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Microsoft to offer browser-less version of Windows 7 in Europe

David Gonzales — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 20:11:21 +0000

Microsoft is planning to offer customized versions of Windows 7 to users in Europe that lack Internet Explorer, according a report from CNET. There will be at least two versions of Windows 7 without the said browser, one version being Windows 7 “E”, which will be distributed in all members of the European Economic Area as well as Croatia and Switzerland. Another version is supposedly called Windows 7 “N”, which will also lack Microsoft’s Windows Media Player. Since a Web browser is a very important part of any operating system, Microsoft is trying to arrange different ways of giving users access to a Web browser. It is possible that Internet Explorer will be offered in a separate install disk. In an update on Microsoft’s blog, it was also mentioned that there could be a “‘ballot screen’ that would prompt users to choose from a specific set of Web browsers.” In any case, this is good for the user, because ultimately the more choice he has, the better.

Via CNET

A post from the Asus Eee PC blog.

Microsoft to offer browser-less version of Windows 7 in Europe

Archos 10s “MiniPC” makes an official debut

David Gonzales — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 19:54:53 +0000

This has been in the pipeline for months, and based on the original press release it’s actually a bit delayed, but Archos has finally unveiled the Archos 10s “MiniPC” alongside the just announced Archos 9 UMPC Tablet. The Archos 10s netbook is an updated version of the Archos 10 netbook, sporting a slightly slimmer and lighter case than its predecessor, constructed from Aluminium and magnesium. The Archos 10s features a 10.2-inch (1024 x 600 resolution) screen, 1.6GHz Intel Atom processor, 1GB of RAM, 160GB hard disk and Windows XP Home. Of course, there’s built-in Wi-Fi, Ethernet, 1.3MP webcam, choices between 3-cell or 6-cell batteries and the usual number of free netbook ports and jacks. It will be available later this month but the price still hasn’t been specified.

Via Archos

A post from the Asus Eee PC blog.

Archos 10s “MiniPC” makes an official debut

Archos 9 Windows 7 Tablet UMPC officially announced

David Gonzales — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 19:34:56 +0000

The Tablet UMPC is going to be relevant again, with the announcement of the Archos9, the first 9-inch Tablet UMPC running Microsoft’s Windows 7 OS. This sexy little machine is billed by Archos as a MiniPC that does away with keyboards in exchange for a virtual on-screen keyboard and stylus support on a resistive touchscreen display. As it comes pre-loaded with Windows 7, multi-touch is going to be one of its top features, though we’re not exactly sure if that’s such as good idea with the screen being resistive and all. It still looks like a pretty interesting offer, though, as the Archos9 is equipped with Intel’s new Atom Z515 processor, 80GB hard drive, built-in Bluetooth and two DVBT TV tuners with “diversity reception,” as Archos puts it in its press release. Besides on-screen controls, it also has several hard buttons on its sides for easier access and controls. Archos hasn’t announced a price or release date, but from the looks of it, we’re betting a lot of people are going to save up for one. Watch out for additional details here.

Via UMPC Portal

A post from the Asus Eee PC blog.

Archos 9 Windows 7 Tablet UMPC officially announced

Market needs to change for Linux netbooks to pick up faster, says Zemlin

David Gonzales — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 00:36:22 +0000

According to Jim Zemlin, executive director of the Linux Foundation, “the Linux netbook market is not realizing its full potential” because the manufacturers are “employing an outdated business model.” Overall, he noted, the only thing the sorry state of Linux on netbooks is doing is giving Microsoft a chance to gain even more market share in a new category besides laptops and desktops, while the open source alternatives are being overshadowed as usual.

Zemlin mentions that with open-source code such as that in Linux, manufacturers are free to customize what can and can’t do in specific markets, and that they can “bundle a mix of services and web APIs, or have fulfillment mechanisms and set up a business relationship between operating systems makers, device makers and carriers” to make the most out of the open-source opportunity. Zemlin will continue to promote this idea at the Open Source in Mobile (OSiM) conference in San Francisco this week, where if it gains more traction, we just might see a change in the Linux netbook market soon.

Via The Register

A post from the Asus Eee PC blog.

Market needs to change for Linux netbooks to pick up faster, says Zemlin

Guide to customizing the Acer Aspire One’s Linux interface posted online

David Gonzales — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 00:03:10 +0000

While the process of installing Windows 7 on the Acer Aspire One seemed relatively easy, I’m sure at least some of you are still holding on to the original Linux OS that’s been bundled with the netbook. If that applies to you, then you might at least try to customize the interface a bit, to make it more reminiscent of the Windows UI, instead of what Acer made it look like out of the box. It requires quite a bit of hackers, but it should be worth the time and effort spent on it especially if you’re looking to make using your Acer Aspire One easier. The full guide to customizing the Acer Aspire One’s Linux interface is available via the link below.

Via Techradar

A post from the Asus Eee PC blog.

Guide to customizing the Acer Aspire One’s Linux interface posted online

New Acer Aspire One netbook model spotted, could be one with 11.6-inch screen

David Gonzales — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 17:39:55 +0000

A while ago, it was reported that Acer is planning to launch an 11.6-inch netbook sometime later this year. Well, we might have some photos for you. Leaked earlier today with no accompanying specs sheet are these: official-looking photos of what could possibly be a new version of the Acer Aspire One. It sports a thinner chassis, and looks like it will come with Windows because of the presence of Windows key where there should be a Home key on Linux models. At the moment, we can’t get any confirmation or further information about this netbook, but we’ll be looking for more. In the meantime, see all the pics below.

Via macles

A post from the Asus Eee PC blog.

New Acer Aspire One netbook model spotted, could be one with 11.6-inch screen

Asus Eee PC T91 gets previewed and photographed

David Gonzales — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 13:48:37 +0000

We’ve already shown you a few tidbits about Asus’s forthcoming Eee PC T91 covertible tablet. And as we’re nearing this touchscreen netbook’s official release date (which unfortunately is still pretty much unknown), expect to learn even more and read more about it online. Bit-tech recently published a multi-page preview of the Asus Eee PC T91, in which they tried a near market-ready version of the netbook, dropping criticism and praise at different points in their article. The basic gist of it: the Eee PC T91 is a great next-gen Eee PC, but doesn’t quite surpass Asus’s other high-end netbooks in terms of performance and usability. Read on at bit-tech to get the full Eee PC T91 preview.

Via bit-tech
.

A post from the Asus Eee PC blog.

Asus Eee PC T91 gets previewed and photographed

Review: Windows 7 on the Acer Aspire One

David Gonzales — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 12:04:26 +0000

I’ve been playing with the Windows 7 beta release for a number of weeks now after installing it on the Acer Aspire One, and here are my views/thoughts on the experience. Not only will I be giving my initial impressions on the new software, I’m going to tell you how well or bad the Acer Aspire One performed with the new version of the Windows OS.

Before anything, I think it should be noted that I used the “bootable USB flash drive” method to install Windows 7 on my Acer Aspire One. Now, I’m not sure if that really does anything to goof up the software or any part of it when you’re installing, but I won’t deny that there were some hiccups before/during/after installation that I’m sure at least a few other people out there who used other methods to install Windows 7 (via external USB DVD drive, etc. if there are others) did not experience. In any case, the bottom line still is that I got Windows 7 on my AAO, and I’m here to share the details of what happened with you.

Booting up Windows 7

Before we get to the ~~boring~~ fun stuff that I did with Windows 7 on my Acer Aspire One, I’m going to tell you all about the boot up process very quickly. After pressing the “On” button on the AAO, I usually had to wait anywhere from 45 seconds to nearly a minute and a half to finally get to the desktop and have the Windows 7 Start key functioning (indicating that the whole system is ready for action). The fastest boot times I had with Windows 7 were considerably shorter than those that I got with Windows XP. So that’s a win for Windows 7, since it allows the user to get to work more quickly than Windows XP.

Once I was in Windows 7, I was surprised to find out that I didn’t have to install any drivers. The display resolution was already maxed at 1024 x 600, the built-in speakers were working, the built-in webcam showed my face, and even the Ethernet functioned without any problems once I connected my DSL. I was happy because even if I didn’t install the “necessary” drivers, it “just worked.” Or so I thought. Like many others, my Aspire One’s Wi-Fi didn’t work in Windows 7. Fortunately, the guys from over at Liliputing pointed me to a solution (as did many other readers) so I fixed my Wi-Fi problems in no time. So then, everything about my AAO in Windows really “just worked.” And I did the monkey dance.

Speed, Performance, Stability

But back to reality – while all of my hardware worked, was the software itself actually any good? There was only one way to find out: do some tests.

While using the Acer Aspire One, I also had a dual core laptop with Windows 7 installed with me, and I used it to measure how well Windows 7 performed on a netbook.

I tried out the many built-in applications, including the new iterations of the Windows Calculator, Paint, and WordPad. I have to say, the new Paint was a quite a huge improvement over the old one, offering many more options and customizations to illustrations and images, albeit still being not enough for those who want to get real image editing done on a computer. WordPad too improved a lot, being more like a basic version of Microsoft Word now than something that just opened .doc files when you didn’t have Office installed.

A few other notable built-in applications that are worth using/keeping: Windows Defender, Snipper Tool, Windows Media Player, and Internet Explorer.

What’s that? You think I made a typo there in putting Internet Explorer along with the other “keeper” applications? No, actually I didn’t. Internet Explorer turned out to be pretty speedy, comparable to Firefox and Safari speedy, in the new version of Microsoft’s OS. In some situations Firefox was still the faster browser of the two, but Internet Explorer was no longer the annoying and slow browser that it used to be. And I’m sure my impression of Internet Explorer will improve even more when I get to try version 8 in Windows 7 (last time I checked, you can’t install Internet Explorer 8 RC1 on Windows 7.)

All the other programs that I tried to install worked without problems. These were also fast, although only slightly, and these include GIMP, Skype, and Yahoo! Messenger. Basically, instant messaging, image editing, and word processing (or text editing) programs that a typical netbook user uses. It’s like having your netbook given a new life. And it gets better.

Multitasking and resulting errors (or lack thereof)

I didn’t have any problems with multi-tasking on Windows 7. In fact, my 1GB RAM equipped AAO performed satisfactorily. Windows Aero was also on, by the way.

And not once did I experience a BSOD with Windows 7 on the Acer Aspire One. Some programs did crash, though, mainly games like Crazy Taxi, Grand Theft Auto, Counter-strike, and others that taxed a bit on the graphics. Turning Windows Aero off seemed to fix it a sometimes, but without a dedicated graphics chip onboard and only a small amount of RAM, games were better avoided on this netbook.

Battery Life

As for the battery life, I only got a little bit more of it with Windows 7 compared to Windows XP. With the standard 3-cell battery, I can’t say I got more than 20 minutes more battery life on Windows 7 with the Acer Aspire One. Your best bet for longer battery life would still really be an expanded 6-cell or 9-cell battery. Anyone who would use that would no longer have any qualms about battery life, for sure.

Verdict

Even though Windows 7 is still in beta stage, it already works surprisingly well, and offers a number of improvements over its predecessors, Windows XP and Windows Vista. Even on a moderately specced netbook like the Acer Aspire One, one will find Windows 7 a joy to use, and the fact that it offers some cute eye candy doesn’t hurt either. If you still haven’t tried Windows 7 on your netbook after all this time, don’t worry, for it’s expected to become officially available at retail in only a few short months. By then, all the little bugs will have hopefully been squashed, and the performance will improve even more, which is better for us users no matter which way you look at it.

Check out our gallery of Windows 7 screenshots below.

A post from the Asus Eee PC blog.

Review: Windows 7 on the Acer Aspire One

Installing Windows 7 on the Samsung Q1UP is possible

David Gonzales — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 05:44:21 +0000

Looking to update your little Samsung Q1UP? Instead of punishing yourself with Windows Vista, why don’t you give the beta version of Windows 7 a try. Kevin of JKontherun has shown us that it’s possible to install Windows 7 on the Q1UP, and it doesn’t even require anything more than the install files and a little bit of effort. It appears as though the Samsung MID works great with Windows 7, and all of the drivers work, though it could probably use at least 1GB of RAM for better performance. If you find this interesting and you have a Q1UP of your own, try this out for yourself to see the results.

JKontherun via Samsung Central

A post from the Asus Eee PC blog.

Installing Windows 7 on the Samsung Q1UP is possible

Samsung NC10 activation problems with Vista Enterprise via KMS

David Gonzales — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 05:37:13 +0000

No matter how many colors of the Samsung NC10 you buy, you won’t be able to get one and with Windows XP installed and upgrade it to Windows Vista Enterprise. Well, actually, you can install Vista Enterprise on it, but you will fail at activating it via KMS. There are two known causes for why this is happening, and both are documented on Microsoft’s pages. If you plan on doing the same thing with a future Samsung NC10, better check out a thread about it on Edugeek which we’ve linked to below to see the discussion.

Via Edugeek

A post from the Asus Eee PC blog.

Samsung NC10 activation problems with Vista Enterprise via KMS