So this weekend was pretty boring. I finally decided to take the plunge and upgrade my system to the newest version of Microsoft’s operating system Windows 7. So far i like it. I’ve been using Windows Vista since it arrived a few years back. I never really had any problems with it. Being in the IT field, i felt obligated to use it as i wanted to be able to easily diagnose and fix problems that arose within the OS. The same is true for this OS. I want to make sure i understand how to use it and know where things are. Microsoft has a bad habit of re-labeling all of their programs and controls every time they release an OS. They also like to rearrange stuff so that you have no idea where anything is. They are a lot like Supermarkets. One week the cereal is on isle 3. The next week they’ve moved cereal to isle 9. Its a constant battle to find the products you need and use all the time.

So other than the whole rearrangement of icons, names, and features Windows 7 is basically Windows Vista with a new task bar, start menu, and a few interface changes. I do like some of the changes though. I love the new “libraries” feature. I’ve not had the time to play around with it much but it basically allows you to create a library of all your files (E.g. Videos or music) even though those files may sit in various locations throughout your hard drives or external devices. Another feature i like is the new start menu. Microsoft has basically turned the task bar and start menu into the Mac OSX doc. Each running application now appears as an icon. You can pin programs to the task bar just as you can in OSX. You an hover your mouse over that icon to get a preview and name of the application. Windows are grouped under each programs icon. I like it a lot.

This time, when i installed Windows 7 I decided to install the 64-bit version of the OS. Previously I’vebeen running 32-bit OSs. (Windows XP and then Windows Vista) I’ve never really felt the need to run the 64-bit version of the OS before. Recently I’ve heard a lot about improvements to the compatibility of 64-bit apps as well as improvements Microsoft has made when dealing with 64-bit and 32-bit apps on the same machine. After much debate i finally decided that i would run the 64-bit version simply because i wanted to keep up with the technology. I also plan to add more ram to my system and you definitely need a 64-bit system to do that.

I did the install on Saturday evening. All my data is on my second hard drive so i didn’t really have to backup anything other than various desktop files and application specific files. The install finished Saturday night and i got all of my drivers installed. Today i spent most of the day re-installing programs and games. I really don’t have that many applications i use. The list consists of MS Office, Video codecs / PS3 streaming apps, UTorrent, Pidgin (for IM chat), 7Zip, Adobe CS4, Dameon Tools, FileZilla, Nero 7, Ventrillo, World of Warcraft, and Champions. By far the most time consuming applications were World of Warcraft and Adobe CS4. Wow took a good 2 hours and Adobe CS4 took around 45 minutes.

The other big news of the weekend was my acceptance into the closed beta for Champions Online. I’ve been waiting for this game for a while now. I’m not really a huge comic book geek or anything but i love the idea around this game. I’ve played WoW and a few other MMOs before this one and i have high expectations for this game. I hope that it doesn’t die off like so many others before it.

I got to play pretty much all weekend. The servers aren’t up 24/7. They only bring them up periodically to do controlled testing. This weekend was a 3-day test. On Friday the game was pretty laggy due to a recent major patch and a new infusion of testers. Yesterday was much smoother and lag-free. Today was about the same. The character creator was by far the best part of the game so far. You can spend HOURS creating a completely unique character. Everything from color, shape, size, sex, species, outfit, accessories, armor, etc. Everything is completely customizable. I found it funny that one of the bugs right now is a 1 hour time-out that occurs during character creation. Apparently once you start creating a character you only have 1 hour to do it or it times out and you lose everything you worked on.

Other than a few minor bugs and the minor lag i experienced on Friday the game feels complete. Everything i experienced down to the quests, trainers, NPCs, abilities, powers, etc felt complete. The game is set for official release on September 1st. I think this will be one of the games I’m definitely going to purchase.

So i said I’d never do it. I said i hated Blackberry’s and would rather use two tin-cans tied together with a string. I ranted and raved about how terrible Blackberry’s were and how they were trash. Well i guess i changed my mind. I am now the proud owner of the new Blackberry Curve 8900. My previous phone, the AT&T Tilt, has been by my side for about a year and a half. It was a great phone to begin with. It was my first smart phone. It was the phone that showed me how much i rely on email and how great an actual qwerty keyboard is. Sadly though, the phone was not that great. It was slow as hell, had a tiny screen, and was the size of a portable ham radio. And although it had a 3MP camera in it, it took terrible pictures. I never was able to get a good picture out of that thing.  And so it was time to replace the ageing beast and replace it with a newer shinier phone.

When i started looking at my options,  i realized i had only about three or four phones to choose from. I’m on AT&T (so is my company) and that means i had to get a phone compatible with AT&T’s network. That left me with the following phones to choose from: The new version of my old phone called the HTC Touch Pro 2, the iPhone 3GS, the Blackberry Bold, and the Blackberry Curve 8900. Now at first i convinced myself that i wanted an iPhone. Then i realized that it was a touchscreen and that i hated my Tilt’s touch screen. I realized that the functions i use the most are done easier on other phones. While the iPhone is great, its not built around email. And it also didn’t help that my company does not pay for iPhones on their plan. So that ruled the iPhone out. The second choice was the HTC Touch Pro 2. And well, it was basically just a shinier version of my old phone with a better screen and body. While the inside of the phone changed a lot, the OS has not. And i really got tired of WinMo. The size of the phone was still a concern as was the touch screen. And to top that off the phone is not even available to the public yet. AT&T hasn’t even set a release date. So that ruled the Touch Pro 2 out.

That left me with only two of my options. The Blackberry Bold and the Blackberry Curve 8900. When i looked further into the phones i found that the two phones were very similar in their functions with a few but important differences. The 8900 was smaller but lacked 3G connectivity. The Bold had 3G but lacked a good camera. The Bold was also a bit larger and had a keyboard that didn’t much appeal to me. So in the end, after a long mental debate, i decided on the Blackberry Curve 8900. As for the whole hating Blackberry thing goes, i think the fact that RIM finally released a few phones that have nice screens brought me over to the dark side. The main thing that really bugged me about Blackberry’s was the terrible ugly interface and the terrible screens. The 8900 and Bold really improved the screen and the interface (or theme w/e). Another reason i decided to get a Blackberry was that i manage our company’s BES server and anytime i make changes or update it I have to call someone who actually has a blackberry and have them test everything. I was also clueless on how to actually operate a Blackberry. Hopefully this new phone will give me a better understanding of Blackberry’s and the BES in general.

Please note that i still think the BES is quite possibly the most idiotic waste of money I’ve ever laid eyes on. That’s not to say it doesn’t do exactly what it is supposed to do. I’m just saying that its a huge waste of money and quite frankly a huge design flaw. I see no reason what-so-ever why RIM can’t just design a phone that can connect directly to a mail server or exchange server like every other phone in the world. The whole BES solution seems like a huge rip off to me. But who am i to say that RIM is ripping us off.

Lastly, because i can, i took a few comparison pictures and videos of the Blackberry Curve 8900 against an Apple iPhone 3GS. (The 3GS is not mine) Obviously the video is going to be way better on the 3GS. But take a look at the 8900′s pics. I think you’ll be surprised. Btw, don’t ask about the items in the picture. I kind of just grabbed anything that was bright and colorful. And yes that is a purple stuffed dragon. His name is Emp…

Below is a video comparison. As i said before, the 8900 is no match for the iPhone 3GS. But i figured i’d do one anyway for those interested.

Click here to view the embedded video.