Day: May 10, 2007

Vista can now be a guest or a host operating system in VMware!

VMware Workstation 6 Supports Vista

“VMware this week made available version 6.0 of its desktop virtualization product, which has set a standard for testing and development, and competes with Microsoft’s now-free VirtualPC. New features in Workstation 6.0 include support for Vista, dual monitors, and USB 2.0 devices. While the server world increasingly turns to virtualization to take advantage of the huge advances in CPU power with the advent of multi-core chips, virtual machines play a critical role in aiding IT administration, development and software testers. Users can quickly boot up a computer within a computer, as well as do cross-platform testing without multiple hardware setups. VMware supports a wide array of operating systems, including Linux, Solaris, FreeBSD, Windows and even Novell NetWare. It also can run fully 64-bit systems, and handles up to 10 network cards and experimental support for two-way Virtual SMP. With version 6.0, Windows Vista is now supported as both a guest or host (the physical machine running the virtual machines) operating system. VMware says this will enable businesses to upgrade while still supporting legacy applications, which can be run instead inside a virtual machine. Separate from VMware Workstation, the company has added what it calls the ACE Option Pack, which enables administrators to create secure and centrally managed virtual machine images. They can be transferred to portable devices such as USB thumb drives for added mobility. New experimental features include “recording” every action done inside a virtual machine such that it can be replayed exactly the same way at a later date. This ensures bugs can be reproduced and resolved, VMware says. Also experimental is support for Virtual Machine Interface (VMI).”

I’ve never really thought about it… but back there somewhere, somebody designed the fonts that we use every day… so, here’s a story on the Helvetica font at 50 years old!

Helvetica at 50

“The Helvetica font is celebrating its 50th birthday. You’ve probably seen it a thousand times today. Why? At this moment in boardrooms across the globe, captains of industry are leafing through sheet after sheet of typefaces. There are hundreds of choices, but many of these movers and shakers don’t take a lot of leafing before plumping for Helvetica. We live in a world where we are surrounded 24 hours a day by adverts and corporate communications, many in typefaces chosen to subliminally complement the message. Helvetica’s message is this: you are going to get to your destination on time; your plane will not crash; your money is safe in our vault; we will not break the package; the paperwork has been filled in; everything is going to be OK. It is sans serif. There are no wiggly bits at the end of the letters. It has smooth, clean lines, and an unobtrusive geometry that almost suggests it was designed not to stand out.”

OK… your odd thought for the day… does the Helvetica font really make you think that everything will be all right? Hummmm…