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In this Issue:

• Windows 8: Dying gasp or next big thing?
• Sewer cable specialist sets up in Australia
• Finally, some answers to Windows 7 upgrade questions
• Telstra: broadband price cuts "imminent"
• Quotes of the Day

Windows 8: Dying gasp or next big thing?  

Just as the marketing hype around Windows 7 heads towards its peak, a few details are starting to surface about its likely successor.

You may groan but work on Windows 8, as Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has referred to it, is already underway.

The next generation of Windows is unlikely to appear for a few years — probably by 2012 — but Microsoft is working on what comes next, even before Windows 7 hits the shelves.

Ballmer for one has implied there is still more to come. "In a sense there's still a lot of work to do [with the operating system]," he said recently in London.

The company remains tight-lipped about the work being done but Ballmer has suggested that improved management and voice recognition are development priorities. There is also speculation that it may feature a 128-bit architecture.

Clive Longbottom, analyst with Quocirca, predicts virtualisation will feature more prominently with Windows 8. He said: "With Citrix, VMware and Microsoft all looking at how to give the ultimate experience to the user, expect to see virtualisation within the OS providing enhanced support for virtual desktops, for streaming applications, for access to applications when untethered and unconnected to the internet and so on."

He added that Windows 8 could be "a big step forwards towards being a unified client operating system" with Windows Mobile, Windows Embedded and Windows Client all becoming more aligned in terms of their release schedule. ZDNet Australia October 2009. more >>>

Sewer cable specialist sets up in Australia  

FIBRE optic deployment specialist H2O has set up shop in Australia and is betting on its sewer cable-laying methods to position the company for a piece of the government's $43 billion national broadband network pie.

The British-headquartered company has set up a local presence in Brisbane with a view to edging in on the NBN project by offering its services to deploy high-speed fibre optic cable via Australia's sewer systems.

The patented method, which H20 calls Fibre Optical Cable Underground Sewer System (FS), can be between 60 per cent to 75 per cent cheaper to deploy than traditional fibre rollouts, H2O Australia executive director Andrew Lawson said.

"At this moment in time we are confident that our sewer deployment technology will substantially reduce costs and we think it will receive a positive reception in Australia," Mr Lawson said.

"We don't know the specific cost savings in Australia yet, but in the UK the time savings and the cost savings compared to the traditional dig and trench methods is in the region of 65 per cent to 75 per cent."

H2O has already used its sewer cabling method to roll out fibre-to-the-premise networks in Bournemouth and Dundee in Britain and are in the middle of similar projects in South Africa.

AustralianIT October 2009. more >>>

Finally, some answers to Windows 7 upgrade questions  

Posted by Ed Bott

Every day for the past few months, I have received at least one question from readers wanting to know how the Windows 7 upgrade process will work. And in every case, my answer was consistent. I didn’t know. Paul Thurrott and I asked Microsoft repeatedly (and I mean every single damn week) for upgrade media, and the answer was always a polite no. I could have taken some educated guesses and hit the Publish button here, but that isn’t what I learned in journalism school.

ZDNet Australia October 2009. more >>>

Telstra: broadband price cuts "imminent"  

Telstra has flagged price reductions for its broadband products and services as it fights to maintain market share in the highly competitive sector.

Chief executive David Thodey said on Wednesday price cuts were "imminent" as the telco giant wanted to compete aggressively on broadband offerings.

"In some parts of the market we've gone too far out of line and we need to come back," he told an investor briefing.

Telstra's most recent annual results showed a drop in fixed broadband takeup, but its wireless broadband revenue grew by 69.2 per cent to $587 million.

A strong focus of Mr Thodey's presentation to investors on Wednesday was improving customer service. "We must focus on our core business and our customers, this is where we create value for shareholders," he said.

"At its simplest, the next stage in Telstra's long-term strategy is to focus on satisfying customers, invest in new capabilities, and drive growth in new businesses." ZDNet Australia October 2009

Quotes of the Day  

It is a good thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations. Sir Winston Churchill (1874 - 1965), My Early Life, 1930

It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong. Voltaire (1694 - 1778)

A lawyer starts life giving $500 worth of law for $5 and ends giving $5 worth for $500. Benjamin H. Brewster (1816 - 1888)

About the most originality that any writer can hope to achieve honestly is to steal with good judgment. Josh Billings (1818 - 1885)

Brought to you by The Quotations Page

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