Apple’s biggest updated ever to OS X could arrive as early as Friday. The update is said to weigh in at 400MB and will pack new features such as a list view for stacks, CD/DVD sharing, support for wireless backups using a network drive attached to an AirPort Extreme, and the ability to finally get rid of the transparency in the menu bar.

The latest updated, converting your computer to OS X 10.5.2, is said to contain no known issues. Expect a busy weekend playing around with all the shiny new features.

Joel Levin has written a great article about what he thinks will be the 10 prominent features in our next generation laptops. Included are a 40 hour battery, USB 3.0, Blu-ray drive, SSD, and new kinds of memory, among others.

I’m looking forward to seeing a laptop with all of these features released. I’m guessing it will be instant-on, with a great looking screen, and it will be screaming with power, from the processor down to the hard drive.

TG Daily is reporting that Microsoft has shipped a “Milestone 1″ release of Windows 7 to “key partners.” They also received a roadmap which points to a second half of 2009 release.

With this release a few new features of the next Windows have been unveiled. The operating system can handle a graphics system consisting of multiple graphics cards from different vendors - something unheard of in today’s software. Also, a new version of Windows Media Center has made its way into the release.

Other features that will possibly be included in the operating system are MinWin (a smaller kernel which takes up only 40 MB of memory) and new touchscreen features. The rest remains under wraps.

Previously, the release was expected in 2010. Hopefully Microsoft can stick to the new plan so we can all get rid of Vista once and for all. Realistically, though, we can probably expect the release closer to 2011 given Microsoft’s history of not making deadlines.

That’s right - PCs will soon have the same capabilities as the new MacBook Air when it comes to the trackpad, thanks to Synaptic. They recently announced a new touchpad with support for various gestures including scrolling, zooming, and trackball-like movement. Mark Vena, vice president of Synaptics’ PC business unit, said that we can expect these to hit computers in late March or early April.

My take? Although the technology definitely has the “cool” factor and I would order one on a new laptop, I don’t think this will increase productivity all that much. Scrolling is one of the most common tasks, and we have been able to do that with our touchpads for a long time now. How often do you find yourself zooming in on photos or rotating them? Synaptics is poised to allow you to do that faster, but I don’t mind clicking a button or two to do that now. I am hoping the company dreams up some new uses for this technology that will truly make it indispensable.
Photo: http://www.apple.com/macbookair/features.html

Apple has just announced their new MacBook Air at Macworld, and this thing is absolutely awesome. It’s the thinnest notebook in the world (at .76 inches thick at the top and .16 inches thick at the bottom) and one of the lightest (at 3 pounds). The screen is pretty big for this size and weight at 13.3 inches. The specs are beefy, but so is the price.

For $1,799 you get the following:
1.6 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
2GB RAM
80GB 4200rpm HD
802.11n WiFi and Bluetooth 2.1

For $300 you can upgrade to a 1.8GHz processor, and for $999 you get a 64GB solid state HD (nifty, but way expensive).

At these prices, the MacBook Air seems geared toward the rich and famous. Better hope you qualify for a student discount! I think I’ll wait until prices come down before even thinking about buying this laptop, but I’ll definitely be staring at pictures for a long time to come.