A Lenovo laptop that knows your face

I hate passwords. Or more correctly, I hate how many passwords, PINs and security codes/answers I have to remember.

There are passwords and access codes to get into my home and office computers; my cell phone; my work and personal e-mail accounts; my home, office and cell phone voicemails; my online bank accounts; my wireless home network equipment; my accounts with Web sites such as ConsumerReports.org and this blog...

Maybe that's why I was very interested in the Lenovo IdeaPad Y510, one of the latest notebooks Consumer Reports is testing for our upcoming laptop computer Ratings update. Its most unique feature: It uses your face as the key to personal computer security.

The IdeaPad uses VeriFace, a "facial recognition" program installed in the IdeaPad.  Put simply: You register yourself (and anyone else that you want to have access to the laptop) by letting the software "scan in" the faces in front of the built-in, 1.3-megapixel webcam. Those facial images can then be associated with logins—to a Windows Vista "user" account, for example. That way if you've set the Lenovo to "lock" after a period of inactivity, getting back in is as simple as facing the webcam at the top of the IdeaPad's 15.4-inch LCD screen. This facial recognition scheme can also be used to log you into your Web-based e-mail and other accounts that normally require you to type in a user name and password.

You can review how the Lenovo IdeaPad works by watching our video using the player embedded in this post.

As with other biometric-based security devices (such as fingerprint scanners), VeriFace worked well and wasn't spoofed by simple trickery. But this 007-type approach to PC security wasn't completely flawless. (Hint: Those who wear hats and reflective glasses or typically use their laptops in badly-lit places might have second thoughts about facial recognition security.) And VeriFace still requires typed-in passwords as a back-up means of access—which means it is no less vulnerable to hackers and code-cracking software.

We're still testing the Lenovo IdeaPad and will include it in our Ratings of laptop computers soon on ConsumerReports.org. But one shortcoming that was obvious to me and other testers: Its LCD screen reflected light—a lot. Under our video studio's bright lights, the screen acted like a mirror. Perhaps that's so you can better examine your face before telling the Lenovo's VeriFace software, "I'm ready for my close-up."

—Paul Eng

Microsoft cuts prices on Vista

Price alert: Microsoft is dropping prices on certain versions of its Vista operating system, starting with the release of Service Pack 1 in mid-March.

The upgrade version of Vista Home Premium will drop from $159 to $129, although pricing for the full version will remain the same. The full version of Vista Ultimate will drop from $399 to $319, and the upgrade version goes from $259 to $219.

You can already get a better deal on Vista from Amazon.com, where the Home Premium upgrade is selling for $95 and the Ultimate upgrade for $195.

But that's only a good deal if you want Vista. There are plenty of XP users sticking to that older, tried-and-true operating system, and plenty of Vista users "downgrading" back to XP themselves.

—Donna Tapellini

Vista to XP: The world's most popular downgrade

One year after Microsoft Windows Vista hit the market, public response to it has been underwhelming. True, most buyers of new Windows-based home computers get Vista pre-installed by default; but that's not exactly the same as beating down the door for Vista's glitz.

Meanwhile, many techies, IT departments, and just plain home users are either holding off upgrading or actually converting back from Vista to XP, thereby introducing a backward-looking term into the forward-looking world of technology: downgrading. At the tech forums on Microsoft's Web site, for example, you'll find a hefty number of posts dedicated to doing just that.

With retail sales of XP now scheduled to end by June 30, a movement to save Windows XP has formed. At SaveXP.com, created by the IT publication Infoworld, more than 75,000 people (as of early February) have signed a petition to Microsoft demanding that Windows XP be kept available indefinitely.

Here are kinds of Vista gripes cited by people arguing to save XP:

Macworld 2008: Some software and audio odds and ends

Some MacWorld miscellany, beginning with four operating-system/software entries:

Improvements to MS Office. I said earlier in the week I'd say something about the new MS Office 2008. The features are more or less in parity with the Office 2007 product that's been out for a year, now. Entourage plays better with Exchange Server, to address concerns about corporate distribution, and I was assured by the lead developer for Word08 that the "Normal" file, a file that holds all of your custom stylesheets translates fully from older versions. The only other thing to note here is that with Office08, virtually every major Mac application suite has made the transition to Universal Binary code base and is Intel-native. That means there's no longer any need for Rosetta, the built-in code translator between G5 Mac processors and Intel Windows processors.

A new Windows on Mac option. Another interesting entry in the "virtualization" competition comes from Codeweavers, who were demoing their "Crossover" product. Crossover allows someone who wants to switch to Mac and still protect their Windows software investment to actually install and run their legacy Windows programs natively in OS X; no virtual disk image or Windows OS is required. The downside is that this capability has to be customized by Codeweavers for each legacy Windows application. Consequently, the company has concentrated on a limited list of only the most used Windows apps to date, like MS Office, Access, Visio, etc. (You'll find the list of supported apps at http://www.codeweavers.com/compatibility/.) The result is very fast and responsive. If you use those apps, this could be of real value.

MacBook Air: Some closer looks

A Consumer Reports colleague (Joyce Ward) and I met privately with Apple reps Tuesday afternoon for a personalized demonstration of the MacBook Air and other products. It was fun to take a closer look at these new offerings, even if just for a short time.

They say the MacBook weighs three pounds, but it honestly didn't feel even that heavy when I held it in my hand—it seemed lighter somehow. The screen was bright, the keyboard a joy to touch, and the trackpad "touch" software had specific settings for one-, two-, and three-finger operation. One finger can click, drag, or double-click. Two fingers flip, rotate, magnify, or minimize images or web pages by using a "pinching" motion. Three fingers let you "slide" from page to page, image to image. This software utility is currently fully compatible only with the Leopard Finder, Safari Web browser (seen on a Windows XP machine at left), and most of Apple's "iApps." Expect third-party support in the future.

Of course, one of the first things that came to mind when seeing the MacBook Air was, "How's this battery deal gonna work?" In case you hadn't heard, the battery in the MacBook Air is not user-replaceable. As a long-time traveling laptop user, that worries me. I always found having the occasional spare battery to be a good thing, especially on those extra-long excursions.

Apple insists its batteries are absolute state of the art, hold a charge very well, and have a very long life. (The 17-inch MacBook Pro's battery lasted 5.25 hours in our latest tests.) Nevertheless, Apple will try to ease your worries with a Battery Replacement Program: Bring your MacBook Air to the nearest Apple store, and the techs will replace the battery (while disposing of the old one in an environmentally responsible manner). Total cost: $129, the same as a new battery you would replace yourself in other models. In addition, more and more airlines today offer laptop power ports on their planes, and both Apple and third parties sell adapters. So as time goes on, the need for having all that extra battery power handy is becoming less necessary. (It was unclear whether this Apple store program was a "while you wait" service, or a "drop it off and pick it back up tomorrow" sort of thing. Time will tell.)

Apple's goal with the MacBook Air was to design a sleek laptop without most of the tradeoffs associated with ultra-portables. The full 13.3-inch backlit LED screen with 1280 x 800 widescreen resolution bears this out, as does the standard MacBook keyboard and an oversize trackpad that supports the one-, two-, and three-finger multi-touch technology used on the iPod Touch and iPhone. Nevertheless, for power users, there are some tradeoffs: There's only one USB port, no Firewire, no DVD, and the custom battery.

Which led to my next question for the Apple folks:  What if you're on the road, your Time Capsule (seen at right) is at home, and your system has a meltdown? Low odds, mind you, but there it is, coming from a geek who can't be too paranoid. They recommended two solutions. The first, of course, is to carry that $99 external DVD drive and your install disk with you. Another possibility is to install, from that disk, a copy of the Remote Disk application on someone else's Mac (or PC!) with a wireless card. Then you can piggy-back on their CD drive and run the installer to restore your hard disk. Clever, but all you're doing is imposing on a friend's good will—sooner or later you'll have to connect to some physical media to restore your system.

Next up in our interview session was the "Time Capsule" wireless backup solution. Security was my main worry with this product, so I asked our Apple reps: Should I be concerned with potential man-in-the-middle attacks when wirelessly backing up your hard drive? Not necessarily. Time Capsule is essentially a full Airport Extreme base station (a fancy term for "wireless router") combined with a server-class hard drive. It supports all the wireless security protocols found in any other wireless router, including WPA and WPA2. That was the answer I was looking for, but it was still unclear how simple that would be to set up for the uninitiated. It's not normally much fun for those who do it for a living. All that wireless security is well and good, but sometimes to an old school guy like myself, there's nothing more secure than a good honest wire, and fortunately for me, Time Capsule has three gigabit-Ethernet ports included. (See image at left.) But of course, that does me no good with the MacBook Air, which has not a single Ethernet port built-in.

—Thomas A. Olson

Macworld 2008: Preview

Apple goes into Macworld Expo, the annual party, love fest, and religious revival for the Cult of Mac, which opened today in San Francisco, following a year that's had a few fizzles (Apple TV, the first release of OS X Leopard, 10.5), one big hit (the iPhone) and under-the-radar sales growth of 40% for Mac desktops and laptops. The one adjective that no longer describes Apple is "beleaguered."

While analysts don’t see the same kind of explosive growth for Apple this year, they still hope a few compelling new products and services will keep the company on a growth track.

I do believe Apple will deliver. My first clue was this week's pre-event announcement of a new MacPro tower and XServe, powered by 8-core Intel Xeon processors, offering 2.3 times the speed and raw horsepower as the dual, quad-core 3.0 Ghz machines being sold only a month ago. If they couldn't wait one week to announce this, it often indicates they have so many other things to show us, there simply wasn't room in the Keynote program to hold it all.

Below is a distillation of predictions, hopes, and wishes from the amassed Mac pundits and bloggers for Keynote 2008:

Movie rentals in iTunes—Fox and Disney are reported as already signed on and almost everybody wants the "One More Thing" to be—at long last—the entire Beatles collection, made available at the iTunes Music Store (iTMS). (If that happens, no one will be crying over the loss of Universal.)

Improvements to iPhone: A 16GB, 3G model, with no limits on cell service provider—we can certainly dream, can't we? Also rumored is an iPhone SDK (software development kit), which would mean that there would be a market for third-party software. We might even see a demo of 3rd-party apps—something developers were clamoring for most of last year.

Office 2008—slam-dunk #2, as Amazon is already taking pre-orders. I expect someone from Microsoft will make the official announcement during the Keynote. (I'll write more on Office later in the week, when I get to see it for real.)

Leopard 10.5.2—this is almost a slam-dunk, as the Developers Cut is already making the rounds. There are at least 75 fixes and feature additions in the works, and this would be a perfect time to announce their deployment.

New Cinema displays with touch-screen and built-in webcam—possibly 24-, 27- and 30-inch models, an upgrade that is long overdue.

Blu-ray drives in some Macs—a rumor that is growing some legs, now that Blu-Ray seems to be winning the format war, and there is going to be a growing need to handle HD content.

Ultraslim notebook/touch tablet—this is the biggest rumor to make the rounds, and highly likely: Apple fills out its laptop line with an ultra-thin notebook, running on flash memory instead of a hard drive, sporting a 12-13 inch touch screen, which could possibly fold over to become a tablet Mac.

Final Cut Studio update—not likely, but definitely overdue, considering the plethora of new digital camcorders that have hit the market

Apple TV "2.0"—look for a "reboot" of this product, with new features, more storage, and built-in compatibility with iTMS movie-rental.

If you are not attending this year, here is a link to sites offering live blogging of the Keynote (SFW). Stay tuned!

—Thomas A. Olson

Thomas Olson, the Publishing Systems Administrator for Consumer Reports' Editorial, Design, Production and Pre-Press groups, has been a Mac enthusiast since 1984.

 

OS X Gets a Facelift, and Lots More

It's been two years since Apple last updated its Mac operating system, OS X. But today the company launches version 10.5, popularly known as Leopard.

Is it a must-have? As anyone with a Mac knows, OS X is already a well-evolved, secure operating system. Though Apple would like everyone with a compatible Mac to plunk down the $130 Leopard costs, you don’t absolutely need to if you already have Tiger, the version that came before Leopard.

Related information from Consumer Reports:

• Review: Apple's latest iMacs
• Buying Advice: How to choose an operating system
• The best laptops and desktops
• Buying advice: Desktop PCs & Mac computers

On the other hand, there are more than 300 new features in Leopard, some of them significant. Here are several of the most notable:

Desktop updates:

• The most visible change is to the Dock, OS X's program-launcher and taskbar. (See image at right. Click on it for a closer look.)  Leopard perches the Dock's icons on a reflective, 3-dimensional "shelf." This little tweak goes a long way toward making the desktop look neater.
• The Spaces feature lets you create several virtual desktops based, for example, on different projects you're working on. You can easily switch among the desktops, view them all at once, and can drag items between them or change their order.
• The main Apple menu bar gains semi-transparent menus and windows cast more-diffuse shadows on objects behind them, making them look like they’re floating.

Enhanced user interface:

• Leopard provides a new and intuitive visual access to folders in the Dock called Stacks. Your downloads and documents folders are there, and you can add others. Clicking a Stack fans out its contents and lets you choose a file with one click. (See image at right. Click on it for a closer look.)

Adobe gives Photoshop and Premiere Elements a facelift

Adobe recently updated its two popular consumer-based software packages. The new versions are known as Photoshop Elements 6 (image editing) and Premiere Elements 4 (video editing). The previous version of the image-editing package, Photoshop Elements 5, was one of the top performers in our Ratings of photo editing software packages (available to ConsumerReports.org subscribers). Each costs about $100 and together, as a bundle, they cost about $150. Both are available now in stores and online.

These applications are alternatives to Adobe's more professional versions, Photoshop CS3, and Premiere Pro CS3, both of which can be quite intimidating for the novice.

Related stories:

• Buying Advice: photo editing software
• Ratings: photo editing software
• Ratings: Digital cameras

XP’s Encore

XP loyalists take heart -- if you’ve been hesitant about buying a new system because you don’t want Vista, take a look at Dell’s Web site. The company is offering four Inspiron and two Dimension models with XP as an optional operating system. Gamers or others looking for high-end systems will find XP on a few XPS systems.

Since the launch of Vista, several manufacturers did keep a few XP PCs on hand, but they were oriented toward business users. Dell is the first we’ve seen with consumer systems. The XP-based Inspirons are the 1405, 1501, 1505, and 1705; the Dimensions are the E520 and E521; the XPS systems are the 710s. You can choose from XP Home and XP Pro for the Dimensions and Inspirons; the XPS 710s also let you purchase XP Media Center Edition.

You have to dig around to actually find the systems. From the Home & Home Office Notebook/Desktop shopping page, look for the logo on the right side of the page that asks, “Still looking for XP?”; or go to Dell’s Ideas in Action page, which is where Dell announced the program. It has links to the Inspiron and Dimension models.

The company says it made the decision based on extensive customer feedback. The lesson: If you want something, speak up. You just might be heard.

-- Donna Tapellini

Update now to avoid daylight-saving time hassles

You probably didn’t expect to hear about Y2K in Y2007, but as the United States faces its first year of starting daylight-saving time three weeks early, we’re seeing many references by press and analysts to an impending "miniY2K."

The 2005 Energy Policy Act changes daylight-saving time (DST) to the second Sunday in March instead of the first Sunday in April, so you’ll be setting your clocks ahead at 2 a.m. on March 11. (On the other side, DST ends the first Sunday in November instead of the last Sunday in October.)

You should easily be able to prevent your own miniY2K with a few simple preparations. For home computer users, Microsoft has taken care of the fixes you’ll need for your operating system — just make sure you have Automatic Updates turned on, or are using Windows Vista (which does updates without any need to take action on your part). Or you can download the DST update for your PC yourself. Go to Microsoft's Daylight Saving Time Help and Support Center, select the operating system you use, and download the patch.

If you’re using Microsoft Outlook, you’ll need an additional patch for your calendar. You can find information on that fix, called the Time Zone Data Update Tool. Microsoft recommends this patch even if you're using Office 2007.

Macintosh users can pick up the OS X DST update.

Finally, this Web site aggregates patches from a variety of hardware and software providers.

Oh yes, don’t forget about your cell phone, DVD clock, stove, and other appliances. We’ve got additional “timely” advice in this post on our Home & Yard Blog.

— Donna Tapellini

How to keep your new Vista PC safe

If you’ve installed Vista on your PC or are planning to do so, it’s important to update your security software as well. In fact, if you have a current subscription to security software, check your vendor’s Web site to make sure there is a Vista version currently available—not all the security-software vendors have Vista software ready.

Although Vista is being touted as a more secure operating system, you still need to take additional steps to protect your data. For starters, you don’t get antivirus software with Vista. The antispyware bundled free with it, Windows Defender (we tested the beta version last summer), did not score as well as other programs.

Different providers are using different methods to help their subscribers keep up to date. In addition, how you do so will depend on whether you’ve bought a new PC with Vista installed or upgraded your old computer with Vista. Keep in mind that if you bought a new PC and want to transfer a subscription from your older system, you’ll probably have to remove the software from the old PC first, and you’ll most likely need a key number to get the new version. If you’re upgrading a current PC to Vista, some vendors, including Symantec, recommend updating your security software before you switch to Vista.

Here’s the latest from a sampling of security-software providers:

BitDefender
BitDefender Antivirus 10, Antivirus Plus 10, and Internet Security 10 are all Vista-compatible and free to current subscribers. Check the site at http://promo.bitdefender.com/vista.php.

Computer Associates
The only CA product currently Vista-ready is its antivirus software. Antispam should be available mid-February, and others will follow during the month of March. Check the CA Web site at http://home3.ca.com/stcontent/vistaready/index.aspx for the latest additions and update instructions.

F-Secure
F-Secure currently has beta versions available for its Internet security suite as well as its antivirus software. Final products will be available online in May and in stores in June. Subscribers will be eligible for free upgrades. For more info, go to http://www.f-secure.com/vista/consumers/.

Kaspersky
Kaspersky’s Anti-Virus and Internet Security are both available for Vista. Current subscribers can download them free at http://usa.kaspersky.com/vista/.

McAfee
You need to be a subscriber of the 2007 version of any McAfee software if you want to run it on Vista. Upgrades to the Vista-compatible versions are free to current subscribers.

If you’re a McAfee user who bought a new Vista PC, uninstall the McAfee software from your old system if you want to use it on your new one. Then log on (using the e-mail address and password you set up when you originally bought the software) to http://us.mcafee.com/root/myaccount.asp to download a Vista version for your new system.

For McAfee subscribers who upgrade their existing system to Vista, McAfee software will automatically upgrade to a Vista-compatible version. The exception: subscribers who manually install McAfee updates will have to download the Vista upgrade themselves.

Symantec
Norton Internet Security 2006/2007, Norton AntiVirus 2006/2007, and Norton Confidential are all available for Vista. The Symantec site at http://www.symantec.com/home_homeoffice/themes/vista/compatibility.jsp has more information on Vista-compatible products.

Users who subscribe to the 2007 versions of Internet Security and AntiVirus should uninstall the old Norton software and download the trialware from Symantec’s Web site. You’ll need your product key (available in your Norton Account, the CD-ROM sleeve, or the confirmation e-mail if purchased online). The trialware will automatically be converted to an activated product with your remaining subscription. If you have the 2006 versions of those products, go to www.symantec.com/07upgrade for an assisted upgrade.

Trend Micro
Trend Micro Internet Security 2007 (formerly PC-cillin), Trend Micro AntiVirus plus AntiSpyware 2007, and Trend Micro HouseCall all work with Vista. If you are currently subscribed to Trend Micro Internet Security PC-cillin 2005/2006/2007, go to http://esupport.trendmicro.com/support/viewxml.do?ContentID=EN-1034344 for instructions on how to change to the Vista software.

Zone Alarm
Zone Alarm products are not currently Vista-compatible. A company spokesperson says a beta should be available for ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite in the next couple of weeks, with the final product likely being released in April. ZoneAlarm subscribers will be able to upgrade free when it’s available.

-- Donna Tapellini

Windows Vista's firewall: cracked plaster?

We've just confirmed what some bloggers have been telling savvy users: Microsoft Windows Vista's outbound firewall is not very effective out of the box.

Windows Vista, according to Microsoft's features list, has a greatly-improved Internet firewall that can block both inbound and outbound unauthorized communication. (XP's firewall only blocked inbound.) The importance of outbound blocking is made clear by looking at the growing number of "zombie" PCs on the Internet, linked in "botnets" controlled by spammers and other miscreants to send out thousands of spam messages, act as servers for criminals, or steal personal information.

A good outbound firewall must assume that a "Trojan horse" program — one that sends an "I'm here, ready to be controlled" message to an attacker — might get on the PC through some unprotected breach, such as software downloaded from a shady website, a USB thumb drive, or another PC on a home network. With that assumption, the firewall should block communications from any program that's not in its list of known, trusted programs, notifying the user that a new program is trying to "reach out" to another computer, and asking the user to explicitly allow or deny it to do so, hopefully supplying enough information to let the user figure out if it's a good or a bad program.

Vista's outbound firewall has no mechanism for this. The only way you can block a bad program is to know it's there (unlikely in the case of a Trojan horse), know its exact name and where it is on your hard drive, then go into an obscure interface in Vista's Computer Administration Control Panel and enter that information. If a malicious program renames or relocates itself (common in the case of malware), your blocking will be rendered ineffective. Vista doesn’t warn you of any of this.

The best firewalls use two built-in lists of programs — those that are OK to allow outbound communications, and others that are definitely not: keyloggers, dialers, mailers, spambots and the like. At the least, a firewall should block any new program it doesn't know about and give the user some help in setting up a rule to block or allow it. Vista's firewall fails this basic requirement.

So, even for Vista users, our usual computer security advice stands: For an extra measure of security, especially where others may use your PC or home network, use a third-party firewall. Most of the major security software companies offer firewalls, or suites containing a firewall. If you use one, be sure to turn off Vista's firewall, as the two may conflict.

— Dean Gallea

Macworld: Gadgets, lawsuits, and Microsoft's micro-presentation

When you attend a show like Macworld, it's very unlike the CES experience because there is a different focus. Despite the Apple name change, and the firm's gaining ground in the consumer electronics market, the Macworld Conference itself is still very much about software — innovative, creative application solutions for office, home and play. This is what one sees most on the show floor at Moscone Center, lean and hungry developers vying shoulder-to-shoulder with established software giants for the Mac consumer's dollar. Then, of course, come the hardware peripherals and the "accessories" for Apple products, from Mac hardware "modding" (see picture) to protective cases for your iPods, to designer bags to carry them all. There's tech books, there's food, there's even a place to get a massage. "Gadgets", as we've come to understand them, are fewer in number here than at a trade show like CES (unless of course you think an external hot-swappable 4-disk mini-RAID unit counts as a "gadget" — I might). But with diligence, one does run across the occasional gem.

However, with all the news late yesterday and much of today being dominated by Cisco's lawsuit against Apple over trademark infringement, I spent my morning yesterday asking the Mac faithful their collective take on the whole business. There were people stopping by the Mac user groups tables and other public areas only too happy to talk with me. Most of those I spoke to, however, barely suppressed a yawn over the story. To them, lawsuits come and go; it seems to come with Apple's territory (remember "Rendezvous" that later had to become "Bonjour?"). While many were willing to concede a legal point or two to Cisco, I sensed no general hostility toward the company. But would anything blow up in Steve Jobs' face? Probably not, opined most. There would be some more legal posturing and press releases, then the back-room dealing would begin anew, papers would be signed, some money might change hands, and it all quietly goes away. If Steve ends up renaming the thing, he'll make everybody think that was his idea all along, another example of the Jobs Reality Distortion Field.

The Gates of Vista

No Consumer Electronics Show would be complete without Microsoft's annual dog-and-pony show, in the form of a keynote by none other than Chairman Bill Gates. On Sunday evening, the lines began to form hours before they opened the Venetian's huge ballroom to media and exhibitors.

Gates' presentation was peppered with phrases like "the digital decade" and "connected experiences", with Vista — Microsoft's new version of Windows, due January 30 — taking center stage, poised to provide "the key element that's missing" to tie home computing to entertainment and mobile information, because "they've got to work together!"

But none of that is new: Microsoft has been trying to promote its vision of a Windows-centered, highly-connected lifestyle for years. Vista is now the vehicle that the company hopes people will use to "connect up to services" — Microsoft-speak for subscription-based products offered by them or by "partners." Microsoft's Justin Hutchinson showed a couple examples: Office Live — an online workgroup communications service aimed at businesses — allowed him to "roll back" a Word document to a previous version. Audience members chuckled as he said, "it's better than going back in time," an obvious reference to Apple's expected introduction at this week's MacWorld of "Time Machine," a roll-back scheme to be included in Mac OS 10.5 "Leopard." Hutchinson then used some "rich" (a favorite Microsoft adjective) photo editing tools to add life to an illustration, and linked an address to a Windows Live satellite mapping website that allowed a cool 3-D "flyover" of the Las Vegas strip.

Those things are incidental to Vista, though. So what things were revealed about Vista itself that we hadn't seen yet? Well, Ultimate Extras, for one. These are applets that will be downloadable — presumably for free — by purchasers of Windows Vista Ultimate, the fanciest version of the OS. One, called "Groupshot," allows users to easily merge the best parts of two similar, but imperfect photos into one ideal one. Another lets you use a full-motion movie clip — not just a still picture — as your Windows desktop background. Whether these treats will entice consumers to pay the steep additional price for Ultimate remains to be seen.

Gates introduced a new product called "Windows Home Server", a network-connected box looking like a small desktop computer containing a lot — maybe terabytes — of storage managed by a special version of Windows. The idea is that the box will store all the content — music, pictures, video — a household wants to share among its PCs and media players, as well as a managed backup of all users' documents and data files. This could be a useful extension of simpler network drives, such as those we reported on a few months ago. HP is slated to be first to market, with its HP Media Smart Server scheduled for release in the second half of this year.

We waded through a heap of glowing demos of "connected entertainment," which Gates said that consumers want (so it must be true). We did see a clip of the new Halo 3 computer game that demonstrated impressive physics (gamer parlance for the realism in the motion and interaction of moving objects) using the new DirectX 10 programming interface now beginning to be supported by new graphics processors under Vista.

Finally, as is his trademark, Gates walked us though a fanciful "home of the future" in which cookie recipes are projected on a kitchen counter in response to plopping down an RFID-chipped bag of flour, and an entire bedroom wall is changed on command from a seashore to a racetrack to grandma's wallpaper, complete with a clock and a hanging picture in motion. Quite far in the future, we'd say, in contrast to Vista, which will be here this month.

— Dean Gallea

Technorati tags: gates, microsoft, vista, ces, windows

Macworld Expo 2007 preview

The new banner on the Apple web page reads, “The first 30 years were just the beginning. Welcome to 2007.” Thus we begin the annual Macworld Expo at Moscone Center in San Francisco, with perhaps a feeling of just a little extra expectation.

The tone for the Conference and Expo, as always, is set by the Steve Jobs Keynote address, on Tuesday, where Apple’s CEO lays out the course for the company’s product line for the ensuing 12 months. As this year’s keynote has been extended to a full two hours, many have theorized that Apple may be planning to enter new markets, and announce new products or services in that regard. As usual, in ramping up for this event, Mac bloggers and professional digerati alike fall all over themselves trying to best predict what hot new things Apple might astound the world with this year. Fortunately, I read all this material, so you wouldn’t have to, and hopefully mined the best of it. Below is what I feel to be the best collective estimate as to what may be announced at Tuesday’s Keynote:

Sales figures: According to Goldman Sachs, Apple Computer is likely to announce that, during first quarter 2007 (which just ended December 31st), there were sales of 1.8 million Macs - 1.1 million of which were notebooks. If iPod and iTunes Music Store figures follow proportional upward trends, Apple will have had a very profitable holiday season.

iTMS expansion: The ITunes Music Store may expand its available film library with the addition of more movie studios. There may be a direct link via iTV

iTV: A potential challenge to Windows Media Center, this $299 device is a living room appliance that connects your digital media content with your television. We may expect a demo and a ship date, if it’s not actually available the day of the show.

OS X Leopard: The newest version of Apple’s flagship OS was actually previewed to developers last summer, so we should expect at least a ship date, and a demo of all the features introduced earlier (Time Machine, Spaces, Core Animation), plus perhaps some “secret features” they’ve been keeping under wraps.

Video iPod: There is a lot of expectation for a new, full-video iPod, with a larger screen, a new form factor, and perhaps a new touch-screen interface, although there have been doubts expressed as to whether this product will be available during Macworld itself.

New desktop displays: Overdue for an update, they would presumably be larger, brighter, and sport built-in iSight cameras, so desktop users can have the same videoconferencing capability as their MacBook Pro carrying brethren.

8-core Mac Pro: While it is known that there is a new 8-core chip for high-end Mac Pro towers under development, it may not be ready before spring. While this will initially appeal to a relatively small market of high-end digital imaging pros, a demo of the raw horsepower would nevertheless make the Keynote crowd ooooh and aaaaah appreciatively.

 Application upgrades: Figure on an “iLife 2007” update with some feature additions as a near certainty. But the real news will be if an upgrade to Apple's “iWork” suite includes a long-awaited spreadsheet and perhaps a database application. If this included universal translation of the most common document formats, it would put Microsoft’s Mac Business Unit in the hot seat for failing to ship a Mac version of MS Office 2007 when the Windows version ships at the end of this month. Expect as well a demo and a ship date for Adobe’s CS3 suite of products, with lots of new features and a Universal binary for Intel and PowerPC-based Macs.

One More Thing: While an Apple-branded digital Swiss Army Knife, including iPod, iTunes, cell phone, PDA, and probably a corkscrew, has been anticipated and wished for by the Apple faithful for several years, this year seems to be the closest yet to seeing that reality, according to the various oddsmakers. To give it the “must-have wow-factor,” though, it would require something that’s either transformational or very “disruptive” in terms of its functions or its distribution and marketing models.

Although Apple will undoubtedly show a lot of great — and profitable — products on tap, and the company was named “Marketer of the Year” in 2006, not everything has been rosy of late. With a shareholder lawsuit over the recent stock option scandal, a second suit filed last week over the proprietary iPod-iTunes link, and a hacker group promising an “Apple bug a day” throughout January (followed by another coder promising a month of daily bug fixes), Steve Jobs probably feels fortunate that his Keynote programs don’t include a question and answer period.

— Thomas A. Olson 

Technorati tags: apple, macworld, ipod, iphone, ilife, osx, os x, leopard, macbook, imac, itunes, itv, isight

PCs: Vista news expected at CES

Both Microsoft, which makes the operating systems used in most personal computers, and Apple, which provides its own OS for its Mac computers, will be rolling out new operating systems this year. CR's Tom Olson will be sharing his expectations for Apple's upcoming OS X 10.5 Leopard, which will likely be a centerpiece of MacWorld next week.

Here’s what I’ll be watching for at CES, where Windows Vista, the new Microsoft OS, promises to be among the big stories:

• Hybrid hard drives (planned by Hitachi, Seagate and Samsung), which will be required for laptops to be certified for use with Vista Home Premium. These use a flash-memory buffer, so the hard drive only needs to work when that buffer is full. The idea is to better control power consumption and save battery life while maintaining fast data access.
• Sideshow, a small display built into your laptop’s case or another location that lets you view certain items like a calendar, address book and instant messages.
• Quad processors, which are already showing up in high-end gaming PCs for about $4,000.
• More powerful integrated graphics to accommodate Vista’s Aero interface.
• Vista’s improved security features, and how security software vendors will be accommodating them. Vista will have a two-way firewall, better control over software installation, Service Hardening to block malicious software, and BitLocker to encrypt the hard drive. Microsoft was also recently looking into several reported security flaws in Vista.
• New consumer entertainment devices that work closely with Vista’s features or with Intel’s “Viiv” features that are preinstalled on some new PCs.

Aside from Vista, I'll be looking at the newest products for networking computers in your home wirelessly, and for interacting with your computer. Stay tuned.

— Dean Gallea, program leader in computer testing

Technorati tags: windows, vista, ces, viiv, intel, microsoft, hybrid