The Year of 7

2009 is looking like a good year for Microsoft. With Windows Vista being pushed out of the lime light by Windows 7 it's all looking good. It might be a good time to get a msdn subscription. I've seen some of the screen shots of the Beat build of windows 7 and it looks awesome. There is the aero peak. A newer updated version of aero glass that doesn't suck up resources. There is a new looking task bar. There is also the x-ray windows too. And there is also Directx 11. To me as a gamer DX 11 is the most important feature of Windows 7.

The new aero peak looks freakin awesome just from the screenshots of it. Just like its predessor areo peak makes the desktop do all the fancy stuff like the alt-tab function. Quickly switching between a window and the desktop. Aero also handles the themes for windows 7.

The news task bar is called the Transbar. the transbar groups similar tasks together on the bar. The transbar is also see through. The transbar also allows for easier switching between tasks. It would seem that some of Windows 7 update are to make you more productive.

Then there is Direct X 11 the updated gaming api from Microsoft. DX 11 looks promising. It will allow ray tracing, include must efficient use of graphics cards, and make games look better overall. To me as a gamer this is the most important of the features of Windows 7. This may just tempt me to buy Windows 7 when it realease. Even though Windows Vista will see DX 11 to.

Then there is Intels Core i7. The Core i7 task everything knew about intel and throws it out the window. The Core i7 no longer uses the frontside bus or FSB. It sees the return of Hyperthreading, it has an integrated memory controller, that memory controller is triple channel DDR3, we also aee something like hypertransport called Quickpath Interconnect or QPI.

The Core i7 doing away withthe FSB is a welcomed change because the fsb was ancient. On current machines might be the factor that bottlenecked the whole machine. If the fsb became saturated then the data would trickle through slowly. In place of the FSB we have the Quickpath interconnect or QPI. The QPI is like hypertransport, it serves as as direct connect to the memory controller and the memory. On the highest model of the i7 it get to 6.4GT/s of bandwith.

With the return of Hyperthreading or as Intel calls it simultaneous multithreading or SMT. What SMT allows the processor to do is act like t has more then it really does. That means a single core would be seen as two cores, a dual core as a quad-core, and a quad core as an octa-core. SMT allows the cores to process two threads at once. This means that the processor can do more work at lower clock speeds then current Core 2's can.

We also see Intel inegrate a memory controller on die. With this done the processor has a direct link to the memory. Having a direct link to memory means more bandwith which means more work can be done because data can be cached. With the memory controller on board that means there is no fsb anymore.

A Little About Me

Hi my name is Curtiss Wiggins. Some of things I enjoy are working on computers, playing pc games,and hanging out with my friends. About six months ago I built my own computer and I enjoyed the experience. I come from the philosophy that if I can't build my own computer then I just won't have a new one. I like building my own computers because it gives control over what goes into the system. I get the pick the motherboard, cpu, ram, gfx card, and powersupply. I also get to make sure of what is going too be in the operating system.
The pc games I like to play are of the Halo and Elder scrolls type. I also play a little of starcraft every now and again. I can't wait for Starcraft 2 to release. The big day is December 3. I will also be purchasing F.E.A.R 2: Project Origins when it comes out.
I kow everyone likes haning out with their friends. When me and my friends hang out the laughs always ensue. Most of the time we setup lan games of the pc game of our choice. I can guarentee you when I GET Starcraft 2 the lan games wil ensue.
More blogs will come the first I will be doing is over net neutrality so check back for it.