There is no use of using N280 + GN40 combo if you are using Windows XP

Intel N280 processor and GN40 chipset provides better hardware video decoding and 3D graphics performance only if you are using Windows Vista. This is because only Vista (or later) gives you directX 10 and DXVA 2.0.

Unfortunately, most of the netbooks are still shipping with the Windows XP. With Windows XP, you only get DXVA 1.0 due to which hardware video decoding does not work properly. With Vista, DXVA 2.0 is available and hardware decoding worked fine.

Right now, only Eee PC 1004DN and Gigabyte Technology’s Touch Note T1028 have GN40 chipset. It may be true that netbooks with N280+GN40 combo may offer better hardware video decoding, but the overall performance with a BETA product like Vista is simply horrible on the netbooks.

I tried Vista on my EEE 1000H with 2GB RAM and the performance is disappointing. I will (patiently) wait for the Windows 7 instead.

Aware A-View netbook

Aware electronics is a Taiwanese based company, is showcasing its 7-inch netbook that has a detachable screen at the 2009 Electronics and Components China Sourcing Fair organized by Global Sources. The netbook is very cheap and retails at mere $150. The specifications are not impressive at all. It comes with just 512MB RAM and 8GB SSD for storage. The user has the choice to choose between either Windows OS or Linux OS.

Aware has plans to push their netbook in the emerging markets. That said, they have already made the Aware availbale in developed nations of Europe.

Netbook with detachable keyboard clears one thing for sure that the netboook is equipped with a touchscreen. I wonder why such design has not been so far used in the netbook industry. I hope it does not come with the 3-cell battery like the older A-VIEW netbooks.

The Fair is taking place in Hong Kong and ends today (April 15, 2009).

Windows XP Mainstream Support now officially retired

As planned for today, the Microsoft officially retired Windows XP mainstream support. However, extended support will continue till the year 2014. One would wonder, what are the differences between mainstream support and extended support? Well, there are not much. Both offer (free) security updates and phone/web support to the users. However, after today, any new bug-fixes or updates will require extended support contract.

Also, this effects all the versions (excluding Windows XP Embedded). Since, there are not any problems to be solved with the XP (except security holes), we do not need to worry about anything for our netbooks. However, it is encouraged to update to new version of windows (I recommend Windows 7).

Note 1: If Microsoft releases SP4 too, it will retire support for SP3.

Note 2: this deadline is also valid for Office 2003

Microsoft: 96% Of Netbooks Run Windows?

There is no doubt in the fact that the netbooks have become very popular among the consumers. In fact, it is so popular that almost every notebook manufacture has a netbook under its brand. That is why we completely agree with the statement by LeBlanc who is a Microsoft in-house blogger. The growth of Windows [...]

Windows 7 is going to increase NAND flash memory demand – yes, it is a more SSD friendly OS

Windows XP is already more than half-decade old now. At that time NAND based SSDs were not sold that openly in the cunsumer market. That is the reason the users are not able to make the most of the capabilities of the SSDs while running Windows XP. Unfortunately, the Vista also is not optimized for the SSDs. Actually, the Vista thrashes the disk even more than the XP making it even less ideal for SSDs.

The Microsoft upcoming OS, Windows 7 is totally going to change this scene though as Microsoft claims that the ’7′ is going to be more SSD friendly than the older versions and the users are definately going to see improvements and benefits of SSD.
Having said that, one can easily see substantial improvements in speed and performance by setting up RAMdisk in their devices. The main culprint behind the bad performance of the overall device is the slow SSD which the netbook manufactures generally go-in for to keep the prices of the device down. Setting up RAMdisk considerably improve the overall system performance.

OLPC wants Windows 7 for ARM

Looks like the rumors of OLPC opting ARM instead of Atom processor were true. The OLPC has finally decided to go for the ARM platform. The current XO-1 is very power-frugal and uses just 5 watts of power on an average, which is really efficient for an X86 machine. That said, if the company opts ARM, it would nearly triple the battery life of these devices with the same capacity battery. ARM has much better power management features and also has built-in WiFi. However, the desktop version of Windows does not support ARM processor, which means no XP or no Windows 7.

The OLPC has requested Microsoft to make a special version of Windows 7 that is able to run on an OLPC. In case that happens, this will ultimately kill Windows Mobile as a lot of Windows Mobile devices run on ARM platform. That is why, I feel that OLPC will need a do a lot of persuation to the Microsoft for making an ARM-compatible Windows 7.

Note: Windows Mobile fully supports ARM. However, we understand that Windows 7 would be more suitable for the children.

PE Explorer Suit Review – for Windows Mobile Professional

You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to discover that the built-in file explorer is slow and lazy even for light tasks. But, since the windows mobile is a great and popular platform among the developers, it has great support from the developers and we are not just depending on microsoft for applications. PE [...]

Documents to Go for Windows Mobile released!

If you have been a Symbian or a Palm user, Documents-to-Go is not an alien word. Now, it is available for Windows Mobile too! Documents To Go for Windows Mobile 5.0 for Pocket PC Phone Edition & 6.x Professional lets you view, edit and create Microsoft® Word, Excel and PowerPoint® files, view Adobe® PDF files [...]

CnetX Flash Format review – for Windows Mobile Professional

CnetX Flash Format is a storage card utlity that helps you to keep your memory card in perfect shape. It has all the features that you will expect from a pro-flash format utility. It also makes sure that it stays in perfect shape Installation As usual( and expected ), I did not face any problems [...]

Photoshop Mobile – Upload, view, and share photos

Adobe® Photoshop.com Mobile is the easiest way to upload, view, and share your photos online from your phone. All you need is a supported Windows Mobile phone and your Photoshop.com account ID. Photoshop.com Mobile beta will be available as a free download in September. Upload from the road Have Photoshop.com Mobile upload photos from your [...]