Microsoft Word 2010 Walkthrough

Microsoft is set to launch Office 2010 this year. The evolutionary upgrade to Office 2007 introduces several new features, most notably, online web applications to interface with your desktop application. In essence, Microsoft is launching a service similar to google docs with a corresponding desktop application. For me, word processing has always been my biggest need for a productivity suite and the updates to word 2010 are interesting. My take is Microsoft is trying to streamline the process of creating documents by bringing a more robust image system into the application. By adding artistic effects, the ability to quickly create powerful graphics, and the option to remove the background of an image all inside of word showcases Microsoft's desire to make word your one stop shop for word processing.

Although Office 2010 will solely be a Windows application the features and improvements hint at what mac users can expect in Microsoft's follow-up to Office 2008, whenever that is announced. There are free alternative such as Google Docs and Open Office but I still prefer the power of Microsoft's offering.

This post was brought to you by Michael Sherlock, for more of my content why not subscribe to my youtube channel?

How To: Set-Up XP Mode in Windows 7

XP mode in windows 7 allows you to run windows xp, for free, virtually on your computer. Although not all versions of windows 7 will support this feature the video bellow shows you how to set-up xp mode in the current release candidate. A really cool feature with XP mode is the ability to run apps virtually without opening the entire XP virtual machine. This makes it very easy to run apps not currently supported by windows 7.

When Windows 7 launches later this year the most expensives versions of the OS will include this option. This post was brought to you by Michael Sherlock, for more of my content why not subscribe to my youtube channel?

iPhone OS 3.0 Beta 4 Video Walkthrough

What are your thoughts on the new iPhone operating system (3.0)? I'm not sure how many of you have actually used the software but I have been using it for a few weeks now and I have a few comments I want to share. First of all, the new 'features' work great. Copy and Paste is very useful and MMS does indeed work. I think a nice surprise was the improvements to the youtube application which now allows you to easily view your subscriptions, new videos, and keep tabs on your content. However, without some new secret features when the software goes gold I think apple will have lost a step. MMS and Copy/Paste have been around for years but have taken an absurd amount of time to make it onto the iPhone. The original iPhone software changed the market forever and OS 2.0 introduced an app store which again changed the market. Although 3.0 does introduce some much needed upgrades it's more of a "what took so long" compared to the innovation we expect from apple.

In any event, beta 4 of the new OS is a little buggy but that is expected with beta software. The HD video above is a quick walkthrough of these new 'features' including spotlight, MMS, and the new youtube app.

This post was brought to you by Michael Sherlock, for more of my content why not subscribe to my youtube channel?

Nintendo DSI OS Walkthrough

A recent post on this blog highlighted the hardware of the new Nintendo DSI. Well, as I'm sure you all are aware, hardware is just one aspect of a gadget as software is just as important. This HD video covers the new software installed on the DSI. I suggest watching it before deciding one way or the other on purchasing a new DS.

Is unibody worth the upgrade?

Apple made a splash recently updating their entire notebook line with the unibody enclosure, crafting entire laptops out of a single piece of aluminium. The upgrade is noticeable offering better heat distribution, a more durable body, and a slimmer profile. Of course the unibody is an improvement over previous enclosures, but is upgrading to a new machine, for this design improvement, worth the price?

In short, I don't believe it is. I have the previous generation macbook pro and I would not upgrade to a new machine at this time. Why? The cost is too great and the gains too small to justify the upgrade. But this puts new consumers in a pickle; buy a new machine or save some money and buy the previous generation. If cost is no issue of course go for the new design but if you are on a budget the savings is more valuable than the small performance gains. In fact, if you are looking at a macbook you may be able to purchase a more powerful, previous generation, macbook pro for around the same price. If you are on the fence I suggest checking out the video embedded bellow. It compares the two machines, in detail, in glorious HD.

This post was brought to you by Michael Sherlock, if you liked his content why not subscribe to him on youtube?