Gradually we are adding features and improvements, and now it’s the turn of the buttons and the dialog boxes. The first has the corners rounded and it can be transparent as in the following example. Dialog boxes are designed in the same way as the regular windows, and in computers that support 3D hardware acceleration, it has nice effects when minimize, close, or appear. As usual here are one screen shot that shows it. The new demo is even smaller than the old one.

You can download Here.

Hello everyone, the StatusBar it’s done and has added to the demo. Every item has rounded corners and it’s a little transparent. A size gripper element have been added to de StatusBar too. I hope that you like. Here is a screen shoot.

You can download Here.

Who says you cannot have the Windows Vista windows in XP or 2000?. This small demo shows a window that has the same visual effects than Vista when you minimize, restore, open or close the demo. The window of the demo is partially transparent and has soft edges and a back shadow. It also has buttons like in Aero in Windows Vista.

This demo is built using our 2D graphics library and OpenGL for 3D effects. At the bottom of the window are some statistics that show the time rendering of the window in seconds and the amount of text characters per second (and per core). Of course the demo takes advantage of all cores in the system.

This window system has a minimal use of Windows services, so in theory and hopefully in a short time, we will have some demonstration for other operating systems such as Linux / XWindow. In order to view the 3D effects is needed support for OpenGL 1.4 or higher.

You can download Here, and I have also opened an entry in the forum for possible suggestions or comments at this address: http://www.civis-software.com/dis/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=100

Showing that patience can be a virtue, the impressive Samsung 256 GB SSD that was first unveiled back in May has finally entered mass-production, but now with even faster performance. Originally stated to have sequential read and write speeds of 200 MB/s and 160 MB/s, Samsung has since been able to boost the drive’s write speed up to 200 MB/s and read speed up to 220 MB/s.

This high-capacity SSD is claimed by Samsung to be capable of saving 25 high-definition movies (10 GB each) in just 21 minutes, which apparently takes a 7,200 RPM HDD about 70 minutes to accomplish. Another aspect of the SSD’s performance is deletion speed, with the new SSD being capable of permanently deleting 256 GB of data in about 2.5-minutes. If being able to quickly wipe a drive clean is of importance to you, you might also like to know that the SSD is available with full disk encryption.

As for power consumption, the new SSD is rated at 1.1-watts, slightly higher than the 0.9-watts the drive was originally stated to have. For comparison, a new ’green’ 500 GB 5,400 HDD from Toshiba this week had a rating of 0.6-watts, with its power consumption reaching 1.7-watts during seek mode and 1.4-watts during read/write mode.

The new Samsung SSD takes a 2.5-inch form-factor, has a thickness of 9.5 mm and weighs just 81-grams. Pricing is still unknown, but expect it to be steep. With Samsung expected to introduce a 512 GB SSD in 2009 though, we hope to see the price come down rather quickly.

 Almost one year to the day after Phenom debuted on the desktop and fell flat on its face, AMD is back with its 45nm Shanghai refresh. Calling this processor launch “important” would be a colossal understatement; AMD’s ability to continue as a going concern in the x86 market fundamentally depends on how well Shanghai performs. AMD has spent the last twelve months rather pointedly not talking about Shanghai; the only topic it discussed less was asset smart.

Today, Shanghai meets the market, and the eyes of the IT industry. The verdict? Cautious optimism. Shanghai is what Intel would call a “tock“; a product refresh that improves upon its predecessor rather than launching a new architecture. This is true from an architectural standpoint, but not an economic one. If Barcelona was a tick, it was the last gasp of a dying clock. Shanghai, in theory, is running on a new battery.

AMD hasn’t revealed all the details on what it revamped in Shanghai, but here’s what we know. Shanghai is 65nm Barcelona respun on 45nm technology. It carries 6MB of L3 (up from 2MB), and it will officially support DDR2-800 (Barcelona topped out at DDR2-667). AMD has added support for a power-saving technology it calls Smart Fetch (we’ll discuss that in a moment), and improved virtualization performance. The processor’s integrated memory controller also got a few upgrades, and can now split itself into two 64-bit channels, as opposed to always being stuck in 128-bit mode. Doing so allows the processor to perform simultaneous read/writes, though maximum bandwidth through either channel is obviously just half of the standard total. AMD also improved how frequently Shanghai can query CPUs in other sockets—if I’ve understood correctly, this is only useful to companies deploying two-socket solutions and up.

Fetch, Shanghai, fetch

Smart Fetch is AMD’s new power-saving technology that allows the chip to completely power down cores that aren’t in use. No word yet on whether or not this feature will make it into Deneb, the upcoming desktop flavor of Shanghai, but I’d bet it will, probably as part of a revamped “Super Cool’n'Quiet Deluxe Extreme WTF Edition, now with Silicon-on-Peanut-Butter technology.” AMD is touting Smart Fetch as an example of why an exclusionary cache design, in which L1/L2 aren’t duplicated in L3, is better than an inclusive cache hierarchy, in which L1/L2 data is duplicated in L3. Intel’s cache structure is inclusive, AMD’s is exclusive, and the two of them have been fighting over which is better since K7 debuted in 1999. We’ll let them argue over it, and look at smart Fetch instead.

Smart Fetch kicks in when a Shanghai core is ready for beddy-bye. Instead of dropping the CPU into a sleep state, Smart Fetch reads the sum totals of its L1 and L2 cache, then drops that data into L3, presumably flagging it in a way that tells the other cores not to write data into those blocks. The appropriate core is then powered off completely, which saves power. When the processor needs the core to power up again, Smart Fetch hurries off, grabs the requisite blocks of L3 cache, and rewrites them into L1/L2.

Shanghai’s performance, power consumption

Anandtech looks to have an exclusive review of Shanghai database benchmarks for now, though TR has already noted that its own review is on the way. Anandtech tested a brace of Opteron 2384s (Shanghai, 2.7GHz) vs. both the older, Barcelona-based Opteron 2356s (2.3GHz) and a set of Intel Harpertown Xeons (3GHz). Compared to Barcelona, Shanghai consumes ~6 percent less power at idle and 12 percent less power at load. Keep in mind, that’s comparing a 2.7GHz Shanghai (17 percent higher clockspeed) to a 2.3GHz 65nm chip. As for Harpertown, Shanghai beats it hands-down in terms of performance-per-watt, though Anandtech notes this is partially due to the use of FB-DIMMs.

Performance-wise, Shanghai hit its mark, according to AnandTech: “We were quite surprised that Shanghai was able to meet and, in some cases, pass Harpertown at various workload levels in some of the benchmarks. Obviously, when it comes to power, AMD is still leading this space by a significant margin.”

All of the new Opterons are 75W parts. Prices range from $377 for a 2.3GHz Opteron 2376 (2GHz IMC) to $989 for the top-end Opteron 2384 (2.7GHz cores, 2.2GHz IMC). The eight-way versions of the chip, as always, are significantly more expensive, and range from $1,165 for the 2.4GHz/2.0GHz Opteron 8378 to $2,149 for the 2.7GHz/2.2GHz Opteron 8384. AMD will launch Deneb, the upcoming desktop part, early in the first quarter of 2009

What do you get when you combine improved performance, improved clockspeeds, and better power consumption? In this case, you get back in the game. Congratulations, AMD—it’s about time you stopped carving a groove in the bench. 

Source: Ars Technica

Seagate has a solution: its third-generation Momentus FDE (full disk encryption) internal drives and Maxtor BlackArmor portables use 128-bit AES encryption to automatically secure the contents of the entire drive. Until now, Seagate had offered self-encryption only with its lower-capacity, lower rotational-speed drives (a 160GB drive that spins its platters at 5,400 RPM goes for around $150 at retail). The company is now shipping 320GB, 7,200 RPM drives to its OEM customers, and expects to have 500GB models in early 2009.

“Our solution is very difficult to crack,” said Joni Clark, product marketing manager for Seagate’s personal compute business unit, “because there’s an ASIC on the controller board and the key is in the media itself.” BIOS-managed Momentus FDE drives (the type a consumer would use) are FIPS 197 validated (meaning they’re approved by the U.S. Government’s National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Computer Security Division for unclassified applications).

Enterprise-managed Momentus FDE drives (the type government agencies and Fortune 1000 businesses would deploy) features FIPS 197 validation too, but they’ve also been tested and accepted for use in U.S. national security systems by the super-secretive National Security Agency.

“Having your laptop with you wherever you go is as common as having your wallet with you,” said Clark. “But nobody wants to start over with an all-new laptop. Using our drives, you can retrofit the computer you already own.”

Source: Tom`s Hardware

The new OCZ Solid Series of SSDs are available in capacities of 30 GB, 60 GB and 120 GB, with read and write speeds hitting up to 155 MB/s and 90 MB/s, respectively. Designed and optimized for modern notebooks, the Solid Series of SSDs are available in a 2.5-inch form factor and are not recommended for use in laptops purchased prior to 2007. It is a curious recommendation for OCZ to make, but it may be partially due to the SATA II interface that these new SSDs use, which older notebooks may not have.

The new Solid Series drives also have a mini-USB port on them, which apparently can be used “to update the Solid Series’ firmware should new versions become available, to further enhance compatibility or performance with future platforms.”

Seek times on the new drives are less than 0.35 ms, with operating temperatures ranging from -10 C to +70 C and power consumption ranging from 4.5 V to 5.5 V. The Solid Series supports RAID, has a mean time before failure of 1.5 million hours, are shock resistant and are backed by a two year warranty. OCZ claims these new drives use 50-percent less power than the best performing 2.5-inch HDDs on the market and offer seek times that are 10-times as fast. While likely not among the fastest SSDs currently available, the Solid Series’ rated speeds indicate that performance levels should still be quite good.

Part numbers for the new drives are OCZSSD2-1SLD30G, OCZSSD2-1SLD60G and OCZSSD2-1SLD120G, for the 30 GB, 60 GB and 120 GB models, respectively. According to early pricing found at online retailers, the 30 GB model is selling for $89, the 60 GB model is selling for $159 and the 120 GB model is selling for $299. Although the offered capacities are rather small, the Solid Series would seem to offer great value. For notebook users tempted by the benefits of a solid state drive, upgrading to a new 60 GB OCZ Solid Series SSD from an old 80 GB 5400 RPM hard drive could be well worth it.

Source: Tom`s Hardware

The Ubuntu developers have announced the official release of Ubuntu 8.10, codenamed Intrepid Ibex. This release includes new versions of many popular open source desktop applications and also introduces several important new features.

Ubuntu 8.04 is built on version 2.6.27 of the Linux kernel which introduces improved support for webcam hardware and the new ath9k wireless driver from Atheros. Ubuntu also comes with version 2.24 of the open source GNOME desktop environment, which includes some nice user interface improvements, such as support for tabbed file browsing and a new screen resolution configuration utility.

Ubuntu 8.10 includes Xorg 7.4, which has improved support for input device hotplugging. This takes Linux one step closer to completely eliminating the need for Xorg configuration files. Network configuration gets a big boost in this release with the addition of Network Manager 0.7, which adds support for managing 3G and PPPoE connections and configuring static IP addresses. The new version of Network Manager also has a more complete end user interface that exposes a variety of other configuration features.

Ubuntu 8.10 also includes the Dynamic Kernel Module Support system, a framework created by Dell that will automatically recompile kernel modules when kernel packages are updated. This will hopefully reduce breakage of VirtualBox and other applications that rely on third-party kernel modules.

This release introduces a few nice privacy features, including a new guest user mode for the fast-user-switching applet and support for directory encryption. There are a few new server features too, such as support for Xen, a new virtual machine generator, and Samba 3.1, which adds support for IPv6 and improved Windows networking integration. Some minor improvements worth mentioning are the new BBC media content plugin for the Totem video player and the availability of Sun’s OpenJDK open source Java runtime from the official Ubuntu repository. 

One insignificant but interesting change that users will observe in Ubuntu 8.10 is Firefox’s new alternative to the annoying license agreement display that used to pop up when the program is launched for the first time. Instead of displaying a license agreement and requiring the user to agree to the terms, the new version displays a bar informing the user that the program is open source software. The user can click a “Know your Rights” button in the bar to launch a new about:rights display.

 There were several major open source software releases that occurred late in the Ubuntu development cycle and some of those programs couldn’t be included in the 8.10 release. GIMP 2.6, which we reviewed earlier this month, was one of the few late arrivals that managed to get included. Mono 2.0 and Python 2.6 both missed the cutoff, so the base install includes Mono 1.9.1 and Python 2.5.2 by default.

The Empathy instant messaging client, which was one of the most significant features added in GNOME 2.24, was not included in Ubuntu 8.10. After conducting careful analysis, the Ubuntu team chose to continue shipping Pidgin as the default instant messaging client in this release. Empathy will likely be included in the next Ubuntu release, after it has had an opportunity to improve and mature. Another controversial omission in Ubuntu 8.10 is OpenOffice.org 3.0.

This release is another nice incremental improvement, but there are still some weaknesses and gaps in functionality. One of our biggest complaints about Ubuntu 8.04 was poor desktop search integration. This issue still hasn’t been addressed, and the Tracker front-end doesn’t appear to have improved. I haven’t tested it for long enough to determine yet whether PulseAudio is usable in this release, but some anecdotal evidence from testers indicates that it is better than in 8.04 but still somewhat problematic.

The planning process has already begun for Ubuntu 9.04, which is codenamed Jaunty Jackalope. The roadmap will be assembled in December at the Ubuntu Developer Summit that will take place at Google’s headquarters in Mountain View. Some of the big goals for 9.04 include plans to improve boot time and system performance. The developers also aim to integrate web technologies more tightly with the desktop.

Ubuntu 8.10 is available for download from the Ubuntu web site, as are several other flavors, including Kubuntu, Xubuntu, UbuntuStudio, and Mythbuntu. Users can also upgrade directly from Ubuntu 8.04. For more information about this version, check out the official release notes.

Source: Ars technica

The new HyperX kits will range from 1375MHz to 2000MHz while the ValueRam kits will range from 1066MHz to 1333MHz. Both 3GB and 6GB ValueRAM kits will be available immediately. The 2GB (2×1GB) DDR3 1333MHz kit is current available on Newegg.com for US$70.99.

Kingston is claiming the first to market running at 1.65 volts. DDR3 running at 1.65 volts on Core i7 systems should be well within nominal limits and is to be considered safe – however, many reviewers around the net believe that high voltage enthusiast kits will damage your i7 CPU within just a few weeks of use, or even days. This was covered in a previous article here on Tom’s Hardware.

Clipped from the Kinston Press Release:

“Fountain Valley, CA — October 29, 2008 — Kingston Technology Company, Inc., the independent world leader in memory products, today announced it is first to ship 2GHz memory in triple-channel configuration designed specifically for the new Intel-based X58 motherboards. Kingston’s HyperX® DDR3 2GHz memory, available now, come in kits of three 1GB modules that are Intel® XMP (Extreme Memory Profile) ready meeting the Core i7 1.65 volt platform recommendation.

Kingston is excited to bring the fastest DDR3 triple channel memory products to market as we are the first to deliver 2000MHz gaming kits of three with Intel’s reduced voltage,” said Mark Tekunoff, senior technology manager, Kingston®. “All of our triple-channel kits can be overclocked manually or by using XMP-ready profiles. The 2GHz modules have been tested to support up to that speed on ASUS P6T Deluxe motherboards while the Intel DX58SO motherboards have been tested up to 1600MHz.

In addition to the top-of-the-line 2000MHz, Kingston’s family of triple-channel kits include 1866- and 1800MHz, and low-latency 1600- and 1375MHz speeds. Kingston ValueRAM® kits of three are also available in 1333MHz and 1066MHz, in 1- and 2GB capacities.”

Kingston HyperX is backed by a lifetime warranty and free 24/7 technical support. For more detailed information please visit the Kingston Web site.

Source: Tom´s Hardware

As the release date for the Intel Core i7 platform approaches, memory manufactures have begun launching their memory products designed specifically for the new platform. G.Skill is no exception and on Tuesday the company launched its full line of DDR3 performance triple-channel memory kits designed for the Intel Core i7 processor and the Intel X58 Express chipset. The new memory is available in both 3 GB and 6 GB capacities, with speeds of 1333 MHz and 1600 MHz.

Of the four newly launched memory kits, the first two are named F3-12800CL9T-3GBNQ and F3-12800CL9T-6GBNQ and come in capacities of 3 x 1 GB and 3 x 2 GB, respectively. These memory kits have a speed of DDR3 1600 MHz (PC3 12800), a CAS Latency of 9-9-9-24 and a Test Voltage somewhere between 1.5 V and 1.6 V. The memory is unbuffered Non-ECC, the PCB is 6 layers and cooling is provided by G.Skill NQ Series heat-spreaders.

Next, we have a pair of G.Skill memory kits that are named F3-10666CL9T-3GBNQ and F3-10666CL9T-6GBNQ, with capacities of 3 x 1 GB and 3 x 2 GB, respectively. These memory kits have a speed of DDR3 1333 MHz (PC3 10666), a CAS Latency of 9-9-9-24 and a Test Voltage somewhere between 1.5 V and 1.6 V. The memory is unbuffered Non-ECC, the PCB is 6 layers and cooling is provided by G.Skill NQ Series heatspreaders.

G.Skill states these products have lifetime warranties and ever ready technical back-up. It is important to remember that it is not recommended to set the DDR3 memory voltage higher than 1.65 V when used in a Intel Core i7 system, as it could damage the CPU. No word on pricing yet, but G.Skill states these memory kits are ideal for enthusiasts, overclockers and early-adopters, which probably means they will be carrying a premium price-tag.

Source: Tom´s Hardware