The operating system itself is Linux based. Bout 256Mb big I believe. And is stored on an on-board chip, unless of course you happen to have Express Gate SSD which comes on a 512mb – 768mb flash add in. The OS lets you boot up into the Internet, Skype, Instant Messenger, Photo Viewer and depending on which motherboard you have you get music playback to.

The main reason I’m reviewing V1.4.4 (Asus P5QL-E version) is because it was gob-smackingly wonderful. The 300mb file (which Asus let me have a 20Kbp/s, cheers for that) intrigued me as usually the new update were pushing 70 – 100Mb. So I downloaded it and expected to see no visual improvement so I didn’t rush to restart my PC to have a gander. But after I finally did I was gob-smacked, the new layout is not far off vista’s cleanness, and is much better layed out than the previous versions. I’ve also noticed a slight improvement in load times, Firefox (splashtop browser as its called) loaded a lot faster than it used to as did the photo viewer but I was a bit disappointed to see the messenger side of things a bit worse off, Skype taking slightly longer to sign in as the messenger program (which does like to throw up contacts missing errors every now and then).

But overall I have to say the new major update has made me think of not bothering to boot into vista as I don’t really need to now unless I want to play a game. The only thing stopping me from doing this is the lack of music and video playback (oh and maybe a torrent app) but because I payed £63 for this motherboard I’m not expecting the best, I suppose you get what you pay for. Most of Asus new motherboards which display the Ai lifestyle sticker or which have the P43 chipsets (and upwards) include it now, apart from the gaming series motherboards, which is a shame as it’s a fantastic feature.

All in all Asus have shown real initiative in making the time to put this in. This is mostly aimed at people who are in a rush and don’t wish to wait a long time for XP/Vista to boot just so they can read their emails or make last minute plans over Skype/MSN. One thing that I am a little disappointed about is that at the moment there is no version for PC’s running the Windows 7 Beta/RC even though its in its very early stages most companies have seemed to make at least some effort in porting drivers over to it and Asus should to as it seems to be the “Leader in hardware”

For those interested I’ve taken some pictures of Express Gate.

Hope you enjoyed my review and stay tuned for the next one.

A little note, if you want to install this onto windows 7 then put the installer into compatibility mode for Vista SP2.

Also you may like to know that MSI have made something similar called WINKI, stupid name I know but if it’s like Express Gate then you’d put up with it.

Have you spotted any additional features that are missing? Please post any feedback below.

Vista was given a bad reputation for having bad compatibility with many portable devices- has Windows 7 followed in Vista’s footsteps or have they taken another path?

Microsoft has been pouring their heart and soul into creating Windows 7, which could be their best operating system yet, according to analysts.  There has been much controversy over the release of Windows 7 in the last month or so, as you may have observed. Initially, Windows 7 RC was to be announced publicly on May 5th, but earlier for TechNet and MSDN subscribers. However, a couple of days later, it turned out that it had been leaked on P2P file-sharing sites , just what everyone needed after the Pirate Bay trial. Well, now that it has been released, TechCombo would like to review Windows 7 RC for our readers, let’s see what all this hype is really about!

Installing Windows 7 RC

Before you decide to install Windows 7, you must take a quick look at the system requirements that Microsoft suggest:

- 1GHz or faster CPU.

- 1 GB of RAM for 32-bit systems OR 64-bit systems 2GB of RAM.

- 16 GB of available disk space for 32-bit OR 20 GB for 64-bit.

- DirectX 9 graphics device with Windows Display Driver Model (WDDM) 1.0 or higher driver.

These requirements are rather low and so the majority will have no problems in passing them. The installation itself is one of the quickest yet, on average taking sixteen minutes. Vista comes close, taking nineteen minutes and XP requires forty five minutes (faster computers will take around thirty minutes.) In addition to the system requirements, Microsoft strongly advise you not to install Windows 7 over Beta as this can cause some difficulties and will, most probably, take up more of your precious time. The “16 minute” installation process is not too demanding at all, needing you to register the product key, edit elementary data like username, and other minor settings.

New and Notable Features

- New Taskbar with “pinned” shortcuts instead of the conventional “buttons” to run a program.

- Capability of hovering over a program in use, and preview a thumbnail. In the case of multiple windows of the same program, the first icon will shrink and the two or three icons will be next to each other accordingly, so that you are able to choose whichever one you want to go on.

- Right clicking has a completely new function. If you were to have a typical program e.g.Firefox on your taskbar,right clicking it in Vista would have brought up ‘properties’ or c’reate shortcut’. However, in Windows 7, a list containing the most frequently used sites as well as programs you have previously pinned, will be brought up.

- Another feature they have edited is the notification region. The ‘show hidden icons’ button arrow face has changed direction; before it was facing westwards but now faces north. What I have noticed is that it seems to hide one more item than Vista.

- Improved “Show desktop” button. It has moved positioned and now has stationed itself on the right of the time icon, in the bottom right hand corner. In addition to the change in placement, whenever you hover over the “Show desktop” icon, all the windows that are open automatically become see-through revealing whatever is on your desktop.

- New “Jump Lists” Jump lists are positioned in the Start menu, which are normally for specific programs like Web browsers or Multimedia applications. You can identify jump listed programs because there is a small black arrow pointing to the right; and in there contains various shortcuts. For example, again I’ll use Firefox, it will show frequently used sites as well as tasks.

New jump lists in start menu

- Windows 7 “Libraries.” Libraries are effectively a virtual network connected to any computer in your home network. It enables you to find and sort all your Documents, Pictures, Music, Videos into one “server.” It also means you can now sort videos by length and photos by when you took them originally. Though, in this library, images are just linked to there, so they are there to view only.

- New “Network” in Homegroups. Pretty clear from the name itself. Homegroups effectively allows you to share files with the nearest Windows 7 computer or laptop on your home network. This is a useful tool because you can print anything from your computer to the same printer that the other Windows 7 users utilizes, though when first set-up there is a exclusive password that cannot be changed, which enables to share files, one tip: do not lose or forget that password otherwise you cannot use this interesting feature.

- Windows Media Centre benefits two countries at least. For the US, TV listings on the Internet have been integrated into the main TV guide which gives various shows. For the UK public, the football fanatics will be bouncing about because you can now watch channels like Liverpool and Arsenal in Extras.

Media Centre makes, USA happy as it has Internet TV listings in their main TV guide, and UK public happy as they can watch favourite football teams online without leaving their computers!

- Added Windows Media Player appearances such as support for .mov files i.e. Quicktime files.

- Newest Internet Explorer 8 embedded into Windows 7, no critics can whine about this problem this time!

- Improved Devices menu in which you can control all your hardware from one location.

- Updated Applications including Paint, WordPad and Windows Update ( now new applications updates, as well as normal updates.)

- User Account Control (UAC) You control the settings now, this means no more MASSIVELY annoying UAC, as was in Vista.

You can now effectively control UAC

Here’s an in-depth video going through what is new in 7:

Our opinion

Pros

- Installation time is 2x faster.

- Much better performance than Vista. Microsoft made performance top priority in the development of Windows 7, and they seem to have done their job well.

- New XP Mode feature

- Fresh User Interface, which is definetely an improvement over Vista.

- Interacts with Windows XP’s assurance and Vista’s homely feeling to produce Microsoft’s best operating system as of yet.

-Backward compatability. There is no need to purchase software or hardware, if you are going to upgrade to 7.

-Some ‘trippy’ desktop wallpapers.

One of the many crazy desktop wallpapers provided. Not all of them are like this though, there are some normal, 'boring' ones as well!

Cons

- 5 “unnecessary” editions rather than one original edition. The 5 that have been released are:

1. Windows 7 Starter.
2. Windows 7 Home Basic.
3. Windows 7 Home Premium.
4. Windows 7 Professional
5. Windows 7 Ultimate.

Most notably, Windows 7 Starter is really just a squashed up version of Windows 7 Home Premium. Perhaps, because we are in the recession, Microsoft need to differentiate consumers in order to squeeze every penny from our pockets to get through the bad economic climate.

-No Quick Launch bar (thankfully it can be created manually)

- Startup control has been removed from Windows Defender

Conclusion

I think that Windows 7 is the best operating system Microsoft have ever produced, it is surprisingly solid and stable. This Windows 7 RC offers exactly what Microsoft initially said, with improved features and a stable operating system set up perfectly for the final released of Windows 7. For anyone using any other Windows platform such as Vista or XP, this is now the time you should consider upgrading because, you never know, you could be in for a pleasant surprise! As a consumer, when the final Windows 7 edition, when all the bugs are completely mended, it will almost definitely be a huge success, especially as Microsoft are giving users the chance to use it for 1 year for free.

If you have used the new Windows 7 RC, let TechCombo know your views! Just fill out the comment box below along with any feedback you have.