Moving to Solid State Disk
PROS: Dramatically better all-around performance; somewhat better battery life on the same hardware when compared to a traditional hard drive
CONS: Expensive; small capacities
RATING: Four out of five stars
RECOMMENDATION: Solid state disks (SSDs) are more expensive and currently ship in much smaller storage capacities than their more traditional spinning-disk hard-drive brethren. So although 2TB desktop hard drives can be had for well under $100 at traditional retailers like Amazon.com, smaller-capacity SSDs cost much more, usually more than $200 for a 120GB drive. Why would you want to replace a cheap high-capacity hard disk drive (HDD) with an expensive low-capacity SSD? One word: Speed. SSDs aren't just faster than HDDs, they're dramatically faster. It's not even close. Windows 7 installs in under 10 minutes, and on a mainstream Core 2 Quad-based desktop, boots in about 15 seconds.
DISCUSSION: SuperSite for Windows: The Great SSD Migration
Mac OS X "Lion" Developer Preview
PROS: Only one OS X product version; simpler, touch-friendly controls; simpler app discovery
CONS: iOS-like app launcher is perhaps too basic; window management tools are complex
RATING: Four out of five stars
RECOMMENDATION: I've always preferred Windows to Mac OS X, but Apple has borrowed some interesting ideas from iOS (the basis of the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad) for the next OS X version, called Lion. This includes a dramatic reduction in the number of product versions, to just one: Now, OS X Server will simply be bundled with the desktop version and can be installed like a feature. Apple is extending OS X's existing multi-touch features with additional gesture support and more window management functionality, some of which is less than interesting. And the company is advancing an alternative app-launching scheme based on the grid of icons from iOS. Will it be successful? We'll see, but the current developer preview strongly hints at where Apple is heading. I can't wait to see which of these features Microsoft, um, is inspired by for Windows 8.
CONTACT: Apple
DISCUSSION: SuperSite for Windows: What Microsoft Can Learn from Lion
Moving to Solid State Disk
PROS: Dramatically better all-around performance; somewhat better battery life on the same hardware when compared to a traditional hard drive
CONS: Expensive; small capacities
RATING: Four out of five stars
RECOMMENDATION: Solid state disks (SSDs) are more expensive and currently ship in much smaller storage capacities than their more traditional spinning-disk hard-drive brethren. So although 2TB desktop hard drives can be had for well under $100 at traditional retailers like Amazon.com, smaller-capacity SSDs cost much more, usually more than $200 for a 120GB drive. Why would you want to replace a cheap high-capacity hard disk drive (HDD) with an expensive low-capacity SSD? One word: Speed. SSDs aren't just faster than HDDs, they're dramatically faster. It's not even close. Windows 7 installs in under 10 minutes, and on a mainstream Core 2 Quad-based desktop, boots in about 15 seconds.
CONTACT: Intel • www.intel.com • OCZ • www.ocztechnology.com
DISCUSSION: www.itprotoday.com/article/windows-7/The-Great-SSD-Migration-Part1-Migrating-a-Windows-7-Desktop-to-SSD.aspx
Mac OS X "Lion" Developer Preview
PROS: Only one OS X product version; simpler, touch-friendly controls; simpler app discovery
CONS: iOS-like app launcher is perhaps too basic; window management tools are complex
RATING: Four out of five stars
RECOMMENDATION: I've always preferred Windows to Mac OS X, but Apple has borrowed some interesting ideas from iOS (the basis of the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad) for the next OS X version, called Lion. This includes a dramatic reduction in the number of product versions, to just one: Now, OS X Server will simply be bundled with the desktop version and can be installed like a feature. Apple is extending OS X's existing multi-touch features with additional gesture support and more window management functionality, some of which is less than interesting. And the company is advancing an alternative app-launching scheme based on the grid of icons from iOS. Will it be successful? We'll see, but the current developer preview strongly hints at where Apple is heading. I can't wait to see which of these features Microsoft, um, is inspired by for Windows 8.
CONTACT: Apple • www.apple.com
DISCUSSION: www.itprotoday.com/article/windows-7/What-Microsoft-Can-Learn-From-Mac-OS-X-Lion.aspx
