Windows 7 Home Premium
This is the successor to Windows Vista Home Premium, and Microsoft expects it to be the most common edition sold, the standard for virtually all consumer PCs.
It includes the Aero interface with its Windows 7 enhancements, plus Windows Media Center, DVD playback support, and multi-touch and handwriting features. I'm also told (but can't yet confirm) that image-based backup is included in this edition for the first time.
Windows 7 Professional
This edition drops the Business label used in Windows Vista and goes back to the old XP-era name, presumably to give XP users more comfort in their upgrade decision. Unlike Vista Business, this edition contains all features in the Home Premium edition, including Media Center.
For the extra cost, you get more traditional business features like the ability to join a Windows domain, group policy based management tools, Remote Desktop host capabilities, network-based backup features, and support for the Encrypting file system.
Windows 7 Ultimate/Enterprise
In the retail channel, this edition will be called Ultimate; for corporate customers with a Select license agreement, it will be called Enterprise.
In either case, the feature set includes everything in Professional edition plus support for BitLocker whole-drive encryption (and the new BitLocker To Go feature, which adds high-grade encryption to removable media).
This edition also includes all supported language packs (those cost extra for other editions) and the capability to boot from a VHD.
Microsoft is de-emphasizing the Ultimate edition, which has only been able to gather a tiny share (a Microsoft told me yesterday that Ultimate's share is in the 3-5 percent range).
It will still be available, but primarily for those who want BitLocker and as a premium upgrade for super-high-end machines where the Ultimate name might add some cachet.
The real news is that each edition is a superset of the one before it. That means you can upgrade from, say, Home Premium to Professional by purchasing an upgrade key and then "unlocking" the additional features. The entire process takes 5-10 minutes, I'm told by people who've tested it, and involves none of the hassles of the current upgrade strategy, which requires a complete reinstallation.
Windows 7 Home Basic
Which lacks the Aero interface, will be available for sale only in emerging markets and will not legally be available for sale in the U.S., Western Europe, Japan, and other developed countries.
Windows 7 Family Pack
The Windows 7 Family Pack is a deal which allows you to upgrade three eligible PCs.
There are some advantages to moving a whole household over to Windows 7—mainly related to the home network setup and music, media, file and printer sharing.
Windows 7 Starter Edition
With its artificial restriction on performance (you can only run three simultaneous programs) will be available for sale worldwide, but only as a preinstalled operating system on OEM-built PCs "limited to specific types of hardware."
Microsoft is clearly confident that it has pared down the resource requirements of Windows 7 Home Premium so that it will run acceptably on the generation of netbooks that will be current when Windows 7 arrives later this year.
It's hard to imagine the Windows 7 Starter Edition name being much of a selling point. Microsoft may even be taking the calculated risk of discouraging Windows 7 from being installed on underpowered notebooks and triggering disappointing reviews.
The crucial element missing from today's announcement is pricing. Microsoft's Mike Ybarra, General Manager for Windows, told me yesterday that we can expect "aggressive price points and some very good offers" when Windows 7 is released.
In my estimation, the biggest news in this announcement is the change in how the upgrade process works. Microsoft's Anytime Upgrade program was a complete failure in Windows Vista. But the revamped version has a much better chance of drawing in upgrade dollars, a topic I'll look at more closely in a follow-up post.
Custom Search
Sunday, November 21, 2010
WINDOWS 7 FEATURES
Windows 7 includes a number of new features, such as advances in touch and handwriting recognition, support for virtual hard disks, improved performance on multi-core processors, improved boot performance, DirectAccess, and kernel improvements.
Windows 7 adds support for systems using multiple heterogeneous graphics cards from different vendors (Heterogeneous Multi-adapter), a new version of Windows Media Center, a Gadget for Windows Media Center, improved media features, the XPS Essentials Pack and Windows PowerShell being included, and a redesigned Calculator with multiline capabilities including Programmer and Statistics modes along with unit conversion.
Many new items have been added to the Control Panel, including ClearType Text Tuner, Display Color Calibration Wizard, Gadgets, Recovery, Troubleshooting, Workspaces Center, Location and Other Sensors, Credential Manager, Biometric Devices, System Icons, and Display.
Windows Security Center has been renamed to Windows Action Center (Windows Health Center and Windows Solution Center in earlier builds), which encompasses both security and maintenance of the computer.
The default setting for User Account Control in Windows 7 has been criticized for allowing untrusted software to be launched with elevated privileges by exploiting a trusted application. Microsoft's Windows kernel engineer Mark Russinovich acknowledged the problem, but noted that there are other vulnerabilities that do not rely on the new setting.
The taskbar has seen the biggest visual changes, where the Quick Launch toolbar has been replaced with pinning applications to the taskbar. Buttons for pinned applications are integrated with the task buttons.
These buttons also enable the Jump Lists feature to allow easy access to common tasks. The revamped taskbar also allows the reordering of taskbar buttons. To the far right of the system clock is a small rectangular button that serves as the Show desktop icon.
This button is part of the new feature in Windows 7 called Aero Peek. Hovering over this button makes all visible windows transparent for a quick look at the desktop. In touch-enabled displays such as touch screens, tablet PCs, etc., this button is slightly wider to accommodate being pressed with a finger.
Clicking this button minimizes all windows, and clicking it a second time restores them. Additionally, there is a feature named Aero Snap, that automatically maximizes a window when it is dragged to either the top or left/right edges of the screen.
This also allows users to snap documents or files on either side of the screen to compare them. When a user moves windows that are maximized, the system restores their previous state automatically.
This functionality is also accomplished with keyboard shortcuts. Unlike in Windows Vista, window borders and the taskbar do not turn opaque when a window is maximized with Windows Aero applied. Instead, they remain transparent.
For developers, Windows 7 includes a new networking API with support for building SOAP-based web services in native code (as opposed to .NET-based WCF web services), new features to shorten application install times, reduced UAC prompts, simplified development of installation packages, and improved globalization support through a new Extended Linguistic Services API.
At WinHEC 2008 Microsoft announced that color depths of 30-bit and 48-bit would be supported in Windows 7 along with the wide color gamut scRGB (which for HDMI 1.3 can be converted and output as xvYCC). The video modes supported in Windows 7 are 16-bit sRGB, 24-bit sRGB, 30-bit sRGB, 30-bit with extended color gamut sRGB, and 48-bit scRGB.
Microsoft is also implementing better support for Solid State Drives, including the new TRIM command, and Windows 7 will be able to identify a Solid State Drive uniquely. Microsoft is also planning to support USB 3.0 in a subsequent patch, although support would not be included in the initial release due to delays in the finalization of the standard.
Internet Spades, Internet Backgammon and Internet Checkers, which were removed from Windows Vista, were restored in Windows 7. Windows 7 will include Internet Explorer 8 and Windows Media Player 12.
Users will also be able to disable many more Windows components than was possible in Windows Vista.
New additions to this list of components include Internet Explorer, Windows Media Player, Windows Media Center, Windows Search, and the Windows Gadget Platform.
Windows 7 includes 13 additional sound schemes, titled Afternoon, Calligraphy, Characters, Cityscape, Delta, Festival, Garden, Heritage, Landscape, Quirky, Raga, Savanna, and Sonata.
A new version of Virtual PC, Windows Virtual PC Beta is available for Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate editions.
It allows multiple Windows environments, including Windows XP Mode, to run on the same machine, requiring the use of Intel VT-x or AMD-V. Windows XP Mode runs Windows XP in a virtual machine and redirects displayed applications running in Windows XP to the Windows 7 desktop.
Furthermore Windows 7 supports the mounting of a virtual hard disk (VHD) as a normal data storage, and the bootloader delivered with Windows 7 can boot the Windows system from a VHD.
The Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) of Windows 7 is also enhanced to support real-time multimedia application including video playback and 3D games. That means that Direct X 10 can be used in a remote desktop environment.
The three application limit will be removed from Windows 7 Starter.
Windows 7 is said to be capable of running Windows programs and games, such as South Park Rally, that neither XP nor Vista supported for various reasons.
Windows 7 is available for general purchase on October 22nd, 2009.
Windows 7 adds support for systems using multiple heterogeneous graphics cards from different vendors (Heterogeneous Multi-adapter), a new version of Windows Media Center, a Gadget for Windows Media Center, improved media features, the XPS Essentials Pack and Windows PowerShell being included, and a redesigned Calculator with multiline capabilities including Programmer and Statistics modes along with unit conversion.
Many new items have been added to the Control Panel, including ClearType Text Tuner, Display Color Calibration Wizard, Gadgets, Recovery, Troubleshooting, Workspaces Center, Location and Other Sensors, Credential Manager, Biometric Devices, System Icons, and Display.
Windows Security Center has been renamed to Windows Action Center (Windows Health Center and Windows Solution Center in earlier builds), which encompasses both security and maintenance of the computer.
The default setting for User Account Control in Windows 7 has been criticized for allowing untrusted software to be launched with elevated privileges by exploiting a trusted application. Microsoft's Windows kernel engineer Mark Russinovich acknowledged the problem, but noted that there are other vulnerabilities that do not rely on the new setting.
The taskbar has seen the biggest visual changes, where the Quick Launch toolbar has been replaced with pinning applications to the taskbar. Buttons for pinned applications are integrated with the task buttons.
These buttons also enable the Jump Lists feature to allow easy access to common tasks. The revamped taskbar also allows the reordering of taskbar buttons. To the far right of the system clock is a small rectangular button that serves as the Show desktop icon.
This button is part of the new feature in Windows 7 called Aero Peek. Hovering over this button makes all visible windows transparent for a quick look at the desktop. In touch-enabled displays such as touch screens, tablet PCs, etc., this button is slightly wider to accommodate being pressed with a finger.
Clicking this button minimizes all windows, and clicking it a second time restores them. Additionally, there is a feature named Aero Snap, that automatically maximizes a window when it is dragged to either the top or left/right edges of the screen.
This also allows users to snap documents or files on either side of the screen to compare them. When a user moves windows that are maximized, the system restores their previous state automatically.
This functionality is also accomplished with keyboard shortcuts. Unlike in Windows Vista, window borders and the taskbar do not turn opaque when a window is maximized with Windows Aero applied. Instead, they remain transparent.
For developers, Windows 7 includes a new networking API with support for building SOAP-based web services in native code (as opposed to .NET-based WCF web services), new features to shorten application install times, reduced UAC prompts, simplified development of installation packages, and improved globalization support through a new Extended Linguistic Services API.
At WinHEC 2008 Microsoft announced that color depths of 30-bit and 48-bit would be supported in Windows 7 along with the wide color gamut scRGB (which for HDMI 1.3 can be converted and output as xvYCC). The video modes supported in Windows 7 are 16-bit sRGB, 24-bit sRGB, 30-bit sRGB, 30-bit with extended color gamut sRGB, and 48-bit scRGB.
Microsoft is also implementing better support for Solid State Drives, including the new TRIM command, and Windows 7 will be able to identify a Solid State Drive uniquely. Microsoft is also planning to support USB 3.0 in a subsequent patch, although support would not be included in the initial release due to delays in the finalization of the standard.
Internet Spades, Internet Backgammon and Internet Checkers, which were removed from Windows Vista, were restored in Windows 7. Windows 7 will include Internet Explorer 8 and Windows Media Player 12.
Users will also be able to disable many more Windows components than was possible in Windows Vista.
New additions to this list of components include Internet Explorer, Windows Media Player, Windows Media Center, Windows Search, and the Windows Gadget Platform.
Windows 7 includes 13 additional sound schemes, titled Afternoon, Calligraphy, Characters, Cityscape, Delta, Festival, Garden, Heritage, Landscape, Quirky, Raga, Savanna, and Sonata.
A new version of Virtual PC, Windows Virtual PC Beta is available for Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate editions.
It allows multiple Windows environments, including Windows XP Mode, to run on the same machine, requiring the use of Intel VT-x or AMD-V. Windows XP Mode runs Windows XP in a virtual machine and redirects displayed applications running in Windows XP to the Windows 7 desktop.
Furthermore Windows 7 supports the mounting of a virtual hard disk (VHD) as a normal data storage, and the bootloader delivered with Windows 7 can boot the Windows system from a VHD.
The Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) of Windows 7 is also enhanced to support real-time multimedia application including video playback and 3D games. That means that Direct X 10 can be used in a remote desktop environment.
The three application limit will be removed from Windows 7 Starter.
Windows 7 is said to be capable of running Windows programs and games, such as South Park Rally, that neither XP nor Vista supported for various reasons.
Windows 7 is available for general purchase on October 22nd, 2009.
NAMING
As major feature work on Windows Vista wound down in early 2006, Blackcomb was renamed Vienna. However, following the release of Windows Vista, it was confirmed by Microsoft on 20 July 2007 that "the internal name for the next version of the Windows Client OS" was Windows 7, a name that had been reported by some sources months before. On 13 October 2008, it was announced that Windows 7 would also be the official name of the operating system.
Mike Nesh, Microsoft's vice-president of Windows product management said:
The decision to use the name Windows 7 is about simplicity. Simply put, this is the seventh release of Windows, so therefore Windows 7 just makes sense.
Coming up with an all-new 'aspirational' name does not do justice to what we are trying to achieve, which is to stay firmly rooted in our aspirations for Windows Vista, while evolving and refining the substantial investments in platform technology in Windows Vista into the next generation of Windows.
Mike Nesh, Microsoft's vice-president of Windows product management said:
The decision to use the name Windows 7 is about simplicity. Simply put, this is the seventh release of Windows, so therefore Windows 7 just makes sense.
Coming up with an all-new 'aspirational' name does not do justice to what we are trying to achieve, which is to stay firmly rooted in our aspirations for Windows Vista, while evolving and refining the substantial investments in platform technology in Windows Vista into the next generation of Windows.
HISTORY OF WINDOWS 7
In 2000, Microsoft started the planning to follow up Windows XP and its server counterpart Windows Server 2003 (both codenamed Whistler) with a major new release of Windows that was codenamed Blackcomb (both codenames refer to the Whistler-Blackcomb resort). This new version was at that time scheduled for a 2005 release.
Major features were planned for Blackcomb, including an emphasis on searching and querying data and an advanced storage system named WinFS to enable such scenarios. In this context, a feature mentioned by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates for Blackcomb was "a pervasive typing line that will recognize the sentence that [the user is] typing in."
Later, Blackcomb was delayed and an interim, minor release, codenamed "Longhorn", was announced for a 2003 release. By the middle of 2003, however, Longhorn had acquired some of the features originally intended for Blackcomb, including WinFS, the Desktop Window Manager, and new versions of system components built on the .NET Framework.
After the 2003 "Summer of Worms", where three major viruses − Blaster, Sobig, and Welchia − exploited flaws in Windows operating systems within a short time period, Microsoft changed its development priorities, putting some of Longhorn's major development work on hold in order to develop new service packs for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. Development of Longhorn was also "reset" in September 2004.
Major features were planned for Blackcomb, including an emphasis on searching and querying data and an advanced storage system named WinFS to enable such scenarios. In this context, a feature mentioned by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates for Blackcomb was "a pervasive typing line that will recognize the sentence that [the user is] typing in."
Later, Blackcomb was delayed and an interim, minor release, codenamed "Longhorn", was announced for a 2003 release. By the middle of 2003, however, Longhorn had acquired some of the features originally intended for Blackcomb, including WinFS, the Desktop Window Manager, and new versions of system components built on the .NET Framework.
After the 2003 "Summer of Worms", where three major viruses − Blaster, Sobig, and Welchia − exploited flaws in Windows operating systems within a short time period, Microsoft changed its development priorities, putting some of Longhorn's major development work on hold in order to develop new service packs for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. Development of Longhorn was also "reset" in September 2004.
WINDOWS 7
Windows 7 (formerly codenamed Blackcomb and Vienna) is the next release of Microsoft Windows, an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, Tablet PCs, and media center PCs.
Microsoft stated in 2007 that it is planning Windows 7 development for a three-year time frame starting after the release of its predecessor, Windows Vista, but that the final release date will be determined by product quality.
Unlike its predecessor, Windows 7 is intended to be an incremental upgrade with the goal of being fully compatible with existing device drivers, applications and hardware.
Presentations given by the company in 2008 have focused on multi-touch support, a redesigned Windows Shell with a new taskbar, a home networking system called HomeGroup, and performance improvements.
Some applications that have been included with prior releases of Microsoft Windows, most notably Windows Mail, Windows Movie Maker and Windows Photo Gallery, are no longer included with the operating system; they are instead offered separately as part of the Windows Live Essentials suite.
Microsoft stated in 2007 that it is planning Windows 7 development for a three-year time frame starting after the release of its predecessor, Windows Vista, but that the final release date will be determined by product quality.
Unlike its predecessor, Windows 7 is intended to be an incremental upgrade with the goal of being fully compatible with existing device drivers, applications and hardware.
Presentations given by the company in 2008 have focused on multi-touch support, a redesigned Windows Shell with a new taskbar, a home networking system called HomeGroup, and performance improvements.
Some applications that have been included with prior releases of Microsoft Windows, most notably Windows Mail, Windows Movie Maker and Windows Photo Gallery, are no longer included with the operating system; they are instead offered separately as part of the Windows Live Essentials suite.
windows vista versions
Windows Vista Home Premium
Whole home entertainment and personal productivity throughout the home and on the go. As a true superset of Home Basic, Windows Vista Home Premium will include everything from Home Basic, as well as Media Center and Media Center Extender functionality (including Cable Card support), DVD video authoring and HDTV support, DVD ripping support (yes, you read that right), Tablet PC functionality, Mobility Center and other mobility and presentation features, auxiliary display support, P2P ad-hoc meeting capabilities, Wi-Fi auto-config and roaming, unified parental controls that work over multiple PCs, backup to network functionality, Internet File Sharing, Offline Folders, PC-to-PC sync, Sync Manager, and support for Quattro Home Server, a Windows Server 2003 R2-based server product aimed at the home market.
Windows Vista Premium is similar to XP Media Center Edition, except that it adds numerous other features and functionality, including Tablet PC support. My guess is that this will be the volume consumer offering in the Windows Vista timeframe (today, XP Pro is the dominant seller). This version is aimed at PC enthusiasts, multiple-PC homes, homes with kids, and notebook users.
The marketing message: Home Premium turns it up a notch. In addition to the baseline functionality offered in Home Basic, this version focuses on such things as integrated entertainment (movies, memories, and more), mobility (media and productivity on the go), and connected living (connect with family, friends, and home). Home Premium supplies whole-home entertainment and personal productivity throughout the home and on the go.
Windows Vista Business
A powerful, reliable and secure OS for businesses of all sizes. Windows Vista Business will include domain join and management functionality, compatibility with non-Microsoft networking protocols (Netware, SNMP, etc.), Remote Desktop, Microsoft Windows Web Server, and Encrypted File System (EFS). Additionally, Vista Business will include Tablet PC functionality. Windows Vista Business is roughly analogous to XP Pro today. This version is aimed at business decision makers and IT managers and generalists.
The marketing message: Vista Business is a powerful, reliable, and secure operating system. It helps PC users be more effective at work and offers improved connectivity and access to information, so that companies can realize better return on their IT investment.
Windows Vista Small Business
Designed for small businesses without IT staff. Vista Small Business is a superset of Vista Business, and includes the following unique features: Backup and Shadow Copy support, Castle and server-join networking, and PC fax and scanning utility. Additionally, Microsoft is looking at including a number of other features, many of which might be cut:
These include Vista Small Business guided tour, pre-paid access to the Windows Live! Small Business or Microsoft Office Live! subscription services, Multi-PC Health (a managed version of Microsoft One Care Live), and membership in the Microsoft Small Business Club online service. Microsoft will offer a Step-Up program for Vista Small Business that will allow customers to upgrade to Windows Vista Enterprise (see below) or Windows Vista Ultimate (see below) at a reduced cost. This SKU is new to Windows Vista; there is no XP Small Business Edition. This version is aimed at small business owners and managers.
The marketing message: Vista Small Business provides smooth operation even for those businesses without an IT staff. It is the operating system designed to help small businesses start, grow and thrive.
Windows Vista Enterprise
Optimized for the enterprise, this version will be a true superset of Windows Vista Business. It will also include unique features such as Virtual PC, the multi-language user interface (MUI), and the Secure Startup/full volume encryption security technologies ("Cornerstone"). There is no analogous XP version for this product. This version is aimed at business decision makers, IT managers and decision makers, and information workers/general business users. Vista Enterprise will be offered exclusively through Software Assurance.
The marketing message: Vista Enterprise provides an advanced application compatibility solution that will be crucial to many large business users, can be deployed to multiple language locales using a single image, and provides Secure Startup functionality for the ultimate in security on the go. It is the client OS that is optimized for the enterprise. Vista Enterprise reduces IT cost and complexity by providing tools that protect company data, reduce the number of required disk images, and ensure the compatibility of legacy applications.
Windows Vista Ultimate
The best operating system ever offered for a personal PC, optimized for the individual. Windows Vista Ultimate is a superset of both Vista Home Premium and Vista Business, so it includes all of the features of both of those product versions, plus adds Game Performance Tweaker with integrated gaming experiences, a Podcast creation utility (under consideration, may be cut from product), and online "Club" services (exclusive access to music, movies, services and preferred customer care) and other offerings (also under consideration, may be cut from product).
Microsoft is still investigating how to position its most impressive Windows release yet, and is looking into offering Vista Ultimate owners such services as extended A1 subscriptions, free music downloads, free movie downloads, Online Spotlight and entertainment software, preferred product support, and custom themes. There is nothing like Vista Ultimate today. This version is aimed at high-end PC users and technology influencers, gamers, digital media enthusiasts, and students.
The marketing message: Vista Ultimate is the "no compromises" version of Windows Vista. It provides the best performance, most secure and complete connection to the office, and is optimized for the individual. Everything you need for work or fun is included. It is the best operating system ever offered for the personal PC.
N Editions
Finally, I should note that Microsoft is planning to offer so-called N Editions of Windows Vista for the European market, in order to meet the requirements of an antitrust ruling there. Windows Vista N Editions--Vista Home N and Vista Business N--will mirror the Vista Home Basic and Vista Business versions, respectively, but will not include Windows Media Player and other media-related functionality.
Whole home entertainment and personal productivity throughout the home and on the go. As a true superset of Home Basic, Windows Vista Home Premium will include everything from Home Basic, as well as Media Center and Media Center Extender functionality (including Cable Card support), DVD video authoring and HDTV support, DVD ripping support (yes, you read that right), Tablet PC functionality, Mobility Center and other mobility and presentation features, auxiliary display support, P2P ad-hoc meeting capabilities, Wi-Fi auto-config and roaming, unified parental controls that work over multiple PCs, backup to network functionality, Internet File Sharing, Offline Folders, PC-to-PC sync, Sync Manager, and support for Quattro Home Server, a Windows Server 2003 R2-based server product aimed at the home market.
Windows Vista Premium is similar to XP Media Center Edition, except that it adds numerous other features and functionality, including Tablet PC support. My guess is that this will be the volume consumer offering in the Windows Vista timeframe (today, XP Pro is the dominant seller). This version is aimed at PC enthusiasts, multiple-PC homes, homes with kids, and notebook users.
The marketing message: Home Premium turns it up a notch. In addition to the baseline functionality offered in Home Basic, this version focuses on such things as integrated entertainment (movies, memories, and more), mobility (media and productivity on the go), and connected living (connect with family, friends, and home). Home Premium supplies whole-home entertainment and personal productivity throughout the home and on the go.
Windows Vista Business
A powerful, reliable and secure OS for businesses of all sizes. Windows Vista Business will include domain join and management functionality, compatibility with non-Microsoft networking protocols (Netware, SNMP, etc.), Remote Desktop, Microsoft Windows Web Server, and Encrypted File System (EFS). Additionally, Vista Business will include Tablet PC functionality. Windows Vista Business is roughly analogous to XP Pro today. This version is aimed at business decision makers and IT managers and generalists.
The marketing message: Vista Business is a powerful, reliable, and secure operating system. It helps PC users be more effective at work and offers improved connectivity and access to information, so that companies can realize better return on their IT investment.
Windows Vista Small Business
Designed for small businesses without IT staff. Vista Small Business is a superset of Vista Business, and includes the following unique features: Backup and Shadow Copy support, Castle and server-join networking, and PC fax and scanning utility. Additionally, Microsoft is looking at including a number of other features, many of which might be cut:
These include Vista Small Business guided tour, pre-paid access to the Windows Live! Small Business or Microsoft Office Live! subscription services, Multi-PC Health (a managed version of Microsoft One Care Live), and membership in the Microsoft Small Business Club online service. Microsoft will offer a Step-Up program for Vista Small Business that will allow customers to upgrade to Windows Vista Enterprise (see below) or Windows Vista Ultimate (see below) at a reduced cost. This SKU is new to Windows Vista; there is no XP Small Business Edition. This version is aimed at small business owners and managers.
The marketing message: Vista Small Business provides smooth operation even for those businesses without an IT staff. It is the operating system designed to help small businesses start, grow and thrive.
Windows Vista Enterprise
Optimized for the enterprise, this version will be a true superset of Windows Vista Business. It will also include unique features such as Virtual PC, the multi-language user interface (MUI), and the Secure Startup/full volume encryption security technologies ("Cornerstone"). There is no analogous XP version for this product. This version is aimed at business decision makers, IT managers and decision makers, and information workers/general business users. Vista Enterprise will be offered exclusively through Software Assurance.
The marketing message: Vista Enterprise provides an advanced application compatibility solution that will be crucial to many large business users, can be deployed to multiple language locales using a single image, and provides Secure Startup functionality for the ultimate in security on the go. It is the client OS that is optimized for the enterprise. Vista Enterprise reduces IT cost and complexity by providing tools that protect company data, reduce the number of required disk images, and ensure the compatibility of legacy applications.
Windows Vista Ultimate
The best operating system ever offered for a personal PC, optimized for the individual. Windows Vista Ultimate is a superset of both Vista Home Premium and Vista Business, so it includes all of the features of both of those product versions, plus adds Game Performance Tweaker with integrated gaming experiences, a Podcast creation utility (under consideration, may be cut from product), and online "Club" services (exclusive access to music, movies, services and preferred customer care) and other offerings (also under consideration, may be cut from product).
Microsoft is still investigating how to position its most impressive Windows release yet, and is looking into offering Vista Ultimate owners such services as extended A1 subscriptions, free music downloads, free movie downloads, Online Spotlight and entertainment software, preferred product support, and custom themes. There is nothing like Vista Ultimate today. This version is aimed at high-end PC users and technology influencers, gamers, digital media enthusiasts, and students.
The marketing message: Vista Ultimate is the "no compromises" version of Windows Vista. It provides the best performance, most secure and complete connection to the office, and is optimized for the individual. Everything you need for work or fun is included. It is the best operating system ever offered for the personal PC.
N Editions
Finally, I should note that Microsoft is planning to offer so-called N Editions of Windows Vista for the European market, in order to meet the requirements of an antitrust ruling there. Windows Vista N Editions--Vista Home N and Vista Business N--will mirror the Vista Home Basic and Vista Business versions, respectively, but will not include Windows Media Player and other media-related functionality.
WINDOWS VISTA
Windows Vista
Windows Vista (formerly code named Longhorn) is the next evolution of Microsoft's operating system. Vista offers an advancement in reliability, security, ease of deployment, performance and manageability over Windows XP. As of July 30, 2005 Windows Vista is in the beta 1 phase and is expected to be released late in 2006. Some of the Windows Vista features include the following:
Detects hardware problems before they occur, which is designed to reduce the frequency of incidents in which applications stop responding or the PC needs to be restarted.
Windows Vista security features protect against the latest generation of threats, such as worms, viruses and spyware. If an attacker manages to compromise a computer, Windows Vista limits the damage.
Security features protect against the latest generation of threats, such as worms, viruses and spyware. If an attacker manages to compromise a computer, Windows Vista limits the damage.
Faster start-up time and low power consumption of the new sleep state. In many cases, Windows Vista is noticeably more responsive than Windows XP on identical hardware.
Windows Vista simplifies and centralizes desktop configuration management, reducing the cost of keeping systems updated
Windows Vista (formerly code named Longhorn) is the next evolution of Microsoft's operating system. Vista offers an advancement in reliability, security, ease of deployment, performance and manageability over Windows XP. As of July 30, 2005 Windows Vista is in the beta 1 phase and is expected to be released late in 2006. Some of the Windows Vista features include the following:
Detects hardware problems before they occur, which is designed to reduce the frequency of incidents in which applications stop responding or the PC needs to be restarted.
Windows Vista security features protect against the latest generation of threats, such as worms, viruses and spyware. If an attacker manages to compromise a computer, Windows Vista limits the damage.
Security features protect against the latest generation of threats, such as worms, viruses and spyware. If an attacker manages to compromise a computer, Windows Vista limits the damage.
Faster start-up time and low power consumption of the new sleep state. In many cases, Windows Vista is noticeably more responsive than Windows XP on identical hardware.
Windows Vista simplifies and centralizes desktop configuration management, reducing the cost of keeping systems updated
XP
Windows XP
The Windows eXPerience operating system is available as home and professional edition and are similar suitable for the use on standalone computers. The home edition is suitable for user which worked with Windows 9x/ME till now and don't need special network or security features in theire environment. If the user have used Windows NT/2000 private, in business or both, the Professional Edition is not only with a view of the administration optimally. Microsoft already encloses 10,000 drivers on the installation media of Windows XP, about the Windows update further more 2,000 drivers are available.
The Professional Edition of Windows XP has more network features than the Home Edition. An update of Windows 9 x/ME is possible, with Windows NT/2000 only the Professional Edition can be used for update. Optional FAT32 and NTFS are available as a file system for the installation partition.
Windows XP (Windows version 5.1) becomes a predecessor of Windows 9x/ME as well as Windows NT/2000 and is available for 32-bits CPUs in the following versions:
- Embedded
- Home Edition (1 CPU) for private user (Oct. 2001)
- Professional Edition (2 CPU) for business user (Oct. 2001)
- Media Center (1 CPU) especially for multimedia devices (Nov. 2002)
- Tablet PC Edition especially for Tablet PCs (Nov. 2002)
- Server Edition (4 CPU)
- Advanced Server (8 CPU), also 64-bit Intel CPUs
- Microsoft Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs (July 2007)
A 64-bit version of Windows XP was announced officially of Microsoft in April 2003. The RC2 was available in February 2005. Windows XP Professional x64 was published in April 2005. At most 16 gbyte RAM are utilizably with that, the virtual address range enlarges to 16 tbyte.
Same will be the product activation at all versions, which is needed at every new installation or extensive upgrade of the PC devices. Company customers can use an so-called Corporated version by a special licensing option without this product activation.
As the most visual innovation the revised Windows interface with the new design is well done, the design called Luna (as of beta 2428) can display window elements in high colour. The return to the interface as of Windows 2000 is further possible. The representation and organisation of the central registry is quit the same as used in Windows 2000.
The Windows eXPerience operating system is available as home and professional edition and are similar suitable for the use on standalone computers. The home edition is suitable for user which worked with Windows 9x/ME till now and don't need special network or security features in theire environment. If the user have used Windows NT/2000 private, in business or both, the Professional Edition is not only with a view of the administration optimally. Microsoft already encloses 10,000 drivers on the installation media of Windows XP, about the Windows update further more 2,000 drivers are available.
The Professional Edition of Windows XP has more network features than the Home Edition. An update of Windows 9 x/ME is possible, with Windows NT/2000 only the Professional Edition can be used for update. Optional FAT32 and NTFS are available as a file system for the installation partition.
Windows XP (Windows version 5.1) becomes a predecessor of Windows 9x/ME as well as Windows NT/2000 and is available for 32-bits CPUs in the following versions:
- Embedded
- Home Edition (1 CPU) for private user (Oct. 2001)
- Professional Edition (2 CPU) for business user (Oct. 2001)
- Media Center (1 CPU) especially for multimedia devices (Nov. 2002)
- Tablet PC Edition especially for Tablet PCs (Nov. 2002)
- Server Edition (4 CPU)
- Advanced Server (8 CPU), also 64-bit Intel CPUs
- Microsoft Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs (July 2007)
A 64-bit version of Windows XP was announced officially of Microsoft in April 2003. The RC2 was available in February 2005. Windows XP Professional x64 was published in April 2005. At most 16 gbyte RAM are utilizably with that, the virtual address range enlarges to 16 tbyte.
Same will be the product activation at all versions, which is needed at every new installation or extensive upgrade of the PC devices. Company customers can use an so-called Corporated version by a special licensing option without this product activation.
As the most visual innovation the revised Windows interface with the new design is well done, the design called Luna (as of beta 2428) can display window elements in high colour. The return to the interface as of Windows 2000 is further possible. The representation and organisation of the central registry is quit the same as used in Windows 2000.
DIFFERENT TYPES OF OPERATING SYSTEMS
Real-time Operating System: It is a multitasking operating system that aims at executing real-time applications. Real-time operating systems often use specialized scheduling algorithms so that they can achieve a deterministic nature of behavior. The main object of real-time operating systems is their quick and predictable response to events. They either have an event-driven or a time-sharing design. An event-driven system switches between tasks based of their priorities while time-sharing operating systems switch tasks based on clock interrupts.
Multi-user and Single-user Operating Systems: The operating systems of this type allow a multiple users to access a computer system concurrently. Time-sharing system can be classified as multi-user systems as they enable a multiple user access to a computer through the sharing of time. Single-user operating systems, as opposed to a multi-user operating system, are usable by a single user at a time. Being able to have multiple accounts on a Windows operating system does not make it a multi-user system. Rather, only the network administrator is the real user. But for a Unix-like operating system, it is possible for two users to login at a time and this capability of the OS makes it a multi-user operating system.
Multi-tasking and Single-tasking Operating Systems: When a single program is allowed to run at a time, the system is grouped under a single-tasking system, while in case the operating system allows the execution of multiple tasks at one time, it is classified as a multi-tasking operating system. Multi-tasking can be of two types namely, pre-emptive or co-operative. In pre-emptive multitasking, the operating system slices the CPU time and dedicates one slot to each of the programs. Unix-like operating systems such as Solaris and Linux support pre-emptive multitasking. Cooperative multitasking is achieved by relying on each process to give time to the other processes in a defined manner. MS Windows prior to Windows 95 used to support cooperative multitasking.
Distributed Operating System: An operating system that manages a group of independent computers and makes them appear to be a single computer is known as a distributed operating system. The development of networked computers that could be linked and communicate with each other, gave rise to distributed computing. Distributed computations are carried out on more than one machine. When computers in a group work in cooperation, they make a distributed system.
Embedded System: The operating systems designed for being used in embedded computer systems are known as embedded operating systems. They are designed to operate on small machines like PDAs with less autonomy. They are able to operate with a limited number of resources. They are very compact and extremely efficient by design. Windows CE, FreeBSD and Minix 3 are some examples of embedded operating systems.
The operating systems thus contribute to the simplification of the human interaction with the computer hardware. They are responsible for linking application programs with the hardware, thus achieving an easy user access to the computers.
Multi-user and Single-user Operating Systems: The operating systems of this type allow a multiple users to access a computer system concurrently. Time-sharing system can be classified as multi-user systems as they enable a multiple user access to a computer through the sharing of time. Single-user operating systems, as opposed to a multi-user operating system, are usable by a single user at a time. Being able to have multiple accounts on a Windows operating system does not make it a multi-user system. Rather, only the network administrator is the real user. But for a Unix-like operating system, it is possible for two users to login at a time and this capability of the OS makes it a multi-user operating system.
Multi-tasking and Single-tasking Operating Systems: When a single program is allowed to run at a time, the system is grouped under a single-tasking system, while in case the operating system allows the execution of multiple tasks at one time, it is classified as a multi-tasking operating system. Multi-tasking can be of two types namely, pre-emptive or co-operative. In pre-emptive multitasking, the operating system slices the CPU time and dedicates one slot to each of the programs. Unix-like operating systems such as Solaris and Linux support pre-emptive multitasking. Cooperative multitasking is achieved by relying on each process to give time to the other processes in a defined manner. MS Windows prior to Windows 95 used to support cooperative multitasking.
Distributed Operating System: An operating system that manages a group of independent computers and makes them appear to be a single computer is known as a distributed operating system. The development of networked computers that could be linked and communicate with each other, gave rise to distributed computing. Distributed computations are carried out on more than one machine. When computers in a group work in cooperation, they make a distributed system.
Embedded System: The operating systems designed for being used in embedded computer systems are known as embedded operating systems. They are designed to operate on small machines like PDAs with less autonomy. They are able to operate with a limited number of resources. They are very compact and extremely efficient by design. Windows CE, FreeBSD and Minix 3 are some examples of embedded operating systems.
The operating systems thus contribute to the simplification of the human interaction with the computer hardware. They are responsible for linking application programs with the hardware, thus achieving an easy user access to the computers.
OPERATING SYSTEM
An operating system is a program designed to run other programs on a computer. A computer’s operating system is its most important program. It is considered the backbone of a computer, managing both software and hardware resources. Operating systems are responsible for everything from the control and allocation of memory to recognizing input from external devices and transmitting output to computer displays. They also manage files on computer hard drives and control peripherals, like printers and scanners.
The operating system of a large computer system has even more work to do. Such operating systems monitor different programs and users, making sure everything runs smoothly, without interference, despite the fact that numerous devices and programs are used simultaneously. An operating system also has a vital role to play in security. Its job includes preventing unauthorized users from accessing the computer system
The operating system of a large computer system has even more work to do. Such operating systems monitor different programs and users, making sure everything runs smoothly, without interference, despite the fact that numerous devices and programs are used simultaneously. An operating system also has a vital role to play in security. Its job includes preventing unauthorized users from accessing the computer system
DELL LAPTOPS
B120
The B120 is dells most "basic" computer. This dell is perfect for a basic computer user and a good gift for that someone that needs just a basic laptop. This computer from dell comes with these specs:
14.1 Inch WXGA Screen
Intel Celeron M 360 1.4GHz
Windows XP Home Edition
256MB Shared, 1 DIMM
40GB Ultra ATA Hard Drive
24X CD Burner/ DVD Combo Drive
No Integrated Wireless Support
Integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900
4 Cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
Those are the options for the Dell B120
Dell B130
The Inspiron B130 is perfect for that person that just wants a basic laptop, except unlike the B120, this has a slightly bigger screen, and is more customizable. This is the gift for someone that wants a basic computer with a few higher specs than the B120. Available specs here:
Intel Pentium M Processor 740 (1.73GHz)
Windows XP Home/Pro
15.4 WXGA LCD Display
512MB DDR2 SDRAM 2 Dimm
40GB Hard Drive
24X CD Burner/DVD Combo Drive
Dell Intel 1370 Wireless Card
Integrated Intel Media Accelerator 900 Graphics
4 cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
The B120 is dells most "basic" computer. This dell is perfect for a basic computer user and a good gift for that someone that needs just a basic laptop. This computer from dell comes with these specs:
14.1 Inch WXGA Screen
Intel Celeron M 360 1.4GHz
Windows XP Home Edition
256MB Shared, 1 DIMM
40GB Ultra ATA Hard Drive
24X CD Burner/ DVD Combo Drive
No Integrated Wireless Support
Integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900
4 Cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
Those are the options for the Dell B120
Dell B130
The Inspiron B130 is perfect for that person that just wants a basic laptop, except unlike the B120, this has a slightly bigger screen, and is more customizable. This is the gift for someone that wants a basic computer with a few higher specs than the B120. Available specs here:
Intel Pentium M Processor 740 (1.73GHz)
Windows XP Home/Pro
15.4 WXGA LCD Display
512MB DDR2 SDRAM 2 Dimm
40GB Hard Drive
24X CD Burner/DVD Combo Drive
Dell Intel 1370 Wireless Card
Integrated Intel Media Accelerator 900 Graphics
4 cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
Dell Inspiron 6000
The Dell 6000 is a fairly new 15.4 inch Dell. Its the perfect choice if you dont want to lug around a large desktop replacement, but still have a decent sized laptop. Its good for viewing movies, music, and productivity. Here is Dell's Basic 6000. Specs:
Intel Pentium M Processor 725 (1.60GHz)
Windows XP Home/Pro/Media Center
15.4 inch WXGA LCD Display
512MB Shared DDR2 SDRAM 2 Dimms
40GB Hard Drive
24X CD Burner/DVD Combo Drive
Intel Wireless 2200 Internal Wireless
Integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900
6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
DELL
For more than 26 years, Dell has empowered countries, communities, customers and people everywhere to use technology to realize their dreams. Customers trust us to deliver technology solutions that help them do and achieve more, whether they’re at home, work, school or anywhere in their world. Learn more about our story, purpose and people behind our customer-centric approac
HP LAPTOP MODELS
HP Pavilion dm1z series
Our lightest HP Pavilion laptop; great for road warriors who need a lightweight but powerful PC
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
AMD Athlon(TM) II Neo K125 (1.7GHz, 1M L2 cache) + ATI Mobility Radeon(TM) HD 4225 Graphics
FREE Upgrade to 3GB DDR3 System Memory (1 Dimm)
FREE Upgrade to 320GB 7200RPM Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
Wireless-N Card
Up to 5.0 hours of battery life (6 cell)+++
HP Pavilion dm3t series
Our coolest laptop with intelligent thermal software so it will stay cool on your laps for hours. Ultra lightweight at 3.99 lbs with all the power of a full PC. Optional backlit keyboard and Mobile Broadband.
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Intel(R) Pentium(R) Processor U5400 (1.20 GHz, 3MB L3 Cache) + Intel(R) HD Graphics [HDMI, VGA]
FREE Upgrade to 4GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
320GB 7200RPM Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
Up to 7.5 hours of battery life (6 cell)+++
HP Pavilion dv5t series
HP-exclusive 14.5" (diagonal) ultraportable optimzed for mobility, performance, and value; Available in three colors; optional Core i processors and backlit keyboard
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Intel(R) Pentium(R) Dual Core Processor P6100 (2.00 GHz, 3MB L3 Cache)
FREE Upgrade to 4GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
FREE Upgrade to 500GB 5400RPM Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
Wireless 802.11b/g/n Card
Up to 5.75 hours of battery life (6 cell)+++
Our lightest HP Pavilion laptop; great for road warriors who need a lightweight but powerful PC
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
AMD Athlon(TM) II Neo K125 (1.7GHz, 1M L2 cache) + ATI Mobility Radeon(TM) HD 4225 Graphics
FREE Upgrade to 3GB DDR3 System Memory (1 Dimm)
FREE Upgrade to 320GB 7200RPM Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
Wireless-N Card
Up to 5.0 hours of battery life (6 cell)+++
HP Pavilion dm3t series
Our coolest laptop with intelligent thermal software so it will stay cool on your laps for hours. Ultra lightweight at 3.99 lbs with all the power of a full PC. Optional backlit keyboard and Mobile Broadband.
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Intel(R) Pentium(R) Processor U5400 (1.20 GHz, 3MB L3 Cache) + Intel(R) HD Graphics [HDMI, VGA]
FREE Upgrade to 4GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
320GB 7200RPM Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
Up to 7.5 hours of battery life (6 cell)+++
HP Pavilion dv5t series
HP-exclusive 14.5" (diagonal) ultraportable optimzed for mobility, performance, and value; Available in three colors; optional Core i processors and backlit keyboard
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Intel(R) Pentium(R) Dual Core Processor P6100 (2.00 GHz, 3MB L3 Cache)
FREE Upgrade to 4GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
FREE Upgrade to 500GB 5400RPM Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
Wireless 802.11b/g/n Card
Up to 5.75 hours of battery life (6 cell)+++
HP
Hewlett-Packard
- HP was founded in 1939.
- Corporate headquarters are in Palo Alto, Calif.
- Leo Apotheker is CEO and President.
- HP is the world's largest IT company, with revenue totaling $114.6 billion for fiscal 2009.
- HP's 2010 Fortune 500 ranking: No. 10.
SONY WAIO LAPTOPS
Sony VAIO CS
Sony VAIO NW
Sony VAIO FW
Sony VAIO CW
ACER LAPTOP MODELS
Acer Laptop models:
Acer Ferrari : The Acer Ferrari is a combination of an atest mobile 64-bit technology, sleek design and innovative work, an instrument for "no compromise.” Acer Ferrari range Laptop is an ideal for professionals, who want to deliver ideas and images with eye-catching ability. It has a wide high-resolution 15.4 inch screen with a great performance, multipurpose flash card slot, trayless double-layer optical drive and 1GB of RAM. Ferrari has the best features like, the vision clarity, power to pull ahead, lightning speed communication, totally mobile expansion, and wide coverage.
Acer Travelmate : The Acer Travelmate is a high-performance ultra portable notebook along with the standard features including lightweight and excellent connectivity, offered by Technoworld PLC. It is an ideal product for the highly-mobile employees of small, medium and large companies and outbound self-employed professionals, with its Intel's CentrinoT mobile technology. And it is the best bet for those who are looking for the power and performance.
Acer Aspire : The Acer Aspire is an extremely versatile great-value notebook that will bring added power, mobility and performance to your working environment. It provides high performance and all that you can expect from a complete mobile office to an occasionally wide screen entertainment solution which can be used for both business purpose and personal use.
Acer Ferrari : The Acer Ferrari is a combination of an atest mobile 64-bit technology, sleek design and innovative work, an instrument for "no compromise.” Acer Ferrari range Laptop is an ideal for professionals, who want to deliver ideas and images with eye-catching ability. It has a wide high-resolution 15.4 inch screen with a great performance, multipurpose flash card slot, trayless double-layer optical drive and 1GB of RAM. Ferrari has the best features like, the vision clarity, power to pull ahead, lightning speed communication, totally mobile expansion, and wide coverage.
Acer Travelmate : The Acer Travelmate is a high-performance ultra portable notebook along with the standard features including lightweight and excellent connectivity, offered by Technoworld PLC. It is an ideal product for the highly-mobile employees of small, medium and large companies and outbound self-employed professionals, with its Intel's CentrinoT mobile technology. And it is the best bet for those who are looking for the power and performance.
Acer Aspire : The Acer Aspire is an extremely versatile great-value notebook that will bring added power, mobility and performance to your working environment. It provides high performance and all that you can expect from a complete mobile office to an occasionally wide screen entertainment solution which can be used for both business purpose and personal use.
ACER LAPTOP
Acer is a Taiwan based company which was set up in the year 1976 by the name Multitech, and later renamed to Acer in 1987. It has its headquarters located in Hsichih City, Taipei County, Taiwan. By 2005 Acer Laptop was ranked as the world's No. 4 branded PC vendor. It offers a range of products like desktop and mobile PCs, servers and storages, LCD monitors and high-definition TVs, projectors, and handheld/navigational devices. In 2000, Acer spun-off its fabricating business to focus on developing technologically advanced and user-friendly computing. And it decided to support the sales of the product lines through specific marketing activities that best utilizes distribution channels. Revenues increased from US$4.9 billion in 2003 to US$7 billion in 2004. By 2005, Acer employed only 7,800 people across the world while maintaining a sales and service network throughout the world. And in 2006, its revenues reached US$11.32 billion.
Acer has a portable product line extension, the TravelMate series, the Aspire series and the cutting edge Ferrari series in line. Acer Ferrari laptops have the high persistent quality because of which they have managed to carve out a niche for themselves in the market. It is already popular in Asian and European markets, now it is hoping to garner attention in the profitable U.S market. Acer is ranked as first in 13 countries- Italy, Spain, Austria, Holland, Switzerland, The Czech Republic, Russia, Portugal, Belgium, Denmark, Poland, Hungary and The Slovakian Republic. Acer provides a wide range of portables with advanced features like flexibility, power, speed, full coverage, vision, and style to name a few.
Acer Laptops have 299.00 Intel Pentium III 600 MHz Processor 128 MB with RAM 12 Gb Hard Disk CD RW Drive, in-built Modem and Ethernet of 10/100 Lan Infra Red port Audio-in out and Mic Jacks 2 USB ports 1 Parallel and 1 Serial Ports External Keyboard port PCMCIA Slot Upgradeable Memory and Hard disks and Lithium-Ion Battery, provided with Drivers CD ROM.
The products include Travel Mate notebook computers, convertible Tablet PCs with Intel Pentium processors, wide-screen Aspire multimedia notebooks and Ferrari notebooks notable for a bright red chassis. Acer also markets a full range of Veriton business desktops, AcerPower and Aspire value desktops, Altos servers for the enterprise, and both LCD and CRT displays.
Acer Laptop market in North American share has slipped over the past few years while the European market share has flanged up. Most of their success in Europe can be attributed to their on going association with the Ferrari Formula 1 Team and the former F1 team, Prost Grand Prix in 2001. They have recently broadened the scope of their relationship with Ferrari by announcing that they will sponsor the Formula One team until 2008.
Acer has a portable product line extension, the TravelMate series, the Aspire series and the cutting edge Ferrari series in line. Acer Ferrari laptops have the high persistent quality because of which they have managed to carve out a niche for themselves in the market. It is already popular in Asian and European markets, now it is hoping to garner attention in the profitable U.S market. Acer is ranked as first in 13 countries- Italy, Spain, Austria, Holland, Switzerland, The Czech Republic, Russia, Portugal, Belgium, Denmark, Poland, Hungary and The Slovakian Republic. Acer provides a wide range of portables with advanced features like flexibility, power, speed, full coverage, vision, and style to name a few.
Acer Laptops have 299.00 Intel Pentium III 600 MHz Processor 128 MB with RAM 12 Gb Hard Disk CD RW Drive, in-built Modem and Ethernet of 10/100 Lan Infra Red port Audio-in out and Mic Jacks 2 USB ports 1 Parallel and 1 Serial Ports External Keyboard port PCMCIA Slot Upgradeable Memory and Hard disks and Lithium-Ion Battery, provided with Drivers CD ROM.
The products include Travel Mate notebook computers, convertible Tablet PCs with Intel Pentium processors, wide-screen Aspire multimedia notebooks and Ferrari notebooks notable for a bright red chassis. Acer also markets a full range of Veriton business desktops, AcerPower and Aspire value desktops, Altos servers for the enterprise, and both LCD and CRT displays.
Acer Laptop market in North American share has slipped over the past few years while the European market share has flanged up. Most of their success in Europe can be attributed to their on going association with the Ferrari Formula 1 Team and the former F1 team, Prost Grand Prix in 2001. They have recently broadened the scope of their relationship with Ferrari by announcing that they will sponsor the Formula One team until 2008.
Laptops come in all shapes, colors and sizes and people buy them for many different reasons. Some people want a laptop for gaming, others want them to be mobile and easy to carry around, others might just want a general laptop that can do a bit of everything. So how do you categorise them all? Well here at the main types of laptops that you might read about and see on offer:
Gaming Laptops - Usually gaming laptops are quite big and have larger screen of at least fifteen inches. If your going to be doing a lot of gaming on one then your going to want to have a decent screen size that won't strain your eyes. The other main aspect of a gaming laptop is the performance that it offers. The latest games require a lot of power and for a laptop to be able to run them they need to have good hardware.
Primarily the processor, memory and graphics card are the important points. The processor is usually a dual or quad core and memory will start around two gigabytes and anything up to eight. A powerful graphics processor is crucial for quick video rendering and so you will usually find some type of Nvidia that has a large amount of graphics memory.
Netbooks - These are all about mobility. They are small, sleek and very light which makes them ideal for travelling around with. You will usually find that netbooks have small screen sizes of around ten inches and can weigh under five pounds.
Performance is usually adequate for general use such as getting email, browsing the web and some word processing. However, you shouldn't expect a netbook to be good on multi tasking or gaming as they are not designed for this.
General office and home laptops - These are usually anything that doesn't fit into the other two categories. They will vary in price range and specification but are usually good overall for multi tasking, storing files, browsing the internet and perhaps some gaming as well.
These can come in a variety of screen sizes but standard is around fifteen inches. Depending on what kind of use you want out a laptop will depend on how much you will need to spend and the specification you need. If you are only planning on using them for a bit of web browsing, email and basic media then usually a budget entry level laptop is more than adequate.
Want your laptop to stand out from the rest? Come check out blue laptop for the latest reviews on the coolest blue laptops around!
Gaming Laptops - Usually gaming laptops are quite big and have larger screen of at least fifteen inches. If your going to be doing a lot of gaming on one then your going to want to have a decent screen size that won't strain your eyes. The other main aspect of a gaming laptop is the performance that it offers. The latest games require a lot of power and for a laptop to be able to run them they need to have good hardware.
Primarily the processor, memory and graphics card are the important points. The processor is usually a dual or quad core and memory will start around two gigabytes and anything up to eight. A powerful graphics processor is crucial for quick video rendering and so you will usually find some type of Nvidia that has a large amount of graphics memory.
Netbooks - These are all about mobility. They are small, sleek and very light which makes them ideal for travelling around with. You will usually find that netbooks have small screen sizes of around ten inches and can weigh under five pounds.
Performance is usually adequate for general use such as getting email, browsing the web and some word processing. However, you shouldn't expect a netbook to be good on multi tasking or gaming as they are not designed for this.
General office and home laptops - These are usually anything that doesn't fit into the other two categories. They will vary in price range and specification but are usually good overall for multi tasking, storing files, browsing the internet and perhaps some gaming as well.
These can come in a variety of screen sizes but standard is around fifteen inches. Depending on what kind of use you want out a laptop will depend on how much you will need to spend and the specification you need. If you are only planning on using them for a bit of web browsing, email and basic media then usually a budget entry level laptop is more than adequate.
Want your laptop to stand out from the rest? Come check out blue laptop for the latest reviews on the coolest blue laptops around!
LAPTOPS
A laptop computer, usually called a notebook computer by manufacturers, is a battery- or AC-powered personal computer generally smaller than a briefcase that can easily be transported and conveniently used in temporary spaces such as on airplanes, in libraries, temporary offices, and at meetings. A laptop typically weighs less than 5 pounds and is 3 inches or less in thickness. Among the best-known makers of laptop computers are IBM, Apple, Compaq, Dell, and Toshiba.
Laptop computers generally cost more than desktop computers with the same capabilities because they are more difficult to design and manufacture. A laptop can effectively be turned into a desktop computer with a docking station, a hardware frame that supplies connections for peripheral input/output devices such as a printer or larger monitor. The less capable port replicator allows you to connect a laptop to a number of peripherals through a single plug.
Laptops usually come with displays that use thin-screen technology. The thin film transistor or active matrix screen is brighter and views better at different angles than the STN or dual-scan screen. Laptops use several different approaches for integrating a mouse into the keyboard, including the touch pad, the trackball, and the pointing stick. A serial port also allows a regular mouse to be attached. The PC Card is insertable hardware for adding a modem or network interface card to a laptop. CD-ROM and digital versatile disc drives may be built-in or attachable.
Laptop computers generally cost more than desktop computers with the same capabilities because they are more difficult to design and manufacture. A laptop can effectively be turned into a desktop computer with a docking station, a hardware frame that supplies connections for peripheral input/output devices such as a printer or larger monitor. The less capable port replicator allows you to connect a laptop to a number of peripherals through a single plug.
Laptops usually come with displays that use thin-screen technology. The thin film transistor or active matrix screen is brighter and views better at different angles than the STN or dual-scan screen. Laptops use several different approaches for integrating a mouse into the keyboard, including the touch pad, the trackball, and the pointing stick. A serial port also allows a regular mouse to be attached. The PC Card is insertable hardware for adding a modem or network interface card to a laptop. CD-ROM and digital versatile disc drives may be built-in or attachable.
TYPES OF CABLES
All computer devices such as a keyboard, a mouse, CPU, modem, etc. are connected using a Ethernet cable. Ethernet cables are determined and distinguished by their quality. By quality it means, the amount of transmission load the cable can handle. Following are some Ethernet cable types:
Normal Ethernet Cables
A normal Ethernet cable is a straight-through cable, where the smaller cables inside the Ethernet cable on both ends will be in the same order of colors, from left to right. There are two standards in which the colors of the cables are arranged, they are; T-568A and T-568B. The variation in their color order is not an indication of their performance, but just their standard. This type of cable is used to connect the computer to a hub or router to a switch.
Ethernet Cable Categories (Cat)
Cat 3 - This category was widely used as a voice cabling format among computer network administrators in the 1990s. It is an unshielded twisted pair (UTP), that can carry up to to 10 Mbit/s with a bandwidth performance of 16 MHz.
Cat 4 - Cat 4 was mainly used in token ring networks and the cable consists of four unshielded twisted-pair (UTP) wires, with a data rate of 16 Mbit/s, and performance of up to 20 MHz.
Cat 5 - This is a a twisted pair high signal integrity cable, that has three twists per inch of each twisted pair of 24 gouge copper wires within the cables. Cat 5 is used for 10/100Mb Ethernet and as a voice cabling format.
Cat 5e - This category is an enhanced version of Cat 5, that prevents interference between one unshielded twisted pair to another twisted pair running in parallel within the same cable (Far End Crosstalk – FEXT). It works for 10/100Mb and 1000Mb Ethernet.
Cat 6 - It is very similar to Cat 5e and is a cable standard for Gigabyte Ethernet (considered better than Cat 5e) and other network protocols that are backward compatible with the Cat 5/5e and Cat 3 cable standards. Cat 6 is made up of larger gouge wires, that work for 10/100/1000Mb Ethernet.
Cat 7 - This cable type is a standard for Ethernet and other interconnect technologies, that are backward compatible with traditional Cat 5 and Cat 6 Ethernet cables. As it has more strict specifications for crosstalk and system noise than Cat 6 and Cat 5e, its cables and the wires within are completely shielded. the cable contains four twisted copper wire pairs and supports up to 600Mhz.
Ethernet Crossover Cable
An Ethernet crossover cable is a type of Ethernet cable, that is used to connect computing devices together, without the use of a hub or switch. These cables have different pin points or plugs on each side. The wires within the Ethernet crossover cable can reverse the transmit and receive signals. Starting from the left, the 1st and 3rd wires and the 2nd and 6th wires are crossed, and can be seen through the RJ-45 connectors at each end of the crossover cable.
Ethernet cable types should be determined by your requirement, as there are many types and categories easily available all across the country. Ethernet cables are faster and take less processing from the CPU and other computer networking devices, which can save a lot of time during the transmission of data
Normal Ethernet Cables
A normal Ethernet cable is a straight-through cable, where the smaller cables inside the Ethernet cable on both ends will be in the same order of colors, from left to right. There are two standards in which the colors of the cables are arranged, they are; T-568A and T-568B. The variation in their color order is not an indication of their performance, but just their standard. This type of cable is used to connect the computer to a hub or router to a switch.
Ethernet Cable Categories (Cat)
Cat 3 - This category was widely used as a voice cabling format among computer network administrators in the 1990s. It is an unshielded twisted pair (UTP), that can carry up to to 10 Mbit/s with a bandwidth performance of 16 MHz.
Cat 4 - Cat 4 was mainly used in token ring networks and the cable consists of four unshielded twisted-pair (UTP) wires, with a data rate of 16 Mbit/s, and performance of up to 20 MHz.
Cat 5 - This is a a twisted pair high signal integrity cable, that has three twists per inch of each twisted pair of 24 gouge copper wires within the cables. Cat 5 is used for 10/100Mb Ethernet and as a voice cabling format.
Cat 5e - This category is an enhanced version of Cat 5, that prevents interference between one unshielded twisted pair to another twisted pair running in parallel within the same cable (Far End Crosstalk – FEXT). It works for 10/100Mb and 1000Mb Ethernet.
Cat 6 - It is very similar to Cat 5e and is a cable standard for Gigabyte Ethernet (considered better than Cat 5e) and other network protocols that are backward compatible with the Cat 5/5e and Cat 3 cable standards. Cat 6 is made up of larger gouge wires, that work for 10/100/1000Mb Ethernet.
Cat 7 - This cable type is a standard for Ethernet and other interconnect technologies, that are backward compatible with traditional Cat 5 and Cat 6 Ethernet cables. As it has more strict specifications for crosstalk and system noise than Cat 6 and Cat 5e, its cables and the wires within are completely shielded. the cable contains four twisted copper wire pairs and supports up to 600Mhz.
Ethernet Crossover Cable
An Ethernet crossover cable is a type of Ethernet cable, that is used to connect computing devices together, without the use of a hub or switch. These cables have different pin points or plugs on each side. The wires within the Ethernet crossover cable can reverse the transmit and receive signals. Starting from the left, the 1st and 3rd wires and the 2nd and 6th wires are crossed, and can be seen through the RJ-45 connectors at each end of the crossover cable.
Ethernet cable types should be determined by your requirement, as there are many types and categories easily available all across the country. Ethernet cables are faster and take less processing from the CPU and other computer networking devices, which can save a lot of time during the transmission of data
USB
USB (Universal Serial Bus) is the solution for all PC users who want an instant, no-hassle way to connect new hardware like digital joysticks, scanners, digital speakers, digital cameras or a PC telephone to their computer.
USB makes adding peripheral devices extremely easy. With USB-compliant PCs and peripherals, you just plug them in and turn them on. USB makes the whole process automatic. It's like adding instant new capabilities to your PC. You never need to open your PC, and you don't need to worry about add-in cards, DIP switch settings or IRQs.
Another USB feature is "hot-swapping". You no longer need to shut down and restart your PC to attach or remove a peripheral. Just plug in the new device and the PC automatically detects the peripheral and configures the necessary software.
USB also lets you connect many peripherals at one time. Many USB PCs come with two USB ports. And special USB peripherals -- called USB hubs -- have additional ports that let you "daisy chain" multiple devices together.
Most PCs, including laptops on the market today are fully USB-ready...ready for USB digital cameras, scanners, printers, computer telephony products, digital speakers and digital gaming devices.
USB makes adding peripheral devices extremely easy. With USB-compliant PCs and peripherals, you just plug them in and turn them on. USB makes the whole process automatic. It's like adding instant new capabilities to your PC. You never need to open your PC, and you don't need to worry about add-in cards, DIP switch settings or IRQs.
Another USB feature is "hot-swapping". You no longer need to shut down and restart your PC to attach or remove a peripheral. Just plug in the new device and the PC automatically detects the peripheral and configures the necessary software.
USB also lets you connect many peripherals at one time. Many USB PCs come with two USB ports. And special USB peripherals -- called USB hubs -- have additional ports that let you "daisy chain" multiple devices together.
Most PCs, including laptops on the market today are fully USB-ready...ready for USB digital cameras, scanners, printers, computer telephony products, digital speakers and digital gaming devices.
DVD AND BLUERAY
Blu-ray has finally won the high definition format war, but that is just the beginning. There is a lot of confusion out there among the general public about the difference between DVD and Blu-ray discs. Although Blu-ray discs look exactly the same as DVDs in size and shape there are many differences between the media, including storage capacity, laser technology, disc construction, image resolution and player compatibility.
Storage Capacity
Storage capacity is measured in gigabytes (GB), like computers and iPods. The more GB the disc has more information it can hold.
Laser Technology
Lasers are used in both media to read the information stored on the disc. As the disc spins the laser reads the information and transfers both picture and sound to the television.
Storage Capacity
Storage capacity is measured in gigabytes (GB), like computers and iPods. The more GB the disc has more information it can hold.
- DVD- Single layer DVDs can store about 4.7 GB of data, which is about two hours worth of movie. These are commonly referred to as DVD-5s. Double layer DVDs, or DVD-9s, can store twice the amount of data at 8.7 GB. This equals about four hours of movie, or one “Lord of the Rings” movie.
- Blu-ray- Single layer Blu-ray discs store approximately 25 GB of data, this equals about two hours of high definition information or 13 hours of standard definition information. Double layer Blu-ray discs can hold about 50 GB equaling about four and a half hours of high definition information or 26 hours in standard definition. Potentially you could put all three “Lord of the Rings” movies on one double layer Blu-ray disc.
Laser Technology
Lasers are used in both media to read the information stored on the disc. As the disc spins the laser reads the information and transfers both picture and sound to the television.
TYPES OF MONITERS
A cathode ray tube or CRT, is traditionally used in most computer monitors and the advent of plasma screens, LCD, DLP, OLED displays, and other technologies. As a result of CRT technology, computer monitors continue to be referred to as "The Tube". A CRT works by moving an electron beam back and forth across the back of the screen. Each time the beam makes a pass across the screen, it lights up phosphor dots on the inside of the glass tube, thereby illuminating the active portions of the screen. By drawing many such lines from the top to the bottom of the screen, it creates an entire screenful of images.
A Liquid crystal display (LCD) is a thin, flat display device made up of any number of color or monochrome pixels arrayed in front of a light source or reflector. It uses very small amounts of electric power, and is therefore suitable for use in battery-powered electronic devices.
A plasma display is an emissive flat panel display where light is created by phosphors excited by a plasma discharge between two flat panels of glass. The gas discharge contains no mercury a mixture of noble gases (neon and xenon) is used instead. This gas mixture is inert and entirely harmless.
The glass panels seem to be vacuum sealed, because when they are broken the plasma breaks up, seemingly from the addition of air to the space.
Surface-conduction electron-emitter display (SED) is a flat-panel, high-resolution display. Some SEDs have a diagonal measurement exceeding one meter (approximately 40 inches).
The SED consists of an array of electron emitters and a layer of phosphor, separated by a small space from which all the air has been evacuated. Each electron emitter represents one pixel. The SED requires no electron-beam focusing, and operates at a much lower voltage than a CRT. The brightness and contrast compare favorably with high-end CRTs. Prototype electron emitters have been developed with diameters of a few nanometers. SED technology can offer unprecedented image resolution.
Digital Light Processing (DLP) is a technology used in projectors and video projectors. In DLP projectors, the image is created by microscopically small mirrors laid out in a matrix on a semiconductor chip, known as a Digital Micromirror Device (DMD). Each mirror represents one pixel in the projected image. The number of mirrors corresponds to the resolution of the projected image: 800x600, 1024x768, 1280x720, and 1920x1080 (HDTV) matrices are some common DMD sizes. These mirrors can be repositioned rapidly to reflect light either through the lens or on to a heat sink.
An organic light-emitting diode (OLED) is a thin-film light-emitting diode(LED) in which the emissive layer is an organic compound OLED technology is intended primarily as picture elements in practical display devices. These devices promise to be much less costly to fabricate than traditional LCD displays. When the emissive electroluminescent layer is polymeric, varying amounts of OLEDs can be deposited in rows and columns on a screen using simple "printing" methods to create a graphical color display, for use as computer displays, portable system screens, and in advertising and information board applications. OLED may also be used in lighting devices. OLEDs are available as distributed sources while the inorganic LEDs are point sources of light.
MONITERS
CRT Monitors
Sort for cathode-ray tubes, CRT monitors were the only choice consumers had for monitor technology for many years. Cathode ray tube (CRT) technology has been in use for more than 100 years, and is found in most televisions and computer monitors. A CRT works by moving an electron beam back and forth across the back of the screen. Each time the beam makes a pass across the screen, it lights up phosphor dots on the inside of the glass tube, thereby illuminating the active portions of the screen. By drawing many such lines from the top to the bottom of the screen, it creates an entire screen of images.
LCD/Flat panel Monitors
Short for liquid crystal display, LCD technology can be found in digital watches and computer monitors. LCD displays use two sheets of polarizing material with a liquid crystal solution between them. An electric current passed through the liquid causes the crystals to align so that light cannot pass through them. Each crystal, therefore, is like a shutter, either allowing light to pass through or blocking the light. Color LCD displays use two basic techniques for producing color: Passive matrix is the less expensive of the two technologies. The other technology, called thin film transistor (TFT) or active-matrix, produces color images that are as sharp as traditional CRT displays, but the technology is expensive.
CRT vs. LCD - The Pros and Cons of Each
Resolution & Viewing Quality
Resolution on a CRT is flexible and a newer model will provide you with viewing resolutions of up to 1600 by 1200 and higher, whereas on an LCD the resolution is fixed within each monitor (called a native resolution). The resolution on an LCD can be changed, but if you're running it at a resolution other than its native resolution you will notice a drop in performance or quality.
Both types of monitors (newer models) provide bright and vibrant color display. However, LCDs cannot display the maximum color range that a CRT can. In terms of image sharpness, when an LCD is running at its native resolution the picture quality is perfectly sharp. On a CRT the sharpness of the picture can be blemished by soft edges or a flawed focus.
A CRT monitor can be viewed from almost any angle, but with an LCD this is often a problem. When you use an LCD, your view changes as you move different angles and distances away from the monitor. At some odd angles, you may notice the picture fade, and possibly look as if it will disappear from view.
Refresh Rate
Some users of a CRT may notice a bit of an annoying flicker, which is an inherent trait based on a CRTs physical components. Today's graphics cards, however, can provide a high refresh rate signal to the CRT to get rid of this otherwise annoying problem. LCDs are flicker-free and as such the refresh rate isn't an important issue with LCDs.
Dot Pitch
Dot pitch refers to the space between the pixels that make up the images on your screen, and is measured in millimeters. The less space between pixels, the better the image quality. On either type of monitor, smaller dot pitch is better and you're going to want to look at something in the 0.26 mm dot pitch or smaller range.
Screen (viewable) Size
Most people today tend to look at a 17-inch CRT or bigger monitor. When you purchase a 17-inch CRT monitor, you usually get 16.1 inches or a bit more of actual viewing area, depending on the brand and manufacturer of a specific CRT. The difference between the "monitor size" and the "view area" is due to the large bulky frame of a CRT. If you purchase a 17" LCD monitor, you actually get a full 17" viewable area, or very close to a 17".
Physical Size
There is no denying that an LCD wins in terms of its physical size and the space it needs. CRT monitors are big, bulky and heavy. They are not a good choice if you're working with limited desk space, or need to move the monitor around (for some odd reason) between computers. An LCD on the other hand is small, compact and lightweight. LCDs are thin, take up far less space and are easy to move around. An average 17-inch CRT monitor could be upwards of 40 pounds, while a 17&-inch LCD would weigh in at around 15 pounds.
Price
As an individual one-time purchase an LCD monitor is going to be more expensive. Throughout a lifetime, however, LCDs are cheaper as they are known to have a longer lifespan and also a lower power consumption. The cost of both technologies have come down over the past few years, and LCDs are reaching a point where smaller monitors are within many consumers' price range. You will pay more for a 17" LCD compared to a 17" CRT, but since the CRT's actual viewing size is smaller, it does bring the question of price back into proportion. Today, fewer CRT monitors are manufactured as the price on LCDs lowers and they become mainstream.
Sort for cathode-ray tubes, CRT monitors were the only choice consumers had for monitor technology for many years. Cathode ray tube (CRT) technology has been in use for more than 100 years, and is found in most televisions and computer monitors. A CRT works by moving an electron beam back and forth across the back of the screen. Each time the beam makes a pass across the screen, it lights up phosphor dots on the inside of the glass tube, thereby illuminating the active portions of the screen. By drawing many such lines from the top to the bottom of the screen, it creates an entire screen of images.
LCD/Flat panel Monitors
Short for liquid crystal display, LCD technology can be found in digital watches and computer monitors. LCD displays use two sheets of polarizing material with a liquid crystal solution between them. An electric current passed through the liquid causes the crystals to align so that light cannot pass through them. Each crystal, therefore, is like a shutter, either allowing light to pass through or blocking the light. Color LCD displays use two basic techniques for producing color: Passive matrix is the less expensive of the two technologies. The other technology, called thin film transistor (TFT) or active-matrix, produces color images that are as sharp as traditional CRT displays, but the technology is expensive.
CRT vs. LCD - The Pros and Cons of Each
Resolution & Viewing Quality
Resolution on a CRT is flexible and a newer model will provide you with viewing resolutions of up to 1600 by 1200 and higher, whereas on an LCD the resolution is fixed within each monitor (called a native resolution). The resolution on an LCD can be changed, but if you're running it at a resolution other than its native resolution you will notice a drop in performance or quality.
Both types of monitors (newer models) provide bright and vibrant color display. However, LCDs cannot display the maximum color range that a CRT can. In terms of image sharpness, when an LCD is running at its native resolution the picture quality is perfectly sharp. On a CRT the sharpness of the picture can be blemished by soft edges or a flawed focus.
A CRT monitor can be viewed from almost any angle, but with an LCD this is often a problem. When you use an LCD, your view changes as you move different angles and distances away from the monitor. At some odd angles, you may notice the picture fade, and possibly look as if it will disappear from view.
Refresh Rate
Some users of a CRT may notice a bit of an annoying flicker, which is an inherent trait based on a CRTs physical components. Today's graphics cards, however, can provide a high refresh rate signal to the CRT to get rid of this otherwise annoying problem. LCDs are flicker-free and as such the refresh rate isn't an important issue with LCDs.
Dot Pitch
Dot pitch refers to the space between the pixels that make up the images on your screen, and is measured in millimeters. The less space between pixels, the better the image quality. On either type of monitor, smaller dot pitch is better and you're going to want to look at something in the 0.26 mm dot pitch or smaller range.
Screen (viewable) Size
Most people today tend to look at a 17-inch CRT or bigger monitor. When you purchase a 17-inch CRT monitor, you usually get 16.1 inches or a bit more of actual viewing area, depending on the brand and manufacturer of a specific CRT. The difference between the "monitor size" and the "view area" is due to the large bulky frame of a CRT. If you purchase a 17" LCD monitor, you actually get a full 17" viewable area, or very close to a 17".
Physical Size
There is no denying that an LCD wins in terms of its physical size and the space it needs. CRT monitors are big, bulky and heavy. They are not a good choice if you're working with limited desk space, or need to move the monitor around (for some odd reason) between computers. An LCD on the other hand is small, compact and lightweight. LCDs are thin, take up far less space and are easy to move around. An average 17-inch CRT monitor could be upwards of 40 pounds, while a 17&-inch LCD would weigh in at around 15 pounds.
Price
As an individual one-time purchase an LCD monitor is going to be more expensive. Throughout a lifetime, however, LCDs are cheaper as they are known to have a longer lifespan and also a lower power consumption. The cost of both technologies have come down over the past few years, and LCDs are reaching a point where smaller monitors are within many consumers' price range. You will pay more for a 17" LCD compared to a 17" CRT, but since the CRT's actual viewing size is smaller, it does bring the question of price back into proportion. Today, fewer CRT monitors are manufactured as the price on LCDs lowers and they become mainstream.
MOTHERBOARD
The motherboard serves to connect all of the parts of a computer together. The CPU, memory, hard drives, optical drives, video card, sound card and other ports and expansion cards all connect to the motherboard directly or via cables.
The motherboard can be thought of as the "back bone" of the computer.
The Motherboard is Also Known As:
mainboard, mobo (abbreviation), MB (abbreviation), system board, logic board
Important Motherboard Facts:
Motherboards, cases and power supplies all come in different sizes called form factors. All three must be compatible to work properly together.
Motherboards vary greatly in respect to the types of components they support. For example, each motherboard supports a single type of CPU and a short list of memory types. Additionally, some video cards, hard drives and other peripherals may not be compatible. The motherboard manufacturer should provide clear guidance on component compatibilities.
Popular Motherboard Manufacturers:
ASUS, AOpen, Intel, ABIT, MSI, Gigabyte, Biostar.
Motherboard Description:
The motherboard is mounted inside the case, opposite the most easily accessible side. It is securely attached via small screws through pre-drilled holes.
The front of the motherboard contains ports that all of the internal components connect to. A single socket/slot houses the CPU. Multiple slots allow for one or more memory modules to be attached. Other ports reside on the motherboard which allow the floppy drive, hard drive and optical drive to connect via ribbon cables. Small wires from the front of the computer case connect to the motherboard to allow the power, reset and LED lights to function. Power from the power supply is delivered to the motherboard by use of a specially designed port.
Also on the front of the motherboard are a number of peripheral card slots. These slots are where most video cards, sound cards and other expansion cards are connected to the motherboard.
On the left side of the motherboard (the side that faces the back end of the case) are a number of ports. These ports allow most of the computer's external peripherals to connect such as the monitor, printer, keyboard, mouse, speakers, phone line, network cable and more. Most motherboards also include USB and FireWire ports here that allow compatible devices to connect to your computer when you need them - devices like digital still and video cameras.
The motherboard and case are designed so that when peripheral cards are used, the sides of the cards fit just outside the back end, making their ports available for use.
The motherboard can be thought of as the "back bone" of the computer.
The Motherboard is Also Known As:
mainboard, mobo (abbreviation), MB (abbreviation), system board, logic board
Important Motherboard Facts:
Motherboards, cases and power supplies all come in different sizes called form factors. All three must be compatible to work properly together.
Motherboards vary greatly in respect to the types of components they support. For example, each motherboard supports a single type of CPU and a short list of memory types. Additionally, some video cards, hard drives and other peripherals may not be compatible. The motherboard manufacturer should provide clear guidance on component compatibilities.
Popular Motherboard Manufacturers:
ASUS, AOpen, Intel, ABIT, MSI, Gigabyte, Biostar.
Motherboard Description:
The motherboard is mounted inside the case, opposite the most easily accessible side. It is securely attached via small screws through pre-drilled holes.
The front of the motherboard contains ports that all of the internal components connect to. A single socket/slot houses the CPU. Multiple slots allow for one or more memory modules to be attached. Other ports reside on the motherboard which allow the floppy drive, hard drive and optical drive to connect via ribbon cables. Small wires from the front of the computer case connect to the motherboard to allow the power, reset and LED lights to function. Power from the power supply is delivered to the motherboard by use of a specially designed port.
Also on the front of the motherboard are a number of peripheral card slots. These slots are where most video cards, sound cards and other expansion cards are connected to the motherboard.
On the left side of the motherboard (the side that faces the back end of the case) are a number of ports. These ports allow most of the computer's external peripherals to connect such as the monitor, printer, keyboard, mouse, speakers, phone line, network cable and more. Most motherboards also include USB and FireWire ports here that allow compatible devices to connect to your computer when you need them - devices like digital still and video cameras.
The motherboard and case are designed so that when peripheral cards are used, the sides of the cards fit just outside the back end, making their ports available for use.
KEYBOARD
Like the mouse, the keyboard is a means of interacting with your computer. You really only need to use the keyboard when you're typing text. Most of the keys on the keyboard are laid out like the keys on a typewriter. But there are some special keys like Esc (Escape), Ctrl (Control), and Alt (Alternate). There are also some keys across the top of the keyboard labeled F1, F2, F3, and so forth. Those are called the function keys, and the exact role they play depends on which program you happen to be using at the moment.
Most keyboards also have a numeric keypad with the keys laid out like the keys on a typical adding machine. If you're accustomed to using an adding machine, you might want to use the numeric keypad, rather than the numbers across the top of the keyboard, to type numbers. It doesn't really matter which keys you use. The numeric keypad is just there as a convenience to people who are accustomed to adding machines.
Most keyboards also have a numeric keypad with the keys laid out like the keys on a typical adding machine. If you're accustomed to using an adding machine, you might want to use the numeric keypad, rather than the numbers across the top of the keyboard, to type numbers. It doesn't really matter which keys you use. The numeric keypad is just there as a convenience to people who are accustomed to adding machines.
Most keyboards also contain a set of navigation keys. You can use the navigation keys to move around around through text on the screen. The navigation keys won't move the mouse pointer. Only the mouse moves the mouse pointer.
On smaller keyboards where space is limited, such as on a notebook computer, the navigation keys and numeric keypad might be one in the same. There will be a Num Lock key on the keypad. When the Num Lock key is "on", the numeric keypad keys type numbers. When the Num Lock key is "off", the navigation keys come into play. The Num Lock key acts as a toggle. Which is to say, when you tap it, it switches to the opposite state. For example, if Num Lock is on, tapping that key turns it off. If Num Lock is off, tapping that key turns Num Lock on.
Combination Keystrokes (Shortcut keys)
Those mysterious Ctrl and Alt keys are often used in combination with other keys to perform some task. We often refer to these combination keystrokes as shortcut keys, because they provide an alternative to using the mouse to select menu options in programs. Shortcut keys are always expressed as:
key1+key2
where the idea is to hold down key1, tap key2, then release key1. For example, to press Ctrl+Esc hold down the Ctrl key (usually with your pinkie), tap the Esc key, then release the Ctrl key. To press Alt+F you hold down the Alt key, tap the letter F, then release the Alt key.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)