Windows 8 Features Vastly Improved Boot Times

Windows 8 news continues to trickle from the Building Windows 8 blog at a steady clip: today, Gabe Aul detailed changes to the Windows 8 boot process that promise to drastically reduce startup times.

Microsoft MCTS Certification, MCITP Certification and over 2000+
Exams with Life Time Access Membership at http://www.actualkey.com

The team wanted to come up with a startup method that would deliver the benefits of a cold boot (a "fresh session" at startup, no power usage when off) while reducing the amount of time that it takes to load the operating system from disk to RAM.

To accomplish this, Microsoft has combined aspects of a traditional Windows shutdown with system hibernation, which saves the contents of your RAM to disk and then restores it to RAM at next boot. While a Windows shutdown currently closes all user programs (the "user session") and then all system services and processes (the "kernel session") completely before powering off, Windows 8 closes the user session and saves the rest of your RAM's content to disk. The kernel session can then be restored to RAM quickly at next boot - this is more speedy than traditional hibernation both because there's less data to restore to RAM from the disk (just the kernel session, as opposed to the kernel session and the user session), and because restoring hibernation files is a fully multithreaded process in Windows 8.

Microsoft notes that drivers are still initialized during this startup process, which means that driver and system updates should no longer require a "full" reboot of the system (something Microsoft has been promising since the Longhorn days). However, for those of you more comfortable with a traditional "full" shutdown, there are command line options to toggle the new feature on and off ("powercfg /hibernate off" which has the unfortunate side-effect of completely disabling hibernation), and also to initiate one-time full shutdowns ("shutdown /s /full").

According to Microsoft, these improvements should benefit users with SSDs and HDDs alike, and will be especially noticeable when paired with systems supporting UEFI, the BIOS replacement that is slowly being adopted by most major PC manufacturers and motherboard makers. For full details, as always, you can check out the very detailed post on the Building Windows 8 blog.

What makes Nokia Windows Phone devices unique?

When Nokia and Microsoft announced their future Windows Phone strategy less than 10 months ago, there was the promise of some unique features in Nokia’s devices. We saw a couple of these unique features last week at Nokia World.

Best CCIE Training and CCIE Exams and more Cisco exams log in to Certkingdom.com

I had the chance to attend the first day of Nokia World last week where they announced the Lumia 710 and 800 devices. James mentioned that he did not see much from the Nokia partnership. Nokia did mention three pieces in the keynote, but didn’t explain many of the details so I spent some time talking with some folks on the show floor and found out more to share with you.
Nokia Maps and Nokia Drive

One of the main services mentioned in February when Nokia and Microsoft announced their partnership was the integration of Nokia Maps into Windows Phone. The two companies said that Nokia Maps would not be exclusive to Nokia devices and that was confirmed at Nokia World. People with HTC, Samsung, LG, and other Windows Phone devices should see Nokia Maps appearing in the Windows Phone Marketplace within the next couple of weeks as a free software application. This version of Nokia Maps will NOT support offline maps or voice guided navigation, but does have the following features:

Local POI details (provides you location, phone number, reviews, and photos of up to 25 locations in your vicinity)
Deep link support (you can pin destinations to the Start screen)
Detailed maps in satellite, 2D, and 3D views

The differentiation between Nokia and other manufacturers will be offline maps and Nokia Drive, which is the program powering voice navigation. The voice navigation experience is much like what you see with Nokia Maps on the Symbian and MeeGo platforms. You can find voice guided navigation on Windows Phone in programs like Navigon, but when you get a Nokia Windows Phone you will get this support for free.
Nokia Music

The Windows Phone experience is best in the United States where you get full access to all the services of the Microsoft ecosystem. Outside the U.S. there is a matrix of unsupported services that gives Windows Phone users an inconsistent experience. Nokia is working to improve the out-of-box experience by providing Nokia Music for FREE on all Nokia Windows Phone devices. Nokia Music is similar to Spotify, Slacker, Rdio and other $10/month subscription services where you get unlimited streaming music support and offline music to enjoy when you have no connection.
Nokia Music does provide a one tap link to the Zune music on your device when you tap the My Music words in the main Nokia Music interface. There is radio stations customized for different regions that you can tap and download for offline listening. You get 50 songs per channel and up to four channels to download for something like 10-12 hours of music that should cover most any flight. There are also personalization options where you can search for your favorite artist and enjoy music from that artist.

The ability to get up and running with music right out of the box on Nokia Windows Phones is pretty compelling, especially when you know that other Windows Phone devices require you to first connect to a PC or Mac to get any music. With this free service and the trend of people to stream music, Microsoft may find fewer people subscribing to the Zune service with Nokia Windows Phones.
ESPN Sports Hub

The third app/service announced at Nokia World was an ESPN hub. I didn’t find this on the show floor to discuss more details and there was not much covered during the keynote. Based on what was shown, I really did not see any differences between this ESPN app and the ESPN ScoreCenter app for all Windows Phone devices. The ESPN Sports Hub was not on any of the devices in the hands-on area of the show and Nokia did not reveal when this would be coming to these devices.
Is this enough to offer a compelling Nokia WP experience?

I think the two main services, Maps and Music, are compelling offerings and if these services are important to you then it may be a no brainer to purchase a Nokia Windows Phone. It is important to put what we see here into perspective and understand that it was just earlier this February when Nokia and Microsoft announced this Windows Phone strategy and we already see a couple of unique Windows Phone services and two solid Windows Phone smartphones. I imagine there will be a LOT more coming from both Nokia and Microsoft in the future and in my opinion this partnership will be valuable for both companies.

China's newest supercomputer uses homegrown chips

The supercomputer uses 8,704 microprocessers developed by a Shanghai group

IDG News Service - China has built its first supercomputer based entirely on homegrown microprocessors, a major step in breaking the country's reliance on Western technology for high-performance computing.

Best Microsoft MCTS Certification, Microsoft MCITP Training at certkingdom.com

China's National Supercomputer Center in Jinan unveiled the computer last Thursday, according to a report from the country's state-run press. The supercomputer uses 8,704 "Shenwei 1600" microprocessors, which were developed by a design center in Shanghai, called the National High Performance Integrated Circuit Design Center.

Details of the microprocessors and the design center were not immediately available.

The supercomputer has a theoretical peak speed of 1.07 petaflops (quadrillion floating-point calculations per second), and a sustained performance of 0.79 petaflops when measured with the Linpack benchmark. This could place it at number 13 in the world's top 500 supercomputing list. Photos of the chips used and the supercomputer's data center can be found here.

China's Shandong Academy of Sciences built the computer. Officials of the academy could not be immediately reached for comment on Monday.

A report from The New York Times said the supercomputer's name in English was the Sunway BlueLight MPP.

China is increasingly investing in supercomputing technology. Last November, its Tianhe-1A supercomputer briefly grabbed the spot as the world's most powerful, but the computer used chips from Intel and Nvidia. The Tianhe-1A has a theoretical peak speed of 4.7 petaflops and a sustained performance of 2.5 petaflops.

China currently has 61 supercomputers on the top 500 list. In comparison, the U.S. has 255 on the list. Japan's "K Computer" is currently ranked first in the top 500 list, after bumping Tianhe-1A to the second place.

Experts have been anticipating that China would build its own supercomputer, using domestically developed chips. Chinese state-run press hailed the new supercomputer as a symbol of China's strength.

Microsoft and Nokia push Windows Phone porting tool

Microsoft and Nokia are wooing Symbian developers, offering them help in porting applications to Windows Phone ahead of the launch of the Finnish company's first smartphone based on Microsoft's platform.

Microsoft MCTS Certification, MCITP Certification and over 2000+
Exams with Life Time Access Membership at http://www.actualkey.com

When Nokia in February announced that Windows Phone would be its primary smartphone OS, the company also made it clear that its existing development environment would not be ported to work with Microsoft's OS. That would just fragment that environment, which would be repeating mistakes of the past, a Nokia spokesman said at the time.

However, to make sure that its old supporters are prepared to start writing apps for Windows Phone, Symbian Qt has been added to the Windows Phone API mapping tool, Nokia said in a blog post on Wednesday.

The mapping tool serves as a translation dictionary between the Windows Phone platform and other mobile OSes. It also helps developers port applications from Apple's iOS and Google's Android. The tool allows developers who are familiar with APIs from other platforms to see the equivalent class, method or notification events inside Windows Phone, according to Nokia.

For developers that have not worked with Windows Phone before, Nokia recommends reading "Windows Phone Guide for Symbian Qt Application Developers," which the company has authored with Microsoft.

Microsoft staffing secretive Windows Phone project

Microsoft is working on a secretive new project in its Windows Phone division, according to a job description it posted over the weekend.

Best Comptia A+ Training | Comptia A+ Certification 2000+ Exams at Examkingdom.com

The description, for a software development engineer in test, gives few hints about the project.

"We are a team working on a top secret project inside the Windows Phone division. Our mission...GO BIG! DISRUPT THE MARKET!" the job description reads.

The advertisement says the project involves the first version of a new feature set and the group will complete planning for the features in a month.

"We can't give you many details on this [job description], but I can assure you we have a passionate group of engineers charged and ready to take on the challenge," the ad reads.

The Windows Phone News blog first spotted the ad, which is running on Microsoft's website and on LinkedIn.

One analyst suspected there's not much of a secret behind the job description. "I am going to go out on a limb and guess that the manager who put up this hurried [job description] used a template from early last year before they went public with the Windows Phone 7 UI (in March 2010)," said Al Hilwa, an analyst with IDC.

However, Microsoft could be developing new capabilities that it hopes will set Windows Phone apart from the competition. Microsoft lags behind market leaders Google, Apple and Research In Motion, and some unique new features could help Microsoft expand its market share.

According to comScore, Microsoft's market share in smartphones dipped to 5.8 percent in May, down from 7.7 percent in February.

Microsoft says no more Zunes, it's all about the phone now

Microsoft will make no more Zune music players, building its future music strategy on applications incorporated in its Windows Phone and Xbox platforms, the company has confirmed.

Microsoft MCTS Certification, MCITP Certification and over 2000+
Exams with Life Time Access Membership at http://www.actualkey.com

Rumors circulated in March that Microsoft planned to stop making dedicated music players, but the company ducked the issue then, saying this year's new Zune devices would be mobile phones running Zune software. It went on to release a trickle of applications for the Zune platform later in the year.

The company has now updated a help page at Zune.net to announce: "We will no longer be producing Zune players." Instead, the page said: "Going forward, Windows Phone will be the focus of our mobile music and video strategy."

However, this will make no difference to current Zune users, the company said on the support page: "Your device will continue to work with Zune services just as it does today. And we will continue to honor the warranties of all devices for both current owners and those who buy our very last devices."

Microsoft launched the first Zune players and Zune Marketplace music store on Nov. 14, 2006, as a challenge to Apple's iPod player and iTunes music store.

However, Apple moved the goalposts a couple of months later with its Jan. 9, 2007, announcement of the iPhone, a widescreen iPod that could also make phone calls and surf the Web.

It took Microsoft three years to follow suit. When it announced Windows Phone in February 2010, one of the features of the new mobile OS was a Zune music player app. It's also possible to access Zune music and video via Xbox Live, Microsoft's online service for its Xbox 360 game console.

Sales of the Zune have consistently trailed far behind those of the iPod. While not a definitive ranking, the list of best-selling MP3 players at Amazon.com is telling: Nine of the 10 best sellers are iPods (Sandisk has a $40 Sansa model in eighth place) and the first Zune device now appears at number 24, preceded by 16 iPod variants.

Career Watch: The IT job outlook, from CompTIA

Q&A: Todd Thibodeaux

The president and CEO of CompTIA discusses the IT job outlook.

Best comptia A+ Training, Comptia A+ Certification at Certkingdom.com

Are things looking up for IT job seekers? Yes, but in a small way. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates jobs were added in the category of "computer systems design and related services" in June, July and August. The change was very small, but it's trending in the right direction. Our own CompTIA IT Industry Business Confidence Index for September found that 37% of surveyed firms expect to add staff in the next six months, the same percentage as in the June 2010 index. Medium-size IT firms -- meaning companies with annual revenue of $20 million to $100 million -- have the most aggressive hiring plans, with 48% of those companies indicating they plan to expand staffing over the next six months. For large companies -- those with $100 million or more in annual revenue -- a slightly smaller number, 44%, said they plan staff expansions.

What would you tell unemployed IT professionals who are finding that their skills are a poor match for the market? Any IT skill maintains its relevance, because workers are frequently dealing with legacy and embedded systems. But the key for anyone who desires a long-term career in IT is to keep your skills fresh and up to date. When the economy is good, companies have the resources to pay for continuing education and training for their workers. Unfortunately, that's often one of the areas cut first when budgets tighten. It's incumbent on the individual IT worker to take control of a lifelong learning plan so that their job skills stay current with what employers are looking for.

Employers want IT workers who can use technology for critical thinking. Demonstrate your ability to analyze a problem, solve it using available technology, and communicate your solution to others. While organizations may have slowed their spending on new IT projects, they're still pushing to squeeze more out of the systems they have in place. That requires the expertise of IT professionals who can identify ways to use technology to make the business operate more efficiently or less expensively.

Which sectors of the economy seem most promising for IT pros? Finance, education, government, entertainment, transportation, healthcare -- technology is deeply embedded in virtually every business and industry, and in businesses of all sizes, especially among the small businesses that account for the bulk of the nation's economy. A big opportunity for IT workers will occur in the health industry. Healthcare employers need workers with IT security skills, project management experience and networking qualifications. Employment opportunities exist with managed technology service providers that support medical facilities around the country. They're being called upon in large numbers to assist in the nationwide transition to electronic health records systems. This transition will also create a new category of hybrid jobs requiring a mix of healthcare knowledge and high-tech expertise. But it's important to look for opportunities that combine your technological savvy with something you're passionate about or at least somewhat interested in.
Tech Generations

We've been told that young people entering the workforce will expect to use the same technology they're accustomed to using in their personal lives: social media, text messaging, video chat. The funny thing about that conventional wisdom is that the youngest workers are the least likely to use any of those things. That's one of the findings of a study conducted for Citrix Online by Forrester Consulting.

On the job, members of Generation Y are less likely to use collaborative technology.

And it turns out texting and other forms of multitasking are overwhelmingly frowned upon during meetings. According to the survey, 83% of the respondents believe that side conversations are unacceptable during a meeting, and 77% disapprove of doing other work on a computer or smartphone.

Career Watch: The IT job outlook, from CompTIA

Q&A: Todd Thibodeaux

The president and CEO of CompTIA discusses the IT job outlook.

Microsoft MCTS Certification, MCITP Certification and over 2000+
Exams with Life Time Access Membership at http://www.actualkey.com

Are things looking up for IT job seekers? Yes, but in a small way. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates jobs were added in the category of "computer systems design and related services" in June, July and August. The change was very small, but it's trending in the right direction. Our own CompTIA IT Industry Business Confidence Index for September found that 37% of surveyed firms expect to add staff in the next six months, the same percentage as in the June 2010 index. Medium-size IT firms -- meaning companies with annual revenue of $20 million to $100 million -- have the most aggressive hiring plans, with 48% of those companies indicating they plan to expand staffing over the next six months. For large companies -- those with $100 million or more in annual revenue -- a slightly smaller number, 44%, said they plan staff expansions.

What would you tell unemployed IT professionals who are finding that their skills are a poor match for the market? Any IT skill maintains its relevance, because workers are frequently dealing with legacy and embedded systems. But the key for anyone who desires a long-term career in IT is to keep your skills fresh and up to date. When the economy is good, companies have the resources to pay for continuing education and training for their workers. Unfortunately, that's often one of the areas cut first when budgets tighten. It's incumbent on the individual IT worker to take control of a lifelong learning plan so that their job skills stay current with what employers are looking for.

Employers want IT workers who can use technology for critical thinking. Demonstrate your ability to analyze a problem, solve it using available technology, and communicate your solution to others. While organizations may have slowed their spending on new IT projects, they're still pushing to squeeze more out of the systems they have in place. That requires the expertise of IT professionals who can identify ways to use technology to make the business operate more efficiently or less expensively.

Which sectors of the economy seem most promising for IT pros? Finance, education, government, entertainment, transportation, healthcare -- technology is deeply embedded in virtually every business and industry, and in businesses of all sizes, especially among the small businesses that account for the bulk of the nation's economy. A big opportunity for IT workers will occur in the health industry. Healthcare employers need workers with IT security skills, project management experience and networking qualifications. Employment opportunities exist with managed technology service providers that support medical facilities around the country. They're being called upon in large numbers to assist in the nationwide transition to electronic health records systems. This transition will also create a new category of hybrid jobs requiring a mix of healthcare knowledge and high-tech expertise. But it's important to look for opportunities that combine your technological savvy with something you're passionate about or at least somewhat interested in.
Tech Generations

We've been told that young people entering the workforce will expect to use the same technology they're accustomed to using in their personal lives: social media, text messaging, video chat. The funny thing about that conventional wisdom is that the youngest workers are the least likely to use any of those things. That's one of the findings of a study conducted for Citrix Online by Forrester Consulting.

On the job, members of Generation Y are less likely to use collaborative technology.

And it turns out texting and other forms of multitasking are overwhelmingly frowned upon during meetings. According to the survey, 83% of the respondents believe that side conversations are unacceptable during a meeting, and 77% disapprove of doing other work on a computer or smartphone.