Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT)'s Windows 7 operating system is growing quickly in popularity, according to a market watcher.
Though it's been available to consumers for just over a week, the software's share of the operating system market has jumped from 1.89% on Oct. 22nd, the day of its release, to 3.67% as of Tuesday, according to data from Net Applications.
All versions of Windows, including XP, Vista, and Windows 7, continue to dominate the computer operating system market, with a total share of 92.5%. Apple's Mac OS is a distant second, with a 5.3% stake. The open source Linux OS is third most popular, with a market share of about 1%.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer formally introduced Windows 7 last month at an industry event in New York City. Ballmer said Windows 7 is simple to use, responsive, and unobtrusively secure—all things Vista was not. The OS "makes everyday use of a PC better," said Ballmer.
Microsoft worked with 3,000 engineers and 50,000 tech industry partners to build Windows 7, a product the company hopes will eventually make its way to 8 million customers.
Computer users knocked Windows Vista for its intrusive security features, heavy horsepower requirements, and incompatibility with many older software programs. To boost compatibility in Windows 7, Microsoft added to some versions an "XP mode" that emulates Vista's predecessor, which is still used by most businesses.
Windows 7 also provides native support for new input modes, such as touch-screen computing.
The full version of Windows 7 Professional is $299, with upgrades going for $199. Windows 7 Ultimate is priced at $319, with the upgrade version at $219. The full version of Windows 7 Home Premium is priced at $199, with an upgrade from Vista or XP costing $119.
With ferocious flames and smoke in the barren Utah hills north of Salt Lake City, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration on Thursday successfully test fired the first stage of a new rocket that might soon be canceled.
The firing was the first demonstration of a major component of the Ares I rocket that NASA has been developing for the past four years to replace the space shuttles, which are scheduled to be retired next year.
The first effort at the test firing, on Aug. 30, was halted with 20 seconds left in the countdown because of a glitch with a power unit that steers the nozzle.
On Thursday, the countdown proceeded smoothly, and the motor, the largest and most powerful in the world, ignited at 1 p.m., Mountain time. Securely fixed in a horizontal position, the motor did not go anywhere, shooting its 4,500-degree exhaust at a speed three times that of sound into a pile of sand and turning it to glass.
Just over two minutes later, after reaching a maximum thrust of 3.6 million pounds, the motor exhausted the fuel and fell quiet.
The motor is essentially a stretched version of the solid rocket boosters used by the shuttles, and NASA chose the design in 2005 claiming that the simplicity of the design — a single solid fuel motor in the first stage without the complicated plumbing of liquid fuel engines — would make the Ares I safer than any other rocket for astronauts. The reusable casings of the motor tested Thursday were in fact used on shuttle launchings; one flew on the first shuttle flight, in 1981.
Although the test went smoothly — engineers will now spend weeks analyzing the data gathered — it may mark the beginning of the end for Ares I. A blue-ribbon panel reviewing the human spaceflight program included the Ares I in only one of the options it is presenting to the Obama administration. The same rocket motor could be used for the planned larger Ares V rocket, but that option is also in flux.
Fast food giant loses in McDonald's vs McCurry tiff
Labels: Macam macam, Makanan Minuman, MalaysiakuPUTRAJAYA, Malaysia, Sept 8 - Fast food giant McDonald's
Malaysia's Federal Court dismissed an application by McDonald's Corporation to appeal against an earlier Appeals Court judgment which allowed McCurry to use the prefix.
Chief Judge of Malaya Ariffin Zakaria, reading the verdict of the three-person Federal Court in the administrative capital, said McDonald's had failed to properly frame its questions when applying to challenge the Appeals Court's earlier verdict.
"It is unfortunate that we have to dismiss the application with costs," Ariffin said.
McCurry, which is short for "Malaysian Chicken Curry", serves Malaysian staples including fish head curry, according to the company website .
"We feel great that this eight-year legal battle is finally over, and we can now go ahead with whatever we plan to do such as opening new branches," McCurry owner P. Suppiah told Reuters after the court decision.
McDonald's, which has 185 outlets in Malaysia, first sued the curry restaurant in 2001 and a High Court ruled in favour of the international fast food chain in 2006.
McCurry then took the matter up to the Court of Appeal, which ruled in favour of the Malaysian restaurant. McDonald's subsequently took the matter to the Federal Court.
The McDonald's operation in this country of 27 million people is run as a franchise by prominent businessman Vincent Tan.
Mr Yuey Tan had a plane to catch.
In the end, the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia driver did better than that. He sped past a Boeing 747 in a speed dash down a runway at Changi Airport (right). His Porsche 911 GT3 Carrera Cup race car covered the 1.7km distance in 19.8 seconds, edging out the plane by 0.4 seconds.
The race car's top speed is 280kmh while the aircraft can reach 900kmh in the air.
Saturday's race, the first between a jet and a car in Asia, was viewed by more than 500 spectators.
It was organised by the Changi Airport Group to kick off its month-long Changi GP Festival.
Passengers and visitors to the airport can participate in race-related activities such as a pit-stop challenge and go-karting.
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