First off, in the interest of full disclosure, let me say – I like Windows Vista. However, one company can only do so much to ensure a smooth migration from one operating system to another for billions of computer configurations. We’re talking about being compatible with both software and hardware from the past two decades.

For example, my three year old uses an ancient (but small footprint) all-in-one computer. The computer is almost eight years old, but runs Vista well.  However, the two-year-old wireless network card didn’t have a Vista driver available.  I did eventually find one on the Korean version of D-Link’s Web site.  Somehow, I doubt this is Microsoft’s fault that it wasn’t readily available.

However, the Vista issues with software compatibility are another matter. While most of my Windows XP software runs just fine, that isn’t always the case. For a complete list of legacy software Microsoft has tested and certified for Vista, you should check out this Web page. I’d prefer not to setup a new PC, just for purposes of restoring an old backup or performing a numerical calculation on a pervious tax software package.

In this situation, Microsoft Virtual PC is a lifesaver. Computer virtualization is the white-hot field of having a complete, indistinguishable virtual computer (of any operating system) running on the physical computer under your desk. With Microsoft Virtual PC, your Windows Vista PC can run Windows XP without any appreciable slowdown. With Windows XP in a virtual PC consuming the whole screen, there is no way to visually determine Windows Vista as the true operating system installed. The virtual PC even connects to the network as a regular PC. 

My Vista PC running a Windows XP virtual PC within it.

Businesses use virtualization, for many reasons. The most obvious being, there are less pieces of equipment to purchase, organize and replace. This is eco-friendly, as idle virtual servers running on a single box take less energy. Quality Assurance teams like this, because they can quickly set up and remove a test environment without a lot of work.

A virtual PC is typically saved as a single file on the host computer. Microsoft has even started allowing entire downloads of virtual machines for software evaluations. This allows businesses to evaluate complex software installations in minutes, without modifying their network or servers.

Likewise, for the hobbyist at home, Virtual PC is a great place to install trial software. If you don’t like it, delete the Virtual PC. In this case, there is no chance of hosing your true desktop system or having your system changed. A list of my Virtual PCs can be seen below. 

My Vista machine has two virtual Windows XP machines. I test software on the temporary machine, and keep a fresh Windows XP installation around to start over with.

You can download Virtual PC 2007 free of charge from Microsoft’s web site. The download size is a mere 35 MBytes. There are alternatives to Microsoft’s software. VMware is Microsoft’s primary competitor, they also offer a free (but more limited) virtualization product. Likewise, they provide many Linux virtual machines with software preinstalled to evaluate.

Do you still have a copy of Windows XP on DVD? You may be installing it sooner than you think.

When I order the banana split at the local ice cream parlor, I’m under the impression that I’m getting the three scoops of ice cream, sliced banana, hot fudge, chopped nuts, whipped cream and a cherry on top. With my purchase, I expect the works. Some PC- and console-game manufacturers are starting to see my ice cream purchase differently. For a base price, I can get the ice cream and banana. If I want to enhance the banana split, I can purchase additional toppings and customize my frozen treat. The same theory applies to microtransactions.

What started as a hot trend in the Asian PC gaming market has turned into a global gaming movement toward microtransactions invading most mainstream platforms, including XBOX 360, PS3 and the Nintendo’s Wii. Customers are paying a reduced amount for the basic game (or in some cases, getting it free) and are being charged for optional add-on content, such as new levels, weapons or avatar upgrades.

Elder Scrolls: Oblivion was the first game to introduce microtransactions, and customers had trouble understanding why they needed to purchase more game features to prevent characters from dying. While not all games are reliant upon microtransactions for domination, most new games are offering some form of after-purchase special. One subtle microtransaction is to purchase the suped-up “Gold” or “Special Edition” versions of the game, usually with a few extra levels or characters than the original version. Luckily for traditional gamers, some manufacturers, like Blizzard, are trying to buck the trend.

While microtransactions are catching on with casual gamers in Asia, Western gamers aren’t buying into the new business model. Most North American and European gamers see the extra charges as an annoyance. For games that rely wholly on add-ons, customers aren’t used to being nickel-and-dimed in order to achieve the best gaming experience when their favorites traditionally have been offered in a nice gaming package. Until manufacturers figure out a happy-medium, perhaps microtransactions need to make like a banana…        

Dell launched the Studio 15 and Studio 17 laptops last week.  To kick off the launch in the UK we took some press out to the Formula 1 Test Day in Silverstone, UK, where we showed off the new products, and gave them a sneak peek of what’s to come. 

Below is a vlog with the highlights. As our spokespeople, David Clifton and Adam Griffin we were briefing our guests, the engines were roaring in the background, creating an exciting atmosphere for the day.  We could see the cars zipping around the track from the window of our briefing room.  It was pretty impressive. 

Dell sponsors the BMW-Sauber team, which meant we were able to take a tour of the pits and service roads while we were there, and driver Nick Heidfeld made an appearance at lunch.  Behind-the-scenes access aside, hosting our briefings at the F1 Test Day was fitting for another reason: Formula 1 is a sport where technology and design are utterly dependent on each other.  With Studio, we’re likewise focusing on where technology and design intersect.  While most of us are not using our laptops to analyze road surface conditions on the way to work, we are all dependent on our technology every day to surf, share, watch, learn, and stay connected – and we want it to look good in the process.

Don’t take our word for it though, Daniel at Tech Digest described the Studio laptops as tasty, while Gaj commented on the design and customisation options.  Also, check out our Flickr site for photos from the day.

So one of the “cool” applications we launched with the new Studio laptops is Dell Video Chat (DVC). This is a super easy, one-click-and-you’re-ready-to-go program that makes setting up a video chat mindless.  When we were talking to reporters about how easy DVC was to start up and use, my spokesperson, Brent Wampler, director of global product marketing, was initially greeted with a bit of skepticism. Many reporters were familiar with video chat, including one who had used it regularly in grad school while working on group projects. All agreed that “easy to use” and video chat don’t normally belong in the same sentence. So how do we qualify just how easy this is to use? To Brent’s credit, he found a way to articulate the easy set up in a way that a lot “technical” folks can relate to: “My mom can use this.” 

This is nothing against moms (I’m a  mom), but it is one of the BEST litmus tests available when trying to figure out if something is TRULY easy to use.  But Brent isn’t the only one who thought of this litmus test…check out this GREAT post on Gear Diary by Wayne Schultz, who did indeed, enlist his mom to test how easy DVC is to download and use.

I also want to recognize the folks who teamed with Dell to make Dell Video Chat a reality: SightSpeed. I met the SightSpeed team a couple of months ago, and going into the meeting, I had NO idea what DVC entailed, but after 10 minutes with Eric Quanstrom, VP of marketing, I was really excited and ready to give it a try. Eric ended the meeting by sending me a video email, which was so laid back and “real” that I went home and downloaded SightSpeed’s “free” version on our family XPS M1530 and played with it. A couple of weeks later, I was in New York on a business trip when my daughter had her braces removed and I was beside myself I couldn’t see her THAT DAY. As it happens we were actually demoing DVC to some publications and voila – my daughter logs on to SightSpeed at home, connects to the DVC account we are using for demonstrations  and  I (and everyone else in the room) get to see the most beautiful smile EVER (it was the ultimate “proud  mom” moment).

So a couple of additional points about Dell Video Chat – there are TWO versions – a full featured version that ships on all Studio Laptops and a free version that SightSpeed has made available at www.sightspeed.com/dellvideochat. The free version works on just about ANY PC – including Mac (see Wayne’s post – his mom has a Mac) and Linux, as well as Windows XP and Vista. So if you get a Studio laptop don’t think you can’t reach out to friends and family because they don’t have one. Dell Video Chat users can send their personalized “My SightSpeed” URL to ANYONE over the Internet, and that person can simply click to call the Dell Video Chat user through their Web browser with NO software download of any kind and DVC users can create and send video messages to anyone with an email account and that recipient can view those video messages without any software download of any kind. 

I promise you – it’s so easy your mom/dad/daughter/son can use it first time out!

So it looks like we had two hits in one this week: the new Studio laptops and the Dell Dock.

We knew Studio’s design and features would catch people’s interest, but Dell Dock, which premiered with Studio, turned out to be a stealth sensation and has its own online trajectory. We even scooped Engadget, with Paul Miller approvingly calling out “app-categorization magic and fairly extensive customization.”

In addition to the surge of interest from Gizmodo’s post, several bloggers singled out Dell Dock for special comment. Plugged in Blog shared some favorable first impressions, and Dell Dock merited not entirely dismissive attention from Lonnie Lazar at Cult of Mac.

Since inquiring minds like jervis961 and helmecj01 want to know more, here are a few updates:

1. Dell Dock will be available on all new Dell consumer PC models (but only with a Vista OS).
2. A downloadable version will be available to current Dell PC owners in the near future.
3. It’s available in:

• English
• Dutch
• German
• Spanish
• French
• Japanese

Thanks to great feedback and suggestions directly from customers on ways to enhance Dell’s (PRODUCT) RED offerings, you now can choose either Windows Vista Ultimate (PRODUCT) RED or the standard version of Windows Vista Home Premium when you purchase a Dell XPS M1330 (PRODUCT) RED or XPS M1530 (PRODUCT) RED laptop.

If you’re unfamiliar with (RED), it’s a global brand designed to engage the private sector in raising awareness and funds for the Global Fund, to help fight AIDS in Africa. Companies whose products take on the (PRODUCT) RED mark contribute a significant percentage of the sales or portion of the profits from that product to the Global Fund to finance AIDS programs in Africa, with an emphasis on the health of women and children. Current partners are: American Express (U.K. only), Apple, Converse, Gap, Emporio Armani, Motorola, Hallmark, Dell and Microsoft.

Since its launch in the spring of 2006, more than $100 million has been generated by (RED) partners and events for the Global Fund.  (RED) money is already at work in Swaziland, Rwanda, Ghana and Lesotho.  For more information, visit www.joinred.com.

The contribution to the Global Fund for either the XPS M1330 (PRODUCT) RED laptop or the XPS M1530 (PRODUCT) RED laptop with Windows Vista Home Premium is $25. The contribution for those same systems with Windows Vista Ultimate (PRODUCT) RED remains $50.

The XPS ONE (PRODUCT) RED all-in-one desktop PC with Windows Vista Ultimate (PRODUCT) RED remains Dell’s flagship (RED) offering.  Windows Vista Ultimate (PRODUCT) RED fits perfectly with the (RED) model of creating (RED) branded products with high consumer appeal, and combines (PRODUCT) RED with the best of all Windows Vista features in the most complete version available.

It’s all over the interwebs already, but in case you haven’t heard, Dell made a pretty big –and colorful – splash today with the launch of Studio—a sleek, colorful and nicely loaded new product line designed to unleash the blogger/poet/novelist/artist/scrapbooker/YouTuber/Annie Leibovitz in all of us.

The first tranche of systems in the new line is two laptops – Studio 15 (15.4”) and Studio 17 (17”). John Biggs at the New York Times notes, “It’s summer, so why shouldn’t one’s laptop match one’s hot-pink bikini?… Optional Blu-ray or DVD recording drives ensure you can watch a movie under your beach umbrella, while built-in Wi-Fi, cellular broadband and Bluetooth keep things connected.”

For a quick overview of these systems take a look at this video with John New from Dell’s notebook team:

Of all the color options (seven different solid lids, plus four graphite with color insets), pink seems to be the most popular callout. The fashionable gearheads at GQ made note of the pink option, but were also impressed with Dell Dock, a simple, customizable task bar that replaces multiple icons on the desktop and sorts applications by category, that’s premiering with Studio. Wilson Rothman’s overview and very nice slide show on Gizmodo even hit the front page of Techmeme. To answer your question, Wilson, you can move the dock around.

For more on the Dell Dock, take a look at this vlog:

After backing in to a compliment about Studio’s “mouth watering colors” and “a few tasty extras, Charlie Sorrel at Wired also gives Dell Dock props and suggests that “The Studio is looking like a nice alternative to the MacBook.” Note to Charlie: Not exactly the way we’d put it, but thanks!

If you think beyond the box when buying a computer – read: if you accessorize whenever you can – don’t miss the color-matched Designed for Dell line of bags, mice/mouses, portable hard drives and other personalization options.

Lots of interesting ground to cover, so look for more on Studio, Dell Dock and Designed for Dell over the next few days.

This week, Dell launched three new Photo Inkjet All-in-One printers, the V105, V305, and the V305w. The V105 is a low-cost, ultra-simplified full color scanner, copier, and printer. The V305 offers a more flexible all-in-one printing solution and the V305w includes the option to connect the printer to your home office network wirelessly.

  V105 

V305

But one of the most exciting new features on these printers, from my perspective, is a powerful new piece of software that comes with them. It is called the Dell Imaging Toolbox and it not only offers basic print handling and maintenance features, it opens up a world of powerful tools to use with your digital photos.

The Dell Imaging Toolbox gives you extensive tools for editing the size, brightness, contrast, color balance, saturation and a host of other variables in your digital photos.  Easy-to-use scaling tools provide a simple way to make your pictures look exactly the way you want them to look.

There are also some fun photo sharing tools built right into the software. For example you can create multi-page posters at the click of a button or two and turn your favorite shot into a wall-sized display.

There are also 89 different templates for the creation of customized greeting cards. The card templates match virtually any occasion and allow you to attach your own message in whatever color, font, and type size you prefer. It even has an e-mailing tool to let you send the cards in a variety of file sizes to all the important people in your life.

The V105 and both versions of the V305 are capable of supporting 6-color photo printing with the installation of the optional Dell Photo Ink Cartridge and the use of Dell Premium Photo paper.

I have more than a decade of experience with digital photography and I’ve used the top of the line in photo editing software, Adobe® Photoshop®, since 1996. Obviously, there are tons of things in Photoshop that you will never find in the Dell Imaging Toolbox. But if you want to quickly re-size, crop, and retouch your photos and either print them or distribute them to friends and family, I think you will be impressed with the easy-to-use software that comes with the latest Dell Photo Inkjet printers.

For more detailed information on the Dell Imaging Toolbox, you can find my how-to article in the Dell Solutions Network.

I love Netflix, and I’m a big fan of their Watch Instantly feature. Like lots of folks have pointed out, there are some limitations to that functionality: it requires Internet Explorer which means you have to sit in front of a computer or laptop to watch streamed movies. That’s why there was lots of buzz since Roku and Netflix announced a set top box for $99 that lets you watch these streamed movies.

Thanks to Lifehacker’s Adam Pash for an excellent post about how you can use a Media Center PC, the vmcNetflix add-in and an Xbox 360 as an extender for watching streamed movies in your living room. Adam also includes a YouTube video from Mike K. (you rock IMHO) at hackingnetflix.com where you can see it in action. Lifehacker also shows everything you need and a step-by-step process for setting it up.

I know what I’m doing when I get home.

Editor’s Note: This is the second and final segment of Jacqui Zhou’s post on China’s “Bandit” cell phone industry. If you missed the first installment, you can find it here.

Shan Zhai Ji, or Bandit Cell Phone, is gaining huge attention these days in China. In my previous post, I showed you its cool functions. Besides these functions, what other factors enable Shan Zhai Ji to obtain 25% of China’s cell phone market? Here are several:

Low price
A killer advantage of Shan Zhai Ji is its low price. Usually Shan Zhai Ji is sold at a fraction of the price of brand name phones. Check out the prices here from Taobao, the largest online c-2-c ecommerce site. You can get a phone with all those cool functions mentioned earlier for less than 2,000 RMB (about US $300). Unlike in the U.S. where cell phone hardware prices are subsidized by service providers, Chinese customers have to pay full price for their cell phones with the freedom to choose service providers of their choice. A decent cell phone can easily cost $500.

How can Shan Zhai Ji be sold at such a low price? In 2006, a Taiwan integrated circuit company called MediaTek developed turnkey solutions for cell phones which combine cell phone circuit board with software. It used to cost cell phone companies hundreds of designers months to develop such a solution and now anyone can buy the platform from MediaTek and make their own cell phones. Needless to say, Shan Zhai Ji has its cost benefits because their manufactures steal designs and ideas from other companies, avoid quality and safety compliance, sometimes use shoddy materials, evade taxes and spend no money on customer service.

Low-end target market
More than 90% of Chinese use cell phones. It has become a must-have communication tool throughout the country with more users than landlines. Yet not everyone can afford expensive handsets. Shan Zhai Ji aims at this huge low-end market with its functional yet inexpensive products. They pay a lot of attention to functions and details that are important to shrewd Chinese customers. They don’t invest in building their own distribution channel but are willing to share a big chunk of their profits with resellers and sales people, a very effective method to stimulate sales.

Fast innovations
Shan Zhai Ji manufacturers move very fast. Whenever they see a new trend, they study it and come up with near-identical copies within weeks. Even when the market seems small, they are willing to go for it. For example, they designed cell phones blessed by monks for Buddhists, cell phones with a taser feature for women and cell phones preinstalled with stock market program for avid investors. They even let you build-to-order, where you can add your name and design to the phone and personalize your functions. However small the niche market is, their nimble structure enables them to move along with the market trend.

Unique culture
Shan Zhai Ji attracts many Chinese with its grass roots humor. They do not try to hide the fact that they are copy cats. On the contrary, they make fun of it. For example, they named the knock-off of Apple “iPhone” as “Orange.” It really rubs Chinese people the right way. I asked my friends and most said they really appreciate the non-assuming attitude of Shan Zhai Ji. They laugh at Shan Zhai Ji but at the same time enjoy the convenience of multi functions at low cost. The Chinese media and blogosphere have been discussing the “innovation” side of Shan Zhai Ji, despite all its other obvious misdeeds. Right now, about 40% of Shan Zhai Ji is exported to Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t think you should buy such a phone. Besides the fishy copyright issues, you never know the quality/safety of the products and customer service and tech support after sales is practically zero.

Yet with such a trend happening in the world’s largest market, I cannot help wondering whether Shan Zhai Ji will evolve to become a force in the global cell phone market?