Apple iMac (27-inch/Core i7) All-in-One PC

Apple's new high-end 27-inch iMacs--released late 2009--are the first all-in-one PCs to use Intel's latest Core i5 and Core i7 processors. We can tell you it was worth the wait.

Here we look at the 27-inch iMac with the built-to-order 2.8GHz Core i7 option, tested using Boot Camp and 64-bit Windows 7. Though pricey, this $2200 system (as of December 8, 2009) turned out to be the fastest all-in-one PC we've tested to date.

Core i7 features a technology Intel calls Turbo Boost. If an application isn’t using every available core, the cores that are idle shut off, and the active cores speed up. According to Apple, this allows the processor to run up to 20 percent faster under heavy workloads; that translates to 3.46GHz in this iMac.

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Lenovo IdeaCentre A600 All-in-One PC

No question about it: Lenovo's IdeaCentre A600 looks unique. The combination of a sharp and angular design, an ultrathin chassis, and a 21.5-inch display definitely stands out against the more traditional "one big flat panel" look that competing all-in-one desktops offer. And at $1149 (as of 7/2/09), the A600 is seriously competitive, especially since it's the most upgradable all-in-one PC we've seen.

The Lenovo's 2.13GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P7450 processor has one of the slower clock speeds for all-in-ones larger than 20 inches. Surprisingly, that doesn't have as big of an impact on overall performance as you would think when comparing it with, say, the 3.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 processor of the 24-inch Sony VAIO VGC-LV180J. As for its other main components, the Lenovo's 4GB of DDR3-1066 memory is a step above the DDR2-800 average in PCs of this class, while the 1TB hard drive is among the best you'll find in an all-in-one, matched here only by the 22-inch HP TouchSmart IQ500t and the 24-inch Apple iMac.

The A600's score of 87 in our WorldBench 6 test suite isn't the best we've seen, but it puts the machine in fine company. It ties the IQ500t and beats the 24-inch TouchSmart IQ816 (which scored an 81), but lands 28 percent shy of our all-in-one performance leader, Apple's 24-inch iMac (which earned a mark of 111). Given that the Apple system is nearly twice the price of the A600, however, that's not a bad showing at all.

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Sony Vaio L117FX/B All-in-One PC

Like the Vaio LV180J all-in-one that it replaces, the new Vaio L117FX/B has great performance, a Blu-ray drive, an HDTV tuner, a media center remote control, and a gorgeous 24-inch display. But this time around, Sony has included a multitouch screen, Windows 7, and a design that's sleek and modern.

The Vaio L117FX/B starts at $1300; we tested a high-end, $2000 (as of December 8, 2009) configuration. At that price, you could score a standard tower desktop that has greater performance and upgradability, but such is the nature of all-in-one PCs.

This Vaio ratchets up the Intel processor to one step past that of the 2.33GHz quad-core chip found in the Gateway One ZX6810-01--a $1400 23-incher that also has a multitouch screen and a TV tuner (but no Blu-ray). However, despite its combination of a 2.66GHz Core 2 Quad Q8400S processor, 6GB of DDR2-800 memory, and a 1TB hard drive, this Sony AIO in some ways doesn't surpass the Gateway in performance.

Windows 7

New and improved. Take a closer look at Windows 7

Windows 7 offers end user and IT Admins a number of new networking features. Let us look at the top 10 Windows 7 Networking features…

1. Libraries

One new networking feature of Windows 7 that aggregates data from multiple sources into a single folder view. This could also be called a virtual folder. Actually, it is an indexed view of multiple data sources.

Because of the new library functionality, many of the common user folders in Windows 7 have been renamed. In Windows Vista you had Documents, Downloads, Photos, Videos, and Music. In Windows 7, these folders have been renamed and now you have Personal Documents, Personal Downloads, Personal Photos, Personal Videos, and Personal Music.

Yes, in other words, all the folders in a user’s home directory have been renamed with the word Personal in front of them. As I said, there is a reason for this and that reason is to allow us to use libraries and to distinguish between public and personal (private) documents.

Besides these personal document folders, each Windows 7 computer is going to have public folder such as Public Documents.

To reiterate, the purpose of Libraries is to join together these personal and public documents into a single documents directory (as well as any other libraries that you create).

Thus, the default Libraries in Windows 7 are:

• Documents: made up of Personal Documents and Public Documents
• Downloads: made up of Personal Downloads and Public Downloads
• Music: made up of Personal Music and Public Music
• Photos: made up of Personal Photos and Public Photos
• Videos: made up of Personal Videos and Public Videos

To me, the best thing about Windows 7 Libraries is that you can create your own libraries. How do you do it? Easy. In explorer view, just go to your Libraries, right-click, then click on New - Library.

Figure 1: Creating a Windows 7 Library

From here, your new Library will be included in the list of Libraries in the Navigation Pane of all Explorer views (assuming you checked the show in navigation pane).

Figure 2: Results of creating a Windows 7 Library

Once you create it, you need to decide what you want included in the library. To do this, right-click on the folder and click Properties. On the Library Tab, click Add, select a folder, then, click Include in Library. You can include as many folders in your library as you want.

Figure 3: Including Folders in a Windows 7 Library

Of course, the inclusion of folders in your library view is critical to make the library of any use.

2. Network and Sharing Revisions

In Windows Vista the Network and Sharing center was pretty, what I would call “busy”. There were lots of options and things that could be done resulting in the use of it being fairly confusing.

In Windows 7 the Network and Sharing center has been simplified. Here is what it looks like:

Figure 4: Windows 7 Network and Sharing Center

The Network and Sharing options have been moved to the Choose homegroup and sharing options window (which we will look at in a minute) and the left navigation options have been moved to other menu windows. I also think that the view your active networks section now looks much nicer and easier to understand.

Personally, I wish that there were more technical networking details shown on the Network and Sharing window. However, I am a technical networking guy and that is likely why I feel that way. I can see where perhaps Microsoft would want to shield less experienced users from technical network details.

3. View Available Networks (VAN)

While the “View Available Networks” or VAN feature sounds like it could be complex and a whole new kind of virtual network, it isn’t. However, it is pretty helpful. Essentially, the VAN feature allows you to view all available networks and connect to them, directly from the system tray. Here is what it looks like:

Figure 5: View Available Networks (VAN) - Graphic courtesy of Microsoft.com

With users being more mobile and connecting to various networks, this is a much needed feature.

4. Super Fast Wake up and Boot, Smart Network Power, and Wake on LAN for Wireless

Some of the new features of Windows 7 are there to speed up Windows 7 or save power. Here are 3 examples:

• Fast Wake Up & Fast Boot – enables your Windows 7 machine to wake up faster when it was put in hibernate or standby mode. The fast boot feature allows Windows 7 to boot up faster when it is powered on from a cold boot.
• Smart Network Power – turns off the power to your Ethernet jack when there is no cable connected
• Wake on LAN for Wireless - bring the well-known wired Ethernet feature to wireless networks. Think about it – an Admin can wake up thousands of sleeping computers, not even wired to the network, using wake on LAN for wireless.

5. BranchCache

BranchCache is a big win for branch office users and IT Admins. With BrachCache, when remote Windows 7 users access file or Intranet content on a Windows 2008 R2 server at the headquarters, that data is downloaded to the remote branch. The second time that the same Windows 7 PC, or a different Windows 7 PC, needs that data or Intranet content, access to it is much faster because it has already been cached.

BranchCache can operate in two modes – Hosted Cache or Distributed Mode. With Hosted Cache, a Windows 2008 R2 server at the branch office is the central caching server for that branch. With Distributed Mode, no Windows 2008 R2 server is needed and the cache data is stored on the distributed Windows 7 PCs at the branch.

Before you can raise your security red flag, you should know that BranchCache complies with all Windows security settings and always checks to ensure that it is delivering the latest version of the file to the Windows 7 PC that requested it.

6. Virtualization Enhancements

With the Windows 7 Virtualization Enhancements, when you run Windows 7 in a VDI (virtual desktop interface) mode, the end user will enjoy a higher quality experience. To help you visualize how this works, let us say that you have a Hyper-V server and you are running Windows 7 as a Guest virtual machine on the server. End users running thin client devices connect to the Windows 7 Guest VMs on that server. Previously, with Windows XP or Vista, there would have been limitations to the users’ experience, as compared to a traditional desktop. With Windows 7 many of these limitations are removed. Here is what Windows 7 provides when used in a VDI mode:

• The Windows Aero Interface
• Viewing of videos in Windows Media Player 11
• Multiple monitors
• Microphone for VoIP uses
• “Easy Print”, which allows you to use a printer on the local printer without installing a printer driver
• Common tools for IT Admins to manipulate virtual desktop images

Something else that is new about Windows 7 and VDI is the new Windows Vista Enterprise Centralized Desktop (VECD) license.

7. Fix a Network Problem

One of my favorite changes to Windows 7 networking is the update to Vista’s diagnose and repair. In Windows 7 if you want to get assistance fixing a network issue, you just click Fix a network problem. Sound simple and clear, right? That’s what I like about it.

From Windows 7 Network and Sharing, if you click Fix a Network Problem, you get this window, asking you want you want to fix:

Figure 6: Fixing a Network Problem

Windows 7 will go through and attempt to fix any network issues that you select. It will even ask you if you want to fix it as a Windows Administrator. Here is what fixing a homegroup looks like:

Figure 7: Fixing a network problem

8. QoS Enhancements

While Quality of Service (QoS) is not something that end users think about they do see the results if QoS is not working. Windows 7 offers a number of QoS enhancements.

URL based QoS is one of the new Windows 7 QoS Enhancments. Since many mission critical enterprise applications have been moved into hosted web environments, URL based QoS is the answer to giving those IT Admins the ability to prioritize those mission critical web applications over, say, other general web surfing.

Is it slick and exciting? Maybe not but it is a very valuable feature resulting in a better experience for the end users.

9. DirectAccess

I like how Microsoft characterizes the new Windows 7 feature, DirectAccess -

1. Help mobile users get more done
2. Help IT Admins manage remote machines more effectively

The combination of both of these things make DirectAccess worth learning more about (and likely implementing).

So what exactly is DirectAccess? Today, mobile users can connect to the enterprise network with VPN but it is not always easy and can be difficult to configure. DirectAccess wants to be the answer that allows end users to connect to the enterprise quickly and easily, without VPN.

For the IT Admins, DirectAccess will allow them to manage laptops even if the laptops are not connected to the VPN. The IT Admin can schedule software to the updated or configuration changes to be made, the next time that device connects using DirectAccess.

10. HomeGroup

Absolutely, the best new Windows 7 networking feature for home and small office users is the homeGroup feature. Essentially, a homegroup is a simple way to link computers on your home network together so that they can share pictures, music, videos, documents, and printers. There is just a single password that is used to access the homegroup, making creating it and connecting to it easy.

To configure a Windows 7 Homegroup, you can click on Choose Homegroup and Sharing Options from the Network and Sharing Center in Windows 7, then Create now (assuming your network location is set to Home).

Figure 8: Creating your HomeGroup

You will be asked what types of personal content you want to share with the HomeGroup.

Figure 9: Creating a Windows 7 Homegroup

You will be able to select what you want to share in the homegroup.

Figure 10: Viewing the Windows 7 Password to connect to the homegroup

And you will be given a single password, used on other computers, to connect to the homegroup.

When you are done, the Homegroup and Sharing center will look something like this:

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Office 2010 Beta

Top 10 Benefits of Office 2010 Beta
1Express your ideas more visually

Office 2010 opens up a world of design options to help you give life to your ideas. The new and improved picture formatting tools such as color saturation and artistic effects let you transform your document visuals into a work of art. Combined with a wide range of new pre-built Office themes and SmartArt® graphic layouts, Office 2010 gives you more ways to make your ideas stick.

2 Accomplish more when working together

Brainstorm ideas, provide better version control, and meet deadlines faster when you work in groups. The co-authoring experience for Microsoft® Word 2010, Microsoft PowerPoint 2010, Microsoft® Excel Web App and Microsoft OneNote shared notebooks let you work on a file with several people at once - even from different locations.2

3Enjoy the familiar Office experience from more locations and more devices

With Office 2010, you can get things done more easily, from more locations and more devices. Using a smartphone or virtually any computer with an Internet connection, you can work when and where you want to work.3

Microsoft Office Web Apps
Extend your Office 2010 experience to the Web. Store your Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote files online and then access, view, edit, and share content through the web.

Microsoft Office Mobile 2010
Stay current and respond quickly using enhanced mobile versions of Office 2010 applications, specifically suited to your Windows Mobile-based smartphone.

4 Create powerful data insights and visuals

Track and highlight important trends with new data analysis and visualization features in Excel 2010. The new Sparklines feature delivers a clear and compact visual representation of your data with small charts within worksheet cells. Filter and segment your PivotTable data in multiple layers using Slicers to spend more time analyzing and less time formatting.

5 Deliver compelling presentations

Captivate your audience with personalized videos in your presentation. Insert and customize videos directly in PowerPoint 2010—trim, add fades and effects, or bookmark key points in the video to call attention to selected scenes. Videos you insert are now embedded by default, relieving you from managing and sending additional video files.

6 Manage large volumes of e-mail with ease

Compress your long e-mail threads into a few conversations that can be categorized, filed, ignored, or cleaned up. The new Quick Steps feature let you perform multi-command tasks, such as reply and delete an e-mail in a single click, saving you time and in-box space.

7 Store and track all your ideas and notes in one place

Get the ultimate digital notebook for tracking, organizing, and sharing your text, picture, video and audio notes with OneNote 2010. New features such as version tracking, automatic highlighting, and Linked Notes give you more control over your notes so you’re always on top of where your ideas came from and the latest changes when working in teams.4

8 Get your message out instantly

Broadcast your PowerPoint presentation to a remote audience, whether or not they have PowerPoint installed.5 The new Broadcast Slide Show feature allows you to share your presentation through a web browser quickly without additional set up.

9 Get things done faster and easier

Microsoft Office Backstage™ view replaces the traditional File menu to give you a centralized space for all of your file management tasks, such as the ability to save, share, print, and publish. The enhanced Ribbon across Office 2010 applications lets you access commands quickly and customize tabs to personalize the experience to your work style.

10 Access work across devices and platforms

Enjoy the freedom of using Office 2010 from more locations on more devices. When you use Microsoft® Office 2010, you’re getting the familiar and intuitive Office experience across PCs, Smartphones, and Web browsers on the go.

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