Will the Windows XP Mode compatibility tool Microsoft plans to provide for Windows 7 prove a boon to those worried about application compatibility, or is it just a half-hearted kludge to try and convince XP die-hards to upgrade, as some observers believe?

For those not up to speed, Windows XP Mode will be a tool that users can download for Windows 7 that basically provides a pre-configured instance of XP inside a virtual machine. Any software not compatible with Windows 7 can instead be run in this.

A lot will depend upon how XP Mode is implemented, but getting a straight answer from Microsoft is not always an easy matter, as it turns out in this case.

When I met with the company, one question I wanted to know is where document files ended up if you hit the save button in an application running in XP Mode. Would it just go onto the hard drive inside the virtual machine, or has Microsoft been clever and allowed XP Mode applications to map to folders on the host machine?

This is something that Parallels has already implemented in its Desktop for Mac product, which lets Mac users run Windows applications. It means that users don't have to worry about moving documents into the virtual machine in order to edit them with Windows applications.

Has Microsoft done the same with XP Mode? Here is the response I finally got from the company;

"Windows XP Mode is the combination of two features. The first part is a pre-packaged virtual Windows XP environment. The second is Windows Virtual PC, which is used to run the virtual Windows XP environment. Customers can install their applications into Windows XP Mode using typical installation processes such as downloading from the Web or using the product CD. Once installed, the applications are automatically available on the Windows 7 Start Menu and can be launched just like any Windows 7 program. Optionally, these Windows XP applications can be pinned to the Windows 7 Task Bar and launched using just a single click from the Windows 7 desktop."

Like a response during Prime Minister's Question Time in Parliament, this carefully avoids addressing the issue in hand. However, other sources on the web seem to suggest that Microsoft hasn't gone this far, meaning that XP Mode is likely to have a separate file system from the host system. If so, this would be a shame and renders it much less useful than it otherwise would be as a compatibility tool.

I hope to soon have the answer - either by clarification from Microsoft, or by testing the beta of Windows XP Mode and finding out for myself.

Posted by Daniel Robinson on April 30, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (1)

Intel executives started a lively debate on netbooks during a briefing for press and analysts this week.

Firstly, EMEA vice president Gordon Graylish stated that netbooks - the mini laptops popularised by Asus with its Eee PC range - have not dented sales of other types of laptops, and are in fact additional sales making up a new sector of the market.

This might come as a surprise to readers who have seen various headlines recently proclaiming that netbooks are "cannibalising" or "gouging" sales of more traditional laptop designs.

In Intel's view, netbooks are a new category of device used for simple tasks such as web browsing and messaging, rather than running any serious applications. This was despite the fact that several of the journalists covering the event were in fact using netbooks.

The subject of netbooks caused an esteemed colleague of mine to treat one of the Intel executives to a rant. The sudden rise of netbooks took the chipmaker by surprise, he opined, because Intel spends too much time listening to executives in large corporations and so it had been blind to the demand elsewhere for low-cost, lightweight laptops.

Rob Sheppard, Intel's Business Client marketing manager, said that netbooks are not suitable for business use because they have no support for Intel's vPro technology, are not validated for operating systems used in business, and are not part of Intel's Stable Image Platform Programme.

These, however, are largely marketing issues. I put it to Sheppard that Intel could build vPro into netbooks if it chose to. His response is too lengthy to be repeated in full, but seemed to boil down to the fact that netbooks do not have vPro because Intel does not regard them as a business platform.

Likewise, netbooks typically have at least 1GB memory and can easily run Windows XP Professional rather than the Home edition of the platform they almost all ship with.

Of course, many business professionals are likely to prefer a laptop with a larger display than the 10in screen of a typical netbook for everyday use, but given the choice between embarking on a business trip with a bulky corporate laptop or a netbook, which would you choose?

Posted by Daniel Robinson on April 24, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Service Pack 2 (SP2) update for Office 2007 that Microsoft is set to release on 28 April will introduce a number of changes, with the most significant of these affecting file format support.

For customers concerned about file interoperability, SP2 will add support for version 1.1 of the OpenDocument Format (ODF) specifications, enabling users to open and edit word processor, spreadsheet and presentation documents distributed in the latest version of these open standard formats.

However, perhaps more important is the addition of the 'Save As PDF' function in SP2, which means that users no longer have to install this separately in order to output documents as an Acrobat file. This is widely used for distributing documents because it is a cross-platform standard. Microsoft is also adding support for XPS, its own rival for PDF, enabling Office users to output in both these formats.

According to Microsoft, users can also expect to see some performance improvements, such as faster startup of Outlook, improved fidelity when printing and in PDF and XPS documents, and better handling of graphic-heavy documents.

However, SP2 will also include updates to some of the server-based products included in Microsoft's broader Office System. For example, SharePoint Services and Excel Services will be updated to make them compatible with a broader range of web browsers, while the usual slew of bug fixes will address issues such as reliability of large searches in Search Server.

As usual, the number of changes that will be introduced in this update runs to a very long list, and Microsoft said it will have full details when SP2 is available.

Posted by Daniel Robinson on April 21, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)

In days gone past, when Windows contained panes of glass and a mouse was furry and ate cheese, hard drive partitions were something you only messed with if you were pretty technical and usually could only be altered by formatting the drive completely and starting again, wiping all the data in the process.

Over time a few tools have arisen to help more easily deal with partitions, Partition Magic being one of the most well known. Another player in this field is Easeus, a data recovery specialist who developed Partition Master.

Currently on version 3.5, the Home Edition is free to download and use; perfect for my requirements.

For some reason many laptop manufacturers split the hard drive into two logical, equal sized partitions when setting up the machine, ideally to try and keep the data and the applications separate. Of course most users don't realise this and especially with the Windows My Documents folder set on the C: Drive, you invariably end up with one partition bursting at the seams and the other emptier than Paris Hilton's head.

This is precisely the situation my dad recently found himself in, and being 'the tech guy' in my family I was asked to sort it out.

Getting up and running with Easeus Partition Master was a simple process of downloading the 8.81MB install file, available on a number of popular download sites, and running through the run-of-the-mill installation process.

Once you fire up the application you are presented with a simple graphical interface showing the status of the various drives and their associated partitions connected to the PC. One thing we couldn't find was any kind of refresh option, so if you make any changes such as copying files around or adding or removing another drive you have to exit and restart the program for the changes to be reflected.

From here you are given a number of different possibilities on a drive and a partition level.

At the top level you can obtain data about the drives and there are options to copy the entire drive or delete all the partitions on a particular hard drive.

On a partition level there are options to Resize or Move, Copy, Create, Delete, Explore, Label or Format the data in that partition. There are also some advanced options to change the drive letter, convert the file system, hide the partition, check it for errors or set it as the active partition. Where appropriate Partition Master allows you to create bootable disks as well, ideal when changing primary hard drives or creating a bootable external disk.

In this particular case, what I wanted to do was essentially merge the two partitions. The best way to do this is to empty the D: Drive of any data, copy it off to the C: Drive or to another source if the that doesn't have enough space, and then delete the D: Drive and resize the C: Drive to take up the entire hard drive space.

Incidentally, when deleting the partition, Partition Master provides the option of destroying the data as well, which wipes the partition sectors as well - while this is probably overkill for many users, this is good for businesses trying to make sure the data is unrecoverable.

One particularly nice feature is that Partition doesn't perform these actions straight away, instead it queues them up and then executes them in a batch process. This allows you to experiment with various options before committing yourself. In my particular case here, it also allowed me to queue up the partition deletion and resize it as a single process, saving time and extra reboots of the PC.

Even with a straightforward and simple interface like Partition Magic, messing about with a hard drive at this level can possibly mean the loss of all the data should something go wrong, so it is advised to back up information when performing these tasks.

These sorts of changes can't be done with Windows running, so once hitting the 'Apply' button, the laptop rebooted and the requested actions got underway.

Deleting the partition took no time at all, but expanding the primary logical drive from 17GB to 35GB took around four minutes to complete the process. Pretty quick in this case, but if you have a very large drive that you're resizing this is probably a good time to go do something else.

Once completed, the machine rebooted itself again and Windows booted perfectly happily, with just a single much larger C: Drive and no D: Drive remaining. After an operation like this I would recommend defragmenting the drive in order to help optimise the new layout and get the data in order.

I only looked at a slice of what Partition Master can do, but this is going to be one of the most common uses of the program, along with doing a full copy of data between drives or partitions for cloning or backup.

For our purposes, Partition Magic worked perfectly with the entire process taking less than an hour. The interface was simple and easy to understand, the graphics gave a good visual impression of the state of the various drives and the associated partitions, and there was plenty of help at hand to explain most of the features.

It would have been great if there was some kind of 'partition merge' option, however even if it could be done it would almost certainly be a very long process as essentially the system would have to incrementally shrink one partition, grow the other one, copy some data between the two, wash, rinse and repeat. Depending on how full both partitions are, this would be not only very complex, but the probability of some or all of the data being lost or corrupted is very high.

The convert option may also prove very useful to some who wish to upgrade from the old FAT32 file system to the more reliable and compatible NTFS.

Our only other real gripe is that the home edition should ideally be a standalone program. Given that the majority of users are going to be in a similar to position where they need it to perform one particular task and then nothing else - rather than having to install it, perform the needed operation and then have to uninstall it, if Easeus made Partition Master able to simply run without having to be installed it would make more sense. This would also allow engineers or 'the tech guy' in the family to keep a copy on a flash drive and use it to easily fix several PCs.

Author: Ian Williams

Posted by Madeline Bennett on April 17, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)

ThinkGrid is a company offering IT-as-a-service to business customers, including hosted Windows desktops accessed via an internet connection.

The idea behind this service is that companies can outsource the provision and management of a Windows desktop environment for their workers, complete with applications, to ThinkGrid. It could prove especially useful for smaller companies that do not have a dedicated IT staff.

I tried the service using a sample account provided by ThinkGrid, and found it pretty much like using a thin client session, except you have your own desktop that can be customised (within limits) to appear how you want it.

Access is via a login from ThinkGrid's web site, which requires you to enter a username and password. All being well, you gain entry to a full-screen session on your own virtual PC running in ThinkGrid's datacentre.

The virtual desktop looks and feels exactly as if it was running on the computer in front of you. I perceived no lag in either mouse movements or keystrokes when accessing the desktop, but for this hands-on I was using the corporate network in our central London office.

Each user has their own 5GB of disk space with their remote desktop, and it automatically maps to the local drives on the computer you are using so you can easily transfer files if necessary.

ThinkGrid costs £49 per user per month, or £490 for an annual contract. Applications are an extra charge, with Microsoft Office Pro costing £17 per user per month.

A full review of the ThinkGrid service will be posted to our web site at a later date.

Posted by Daniel Robinson on April 9, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)