Windows 7 has reached the RTM milestone

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The buzz has become official now - "Windows 7 has reached the RTM stage".

RTM stands for release to manufacturing which literally means Windows 7 is now ready to be burnt to digital media like DVD. This is a very key milestone for Microsoft and a lot many Windows 7 testers like me who were curious since a long time to get our hands on the FINAL. From Microsoft's point-of-view the transition of Windows 7 from BETA to RC(Release Candidate) and then to RTM stage has been the best so far since this is the very first time that Microsoft has made public the BETA and RC offering. Previously, in case of Windows XP and Windows Vista the BETA was only made available to OEM's, vendors and volume licensing partners. The BETA then had a very short duration of 6 months for testing purposes. But that was the story then.

What's really worth an applause now was that Microsoft released an RC(Release Candidate) version of Windows 7 five months after BETA. This RC version is a kind of pre-final and post-BETA version of Windows 7 with the bugs fixed and other advancements made over BETA. This RC gamble was seen as a brave strategy by many bloggers and industry insiders since Microsoft got lacs of testers doing it's part of the job and that is - Testing Windows 7 and providing valuable feedback on it. Obviously, testers including me were delighted to get our hands on Windows 7 and become proficient with it before it's release but the developers too were overjoyed to get their hands on it so that their Apps. can flourish on them. The developers of some of the famous applications like Notepad++, VirtualBox, Pidgin IM etc have already acted promptly to get their Apps. compatible with Windows 7. So if you're a developer then now's the time to get your App. running on Windows 7 as well.


You can download the RC version of Windows 7 here (Available till 20th August, 2009).


Some more milestones to keep in mind for our readers:

• Windows 7 is set to release on October 22, 2009. (You can read my blog on it here)

• Windows 7 RC available till August 20, 2009. So hurry if you haven't tried.

• Windows 7 BETA begins to expire on July 1, 2009.

• Windows 7 RC begins to expire on 1st March, 2010.

My web-site and it's story so far ....

I've been a computer freak since I was a kid but the computer syndrome has been running wild in me since my engineering days. As a result my peers have derived a lot many names for me. My younger brother Jigish, uncle Paresh and some of my childhood pals define me as:

"<~~Guru~~> toh Computer ka Keeda hai jo kucch na kucch pura din sochte rehta hai aur Computer pe kucch karte rehta hai"

But to be frank, they define me complete. I'll keep my heads down and make a confession-"I'm a computer freak and an addict and proud to be one. Everything about computers is in my realms of interest. And if it's programming then-Guru says Lolz... "

A lot of my friends, relatives and online pals were curious as to what am I upto with my web-site www.gameboyzone.com. I'll get you up, close and personal with my web-site in this blog. So here's the story from scratch.

I always wanted to have my own web-site which I consider it as an asset to own in the web. And I indeed had one in my second year of engineering but like a usual procrastinator, sometimes that I am, I kept my work pending on it. Truth be told, there were a lot many reasons which contributed to my web-site being untouched for such a lot time. I had proliferated into Networking, Java, web development, software testing etc then and my priorities and interest had changed. But now that I've graduated, I've got ample time to work on my web-site and put all my ideas into it. I have my own space where my imaginations and insights can flow. Now I can proudly proclaim about my web-site-"This is my space. This is what I am. It's a bigger than life picture about me. No conditions, rules and restrictions apply here".

And believe me the response to my creation was awesome. The daily traffic has increased by more than five times and people are leaving behind valuable comments to help improve my creation. What's really surprising to see is that now people are curious as to what I'll be coming up with my site. Nothing can be more pleasing to witness the transition and growth of your own creation. With all the above pro's I'll recommend having a web-site for all engineering students or anybody who is into today's Information Technology loop.

Coming back to my web-site, I've been working on it since one month now and it's shaping up really well and better then what I was expecting. Already done with a majority of sections like My Blogs, Twitter, My Projects etc. Now I'm currently working on the Main page and Tech. World section. Surely, would like to make it up and running as fast as possible. Also in the near future I'd like to develop my site in ASP.Net.

ALL THE VERY BEST TO ME.

Guru says Lolz.....

The perfect answer to the most unanticipated, amateur and a bold question

I was lucky to be there in Welingkar Institute's mailing list by chance and hence got an invitation to a free post-budget analysis session on 13th July, 2009 meant for MBA aspirants. The clause of "MBA aspirants" was itself so very vulnerable that "MS aspirants" like me relish exploiting it. Jokes apart, I was always keen on learning Economics and moreover it's practical side since I was a kid but Science and Technology gave me less exposure to it. Sorry, blame it on Mumbai University !!!

Some busy schedules on the session day meant that I had to miss it but I was second-time lucky as it turned out to be when I was enlightened that there is a repeat of the session on 15th July, 2009. I had to seize this opportunity and can't afford to miss this one. And I did seize it. The session was scheduled at 5:30 PM at the colleges' auditorium which was can easily house atleast 800 people. The auditorium has been finely constructed with perfect acoustics and the center-stage bearing the pulpit with MIC and a large wide screen behind it for presentations. The auditorium has a panoramic view from all the possible angles in the auditorium which makes it truly worth appreciating since a majority of institutions to which I've been(including mine) do have some form of obstruction which adds to viewers woes. What was really good to see is that the auditorium had two large LCD's fitted to the left and right of the center stage for viewers who cannot get a view of the extreme side of the center stage.

The post-budget analysis session which saw the budget being cut down deep into it's skin and was also criticized due to it's lack of considerations on certain critical issues. Also some of the critical issues which had it's mention in the budget were not explicitly discussed and how they are going to be implemented. Some of the clauses which were found to be flawed were Corporate Tax, Wealth Tax, Defense expenditure, predicted monsoons and it's impact on the next year etc.

Leaving everything apart, the end of the session seems to have something special for me. Truth be told, my mental composition was developing slowly to pop up this question - the result of the session speakers making us realize that the budget was a mediocre one and had nothing to offer for people who expect a lot from it. So when the question-answer time came I was shameless and bold enough to ask this question. It was as follows:

"Given that the public's sentiment towards the budget has always been hostile, would a bunch of graduates from B-Schools like Harvard or IIM make a better budget ?"

The crowd was taken aback by a BOUNCER and it saw some mixed reactions from shock, surprise to an applause. Another fellow student sitting besides me expressed his displeasure at this question but I made it clear to him that there are certain things which I never wanted to keep in my stomach & mind and take back home. Coming back, the question was a bold and an extra-ordinary one and the answer had to live upto expectations. And nobody could fend this BOUNCER better than Miss Divya Vasantharajan who seems to be 2-3 years elder then me and was an experienced campaigner. Her academic and personal achievements runs into two pages. Here's the reply to my BOUNCER:

"Who do you think makes the budget ? Students like you who make to B-Schools like Harvard and IIM. And one day they rise to these positions to make the budget. So they are just one of us."

The message was delivered and straight to my mind and heart. It was an anticipated and obvious answer to the most unanticipated question but she was one of the very few to make me understand this. The answer opened my eyes to many other unravelled questions of the similar stature. R.I.P. to all of them.

IEM and my 4th semester story

I never had any formal tryst with "Economics and Management" till my engineering days but when I had one during my 4th semester of engineering it was quite a tasty one in many ways. Firstly, our professor was a one with a light voice which would get drowned even at a fall of a needle and he was very lax about discipline (which is a good thing for me). Secondly, based on their experiences, the reviews our seniors gave us, it was very evident that the subject then known as IEM (Industrial Economics and Management) was an easy one and nobody would fail. Thirdly, we had a guide on the subject known as "3 days notes" which promised that it lived by it's name and it surely did.

I never really had any smattering of knowledge about the subject throughout the semester so the final and the most formal tryst I had with the subject was during the 4th semester exams. Wonder !!! Wonder !!! Wonder !!! This semester was an extra-ordinary semester for me I can say since I was in deep trouble with 4 KT's (i.e. failed heads) and my current subject tally was 10 where 6 is the number of subjects which I have to clear to make it to the next semester. My pals and my professors made my life even more difficult throughout the semester by making me realize repeatedly that I have 10 in my bag and it's impossible to carry it and nobody has cleared 10 in our colleges' record books. Phew !!! Records and rules are meant to be broken, someone said and now it's indeed time to do that. Coming back to my 4th semester exams I had only 3 days to prepare 22 chapters in the subject and I was totally naked with nothing in my mind but only one question - "How am I going to manage this ? Whatever it may be but I got to complete it". And indeed I never wasted any time now on and burnt the daytime and midnight oil and what followed after that was a remarkable record and a historic feat. I cleared all 10 subjects and with 68/100 in IEM and an aggregate of 55% in my second year. Not a big surprise for a engineering scholar but surely it is for me.

Some of the very important terms I still remember in IEM and which can also be used as jargons in communication are:

1] Delegation of Authority :
-----> Delegation of authority is the virtue by which a manager or a senior can assigns some of his authority/responsibility to his juniors. It is to be noted that the manager assigns only a part of authority but not completely. Similarly, he can revoke them back again.

2] Decentralization :
-----> Decentralization can be viewed like a pointed tree with the top-most node being a manager and other nodes below it to be the subordinates. The Manager can grant or revoke responsibilities to it's juniors.

3] Performance appraisal :
-----> Performance appraisal means estimating an individual's performance for a given duration using different parameters like feedback, recommendations, job-completion etc. A majority of companies look at performance appraisal as a measure for hiking an employee's salary.

4] GDP (Gross Domestic product) :
---> GDP is a true and prime measure for gauging a country's growth. It can be defined as a net increase in the production of all products and services for a fiscal year. It's a complicated process to compute the GDP so it is left to the economists to do the same. GDP can be computed in many ways with the expenditure method being the most easiest one. More the GDP, more is the overall growth.

GDP = C + I + G +(X-M)

where,
C -- Consumption
I -- Income
G -- Government Spending
(X-M) -- Net Exports
X -- Exports
M -- Imports

5] Fiscal Deficit :
---> Fiscal Deficit is also a measure to gauge a country's overall development. Fiscal Deficit is the difference of the total income of the government (excluding any loans which is included in debts) and it's total expenditure. Lower the fiscal deficit, better is the projected growth.

Sometime later, I would also like to put some light on some of the fallacies which people have about the following concepts in Economics:
1] How banks earn and in what ways ?
2] What is the role of a manager ?
3] Role of a manager in a service driven I.T. company ? (Sounds too much interesting for me !!!)