Google has dropped the source code of Chrome OS into the wild, so we thought we'd take a look and see if it lives up to the lofty hype that's been placed upon it. Depending on who you believe, Chrome OS could either sink without trace or obliterate Microsoft, Apple and Linux wholesale.

The truth, as always, is neither. Well, not just yet anyway. Chrome is still at a very early stage. It runs, but there's not a whole lot you can do when it's running - other than log in, browse the web, check your battery status, and turn network adaptors on and off.

When you first boot up the OS you'll be faced with a login screen. Put your Google address and password in and it'll confirm them and let you enter the operating system. You'll then be faced with a browser window showing your GMail, and Google Calendar. These work exactly how they do in any other OS's browser window.

Up in the top right, there is a couple of icons that let you access the browser menus, see your network connectivity status (turning on and off wireless or Ethernet, for example) and monitor your battery. These seem to work mostly as advertised, but a few of the menu items - like "options" - are duplicated in the browser.

There's a Start Menu-esque icon in the top left that takes you to a page inviting you to sign into Google Short Links. This didn't recognise our username and password, so we couldn't get any further on this page. It doesn't appear to be treated as a regular browser window, though - we couldn't close or unpin it like we could with the mail and calendar tabs.

Hitting the new tab button, or using the Ctrl-T shortcut, brings you to Chrome's default new tab page complete with "quick-dial" shortcuts to your most-viewed web pages. There's links to themes from a wide range of artists that can skin the OS, though the Google ones are almost universally more attractive than the artist-created ones.

There's also a link to the extensions gallery, though this isn't working at the time of writing - just giving a "Coming soon..." message. By the time the Chrome OS makes it into a full release, there'll likely be a host of extensions to choose from that'll offer a bunch of additional functionality that isn't built in to the platform by default.

We did find a few bugs. Going into the bookmarks manager got us stuck until we created a new bookmark and double-clicked it. That took us back to the browser window. Also, unpinning the mail and calendar tabs with a right-click and closing them took us to a blank desktop that we couldn't access anything from. Only a reboot of our virtual machine fixed that.?

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Verdict:

For the moment, Chrome OS is pretty much just a browser in a Linux shell. That isn't going to set the world on fire, free or not. It's fast - it boots in just 7 seconds - but it's not exactly functional. Overall performance was difficult to judge, due to running it in a virtual machine, but it didn't seem too painful.

Chrome OS has potential because Google may well be making a play into netbooks and smartbooks in the same way that it has with Android and smartphones. If that's the case, then the fruits of the project could be some way away - Android is only just starting to make waves, more than a year after its release.

Chrome OS is one to watch, but we wouldn't recommend you switch to it as your primary operating system just yet.

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Related links:

• Feature - Google Chrome OS: What you will and won't be able to do

Tags: Software Operating Systems Google Chrome OS

Google Chrome OS - First Look originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Sat, 21 Nov 2009 08:45:43 +0000

For the geeky, sharing files with the world or other devices is all done via the FTP that you've got for your website or blog. It involves a stack of complicated codes, faffing around with FTP software and generally an interest in computers and the way the Internet works to get it to go.?For the rest of us, there is dropbox.

Available for the Mac and PC (the iPhone has an app, and access though a mobile page is also offered) the concept is that it is a centralised folder that you have on all your computers or devices that allows you to automatically see what is in that folder be it on your work or home computer.

Sign up for an account, install the software and you can then instantly share documents, photos -pretty much all files - as long as they are in the that Dropbox folder.?Within the folder itself can be further folders and better still you can give public or selected access to those folders if you want.

What it means for example is that if you save all your documents to that folder whenever you make a change and then save it, it is automatically updated on all your computers rather than just the one you are working on. In turn this means the hassle of transferring it to a USB drive or CD to then take home or in to the office doesn't exist.

Clever huh?

On the Mac the whole system is as if it isn't there. In fact the only way you'll know you've got it installed is the appearance of a Dropbox icon on the menu bar at the top of the screen and a folder that you can drop stuff into on your desktop.

Clicking on the icon in the menu bar gives you direct access to your Dropbox folder, tells you how much storage you've got left (in percentage form) and what the recently changed files are. Unfortunately it doesn't change colour to show you that a file has been changed - something that would have been nice if you were working with others on a number of files - but it's no deal breaker.

While the system is likely to help you if work from home or need to share photos with the family across different computers, where we can really see the success is in the ability to share folders with others.

A quick invite to a folder and companies could easy share work projects without having to email large files around. In our tests we were able to share large (100MB +) documents within the team easily and quickly (based on internet connection).

If you aren't fussed about private access to certain people you've invited there is a "Public" folder that allows you to dump files in and then dish out a URL to anyone. (As an aside, PR reading this review, this is a perfect way to share pictures and press releases with journalists.)

As we mentioned there is an iPhone app as well that allows you to access all the files on the system. We had no trouble viewing word documents or images and you can upload from the iPhone as well, handy if you need to share a picture without docking or emailing the photo.

Of course you might not be at your iPhone or your computer with the software installed. Don't panic, Dropbox appears to have thought of that too.?Connected to the whole system is a simple website that once logged in allows you to view files you've got stored, view recent activity, and organise your sharing options.

It's basic, but it does mean that if you are at a random computer, be it in an internet caf? or someone's office you can still access the files.

It's free, so how can the company survive??

Well it comes down to the amount of storage you want. The basic or standard package, which is free, gives you 2GB of storage.?That storage is upgradable either via paying cash or signing up friends (although that will only give you a maximum further 1GB).

The quickest way to get more storage space is to pay. Part with $8.99 a month and you can upgrade that storage quota to 50GB, opt for $19.99 a month and it jumps to the Pro 100 account that gives you, you guessed it 100GB of online storage to store your stuff, more than enough for most people.

Verdict:

Dropbox is a very clever, but incredibly simple, sharing solution that we can see saving a lot of time for those that use multiple computers or just have the need to access certain files from anywhere without having to carry a USB thumb drive around.

Yes you've worked out how to set up a network storage drive on your home Wi-Fi network a system like this isn't that useful (around the home) but your Time Capsule or NAS drive isn't going to let your work computer play or your iPhone for that matter.

The free 2GB threshold is likely to be more than enough for basic file transfer and we would have no issue recommending this to you and everyone you know.

Storage and sharing files might be boring, but this makes it incredibly easy.

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Tags: Software Online Storage Dropbox Mac software PC software iPhone apps Mobile phone apps

Dropbox originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Mon, 16 Nov 2009 14:37:27 +0000

Popcorn seemed somewhat superfluous when it was first launched and particularly considering it sat alongside Roxio’s class leading Mac burning software, Toast. Now, Popcorn 4 has matured and the improved format flexibility, YouTube publishing and the price now make it a more complete package and one that’s very easy to use too, so certainly well worth a gander.

Popcorn 4 is the latest iteration of Roxio's CD, DVD and video conversion software for the Mac platform featuring a raft of enhancements that make it a significant improvement on the previous Popcorn package, that allows you to copy, convert and burn video and audio in (almost) any format to (almost) any other format.

In other words, it's a format-free software solution for those out there creating their own video and audio content, copying their video or DVDs and want to export the media for use a cross a range of devices, from Palm's new Pre mobile to Sony's PS3, the new PSP Go, Nintendo's Wii, the iPhone or the Xbox 360.

Popcorn 4 also supports YouTube video, here you can author, set keywords and publish your creation directly to YouTube from the program; Flash Video (F4V) is supported too, MPEG4 and H.264 are also supported formats. Of course and as with previous version's of Popcorn, you can't copy copyright protected DVDs, for example (commercial DVDs you've bought for example), Popcorn 4's features are restricted to video and audio you've created yourself, so your unprotected video or audio can be copied and/or transferred to your iPhone or games console.

Okay, so Popcorn 4 allows you to copy and convert your video and audio to most other media playing platforms, but it also has neat compression capabilities; able to compress a up to 9GB of dual layer DVD content onto a single layer 4.7GB DVD.

To enable this and the improved disc burning, Roxio has cleverly grafted into Popcorn, the meat from the company's Toast DVD authoring software, which means it is both easy to use and will be familiar to any who have used Toast in any of its guises before.

Popcorn 4's interface includes neat media browsers that allows you to quickly sort through your iTunes library, movie folder or files on your hard disc and quickly find the content you want to process. Alternatively, you can quickly drag and drop movies, photos or audio files onto the main Popcorn content area from the finder.

The main Popcorn window has a dual interface – via tabs at the top left: Copy and Convert. Each tab provides contextual menu options for things such as unprotected DVD disc conversion, processing DVD-video Image Files and batch conversion of any video file types including TiVo and EyeTV recordings to name a few options.

Within the Copy tab you get DVD Disc and Image File options and the ability to copy unprotected CDs, DVDs and Blu-ray discs, or create a disc image files, for example. The Image File option allows for the creation of (yep you guessed it) disc image files for burning to DVD, Blu-ray or CD, while the Video_TS Folders option is for creation of DVDs from existing Video_TS Folders.

A Video_TS Compilation mode means you can create a compilation of existing video Video_TS folders to burn on a single DVD, for example while the DVD-Video option is for creating DVDs playable on a DVD set top box or a Mac or PC computer and so completes a broad range of copying and conversion options.

Interestingly, Roxio has also added the ability to browse and extract clips, chapters or just titles from unprotected DVDs, folders or image files. Another funky feature is Popcorn 4 allows you to isolate and extract just the audio from a DVD, say, which can be an easy way to extract audio for separate playback if you need or want to, while the program's interface also provides clear information on the video and audio formats and any specific languages to be copied.

Across the bottom are the space available gauge to show the amount of room left on a given Disc type for example, (disc types can be changed/selected via a small drop down button) and the large red Burn button that initiates the start of the convert/burn procedure and is just like Roxio’s Toast in that regard.

Alongside the main application, you also get three other “Extras”: TiVo transfer, Toast Video Player and Disc Cover 2 RE for creating and burning bespoke CD labels for your creations supporting both Lightscribe and Laserflash burners.

One of the better things about version 4 of Popcorn is its improved video quality preview that helps make assessment of the video you wish to burn, at various quality settings, for example, and it's much faster and easier to use than before. Another similar improvement is the ability to schedule a CPU hungry process to a time when you want, such as when you're away from the computer.

One slight demerit is the new version of Popcorn only supports Intel Macs running OS 10.5 and 10.6 (that's Leopard and Snow Leopard) so those out there with non-Intel based Macs will have to go without.

Verdict:

Popcorn 4 is simple to use, powerful and allows for a greater range of file format compatibility and connectivity. The improvements to the interface (its now Toast-alike) and the powerful burning and converting options certainly make the ?39.99 price look quite good indeed.

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Tags: Software Mac software Roxio Roxio Popcorn 4 Video And Editing

Roxio Popcorn 4 - Mac originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:00:00 +0000

AVG has been one of the most popular free antivirus tools for many a year, and updates its software for 2010 with the new AVG 9. We’ll kick off by summarising the different versions of the software, which still includes a free version for those who already have a firewall or other security on their system. This includes all the basic tools you need but omits a web shield, anti-rootkit protection, a game mode and technical support, which is all found on the ?27.99 standard edition. This version is also available with a firewall for ?35.99, though stepping up to the most comprehensive "Internet Security" option would be sensible at this stage, as for ?39.99 you get system tune-up tools, anti-spam and identity protection thrown in.

The first thing users of previous versions will notice is that there aren’t a lot of obvious changes here, and though the interface is slightly cleaner, it retains the multi-component layout and stripped down menus that has become synonymous with the software. Most improvements have come in the form of tweaks and enhancements, improving the firewall, phishing protection, anti-spam and in speeding up scans.

This area has seen a distinct improvement in recent times, but it’s worth highlighting that AVG has never been the quickest so it still lags quite seriously behind some of the competition. During our tests it achieved a standard scan time of around 4 minutes, and this doesn’t speed up much during subsequent repeats. By contrast, the excellent Norton AntiVirus 2010 initially took 1 minute to scan the same test system, with subsequent scans dropping to just 10 seconds.

AVG is fairly light on resources and a straightforward approach does make it easy to get to grips with, which should appeal to less experienced users. The firewall has also been improved to allow the software to better make decisions automatically, so you’re not often bugged for confirmation of actions during operation.

AVG has also done pretty well in terms of independent certification recently and though the results aren’t in yet on version 9, we’re confident it is capable of maintaining this standard.

Official Windows 7 compatibility just about rounds off the improvements here, so it seem as though AVG is happy to offer some fairly standard tweaks and enhancements to placate existing users and upgraders rather than attempt to drag in any new business. The free version still has obvious appeal and it’s still one of the best around in this light, but none of "pay" packages are cheap or revolutionary enough to compete against faster, sleeker and more comprehensive software from rivals such as Norton and BitDefender.

Verdict:

AVG has tweaked its software to bring it in line with new threats and improve efficiency, but it still lags behind many rivals in terms of scan times and doesn’t really bring enough to the table to encourage new users to ditch their existing internet security in its favour.?

Tags: Software Security software Viruses And Malware AVG AVG9

AVG 9.0 security software originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 05 Nov 2009 10:21:03 +0000

If you're a disorganised photographer then chances are you store your digital photos on your computer, back them up and then forget about them until someone says:

"Do you have a picture of a women on a bus in London eating a sandwich?"

Of course you do, but how the devil do you find it. In steps Adobe's Lightroom package that allows you to catalogue your photo collection and edit your photos without getting too "Photoshopy" and then print them or publish them to the Web.

Lightroom has been around for sometime, but with a new version, Lightroom 3, entering public beta, what can we look forward to in the new model, and should you start using it from today.

The first thing you should note is that this is very much a beta and Adobe is keen to express that. What that means is that there is no official support for the software and there are a number of features Adobe says are yet to come. It also means that you can't import your current Lightroom 2 catalogue into the software package just yet and that's probably not that much of a bad thing - you don't want all your metadata corrupting do you?

So for the purpose of our review we imported a number of images into the catalogue and ran the software side by side measuring the performance and keeping a close eye on the differences.

So what's new? Well one of the main things that isn't is the interface. While there were fairly large changes from Lightroom to Lightroom 2 in the look and feel of the package, here, the transition to Lightroom 3 is going to be minimal. For us that's a good thing. While not everything is perfect, we are happy with the structure of Lightroom and find it fairly easy to navigate around the package. The same can be said for Lightroom 3. The panels are all in the same place and apart from the odd new button or panel, everything is how you know it.

The main focus therefore has been on how the program works with your images and how you get them in.

The import window sees the biggest overhaul with a completely redesigned interface that is not only more in keeping with the design style of Lightroom, but also in functionality.

Split into three panels, you can select the source from the left, the target on the right and see the images you're importing in the middle, whether it's from a disk, drive or memory card. You now also get "Loupe" ie single image view and can choose to add, copy or move them into the catalogue. There is also the option to add metadata or keywords as before and save all those options so it's just a press of a single button the next time. If you aren't interested in any of that you can compact the import view to a single bar, which gets to work straight away. Overall it's a massive improvement and makes getting your images into the system quick and simple, especially in comparison to Lightroom 2.

Those familiar with Lightroom know that the package is split up into different zones; Library, Develop, Slideshow, Print, and Web.?

Library

New features to the Library include adding photo uploading services support so you can now upload images directly to flickr and the like. Within the beta you can only upload to flickr, although Adobe says that other galleries, presumably like their own Photoshop online service will be added.

The system works as a gateway to the service rather than just an uploader and that means you have control over what is online, what isn't and the ability to sync it with comments for example.

Interestingly you can also create a synced folder that doesn't have to be online but on a network drive or even your iPhone. With the system you can then sync photos to and from that device. It's easy and if you are transferring images on an external hard drive it's a good way to "check-in" and "check out" images from your catalogue.

Elsewhere multiple info views have been added to the Loupe view, there is the ability to auto sync in library mode (something that was only available in develop previously) and greater import control into specific folders. A small detail, but nonetheless one we've found helpful is the ability to see within sub-folders. And lock filters from folder to folder.

Develop

Develop has seen the most "under the hood" development, after all Adobe has got to justify the upgrade from 2 to 3 somewhere. Here you get improvements to the processing options for RAW and jpeg.

The imaging improvements are there but for the most part subtle. Zoom in 1:1 and you'll see the changes, work from afar and you'll be wondering whether it's done anything, but they are there.

New tools and sliders to master include sharpening, colour noise reduction, a re-structuring of the vignette tool for a more natural effect as well as the ability to control the colour and highlighting vignette to boot.

You can also add a grain effect for those looking for more of a "film" look, although we personally haven't found a reason to use this yet.

There is also a camera calibration mode now that allows you to try and correct chromatic abrasion, however this isn't an automated process like some software packages, which would be a really nice addition.

Finally Brushes has had a good overhaul and its now a lot easier to use on your photos.

When the package is finally ready you'll also be able to choose whether or not to reimport your Lightroom 2 images in with the new settings or leave them as they were - either way doing so will change the look of the image.

The good news is that in the beta the processing and general performance of the software was good, nippier in most cases than Lightroom 2, although we aren't ruling out the possibility that it's because our Lightroom 2 catalogue has over 16,000 (yes 16,000) photos in it.

Slideshow, Print, and Web

Slideshow gets a brief look in via the ability to add music from your music folder to your images. A nice touch is that the software will automatically change the length the photos are shown so it fits the music to save you having to try and work it out. You can then dump the slideshow into H.264 to do as you will.

Likewise Print gets more "interactive" templates that make it easier to create printouts for your clients all at the drag of a mouse, rather than having to actually really understand anything.

As for web support? Easier watermarking and that's about it for the moment.

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Verdict:

Lightroom 3 looks to be taking the software in the right direction, although for beta users you will be mainly seeing under the hood changes rather than anything that will visually knock your socks off from the get go.

Adobe is clearly following Microsoft and the Windows 7 route here by allowing its user base to get to grips with the software in order to hear how they use it so the package can be improved. It's a new way of developing software but one that is worth the input.

I think the biggest disappointment is the inability to upgrade my current catalogue - doing so would allow people to give it a good run for its money rather than treating it like a sandbox. If this was the case it would allow you to really get to grips with what does and doesn't work by the time the software eventually comes out.

Promising, but without the ability to import your own catalogue you'll find this is a weekend intrigue rather than your new favourite software package until the final version is released.

Tags: Software Mac software PC software Photo editing software Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Cameras

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 beta originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:00:00 +0000

Microsoft has quite a task on its hands. Most people agree that its last operating system release, Windows Vista, was actually a perfectly respectable bit of software once driver manufacturers were on board after a year or so, but that didn't stop it becoming the butt of almost every single one of the tech industry's jokes since 2006 (that weren't about the Zune).

This time round, Microsoft has taken a decidedly different approach to the launch of the OS. In stark contrast to the relative secrecy of the Windows Vista release, combined with a marketing campaign with the slogan: "The Wow Starts Now", the launch of Windows 7 has been totally open and subject to very little marketing.

Many technology enthusiasts, ourselves included, have been running 7 in either its Beta or Release Candidate version since early 2009. The OS hasn't changed significantly in that time, but a few features have been tweaked and improved upon, and we've been running the final release of the OS now for a little while.

As such, we've got a good idea of how it runs in both the short and long-term. We've worked with it, played games with it, and this review will aim to answer three main questions - "is it any good?", "should I install now, or wait a year like with Vista?" and "is Ultimate worth the price over Home Premium?".

So let's start with the first thing most people will experience - the install procedure. For a long time Microsoft has been trying to cut down the amount of steps required to install its operating systems and Windows 7 seems to have stripped the whole thing down to the bare minimum.

The whole process is mercifully brief - slightly longer if you want to upgrade from Vista rather than reformat your hard disk (required if you want to switch from XP or any of the early releases of Windows 7). You just pick a language, pick a drive to install on, and that's it! Go make a cup of tea and you'll be done.

When you get into the OS itself, the first thing that'll strike you is the brand new taskbar. It's wider, and the start button no longer says "Start" on it, but it functions mostly the same as it always did with one exception - the quicklaunch area and the list of running programs have been merged.

Now, when you launch a program its icon appears along that list and mousing over it will give you a preview of what the window looks like. In some cases, you'll also be able to interact with that program, thanks to "jump lists" accessible with a right-click. These lists include options like skipping between tracks on a music player, or setting status on an IM application.

This seemingly minor UI improvement actually increases productivity quite a bit. Instead of a rammed taskbar where you can't see which windows are which, icons will stack, so it's a rare situation where you run out of space. Also handy is that the system tray won't fill up with icons either - it's easy to relegate ones you don't need into a hidden space.

That usability factor is a difficult one to pin down. We found that after using Windows 7 for a bit it was actually a little bit painful to go back to Vista. We would work slower, despite having used Vista for years in the past. Windows 7 is a genuine pleasure to use, and seems to suffer considerably less than its predecessors from random crashes and blue screens.

Media streaming is another big deal in Windows 7. Straight out of the box you can have a hard disk chock-full of content (acquired legally, obviously) and then share that media with other Windows 7 devices on your network, or even over the web. A biref download lets you link a Windows Live account with your Windows account, and from there you can use Windows Media Player to send audio and video wherever you like.

You can share particular libraries from Windows Media Player 11 and 12, from Windows Home Server, but most excitingly of all you can hook up a DLNA-enabled television or stereo and see it appear as a device on your network to stream music to. From there, you can just right-click tracks and send them to your television, for example.

Windows Media Centre is mostly unchanged from its Vista incarnation, but has a few nice features that you may find useful. There's a whole pile of media extenders available that are a bit like Firefox Extensions - they can enable additional functionality.

For example, if you have an Xbox 360, you can install an extender that lets you view all your computer's multimedia content on your Xbox. If you have a Sky subscription, another extender will add a tile in the "TV" section that enables Sky Player content streamed over the web. Windows Media Centre is a well-put-together bit of software that should cover most of your audiovisual needs in the OS.

Those of you who are purchasing the Ultimate edition of Windows 7 will get a few extra features too. There's BitLocker encryption for drives if you want to protect particular content from prying eyes. This offers AES encryption algorithm in CBC mode with a 128 bit key, combined with the Elephant diffuser for additional disk encryption specific security not provided by AES. If you're not sure what that means, then it basically means "you're not breaking into this one".

If you're upgrading from Vista to 7, you'll have relatively few of the problems that you might have run into between XP and Vista. 7 uses almost exactly the same architecture, meaning that if something worked in Vista then it's more-or-less likely to work fine in Windows 7 too.

In fact, it's fair to say that if your device doesn't work in Windows 7 or Vista now, then the blame can only be pinned on the manufacturer - they've had nearly four years to get things working. The only issues we faced were linked to running a 64-bit operating system which, while supported pretty well, didn't have quite the same catalogue of drivers as the 32-bit edition.

And if the worst happens, and a program defiantly refuses to work then Ultimate edition also includes an XP Mode that lets you virtualize the aging OS inside Windows 7. From there, anything that worked on Windows XP will work, though you'll suffer a slight performance degradation.

Those who experiment a lot with different operating systems will also find Windows 7's virtual hard disk booting a boon. This allows you to section off a bit of your drive and pretend that it's an entirely different hard drive, allowing you to test out alternative operating systems without having to partition your drive. It's a bit like Boot Camp in OS X - allowing you to run more than one operating system with ease.

There's now widespread support for more file formats. Wordpad, for example, supports .docx and .odt extensions from Office 2007 and upward and OpenOffice respectively. Microsoft seems to have tried very hard to make Windows as compatible as possible with a wide range of different bits of hardware and software - a task that's not trival for it to accomplish thanks to the huge ecosystem of software developers that code for its platform and the sheer weight of users that go for Windows.

We don't really do benchmarks or overwhelm you with graphs here - instead we prefer to tell you what kind of experience you'll get. With Windows 7, performance is great. While Windows 7 isn't as lightweight as the latest Linux builds, it behaves beautifully on both weak and powerful machines alike.

We didn't get the change to test it on a netbook, but we did try a laptop that's about four years old. We found Windows 7 perfectly operable on systems that Vista struggled with. Give it a try on a netbook or old laptop to see what we mean - you'll likely be impressed.

You might have to turn off Aero mode, which is the translucent window edging that you'll see in many screenshots of Windows 7. This was present in the more expensive editions of Vista and also lets you use the Windows and Tab keys to scroll between Windows as if they were bits of paper. Try it and see.

Windows 7 doesn't waste the capabilities of top-end hardware, either. While you might lose one or two frames per second on the latest games compared to the same hardware on XP, you'll benefit from considerably better security and usability than Microsoft's 2001 OS. We found games performance unnoticably different in real terms from XP and considerably better than Vista. Gamers have nothing to fear from Windows 7.

Verdict:

So, firstly then - is it any good? Unequivocably yes. Windows 7 is the best OS Microsoft hasever made, and they've learnt all the necessary lessons from Vista. While it doesn't have some of the slickness of OS X, or the speed of Linux, it offers a fantastic compromise between the two with by far the biggest choice of software available.

But if you're happily running XP or Vista, is it worth the upgrade right now? We'd still say yes, but more hesitantly this time. Despite Microsoft's wide-open testing process, once the final version of Windows 7 hits the big, bad, world there's sure to be one or two glitches that show up and need patching.

Lastly, is it worth shelling out for Ultimate over Home Premium or Professional? On this one, we'd probably say that for most users it's not. If you're using software that refuses to work in Vista and Windows 7, but worked fine in XP and you need the virtualization mode, then you could be swayed. If you work with sensitive information regularly, and need Bitlocker's encryption, then you should get it. But most users don't need those things and will be happy with Home Premium or Professional.

Microsoft, probably as a result of being such a big company, can be a little schitzophrenic with the quality of its products. Sometimes you'll get an Xbox 360, other times you'll get Windows Mobile. This time round, Microsoft has learnt from its mistakes in the past and created a stable, speedy, and usable platform for computing. Thumbs up.

Tags: Software Operating Systems Microsoft Windows 7

Windows 7 Ultimate originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 23 Oct 2009 16:11:23 +0100

Napster has had a tough time since "going legit". While it was the foremost filesharing network of its day, and arguably the original source of the explosion in P2P antics over this decade, it's had trouble transferring that brand power into a legitimate service.

Until recently, Napster offered two tiers of subscription: ?10 per month would get you unlimited streaming, and ?15 would get you DRMed downloads that wouldn't work on iPod and would be unlistenable if you let your subscription lapse. But recently the company withdrew these offerings and launched a new service which is cheaper and offers more than both of those options.

For ?5 per month, you can now get a Napster subscription which offers you streaming and five non-DRMed MP3 downloads each month. The idea is that you listen to loads of different music and then download the best tracks so you can burn them to CD or put them on your MP3 player.

The company is undercutting rival streaming service Spotify by offering what appears on paper to be a more generous deal for half price, but how does it really stack up in reality? Can Napster grab a piece of the digital music pie by making its subscription options finally worth the cash?

Napster has two interfaces for playing music - a website and a desktop app. The two resemble each other very closely, and a number of times while testing them both we got confused as to which we were in and had to double-check. Why? Because it all runs at the speed of the website.

And that's not quick. From double-clicking a song to hearing it come out of your speakers means buffering for 4-7 seconds on a connection that can play uncached tracks out of Spotify in less than a second. This is likely because Napster streams all its music itself, whereas Spotify relies on P2P - pulling tracks off other users nearby who've listened to that song recently and have it cached.

Once things are going, transfer is fine. Streams are at just 128kbps, which is rather on the too-low side, but we didn't get a single dropout or buffering experience during our testing. So far, so okay. You can right-click tracks to buy them in 256kbps MP3 format, and once you do, they'll play in the desktop app at the higher quality.

That desktop app also doubles as a music library organiser. Unlike Spotify's client which is stripped-down and just does streaming and playlists, Napster takes a leaf out of iTunes' book. It lets you rip and burn CDs, control your MP3 collection, generate "Genius"-style autoplaylists and access preprepared playlists from Napster, albeit with bizarre and terrifying titles like "A special compilation of tracks about mum", "Songs about being crazy" and "Tony Blair's 10 years in power".

That last bit reflects in a nutshell what permeates the design of Napster. It doesn't feel like it's designed for music fans. It gets in the way of what you want to do - constantly asking if you want an auto-generated playlist of a band, rather than letting you get access to that band's catalogue for you to choose yourself. It takes two clicks to start playing the current top 10 singles in the UK, but five actions to get up a list of songs by a band.

Then there's other strange hoops that the software demands you jump through. It demands that you download and install a plugin as an EXE file downloaded off a website, then restart the software, before you can rip a CD in 320kbps MP3 format - the default WMA encoding (which won't work on iPods) will only go up to 128kbps, bizarrely.

And media buttons on your keyboard, if you have them, will only work if the application has the focus on your screen. If you're writing a word document and you want to skip tracks, you'll need to swap to Napster, then hit the "skip forward" button - completely negating the usefulness of such features.

But let's go back to the original question - is it worth ?5 per month? The answer is "yes". A fiver for an unlimited amount of listening whatever you like in a big catalogue (no real complaints in that department) is worth the asking price, even if it's in low quality on irritatingly slow software. The free MP3s are great, but amount to little more than a conscience boost - they won't win over anyone who's ever used a filesharing network.

But don't click that subscribe button just yet. If you're a music lover and want a tool to listen to the songs that you want, in great quality, on fast software without getting a computer-generated playlist constantly in the way, then Napster isn't as good an experience as its competitors. Spotify gives you far more for the extra that it costs - Napster has said that it has absolutely no plans for mobile streaming, for example.

Spotify has also been undercut by Sky's "Sky Songs" offering, which will give you ten songs per month for ?6.50 or 15 for ?8. Seems better value on paper, but we haven't seen the catalogue or the usability of the service yet.

Verdict:

If you love music and know what you want the listen to the majority of the time, Napster is a little irritating and a pain. If you're a more casual fan, then it's a decent budget option to get more music into your life.

Tags: Audio Software Media streaming Napster Music downloads

Napster UK subscription service originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:00:23 +0100

While other sites are writing reviews of Google Wave, we think it's a little unfair to judge Google's new communications tool so early, especially as it's only just stepped blinking out into the light of the web and already the hype bubble is bursting.

Much of the pre-release coverage consisted of breathy reports about how Wave was going to revolutionise communications. According to blog posts from the people who snuck into the developer preview of the service, we would all be dumping email and IM wholesale within minutes of getting an invite to this shiny multicoloured Googlegasmic utopia.

The reality was less impressive. When most people activated their Google Wave invitations they opened their browsers to a barren wasteland, because they didn't know anyone else on the service. They waved with themselves for a minute or two, before closing their browser bitterly disappointed. Some discovered "Public waves" - which are waves available to anyone, but were then overwhelmed with too many messages, too quickly.

At that point, the hype bubble burst and scathing articles and tweets proliferated about how Wave was pointless. But over the last few weeks, more users have trickled onto the service and most people will now know one or two others who are using it.

At the time of writing, Google Wave consists of four panes. There's an inbox, a pane to view selected waves in, a contacts bar (which lists any of your Google Contacts that are in the test program, as well as anyone you've invited) and a navigation bar. All can be collapsed into a space at the top of the screen where they become a drop-down menu instead.

You can save searches for particular subjects, as well as file things into folders (GMail's tagging functionality is still present too, but at the bottom of individual waves). There's a settings menu, too, though that's currently empty. There's currently a few extensions available - weather, maps and a poll gadget.?

So what's the reality? The answer, happily, is both. Google Wave in its current state is an impotent, stunted, stub of a web service, which is functional at best, and buggy at worst. But it's also the future. Consider the state of Twitter in 2007 - it was just a website with little messages that people pushed out via SMS. No one was terribly impressed.

But then it opened up its platform. It put out an API. It let other applications interface with it. The simplest examples were desktop and mobile apps that meant that you didn't have to visit the Twitter website to find out what was going on. Instead, you could have little notifications that popped-up as necessary when things happened.

Gradually, as a result of these "extensions" to Twitter, its popularity started to rocket. The same thing will likely happen to Wave. While it might, for now, be a strange communications tool that sits awkwardly between email and instant messaging, it has the potential - as a platform - to really improve communications on the web, for a number of reasons.

Firstly, it can be used both actively and passively. You can ignore a Wave from your boss about why your project's late, like you would an email, while still gossiping with your friend about last night's Strictly Come Dancing, like you would in IM. But it takes the best bits of both, and chops out the worst bits.

It's better than IM because all history is saved, searchable and taggable. You can also add new people into the conversation very easily without them missing anything that's already been said. It's better than email because response can be instant - so instant you can see people typing (though that's more of a gimmick than a useful feature), and all messages about a subject are grouped into one thread, rather than filling up your inbox as multiple people reply.

Tools could roll out that - for example - automatically add in Spotify links to songs when you're talking about them, or allow some users more control over a Wave than others have, or even that let you integrate voice and video chat into waves, and use speech-to-text engines to automatically transcribe conversations for future annotation.

Verdict:

The possibilities are endless and so, therefore, are the possibilities of Google Wave. What it needs most now is to be made stable and opened up. Once developers can access the API and anyone can freely sign up, and when there's desktop notifiers for Wave, people will begin to see its true potential.

Tags: Software Online Google Google Wave Websites

Google Wave - First Look originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 15 Oct 2009 09:00:00 +0100

We've been watching the progress of BlackBerry Desktop Manager for the Mac for some time, with RIM always being clear that they would be releasing a solution for Mac users. That fateful day has arrived, but is it the end for third party solutions like PocketMac?

BlackBerry Desktop Manager has been sympathetically designed for Mac users, so you'll find the interface is simple and easily recognisable. Those who have used the PC version will also recognise the look and feel and find that the settings are all very straightforward.

We tested it with a BlackBerry Curve 8900 on a MacBook running OS X 10.6.1. After a quick installation we connected our BlackBerry and it was instantly recognised. You get the option to change the name of your device, as well as use multiple devices if you wish.

Ranging down the left-hand side are your main sync areas, divided into Calendar, Contacts, Notes, Tasks and finally Music. Across the top you have access to Back Up, Restore, Applications and the Sync button.

Back Up and Restore are simply what they sound like, with the backup files saving themselves in your Documents. You get the option of encrypting the data too, which some may opt for, but if you are saving the data on your synced Mac, it might be that the original data isn't encrypted in the first place?

Applications lets you add and remove apps from your BlackBerry, as well as updating native applications. There is no switch devices option like on the PC version.

Most of your interest, however, will be in the left-hand options which is where you will control the movement of information between your handset and your Mac.

Calendar identified available calendars in iCal (or Entourage) and presented them as options for syncing. This was a combination of local and synced calendars from Google Calendars, a typical setup. First up we struggled to get them to sync, as choosing the "All Calendars" option led to repeated syncing errors.

Manually selecting which calendars to sync resolved the problem, probably because it duplicated one of the calendars in iCal, which effectively didn't exist. There is one major option here: you sync both ways, or you don't sync at all.

In the advanced tab you will find the option to replace all the events on your handset - a sort of one time forced overwrite. You can also select whether to sync all events, future events or define a period of days. You are also asked to nominate an iCal calendar for any entries made on your BlackBerry device.

We found that on occasion the Calendar sync would want to remove our entire calendar history from the Mac, accompanied with a warning saying that more than 25% of the calendar would be changed if we proceeded. There is no option here other than choose not to do it, or to do it.

Those calendars syncing to Google through iCal are also flagged as Read-Only, so any syncing is one-way (despite the threats to wipe it all out). You could always opt out of syncing these calendars and use Google Sync on your BlackBerry for your Google calendars and BlackBerry Desktop Manager for any local calendars.

So Calendars is something of a mixed bag and we've found over the time we've been using the software that it is difficult to predict what the outcome will be. It is clear when it doesn't work, and when it did sync perfectly we found all the data was in the right place. Avoiding problems takes a bit of tweaking and experimenting.

Contacts seems to be handled much more smoothly. Desktop Manager recognised the existing groups we had in Address Book, so you could select work contacts only, or whatever you need. Advanced settings again gives you the option of overwriting all your device contacts.

Conflict resolution seems to work fairly well, asking you which is correct when presented with two different versions. You simply click the BlackBerry or Mac version to nominate which is correct. Once you've done the initial sync and cleaned out any anomalies, things should run smoothly.

Notes and Task syncing is also supported, if you use the functions, with Notes collection from Entourage or Apple Mail. Tasks, linked to calendars, again lets you specify which calendar tasks you want to sync.

The final option is music. You might have been content with manually copying music to your device or a microSD card, but BlackBerry Desktop Manager now makes this much simpler to get your music out of iTunes. You get the option to sync all your songs and playlists, or pick a playlist from the list. There is no support for DRM protected tracks.

Unless you have a huge capacity card, or a small music collection, you probably won't take the "sync all" option. Using playlists works very well, with the corresponding music finding its way into your BlackBerry media player once you disconnect it. If you want you podcasts, simply make a podcast playlist and off you go.

BlackBerry Desktop Manager is also mindful of the capacity of your memory card, so will alert you in advance if your selection exceeds capacity. It's simple, but it works. Oh, and you need to make sure that Mass Storage mode is enabled and worth setting this as the default mode on connection to your Mac, otherwise you'll have to try and hit the confirmation on the screen.

Only music is covered and there is no provision for syncing or moving your photos or videos, so these things will still need to be done manually.

There is also no option for wireless syncing. You'd hope that through the magic of modern networking that a Bluetooth or Wi-Fi syncing option would be available, but unfortunately it isn't. We raised this with RIM, who said it was something they were aware of, but wanted to concentrate on getting the basics out first.

Verdict:
The problem that all syncing software faces is the variety of different formats that it is going to be presented with. Each user is going to have a different collection of requirements and as a result, the syncing experience will be different for a great number of users.

BlackBerry Desktop Manager is simple and for the most part it works. However the calendar failures that we experienced marred the process somewhat. It is nice to have a RIM application to sync contacts and the addition of music support is welcomed. It's a shame that you can't just sync one thing as and when you want to without disabling other areas - it would have been simple to include a calendar sync button for example.

This is first generation software and for some we are sure it will work perfectly. For the rest, we have to hope that RIM support and update the software regularly to iron out the inevitable hiccups.

Tags: Software Mac software BlackBerry Apple RIM BlackBerry Desktop Manager BlackBerry Desktop Manager Mac

BlackBerry Desktop Manager - Mac originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 02 Oct 2009 18:00:00 +0100

We've seen a few new arrivals in the security software market for 2010 so far but are yet to experience any dramatic improvements, certainly in terms of new features and innovations. Rarely one to rest on its laurels, Symantec has been busy putting an end to all that and the new version of Norton Antivirus has a series of new features that complement more predictable enhancements to performance and usability.

Typically fast to install, the software was up and running in around a minute and what's immediately obvious is that Symantec has revamped the interface with a snazzy new look. This is for both aesthetic and practical reasons and despite many of the new features being oriented more towards advanced users, things are still kept simple here with straightforward scan control, simple "on/off" switches for related components and direct access to scan history and quarantine. There's also details of network protection here, which offers similar control, and access to more detailed settings in these areas is still accessible to allow for fine tuning.

NAV2010 successfully scanned our test system in around a minute, which by means of comparison is only around 10% faster than the previous version of Norton 360, but significantly quicker than most other rivals. As Norton gets used to your system however, these times are reduced, and in fact we very impressed to see this drop to just 10 seconds during subsequent scans.

Part of the reason for this and one of the biggest improvements to this new version comes in the form of Quorum and the Norton Insight tools. The former represents a major breakthrough in reputation-based security and helps the software adopt a more cautious approach to managing "unknown" files, as well as offering the sort of scan-time improvements illustrated above.

Quorum uses reputation information to help guard against new and unknown threats and by building a database of Norton Community users it can help predict how safe a file is and therefore anticipate the arrival of potentially harmful data. It's also possible to view the trust level, resource usage and discovery date of everything running on your system, and by selecting a file you're provided with more details on its origins and activity.

System Insight is another useful tool and provides an overview of recent activity including downloads, scans, installed programs and threat detections to help more advanced users view and interpret recent activity and the correlation between this information, impact on performance and the emergence of threats. It's also possible to view CPU and memory performance graphs and identify which programs are responsible for highest usage, allowing users to detect and diagnose resource-hogs and potential reasons for reduced performance.

Admittedly these tools may not appeal to all users but Norton does a great job of making this wealth of information as accessible and easy to interpret as possible, and those who do appreciate having the tools available to do a bit of detective work will find them invaluable.

Norton AntiVirus 2010 is an excellent progression for the series, offering performance improvements, peace of mind and being very easy to use. The only thing that has prevented it from getting a higher score here is the price. At ?39.99 it costs around the same as more comprehensive security suites on offer from rivals, and most would consider this a lot to pay for an "antivirus-only" product.

In comparison to Norton Internet Security 2010, which is only ?10 more, NAV omits a firewall, identity protection, anti-spam and security for home and wireless networking, so in this light we'd be inclined to recommend spending a bit extra on the more comprehensive suite, which also offers the benefits of all of these new features.

Verdict:
Norton AntiVirus 2010 represents a significant step forward for home security, offering users an unprecedented amount of information and diagnostic tools to make it easier than ever to detect and manage threats and impact on system performance. Fast scan times, low system overheads and an intuitive and approachable new interface offer extra appeal and as such it's difficult to think of a more capable "antivirus" product on the market.

Tags: Software PC software Viruses And Malware Symantec Norton Norton AntiVirus 2010 Security software Norton AntiVirus 2010

Norton AntiVirus 2010 - PC originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 01 Oct 2009 09:09:36 +0100