Windows Phone 7 Mango beats iPhone iOS!

I really DO wanna give Windows Phone 7 a chance. I think their interface is intriguing. Watch this head-to-head speed test.

Use Old Computer for Web Browsing w/ Google Chrome

In Episode #111 of NerdBoyTV, Ryan Yee describes how to salvage that old dual core desktop computer running (God forbid) Windows Vista and transform it into a sleek web-browsing speedster using Google Chrome.

Nokia, Microsoft in pact to rival Apple, Google

Nokia, Microsoft in pact to rival Apple, Google - Yahoo! News: "Technology titans Nokia and Microsoft are combining forces to make smart phones that might challenge rivals like Apple and Google and revive their own fortunes in a market they have struggled to keep up with.

Nokia Corp., the world's largest maker of mobile phones, said Friday it plans to use Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Phone software as the main platform for its smart phones in an effort to pull market share away from Apple's iPhone and Android, Google's software for phones and tablets.

The move marks a major strategy shift for Nokia, which has previously equipped devices with its own software. Analysts said the deal was a bigger win for Microsoft than Nokia, whose CEO Stephen Elop in a leaked memo this week compared his company to a burning oil platform with 'more than one explosion ... fueling a blazing fire around us.'

Nokia said the partnership would 'deliver an ecosystem with unrivaled global reach and scale.' However, it warned that the new strategy would also bring 'significant uncertainties,' and said it expects profit margins to be hit by strong competition from rivals.

- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Windows Phone 7: Out with the old, in with the Zune

Ben Patterson : Yahoo! Tech: "Microsoft gets itself right back into the mobile game, tossing out its old, tricky-to-use Windows Mobile interface and starting fresh with a sleek, touchscreen UI modeled closely on that of the Zune HD. The new design looks great, with the first WP7 phones set to arrive during the holidays.

Microsoft unveiled Windows Phone 7 Series (that's the official name) at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona today, and as rumored, we're talking a complete revamp of Windows Mobile. Gone are the PC-like pull-down menus that required a stylus; instead, now there's a clean, elegant series of touchable 'tiles' that you can tap, swipe, and rearrange as you like, along with slick animated menus that'll be familiar to anyone who's ever tried the recent Zune HD.

During its presentation Monday, Microsoft reps demoed the new platform on prototype hardware, and no specific Windows Mobile 7 handsets were announced; that said, Microsoft says that phone manufacturers ranging from LG and Samsung to HTC and Sony Ericsson have jumped on the WM7 bandwagon—so no, that (ugly) 'Turtle' phone that got leaked over the weekend won't be the only handset running the Windows Mobile 7 OS.

Meanwhile, all four of the big U.S. carriers have 'committed' to offering WP7 handsets 'at launch,' Microsoft execs promised, with AT&T set to provide 'unique software and services' for the new phones.

But while we didn't get to see any actual, upcoming handsets Monday (we'll have to until the holiday season before the first Windows Phones devices arrive), we still got an eyeful with the WM7 interface, and yes, it's a quantum leap over Windows Mobile 6."

Microsoft replays Zune design for phone comeback

CLICK to read full story

Apple Inc. rocked the wireless business by combining the functions of a phone and an iPod. Now, more than two years later, Microsoft Corp. has its comeback: phone software that works a lot like its own Zune media player.

The software, which was unveiled Monday at the Mobile World Congress, is a dramatic change from previous generations of the software that used to be called Windows Mobile. But Microsoft is, for now, sticking to its model of making the software and selling it to phone manufacturers, rather than making its own phones.

Microsoft's mobile system powered 13.1 percent of smart phones sold in the U.S. last year, according to research firm In-Stat. That made it No. 3 after Research In Motion Ltd.'s BlackBerry and the iPhone. But Microsoft has been losing market share while Apple and Google Inc.'s Android gained.

All the while, the market is becoming increasingly important. People are spending more and more time on their phones, and the devices steer people to potentially lucrative Web services and ads.

Phones with the new software will be on the market by the holidays, Microsoft said. All four major U.S. carriers will offer phones, just as they sell current Windows phones.

The new ones won't be called "Zune phones," as had been speculated. The software will be called "Windows Phone 7 series."

Forrester Research analyst Charles Golvin said the new software looked promising, but that it was also Microsoft's "final chance to get it right." He notes that those who have current Windows phones don't seem excited about the brand — many of them believe their phones are made by Apple or Nokia Corp., according to his firm's research.

21 Ways to Customize Windows 7

By Michael Muchmore / PC Magazine (CLICK to read more)

"Customizability reaches new heights in Windows 7. New themes, backgrounds, gadgets, mouse pointers, user images, and more give you more ways than ever to change how your PC looks and works. Most of the customization options can be reached just by right–clicking on your desktop and selecting the Personalize option, but there are plenty of other places to look for options that make Windows 7 your own. Here are some of our favorites."

Ballmer Launches 'Simple' Windows 7

By Chloe Albanesius / PC Magazine (CLICK to read more)

"Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer officially unveiled the company's new Windows 7 operating system at a Thursday launch event in Manhattan.

'I'm Steve Ballmer and I'm a Windows 7 PC,' he announced.

The idea behind the new OS is to make computing 'simpler, faster, more responsive,' he said. That was possible thanks to an 'intense collaboration' between Microsoft and its partners – 50,000 software, hardware, and peripheral vendors, as well as 8 million beta testers, he said.

'Windows needs to be an incredible opportunity for innovation, for hardware companies [and] software companies, and it needs to be a place that is simple and easy to use and opens up the world of diverse innovation … in a way that is manageable and consumable by billions of people around the world,' Ballmer said.

Ballmer pointed to three key components of the OS: it works in the way you want it to work, it simplifies, and it enables new technologies."

Windows 7 operating system makes its debut

By Jessica Mintz / msnbc.com (CLICK to read more)

"Microsoft Corp. put a new edition of Windows on sale Thursday, hoping for a fresh start after a bad reception for the previous version of the software that runs most of the world's personal computers.

Windows 7 is now available on new computers, and as a software upgrade for some older PCs.

A Fry's Electronics store in Renton, Wash., several miles south of Microsoft's headquarters in Redmond, opened at midnight to give customers an early shot at buying a new PC or a disc that they could use to put Windows 7 on their existing computers. Such upgrade discs start at $120.

'We're geeks, that's what geeks do. This is our excitement,' said Mike Naramor, 55, who runs a consulting business called My Computer Guy and was one of about 50 people who were waiting outside the store when it opened.

Naramor said that he also had bought copies of the last two operating systems, XP and Vista, the nights they were released and that he planned to go home and install Windows 7 right away.

'Vista took me about 72 hours,' he said. 'I expect this to take me 20 minutes.'

Indeed, Microsoft hopes people like Windows 7 more than its most recent predecessor, Vista, which was slow and didn't work well with existing programs and devices. Microsoft fixed many of Vista's flaws, but it was too late to repair the system's reputation."

Today Show's Hot Trends for the Fall

See the trends for Entertainment, Technology (iPod, duh!), Food, and Fashion. Thanks Today Show!

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Google's going after Microsoft (courtesy of Morning Joe)

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

How do you upgrade a PC with no optical drive? (via Christopher Null : Yahoo! Tech)

Netbooks remain hot, and they stand to get even hotter this fall: While Windows Vista is too bloated for most netbooks, Windows 7 has been demonstrated to run on them rather zippily.

While that's good news for those who plan to buy a new machine this holiday season, it poses a problem for those looking to upgrade netbooks they already own. That's because netbooks, virtually by definition, don't include optical drives. And the most reliable way to upgrade Windows is to pop in the Windows DVD and let Microsoft do its thing.