Remembering… Windows ME

Not all technology memories are happy ones

Windows 8.1 has a lot of users in a flap over its tiles, style and the way it works. It’s different, but it does work and it’s pretty quick as well.

Windows Vista, the last ‘bad’ operating system from Microsoft, was met with pretty much the same scorn. But once you apply a service pack or two and a few updates, and if you take a moment to tweak behind the scenes, Vista actually becomes a half-decent OS.

Before 8.1 and Vista, though, was something far worse. An operating system that Microsoft would really want to brush under the rug once and for all and, in the process, wipe everyone’s memory of such a thing ever happening. That OS is, of course, the ill-fated Windows ME. But it can’t be all that bad, can it?

PNY XLR8 CS2111 240GB

We’re always on the lookout for a good solid-state drive. Whether it’s booting Windows in a snap, accessing files with little to no wait time, or quickly jumping into the action of our favorite games, nothing raises PC quality of life quite like an SSD. PNY’s family of XLR8 CS2111 drives promises to be the company’s best yet, so we were naturally excited to get our hands on one of them.

Obviously, the most important part of an SSD is what’s inside, but PNY made sure the CS2111 drives smolder on the outside, too. To wit, the housing of each SSD is stamped with a flaming tiger lunging toward ... something. (Use your imagination—a flaming tapir, perhaps?) In any event, whereas many plain-Jane SSDs prefer to be stowed out of sight, PNY’s CS2111 SSDs demand that you figure out a way to put them on display. These are good-looking drives, people.

LowRISC

Discover a project that's hoping to get us one step close to a completely open computer.

It doesn’t matter how open or free your software is, the only hardware available today is closed and proprietary. This closed hardware could be used to compromise the freedom of computer use in many ways. Closed hardware can be used to limit what the user runs, the way in which it runs, or what other hardware it runs with. You also can't see how closed hardware works which makes it harder to inspect or improve. Until we have open hardware to go with open software, well never have truly open computing. One project hoping to change this is LowRISC.

Cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin and the Altcoin revolution

There are now hundreds of cryptographically secure currencies, but why do they exist and which ones should you trust?

Currencies backed by cryptographic guarantees rather than by governments or precious metal stores first became famous with the dramatic rise of Bitcoin in 2013 when one Bitcoin rose from a value of $14 to over $1,000. The last year has been a bit less impressive and the price of Bitcoin slumped to about 20% of its peak.

Despite the low price, there's good reason to be positive about Bitcoin. The last year has seen the currency become better known and more useful than ever. You can spend it in more places, and Linux Voice subscribers can renew their subs with it (we hope to roll out sales for new subscribers soon). Bitcoin is by far and away the most popular cryptocurrency, but there are hundreds of others, known as altcoins. Some of these altcoins are gaining popularity, while others are languishing without value and without miners to keep the blockchain moving. Some of these new cryptocurrencies hope to add new features, or improve on the Bitcoin model in some ways; others are just scams perpetrated by people hoping to get rich quick.

CubieBoard A20

Looking for a little more power than the Raspberry Pi offers, John Lane wonders if the CubieBoard A20 can deliver...

The Raspberry Pi is great, as you'll know if you've not ben stuck under a rock for the past three years. But there's so much more out there. You can now choose from loads of alternative small-board computers, including many that are packed with additional features for not much more money than the Pi. One such board, the CubieBoard, was launched in 2012 with native Ethernet, a built-in 4GB NAND flash drive and an on-board SATA connector. An upgrade in 2013 giving it a dual-core CPU and 1GB of memory was released as the CubieBoard 2, sometimes referred to as the CubieBoard A20 after the AllWinner A20 chip at its core. Although roughly twice the price of a Pi, it's still affordable, and it can run Linux and Android.

Thermaltake Commander FT

If you’re like most builders and gamers, it’s a safe bet that you spend more time picking components based on price and performance than determining how each one will impact your system’s overall cooling profile. And that’s okay, as long as you eventually take an active role in managing your temperatures. One of the best ways to do so is to install a fan controller, and Thermaltake’s Commander FT is an option with tons of extras.

Aerocool DS200 Window Edition

Aerocool certainly knows its way around PC tower cases, but even for a company that has as many hits on its hands as this one does (see also the GT-S, the Strike-X Air, the XPredator X3 and XPredator Cube, et al.), the DS200 is a fantastic enclosure.

For starters, the DS200 Window Edition (we received the black variant for this review) is swathed in the soft-touch material that feels like some kind of space-age rubber/leather hybrid. The stuff coats the top, front, and bottom. It frames the sides, as well; only the removable side panels are solely made of steel and acrylic. The one drawback to this material is that it tends to be pretty eager to show fingerprints, but the counterpoint is that it’s easy to wipe the case down and quickly make them disappear.

The Cult Of Doom

Exploring today’s mod scene with id Software’s classic shooter. By Andi Hamilton

Over the past few years, many of the barriers to making and modifying videogames have been removed. You can grab a free version of Game Maker and knock out Hotline Miami or Gunpoint if you’ve got the time and the inclination. With the introduction of Steam Workshop and similar resources, modding has become both easier to implement and, if you’re on the other side of the fence, easier to benefit from.

Honor 6 Plus

While high-end smartphones from wellknown brands come at exorbitant prices, a few relatively less known brands pack the same features at a lower cost. The Honor 6 Plus is one of those.

Let me begin with a confession. When I first heard of Honor, I had a cheap ‘plasticky’ gimmick in mind. But then when I heard its Huawei ‘surname’, I had to take the brand seriously. When the device arrived at my desk, that interest turned into desire. Once the tests were over—well, I would rather reserve it for my closing verdict.