Windows 8 Consumer Preview Review

Have you downloaded the Windows 8 Consumer Preview yet? I have and I have been testing it for about a week now. Overall it seems to be pretty stable and on par with Windows 7 as far as performance is concerned, The full screen apps are interesting and the webstore is a bit sparse but after all this is a beta release. So this is likely to get bettter by the actual release date. Overall it seems to be a decent OS. All that said there is one thing that I hate, the Metro interface. Please Microsoft give me back the start menu. I admit that I can see this working on a tablet but not a notebook as I am running it.

I did give it a try, but on a non-touch interface I just couldn't stand it. I added a start button using a program called VIStart you can get it HERE. And now that I have a start button all is well, pretty much. I am missing the ability to right-click start menu items but I can live with it. Otherwise the interface is a little more polished and seems to have generally the same features as Windows 7 with some now shortcut features at the right and left of the screen. Metro is better as an add-on than an interface. You can download and try Windows 8 HERE.

Enjoy!

Posted by Josh Nicholes

www.joshnicholes.com

Google Plus Really is Better than Facebook

I have been using Google + for awhile now. I thought it was about time to give some impressions. Overall I like it much better than Facebook. Here's why:

1. Nice clean interface no ads
2. You have much greater control over what you share and with who
3. Circles allow you to group contacts easily and logically
4. People can follow you and see public post and you don't have to see any of there's
5. No annoying friend requests
6. It is far easier to find interesting people and pages
7. Hangouts are awesome

Bare in mind that Google + is still fairly new but there are still a few improvements that I would like to see:

1. More of a presence on the web Facebook is everywhere, Google+ not so much... yet
2. Tighter integration with the rest of Googles products
3. More fully featured mobile apps
4. Ability to share more than just links, videos, and photos
5. Ability to post and share via Gmail
6. Ability to access and post to my product pages for mobile apps and browsers

As with most of Googles offerings. Google+ is defiantly awesome. And will only get better.

Posted by: Josh Nicholes
www.joshnicholes.com

Windows 8

A few weeks ago I downloaded a Developer Preview of Windows 8. You can get it HERE. I have been playing with it some and overall I am not that big of a fan as far as using it on a laptop goes. It borrows a lot from the windows phone 7 and is clearly aimed at touch screen devices. I am having issues without having a start menu. Who knows how much its likely to change between now and its release. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

This VIDEO does a decent job of running you through the basics. Stay tuned.

Posted by Josh Nicholes

www.joshnicholes.com

Create A Hackintosh Server in Virtualbox

I recently set-up a OSX Snow Leopard Server running in Virtualbox.

What you need:

A computer running Virtualbox w/ at least 3 GB of RAM

An Internet Connection

An Apple OSX Snow Leopard Retail CD

*This is for testing only and not met for production.

First I installed OSX 10.6 following this article.

Once that was done I created an inexpensive server using this guide

enjoy : )

Posted by Josh

www.joshnicholes.com

Rooted Nook Color

No secret that I am a fan of B&N's Nook Color. A few months ago I blogged about it HERE. Well A few days ago I bit the bullet and rooted my Nook Color to CM7 following the instructions in THIS VIDEO. This process was really straightforward a took about an hour. Now I am running a fully-featured Android OS.

So why?

1. Now I have access to the full Android Market and all of the apps there

2. I can now tether my Nook Color and access internet from my phone

3. The best reason, I now have Bluetooth capabilities and can use devices such as my Bluetooth headset (To make calls through Skype), an external Bluetooth keyboard, and to my phone to tether Bluetooth or share photos and files.

4. Also with the Nook Android App I still have access to all of my Books and Magazines.

So what's missing?

1. The Read to Me books from Barnes and Noble do not work, sort of a let down for my Kiddo. Hopefully that functionality gets added in soon.

So now the disclaimer: Rooting your Nook will void the warranty and if not done properly can damage your system. Do not take this post as advice to try this at home. Root at your own risk.

If you wish to unroot your Nook Color check out THIS VIDEO. Although I have not tried it yet. All in all I would say rooting makes for a pretty awesome $250 Android tablet.

OSX Lion - Early Review

OSX Lion landed yesterday and I wasted no time getting in downloaded and installed on mine and my wife's macs. Earlier this month I cam across a video giving a good overview of the new features. You can view that video HERE. Overall I am liking this newest version. The interface is a little cleaner and more modern. I love the ability to use almost any app in full-screen mode and I am liking the new gestures. Plus Airdrop is a pretty useful way to share data and files with no configuration.

However there are a few things that I have had issues with. I can't get the hang of the inverted scrolling. It is backwards from what I am used to and therefore I had to turn it off. (To do this open System Preferences > Trackpad > Under Scroll and Zoom uncheck Scroll Direction Natural.

I have also found some issues with a few of my programs. First Google Chrome seems very unstable and crashes frequently. Chrome is by far my preferred browser but I have been forced to use Safari until the issue is fixed. Also my Parallels Desktop 6 no longer opens any virtual machines. Also there are a few other programs that no longer work, such as mac janitor for example.

All in all though I am pretty happy so far and really looking forward to iCloud this fall. Learn more about Lion from Apple's homepage HERE

Posed by:

Josh NIcholes

www.joshnicholes.com

Mac OSX Lion Preview

HERE is a decent preview of the upcoming OSX Lion. Should be released July 16th if everything I hear is true. Borrows a lot of features for iOS and gets some new styling and updates. I'm looking forward to it.