Google, Apple and Microsoft. It’s war!

A fun wee piece I wrote for PC Plus has ventured online:

Back in the good old days, Microsoft did desktops, Google stuck to search and Apple made toys for people in polo necks. No more.

The superpowers of the technology world are at war, and like real wars, the battle is happening on several fronts. They’re fighting on the desktop, they’re fighting on mobile phones, they’re fighting in the browser and they’re fighting in your front room.

Who will prevail, and who will end up in a bunker?

Windows 7: can you trust the reviews?

It’s the best Windows yet, we’re told, but the reviewers said the same thing about Vista. Can we trust them? What’s different about Windows 7?

…unfair or not, people did criticise Microsoft – again and again and again and again, until the man on the street believed that Vista was as desirable as a six-month submarine trip with Fred “Farty” Finnegan and a kitchen stocked only with Guinness and sprouts.

So are the experts right this time? Will Windows 7 fare better? We think it will.

The “it’s just Vista done right” slur isn’t a slur to these eyes, because it’s largely true

iPhone 3.0 hands-on

Is the upgrade enough to make the 3GS upgrade unnecessary? I think so…

Until third party developers really start to take advantage of the new APIs it’s evolution rather than revolution, but it does keep your phone current without forcing you to shell out any more cash.

Opera Unite: very cool

Opera Unite puts a web server inside your browser. It’s really very clever.

When Opera promised to “reinvent the web” this morning, we were cynical – and when it started talking about inventing “Web 5.0″ we set our word-guns to maximum mockery.

Then it showed us Unite. We’re not sure about Web 5.0, but we’re convinced that Unite really is worth getting excited about.

Windows 7: How do you get a browser without a browser?

It’s a good question…

How do you install a browser when you don’t have a browser? The news that Windows 7 won’t include Internet Explorer in Europe has caused an outbreak of head-scratching – especially among those of us whose routers need a browser window to configure our connections in the first place.

Google quick search vs Quicksilver (Mac)

Me again:

The new Google Quick Search Box (QSB) for Mac is designed to make things easier.

Summon it with a quick key combination and you can use it to find and launch applications, track down elusive files, dig up contacts or search the web.

It sounds very familiar, with good reason: apps such as Quicksilver have been doing much the same for years. So is QSB a Quicksilver killer? The short answer is probably – but not quite yet.

More things I’ve written: Cyborgs and Chrome

Will humans of the future have extra ears? Probably not, but cyborg technology is still fascinating.

Sadly the “bionic arms race” owes much to a very real arms race. In 2005, the US military announced a multi-million dollar investment in prosthetic technology after a surge in the number of US soldiers losing limbs in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Improvements in body armour technology mean that attacks that just a few years ago would be fatal are now survivable – but the armour doesn’t protect limbs.

Inevitably the military isn’t just interested in rehabilitating injured soldiers. It’s rather keen on enhancing soldiers’ effectiveness in battle, too, which is why it’s testing exoskeletons.

And Google Chrome 2 is out of beta. Time for another car comparison.

Firefox is a gadget-stuffed MPV, Chrome is a stripped-down sports car and IE8 is a Honda Legend: it’s built well enough, but it’s hopelessly outgunned by smarter and more stylish rivals.

Free costs money. Who’s going to pay for it? Er, you

Me, on Techradar:

We’re so used to the idea that everything online should be free that we don’t even think about it.

Of course the iPlayer should give us HD video for free. Of course Spotify should stream music for free. Websites? Free. News? Free. Video? Free. Software? Free.

There’s only one problem. Free costs money, and there isn’t enough of it.

Revealed: the world’s best browser

It doesn’t exist. So I’ve invented it!

Your web browser is probably the most important thing on your computer – and you almost certainly spend more time with it than you do with family or friends.

It’s no wonder, then, that browser battles cause so much controversy. Some browsers don’t render sites properly, others don’t include useful features, and yet more won’t let you tweak them to suit yourself.

That’s why we’ve decided to create a manifesto for our own. TechRadar doesn’t build browsers, but we think you’ll agree: if we did, it’d probably be the best browser in the world.

Windows 7 Starter Edition: no, no, no

Techradar:

Starter Edition is essentially Windows 7 with a completely arbitrary three-application limit. This restriction is “designed to ensure that users get the best possible performance” from their netbook. That’s kind, isn’t it? Why not go the whole hog and slap the Windows 7 logo on MS-DOS? That’d go like lightning!