Firstly, the new version of Wordpress is looking nice, they’ve completely changed the look of it, but I like it (i’m talking about the administrative backend here), Wordpress is definately the one to beat in terms of blog CMS!

Secondly, welcome to 2009! Yep we are finally in 2009, and so we say goodbye to 2008. I don’t really have any new years resolutions apart from try and do well in my course at university and the like!

Thirdly, shoutout to Sam Hastings! This guy designed the previous iteration of this site and was on Masterchef on Wednesday! He unfortunately was the first to be kicked out… oh well he can still cook way better than me, which I find scary…

Also, i’ve been out and about doing all kinds of stuff to the Xtreme website which will be unleashed when the new studio is completed…

However the thing I most want to talk about is…

Windows 7

This is the new version of Windows (obviously) and is currently out there in beta form, and I have it I’ve had it installed practically from day 1 of the beta, and I love it. I’ve only gone back to Vista once for a gig (where I had to obviously use stable  – as opposed to beta – software). It’s great! The superbar while initially unusual to see on a Windows machine becomes more and more natural to use, and when I went back to Vista the other day it seemed weird going back to the old taskbar! It feels quite natural to use once you get the hang of it. Plus Windows 7 just seems faster, and this isn’t because nothing is installed on it! I have loads of programs installed as i’m using it as my primary OS, and it just seems snappier it’s great. Even the new Windows loading screen is cool

There are one or two bugs however. I’m getting an occassional screen tearing/flickering which I suppose i’ll put down to drivers? (I’m using the drivers for my graphics card supplied by Microsoft as apparrently they are the most recent drivers for my graphics card – an intel integrated graphics job.) But that isn’t a show stopper and will probably be improved with better drivers. The notes application also is a bit weird, you’d naturally assume you can pin the notes to the desktop, which would make sense with aero peek, but no they are just a normal application, so that doesn’t work the way I would have expected. I’ve sent my feedback to Microsoft so hopefully they’ll take my comments on board, but I am one of many!

I’ll try and make more blog posts on here this year, in fact that can be more of my new years resolutions! However I only tend to want to make a blog post when I have something worth writing about! I try and update my twitter status more often (which you can see at the left of every page on this website), you’re welcome to follow me although I mostly just twitter what i’m doing and stuff I do try and twitter some interesting things sometimes, although lets face it i’m slightly more boring than @stephenfry

Cheerio
Brett

P.S. This is genius:

I’m so immature

Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 now available.

Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 has been released today. I’m currently downloading and will play with it Download it over at the IE8 Beta site here.

Overview

See what we’ve done to put the web at your service and make Internet Explorer 8 the best browser for everyday browsing.

Accelerators

Accelerators let you efficiently complete your everyday browsing activities like mapping directions, translating words, emailing your friends, and more in just a few mouse clicks. Learn more.

InPrivate Browsing

Browse the web without saving your history with Internet Explorer 8’s InPrivate Browsing. Now you can shop for that special gift with confidence knowing your family won’t accidentally find out or use a shared computer without leaving a trace. Learn More.

Web Slices

Keep up with changes to the sites you care about most. Add a Web Slice and you won’t have to go back to the same website again and again for updates on news, stock quotes, online auctions, weather, or even sports scores. Learn more.

Search suggestions

Search smarter with detailed suggestions from your favorite search providers and browsing history. See visual previews and get suggested content topics while you type in the enhanced Instant Search Box.

SmartScreen Filter

New security features help to protect you against deceptive and malicious websites which can compromise your data, privacy and identity.

Source: IE8 Features Page

Microsoft as part of their new Vista advertising campaign which started with the Mojave Experiement, have now recruited Jerry Seinfeld, to star in new Microsoft ad’s with Bill Gates. I wonder if we’ll get them over here in the UK? Seinfeld isn’t as well known over here as in the US, so will they have as much of an effect? We will see.

Sources:

http://neowin.net/news/main/08/08/21/microsoft-signs-seinfeld

http://gizmodo.com/5039860/gates-and-seinfeld-to-answer-apples-pc-vs-mac-ads