JeremyBlum.com

It has begun!  I’ve been at college for about a week now, so I figured I’d just give a brief tour of my room.  I’ve put together a photosynth 3D Tour, or you can just check out the pics.  Both are below.

PhotoSynth:

Photos:

view slideshow

 

I’ve used a whole lot of operating systems, but for many years, Windows has been my primary mode of computing.  I now use Vista on 3 machines and Ubuntu Linux on a 4th (with it also dual-booting on one of my Vista machines).  I’ve had a lot of experience with Macs as well, and about a dozen different Linux Distros.  Having seen all of these different computing methods, I’d like to offer my insight (even though very few people are probably reading this) into the development of Windows 7.

1. Backwards compatibility needs to go. By trying to make all aspects of the operating system backwards compatible with other versions, Windows releases have been getting more and more bloated.  The old apps usually don’t even work right anyways.  Add a virtualization engine that old apps can run in.  That way, it only has to be used when old apps are needed.
2. Vista had way to many SKUs.  Ultimate, Home Premium, Business…etc.  It was simply ridiculous.  Take a page from the linux playbook: Make a single base operating system, and allow the needed packages to be installed on top of it.  None of this extra stuff should be installed by default.  During the Windows install, it should start very stripped down.  You can can either choose a suggested configuration based on what you will use the computer for, or advanced users can pick and choose. For example, any business user would not need to install photo gallery, but they may want remote access.  A home use can pick differently to suit their needs.  If you decide you want to add or remove a feature later on, just pop in your Windows 7 Disc and choose what you want to add or remove.
3. Stop giving eye candy priority over features/improvements.  In Vista, great features like WinFS were stripped out, while aero remained in tact.  That is insane.  There is nothing wrong with making the OS look nice, but you shouldn’t need a super computer to run the GUI, and the quality of the OS operations should always come first.
4. The registry needs to go. Now.  I am aware that this means changing a lot, but the Registry is outdated and stubborn.  It is the cause for too many problems, and makes moving programs impossible.  Try using config files like linux does.
5. Release driver information.  early.  like yesterday.  Drivers were a major issue with Vista, and while it wasn’t Microsoft’s fault that the developers didn’t write their drivers early, they do need to give them some encouragement by providing info early on.

I’ll probably think of some more things later on and append to this post…

Please post some comments on what you think needs to be different in Windows7.

On August 22nd I’ll be heading up to Ithaca, NY to start my college education at Cornell University’s Engineering college.  So what do you think the one thing that stressed be out about college was?  The workload?  The pressure?  The upperclassmen?  Nope.  My one worry was this: How will I survive without a powerful computer!?  The problem is that I won’t, which I why a recently built a new desktop to take with me up to college…in addition to by Dell D630 Laptop.  If you are anything like my parents, you’re probably thinking, “Why do you need such a massive powerful computer!?”  It’s who I am, people.  I’ve got a need for processor speed.  So without further adeiu, I introduce you to my newest speed machine:

Yup, we’ve been posted on engadget yet again!  Go check it out:

http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/07/deepnote-guitar-hero-bot-reveals-its-secrets-on-video/

PS:  We’ve been working on the bot tutorial, and we hope to have it up in the near future.

I’m excited to announce the release of the DeepNote Walkthrough video.  It is a full, detailed explanation of how the bot works.  It will be submitted along with our contest entry to parallax to compete in the upcoming propeller design challenge.  Check it out below:

I built my new computer this week!  It’s quite nice–a quad core processor, GTX260 video card, 750i motherboard, 800W PSU, etc…  I got a few nice videos out of it as well: A tutorial on applying thermal paste, a review of the case, and a review of the PSU.  I’m still editing an “Ultimate Computer 5″ video, and I’d like to do a review on the Samsung ToC 22″ monitor as well.

Check out the videos:

Case Review:

Power Supply Review:

Thermal Paste Application Tutorial: