Windows 7 beta in October?

by Justin Mann on September 15, 2008, 7:09 PM

How far are we away from a Windows 7 beta? Apparently we may be only a month away. Considering that six years traversed between the release of XP and Vista, that’s certainly putting some racing stripes on development and getting it out the door fast. Of course, this is just a rumor. It has some other interesting information in it, such as that the beta itself will be revealed via Microsoft’s Professional Developer Conference, as well as a potential release date of summer 2009.

Last month, Microsoft opened a blog regarding the development of Windows 7. Two managers for the Windows 7 project have been occasionally updating it with pseudo-information, revealing no particulars about the OS other than generalizations. Windows 7 was rumored to be designed for a much quicker release, which may have been impacted by the reception of Windows Vista.

Western Digital starts shipping 500GB Scorpio Blue HDD

by Jose Vilches on September 12, 2008, 1:17 PM

Western Digital today announced the availability of its Scorpio Blue 500GB hard drive. According to the company, the new 2.5-inch SATA hard drive delivers high-performance with a 3 Gb/s transfer rate, while including proprietary features that make it extraordinarily quiet and perfect for notebook computers and portable storage devices.

Other big names such as Hitachi, Samsung and Fujitsu have long-announced their own 500GB offerings, but Samsung is the first to offer a drive sporting both a standard thickness of 9.5mm – meaning a drop-in upgrade will be possible for most laptop users – and a two-platter design. Using 250 GB-per-platter technology will not only help WD lower manufacturing costs, but is also a step forward towards even higher capacity notebook drives.

The WD Scorpio Blue 500GB hard drive operates at 5,400rpm and is now shipping through retailers for $219.99, while a 400GB version is available for $189.99.

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