Now, however, the Windows Team has announced that hardware virtualization is no longer an issue. The new version of XP Mode will run on just about any PC, though HAV will still be utilized if supported.

This should be welcome news for administrators, since it could help reduce upgrade costs — and headaches.

Several retailers I support use older point-of-sale systems that don’t play nice with Vista or Windows 7. With XP mode now able to run on their older Pentium 4 computers, they can transition to a newer OS without worrying about breaking the apps that run their businesses.

The short version: Windows 7 SP1 will pretty much just be a rollup of updates that have been previously released. Yay.

The slightly longer version: there will be other ‘minor’ updates, including support for a kicked-up remote desktop client (using RemoteFX) and Dynamic Memory support. Both of those are Windows Server technologies, so they’re not of much interest to anyone running Windows 7 at home.

SP1 does historically act as a ‘green light’ to system administrators that it’s OK to upgrade to the new OS, but according to Brandon LeBlanc that hasn’t been the case this time around. In his words, “Many organizations are already in the process of deploying and are receiving benefits from their Windows 7 deployment.”

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going back to watch more blocky videos…

Microsoft’s answer is that users don’t need it, and that data detectors are built into WinPhone7 for the kinds of things we commonly copy and paste — phone numbers, addresses, contacts, etc. Is that good enough? Engadget says no, and I’ll back them up on that. The iPhone proved that users don’t need clipboard functionality, but it also proved that they absolutely want copy and paste on their mobile devices.

Apple fans pretended the lack of copy-paste was okay, and many defended their choice of phone against all clipboard-related jeering, but then applauded the new features when they were finally introduced. Will Microsoft be that lucky, or does the iPhone having copy-paste mean that everyone will expect Windows Phone 7 to have it, too?
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Ubuntu contributor Dylan McCall has posted preview images of the new screens which could be coming soon to the OS’s Ubiquity installer. Interestingly enough they’re cast in the soft browns of Lucid’s first alpha releases — and not the Mac-esque color schemes which recently appeared.

I’m a bit surprised that there’s no mention of the U1 Music Store or of the built-in support for the iPhone and iPod touch (thanks to Gnome). The slides seem like the perfect place to make people aware of those features — and new Ubuntu users would probably enjoy hearing about them.

There’s plenty of time for change, of course. These are, after all, preview images for the installer of an OS which is still in alpha. Canonical seems focused on delivering a superb offering with Lucid, and I don’t doubt that the finished experience will be very polished.

[via webupd8]

Sadly, though, it was a pretty cool service. Yesterday I (along with everyone else who had an account) received an email stating that Ghost would be shutting down its free service because “changes in the marketplace mean that it is no longer economical for us to host [it].”

Ah, the curse of freemium. Plenty of users interested in the no-pay version, but not enough revenue to justify the current business model.

As such, Ghost is now shifting its attention to licensing or selling their software to other companies. That might be a tough sell, too, since it certainly seems like the cloud OS concept is something that has been well-received. There have been tons of entrants in the cloud OS space, and you probably haven’t heard of more than one or two. They’ll also be pitching Ghost against eyeOS, which is free — and businesses can host on their own existing servers.

The official missive says to move your files before the 15th of March, but isn’t more specific. Best move ‘em now before you lose all that important data…which you probably didn’t have stored on Ghost anyway.

If you’re saddened by this news, you can always enjoy another ghost in the cloud….over at Adult Swim.

Ubuntu has been the “Flagship Linux” distro for quite a while now. This is the distro most people judge Linux by (and the only one I personally work with). However, its visual style remained constant for a long time, and has been starting to look a bit stale. It’s difficult to convey “innovation” to end users when your product keeps the same look, version to version.

There’s been a lot of talk of changing this, and yesterday Ubuntu finally announced their new look for Lucid Lynx, dubbed “Light”. It includes a new logo (both light and dark), new theme (light and dark), bootsplash, and even logos for the Ubuntu forums, Xubuntu and other related projects. I’ve put up the theme and splash screen after the jump, and you can see more eye-candy on the announcement page itself.New splash (bootloader) screen:

New theme (dark variation):

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Even though the HD2 has a fast enough processor, a nice touch display, and a good enough camera, Microsoft says it can’t be upgraded to Windows Phone 7 because it has too many buttons. Apparently, a Windows Phone 7 Series device has to have three buttons, but the HTC HD2 has five.

Or, to put it terms that Monty Python fans will understand, Microsoft is saying that the number of the buttons shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three.

Five is right out.

It’s not just HTC’s device, though. None of the other phones Microsoft currently supports are eligible for the upgrade, either. This just seems like a case of Microsoft taking a page from the Apple handbook and controlling the hardware experience for its hot new software. MS has a lot riding on Windows Phone 7 Series, and it makes sense that they wouldn’t want to take the blame for any compatibility issues with the previous generation of hardware.

Windows Mobile 6.x users WILL be getting an upgrade, though: to Windows Mobile 6.5.3, just before WinMo gets rebranded as “Windows Mobile Classic.” It will come with magnifier technology, so you can use the touchscreens on older devices without a stylus.

Of course, try as they might, a vendor such as Microsoft or Apple doesn’t really have a say in whether their new OS is a hit or not. They can produce a masterwork, like Windows NT, or a piece of tripe like Mac OS 9, but ultimately it’s how these OSes are used that matters. Would the iPhone be where it is today, without the Guinness Beer Drinking App?

Anyway, as you’re all aware by now, Windows Phone 7 is coming — and soon, by the looks of things! Our perky, equally nerdy cousins over at Engadget have an exclusive video of Microsoft’s new smartphone OS running on new LG phone. There’s a QWERTY keyboard, a five megapixel camera (with flash), and a bunch of other goodies (check the gallery out, if you’re more interested in the phone itself). It doesn’t look like an iPhone-killer to me, but I bet it’s going to nibble at the Blackberry’s toes…

This news comes from the same site that was previously skeptical about Google’s ability to fit version 1.6 of the Android OS onto a T-Mobile G1. Google, of course, pulled it off, and now Android and Me has sources saying they’ll pull of the 2.1 update, too.

What does 2.1 mean for your Android experience? Perks include live wallpapers (on phones that can support them), speech-to-text support, a beefed-up Gmail application, and a Facebook application that can sync photos with your phone’s contact list. Unfortunately, some handsets (maybe all of them, actually) may require a wipe before they can upgrade to this yummy new version of the OS.

The update is scheduled for the second quarter of 2010, and could be via PC or over-the-air, depending on your phone.

If you’re still running Windows 7 RC, starting March 1st your PC will shut down automatically every 2 hours. Your work will not be saved. But you can still use the OS, as long as you’re willing to put up with periodic interruptions and reboots. It’ll be kind of like using Windows 98 all over again.

Come June 1st, the OS fully expires. That doesn’t mean it will stop running altogether. But in addition to the automatic shutdown every 2 hours, your desktop background will change to solid black and you’ll have a message on the desktop letting you know the RC has expired. Windows 7 RC will also fail any Windows Genuine Advantage tests at that point, meaning you won’t be able to validate software that requires a “genuine” copy of Windows and you won’t be able to get Windows 7 updates from Microsoft.

You can avoid these issues by replacing Windows 7 RC with another operating system. We’ll leave it up to you to decide whether that means Windows XP, a fully licensed copy of Windows 7, or something else altogether. ReactOS, anyone?

Update: Looking to figure out how to upgrade from Windows 7 RC to a full version of Windows 7? We’ve got you covered.
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