Windows 7 - A leap ahead or a patch up job ?

With Microsoft finally releasing the beta of it's the much awaited and hyped OS, Windows 7, the tech world has been abuzz. Pre-release leaks on torrent sites, speculation about the feature set of Windows 7 and arguments about whether it's really a deserving candidate to be a new version of Windows OS or just a patch up job on Vista - have all helped build up the hype. I decided to grab a copy of the beta and satiate my curiosity :) Here's a complete review of Windows 7 beta, right from download & installation till the final user experience...

Downloading the beta

The download can be started from the official Microsoft website:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/default.aspx

The download is managed by the Akamai Download manager which will need you to run an ActiveX control in your browser. I could not get the download to start in Firefox and Chrome browsers and had to (grudgingly) switch over to IE. However, a better alternative that emerged later was the direct download link posted on several blog sites:

http://download.microsoft.com/download/6/3/3/633118BD-6C3D-45A4-B985-F0FDFFE1B021/EN/7000.0.081212-1400_client_en-us_Ultimate-GB1CULFRE_EN_DVD.iso (For 32 bit systems)

I would personally recommend staying away from torrent sites for an OS download because of obvious reasons! However, I did register on the official website of Windows 7 to get a product key for my copy.

Once downloaded, the ISO needs to be burnt onto a DVD. I installed my copy of Windows 7 on a separate partition on my disk allowing it to dual boot with Windows Vista Business. Following is the system configuration:

Toshiba Satellite Pro M200
Intel Core Duo 2GHz, 2GB RAM
Intel Chipset - 256 MB shared video memory
HDD - 80 GB (55 GB + 18 GB for Windows 7) - The partitoning was done using Acronis Disk Creator Suite on Windows Vista.

Installation

The installation is surprisingly smooth and simple. I booted my laptop from the DVD, selected a few options regarding region, language etc. on the first screen of setup and the it kicked off. It didn't take more than 30-40 minutes for the setup to complete. It did a few reboots on its own and bothered me only twice in between- once to enter the product key and once again to create a logon for myself. Full marks to Microsoft for the ease of installation!

First Impressions

The booting time is similar or lesser than Vista. I would not like to comment a lot on this since I didn't dare to load up Windows 7 with a number of startup items as in case of Vista.

Gone are the days when Windows used to beg for a driver CD for virtually every device in your system. Windows 7 had all my device drivers ready and running as soon as it booted.

The refurbished taskbar is obviously the first thing on the desktop that grabs your eyeballs. It looks a little bulky and makes you wonder what exactly those huge square buttons are doing there. But a little bit of experimentation, and you know that it's pretty much feature packed and makes navigation much easier. For those of us who like to multitask, it's a welcome feature.

There's a pop-up in the system tray (newly introduced Action Center) reminding you to install an anti-virus software and giving you a link for download options.

New Additions

While I have only superficially explored the feature set so far, here are a few noticeable changes:

1. The revamped taskbar - Groups similar windows in a single button, shows preview of all the grouped windows when you rollover a button and shows a specific window in isolation against the desktop when you rollover it's preview. Navigation just got better! However, I don't like the way the "Show Desktop" button has been pushed to the system tray end of taskbar. I'd rather have it near the start button because of the frequent use. Someone at Microsoft listening ? ;)
   
   
2. Desktop themes - While the extent of customization remains similar to that in Vista - changing window colours and wallpapers - the desktop wallpaper shuffling is a refreshing feature. You can auto-set the shuffle frequency to 10 secs, 30 secs - 1 day. More themes are available online and they are fairly elegant.
   
   
3. The Action Center - This gives you notifications about "actions" to be taken, like installing an anti-virus. I haven't explored this completely but it looks like an integrated Security Center + Performance Management + System Restore + Troubleshooting console
   
   
4. Paint - Not many changes here except that it borrows the ribbon format for menu from Office 2007 and does a god job of it.
   
   
5. Gadget Gallery - The gadget gallery has all the gadgets in Vista. But Windows 7 gets rid of the "Sidebar" and will let you place gadgets anywhere on your screen.
   
   
6. Windows explorer - This has pretty much been left unchanged except for the tree-style navigation added on the left of every explorer window, as opposed to Vista which allowed only the favorite links to be placed in the left column.
   

Specific Applications

1. IE 8 Beta 2 - Call me biased or cynical but IE just doesn't seem to work for me. After the install, IE 8 just refused to connect to my institute's proxy server forcing me to install Firefox from my external disk. And guess what.. Firefox worked like a charm. So did Google Talk with the same proxy. Eventually when IE did manage to connetc to the proxy, it was not only sluggish while switching tabs but also noticeably slow in rendering web pages.
   
   
2. Norton Internet Security 2009 - Stay away from this if you're using Windows 7 beta. Althogh I could get it to install properly, after 2 rounds of updates from the internet and a reboot, I was stuck with a CHKDSK error screen on every reboot and a message on my desktop telling me that the disk is corrupt. Had to do a complete disk format and re-install of Windows 7 to get things back to normal.
   
   
3. Kaspersky 8 Technical Preview - Microsoft site rcommends 3 AVs for the Windows 7 beta - Norton 360 Beta 3, Kaspersky Preview 8 and AVG Internet Security. Norton 360 didn't dwnload due to "export restrictions to India". So I decided to go alongwith Kaspersky. Worked smooth.. fixed some viruses on my disk that Norton 2009 couldn't detect and doesn't seem to be going heavy on my system either.
   
   
4. Windows Media Player works well with MP3 and common video formats like AVI. Pretty much the same experience as Vista.
   
   
5. Other programs that work fine so far are : Open Office, Google Talk, Firefox, 7z compression utility, IrfanView and iGetter download manager.

Performance

In terms of performance, Windows 7 doesn't disappoint. Unlike the shift from XP to Vista, this shift isn't gonna cost you RAM money :) With all the above programs installed and running, my system uses around 800-900 MB of RAM and multi-taking is smooth. Haven't tried gaming yet, though!

Shutting down is an issue at times and I'm stuck at the "Logging off" screen. Forced exit of some programs also throws up memory errors. Explorer might behave jittery at times when opening large folders with several video / image previews.

Verdict

Not a leap ahead for sure! Microsoft needs to take lessons from the Windows ME to XP transition and surprise its users. However, this is still the beta and only a few days old. I'm sure that with regular usage, the "hidden" improvements are going to show up and make this a worthier contender. Keep an eye out on all those techie blogs to keep a track of the new discoveries in Windows 7 ;)

Till Next Time....

Chrome Rekindles The Browser War !

The excitement of the browser war never ceases - at least for those of us who try to stay abreast with the latest browsers in hope that with each new product and each new version, the average netizen will have a larger basket of goodies at his disposal ! And these "goodies" are not hard to come across - with Google's Chrome, Firefox 3 and IE beta 8, all loaded with features that might change the way we know and access the WWW.

The usage share figures above say it all. Piggybacking on it's Windows OS, Microsoft's IE still commands the largest market share. My apologies to all IE users - but guys... its high time that you DO move on to better options :)

Not only does the browser war keep the net users hooked but it provides ample scope for discussions, articles and benchmarking on numerous tech websites out there. A notable mention to CNET Download.com's Prizefight (http://www.download.com/8301-2007_4-10079338-12.html) which pits IE7, Firefox 3, Google Chrome and Safari against each other on the following parameters:

1. Speed
2. Security
3. Customization
4. Killer feature

Needless to say, Firefox wins hands-down in Security, Customization (you didn't think anyone could even come CLOSE to that huge add-on library, did you ?) and killer feature (that's again customization).

Google's Chrome has been touted as the fastest browser around and there are third party tests which prove so. However, there's more to Chrome's blazing speed than meets the eye. Google Chrome has a significantly faster "page rendering" mechanism because of its Javascript engine which speeds up client end processing. So at the end of the day, if you have a below average net connection (not very difficult to find in India), you end up noticing (if you reallly notice) only a marginal improvement in Chrome as compared to, say, Firefox 3.

Safari and Opera (which was left out of CNET's test) are definitely better options than IE, but both of them lack that "one USP" which Firefox (customizability) and Chrome ("blazing" fast) have to offer.

Firefox is, without any doubts and questions, the big daddy of all browsers out there. Call it Mozilla's gift to mankind and it won't be an overstatement. Installation is a cakewalk, security patches are always on time and they really mean it when they say that you can make Firefox "your own" ! Although, if I had to be really nitpicky and find ONE fault with Firefox, that would be the memory usage (which CNET conveniently seems to have ignored), which could shoot over the roof with those add-ons and extensions all loaded at the same time. So think twice before installing an add-on to see if the value it delivers is worth the RAM that its gonna eat up.

Amidst the biggies vying for market share, we have a lil kiddo called "Flock" which brings a smile to those social-networking addicts amongst us. With a delightfully seamless integration of social networking, mail and browser into one neat package, Flock is a welcome product which could change the way we look at browsers in the future.

That brings me to my final '2 pennies-worth 'thought on the market leader - Internet Explorer. Now, I don't mean to sound biased or anything, but if I had to give ONE advice to the IE team, it'd be - "WAKE UP!!" Going by a few features of IE 8 Beta, Microsoft seems to have woken up a bit but they need to gulp down a mug of hot coffee, come to their full senses and see where the competition is heading. IE, as a browser, takes the last place in ease of installation, adherence to open standards, ease of updation and frequency of security updates. It doesn't score too well on customizability either, especially considering that it is best placed to use Microsoft's advanced technologies like Windows Presentation Framework (used in Vista) for some really neat UI effects. IE 8 Beta looks promising but in no way would it prove to be the brahmastra that'd stop Firefox from eating into IE's share. IE is all set for a plunging market share unless Microsoft comes up with an orbital shift in its design and feature offering!

Till next time... Cheers !

My Favourites !

In an attempt to lend a more personal touch to this blog, here's a list of my favorites across various categories that I can think of :) Did I hear someone saying "How am I concerned??".. Go hit the red cross button in the upper right corner of this window :P !

A few riders before I actually start the listing - these are in no particular order and I've only included the categories where I've a distinct favorite . So there's no "favorite hindi movie" section coz I can think of many of them which I like almost the same.

1. Favorite Author - P.G. Wodehouse
2. Favorite Actress - Aishwarya Rai
3. Favorite Game - Age of Empires series
4. Favorite Book (recent) - Ramayana Series by Ashok Banker
5. Favorite Book (all time) - Jeeves and Wooster series
   
6. Favorite Movie (English) - Lord of The Rings series
7. Favorite Color - Orange
8. Favorite Chat Messenger - Yahoo
9. Favorite E-Mail service - GMail
10. Favorite Search Engine - I deny answering this ! As far as I'm concerned, there's just ONE search engine that exists ! The rest is all hogwash !
    
11. Favorite Website - http://www.download.com
12. Favorite Cartoon Character - Bugs Bunny
13. Favorite Comics - Archies
    
14. Favorite Newspaper (National Daily) - Times Of India
    
15. Favorite Newspaper (Financial)- Mint by Hindustan Times
16. Favorite Technology Brand - Google
17. Favorite Possession - My laptop !
18. Favorite Fruit - Mango
19. Favorite Ice Cream Flavor - Butter Scotch
20. Favorite Greeting - "Hey.. Hi!"

Hope that you all keep the above list handy till my next birthday :P

Cheers...

The Epic Saga.. Retold !!

Every so often, we hear stories of good triumphing over evil, stories of men and women who inspire us or stories that are beyond the realm of mankind and earth-kind and yet inspire us. But there's one story that ecompasses all this and more - the epic tale of ramayana.

But what, pray tell, is left to be told of this epic tale that has been narrated time and again in the form of books, teleserials, cartoons and theatre? Nothing ? Thats what I thought till I chanced upon a gem titled "Prince of Ayodhya" by Ashok Banker (published by Penguin). It was first of the collection of 6 books kept in a desolate corner of my institute's library. Apart from the (highly) abridged version of the Ramayana that I'd studied as part of my school's Hindi curriculum, I never really had a detailed exposure to this monumental epic. The book looked inviting.. and well.. since it was only one of the 6 books that I'd have to read to get the entire story of Ramayana, I'm sure it must have been pretty inviting for me to actually pick it up and read in between the hectic MBA schedule.

I generally pride myself on my selection of books - I read very little but I've thoroughly relished and enjoyed every book that I've read. This one didn't let me down either.

From the very initial pages detailing the source and the history of various versions of Ramayana, Ashok Banker gives you a sense of the richness of the magnum opus that would unfold in the books to follow. The story that has been told and re-told again and again is told YET again.. but this time with the finesse of an artist who lends new colours, vibrancy and imagination to the same old portrait. This is Ramayana like never before - The dialogues, settings and events are realistic enough to teleport you to the Ayodhyan era, the sorcery and the witchcraft is binding enough to keep you glued to the pages and the emotions are touching enough to melt your heart.

My heart skipped a beat when Manthra shot a green flame of light from her forked tongue, it sank when Rama used the Brahma-astra to elimiate the asura forces and it almost stopped beating when Parasuram's axe touched Rama's neck only to dissipate concentric circles of sound evergy leaving Rama unscathed !

With every page I turned, there was just one thought that crossed my mind - If this book were to be adapted scene by scene in the form of a movie, won't it put the likes of 'The Matrix', 'Lord of The Rings', 'Spiderman', 'Superman' and 'Star Wars' to complete shame? My guess - Yes ! It would !

Till Next Time..

Cheers..

The Good, Bad and The Joker !

Call it incessant rhapsodizing, euphoria or viral marketing.. the fact remains that The Dark Knight's 'Joker', brought to life by Late Heath Ledger, will sweep you off your feet, curl you up in your seats and put you in deep thought ! As the comic book character, Joker, the maniac who loves to kill, Ledger delivers a performance which probably surpasses any prior rendition of the Joker, animated or otherwise. Watch the Joker bring a "smile" to his preys' faces as he goes on a rampage - killing, bombing and looting Gotham city. Every scene and every entry of the Joker on screen is purely a high-wattage affair. So much so that a fairly good performance by Christian Bale as Batman is pushed to the background.

The biggest achievement of Ledger and the directorial team, although, does not lie in creating yet another "high-wattage" drama. Hollywood's done that before.. with incandescent actors like Ledger, camera work par-excellence and graphics capabilities, its a given ! What separates the chaff from this movie is the fact that it is a breath-taking attempt at baring the mind of a psychopath. Why does the Joker kill ? For money ? No ! For revenge ? No ! The Joker kills because he LIKES to kill. He kills because he believes that there's that hidden streak of evil in everyone around him - the only difference is that we don't like to show it as blatantly as he does. His crime is an attempt to provoke others to bring out their veiled evil streak in the open..

The movie depicts an "idealist" view wherein citizens of Gotham city do not possess that evil streak at all (am not gonna give out any spoilers.. watch the movie yourself !). But idealism will lead us nowhere ! Which brings us to the question - Does the world really need a Batman or do we need a Joker first ??

Till next time..

Cheers..