Apple: Wait on Vista

Apple has urged PC users running iTunes wait for a new release of the jukebox software before upgrading to Windows Vista.

The iTunes maker has released a small repair tool that solves one compatibility issue between its jukebox software iTunes and Microsoft's newest version of Windows, but says PC users are better off waiting for the next version of iTunes before upgrading to Vista.

The latest version of iTunes, 7.02, may work with Vista on many typical PCs, but Apple knows of a few incompatibility problems, including some that are serious.

For instance, users who remove their iPod from their computer using the "safely remove hardware" feature in Vista may corrupt the contents of their iPod, Apple says. In addition, users may not be able to make changes to their iPod settings, synch contacts and calendars with the iPod, or play songs they've bought online from the iTunes Store.

Apple offers a support document with tips for customers who do decide to upgrade to Vista before the new iTunes release, including reinstalling the latest version of iTunes. Apple is also now offering the repair tool which should help customers who are having trouble playing songs they've bought from the iTunes Store.

Still, Apple recommends that customers wait until a new release of iTunes becomes available in a couple of weeks before upgrading to Vista.

Microsoft, which launched the long-awaited operating system last week, recommends just the opposite.

"We're committed to ensuring that all partners, including Apple, get all of the resources they need to ensure that their applications work with Windows Vista. Customers shouldn't feel that they need to wait to adopt Vista for these reasons," Microsoft said in a statement.

Microsoft offers software partners a variety of resources to ensure that their products will be compatible with Vista, it said.

Iomega expands storage capacity of two popular storage products

Iomega Corporation, a global leader in data storage and protection, has announced new versions of two of its versatile storage products: the high-end Iomega UltraMax desktop hard drive with expanded capacity to a towering 1Terrabyte, and a new stylish black small form-factor Iomega dual interface portable hard drive with 120Gigabytes of storage capacity.

Designed for Mac OS X users, Iomega’s popular UltraMax desktop hard drives deliver secure, high-capacity storage in a rugged enclosure that complements the Apple Mac Pro and Power Mac series of computers. With RAID 1 and a built-in FireWire and Hi-Speed USB (USB 2.0) hub for future expansion, Iomega’s UltraMax drives excel in digital content creation, graphic design, and other disk-intensive tasks.

“Apple’s Mac Pro is a thoroughbred personal computer that needs an external storage system that can keep pace,” said Bobby Kennedy, Key Account Manager for Iomega in South Africa. “With FireWire 800, the Mac HFS+ file system, and RAID 1 performance, Iomega’s new UltraMax drive has incredible power right out of the box, and its interface choices and RAID options will enhance your workflow whether you’re connecting it to Mac Pro, an iMac, or a MacBook.”

In addition to the default mode of RAID 0, which stripes data across the UltraMax drive’s two 7200-RPM SATA hard drives, other drive settings include RAID 1, ‘spanned’ (both hard drives are treated as a single volume), and ‘simple’ (each hard drive is treated as its own drive letter). For ease of use, the new Iomega UltraMax Desktop Hard Drive has a manual RAID switch, allowing the user to turn off the RAID configuration and use the drive configured as JBOD.

The Iomega UltraMax Hard Drive is preformatted with Apple’s HFS+ file system for Mac OS X users. HFS+ makes more efficient use of large hard drives and supports journaling under Mac OS X, which makes it easier to recover data in case of a problem.

The stackable UltraMax drive enclosure complements the new Mac Pro series of Apple computers as well as the older Power Mac series. The enclosure is metallic grey with a mesh grill, an echo of the Mac Pro computer’s industrial design. Its three interfaces include FireWire® 800, FireWire 400, and Hi-Speed USB (USB 2.0), and it provides users with a three-port Hi-Speed USB hub for easy expansion. Cables for FireWire 800, FireWire 400, and USB 2.0 operation are included with the drive.

Fashionably thin at just 0.5 inches (12.7 mm) and an incredibly light 5.8 oz.(163 g), the Iomega black portable hard drive 120 GB Hi-Speed USB 2.0/FireWire is packed with ideal features for mobile users. It is the perfect storage companion for a Mac notebook, including host-powered operation and Drop Shock technology. The drive’s 2.5-inch hard drive delivers fast 5400 RPM performance and comes with both FireWire 400 (1394a) and USB 2.0 cables.

“Host-powered products are great for mobile users because they eliminate the need to bring along a power adapter and find a wall outlet for it,” said Kennedy. “The Iomega black portable hard drive gets all the power it needs from the USB or FireWire cable. Choice of connectivity combined with 120 Gigabytes and a stylish little package make the new Iomega black portable hard drive an ideal portable hard drive for road warriors and others that need more freedom and versatility in their storage products.”

For secure storage and worry-free backup and disaster recovery, Iomega also includes EMC Retrospect Express software with the new UltraMax Drive and the new Black Portable Hard Drive. Retrospect Express delivers automated, reliable, cost-effective protection for Windows® and Mac® users. Its award-winning design makes it easy to set up and manage highly efficient backups on any personal computer, greatly simplifying disaster recovery. Users can back up open files, verify backup integrity during the backup, have scheduled backups proceed even without logging in, and recover individual files or a complete system to any point in time.

A single Iomega 120GB Dual Interface Black Portable Hard Drive can hold up to 480,000 photos, 2,220 hours of music, or 180 hours of video.

The Iomega UltraMax desktop hard drive 1TB Triple Interface is compatible with Mac OS X 10.1 or above on Apple computers with an Intel processor or G3 processor or higher. The UltraMax Drive can be reformatted to NTFS or FAT32 for use with a PC (instructions included), making it compatible with Microsoft® Windows® 2000, Windows XP Home and XP Professional editions, as well as the upcoming Windows Vista. FAT32 format allows cross-platform use.

The Iomega portable hard drive 120GB Hi-Speed USB 2.0/FireWire is compatible with Mac OS X 10.1 or higher, as well as Windows 2000 Professional/XP Home/XP Professional and Windows Vista.

Speech recognition

Okay. There are some things that are more important than typing. For example you might want to have a beer in your hand. I have had Windows Vista installed for one. I've just discovered a fantastic new thing and that his speech recognition. This whole entry on this story is done by voice recognition. When you read it supposed to be faster. I have been here for a good 5 minutes and store them struggling to get this thing written.

When I wanna do for now one is not do any corrections. Any mistakes you C and the rest of this paragraph is simply that made by the computer. I promise you I haven't type of thing. I enjoy using Windows Vista so far and I think that I could deduce that. I was talking to a friend of mine today and we were wondering what the big hype was. Shelley, there shouldn't be a big help. That is supposed to be hyper not help. Even that was not supposed to be hyper just hype. There we go. It only took three times to work out what I wanted to say. Back to the Windows-based the hype.

Windows is ubiquitous. There is nothing we can do about. I guess they could be better and want to fight with other operating systems. I like windows because when you do something it just works. There is no having to mess about worth codes and things. Take the speech recognition for example; all I did was plug in my headset, typed in speech recognition and here I am typing a blogger to the world. And when assayed tapping I mean talking.

So what about speech recognition? A little known while. Theez for now. Another mistake. But as for now, I'm going to have to learn to speak correctly. At least my spelling is correct.

Windows Vista is HERE!!!

I have a copy of the 32 bit and the 64 bit Windows Vista. I have had it for a day now so I thought that I would link to a few other sites that have done reviews on the new operating system and then I will write something up later.

Latest Hi-Tech News

Help with Windows.com

OSNews.com

Vista Hunt.com

Coreno.com

Most of the reviews same the same thing. Now we wait and see.

In Box Support for VIA in Vista

VIA Technologies today confirmed the most comprehensive and flexible range of core logic solutions for Vista-based systems across all the major processor platforms for motherboard, PC, server and device manufacturers.

Five of VIA’s leading edge IGP chipsets have received the Windows Vista Basic logo from Microsoft: the VIA K8M890 and the VIA P4M900 for the latest mainstream AMD and Intel desktops respectively, the VIA K8N890 for AMD processor-powered notebooks, the upcoming VIA CN896 for VIA C7™ processor desktop and embedded systems, and the brand new VIA VN896 mobile chipset for VIA C7-M and Intel Pentium® M processors. All these PCI Express chipsets feature the latest VIA Chrome9™ integrated 2D/3D graphics processor supporting DirectX® 9.0 and the Chromotion™ CE video display engine.

The certification of these chipsets ensures that VIA customers can build desktops, laptops and ultra mobile devices with confidence that they are ready for the highly anticipated new Vista operating system. The testing involved in the certification process guarantees a reliable and trouble free installation and usage of the Ultimate, Enterprise, Business, Home Premium and Home Basic editions of Microsoft Windows Vista.

VIA also boasts leading edge discrete chipsets such as the VIA PT890 and the VIA K8T900 that, combined with DirectX 9.0 PCI Express graphics cards such as the S3 Chrome S27, make the ideal platform to power high-end systems that can really take advantage of the stunning visual effects of Windows Vista™ Premium.

“With the much-anticipated release of Microsoft Windows Vista, we are pleased to support it through our portfolio of feature-rich chipsets covering so many market segments, from the highest performance gaming PCs to handheld ultra mobile devices,” said Chewei Lin, Vice President of Product Marketing, VIA Technologies, Inc. “Our chipsets offer proven and certified building blocks for Vista™ Capable and Vista™ Premium Ready PCs, allowing end-users to enjoy the full Vista™ experience and optimal system performance.”

Support for VIA chipsets is provided in-box with Windows Vista, while additional drivers for VIA Ethernet controllers, VIA Gigabit Ethernet, VIA HD audio, VIA Envy24 Family audio controllers, IGP chipset WDDM drivers for certified chipsets and VIA SATA/RAID controllers are additionally available for download from VIA’s International Technical support website, VIA Arena at http://www.viaarena.com/default.aspx?PageID=2&Type=1

VIA Announces PCI Express Chipset for Vista-Ready Mobility

VIA VN896 with VIA Chrome9 IGP core supporting DirectX® 9.0 and Chromotion™ 3.0 offers rich visual Hi-Def™ experience for notebooks and ultra portable devices

Taipei, Taiwan, 24 January 2007 - VIA Technologies, Inc, a leading innovator and developer of silicon chip technologies and PC platform solutions, today announced the launch of the VIA VN896 digital media mobile IGP chipset, certified Vista Basic-ready by Microsoft and designed to provide users with unsurpassed visual clarity for notebooks and the new breed of ultra mobile devices.

The VIA VN896 chipset features the VIA Chrome9™ HC integrated graphics processor (IGP) featuring a DirectX® 9.0 3D accelerator for high performance and a 2D accelerator for productivity applications. The 3D graphics engine of the VN896 chipset offers the industry’s only simultaneous usage of single-pass multitexturing and single-cycle trilinear filtering, providing stunning image quality without performance loss.

Also integrated is the latest generation Chromotion™ video display engine, featuring advanced video processing, including acceleration for MPEG-2 decoding, and picture enhancement through adaptive de-interlacing technology and video deblocking, all executed in hardware to offset the processor workload. The VIA VN896 also features versatile LCD panel, CRT and TV-out support, to as high as 1080i high definition, while separate display engines enable two outputs to display at the same time, with different information at different resolutions, pixel depths and refresh rates.

By passing the Microsoft® Windows Vista™ 32bit/64bit Basic logo tests, customers can integrate the VIA VN896 PCI Express chipset into their products with the assuredness of digitally signed drivers and trouble-free installation of Microsoft Windows Vista, including Ultimate, Enterprise, Business, Home Premium and Home Basic editions.

“As computing increasingly goes mobile, the VN896 mobile chipset offers unparalleled visual quality for a rich digital media experience,” commented Chewei Lin, Vice President of Product Marketing, VIA Technologies, Inc. “Coupled with its advanced power saving features, it’s an excellent choice for notebooks and even smaller, ultra mobile devices requiring superior performance and extensive peripheral connectivity.”

The VIA VN896’s robust graphics controller implements dynamic CKE and clock grating to minimize DDR SDRAM power consumption and achieve maximum power savings.

Details on the chipset can be found here...

More on Windows Vista

Now that the initial hype on the new gaming consoles has washed over, the technology sites on the web are starting up with Windows Vista. The good guys and gals at Wired show that you don't really need Vista, at least not yet.

When Microsoft stop supporting older versions of Windows, then we are going to HAVE to upgrade. It is not going to be cheap as Wired tells us.

The computer helper: Making the switch to Windows Vista

While browsing the web this morning, there are 2 major tech stories from around the world. The one is that Console sales are up in November. Well, DUH!!!! Three new consoles gets released, who would have seen that coming??

2nd is this Windows Vista launch. Early next year, we should be able to buy our own copy of Windows Vista. Is it a good idea and will it work on your 6 month old machine?

The guys at Monster and Critics could help you out here....