Windows 8 Dates Leaked Amongst Other Microsoft Things
Microsoft, after receiving blistering criticism for the apparent abject failure of Vista, has rebounded and achieved startling sales gains in recent months. Windows 7 currently holds 10% of the OS market after only 5 months, while Vista has managed to crawl up to 20%. Stunningly, XP still dominates at 60-70% of users, showing that until recently, most people have been wary of upgrading.
Microsoft is not content to stop here, however: Windows 8 is already in development. On the MSDN blogs, Chris Green, a former Microsoft employee, posted a chart that shows support dates for current and future products, posted above (dates are in dd/mm/yy). The date to look for is July 1st, 2011, the apparent time of public release. Of course, if you are like this blogger who participated in the Windows 7 beta, that means you can expect to see what’s coming in a future not so distant.
Microsoft furthermore finally seems to be defeating the scourge that is Internet Explorer 6, arguably deemed the worst web browser of all time. After multiple security flaws were revealed for Internet Explorer 6 and 7, Microsoft has started to push its first not-despised browser in a long time, Internet Explorer 8, which has finally overtaken IE 6 as the number one browser in the world.
Lastly, expect Windows 7 Service Pack 1 to come out in beta in June and final release in September. One of the most notable features of SP1 will be out of box USB 3.0 support.
Via DailyTech.
iPhone 3GS’s Browser Significantly Faster Than a Netbook’s Default Browser
In a showdown between the iPhone 3GS’s Safari browser and the default browser on the HP Mini 110, the speed of the iPhone’s browser far outstripped that of Internet Explorer 7.
The speeds of both internet browsers were compared using the SunSpider JavaScript Benchmark. The iPhone’s browser completed the benchmark in 27,272 ms – slow compared to desktops or notebooks. But on the bright side, it beat that of the HP Mini, whose browser completed the benchmark in 411,168ms.
Of course, Safari works better on the netbook than it does on an iPhone 3GS, completing the benchmark in only 3,606ms.
In general, default browsers that come with netbooks tend to be relatively slower than the competitors. Internet Explorer 8 is a better bet than IE7, but if you’re looking for even faster performance, try out Google Chrome. You can download it here.
Via PCMag.
Images via SteveOuting.com and GoogleBlogoscoped.
