With October only a few months away, we thought it would be a good time to talk about the new Windows operating system that will be coming to a store near you. With a few years of feedback from Vista users, and a big list of improvements that had to be made it seems that Windows 7 might just be the best Windows version ever.
The new version of the world’s most popular operating system builds upon the success that Vista had, and at the same time takes care of many of the compatibility issues that many users had when upgrading to Vista. In other words it takes the best of Vista and gets rid of the problems that have plagued many users for almost 3 years now.

This new version of Windows will also include some great new features that are meant to speed up work with your PC. Some of these features include:

• New jump lists that allow you to access your files faster
• An improved task bar and start menu
• Better compatibility with older software
• Windows Touch feature that allows you to do almost anything with a touch screen monitor
• Support for TV on your PC right in Windows Media Player
• Better networking and file sharing tools for home networks.

For those of our readers who always want to keep up with the latest and greatest for their PCs, and for those who never upgraded to Vista because of compatibility issues, the official release date for Windows 7 has been announced as October 22, 2009. For those who simply can’t wait that long, Microsoft has begun taking pre-orders from June 26th.

OS2 to Windows 7 – A Little OS History

With a new version of the popular Windows operating system about to launch, we thought it would be good to cover how we got to where Windows is today. Leaving Apple out of the picture, it’s interesting to note that Windows originally evolved from a relationship between IBM and Microsoft, and from work that started on the OS/2 operating system.

OS/2, as a visual interface, was released in 1988, and at the time was one of the most high-tech operating systems around. It featured the ability to use a mouse (this technology was just budding at the time), it allowed users to click an icon to open a program, and compared to previous text based interfaces it really was an evolution in the world of computers.

The operating system was the product of both IBM and Microsoft programmers. By 1990 however, Microsoft had released Windows 3.0, which was also sometimes referred to as OS/2 Windows. At that time the Microsoft version of the operating system began to make large gains in popularity, and at the same time IBM and Microsoft began to have different visions for the world of computers.

IBM wanted a closed architecture world of PCs where the company itself controlled almost every aspect of PC design. Microsoft favoured an open architecture that allowed other manufacturers to begin to build and sell compatible PCs.

It was this difference in opinion that led Microsoft to literally take over the operating system market with the release of Windows 3.1.

The world of PCs has come a long way since the days of OS/2 and Windows 3.0. If it wasn’t for a slight difference in opinion we all might be running OS/2 Vista, and in many ways IBM would be in control of the world of technology.

AverMedia DVD EZMaker USB Gold

Anyone into home video won’t want to miss this month’s gadget. The AverMedia DVD ezMaker is the simplest way to transfer your old video formats into newer DVD or Blue Ray formats.

This simple gadget plugs into a USB port on your PC and then allows you to connect common video players, camcorders, or any other type of video output device and then convert your video into digital format.

With the included software you can easily create DVDs with menus, add video highlights, and even organise your clips into one stellar video.

If you are one of those people who has many old video formats laying around the house, you should consider converting them to DVD with this month’s gadget.

For more information see IOGear’s website, or enquire directly to sales@geeks2u.com.au

Gadget Price: $99

Marion (Maz) Simmonds

Tell us about yourself ?
Media student, cheerleader and party princess!

Hobbies/Interests?
Going to the gym, cheerleading, designing and making clothes, going out with friends, and sleeping.

Piece of Technology you can’t live without?
Mobile phone, I sleep with it under my pillow!

What you do at Geeks and for how long?
Customer Service Specialist for 15 months

What do you like the most about Geeks?
The people that I work with.

Recommended favourite YouTube video?
Russel Brand live

Recommended/favourite website?
Facebook

5 Seconds with  Marion….

Google or Yahoo?
Google

Playstation or Wii?
Neither I don’t like videogames.

Laptop or Desktop?
Either! Laptops are probably more convenient though.

Myspace or Facebook?
Both

Apple or PC?
Apple