TechRadar: All Operating systems Feeds

Nero Linux 3

tech.co.uk staff — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Disc burning under Linux is dominated by one application: K3b. It's favoured by novices and power users alike, so much so that even the staunchest Gnome fans sometimes find themselves reaching for the KDE burning tool.

Nero, then, has a tough road ahead if it wants to win over Linux users, especially as its product is closed source and commercial. Linux and proprietary software don't often make for happy bedfellows, and to succeed, a closed product has to offer something spectacular over the open source competition - some massive feature to tempt fans of free software.

Luckily for Nero, its latest release for Linux has that massive feature: Blu-ray and HD DVD support. This is the first graphical burning tool to support the new disc formats, immediately boosting it ahead of K3b on the feature front, although work is underway on Linux's command-line tools.

Nero offers version 3 as a week-long trial version download from its website - this can be unlocked into a full release by buying a serial number for €20 (£13).

The supported distributions include Fedora 4, RHEL 4, SUSE 10.0, Debian 3.1 and Ubuntu 5.10 (or newer versions of these distros), although as the packages are supplied in both RPM and .deb format, you should be able to coerce it into running on other distributions.

Nero proudly claims that its Linux product provides the same interface and feature set as Burning ROM 7 for Windows. For new Linux convertees seeking out familiar-looking software, this is an excellent strength, and thankfully the app is built around Gtk so it fits in well with modern desktops.

All too often we've seen commercial Linux programs that use Motif or some other chunky widget set that looks totally alien under KDE and Gnome.

Burn baby burn

When started, Nero pops up a New Compilation dialog that sets up the burning session: choose the type of disc, give it a label and you're ready to go. Usefully, Nero lets you tweak various filesystem settings such as Joliet or Rock Ridge support, and go beyond the limits of ISO 9660.

Our only gripe here is that you can't fine-tune the write speed - you're limited to your drive's maximum setting, which is frustrating if you're using cheap media or want a slow burn to be on the safe side.

Creating disc images is blissfully simple: just drag files from the right-hand navigation tree into the disc pane and hit Burn. You're not confined solely to Nero's own file navigator, though, and can drag and drop files from Nautilus or Konqueror windows into the burning pane for a spot of desktop integration.

The program presents a list of recognised burning devices (via the kernel) and lets you create audio, data and mixed CDs, MiniDVDs, video DVDs, combined UDF/ISO DVDs, and the aforementioned Blu-ray and HD DVD images.

When creating audio CDs, Nero can convert MP3s and Oggs into the appropriate format - a small but sweet touch - and can even ping the FreeDB audio CD database to get track details. A handy Expert Features pane lets you tweak potentially risky options, such as overburning and short lead-out.

Other features include multi-session support for updating previously burned discs, a simulation mode to check that settings are correct before burning, and support for blanking rewritable media.

You can even assign sounds to events, such as a trumpet fanfare after a successful burn. For writing existing disc images, Nero happily handles NRG, CUE and standard ISO files, and the program stores its disc layouts in .nlc files built from understandable XML.

Feature-wise, it stacks up well against Burning ROM, its Windows cousin, although Nero hasn't yet ported any other components of its Premium suite, such as Nero Mobile or Sipps.

Sadly, a major stability gremlin reared its ugly head in our testing: massive lock-ups. Now, there are millions of software and hardware combinations in the Linux world, but this was on a vanilla Dell laptop running Ubuntu 7.04 and everything else was fine. If you're an Ubuntu fan and looking to buy Nero, we'd wait for a bugfix or workaround before you invest your money here.

That aside, Nero Linux 3 is excellent value for money, with a polished interface and support for all the essential burning options and tweaks.

If you're a regular Linuxer with a CD/DVD drive, happily running K3b or GnomeBaker, you won't find any incentive to switch at the moment. But if, on the other hand, you've got a shiny new Blu-ray or HD DVD writer in your possession - or you've just moved over from Windows and want a burning program you recognise - it's a must-buy. Expect the open source world to catch up soon, though...

Windows Vista Business

tech.co.uk staff — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Between the security improvements, the new interface and themajor improvements for notebook users Windows Vista looks appealing,but are you going to feel happy about paying for it? You can add someof the underlying technology to Windows XP but there's no way toupgrade to the extra security.

Here we're looking at the Business version, which has all the networking features plus full image-based backup. There are no home entertainment features, no parental controls, but oddly, no BitLocker encryption either - it's only available in the Ultimate Edition.

Are the security improvementsenough to switch for or is the rest of Vista enough to make the pricetag - for the upgrade and for any hardware you'll need - feel like goodvalue?

With so many versions, the answer is a mixed bag. Solet's look at all the different features and versions to see whetheryou need to upgrade, whether you want to upgrade and what to pick ifyou do.

You only install Vista once on most PCs but theexperience is still critical. Our test installations included upgradingfrom Vista RC1 and clean installations on a newly formatted hard disk.

Installing Vista

Theupdate installation was, as expected, quite slow, and took nearly twohours. Microsoft spent a lot of the beta process investigating theupdate method and held install fests in the US to help track downupgrade issues. The result is a smoother update experience, with littlein the way of problems.

You will need plenty of disk spacefree, as Vista's image-based install copies all the required files toyour hard disk, before rebooting your system to start the installation.We would still recommend a clean install. For one thing, it's a lotquicker, and there's no worrying whether some legacy application ordriver may stop your system from operating properly.

One keytest of any new OS is application compatibility. Early versions ofVista had problems with some applications; but we found everything weinstalled on our test machines ran without problems. This includedapplications that crashed or failed to run even on Vista releasecandidates.

We didn't even have to adjust applicationcompatibility - though some Internet applications needed to be givenpermission to cross Vista's built-in firewall, including Windows EasyTransfer for copying your files and application settings from anotherPC. Driver delays Microsoft has pulled the stops out on getting driverscertified in time for the final release. However many key drivers arestill in beta, and we're unlikely to see final releases until theconsumer release in January 2007.

Many Tablet PC owners won'tfind certified drivers. This is surprising, as Microsoft has madetablet functions part of the mainstream Vista platform. While most XPdrivers will run under Vista, you'll need to check whether all yourperipherals are compatible. We found most of the hardware in our testPCs was supported, including wireless networking.

This driverexperience is considerably different from the launch of XP, when manyolder pieces of hardware were unsupported on day one. The 32-bitexperience is a lot better than the 64-bit one though. Microsoftrequires the use of signed drivers for any kernel mode, and manydrivers have yet to be released.

Microsoft releasing the RTM codemore than two months before the final consumer release gave them thetime they need to get drivers ready, but early adopters should beprepared to upgrade drivers as they go.

Vista does take moreadvantage of the Microsoft update site than XP, and many drivers thataren't included on the install DVDs can be downloaded during theinstall, or upgraded after your first connection to the Internet. It'sa good idea to keep any machine you're installing or upgrading Vista toconnected to the network, as the installer will go online and downloadappropriate drivers from Windows update before starting theinstallation.

Vista performance can be increased by takingadvantage of ReadyBoost. This uses a USB 2.0 flash drive to act as adisk cache. However it can't be just any flash drive - Microsoftrequires a certain minimum performance, including a high random accessspeed. We found that most USB 2.0 drives we had didn't meet Vista'srequirements.

Don't expect to just plug in a stick and see itworking; you may need to try out several before you find one thatworks. Also, the larger the stick, the better the performance gain. Wefound that 1GB of flash or higher gave the most improvement.

User interface

Microsofthas used some of the time between the first release candidate and RTMto polish up "fit and finish". The Aero UI remains the same as before,though the available screen backdrops are tweaked, with the removal ofsome backdrops - leaving you with more scenic views and 'Vistas', butfewer of the other backdrop classifications.

One of the Aero UIfeatures, live taskbar thumbnails, is one of the more useful tools.Roll your mouse over the taskbar and, if you're using Aero Glass,you'll get a pop-up showing you what's in each window. These are thesame thumbnails used by the new Windows Flip task switcher, and theslightly pointless (but very pretty) Flip 3D.

Live thumbnailsmake it easier to see just what you're doing in each window, and ifanything has changed while you were using another application. A hugechange from XP is the integrated search. XP's desktop search tools wereslow and inefficient. Things are very different with Vista. Taking acue from desktop search products such as Google Desktop and Copernic(or Microsoft's Desktop Search tool), you'll find high speed searchbuilt into all aspects of Vista.

The word wheel search in theStart menu makes it easier to track down applications, documents,control panels, IE favourites and email - though not files in thePictures or Music folders - by typing a few letters. This finds fileswith matching names, keywords and metadata.

Once you get thehang of searching for applications rather than scrolling through Startmenus you'll stop missing XP's fly-out program groups. Search is alsobuilt into Explorer. Just type a query into the new search box, andVista will start a search in the directory you're using. You don't needto restrict searches manually - Vista will do it automatically.

Ifyou start a search in Documents, then Vista will only return resultsfrom files and folders below the Documents folder. The same searchtools are built into the control panel and into many of Vista's bundledapplications. Explorer's makeover is finally complete. Windows'workhorse remains familiar, but with plenty of Vista flair. The iconsare a big improvement over XP, with smooth scaling and a 3D effect thatmatches Explorer folders. Even the largest icon looks good on bigscreens - ideal for media centre PCs with large LCD panels.

Youcan group and stack icons to improve views. Stacked folders areactually a search query, which can be stored in the Searches folder; auseful feature Microsoft has buried where only power users will findit. The revamped Explorer improves navigation, with a breadcrumb barthat shows you where you are, with options to quickly jump up thefolder hierarchy.

Security and UAC

Vista is touted asthe most secure version of Windows to date. Microsoft has finallyprovided a version of Windows that lets you run applications and handlebasic system configuration without always running as Administrator.

It'snot just users that have lower privileges than in Windows XP, someapplications such as Internet Explorer 7 run as limited users, withlittle or no ability to make changes to your system or install unwantedprograms. This has led to perhaps the most criticised feature of Vista:User Account Control (UAC).

Any time you need to do somethingthat requires administrator privileges - even if you're running as anadministrator - Windows pops up a dialog box that asks for permissionto complete the action. If you're running as a standard user you'llneed to enter an administrator password. In early versions of Vista UACwas both persistent and a regular visitor, stealing focus from runningapplications.

It's still there in the final version, but nowit's a lot less intrusive. Instead of stealing focus, UAC calls forattention in the task bar, letting you finish what you're doing first.Once you've finished configuring a PC and installing software you'llhardly see the UAC dialog at all, and it shouldn't be part of yourday-to-day Vista experience.

Microsoft makes it clear whenyou're going to see a UAC dialog: look for a little shield on an iconor in a menu. Hardware choices Vista's performance is nothing tocomplain about; it's mostly similar to Windows XP on the same hardware.

You'll want more than the 512MB that XP requires to operatesmoothly; with 1GB of RAM Vista is speedy and responsive, and if youplug in a flashdrives that is fast enough to use for ReadyBoost you'llnotice extra speed - and a little extra battery life on portables. Andwith Windows Defender watching for spyware and taking care of automaticdisk defragmentation, you shouldn't find performance degradingsubstantially over time.

Once you get used to integrated searchin the Start menu, you may fi nd you gain some speed by getting to whatyou want faster too. Apart from memory and a reasonably modernprocessor - a PC you've bought in the last three years will have noproblems - what really matters is your graphics card, because thatdetermines whether you can run all the Aero features such astransparency with Glass, Flip 3D and live taskbar thumbnails.

Evensome integrated graphics can run Aero, depending on the memory andDirectX 9 support; you need either 128MB of graphics memory or sharedmemory and 1GB of PC memory. Nvidia has written a driver that allowssome graphics cards to switch to shared memory to support Aero, whichmeans more laptops will give you the full Vista experience.

Startupspeed is dependent on your system and connected devices; dropping thegraphical boot screen saves a few seconds but we'll need to wait fordevices with Vista logos to see if Microsoft can push hardwaremanufacturers to deliver faster boot times.

But as Vista runswell on many existing systems, that's where we recommend you use it tostart with. Buying a new PC is one way to get Vista; you'll get eithera voucher for a free or cheap upgrade, or Vista preinstalled with mostnew systems. But unless you were planning on a new system, or your kitwon't cope with Vista even if you add a gigabyte of memory and a newgraphics card, we wouldn't suggest buying a new PC just to get Vista.

Waitfor six months to a year for hardware that makes the most of Vista suchas hybrid hard drives, notebooks with integrated flash ReadyBoost cacheand Sideshow-enabled devices such as keyboards and Media Center remotecontrols. That way you'll also get a quad core CPU in a desktop and802.11n on a laptop.

The business version has all the networking features plus full image-based backup. As youd expect from a workhorse there are no home entertainment features, no parental controls, but oddly, no BitLocker either. That's penny pinching, as data on notebooks and tablets is exactly what needs protecting. Simon Bisson and Mary Branscombe

Windows Vista Home Premium

tech.co.uk staff — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Are the security improvementsenough to switch for or is the rest of Vista enough to make the pricetag - for the upgrade and for any hardware you'll need - feel like goodvalue?

With so many versions, the answer is a mixed bag. Solet's look at all the different features and versions to see whetheryou need to upgrade, whether you want to upgrade and what to pick ifyou do.

You only install Vista once on most PCs but theexperience is still critical. Our test installations included upgradingfrom Vista RC1 and clean installations on a newly formatted hard disk.

Installing Vista

Vista performance can be increased by takingadvantage of ReadyBoost. This uses a USB 2.0 fl ash drive to act as adisk cache. However it can't be just any flash drive - Microsoftrequires a certain minimum performance, including a high random accessspeed. We found that most USB 2.0 drives we had didn't meet Vista'srequirements.

User interface

Security and UAC

If you can run Vista on your PC, HomePremium is a bargain. Yes, you can get versions of many features fromutilities, Internet Explorer 7 and .NET 3, but that doesn't give youthe security and networking updates, new UI and integrated search,ReadyBoost, bundled apps such as Photo Gallery, the Mobility and Synccentres - or the experience. Windows XP does what you need, but Vistadoes more of what you want.

This is the version you want unless you need to connect to your office network from home or your hobbies include web development; it's got the entertainment and mobility features. It supports up to 16GB of RAM, which is enough for most of us. This is the right price for Vista; shame it doesnt have all the features. Simon Bisson and Mary Branscombe

How does Vista Media Center fare?

Justas the Tablet PC features run on any PC, Media Center is no longerrestricted to PCs designed for TV watching from the start; it's in theUltimate and Home Premium editions and it will run on any PC, whetheror not you have a TV tuner.

The interface is still blue andstill designed to work with a remote control, but subtle changes makeit easier to navigate, with fewer sub-menus to tackle. The controlstrip that lets you change channel, set the volume and play, pause orrewind quickly if you're using a mouse moves to the bottom right.There's more room for this because the options for each function spreadout sideways, fitting on to a widescreen TV or laptop very well.

Insteadof just text, there are icons and thumbnail images so you can spotwhich DVD, recorded programme, album or photo you're after. Hover overone of these thumbnails and you get details at the bottom of thescreen, such as how many tracks are on an album. The back button nowdoes a better job of skipping back to where you were without goingthrough the whole menu. Features such as basic editing options forimages - rotating and cropping or removing red eye to tidy up a slideshow - are a level further up in the interface and are now easier tofind.

Altogether, it proves to be a simple and intuitiveinterface for browsing media and watching or recording TV. HoweverMedia Center is one of the most demanding features of Vista, especiallywhen you start recording and playing video. A PC that can run Vistahappily may struggle with the serious video processing involved, evenif it ran Windows Media Center Edition 2005 without problems.

Addinga large number of songs or pictures is far faster than in previousversions and searching for a track gives almost instant results evenwith hundreds or thousands of tracks. You can also browse through musicand images using tags you've applied in Windows Photo Gallery or MediaPlayer.

Windows Vista Home Basic

tech.co.uk staff — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Are the security improvementsenough to switch for or is the rest of Vista enough to make the pricetag - for the upgrade and for any hardware you'll need - feel like goodvalue?

With so many versions, the answer is a mixed bag. Solet's look at all the different features and versions to see whetheryou need to upgrade, whether you want to upgrade and what to pick ifyou do. This is the Home Basic version that's designed as a cheap way to get Vista on older PCs. It misses out the snazzy Aero interface - that's only available further up the price ladder.

Installing Vista

You only install Vista once on most PCs but theexperience is still critical. Our test installations included upgradingfrom Vista RC1 and clean installations on a newly formatted hard disk.

User interface

Security and UAC

If you can run Vista on your PC, HomePremium is a bargain. Home Basic, on the other hand, is not. It's £50 less than Home Premium, but the only reason for buying it is if you have an old PC that won't manage the Aero interface. Think of it as a pricey security update with the search-based interface thrown in to boot. We say put the money towards a new system instead. Simon Bisson and Mary Branscombe

Windows Vista Ultimate

tech.co.uk staff — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Between the security improvements, the new interface and the major improvements for notebook users Windows Vista looks appealing, but are you going to feel happy about paying for it? You can add some of the underlying technology to Windows XP but there's no way to upgrade to the extra security.

Are the security improvements enough to switch for or is the rest of Vista enough to make the price tag - for the upgrade and for any hardware you'll need - feel like good value?

With so many versions, the answer is a mixed bag. So let's look at all the different features and versions to see whether you need to upgrade, whether you want to upgrade and what to pick if you do.

You only install Vista once on most PCs but the experience is still critical. Our test installations included upgrading from Vista RC1 and clean installations on a newly formatted hard disk.

Installing Vista

The update installation was, as expected, quite slow, and took nearly two hours. Microsoft spent a lot of the beta process investigating the update method and held install fests in the US to help track down upgrade issues. The result is a smoother update experience, with little in the way of problems.

You will need plenty of disk space free, as Vista's image-based install copies all the required files to your hard disk, before rebooting your system to start the installation. We would still recommend a clean install. For one thing, it's a lot quicker, and there's no worrying whether some legacy application or driver may stop your system from operating properly.

One key test of any new OS is application compatibility. Early versions of Vista had problems with some applications; but we found everything we installed on our test machines ran without problems. This included applications that crashed or failed to run even on Vista release candidates.

We didn't even have to adjust application compatibility - though some Internet applications needed to be given permission to cross Vista's built-in firewall, including Windows Easy Transfer for copying your files and application settings from another PC. Driver delays Microsoft has pulled the stops out on getting drivers certified in time for the final release. However many key drivers are still in beta, and we're unlikely to see final releases until the consumer release in January 2007.

Many Tablet PC owners won't find certified drivers. This is surprising, as Microsoft has made tablet functions part of the mainstream Vista platform. While most XP drivers will run under Vista, you'll need to check whether all your peripherals are compatible. We found most of the hardware in our test PCs was supported, including wireless networking.

This driver experience is considerably different from the launch of XP, when many older pieces of hardware were unsupported on day one. The 32-bit experience is a lot better than the 64-bit one though. Microsoft requires the use of signed drivers for any kernel mode, and many drivers have yet to be released.

Microsoft releasing the RTM code more than two months before the final consumer release gave them the time they need to get drivers ready, but early adopters should be prepared to upgrade drivers as they go.

Vista does take more advantage of the Microsoft update site than XP, and many drivers that aren't included on the install DVDs can be downloaded during the install, or upgraded after your first connection to the Internet. It's a good idea to keep any machine you're installing or upgrading Vista to connected to the network, as the installer will go online and download appropriate drivers from Windows update before starting the installation.

Vista performance can be increased by taking advantage of ReadyBoost. This uses a USB 2.0 fl ash drive to act as a disk cache. However it can't be just any flash drive - Microsoft requires a certain minimum performance, including a high random access speed. We found that most USB 2.0 drives we had didn't meet Vista's requirements.

Don't expect to just plug in a stick and see it working; you may need to try out several before you find one that works. Also, the larger the stick, the better the performance gain. We found that 1GB of fl ash or higher gave the most improvement.

User interface

Microsoft has used some of the time between the first release candidate and RTM to polish up "fit and finish". The Aero UI remains the same as before, though the available screen backdrops are tweaked, with the removal of some backdrops - leaving you with more scenic views and 'Vistas', but fewer of the other backdrop classifications.

One of the Aero UI features, live taskbar thumbnails, is one of the more useful tools. Roll your mouse over the taskbar and, if you're using Aero Glass, you'll get a pop-up showing you what's in each window. These are the same thumbnails used by the new Windows Flip task switcher, and the slightly pointless (but very pretty) Flip 3D.

Live thumbnails make it easier to see just what you're doing in each window, and if anything has changed while you were using another application. A huge change from XP is the integrated search. XP's desktop search tools were slow and inefficient. Things are very different with Vista. Taking a cue from desktop search products such as Google Desktop and Copernic (or Microsoft's Desktop Search tool), you'll find high speed search built into all aspects of Vista.

The word wheel search in the Start menu makes it easier to track down applications, documents, control panels, IE favourites and email - though not files in the Pictures or Music folders - by typing a few letters. This finds files with matching names, keywords and metadata.

Once you get the hang of searching for applications rather than scrolling through Start menus you'll stop missing XP's fly-out program groups. Search is also built into Explorer. Just type a query into the new search box, and Vista will start a search in the directory you're using. You don't need to restrict searches manually - Vista will do it automatically.

If you start a search in Documents, then Vista will only return results from files and folders below the Documents folder. The same search tools are built into the control panel and into many of Vista's bundled applications. Explorer's makeover is finally complete. Windows' workhorse remains familiar, but with plenty of Vista flair. The icons are a big improvement over XP, with smooth scaling and a 3D effect that matches Explorer folders. Even the largest icon looks good on big screens - ideal for media centre PCs with large LCD panels.

You can group and stack icons to improve views. Stacked folders are actually a search query, which can be stored in the Searches folder; a useful feature Microsoft has buried where only power users will find it. The revamped Explorer improves navigation, with a breadcrumb bar that shows you where you are, with options to quickly jump up the folder hierarchy.

Security and UAC

Vista is touted as the most secure version of Windows to date. Microsoft has finally provided a version of Windows that lets you run applications and handle basic system configuration without always running as Administrator.

It's not just users that have lower privileges than in Windows XP, some applications such as Internet Explorer 7 run as limited users, with little or no ability to make changes to your system or install unwanted programs. This has led to perhaps the most criticised feature of Vista: User Account Control (UAC).

Any time you need to do something that requires administrator privileges - even if you're running as an administrator - Windows pops up a dialog box that asks for permission to complete the action. If you're running as a standard user you'll need to enter an administrator password. In early versions of Vista UAC was both persistent and a regular visitor, stealing focus from running applications.

It's still there in the final version, but now it's a lot less intrusive. Instead of stealing focus, UAC calls for attention in the task bar, letting you finish what you're doing first. Once you've finished configuring a PC and installing software you'll hardly see the UAC dialog at all, and it shouldn't be part of your day-to-day Vista experience.

Microsoft makes it clear when you're going to see a UAC dialog: look for a little shield on an icon or in a menu. Hardware choices Vista's performance is nothing to complain about; it's mostly similar to Windows XP on the same hardware.

You'll want more than the 512MB that XP requires to operate smoothly; with 1GB of RAM Vista is speedy and responsive, and if you plug in a flashdrives that is fast enough to use for ReadyBoost you'll notice extra speed - and a little extra battery life on portables. And with Windows Defender watching for spyware and taking care of automatic disk defragmentation, you shouldn't find performance degrading substantially over time.

Once you get used to integrated search in the Start menu, you may fi nd you gain some speed by getting to what you want faster too. Apart from memory and a reasonably modern processor - a PC you've bought in the last three years will have no problems - what really matters is your graphics card, because that determines whether you can run all the Aero features such as transparency with Glass, Flip 3D and live taskbar thumbnails.

Even some integrated graphics can run Aero, depending on the memory and DirectX 9 support; you need either 128MB of graphics memory or shared memory and 1GB of PC memory. Nvidia has written a driver that allows some graphics cards to switch to shared memory to support Aero, which means more laptops will give you the full Vista experience.

Startup speed is dependent on your system and connected devices; dropping the graphical boot screen saves a few seconds but we'll need to wait for devices with Vista logos to see if Microsoft can push hardware manufacturers to deliver faster boot times.

But as Vista runs well on many existing systems, that's where we recommend you use it to start with. Buying a new PC is one way to get Vista; you'll get either a voucher for a free or cheap upgrade, or Vista preinstalled with most new systems. But unless you were planning on a new system, or your kit won't cope with Vista even if you add a gigabyte of memory and a new graphics card, we wouldn't suggest buying a new PC just to get Vista.

Wait for six months to a year for hardware that makes the most of Vista such as hybrid hard drives, notebooks with integrated flash ReadyBoost cache and Sideshow-enabled devices such as keyboards and Media Center remote controls. That way you'll also get a quad core CPU in a desktop and 802.11n on a laptop.

If you can run Vista on your PC, Home Premium is a bargain. Yes, you can get versions of many features from utilities, Internet Explorer 7 and .NET 3, but that doesn't give you the security and networking updates, new UI and integrated search, ReadyBoost, bundled apps such as Photo Gallery, the Mobility and Sync centres - or the experience. Windows XP does what you need, but Vista does more of what you want.

Ultimate gives you everything, but it's so much more expensive than Premium. Do you need a PC that can run Media Center and join a domain? If so, you'll be paying through the nose. This is the version you want but won't want to pay for. Simon Bisson and Mary Branscombe

How does Vista Media Center fare?

Just as the Tablet PC features run on any PC, Media Center is no longer restricted to PCs designed for TV watching from the start; it's in the Ultimate and Home Premium editions and it will run on any PC, whether or not you have a TV tuner.

The interface is still blue and still designed to work with a remote control, but subtle changes make it easier to navigate, with fewer sub-menus to tackle. The control strip that lets you change channel, set the volume and play, pause or rewind quickly if you're using a mouse moves to the bottom right. There's more room for this because the options for each function spread out sideways, fitting on to a widescreen TV or laptop very well.

Instead of just text, there are icons and thumbnail images so you can spot which DVD, recorded programme, album or photo you're after. Hover over one of these thumbnails and you get details at the bottom of the screen, such as how many tracks are on an album. The back button now does a better job of skipping back to where you were without going through the whole menu. Features such as basic editing options for images - rotating and cropping or removing red eye to tidy up a slide show - are a level further up in the interface and are now easier to find.

Altogether, it proves to be a simple and intuitive interface for browsing media and watching or recording TV. However Media Center is one of the most demanding features of Vista, especially when you start recording and playing video. A PC that can run Vista happily may struggle with the serious video processing involved, even if it ran Windows Media Center Edition 2005 without problems.

Adding a large number of songs or pictures is far faster than in previous versions and searching for a track gives almost instant results even with hundreds or thousands of tracks. You can also browse through music and images using tags you've applied in Windows Photo Gallery or Media Player.

Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger

tech.co.uk staff — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 00:00:00 +0000

There's no doubt that Tiger has been one of the most keenly anticipated upgrades for the Mac, ever since it was announced and previewed almost a year ago by Steve Jobs. Since then Mac fans have been clamouring to get their paws on the big stripy cat.

The new OS comes in the now-familiar Apple OS software box but is distributed on DVD only. Those who don't have a SuperDrive or a Combo drive will have to ask Apple for a CD version, which will set you back an extra £11.99.

Installing Tiger is breeze. It takes roughly 20 minutes for the complete operation and no product activation is required, as is the case with Microsoft's Windows XP. During the time taken to install you can peruse your way through the slim colour booklet that comes in the box and bone up on all of Tiger's exciting new features - there are over 200 of them in all.

If you're really interested you can find an exhaustive list at www.apple. com/macosx/newfeatures/ over200.html

Oddly enough, with so many new features in 10.4 you'd expect the interface to look a little different. However, apart from a slightly bluer Apple in the top-left corner and the addition of a small blue Spotlight icon in the top-right menu bar, there's little to indicate that Apple's latest OS is a major upgrade.

It belies the fact that it heralds an era of 64-bit computing, new core graphics and audio, as well as delicious eye-candy in the form of Dashboard's Widgets.

Painless upgrading

Upgrading to Tiger is a painless process, and we installed it on four different Macs to check compatibility. On each one Tiger behaved impeccably. However, to be certain that things go smoothly we'd recommend that you repair disk permissions both before and after installation.

Once you're up and running Tiger sets about indexing the entire contents of your Mac's hard drive so that the new Spotlight feature will be able to find almost anything on your Mac. Indexing can take anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours. Once the index has been built you can type any text in the Spotlight window and almost instantly any file that includes the search term will be listed in a Spotlight window.

Just click on any file to open it and away you go. If you're the sort of person who has separate drawers for socks and T-shirts then Spotlight may not be too useful. On the other hand, if your bedroom floor is strewn with clothes and muddles, this new addition will soon be your best friend.

It works like a charm and really can find almost anything on your Mac. Even the tidiest and most organised among us occasionally mislay or lose things, so Spotlight will be a firm favourite with most Mac owners.

Tiger's other visible new feature is Dashboard. Looking remarkably like the Konfabulator shareware application, this feature brings forth a series of handy little panels called Widgets. These accessories are available by pressing [F12] on your keyboard and the Widgets instantly appear, floating over the Desktop. You can consult and then dismiss the Widgets by clicking on the screen and returning to your work.

Tiger currently ships with some basic Widgets that include a calculator, weather forecaster, dictionary and translator. There are a few others including a Yellow Pages directory and Stock ticker, but these two only work on American addresses or companies; it's a case of Sherlock all over again. However, developing Widgets is easy (according to Apple) so expect to see some useful little Widget websites very soon.

Is Dashboard really useful? Well it's certainly pretty but we think it's of limited use at the moment. The translator, for instance, has a few flaws. We tested the English to German version and found that the word suggested for "butterfly" was a "Basisrecheneinheit" which another dictionary told us was "automatic calling and/or answering equipment". Hmm... obviously something's not quite right there.

Also, adding and deleting Widgets seems a bit cack-handed and we couldn't find any way of turning off Dashboard. Make no mistake, Dashboard is fun and pretty, but its usefulness has yet to be proved. As they say: "The jury is still out."

64-bit brilliance

As a 64-bit operating system, Tiger can now address oodles of RAM. You're no longer limited to a 2GB limit on memory intensive applications. This, of course, is little concern to the majority of us who have less than 2GB of RAM, but for video or music producers it could really speed things up.

In performance terms, Tiger definitely feels snappier than Panther. Finder has been tightened up, although the continued appearance of the spinning beachball of death leads us to believe that Apple still hasn't made the Finder application multi-threaded.

That's a bit of a disappointment as the beachball is one of the biggest bugbears in OS X. At the core of the new OS are a number of major changes to the core graphics and audio code. It's all low-level stuff but it will pave the way for increasingly sophisticated multimedia applications.

You probably won't notice much difference at this stage, but the rewrite of QuickTime does lift the video quality a notch. And the adoption of the new H.264 video codec will make iChat sessions with an iSight clearer and enable three-way video meetings on a really impressive 3D stage, providing you know two other people who also own an iSight.

Tiger's 200 new features are too many to list, but there are a few that we think are worthy of a special mention. Firstly, the new Mail client is much improved. The interface, its speed and the filing system are much better.

The integration of Spotlight also means you can search the content of all your emails in an instant. It's great if you receive emails with bland or non-descriptive subject lines. Unfortunately, Spotlight doesn't index Entourage emails yet, but that should be put right soon.

Safari also gets a major upgrade with a faster rendering engine and the inclusion of RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds. This produces a listed digest of content from websites such as BBC News that publish an RSS feed.

Also making a first appearance in Safari is Private Browser. This switches off history, caching, search terms and even autofill for the period it's switched on. It means someone can visit websites without leaving a trail of where they visited. Of course, an ISP will still have records of which sites have been visited, so if you think it gives people a free rein to visit illegal sites, think again.

There are plenty of other features and it is worth visiting Apple's website to see them all.

Overall, we think Tiger has earned its stripes but the upgrade fee is a bit steep. It would have been nice if Apple offered a half-price upgrade to registered Panther owners. You don't need to upgrade to Tiger but we think that once you do you'll enjoy the improvements. Mark Sparrow

VMWARE Workstation 5.5

tech.co.uk staff — Sun, 01 Oct 2006 00:00:00 +0000

Installing multiple operating systems (OS) on a single computer is a great way to test new software before committing to a program. Less convenient are the methods required, since configuring multi-boot systems is a complex process. Providing a powerful alternative is VMWare Workstation 5.5.

Allowing users to install new software within so-called virtual machines, the effect is of having a laptop inside your laptop. Your primary, or Host, OS behaves as normal and you can then install multiple Guest operating systems inside these virtual machines and boot into them at will using the standard Windows interface.

While true multi-boot configurations require intricate drive partitioning, setting up virtual machines is a simple five-click procedure. By choosing from a list which OS you are to install, optimum settings are automatically configured to enable the best performance, with further settings available for advanced users.

Once configured, one-click boots your virtual machine inside a window on your desktop. Running exactly like a real PC or laptop, you can then boot from any OS installation disc and install your chosen operating system. With support for all current versions of Windows and many Linux distributions, only Apple's Mac OS X is not officially supported. This is due to international licensing laws.

With your OS installed in a virtual machine, you can work with it exactly as if it were your primary installation. The obvious advantage is you can make mistakes or take any risks you like without fear of losing data or trashing your laptop. By simultaneously clicking Ctrl Alt, you can instantly restore focus to your main OS and continue work as normal.

Work in safety

Making it even safer to work with the Guest OS, you can create snapshots of each installation, and then revert back to that exact state at will. Multiple snapshots can be created, and viewed in a hierarchical order. Making it easy to run software or test a new feature, before restoring your system in the event of a failure, this aids software testing immeasurably.

Since so much modern software relies on network connections, multiple operating systems can be also be run simultaneously and linked in a full virtual network. Obviously the drain on system resources is far greater with several OS's running concurrently, but the feature is an impressive addition.

Inevitably, you'll need a powerful system with plenty of memory and storage space for truly effective performance. That said, any mainstream machine, especially dualcore, will be able to cope. However, for testing software and learning a new OS in comfort and safety there are few better options, making VMWare Workstation a fantastic tool for power-users.