…I know, I have issues !
As some of your are probably aware, Microsoft are letting people try the new Windows 7 for free
If you sign up now over at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7 , they will allow you to download the latest RC (Release Candidate), and this licence will then last until March 1st 2010 !
Morn FAQ’s on Windows 7 here
Last weekend I noticed that Halo Wars demo was available on the Microsoft Marketplace, and though, it’s an RTS on a console, it’s going to be terrible, but I downloaded, and really enjoyed. I’ve tried other RTS’s on the console, eg C&C, but felt that they don’t work as well as on mouse and keyboard. I’m the kind of person who has groups of units mapped to my 1-9 key for quick select, and like to attack multiple enemies at one..this isn’t possible on the console, or should I say, not as easy as hitting a number key.
So anyway back to Halo Wars, I’m quite a fan of the Halo series, they are probably not the best FPS’s on the planet, however the storyline is pretty good, the characters, weapons and vehicles are memorable, and these are all present in this RTS.
First of all, Graphics, to be honest, the graphics aren’t any better that you would find in other recent RTS’s, they are good and clear, but I can’t say anything wow’d me. However, the cut scenes are fantastic ! I mean really fantastic, think the likes or the final fantasy films, or Flight of the Osiris from the Matrix (Animatrix). Between each level, there was a couple of minutes of cut scene, it was so good, I thought to myself, why oh why don’t they make an animated film, it would be brilliant ! The game I believe is set 10 years before Halo one, so no Master Chief, however there were many Spartans in the game.
Next, Sound, Gorgous, Gorgous sound, the music, was very simular the the Halo series, so as you can imaging when the game got going, so did the music. The sound effects, voices where everything you’d come to expect from the series, and utterly brilliant.
Next Gameplay, this was the most important for me, as I was pretty sure it would suck, hard to control, no where near as good as a mouse and keyboard, however I was wrong ! You can tell this game was designed for the 360, the buttons and control system worked seamlessly, and at no point through the 15 levels did I ever get stuck on which button to press.
All in all, a very enjoyable experience, and can’t wait to get on line and kick some ass. The game has taken me 10hours and 16 mins to beat, however some of that time, I was pretty drunk. The game is only 15 levels long, however there is the online play as well as the skirmish still to do.
1o/1o 
As with most Windows users, we all get used to it’s little quirks, think “oh well”, when you see the BSOD (Blue Screen of Death), hold the power button down when it decided to lock up and show all your open apps as (Not Responding)….well I’ve had enough.
I’ve used non-linux based operating systems for many many moons, since that day that everything was branded as “IBM Compatible”, when DOS was a sold operating system, and DOS Shell was a simple way of managing your files. These days I talk about where when you had an option to fire up windows, or just run at a command prompt …..ah simple times.
I saw Windows 3, then add sound in 3.1, then add network support in 3.11 for workgroups. I saw them make Windows the primary operating System in Windows 95, add 32-bit support in Windows 98 SE, really not sure what ME was all about, apart from it had prettier icons, and a higher crash rate than a destruction derby….NT, 2000, 2003, 2008, XP, Vista…….and with Windows 7, with Direct X 11 on the horizon (I wonder if it’s a sign ….7/11), but I think it’s time for me to leave the Windows gravy train, and head for greener pastures…that’s right people, I’m heading to the dark side.
On Friday, I’ve order myself a new shiny Macbook Pro ! Woot !
I bought an Apple Ipod Touch 32Gb a month or so ago, and had forgotten what it was like for something just to work !
Now I know apple aren’t the cheapest, but you do get what you pay for. The touch is a £250 MP3 player…..I know, however once you’ve got one in your hand and start to add apps, add your own music you will instantly fall in love with it. This I hope is what is going to happy with the MacBook.
Specs are as follows
Intel Core 2 Duo (2.4GHz) processor.
2GB DDR2 RAM.
250GB hard drive.
15.4in glossy TFT widescreen display.
Slot-loading 8X SuperDrive (DVD+R DL/DVD+RW/CD-RW).
nVidia GeForce 9600M GT graphics with dedicated 256MB memory.
802.11 N WiFi.
Bluetooth.
Built-in iSIGHT camera.
MAC OS X v10.5 Leopard and iLIFE 08.
It’s due for delivery on the 14th (don’t ask, I found a bargain that saved me over £200, so willing to wait)
Only 11 days to go
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