Microsoft Windows, I thought we would never see the end of the era. Microsoft’s newest operating system (OS), Vista might be more advanced than OS’s of the past but in many ways are still the same. According to released inner office documents from Microsoft, it looks like a new OS is in the works. This system is called, Midori.

Microsoft’s key word with their development of Midori is, virtualisation. Almost everything is virtualized these days. At most businesses, especially those that have to manage different computing devices, virtual machines are a god send. Instead of having to service a massive amount of servers on one single computer, the virtual servers could be accessed at any machine.

This idea being used for virtual servers, is what’s inspiring Microsoft’s Midori. They are trying to create a portable operating system that can access various apps on different machines.

Microsoft hasn’t commented on Midori, other than that they have confirmed it is a project they’re working on. As with most of their developments, Microsoft believes that Midori isn’t ready enough to begin commenting on

Windows Vista has seen mixed reviews since its’ release, and that’s being generous. People have had a hard time adopting the new hardware requirements. On top of the requirements is a good amount of compatibility issues, specifically with certain graphic cards and drivers. So at the D6 conference, Microsoft’s new OS was demonstrated.

While there were no answers about hardware reqs. or improvement to compatibility, atleast there was touch screen. Ballmer and Gates tag teamed the conference, and gave us a look at Windows 7 and how touch screen will be utilized with it. Windows 7 won’t have touch screen standard, but it will support the drivers necessary to run it. While this is a cool feature, hopefully there will be more to differentiate itself from Vista then fingertip usage. Anyway, here’s the video of Windows 7 in action, enjoy:

(Must Use Internet Explorer To View)

Video: Multi-Touch in Windows 7

People who have a phobia of germs, maybe want to sit this one out. In a study by a consumer watch group, Which?, they discovered just how dirty keyboards can get. The results are pretty grotesque, and definitely makes one raise an eyebrow.

As I’m typing this article, there’s a chance I’m contracting germs that could lead to food poisoning. That’s right, before we thought food poisoning only came from fast food restaurants, but now our keyboards are getting in on the action. In one of Which?’s studies, 33 keyboards were tested. Four of the keyboards had a potential for health hazards, while one had five times the amount of germs as the office toilet seat.

One of the researchers thought about how a keyboard was, “a reflection of what is in your nose and in your gut”. One of the keyboards was found to be so dirty during the tests, that it was ordered to be quarantined. The keyboard had 150 times the amount of “safe levels” of bacteria, and had five times the amount of germs as the office toilet seat.

The are a couple of factors leading to dirty keyboards. The first is eating while hovering over your keyboard, the crumbs get caught inside the keyboard and can start developing bacteria. Another reason is not washing your hands after going to the bathroom, and keys can be a sponge for those germs.

There’s no telling what’s lurking inside this germ trap

Which?, gave a couple of useful hints in the office fight against dirty keyboards. First, you should give your keyboard a good shaking everyonce in awhile, and get the crumbs and dust out from under them. There are pressurized air cans you can use as well to give it a cleaning. Second, is to rub your keyboard down with alcohol wipes on a regular basis. After finding this out, I’m on my way to the store right now.

I’d imagine that if Window’s Vista were a person, it would probably be some kind of Frankenstein monster. This comparison seems logical as everyone has their pitchforks and torches out, ready to bring down Microsoft’s latest operating system (OS). InfoWorld is holding the biggest torch, as it has a petition trying to prolong the retail life of Windows XP.

The petition for “Save Windows XP”, started back in January of this year. Since its’ beginning, the petition has drawn in over 111,000 supporters. The petition was started by Galen Gruman. After talking with IT managers and technology officers, he discovered many didn’t find any reason to switch to the new OS. The big cause of the popularity of the petition, came by way of Microsoft’s decision on the future of Windows XP. Retailers and manufacturers will no long be able to sell Windows XP after June 30th of this year. For those who like to build their PC’s, then the software will be available until Jan. 31, 2009. Gruman and numerous others (111,000 others) believe that this is too early to give up on Windows XP.

While some analysts believe that Windows Vista is doomed for failure, an IDC report says otherwise. According to the report, Vista has a 14% hold on the operating system market. While this might seem like a low number to some, the IDC claims that it is on a positive curve towards success.

I’m not a huge fan of Vista, and am holding out as long as possible. I do believe it’s a little extreme to start a petition, and try to halt Microsoft from advancing their new OS. Of course, in a report today, a Microsoft spokes person has said that they purposefully added a feature to Vista that would annoy the consumer. They backed up the decision, by stating they were trying to make third-party developers release more secure programs. Even if they had good intentions, the words “annoy” and “purposefully” never make for good business, especially when people are already fishy of your product.

It doesn’t seem like that long ago that Windows Vista was released to the public. It was met with a pretty shaky release. Some marveled at the new glossy interface, and the “aero” layout. Others had a little less enjoyable experience with Vista. Some early Vista problems, were system requirements and how much of your computer’s power it took to run the OS. Others faced some graphic card driver problems, that could cause Vista to crash.

Vista is starting to come around now. A new update is on the horizon, which is said to fix some major problems with Microsoft’s OS. While this is great news to most, it is being overshadowed by the latest news, given by Mr. Gates himself. During a meeting at the Inter-American Development Bank, Gates released information about “Windows 7″ during a Q&A session. Gates announced that Microsoft’s next OS could be released as soon as next year. Afterwards a Microsoft spokeswoman stated that Windows 7 would be released sometime in 2010.

Bill Gates Staying Tight Lipped About Window 7….except for it’s release date

Unfortunately Gates didn’t reveal any details on what would be available with Windows 7. Also, the release window that Gates provided was the pre-release testing for Windows 7, not the retail launch. So for anyone that’s avoided Vista so far, it looks as though you’ll have to wait awhile before the next OS launches.

Today is 03/14, and to most of the civilized this means probably nothing. Other than it being Friday, I’d say the general public is just waiting for the much beloved weekend to start. Well, I say there’s another reason to look forward to 03/14, as today is the 20th anniversary of Pi Day. Math geniuses, and pocket protector wearing nerds (I’m sure there’s still some out there) will be getting crunk or drunk depending on what generation you belong to, as 1:59 PM rolls around.

At 1:59 PM today, is when the date and time match up to represent the first six digits of Pi (3.14159). The official celebration will be taking place at San Francisco’s Exploratorium, where all kinds of number loving students, teachers, and all around math lovers will be getting down.

(Larry Shaw starts off the celebration as the first digit, 3
Photo Credit: Exploratorium.edu)

Larry Shaw (pictured above), is the founder of Pi Day, and started the extravaganza 20 years ago. Shaw is a renowned physicist, and started Pi Day after discovering a direct relation between his research on different dimensions and the befuddling number, Pi.

If you one day are able to make it out to San Francisco and join in on the festivities, you’ll find a pretty big celebration. What started out with Shaw and a few colleagues, creating the Pi shrine has turned into a pretty large event. The Pi Shrine which was constructed on the original Pi Day, is a small brass plate, with the engraving of Pi to a hundred places wrapped around it. Party goers at 1:59 pm will circle the shrine in reverence of the infinite number. There is also pizza pie, and dessert pies to provide refreshments at the celebration

If you didn’t already know, Pi is the representation of a circle’s circumference to its’ diameter. An interesting fact about Pi, is that it’s just an approximation, the actual measurement is infinite, therefore there will never be an exact number.

For more information about Pi day and its’ festivities, you can visit the official site, here.

Tonight I will be raising my pint glass to you Pi. The number that no matter how technologically advanced we become will ever be able to be pinned down. (raises metaphoric glass)

3.14159265358979323846264338327950288419716939937510582097494459230
78164062862089986280348253421170679
82148086513282306647093844609 (Pi to 130 places)