Microsoft’s Windows Vista operating system is finally available to everyday computer users, and while there weren’t exactly hordes of people waiting outside retailers at midnight to get their smells-like-a-new installation buzz, barring some fiasco Vista is guaranteed to eventually become the default standard for the Windows world.
Some of that drive will be from users and businesses upgrading existing Windows systems, but a major portion of Vista’s takeover of everyday computing will be through the purchase of new systems with Vista pre-installed. After all, various edition of Vista scale to the hardware resources available on their computer: while Vista will basically run on middle-of-the-road hardware, customers will be wasting money installing those editions on humdrum PCs—so there’s some advantage to using Vista on a system with high-performance graphics and multi-core processors. And we have to admit, it’s tempting to think all our PC problems might be solved by tossing the current clunker and getting everything shiny, new, and Vista-equipped.
Among the PC makers offering Vista pre-installed across wide swathes of their product lines (or even the entire gamut) are Dell (and subsidiary Alienware), Hewlett-Packard, Velocity Micro, Asus, and Gateway—and, of course, chip-makers like AMD and Intel want to make sure you’re looking for their logos when you consider Vista.
Among the notable introductions today: Toshiba’s new Satellite P105-S9337 and P105-S9339 notebooks, featuring Vista Home Premium and Vista Ultimate, respectively, along with a 17-inch widescreen display, a 2 GHz Core 2 Duo processor, Nvidia GeForce 7900 GS graphics with 256 MB of video memory, DVI-D and S/PDIF output, 2 GB of RAM, 200 GB of hard drive storage, dual-layer DVD burner, 5-in-1 media reader, an integrated harman/kardon stereo speakers—prices start at $1,999.99 for the S9337 and $2,099.99 for the S9339.
For its part, PC maker Dell is categorizing demand for Vista as “even stronger than expected,” and is happily rolling build-to-order systems out the door with Vista pre-installed.
For our part, we’re just hoping Dell’s characterization can be used to describe Vista’s security features. And, perhaps the silver lining? If you need a system with Windows XP pre-installed, retailers are offering deep discounts to get them out of the warehouses and off the shelves.
In 1950, Alan Turing asked whether machines can think. Rather than argue over definitions, he turned the question into a party game, where an interrogator trades typed messages with hidden players and tries to work out who is who. Since then, chatbots have gotten so good that they have already fooled humans in modern versions of the test.
So, four researchers from Paris Cité University asked the obvious follow-up question in a new study published in Computers in Human Behavior Reports: can AI at least catch its own kind?
Mozilla is giving Firefox’s Smart Window two new tricks. If you haven’t tried it yet, Smart Window is an optional AI mode in Firefox with a built-in chat that helps you get things done while you browse. With this update, it can fill out online forms using details from your tabs and keep an eye on websites for you.
Tired of typing the same details into every form?
The absolutely absurd idea of putting a touchscreen display on a mouse isn't exactly new. Turtle Beach already did it with its Command Series MC7, which features a 2.25-inch control screen. But apparently, even that wasn't ridiculous enough for Arctic Fox Technologies. Its new Super Mouse looks like someone took the chunky old Atari ST mouse, slapped a touchscreen and scroll wheel on it, and called it an upgrade.
The result is a rather unusual-looking mouse that is now on Kickstarter, starting at $199. And as ridiculous as it looks, some of its features are genuinely intriguing.