Canonical Releases Windows Client for Ubuntu One Cloud Storage Service

Ubuntu One, the cloud storage service available for Ubuntu versions 9.04 and higher, now has an official Windows client. Previously available as a beta, Ubuntu One for Windows gives XP, Vista, and 7 users a free 5GB of cloud storage space in which to keep their files.

Ubuntu One works a bit differently than, say, Dropbox, a competing cloud storage service: for example, if you'd like to sync your My Documents and My Pictures folders, Dropbox would require you to store them within your Dropbox folder, while the Ubuntu One client allows you to select folders anywhere on your hard drive for syncing. Once synced, your files can be accessed from Ubuntu, Windows, and Android devices, as well as through the Ubuntu One web site.

For users with more storage needs, Canonical will bump your space up to 20GB for $2.99 a month or $29.99 a year. You can also add an Android and iOS-compatible MP3 streaming service (which also includes the 20GB storage upgrade) for $3.99 a month or $39.99 a year.

Source: Canonical

]]>

Microsoft Integrating Hyper-V Into Windows 8 Client

Microsoft is beefing up virtualization support in Windows 8 with Hyper-V, writes Microsoft's Mathew John on the Building Windows 8 blog. Hyper-V was previously available in Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2, but in Windows 8 its functionality is also being rolled into the client version of the operating system.

Hyper-V allows users to run multiple operating systems on the same computer at the same time - if its functionality sounds familiar, it's because programs like VirtualBox, VMWare Workstation, and Parallels (for the Mac users among us) have all been providing similar functionality for years. This isn't Microsoft's first foray into this space, either - among other things, Microsoft's Windows Virtual PC (which enables XP Mode on Windows 7 machines) is also virtualization software.

One of Hyper-V's most appealing features compared to basic consumer-level virtualization software is dynamic memory allocation - a Hyper-V-enabled VM with 2GB of RAM allocated to it will only use the RAM it needs, leaving the unused portion of that 2GB available to the host OS or to other VMs. Microsoft notes that up to four VMs can be hosted on a 64-bit system with 4GB of RAM, though more VMs will require a greater amount of memory.

Use of Hyper-V will require a 64-bit version of Windows 8, 4GB or more of RAM, and a CPU supporting either Intel's VT-x or AMD's AMD-V virtualization technology, and Second Level Address Translation (SLAT). Hosted operating systems can be either 32 or 64-bit, and can make use of up to 32 processors and 512GB of RAM. For complete details on Hyper-V and specifics on its implementation in Windows 8, read the full post on the Building Windows 8 Blog.

Source: Building Windows 8 Blog

]]>

Raptr Updates Gaming Client - Sees Major Performance Improvements

Raptr, a popular game tracking and social platform for gamers, has released one of its most significant client updates to date. Specifically redesigned to improve performance, the latest client update slashes the CPU usage and the memory footprint by 66% on average.

“Optimizing the performance of the Raptr client has been one of the top user requests for a while and we’re excited to introduce such a massive improvement,” said Dennis Fong, CEO of Raptr. “Our goal is to constantly iterate on our service with the feedback of our six million users as a guide. These improvements pave the way for significant new features we plan to launch in the next few months.”