IE7 Beta 2 public released!

Microsoft has released Internet Explorer 7 beta 2 to the public, now with tabs, phishing protection, RSS and more. Try it out, even if you are going to stay with Opera or Firefox.

Here's the link.

More Mac

No one really seems to know if Windows can install on the new Macs. Word has it that Vista can, and XP may be able to. I'll wait for the 64 bit versions though (the Yonah core is only 32 bit)

Well then

I don't think that I will get a MacBook after what Slashdot says, but Slashdot often messes up, and it is hinted that it may be possible to do anyways, and who knows what Microsoft will do, as they are a software company, whereas Apple is hardware, and I seem to remember ads for a version of Win98 that ran on the original iMacs. On the other hand, Microsoft showed off a rather nice ASUS laptop at CES during their keynote, and it has SideShow, something that I really want.

--the_sidewinder

iPod now has radio, in an odd way

Just announced at Macworld, Apple has a new accessory for the iPod that is a remote and FM radio (reminds me of the remotes for the Zen USB2.0!)

This is a good thing for the pod, but now I am going to have to track a bunch of people on cnet that bashed creative on the inclusion of FM radio in it's Zen line, but will no doubt praise this.

Again, I want to say, this is not a bad this, I just dislike hypocrites, even though I may be one for time to time. I would also like to add, in the modern world, Apple does not innovate as they one did, most often these days (though, like Microsoft, they still bring new things to the table, yes MS brings new things to the table you just have to sort through a mess of false statements and newsposts to find out what MS did first), they take tried and tested systems, add their twist to it, a little clear/white plastic and market it well.

I have a feeling, don't quote me on it, as I will probably fall flat on my face making it, but I think this year may show a slight decline in iPod sales, or at least a leveling of their sales. This could be for many reasons. Many people who already have an iPod could be happy with what they have, and do not want to buy a new one. Competing products and services are getting better, some offering things that Apple does not, services that appeal to certain people. Some people have also do not like that they can only buy their music for iTunes (in an online sense, I do not count eMusic, and AllOfMP3 is a really shady business) I do not think that the iPod will drop from dominance anytime soon, but I do think that 83% market share cannot hold forever.

The iMac and new MacBook (odd name...) are the first Apple computers with Intel cores Core Duo) But the damn laptop still only has one button! On the plus side, it has a nice magnetic breakaway power cable, and a few other features that are really nothing new. And, like all Steve Jobs keynotes, he never passes up a chance to condescend to the PC world. The final question is: Sure it's an Intel Mac, but can I install Vista on it? Time will tell.

I live!

What a hectic bunch of weeks, I am glad that's all over.

CES is here, go watch the Keynote speech by Bill Gates, they show off some cool new things about Vista, Bill's view of where technology is headed and, to top it all off, Ballmer gets pissed when Bill beats him at a boxing game on the xBox 360.

I picked up a Zen MicroPhoto on boxing day, and I am enthrawled by it so far. Creative has launched a new webservice and application aimed at getting podcasts onto Zens. (I prefer Blogcast, podcast is such a misnomer) The program is called Zencast, it is essentially a podcast aggregator and sync agent for the Zens. It can remove old 'casts from the player at a preset interval. While still a beta (we love our betas these days, don't we?) the program is fairly spiffy, easy to use, fast and straight forward. I hope they add a few things to it such as the ability to rename a podcast (for some reason, PowerUser.tv has no title) and to set the genre to something, possibly other than what it was on the host's computers, so that you can find it easier by browsing Genres on the Zen itself. Perhaps Creative could add a Zencast menu item on all it's resent Zens to help (like what Apple did on the iPod)

Last item, as you may have heard, Microsoft released a patch for the WMF hole, head over to Microsoft Update to get the patch. Alternatively, you can get the redistributable downloads here.

Song of the week: Ladybird by Ladytron on their album 604