Its been a terribly long pause for me to come back to blog once again. Well, something got excited me so much, that I couldn't stop myself putting it down on the web.
After coming over to the home of the "Internet", I have been happy to utilise the unlimited acess and decent speeded "broadband" connections to cater to my unsatiable desire of HUGE software downloads and evaluate them for my curiosity and knowledge. Being a long time member of "Hotmail" has done good things to me, I got to be on most of the Beta programs of Microsoft and got to evaluate anything from Windows Live mail to the Windows Vista RC program.
To sum it up, it is always exciting to be testing and using the "gen-next" technology when others are still coming to terms with the current market techs in offer. Here are some insights into what some of the new gen-next tech offers from Microsoft family.
- Windows Live mail - Absolutely perked up from the native "Hotmail" interface, works slightly slow,, but the user efficiency is hugely increased, the spam filter works good and the GUI is exciting than ever.
- Windows Live Messenger : This one looks more of a cosmetic upgrade with Yahoo! inter-connectivity to bridge the gap between the world's 2 heavily used IM apps. Nothing more to write about, except complain for the bloated size and large memory foot print.
- Windows Live Desktop Mail Beta : This is a new incarnation of "Outlook Express" which I was sure was going to go away after being abused by spam generating Trojans and other windows vulnerabilities. Surprise, Windows brings it up to speed to look and feel like Windows Live mail and adds RSS option to it to make it worth the attempt even though there is not much exclusive to write about this app, but till it is free, why grudge.
- Windows Vista RCx ( Build 5xxx) : The upcoming OS has been a platform of discussions, abuses, puns and internet gossip for over 2 years now. Getting to test it was an absolute experience. It all started with downloading Beta and then running into problems with upgrading the current home system with this version. Along came RC1 version and that opened the real possibility of testing out the new features and noticeable "drops" from XP. I wouldn't want to go all way to say what is good and bad, coz you can google and read site loads of info on that. All I would want to say is :
- If you liked XP / MCE, you would love Vista for candy floss.
- If you hate bloated OS, you would damn Vista
- If you loved security of Windows NT, welcome to the new "Avatar" which grabs your attention a little too much than required.
- If you love fast running OS on high-end systems, definitely check out Windows Vista
Something which really raked up the storm was the "Licensing" terms of Windows Vista referring to limited migration of the copy of the OS to systems. Never was such a strong outcry seen on something which has been the pinching factor for Microsoft. Maybe, they tried to be smart for one more time and had to be "shown" their place again by the people who have made it, what it is now.
I would wait and see how the pricing rates go with the customers. I would definitely watch for some "slick deal" on getting the Ultimate version of the OS, possibly FREE !!
