Well, that didn’t take long. Currently it’s being plastered all over the internet that the official Windows 7 launch date is October 22, 2009. For those of you that suck at math, that’s roughly four months from now.

Microsoft says yes (much to the gritting of teeth by many), there will be five editions. Starter, Home Premium, Professional, Enterprise and Ultimate. Chances are likely most of you will go with Home Premium or Ultimate.

For those of you that would ask, "What’s the difference between editions?", fear not because someone was nice enough to put together a chart showing what’s different between each one.

I can say that other than the absent encrypted file system and XP mode in the Home Premium edition, there really aren’t any reasons to use Professional or Ultimate. You still get all the visual perks, simple HomeGroup option for home networks and so on. So if you were torn about which one would suit you best, use Home Premium. Basic just misses too many features.

Even though a launch date is set, no price has been announced yet. This annoys me because I really want to know how much of hole in the wallet this is going to burn.

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium retail version currently sells for around $225 at most retailers. Yes, you can get an OEM for $99, and hopefully this will be made available on wide release of Windows 7 because I absolutely zero interest in spending over $100 more just for a pretty box and manuals. All I want is the license; the rest I can figure out on my own, thank you very much.

Those of you out there using Windows 7 RC like I am may get that option. A notice should come thru Windows Update when the RC ends stating you must update to a licensed version. Hopefully the price won’t be too stiff.

As has been said many times by many bloggers, if Microsoft decides to make this OS more expensive than Vista currently is, that would be a bad, bad maneuver in the current economic climate.

Some good news for our gamers out there: Microsoft has dropped the yearly fee of the "Live Gold Subscription Card" to $29.97 yearly (from $49.99). And back in July ‘08 the Live service was made free to PC users.

For those of you out there that think paying for gaming on an Xbox (or any console) is a bit ridiculous, it isn’t. This is a natural progression of gaming where the "replayability" of games these days heavily depends on the ability to play with friends. This is part of the reason why older games like Counter-Strike (where the stats speak for themselves), Starcraft and Diablo II still command a huge audience. Without the team-play ability from the internet, none of these games would be played as much as they are now. The fact you can connect up to the internet and have team-play is a huge attraction.

$30 yearly is a good sweet spot for this type of gaming (i.e. console gaming). It translates to $2.50 monthly and that’s a bargain.

If the subscription cost was a source of concern for you concerning the Xbox console, that’s definitely not the case any longer.

FedEx Office (formerly known as FedEx Kinko’s or just Kinko’s) is a 24-hour-a-day shop in most places where you can walk in to do a quick scan, print, fax or any other number of office-related stuff.

To note: FedEx Office is just one example of a store like this. Even the sleepiest of small towns in the USA have some kind of local office store when you can run off a copy, print something, get something faxed out, etc. They’re usually located in the busier part of town. Continued

Gearlog reports that over the weekend Intel adjusted prices for Core 2 Duo processors. This is indicative that newer/faster procs are right around the corner, however, the fact you can get a 3.16GHz for 31% less now ($183) is a sweet deal, and it will stay current for several years.

If you were looking to dive in and build a new box with some Intel Core 2 power, now is the time to buy.

From my personal experience: I’m impressed with my 1.8GHz Core 2. It’s fast. The 3.16GHz is no slouch. You’ll like it – guaranteed.