Windows 7 Ultimate Beta was just released recently and I thought I would give it a try on on old laptop I had.  I always like to test the new operating systems when they come out, to get a feel of whats coming and get a head start.

Test Machine

Model: Dell Inspiron 9100

CPU: Pentium 4 2.80GHz

RAM: 512MB DDR400

Video: ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 AGP 8x 128MB

HDD: 60GB 7200 RPM

Installation

At first I downloaded the beta package and tried burning it to a DVD to install it.  The DVD ended up being unreadable for some reason in the laptop.  Normally I would try to figure out why but in the interest of time I just copied the install package through ethernet instead and installed it that way.

You Can Only Upgrade From Windows Vista

I first attempted to upgrade but I got a message saying the beta package only lets you upgrade from Windows Vista service pack 1.  I am not sure if this is going to be the case when the final version is released but we will see.  So I selected a fresh install instead. 

The installation gave me another message saying that it detected my old version of windows and copied the contents of that installation into a separate folder so that I could access the files if I wanted later.

The installation took about an hour!.  I figured it was because the laptop was pretty old and already had a fragmented HDD, so I would take that long installation time with a grain of salt.

The New Features

I decided to go through and review each of the new features specified by Microsoft on the Windows 7 website.  I will note any issue I have with the feature as well as what I think about them.  This will give you an idea of what to expect if you decide to try out Windows 7 in the future.

Improved Taskbar

Right off the bat I opened a few different windows and tested this feature out.  Now, at the bottom of the screen the taskbar icons are more interactive.  When you mouse over the icons you get a small preview above the icon that you can mouse over also to instantly switch to the full screen preview of the window without clicking on it.  You can cycle through each window you have open this way.  Interesting and useful feature.

New Jump Lists

This feature enhances the explorer menus letting you access documents and files you previously used based on history Windows keeps of your actions.

Ways to Organize Open Windows

Now you can drag the windows to borders of the screen auto resize the window.  Or you can drag it back down to put the window back to it’s original size.  Drag a window to the side of the screen and it will resize to fill that half of the screen automatically.  No more need to manually re-size multiple windows to fit the screen. 

Another useful feature is the desktop button in the bottom right corener of the taskbar.  When you move the mouse over it all active windows become transparent so you can see the desktop and if you click it all windows minimize.

Internet Explorer 8

The new IE 8 interface looks pretty much the same.  There are 3 new features. 

Instant search is a feature that automatically displays relevant terms when you are searching.  This feature is pretty useful and can save some time.  Things that increase productivity are always welcome.

Accelerators is the second new feature that lets highlight a bit of information on any page, click on the blue Accelerators icon, and choose from a variety of services relevant to the information you selected. So if you highlight a business address and right click, you can use an Accelerator to get a map right there.  Some accelerators I noticed that looked useful are the ability to instantly translate any text you select to a different language get a map to an address and blog or email.

Web Slices is another new one where you can instantly see changes on a website without going to it. Use a Web Slice to monitor things like auction items, sports scores, entertainment columns, and weather reports. When the content you’re watching changes, Internet Explorer 8 delivers updated information directly to a Web Slice in your Favorites Bar, so you can see it right away.  This feature pretty much speaks for itself.  As you can imagine, it’s like having a mini RSS feed for a bunch of sites at your finger tips.

Windows Live

Windows live is now built into the OS which lets you auto install any of the programs you like such as MSN messenger, photo gallery and more right from the OS.  This is very convenient so you don’t have to go searching around the web for all these programs manually.  Again production features that save time are always a plus in my book.  I usually only care to install MSN but in this case I decided to select all the programs and install them all to try them out.

Better Device Management

One central place to manage all connected devices.  Enough said.

HomeGroup

Creating home networks has become even easier.  Homegroups is a separate group you can create to share more photos, videos and other media between other group members.  It only works for windows 7 users.  When I installed the beta it asked me to remember my homegroup password to use to connect other computers.

Extended Battery Life

The laptop I was using was old but I am sure there is better power management features which will help extend your battery life.  In my experience, laptop batteries always never last long enough no matter what you do.

New Theme Packages

 Windows always had a different theme or two but Windows 7 has upgraded this feature to have a much wider variety of themes you can choose from.  This gives you more visual enhancement flexibility but don’t really increase productivity or make things easier.

Control Windows Messages

If you are a technician you are always annoyed by alert messages and nag screens.  That reason is the reason I like this feature.  I would probably go in there and turn off every message windows offers.  Novice users should probably keep some of them on for security reasons.

Windows Touch

I did not have a touch screen to test this feature but I am sure I would enjoy it.  What I think about is setting up a windows 7 computer with a touch screen and make it only for entertainment for my kids in their room.

Handwriting Recognition

Handwriting recognition takes a big step forward in Windows 7. Beginning with greater accuracy and speed, Windows 7 improves pen input in several ways. You can write math expressions, create personalized custom dictionaries for handwriting recognition, and use the new languages supported in Windows 7. Of course, you can also use the pen to just make a quick list.  This was another feature I was unable to test.

For more details and pictures visit the Microsoft Windows 7 feature page.

Obtain your own copy of Windows 7 Ultimate Beta.

Conclusion

Overall I would say that Windows 7 Ultimate is not going to be worth the price Microsoft will put on it.  It just seems like a patch for Vista.  They should just give these features for free with new patches.  I have always been an avid user of Windows, but I have to say that Windows 7 really doesn’t impress me that much.  It seems that there is a lot of emphasis on visual effects but not much more.

Like every product it really all comes down to how you feel personally.  I recommend you download the beta yourself and try it out.

Ok, I could have took more time on this picture but you get the point. This was very surprising to me when I first heard about it. It was not surprising that Shamrock took the fight it was just that he would be the next to fight Kimbo.

It’s as simple as this folks. Ken will most definitely get knocked out if he tries to stand with Kimbo. On the other hand if he does what he is good at and takes him down for the submissions we could see Kimbo in trouble.

It really all depends on how Ken reacts in my opinion. I still can’t wait to see this fight though!

Update: Ken was not fit to fight Kimbo due to cut over eye during training.  Then the substitute fighter knocked Kimbo out!!

The champ is here! Well, the UFC Light Heavyweight Champ Forest Griffen of the UFC is here in California and he did an interview on the KROQ radio station.

They started the interview off by asking him questions about how he broke his left arm during a fight and he replied with,

“It felt like a shock, and I was like, What is this all about? Then I just kept on fighting.”

They went into how he started his career. Kevin asked him how he came to be a MMA fighter and he said he first wanted to be an NBA player but ended up becoming a UFC fighter.
They asked him about the fight with Rampage and what was going through his mind after that punch that hurt him. He said he was making the mistake of ducking his head and when he went back to the corner they told him, “Don’t duck your head!”.

Then Forest told them, “Ya, I kind of figured that out guys.”.

Next Forest talked about the philosophy of live for the moment. Next they told him how he looked like he got angry during the fight but he said he was just frustrated with himself.
Forest talked about his reaction when they announced the winner of the fight. He said they messed with the words when they announced the winner of the fight and he thought he lost.

At this point they took a small commercial break and when they returned they took some callers and asked about Anderson Silva. Forest says Anderson Silva is an an illusive fighter and is good at not getting hit and he should learn from him on how not to get hit.

Next they went into to asking him about the incident with Quinton Jackson and he said he would rather not comment on something that he doesn’t know too much about. He hopes Rampage doesn’t get into too much trouble. They asked what he thinks about Rampage’s truck with the big picture of him on it. Forest said he made fun of Rampage for having the picture and Rampage told him if he got a free truck with your picture on it for FREE would he take it and he said, “yes”.

At this point they took a few callers questions. One guy called in and and asked him about conditioning and he went into detail about his conditioning techniques. One technique of note was when wrestling you should always wrestle with a fresh guy each round. This really improves your conditioning. Forest also mentioned that he has been doing a lot of interviews lately instead of training and he loves it.

Someone called and asked about what he is going to do after MMA. He said he has no other talents so there is no end for him. It’s fight until he can’t anymore. He wants to keep doing it and hopefully make enough money to live off for the rest of his days.

Forest takes 9 showers a day! He says that he wrestles around with a lot of sweaty dudes so he just likes to be clean. He also mentioned putting a small amount of bleach in the shower?! They had a laugh with this and cracked a bunch of jokes.

They ended the interview with a few wishes of good luck and appreciation for doing the interview and that was about it. Most Kevin and Bean interviews are fast paced like that because they are always on a tight schedule.

You know who I am talking about…Kimbo Slice, the Internet street fighting sensation who recently was the winner of the main event held on CBS this past weekend.

Kimbo is a 6′ 2″ 250lb. devastating striker. He is big man and is fast for his size. He has been showing to be pretty promising in the knockout game against his opponents. I think his first test has come from James Thompson who was the first person to really get him on the ground and put him to the test. Kimbo seemed to do really well and was able to get out of the danger of being on the ground. I have to agree with my friend Donovan Carboney, who says, “He got out on pure strength. There was no technique there.” Kimbo is very strong and Thompson was very tired and hurt so he was able to muscle his way out of any ground control James tried to apply on him.

Slice is an exciting fighter to watch. Knockout artists are always exciting fighters. That is what people want to see. Even the most versed ground fighters can’t say they don’t love a good knockout. It is just an intriguing thing to see.

Chuck Liddell had some interesting things to say about Kimbo in recent news. Dana White also hints at a possible fight between Kimbo And Chuck.

Although Kimbo has beaten a lot of people on the street and has knocked out 2 pro MMA fighters he really hasn’t fought anyone that is really good. I really gave him the benefit of the doubt against Thompson. I really thought he would knock him out easily but I was very surprised to see Thompson hang on as long as he did. Check out this fight between Thompson and Aleksander Emelianenko. This fight had me laughing hard. Thompson came in with such intensity and charged at Aleksander like a linebacker, only to get knocked out immediately. Kimbo hit Thompson many times and he still did not go down.

What does this tell you? It tells you that Kimbo probably doesn’t hit as hard as it seems. A lot of those guys he fought on the street did not go down until after many punches. I think that when it comes to professional fighters he is lower on the list. Of course there is always room for improvement. At the age of 34 though it may be tough.

All in all I like Kimbo, I am excited by the hype. I hope he keeps winning and does well, but I think we may see is first loss very soon.