Windows 8 uses even less memory than does Windows 7. Microsoft illustrated how the first Windows 7 release used about 540 MB of memory, while Windows 8 uses slightly more than half that, or 281 MB. This means you can run Windows 8 on an older netbook (with just 1GB of RAM) and see better performance on your powerful laptop.
Multiple Monitor Support
Windows 8's improved hardware support includes more features for those of us who use multiple monitors, such as better taskbar handling. This is a real boon for laptop users, who really benefit from the additional screen real estate.
Improved Security
The new Reset feature, which restores the PC to factory-fresh condition, helps eliminate one of the biggest issues with laptops--data left on a laptop after it's sold or donated.
3G/4G Monitoring
Microsoft also showcased a new control panel for monitoring your laptop's (or other device's) 3G or 4G data plan--without using up your minutes if you happen to be roaming.
Device Interactivity and Connectivity
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Other forward-thinking features built into the operating system include "tap to share," where you can physically exchange data with other devices using NFC or built-in antennas. You might not be tapping your laptop with smartphones for a while, but, again, it's a sign that Microsoft is thinking about mobile users.
Most of the other changes in Windows 8 apply to all sorts of devices, not just laptops, since it is designed to be the "everywhere operating system". It's very much a "touch first" (in the words of Windows President Stan Sinofsky) operating system, in fact. As tablet-centric as Windows 8 might seem, there are still some appealing features for those of us using a regular old touchpad and keyboard.
2011年9月21日星期三
Notebook OEMs to ramp up ultrabook production in 4Q11
Most notebook ODMs will ramp up the production of ultrabooks for their branded PC vendors in the fourth quarter, with Quanta Computer to begin volume production of HP's ultrabook models in November, according to industry sources.
An array of Sandy Bridge-based ultrabooks will hit the market during the 2011 year-end holiday season, while more Ivy Bridge-based models will be rolled out in the first half of 2012, said Intel vice president Mooly Eden.
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Latitude D610 battery
Acer led all PC vendors and has begun delivering its Aspire S3 ultrabooks, manufactured by Wistron, to its distributors, the sources revealed.
While Asustek is planning to unveil its ultrabook models in early October, the company will start shipping devices to distributors at the end of September, said sources, adding that Asustek's ultrabook shipments will top 100,000 units in September and ramp up higher in October and beyond. Asustek is outsourcing its ultrabooks to Pegatron Technology.
Toshiba will outsource the production of its Portege Z830 ultrabook lineup to Compal Electronics and Quanta Computer, using Intel's second-generation Core i3, i5 or i7 processors, the sources indicated.
An array of Sandy Bridge-based ultrabooks will hit the market during the 2011 year-end holiday season, while more Ivy Bridge-based models will be rolled out in the first half of 2012, said Intel vice president Mooly Eden.
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Latitude D610 battery
Acer led all PC vendors and has begun delivering its Aspire S3 ultrabooks, manufactured by Wistron, to its distributors, the sources revealed.
While Asustek is planning to unveil its ultrabook models in early October, the company will start shipping devices to distributors at the end of September, said sources, adding that Asustek's ultrabook shipments will top 100,000 units in September and ramp up higher in October and beyond. Asustek is outsourcing its ultrabooks to Pegatron Technology.
Toshiba will outsource the production of its Portege Z830 ultrabook lineup to Compal Electronics and Quanta Computer, using Intel's second-generation Core i3, i5 or i7 processors, the sources indicated.
Back-to-school notebook PC sales beat expectations
Sales of notebook computers during the back-to-school rush this year beat expectations, new data from market research firm NPD Group found. While sales of Windows laptops continued to slide compared to last year, the decline was significantly less severe than in the first half of the year according to NPD. Windows notebook sales between July and August dipped 4% compared to the same period in 2010, while sales in the first half of 2011 were down 12% year-over-year. ”The sequential results from NPD’s back-to-school point-of-sale (POS) data indicates that after a shortfall early in the year that was mostly related to the difficult comparisons to the binge of buying after the release of Windows 7, the Windows notebook market remains solid,” said NPD vice president of industry analysis Stephen Baker in a statement. “The last two weeks of August are the most important period for back to school buying, and those weeks saw more than an 8 percent increase over last year in retail sales.” NPD’s full press release follows below.
Back-to-School Notebook Sales Exceed Expectations: Windows Notebook Sales Increase in August
Strong sales over the last two weeks of August 2011 ensure that back-to-school sales show positive trends when compared to the first half of the year.
PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y., September 14, 2011 – According to The NPD Group, a leading market research company, back-to-school sales turned out much better than the first half of 2011, when retail notebook sales in the U.S. declined more than 12 percent over the prior year. During the two-month back-to-school period (July through August), Windows notebook computer sales declined 4 percent over the prior year, while August 2011 sales, propelled by a late surge in volume, posted an increase of nearly 4 percent.
“The sequential results from NPD’s back-to-school point-of-sale (POS) data indicates that after a shortfall early in the year that was mostly related to the difficult comparisons to the binge of buying after the release of Windows 7, the Windows notebook market remains solid,” said Stephen Baker, vice president of industry analysis for NPD. “The last two weeks of August are the most important period for back to school buying, and those weeks saw more than an 8 percent increase over last year in retail sales.”
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A prime driver of the sales volume increase was a drop in average selling prices. During July and August 2011, ASPs for Windows notebooks were $477, which is a 7 percent decline from the same period last year. The drop in ASPs resulted in a record 65 percent of all notebook sales occurring in products sold for less than $500. Sales in this crucial segment grew 12 percent versus last year, while sales results for windows notebooks above $500 fell 23 percent.
“A strong promotional environment led consumers into the stores over the last part of the back to school season,” Baker said. “The positive consumer response to aggressive notebook pricing, despite the continued demand for tablet computers, likely points towards a highly promotional holiday season ahead.”
Back-to-School Notebook Sales Exceed Expectations: Windows Notebook Sales Increase in August
Strong sales over the last two weeks of August 2011 ensure that back-to-school sales show positive trends when compared to the first half of the year.
PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y., September 14, 2011 – According to The NPD Group, a leading market research company, back-to-school sales turned out much better than the first half of 2011, when retail notebook sales in the U.S. declined more than 12 percent over the prior year. During the two-month back-to-school period (July through August), Windows notebook computer sales declined 4 percent over the prior year, while August 2011 sales, propelled by a late surge in volume, posted an increase of nearly 4 percent.
“The sequential results from NPD’s back-to-school point-of-sale (POS) data indicates that after a shortfall early in the year that was mostly related to the difficult comparisons to the binge of buying after the release of Windows 7, the Windows notebook market remains solid,” said Stephen Baker, vice president of industry analysis for NPD. “The last two weeks of August are the most important period for back to school buying, and those weeks saw more than an 8 percent increase over last year in retail sales.”
Tags: wholesale battery,replacement laptop battery,HSTNN-DB42
A prime driver of the sales volume increase was a drop in average selling prices. During July and August 2011, ASPs for Windows notebooks were $477, which is a 7 percent decline from the same period last year. The drop in ASPs resulted in a record 65 percent of all notebook sales occurring in products sold for less than $500. Sales in this crucial segment grew 12 percent versus last year, while sales results for windows notebooks above $500 fell 23 percent.
“A strong promotional environment led consumers into the stores over the last part of the back to school season,” Baker said. “The positive consumer response to aggressive notebook pricing, despite the continued demand for tablet computers, likely points towards a highly promotional holiday season ahead.”
HP Releases The Updated DM1 Ultraportable Laptop
The laptop sports an 11.6-inch LED display, measures in at a little less than an inch thick, and weighs about 3.5 lbs. The DM1 is finished with a special type of soft-touch rubber that is more durable thanks to a unique rubber printing method. It comes packed with Beats Audio, and has a HP TrueVision web cam front and center for video chat.
HP’s PC business may be up in the air right now, but that doesn’t mean we won’t see any more HP notebooks. The company today announced the updated DM1 notebook with a new, fresher look. Starting at $599, the DM1 comes with either an Intel second-gen Core processor or an AMD E-series processor (with the AMD config to arrive on October 2.) AMD models will also include AMD Radeon HD discreet graphics.
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In other words, the DM1 is meant for someone who’s light on their feet. If you travel, or are a college student, this may just be what you’re looking for. Another cool feature that will definitely come in handy for those on-the-go users is HP’s ProtectSmart. It’s a built-in accelerometer that detects when the computer is bumped or dropped and immediately stops the hard drive, likely saving many precious files.
HP’s PC business may be up in the air right now, but that doesn’t mean we won’t see any more HP notebooks. The company today announced the updated DM1 notebook with a new, fresher look. Starting at $599, the DM1 comes with either an Intel second-gen Core processor or an AMD E-series processor (with the AMD config to arrive on October 2.) AMD models will also include AMD Radeon HD discreet graphics.
Good Laptop Batteries: HP DV6000 battery,HP mini 210 battery, HP HSTNN-LB42 Battery
In other words, the DM1 is meant for someone who’s light on their feet. If you travel, or are a college student, this may just be what you’re looking for. Another cool feature that will definitely come in handy for those on-the-go users is HP’s ProtectSmart. It’s a built-in accelerometer that detects when the computer is bumped or dropped and immediately stops the hard drive, likely saving many precious files.
Laptop, Tablet Differences May Fade, Intel Says
So far, there’s been a pretty clear dividing line between laptops and tablets. But some of the key distinctions may not last, at least if some of the latest technologies from Intel and Microsoft pan out as advertised.
Intel, for instance, on Wednesday gave more details of plans to create much thinner laptops with the aid of chips that draw much less power. And Microsoft used Intel’s developer forum in San Francisco to show off its new Windows 8 software running on such hardware, which adds a new interface that could work on laptops equipped with displays that support touch technology as well as on tablets.
The same hardware could also support touch-based Android software from Google–which announced an alliance with Intel Tuesday that should put the chip maker on a more equal footing with rivals that use chip designs from ARM Holdings.
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Meanwhile, as laptop hardware gets really thin, a third option becomes more attractive–convertible designs with keyboards that can be hidden to let the machines be used tablet-style. Intel executives say they have seen prototypes of such creations.
“There are all kinds of things that will be both tablets and a notebook,” said Mooly Eden, the fast-talking Israeli who heads Intel’s PC client group, following a speech at the event. “I believe we will see all three.”
These developments will take time. The first step, Eden said, is the advent of what Intel calls Ultrabooks–with dimensions akin to Apple’s MacBook Air–that is starting models from companies such as Acer and Asustek that will hit the shelves in coming months. Those products use existing Intel chips, known by the code name Sandy Bridge.
Then in the first half of 2012 will come new Ultrabooks powered by Ivy Bridge, the first chips to use Intel’s next manufacturing process. The chip has a whopping 1.48 billion transistors and much more powerful graphics, said Eden, who showed off some new Ultrabooks powered by the new chip.
The next year should bring Haswell, the code name for a design that reduces average power consumption to 15 watts from 30 watts; Eden also showed that chip in a working system Wednesday. Haswell has the ability to show bursts of speed that nearly match the frequency of earlier chips–a trick Intel calls Turbo mode–resulting in similar performance chips that draw more power, Eden said.
Pricing will be a key factor in trying to revamp the look of portable PCs. Where the first Ultrabooks are likely to start at close to $1,000, like the MacBook Air, the goal is to drive the category down to a price of $699 or so, Eden said.
Eden is not suggesting that the rise of convertible designs will necessarily replace all tablet-only models. But he is adamant that many people want to do more than consume Internet content on their portable devices, the main function of existing tablets.
“We are not only consumption animals,” Eden said.
Intel, for instance, on Wednesday gave more details of plans to create much thinner laptops with the aid of chips that draw much less power. And Microsoft used Intel’s developer forum in San Francisco to show off its new Windows 8 software running on such hardware, which adds a new interface that could work on laptops equipped with displays that support touch technology as well as on tablets.
The same hardware could also support touch-based Android software from Google–which announced an alliance with Intel Tuesday that should put the chip maker on a more equal footing with rivals that use chip designs from ARM Holdings.
Tags: UM08A31,Dell Z600 Battery,laptop batteries uk
Meanwhile, as laptop hardware gets really thin, a third option becomes more attractive–convertible designs with keyboards that can be hidden to let the machines be used tablet-style. Intel executives say they have seen prototypes of such creations.
“There are all kinds of things that will be both tablets and a notebook,” said Mooly Eden, the fast-talking Israeli who heads Intel’s PC client group, following a speech at the event. “I believe we will see all three.”
These developments will take time. The first step, Eden said, is the advent of what Intel calls Ultrabooks–with dimensions akin to Apple’s MacBook Air–that is starting models from companies such as Acer and Asustek that will hit the shelves in coming months. Those products use existing Intel chips, known by the code name Sandy Bridge.
Then in the first half of 2012 will come new Ultrabooks powered by Ivy Bridge, the first chips to use Intel’s next manufacturing process. The chip has a whopping 1.48 billion transistors and much more powerful graphics, said Eden, who showed off some new Ultrabooks powered by the new chip.
The next year should bring Haswell, the code name for a design that reduces average power consumption to 15 watts from 30 watts; Eden also showed that chip in a working system Wednesday. Haswell has the ability to show bursts of speed that nearly match the frequency of earlier chips–a trick Intel calls Turbo mode–resulting in similar performance chips that draw more power, Eden said.
Pricing will be a key factor in trying to revamp the look of portable PCs. Where the first Ultrabooks are likely to start at close to $1,000, like the MacBook Air, the goal is to drive the category down to a price of $699 or so, Eden said.
Eden is not suggesting that the rise of convertible designs will necessarily replace all tablet-only models. But he is adamant that many people want to do more than consume Internet content on their portable devices, the main function of existing tablets.
“We are not only consumption animals,” Eden said.
Indian state of Tamil Nadu gives laptops to children
Authorities in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu have begun handing out the first of an estimated 6.8 million free laptops to schoolchildren.
All students in government-funded secondary schools and colleges will be eligible for a $292 laptop.
The five-year, $2bn programme is the first of its kind in India.
The laptops are part of a huge giveaway promised by ministers during elections earlier this year.
Supporters of the scheme say it will help disadvantaged children whose parents cannot afford a computer. Critics say the scheme panders to the masses and wastes precious resources.
Tamil Nadu is one of India's leading states in the use of information technology.
It also has a history of politicians giving away freebies to people - the previous Chief Minister, M Karunanidhi, dished out thousands of colour televisions during his rule.
The free laptop scheme was an election promise by the new government led by J Jayalalitha.
Practical problems
However, critics say there may be practical problems.
Some say the costs - estimated by some at $470m this year alone - are simply too high.
They argue that the money could be better spent in areas such as social services and infrastructure.
But others argue that Tamil Nadu is a state on a healthy growth trajectory and that the laptop "give aways" are an affordable cost - the allocation this year constitutes less than 3% of budgeted revenue receipts.
Tamil Nadu also suffers regular power shortages that may mean students will struggle to use the laptops as often as they would like.
Critics also say that the laptops are equipped only with elementary software which may not suit students as they progress through college - a charge denied by the state government.
"We want the laptops to be equipped with the best software, hardware and applications to help the students," information and technology minister Udayakumar said.
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The government is also handing out other items it promised to voters, such as food mixers and grinders.
Poorer families, enrolled in food subsidy programmes, will also receive livestock including goats and sheep.
All students in government-funded secondary schools and colleges will be eligible for a $292 laptop.
The five-year, $2bn programme is the first of its kind in India.
The laptops are part of a huge giveaway promised by ministers during elections earlier this year.
Supporters of the scheme say it will help disadvantaged children whose parents cannot afford a computer. Critics say the scheme panders to the masses and wastes precious resources.
Tamil Nadu is one of India's leading states in the use of information technology.
It also has a history of politicians giving away freebies to people - the previous Chief Minister, M Karunanidhi, dished out thousands of colour televisions during his rule.
The free laptop scheme was an election promise by the new government led by J Jayalalitha.
Practical problems
However, critics say there may be practical problems.
Some say the costs - estimated by some at $470m this year alone - are simply too high.
They argue that the money could be better spent in areas such as social services and infrastructure.
But others argue that Tamil Nadu is a state on a healthy growth trajectory and that the laptop "give aways" are an affordable cost - the allocation this year constitutes less than 3% of budgeted revenue receipts.
Tamil Nadu also suffers regular power shortages that may mean students will struggle to use the laptops as often as they would like.
Critics also say that the laptops are equipped only with elementary software which may not suit students as they progress through college - a charge denied by the state government.
"We want the laptops to be equipped with the best software, hardware and applications to help the students," information and technology minister Udayakumar said.
Laptop battery:hp dv1000 battery, Dell Studio 17 battery,laptop computer batteries
The government is also handing out other items it promised to voters, such as food mixers and grinders.
Poorer families, enrolled in food subsidy programmes, will also receive livestock including goats and sheep.
Tracking software helps laptop hunt
A suspected burglar has been arrested after a student activated tracking software installed on her laptop.
Emma Partington turned on the computer programme, which she had downloaded to her laptop, after discovering she had been the victim of a burglary in Bristol.
Unbeknown to the burglar, the Prey software gave Miss Partington a GPS location of her laptop, revealed the wi-fi address the stolen machine was connected to and even took a picture of the person using it.
The laptop was stolen in a burglary of a shared student home in the Cotham area of Bristol on August 20.
Miss Partington said: "I got home late at night and when I realised what had happened I went to my friend's and activated a software application I had installed free on my laptop called Prey.
"I went to bed and when I woke up I had received an email from the company which stated that my laptop had been used at 3am and gave me a GPS location of the wi-fi address it was connected to, a list of sites that had been visited and even took a photograph of the person using the laptop.
"I contacted the police with all this information and they printed it all off."
Police officers made checks on the location supplied by Miss Partington and later that day a man, who was living at the property, was arrested in connection with burglary.
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A laptop and other items, which police believe may have been stolen, were also found at the address.
A 19-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of burglary and has been bailed pending further inquiries.
Emma Partington turned on the computer programme, which she had downloaded to her laptop, after discovering she had been the victim of a burglary in Bristol.
Unbeknown to the burglar, the Prey software gave Miss Partington a GPS location of her laptop, revealed the wi-fi address the stolen machine was connected to and even took a picture of the person using it.
The laptop was stolen in a burglary of a shared student home in the Cotham area of Bristol on August 20.
Miss Partington said: "I got home late at night and when I realised what had happened I went to my friend's and activated a software application I had installed free on my laptop called Prey.
"I went to bed and when I woke up I had received an email from the company which stated that my laptop had been used at 3am and gave me a GPS location of the wi-fi address it was connected to, a list of sites that had been visited and even took a photograph of the person using the laptop.
"I contacted the police with all this information and they printed it all off."
Police officers made checks on the location supplied by Miss Partington and later that day a man, who was living at the property, was arrested in connection with burglary.
Laptop battery: TOSHIBA PA3534U-1BRS Battery,Lenovo T61 Battery,notebook battery
A laptop and other items, which police believe may have been stolen, were also found at the address.
A 19-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of burglary and has been bailed pending further inquiries.
Windows 8 on a laptop: first look
All the talk so far has centred around the wonderful new Metro UI, and how it could well be the nicest touch interface yet – but what of the vast majority of PCs and laptops that don’t have a touchscreen? Does Windows 8 relegate them to an afterthought, or can you carry on with mouse and keyboard as if touch never existed? To find out, I installed the developer preview on a 15in Core i5 laptop and plugged in a mouse.
The Metro UI
First things first, Metro is your main entry point whatever your hardware – and that’s going to annoy a lot of people. It’s large, it’s almost childlike in its design, and it’s so obviously meant for tablets that it feels slightly insulting to anyone who’s comfortable with the ins and outs of the Windows environment.
The concept of full-screen-only apps makes little sense for any device above tablet size, as anyone who works with Outlook, Word, Tweetdeck and Chrome permanently open will quickly realise. You can split apps so that one occupies two-thirds of the screen, but that’s not particularly helpful on larger screens. The desktop itself is technically an app, so you can have that occupy two-thirds with several traditional windows within it. It’s not something I found useful, though.
Metro is a bit iffy to navigate with a mouse. While the live previews in larger tiles are great (giving quick access to tweets, emails and the like – and they can be put on your lock screen too), the icons themselves are big and boxy on a 15in screen, and finding an application to launch manually – even once you’ve dragged them all into related groups of tiles – means much scrolling left and right.
Of course, that’s not the quickest way to launch an application from an idle desktop. In Windows 7 I simply press the Windows key and start typing the name, and the good news is you can still do that here – the difference is no Start menu appears. Or more accurately, the Metro UI is the Start menu, and a press of the Windows key (or a click of the now pretty useless bottom-left Start button) always takes you to that grid. If you’re fast you can ping the full-screen Metro interface up, type the app name and be back on the desktop again in a second, which begs the question why it needs to appear at all when the old, less graphically demanding and space-intensive system worked so well.
The closest thing to a traditional Start menu on the desktop arrives if you instead hover over the Start button. There you get a few menu options, along with a different way in to that search function, which here attempts to search within the currently active app. If that’s not where you want to search – and it usually won’t be – you pretty much have to end up with the full-screen Metro search taking over again. It needs work.
Changing your ways
As you’ll quickly discover, if you want to spend the majority of your time in the traditional desktop, you’re going to have to get used to doing things differently. More specifically, you’ll want to make extensive use of your desktop and taskbar. As we’ve seen, any application not pinned to one of those two locations is tough to launch without returning to the Metro UI in some form. Whether you pile your desktop high with shortcuts will largely depend on how annoying you find that big green grid on a daily basis.
At every opportunity, Windows 8 reminds you that Metro is its new baby: plugging in a USB stick brings up a green tile over the desktop, and further settings are all laid out in the Metro style. Selecting any of the menu options on that previously mentioned mini Start menu produces a vertical Metro bar to the right of the desktop. (Don’t even get us started on why a button in the bottom-left opens a menu on the far right, another design decision made seemingly without the mouse in mind).
All the talk from the launch event has been from people using Windows 8 on tablets, so the quick gestures are getting a lot of love in LA. Back in the real world of PCs and laptops, you can hover over the left edge of the screen to see the last application you had open, and either drag it out to switch to it or right-click to snap it to the right-edge column. It works okay, but other gestures just don’t translate: swiping upwards to unlock, for example, is just horrible with a mouse. Thankfully, a press of the keyboard’s up cursor does the same job, and as far as I can tell most existing keyboard shortcuts still work.
Improvements
Whatever you think of Metro, there are also several smaller changes that really do make a difference on a PC or laptop.
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The new Task Manager is excellent, keeping the existing performance monitoring tools but adding heatmapping (think Excel’s conditional formatting) so you can instantly see which processes are using resources, and several graphs, including live wireless throughput. It adds detailed tabs for app history and user activity, and finally brings the Startup options of msconfig into a much more accessible place. Crapware can now easily be prevented from starting up with Windows.
Explorer windows bring back the Up button they’ve been sorely lacking, and while a lot of people hate the ribbon interface I’m not one of them. The file transfer dialog has been improved, with a dynamic graph now showing the transfer speed second by second, and an estimation of time remaining. It rolls multiple transfer jobs into one window too, which is a vast improvement on having them stacked up.
Finally, boot and resume times are excellent, at least on this test laptop. About a year old, and with nothing fancier than a 320GB mechanical hard disk inside, it boots to the lock screen (if you’ve set a password) in around 13 seconds, and to a ready-to-go Windows 8 in just under 19 seconds. Strangely, the only way to power the laptop down appears to be to go into the Power option in the Settings menu; presumably, Microsoft is hoping laptop users will simply close the lid and make use of the improved sleep mode.
Windows 8: the tablet OS
The biggest realisation from a couple of days with Windows 8 on a laptop is that if you’re not willing to throw yourself into the Metro interface with gusto, you’re really not going to see the kind of changes to the OS that everyone else will. Those who just want Windows 7 but better are going to find that, at least behind the fancy new UI, it doesn’t feel a whole lot different.
The desktop is still there, your existing applications can still be run, and most of the noticeable upgrades are to background elements of the environment. We’ve no doubt prettying up the Control Panel and various other tools is long overdue, but what Windows 8 seems most intent on is changing your ways to suit the direction Microsoft is taking. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it’s certain to split opinion among long-time Windows users.
This is a very early build and I’m well aware that I’ve not spent nearly enough time with it to make a proper judgement. But it’s no surprise that Microsoft installed Windows 8 on a tablet to give to attendees of its Build conference, as that’s clearly where it’s more at home.
Read more: Windows 8 on a laptop: first look | PC Pro blog http://www.pcpro.co.uk/blogs/2011/09/15/windows-8-on-a-laptop-first-look/#ixzz1Y7DxPuos
The Metro UI
First things first, Metro is your main entry point whatever your hardware – and that’s going to annoy a lot of people. It’s large, it’s almost childlike in its design, and it’s so obviously meant for tablets that it feels slightly insulting to anyone who’s comfortable with the ins and outs of the Windows environment.
The concept of full-screen-only apps makes little sense for any device above tablet size, as anyone who works with Outlook, Word, Tweetdeck and Chrome permanently open will quickly realise. You can split apps so that one occupies two-thirds of the screen, but that’s not particularly helpful on larger screens. The desktop itself is technically an app, so you can have that occupy two-thirds with several traditional windows within it. It’s not something I found useful, though.
Metro is a bit iffy to navigate with a mouse. While the live previews in larger tiles are great (giving quick access to tweets, emails and the like – and they can be put on your lock screen too), the icons themselves are big and boxy on a 15in screen, and finding an application to launch manually – even once you’ve dragged them all into related groups of tiles – means much scrolling left and right.
Of course, that’s not the quickest way to launch an application from an idle desktop. In Windows 7 I simply press the Windows key and start typing the name, and the good news is you can still do that here – the difference is no Start menu appears. Or more accurately, the Metro UI is the Start menu, and a press of the Windows key (or a click of the now pretty useless bottom-left Start button) always takes you to that grid. If you’re fast you can ping the full-screen Metro interface up, type the app name and be back on the desktop again in a second, which begs the question why it needs to appear at all when the old, less graphically demanding and space-intensive system worked so well.
The closest thing to a traditional Start menu on the desktop arrives if you instead hover over the Start button. There you get a few menu options, along with a different way in to that search function, which here attempts to search within the currently active app. If that’s not where you want to search – and it usually won’t be – you pretty much have to end up with the full-screen Metro search taking over again. It needs work.
Changing your ways
As you’ll quickly discover, if you want to spend the majority of your time in the traditional desktop, you’re going to have to get used to doing things differently. More specifically, you’ll want to make extensive use of your desktop and taskbar. As we’ve seen, any application not pinned to one of those two locations is tough to launch without returning to the Metro UI in some form. Whether you pile your desktop high with shortcuts will largely depend on how annoying you find that big green grid on a daily basis.
At every opportunity, Windows 8 reminds you that Metro is its new baby: plugging in a USB stick brings up a green tile over the desktop, and further settings are all laid out in the Metro style. Selecting any of the menu options on that previously mentioned mini Start menu produces a vertical Metro bar to the right of the desktop. (Don’t even get us started on why a button in the bottom-left opens a menu on the far right, another design decision made seemingly without the mouse in mind).
All the talk from the launch event has been from people using Windows 8 on tablets, so the quick gestures are getting a lot of love in LA. Back in the real world of PCs and laptops, you can hover over the left edge of the screen to see the last application you had open, and either drag it out to switch to it or right-click to snap it to the right-edge column. It works okay, but other gestures just don’t translate: swiping upwards to unlock, for example, is just horrible with a mouse. Thankfully, a press of the keyboard’s up cursor does the same job, and as far as I can tell most existing keyboard shortcuts still work.
Improvements
Whatever you think of Metro, there are also several smaller changes that really do make a difference on a PC or laptop.
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The new Task Manager is excellent, keeping the existing performance monitoring tools but adding heatmapping (think Excel’s conditional formatting) so you can instantly see which processes are using resources, and several graphs, including live wireless throughput. It adds detailed tabs for app history and user activity, and finally brings the Startup options of msconfig into a much more accessible place. Crapware can now easily be prevented from starting up with Windows.
Explorer windows bring back the Up button they’ve been sorely lacking, and while a lot of people hate the ribbon interface I’m not one of them. The file transfer dialog has been improved, with a dynamic graph now showing the transfer speed second by second, and an estimation of time remaining. It rolls multiple transfer jobs into one window too, which is a vast improvement on having them stacked up.
Finally, boot and resume times are excellent, at least on this test laptop. About a year old, and with nothing fancier than a 320GB mechanical hard disk inside, it boots to the lock screen (if you’ve set a password) in around 13 seconds, and to a ready-to-go Windows 8 in just under 19 seconds. Strangely, the only way to power the laptop down appears to be to go into the Power option in the Settings menu; presumably, Microsoft is hoping laptop users will simply close the lid and make use of the improved sleep mode.
Windows 8: the tablet OS
The biggest realisation from a couple of days with Windows 8 on a laptop is that if you’re not willing to throw yourself into the Metro interface with gusto, you’re really not going to see the kind of changes to the OS that everyone else will. Those who just want Windows 7 but better are going to find that, at least behind the fancy new UI, it doesn’t feel a whole lot different.
The desktop is still there, your existing applications can still be run, and most of the noticeable upgrades are to background elements of the environment. We’ve no doubt prettying up the Control Panel and various other tools is long overdue, but what Windows 8 seems most intent on is changing your ways to suit the direction Microsoft is taking. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it’s certain to split opinion among long-time Windows users.
This is a very early build and I’m well aware that I’ve not spent nearly enough time with it to make a proper judgement. But it’s no surprise that Microsoft installed Windows 8 on a tablet to give to attendees of its Build conference, as that’s clearly where it’s more at home.
Read more: Windows 8 on a laptop: first look | PC Pro blog http://www.pcpro.co.uk/blogs/2011/09/15/windows-8-on-a-laptop-first-look/#ixzz1Y7DxPuos
Acer shows off inch-thick Ultrabook Aspire S3 laptop
Acer has today been demonstrating its Ultrabook Aspire S3 Windows 7-based laptop. The ultraportable laptop is housed in a magnesium-alloy case less than an inch thick. It weighs 1.4kg and is 13mm thick. Although it bears a passing resemblance to a MacBook Air and sports an Air-like 13.3in screen with a resolution of 1366x768 pixels, it’s actually a very different proposition.
The chassis is noticeably more robust and has a fingerprint-resistant finish. The keys have a similar Scrabble-tile layout, but the touchpad area is deeper and the screen itself can be pushed backwards so that the entire laptop is spreadeagled. The viewing angles are above average, particularly in comparison to a tablet, and the screen itself is less reflective than some.
Acer offers users a choice of Intel Core i5 and Core i7 processors. A Core i5 model with 4GB of RAM and sa 320GB hard disk drive, will cost from £699 including VAT. The top end model in the range will have a 240GB SSD for storage, is powered by a Core i7 processor and will cost £1099. However, even the entry-level model will have a modest amount of SSD storage as this is used to deliver the instant-on capability that Acer sees as being central to the Ultrabook’s appeal.
Acer introduced the Ultrabook by delineating current computing use as solid hour or two-hour-long sessions at a desktop PC or laptop based in a set location; casual web, communication and email use based around a smartphone or tablet and dabbled in sporadically for a few minutes at a time, but frequently; and a third category of more sustained but also frequent use based around a portable, connected device with sufficient processing power and a keyboard. This category is where Acer sees the Ultrabook fitting. The company believes as much as a quarter of its computer sales will be of this type by this time next year.
One of the most important aspects of the Acer Aspire S3 is its ability to resume from standby in around a second and then connect to a network within two 2.5 seconds.
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Acer says the Ultrabook has a standby battery life of up to 50 days – nearly double that of most smartphones. Around eight hours of active computing use can be expected from a single battery charge. From hibernation mode, the Ultrabook should be ready for action in around 6.5 seconds. Booting into Windows 7 from ‘cold’ takes the same 30 seconds or so that any other laptop might. However, Acer believes the Ultrabook will usually be used for intermittent bursts of activity and will more commonly be used and resumed from its standby state.
The instant connect feature of around 2.5 seconds works only with networks that have been previously set up for the Ultrabook, but several such profiles can be set up for home, office and mobile use.
Acer will put the Ultrabook Aspire S3 onsale in the UK from October.
The chassis is noticeably more robust and has a fingerprint-resistant finish. The keys have a similar Scrabble-tile layout, but the touchpad area is deeper and the screen itself can be pushed backwards so that the entire laptop is spreadeagled. The viewing angles are above average, particularly in comparison to a tablet, and the screen itself is less reflective than some.
Acer offers users a choice of Intel Core i5 and Core i7 processors. A Core i5 model with 4GB of RAM and sa 320GB hard disk drive, will cost from £699 including VAT. The top end model in the range will have a 240GB SSD for storage, is powered by a Core i7 processor and will cost £1099. However, even the entry-level model will have a modest amount of SSD storage as this is used to deliver the instant-on capability that Acer sees as being central to the Ultrabook’s appeal.
Acer introduced the Ultrabook by delineating current computing use as solid hour or two-hour-long sessions at a desktop PC or laptop based in a set location; casual web, communication and email use based around a smartphone or tablet and dabbled in sporadically for a few minutes at a time, but frequently; and a third category of more sustained but also frequent use based around a portable, connected device with sufficient processing power and a keyboard. This category is where Acer sees the Ultrabook fitting. The company believes as much as a quarter of its computer sales will be of this type by this time next year.
One of the most important aspects of the Acer Aspire S3 is its ability to resume from standby in around a second and then connect to a network within two 2.5 seconds.
Tags: HP F4812A Battery,HP MINI 110 Battery,HP Pavilion DV6000 Battery
Acer says the Ultrabook has a standby battery life of up to 50 days – nearly double that of most smartphones. Around eight hours of active computing use can be expected from a single battery charge. From hibernation mode, the Ultrabook should be ready for action in around 6.5 seconds. Booting into Windows 7 from ‘cold’ takes the same 30 seconds or so that any other laptop might. However, Acer believes the Ultrabook will usually be used for intermittent bursts of activity and will more commonly be used and resumed from its standby state.
The instant connect feature of around 2.5 seconds works only with networks that have been previously set up for the Ultrabook, but several such profiles can be set up for home, office and mobile use.
Acer will put the Ultrabook Aspire S3 onsale in the UK from October.
Windows 8 Will Take Laptop Touchpads to the Next Level
If you’ve used a Windows 7 laptop with a “multitouch” touchpad, you’ve likely been a little disappointed to see that it offers only a few gestures: pinch to zoom, twist to rotate, two-finger scrolling, maybe three-finger swiping. The functionality is handy, but it’s a long way from having a touchpad that behaves like a little multitouch touchscreen.
Synaptics and Microsoft have been working together to solve the problems that prevent laptop touchpads from realizing their potential. Windows 8 will support a new software layer that allows touchpads that meet certain criteria to operate better than ever. You'll be able to pinch and rotate multiple objects at the same time, utilize more touch points, and manipulate the Start Screen interface as though your touchpad were a tiny touchscreen proxy, not a mouse substitute.
Unfortunately, the software layer requires new hardware. The latest image-based sensors in high-quality touchpads are good enough, but they’re almost always connected to the PC through an internal PS/2 connection. This arrangement makes for low-power operation and a low cost, but the bandwidth is too low for truly rich multitouch. That’s why current laptop touchpads basically work like mice, with a few gestures thrown on top--just don’t try to perform two gestures at once.
Synaptics has come up with a new standard, and made it open for any other touchpad vendor to adopt. In this standard, an image-based touchpad sensor is connected to the system through the PS/2 port, but also through the I2C (“eye-squared-see”) bus, which provides much higher bandwidth. This design allows the touchpad to deliver enough data to work with multitouch the same way a touchscreen does, with multiple independent actions and gestures all happening at the same time. Synaptics calls the standard InterTouch. With an InterTouch connection and driver, your touchpad will have a far bigger role in Windows 8--pinch, drag, flick, swipe.
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The company tells us that some laptop manufacturers are now working on implementing the standard, and we should see some models implement the necessary hardware well before Windows 8 ships on PCs. Buy a Windows 7 laptop with the right hardware, and you'll enjoy a big touchpad upgrade when you upgrade the OS to Windows 8 down the line.
We don’t have any word on actual laptop models that will ship with InterTouch just yet, unfortunately. It will probably be some months before the first systems hit the market. Let's hope that, as we approach Windows 8’s release, we’ll see a greater number of laptops implementing this standard for users who don’t want touchscreens.
Synaptics and Microsoft have been working together to solve the problems that prevent laptop touchpads from realizing their potential. Windows 8 will support a new software layer that allows touchpads that meet certain criteria to operate better than ever. You'll be able to pinch and rotate multiple objects at the same time, utilize more touch points, and manipulate the Start Screen interface as though your touchpad were a tiny touchscreen proxy, not a mouse substitute.
Unfortunately, the software layer requires new hardware. The latest image-based sensors in high-quality touchpads are good enough, but they’re almost always connected to the PC through an internal PS/2 connection. This arrangement makes for low-power operation and a low cost, but the bandwidth is too low for truly rich multitouch. That’s why current laptop touchpads basically work like mice, with a few gestures thrown on top--just don’t try to perform two gestures at once.
Synaptics has come up with a new standard, and made it open for any other touchpad vendor to adopt. In this standard, an image-based touchpad sensor is connected to the system through the PS/2 port, but also through the I2C (“eye-squared-see”) bus, which provides much higher bandwidth. This design allows the touchpad to deliver enough data to work with multitouch the same way a touchscreen does, with multiple independent actions and gestures all happening at the same time. Synaptics calls the standard InterTouch. With an InterTouch connection and driver, your touchpad will have a far bigger role in Windows 8--pinch, drag, flick, swipe.
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The company tells us that some laptop manufacturers are now working on implementing the standard, and we should see some models implement the necessary hardware well before Windows 8 ships on PCs. Buy a Windows 7 laptop with the right hardware, and you'll enjoy a big touchpad upgrade when you upgrade the OS to Windows 8 down the line.
We don’t have any word on actual laptop models that will ship with InterTouch just yet, unfortunately. It will probably be some months before the first systems hit the market. Let's hope that, as we approach Windows 8’s release, we’ll see a greater number of laptops implementing this standard for users who don’t want touchscreens.
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