Windows Mobile 6 looks excellent

I've had some chances lately to closely examine Windows Mobile 6. I have to say that this operating system rocks. It seems to be faster than it's predecessor and far more complete. I do hope that this operating system will be available to everyone for every compatible Pocket PC mobile device soon.

The HTC lineup of Pocket PC mobile devices is an example for all to follow. Great engineering, fast response time, and just simply cool design.

32 bit to 64 bit upgrade paths

I really love Microsoft Vista 32 bit. I really, really do. However, one thing I find rather terrible on Microsoft's upgrade advisor website is lack of clarity to upgrade from 32 bit operating system (O/S) to 64 bit O/S. In fact I decided to pretend I was a customer interested in such an upgrade and decided to browse their website. It is quite discouraging that I was unable to find clear information. Perhaps even more frustrating is to perform an internet search engine for 32 to 64 bit O/S upgrade information and find almost nothing worth mentioning. There SHOULD be an upgrade from 32 bit O/S to 64 bit O/S somewhere in the pipeline especially for all of those hardcore gamers out there who want to pop in 4gb or more of memory. Many customers are not aware of the 4gb memory limit in the 32 bit Microsoft Vista 32 operating system. I would really like Microsoft to seriously consider an upgrade path from a 32 bit operating system such as Microsoft Vista Premium 32 bit to Microsoft Vista Premium 64 bit at a much lower price upgrade.

The 4GB question for 650i/680i NVIDIA chipsets

I've had quite a few friends and PC enthusiasts ask me if I knew of any known problems with motherboards containing the 650i and 680i NVIDIA chipsets and 4gb of memory. I told all of them I was not aware of any problems except a few cases where individuals purchased memory which was not tested or certified for a particular motherboard. I did tell a few people about extreme high voltage memory and certain problems. Once again, this is a good reason to double check the memory you buy with the memory module manufacturer and/or the motherboard manufacturer.

Anyone seeking to take full advantage of 4gb of memory will need a 64 bit operating system such as Microsoft Vista 64 bit. If not then you'll only see just a little more than 3GB in a 32 bit operating system such as Microsoft Vista 32 bit.

MS Vista DX10 games to come in September?

Probably the most eagerly awaited game this year is Crysis. Everyone is waiting to see what DX10 gaming features have been employed within the game. Curiously enough also on or about that same date other exciting game titles will become available such as Unreal Tournament 3. I have to say that I am quite excited about these particular games as developers have been focusing on coding for DX10 which at this time is only found in MS Vista. While it is true many new game releases will also work on Windows XP the extra gaming features for DX10 will be truly exciting to watch.

Many users have been putting off buying MS Vista because they wish to wait for MS Vista service pack 1. A majority of bugs and drivers with MS Vista have been fixed. It's a good bet that Windows XP won't be sold anymore starting next year so putting off the purchase of MS Vista doesn't really serve any purpose. Once you get used to MS Vista you really would not want to go back to Windows XP. Those that have gone back to Windows XP did so because of 3rd party incompatibility. Most of that should be fixed, but there are still a few 3rd party manufacturers who still haven't been able to fully adapt yet.

PC Pro Magazine (UK edition)

Someone asked me a question recently about the quality and content of PC related magazines. It was a fruitful discussion as we exchanged verbal banter about which magazine in the USA has the best content. Without much ado I simply told this person that the best USA PC magazine is actually not a USA published PC magazine but in fact is the imported version of PC Pro magazine from the UK. You have to take out a international subscription to have it shipped to the USA, but in my personal opinion it is by far the best PC magazine I have ever read. Great articles and reviews. With the UK pound currency extremely strong the magazine is expensive but more than worth it.

Video cards and Heat

Yesterday I mentioned that heat was causing problems for many users of PCs. One of the items in a PC which I would like to address is the videocard. High end gamers (for example) sometimes have two top of the line videocards in an SLI configuration. Although a few of these enthusiasts use water cooling many do not. There needs to be far more research into alternate cooling solutions for videocards which lower heat and stifle noise.

PC Cases and heat

Let's face it and admit that basic PC case design hasn't changed all too much. That's a pity really because heat, which is the almighty enemy of PC components, continues to rise with every new release of videocards and other components. Wouldn't it be wonderful if PC case manufacturers built huge SILENT fans in the front, back, and side of the PC case as standard? Anyone who has bought an 8800 GTX ultra videocard knows what I'm talking about. The problems with heat in a PC that have caused problems for customers are on the rise, or at least based on my personal feedback.

Memory and Motherboards

Recently a friend asked me why 4 gb of DDR2 ram would not work in his motherboard. I took a look at the PC and after troubleshooting found that the DDR2 ram was fine. Lowering the speed of the memory in the BIOs allowed 4gb to bootup but with multiple errors. I took 4gb of another manufacturer's memory of the same speed and swapped the modules. Problem resolved. If memory manufacturer's adhere to a single standard there is really no excuse for memory NOT to work in a particular motherboard. However that is more of a dream than what really works in reality. Therefore it behooves you to check the motherboard manufacturer's website and user's manual for compatible memory modules before you buy your initial or additional memory. Or you can also check the memory manufacturer's website to see if the modules are compatible.