Microsoft CEO, Steve Ballmer, kicked off CES 2009 last night with his keynote speech in which he announced the Windows 7 beta will be available for public download, this Friday. This will be a download-only version, and will expire in August. They haven't announced yet at what time it will be available, but it will only be for a limited time to the first 2.5 million downloaded.

The Windows 7 Beta will be available in English, German, Japanese, Arabic, and Hindi, and each language will be available in 32-bit and 64-bit versions (except Hindi which will only be available in 32-bit). Because the Windows 7 Beta will be offered download-only, it will be provided to you as an ISO image (an .iso file) that you download. After downloading either the 32-bit or 64-bit ISO image of the Windows 7 Beta, you will be required to burn the ISO image to a DVD to install Windows 7.

So you want to be sure you have a DVD burner before spending the time downloading the ISO image. To burn the ISO image of the Windows 7 Beta to DVD, if your PC comes with Nero or Roxio products – you should be able to burn the ISO image to DVD. If you don’t already have DVD burning software on your PC, you can also check out ImgBurn which is free and can be downloaded here.

The Windows 7 Beta only supports Windows Vista SP1 to Windows 7 upgrades. So if you intend to do an upgrade – be sure it is on a PC running Windows Vista with Service Pack 1. We are not yet announcing anything regarding finalized upgrade paths for Windows 7.

Get more information on the Windows 7 beta at the Windows 7 Team Blog.

Link: http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/windows7/archive/2009/01/07/information-on-downloading-and-installing-windows-7-beta.aspx

Social Networks are popular as ever, and I’m proud to say we have made good use of the technology to keep our users, friends, fan, and everybody else updated with what’s going on with our games, applications, and services.  I have made posts in the past on some of our specific networks, but today I wanted to create a directory where you can help us by joining our networks.

Twitter:

@islanddog – My Twitter account where you can keep updated on just about everything going on with Stardock, and tech in general.

@mittense – One of Stardock’s game developers, definitely a good follow here.

@stardock – This is our official Stardock Twitter account.  Keep updated with the latest Stardock news.

@impulsedriven – This is our official Impulse account.  Just as above, keep up with the latest Impulse releases and related news.

@wincustomize – This is our account for WinCustomize.  Aside from news, we often post featured skins and articles.

Friendfeed:

PC Gamers room – This is a Friendfeed room that has news, articles, and anything else related to PC gaming.

Facebook:

Desktop Customization group – We have a group with hundreds of members who are interested in customizing the desktop.  Anybody can join.

Sins of a Solar Empire fan page – We have a fan page on Facebook for Sins that is approaching a thousand members!  It’s another great place to associate with other Sins fans.

Elemental: War of Magic fan page – Same as the Sins page, we have this setup for fans of the upcoming game, Elemental.

Stardock fan page – Come join our fan group for Stardock!

WinCustomize fan page – Support WinCustomize at our fan page on Facebook.

Demigod fan page – Stay up to date with other fans of Demigod.

The Consumer Electronics show has become THE show to attend for techies of the industry.

This year’s show is expected to be particularly interesting. Here are some of the things I’m going to look for:

1. The High-Def wars, phase 2.  Blu-ray has beaten HD-DVD but is that the end of the story? Is streaming the future of high-def media consumption?
2. Windows 7 is coming out. What sorts of cool new tech is Microsoft and its partners have in store for us?
3. What sorts of cool new portable devices are scheduled to come out?
4. Are cars going to get anything better from a tech point of view? BMW’s iDrive is terrible.  Microsoft’s collaboration with Ford has been pretty cool, what’s the next step?
5. What sorts of green tech are coming out this year? I’m sure I’m not the only techie interested in seeing if there are cheap and easy ways to reduce energy consumption.
6. What’s the next phase of life for PCs. Are Netbooks and smart phones the future with PCs being used for increasingly niche applications or are the PC makers going to roar back with new sources of relevance?
7. Where is printer technology going? Are we still stuck with crappy injkets or are there better solutions on the horizon?
8. How is mobile tech coming along? How close are we to Internet everywhere?

Stay tuned!

The flight is about to leave.

2008 is gone, and as we look forward to another great year in skinning for 2009, I wanted to take a look back at some of the skins that were either the most popular, most talked about, or just plain cool.  We saw some skinners quietly fade away, and we also saw some long-time skinners make new appearances along with new skins.  We also have quite a few new Master Skinners on WinCustomize, and we have more promotions coming soon.

So lets take a look back at some of the skins from 2008.

WindowBlinds

Starting off the year, one of the first WindowBlinds skins was a Master skin from SKoriginals called Powder.  This is a light colored skin with plenty of detail to go around, and certainly deserving of the title of Master skin.

Around the same time Stardock Design released its first skin of the year titled ‘Elegance’.  This is another light colored skin properly named because of it’s smooth and slick design.

One of the most popular skins on WinCustomize was StealthOS by MikeB314.  Early in the year MikeB graciously updated the skin to work with Vista and take advantage of the latest features in WindowBlinds 6 and SkinStudio 6.

A skin that generated quite a bit of buzz outside of WinCustomize was iLCD by OFFICA WoD.  This skin offers a unique design that mixes design elements from Vista and OS X.  Most of all, it was a clean and usable skin.

The next notable skin was Dragon by Stardock Design.  What makes this skin stand out is the start menu which has an incredible animation. 

If I had to award a prize to a skin with the most creative and unique design, hands-down the winner would be No Load Limit by I.R. Brainiac.  Just look at the screenshot and you will see what I mean.

Another skinner who pushes the boundaries of creativity is kittymalone, and one skin that comes to mind is Temple Oblivion.  This is a skin with a much darker tone than others, and kitty is one of the only skinners who can pull this off with a WindowBlinds skin.

Another skin that took WinCustomize by storm was Vienna 3 – Rapture by vStyler.  Every part of this skin was well though out and implemented perfectly. 

A skinner who made a return this year was APB, and she brought us a beautiful WindowBlinds skin by the name of Sirach.  This is a more minimal looking skin, which was also great for re-coloring.

Although Vista has been out for a while now, Aero-inspired skins are still very popular, and skins like Clear Black by Butch123 give users the ability to keep the Aero feel with some added changes.

The next skin that was very popular during 2008 was Thundera by Z71.  It has a very bright color, but its designed in a way where it’s still usable on a day to day basis.

One of my personal favorite skins of 2008 was gaiety by mkorashy.  This is a fantastic skin, and was only the second one he ever created.  I definitely hope to see more this year from him.

People have always asked about a 3D looking skin, and theAVMAN seemed to pull it off with 3D Metal.  It’s an awesome looking skin, and the time put into this is incredible.

Another new skinner who has been submitted some great works is jester382.  One of my favorite WB skins from him is neovision which makes great use of darker colors and minimal design.

One of the last WindowBlinds of the year, and one of the most popular in the 2008 GUI Champs, was Plastic Fantastic by vStyler.  This is a skin that is easy on the eyes, but yet has great color, and a minimal design, but still has plenty of details.

Well that is a wrap for 2008 WindowBlinds skins, and remember these are just a few of the hundreds of WindowBlinds skins that came in throughout the year.  Take a browse through the gallery to see all the other great skins.

It’s that time to start doing our own “best of 2008” lists, and today I wanted to start out with some skins that our team of moderators picked.  Picking one skin from the enter year is difficult, especially considering the amount of skins that come through moderation, but I was curious if there was a skin that just seemed to stick out in their minds.

So with that I present the WinCustomize moderator picks of 2008.

WOM chose Chiluly Glass Bridge Ceiling by OutdoorPictures

“Makes you feel like your walking down the hallway.  Really looks great on my 23in WS.”

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Lantec picked Aero Executive by Stardock Design

“Skin of the year was an easy pick for me......it's the one I used the most and still hesitate over when "redecorating".”

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Snowman went with Zing by JJ Ying

“What defines a skin as 'skin of the year'? For me it's a skin you can/will keep on returning to when every other skin just doesn't cut it. Zing by JJ Ying does in my opinion by far qualify as the top contender in this category!”

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HG_Eliminator picked No Load Limit XP by I.R. Brainiac

“While the choosing just one skin was very difficult, No Load Limit By I.R. Brainiac, Stood out as epic. It really shines on a few levels. It looks absolutely fantastic and it really showcases WB's ability to go beyond functional minimalist desktops and in to the realm of wild and fun, while still maintaining functionality. With this WB there is no Limit to the Fun.”

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Erk chose Wraith by SKoriginals

“I keep returning to this skin after trying on others for a while.
But then I'm a huge fan of dark skins, and this one IS one of Shawn's best yet.”

The Consumer Electronics Show 2009 is set to begin, and some of Stardock’s staff will be on hand to bring you the latest updates from the show.  CES ‘09 will feature a keynote by Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer, which presumably he will give us more details on Windows 7, and maybe a peek at yet unannounced products. 

CES was scaled back in the past, but this year they are coming back with a bang.  The event is being held in Las Vegas, and many major electronics, gaming, etc. companies will be there to show off what’s coming up throughout the year.  The Impulse team will be bringing updates right from the show floor, and we have created a category dedicated to CES 2009 coverage.

Keep updated here.

http://www.impulsedriven.com/ces2009

or

http://www.impulsedriven.net/category/522/CES_2009

It’s that time of the year again where people will start giving their predictions for what will hold for the  tech industry in the new year.  With the economy being in the state that it is, mostly everything I have read so far is pretty pessimistic, but putting politics aside, I think 2009 has potential to be a big rebound as far as tech goes.

With that being said, I will start with the most obvious one.

1. Windows 7 arrives.  Microsoft hasn’t been too forthcoming about when the next version of Windows will arrive, and we have heard dates going all the way to 2011.  I think Windows 7 will arrive sometime this summer with a hype that we didn’t see with Vista.  I haven’t gotten my hands on Windows 7 yet, but I am hearing some really great things about it so far.  We are already getting a glimpse of how Windows 7 will operate, but what we haven’t heard much about is the gritty details such as pricing and versioning.  I have written about before the need for Win7 to have a more family-friendly licensing, and to drop the numerous SKU’s for just one or two.
    
   
2. Steve Jobs leave Apple.  Apple shocked the tech community recently when they announced this years Macworld will be its last, and that Steve Jobs will not give the final keynote.  Speculation and rumors are running abound about the reasons behind it, but that simple fact is that Jobs is on his way out.  How this will affect Apple going forward is yet to be seen, but Apple’s stocks will certainly take a hit once this is announced.  This certainly won’t mean the end for Apple, but will they continue on their current track with new leadership?  I say yes.
   
   
3. Online services takeover.  Well “takeover” is a bit of a stretch, but 2009 will be the year when more and more services like “the cloud” launch.  In 2008 we saw services like Google Documents become more usable, and saw others like Microsoft step their feet into the online office waters.  Apple dove right in with MobileMe, which despite its rough launch, it has shown what “cloud” services can do for the average consumer.  Just today I was reading more speculation that iWork will move towards online integration, but no confirmation as of yet.  And of course we can’t forget Microsoft’s announcement of their Azure platform which has some tremendous potential.
   
   
4. Next-gen consoles revealed.  The next-gen consoles like the Xbox 360 are not so “next-gen” anymore, and this year we will get a peek at the next, “next-gen” consoles.  We still won’t see the actual units ship until at least late 2010, but the hype machine won’t wait that long.  Aside from the usual graphic improvements, blu-ray will once again be a big feature, along with more integration with home entertainment features. 
   
   
5. Social networks “slow down”.  This year we seen social networks like Facebook, Friendfeed, and Twitter really take off.  The popularity of these services spawned a ton of startup services, but towards the end of the year we have also seen many of them fade into oblivion.  2009 will bring a new wave of updates such as a “pro” version of Twitter, and these services will remain extremely popular, but the overall excitement and expansion of these networks will start to slow down.

Well those are my 2009 predictions, and I think most are pretty solid.  Do you agree with these?  Leave your comments and let me know.

The holiday season is here again, and it’s time for the 2008 Holiday Gift Guide.  One of the great things about Impulse is the ability to purchase gifts for other people, and they will be able to download them without having to wait for a package to arrive through the mail.

Day 3 we are going to go right into desktop enhancements, most of which will be applications to help you customize and organize your desktop.

WindowBlinds 6

There is no better way to change the complete look and feel of Windows, than with WindowBlinds.  WindowBlinds 6 brings a ton of new features and performance enhancements that makes this perfect for anyone who wants to get away from Windows default look.  Whether it’s wild or mild, there are skins to fit just about every personality.

 

Link: WindowBlinds 6 ($19.95)

IconPackager 4

If you want to change the entire set of Windows icons, or each individually, IconPackager 4 will make any geek happy.  There are hundreds of icon packages available on sites like WinCustomize.com that are available to download and use with IconPackager.  Many icon packs are made to match a particular WindowBlinds skin, and many are just completely new designs that look great with any theme.

Link: IconPackager 4 ($19.95)

Object Desktop/Object Desktop Ultimate

Object Desktop is a suite of desktop enhancements, which include both WindowBlinds and IconPackager.  Both Object Desktop and Object Desktop Ultimate contain the same core applications, the Ultimate upgrade adds additional applications such as SoundPackager, TweakVista, IconDeveloper, and more.  Object Desktop 2009 was recently released, so now is a perfect time to get started.

Link: Object Desktop ($49.95)

Link: Object Desktop Ultimate ($69.95)

ObjectDock Plus

ObjectDock is the best when it comes to an application which can help you organize your desktop with an animated and fully functional dock.  ObjectDock Plus adds the ability to have multiple docks, tabbed docks,  system tray support, and more.  View a demo video here.

Link: ObjectDock Plus ($19.95)

A couple weeks ago I asked people to nominate Frogboy for the third annual Edge Game Industry Heroes Award (EGIHA). It is given to 25 people in the industry worldwide that engender respect for the profession and demonstrated superior ability in achieving lasting tangible positive results throughout the year. They are seen as a catalyst of success and inspire confidence and admiration within their peer group and others.

I like to think of the EGIHA as an a combined Olympic & Oscar award for the gaming industry. There is no particular order of rank however. The named recipients are simply considered the best and the brightest the industry had to offer for the given year by the Edge editorial board. I think this is a very nice well deserved honor for Brad and his maverick activities for nearly two decades in establishing and building SD and crafting its alliances within the industry.

Moreover it is also a great testament to team SD as well as team IC for all their hard work this past year. After all a leader is nothing without a solid team of people around him/her and it appears SD & IC have it in spades. This is especially so given the company surrounding Brad on the list. Consequently I say it makes the SD family the biggest little guys out there.

If you ever worry about losing your data from a corrupted document, or from a power outage, KeepSafe is the ideal solution for real-time data backup.  KeepSafe has an easy to use interface and setup wizard, which will get your data protected in no time.  You can select which types of documents to backup, and there are a wide variety of options for maintaining those backups.

To see a more detailed review, check out one of my walkthroughs.

• Keep Your Data Safe with KeepSafe 2.0

KeepSafe is normally $30, but Stardock has a special holiday promotion going on where you can get KeepSafe for just $8.95. 

Use coupon code KEEPSAFE-2008 at checkout.

Link: KeepSafe