1. First and foremost, do you "get" what Google is trying do do here? Does it make sense? Is it a good idea?

2. Google OS will be available first on netbooks, and only netbooks starting in a year. Do you think netbooks will even be relevant a year from now?

3. Google also mentions that the first generation of the Chrome OS will focus on secondary machines. Do you even have a need for a secondary machine, or is one computer with a traditional OS enough?

4. Google notes that web browsing is the most important function of a computer . Without it, many of us probably wouldn't use a computer for much in the first place. So my question is, how much of your time spend on a computer is completely offline?

It looks very similar to what everyone imagined. I'm glad we are moving into single-window, task-oriented environments.

Everything you need to know about Google here.

According to Zhongyi Electronics, Microsoft "only paid to use [their] software for its Windows 95 system." They say that the two fonts weren't even covered in the agreement to begin with. Yikes. Microsoft is appealing the court's decision by claiming that the fonts were in fact covered by the agreement and that there was "legitimate right" to use them. [Obama Pacman]

A post on the Windows Blog entitled " How we really designed the look and feel of Windows 7" renounces Simon's quotes with a curt, yet harsh line:

I hate to say this about one of our own, but his comments were inaccurate and uninformed.

Youch. That's gonna be a fun day at work tomorrow for ya, Simon. [Windows Blog]

Aldous is not a designer or developer, but works with Microsoft partners—sales, essentially. But his quotes are pretty odd despite their authoritative tone. Check it:

What we've tried to do with Windows 7 – whether it's traditional format or in a touch format – is create a Mac look and feel in terms of graphics.

Windows 7 and Snow Leopard may have some similarities in UI, but certainly not in graphical design—Windows 7's airy, sky-blue aesthetic makes liberal use of transparency effects, while Snow Leopard dials back OS X to a more slick, grey-scale efficient look that matches its hardware design. Yeah, the Windows 7 Start Bar is inspired by the Mac Dock, but even they don't look anything alike. Then there's this:

We've significantly improved the graphical user interface, but it's built on that very stable core Vista technology, which is far more stable than the current Mac platform, for instance.

What? Not to kick a dead OS, but what? We're not taking this as an official Microsoft statement, since nobody on the Windows team would ever say either of those quotes, but Microsoft better rope in their middle managers and teach 'em about interview technique. [PCR via AppleInsider]

People who own PCs and Macs, the category I fall into, got 15% of the vote, which was also a little higher than I expected. Make of this what you will, but the difference between the poll compared to our OS tracking graphic pictured here should indicate why we wanted to focus on your own hardware—not the computer you use at work. At any rate, the race is really still too close to call. You have time to cast your vote and help tip the scales in your favor.

1. Updating will be a huge pain

You do realize that you can't just pop in the disc and install the OS, right? Coming from XP, you're going to need to backup all of your data, format your hard drive, install a clean version of Windows 7, and then start from scratch, reinstalling all of your old programs—and that's assuming Old Faithful even meets the system requirements. Sounds delightful!

2. Software investment

How many programs do you have installed? You're going to have to reinstall all of them. Do you have all of your install discs handy? And I hope you haven't lost any CD Keys! Do you still have all of your downloaded installer executables? Feel like finding them or redownloading them? Because that's what you're going to have to do. And as far as new programs go, you do realize that almost all new software is still compatible with XP, right?

3. Most of what you use your computer for doesn't need an upgrade

What do you do on your computer? Surf the internet, maybe use some office programs? I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume that Windows XP has been handling such duties just fine for you. So why upgrade? For shiny new aesthetics? For a fancier taskbar? For juggling 22 devices? You don't need that.

4. It's expensive

Do you have $120+ to burn? Because that's how much upgrading will cost you unless you use the $30 college-kid discount. Why not put that money in savings or use it to pay off a credit-card bill, like a grown up?

5. You can wait for SP1

Every OS has bugs when it's first released, and even if 7 isn't the shitshow that Vista was, it'll surely need some patching up once the masses get their hands on it. You won't get any bonus points for being an early-adopter. Why not play it safe and, if you do decide to upgrade, hold out for Service Pack 1?

6. Microsoft will keep supporting XP for a while

Tons of people (including you) still use XP, and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Because of that, Microsoft has no choice but to continue supporting it, releasing security patches and the like. You don't need to upgrade in order to get such benefits.

7. You'll buy a new computer eventually

You won't have your current computer forever, especially if you bought it long enough ago to come pre-loaded with XP. Since installing a new OS is one of the most risky and frustrating things you can do with your computer, you might as well just hold out until you buy a new one. It'll have Windows 7 pre-installed on a clean drive, allowing you to start from scratch.

If you're running Vista, however, you should by all means upgrade. What are you, crazy? Upgrade!

Did you have a party that went better? We're looking for your pics and videos, so send em over to me at contests@gizmodo.com with Windows 7 Party Pics in the subject line.

An Android 2.0 Motorola phone, to be precise, which we'll officially get to see sometime in November.

Until then, we can feast on rumors and speculation, revel in the broadside Verizon fired against Apple (not AT&T, it should be noted), and of course dissect the actual marketing itself, as was done at Daring Fireball.

Notes Fireball, the entire site is in flash (clever!), the commercials will be in heavy rotation during today's football games (watch!), and, most importantly, that the small print says "Droid is a registered trademark of Lucasfilm Ltd., licensed to Verizon" (what?!).

All interesting stuff, yes, but is it weird that the biggest bit of news out of all this, to me, is that George Lucas controls the word droid? [Verizon, Daring Fireball]

The 2% figure is extrapolated from NPD's less direct assessment:

[A]pproximately 12 percent of all U.S. computer owning households own an Apple computer, up from 9 percent in 2008. While Apple ownership is growing, those households are decidedly in favor of mixed system environments. Of those 12 percent, nearly 85 percent also own a Windows-based PC.

At first glance, these stats almost seem wrong, but when you start think about it, they make sense: The survey polled "households," which, on account of grandma's Compaq or your roommate's gaming PC, clobbers the exclusivity figure. (I live in what any reasonable person would call a "Mac household"—three people who use Macs almost exclusively—but that little Acer netbook sitting on the table means we're not.)

Plus, PCs are cheap and they linger, and Macs, being pricier, tend to find their way into richer households, where more than one computer is almost a given. That, combined the fact that most Macs sold are laptops, and therefore a little more likely to be a supplemental computer, makes the 2% figure look a little less crazy, but still, 2%? Fanboys, you're slacking. [NPD via Macrumors]

They focus on the new UI elements (Aero Shake, new Start Bar, themes), which is probably smart given that Windows 7's main competition, Snow Leopard, has barely any visible changes from its predecessor. I like the emphasis on Windows 7's bright shiny colors, too. Will the ads convince people to go out and buy the OS? Who knows; I'm not really sure there's a lot of mainstream enthusiasm or knowledge about upgrading an OS. But these ads probably won't hurt matters. Check out a couple more over at CNET. [CNET]

The update includes the following fixes:

•Alcohol 52%: Update enables Windows 7 compatible Alcohol 52% versions to work
•Altiris and Symantec Virtual Software up to version 6.1.499.x: Upgrade Block to avoid errors during Windows upgrade
•ZoomText version 9.18: Driver hard Block to prevent an error
•Dell Printer Driver (Models-V105, V305 and V505) : Upgrade Block to avoid setup failure
•Trend Micro Internet Security 2007: Upgrade Block to avoid error during Windows upgrade
•Trend Micro Internet Security 2008: Upgrade Block to avoid error during Windows upgrade
•Trend Micro Internet Security 2009: Upgrade Block to avoid error during Windows upgrade
•YiDongFeiXin version 2.2.x and version 3.5.x: Enables application to work
•PGP Desktop up to version 9.x: Soft Block to warn about possible issue after Windows upgrade
•Trend Micro VirusBuster 2008: Upgrade Block to avoid errors
•Windows Live Photo Gallery: Update Windows Live Photo Gallery to avoid file association issue with Windows Media Player OCX

This will undoubtedly be the first of many compatibility updates to arrive in the coming months. These updates are now available through Windows Update or the Microsoft Download Center. [ars technica]

The spots are all the more impressive when you find out that they were shot with the Canon 5D Mark II for Microsoft on a tight 3-day deadline. Hopefully, Martin's work is a good indicator of where Microsoft plans to take the campaign. [istartedsomething via ars technica]

The 10.6.1 Update is recommended for all users running Mac OS X Snow Leopard and includes general operating system fixes that enhance the stability, compatibility, and security of your Mac, including fixes for:

* compatibility with some Sierra Wireless 3G modems
* an issue that might cause DVD playback to stop unexpectedly
* some printer compatibility drivers not appearing properly in the add printer browser
* an issue that might make it difficult to remove an item from the Dock
* instances where automatic account setup in Mail might not work
* an issue where pressing cmd-opt-t in Mail brings up the special characters menu instead of moving a message
* Motion 4 becoming unresponsive

MacRumors Forums have also included some unofficial notes on the update:

- Network Diagnostics now offers to remove manually-entered DNS values for DHCP configurations
- Software Update for printer drivers of Bonjour/USB printers
- HICocoaView double-redraw during live resize
- Bluetooth connection to nearby printers on startup
- libdispatch object use after deallocation
- Sending of messages with Mail where the SMTP server response has no text
- Upgraded email accounts and SMTP servers that require authentication on port 587 but not port 25
- Printer custom keywords added/edited by auto setup tool are now migrated after software update
- Generic drivers are now visible in printer driver list
- WWAN devices that use the AppleWWANSupport2 component
- Updated to Flash 10.0.32.18

[World of Apple and MacRumors Forums]

Robin Harris, who has worked in the data storage field for as long as I've been alive, is discussing the mysterious absence of ZFS in Mac OS 10.6 over at his blog StorageMojo. He reconsiders his original stance, that there were migration or integration timeline issues, in favor of it being a battle between licensing preferences.

Harris speculates that Sun Microsystems, the folks behind ZFS, may have pushed for a Common Development and Distribution License (CDDL) and patent indemnification which turned Apple off the deal. Harris emphasizes that the incompatibility between CDDL and GPL was one of the issues for Apple, but certainly not the only one. (How could it be when there are CDDL elements such as DTrace in Snow Leopard already?)

Patent indemnification could play a larger role as the manner in which Sun might waive patent claims against Apple for the use of ZFS wouldn't actually truly protect Apple from third-party claims, but that too is speculation.

What we do know is that Apple promised us ZFS a year ago and didn't put out this month. Be it a lovers' spat with Sun, licensing issues, or a larger legal picture, we're still optimistic that we'll see ZFS down the road, particularly with the changes going on as part of Sun being taken over by Oracle.

Check out Harris' thoughts and tell us yours. Why did Apple go back on something they were so proud to announce? And when will this broken promise be made up to us? [Storage mojo]

The install disc, which is nearly identical to the Leopard install disc that comes with new Macs, clearly states that this is Mac OS version 10.6, and version 1.0 of said OS. It seems perfectly legit to us, but we wonder how such a disc could have slipped out ahead of release. Regardless, this probably means the August 28th guess isn't far off. [Engadget Japan (translated) Engadget]

All you've got to do is enter "slmgr -rearm" into the command prompt at the end of every 30 day period, and you're set. You can do it three times, extending the whole deal to 120 days. The same trick worked on Vista, and it's nice to see Microsoft allowing the little trick to keep working on 7. You know, for those of us who hate entering activation codes. [Telegraph via Engadget]

The change from this version is that you have to install it from a fresh DVD/partition, so you can't just Software Update your old install like you could before. [Gear Live]