Bill Gates not a fan of the Apple iPad…

Steve Jobs’ arch-nemesis Bill Gates has criticised the new Apple iPad, claiming that laptops will still be the mainstream choice for digital touch and reading.

Gates joins the growing army of iPad critics, with many consumers disappointed at the relatively low-spec and limited connectivity available on Apple’s new tablet PC device.

This, combined with the clear fact that Apple was never going to deliver a new computer that would satisfy its fans who were hyped on the pre-release rumour and speculation, has led to a somewhat muted response to the iPad by many.

Jobs’ longtime rival, Bill Gates said of the new iPad: “You know, I’m a big believer in touch and digital reading, but I still think that some mixture of voice, the pen and a real keyboard – in other words a netbook – will be the mainstream on that.

“So, it’s not like I sit there and feel the same way I did with iPhone where I say, ‘Oh my God, Microsoft didn’t aim high enough.’ It’s a nice reader, but there’s nothing on the iPad I look at and say, ‘Oh, I wish Microsoft had done it.’”

Microsoft refute claims that Windows 7 damages laptop batteries

Microsoft has issued a detailed denial to accusations that Windows 7 is harming laptop batteries. Several blogs and forums have claimed that Windows 7 is having a detrimental effect on laptop batteries, with the operating system issuing repeated warnings that a previously healthy battery needs replacing.

However, in a detailed blog post on the Engineering Windows 7 site, Microsoft claims that there’s no fault with the OS.

“To the very best of the collective ecosystem knowledge, Windows 7 is correctly warning batteries that are in fact failing and Windows 7 is neither incorrectly reporting on battery status nor in any way whatsoever causing batteries to reach this state,” Windows chief Steven Sinofsky states. “In every case we have been able to identify the battery being reported on was in fact in need of recommended replacement.”

Microsoft says the confusion has been caused by a new warning system in Windows 7 laptops, that’s designed to warn users when a battery’s nearing the end of its useful life.

“Windows 7 makes use of a feature of modern laptop batteries which have circuitry and firmware that can report to Windows the overall health of the battery,” Sinofsky writes.

“This is reported in absolute terms as Watt-hours (W-hr) power capacity. Windows 7 then does a simple calculation to determine a percentage of degradation from the original design capacity. In Windows 7 we set a threshold of 60% degradation (that is the battery is performing at 40% of its designed capacity) and in reading this Windows 7 reports the status to you.

“At this point, for example, a battery that originally delivered five hours of charge now delivers, on average, approximately two hours of charge. The Windows 7 notification is a battery meter icon and notification with a message ‘Consider replacing your battery’. This notification is new to Windows 7 and not available in Windows Vista or Windows XP.”

Sinofsky claims Microsoft has thoroughly examined telemetry from Windows 7 customers and held lengthy discussions with key PC manufacturers to ensure that Windows 7 isn’t harming batteries. “Our OEM partners have utilised their telemetry (call center, support forums, etc.) and have let us know that they are seeing no activity beyond what they expect,” he claims.

Windows 7 upgrades linked to lower battery life

Laptop owners upgrading their Windows XP and Windows Vista machines to Windows 7 are complaining that Microsoft’s new OS has severely reduced their available battery life.

One complaint of many stated that after upgrading a circa 2007 HP notebook from Vista to Windows 7, the machine’s battery life dropped from two hours to a half hour, and countless others are voicing similar complaints on Microsoft’s TechNet forums.

The problem is caused by a new tool designed to alert users when their battery needs replacing. In some cases, according to TechNet posts, this alert appears time and again – even as a battery continues to run as it always did – falsely warning that the machine may suddenly shutdown. But in other cases, the machine does shutdown prematurely. It would seem this occurs well before the battery has run out of juice.

Microsoft has acknowledged the issue, saying it’s related to the way Windows 7 reads system firmware. “We are investigating this issue in conjunction with our hardware partners,” the statement reads. “The warning received in Windows 7 laptops uses firmware information to determine if battery replacement is needed. We are working with our partners to determine the root cause and will update the [Technet] forum with information and guidance as it becomes available.”

Microsoft and HP announce touch-screen ‘Slate’ tablet

Microsoft and HP laptops have unveiled a new touch-screen tablet computer they hope will overshadow a similar device that Apple is expected to launch this month.

To add insult to injury Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer referred to the gadget as a ‘slate.’ Technology pundits think Apple will call their gadget ‘iSlate’ after filing for the trademark.

The 10inch HP tablet is a touch screen computer that runs Windows 7.

It doesn’t have a physical keyboard and is geared towards customers who want one device for reading books, browsing the web and playing computer games.

‘It’s a beautiful little product,’ Steve Ballmer told the audience at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. ‘It is almost as portable as a phone and as powerful as a PC.’

The tablet will transform into an interactive eReader using Blio reader software. This will allow embedded videos and create audio books using text-to-speech technology.

Recession hits Microsoft profits

Microsoft has reported its financial results for April to June 2009, with profits down a third compared with the same period last year – much worse than market analysts were expecting.

That ‘third’ in cold, hard figures equates to a whopping £1.9 billion and leaves the global company with 17% revenue reduction compared to last year.

Microsoft is feeling the brunt of the recession, simply because fewer people and businesses are buying new PCs with new Microsoft operating systems on them.

“Until the job market picks up, companies need less computers and the recession means they’re not as likely to upgrade them to new PCs complete with a shiny new license for Microsoft Windows,” says Benjamin Cohen from Channel 4 news.

The only ‘booming’ sector of the PC market is currently in low-cost netbooks – most of which run older versions of Windows or Linux. Additionally, what with the imminent arrival of Microsoft Windows 7 OS this coming October, consumers have no doubt been holding back on investing in a new Windows PC.