goates

If you have an iPhone, check out Plane Finder AR. Just point the phone's camera in the direction of the plane and it will tell you what it is. http://planefinder.net/about/

Both the 32 bit Home and Pro versions of XP have the same 4GB limit. The 64 bit version had a 128GB limit. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa366778(v=vs.85).aspx#

Can you send one to the pilot? Or at least one of the flight attendants?

Never say never. Avidyne used Windows NT to run some of their FlightMax systems. http://www.flyingmag.com/gear/avionics/avidyne-pulls-it-all-together?page=0,2 The developers at Microsoft are more than capable enough.

You're focusing far too much on typing and tasks that require rely heavily on it. Touch screen devices, including tablets, aren't meant to replace a keyboard for the cases where one is definitely better. Coding and writing a novel do work better with a physical keyboard (at least for now). Where touch screen devices work great is on many other tasks that don't involve lots of typing. Quick email replies, taking notes during meetings and text messages do work just fine, however it's the tasks like using an iPhone as a remote for an AppleTV, taking photos with the phone and uploading them from anywhere, tracking time for consulting work, searching for a restaurant nearby, getting directions (you don't need a data connection with offline maps), and playing music, all through apps that are specifically designed for touch screens that make them better suited. A data connection does help, but is by no means required for a smartphone to be more than a "dead weight". More and more homes are being built with tablet based control systems for temperature, lighting and entertainment. Maybe this will one day be replaced with voice control, but for now a touch screen works great. Why not cut out the middle man (ie. the mouse) when selecting something directly (ie. tapping it with your finger) works better? Where Microsoft is going wrong is trying to use a touch-centric interface on a desktop where it doesn't really fit. They should have at least provided an option to default to the traditional desktop for desktop machines and left the new Start Screen to devices with touch screens. Much like the Windows Media Center interface was only meant to be used when connected to a TV and was not set as the default.

What does texting and driving have to do with learning to use a computer interface?? Texting, drinking, shaving, doing make-up and any number of other things while driving is just plain dumb. Young adults have always had a tendency to be somewhat naive, and feel invincible to boot, in many things. That they're doing it with a new technology has little to do with how well one learns to use it. I've just about been hit many times while walking to work by middle aged or or older gentlemen yakking away on their cell phones (they often seem to be in BMW or Mercedes cars too for some reason). Touch screen phones are not meant to be used while driving period. This one area that something like voice control may be better suited. What I was talking about was specifically learning to use the phone. Another analogy is watching someone hunting and pecking with one, maybe two fingers, on a desktop machine vs. someone touch typing and moving between the keyboard and mouse with ease. The people I have seen that have trouble with typing and speed on a touch screen phone tend to be using one finger to type, while those that use both thumbs can positively fly through a text message. The problem with your argument about texting and walking is that a neither laptop nor desktop fit in my pocket. Sure, I might have to stop for a second while doing something on my phone, but I do have the phone with me. If you really need to sit down and type up some assembly code on your phone, you are using the wrong device (but then again, sometimes the best solution is the one presently available to you). This also goes for tablets as they are far more portable than just about all laptops, and definitely more portable than a desktop machine. It's about the right device for the right task. One of the killer features of the iPhone was having a map application with you at all times. While there were desktop based solution like MapQuest and Google maps, they aren't as convenient as having one in your pocket. Smartphones before the iPhone also had maps, but they were almost always awkward to use. It wasn't long before people started adding other information to the maps, like restaurant ratings etc. that are great for travelers This is where smartphones shine. It beats the heck out of a stack of travel books and maps like what my family used when I was a kid. I've been out with friends when we decided to go see a movie. Out comes the smartphone and in a minute or two we have tickets with assigned seats. No need to worry about getting to the theatre and wait in line, and all while having a pint or two. Inappropriate use of a touch screen phones at work is not a problem with the phones or interfaces, but with the people themselves. People have always found ways to slack off at work (spending all day around the water cooler, excess smoking breaks, playing Solitaire etc.). Maybe younger generations are getting worse at it (isn't this what every generation claims?), but that is a personal/social issue, not technological or interface design. The opposite side of the coin is the older generation that refuses to learn new technologies and constantly waste time and money doing things the old fashioned way. Something I see regularly. I will agree that technology is advancing faster than society has been able to adapt, but again, this isn't a problem with the technology itself. Certainly touch screen phones are not the end of the line, but they have their place and are an improvement over a keyboard and mouse in some situations. Google Glass is one possible future, though I'm not sold on it just yet. It looks like missed a word in my post. I meant to say desktops will not disappear. They just aren't going to the only computer people have available to them.

The innovation with the iPhone and iPad was in the implementation and having useful applications. Many of the older Windows tablet machines just wanted you to use the same full desktop interface with a stylus and didn't really have any advantage beyond the novelty of it. It was clunky and the exact opposite of what we have with Windows 8 trying to use a touch interface on desktops. Apple went and designed an interface centered around touch on hardware that was easy to carry around (many of the old Windows tablets were massive in comparison, for example). Also notice how Apple hasn't tried to use the exact same iOS interface on the desktop? They may have implemented some of the same features on both, but they built them for the specific platform when they did. As for typing on a touch screen, I don't find it much slower at all, and I find the touch screen works great for most apps on my iPhone. A big part of the problem with typing is that up until recently everyone was still trying to use the same plain QWERTY paradigm from desktops and laptops (and typewriters). There are some interesting looking projects out there to come up with methods better suited to touchscreens. Minuum: http://minuum.com/ Swiftkey Flow: I suspect that there is a generational gap in play here too. Those that have grown up with touch screens and cell phones don't seem to have much trouble at all adapting. Much like those that grew up with Windows or Mac computers and the Internet don't have much trouble using them compared to their grand parents who didn't. Water isn't a problem any more either if the manufacturer wants to put the effort in. The latest Sony Xperia Android phones, for example, are waterproof. I do wish more would do this. The desktop not is going to disappear completely. There is still a desktop in Windows 8 and the coming Windows Blue. We will, however, have more options to complete the task we're trying to accomplish at any given moment. Edit: Missed a word...

You said above that you have both computers on the same network, can you describe this in more detail? Is it setup something like what is described in the Ethernet description here: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-ca/windows-8/what-you-need-setup-home-network If they are already on the same network, there is no need to get into cross-over cables as the computers are already connected. It sounds like the issue is with network or security settings in Windows somewhere. Did you use the same user name and password on both machines?

USB connections are designed to connect a single computer with peripherals such as external hard drives, keyboards, mice, printers and scanners etc. An ethernet LAN is designed to connect multiple computers. They are two different technologies with different purposes.

That will probably depend a lot on how well Intel can improve the power usage of their CPUs. In terms of performance, x86 CPUs still perform better than ARM models and run Windows 8 better. Intel has come a very long way, and has a lot of resources behind devoted to going much further.Another advantage is that the x86 based Windows 8 tablets can run traditional Windows desktop applications. The article below is a good review of the Surface Pro tablets.http://www.anandtech.com/show/6695/microsoft-surface-pro-review

Under 64 bit Windows, 32 bit programs are limited to 2GB of address space unless the application has the large address aware flag set (for compatibility). This is where the 4GB patch comes in. It can set the flag on applications that don't already have it. There is some risk that the program won't handle the large address space correctly though.

Something to keep in mind is that the computing landscape is changing. Once upon a time CPUs were making huge jumps in performance from one generation to the next and everyone benefited. From 50MHz to 100, then 200 and eventually breaking through the 1GHz line, everything you did on the computer got faster, whether it was gaming, word processing or email. However, now that we're well 1GHz, few people see any benefit from a new computer. Most people just wait until the one they have breaks before buying again. This is the primary way the majority of home users move up to the latest release of Windows. Outside of communities like this one, few people actually buy the retail or upgrade versions of Windows (OEM licences make up something like 75-80% or more of Windows sales). Add in the dismal state of the economy in most places, and there is little reason for people to rush out and buy the latest Windows PC. And on top of the above, people are finding that there are alternatives to the traditional desktop/laptop PC. Unless the program you need to run is Windows only, like FSX, people are finding that Macs, iPads, iPhones, Android tablets and smartphones can accomplish many tasks, thus lessening the need for the latest Windows PC even more. One could argue that the smartphone is more of a personal computer than a desktop or laptop ever was. And of course there is the Internet where one just needs a reasonably modern web browser to access just about everything. It doesn't matter what the underlying OS is. I'm pretty sure this scares people in Microsoft. In the 90s some predicted that the Internet would break the Windows monopoly. While those predictions didn't come true then, it is starting to look more and more like they could in the not so distant future. All of this is what Microsoft is trying to adapt to. If they just stuck with selling Windows XP, as many seemed to think they should, they would certainly suffer the same as Kodak did, and the one that Blackberry (née RIM) is desperately trying to fight off. I do agree with those that think Ballmer needs to step down, but I don't think they necessarily need Mr. Gates to come back. He seems quite keen on his philanthropy work. There are, however, plenty of other smart people in Microsoft and Silicon Valley (and plenty of younger minds with fresh ideas).

Here's a preview of Windows Blue, the coming update to Windows 8. Not sure it's going to change many people's minds. http://www.theverge.com/2013/3/25/4144618/windows-blue-video-preview-screenshots

Yes, the actual work associated with the TRIM happens inside the SSD, but it does require support from the OS and SATA controller drivers to run. Windows XP does not support TRIM itself, thus it will never initiate the command on its own, for example. Windows 7, however, will initiate the TRIM command every time you empty the Recycle Bin. Another example is that Intel's drivers support the TRIM command for RAID0 arrays with their 7 series chipsets, but not with the previous 6 series. This is why I was saying that TRIM support is not just dependent on the SSD itself.

Check out Microsoft's Illumiroom R&D project. Looks like the first step towards a holodeck to me. http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/projects/illumiroom/default.aspx Microsoft has plenty of cool R&D projects. The problem is that they don't always make it any further due to internel political issues (not invented here seems to be a major one). You can do this already. I just did it with two computers in the past month, and have it done a couple more times in the past. Including one AMD to Intel upgrade. They could make it more seamless though. http://scottiestech.info/2010/03/17/upgrade-your-motherboard-without-reinstalling-your-os/ Always a good idea to backup before doing this though!

TRIM requires support from the SATA controller's driver in order to work. The current Intel, AMD and standard MS SATA drivers all pass the TRIM command through. Old drivers from these companies and some third parties won't. GC, on the other hand, is entirely internal to the drive.

What makes you think LM wants to get into the consumer market? As mgh says, LM is an aerospace and defence contractor, so they probably aren't interested in the consumer market. It could easily be a big distraction trying to balance the two sides as they aren't always going to have the same requirements and desires. Maybe the former ACES developers working on P3D would like to get back into the consumer space, but corporately I doubt LM was ever interested in it.

Was excited about a new SimCity, but not anymore. With all the problems around DRM, I think I'll give it a pass. Amazon was even putting up a warning that the game may not work.

Few PC games from the same era as FSX do. Most have only added the feature in the past few years, long after FSX was developed.

You can now thanks to a third party. http://www.theverge....or-desktop-mode Metro apps are designed for tablet use and are not meant to be used in the same multi-tasking way that traditional desktop apps are. Even how the apps are closed has been changed. Notice that they don't have an exit button?

I don't think the next version of Windows will be any better for desktop users unless Windows 8 truly fails. They are set on having all devices use the exact same interface, whether it's a desktop, laptop, tablet, smartphone or console. The way one uses these devices differs, so having the same interface is basically going to end up being a case of jack of all trades, master of none. This will also require application developers to properly design interfaces for all categories of devices. Microsoft has had tablets for over ten years now, but they never really caught on. Largely because they tried to make you use the standard Windows desktop and applications on a smaller screen with a stylus. It didn't work. Trying to hit the icons on an Office toolbar was at best cumbersome. They also modelled the Windows Mobile interface on the desktop with a taskbar etc. Again, it was clunky and didn't work particularly well. Now they are doing the opposite and trying to move the desktop to use the same interface as a tablet or smartphone. Then along came Apple who blew both markets out of the water. How? By realizing that smartphones and tablets are different than desktops and laptops, and require a different interface. Mac OS X and iOS share the same kernel and much of the underpinnings are related, but the interface on top is designed to suit the purpose of the device it is running on. Google also picked up on this pretty quickly as the original Android prototypes resembled the Windows Mobile and Blackberries of the time, not the current touch screen incarnation. Microsoft rarely seems to get interfaces right. From reading various stories and articles, this seems to be a cultural thing which won't change overnight, if ever. I think this summarizes it quite well (although it was supposedly produced by a team in Microsoft, so maybe there is some hope).

If you had the source, yes, it is possible. However, to do 64 bit right means doing more than just cleaning the code up so it compiles as a 64 bit program. And then of course there is the issue of third party add-ons.

Check out TFTCentral for plenty of info about LCD monitors. http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/articles/content/ips_technologies.htm For examples of professional level monitors, check out NEC and Dell's high end models.

There are options out there for some, but not all of the expensive modelling and CAD programs. A couple of big issues are similar to the ones that keep Microsoft Office the dominant office package, familiarity and compatibility. Also, most of those high end programs have had many years, if not decades, to add and refine their features. An example of an option on the architectural side is Sketchup (formerly owned by Google), which is probably good enough for many people for personal use. And at $495 for the pro version, it costs far less than AutoCAD, and is a little easier to learn. http://www.sketchup.com/intl/en/index.html On the other hand, some alternatives, like Blender are quite powerful, but have a steep learning curve. Microsoft did appear to be getting into the 3D modelling arena at one point, but then dropped it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TrueSpace