performance
Microsoft says 74 percent of work PCs still use Windows XP, extends downgrade rights until 2020
The latest Microsoft operating system may be selling seven copies a second , but it’s no match for the behemoth Windows XP, still the most popular OS in the world despite recent nefarious attempts (we kid) to invoke spontaneous shutdowns , slow hard drives and trigger blue screens . In fact, a Microsoft exec admitted today that practically three-quarters of business computers still run the nine-year-old OS on hardware averaging 4.4 years old, and Computerworld ‘s now reporting Microsoft will extend XP’s lifespan through 2020 (you read that right) as a result.
Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2 reviewed, premium features warrant its premium price
Another entrant has entered the Micro Four Thirds ring, and it’s Panasonic delivering the Lumix DMC-G2 — a new shooter with similar still performance but, this time, some rather nice enhancements, the most major being a three-inch articulating touchscreen. You can control some aspects of the camera with a touch, perhaps most useful being tap-to-focus augmented by the camera keeping focus on whatever you tapped on, even if it moves around.
Android 2.2 (Froyo) versus iOS 4: the browser showdown (video)
A little while back Google boldly claimed that Froyo would have the world’s fastest mobile browser, but the lack of final software back then meant we’d had to tie up our itchy hands until now . And boy, it sure looks like it was worth the wait — Ars Technica’s JavaScript benchmarks show that not only is Froyo’s browser almost three times faster than its ?clair counterpart, but it also beats iOS 4′s Safari by at least two-folds
AT&T identifies Alcatel-Lucent as slow upload culprit, fix in the works
As we’d suspected, AT&T isn’t intentionally limiting upload speeds on iPhone 4s in some markets where things suddenly got slow over the weekend . Or that’s the company’s claim, anyhow — and seeing how they’re actually calling out a supplier in the process, we tend to buy it. Specifically, AT&T says that some Alcatel-Lucent equipment is causing uploads to fall back to non-HSUPA UMTS speeds “under certain conditions” affecting “less than two percent” of the company’s customers, and that they’re working on developing a fix
Mystery Nokia slider shows off proto-Symbian^3 one last time, commits cellular suicide (video)
We never did quite get the name of Nokia’s prototype slider — it certainly isn’t the C7 , and it’s apparently not the N9 — but regardless of what you call our dearly departed, its journey is over . In what will no doubt be a fairly familiar tale to readers everywhere, TechnoBuffalo saw the phone remotely wiped right before their eyes, and Negri Electronics ( our original source ) says they’ve got private investigators breathing down their necks for the device
Liquid-cooled Asetek prototype redefines our all-in-one expectations (video)
We’ve been moaning about middling AIO performance for a while now, and outside of Apple’s spendy iMacs , not many have stepped up to the plate with equivalent grunt to what you might be able to splice together with a separate case and a bit of elbow grease. That won’t stay true for long, however, if Asetek’s prototype gets picked up by one of your favorite vendors. This liquid-cooled beastie — which proudly proclaims it has the same profile as the iMac at 58mm in thickness — is capable of powering and chilling both a 2.66GHz Core i7-920 and a GeForce GTX 280M
