Cranking out news for the geeks, music buffs and gossip junkies, my way. -Greg

Nothing worse than wasted space, especially on a newly upgraded computer. Well the guys at “How To Geek” have found a little over 1GB that you can safely recover after upgrading to Windows 7 from Vista. There are a couple folders that don’t get removed after the upgrade and here’s the easy and safest way to remove them. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! -Greg

These two folders are leftover folders created by Windows during the upgrade process, but unfortunately they don’t get deleted at the end of the setup process. You’ll only see them if you’ve got the option to show hidden files enabled under Organize –> Folder and Search Options.

The good news is that you can definitely get rid of them. Keep reading.

Use Disk Cleanup

The easiest way to remove them is to just run Disk Cleanup (type it into the start menu search box), and then click the button to “Clean up system files”, which will re-launch Disk Cleanup as administrator.

Why is this the easiest way instead of the delete key? Because the folders are normally system protected, and you should also use Disk Cleanup regularly, so stop whining and get to it!

Now that you’ve done that, find the option for “Files discarded by Windows upgrade” and make sure it’s checked, then click the OK button. We’d recommend using Disk Cleanup on a regular basis, of course, and checking most of the rest of the boxes.

Once you’re done, it’ll clean up the files.

And now, those folders will be gone.

This article goes through the strengths and weaknesses of both OS’s. I’ve been very open to both sides, but I admit that I’m a regular Windows user and only play around with Ubuntu. I have a guy I work with that is a big time Ubuntu user and was actually the first one to turn me on to it. Here is a pretty quick and good comparison of both OS’s and for those of you who’d rather someone else tell you which to use, use Windows 7, wait I meant read this article. -Greg

Posted by Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

Over the past few days I’ve been thinking quite a bit about the differences between Microsoft’s latest Windows 7 and Canonical’s Ubuntu 9.10. Specifically, I’ve been thinking about the strengths and weaknesses of each of the operating systems. Is a free operating system really as good as one that you pay for?

Let’s take a look at several aspects of using operating systems and examine the various strengths and weaknesses of each OS.

Installation

Windows 7

• Pros
  - Install is quick, easy and painless.
  - After working through a few wizard screens at the beginning, the install is automatic
• Cons
  - None really

Ubuntu 9.10

• Pros
  - Option to “try before you install” using the Live CD feature
  - Can easily install as a dual boot or even inside Windows using the Wubi installer
• Cons
  - Unless you’re luck to get a CD, you do have to mess about with .ISO files and burn a disc. If you’re happy doing that, it’s not really a problem.

Speed/Performance

Windows 7

• Pros
  - Both are excellent
• Cons
  - None really

Ubuntu 9.10

• Pros
  - Both are excellent
• Cons
  - None really

Usability

I’ve thought long and hard about this one and I’ve come to the conclusion that while neither OS is perfect (far from it), both are also just as usable once you devote the time to figuring things out. I have years of Windows experience under my belt and a lot less with Ubuntu but I can’t say that’s a problem.

Software

Windows 7

• Pros
  - If you’re willing to pay, there’s a lot of software for the Windows platform
  - Equally, there’s a LOT of free stuff if you look around
• Cons
  - Bundled fayre is pretty poor

Ubuntu 9.10

• Pros
  - Comes complete with an excellent array of software
  - Access to, and installing, new software is a snap
• Cons
  - None really … just don’t expect to run Windows software (even if you do resort to Wine)

Media Support

Windows 7

• Pros
  - Excellent support for media formats, including DRMed media, out of the box
• Cons
  - Windows Media Player isn’t the best bit of software around

Ubuntu 9.10

• Pros
  - Good support for media formats
• Cons
  - If you want to play DVDs then you need to resort to “Restricted” codecs
  - Many media formats that use proprietary DRM just won’t work on Ubuntu because of DRM restrictions

Hardware support

Windows 7

• Pros
  - On the whole, Windows 7 offers excellent support for modern hardware right out of the box
• Cons
  - You might be out of luck with old hardware

Ubuntu 9.10

• Pros
  - Overall, hardware support is good, and getting better
  - On really low-end hardware you can substitute Ubuntu for Xubuntu
• Cons
  - There are no guarantees
  - There’s no “Works with Linux” logo that buyers can look for when buying new hardware

Final thoughts

There’s no doubt that Windows is the default OS for many users. In fact, for most users out there it’s the only OS and many of those aware that a different OS exists know about Mac OS rather than Linux.

That said though, Linux is a very good, robust and highly-usable operating system. It’s also fun to use and free. I understand how for many people operating systems are akin to religions, but there are huge advantages to being OS-agnostic. One advantage is that you can pick and choose the right OS for the job.

..READ THIS AT ZDNET

I’m one of those who sticks with what he knows until I have a really good reason to change. Welp I might have to start using Firefox with this nifty little feature. -Greg

The latest Firefox beta integrates much more fully into Windows 7, adding support for Aero Peek-enabled tabs, an enhanced Ctrl+Tab, and more. We’ll show you how they work, and how to enable or disable them.

Enhanced Ctrl+Tab (optional) 

The really awesome new feature is an enhanced Ctrl+Tab, but you’ll have to turn it on with a simple tweak if you want to use it. Once you’ve done that (detailed below), you can simply hit the shortcut key combination to flip between the tabs. Note that it only activates if you have 3 or more tabs open.

Read the whole thing here – The Illustrated Guide to the New Firefox 3.6 Windows 7 Integration

This multi-touch app is very cool, gives an easier more virtual workspace feel. Check out the video below.. Then after you check out the video if you want to grab a copy from bumptop.com, yeah this isn’t a concept, its and app that you can get now! Of course you’d have to have the multi-touch screen to go with it. I love the dragging of files to email, facebook, or your thumb drive. Who wouldn’t love to easily crop their ex-girlfriend out of a picture with a couple swipes of your finger, lol!  -Greg

Thanks Bill Gates, for sticking it to your US consumers. Your doing so well giving the people more reasons to hate you and Microsoft.  So now the question is, do I get it from the UK, or do I just wait for the glorious “coders” of the world to put up a “patched” version of 7 on a torrent somewhere.. -Greg

Windows 7 going on the cheap in the United Kingdom.

Zoom

Those living in the UK are used to looking at the prices of goods around the rest of the world before letting out a sigh and accepting that things just cost more in Great Britain. But it seems that those very same consumers will be getting a break with Windows 7 – which at present time will be selling for nearly half of what U.S. consumers pay.

CNet spotted the online prices for Windows 7 preorders, which run £65 for the full version of Windows 7 Home Premium. Converted to US$107, which compares favourably to the US$200. In fact, the £65 is even below the U.S. cost of the upgrade, which will run for US$120. Check it out on Amazon.co.uk.

Now that there doesn’t look to be a separate SKU for a browserless version of Windows 7, a product key could be a product key wherever it’s activated. Could there be an opportunity for arbitrage?

Source : Tom’s Hardware US