Windows 7 and Google Wave

Okay, it's been a while since I've written about techy stuff here. Mostly because, as I mentioned in my last post, I've been waiting to create a separated blog for that. However it takes some time, especially since I haven't been able to work on it. So here is a post to feed you tech-hungry people. With Microsoft launching Windows 7 almost two months ago I guess at least some of you have tried it and started to get familiar with it. For those of you who haven't I'll here give you a small update. I changed from my dual boot of Windows XP and Windows 7 to a only Windows 7 setup on the 2nd of November 2009, the first thing I noticed was that the task bar had changed. You probably all know the standard Windows taskbar with it's tiny icons and text, apparently Microsoft figured that it was enough of this extremely simple and effective system. The new system is consistent of larger icons without the text. Looking something like this:

Of course there's an easy way to change this by right-clicking and going into options quickly giving you back the familiar taskbar:

I prefer to use the last one simply because it robs less room from my workspace and gives me more information. What's cool with it is that you can pin objects to it. So if you've got a program you use all the time while you're on your computer you can simply pin it to the taskbar and now it'll stay there even if the program is closed. But as I use Objectdock and Launchy I don't really have need for another program launcher option. The next thing you'll notice is that if you let your mouse hover over a taskbar icon you get a tiny preview image of what the window look like, so hovering over Opera would give me this:

And if you then hover your mouse over the preview image it brings the window into focus until you move your mouse, great option if you want to take a peek on some info while working in another window. E.g. for checking Facebook while writing in word or checking on a copy status while watching a movie. Another new taskbar feature is the right click. While this normally brought you a tiny menu where you could close the window or other simple features the Windows 7 version brings a more feature filled flyout menu. So far it doesn't seem like a lot of programs have a lot to put in this menu but Google Chrome for example puts it's recent visited webpages and open new window options there. And of course the pin to taskbar option is also located here.

But what you probably will notice most on a first look is the improved graphics. I've never been one for killer graphics, always saying that it's the content that matters and not the looks, but good looks are always a plus. A lot more now moves and flies around on your screen instead of just appearing and disappearing like in older versions. But one thing which really annoys me in Windows 7 is the UAC. When I first sat there with a fresh install of Windows 7 and was about to install a bunch of programs it was really a pain to be asked numerous times for every single install. And as I've already got antivirus software I trust and never really visit untrustworthy websites I figured I was better of turning it of. The next thing I noticed was that I couldn't alter all my files! As I know what I'm doing I would want to be able to delete, change and add files anywhere in my system. But after searching for a solution to my problem I can't find anything! It seems like Microsoft for whatever reason have figured out that no one should be able to edit the files in for example "Program Files". While I can kind of see where they're coming from I would wish that they would at least leave an opening for the people who know what they're doing to modify stuff on their own computer.

But there is more! The standard programs which is shipped with Windows have also got an overhaul. Paint, for example, is one of them. But while they've added lots of new features, like drawing triangles, hearts and other figures, it still lacks basic rotation and layer support. But the calculator have finally got square root in scientific mode along with n-th roots, something which I find pleasing. Along with this there is of course a lot of other functions and tweaks, and while it's still a lot better than Vista I'm not sure I would have left XP just yet if I still had the chance. Mostly because of the inability to modify everything and some incompatibility problems with old software(like Worms and the drivers for the Internet here..).

But enough of that, if you really want to know how it works the best way to do go is to simply create a new partition on your hard-drive and install it there. Now for something completely different:

As some of you might know Google have launched Google Wave, a new tool meant to replace the e-mail. As Google say, e-mail was created about 40 years ago. And while e-mail is a lot easier than regular mail for managing multi-person projects it's not really optimal. Just think about trying to arrange a BBQ per mail, regular mail, with letters. That's more or less what you do when you do it by e-mail, just a bit faster and easier. Google wave on the other hand is kind of a mix between mail and Wikipedia. Everyone can add, edit and change info. Add maps, images, upload files and comments. A good, short video describing Google Wave can be found here, or if you've got lots of time you can watch the full 1h20 video here. At the moment it is in a preview state meaning that you would need an invite to use it, everyone who's using it at the moment got a few invites so if you want to try it just contact me and I'll see if I've got any left. Even though not a lot of people have it yet it seems like this would be a really neat way to plan stuff and arrange projects. So far I've tried it with a couple of friends and the result so far are great. But I'm not as sure about it as a replacement for e-mail. While it surely have some great advantages it's got one major disadvantage over e-mail. It's only for Google. While I use Google services(G-mail, Google Wave, Google Earth, Blogger, YouTube etc), not everyone does. And while e-mails can be sent between all different mail clients, from the tiniest home-made mail servers to web-mails Google Wave only exists for Google. And while this might be a good idea for marketing I'm pretty sure that we'll soon see companies like Yahoo!, Microsoft and others creating similar solutions. Also they working only for their users. So if I want to create my BBQ I would have to create a Google only BBQ or work as a link between the technologies to synchronize everything between them. So as nice and shiny Google Wave seems I just don't see it replacing anything anytime soon. It will just join the ranks of cool solutions that never caught on for other than us techies. And as another sidenote is does not work in Opera yet, and in Explorer it forces you to download a so called Chrome Frame. But Google Chrome works perfectly(obviously) for Google Wave ;)