Windows 7

Windows 7, Microsoft’s upcoming operating system (OS) will be available on October 22. Unlike Windows Vista, Windows 7 is designed to be a more robust operating system with lots of improvements. It will also have all the hardware and application software compatibility that Vista has. In Windows 7, you will notice the overall responsiveness while performing common tasks such as startup/shutdown. If you are switching from Windows XP, you will be amazed to see the overall design with significant level of improvements. Clean installation of Windows 7 on a new computer takes less than 20 minutes. You can directly upgrade Windows Vista to Windows 7, but there is no direct upgrade supported from Windows XP to Windows 7 due to many architectural changes in Windows 7. Users will have to use Windows Easy Transfer or USMT.

USER INTERFACE

Windows 7 Desktop will have a new Windows Taskbar. You can ‘pin’ favourite programs anywhere on the taskbar for easy access. Point to a taskbar icon to see a thumbnail preview of open files or programs. You can close windows from the thumbnail previews. Management of System Tray icons has become easier with the improvements in the Notification Area Icons. Jump Lists take you right to the documents, pictures, songs, or websites you turn to each day. This OS is the first to fully embrace Multi-Touch Technology and Biometric devices.

NETWORKING AND SECURITY

Enhanced Network and Sharing Center makes it easy to manage wired and wireless net works. The new feature Home-Group makes it easy to share your libraries and printers on a home network. Windows 7 is bundled with Internet Explorer 8. Windows 7 has a re-designed User Account Control. There is a new BitLocker to Go feature for encrypting removable storage devices. Windows Security Center is now Action Center.

EDITIONS AND PRICING

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Windows 7 will be available in six different editions — Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Professional and Ultimate. Enterprise edition will be only available through Volume Licensing. Pricing is available on Microsoft’s website.

FINAL VERDICT

Overall, Windows 7 is the most stable release in the history of Microsoft Corporation. Windows 7 has been improved a lot, overcoming all the issues raised in Vista. It has a rich user interface and rock-solid security. Windows 7 is the next big thing that will rule the PC market. It also faces a tough competition against "already-released" Mac OS X Snow Leopard. So will it beat the Leopard or get eaten by it!? Wait till Oct 22nd !!

Porsche’s sailing in new waters

German carmaker creates new mega yacht, in association with Singapore-based yacht builder

Not one to be told to stick to its core business, Porsche’s design arm has teamed up with a Singapore shipyard to design a state-of-the-art catamaran megayacht, reports autoblog.com. The Porsche Design Group and megayacht manufacturer Royal Falcon Fleet have begun releasing details and images of their first joint project. The RFF135 is a massive twin-hull design measuring 135 feet in length with a 41-foot beam. That’s enough space to accommodate 10 guests and 10 crew members below decks in 472 square metres of area, with another 208 square metres of deck space up top. 

That’s unfathomably large, and to propel the vessel up 35 knots (about 64.82 kmph), the catamaran will be equipped with twin V16 turbodiesel engines from German manufacturer MTU, each producing a massive 4,600 horsepower. This beauty will drink down 750 litres of diesel every hour though.

First Picture of a Molecule

(The delicate inner structure of a pentacene molecule has been imaged with an atomic force microscope )

IBM scientists have been able to image the ‘anatomy’ or chemical structure inside a molecule with unprecedented resolution, using a complex technique known as noncontact atomic force microscopy, says a company press release.

The results push the exploration of using molecules and atoms at the smallest scale and could greatly impact the field of nanotechnology, which seeks to understand and control some of the smallest objects known to mankind. The team’s current publication follows on the heels of another experiment published just two months ago in the June 12 issue of Science (pages 1428–1431) where IBM scientists measured the charge states of atoms using an atomic force microscope (AFM).

These breakthroughs will open new possibilities for investigating how charge transmits through molecules or molecular
networks. Understanding the charge distribution at the atomic scale is essential for building smaller, faster and more energy-efficient computing components than today’s processors and memory devices.

As reported in the August 28 issue of Science magazine, IBM Research, Zurich scientists Leo Gross, FabianMohn, Nikolaj Moll and Gerhard Meyer, in collaboration with Peter Liljeroth of Utrecht University, used an AFM (Atomic Force Microscope - Wikipedia)operated in an ultrahigh vacuum and at very low temperatures (–268 degree Centigrade or –451 degree Fahrenheit) to image the chemical structure of individual pentacene molecules. With their AFM, the IBM scientists, were able to look through the electron cloud and see the atomic backbone of an individual molecule. While not a direct technological comparison, this is reminiscent of x-rays that pass through soft tissue to enable clear images of bones.

THE TIP THAT TIPPED THE SCALE

The AFM uses a sharp metal tip to measure the tiny forces between the tip and the sample, such as a molecule, to create an image. To achieve this, the IBM scientists were required to increase the sensitivity of the tip.