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Apple Mac OS X Snow Leopard
by Jaycobx
After upgrading to Snow Leopard I was visually stunned, everything just seems to... Work and go so nice together. First off I'd like to highlight the visually stunning aurora wallpaper which honestly just takes your breath away, everything is so smooth and easy on the eye. The transparent menu bar also gives it an extra hint of eye candy ... which is guaranteed to turn heads.
I'd simply say snow is visually amazing, all my friends envy me and I always seem to find people overlooking my dock which I love the feeling of, knowing that someone is envying! Aside from the visually stunning aspects let's get down to the geek stuff, snow allows me now to install loads more applications for mac which I could of never installed without it, they are really useful and just all together great.
I'd recommend snow to anyone, easy to use, beautiful and it will make your friends jealous!
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MS Windows 7 Home Premium
by Kary
Windows 7
I'll start by saying that overall I am very impressed with windows 7, I have had a lot of experience with it on different devices and have suffered no problems.
So I guess this is going to be a story of several parts based partly on devices I have this on and then on the operating system itself. ...
1) Installing on a netbook with windows XP installed and 2gb RAM and 80gb hard-drive:
When installing windows 7 onto the netbook I did resort to using an external CD drive rather than trying to use USB or a networked hard drive. Overall the installation process was very simple, took less than an hour and now I can dual boot into XP or 7, to give you an idea of the 2 since my university fixed their wireless printers to have windows 7 drivers I have not signed into XP and that was about a year ago. I have a 35GB partition for Windows 7 and this so far only has 15GB in use (Vista users will realise why I have included this) and I have office and a variety of scientific programs installed and have had no issues with compatibility. The speed of Windows 7 on the netbook easily matches my optimised XP set up so I am very happy with the upgrade.
2) Installing over a Vista install on a Quad Core, 4GB RAM desktop.
Having seen my Dad have some troubles installing 7 onto his PC I was less optimistic about this install however I had no issues, I stuck the disc in and followed the on screen instructions, it rebooted when necessary and was again done in about an hour or so. All of my programs were compatible so I didn't have to install anything new and the extra speed enabled me to use the more powerful feature of Windows 7.
In comparison to the previously installed windows vista windows 7 is faster and better and easier to use, but if you don't have a spare licence hanging around then it is probably not worth the price tag.
3) Receiving a laptop with Windows 7 installed, i3 processor and 3GB RAM.
Little to say here except that it was all very easy, connected to the wireless without and issues and the only problems I had were with the rubbish that came preinstalled from Acer. Overall I was very impressed with this.
4) General use of the operating system.
I'll start this little section by saying that I have not had any issues with compatibility except with the previously mentioned printer drivers, this has included the usual selection of programs including CCleaner, Auslogics Defrag and Office 2007 etc but also some less standard programs such as Chromas Lite and CLC sequence viewer.
Boot time with Windows 7 is probably on par with windows XP but quicker than windows vista, however when the desktop arrives it is normally ready to use. One of the features that has really impressed me is hibernate, even on the netbook resume time from this is minimal and I am on the internet in no time at all. Entering hibernation is also not really an issue, it is fairly quick but as always slower than the instant event I would like it to be.
I like to customisation that is available, you have the usual wallpaper options but can also choose to have a slideshow that changes at regular intervals and keeps you guessing as to what will come next. The little desktop gadgets that were introduced in Vista are still here and do work better but this is one of the features that is not really to my liking. I do however like the show desktop button and the features that allow you to drag an open window to a corner / side of the screen, this is especially useful when screen space is at a premium.
Not much has changed in the control panel from vista and things there I do like, it is still easy to monitor any devices that you have attached and is easy to uninstall programs.
To sum up I have found that the installation of windows 7 both with XP and over Vista and on a new laptop has been easy and that the use of windows 7 is easy and compared to Vista it doesn't seem to have any problems, then again I had hardly any with that.
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Ubuntu 10.10
by richardbwest
I have been toying with different flavours of Linux for a couple of years now, but I always ended up going back to Windows. Why? Because as much of a geek as I am, I want my computer to 'just work'. Well, finally Ubuntu has matured to the point where it does this, and boy more. Too lazy to read the full review? Well here's ... why:
1. It Installs easily - You can install it as a windows program and then if you dont like it simply un-install it from windows.
2. It all Works - Graphics,Wireless,Video,Music - it all pretty much worked 'out of the box' and what wasn't enable d as standard because of Licensing laws could be installed easily with a one click install.
3. It looks amazing - the graphics are amazing and everything is of course customisable.
4. You can download extra software with confidence from the Ubuntu Software Centre - FREE!!!
5. Its much more virus resistant than windows.
6. It much less resource heavy than windows - when you start up you are only using 400-500meg of your precious ram, not like windows 7 that sits at 800-900meg.
7. You can mount(load) windows partitions at boot - without having to first have a computer science degree!see down the bottom for details.
Want to know more? read on...
More info:
--- Installed applications ---
Internet - Firefox
Mail - Evolution Mail
Music - Rhythmbox
Video - Movie Player
Office - Open Office
Photo Manager - Shotwell
Plus many more....
Getting it:
You can get Ubuntu direct from their website, either as a direct download, or downloaded via a torrent. I chose the direct download and this completed very quickly on my system.
Installing it:
If you are new to Linux, I would recommend downloading the Ubuntu installer for windows from their website and installing Ubuntu as a application for windows. Its very easy, even my dad should be able to do it.If you know what do are doing or want to install Ubuntu without windows like a true Linux disciple, then simply burn the Ubuntu image to a CD and reboot your system. The Cd will load the Ubuntu Live system, where you csan play around and get a feel for it, and then install using the Graphical installer. This is a fairly straightforward process, and you are presented with the usual options of formatting partitions. The installation itself took 30 minutes on my newish machine.
Using it:
My system boots in 22seconds, so nice and quick!
Here is a great thing about Ubuntu. You can install things easily,confidently ad and spyware free, and for free - all from a 'one-click' button! just go to the Ubuntu software centre and choose your category and away you go!
As for stuff already on there, you have the brilliant open office, basically it does the same as Microsoft office without the pretty buttons and colours that were designed to make it easier for a 2 year old to use.
Printing:
This is one area where you have to be careful. Ubuntu still has limited support for some manufacturers (especially lexmark) so if you are going to be printing check you have a linux compatible printer - or go buy one. Otherwise you will have to boot back into windows every time you want to boot.
Gaming and Graphics:
The ATI propriety drivers are not installed by default - but they are available as a one click install and the Catalyst control centre (for those with with ATI graphics cars) works straight off!
Tweak it:
As with any linux distro it is infinitely customisable - if you are into eyecandy I would recommend you have a look at macbuntu - a mac skin for ubuntu - its pretty easy to install (some terminal commands but not too hard) and looks awesome.
Conclusion:
This is an awesome operating system, that has finally come of age. Heartily recommended.
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