Windows Aero

Microsoft this week unveiled an amazing new initiative called DreamSpark, which allows college-age students to freely download some of the company’s most popular development and design software.

It’s truly an astounding deal: Students now have easy access to Visual Studio 2008, Expression Studio and a bunch of other tools that pros around the world use to build the software we all buy. Visual Studio alone costs hundreds of dollars in stores. So if you’re a budding Bill Gates, or know one in your family, check out the DreamSpark site for details.

In a video interview about DreamSpark on Microsoft’s student-oriented Channel 8 blog, Billg himself noted:  "These are the tools people can build a career around—or they can just build fun software for themselves….There’s nothing more fun than thinking about software."

Ah, software. I have to admit the announcement made me a bit nostalgic. Today I mostly write about computers, not code them. But there was a time when a deal like this would have made me drool.

A geek is born

The first lines of computer code I ever composed, on a mail-order  Sinclair ZX-80, didn’t exactly herald genius. I think they went something like this:

10 Print "Hi"

20 Goto 10

It was 1980. I was an 11-year-old kid in Pennsylvania playing with his first PC. And as far as I was concerned, this cheap-looking hunk of plastic, stuttering "Hi" on my small black-and-white TV, was pure magic.  It was the start of a life-long passion for all things silicon.

Before long, I’d ditched the Sinclair for an Atari 800 (prying open the Sinclair to see how it worked turned out to be a bad move).

Holed up in my room with phone-book-thick copies of BYTE magazine and a 6502 programming book, I gradually taught myself to code crude Asteroids knock offs and other simple games. (6502 was the name of the Atari’s 8-bit microprocessor "brain"—the same chip found in both the Apple I and Apple II.)

Being Bill Budge

Other kids I knew were obsessed with rock stars or outfielders. My hero was a guy named Bill Budge, the wizard behind the Pinball Construction Set. A game within a game, PCS essentially allowed you to build your own pinball machine. To me, it was pure programming genius.

I dreamed of creating software like that, or like one of the other games I played every day after school: Castle Wolfenstein, Ultima, Wizardry, and Microsoft’s Olympic Decathlon.  Anybody else remember that one? My friend Wiley and I used to spend long Saturday afternoons bashing the keyboard on his dad’s Apple II, trying to set new world records.

It’s funny where the roads in life can lead. In college, I decided I wanted to write about technology rather than create it (a few Ds in chemistry and calculus helped provide career clarity). And that’s what happened: I spent the next 15 years covering science and technology at various newspapers and magazines.

Now I’m back where my 8-bit dreams all started. At Microsoft, one of my jobs is to help develop the next generation of Windows, working alongside teams of programmers with their own Bill Budge-like powers.

I’d like to think that 11-year-old kid back in Pennsylvania would have been impressed.

 <Michael Stroh>

Microsoft this week unveiled an amazing new initiative called DreamSpark, which allows college-age students to freely download some of the company’s most popular development and design software.

It’s truly an astounding deal: Students now have easy access to Visual Studio 2008, Expression Studio and a bunch of other tools that pros around the world use to build the software we all buy. Visual Studio alone costs hundreds of dollars in stores. So if you’re a budding Bill Gates, or know one in your family, check out the DreamSpark site for details.

In a video interview about DreamSpark on Microsoft’s student-oriented Channel 8 blog, Billg himself noted:  "These are the tools people can build a career around—or they can just build fun software for themselves….There’s nothing more fun than thinking about software."

Ah, software. I have to admit the announcement made me a bit nostalgic. Today I mostly write about computers, not code them. But there was a time when a deal like this would have made me drool.

A geek is born

The first lines of computer code I ever composed, on a mail-order  Sinclair ZX-80, didn’t exactly herald genius. I think they went something like this:

10 Print "Hi"

20 Goto 10

It was 1980. I was an 11-year-old kid in Pennsylvania playing with his first PC. And as far as I was concerned, this cheap-looking hunk of plastic, stuttering "Hi" on my small black-and-white TV, was pure magic.  It was the start of a life-long passion for all things silicon.

Before long, I’d ditched the Sinclair for an Atari 800 (prying open the Sinclair to see how it worked turned out to be a bad move).

Holed up in my room with phone-book-thick copies of BYTE magazine and a 6502 programming book, I gradually taught myself to code crude Asteroids knock offs and other simple games. (6502 was the name of the Atari’s 8-bit microprocessor "brain"—the same chip found in both the Apple I and Apple II.)

Being Bill Budge

Other kids I knew were obsessed with rock stars or outfielders. My hero was a guy named Bill Budge, the wizard behind the Pinball Construction Set. A game within a game, PCS essentially allowed you to build your own pinball machine. To me, it was pure programming genius.

I dreamed of creating software like that, or like one of the other games I played every day after school: Castle Wolfenstein, Ultima, Wizardry, and Microsoft’s Olympic Decathlon.  Anybody else remember that one? My friend Wiley and I used to spend long Saturday afternoons bashing the keyboard on his dad’s Apple II, trying to set new world records.

It’s funny where the roads in life can lead. In college, I decided I wanted to write about technology rather than create it (a few Ds in chemistry and calculus helped provide career clarity). And that’s what happened: I spent the next 15 years covering science and technology at various newspapers and magazines.

Now I’m back where my 8-bit dreams all started. At Microsoft, one of my jobs is to help develop the next generation of Windows, working alongside teams of programmers with their own Bill Budge-like powers.

I’d like to think that 11-year-old kid back in Pennsylvania would have been impressed.

 <Michael Stroh>

If you’re into digital photography, then you probably know last week was the biggest week of the year for announcements of new cameras, lenses, and other photo-related stuff. That’s because PMA—the largest photography trade show in North America—held its annual extravaganza in Las Vegas. (PMA officially doesn’t stand for anything anymore, but it used to mean Photo Marketing Association).

There are already zillions of compact point-and-shoot cameras available, and PMA brought hundreds more to market, with announcements of new models by heavyweights Canon, Nikon, Sony, and most other camera makers. According to one report, more than 700 new point-and-shoot compact cameras were announced at PMA. (I didn’t bother to count them all—that could take hours.)

The trend I found most interesting, however, was the flood of new digital SLRs, including several from Sony, a relative newcomer to the digital SLR market.

Not too long ago, if you walked around in public with a digital SLR hanging from your neck, you looked super-serious about photography. I remember getting my first digital SLR in 2002 (a Nikon D100). People were always surprised when they noticed the LCD screen on the back of the camera and realized it was digital, not film-based. They stared at it and often asked me if they could take a picture.

No one looks twice at digital SLRs anymore. Today, you can find several models for less than $600. That’s about the price of a high-end point-and-shoot camera just two or three years ago.

The new digital SLRS announced at PMA ranged from ultra high-end to low-end. At the top end, Sony announced plans to release a new, “full-frame” digital SLR (no price given) by the end of this year with 24 megapixels of resolution. That’s a new record for digital SLRs, surpassing Canon’s 21-megapixel 1Ds Mark III, which costs a cool $8,000. Full frame means the camera’s digital sensor is as large as a 35mm negative, giving it the ability to capture images with incredible detail.

Only pro photographers and wealthy amateurs buy cameras like these, but since camera technology trickles down quickly, announcements like Sony’s generate a lot of interest from all serious photographers. Many are already predicting that affordable full-frame digital SLRs are only a few years away.

The majority of digital SLR news at PMA was about modestly priced cameras (under $1,000) that use conventional-size camera sensors, such as two new models due out this spring from Sony, which seems intent on challenging established leaders Nikon and Canon. The Sony A350 (pictured above) will have 14.2 megapixels, built-in image stabilization, and sell for $900, including lens.

Nikon and Canon both fought back with new entry-level models announced at the show: The Nikon D60 ($700 without lens, 10.2 megapixels) and the Canon Rebel XSi ($800 without lens, 12.2 megapixels).

Pentax and Samsung also showed new digital SLRs at PMA that both use the same 14.6-megapixel sensor developed by Samsung—the $1,400 Samsung GX20 and $1,300 Pentax K20D.

I’ve listed the resolution of these cameras, but that’s just one feature of a digital SLR, and not necessarily the most important one. All these new cameras contain a dizzying array of features, such as image stabilization in the camera, automatic dust removal (for when case dust gets on the sensor), and high dynamic range (the ability to capture images with a wider range of tones).

The bottom line: If you’re still using a point-and-shoot and have considered upgrading to a digital SLR, now is a good time. There are a lot more choices in the market, and entry-level digital SLRs now have features such as fully automatic program modes so you don’t have to adjust a thing (unless you want to). The main advantages of a digital SLR are sharper photos with more detail and better exposure, and instant picture taking when you press the shutter button.

No discussion of PMA would be complete without mentioning the many digital SLR lenses announced there. Among the highlights were five new lenses from Pentax, three from Nikon (including an exotic tilt-shift lens), and two from Sony.

But Sigma blew everyone away by announcing nine lenses, including several big, expensive telephoto zooms. The topper was a 200-500mm f2.8 zoom (pictured above) that weighs 35 lbs and will fetch $25,000. Even if Sigma only sells a handful of these monsters (which some have dubbed “Sigzilla”), it was great PR for the company. Almost every story about PMA showed a picture of the big green lens, which drew a lot of traffic to the Sigma booth.

<John Swenson>

If you’re into digital photography, then you probably know last week was the biggest week of the year for announcements of new cameras, lenses, and other photo-related stuff. That’s because PMA—the largest photography trade show in North America—held its annual extravaganza in Las Vegas. (PMA officially doesn’t stand for anything anymore, but it used to mean Photo Marketing Association).

There are already zillions of compact point-and-shoot cameras available, and PMA brought hundreds more to market, with announcements of new models by heavyweights Canon, Nikon, Sony, and most other camera makers. According to one report, more than 700 new point-and-shoot compact cameras were announced at PMA. (I didn’t bother to count them all—that could take hours.)

The trend I found most interesting, however, was the flood of new digital SLRs, including several from Sony, a relative newcomer to the digital SLR market.

Not too long ago, if you walked around in public with a digital SLR hanging from your neck, you looked super-serious about photography. I remember getting my first digital SLR in 2002 (a Nikon D100). People were always surprised when they noticed the LCD screen on the back of the camera and realized it was digital, not film-based. They stared at it and often asked me if they could take a picture.

No one looks twice at digital SLRs anymore. Today, you can find several models for less than $600. That’s about the price of a high-end point-and-shoot camera just two or three years ago.

The new digital SLRS announced at PMA ranged from ultra high-end to low-end. At the top end, Sony announced plans to release a new, “full-frame” digital SLR (no price given) by the end of this year with 24 megapixels of resolution. That’s a new record for digital SLRs, surpassing Canon’s 21-megapixel 1Ds Mark III, which costs a cool $8,000. Full frame means the camera’s digital sensor is as large as a 35mm negative, giving it the ability to capture images with incredible detail.

Only pro photographers and wealthy amateurs buy cameras like these, but since camera technology trickles down quickly, announcements like Sony’s generate a lot of interest from all serious photographers. Many are already predicting that affordable full-frame digital SLRs are only a few years away.

The majority of digital SLR news at PMA was about modestly priced cameras (under $1,000) that use conventional-size camera sensors, such as two new models due out this spring from Sony, which seems intent on challenging established leaders Nikon and Canon. The Sony A350 (pictured above) will have 14.2 megapixels, built-in image stabilization, and sell for $900, including lens.

Nikon and Canon both fought back with new entry-level models announced at the show: The Nikon D60 ($700 without lens, 10.2 megapixels) and the Canon Rebel XSi ($800 without lens, 12.2 megapixels).

Pentax and Samsung also showed new digital SLRs at PMA that both use the same 14.6-megapixel sensor developed by Samsung—the $1,400 Samsung GX20 and $1,300 Pentax K20D.

I’ve listed the resolution of these cameras, but that’s just one feature of a digital SLR, and not necessarily the most important one. All these new cameras contain a dizzying array of features, such as image stabilization in the camera, automatic dust removal (for when case dust gets on the sensor), and high dynamic range (the ability to capture images with a wider range of tones).

The bottom line: If you’re still using a point-and-shoot and have considered upgrading to a digital SLR, now is a good time. There are a lot more choices in the market, and entry-level digital SLRs now have features such as fully automatic program modes so you don’t have to adjust a thing (unless you want to). The main advantages of a digital SLR are sharper photos with more detail and better exposure, and instant picture taking when you press the shutter button.

No discussion of PMA would be complete without mentioning the many digital SLR lenses announced there. Among the highlights were five new lenses from Pentax, three from Nikon (including an exotic tilt-shift lens), and two from Sony.

But Sigma blew everyone away by announcing nine lenses, including several big, expensive telephoto zooms. The topper was a 200-500mm f2.8 zoom (pictured above) that weighs 35 lbs and will fetch $25,000. Even if Sigma only sells a handful of these monsters (which some have dubbed “Sigzilla”), it was great PR for the company. Almost every story about PMA showed a picture of the big green lens, which drew a lot of traffic to the Sigma booth.

<John Swenson>