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The State of DirectX 11 - Image Quality & Performance

noreply@blogger.com (Ravi) — Fri, 28 May 2010 17:13:00 +0000

The Promise of DirectX 11

Touted as one of the biggest milestones in Windows games development in recent years, DirectX 10 ultimately didn't live up to the hype as far as end-users were concerned. A large part of the disappointment was perhaps due to a misunderstanding of what DirectX 10 was supposed to be. DirectX 10 was a fundamental refresh of the entire API and it brought a much-needed reboot to an aging API model. The reboot removed a lot of the legacy clutter left over from over a decade of previous DirectX developments. DirectX 10 was never really about the end users at all, it was really about the developers.

It also didn't help that DirectX 10 was tied to Windows Vista, which was unpopular with gamers from launch. On top of that, due to the revamped API model which required developers to adjust how they programmed games, DirectX 10 received sluggish developer adoption. Considering the lukewarm reception DirectX 10 received a few short years ago, it isn't too surprising that many gamers are now approaching DirectX 11 with some caution.

In terms of technology, DirectX 11 isn't the API defining, behind-the-scenes reboot that DirectX 10 was. It's an incremental update, much in the same way that Windows 7 is an update of Vista. At the end of the day, DirectX 11 is basically just DirectX 10 with a bunch of new features stuck on. However, I'd speculate that DirectX 11 should have a much larger impact on the end-user experience than DirectX 10 did because it brings several new features to the table that will make creating advanced graphical effects seldom seen in past games, much easier.

Some critics have said that Windows 7 is everything that Vista was supposed to be. Is DirectX 11 everything DirectX 10 was hyped up to be? I couldn't let such a loaded question go unanswered. Now that DirectX 11 hardware is readily available and compatible games are on the shelves, it's high time I took stock of what DirectX 11 has to offer to the end-user.

What is DirectX 11?

The DirectX 11 API is a superset of DirectX 10, including all of DirectX 10's features inside of it, in addition to a couple new ones. The new features are the addition of native support for tessellation, improved multi-threading support, two new texture compression algorithms, increased texture cache, Shader Model 5.0, and the DirectCompute API. Out of this list, the only features that will have any real impact on gamers are hardware tessellation, better multi-threading and the DirectCompute API. The rest will be welcomed by developers, but will have little direct impact on end users.

Multi-Threading
Support for multi-threaded processing has been implemented separately by ATI and NVIDIA for several years in their respective developer API's, allowing multi-core CPUs to communicate with the GPU in parallel. However, DirectX 11 takes this a step further, allowing for even more granular multi-threading. Now, the application, graphics driver and DirectX runtime can all run in separate threads. While this won't directly allow for any new image quality enhancements, it should result in better performance, especially moving into the future as processors become even more heavily multi-threaded.

Tessellation
The characters in modern games are essentially complex meshes that an artist creates using an authoring tool. The artists produce high resolution character meshes which are extremely complex. However with increased complexity comes high data and bandwidth requirements. The original high resolution characters meshes are simply too big, so the models are thinned out, reducing complexity, when they are imported into a game. This reduces the data requirements to a level that will fit within the bandwidth envelopes of currently available hardware, but at the cost of reduced detail. Tessellation is one method of getting some of that detail back. This is accomplished with procedural generation techniques right on the GPU, which neatly avoids the bandwidth problem.

Tessellation Example: Fully Rendered

Tessellation Example: Wireframe

The two tessellation example comparison images are from an AMD tech demo. It illustrates how tessellation can be used to greatly increase the geometry detail of a game character. In AMD's tech demo, the female character's head gear, armor and clothing are heavily tessellated, adding a significant amount of geometry detail, making the tessellated areas appear more defined with greater depth. However tessellation isn't limited to characters, it can be applied to any geometry objects in a game, including the terrain.

Tessellation has been implemented in hardware by ATI since 2001. However few developers chose to implement it in their games due to general lack of support from programming APIs and it didn't help that NVIDIA wasn't playing ball at the time. DirectX 11 changes all of that by making hardware tessellation support part of the standard. This takes away ATI's "edge" but at least there will be more titles actually implementing tessellation. It's worth noting that ATI's older hardware tessellator found in its older generation hardware is not compatible with DirectX 11, since the DX11 tessellator specification is a superset of ATI's approach.

DirectCompute API
Perhaps the biggest boon for gamers is the introduction of the DirectCompute API. Launched with DirectX 11 and now part of the DirectX family, this API provides support for general-purpose computing on graphics processing units (GPGPU). You've probably heard quite a bit about GPGPU already and perhaps know about NVIDIA's CUDA and AMD's Stream initiatives. DirectCompute is Microsoft's entry into this arena.

DirectCompute allows for more general computing processing to happen right on the GPU. This can both boost performance by offloading some processing from the CPU and allow for new graphics effects that were previously impossible or too performance intensive on a CPU. The list of applications for DirectCompute is lengthy, it currently includes artificial intelligence, ambient occlusion, physics, post-processing, ray tracing, and video transcoding, among many other possibilities. DirectCompute is also available on DirectX 10 and 10.1, though some of the features will be unavailable, reducing its effectiveness.

Screen-space Ambient Occlusion Example

Depth of Field Example

DirectCompute offers a lot of possibilities that will help make existing effects more efficient and new effects possible. One of the hot graphical features of the last two years is definitely screen-space ambient occlusion (SSAO). The effect has been a staple in 3D rendering for some time, but was first introduced in a game by Crysis. Ambient occlusion is a shading method that allows for more realistic light and reflection models. Another graphical effect I'll be seeing a lot of is depth of field, which attempts to approximate the way a camera lens focuses on objects. While both of these effects were possible before DirectCompute, they were very computationally expensive. Expect to see these effects, and others, much more often from now on.

The State of DirectX 11

What's more, it would seem that some of the games actually performed noticeably better in DirectX 11, compared to DirectX 10 and 9, when the extra image quality features exclusive to DirectX 11 were not enabled, as I observed in Alien vs. Predator. This suggests that DirectX 11 rendering paths can be faster than their DirectX 9 counterparts while maintaining the same image quality level in some scenarios.

In terms of image quality, the new effects and graphical tricks I saw with DX11 added some extra realism not available in DirectX 9. Effects like screen-space ambient occlusion, depth of field, and tessellation really brought the graphics up a notch, adding extra atmosphere and realism to games like Aliens vs Predator, Bad Company 2 and Dirt 2. However, these effects were generally quite subtle and are nothing as dramatic as the image quality changes brought on by DirectX 8 or 9 in the past, which both offered major milestones in shader technology. It's also worth noting that, except for tessellation, these effects are all technically possible without DirectX 11 and compute shaders, as proven by Crysis.

DirectX 11's hardware tessellation and DirectCompute API have great potential, but currently they're being used to implement effects I've seen before since Crysis was introduced. While that certainly doesn't sound very impressive, keep in mind that although the graphical effects are nothing new, DirectCompute now makes them much more efficient. So efficient, that all five games were able to run at full HD resolution (1920x1200) with all the graphics setting cranked to max without much trouble, even on the affordable $150 Radeon 5770. This means that game developers will be much more willing and likely to implement these effects in their titles, so watch for them in the coming months. Overall, performance in currently available DirectX 11 games is excellent.

Is DirectX 11 Worth Your Time?
Ultimately DirectX 10 will be remembered as a stepping stone. It was a necessary evil that helped rid the DirectX API of over a decade of legacy dead weight. I predict it will be overshadowed in the memories of most gamers by DirectX 11 which looks like it will finally make much of the hype originally created for DirectX 10 a reality. Currently available DirectX 11 titles and hardware really delivers, both in terms of performance and image quality, though arguably not quite at the same time. If you've held out on Vista and DirectX 10, and have been waiting to see if something better comes along before leaving your beloved DirectX 9 WinXP gaming platform behind... well, it appears to be here and it's called DirectX 11.

Windows 7 V/S Snow Leopard : Battle On

noreply@blogger.com (Ravi) — Sun, 16 May 2010 08:15:00 +0000

Microsoft and Apple will go head-to-head this season. Microsoft’s new software, Windows 7, hits the shops on October 22, 2009, but is already flying off the shelves – so many people tried to pre-order the operating system on launch day that it crashed the Microsoft website. Apple, meanwhile, releases Snow Leopard in September, and hopes that the latest version of OS X will appeal to the growing number of converts who are swapping their Windows PCs for Macs – Apple sold almost 10 million Macs last year, its highest ever figure. Here, we take a close look at some of the key features of both Windows 7 and Snow Leopard to see how they measure up:

Windows 7

Minimum system requirements: 1GHz 32-bit processor; 1GB RAM; 16GB available hard disk space; DirectX9 graphics device Windows 7, the successor to the highly unpopular Vista operating system, is aimed at existing Windows users as well as those looking to buy a new computer. Existing users will be able to upgrade from Windows XP or Windows Vista to Windows 7, and enjoy faster performance and more secure web browsing.

Desktop: The Windows 7 desktop is similar in look and feel to Windows Vista, but boasts some handy new tools to help users work more efficiently. Aero Peek turns all of the open windows and folders on your desktop translucent, allowing you to see what you’re working on, and switch quickly to the document or program you need. The addition of Jump Lists makes it really easy to access the songs, pictures or favourite websites you visit every day. You can “pin” items, such as videos or music, to the Jump List, rather like a virtual corkboard, and even use the Jump List to access common shortcuts, such as writing a new email message or creating a blank Word document.

Home networking: Windows 7 has been designed with multiple users in mind – Microsoft understands that a single household may have multiple computer users, who may want to be able to quickly and easily share documents between machines without having to transfer them via USB sticks or go through complex procedures to copy the files to a communal space. The new HomeGroup function gives one-click sharing of files and folders between PCs on the same network. It’s all password-protected too, so you have control over what areas of your computer other people can and cannot access.

Performance: This is one area where Windows 7 knocks the spots off its predecessor, Vista. The whole operating system has been turbo-charged to help users do what they want more quickly. That means your computer will boot up faster and connect to a Wi-Fi network more quickly; searching for files and documents is easier, and results will be delivered more quickly, and grouped in to helpful categories to make it simple to find what you need; Windows 7 is also less processor-hungry than Vista, because it has been tweaked to only run the programs and services you need, when you need them – for example, it won’t waste time switching on your computer’s Bluetooth function if it knows you’re not using a Bluetooth device.

If you’re a laptop user, you’ll also appreciate Windows 7’s new power-management tools, which could help you to conserve your computer’s battery life. There’s also support for touchscreen interfaces, so if you’re using a computer with a touch-screen monitor, you can use your fingers, as well as a mouse, to access all your important files, and surf the web.

Snow Leopard

Minimum system requirements: Mac computer with Intel processor; 1GB memory; 5GB free disk space Snow Leopard is the follow-up to Leopard, and, as the name suggests, Apple sees this new operating system as an iterative improvement rather than a complete overhaul. Snow Leopard tweaks many of the already excellent features found in Leopard, bringing users a more nimble, reliable operating system with enough neat new tricks up its sleeves to persuade most Mac users to upgrade, and which may even persuade those looking to buy a new computer to choose a Mac rather than a PC.

Desktop: Snow Leopard is very similar in look and feel to Leopard – indeed, many of the improvements are “under the hood”, rather than cosmetic. Finder, the search tool that allows you to find files and documents stored on your computer, has been simplified and streamlined, making it even easier to find what you’re looking for. The iTunes-style Finder window remains a pleasure to use, even allowing you to preview video clips, songs or browse documents directly within Finder, rather than having to open up a video- or document-editing program first. The Stacks feature enables users to quickly access files and folders at the touch of a button.

Home networking: Macs have always made it easy to share files and folders on computers using the same network through its Bonjour software. Enhancements to this tool in Snow Leopard now means your Mac can bee in sleep mode, yet continue to share files and folders across the network, waking from its slumber when needed, and dozing off again when it’s not. Logging on to a wireless network also takes less time, meaning you can be up and running more quickly. Automatically backing up your hard drive using the Time Machine function also takes less time, as does restoring your computer to its former glory if you do delete something by accident.

Performance: Snow Leopard can boot up and shut down a Mac almost twice as quickly as a machine running Leopard. Installing the new operating system will also take up less than half the disk space Leopard used, giving users back around 6GB of storage – enough room for thousands more songs and photos.

Everyone's a winner, baby

On the face of it, Apple beats Microsoft in several key areas. The first is price - Snow Leopard is £25*, while Windows 7 Home Premium is currently £64.98* at Amazon - and the second is ease of installation: while Windows 7 supports in-place upgrades that keep your files intact, XP users will need to do a clean install, as will anybody upgrading from a 32-bit Vista installation to a 64-bit Windows 7 one.

Snow Leopard is designed to be an in-place upgrade, and there's no version confusion either: Apple sells one version to Microsoft's three retail editions.
Microsoft could certainly learn some lessons from Apple in these areas - although Apple isn't entirely angelic, as Tiger users can only get Snow Leopard if they also buy iLife and iWork in the £129* Mac Box Set.

At least, that's the official story. According to Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal, "Apple concedes that the $29* (£25 in the UK)* Snow Leopard upgrade will work properly on these Tiger-equipped Macs." We'll let you know what Apple says about that one.
Overall, though, it's impossible to say whether one operating system is better than another - we're comparing apples and oranges here, no pun intended. As most of its key changes are under the hood Snow Leopard feels more like a service pack than a new OS, and it'll be a while before its biggest changes - such as the new toys for software developers to play with - become obvious to the average punter.

The price reflects that, and there's enough tweakery and polish to ensure that no Intel Mac owner is going to regret spending their twenty-five quid.
Windows 7 is a different beast, with some dramatic differences to Windows Vista. In many respects it feels like the operating system Vista promised to be, but there's enough innovation here to make it more than just Windows Vista Fixed Edition. As with Snow Leopard, you're not going to regret purchasing it - especially if you pre-order it right now before the prices go up on 1 September.
So which is better? We think that's the wrong question. Snow Leopard is better than Leopard, and Windows 7 is better than Windows Vista. If you aren't planning to buy a new computer in the not too distant future, that's all that matters: whichever platform you're currently running, upgrading is well worth the money.
*(estimated to change).

Screenshots

Windows 7

Snow Leopard

Snow Leopard v/s Windows 7 v/s Ubuntu 9.10

noreply@blogger.com (Ravi) — Sun, 16 May 2010 06:49:00 +0000

Over a short period of time, three major operating system releases will take place. From Apple, Mac OS X 10.6 (also known as Snow Leopard) will ship on August 28,2009. From Microsoft, Windows 7 has already been released to manufacturers, with general retail availability set for October of this year. Representing Linux, Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala) is also slated for an October 2009 release. So, there are a lot of reasons for us to be excited.

Since I use Mac OS X (dual boot with Xubuntu) on Macbook Pro, Ubuntu on my main workstation, and Windows XP on some of our computers used for our family business, I'm looking forward to these consecutive "big-time" updates. However, I still haven't made up my mind if I'll immediately upgrade to the new versions. But I did a little research and collected some important information so that I could somehow find out early on if the upgrades will be worth it.

For all of you, I'm going to highlight the main features of Ubuntu 9.10, Mac OS X Snow Leopard, and Windows 7. I will also share my quick observation later on.

Mac OS X v10.6 (Snow Leopard)

* UI (User Interface) Enhancements:
- Stacks will allow viewing a subfolder without launching Finder. Stacks have also been modified to include scroll-bars for folders with many files;
- Contextual menus which come out of Dock icons now have more options and have a new look, with a semi-transparent charcoal background and white type;
- Exposé can now display all windows for a single program by left clicking and holding its icon in the dock;
- More reliable, higher-resolution iChat;

* System Enhancements:
- Faster installation, startup, shutdown, Time Machine backup and connection establishment;
- Smaller footprint compared to previous version (7GB of disk space will be freed);
- 64-bit support with nearly all system applications built with 64-bit code;
- New technologies introduced to enhance the performance of multiple processor cores and graphics processing units;

* Additional Features:
- New version of Quicktime;
- Out-of-the-box support for Microsoft Exchange;
- Automatic updates for printer drivers;

A complete list of features can be found HERE.

The main focus on this release is obviously on improving performance and efficiency on utilizing key system resources, rather than adding new end-user features.

Windows 7

* UI (User Interface) Enhancements:
- A redesigned Windows Shell with a new taskbar;
- A new control panel interface;
- Windows Explorer now includes a desktop slideshow that changes the desktop background in a designated amount of time;
- Start menu and window management enhancements;
- The user interface for font management has been overhauled;

* System Enhancements:
- Faster boot speed;
- The DirectX version has been updated to 11;
- Multi-touch support for Tablet PCs and other capable devices;
- Native WWAN support, similar to native WiFi added in Vista;
- Enhanced security features;

* Additional Features:
- Calculator has been rewritten, with multiline capabilities including Programmer and Statistics modes along with unit conversion and date calculation;
- Office Open XML and ODF support in WordPad;
- Windows 7 will include Windows Media Player 12, along with new codecs for playing formats such as H.264, MPEG4-SP, ASP/Divx/Xvid, MJPEG, DV, Advanced Audio Coding (AAC-LC), AA;
- Windows XP Mode;

A more complete list of features can be found HERE.

Windows 7 is like a striped-down version of Vista but few key enhancements are added here and there. --Hardware and applications that are compatible with Vista will be fully compatible with Windows 7. In addition, overall performance improvements are also expected.

Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala)

* UI (User Interface) Enhancements:
- Overall theme refresh;
- Using the most up-to-date GNOME version;
- A redesigned login manager;

* System Enhancements:
- Faster boot speed;
- Ext4 will be the default filesystem;
- Ubuntu One client will be installed by default;

* Additional Features:
- Empathy Instant Messenger will replace Pidgin;
- Will utilize GRUB 2 as its default boot loader;

Since Ubuntu 9.10 is still in the early stages of development, a lot of changes can still happen as some features may still be added or removed. I can only give more and accurate information when the release date approaches. However, you can take a peek at what's cooking HERE.

I've noticed that Windows and Mac OS X is trying to be like Linux right now --fast and resource efficient. On the other hand, Linux on the desktop is still polishing its user-interface perhaps to be like Windows or Mac OS X. Although I now absolutely prefer Linux for its overall features, my geeky side still tells to me to check out Snow Leopard and Windows 7. Hopefully, I can share the complete experience with all of you here soon.

One Maya. More Value

noreply@blogger.com (Ravi) — Fri, 14 May 2010 03:22:00 +0000

Create innovative digital entertainment with Autodesk® Maya® 2011, an end-to-end solution for CG production at an exceptional value.

Autodesk, Inc. has announced Autodesk Maya 2011 software, the latest version of its 3D animation software.

The company said that a new user interface (UI), 3D editorial capability and enhanced skinning workflow help provide computer graphics (CG) artists with a creative workflow. According to a release, Autodesk Maya software has been used on countless games as well as every Oscar-winning movie for Best Visual Effects since 2001.

"Maya continues to help artists set new standards in entertainment with credits such as 'Avatar' and 'Uncharted 2: Among Thieves,'" said Stig Gruman, Autodesk vice president of digital entertainment. "The 2011 release is a key milestone for Maya. With a new customizable UI and a new graphics architecture, Maya strengthens its position as a foundation for modern film and game pipelines. The innovative 3D editorial timeline helps communicate and validate the creative vision behind a project and enables previs and virtual moviemaking workflows for users." The company noted that new features in Autodesk Maya 2011 Software include: -Redesigned User Interface -- Maya 2011 has a fresh new look and feel. Based on Nokia Qt, the new UI is simpler to customize, featuring dockable UI elements and improved editors. As beta tester Rob van den Bragt, supervisor/director, The Mill, explained, "I am loving all the positive steps taken in Maya 2011. With the UI now based on Qt, Maya has become more flexible, powerful and modern." -High Performance Core -- Maya 2011 features a completely redesigned graphics pipeline that helps deliver new levels of performance for complex scenes while improving the quality of the viewport feedback.

1. General Product Information

1.1 What is Maya 2011?

Autodesk® Maya® 2011 is a modeling, animation, rendering, and visual effects software offering film, game, television and design visualization artists an end-to-end creative workflow. Maya 2011 features powerful new tools for helping create and repurpose character animation: enhanced skinning capabilities and non-destructive live motion retargeting, now with support for 64-bit Mac OS® X operating system.

1.2 What are the key strengths of Autodesk Maya?

Unbeatable Value : Maya provides customers with a full featured 3D modeling, animation, effects and rendering feature set in addition to advanced matchmoving capabilities and high dynamic range compositing in a single affordable offering.

Proven Solution : Maya has been a 3D tool of choice for companies producing the top film, games, and television content throughout the world for the last decade.

Productivity : Maya helps maximize productivity with optimized workflows for everyday tasks, opportunities for collaborative, parallel workflows and re-use of assets, and automation through scripting for repetitive tasks.

Performance : Through a combination of multi-threading, algorithmic tuning, sophisticated memory management, and tools for segmenting scenes, Maya is engineered to help elegantly handle today’s increasingly complex data sets without slowing down the creative process.

Interoperabilit : Maya includes the Autodesk® FBX® technology supporting the exchange of 3D data with numerous professional applications, allowing certain assets created outside of Maya to be re-used.

Extensibility : Built from the ground-up with its own embedded scripting language, Maya Embedded Language (MEL), Maya also offers Python™ scripting, and an extensive, well-documented C++ application programming interface (API). In addition, a software development kit (SDK) is available to help assist studios with pipeline integration.

Platform Choice : Whether an artist uses Windows®, Mac®, or Linux® operating systems, Maya runs on these platforms. Also with 64-bit executables for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.

1.3 What will be contained in the Maya 2011 (English) boxed software kit?
The Maya 2011 English boxed software kit will contain two (2) DVDs with the following components:

The Maya software for all supported platforms (Windows/Mac OS X 32-bit and Windows/Linux/ Mac OS X 64-bit)
Maya Composite, Autodesk® MatchMover™ and Autodesk® Backburner™ functionality
mental ray® for Maya Satellite
mental ray for Maya Batch
English documentation

1.4 What is the price for Maya 2011 standalone software?
The price is US $3,495.00 SRP*.
* International pricing may vary.

2. Technology

2.1 What operating systems does Maya 2011 support?

The 32-bit version of Maya 2011 software is supported on the following operating systems:

Microsoft® Windows® 7 Professional operating system
Microsoft® Windows Vista® Business operating system (SP2 or higher)
Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional operating system (SP3 or higher)
Apple® Mac OS® X 10.6.2 operating system

The 64-bit version of Maya 2011 software is supported on any of the following operating systems:

Microsoft Windows 7 Professional operating system
Microsoft Windows Vista Business (SP2 or higher)
Microsoft Windows XP x64 Edition (SP3 or higher)
Apple Mac OS X 10.6.2 operating system
Red Hat® Enterprise Linux® 5.4 WS operating system
Fedora™ 11 operating system

Note: Maya 2011 will also be expected to be capable of running on other configurations such as boutique distributions of Linux. However, enumerating systems that are not tested and cannot be supported or that fall below the requirements for a productive user experience is beyond the scope of this document.

3. Compatibility and Interoperability

3.1 How does Maya 2011 integrate with other Autodesk products?

The Autodesk® FBX® 2011 software file interchange format allows users to more easily transfer assets to and from Autodesk® 3ds Max® 2011 software, Autodesk® Softimage® 2011 software, Autodesk® MotionBuilder® 2011 software and Autodesk® Mudbox™ 2011 software as well as any other content creation package that supports FBX, making Maya a complementary package that enhances new or existing production pipelines.

3.2 Will Maya 2011 support file data from previous versions of Maya?

Yes. Maya 2011 can access .ma and .mb data from Maya 3 through Maya 2010.

4. Training and Support

4.1 What are my options for training?

There will be a number of helpful Maya training resources available for download from
www.autodesk.com/maya-learningpath.

4.2 How will Maya technical support be provided?
All new license purchases of Maya software will receive 30 days complimentary Up & Ready Support from the date of registration, which will cover installation, licensing, and hardware issues only.
Customers with Autodesk Subscription with Gold Support for Maya are entitled to additional 24x5 technical product support based on the operating hours of Autodesk’s various support centers.

5. Images

G.I. Joe, The Rise of the Cobra. Paramount Pictures.
Image courtesy of MPC.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves™.
Image courtesy of Naughty Dog, Inc.

Oh, Those Lips.
Image courtesy of Boris Chuprin.

Shelby Cobra 427-s inside.
Image courtesy of Marius Jursys.

...... and many more....

6. Website

http://www.autodesk.com/maya

20 of the best Hubble facts and photos

noreply@blogger.com (Ravi) — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 06:24:00 +0000

For its 20th anniversary

Trapped on this, metaphorically speaking, ever shrinking planet there is not one amongst us who has not stared up into the heavens and gazed in awe at the myriad of pin pricks that make up the night sky.

Enter stage left the telescope, a technological innovation of the most profound importance, without which we'd be left in the quagmire of astronomical ignorance.

There are many fine examples of this device, from the twin telescopes which make up the Gemini Observatory to the ultra-powerful Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) in Ariz with its twin 8.4-metre mirrors.

None, however, can claim to have caught the public's imagination in the same way as the Hubble Space Telescope, which during its 20 years of service has beamed some absolutely stunning pictures back to Earth thanks to the lack of atmospheric distortion, something that ground-based telescopes have to cope with.

So to celebrate the Hubble Space Telescope's 20th anniversary (24 April 2010) I thought I'd bring you some spectacular photos and interesting facts, which will hopefully give you a glimpse into its long and illustrious career.

How It Works

The Hubble is a telescope of the Cassegrain variety, which collects incoming light on its primary mirror. This light hits the primary mirror at the back then bounces off, and hits the concave secondary mirror which then fires the light back through a hole and onto the instruments.

hubblesite.org

Plenty Of Pics

More than 30,000 objects have come under the all seeing eye of the Hubble Space Telescope in its 20-year history.

Gas Pillars in the Eagle Nebula

Nebulae are thought to be the factories in which stars are formed as they consist of great clouds of space dust. This picture, coined the "Pillars of Creation", was taken in 1995. The step shape is caused by the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2, which is made up of 4 different cameras. One of these cameras can take magnified photos, so in order to fit it has to be reduced in size.

What's In A Name?

The name of the now famous telescope takes after the brilliant American astronomer Edwin Hubble who, apart from demonstrating that the Universe consisted of more than one galaxy, through his work on the Doppler effect showed that the Universe was expanding - paving the way for the Big Bang theory.

Monocerotis light echo

V838 Monocerotis is a star in the constellation Monocerotis and the light echo, seen here, is caused by the initial outburst of light from the star reflecting off intervening interstellar dust. Pretty spectacular.

Not A Polished Start

After its launch on the 24 April 1990 it soon became clear that all was not well with the Hubble telescope, as images sent back were a little on the blurry side. It turns out that the highly polished surface of the mirror was suffering from a problem known as spherical aberration, something which affects the sharpness of an image when light rays reflect off the mirror's edge. The flaw was only very small, but when dealing with such huge distances it meant that it was enough to warrant a mission to put it right.

After 11 months of training the crew was sent up in 1993 where they spent 5 days repairing the telescope - the rest as they say is history.

Blackeye Galaxy M64

The Galaxy's bright nucleus is surrounded by dark interstellar dust, the contrast of which makes for a fantastic image. It can also be seen through small telescopes due to its low apparent magnitude (the measure of its brightness observed from Earth).

A Tasteful Glimpse

Like other man-made satellites, it is possible to see the Hubble telescope with the naked eye. Wait for a clear night away from any light pollution, and by using this handy Hubble tracker you might be able to spot as a bright, fast moving dot in the night sky.

Crab Nebula

Situated in the constellation of Taurus, the Crab Nebula was first observed in 1731 by John Bevis and is thought to be expanding at around 1500 km/s.

Power Hungry

The Hubble Space Telescope transmits a large quantity of data every week (approx 120 gigabytes) so you'd soon fill up your iPhone, whilst the power required for it to perform its various operations comes from its two 25-foot solar panels, which charge 6 nickel-hydrogen (NiH) batteries.

Helix Nebula

This is an absolute stalwart of the Internet. Dubbed the Eye of God by many, it is a type of planetary nebula, which is formed when a very large and very hot star explodes.

Need For Speed

One thing which cannot be said about the Hubble Telescope is that it's slow. It can complete an orbit of the Earth in just 97 minutes at a speed of 17,500 mph at an altitude of 353 miles. Blink and you'll miss it.

Sombrero Galaxy

The Sombrero Galaxy is situated in the constellation Virgo, though how much it resembles the iconic Mexican headgear is debatable. With an apparent magnitude of +9.0 it is visible with an average telescope and it's apparently a hit with professional astronomers.

Size Isn't Everything

Compared to a lot of ground-based telescopes Hubble is a bit on the small side. Its dimensions are 43.5ft (13.2m) in length, has a maximum diameter of 14ft (4.2m) and weighs in at around the 11-tonne mark (to give a little context a standard route master bus is 27.5ft or 8.4m in length). Although what it lacks in size it more than makes up for in price, as it cost the cool $1.5 billion at launch.

Eta Carinae

The Eta Carinae is visible as the bright area in the centre of the large bi-polar Homunculus Nebula. The stellar system contains multiple stars most of which are very bright, due the this their life is relatively short, and are expected to explode as a supernova or hypernova in the next million years.

Colour Blind

Yes, despite the rather colourful images seen around the Web, the pictures taken by the Hubble Space Telescope are in fact in black and white. The electronic detectors record the light from the Universe in shades of black and white, the colour is then added later.

This is not to say that there is no scientific basis for the colouring, rather that it is used to enhance features of an object that we might otherwise miss and bring out subtle detail, as well as giving an indication of how the object would appear if our eyes were on a par with Hubble.

Saturn's Aurora

This ultra-clear image shows Saturn's Aurora, and like on Earth it is thought to be powered by the solar wind.

Age Of Discovery

The Hubble telescope has had a marked role to play in many discoveries, not least of which has been to strengthen the hypothesis that dark energy causes the expansion of the Universe to accelerate. It was also instrumental in narrowing down the estimated age of the Universe from 10 to 20 billion years to 13 to 14 billion, as well as giving astronomers detailed information on supernovae, and galaxies in various evolutionary states.

Central section of the Milky Way

This photograph is actually a combined effort between the Hubble, Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, Chandra X-ray Observatory and Spitzer Space Telescope and does a wonderful job of showing off our very own galaxy.

End Of An Era

All good things must come to an end and Hubble is no different as after April 2013 no more servicing missions are planned. Without the regular maintenance the telescope's main functions it will begin to fail until it spins out of orbit; its prolonged life means that it will outlast the space shuttle programme and so won't be able to be guided safely back to Earth. However, life also springs eternal, as the James Web Telescope is due for launch in 2014.

I hope you've enjoyed this brief jaunt into some of Hubble's facts and famous images, and credit has to be given to the fantastic Hubblesite.org, which has a whole host of info and images available and is well worth a visit.

World’s largest atom smasher in Geneva sets record by tripling energy of proton beams

noreply@blogger.com (Ravi) — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 13:24:00 +0000

Geneva atom smasher sets record for beam energy

GENEVA — Operators of the world’s largest atom smasher on Friday ramped up their massive machine to three times the energy ever previously achieved, in the run-up to experiments probing the secrets of the universe.

The European Organization for Nuclear Research, or CERN, said beams of protons circulated at 3.5 trillion electron volts in both directions around the 27-kilometer (17-mile) tunnel housing the Large Hadron Collider under the Swiss-French border at Geneva.

The next major development is expected in a few days when CERN starts colliding the beams in a new round of research to examine the tiniest particles and forces within the atom in hopes of finding out more about how matter is made up.

The collider in December had already eclipsed the record of the next most powerful machine, the Tevatron at Fermilab outside Chicago, which has been running just shy of a trillion electron volts, or TeV.

The extra energy in Geneva is expected to reveal even more about the unanswered questions of particle physics, such as the existence of dark energy and matter. Scientists hope also to approach on a tiny scale what happened in the first split seconds after the Big Bang, which they theorize was the creation of the universe some 14 billion years ago.

CERN has reported a series of successes since the collider was restarted last year after 14 months of repairs and improvements following a spectacular failure when scientists initially tried to get the machine going.

CERN improved the machine during a 2½-month winter shutdown to be able to operate at the higher energy.

“Getting the beams to 3.5 TeV is testimony to the soundness of the LHC’s overall design, and the improvements we’ve made since the breakdown in September 2008,” said Steve Myers, CERN’s director for accelerators and technology.

CERN Director-General Rolf Heuer revealed that there had been a snag in reaching 3.5 TeV Friday. He said it increased the ramp time to 75 minutes from the expected 15 minutes. Heuer said the problem was in a phenomenon linked to the machine protection systems, but he did not elaborate.

Those protection systems must enable the scientists if they see a problem to switch off the magnets and extract the stored energy in about 10 seconds. At the same time the systems have to be tuned to avoid triggering a beam dump when not technically necessary.

Heuer said he expected the problem to be corrected.

When the collisions start at the new, higher energy, CERN plans to run the collider continuously for 18-24 months, much longer than previously.

This is because the machine operates at near absolute zero degrees, colder than outer space and shutting it off can require months to bring the equipment up to room temperature for any checks, repairs or improvements, CERN said.

After two years of running the LHC will be shut down for about a year and the specialists will install improvements and make other changes to enable the collider to operate at its design energy of 7 TeV in each direction to produce collisions of 14 TeV.

The Large Hadron Collider was also built to examine suspected phenomena like antimatter and search for the Higgs boson, which scientist theorize gives mass to other particles and thus to other objects and creatures in the universe.

The LHC was launched with great fanfare on Sept. 10, 2008, but it was sidetracked nine days later when a badly soldered electrical splice overheated and set off a chain of damage to the massive superconducting magnets and other parts of the collider some 300 feet (100 meters) below the ground.

CERN had to undertake a $40 million program of repairs and improvements before it was ready to retry the machine at the end of November. Then the collider performed almost flawlessly, giving scientists valuable data in the four-week run before Christmas.

CERN specialists have checked out and improved electrical connections and other parts throughout the machine.

At its greatest energy in December the atom smasher collided two beams of circulating particles at 1.18 trillion electron volts, or TeV, about 20 percent higher than the previous record set at Fermilab.

During that December run each of the LHC’s four major experiments, ALICE, ATLAS, CMS and LHCb recorded over a million particle collisions for scientists around the world to analyze.

‘Big Bang Machine’ experiment successful: CERN

noreply@blogger.com (Ravi) — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 13:09:00 +0000

GENEVA - Scientists at Geneva’s European Centre for Nuclear Research or CERN marked a breakthrough in their efforts to understand the origins of the universe on Tuesday, as they successfully conducted the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) experiment, which has been dubbed the ‘Big Bang Machine’.

According to reports, scientists working on the ‘Big Bang machine’ celebrated high-velocity collisions between sub-atomic particles at the LHC on the frontiers of Switzerland and France.

Reports said that two proton beams circulating in alternate directions collided and reached the maximum planned energy levels of seven trillion electron volts within a few minutes.

It is believed that the achievement marks the beginning of work that could lead to the discovery of fundamental new physics.

“We are very excited, no longer nervous and very happy… It’s the beginning of a long fantastic era of particle physics,” The Financial Times quoted Rolf-Dieter Heuer, the Director General of CERN, as saying.

Two beams of protons began 10 days ago to speed at high energy in opposite directions around the 27-kilometer (17-mile) tunnel under the Swiss-French border at Geneva. he CERN was trying to use the powerful superconducting magnets to force the two beams to cross, creating collisions and showers of particles.

They could have been successful immediately, but such huge machines were so tricky to run that it took days.

When collisions become routine, the beams were packed with hundreds of billions of protons, but the particles were so tiny that few collided at each crossing.

The Large Hadron Collider was launched with great fanfare on September 10, 2008, but it was sidetracked nine days later when a badly soldered electrical splice overheated, causing extensive damage to the massive magnets and other parts of the collider some 300 feet (100 meters) below the ground.

It cost 40 million dollars to repair and improve the machine so that it could be used again at the end of November.

Since then, the collider has performed almost flawlessly, giving scientists valuable data in the four-week run before Christmas. (ANI)

Some of the Lab Experimental Photographs are :

First Beam For The Large Hadron Collider

noreply@blogger.com (Ravi) — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 12:48:00 +0000

The first beam in the Large Hadron Collider at CERN was successfully steered around the full 27 kilometres of the world’s most powerful particle accelerator at 10h28 September 10th 2008. This historic event marks a key moment in the transition from over two decades of preparation to a new era of scientific discovery.

“It’s a fantastic moment,” said LHC project leader Lyn Evans, “we can now look forward to a new era of understanding about the origins and evolution of the universe.”

Starting up a major new particle accelerator takes much more than flipping a switch. Thousands of individual elements have to work in harmony, timings have to be synchronized to under a billionth of a second, and beams finer than a human hair have to be brought into head-on collision. Today’s success puts a tick next to the first of those steps, and over the next few weeks, as the LHC’s operators gain experience and confidence with the new machine, the machine’s acceleration systems will be brought into play, and the beams will be brought into collision to allow the research programme to begin.

Once colliding beams have been established, there will be a period of measurement and calibration for the LHC’s four major experiments, and new results could start to appear in around a year. Experiments at the LHC will allow physicists to complete a journey that started with Newton's description of gravity. Gravity acts on mass, but so far science is unable to explain the mechanism that generates mass. Experiments at the LHC will provide the answer. LHC experiments will also try to probe the mysterious dark matter of the universe – visible matter seems to account for just 5% of what must exist, while about a quarter is believed to be dark matter. They will investigate the reason for nature's preference for matter over antimatter, and they will probe matter as it existed at the very beginning of time.

“The LHC is a discovery machine,” said CERN Director General Robert Aymar, “its research programme has the potential to change our view of the Universe profoundly, continuing a tradition of human curiosity that’s as old as mankind itself.”

Tributes have been coming in from laboratories around the world that have contributed to today’s success.

“The completion of the LHC marks the start of a revolution in particle physics,” said Pier Oddone, Director of the US Fermilab. “We commend CERN and its member countries for creating the foundation for many nations to come together in this magnificent enterprise. We appreciate the support that DOE and NSF have provided throughout the LHC's construction. We in the US are proud to have contributed to the accelerator and detectors at the LHC, together with thousands of colleagues around the world with whom we share this quest.”

“I congratulate you on the start-up of the Large Hadron Collider,” said Atsuto Suzuki, Director of Japan’s KEK laboratory, “This is a historical moment.”

“It has been a fascinating and rewarding experience for us,” said Vinod C. Sahni, Director of India’s Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology, “I extend our best wishes to CERN for a productive run with the LHC machine in the years to come.”

“As some might say: ‘One short trip for a proton, but one giant leap for mankind!’ TRIUMF, and indeed all of Canada, is delighted to bear witness to this amazing feat,” said Nigel S. Lockyer, Director of Canada’s TRIUMF laboratory. “Everyone has been involved but CERN is to be especially congratulated for bringing the world together to embark on such an incredible adventure.”

In a visit to CERN shortly before the LHC’s start-up United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon said: “I am very honored to visit CERN, an invaluable scientific institution and a shining example what international community can achieve through joint efforts and contribution. I convey my deepest admiration to all the scientists and wish them all the success for their research for peaceful development of scientific progress.”

Photos and videos from the LHC First Beam day at CERN are available at:
http://www.cern.ch/lhc-first-beam

Information about the US participation in the LHC is available at http://www.uslhc.us.

Berkeley Lab is a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory located in Berkeley, California. It conducts unclassified scientific research and is managed by the University of California. Visit website at www.lbl.gov.

Brookhaven National Laboratory is operated and managed for DOE's Office of Science by Brookhaven Science Associates. Visit Brookhaven Lab's electronic newsroom for links, news archives, graphics, and more: http://www.bnl.gov/newsroom.

Fermilab is a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science national laboratory, operated under contract by the Fermi Research Alliance, LLC. The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science is the nation's single-largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences.

CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, is the world's leading laboratory for particle physics. It has its headquarters in Geneva. At present, its Member States are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. India, Israel, Japan, the Russian Federation, the United States of America, Turkey, the European Commission and UNESCO have Observer status.

Intel Core i7-980X Review

noreply@blogger.com (Ravi) — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 20:44:00 +0000

Introduction

Today's announcement really is the second part of Intel's early January launch, Clarkdale. However, contrary to that entry-level, mainstream part unveiled a few months ago, the Core i7-980X, previously known has Gulftown, is a top-of-the-line product. While it is also based on the Westmere architecture, built on Intel's 32nm manufacturing process, don't expect to find this one in the bargain bin anytime soon. Being an Extreme Edition processor for Intel usually involves a price point hovering above a thousand bucks and the 980X will be no exception to this rule once it hits the stores in the coming weeks.

That niche price point has been well covered by the Core i7-975, which was released in June last year and merely was a clock speed bump of the 965, introduced way back then in November 2008. If you thought these four core, eight threads mamooths were powerful, the 980X bumps those figures by 50% to become a beastly 6-core, 12-thread processing powerhouse.

Basically, take three Clarkdale processors, stick them side by side on a LGA1366 package and you end up with Gulftown. Of course, there's some more engineering thrown into the mix, but Gulftown doesn't add anything fundamentally new to Intel's record. Before going any further, let's take a look at their current bottom-to-top lineup.


	G6950	530	540	650	660	661	670	750	860	870	920	960	975	980X
Clock Speed	2.80	2.93	3.06	3.2	3.33		3.46	2.66	2.80	2.93	2.66	3.20	3.33
Max. Turbo Freq.	N/A			3.46	3.6		3.73	3.2	3.46	3.60	2.93	3.46	3.60
IGP Clock Speed	533	733				900	733	N/A
Cores / Threads	2 / 2	2 / 4						4 / 4	4 / 8					6 / 12
Cache	3MB	4MB						8MB						12MB
Memory Speed	1066 MHz	1333 MHz									1066 MHz
TDP	73W					87W	73W	95W			130W
Transistor Count	383 M (CPU) / 177 M (GPU)							774 M			731 M			1.17 B
Die Size	81 mm2 (CPU) / 114mm2 (GPU)							296mm2			263mm2			248mm2
Architecture	Westmere							Lynnfield			Nehalem			Westmere
Process	32nm							45nm						32nm

There are few subtle, but major differences with Clarkdale which make Gulftown more than just three Core i5-600 glued together. First off, they moved the memory controller back on the core, where it should have been in the first place. If you recall, the IMC on Clarkdale is on the integrated graphics and memory bandwidth and latency suffered heavily. Secondly, since it's branded as a Core i7, it has a full fledged, triple channel DDR3 memory interface. The third and last major difference with Clarkdale is that Gulftown is powered by X58 so the PCI-Express lanes are on the chipset and not on the graphics core. These improvements over the cheaper Clarkdale cores should net the Core i7-980X over three times more performance in intensive, multi-threaded tasks.

Clarkdale versus Gulftown

While Gulftown shares the core with Clarkdale, it borrows Nehalem's platform -- X58. Other than that, Gulftown still packs Turbo Boost, which can increase the core frequency up to 3.6 GHz in single threaded applications, and HyperThreading is still on board for these largely parallel programs, allowing the 6 cores to process up to 12 threads at a time. The cache architecture remains unchanged -- 2MB for every core, although it can be allocated dynamically so if a core needs more than that, it can borrow some from another. Intel officially supports DDR3 memory at 1066 MHz, but rest assured, we've seen memory run at about twice that with relative ease.

The next few figures are pretty interesting from a technical point of view. While the 980X has two more cores than it's Nehalem siblings, Intel kept the TDP in check at 130W. While power consumption is still up there and represents a fairly high amount of heat to dissipate, it's impressive to be able to squeeze two more cores under than same TDP with a simple die shrink. At a whooping 1.17 billion transistors, Gufltown is the first desktop processor to crush the billion mark. Thanks to the 32nm manufacturing process, Gulftown is in fact smaller than first generation Nehalem processors built on 45nm even though it trails in transistor count by over 400 million.

Like I said earlier, the Core i7-980X utilizes the same old X58 chipset -- if it ain't broke, don't fix it! A refresh would've been interesting, but, as a consumer, backward compability is a great move by Intel. The processor is expensive, yes, but at least they aren't requiring a brand new platform. Power is now in the motherboard manufacturers hand to provide BIOS support and from what we've seen so far, most of them have made the jump. Let's take a quick glance at the platform anyway.

On the gaming side of things, X58 paves the way for dual, triple and even quad graphics card configurations with 32 PCi-Express 2.0 lanes. If you've been holding off for a native USB 3.0 and SATA 6 Gbps implementation on an Intel solution, this is not going to happen until Sandy Bridge or about a year from now. Until then, you'll have to settle with 12 USB 2.0 ports, 6 SATA 3 Gbps ports, gigabit LAN, high definition audio and 6 PCI-Express 1.0 lanes. These lanes are used by motherboard manufacturers to bring next-generation USB and SATA ports onboard so we don't entirely rely on Intel.

Conclusion

While there isn't anything technically new to the Core i7-980X, we had high expectations for this processor and, for the most part, it met them. It is based on same architecture we saw back in January, Westmere, only this time it comes with six cores instead of a measly two and the price tag has gone up substantially. Speaking of price, let's get done with it already: at a suggested retail price of $999, this isn't for everyone. However, if you can afford it, you just bought yourself the fastest desktop processor ever made. Not too shabby.

What's interesting though is that the 980X carries the same MSRP as Intel's now deprecated flagship part - the Core i7-975. In that sense, Gulftown is sort of a bargain. It has two more cores, each being faster, they're clocked at the same 3.33 GHz and the whole thing draws just as much power. More performance, same price. What's not to like? It's also the first time since the Pentium IV era that an Extreme processor is more than just a multiplier unlocked core.

As far as performance goes, the 980X mostly wipes the floor clean. No other processor on the market right now can come close to its brute processing power. Its weakness comes in the form of memory bandwidth. Even with its similar three channel memory interface, the little Core i7-920 manages to beat today's star in terms of memory bandwidth. Fortunately, at over 20 GB/s, it's not an issue in most applications. The only benchmark where it clearly makes a difference is HandBrake, where the 6-core monster is actually a bit slower. Of course, slow is relative, it still finishes faster than every other processor.

A wafer with more Core i7-980X' than you could ever wish for

As a gamer, there isn't much to be gained with the Core i7-980X. Besides a few select games, most of them simply do not scale with more cores. If gaming is your cup of tea, you're better off spending more on a monster graphics card such as the HD5970. Every year sine 2007 has the the year of heavily multi-threaded applications, but we're obviously not quite there yet. Some things such a creating, editing and converting multimedia files are, by nature, easily parallelizable. Other than that, applications that scale really well with extra cores are far and few.

Since this is an Extreme Edition processor, the clock multiplier is unlocked, leading the way to moderately high and painless overclocks. I was able to hit 4 GHz without touching anything other than the multiplier. Fair enough, but there are some of us out there that want to get even performance for our money and the Core i7-980X does decently in this regard. I say decently, because 4.16 GHz with a meager 1.35V is nothing to sneeze at, but also not impressive by any means. We will follow up with some more serious overclocking in the next few days, stay tuned!

Just in case you were looking for an apples-to-apples comparison, it's not going to happen. At least, not today. It's hardly a secret that AMD has its own hexacore processors under way, in fact, they have been available in the server space for a while, but we should see desktop parts popup anytime now. However, if you have a thousand bucks to drop on a processor, look no further -- the Core i7-980X is the fastest desktop processor money can buy and, realistically, that's not going to change until next generation processors land.

The Software Used In The Making Of Avatar

noreply@blogger.com (Ravi) — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 10:48:00 +0000

Have you ever wondered what software was used in the making of Avatar, touted as the “second highest-grossing film of all time worldwide”?

If you’re curious to find out what tools Cameroon has mainly used for the Avatar movie, then check out the list below compiled by Armand Niculescu of Twin Pixels.

Autodesk Maya
Pixar Renderman for Maya
Autodesk SoftImage XSI
Auodesk 3ds max (for control room screens and HUD renderings)
Autodesk MotionBuilder (for real-time 3d visualisations)
The Foundry Nuke Compositor (image compositing)
Autodesk Smoke (color correction)
Autodesk Combustion (compositing)
Adobe After Effects (compositing, real-ime visualizations)
PF Track (motion tracking, background replacement)
Adobe Illustrator (HUD and screens layout)
Adobe Photoshop (concept art, textures)
Many tools developed in-house
Countless plugins for each platform, some of them Ocula for Nuke, Ktakatoa for 3ds max, Sapphire for Combustion/AE.

Besides Adobe, here are some of the companies which have also contributed in the visual effects.

Industrial Light and Magic, USA (most of the character design, modeling and effects)
Weta Digital, New Zealand (most of the character design, modeling and effects)
Framestoree, UK (Sully’s arrival at Hell’s Gate and two other shots)
Hybride, Canada
Prime Focus, USA (design and compositing of the control room screens, HUDs, etc)
Look Effects, USA (compositing)
Hydraulx, USA
Giant Studios, USA (motion capture)
Pixel Liberation Front, USA (screens and HUD design)
Lola VFX, USA (digital cosmetic)

One of a state-of-art technology James Cameroon embraced is the use of a specially-designed virtual camera that allows him to observe directly on a monitor how the actors’ virtual counterparts interact with the movie’s digital world in real time and adjust and direct the scenes just as if shooting live action.

“It’s like a big, powerful game engine. If I want to fly through space, or change my perspective, I can. I can turn the whole scene into a living miniature and go through it on a 50 to 1 scale. To create the world of Pandora as seen in the film, it required over a petabyte of digital storage,” he said in an interview.

Google uncloaks once-secret server

noreply@blogger.com (Ravi) — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 05:03:00 +0000

Google for the first time showed off its server design.

Updated at 4:08 p.m. PDT April 1 with further details about Google's data center efficiency and shipping containers modules and 6:30 a.m. April 2 to correct the time frame of efficiency statistics.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--Google is tight-lipped about its computing operations, but the company for the first time on Wednesday revealed the hardware at the core of its Internet might at a conference here about the increasingly prominent issue of data center efficiency.

Most companies buy servers from the likes of Dell, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, or Sun Microsystems. But Google, which has hundreds of thousands of servers and considers running them part of its core expertise, designs and builds its own. Ben Jai, who designed many of Google's servers, unveiled a modern Google server before the hungry eyes of a technically sophisticated audience.

Google server designer Ben Jai

Google's big surprise: each server has its own 12-volt battery to supply power if there's a problem with the main source of electricity. The company also revealed for the first time that since 2005, its data centers have been composed of standard shipping containers--each with 1,160 servers and a power consumption that can reach 250 kilowatts.

It may sound geeky, but a number of attendees--the kind of folks who run data centers packed with thousands of servers for a living--were surprised not only by Google's built-in battery approach, but by the fact that the company has kept it secret for years. Jai said in an interview that Google has been using the design since 2005 and now is in its sixth or seventh generation of design.

"It was our Manhattan Project," Jai said of the design.

Google has an obsessive focus on energy efficiency and now is sharing more of its experience with the world. With the recession pressuring operations budgets, environmental concerns waxing, and energy prices and constraints increasing, the time is ripe for Google to do more efficiency evangelism, said Urs Hoelzle, Google's vice president of operations.

"There wasn't much benefit in trying to preach if people weren't interested in it," said Hoelzle, but now attitudes have changed.

The company also focuses on data center issues such as power distribution, cooling, and ensuring hot and cool air don't intermingle, said Chris Malone, who's involved in the data center design and efficiency measurement. Google's data centers now have reached efficiency levels that the Environmental Protection Agency hopes will be attainable in 2011 using advanced technology.

"We've achieved this now by application of best practices and some innovations--nothing really inaccessible to the rest of the market," Malone said.

The rear side of Google's server.

Why built-in batteries?
Why is the battery approach significant? Money.

Typical data centers rely on large, centralized machines called uninterruptible power supplies (UPS)--essentially giant batteries that kick in when the main supply fails and before generators have time to kick in. Building the power supply into the server is cheaper and means costs are matched directly to the number of servers, Jai said.

"This is much cheaper than huge centralized UPS," he said. "Therefore no wasted capacity."

Efficiency is another financial factor. Large UPSs can reach 92 to 95 percent efficiency, meaning that a large amount of power is squandered. The server-mounted batteries do better, Jai said: "We were able to measure our actual usage to greater than 99.9 percent efficiency."

Urs Hoelzle, Google's vice president of operations

The Google server was 3.5 inches thick--2U, or 2 rack units, in data center parlance. It had two processors, two hard drives, and eight memory slots mounted on a motherboard built by Gigabyte. Google uses x86 processors from both AMD and Intel, Jai said, and Google uses the battery design on its network equipment, too.

Efficiency is important not just because improving it cuts power consumption costs, but also because inefficiencies typically produce waste heat that requires yet more expense in cooling.

Costs add up
Google operates servers at a tremendous scale, and these costs add up quickly.

Jai has borne a lot of the burden himself. He was the only electrical engineer on the server design job from 2003 to 2005, he said. "I worked 14-hour days for two and a half years," he said, before more employees were hired to share the work.

Google has patents on the built-in battery design, "but I think we'd be willing to license them to vendors," Hoelzle said.

Another illustration of Google's obsession with efficiency comes through power supply design. Power supplies convert conventional AC (alternating current--what you get from a wall socket) electricity into the DC (direct current--what you get from a battery) electricity, and typical power supplies provide computers with both 5-volt and 12-volt DC power. Google's designs supply only 12-volt power, with the necessary conversions taking place on the motherboard.

Google's data center efficiency has been improving gradually.

That adds $1 or $2 to the cost of the motherboard, but it's worth it not just because the power supply is cheaper, but because the power supply can be run closer to its peak capacity, which means it runs much more efficiently. Google even pays attention to the greater efficiency of transmitting power over copper wires at 12 volts compared to 5 volts.

Google also revealed new performance results for data center energy efficiency measured by a standard called power usage effectiveness. PUE, developed by a consortium called the Green Grid, measures how much power goes directly to computing compared to ancillary services such as lighting and cooling. A perfect score of 1 means no power goes to the extra costs; 1.5 means that ancillary services consume half the power devoted to computing.

Google's PUE scores are enviably low, but the company is working to lower them further. In the third quarter of 2008, Google's PUE was 1.21, but it dropped to 1.20 for the fourth quarter and to 1.19 for the first quarter of 2009 through March 15, Malone said.

Older Google facilities generally have higher PUEs, he said; the best has a score of 1.12. When the weather gets warmer, Google notices is that it's harder to keep servers cool.

An excerpt from a video tour Google presented of its data center containers. Like conventional data centers, Google's shipping containers have raised floors.

Shipping containers
Most people buy computers one at a time, but Google thinks on a very different scale. Jimmy Clidaras revealed that the core of the company's data centers are composed of standard 1AAA shipping containers packed with 1,160 servers each, with many containers in each data center.

Modular data centers are not unique to Google; Sun Microsystems and Rackable Systems both sell them. But Google started using them in 2005.

Google's first experiments had some rough patches, though, Clidaras said--for example when they found the first crane they used wasn't big enough to actually lift one.

Overall, Google's choices have been driven by a broad analysis on cost that encompasses software, hardware, and facilities.

"Early on, there was an emphasis on the dollar per (search) query," Hoelzle said. "We were forced to focus. Revenue per query is very low."

Mainstream servers with x86 processors were the only option, he added. "Ten years ago...it was clear the only way to make (search) work as free product was to run on relatively cheap hardware. You can't run it on a mainframe. The margins just don't work out," he said.

Operating at Google's scale has its challenges, but it also has its silver linings. For example, a given investment on research can be applied to a larger amount of infrastructure, yielding return faster, Hoelzle said.

A diagram of a Google modular data center

(Credit: Stephen Shankland/CNET)

Two circulating beams bring first collisions in the LHC

noreply@blogger.com (Ravi) — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 22:13:00 +0000

Screens showing two beams in the LHC

Geneva, 23 November 2009. Today the LHC circulated two beams simultaneously for the first time, allowing the operators to test the synchronization of the beams and giving the experiments their first chance to look for proton-proton collisions. With just one bunch of particles circulating in each direction, the beams can be made to cross in up to two places in the ring. From early in the afternoon, the beams were made to cross at points 1 and 5, home to the ATLAS and CMS detectors, both of which were on the look out for collisions. Later, beams crossed at points 2 and 8, ALICE and LHCb.

“It’s a great achievement to have come this far in so short a time,” said CERN¹Director General Rolf Heuer. “But we need to keep a sense of perspective – there’s still much to do before we can start the LHC physics programme.”

Beams were first tuned to produce collisions in the ATLAS detector, which recorded its first candidate for collisions at 14:22 this afternoon. Later, the beams were optimised for CMS. In the evening, ALICE had the first optimization, followed by LHCb.

“This is great news, the start of a fantastic era of physics and hopefully discoveries after 20 years' work by the international community to build a machine and detectors of unprecedented complexity and performance," said ATLAS spokesperson, Fabiola Gianotti.

“The events so far mark the start of the second half of this incredible voyage of discovery of the secrets of nature,” said CMS spokesperson Tejinder Virdee.

“It was standing room only in the ALICE control room and cheers erupted with the first collisions” said ALICE spokesperson Jurgen Schukraft. “This is simply tremendous.”

“The tracks we’re seeing are beautiful,” said LHCb spokesperson Andrei Golutvin, “we’re all ready for serious data taking in a few days time.”

These developments come just three days after the LHC restart, demonstrating the excellent performance of the beam control system. Since the start-up, the operators have been circulating beams around the ring alternately in one direction and then the other at the injection energy of 450 GeV. The beam lifetime has gradually been increased to 10 hours, and today beams have been circulating simultaneously in both directions, still at the injection energy.

Next on the schedule is an intense commissioning phase aimed at increasing the beam intensity and accelerating the beams. All being well, by Christmas, the LHC should reach 1.2 TeV per beam, and have provided good quantities of collision data for the experiments’ calibrations.

1. CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, is the world's leading laboratory for particle physics. It has its headquarters in Geneva. At present, its Member States are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. India, Israel, Japan, the Russian Federation, the United States of America, Turkey, the European Commission and UNESCO have Observer status.

LHC sets new world record

noreply@blogger.com (Ravi) — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 22:09:00 +0000

CERN control centre - more photos »

Geneva, 30 November 2009. CERN¹’s Large Hadron Collider has today become the world’s highest energy particle accelerator, having accelerated its twin beams of protons to an energy of 1.18 TeV in the early hours of the morning. This exceeds the previous world record of 0.98 TeV, which had been held by the US Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory’s Tevatron collider since 2001. It marks another important milestone on the road to first physics at the LHC in 2010.

“We are still coming to terms with just how smoothly the LHC commissioning is going,” said CERN Director General Rolf Heuer. “It is fantastic. However, we are continuing to take it step by step, and there is still a lot to do before we start physics in 2010. I’m keeping my champagne on ice until then.”

These developments come just 10 days after the LHC restart, demonstrating the excellent performance of the machine. First beams were injected into the LHC on Friday 20 November. Over the following days, the machine’s operators circulated beams around the ring alternately in one direction and then the other at the injection energy of 450 GeV, gradually increasing the beam lifetime to around 10 hours. On Monday 23 November, two beams circulated together for the first time, and the four big LHC detectors recorded their first collision data.

Last night’s achievement brings further confirmation that the LHC is progressing smoothly towards the objective of first physics early in 2010. The world record energy was first broken yesterday evening, when beam 1 was accelerated from 450 GeV, reaching 1050 GeV (1.05 TeV) at 21:48, Sunday 29 November. Three hours later both LHC beams were successfully accelerated to 1.18 TeV, at 00:44, 30 November.

“I was here 20 years ago when we switched on CERN’s last major particle accelerator, LEP,” said Accelerators and Technology Director Steve Myers. “I thought that was a great machine to operate, but this is something else. What took us days or weeks with LEP, we’re doing in hours with the LHC. So far, it all augurs well for a great research programme.”

Next on the schedule is a concentrated commissioning phase aimed at increasing the beam intensity before delivering good quantities of collision data to the experiments before Christmas. So far, all the LHC commissioning work has been carried out with a low intensity pilot beam. Higher intensity is needed to provide meaningful proton-proton collision rates. The current commissioning phase aims to make sure that these higher intensities can be safely handled and that stable conditions can be guaranteed for the experiments during collisions. This phase is estimated to take around a week, after which the LHC will be colliding beams for calibration purposes until the end of the year.

First physics at the LHC is scheduled for the first quarter of 2010, at a collision energy of 7 TeV (3.5 TeV per beam).

Follow LHC progress on twitter at www.twitter.com/cern
For photos, video and latest information see: http://press.web.cern.ch/press/lhc-first-physics/ (Video regarding this event will be available during the day.)
Contact : http://press.web.cern.ch/press/ContactUs.html

Silverlight 4 beta released!

noreply@blogger.com (Ravi) — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 08:30:00 +0000

Silverlight 4 beta was announced by Scott Guthrie a few minutes ago during his keynote at PDC 2009.

So only 4 months after Silverlight 3 released, we have a new version to play with!!

Silverlight 4 brings several interesting features:

Webcam/mic support
Printing API
MouseWheel on common controls
Implicit Styles
Controls: RichTextBox, ViewBox and WebBrowser
DataBinding improved
CLR 4.0 (compatibility with dll from the Full .NET 4.0)
and much much more!!!… see full list below

Notice that from the top 10 features request list, 8 out of 10 were addressed, that’s awesome!!!

Silverlight gain maturity for business applications with additions like Printing, MouseWheel, Clipboard, Right click and File Drop.

Several tools have been updated to support Silverlight 4 beta development:

Silverlight Tools for Visual Studio 2010
Expression Blend for .NET 4 Preview
Silverlight Toolkit
WCF RIA Services (new name for .NET RIA Services)

Detailed list of Silverlight 4 new features:

WebCam/Microphone
Printing Support
Media
- WMS Multicast Support
- H.264 Mp4 Playback Protected by PlayReady DRM
- Offline DRM
- Output Protection
Text
- RichTextBox control
- Bidi Support (including Arabic and Hebrew Text)
- UIElement.TextInput event
- IME Improvements for TextBox
Controls
- Implicit Styles (type based style theming – no longer a need to explicitly set styles on controls)
- Built-in MouseWheel Support on ScrollViewer, TextBox, ComboBox, Calendar, DatePicker
- ViewBox
- ICommanding Support with ButtonBase & Hyperlink
- SelectedValue and SelectedValuePath Properties on DropDownLists
- RTL Layout via UIElement.FlowDirection property
- VisualStateGroup.CurrentStateGroup property
DataBinding
- DataBinding Support for DependencyObjects
- IDataErrorInfo Support
- StringFormat, TargetNullValue & FallBackValue Properties on Binding
- ObservableCollection ctor that takes INumerable or Ilist
Networking

UDPListener and Multi-cast support
Memory Usage Fix During Progressive Downloads
Automatically Adding Referer Header
Astoria 2.0 Support
WCF RIA Services
WCF Improvements

Out of Browser Applications
- HTML Hosting Support
- Windowing APIs (resize window, etc)
- Notifications (Outlook-like popup windows that can display even when OOB app is minimized)
- Elevated Privileges Support
  - Cross Domain Networking Access
  - Full file path from Open/SaveFileDialog and File Manipulation APIs
  - No User-Initiation Requirement for Full Screen, Open/SaveFileDialogs
  - COM interop (allowing you to create and use any COM object on Windows)
CLR 4.0 Engine
- NGEN Support for Core Runtime Binaries (faster startup and execution of apps)
- Dynamic keyword support in C# 4.0 and COM interop when running elevated out of browser applications
- MEF – Managed Extensibility Framework
- Binary assembly compat between assemblies that run on SL and on full .NET 4.0 CLR (no recompile needed now starting with .NET 4 Beta

Features in Windows 7

noreply@blogger.com (Ravi) — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 08:20:00 +0000

Note: This is a work in progress. I keep adding features as I find them. Should be complete soon. Suggestions are always welcome. =)

Accessibility	Desktop	Networking	Security	Windows Explorer
Action Center	Fonts	Paint	System	Windows Live
Backup	Gadgets	Parental Controls	Taskbar	Windows Media Center
Calculator	Games	Performance	Touch	Windows Media Player
Contacts	International	Printing	Troubleshooters	Windows PowerShell
Control Panel	Internet Explorer	Recovery	Windows Search	Windows Virtual PC
Wordpad

Accessibility

Ease of Access Center
The Ease of Access Center is a central location that you can use to set up the accessibility settings and programs available in Windows. In the Ease of Access Center, you’ll find quick access for setting up the accessibility settings and programs included in Windows. You’ll also find a link to a questionnaire that Windows can use to help suggest settings that you might find useful.

Narrator
Narrator is a simple screen reader that reads aloud the text on screen and describes events as well. You can select any word, line, paragraph, page or document to be read to you by the Narrator.

On-Screen Keyboard

On-Screen Keyboard displays a visual keyboard with all the standard keys. You can select keys using the mouse or another pointing device, or you can use a single key or group of keys to cycle through the keys on the screen. It also supports audible clicks and text prediction.

Magnifier

The new improved Magnifier helps you enlarge different parts of the screen with ease. Just press Windows Key and ‘+’ to zoom in quickly. Also supports color inversion to make it easier to see.

Windows Automation API
In Windows 7, UI Automation Clients can read Accessibility information from MSAA (Microsoft Active Accessibility) applications, and vice versa, to ensure maximum Accessibility regardless of which accessibility API an application used originally. UI Automation enables a user’s assistive technology (AT) to programmatically drive the UI of an application, and allows applications to expose their accessible functionality in a richer way than was possible in previous versions of Windows. More questions can be asked about a piece of UI, and that UI can be manipulated in richer ways.

High Contrast Themes
To make the screen easier to see, Windows 7 comes with 4 high contrast themes.

Action Center

Keep your PC secure
Action Center keeps an eye on your antivirus and anti-malware programs and lets you know when they need to be updated or when they are turned off in a very non intrusive-manner.

Keep your PC updated
It also checks your Windows Update settings to make sure you’re always up to date with the latest fixes and improvements to Windows.

Monitor your Backups
Monitor your backups to make sure your important files are secure in case of any mishap. Action Center keeps you updated on the date and time of the last backup and lets you schedule them as well.

Troubleshooting
Windows 7 is the most intelligent version of Windows yet. It’ll alert you in case it notices a decrease in performance. You can also troubleshoot various other common computer problems easily yourself without the need of technical support or a genius bar thanks to the new helpful troubleshooters. The Windows Online Troubleshooting Service makes sure your troubleshooters are up-to-date and helpful to you.

Backup and Restore

File backup

Windows Backup lets you copy your files to a safe location for all user accounts. You can chose any files, folders and libraries that you want to back up and have them created at regular intervals. Backups can be made on the same hard disk Windows is installed in ( not recommended ), on a secondary hard disk, external hard disk, flash drives, network drives or optical media.

System image backup

You can create a complete system backup which includes your Windows installation, settings and personal files. In case something goes wrong, the System Image can be restored to bring you computer back to the same working condition (with the same files, settings and programs) it was when the image was made.

System Restore

System Restore helps you restore your computer’s system files to an earlier point in time. It’s a way to undo system changes to your computer without affecting your personal files, such as e‑mail, documents, or photos.

Previous versions

In case you accidentally modify or delete a file, you can restore it using previous versions. Previous versions are automatically saved as part of restore points.

Calculator

New useful modes
The new calculator in Windows 7 comes with Scientific, Programmer and Statistics modes. Everybody has different requirements, Calculator makes sure it fulfils them.

Calculate fuel efficiency, lease estimates, or mortgage payments
You can use the Gas Mileage, Lease Estimation, and Mortgage Estimation templates in Calculator to calculate your fuel efficiency, lease estimates, and mortgage payments.

Calculate dates
You can use Calculator to calculate the difference between two dates or to add or subtract days from a specified date.

Convert values
You can use Calculator to perform conversions for different units of measure.

Contacts

Store your contacts
Using the Contacts folder, you can store your contacts which as much information you want about them. The contacts are displayed with their pictures so you can find the ones you want in an instant. You can also use Search in the Explorer or Start Menu to find them.

Contact Groups
Want to keep your work contacts separate from your friends and family contacts? Contact groups help you do just that. Now you wont have to filter them when inviting your friends for that game of the season.

Print Business cards
Want to print business cards? You can print out your contacts as Memos, Business Cards or in a Phone List.

Import/Export
Windows Contacts supports all popular formats so you can import and export them to and with other software with no issues what so ever.

Control Panel

Central Control
The new and improved control panel makes it easier to find the settings that you’re looking for. With the Category view, control panel applets are grouped together more smartly than ever which takes out the guess work. Windows Search can be used to find your desired control panel applet as well.

More Descriptive
Control Panel now contains quick links to different settings even in a single applet. This makes it easier to find that setting you need to change.

Improved Control Panel Options
Fonts, Windows Firewall, HomeGroup, Personalization, Screen Resolution and Gadgets are just some of the new and improved control panel options that make life easier than before.

Desktop

Improved taskbar and full-screen previews

The taskbar has been redesigned to help you get your work done faster. Any program can now be pinned to the taskbar and the new taskbar icons can be rearranged by dragging to your liking. On taskbar button hover, thumbnail previews of each window or file open in that particular application will be shown.

Peek at Desktop
The show desktop button has been moved to the bottom right corner of the taskbar. If you move your mouse to the bottom right corner now, it’ll activate the ‘Peek at Desktop’ feature, which will make all windows and application invisible to let you peek at your desktop and gadgets. Click that button and all your open application will be minimized.

Glass in the taskbar
The taskbar has the same Glass effect as the rest of the Windows applications now which gives provides a new dimension in customization and personalization. Changing the color of glass will effect the taskbar too, hence you can really make your Windows stand out.

Border Transparency when maximized
Even when you maximize any window now, the borders will stay transparent unlike in Windows Vista.

Reordered Right Click option on Desktop
Right clicking on the desktop now gives you quick access to options like Screen Resolution, Personalize and Gadgets.

Desktop Background Slideshows
You can now chose any number of backgrounds and use them as a desktop background slideshow. This functionality extends to using RSS feeds for slideshows as well. Find out more about RSS Powered Windows 7 Desktop Slideshows.

Full Screen Previews
Also known as Aero Peek. When you hover your mouse over a thumbnail preview of any application, it’ll show a full screen preview of that window and make all others translucent. It’s awesome and very useful, we all know.

Improved notification area
The new and improved notification area in Windows 7 hides 3rd party icons and their notifications unless you allow them too. This makes you work less intrusive and lets you focus on what you’re doing. Even the system icons can be hidden if you want to as well as the clock through the notification area options.

Small Buttons or Large Button?
If you’re a power user or have too many icons pinned to your taskbar, you can reduce the size of the icons to gain more space, or if you want you can change the options to show the labels of each taskbar button like the previous versions of Windows. The drag and rearrange features will still be there to help you in your work.

Windows 7 Start Orb
The new Windows 7 Start Orb now highlights in a beautiful way similar to the new gorgeous boot screen.

Aero Snap
Move any window to the top, and it’ll automatically maximize. Drag it back and it’ll restore to its size. Move any file or windows to the left or right of your screen and it’ll snap to the side of the screen. Double clicking the top or bottom edge of any window will now resize its height to match the height of the desktop. Double click it again to restore it back. Windows 7 helps you in multitasking.

Themes
Windows 7 brings back the theming feature from the Windows 9x era that you loved so much. Not only can you chose amongst the available themes, you also get regional themes. You can also create and share them with others. More themes can be downloaded here and here.

Jump Lists
Jump lists shows common tasks and recent files of applications. Even if the application doesn’t have support for Jump Lists, the recent items will be shown. You can also pin the recent item to the Jump Lists to keep them in quick access. They can also be used to open up new instances of application. Just right click or click and drag up any icon in the taskbar to see the jump list.

Jump Lists in Start Menu
Even the start menu has Jump Lists now. Just move your mouse over any recent application in the start menu that has an arrow on its right and it’ll resize the start menu to show its Jump List.

Color Hot-Track
A feature that is part of the new taskbar. When hovering your mouse over active applications’ taskbar buttons, the button is highlighted with a unique color depending on the icon that follows your mouse arrow. This cool feature helps differentiate between running applications and closed ones.

New Keyboard Shortcuts
New Windows 7 keyboard shortcuts make it much easier and quicker to complete your tasks. The Windows key is more useful than ever now! Check out the cheat sheet of shortcuts here.

New Desktop Backgrounds
Windows 7 comes with a new collection of desktop backgrounds ranging from architecture to landscapes.

New Sounds
Windows 7 contains 13 sounds schemes, each unique in its own way. Sounds can also be bundled with themes allowing you to customize your Windows further.

Fonts

New Fonts Folder
The new Fonts folder gives better previews of different fonts on their files making it easier to recognize them. You can hide the fonts you want and install them using shortcuts too.

DirectWrite
DirectWrite, a DirectX API, provides support to applications for high-quality text rendering, resolution-independent outline fonts, and full Unicode text and layout support. It gives hardware-accelerated text, when used with Direct2D.

ClearType Text Tuner
The ClearType Text Tuner helps you to adjust your font rendering to your liking. It contains a wizard to help you chose the best settings based on your display.

Gadgets

Say goodbye to the sidebar
RIP Sidebar. The new Gadgets platform is faster and doesn’t waste desktop space on any side of the screen like the sidebar did. It’s a part of the Windows 7 desktop now and accessible through the desktop right click menu.

New Gadget Platform, Same Gadgets
All the gadgets you got used to Windows Vista work on Windows 7 as well. They are all compatible with the new Gadgets platform.

New Gadget in Windows 7
Windows 7 has a new Windows Media Center Gadget, that provides quick access to new Internet Shows and videos.

Games

Get game updates and news
The improved Games folder now fetches games updates and installs them right in the folder. It also pulls news related to the game.

Art and information about installed games
The Games folder retrieves the cover art for games as well as information such as their genre, ratings, publisher, developer, release date and recommended and required Windows Experience Index scores.

Games for Windows
Get an immersing experience with Games for Windows. The Games for Windows brand provides quality, compatibility, safety features and are easy to play. They integrate well with the Games Explorer and provide updates and news as well.

WARP
Windows 7 will ship with WARP which will allow DirectX 10 and 10.1 based applications to run on un supported hardware as well. WARP will utilize the CPU as a graphics engine.

DirectX 11
Windows 7 ships with DirectX 11 which is backwards compatible with DirectX 9 and 10/10.1 hardware. It has new features that would mean more performance for your games. The new compute shader will let your GPU support parallel general purpose computing tasks.

International

Language Packs Language Packs are available for free download through Windows Update for Windows 7 Ultimate only. You can use Windows 7 in the language you want by changing it in Windows’ Regional Settings.

Internet Explorer 8

Accelerators
Need to search something, look up and address, or translate ? Accelerators make it easy to do all that and so much more without leaving the webpage you are browsing. Just select some text and an accelerator will pop up which you can use to perform various tasks. And accelerators aren’t just restricted to Windows Live only, you can create and use your own as well as third party ones.

Compatibility View
You can chose to display websites in compatibility view that haven’t yet been updated for Internet Explorer 8.

Microsoft SmartScreen Filter
SmartScreen filters protects you from phishing websites, online fraud as well as websites that download distribute malicious software.

InPrivate Browsing
InPrivate browsing mode lets you surf the web without leaving any traces of your activity on the web and the websites you visited.

InPrivate Filtering
InPrivate Filtering protects your information from the websites or content providers that you visit.

Developer Tools
The developer tools in Internet Explorer 8 let developers view and debug their websites easily.

Browsing Session Restore
With Internet Explorer 8, you can continue right from where you left before closing the browser by going to the Tools menu and clicking on Reopen Last Browsing Session.

Search Suggestions
Type in a query in the search box, and it’ll automatically show you suggestions based on what you type. Works with Bing, Yahoo, Wikipedia and others. You can also add more search providers from the IE Add-ons website.

Find on Page
The new redesigned find on page lets you find what you want as you type it on the current website. You can also chose to highlight the search results or cycle through them.

Web Slices
Using Web Slices, you can keep up with frequently updated sites directly from the new Favorites Bar. If a Web Slice is available on a page, a green Web Slices icon will appear in the Command Bar. Click on this icon to easily subscribe and add the Web Slices to the Favorites Bar so you can keep track of that “slice” of the web. When new information becomes available, the Web Slice will become highlighted. When you click on the Web Slice in the Favorites Bar, it previews relevant information. Clicking on the preview takes you directly to the site for more information.

Crash Recovery
If a website stops working or some faulty plug-in messes up and the tab crashes, Internet Explorer 8 automatically attempts to recover that tab. Other opened tabs aren’t effected.

Suggested Sites
Suggested Sites offers you suggestions of websites you might like based on your browsing history.

Reopen closed tabs
If you accidentally close any tab, you can just reopen that tab by hitting Ctrl + Shift + T.

Visual Suggestions
What if one of the suggestions has more information than just text? Type in a city’s name to get weather as a suggestion. Or you can type in a company’s name to get stock quotes with a chart.

Improved Performance
Internet Explorer 8 is the fastest version of Internet Explorer to date. It start quickly, and loads pages even more quickly. The script engine in IE 8 loads web sites based on AJAX or JavaScript faster than ever.

Smart Address Bar
The new address bar is intelligent. Type in a few characters and it’ll fetch websites from your history, favorites and RSS feeds which best match the entered text. You can also delete individual items in history by just clicking on the X that appears next to them in the address bar. That’s smart!

Internet Explorer Cross-site Scripting (XSS) Filter
IE XSS Filter prevents malicious websites from stealing your personal information when you visit trusted sites.

Safety menu
The new Safety menu provides quick access to the new security and privacy features in Internet Explorer 8, such as InPrivate Browsing, InPrivate Filtering and SmartScreen Filter

Tab Grouping
Internet Explorer 8 groups different tabs from a single website or links opened in new tabs from it, with the same tab color, so you can work more efficiently.

Working with Team Foundation Clients

noreply@blogger.com (Ravi) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:15:00 +0000

You can use one of several Team Foundation client applications to interact with Visual Studio Team System and Team Foundation Server. All clients require that you connect to a server that runs Team Foundation Server, and select a project collection and a team project. All clients require that you have the required permissions to access the team projects that you select.

Each client supports your ability to collaborate and coordinate your efforts with other team members in building a product or completing a project. The versions of Team Foundation clients that you can use are as follows:

Team Explorer is an add-in to Visual Studio. Team Explorer can be installed from any product in the Microsoft Visual Studio Team 2010 product suite.
Team System Web Access is a customizable Web interface that provides most, but not all, of the functionality available through the Team Explorer client. Team System Web Access also enables you to quickly find work items by using a special search syntax.

Team System Web Access is automatically installed and configured when Team Foundation Server is installed.
Team System Web Access - Work Item View Only enables people to create work items and allows team members to view only their assigned work items.

This view is designed to help you when you work with Team Foundation Server when you do not have a client access license (CAL). With this view, you do not need a CAL to create work items or to view and update work items that you created. The work-item only view restricts functionality so that you are in compliance with this aspect of the Team Foundation Server end-user license agreement.
Office Excel and Office Project. Team Foundation integrates with Office Excel and Office Project to help you manage your project and stay synchronized with the Team Foundation work item database.

When you install Team Explorer on your computer, a work item add-in is installed that enables Office Excel and Office Project to communicate with Team Foundation Server. In Office Excel, the add-in appears as a Team tab that displays work items in a list. In Office Project, the add-in appears as both a Team toolbar and a Team menu, and work items appear as tasks in a project plan.
Test and Lab Manager. Test and Lab Manager provides support for you to define your test effort and create and run manual tests. It also integrates with the Team Foundation work item database to create and track bugs that are found during test efforts.

What's New in Beta 2 for Visual Studio Team System 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Ravi) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:15:00 +0000

You can perform tasks by using the new and enhanced capabilities and features that are available in the Beta 2 versions of the following tools and applications:

Microsoft Visual Studio Team Architecture 2010
Microsoft Visual Studio Team Development 2010
Microsoft Visual Studio Team Lab Management 2010
Microsoft Visual Studio Team Test 2010
Microsoft Visual Studio Team System 2010 Test Load Agent
Microsoft Test and Lab Manager
Microsoft Visual Studio Team Foundation Server
Team Foundation version control
Team Foundation Build
Team Explorer
Team System Web Access

You can use the features provided in this release to perform new tasks that benefit a variety of roles on a product development team.

Software designers and developers

Greater ability to understand and model your application, and make changes that meet users' requirements
Debug an application more easily and at specific points in time by using
View how a proposed code change can affect testing by using Test Impact Analysis
Create and have access to multi-tiered virtual environments when developing and unit testing applications by using Visual Studio Team Lab Management
Apply the same life-cycle tools to your database code that you apply to your application code
Collect and analyze concurrency performance data that includes resource contentions in multi-threaded applications, thread activity on multi-core computers, the state of individual threads over time, thread migration, and other information that uses the Profiling Tools.

Testers and quality control managers

Create test plans, test suites, test configurations, and test cases with individual test steps by using the new application for testers, which is called Microsoft Test and Lab Manager
Gather diagnostic information when running a test, and automatically add it to a bug
Record manual test steps and replay them during a future test run
Create automated UI tests
Create virtual environments that define the set of roles required to run a specific application
Execute 64-bit tests
Emulate various network environments

Version control users

Visualize changeset merges and branch hierarchies
Work with labels and resolve conflicts more quickly and easily
In the history of an item, see detailed information about the effect of merged changes
Use the new rollback command to eliminate the effect of one or more changesets on an item

Build users

Deploy a build system for small or enterprise software projects and quickly scale them out as required by leveraging new build topology options
Make more efficient use of your build resources by setting up pools of build agents
Quickly define builds that can perform the most common tasks
Create richly customized build processes that leverage the features of Windows Workflow Foundation
Continue to use your legacy builds, which are automatically adapted and made ready for use in Team Foundation Server 2010
Protect your team from changes that break the build by using gated check-in and private builds
Enable features such as historical debugging by defining your build to publish symbol data
View a detailed report about an ongoing or completed build, and then use the report to take additional actions

Project managers and team members

Define requirements and create task hierarchies using Office Excel, Office Project, Team Explorer or Team System Web Access
Plan and track agile projects by using the updated Microsoft Solutions Framework (MSF) for Agile Software Development v5.0 process template and Office Excel Planning Workbooks
Create traceability relationships among requirements, tasks, and test results to effectively track how requirements are implemented and tested
Track progress and key indicators using new reports and dashboards and easy generation of Office Excel reports from work item queries

Administrators

Simplify management of team projects that share the same resources and schedule by using team project collections
Review the status of Team Foundation components, add and remove SharePoint Web applications that host team project portals, and manage team project collections using the Team Foundation Administration Console.

Getting Started with Visual Studio Team System

noreply@blogger.com (Ravi) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:14:00 +0000

When a team gets started with Visual Studio Team System, the administrator sets up the server, the project manager creates a team project, and the other team members set up their working environments. For information about configuration choices for Visual Studio Team Foundation Server, see Planning for Visual Studio Team System.

Tasks for the Administrator of Team Foundation

Install Team Foundation Server.
1. Download the installation guide for Team Foundation, and use it to install Team Foundation Server on your server or servers.
2. Make the client or clients of Team Foundation available to team members according to your licenses and policies.
Set up project management in Team Foundation Server.
1. If you are upgrading an existing installation of Team Foundation Server, organize team projects into team project collections.
2. Grant project managers the permissions that they need to create projects.
If any of your teams will use Lab Management, configure it on Team Foundation Server.
Set up the appropriate systems for your team to deploy builds and run tests remotely.
1. If your team will use Visual Studio Team Lab Management, install Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager and your virtual machines, and then configure Lab Management.
2. If your team will not use Lab Management, install test controllers and test agents on physical or virtual machines.
If your team will use Team Foundation Build, set it up on one or more servers.

Tasks for the Project Manager

Install the client or clients of Team Foundation that you will use.
Choose a process template.
Determine the project collection in which you will create a team project.
Create a team project.
Configure version control.
If you are using Team Foundation Build, create build definitions for each of your team projects.
Grant team members the permissions that they need to work in the team project.

Tasks for Individual Team Members

Install the client or clients of Team Foundation that you will use.
Set up your workspace for version control.

Visual Studio 2010 Team System by Microsoft

noreply@blogger.com (Ravi) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:12:00 +0000

By using the suite of tools in Microsoft Visual Studio Team System, you can apply proven practices to manage your application's life cycle, from understanding customer needs through code design and implementation to deployment. You can use the instrumentation in Visual Studio Team System to trace requirements to checked-in code, builds and test results. These practices can help your team create software that your customers value and that is faster and more reliable. You can use Visual Studio Team System to achieve the following results:

Plan and Track: Capture what is important to your customers, and track your project's progress. Enact processes and monitor their quality to help your team turn customer requirements into working software.
Design: Design functionality either on top of existing assets or from scratch, using architectural diagrams to communicate critical information about your team's software.
Develop: Write, unit test, debug, analyze, and profile your application using tools that are integrated with the rest of the application lifecycle so that your team can understand how your progress contributes to the project.
Build: Build your application using the integrated build system so that your team can ensure quality gates are met and see what requirements have been fulfilled in each build.
Test: Run manual or automated tests, including performance and stress tests. Manage testing systematically so that your team knows the software quality on any given day.
Deploy: Deploy into virtual environments to enable more sophisticated development and testing.

Team Foundation Server

Microsoft Visual Studio Team Foundation Server 2010 is the collaboration platform at the core of Microsoft€™s application lifecycle management solution that automates the software delivery process and enables organizations to effectively manage software development projects throughout the IT life cycle. Team Foundation Server 2010 enables the team to be more agile, collaborate more effectively, and deliver better quality software while building and sharing institutional knowledge. Project artifacts and data from work item tracking, source control, builds, and testing tools are stored in a data warehouse and powerful reporting and dashboards provide historical trending, full traceability and real-time visibility into quality and progress against business intent.

Visual Studio Team System

Team Suite

You can integrate other aspects of the application development lifecycle with Team Foundation Server by using one or more other products in Visual Studio Team System.

Microsoft Test and Lab Manager: Manage and execute test cases outside Visual Studio, and create and manage physical or virtual environments.
Team System Architecture: Design your application in UML, or analyze your existing software assets. Define your software architecture, and validate that design when your team checks in and builds with Team Foundation Server.
Team System Development: Implement the presentation, application, and data tiers of your application by using .NET languages, Transact-SQL, and C++.
Team System Test: Automate user interface tests, and create and run load tests in Visual Studio.

The following table shows how these tools can be used throughout the application lifecycle.

Application Lifecycle	Team Foundation	Microsoft Test and Lab Manager	Team System Architecture	Team System Development	Team System Test
Plan and Track
Design
Develop
Test
Build

Microsoft launches DreamSpark in India!‏

noreply@blogger.com (Ravi) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:14:00 +0000

On 5^th November 2008, Microsoft unveiled DreamSpark - a software giveaway for an estimated 10 million eligible students in India. DreamSpark will provide students access to the latest Microsoft developer and designer tools at no charge.

Microsoft DreamSpark will be available to all students whose studies touch on technology, design, math, science and engineering. The software available to students will include:

Microsoft developer tools

Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate (Beta 2)
Visual Studio 2005 Express
Visual Studio 2005 Professional
Visual Studio 2008 Professional
Visual Basic 2008 Express
Visual C++ 2008 Express
Visual C# 2008 Express
Visual Web Developer 2008 Express
Robotics Developer Studio 2008 R2
CCR DSS Toolkit 2008 R2
XNA Game Studio 3.1
12-month free Academic membership in the XNA Creators Club

Microsoft designer tools

Expression Studio 3, including

o Expression Web

o Expression Blend

o Expression Design

o Expression Media

Microsoft platform resources

SQL Server 2008 Developer
SQL Server 2008 Express
Windows Server 2008 Standard Edition
Virtual PC

Training Resources

IT Academy Student Pass

This broad range of professional-level software will be available both online via www.dreamsparkindia.com; and in offline format via DVDs distributed by program partners NIIT, Aptech and Hughes Net Fusion Centers. A student merely needs to offer a proof of identity at a branch of these institutes to avail of a DreamSpark DVD. There are 125 NIIT, 175 Aptech, and 200 Hughes Net Fusion Centers participating across the country.

These program partners will also provide technology training on the DreamSpark software tools at a nominal cost; as well as have the option of soft skills training in languages like English and Hindi. Microsoft India is also working with academic institutions, government bodies and student organizations across the country to ensure that all students get a chance to benefit from DreamSpark.

The DreamSpark program in India is tailor-made to join the dots between software access and employability - which means making training and enablement complement simple access to technology.

DreamSpark will also facilitate student participation in Microsoft’s annual marquee contest, Imagine Cup, through various contest categories such as software design, short films, photography etc. Students from India that qualify for the Imagine Cup 2009 World Finals will get to travel to Egypt. Selected teams will also get the opportunity to get mentored by the Centre for Innovation, Incubation & Entrepreneurship (CIIE) at IIM, Ahmedabad.

Addressing students and academicians at IIT Delhi – where the DreamSpark program was unveiled - Bill Gates, Chairman, Microsoft Corp, said, “We want to do everything we can to equip a new generation of technology leaders with the knowledge and tools they need to harness the magic of software to improve lives, solve problems and catalyze economic growth. Microsoft DreamSpark provides professional-level tools that we hope will inspire students like you to explore the power of software and encourage you to forge the next wave of software-driven breakthroughs.”

NOW, to make students learn using the developer tools provided by Microsoft, this is where we Microsoft Student Partners come into picture :)

Imagine Cup Student Competition 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Ravi) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:36:00 +0000

You win. We all win.

Boost your resume, influence positive change, and win cool prizes along the way!

The Imagine Cup student competition offers an exciting opportunity to gain real-world experience and boost your resume to stand out from the crowd. Change your life and the lives of others by solving problems and working with a team to design software, games, and web sites that help make a difference on global issues. So Register Today!

Competitions

Impact your community, make a difference, win stuff along the way.Attention software programmers, game developers,cutting-edge designers, and business visionaries.

The world needs you.

Technology is the strongest force to transform your brilliant ideas into real-world solutions. And that's the point of the Imagine Cup competition-to use technology to make a difference through Software Design, Game Design, Digital Media, IT Challange and Embedded Development.

The Imagine Cup competitions give you two chances-one in the fall and again in the spring-to participate. You can choose to do both to boost your chances of making it to the finals—and maybe even move on to the Imagine Cup Worldwide Finals in Poland! The competition will be challenging, but that's part of the fun, right?

Software Design

Think Global. Start Local.

Your mission is simple: create real-world software and service applications that use Microsoft technologies, and address the U.S. Imagine Cup theme of imagining a world where technology helps solve the toughest problems.

When considering your project, get inspired and educated by reviewing the eight United Nations Millennium Development Goals. The competition pushes you to use your creativity and drive to make it to the Worldwide Finals stage. This is where legends are born and lives are changed—where an application starts as an idea and ends up making a difference.

Game Design

You win. We all win.

Who says saving the world isn’t fun? First, it's thrilling to make a difference, and with the power of gaming, people can have fun while fighting global issues.

Blow us away! Build a full game from scratch. Make it something that is truly outside the box. Think of this competition as an important step in your budding career either as a game developer or an entrepreneur in the game business.

Digital Media Competition

Lights. Camera. Embed.

You've seen The Evolution of Dance, and thought "I can do that". You’ve seen Leave Britney Alone, and thought "I definitely don't want to do that". Team up with a friend to shoot, edit, and share the web's next viral video hit by entering the World Wide Imagine Cup Digital Media competition.

Submissions for the Digital Media Competition are open now on the Imagine Cup World Wide Site. Head over and sign up today!

IT Challenge Competition

Grab your CAT 5 cables.

Network Admins need to be made of steel - the World Wide Imagine Cup IT Challenge Competition highlights the art and science of developing, deploying, and maintaining IT systems that are efficient, functional, robust and secure. Grab your CAT 5 cables, and join in this unique competition - get the real-world experience that recruiters look for on a resume.

Quizzes for the IT Challenge Competition begin November 16th, 2009 on the Imagine Cup World Wide Site!

Microsoft Imagine Cup

noreply@blogger.com (Ravi) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:13:00 +0000

Imagine Cup is an annual competition sponsored and hosted by Microsoft Corp. which brings together young technologists worldwide to help resolve some of the world's toughest challenges. Primarily a software design competition, it enlists teams of four within the high school and collegiate levels to submit software solutions addressing a specifically provided theme. Started in 2002, it has steadily grown in size, where in 2008 210,000 competitors representing over 100 countries competed in the nine Imagine Cup invitationals.

History

2003: Barcelona, Spain - Theme: Link between people, information, systems, and devices, using Web services and .NET as the springboard.
2004: São Paulo, Brazil - Theme: Imagine a world where smart technology makes everyday life easier.
2005: Yokohama, Japan - Theme: Imagine a world where technology dissolves the boundaries between us.
2006: Delhi, India - Theme: Imagine a world where technology enables us to live healthier lives.
2007: Seoul, South Korea - Theme: Imagine a world where technology enables a better education for all.
2008: Paris, France - Theme: Imagine a world where technology enables a sustainable environment.
2009: Cairo, Egypt - Theme: Imagine a world where technology helps solve the world's toughest problems.
2010: Warsaw, Poland - Theme: Imagine a world where technology helps solve the world's toughest problems.

Winners

Although there are a number of competitions within the Imagine Cup the Software Design category is the primary competition in which its winners take home the Imagine Cup trophy.

Previous winners include:

2004: France, Team EPITA - Aymeric Gaurat Apelli, Franois Beaussier, Guillaume Belmas and Vincent Vergonjeanne
2005: Russia, Team OmniMusic - Stanislav Vonog, Nikolay Surin, Alexander Popov and Ruslan Gilfanov
2006: Italy, Team Even - Giorgio Sardo, Massimo Paternoster, Silvia Perrone and Andrea SossichEven .ctor
2007: Thailand, Team 3KC - Prachaya Phaisanwiphatpong, Vasan Chienmaneetaweesin, Jatupon Sukkasem, Pathompol Saeng-Uraiporn
2008: Australia, Team SOAK - David Burela, Edward Hooper, Dimaz Pramudnya and Long Zheng
2009: Romania, Team Sytech - Adrian Buzgar, Calin Juravle and Andreas Resios

Innovation Accelerator

The Imagine Cup Innovation Accelerator propels Imagine Cup Software Design teams into the next stage of developing their innovative ideas into a business. Each year six teams selected for the Innovation Accelerator program receive technical support and business coaching to create the must-have technology and communications applications of the future.

Since its inclusion at the 2006 Imagine Cup, the Innovation Accelerator program has annually seen six teams travel to the Microsoft Mountain View campus in Silicon Valley.

Previous teams include:

2006: Brazil, China, Croatia, Germany, Italy, Norway,
2007: Ireland, Jamaica, Korea, Mexico, Poland, Thailand,
2008: Australia, France, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia, South Africa,

Imagine Cup Categories

Technology Solutions

Software Design
Embedded Development
Game Development

Skills Challenges

Project Hoshimi Programming Battle
IT - Information technology
Algorithms

Digital Arts

Photography
Short Film
Design

Note: For the 2009 competition, the Project Hoshimi Programming Battle Competition and the Algorithm Competition will merge to become the Robotics and Algorithms Competition while the Interface Design will be replaced with the Mashups Competition.

Criticism

The Microsoft Corporation has been criticized for including provisions in the competition's legal documents, stating that by accepting their prizes, winners agree to allow Microsoft to use concepts, techniques, ideas or solutions from the winning applications "for any purpose." Also, the competition has been criticized for being rather Microsoft-centric, with demands such as "the entry must be designed on .NET Framework 2.0 using Microsoft Visual Studio" or "30% of the scoring in this round will be based on use of showcasing the .NET framework".

Microsoft's Rules and Regulations Official Site, however, contains a section stating that student's intellectual property will be respected, and that neither Imagine Cup competition nor Microsoft claim ownership of the materials provided by the competitors. It is important to highlight that for the sake of the judgment, internal elements of the solution might be made public to the judges.

The Difference Between Windows Vista and 7? Like Night and Day

noreply@blogger.com (Ravi) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 07:01:00 +0000

It is fitting that Microsoft’s new Windows 7 operating system arrives ahead of Halloween. When Microsoft buries Windows Vista for good on Oct. 22 and replaces it with Windows 7, the ghostbusters in Redmond will have exorcised a demon.

If you haven’t experienced the frights of Vista firsthand, you’ve no doubt heard about them: how it takes forever to power up and shut down, how the software constantly nags you, how it hogs precious PC resources and how it’s incompatible with all-too-many third-party peripherals and programs.

Throngs of PC users found Vista so scary that they stuck with the Windows XP operating system Microsoft launched in 2001, a lifetime ago in the tech world.

Microsoft doesn’t have to apologize for Windows 7. Vista’s replacement represents a monster leap forward. It’s Vista done right – at last. Microsoft claims hundreds of small improvements, and a few big ones.

“We’ll see what happens when Windows 7 is with (customers) all day every day, but I’m cautiously optimistic that we really have hit the right note there,” Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer told me in a phone interview.

What you’ll notice is that Windows 7 is snappier than its predecessor, more polished, and simpler to navigate. Screens are less cluttered. It has better search. Windows 7 rarely nags. I’ve been testing various versions for months on numerous computers. It sure seems more reliable so far. With a few exceptions, compatibility hasn’t been a major issue.

It’s worth pointing out that Vista received decent notices when it first came out, and Microsoft repaired some problems with the much maligned operating system over time. Despite the fact that it periodically drove me bonkers, I’ll probably invite scorn by suggesting Vista sometimes got a bad rap.

But make no mistake. Windows 7 is better. I’ve run a bevy of third-party programs on Windows 7 machines, including Apple’s iTunes, Google’s Picasa, Mozilla’s Firefox and Intuit’s Quicken, without incident. Same goes for connected HP printers, a Canon digital camera, and smartphones such as the iPhone and Palm Pre.

Windows 7 boasts some nifty touch-computing enhancements that I’ll elaborate on in a future column. But you’ll have to fetch free e-mail, calendar, photo, instant messaging and video-editing programs online from Windows Live Essentials; such programs used to be included in the operating system. Manufacturers may preload some of these.

Windows 7 shows up as Apple continues to run scathingly funny Macintosh ads lampooning PCs. The ads work in part because they indeed strike a raw nerve among the Windows crowd. Apple recently launched a new operating system of its own, Mac OS X Snow Leopard. I have long preferred the Mac operating system to Windows – and still do. Macs are more attractive, and it’s hard to beat the bundle of programs Apple includes. Macs haven’t been hit with the malware that has plagued Windows. But the improvements in Windows 7 narrow Apple’s advantage, and in a couple of instances Microsoft moves past its rival.

It remains to be seen, of course, whether consumers who put off buying a computer because of Vista are ready to take the plunge now. “With Vista it was almost like they had a justifiable reason not to upgrade,” says Michael Cherry, an analyst at independent research firm Directions on Microsoft. But he wonders if Windows 7 will be enough to get people to spring for a new machine in this economy.

Microsoft also has to be mindful of an upcoming challenge from Google, which has already brought out a mobile operating system called Android and is readying its “in-the-cloud” Chrome operating system. “I don’t even know who the competitor is over at Google,” Ballmer says. “Is it Android, is it Chrome, is it something else? Maybe they’ll have another operating system to announce.”

Based on my tests, you can buy a new PC confident that this latest Windows operating system ought not bog you down. Upgrading an existing computer is less clear-cut. Go for it if you’re dissatisfied and running Vista. But if you’re running XP, the upgrade decision is more arduous because you have to remove and reinstall your programs. And you’ll need a machine that can handle the load: at minimum a 1-gigahertz processor, 1 or 2 gigabytes of RAM and 16 or 20 GB of free disk space, plus high-end graphics.

Here’s my takeaway for consumers from Windows 7

Choosing the right edition

As with prior iterations of Windows, there’s no single version of Windows 7, which gets confusing. Windows 7 Starter is a bare-bones edition that’s pre-loaded on some budget netbooks. It lacks the fancy graphics of its more accomplished siblings. For a few extra bucks, however, even a netbook can run a more complete version of Windows 7.

At the other extreme are the powerhouse Windows 7 Ultimate and Windows 7 Enterprise editions, for individuals and businesses who crave each and every last feature. Other versions are called Home Basic and Professional. But most consumers will choose what is likely to remain the most popular edition, Home Premium. It costs $120 to upgrade (or $200 for a full retail package).

Windows 7 - A Guide to the Editions

noreply@blogger.com (Ravi) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 06:42:00 +0000

Windows 7 comes in six different flavors -- with a few more niche alternates just for good measure. I tell you why (or why not) to buy Windows 7, but which Windows 7 edition is right for you? We breakdown the feature sets in this buyers guide.

THE EDITION LADDER

High on the list of ways in which Windows 7 is superior to Windows Vista is the arrangement of Windows 7 editions. In Windows Vista, the slates of features available in each flavor of the operating system read like a dyslexic Chinese menu, with features added and subtracted from each Vista version with no apparent logic. In Windows 7, each successive edition contains all the features of the preceding edition -- like a tiered feature ladder -- so there's a clear upgrade path and relationship between escalating price and escalating value.

That said, there are still some quirks to the Windows 7 edition array, not the least of which is that not everyone can buy every edition, and that some editions won't be available at retail. We break down the main feature sets below.

WINDOWS 7 STARTER

The first thing to note about Starter edition is that it's OEM-only, so it comes preinstalled or not at all. Also, there's no 64-bit edition of Windows 7 Starter, no native DVD playback, no multi-monitor support, and -- this is the important part -- the Aero graphic user interface is stripped out. Basically, Microsoft pared down Windows 7 Starter to run on netbooks, so it's graphically neutered. Don't let these limitations fool you; Windows 7 Starter still comes with all the important non-graphic bits, including Internet Explorer 8, Windows Media Player 12, the new versions of Calculator, Paint and WordPad with the controversial ribbon interface, and the revamped Windows Defender, Firewall and Action Center (without the constant Vista-esque user signoffs). Windows 7 Starter still offers the new enhanced Taskbar with pinned applications and Jump Lists, and its got the enhanced SuperFetch that makes opening and switching applications surprisingly fast. Perhaps most importantly, Windows 7 Starter can run more than three applications at once, which was not true during beta testing. Despite its reputation, Microsoft actually listened to feedback on that front.

WINDOWS 7 HOME PREMIUM

Windows 7 Home Premium is the cheapest version of Windows 7 available at retail in mainstream markets. (There is a Windows 7 Home Basic edition, which is mostly a shined-up version of Starter, buts it's available only in "emerging markets" like India.) Home Premium is also the edition that Microsoft expects to be its top seller. Along with the Aero graphic user interface, Home Premium offers more visual personalization options -- including the slick new Windows 7 themes with background slideshows -- that are missing in Starter edition. Fast User Switching, multi-monitor video, and Touchscreen support are also conspicuously present. The big difference between Starter and Home Premium -- besides the Aero interface -- is the inclusion in Home of the complete Windows Media Center package, which offers streaming from one Windows Media Player to another over the same network, DVD playback, DVD authoring, and all the media handling of previous WMC editions. Home Premium is also the Windows 7 edition that cancreatea HomeGroup share, while Windows 7 Starter PCs can simply join them. HomeGroup shares are like personal, local peer-to-peer networks, which are great for controlling access to shared files on a local network. This is perfect for anybody sharing a dorm network or who has roommates or children they don't want accessing certain music or image files across a shared network.

WINDOWS 7 PROFESSIONAL

There are some nice additional add-ins in Windows 7 Professional -- like local offline file caches, backing up restore points to network shares, and acting as a Remote Desktop server -- but the two main value-adds are Windows Server domain support, and XP mode. For those of you running Windows XP-only legacy apps, this is where you start, because Windows 7 Professional is the cheapest edition that has the XP mode emulator. Be warned that, even though Windows 7 is vetted, XP mode is still in beta. Windows 7 Professional is also the cheapest edition that can join a Windows Server domain, which is a growing concern for home users but not exactly common. If either Windows domain access or XP emulation aren't on your need-to-have list, odds are you don't need to upgrade from Home Premium to Professional.

WINDOWS 7 ULTIMATE/ENTERPISE

The two main upgrades found in Windows 7 Ultimate are BitLocker data encryption and the ability to create AppLockers, which can block out banned programs from running on the OS. If both of these sound like corporate-centric features, they are. It's unlikely the average home user will need to encrypt local files or create "safe" application lists (though I know a few tech-savvy parents who may vehemently disagree). Ultimate also sports some slick language translation and network printer handling features but, again, these are concerns largely for businesses rather than conventional end-users. Windows 7 Ultimate supports some UNIX applications, which should please some in the open source crowd, but this feature is mostly aimed at the legacy app/server farm community, which is (again) to say large businesses. The only difference between Windows 7 Ultimate and Enterprise is that Enterprise is available under volume licensing, with some of the Windows Software Assurance bells and whistles.

ALTERNATE EDITIONS

To comply with European Union antitrust requirements, Microsoft is reportedly producing alternate versions of each Windows 7 edition. E-type alternates (for example, Windows 7 Professional E) have Internet Explorer 8 stripped out. N-type alternates have Windows Media Player 12 stripped out. Even in non-alternate editions, both those programs can be uninstalled from any version of Windows 7.

CONCLUSION

The main choice for most users will be between Windows 7 Home Premium and Windows 7 Professional, with networking the primary determining factor. If you need to join a Windows domain, you need Windows 7 Professional or above. If you aren't worried about networking, Windows 7 Home Premium is the edition of choice. Windows 7 Starter should be regarded as a netbook-only option, and the Enterprise/Ultimate product is almost exclusively for the security hyper-conscious. Your mileage may vary, but for most users Windows 7 Home Premium will be more than good enough.

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Features in Windows 7

Note: This is a work in progress. I keep adding features as I find them. Should be complete soon. Suggestions are always welcome. =)

Accessibility

Desktop

Networking

Security

Windows Explorer

Action Center

Fonts

Paint

System

Windows Live

Backup

Gadgets

Parental Controls

Taskbar

Windows Media Center

Calculator

Games

Performance

Touch

Windows Media Player

Contacts

International

Printing

Troubleshooters

Windows PowerShell

Control Panel

Internet Explorer

Recovery

Windows Search

Windows Virtual PC

Wordpad

Accessibility

Action Center

Backup and Restore

Calculator

Contacts

Control Panel

Desktop

Fonts

Gadgets

Games

International