing, networking and Time Machine, as well as bringing an updated speech dictionary. There has been another indication that it is arriving soon, and that is that iMacs equipped with ATI Radeon HD 4850 are shipping very shortly, or in some cases have begun shipping. It was thought that these graphics card required the 10.5.7 update, but as AppleInsider mentioned, this isn't exactly confirmed.

The update is expected to hit around 443 megabytes, and it will be a delta one meaning there will be no operating system reinstall needed. There's no official release date yet, but if you've read the article, you should expect one very soon.]]> Apple has released another build of the upcoming 10.5.7 operating system, which builds on the existing Leopard iteration, to developers and many people are whispering that a release is coming very, very soon. The news comes from AppleInsider, who states that developers have been getting weekly betas for nearly two months, the most recent of which being late Tuesday. There are a few signs that the release is coming soon, one of which being extremely frequent builds that only fix one or two issues at a time. This is a sign they're just hunting and killing minor bugs as they find them, and that development is closing up.

Mac OS X 10.5.7 brings with it 108 documented code corrections, and is currently in it's seventh week of testing. It will bring with it updates to 20 of the core OS X components, such as iCal, MobileMe syncing, networking and Time Machine, as well as bringing an updated speech dictionary. There has been another indication that it is arriving soon, and that is that iMacs equipped with ATI Radeon HD 4850 are shipping very shortly, or in some cases have begun shipping. It was thought that these graphics card required the 10.5.7 update, but as AppleInsider mentioned, this isn't exactly confirmed.

The update is expected to hit around 443 megabytes, and it will be a delta one meaning there will be no operating system reinstall needed. There's no official release date yet, but if you've read the article, you should expect one very soon.]]> http://www.pvtech.com.au/news/4/Microsoft-reveals-Exchange-2010-with-public-beta.html Thu, 16 Apr 2009 16:15:04 +0000 http://www.pvtech.com.au/news/4/Microsoft-reveals-Exchange-2010-with-public-beta.html Microsoft today revealed Exchange 2010 and promised the product will become available in the second half of 2009.

Microsoft also hinted that Office 2010 and related products will enter technical preview in the third quarter of 2009 and become available in the first half of 2010.

Amongst the usual fanfare of lower costs for deployment and management options the company touted improved features in it's Outlook Web Access for Exchange mailboxes. Amongst the new features:

• MailTips. Warn users before they commit an e-mail faux pas such as sending mail to large distribution groups, to recipients who are out of the office or to recipients outside the organization, helping protect against information leaks and reduce unnecessary e-mail messages.
  
• Voice Mail Preview. See text previews of voice mail directly in Outlook.
  
• Ignore Conversation. This e-mail "mute button" allows people to remove themselves from an irrelevant e-mail string, reducing unwanted e-mail and runaway reply-all threads.
  
• Conversation View. Combine related e-mail messages in a single conversation to reduce inbox clutter.
  
• Call Answering Rules. Create customized "Press 1 for …" call-routing menus with Exchange voice mail.
  
• Consistent Experience. Use Outlook on the PC, a mobile phone or a browser for the same experience with enhancements in Outlook Mobile and Outlook Web Access.

If you are interested in trying out Exchange 2010 then the public beta is available here. ]]> Microsoft today revealed Exchange 2010 and promised the product will become available in the second half of 2009.

Microsoft also hinted that Office 2010 and related products will enter technical preview in the third quarter of 2009 and become available in the first half of 2010.

Amongst the usual fanfare of lower costs for deployment and management options the company touted improved features in it's Outlook Web Access for Exchange mailboxes. Amongst the new features:

• MailTips. Warn users before they commit an e-mail faux pas such as sending mail to large distribution groups, to recipients who are out of the office or to recipients outside the organization, helping protect against information leaks and reduce unnecessary e-mail messages.
  
• Voice Mail Preview. See text previews of voice mail directly in Outlook.
  
• Ignore Conversation. This e-mail "mute button" allows people to remove themselves from an irrelevant e-mail string, reducing unwanted e-mail and runaway reply-all threads.
  
• Conversation View. Combine related e-mail messages in a single conversation to reduce inbox clutter.
  
• Call Answering Rules. Create customized "Press 1 for …" call-routing menus with Exchange voice mail.
  
• Consistent Experience. Use Outlook on the PC, a mobile phone or a browser for the same experience with enhancements in Outlook Mobile and Outlook Web Access.

If you are interested in trying out Exchange 2010 then the public beta is available here. ]]> http://www.pvtech.com.au/news/3/Intel-firmware-fixes-SSD-performance-issues.html Thu, 16 Apr 2009 16:12:20 +0000 http://www.pvtech.com.au/news/3/Intel-firmware-fixes-SSD-performance-issues.html According to an article by TechSpot, Intel has released a firmware update for two of its Solid State Drives that were suffering from performance issues. The firmware update addresses some internal fragmentation issues, which resulted in writing speeds dropping significantly in some cases. This fragmentation meant that the performance of the drives would decrease with time.

The firmware update only applies to the Intel X18-M and X25-M SSDs, and can be installed by using the tools provided by Intel on their website. According to the site, the firmware includes several more optimizations, on top of the issue fix. PC Perspective, who picked up on the issues in the first place, and who received the new firmware in advance, reported significant performance increases, noting that the drive was now much closer to the 80MB/s write speed it was supposed to have, as opposed to the 25-30 MB/s speeds it would occasionally drop to under certain circumstances that the firmware claims to fix.

The update requires the user to burn the firmware update tools provided by Intel to a disk, and then flash the drive from it. The tools, found here, can be used for Windows, Mac and Linux systems. Needless to say, backing up data from the drives is highly recommended before attempting the update. ]]> According to an article by TechSpot, Intel has released a firmware update for two of its Solid State Drives that were suffering from performance issues. The firmware update addresses some internal fragmentation issues, which resulted in writing speeds dropping significantly in some cases. This fragmentation meant that the performance of the drives would decrease with time.

The firmware update only applies to the Intel X18-M and X25-M SSDs, and can be installed by using the tools provided by Intel on their website. According to the site, the firmware includes several more optimizations, on top of the issue fix. PC Perspective, who picked up on the issues in the first place, and who received the new firmware in advance, reported significant performance increases, noting that the drive was now much closer to the 80MB/s write speed it was supposed to have, as opposed to the 25-30 MB/s speeds it would occasionally drop to under certain circumstances that the firmware claims to fix.

The update requires the user to burn the firmware update tools provided by Intel to a disk, and then flash the drive from it. The tools, found here, can be used for Windows, Mac and Linux systems. Needless to say, backing up data from the drives is highly recommended before attempting the update. ]]> http://www.pvtech.com.au/news/2/Students%3A-How-to-get-Windows-7-legally-at-a-discount-or-free.html Thu, 16 Apr 2009 16:09:30 +0000 http://www.pvtech.com.au/news/2/Students%3A-How-to-get-Windows-7-legally-at-a-discount-or-free.html With many people wondering what the Windows 7 pricing will be and whether it will cost less, the same, or more than Vista, there are some ways you can legally get Windows 7 at a discount or even for free when the final version is ready later this year.

1. Between June 26, 2009 and January 31, 2010, any new computer purchased with Windows Vista will qualify for a free upgrade to Windows 7. So if you've been planning on purchasing a new PC in the near future, you should hold off just a little while longer.

2. Check and see if your school is with the MSDNAA or Microsoft Developers Network Academic Alliance. If they are, check with their specific MSDNAA site when the final version of Windows 7 comes out to see if they distribute it.

3. Check with Microsoft DreamSpark. This is a special site from Microsoft that gives out free software to people who have a valid e-mail address from any of the qualifying schools listed. It's possible they could put Windows 7 up there once it's released.

4. If you're in the US, Canada or Europe, and are in school, there's a site called Journey Ed that gives out software and other kinds of products at a discount. You just need to show them some kind of proof. ]]> With many people wondering what the Windows 7 pricing will be and whether it will cost less, the same, or more than Vista, there are some ways you can legally get Windows 7 at a discount or even for free when the final version is ready later this year.

1. Between June 26, 2009 and January 31, 2010, any new computer purchased with Windows Vista will qualify for a free upgrade to Windows 7. So if you've been planning on purchasing a new PC in the near future, you should hold off just a little while longer.

2. Check and see if your school is with the MSDNAA or Microsoft Developers Network Academic Alliance. If they are, check with their specific MSDNAA site when the final version of Windows 7 comes out to see if they distribute it.

3. Check with Microsoft DreamSpark. This is a special site from Microsoft that gives out free software to people who have a valid e-mail address from any of the qualifying schools listed. It's possible they could put Windows 7 up there once it's released.

4. If you're in the US, Canada or Europe, and are in school, there's a site called Journey Ed that gives out software and other kinds of products at a discount. You just need to show them some kind of proof. ]]> http://www.pvtech.com.au/news/1/Beta-Testing.html Tue, 31 Mar 2009 00:13:58 +0000 http://www.pvtech.com.au/news/1/Beta-Testing.html Enjoy !
]]> Enjoy !
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