xp mode in windows 7

. Essentially XP Mode provides Windows XP in a virtual environment into Windows 7 allowing you to run many of your favourite Windows XP applications. It seems like a good idea – rather than trying to make Windows 7 backward compatible with all manner of software products – simply provide Windows XP in its own environment. This also allows much freeing up of developers time to make further enhancements and refinements to Windows 7 – ready for its release.

As I am running Windows 7 in a virtual environment on my XP machine it will prove an even more interesting challenge and experiment to then run XP in a virtual environment on my virtual Windows 7 set up. I downloaded the 445 MB file onto Windows 7 then started the application installation process. The installation started pretty swiftly, created a virtual hard disk file for virtual Windows XP, registered the product and showed me where to find the created disk file.

What now I thought? There was no trace of it in the Start menu and double-clicking the created .vhd file did little to help.

Presumably we need to install a virtual manager, such as Windows Virtual PC Beta fromwww.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc a download of just under 5MB. Before installing Virtual PC Beta you need to ensure virtualisation is enabled in your BIOS.

After activating virtualisation technology on my laptop and local Virtual PC I set about attempting the install – the first warning returned was “Windows Update Standalone Installer – The update is not applicable to your computer.”

The first step was to run winver from the Start menu to find out the current version of Windows 7 which is reported as Microsoft Windows Version 6.1 (Build 7000). It was at this point the realisation struck me – I must still be running Windows 7 Beta even though I had already downloaded Windows 7 RC. Forty minutes later and I have a build of Windows 7 RC installed reporting Microsoft Windows 6.1 (Build 7100) and Virtual PC Beta installs just fine.

Post installation a new group appears under the Start Menu called Windows Virtual PC, under this a Virtual Windows XP is available.

I now have a Virtual Windows XP under Windows 7. Once I have given it a good run I will write a little more about it.

Happy birthday!! Sony Walkman turns 30

Sony introduced its Walkman portable cassette player thirty years ago this week, kicking off a revolution in the consumer electronics industry by changing the way people enjoy music.

Until its introduction, the only way people could enjoy their own choice of music while on the go was to lug around a larger, heavier cassette player, but the Walkman brought music to the belt-clip, purse or pocket.

The first Walkman, the TPS-L2, cost $200 in the U.S., but despite the relatively high price tag the reception was enthusiastic. In 1980 The Wall Street Journal called the Walkman "one of the hottest new status symbols around" and noted that prospective U.S. owners faced a month-long wait because of a backlog in orders.

The player had several features that were innovative for the time including dual headphone sockets, independent volume control for the left and right audio channels and the distinctive orange "hotline" button on the top that faded the tape output and engaged a microphone so the listener could talk to someone nearby without stopping the music or taking off their headphones.

The design and much of the mechanics of the TPS-L2 was based on a model that came out in 1978 but was never branded as Walkman. The TCM-100 was a portable cassette recorder aimed at people who needed the ability to record audio clips on the go, such as business people and journalists. The TPS-L2 brought the technology to the mass-market.

With the success of the Walkman a product line was born that would go on to become one of the world's best-known brand names -- but that global branding almost didn't happen. Fearing that "Walkman" wasn't proper English, Sony initially chose the brand name "Soundabout" for the U.S. market, derived from the word walkabout, and "Stowaway" for the U.K. It wasn't until a year later, in 1980, that Walkman became the global brand name.

Within a few years the products were developing fast.

The WM-2, introduced in 1981, was notable for its styling, which was much more modern that of the TPS-L2 and also offered in several colors to suit personal tastes. By 1983, just four years after the launch of the Walkman, Sony introduced the WM-20, which was the same size as a cassette case. Then in 1984 the Walkman line expanded with the introduction of the D-50, the first CD Walkman.

For much of the 1980s and 1990s, Sony reigned supreme in the personal audio space. It sold hundreds of millions of Walkman players and was the standard by which most competing products were judged. However, things started to change with the arrival of digital music.

Sathyabama students to launch satellite in 2010

CHENNAI: The Indian Space Research
Organisation (ISRO) will launch a nano satellite designed and developed by students of Sathyabama University
for free. The Sathyabama Satellite, with a payload of 10 kg, will study air and earth surface pollution.

"The satellite is being designed with support from ISRO and we will launch it when it is completed," said Madhavan Nair, chairman, ISRO, after interacting with students associated with designing the satellite at Sathyabhama University
on Thursday.

Speaking at the Graduation Day of Jeppiar College of Engineering, Nair said that ISRO and Sathyabama University had signed an MoU to support the design, development and launch of the satellite. A Space Technology Centre has been established to conduct advanced research in rocketry, satellites and space applications in university campus.

"The satellite is in the design stage and we will be able to complete the project, including fabrication, by June 2010," said V Kannan, head of the VLSI (Very Large Scale Integration) design department that includes a team of 27 students to build the satellite. The third-year engineering students were selected by ISRO after a screening process that included a written test and interview.

"It is impressive to see that the students developing the concept quickly. Their clarity of concept and commitment to completing the project by the end of the year is impressive," Nair said. He added that the 16 Village Resource Centres were performing remarkably well.

Earlier, A Sivathanu Pillai, chief controller, Research and Development, Defense Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) inaugurated an aero hangar and two Cessna aircraft meant for students of aeronautical engineering at the university.

Jeppiar, pro chancellor, Sathyabama University said: "We are planning to buy a 15-seater aircraft soon. An air hostess training course will also be started to benefit students from rural areas."