Book a Repair and avail Free Laptop Bag worth £15

Windows 7, the next major release of the world's most popular operating system, will be officially available to the public on 22 October.

Microsoft is hoping it can avoid the negative press that surrounded the launch of Vista, the last major Windows release, almost three years ago.

Windows 7 has been designed to be compatible with Vista so users do not have to invest in new hardware.

Customers who buy a new PC with Vista will be offered upgrades to Windows 7.

When Vista was launched many users expressed frustration that the operating system did not work with all types of existing hardware and peripherals, or programs used commonly on PCs.

And a Vista compatibility programme for hardware proved to be confusing and, in some cases, somewhat misleading.

Windows 7 will also have "comparable system requirements" to Vista, which should mean that if your PC is capable of running Vista it will also run the new version.

Windows 7 promises a major usability improvement on Vista, and a simplification of security measures which caused frustration for many users.

Beta testers of Windows 7 have reported that it is faster than Vista, especially in terms of start-up and shutdown sequence of the computer.

Apple really has a thing for guarding secrets and this is another one of those developments where it it has succeeded in fooling the prying eyes.

There was little surety about the product and those who thought it was really coming had expected it in 2010. So the tablet sized PC that’s User Interface is especially designed for web crazy buffs like me and you and bears an Apple Logo is for real.

The fact that Microsoft Windows 7 launch has also been confirmed for a pre-Christmas schedule, the web-tablet launch may dent the spur of the latest Windows OS.

People would definitely prefer spending for the Apple Tablet rather than an OS if given the option- a smart marketing strategy from Apple. But is the Tablet really this close? Only time will tell.

It's no surprise that computer repair shops might snoop for porn on laptops they fix, but an investigation by Sky provides anecdotal evidence that unscrupulous repairmen are prepared to attempt bank fraud as well.

Sky planted surveillance software on a brand-new laptop, before rigging an easy to diagnose fault by dislodging an internal memory chip from its connection. Fixing the problem, which prevented Windows machines from booting, was as simple as pushing the chip back in. However all but one of six repair shops put through a mystery shopper test by Sky either misdiagnosed the fault or overcharged for repairs.

So, think twice about the reputation of the company before handing over your laptop which contains valuable data.

Nokia has announced it will start to make laptops, entering a fiercely competitive but fast-growing market with a netbook running Microsoft's Windows operating system.

But Nokia's first netbook, the Nokia Booklet 3G, will use Microsoft's Windows software and Intel's Atom processor to offer up to 12 hours of battery life while weighing 1.25 kilograms. Netbooks are low-cost laptops optimised for surfing the Internet and performing other basic functions. Pioneered by Asustek with the hit Eee PC in 2007, netbooks have since been rolled out by other brands such as HP and Dell.

"The question is: How will Nokia differentiate? This is already a crowded market. If they manage to differentiate it's going to give them competitive advantage," said Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi.

A source close to Nokia said the new netbook would use the upcoming Windows 7 operating system. Microsoft says a stripped-down version of Windows 7 will be introduced to netbooks the same time as its general release on October 22.

Local media reports in Taiwan have said that Compal, the world's No. 2 contract laptop PC maker, has pitched netbook models to Nokia, but there has been no official confirmation from either side.

Nokia declined to comment on the manufacturer it uses.

Most of the world's top electronics brands typically do their own design work, but outsource the manufacturing process to contract manufacturers such as Compal and its larger rival Quanta.

Research firm IDC expects netbook shipments this year to grow more than 127 percent from 2008 to over 26 million units, outperforming the overall PC market that is expected to remain flat and a phone market which is shrinking some 10 percent.

Small new netbook computers from Acer will come with Google's Android operating system if buyers desire, instead of Windows from Microsoft.

The move by Acer, the world's third-largest PC maker, could raise Android's chances of becoming a widely used alternative to Windows on mobile computers.

Because Android, originally designed for mobile phones, is freely distributed by Google, netbooks running the software would cost less, Acer executive Jim Wong said Tuesday at Computex, a huge computer show in Taiwan.

He would not give a specific figure. Wong also praised Android's fast boot-up time.

Netbooks, which are inexpensive little laptops primarily designed for using the Internet, originally were sold with another free operating system, Linux. Microsoft's current operating system, Vista, was seen as too expensive and slow for those computers. But Microsoft regained control of the budding market by licensing the older Windows XP to manufacturers for a low price.

Microsoft's next operating system, Windows 7, is being geared for netbooks as well as larger computers. Several PC companies used the Computex show to highlight coming models based on Windows 7, including Taiwan's AsusTek Computer.

Also, ARM Holdings, a chip-technology licensing company, said it would launch a new chipset to drive netbooks, taking on a domain dominated by Intel's Atom microprocessors.

The massive security breach that led to millions of Hotmail customers being advised to change their passwords has now spread to users of email services including Gmail and Yahoo! Mail.

Up to 21million people and businesses who use the Hotmail service in the UK were warned they are potentially at risk of being defrauded after passwords were acquired illegally.

Around 10,000 passwords were obtained by hackers who created a fake website identical to Hotmail's to fool users into entering their email address and password in a 'phishing' scam.

'Phishing' scams involve using false websites to lure people into revealing important data such as bank account details, login names or passwords.

Now the BBC claims that another list of over 20,000 email addresses and passwords is circulating, which contains the details for Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, AOL, Comcast and Earthlink accounts.

The latest list was posted on Pastebin.com, the same website to which the Hotmail list was originally uploaded.

The site, which is intended for web developers to share code, has since been taken down for maintenence.

Hotmail's list of users was posted anonymously on to Pastebin.com on October 1. The list was reported by technology blog Neowin.

It is feared that the information could be used by fraudsters to access email accounts and steal personal information such as credit card account details.

A spokesman for Google, which runs Gmail, said: 'We recently became aware of an industry-wide phishing scheme through which hackers gained user credentials for web-based mail accounts including Gmail account.

'As soon as we learned of the attack, we forced password resets on the affected accounts. We will continue to force password resets on additional accounts when we become aware of them.'

The firm stressed that the scam was 'not a breach of Gmail security' but rather 'a scam to get users to give away their personal information to hackers'.

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said: 'We advise people to take a commonsense approach and change their password.

'It is early days but we have yet to receive reports of fraud linked to this breach.'

A Microsoft spokesman added: 'We are aware that some Windows Live Hotmail customers' credentials were acquired illegally and exposed on a website.

'Upon learning of the issue, we immediately requested that the credentials be removed and launched an investigation to determine the impact to customers.

'We are working diligently to help customers regain control of their accounts.'

Some of the accounts appear to be old, unused or fake. Other addresses on the list include Comcast and Earthlink accounts.

A spokesperson for Yahoo urged consumers to 'take measures to secure their accounts whenever possible, including changing their passwords'.