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It’s finally here, a Windows operating system to cure your Vista woes. Windows 7, as it is called, is not really the seventh version of Windows, though Microsoft would rather you thought otherwise. But, regardless of naming debates, to most people — and to Microsoft itself — what’s important is that it’s not Vista. 

This year’s major operating system updates are, in essence, polished versions of their respective predecessors. Apple’s Mac OS X Snow Leopard, released in August, is almost indistinguishable from Leopard until you explore its nooks and crannies. Windows 7 is also not so different — it’s simply a better functioning Vista. 

Windows XP was released in 2001. Five years later, Microsoft created a brand new version of Windows in the form of Vista. 

But there was so much negative feedback from early adopters of Vista that it became the OS many people pretend never existed. 

As a result, the majority of Windows computers, especially in corporate environments, stuck with XP despite it being so far out of touch with the technology of the day. The old OS was robust enough that help desk and support personnel rarely bothered to recommend people upgrade. 

A poll from Forrester Research had Windows XP emerge as the OS preferred by 81 percent of IT departments. 

In the meantime, the onslaught of Mac OS X kept coming. While Mac sales slowly increased following the release of XP, they accelerated most rapidly in the months following Vista’s launch. Microsoft needed to act and Windows 7 is the result of three years of pruning and polishing.

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It seems that the hottest name in tech town these days is Twitter and no one can resist talking about it. From New York to Los Angeles, from Silicon Valley to Tinseltown, from Melbourne to London, Twitter has them all aflutter. What began as a side project by the founders of popular blogging site Blogger.com is now a global phenomenon.

Twitter is still tiny compared to more well-known social networking sites such as Facebook and Myspace, but it is grabbing far more attention than the other two combined. Recently, Facebook claimed a user base of roughly 200 million people, enough to make it the world’s sixth most populous nation after Indonesia. Twitter’s number of users, on the other hand, is comparable to that of Jakarta’s population during a busy day.

Read more at Jakarta Globe

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There was a TV advertisement making the rounds in the United States just recently in which a shopper went to a computer store looking for a 17-inch notebook for under $1000. With some brands and models, a 17-inch notebook represents their top of the line machine with the latest technology, but its size also tends to make it very heavy.

It is almost unthinkable that anyone would be able to find a top of the range product for that much. It is comparable to looking for a sports utility vehicle for the price of a sedan — either you get a new model with less capability or you get a used and much older model. Recently, computer manufacturers have been releasing notebooks of this size, with older or less cutting edge technologies to make them more affordable. Whether this shifts the idea of premium class notebooks to a different plane or it brings a previously limited range to a larger audience is another point of discussion.

Read more at Jakarta Globe

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The battle between the number two and the number three smartphone makers in the world has spilled over to our shores.

A short while ago, Research in Motion and Indosat launched the new Blackberry Curve, the 8900, also known as the Javelin. It is the lightest, sleekest Blackberry model yet. Not too long before that, they launched Blackberry Bold, RIM's first 3G device. In the meantime, Apple and Telkomsel have announced that they are bringing the iPhone 3G to Indonesia.

Read more at Jakarta Globe

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Let's face it, Google is gearing up for world domination. By e-mail. What, you didn't know that? But seriously, the e-mail service called Gmail that they rolled out a little under five years ago during April Fool's Day has really taken the world by storm. It is now one of the most dominant e-mail services in the world. Gmail is available for both individuals and businesses of any size, in both free and paid versions.

For the uninitiated, Gmail offers one of the most flexible e-mail options available today. Initially providing 1 gigabyte of storage at a time when other services were offering a maximum of 20 megabytes, Google now provides over 7 GB of space for Gmail users.

Read more at Jakarta Globe

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In the technology world, there are no bigger trade events than the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas and the Macworld Expo, usually held in San Francisco, both of which happen to occur in January of every year. At least twice in the past, the events ran in the same week, creating a nightmare for technophiles who wanted to attend both.

In 2007 in particular, just about everyone in the technology scene wanted to be in San Francisco on the same day.

What was it that got technology bigwigs and journalists making a special trip that morning from the glitz and glamor of Las Vegas, Nevada, all the way to chilly San Francisco, California?

Read more at Jakarta Globe

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Many of us have become simply too busy to tune in to shows on television or radio. Some people have decided to turn away almost completely from traditional broadcast programs because they have become disinterested with what is being offered. And while some people have made the move toward subscription channels, others subscribe to a completely different media category.

This new category is called podcasting.

Read more at Jakarta Globe

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For the standard Jakarta commuter, getting to work takes anywhere between 30 minutes and two hours in heavy traffic. It is a real drag because you know you will be taking away as many as four hours a day sitting bumper to bumper on the road instead of completing your tasks at work or at home.

Calculate the cost of fuel, the pollution you generate, the effects of traffic on your physical and mental health, and multiply that by 3.5 million if you ride a motorcycle or 1.5 million if you drive a car because that is how many private vehicles there are in the capital city, according to recent police figures.

Read more at Jakarta Globe

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