Windows 7 Update

I keep meaning to update my progress with Windows 7… but am getting distracted by “other things that need my attention”.

Dell Latitude E4300

One of my team very kindly short-circuited my procrastination gene and handed me an SSD with a Windows 7 RC image for my E4300 already pre-installed. Even I can manage a hard-disk swap

It’s a very nice environment to work in… No doubt this is helped an awful lot by the responsive solid state disk on which the OS is installed. It’s nice that everything “just works”. Not had a single crash the whole time I’ve been using it… no song and dance required with any of the peripherals that I have tested it with so far (cameras, music players, etc.) This is in contrast to a friend of mine, a vocal Open Source and Linux supporter, who was bitching to me about the flakiness of USB memory stick support in the latest version of his once favoured Linux distribution!

Windows 7 (RC), so far so good

Celebrity Deathmatch: Canonical/Ubuntu Vs Google

It’s never a good day when a significant, some would say dominant, company enters “your” market. You will always hear the usual “it validates our marketspace”… but it is also usually the sound of the beginning of the end…

This has happened before:

• Lotus 1-2-3 Vs Microsoft Excel
• Novell Netware Vs Microsoft
• Yahoo Vs Google

Next on the list:

• Linux Vs Microsoft Windows Vs MacOS X
• VMware Vs Microsoft [Thoughts from Dave Cappuccio of Gartner]
• Canonical/Ubuntu Vs Google Chrome OS [Analysis of Google's entry into the OS Market]

It may be that Google’s (second) entry into the Operating System marketplace will boost Ubuntu and Linux in general. However, even though ChromeOS might be initially targetted at Netbooks and similar systems, I suspect that it won’t be long before we see a “Server” version, and more likely a “Cloud” version… watch out Amazon ECC!

I’m sure that people will also point to the vast installed base that Ubuntu currently has, but it seems that Linux users are a fickle lot, and will happily try out a new Linux distribution, especially if it comes with the promise of even more “ease-of-use”, not to mention a “trusted” brand. The hardware vendors are no different… they will all, to differing degrees, support and fulfill a customer demand, following the market trends.

And my last random thought: maybe Google should buy Sun’s hardware business from Oracle
[But I suspect Google has even less inclination to be a hardware vendor than does Oracle!]

New Toys: Latitude 2100

 

Sadly not mine… but some interesting internal pictures of the new Dell Latitude 2100. Check out Gulilaume’s Blog.

Project MacinDell is GO!

Finally got 50% of what I need to start *that* project…

Dell Mini 9 in white.

…just off to PCWorld to purchase a copy of MacOS X.

Eco-Terrorism

I have a suspicion an ecological aware friend of mine, who shall remain nameless, dresses like this when he “works from home”…

http://www.dilbert.com/strips/comic/2009-02-22/

MacinDell

Dell Mini9

The Dell Mini9 is an awesome piece of kit…I have used it extensively with WinXP & Canonical’s Ubuntu, but it seems that itis also right at home with OSX. I’ve seen that it can be done before, but this is an extremely nice full guide to hacking your Mini9 to run OSX.

Maybe I need to get myself an “Arctic White” Mini9 to test this on

Dell Mini-9 ESX Server

No, really. Discovered entirely unintentionally. But this can be added to the list of why the Mini9 is a great piece of kit.

This has got to be the most portable quickest implemented ESX Server ever.
Ingredients:

• Dell Mini9
• ESXi (v3) on a bootable USB stick

Instructions:

• Insert USB stick into Mini9
• Boot from USB stick

Instant ESX Server!

Clearly the 2Gb of installed memory and Intel Atom processor might severly limit the capabilities of this new ESX Server, but I’m sure someone will find a use for it… maybe to physically move live VMs from one building to another, as long as you don’t loose your Wi-fi connection

Windows7 Take 1

I finally got around to downloading and burning a DVD of Windows7 beta.
It was a close run thing, as I was also busily downloading openSUSE 11.1; that’s next

The first machine that came to hand was a splendid Dell Latitude D610, with the following spec.:

• Pentium M 1.8GHz
• 1.5Gb RAM
• Intel 915GM integrated graphics
• Broadcom BCM 4309 a/b/g wireless
• 14″ XGA (1024×768) LCD
• 40Gb 2.5″ IDE hard disk

No exotic hardware… so there were no driver issues

Observations during/post the install:

1. At the very first “Get ready to install” screen, the helpful “Guide to installation” makes copious references to Windows Vista installation
2. Once you press the “Go install” button you have the option to choose a partition on which to install Windows7.
3. Windows does like its restarts
4. I don’t mind, as I like the Win7 logo… I’m a sucker for the shiny lights, and cylon-like flashing bar.
5. Having to enter a license key is still weird for me… as I’ve only ever used corporately pre-activated Windows builds and Linux.
6. Faultless detection of wireless hardware, slick connection to the access point, smooth instant download of new patches. An altogether reassuring experience.
7. The D610 scores a 1.0 out 7.9 on the Windows Experience Index…all due to the rather poor performance of the integrated video card. Doesn’t matter – I wasn’t expecting a killer gaming machine!

Altogether, a nice first pass.

Next up for the Windows7 treatment will be the Latitude XT (first generation) tablet.

[Edit: for handy Latitude XT installation notes, please see the comment from Andy. Nice one, thanks for sharing!]

New (to me) Social Media: Twitter

I have resisted the draw of engaging in yet more/new/exciting social media opportunities… as, let’s face it, I’m sure no-one is really interested in what I may be doing at any given time, and I don’t feel a burning desire to tell everyone about the most tiny minuitae of my life.

However, I have succumbed to Twitter to support some work events. For those who care, you can follow me on:

@DrDanAtDell
http://www.twitter.com/DrDanAtDell

I will endeavour to do my best to send updates from VMWorld Europe in Cannes at the end of this month (February 24-26).
For this event we are planning on using the hashtags: #vmworld and #dell probably.

You can also follow my colleague Guillaume Field on:

@GuillaumeAtDell
htpp://www.twitter.com/GuillaumeAtDell

Between us, we should probably generate some passable content.

Windows 7 & Dell Latitude XT

Windows 7 is heading the way of my Latitude XT. News as it comes in… I’m really just trying this to see how well multi-touch really works on the XT. It already has the BIOS & driver update (under Vista) that allows multi-touch to work in a limited capacity… scrolling etc. but Windows 7 promises so much more!

Someone who’s already well ahead of that curve, is Guillaume, who already has Windows 7 on a Latitude XT2.