Hasta La Gadget!

Happy news for our British readers today — Microsoft is selling Windows 7 Home Premium in the UK at the bargain price of £65 for the full (non-upgrade) version. Converted to $107, that’s less than Americans have to shell out just for an upgrade ($120) and about half the price of the full thing ($200). The Professional and Ultimate varieties are also cheaper by about $40 each. With Windows 7 E now out of the picture (though seemingly still available for pre-order from the MS online store), it looks like Microsoft has chosen to match its lower price (listed with an £80 MSRP) with the new SKUs that will actually see retail shelves — a price online retailers are now undercutting. Jolly good. CNET was first to the story and was told by an Amazon UK rep that the current pricing is expected to be indefinite, but previous intel on the matter has indicated that Microsoft will be hiking UK prices from January 1, 2010. So if you wanna be safe, better get that brand spanking new OS before Christmas rolls around.

[Via Pocket lint]

Read – CNET article
Read – Microsoft UK online store
Read – Windows 7 Home Premium at Amazon UK for £65

Filed under: Software

Windows 7 will cost half as much in the UK as in the US, crikey! originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Aug 2009 06:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oh, Windows. You inform and entertain us. You are inescapable, and your Start menu is full of items relevant to our productivity. You move us. Sort of. To be honest, we’re not sure what sort of state this fair planet of ours would be in without the ruggedly functional operating systems the folks at Redmond have handed to us over the years, and while Windows Vista might have proved that Microsoft wasn’t invincible, it did nothing to demonstrate that Windows as an idea — and for most, a necessity — was at all in jeopardy.

Windows 7 arrives on the scene three short years after Vista, shoring up its predecessor’s inadequacies and perhaps offering a little bit more to chew on. We’ve been playing with the OS ever since the beta, along through the release candidate, and now at last have the final, “release to manufacturing” (RTM) edition in our grubby paws. Does it live up to its understandable hype and the implicit expectations of a major Microsoft release? Let’s proceed on a magical journey to discover the truth for ourselves.

Continue reading Windows 7 review

Filed under: Software

Windows 7 review originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 Aug 2009 14:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The saga of Microsoft vs. the European Commission just keeps on keepin’ on. MS was accused of harming the browser competition by including IE with Windows, and as part of its pledge to play nice proposed a Europe-only version of Windows 7 that would completely lack Internet Explorer, dubbed Windows 7 E. Last week the company came up with an alternative: a so-called ballot screen version that would allow users to pick (nearly) any browser they like upon start-up — or just stick with the already installed IE. Buoyed by generally positive feedback from the move, Microsoft has indicated it’s going to go ahead and kill off Windows 7 E — despite the lack of an official agreement from the Commission as of yet. So, the whole, wonderful world will get the same flavor of the OS, and everyone browsed happily ever after. The end…?

[Via ComputerWorld]

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops, Software

Microsoft’s browserless Windows 7 E gets EUthanized originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 Aug 2009 07:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve already heard from Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer on Chrome OS, and it looks like Bill Gates has now had his say on the upstart operating system as well. Speaking with CNET News, Gates more or less described Chrome OS as just another Linux distribution, saying that “there’s many, many forms of Linux operating systems out there and packaged in different ways and booted in different ways,” adding that, “in some ways I am surprised people are acting like there’s something new. I mean, you’ve got Android running on Netbooks. It’s got a browser in it.” Gates further went on to get another dig in at Google by saying that “the more vague they are, the more interesting it is,” before getting a little philosophical by asking: “What’s a browser? What’s not a browser?” His answer? “In large part, it’s more an abuse of terminology than a real change.”

[Via Digital Daily]

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops, Software

Bill Gates calls Chrome OS more of the same, “surprised people are acting like there’s something new” originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 15 Jul 2009 17:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We can’t believe it’s actually here, but after hearing whispers of a Google OS for what seems like ages now, the company’s now gone official with its plans. According to the official developer blog, it’ll be an open source, lightweight platform that can “power computers ranging from small netbooks to full-size desktop systems,” and will be capable of running on x86 (that includes Intel Atom) and ARM chips. Addressing potential overlap with Android-based netbooks, the official line is that “choice will drive innovation for the benefit of everyone, including Google” — a pretty wild statement to make, but hey, it’s still all Google. A large portion of its fresh out of beta Google Apps suite already supports an offline mode, so we guess the groundwork’s laid out. The company says it’s currently working with a number of OEM manufacturers and that it’ll initially appear on a number of netbooks coming to market sometime in the second half of 2010. Excited? We are.

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

Google announces Chrome OS, coming to netbooks second half of 2010 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 08 Jul 2009 00:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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