I guess this was one market which google was yet to step into and now they have made it official that they are indeed going to launch their own Operating System . I have really high expectations from this OS primarily because its GOOGLE'S OS . I do hope that it would make an impact especially since its open source and FREE .

Google OS would i guess be more like a WEB OS . I guess Google OS would be similar to that , i dont think it would be a full fledged operating system like windows . They would concentrate on storing and retrieving information and data on the internet . This is what i think they're aiming at . So it would be a totally different experience . Their first version would be for netbooks so they plan to make it a light Operating System which aims at providing instant internet access which therefore means very quick boot up times and a very simple and easy to use GUI.

Another important aspect of this OS is that they plan to make it READY TO USE , no need to worry about softwares to install or drivers to install . You can use your machine as soon as you install it.Since its linux based i'm sure the support will be great even for applications.Speed, simplicity and security are the key aspects of Google Chrome OS.

I guess Google being such a popular brand can provide some great competition to Microsoft who currently leads in the market share of Operatins System.So lets hope for the best and wait patiently until middle of next year for the release :) Read More Of This Post!

All dell laptops come with either a hardware on/off switch for your wireless card or a keyboard combination which includes the function key Fn to switch on/off your wifi card . The usually key combination is Fn+F2 . Now many laptops come with only this keyboard combination and no hardware switch and in certain cases windows seems to fail to recognize your function key thus making it difficult to enable your wireless card . So here's how you fix this :

Here are a few screenshots of what im talking about . The wireless is detected but it will refuse to detect wifi networks or even join them.


THE FIX
Now to fix this , all you need to do is download and install THIS FILE . Once installed , restart your machine . Now use the keyboard combination to switch on your wireless card . Windows should now detect your wireless card . As mentioned earlier the usual keyboard combination is Fn+F2 . Read More Of This Post!

After the huge success of Ubuntu 9.04 , ubuntu fans all over the world are eager to try out the next ubuntu release the Karmic Koala which is scheduled to release this October . This new version of ubuntu will have a lot of improvements and a lot of new goals have been set primarily for this version . SO here's more on that :

The ubuntu team is focusing on the boot time in this version . They want karmic koala to be able ot bootup within 20-25seconds . I'm sure this is very much possible as ubuntu 9.04 initially had some very impressive boot up speeds.THe ubuntu team also promises a much more elegant and cool look for the desktop version of ubuntu . I really hope to see a major change in the GUI , a totally revamped look :) .

Regarding the release date , as of now it is scheduled to release on October 29 , 2009 . So mark your calendars and hope for another fantastic release!!. Here is a detailed graphical representation of the ubuntu 9.10 release schedule



Also if your interested in trying out the various alpha and beta releases of ubuntu 9.10 karmic koala then CLICK HERE. Read More Of This Post!

I have been trying out windows 7 on a machine for quite a while now and i thought of sharing my experience of windows 7 here . This is a very brief review of what i think about windows 7 :

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
I must say , i was very relieved to see the system requirements of windows 7 when it was out . The system requirements are much much better compared to windows vista . Windows 7 uses a lot less of hard disk space compared to windows vista even memory wise it doesnt use as much memory as windows vista . I ran this on a machine with 2gb RAM and i think it worked really smoothly compared to when i tried out windows vista with the same machine .

FIRST IMPRESSION
When i had the first look of windows 7 as soon as it booted up , i was pretty upset i must say . Most parts of the GUI of windows 7 is pretty much similar to windows vista . THe buttons , menu options etc are all the same compared to vista . There is no drastic change like from windows xp to windows vista or windows 2000 to windows xp . I liked the windows vista look , i think it was really nice but i didnt like the operating system on the whole . The reason i didnt like windows 7 at boot up was because of the task bar . That totally disappointed me .

I couldnt make out the difference between the Quick launch icons and the windows opened in the task bar . They both occupy the same size in the taskbar , it is so difficult to make out the difference . Hence it becomes really difficult for a person working with multiple windows . Here's a screenshot to show you what i mean


So overall , the FIRST LOOKS were not as expected unfortunately :(

FEATURES
A lot of new improvements in windows 7 . I like a lot of the small little things that microsoft has added on to windows 7 .
1)One such thing is the Aero Shake . I think aero shake simply rocks!!I mean its fabulous idea something that i think is very useful for people who have A LOT of windows open at a time , its really nice to be able to shake all the other windows off :) . I hope to see a similar feature in ubuntu soon !! .
2)I also like the networking capabilites of windows 7 , it has some really nice ways of helping people to setup networks . They have wizards like the network setup wizard and homegroups, easy file sharing etc . THats one thing why windows rules , SIMPLICITY . It's very easy for a newbie to setup his network and share files and folders by himself unlike in ubuntu where it would sometimes require external help like setting up samba,NFS etc .

3)Windows 7 also has great troubleshoot softwares inbuilt . Incase you have no internet access windows 7 is able to automatically recognize that as it doesnt show the INTERNET symbol in the notification area . Also you get options to "Automatically Repair or Troubleshoot" your connection . I think this again is very helpful for newbies who have no idea as to why they have internet troubles . Again , something missing in ubuntu..

4)Another BIG IMPROVEMENT i found in windows 7 is that there is less of the UAC panic :) . I think one of the major reasons why windows vista was hated was because of UAC . I guess minimizing UAC In windows 7 is great news.
5)Also no more AUTORUN is allowed in windows 7 which i think WILL PLAY A MAJOR ROLE in reducing the amount of viruses and spywares which spread . A lot of viruses which spread through pen drives and CD/DVD's are triggered primarily by auto running itself when the pen drive or disk is inserted . WIndows 7 has disabled autorun by DEFAULT something which it hasnt done ever before which i think is a great move!!
6)Also stuff like READY BOOST which was already present earlier is again a fantastic feature and can get very useful.


7)A new option provided in windows 7 which i havent seen before is Automatic Backup of your system on ANY removeable drive . This suggestion comes as soon as you plug in your removeable drive . Again a nice way to remind users on how important BACKING UP a system is . I realized i could do a backup of this system only when i got that alert as i had a lot of free space on that drive but it didnt strike me that i could use it for backup.
8)Also Internet Explorer 8 , the new version of IE which is incorporated by default in windows 7 is a really cool browser i feel . It has some really nice new features which has been pending i must say in IE as it needed to catch up with the increasingly popular firefox , opera ,chrome etc..Things like privacy browsing , filtering , site suggestions etc are really nice things to have

9)One more improvement which i was wanting to see in windows is the media player . THe latest windows player has done 1 thing which i always wanted . SIMPLICITY . YOu will notice what i mean when you try opening a video file , windows media player eliminates its other menu bars and other options like in earlier versions and just plays the video file with the basic CONTROL OPTIONS like play,pause etc . This is something that i was hoping from windows 7 because whenever i want to open a video file , all i expect is the basic control options and not menu options like library,media,burn a cd, rip a cd etc , loading all of this when just playing a video file is just a waste of resources and i think microsoft has realized that and made windows media player a lot more simpler and also providing these features by choosing to view these menu options . This i like a lot!! :)

10)Another nice thing i observed with windows 7 is its ease to install software . I mean no more pop ups like "run in compatibility mode " or " your software might not have installed correctly" or "use windows xp environment to install" etc etc . Softwares were installed with no issues at all , again something that i was hoping!!These softwares ran very smoothly and with no compatibility problems at all!!
11)Another new invention found INBUILT windows is the ability to change the desktop wallpaper automatically , i think thats a really nice thing to have. There were softwares which did this earlier , but having it inbuilt i think is fantastic.That reminds me Windows DreamScene which came with Vista was fabulous , awesome idea!!


12)Also another useful feature was the "Aero Peek" , aero has been popular for a lot of things , i really like the aero theme personally speaking. The aero peek allows you to view the open windows in a small thumbnail as well as it would show you the preview on the full desktop . I may not be explaining it well , but do check the screenshot below.


There are a lot more things i liked about windows 7 , these were just a few main things i observed!!

THINGS I DIDNT LIKE
Well , those were things i liked , but ofcourse no operating system is perfect , so here are a few things which i didnt like about windows 7
1)Firstly as mentioned earlier , i HATE the taskbar , i mean that could be THE thing for me not to use the OS , as ANY person who has to deal with a LOT of open windows can find it VERY difficult to handle these windows in the taskbar as they merge or look like QUICK LAUNCH icons, so very tough to differentiate!
2)Secondly , The look . I mean i was expecting microsoft to be more creative this time . They have shown it in windows xp , they have shown it in windows vista but nothing much in windows 7 . Its so much like windows vista . I mean when you release an OS once in a few years you will want to expect a FRESH Look , a totally different look which unfortunately i didnt find at all!!
3)No antvirus inbuilt . Microsoft did a GOOD JOB by including windows defender to scan for spyware in windows vista but did they forget about viruses ??? Microsoft for sure knows that windows is the MOST AFFECTED operating system with a majority of windows users being affected by viruses and i'm sure that a LOT of these infected windows machines is caused because of no antivirus software installed . So i think microsoft should have taken an initiative by including an antivirus software inbuilt of windows 7 . I believe they are going to start a new antivirus software soon ( CLICK HERE ) but they should include it in windows 7 or atleast team up with freeware like AVG etc to get that installed by default.
4)This comes as a shocker to me as well , windows vista was able to successfully detect my HP network printer and was able to even provide drivers for it . For some reason windows 7 no longer has drivers for the same printer and i remember looking at the HP printers drivers list for windows vista . I must say that windows 7 has removed support for a LOT of HP printers and i have no idea why!! I am sure this is the case for other printer brands as well .
5)Windows 7 also failed to recognize my smartphone , it was instantly recognized in windows vista and xp , that again was very disappointing!!

FINAL WORDS
Well finally , all i have to say is that windows 7 is A LOT BETTER than windows vista and i'm glad its being released . It has improved a lot and im hoping to see a lot more neat stuff in the final version . I also hope they dont make the same blunder like last time with the PRICES . I really hope its REASONABLE. Feature wise , i think they have done a really good job . Even stability wise , i am very happy . Only thing is the GUI , i really expected from from that part especially the taskbar( please do something!! ) . Networking capabilites , troubleshooting softwares etc were great!!Typical windows - SIMPLE AND EASY TO USE.
So ,all in all , so far a really good operating system , even if you HATED vista , you could still give this a try , i'm sure you will be a lot more pleased than earlier :) . Read More Of This Post!

Most of our ISP's provide various broadband plans to choose from and it can get a bit confusing for some to choose the right broadband plan as they dont want to end up with a huge bill . Some countries do not exactly have a choice of plan , as they get unlimited data usage like in the USA . But in countries like India where there are plans with limited data download/upload for an affordable price people do tend to go for such plans which can be very beneficial than going for an UNLIMITED plan . So here are a few ways to choose the right plan :

I guess its pretty obvious that choosing the right plan is based on your internet usage . If you are a light user who just browses a few webpages, checks email once in a while , then you DO NOT need a plan with HIGH download limit . A plan like Home 250 would do as 1gb is more than enough . Therefore you dont have to waste money on an unlimited plan which costs about 750 rs . So hence you save 500 rs every month . Here are a few tips you could use :

1)If you are a person who does not download much but only browse websites then go for a plan with 1 or 2gb usage per month
2)If you are a heavy downloader then go for a plan which has NIGHT UNLIMITED therefore you could schedule your downloads at night
3)If you are a person who watches a lot of youtube or use a lot of skype , then its a bit difficult to choose the right plan as it depends on how often you use skype etc and for how long. In such cases you could just go for a plan with 2-3gb usage and then use a Internet monitor software which monitors your internet usage . Use this monitor for around 3 months and find an approximate average you use per month . THen you could go ahead and decide the right plan for you.
4)Unlimited Plans are suitable for power users who needs to download during the day as well or even transfer files to servers.
5)If you get an extra usage amount of say 20-30 mb per month on an average then you shouldnt worry unless its getting more expensive than a higher plan with a higher DATA USAGE limit.

On an average, when one checks email , one spends approximately 1mb of usage . Using skype/yahoo video/google talk video etc is approximately 1mb per min.Typically each website you open is around 200-300 kb . These are normal websites , if websites have a lot of flash,pictures and videos then it would be a lot more . You could use flash blockers etc to block flash on websites to save on the data usage.

So now lets take BSNL as an example and analyze its various broadband plans and see whats suitable and for whom. This is again on an approximate , it may vary according to your usage :



Now from this table , you can see 6 plans currently
1)now home 125 and home 250 are the basic plans - this is for casual web browsing like checking email , visiting a few websites etc - no youtube videos , no skype video calls!!There is no night unlimited also , so no downloads
2)home 500 and home 1000 are the next level plans - here you could do skype and youtube as well , but yea to a certain extent. Also you could schedule all your downloads at night as you have night unlimited
3)Home 1800 and Home 3300 are like unlimited plans i feel - as in if you schedule all your downloads at night and use only youtube and skype during the day then it should be pretty much enough!!
4)And lastly , if as mentioned earlier you download a LOT during the day and use services like skype,youtube etc more during the day then an unlimited plan is always the best way to go.

Thats about it!!If you still feel your in the wrong plan , just use software to monitor your internet usage for like 3 months and then find the average usage and then choose a plan.

Read More Of This Post!

Microsoft recently reported a new vulnerability in its browser the Internet Explorer . There seems to be a vulnerability in Microsoft Video ActiveX Control. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could gain the same user rights as the local user. When using Internet Explorer, code execution is remote and may not require any user intervention. This can be very dangerous and you must use the patch which is given below to fix the vulnerability .Here's more on that :

THis vulnerability affects only users running IE 6 and IE7 On Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. So if you have IE 8 in either windows vista or windows 7 then you are safe . This vulnerability is really critical as any hacker could use this to remotely control your machine using scripts without user intervention which means you will have no idea about this and the hacker can easily get to your system .
So its highly recommended that you visit THIS SITE and click on the FIX IT button . For more details on this vulnerability CLICK HERE.
Read More Of This Post!

Google maps as you all know is a very popular service of google . It has been pretty advanced and up to date i must say . It has covered almost every part of this world in full detail . Google maps can be very effective in a lot of ways . So here's how you could use google maps :

I recently went for vacation to a place where i didnt know how to get to , it was pretty difficult to get there as its not a direct route . Thats where google maps came to the rescue . In google maps all you need to do is enter the start point and end point and voila , you get precise directions . This can be really helpful if your planning on driving to that place .

Here's an example : I'm planning on a trip to hyderabad and i have no idea how to get there . Believe me , directions given on the road are not always enough , you could still get lost sometimes.So here's how i get directions :

Step 1 : Go to Google Maps

Step 2 : Click on Get Directions
Step 3 : Now enter Point A and Point B


Step 4 : Now click on Get Directions

Step 5 : Now to your left , you should see detailed directions

Step 6 : You can even click on the Print Button and print those directions ( REALLY HELPFUL )

Step 7 : If you look at these directions , you would notice , it is in so much detail . Each step has information as to where you have to turn , on which road you will be in , for how long you will be in that road and the distance of that road. This can be very helpful as you will have an idea as to when you have to take the next turn so you wont miss them , when you drive at a high speed on highways!!

Step 8 : There is also an option to Include A Map for each step , just like the screenshot shown below

Step 9 : And all this can be printed out , by just clicking on the Print Button

Step 10 : I have found this service very useful when going on vacations . This can be very helpful even in our day to day lives incase we need to reach some other part of our city where we have no idea about . You will get similar driving directions as shown above.

PS : You even get walking directions to a particular place . Only takes 4 days and 20 hours to reach hyderabad if you walk :) interesting!!!

Read More Of This Post!

Just the other day , i posted about wolfram alpha and how different it was compared to the traditional search engines you find on the web . Getting information in wolfram alpha is completely different . Its something very important in today's world . Most of us use search engines for information and the best way to get that information is when its organized , preferably in some sort of table or some graphic way like charts,graphs etc. Wolfram alpha came up with that fantastic idea and just recently i came across another similar service called Google Squared . Here's more on this :

Google Squared looks very similar to Wolfram Alpha . It again is designed to provide information in a very systematic and organized way which i like a lot!!. I tried out google squared with a few sample searches , but i was not quite impressed with the results . Google squared sticked to only tables and 1 image. Whereas wolframalpha was smart in its results , it never had this standard page which it would give out. The results depended on the search query.

If you look at the screenshots below of a few search queries i made , you will notice that a lot of the statistics show " NO value found " , so that can be a bit frustrating , also since they deal with only tables , its not the best way to get information. For example : searching for a person like say bill gates gives a lot more FACTS in wolfram alpha than in google squared.



But it can be useful for something like say for example : I made a search "windows vista price" which resulted in a nice tabular column with description,condition and price given in a very neat and presentable way.


Another search i made , also gave fantastic results , i entered " restaurants bangalore" and it gave me the following list


Then i wanted the contact number of Subway , and then in the add colums selection i entered Phone number and then immediately i get its phone number.


Now thats something i like about this service . You get to add your own columns and get that EXACT information you need . It also gives you a suggestion of columns you can add . Google also provides you a way to save these results which i think is also fantastic.

FINAL WORDS

I think google squared is indeed interesting , its really hard to say which is better . They both give results in their own style . Having this sort of tabular column can be very beneficial for certain search queries , but can be a total waste for some . On the whole i think its not a bad service but i dont think it would get much attention!! Read More Of This Post!

This tutorial would help you to auto login a user in ubuntu , this can be very useful incase you want to avoid the login screen . Also if you run a headless machine without a keyboard and mouse , this can be of help as you wouldnt need to enter the username and password to login as certain services run only after login. So here's how you do it :

Step 1 : Go to System->Administration->Login Window
Step 2 : Now enter the password in the window which pops up
Step 3 : You should now see a page similar to this

Step 4 : Now , go to Security and select Enable Automatic Login
Step 5 : Right under that , enter the username of the account which you wish to login automatically.

Step 6 : Thats it , click on CLOSE and restart your computer and ubuntu should automatically login. Read More Of This Post!

Microsoft has recently launched their new search engine called Bing . Bing now replaces MSN live search as it is no longer available . Microsoft Bing has had a lot of publicity for this service of theirs . It has already reached a google page rank of 9 or 10. It has already started being used frequently by many people . SO here's more on Bing :

FIRST IMPRESSION
The Bing homepage is really attractive compared to other search engines which just have a search input field . Bing has a nice layout with a nice background picture which makes it look a lot more attractive compared to the other search engines.

FEATURES
Bing just like other search engines provides immediate results for queries like 10 USD in INR or 1 metre in centimetre


Another cool thing in bing which i havent seen in any other search engine before is that it provides a tab called " Also on this page " , now this can be very helpful in knowing what else that website offers apart from what you need .

Bing also has the usual google like top bar with web,images,video,maps etc. They also have the auto complete feature like in google whenever you start of with a search.

Bing also has the related search feature which again is very important for search engines for better search results as they include highly rich keywords!!

FINAL WORDS
On the whole , a search engine is a search engine . ALl of them do the basic function of providing relevant results . Apart from that BING does not have anything extra ordinary for which people should move to bing from google . I feel google search will still dominate and people will still continue using google search as there is nothing new as such in bing . Read More Of This Post!