Category Archives: In the News

Tech news and opinions

Rumour: Windows 7 Free Upgrade Program starting 26th June?

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There’s a little rumour going around the internet at the moment.

If you remember, when the launch of Windows Vista was approaching, Microsoft did a ‘Free Upgrade’ program, meaning that users who bought a PC with Windows XP Media Center 2005 from a certain date (I think that was the case – maybe it was all versions of XP… I can’t remember) would get a free express upgrade to Windows Vista when it was launched.

Well, it would appear that Microsoft are taking this approach again, but for Windows 7. So, if the rumour is true, if you buy a Windows Vista PC (Home Premium, Business or Ultimate I think) anywhere from June 26th and October 22nd (Windows 7 launch date), you’ll get a free upgrade to Windows 7.

So if you are thinking of buying a new PC or laptop, hold off a couple of weeks and wait for the campaign to start.

Here’s another little rumour going round too: As well as Windows Vista preinstalled machines having a free upgrade to Windows 7, it would appear that Microsoft is planning to start the Upgrade Program on boxed versions of Windows Vista too. So if you buy a separate copy of Windows Vista Home Premium, Business or Ultimate, the chances are you’ll get a free upgrade to Windows 7 too.

Bare in mind this is all rumours – Microsoft still hasn’t confirmed what is happening with the Upgrade Program this time round as yet, so we’ll have to wait and see if the rumours are true.

Google release first developement test of Chrome for Mac and Linux

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Google has today released the development build of Google Chrome available for Mac and Linux.

Google has posted a blog post about this here.

It’s not even a beta build so I wouldn’t recommend testing it unless you are absolutely desperate. Google has said the features are very limited – there isn’t a print feature yet. It really is very limited. You’ll be nagged with warnings that the program is not for general use as well, so consider whether you really want to use it.

If you are dieing to have a play with it, use the link above and download it from the Chromium blog. Have a go and see what you think, but if I were you I’d wait for a beta build rather than a development build.

Windows 7 Release Date confirmed!

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Wow, 4 posts in one day!

Anyway, big news! Microsoft has just confirmed that Windows 7 will be launched to the public on October 22nd 2009, miles on track of their hopes of getting in a release before 2010.

This is great news and it now means I’m going to have to start saving up. On that note, Microsoft still hasn’t confirmed pricing details of Windows 7 yet, so I’m still unsure of what it will cost.

But anyway, if you’re one of the many looking forward to the Windows 7 release, put October 22nd in your diary!

3 (Three) Mobile introduces free texts and internet on Pay As You Go

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3 (Three) UK Mobile has today introduced free texts and internet to users topping up. It looks like a really nice addition to pay as you go on Three and has definately made me glad to be on Three.

From today (June 2nd 2009), 3 are giving away free texts and internet usage every time you top up.

Here’s how it goes…

Mobile Internet

From now on, you get 150MB of free internet access with every top up no matter how big or small. You must use it within 90 days.

Free texts

This is how it goes:

  • Top up £5 and you’ll get 25 free texts to use within 90 days. You can only top up by £5 online.
  • Top up £10 and you’ll get 300 free texts to use within 90 days. Top up online and you’ll get an extra 300 texts (meaning 600 in total).
  • Top up £15 and you’ll get 500 free texts to use within 90 days. Top up online and you’ll get an extra 500 texts (meaning 1000 in total).
  • Top up £20 and you’ll get 1000 free texts to use within 90 days. Top up online and you’ll get an extra 1000 texts (meaning 2000 in total).
  • Top up £25 and you’ll get unlimited free texts to use within 90 days, whether you top up in a shop or online.

It’s so amazing and I’m very happy about it. It almost makes Pay As You Go better value than contract now! The best bit is that you get 90 days to use your free rewards, rather than the cruddy 30 days most mobile providers give.

I can’t get over how good it is and am trying to top up now to get my first reward! Thanks 3!

BT accused of throttling speeds on iPlayer and YouTube

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According to a range of news sites, BT has been accused of throttling speeds to sites such as BBC iPlayer and YouTube during peak hours, on their option 1 internet package, without placing a clear warning to users.

Many customers have recently complained that speed limits have been put in place for sites that use video streaming during peak times. According to BBC News, users of the Option 1 BT Internet package will find video streaming site speeds limited from 5pm right through to midnight.

I personally don’t like it when internet companies throttle speeds, but BT certainly isn’t the only company that does this. I use Tiscali as my ISP and I am most certainly throttled for high demand websites between peak hours. BT definitely is not the only company to be blamed for speed throttling.

I do think that ISPs need to do something about speed throttling – I really hate it and think it is very unfair. Most ISPs claim that they only throttle to make sure that everyone gets a fair share of the available internet bandwidth during peak time, but if ISPs can claim 8MB broadband and make you pay for it, then 8MB is what you should get all the time. If ISPs can’t provide 8MB broadband during peak time, then they should either upgrade the stone-age copper cabling we have now or just not advertise 8MB broadband in the first place. Instead, they just rip us off, advertising features they simply cant provide.