Windows bootup screens through the ages

Microsoft Windows has been around longer than I have, and has seen a great many iterations through the years. This two-page article shows the bootup screens for Windows 1.0 through Windows 7, illustrating the progression from what was effectively a blue screen (of death?) to the pretty Windows logo in Windows 7.

And now, with the advent of Windows 8, and today's modern technology, we'd expect the new logo to be even more beautiful, right? Right?

Uhhh... no, sorry.

Windows 8 Bootup: Unexpected error 0xc0000225

The unveiling of Windows 8 this week has had mixed reception. Nonetheless, the reease of the Windows 8 Developer Preview has sparked curiosity among fans and skeptics alike. I am no exception.

Upon installing the Windows 8 Developer Preview under VirtualBox, though, the following error appeared:

Error 0xc0000225, very helpfully explained as "An unexpected error has occurred", prevents the Windows 8 installer from booting. Fortunately, however, getting it to run is simply a matter of enabling IO APIC from the Settings -> System screen. This blog post shows how it's done.

Early Sierra games playable online

Some interesting stuff that surfaced between yesterday and today:

• Old Sierra Games Playable In Browser Through Open Source Game Engine - a great piece of work at Sarien.net.
• Microsoft Suffers Leaks, Lagging Sales Numbers As They Look Forward To Windows 8 - article about the leak of Windows 7 Release Candidate, and the fact that Microsoft are already beginning to plan Windows 8.
• My thesis is going through a public evaluation beta this week - check out the chatbot evaluation page.