Microsoft Surface Impressions

I had the chance to play with Microsoft’s new Surface RT yesterday so I thought I would give a few impressions. I will preface them by saying that I don’t currently have a horse in the tablet race. The iPad has done a fantastic job in popularizing the concept (as apple products tend to do) but I am not a huge fan of the iOS interface with its grid system. On mobile I prefer android and have a fondness for Asus’s Eeepad Transformer range of tablets. I was eager to see what Microsoft would bring to the table.

Browser rankings

So a month ago we saw Microsoft introduce its browser ballot which popped up for everyone who had Internet Explorer picked as their default browser. So I had a look at the top five and some of the smaller picks in the ballot.

6. Apple Safari - I tested Apple's browser at work yesterday and found it very slow, sure browsing speed was fast but the software itself kept stalling and smacked of software built mainly for another operating system.

The image software I pick and why the others don't fit the bill

So a month ago I decided to test out every image editor I had ever heard of and then Craig gave me a couple more that I hadn't. The aim was simple, I knew photoshop was brilliant but I wanted to see if I could get the features I needed without the £600 price tag. My intention was to run a series of tests across all the software devices and then report back. Unfortunately I ran out of time so my analysis is not as in depth as I would have liked but I can rank the software by my preference with my reasons.

Tidying up a bit

I have tidied up some parts of the blog template that have been annoying me for a while. At the same time I have also added a new feature.

The categories are now near the top so they are easier to find, still not perfect but definitely an improvement. At the same time I've improved the twitter widget I am using and also added my xbox gamercard as well. If you have an xbox feel free to add me. I have also added the link to my amazon wishlist back in as well in case you have a need to buy me something... not sure why you would but just in case...

What I've been working on

You may or may not know that several months ago my friend Craig and I launched (well almost) our own hosting website. I'll tell you more about that in another post in the future when we have finished tinkering. Part of that process meant signing up as being self employed, I thought that I'd take the opportunity to earn some extra funds and build websites for people in my spare time. Well the first of those websites has now been launched.

Tapovan

Touch Screen is not the future

While the gimmick of 3d has rather stolen the title of overhyped technology in the past couple of months its predecessor the touch screen is still a powerful force. With Apple set to announce its widely rumoured tablet pc later today and the iphone being the most popular phone handset in the western world it seems that we are going to have a lot of people using poor input devices.

A new toy

In recent times I have found it a slight flaw that I have never built a computer before. Sure I have seen the insides of a computer but until you actually build one you never know exactly what each little bit does and where and how it connects together.

Luckily then, my wife saw my frustratedness with our inherited home pc which we have also been using as a media centre and took pity letting me create a new media centre from scratch. After a little deliberation with Craig I narrows down my components list which can be found here:

Is there a need for twitter

Twitter is a service that has seemingly divided people more than most others. It appears to mainly be used by people who stalk celebrities. Yet I have noticed that all of our companies competitors are now using the service to promote their services and enhance their brand. The question though has to be asked, is there a point to this.

End of Year List - Games

This is the first of three lists I am compiling for the end of the year, the first is most likely to be the most boring for everyone but I am doing it anyway. I am making my list of the top five computer games of this year. On Wednesday I will be doing my review of the year in top five experiences form (incl America, getting engaged etc). I will then be rounding this off (probably on Friday) with my top five films of this year.

Games

blog to be updated tonight. I got bored waiting for Craig to finish the talote code and so have put the old version back online. This is so I can continue to add reviews while he takes his time (although I would like it soon)