You need at least 1GB of RAM, and you’ll go even faster with a dual-core processor, PC World’s lab testing shows.

Source: PC World
Written by Eric Dahl

With Microsoft’s Windows Vista finally released to manufacturers and on the verge of making its way to retail, we can at last get down to the business of examining precisely how well the new OS performs. In our first tests, we discovered that while Vista’s hardware requirements may be steep, it should run just fine–even with the Aero bells and whistles active–on machines that meet Microsoft’s Premium Ready specifications (1GB of RAM, and a DirectX 9-capable graphics board with at least 128MB of dedicated memory).

At a New York event, Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer launches Vista, Office 2007 to businesses.

Source: PC World
Written by Elizabeth Montalbano, IDG News Service

After five years and numerous delays, customers can now get their hands on the final version of the Windows Vista operating system.

Source: CNET
Written by Joris Evers

Apple Computer on Tuesday released a security update for Mac OS X to repair 31 vulnerabilities, including a zero-day Wi-Fi hijack flaw.

Photoshop product manager John Nack posted a note on his Adobe blog that quotes Macworld’s benchmarks on Rosetta performance improvements with Mac OS X 10.4.8. John indicated an approximate 35% improvement running Photoshop CS2 on an Intel-based Mac system with the 10.4.8 update.

About this update
Mac OS X Tiger provides support for a variety of popular digital camera and image file formats. Applications such as Aperture, iPhoto and Preview utilize this support to work with digital camera RAW files.

Intel will cap off a turnaround year on Tuesday with the expected introduction of its first quad-core processors, beating rival Advanced Micro Devices to the punch by several months.

Source: CNET
Written by Tom Krazit

Originally scheduled to launch next year, the new Xeon 5300 and Core 2 Extreme QX6700 should make an immediate dent in servers and in high-end workstation/enthusiast PCs. In those markets, users can take advantage of software that’s already been written to exploit four separate processing threads.

Source: BetaNews
Written by Ed Oswald and Nate Mook

“It’s time!” And with that simple blog post, Windows head Jim Allchin has heralded the arrival of Windows Vista. Microsoft said Wednesday that it has released the next-generation operating system to manufacturing, capping a more than five-year development effort.

Source: Appleinsider

The release of Adobe’s Creative Suite 3.0 professional software package next year will be a catalyst for new sales of Apple Computer’s Intel-based Macintosh computers, according to one Wall Street analyst.

Apple has release a Mac OS X Tiger update specifically designed to address certain issues with RAW file support. The Digital Camera RAW Support Update 1.0 is available for both PPC and Universal (MacIntel).

The 10.4.8 Update is recommended for all users and includes general operating system fixes, as well as specific fixes for the following applications and technologies:

The latest model sets a new speed mark

Source: Macworld
Written By James Galbraith

Macworld Lab’s 3GHz Mac Pro arrived at our (Macworld’s) offices, and, as expected, the desktop equipped with the fastest Xeon currently available to Mac users outpaced the 2.66GHz Mac Pro.

Source: The Mercury News
Written by Mark de la Viña

For a brief, digitally charged moment — OK, for seven days — the ZeroOne festival turned San Jose into the nation’s art and technology capital.

Source: ars technica
Written by Eric Bangeman

I thought I was getting a new Macintosh PC. Instead, the box said “Quad Xeon 64-bit workstation.” It was then that it really hit me—the Big Switch was over and my once shiny Power Macintosh G5 was yesterday’s news.

In 1981, IBM’s 5150 took the business world by storm and moved the PC into the mainstream.

Source: PC World
Written by Lincoln Spector

Twenty-five years ago, IBM changed the world. It wasn’t intentional. When Big Blue announced a microcomputer called the IBM Personal Computer on August 12, 1981, it hoped only to make a nice profit.

The New Mac Pro: 64-bit Quad Xeon. Up to 3GHz.

Source: CNET
Written by Tom Krazit and Ina Fried

When Apple Computer CEO Steve Jobs takes the stage Monday for his Worldwide Developer’s Conference keynote, it’ll be hard for him to top last year’s performance.

Source: The Washington Times

“Love Soup,” a quirky new romantic sitcom from Britain, debuts Tuesdays at 10:00PM Eastern on BBC America.

The company leaves room for delay if the new OS isn’t ready

Source: COMPUTERWORLD
Written by Elizabeth Montalbano

July 27, 2006 — REDMOND, Wash. — Microsoft Corp. continues to give itself room to further delay the release of Windows Vista.

At its annual financial analyst meeting today, Kevin Johnson, co-president of Microsoft’s Platforms & Services Division, said that while Vista development remains on track for now, the company won’t ship the new operating system until it believes the product is ready.

The new chips offer better performance, greater efficiency
Source: COMPUTERWORLD
Written by Sumner Lemon and Ben Ames

Intel Corp. unveiled its new Core 2 Duo processor lineup today, increasing the pressure on rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc. The 10 new dual-core chips promise markedly better performance and greater energy efficiency than Intel’s existing products.

AMD intends to create a PC chip powerhouse to rival Intel.
Source: eWeek
Written by John G. Spooner

Advanced Micro Devices will acquire graphics processor maker ATI Technologies in an effort to emerge as a more formidable supplier of chips for business computers.

Source: ZDNet
Written by Tom Krazit

With a wider range of systems available, consumers have been snapping Macs up, giving them a growth boost that outpaced the rest of the market.

Apple has released Mac OS X version 10.4.7 and included fixes are a fix for the Mac printing issue from Photoshop 9.0.1 as well as issues relating to saving files to AFP mounted volumes.

Source: CNET
Written by Ina Fried

Parallels, a start-up whose software enables Macs to run Microsoft Windows and the Mac OS at the same time, says it is ready with a final version of its product.

Apple has updated QuickTime to version 7.1.1, addressing the issue that caused the Photoshop and Creative Suite installers to freeze on Mactel systems.

You can download the update from the QuickTime download page, or via the Software Update utility.

Patent Asserted Against JPEG Standard Rejected by Patent Office as Result of PUBPAT Request: Public Interest Group’s Review Results in Broadest Claims of Forgent Networks Patent Being Ruled Invalid

Press Release: NEW YORK—May 26, 2006—In the reexamination proceeding initiated late last year by the Public Patent Foundation (”PUBPAT”), the United States Patent and Trademark Office has rejected the broadest claims of the patent Forgent Networks (Nasdaq: FORG) is asserting against the Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) international standard for the electronic sharing of photo-quality images. In its Office Action released yesterday, the Patent Office found that the prior art submitted by PUBPAT completely anticipated the broadest claims of the patent, U.S. Patent No. 4,698,672 (the ‘672 Patent).