Checking out The Windows 7 distros: which one's perfect for you?

Windows 7 is that new version that is said to be what Windows Vista should have been. It is in fact better as it introduces a lot of new features. This new OS has focused its goal on being fully compatible with applications and hardware which is where Vista had failed to so.

Windows 7 has four distros, each with features that is designed for a specific purpose. This would definitely help users get the most out of this OS giving them options to fit into their activities.

Before getting too excited on upgrading your PC (even updating) here is some information on the four distros of Windows 7.

1. Windows 7 Starter

"Simpler and easier to use"

Starter combines the latest in reliability and responsiveness when it comes to familiarity with compatibility. It gives less hassle connecting to networks. However considered as the lightweight version of this new operating system, this only comes with Netbooks. It is not available for upgrading a Windows XP or even Vista. The sixty-four bit is not available and the backup and restore center won't work with network based drives. Since it is a "starter" it lacks the key features that made Windows 7 the much awaited OS that has surpassed Vista.

The starter, however, can pin programs to the taskbar, plus the jump list remains active. There’s the snap function for resizing program windows although it lacks the aero look. But for those who love the internet the better Wi-Fi and device management are fully functional. Users can also use the in-place anytime upgrade option to buy an upgrade going to Home Premium.

2. Windows 7 Home Premium

"The best entertainment experience on your PC"

Retail price: $119.99.

This distro offers media enjoyment by letting the user create a home network and share favorite photos, videos and music. Free movies and music is accessible everywhere with its internet TV on Windows Media Center.

Home Premium is said to be one that appeals best to casual users. Public search shows that most of the big features that Microsoft can offer (sure to love by the public) is included in this distro:

· Aero Peek for previewing programs and clearing the desktop

· Aero Snap for resizing windows

· Aero skin which includes a translucent Taskbar and window borders.

· Aero shake which allows quick way to clear the desktop

With its features centered on Media entertainment, Windows media Center and Media Player allows users to stream video directly to their desktops. Furthermore it can be used to create a Home Group making sharing of music, videos and pictures between computers belonging to the same group simpler.

Unlike the Started, Home premium is available in 64-bit however it can only support up to 1GB of RAM. Home Premium can also be upgraded to either the Professional or Ultimate Widows 7 distros.

3. Windows 7 Professional

"Everything you need for work and home"

Retail price: $199.99

Professional distro is said to be perfect for the career person in the user. It allows the user to run many Windows XP productivity programs in Windows XP Mode plus recover them easily with automatic backups either to your home or business network.

This windows distro allows access to company networks effortlessly with a more secure domain join, proving further its flexibility.

With the said features, background check shows the Professional as an operating system that is definite power user edition. It supports up to 192 GB of RAM in 64-bit mode. It can also work with two physical processors. However this distro lacks the AppLocker and the BitLocker features thus disabling it to handle remote Aero glass support. It also lacks the multilingual interface support pack.

4. Windows 7 Ultimate

"Designed for people who want it all"

Retail price: $219.99

The Ultimate distro is the most versatile and powerful edition of windows 7. It has combined the entertainment features of the Home premium with the Professional's business theme (which means access to Windows XP mode).

Public search shows that Ultimate's security can be encrypt with data with BitLocker and BitLocker To-Go. It is also good to know that it can work with 35 languages.

For a more plus with the Ultimate; it also has virtual hard-disk booting and subsystem for Unix Applications. Features that separate the Ultimate from Professional is in a class that goes exclusively for international or network use. For home and office power user however the Ultimate is non recommendable.

For more information on what the windows 7 distros, public search brings us to CNET.com. Reviews of the Distros give us a table that will help see in what features are available.

Mozilla to Addresses Security Hole in 3.6: Firefox 3.6.2 Released Ahead of Schedule

Last Monday, Mozilla released Firefox 3.6.2 to address critical security hole involving Web-based font technology.

In a blog post by Mozilla developer News they announced the release of the said browser ahead of schedule and are presently available for download for Windows, Mac and Linux. They also expressed their strong recommendation for the upgrade.

The said security hole was reported by Evgeny Legerov of Intevydis. In his report he said that the WOFF decoder contained an integer overflow in a font decompression routine. This could lead to a small memory buffer being allocated to store downloadable font. With this it could lead an attacker to crash it's victim's browser and worse allows him to run arbitrary code in the machine as well.

For those who are using earlier versions of Firefox, there's no need to worry of this problem since WOFF is introduced in the 3.6 version thus not affecting them.

WOFF or Web Open Font Format is a format developed during 2009. It is a wrapper that contains sfnt-based fronts (True Type, Open type or Open font Format) that are compressed using a WOFF encoding tool that enables them to be embedded in a web page.

Final Fantasy continuous: 13th Installment in away from the traditional

WE have always loved the final fantasy installments. The role playing game that let us live the lives of characters as they deal with magic, adventure and at times love.

This year final fantasy approaches its thirteenth installment however with that certain question as to whether it can stand apart from the others.

It is one of the longest running video game franchises and has sold in excess 90 million of it for the past 20 years since it first started.

Final Fantasy was first released on Nintendo Entertainment system in 1987. It was a big hit locally in Japan. The westerners’ acceptance to this game however started during 1990 where sales went extremes the two million mark thus holding a great future for Square as a key international publisher.

Although with the acceptance of final fantasy, the second and third installment didn't reach the western shores so when the fourth came out the west took it as the second. The fifth didn't get there either but they got the sixth which they called the third. So it goes on and the installment to the game became more confusing then again final fantasy has always taken the same name that it became a phenomenal tag.

Final Fantasy has given its supporters every gaming platform plus spin-offs which graced genres: diverse turn-based strategy game, massively multiplayer online worlds, fighting games, and even the CGI movie.

Although there have been many final fantasy installments that garner great reviews, it was the seventh that reigned supreme. The story was remarkable that it captured many people's interest. It is still holds the most compelling story plus characters that are considered as unforgettable. One of the main characters names Aeries remained as an oft-cited high-water mark in gaming history. Even its music was adapted as one of the best classical music s its soundtrack boomed to impressive in concert halls.

Google Chrome receives upgrades

Google has recently done some updating on their Chrome browser for most of its multiple versions that focus on all platforms. Although most of the said updates were but minors the said activity was done in few days since it was about high security fixes to make the version stable.

The stable Windows version of Chrome has five security fixes labeled high including one which was discovered by Sergev Glazunov. For this he received the first $1,337 Chromium security Reward. The security fixes includes the following:

• plugging holes in tab sandboxing
• memory errors occurring with malformed SVG images
• integer overflows in Web Kit JavaScript objects
• cross-origin bypass error

One of the newest features, the XSS Auditor, since the version has been upgraded to v4 has been disabled. This was due to "serious performance issues".

The new Windows beta version presently includes a translate inforbar for automatic page translation using Google's translate function.

For the benefit of the Mac, Windows, and Linux, updated have been made for the Chrome dev channel. This will allow people to see improvements with the performance of the auto fill feature. Other than this the bookmark folders have received many fixes with regards to usage of the Mac OS X dev channel. However users of the said Mac channel will still experience significant problems with their bookmarking.

The chrome Frame, an add-on of Google's Internet Explorer, also had several repairs. At present it is using IE's default pop-up blocker. Clicking will no longer make the browser crash. Users however are reminded that this feature is still experimental and casual usage is not yet recommended.

MySpace: making new out of the old

It's creating something new out of something old; that is presently what is being developed by the people in My Space. They are trying to figure out a new way to make the motto they have today (discover and be discovered); they just want this restated.

Can something old be turned new again?

My Space has been known as that social network focused on younger and artistic modes that touch the pop culture: Jazzed up as we all would call it. It has hooked up a lot of users that even personalizing one's page became a craze.

The said changes include a new Today on MySpace (TOM) to greet new users. However the changes are taking a slow movement.

MySpace is presently being managed by Hirschborn and Jones. They took over after News Corp fires CEO Owen Van Natta last month. They reported to Natta about their plan to revive the site which has lost ground due to other social networks such as Facebook.

MySpace is still a small enterprise with just $350 million in annual revenue.

Goodbye IE6 (sob...sob...sob)--RIP?

Yup! We say goodbye to Internet Explorer 6 as it dies of old age. More than a hundred people are expected to attend the said funeral, this Thursday, for the late web browser wearing black.

The surviving descendants of the said IE6 namely "his son" IE7 and "his granddaughter" IE8 will be represented in the eulogy hosted by Aten Design Group, a design firm in Denver Colorado.

This is not the first time someone has tried to put an end to the browser's existence. There have been Facebook groups which tried this stunt. There was even one movement "IE must die" that circulated on Twitter.

Although in truth IE6 isn't dead yet, as there are still those who continuously use this, this browser now faces limits especially with what is being offered in today's web. The release of faster browsers who support much more action with regards to videos and other special apps has definitely left this browser behind. However, even with the said discrepancies regarding browsers, it can't be denied that since its first release IE6 has proven itself to many internet surfers.

Released in 2001, IE6 was the standard browser for web surfing till 2006 when Microsoft launched IE7. It was only recently that IE8 which commanded 22.5 percent of the market last month. However despite the said claims that IE6 is definitely behind, it still remains a command of 19.8 percent in the market compared to that of IE7.


The mock funeral for IE6 was inspired by Google's decision to take out IE6 this month. The invitation to the funeral states that: "Internet Explorer Six, resident of the interwebs for over 8 years, died the morning of March 1, 2010 in Mountain View, California, as a result of a workplace injury sustained at the headquarters of Google, Inc."

According to Jon Clark, business development director for Aten Design Group, they were initially expecting 30 to 50 people to attend the funeral. After more than 1,000 comments online and 6,000 Tweets, the company decided to move it to a bigger venue.

"It's all in good fun" Clark further says as people are expected to go crying crocodile tears this Thursday.

IE6 will be presented in a coffin with a body inside having the IE6 logo for a head.

Years from Now (what if?): An Innovation in a sheer glass touch

It was an example submitted and posted in Hoax-Slayer last November 2009. This submission was entitled “GOOGLE Has Done It Again!!! A Very Smart Innovation”.

The said article tells about a device that has features of a touch screen, camera, scanner, WiFi and Google maps. It has pics that showed it as a flat transparent screen that whenever it centers into focus a certain object (let’s say a building or food) it immediately gives information about it. As the description says:

“Choose a building and touch a floor and it tells you more details of the building. You can use it when you want to know a car model, an insect name, what kind of food is served at a restaurant and how much, who built a bridge, etc. etc.”

Displaying many advantages (as it can also be used as a dictionary), this device shows itself as something light and very useful to the needs of an individual—a good exchange for a phone.

Truly whatever we have right now is not merely based on logic alone. There is also imagination involve…

A toast to the future!!!!