Archive for the ‘os’ Category

Windows 7 versus Snow Leopard on a MacBook Pro: big cat’s faster, 7 is better for games

CNET have taken the 64-bit versions of Windows 7 and Snow Leopard for a spin around a 2008 MacBook Pro, and produced a decent first peek at comparative performance. Of course, there are significant provisos to get through first — it’s only one machine, running on Apple’s drivers, testing mostly Apple applications, and the two systems default to different versions of QuickTime — but we can still glean some indication of where the two heavyweights are relative to one another. Snow Leopard appeared consistently quicker in time-based tests, with faster bootups, shutdowns and MP3 encoding, but Windows 7 showed its muscle in producing better frame rates in games and a significant advantage in Cinebench rendering. Battery life was found to be distinctly better under Snow Leopard, but we’d put that down to the underlying hardware being optimized for OS X. Hit the read link for the full testing procedures and more of those old school bar charts — it should get you well prepped for the forthcoming flood of similar head-to-heads once WIndows 7 officially ships next week.

[Via Apple Insider]

Filed under: Software

Windows 7 versus Snow Leopard on a MacBook Pro: big cat’s faster, 7 is better for games originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dell Mini 10v reviewed with Ubuntu Moblin Remix

Dell’s “highly experimental” Mini 10v with Ubuntu Moblin Remix may not be ready for the mainstream just yet (though it is on sale to everyone who dares), but it’s more than ready for the enthusiasts over at ArsTechnica. After purchasing a $299 base unit, they proceeded to take a closer look at just how Moblin fared on a netbook — probably because the actual hardware specifications are the same as always. Reviewers noted that the UI they were graced with looked an awful lot like the shell they saw back in May, though this build was decidedly more stable and “complete.” That said, they still managed to uncover a few bugs, and they were indeed saddened to find that the integrated web browser was downright “weak.” All told, critics were impressed with the progress on Moblin, but they still proclaimed that it has a long ways to go before it’ll be “ready for regular users.” If you’ve been thinking about exiting your comfort zone and picking one of these up, you owe it to yourself to give that read link a tap.

Filed under: Laptops

Dell Mini 10v reviewed with Ubuntu Moblin Remix originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Oct 2009 17:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Michael Dell curiously talks down netbooks, slyly bad-mouths Vista

Michael Dell has definitely provided us with a few token quotes before, but his latest spurts over at a Silicon Valley dinner sponsored by the Churchill Club are amongst the best. For starters, he didn’t hesitate to exclaim that “a fair amount of customers” have been unhappy with the small screens and weak innards found in netbooks, which is definitely a perplexing comment to make when you’re making ends meet (at least in part) by moving Minis. Of course, it sounds like the honest-to-goodness truth, but we digress. The money quote came when asked about Windows 7, as he noted that if “you get the latest processor technology and you get Windows 7 and Office 2010, you will love your PC again; we actually have not been able to say that for a long time.” We’re not trying to read too deeply between the lines, but that definitely sounds like a gentle jab at Vista, does it not? Hit the read link for the full schpeel.

Filed under: Laptops

Michael Dell curiously talks down netbooks, slyly bad-mouths Vista originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Oct 2009 13:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Snow Leopard ‘Guest Account’ bug deleting user files, terrorizing children?

Think your Snow Leopard woes are finally over? Don’t go logging into that Guest account, then. A flurry of reports have surfaced around the web explaining that even an accidental login to one’s Guest account within Snow Leopard could lead to mass deletion of all user files on the primary account, and when we say “mass deletion,” we mean “mass deletion.” The problem goes something like this: if one clicks on the Guest account after upgrading their machine to OS X 10.6, and everything hangs, there’s at least a decent chance that all of your data will be evaporated whenever you surf back over to the main profile. Apple has yet to address the issue (at least publicly), but we’d probably recommend disabling Guest accounts on your rig(s) until all of this gets sorted. You know, unless you actually enjoy watching your data vanish.

[Via Neowin]

Filed under: Software

Snow Leopard ‘Guest Account’ bug deleting user files, terrorizing children? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Oct 2009 11:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Motorola quietly takes one step away from LiMo, looks to Android for consolation

Man, remember LiMo? Amazingly, there are some 40 handsets on the market today based on the platform, but precisely none of them are boasting a profile as high as any one of the Android smartphones also on store shelves. As Motorola scrambles to re-make itself and prove that its CLIQ is a force to be reckoned with in the burgeoning Android phone sector, the company has also decided to remove itself as a “founding member” of the LiMo Foundation. The company recently noted that the outfit was sliding down to “associate member,” stating that “at this time it feels that the Android platform gives it a richer, more consistent foundation with strong support for the ecosystem and developer community.” That’s a pretty damning statement to our ears, but we won’t go so far as to call the breakup between Moto and LiMo official; we’re guessing “it’s complicated” would be entirely more appropriate here.

[Via phonescoop]

Filed under: Cellphones, Software

Motorola quietly takes one step away from LiMo, looks to Android for consolation originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Oct 2009 09:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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