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So what do you call ultra low-cost, mobile PCs? How about “ULCPCs”

Engadget noted that the new class of Eee PC-like ultraportables was in need of a new product category…

“… as we were going over some back posts that since the launch of the ASUS Eee PC (and the numerous products that have followed, from the MSI Wind to the HP Mini-Note), to the best of our knowledge we’ve all yet to have any normalized, agreed-upon name for these kinds of devices. Yes, they’re technically “ultraportables” (which we usually define as being any relatively small laptop and under four pounds), but to say an Eee PC is in the same class as, say, the Lenovo X300, the VAIO TZ, or the MacBook Air would be kind of misleading.”

I’ve seen these at work referred to as ultra low-cost mobile PCs (aka ULCPCs), as noted in our announcement of extended availability of Windows XP Home for ULCPCs. 

As for the specs, the WHDC site outlines the update to the Windows XP Logo Program: on July 1, 2008, Windows XP Logo Program closes for mainstream computers, the Windows Logo Program will accept systems for the new Designed for Windows XP logo for ultra-low cost personal computers (ULCPCs). These are PCs that meet the following requirements:

  • System ships with 1 gigabyte (GB) or less of memory (RAM)
  • Screen size is 10.2″ or smaller
  • Storage capacity is 16 GB or less for solid state disk (SSD) or 80 GB or less for hard disk drives (HDD)
  • No tablet functionality
  • DirectX version 9 graphics processing unit (GPU) or older
  • Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) S4 sleep state is optional

Additional information in the Windows Logo Program Requirements version 2.2.1a for Windows XP (available at http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/winlogo/downloads.mspx)

Michael Dix said…

“ULCPCs are a new and growing class of mobile computers designed for first-time PC buyers and customers interested in complementing their primary Windows-based PCs with companion devices with limited hardware capabilities.  These machines vary, but they typically have smaller screen sizes and lower-powered processors than more expensive mobile PCs.

“While originally intended for students and other first-time PC customers in emerging markets, we’re now seeing interest in these affordable devices in developed countries as well.”

I should say so.  I see a marker for these PCs in our own home, for our family’s casual use and travel, and at work for taking notes. 

IMHO, the 1GB of system memory is reasonable for Windows XP (which is the configuration we’ve had for our older PCs at home, and on my last Windows XP Tablet PC. I am surprised at the cap on SSD storage capacity at 16 GB: in a year’s time, I can see 32GB being quite reasonable at current price declines.  But 16GB should be more than adequate, especially when used as a primary system and application drive, leaving an SD slot populated with a 4 or 8GB SDHC memory card. 

More info at Windows XP Home for ULCPCs available until 2010.

Tags: Microsoft, Windows XP, ULCPC, Windows.

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Something new from Dell at D6: a tiny mobile PC

Will Red be the colour for back to school for the 2009 school year?  If my kids see this new PC, I expect we will be pressed to contribute towards the country’s economic recovery.

This from the Dell blog: a new, tiny (and I’ll assume a low cost) mobile PC, as reported on Gizmodo…

“Hats off to Brian Lam of Gizmodo as he seems to have caught Michael roaming the halls between sessions and saw he was carrying something our Ideastorm contributors will recognize. Michael positioned it as the perfect device for the next billion internet users.  While we can’t share any details, we can share these (click on them to see a larger version):

Inspiron mini

Inspiron mini (open)

Stay tuned for details.

As Betanews reported, this is the result of comments on the Dell IdeaStorm blog (with some requests for the Dell mini) where “the Dell Community has contributed 9,092 ideas, promoted 625,964 times and 68,464 comments” (something to learn from Dell’s approach)…

“… if Dell’s system were to be Atom-based, it might be less likely to carry the word “Inspiron” in its brand name. Thus one could more readily infer that this is the latest permutation of Dell’s UMPC, based on ideas it’s actually had for a few years now, coupled with some suggestions it actually sought from the general public through one of the company’s forums two months ago.”

Your Blog » Blog Archive » Something from Dell at D6

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Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer demo Preview Windows 7, multi-touch at D6 conference

image Fresh from the net, here’s a highlight from D6 down in Carlsbad and number one on the All Things D Top Ten list (as at right)…

“With Microsoft (MSFT) Chairman Bill Gates soon relinquishing his daily role at the software company he co-founded as it grapples with Google (GOOG), European regulators, Yahoo (YHOO), and Windows Vista critics hoping to upgrade from XP to Windows 7 (skipping the much maligned Vista entirely), tonight’s conversation with Gates and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer will be a memorable one in the history of the software sovereign.”

Of particular interest: multi-touch in Windows 7…

“So is this the next phase of how people will use their computers. Gates says it’s the beginning of an era of computing based on a new hierarchy of input systems. Today the machine is really set up for one person to sit at a keyboard. “We’re at an interesting junction,” he says. “In the next few years, the roles of speech, gesture, vision, ink, all of those will become huge. For the person at home and the person at work, that interaction will change dramatically.”


Video: Multi-Touch in Windows 7

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Steven Sinofsky speaks with CNET’s Ina Fried about Windows 7

Steven Sinofsky

More on CNET’s Ina Fried’s interview with Steven Sinofsky discussing Windows 7…

A quick post as I have a few minutes during a quick lunch break before my noon teleconference.  Earlier today, Ina Fried posted her Q&A with Steven Sinofsky in Windows chief talks ‘7’ with some insight and info into the future OS release affectionately referred to as Windows 7. Steven as you probably already know is the senior vice president for Windows Client and Windows Live engineering. Ina notes…

“Last year, Sinofsky penned a blog to his Windows unit co-workers, explaining his public silence and urging them to follow his lead.

“I know many folks think that this type of corporate ‘clamp down’ on disclosure is ‘old school’ and that in the age of corporate transparency we should be open all the time,” Sinofsky wrote. “Corporations are not really transparent. Corporations are translucent. All organizations have things that are visible and things that are not.”

“Well, Sinofsky is breaking his public silence, slightly, to offer a few important details about 7 (he reiterated that it is coming by January 2010) and to explain why he is saying so little publicly.

“In an exclusive interview with CNET News.com last week, Sinofsky talked about how the new version of Windows is designed to build on top of Vista’s architectural changes without adding things like new driver models that can increase compatibility challenges. Below is the edited, but still rather lengthy transcript, of our conversation.”

This article helps provide some visibility on Windows 7, coupled with the post today on the Windows Vista Team Blog by Chris Flores…

“Typically when Microsoft ships a new OS (like Windows Vista), we immediately start talking about the next version-which begs two questions: 1) is Microsoft working on a new version of Windows, and if so, 2) why aren’t you talking about it?

“I thought I would spend a minute giving you an update on where we are. First, yes, we are working on a new version of Windows. As you likely know, it’s called Windows 7.  We are always looking for new ways to deliver great experiences for our customers.  This is especially true of Windows – where we’re constantly examining trends in hardware, software and services to ensure that we continue to drive the innovation that has both made Windows the world’s most popular operating system and has provided a foundation on which our partners built great products and businesses. When we shipped Windows 2000, we were already working on Windows XP and we started working on Windows Vista even before we released Windows XP. So naturally, we’ve been thinking about the investments we made in Windows Vista and how we can build on these for the next version of Windows.

“What is a little different today is when and how we are talking about the next version of Windows.  So, why the change in approach?  We know that when we talk about our plans for the next release of Windows, people take action. As a result, we can significantly impact our partners and our customers if we broadly share information that later changes.  With Windows 7, we’re trying to more carefully plan how we share information with our customers and partners.  This means sharing the right level of information at the right time depending on the needs of the audience.  For instance, several months ago we began privately sharing our preliminary plans for Windows 7 with software and hardware partners who build on the Windows platform.  This gave them an opportunity to give us feedback and gave us the opportunity to incorporate their input into our plans. As the product becomes more complete, we will have the opportunity to share our plans more broadly.”

Over the last few months, I’ve found that more people ask me about Windows Vista than Windows 7, and (with consumers) I don’t expect that to change.  But press, analysts and large customers are a different bunch who always want the latest scoop on as-yet-to-be-released products, including Windows 7, so it’s nice to see the volume turned up a bit on Windows 7. 

More is available at Windows chief talks ‘7’ on Ina’s blog, which is also on CNET homepage today.

Tags: Steven Sinofsky, Windows 7, Microsoft.

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Advisory: Changes to Daylight Saving Time in Morocco and Pakistan on June 1, 2008

A quick note to let you know that Knowledge Base article 914387 “How to configure daylight saving time for Microsoft Windows operating systems” has been updated to reflect the manual changes for Morocco and Pakistan. We’ve also updated the information about Iraq to indicate that Iraq no longer observes DST…


Daylight Saving Time changes in Morocco and Pakistan (revised May 19, 2008)

Microsoft has learned of a change to the observance of Daylight Saving Time (DST, aka regionally as Summer Time) in Morocco and Pakistan that could impact customers using local time zones.  We have news that Morocco will switch from GMT to GMT+1:00 beginning on June 1, 2008, and that the Pakistan Government will change from GMT +5:00 to GMT +6:00 June 1, 2008, at 12 midnight (local time).  These changes may impact customers and partners in the regions who use local time zones, including entities engaged in business in or with the region. 

Unfortunately, due to the short notice provided for these late breaking changes, we do not expect that product groups will provide updates incorporating these changes.  The Windows organization plans to include these updates in the next release of the 2008 Cumulative Time Zone Update for Windows, scheduled to release in July/August 2008.

For manual remediation of the Microsoft Windows XP operating systems in mainstream support, Microsoft will provide an updating to the following DST and time zone manual update article with the changes for Morocco and Pakistan:

How to configure daylight saving time for Microsoft Windows operating systems

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/914387

We will publish additional information and links here as available.  For general information, please visit http://www.microsoft.com/time.


Tags: Microsoft, Daylight Saving Time, Daylight Savings Time, RSS, DST, Morocco, Pakistan.