Windows 7 in Europe is going to ship without Internet Explorer. The move by Microsoft is in response to its recurrent problems with the EU. Manufacturers of new PCs will be able to choose a browser to install on the machine (most likely IE of course). Consumers purchasing Windows 7 will have to have broswer software ready on disk before they install the new OS.
US websites have reported the efficiency of the Windows 7 upgrade process but it looks as if we Europeans aren’t going to find out for ourselves how smooth the process is. It seems that Microsoft have taken EU demands to stop shipping a browser with the OS so literally that they will not allow an upgrade from a version with an integrated browser.
Consumers buying an ‘upgrade’ version of the OS will have to wipe their hard drives and install the new operating system afresh. Then they will have to install all of their applications again. Then reinstall all their data. Assuming they remembered to make a backup in the first place of course.
admin News 7, browser, Europe, upgrade, windows
The pricing of Windows 7, which launches on Oct 22, has been announced and shockingly it’s quite reasonable if pre-ordered.
From July 15 to 9 Aug you will be able to pre-order Windows 7 Home Premium E for £49 or Windows 7 Professional E for £99. The offer is being handled by ‘participating retailers’ and Microsoft will be putting a list of retailers on the Windows 7 website at windows.microsoft.com/install-windows-E.
See our story here about the way Windows 7 upgrades will work and about the differences between the US and European versions of Windows 7.
admin News 7, pre-order, windows, £49
But otherwise our list of features wasn’t too far out was it? The phone launches June 19 but rumour has it you can order one from Carphone Warehouse from Wed.
Better battery life – 5 hours talk time, 9 hours surfing
A better camera that finally does video – 3 Megapixel autofocus video-capable camera
Voice memo and cut & paste – Yes, yes, and they added voice control for the phone and iPod features
Support for stereo bluetooth headphones – erm sounds like it doesn’t have this
Wifi auto-login – or this
In-device search – Spotlight search built in
A digital compass – and they called it Compass
Another couple of new features are
- Faster data speed (’up to’ 7Mbps HSPA 3G)
- The keyboard works when the phone is in landscape mode
You can also use the iPhone as a modem to connect your laptop to the web while on the move. Assuming O2 play ball.
There is/isn’t a budget iPhone. You can buy the 8Gb old model for $99. In the states. On a contract. A long one.
Oh, and Steve Jobs didn’t turn up.
PS Got an old iPhone? Update it to V3.0 software for free and get many of the new features. Except the best ones of course.
admin News 3gs, features, iphone, launch
You may have read here earlier in the year that a new iPhone was likely to appear this summer. Well that time is almost with us, with rumours of the product being launched at the Apple worldwide Developers Conference tomorrow. And just to add to the excitement there are now stories curculating that Steve Jobs will be making an early return from sick leave to announce the new product.
What features would a new iPhone be likely to have? How about:
- Better battery life
- A better camera that finally does video
- Voice memo and cut & paste
- Support for stereo bluetooth headphones
- Wifi auto-login
- In-device search
- A digital compass
If the rumours are true the one feature missing will be Flash video. When the new phone does appear it may actually turn out to be two different models – a full spec version with all the bells & whistles and a cut-price version aimed at soaking up the lower end of the smart(er)phone market.
admin News iphone. launch, new
Real Player is a high quality media player, which is freely available for Linux operating systems. It isn’t included in Linux packages because it is not a fully open source program. There are .rpm and .deb packages available for RedHat and Debian variants but nothing that will obviously work for Ubuntu. Fortunately it is fairly easy to get RealPlayer to install on a computer running Ubuntu. Here’s how:
Download the file to your root directory
- Find the ‘vanilla’ Linux version of RealPlayer here on the Real website. The current file is ‘RealPlayer11GOLD.bin’.
- Choose which language version to download – English (GB) seems the right one to us. Right-click on the link and click ‘Save link as’. Save the file to your root directory (the one with your username on it).
and give it permission to run as a program
- Once downloaded right click on the file in the download window and choose ‘Open containing folder’ to find the file.
- Right click on the file and click on ‘Properties’. Click the ‘Permissons’ tab and tick the box saying ‘Allow executing file as a program’ then click on the close button
Tell Ubuntu to run the installation program
- Start the Terminal program (click on Applications in the top Ubuntu toolbar then Accessories and finally Terminal)
- Type (or copy & paste) the following: sudo ./RealPlayer11GOLD.bin
- You will be asked to enter your password and the RealPlayer installation program will run.
- Hit ‘Enter’ at the prompt to allow the installation to start.
- The default installation directory shjould be fine so hit ‘Enter’ again at the next prompt.
- Finally press ‘F’ to start the real job of installing the RealPlayer files.
When finished RealPlayer should be listed under Applications/Sound & Video. Click on it and you will be asked to agree the licence. RealPlayer will also at this point integrate itself with Firefox and possibly other browsers on your system.
admin Hints & tips install, player, real, ubuntu