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HUA HIN, Thailand - Microsoft, keen to avoid a repeat of the nightmares suffered with its much-faulted Vista operating system, threw open the doors for public access to the beta version of its Windows 7 system, released last week, after servers became overloaded with requests for the software for free download and testing.

Vista was all about being "Flashy" and in many ways trying to imitate something that rivals Apple had already conquered with its floating user interfaces and funky graphics in OSX.

Vista lost out in the business sector as companies were never too keen to adopt the often intrusive and bloated operating system for office and business use, even today, most companies still use Windows XP or 2000. Windows 7 aims to derail this trend and has been set only three primary objectives by chief executive Steve Ballmer - reliability, simplicity and speed, the perfect combination for both business and home use.

Yet beta testing is only really intended for the geeks amongst us, those that like to fix and fiddle with computers. It is not recommended to download and install Windows 7 beta on a work-critical PC as there will be a number of bugs in the incomplete software. It will also expire on August 1, 2009 whereupon users will have to revert to their previous operating system.

A spare machine should be used if you want to take a plunge into the Windows 7 pool. A DVD image can be downloaded in both 32- or 64-bit versions (2.3 gigabytes and 3.3 gigabytes) from www.microsoft.com/windows7. This needs to be written to a bootable disc that can then be installed on startup.

If you are installing over an existing system, make sure you have all of your documents and data backed up. To reiterate, some technical knowledge is required for delving into Microsoft's future flagship product, so if you are more of a casual computer user who relies on the local shop or office tech support leave this one to the geeks until the final product is launched.

Global PC sales in the fourth quarter have slowed for the first time in six years, which is not a good sign for Microsoft, which are pinning hopes on a strong computer sales market to ship out Windows 7. If the software can run more efficiently and smoothly on lower specification computers, it may steal some of the market from Apple and its high-priced hardware.

The current minimum specification for Windows 7 is the same as that for Vista, a 1-gigahertz, 32- or 64-bit CPU, 1 gigabyte of RAM, 16 gigabytes of hard disk space and a DirectX 9 capable graphics card. We know that Vista rarely plays nice with less than 2 gigabytes of memory, but by the time Windows 7 is released either late this year or early next machines of this specification will be several years old considering the rapid technological advancements in computer hardware.

Windows 7 may be the saviour for Microsoft, which is still losing ground to Google in other technology battles. Initial comments are positive and as long as Microsoft can get the product shipped out and performing well on cheaper laptops and PCs, it can be optimistic that it claw back some lost market share.

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It is red holiday for Abhisit

IT is 10pm on a Wednesday night in Bangkok. And there’s a picnic in front of the residence of General Prem Tinsulanonda, the 88 year-old chief adviser to the Thai king. A “picnic” if you disregard the phalanx of riot policemen standing guard along the concrete fence of Prem’s home, the red-shirted protesters shouting “ok pai Prem (Prem get out in Thai)” and a poster depicting Thaksin Shinawatra as Superman. Free food - fried noodles and bottled mineral water - is flowing. Most of the protesters are sitting picnic-style on the road listening to stinging speeches condemning Prem.

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