Microsoft has officially launched its customer review program for Windows Vista Beta 2, encouraging customers to try out the pre-release, unfinished version of its forthcoming Windows Vista operating system before it goes on sake to the general public in January 2007. The customer preview program will also be used for future release candidates as Vista gets closer to finalization.
Microsoft has posted a tour of Vista Beta 2 so you can get an idea what you might be getting yourself into, and the company has also collected together Vista product information and community forum links.
The Beta 2 release is the same version Microsoft offered to developers at this year’s WinHEC conference (build number 5384), and if you want to participate in the beta, broadband Internet access is absolutely mandatory: the current beta drops at over 3.1 GB.
It should go without saying, but we’re going to say it anyway: this is incomplete, beta software with known bugs and problems, and plenty of missing features and unfinished pieces. Do not install the Windows Vista beta on any computer system you must be able to use because, frankly, the software could go belly-up at any time, costing you all your data and untold hours of time rebuilding a system. That said, many experts find the beta to be relatively usable, and IT managers, consultants, developers, and support personnel may welcome the opportunity to get familiar with Vista’s features and capabilities, as well as see how the new operating system will and won’t integrate with their existing systems and applications.
If you’re curious whether your computer is up to the task of Vista, you can check out Microsoft’s online Vista Upgrade Advisor, which is itself beta and the target of some criticism, but should at least give you a ballpark idea of whether a particular system will handle the beta.
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.
Apple is less than a day away from launching its highly anticipated OLED MacBook Pro with a touch-sensitive screen. But it appears that the upgrade is going to cost a pretty penny. According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple is reportedly eyeing a starting price of $2,899 for the 14-inch MacBook Pro, while the 16-inch version could start at $3,399 in the US.
"At $2,899, the 14-inch model would mark the highest starting price for a new MacBook Pro model, surpassing the $2,799 Apple charged for a 17-inch version introduced in 2006," says the report. The report claims that Apple is targeting a minimum price hike of $400 for its upcoming redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.
I've spent a good amount of time digging into the spec sheet of the new M6 MacBook Pro (14-inch), and for all intents and purposes, this is a classic Apple "chip and connectivity" refresh. It's not a full redesign. The chassis, Liquid Retina XDR panel, speakers, ports, and battery, all of them carry over unchanged.
However, the M6 brings more cores, stronger on-device AI, higher memory bandwidth on the larger configs, and modern wireless. Here’s the practical rundown of what actually improved, and whether those gains are worth your money.