Intel 20nm SSD Drives Available

The 240GB Intel 335 series Solid State Drives are now available through NewEgg.

The drives are said to be the first to use the 20nm NAND flash memory process and features a 6 Gbps SATA interface and Sandforce SF-2281 controller.

Photo from NewEgg.com

My Thoughts on Windows 8...so far

I have been toying around with the Windows 8 Release Preview (32-bit) for a little bit, during slow times at work, on an older PC that I have.

The PC has an Intel Pentium D 2.8Ghz CPU with 2GB of RAM.  I have it setup as a dual-boot between Windows 8 and Vista that came on it.  I have installed Classic Shell on it, to get the Start Menu back and to minimize the use of the metro interface, which I am not a fan of at all.

Performance-wise, the computer runs quite smoothly with Windows 8 (especially compared to Vista) and Adobe Flash Player only seems to have crippling effects on the CPU for the first bit of a YouTube video.

Here is the video that I tested with on 720p setting:

Skorch82 - Borderlands Co-Op w/ ShadowZack: Part 41 (Walkthrough / Playthrough)

The video started at 100% CPU usage (using simple CPU Utliization Gadget) and stablized at 50 - 60% throughout the remainder of the video, which is better than it does on some Windows Vista and Windows 7 videos, where the CPU usage varies and creeps back to 100% causing severe lag.  Once the video finished and the system went back to a mostly idle state, the processor was only running at 3%.

I was able to successfully install Google Chrome, Super Anti-Spyware, Microsoft Office Pro 2010 and Visio 2010 with no issues.

I was also able to connect to the PC from a Windows 7 machine using TeamViewer.

Before setting up Classic Shell to get the traditional Windows Start Menu back, I was not fond of Windows 8, but now see it as a usable Operating System to compare to Windows Vista/7.  Without Classic Shell, I saw it as more of an OS for a mobile or touch screen device.

I will continue messing around with things on the Release Preview for as long as Microsoft will allow it and will update this blog with anything I find that is great, annoying, or helpful.

Windows 8 Launch Party

On October 24, 2012 at 11:15AM EDT MicroSoft will have a webcast event for the launch of Windows 8.

Follwing the Launch Party will be a webcast for the Microsoft Surface beginning at 1:30PM EDT.

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/news/presskits/windows/

New AMD Processor

The AMD FX-8150 (Bulldozer) 3.6Ghz and AMD FX-8350 4Ghz (Vishera) were put up against the Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4Ghz.

While the new Vishera based processor performed well in benchmark testing, it simply fell short to the Core i5 in nearly all categories.  In the categories that it actually outperformed the Intel, there was only very little variation.

For more information on the benchmarking tests and the systems used, please visit Maximum PC magazine:
Maximum PC Vishera Review

Windows 7 and Windows 8 Preview Dual-Boot

For those of you that want to test out Windows 8 with the Release Preview, but don't have a spare PC just laying around and don't want to wipe out your Windows 7 installation, check out this guide from CNet on dual-booting the two Operating Systems.

C-Net Dual Boot Windows 7 and Windows 8 Release Preview

New Tech Blog

I have decided to start a technology blog.  My hopes for it are to feature new technologies that I hear or see information from various sources and eventually review new products.  I will also attempt to feature some tips and tricks that I have learned throughout my time as a IT guy.

I will accept any input regarding this readers would like to see on the blog and will do what I can to implement the suggestions.

That is all for now, I hope to have something up with some meat to it soon.

Thanks for reading!