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Does Windows 7 return customization to the forefront?

For years it seemed like every new application and operating system was touting its "skinning" capabilities. Then, abruptly, this trend stopped with the release of Windows Vista as developers began to return to providing a more consistent experience for PC users.

To new visitors of Neowin, having a front page story on skinning might seem unusual. Yet, Neowin got its start largely tracking skinning technology back in the run-up to "Whistler" (what became known as Windows XP). Neowin and its users have long tracked the ebb and flow in the popularity of skinning.

At one time, Neowin contained a side-bar dedicated to customization sites and the skinning forums on Neowin were the most popular. Windows Vista and more specifically Aero (the name for the user interface present in Windows Vista and Windows 7) made Windows look nice enough on its own that skinning and customization programs fell out of favor.

Part of the problem is that many of the the skins for these customization programs were either ugly, could affect performance for some people, or showed incompatibilities with lesser known programs. In the age of Windows XP, users tolerated these issues. With Windows Vista and now 7, the drawbacks are no longer worth the benefits that these programs offered.

While programs like Object Desktop, Winamp, Firefox skins, Google Chrome skins, and so forth remain popular, there is no doubt that the skinning features of these programs are no longer major competitive features. Media Player 12 still technically has skins but it no longer comes with any.

That isn't to say that users don't use skins anymore. Sites like WinCustomize.com and deviantART continue to attract millions of monthly visitors. However, I think it is safe to say that skinning, that was once on the verge of becoming ubiquitous has returned to being the niche once was.

Does this mean that customization is over for Windows users? Developers such as Stardock (full disclosure: I work there in addition to Neowin) believe that customization needs to evolve with the times. This month, it released next-generation versions of two of its most popular desktop customization programs that put that question to the test.

DeskScapes 3, as we reported last week, gives Windows users the ability to play animated wallpapers. But unlike previous versions, it also enhances existing "static" wallpapers. In essence, all those Photoshop effects users might play with to tweak images to be proper desktop backgrounds are part of the program (except that it works on the image in memory rather than changing the actual file). A host other features have been added that are designed to "customize" what is already there rather than replace (i.e. skin). See a video example here.

Yesterday, WindowBlinds 7 was released. Unlike every previous version of WindowBlinds, version 7 doesn't focus on providing ever fancier skinning options but rather includes a new option to skin Aero itself. Or more accurately, to customize Aero beyond what the OS provides as well as customizing existing skins (adding textures and color mixing and such) so that users aren't spending all their time hunting for a "visual style" they like and instead tweaking the ones they already like.

This video on our partner site, WinCustomize.com helps give the Neowin perspective on the matter.

The challenge skinners and skin program developers alike are likely to face in the age of Windows 7 is whether users want to replace (skin) their programs or whether they are looking for tools to simply enhance/customize what they already have. Of course, like always, most users won't even change the default desktop background or color - life for those users will continue as it always has.

View: Neowin: Customizing Windows 7 forum
View: Neowin: Skinning forum
View: Neowin: WindowBlinds forum... Read on »

Added in Editorial, 18 November - 15:32 by Brad Wardell  · 35 comments Hot!

10 Ways Vista is more annoying with Windows 7 available

We all know Windows Vista got a bit of a bum rap. Its biggest sin was that it shipped earlier than it should and its reputation has never recovered.

However, with Windows 7 now out, those of us who have to switch between PCs now find ourselves discovering completely new things about Windows Vista that are annoying -- because they are things that Windows 7 made so much better.

Here's our list...


#1 "Program not responding"

Windows Vista loved to throw programs under the bus for not responding. This was especially true of Windows Explorer which regularly would fade out a window because it was trying to access a network resource.

It was always annoying before but the realization that this is a rare occurrence on Windows 7 makes it all the more annoying when we're forced to use Windows Vista again.

#2 Are you sure? Are you REALLY sure?

Windows Vista was the culmination of Microsoft's goal to have every action have a "are you sure?" dialog. Nothing illustrated this as much as the User Access Control console. In Windows 7, you can now fine tune this and with third party programs like Tweak7 you can even turn off the annoying "secure" desktop whose security remains theoretical.

#3 You want to change your resolution? Then you must go on a sacred quest first.

With Windows XP, a user could right-click on their desktop and go to properties. Windows Vista decided to do away with that and instead send people to personalization which gave quick access to, amongst other things...fonts.

Thankfully, Windows 7 brings back a direct way to change screen resolution for those of us who find themselves occasionally doing so.

#4 The System Tray is a mess.


I had no idea how bad the Windows Vista system tray was until I had the pleasure of working with Windows 7 for awhile.

#5 Windows Explorer -- everything except what you need.

The Windows Vista explorer wasn't bad -- until you got to use the Windows 7 one.

#6 A dark time for skinning


Sure, YOU might not be into skinning. But lots of people are and Microsoft hard coded enough weird graphics into the UI to make it a pain to customize compared to Windows 7.

#7 Cyan borders? Really?


Someone at Microsoft thought it would be a great idea if the borders of Aero on Windows Vista were cyan. I didn't really notice or care that much until after I started using Windows 7 and then that along with the weird glare texture in Windows Vista's aero title bars really started to grate.

#8 Libraries are nice

The user folder is a concept Linux and Mac users have had for years. Windows Vista started moving to this metaphor but Windows 7 really builds on it and the addition of libraries makes things that much easier to organize.

#9 Common sense device management


Adding and managing with common devices on Vista wasn't noticeably annoying at the time because it was actually better than it was on XP. But after having an actual devices folder, it's hard to go back.

#10 Home Groups

I think it's a bit lame that Microsoft didn't backport the new home groups to Windows Vista. As a result, if you have a household of Windows 7 boxes that can now easily work together on a home group, that remaining Windows Vista box (or two or three) that is still painful to simply access a video or an image from is all the more annoying.

Much of this really boils down to the strengths of Windows 7 more than the weaknesses of Windows Vista. But it's been many years since I've loaded up a version of Windows and found the previous version so annoying.... Read on »

Added in Editorial, 05 November - 02:43 by Brad Wardell  · 116 comments Hot!

eBooks: replacement or enhancement of the printed page?

In the 15th century Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing process. This new technology changed the world forever. One specific task was made incredibly easy — the spreading of written words. eBooks take us to the threshold of a possible shift in the way we read books.

In this editorial I would like to share my opinion. Earlier this week, I have already shared my impressions of the newly revealed eBook readers, direct from the floor of the Frankfurt Book Fair.

eBooks were possibly the chief subject under discussion at this year's book fair. Amazon may be the most prominent player in the growing market of eBook readers, at least in the US. Here in Europe the market is just opening up to this new way of experiencing books. The premise of which certainly is very tempting; you are able to carry hundreds of books with you, and read whatever you want at the ease of a click. Just like iPod revolutionized the way we listen to music on the go, some expect the same success for eBook readers.

Publishers agree that they don't want to behave as insusceptible as record companies did in the wake of online music stores. Amazon did recognize the potential at an early stage, which explains their rising success by selling of eBooks and offering the necessary hardware too. Only this month, however, two years after the U.S. launch, did Amazon decide to offer their Kindle reader internationally. This will surely put some pressure on Sony and the other combatants who are trying to win the battle for market share in Europe. The refulgent victor could emerge as soon as summer 2010.

Personally, I don't share the enthusiasm concerning eBook readers. I don't read many novels, mostly just reference books or non-fiction. And I prefer the texture of a printed page. As an eBook every book feels the same; they are all transformed into valueless digital files. When I open a beautiful photo book I can appreciate both the art of photography as much as I do publishing. Digitizing books also categorically impugns the art of printing. Before I continue lengthening my list of cons, though, I will list the pros.

Psychologically we always rebuff the new. Fact is the word doesn't need paper to spread. Likewise, clay tablets, papyrus and parchment are media of the past. For thousands of years, humanity has always relied on the ability to communicate. It is clear now that there's no argument against the advent of the digital distribution of books; since, there is today a powerful force that drives it: economy. There is however, yet another force facilitating the rise of eBooks: climate change.

I must confess that I love to exaggerate sometimes, and I certainly do by saying that we are destroying our planet. That is no secret anymore; it was made clear in several striking documentaries, released over the past few years. Still, I'm not a pessimist. I like to believe that we may yet turn the tides. eBooks could help us do that, by reducing the number of trees chopped down. This would also reduce greenhouse gases emitted during the transportation of wood. It's only one very small contribution surely, but every bit helps.

A fervent reader of paperback novels will love the prospect of being able to carry hundreds of them in a device thinner and lighter than one novel even. So, there are practical reasons in favor of eBook readers. On a long and tedious flight, your children can read all Harry Potter novels, if they so choose. Technology can also rekindle excitement for reading with tomorrow's generation. They have a very different perspective on computers and Smartphones — strictly speaking computers are new to my generation, too. I can vividly recall the first time my father bought a computer, back in 1991.

I may not be the target group for eBook readers, but I can still recognize the positivity it can pass onto the book industry. The printed page doesn't last forever; if not kept in a very controlled and secured room, books rot and fall apart — there is always a way of retrieving data from a file.

At the moment, Google is involved in an ongoing legal dispute over its service Google Books. The harshest critics call Google's undertaking of scanning the world's books simply an expropriation. A final settlement could be decided at a U.S. court on November 9. Generally the response to Google's plans of digitizing the world's literature and knowledge is one of excitement. The trend seems to go in the direction of a happy end for everyone. By the time they launch Google Editions, an eBook shop platform, in the first half of 2010, the eBook might have made it to mainstream in Europe.

As a writer I understand the concerns authors have. I studied creative writing in London, and so I track the dislike of digital book distribution. Unless a novel sells more than a million copies, an author will never make a lot of profit. Now, with the rise of eBooks, the author's royalties threaten to diminish yet more. Only bestseller authors will be able to continue make a living with their favorite pastime. Copyright issues have always been in the way of the digital age. With music it was no different. The artists want more than they are getting; this is of course understandable. If I would write a novel I would want to make money with it, of course. No artist today is bohemian enough to claim that they only pursue higher ideals. I'm an artist myself so to speak; besides writing I also work as a freelance photographer.

At the beginning I was also very careful with my photography. Even though, amongst my friends, I'm known as the great tech geek, I never posted my photography online. For a time I showed my work on Yahoo's photo service Flickr, but honestly I never felt comfortable. As I read more about online rights, I became even more sensitive to the notion of showing my work online. Then I decided to make my own personal website, which I can control completely. However, I digress.

What I'm trying to say is that authors have the right to be protective of their work. They invested vast amounts of time in their writing; if success is not the natural result, then they should be allowed to keep the rights of the work they publish. Right now a literary work is protected by law until 75 years after the author's death. This law doesn't regulate, however, the way publishers are allowed to deal with their literary stock. At the book fair in Frankfurt a general euphoria was apparent, though. I felt that people genuinely desired to learn how to use digital technology to make literature last forever. The benefits over the printed page are very similar to those digital photography has over analogue film. Yet in both cases the big difference is what digital technology lacks altogether — the sense of touch.

An analogue black and white photo always has more life in it. Now it's possible to mimic the visual aspects of an analogue film, but it's cheating. I myself use digital photography, of course, but perhaps I should say that I could have learned much more yet had I started with analogue film. It's not that authors are generally technophobes, regardless of their age. However, digitalization gives the impression that a work loses its substance; the tactile is transformed into an abstract illusion — we must solely rely on our sixth senses to know how a book or a photo feels in print.

Reading an eBook is the same as reading an article online — it feels like I'm simply collecting information. When I open a book, on the other hand, I have to make an effort to find my favorite passage, for instance. Turning the pages of a book is as natural to us as reading itself. Future generations may find reading on an eBook reader just as natural as we do reading today.

I grew up with the computer and the Internet, but eBook technology is one threshold I refuse to lope. And I dare presume that we won't see hundreds of millions of eBook readers around. As sincere as possible, I highly doubt that eBook readers will become ubiquitous as perhaps the iPod has. Yet, I can be very wrong too.

This editorial is the opinion of "Max Majewski" only, and does not necessarily represent the opinion of Neowin.net... Read on »

Added in Editorial, 23 October - 20:22 by Max Majewski  · 28 comments

Editorial: An apology for Internet relationships

Thousands of years ago, our ancestors drew onto cave walls; that was their way of sharing feelings and aspirations. Communication methods have evolved since, but some things never change. Love still is the greatest feeling, when it's not the worst.

Just ten years ago social networks didn't exist in the extent they do today. Friendster, MySpace and Facebook didn't launch until 2002, 2003 and 2004, respectively — just to name three from a myriad offerings available. The foundation of these websites is the ever-present urge to stay in touch with friends, relatives and lovers. Online dating also saw a tremendous increase in user base over the last years. At first, one has to wonder how dating can work without the essential flirting. On a website you don't flirt; you simply click on the potential partner and perhaps write an affectionate message. Principally though, the selection process is no different than in a real-life situation. Beauty, character traits and hobbies are still the criteria that determine the eventuality of a relationship.

Instead of wooing a woman with lustful gazes, a few well-chosen words could express one's passion with equal persuasiveness. Rejection still occurs, though. When you walk up to a lonely girl, sitting at a bar, sipping a cocktail with ennui, you either lure her in or not. From the perspective of the female sex, it certainly is a different story, since women often expect us, the desperate men, to start a conversation. The outcome of the ensuing dialogue is always inevitable; either it's a success or the two people continue drinking their drinks alone.

The first step to a successful internet relationship is to stop labeling it abnormal. We must agree on one point: to have friends on the world-wide-web means also to diverge from the norm. The thoughts of fellow Neowin staff members imply the ease of reconnecting with long-lost friends as the true appeal of social networks.

Weird people do exist in this yet so small world. The advances of technology have only made it simpler to meet these creepy characters. However, let's not dwell on possible negative endings. Blame yourself if you get hurt online; when one purchases an item on Ebay, the same rule applies: caveat emptor.

To make a case for the benefits of internet relationships, allow me to tell a story. Five years ago, I signed up in some geek forum, wanting to connect with other Star Wars fans. I recall having lots of fun chats with anonymous avatars. As weeks and months passed, often burning the midnight oils, I began to develop a bond with one user. I'm meeting her in person for the first time in November.

Oft-times it's so hard to look someone in the eye and speak the truth. An online friend, who is just remotely aware of your condition, can provide useful and objective advice. To be unemotional is impossible for close friends or relatives, for that matter. They care too much; now, this shouldn't imply that online friends don't care for your troubles. Yet they do in a dispassionate and controlled manner.

It will be captivating still, to finally see her in real-life. After five years of chatting and speaking on the phone, we may think we know one another. The knowledge of our pasts notwithstanding, there's still so much more to a person of flesh and blood, than there is to an entity that's made up only by your imagination and whatever you choose to believe. Beyond the stories we shared and fun chats we had, there is a real person yet unrevealed.

The breaking point for online acquaintances is whether one chooses to meet in person. That's when everything can go wrong, or even surpass expectations. It seems to be a matter of choice. What decides the outcome of an online relationship is what you choose to do with it. Either you simply want an uncomplicated relationship, to be able to talk about all kinds of things, personal and general; or, you look to meet new people, intent on making new friends in real-life, too.

Sitting in front of the computer, wherever you are, limits your vision. For that precise moment the world exists within the confines of your computer screen. It does diminish your awareness of what's around you, and suddenly this online friend becomes real.

We must reconsider the meaning of the word ‘stranger'. A stranger is someone you might talk to on the street, when asking what time it is. A stranger is the one waiting in line in front of and behind you at the local grocery store. A stranger is everyone mingling at the shopping malls. A stranger is also everyone you meet online, in point of fact. Yet, the definition of a word can change. It's wrong to declare someone a stranger, just because you meet them in a virtual chat room or a website.
Thoughts, dreams and aspirations can unite people. There are of course other reasons which are less philosophical. Since the advent of MMOs you can complete quests together with online friends, and this adds a whole new layer of complexity to the idea of online friendships. This also gives the word ‘stranger' a new meaning — internationality has become the catchphrase of the Internet.

Computers, iPhones, and other mobile devices ushered in an era of incessant connectivity. Anyone who doesn't embrace this new way of life risks being excluded. The push forward, both in business and personal matters, relies on our ability to stay in touch with relatives, friends and colleagues. To cut a long story short, online relationships don't have to be motivated by sex, but can simply be an exercise in collaboration. Who hasn't teamed up with fellow students, to work on a joint project? Our own Neowin Linux distribution Shift was also created by an enthusiastic group of developers around the world. It was a communal effort, and it resulted in a functional Linux distribution that could be downloaded by anyone.

Lastly, it's language itself which signifies the authenticity of online chats. It's possible to discern the character of a person from the way they express themselves. A cynic chooses different words than a pedophile. One or the other will be more eloquent, and that indicates whether your chat partner is a geek or an academic or some horny guy who can never be a great conversationalist.

Now it's up to you, as a member of this community to share your story and thoughts. Perhaps illustrate also the bad things which can happen. So far, my experiences were always positive; we have all read a few horrible stories, though.... Read on »

Added in Editorial, 09 October - 18:02 by Max Majewski  · 64 comments Hot!

Is Microsoft the juggernaut of yore?

If you were to ask the average citizen to describe Microsoft they would probably tell you that they are a mega corporation whose main product is Windows. Depending on their age they may also describe the company as one that has a monopoly on many software genres and is anti-competitive.

During the '90s and even in to the early 2000s Microsoft dominated the home computer landscape. The typical user wrote their documents in Microsoft Office, on top of a Windows XP platform while browsing in IE 6. They were so dominant, in fact, that they were ruled as being anti-competitive in Europe in 2004.

In 2000, Microsoft had a market share of about 87% and today this figure remains unchanged. They grew leaps and bounds in the '90s over their competitors who were falling behind, IBM, Apple and other variations of Linux and UNIX made up a small percentage. Today, though, they have stagnated to the same level as 2000 of about 87.75%. While the number is impressive, it is one of the few areas that Microsoft has remained competitive other than its Office product division.

Microsoft's first major public form of competition was the browser war against Netscape. Netscape was offering up a competing product to Microsoft's Internet Explorer: both products were designed for browsing the Internet. Microsoft eventually dominated the competition because it was able to offer a free product bundled with its operating system while Netscape tried to get users to pay for its product.

After this, Microsoft gained the reputation of being the industry juggernaut and rightfully so; they deserved that title. They controlled the majority of the market with regards to the home PC operating system, web browser, and office products.

But, as time has moved on, is Microsoft still the de facto player it built itself up to be? Microsoft seems to have lost some of its stature of producing the de facto products or always being the market leader in whatever products they sold.

When Firefox launched September of 2002 it was a little known browser taking on the giant Internet Explorer 6. By May 1st of 2004 it had barely 1% of the market share while IE had 95%. It was a true story of David vs. Goliath.

What happened in the following years is nothing short of spectacular for the underdog browser. Mozilla (the company behind Firefox) never gave up on their product. After many years of being defeated ruthlessly by Microsoft they went on a campaign to take back the market. Mozilla received a dedicated following and actively pursued IE. By March of 2009 they had clawed their way up to a very respectable 18% of the market. The reason? Microsoft fell asleep between the development of IE 6 and IE 7; they had presumed that IE 6 was all that the consumer ever needed. They believed this so much in fact that they stopped working on the standalone browser.

In the void left by Microsoft's slovenly development of IE, Firefox took up the competition and forced the company back into the browser wars. Today Microsoft is fighting against Firefox, Safari, Chrome and Opera to keep their market share. But it seems Microsoft may have more to learn as its newest browser IE 8 fails to include support for web standards such as HTML 5.

Did Microsoft become lazy? In a sense, yes they did. When they slacked off in the browser area Firefox came in and re-lit their fire. But this was not limited to just the browser market. Microsoft's slack attitude actually held back adoption of web standards and the progression of the web. That's to say, their behavior had a wider impact than just setting them behind the competition, because of just how huge their market share was. Even today web developers still have to decide if they want to code support for IE 6; major websites like Digg and YouTube have publicly said they will no longer support IE 6.

Windows Vista is a black mark on the company's face that they wish to get removed. After years of delays and unfilled promises they released an operating system that felt as if it was undercooked and only slightly satisfied the consumers' needs. Apple, seeing this, embarked on an advertising campaign that will go down as one of the most recognizable in the history of TV advertisements. The famous Mac vs. PC advertisements hit hard against Microsoft as Apple took Vista's shortcoming and moved in much like Firefox did with IE.

In December of 2008 Apple posted its biggest gains in two years, taking 8.9% of the market share, growing 0.66% in a two year period. Microsoft in that same month dropped below 90%, dropping 0.84, its largest drop in two years. While Microsoft still has a commanding lead, Apple has found ways to dig into Microsoft's dominant market and is slowly eroding its market share and reputation with its successful advertisements.

While the browser wars and the OS wars have seemed to have only given Microsoft a slight setback there are a few other areas where they have failed to live up to their stigma of dominating any market in which they sell software.

Windows Mobile has been a disaster for Microsoft. While promising to deliver the home OS experience on a cell phone it has done nothing but tarnish the company's reputation. Most recently Steve Balmer, Microsoft CEO, admitted that they "screwed up". For the entire year of 2008 Microsoft's Windows Mobile was sold on a little more 16 million devices, while Symbian sold 72.9 Million units and RIM sold 23 million units. Microsoft was able to move a decent amount of handsets but they are far from the leader of the market. They were also beaten in market growth with Apple leading at 245%, RIM at 96.7% and Palm grew at 42.2%; Microsoft only grew 12% and was beaten by the category "Other OSs". Microsoft has a long way to go in the Mobile market as Apple has proved to be a fierce competitor in growth and customer satisfaction; JD Power and Associates ranked Apple users as the most satisfied among mobile operating systems.

Most notably the largest shortcoming that Microsoft has failed to capitalize on is online search. When Google arrived with its "do no evil" tag line it was a direct attack at Microsoft. Microsoft was not only found sleeping but it was also playing catch-up to Google, something it was not used to doing. Google has dominated the search market and Microsoft has found itself running in circles trying to catch-up to a market it once controlled.

When Google launched its email service offering virtually unlimited storage Microsoft was dead in the water. Their offer, Hotmail, only offered a paltry 5MB and lost customers to Gmail in a record fashion. Microsoft tried to reinvent itself with its Live branding and search but ultimately came up short in yet another area; although its newest search engine, Bing, has been making strides in helping Microsoft gain some credibility in the online search market.

As the home PC is moving closer to "cloud computing",this is having all your information stored on a remote server, Google is again a step ahead of Microsoft. Google launched "Google Docs", these are programs that work in the cloud and compete directly against Microsoft Office, and the big difference is that Google Docs is free. While not as robust as the offline version of Office, it does offer a way to side step purchasing the Office package and using an online free variant. Microsoft felt so threatened by this that they have gone and started testing their own online version of Office as well.

Microsoft has also found out that just because they put their name on a product that it does not means guaranteed success. The Zune, for example, launched and instantly become the laughing stock of the industry. It did very little to even nudge away any of Apple's market share. Microsoft latest earning reports for Q2 show that there was a 42% drop on the non-gaming side of Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices unit, which includes the Zune. A second effort is underway though by Microsoft with the Zune HD.

Is Microsoft today the same Microsoft of the '90s? While they did fall asleep and release a line of lackluster products that ultimately hurt their image, they still continue to hold strong in the operating system market share and their office product suite. But the question is, is the damage done, have consumers gotten the message that there is an alternative out there to Microsoft? The answer is yes; the competitors in the field took advantage of Microsoft's laziness and have made a mark for their names. Will Microsoft rebound with the launch of Bing and Windows 7? It's likely to a degree but with Google launching a new OS soon, Apple spearheading advertisements, and software moving to the cloud, the biggest question is if and how Microsoft will adapt.

Special thanks to Rob for his contributions... Read on »

Added in Editorial, 02 October - 14:14 by Brad Sams  · 110 comments Hot!

Brad's PAX 2009

Greetings. I just got back from the 2009 Penny Arcade Expo. It was great meeting some Neowiners there this year. For those of you who couldn't go, this quickie photo album should help you see what you missed.


PAX is in Seattle. And this year, it sold out pretty quickly. If you're a gamer, this is pretty much heaven on earth. A whole area for playing board games and card games. Huge LAN parties and areas dedicated to multilayer console gaming were just some of the highlights of the "show".


The Blizzard booth dominated the show. They had Diablo III, Starcraft 2 and World of Warcraft. I would go as far as to say that the Blizzard area was more popular than the next 5 most popular booths combined.


For a game that isn't coming out for awhile, Diablo 3 was remarkably playable. People were lined up to play it and even at this early stage it was very fun.


At the risk of being biased (my day job is at Stardock), Stardock's new fantasy strategy game, Elemental, was received extremely well despite not scheduled for release until sometime next year.


Bioware's Dragon Age: Origins had one of the coolest looking booths but you could only see the actual game behind closed doors which made me a bit sad.


Star Trek Online looked especially fun. I kept finding myself drawn back to it over and over.


Stardock's Ready to Play is expected to go into beta later this week. This free program is designed to easily find strangers who have a compatible gaming profile to you get games going.


PAX isn't like E3 or other shows. This is a get together of gamers and speaking for myself, it was a real blast.


One of the coolest things I saw at the show was Beatles: Rock Band. I don't think any single game at the show, including the Blizzard games, captured the attention of people quite like this game did.


I spent most of my time at the Stardock booth doing demos and presentations. It's a great experience meeting gamers from the community face to face.

If you're a hard core gamer, PAX 2010 is likely to be in Seattle again next year in late August/early September. It's totally worth going to if you can make it.
... Read on »

Added in Editorial, 08 September - 17:02 by Brad Wardell  · 9 comments

How much do we really value our privacy?

Databases. Security cameras. IP addresses. These are some of the most popular swear words in the privacy world at the moment, and if you you wait a little longer, add GPS trackers and ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) cameras to the list as well. Privacy groups are convinced that the personal lives of everyone are quickly becoming threatened from the advancements in technology.

However, is technology really being used as a weapon towards our privacy, or is it in fact a vital tool in the solving and prevention of crime, and a way of making life easier?

Today, it seems every part of our lives can be logged, recorded or tracked. If I take the car to the nearest shopping centre, my journey will be logged by cameras on the motorway, sending the car's number plate to a huge database. If I decide to go for a walk in the countryside, all it takes is my mobile phone to be switched on in order for me to be tracked, as all the police need is a mobile number in order to track my phone based on the nearest mobile phone towers. If I decide to do some shopping on the net, that too will be logged, as is every website I visit is logged by my ISP. Pretty creepy. But is it worth it?

Security services used the surveillance features above during the 7 July bombings in London, and being able to use these methods of surveillance was vital in the process of identifying the attackers. CCTV (Closed Circuit Television) cameras often provide evidence that would otherwise leave many crimes unsolvable. However, sometimes our privacy is invaded not just for the sake of crime prevention.

We are giving information to private-sector companies and websites all the time. Sometimes the information is personal, sometimes it's not. But as consumers and users, we rarely put privacy first, and it ends up as a side thought. Unfortunately, it's often the same for companies and websites developers, particularly the latter. Website developers are just that: developers – not lawyers or security advisers. When you submit your information to a website, where does your information go? Does the company destroy your data the moment it's no longer necessary, or do they store it? It is questions like these that need answering, both in the public sector and the private sector.

It's easy to blame other people though. Although the government and other organisations have questions to answer, when it comes to looking after our own information, many of us are far too careless. The problem is that we, as consumers, would rather have convenience over privacy. We'd rather have our browsers be helpful and suggestive based on browser usage from the past, even if it does mean anyone could see what you've been up to on the net for the last week. We'd rather have our social networking privacy settings set so we broadcast our details to a larger range of people, even if it means our data could be in the sight of people we might not be so friendly with. We can't have our cake and eat it; if we want better privacy, we should be prepared to lose some benefits.

The truth is, although the government could do more to look after our personal data, such as updating and enforcing the Data Protection Act, they provide us with plenty of information regarding how to look after our information, including the Freedom of Information Act, allowing us to find out what information a public-sector organisation holds about us, as long as it's not a security risk. The harsh reality is that we, the consumers, need to look after our data. Sure, you can't help being filmed by CCTV cameras in the street, and you can't help having your DNA sample put in the police database on a case, even if you're not found to be guilty. But you can turn up your privacy settings on Facebook so only your closer friends can find your address, and you can configure your browser to only store what it needs to. It's time to up the value of our privacy.

Technology is definitely a tool to assist us, however, I don't think we should be using surveillance features that offer more than what is considered to be reasonable. There needs to be some clarification from organisations which hold our data, and I don't mean that standard copy and paste privacy policy that you see everywhere on the web, I mean facts and figures, telling us where our data goes, how long they have it, and what they do with it. As for everyone else, what does it matter if you're being watched left, right and centre if you're broadcasting pictures of last night's party to the world on Facebook?... Read on »

Added in Editorial, 19 July - 13:38 by Sam Alderwick  · 46 comments Hot!

Neowin Exclusive: Stallman on the current state of GNU/Linux

Richard M. Stallman is defined by Wikipedia as being an "American software freedom activist, hacker and software developer." He is perhaps most notably known for his work on the Free Software movement. Stallman is also the father of the GNU operating system, that which is commonly referred to as Linux but more accurately defined as GNU/Linux.


Richard M. Stallman, father of Free Software

Given the current state of technology, with both Windows 7 and Snow Leopard scheduled for release, we at Neowin figured it would be a good time to sit down with the "opposition" and hear a defense of Free Software:

Neowin: What would you say are the main achievements of Free Software, and furthermore, GNU/Linux, in the past 12 months?

Stallman: There are now netbooks (from Lemote) that are shipped with a GNU/Linux system that is 100% free software, and a free BIOS-equivalent too.

There is now a video hosting site (dailymotion) which distributes video in Ogg Theora format, rather than Flash containing patented MPEG4 formats.

There is now a web advertising service (AdBard) which won't give your site ads for proprietary software.

The President of Brazil told me that Brazil's public schools will move to free software. (All schools should teach only free software, because they need to teach the spirit of cooperation and sharing knowledge.)


Neowin: How do you think the free alternatives to commercial software (think GIMP for Photoshop) compare in terms of functionality, ease of use and productivity?

Stallman: This varies from program to program. I have never used Photoshop, and just touched the GIMP once, so I can't compare them from personal experience. I have heard people say the GIMP is better, but the lack of a restricted color-matching feature hampered certain uses.

I have used OpenOffice Writer occasionally, but I can't compare it myself with Microsoft Word. Large organizations have moved to it; whatever its imperfections may be, it is clearly adequate.

Any conclusion about comparing free and proprietary programs depends on the values we judge them by. If we judge solely in terms of practical convenience, either one might be better, depending on specifics. But if we value freedom highly, the program that respects our freedom is always better than the one which takes it away.

That's the reason I launched the development of the GNU operating system: to make it possible to use a computer and have freedom. I hoped to make technical improvements over Unix also, but that was a side issue. If Unix had been ethically acceptable, I could have made those technical improvements in Unix, and saved myself a lot of trouble. What made it necessary to completely replace Unix -- which is why the replacement is called GNU's Not Unix -- was that Unix's proprietary software license did not respect the essential freedoms.


Neowin: Who do you see as a bigger "competitor" to Free Software: Microsoft or Apple?

Stallman: "Competition" is not a strong enough term to describe the conflict between living with freedom or without. Free software respects the user's freedom; proprietary software takes it away.

There are four crucial freedoms that define free software:

Freedom 0, the freedom to run the program as you wish.

Freedom 1, the freedom to study the source code of the program, and then change it to make the program do what you wish.

Freedom 2, the freedom to redistribute exact copies.

Freedom 3, the freedom to distribute copies of your modified versions, supposing you have made modified versions.

Added in Editorial, 11 July - 04:47 by Mitchell LeBlanc  · 253 comments Hot!

Neowin's top 5 gadgets for summer

UK readers of Neowin.net will have noticed that we seem to be at the end of a heatwave, but there is no guarantee it will stop there. I spent today on the beach and though readers may be elsewhere with the sunny weather still to come, do pay attention!

Summer is always an exciting time for gadget lovers. It's the time of year when our favourite companies release their next surge of technology for us to cast our sweaty eyes upon. The following is our list of the very best gadgets the tech world has to offer this summer.

Before we get properly started I'd like to make something clear. When asking my editor for some advice with this article, he decided he didn't want this article to be just the first ten nifty pieces of kit which I happened to come across. To this end, I have meticulously devised a certain set of rules - think of them as the "Summer Gadget Commandments". These rules are what the devices must at least partially adhere to in order to make it onto the list. While some gadgets may not have a screen, for example, the Commandments are designed to cover a wide spectrum of devices, needs and attributes. Note also, the items chosen are listed in no particular order of preference; one can hardly compare a camera to a solar powered speaker.

Summer Commandments
1. If it has a screen, the screen must be readable in glare
2. No cables - we want a wireless summer, people!
3. Splash, knock or better still, "summer" resistant - we don't expect miracles, just some sturdiness
4. Design simplicity - nothing to get sweaty fingers confused on
5. Lightweight and ultra-portable - something which can easily be carried about one's person.
6. Good battery life - no dead batteries, please
7. Affordability - we want you spending your money on booze and barbecues, not a re-mortgaging for the sake of the latest camera

Our Gadgets
1. Cool Reader - The cool-er book reader. Making reading cool again. Having a study on the beach is a must for many people in summer, just sit on a deck chair with a stiff gin and get reading. Don't worry about the kids, the lifeguard will alert me if they begin to drown. I've chosen this above other e-book readers simply due to its multitude of colours and its promise to be legible in bright light. Think of the space it will save in your suitcase where the paperbacks used to be.

http://www.coolreaders.co.uk/



2. Flip Camera - When thinking about video recording equipment for this article, I begun looking at all of the HD camcorders popular in many electrical retailers. I found them a bit too delicate to have amongst the sand on a beach or hanging round a neck whilst on a walk. Instead I've decided to go with Flip's video recording products. They're pocket sized, and come in a range depending on various budgets, they're available in HD or not, ranging from 2GB - 8GB internal storage, and also in some nifty colours and designs. This is the way to video your bike ride or the construction of your giant sandcastle.

http://www.theflip.com/products.shtml



3.Gorillapod (Tripod) - Need a tripod without all of the hassle of extending and setting it up? It's been around for a while now but I think it's a worthy addition to this list. The 'Gorillapod' is a single or three legged unipod/tripod which can be wrapped around railings, to body parts or just balanced anywhere, regardless of the flatness of the surface. It supports the camera in pretty much any place and it's this level of versatility, combined with its miniature size, that wins a place on our list this year.

http://www.thinkgeek.com/interests/giftsforhim/82db/



4. Portable Speakers Sitting around in a park with your mates having an illegal barbecue and drinking copious amounts of cheap cider is great fun, but it can be made into really great fun with some music. I had this problem today on the beach with my friends; one of the first questions asked, before "who's got the suntan cream?" was "what are we going to do about music?" Obviously none of us had any portable speakers and we thought we could make do with the speakers in-built to our iPod touch or and iPhones. Sorry, Steve, but the speakers in these just don't cut it. I did a little bit of research when I got home and discovered a wireless solar powered speaker. Atop the canister sits a solar panel that soaks up energy and uses it to pump out tunes through its five-watt speaker. It's not the most powerful speaker in the world, but you wouldn't want to alter the direction of the longshore drift with your superior wattage. Additionally, a complimentary wireless (albeit battery-powered) transceiver allows any music source with a 3.5mm millimeter output to be beam music to the solar speaker from "up to 150 feet away."

http://www.firebox.com/product/1798/Wirele...eaker?src_t=wnw



5. Waterproof cases - This is the final gadget. Well, it's not necessarily a gadget, though it will help with some "gadget coming into contact with water" problems. A little company named 'Overboard' design and make 'waterproof gear for beach, boat and life'. Perhaps their most interesting and also surprisingly expansive range of products comes under the heading of 'technology cases'. Coming in an array of sizes, these cases allow you to completely submerge, let's say, your mobile phone. Yet they will still allow you to make and receive calls, or even play your PSP on the beach, without the splash or sand risk. This range also extends to submersible casing for valuables such as credit cards and money. One final thing: don't worry about it sinking if you drop it, as they also float.

http://www.over-board.co.uk/catalog//bwate...ndex.30_43.html



These are my five gadgets. Obviously the list not exhaustive, but I did want to keep it brief for some more heavy discussion in the comments section. Please do comment with your recommendations for the list. After the article's life has been exhausted, the list will be updated with your suggestions, so that we can see the our community's favourite gadgets. If you've had the pleasure, or indeed displeasure, of using one of these gadgets, I'd love to know about your experiences - let us know its worthiness to hold a place on this exclusive list!... Read on »

Added in Editorial, 02 July - 22:27 by Elliot Harrison  · 32 comments Hot!

9 years down the road with Neowin

Hi there it's Steve here, otherwise known as Neobond on the forums. It's also weekend, and a perfect day for an "opinion piece". Remember back in 2000 when we started? Many of you will because we still have a very large active user base for people who joined in 2001 when our forum database was reset for the first and only time in our history.

We came onto the scene back then to cover what would become Windows XP, the sheer lack of decent information and our dodgy insider information paved the way for what has become a hugely successful point of news and interaction for the community, with the multiple re-generations of the site, I still feel that while we have "grown up" a lot that we have somehow retained our roots for where unprofessional journalism looks better. Granted, we now actually pay the news staff for their contributions and there is a process where a team will have to approve what is submitted by the news team, but I feel we still retained the ability to post news in a fashion where anyone can understand what is being relayed.

We could have gone the route with graphs, multi-page news items and a bombardment of statistics to back all that up, but that was never the focus for the site and I very much doubt that will change anytime soon.

Between the years 2003 and 2008 we slipped into syndicating news rather than actually writing our own and newsposters were very hard to come by on a voluntary basis. Since we introduced payment for articles late last year, I feel that the site has taken another surge of regeneration, the popularity increase we've seen over the past 6 to 8 months is a clear indication of that success. Last year we were somewhere in the region of the top 2000 on Technorati, today we are in the top 200 at 151 with over 1200 different websites linking to our original news content over the past 6 months. That figure would be higher if Technorati spidered the whole web, but it doesn't -I'm not complaining about those results however!

You may have noticed that I don't post as much as I used to, I usually keep my posts to the Software section now-a-days, because of the much higher quality of posting by the "new guys" outshines my abilities by quite a bit!

Some of the long term members who are still active, may remember a lot of my tongue in cheek postings on the main page covering Windows XP betas, a few editorials or general updates because we had such bad hosting for the first 4 years! Those days may be gone where I could post a single paragraph of updates, but remember that we aren't The Washington Post, or The Times (of London). We will still post opinion pieces, and they might be a little biased at times, but what you are seeing comes from our roots.

Some newer members may not understand that, but we aren't deaf either. We started paying news staff for the better quality a lot of our members were asking for so we could finally be rid of syndicated (or Around the Web) news.

I think in our 9th year I can proudly claim that we have given you the community, most of what was asked of us, within reason.

So if you see an opinion piece and decide it shouldn't be front page news, ask yourself if you know what we have continually published to the main site all these years, and maybe if you are trying to compare us to some other site. We would also encourage our readers to outdo us by contributing, all of our staff were community members who believed they could do better for the site in different ways, we applaud and encourage it!... Read on »

Added in Editorial, 21 June - 11:30 by Steven Parker  · 125 comments Hot!

Mac user: Don't underestimate the case

A case is a crucial part of a computer. Aside from the obvious fact that without a case, all you have is a pile of chips and cables, the case of a computer plays an important role in how you interact with it. Microsoft ads, and some of their users, may dismiss Macs as "more about looks" than anything else, but a Mac user looks at it differently. Fact is, it isn't always about performance; a bad case can make or (literally and figuratively) break a good computer, particularly on the mobile scene.

Let's take a look at the "unibody" MacBook Pros, as an example. They start from a solid block of aluminum and are shaven down to form the case. The design is simple, everything is well laid out. The keyboard is considered to be well designed, and the case is solid. The screen is vibrant, and it's durable thanks to the glass. Finally, the MacBook Pro is a very nice looking machine.

What does the case lack? Excessive decals, extra texture where it is not needed, and lights flashing all over the place. That's my style, the extras aren't what I like. I focus on 3 things: the trackpad, the keyboard, and the screen. The design of a Mac is focused.

In contrast, let's take a look at many PC cases. They have buttons on the front, the side, on the screen, and next to the keyboard. There are switches all over the place. On most of these switches, there is an orange or blue light that stares at you, and can easily light up a dark room. And the case is made of plastic, much more likely to crack and break than aluminum. Am I generalizing here? Sure. But that's what I see when I roam the laptop aisles at Best Buy and Future Shop: ugly designs that are impractical for me, and drag attention away from what you really want: the screen.

Portability comes with it, as well. My MacBook Pro is really quite thin; Apple focuses on making their portables as portable as possible. No large rubber feet to boost the laptop off the ground, either: only small ones that add a few millimeters to the height, if that. In contrast, some other laptops have some shape added to them, or those big rubber feet. It makes them much more difficult to throw into a bag, and I find that it makes them more difficult to use.

A lot of what I'm saying is, admittedly, based entirely on opinion. But can you honestly say that if you saw a sleek, good-looking laptop that feels perfect for you, and another laptop that was twice as thick, had blaring fans, but also packed a more powerful processor and was $200 cheaper, that you would jump for the second laptop?

As a Mac user, I might be a bit more sensitive to these matters. Maybe I pay that extra $200 because I'm far too anal about the design. But the design is what you use. Power simply isn't as important to me, it's more about the experience of using the power.

Of course, that isn't the only reason I always spring for a Mac, but those reasons are for another day. Also, not all PC's are ugly. In fact, most are not. My point is that the aesthetics of a Mac are what work for me. It's attractive, comfortable, portable, and generally unobtrusive. Others prefer PC's that exert the same qualities, or different qualities if that is what suits them. It all comes down to taste. But when calculating the value of a laptop, so many ignore the quality of a case or personal taste, and jump for raw specs. And that simply isn't how I would choose a laptop.

Do you buy a computer based purely on power, or does design and feel come into play for you?

Please note that this is an editorial. The views expressed are that of the author, and not that of Neowin, its staff or its members.... Read on »

Added in Editorial, 21 June - 01:13 by Simon Andrews  · 206 comments Hot!

Why China is no good for surfing

Esteemed surfers of Neowin may have read one of my previous articles regarding the Internet restrictions China is currently implementing upon all new computers within its jurisdiction. The link to which can be found, here.

The original article covers some of the firewall and Internet surfing restrictions which owners of new computers will come across, thus hindering their ability to surf freely upon their computers. Developers of the software, on behalf of the Chinese government state that the software's main use will be to block access to pornography so that it may not inflict damage upon younger Internet users. However, outraged Chinese computer users state that this software is more so designed to restrict access to content deemed politically unacceptable by Chinese government authorities. Naturally, this is a topic which seems to have caused a fair outcry the world across so I thought that in this latest article I would provide an update to the situation.

News published upon The New York Times website today gives further information as to the Chinese effort to make a safer Internet. Currently, the giant search engine 'Google' is under the firing line by Chinese Internet authorities, blaming the site for linking 'too often to pornographic content'. As a result the Chinese government has disabled some search functions on the Chinese version of the search engine, namely the associative word feature which displays a drop down menu of words which are synonymous with the one typed in.

Reporters on China Central Television, the state television network provided examples of how the Chinese 'erzi' meaning 'son' resulted in some associated terms with 'lewd connotations'. Further to this, Chinese state news organizations reported that the, supposedly banned ability to access websites outside of China, was still available through Google's search engine.

The official watchdog for Internet activity in China, the: 'China Internet Illegal Information Reporting Center' have supposedly told off Google twice this year, in Janurary and April, regarding the content available through its search engine. In response to this, Google have issued a statement stating that it will make more effort to adhere to the Chinese government's requests:

"We have been continually working to deal with pornographic content, and material that is harmful to children, on the web in China"

This is clearly a topic to get some tongues wagging, and I would love to hear some opinion within the comments section below. Is it acceptable to completely restrict a country to only be able to search within the confines of an invisible blockade? What about Chinese students who may need to access material from other countries to further their education, moreover, will this inability to search outside of China hinder China's ability to continue to be a successful internationally trading country? Perhaps it will have little effect at all.... Read on »

Added in Editorial, 19 June - 20:29 by Elliot Harrison  · 36 comments Hot!

Editorial: Why don't we like video calls?

The title of this article came to me while I was browsing Wikipedia, a situation which I hope somebody can relate to where an article on a certain topic brings you eventually to something totally unrelated, with no relevance whatsoever to the original piece but still fascinating nonetheless. The need to click through endlessly to find out worthless facts is fascinating in itself, but ironically I've digressed.

Where did it all go wrong for the pioneers of this fine technology? It's not like we never wanted it; indeed, many designs of the house-of-the-future famously incorporated some sort of video phone somewhere along the way, and advances in technology made video calling inevitable. If this was such a bad idea, why didn't somebody turn around and say "Hold on, this is stupid, people don't want this"?

The effort to upgrade mobile phone networks to the third-generation, spearheaded by Hutchison 3G (known to most as 3), seemed to have been motivated by video calls. The message was clear: People want this and it is going to be huge. As most of you are aware, 3G technology is alive and well, employed by millions, yet the driving force behind the upgrade seems to have faded away. Service providers rarely (if ever) provide video calling minutes as part of their contracts, and supposedly "cutting edge" phones such as the iPhone make no reference to this feature whatsoever. Clearly, demand has faded. At least, it has in this area of technology.

While mobile video calling seems to be gasping for its last breath, Voice over IP services such as Skype have shown little sign of a lack of interest in video calls. In fact, hardcore Skype users created a plugin for webcam support before the official developers had implemented this for themselves. Pidgin users rant on forums about a lack of webcam support, and one of Microsoft's Mac Messenger's biggest criticisms is its lack of webcam support. A lack of daylight and social interaction could well be the source of all this pent-up rage around these programs' shortcomings, but the answer is most likely that consumers do care about video calling. Something doesn't add up here.

I'm sure the more easily frustrated among you are screaming at your monitors about how I've neglected the point about how not everybody owns a video phone, or that VoIP is free and mobile video calls are not. The first point is easy to rebut: Text messaging was in a similar position once upon a time, and nowadays you'd be seen as a "n00b" if "u cdnt ndrstnd ths". The second point is more interesting. Talking to people through a home phone is cheaper than on a mobile call, in most cases, and actually seeing the person and speaking face-to-face is 100% gratis. Also, the advantage of carrying around a sleek compact video-enabled mobile phone heavily outweighs the free aspect of carrying around a chunky laptop, a 3G dongle, and some hope that the person you want to speak to is online. This isn't to say that VoIP's significance should be ignored as an inconvenient gimmick, but the fact that VoIP is free does seem to come closer to the issue.

As part of an incentive to get people video calling, in its early days providers would offer a handful of free video calling minutes. Trouble was actually knowing someone who had a video phone as well that you could call. But the other thing was that there's not much more information you can get from a video call than you can from a standard call. Facial expressions are almost lost in the grainy low-resolutions images on the screen (unless your caller is fantastically expressive), emotions can be detected in voice anyway (here's a tip: watching people cry is not fun), the caller may not be looking their best (not as big of an issue in a voice call), and also (and possibly most importantly) it's hard to do anything else at the same time.

Sad but true, it looks like our hectic lifestyles are the reason we don't want to embrace video calling, and all the speeches made by eccentric men on how we will eventually communicate via hologram may well stay dreams, all because we don't care much.... Read on »

Added in Editorial, 16 June - 20:12 by Michael Brown  · 41 comments Hot!

Demigod post launch, two month roundup

It's been just two months after the launch of Demigod, and after a bunch of very long workdays, Demigod connectivity is pretty solid and thousands upon thousands of people are currently playing online matches. In this time, Demigod has received a lot of press about the launch, including the affects on piracy, multiplayer gaming, and the PC game industry itself.

One aspect many people don't know is that Stardock documented this entire process in the form of videos and developer journals. Much of this was to keep customers and community members aware of what was going on, and to show a "behind the scenes"� look at what goes on post-launch.

We have three documentary videos showing and talking with game and Impulse developers during a 108 work week, and some of the craziness that goes on at 4 in the morning.

• Demigod 108 Hour Work Week - Part 1
• Demigod 108 Hour Work Week - Part 2
• Demigod 108 Hour Work Week - Part 3

Brad Wardell has a great two month roundup of how the issues were solved by creating a new connectivity system in just a matter of months.

Demigod on launch day was a pure peer to peer networking game in which everyone connects to everyone else. This reduces lag since you are talking directly to the other user rather than through a server.

Developer Gas Powered Games had previously used a program called GPGNet for Supreme Commander. GPGNet is an external program that handled all of the connectivity features for that game. Unfortunately, it had essentially been retired so it wasn't an option for Demigod. To solve that, we licensed a third party solution to take its place. We won't dwell on the details of how things went since it's been covered a great deal.

That put us all in a very difficult position. The connectivity issues had to be solved (obviously). It also became pretty clear that a largely new system from scratch that was far more robust was needed and needed fast. So who would develop it? There were four obvious options: Gas Powered Games, Stardock, Atari or Raknet.

If GPG had to develop it, that would take time and resources away from updating the game itself. That would mean fewer new features. Raknet could do it but it would take time and it's not "their game". Atari is a traditional publisher and it did not make sense to ask them to intervene at the 11th hour. That left Stardock. Since Stardock develops games and already has a robust networking program (Impulse) it was the logical choice.

So over the last 6 weeks, we have created a new connectivity system.

He also covers the upcoming v1.1 update for Demigod, and how the much anticipated Demigod demo is just about ready. Read the full article at the blog on Impulse.

Added in Editorial, 13 June - 15:18 by Island Dog  · 12 comments Hot!