Windows XP

Windows XP is one version of the Windows operating system made by Microsoft. Microsoft released Windows XP on October 25, 2001. XP came after Windows 2000 and Windows Me. It was replaced by Windows Vista which was also replaced by Windows 7. The letters "XP" stand for eXPerience.[4] Windows XP is the second most used computer operating system in the world as of April 2012.[5] XP is no longer the most current version of the windows operating system.

Versions
There are two common versions of Windows XP. Windows XP Home Edition is a version made for home users. Windows XP Professional is made for business users, with advanced management features. In addition, Windows XP Media Center Edition is for people who edit videos and pictures a lot. Another special version of XP is called the Tablet PC Edition, for pen-based laptops. A version of Windows XP for 64-bit computers was released as Windows XP x64 Edition. It had all the features of Windows XP Professional, but was made to work on 64-bit computers instead of the older 32-bit computers. There is also a Windows XP Starter Edition, which is sold mostly in developing countries. It is very cheap, because Microsoft wanted to fight the high software piracy rate in those countries. It is very limited and can only be bought with a new computer.

System requirements
The system requirements for Windows XP Home and Professional editions are:[6]
Minimum Processor Memory Video adapter and monitor Hard drive disk free space Drives Devices Others 233 MHz 64 MB RAM (may limit performance and some features) Super VGA (800 x 600) 1.5 GB CD-ROM or DVD-ROM Keyboard and mouse Sound card, speakers, and headphones Recommended 300 MHz or higher 128 MB RAM or higher Super VGA (800 x 600) or higher resolution 1.5 GB or higher CD-ROM or DVD-ROM Keyboard and mouse Sound card, speakers, and headphones

Windows 8
Windows 8 is the latest Microsoft Windows computer operating system. Since September 2011, Microsoft

have released the Developer Preview version. It was released for developers. The final version for everyone was released everywhere on October 26, 2012[5]. The president of the Windows Division Steven Sinofsky said: "With this system we shall make the biggest change from Windows 95", which there is, as they have removed the Start button/menu (they were first put in Windows 95). On February 29 2012, Microsoft released a Beta version of Windows 8 known as the Consumer Preview. After the Consumer Preview, a final preview named "Release Preview" was released on May 31st, 2012.

Features
According to Microsoft, Windows 8 has several new features, like a Windows Store where users can buy metro style computer programs, or Windows To Go, a feature that allows users to run the complete Windows system from a USB drive.
Windows 8 provides a new graphic interface Modern (a.k.a. Metro) UI (same for tablets, notebook and classic PCs). This interface is characterized in his tiles which work as links and also as Interactive widgets (new in RSS, weather, e-mails). Modern UI is optimized for touch screen, but can be controlled by mouse and keyboard. Of course, Windows 8 still offers classic desktop interface. Interesting news is system of started PC. Microsoft rework starting PC from basis replaced classic BIOS a new system UEFI. Advantage of this system is secure boot, which is protection against viruses. Operating system will have Central administrations of copy and move files, which older systems did not have. Transferring more files will be more comfortable. The system will stop copying and then gradually build without having to carry everything again. In Windows 8 will enable logging in through Face Detection and voice control or especially hand gestures, which senses camera system Kinect. In the leaked test versions of Windows 8 were discovered the foundations of future cloud applications, is the possibility to use different services and programs from the Internet. For example, it allows for saving user settings on the Internet. This can then be used on another computer with Windows 8 and synchronize it. For example, if you lose your laptop you do not lose programs or information, including system settings.

Hardware requirements Minimum hardware requirements for Windows 8[6]

Criteria Processor Memory (RAM) Graphics Card Display screen Input device Hard disk space Minimum 1 GHz clock rate IA-32 or x64 architecture Support for PAE, NX and SSE2[7][8] IA-32 edition: 1 GB x64 edition: 2 GB DirectX 9 graphics device WDDM 1.0 or higher driver 1024768 pixels Keyboard and mouse IA-32 edition: 16 GB x64 edition: 20 GB USB 3.0 port UEFI v2.3.1 Errata B with Microsoft Windows Certification Authority in its database Trusted Platform Module (TPM) Internet connectivity Recommended x64 architecture Second Level Address Translation (SLAT) support 4 GB DirectX 10 graphics device 1366768 pixels A multi-touch display screen

Other

Tablets and convertibles

Hardware certification requirements for Windows tablets[9] Graphics Card DirectX 10 graphics device with WDDM 1.2 or higher driver Storage Standard buttons 10 GB free space, after the out-of-box experience completes 'Power', 'Rotation lock', 'Windows Key', 'Volume-up', 'Volume-down' Touch screen supporting a minimum of 5-point digitizers and resolution of at least 1366x768. The physical dimensions of the display panel must match the aspect ratio of the native resolution. The native resolution of the panel can be greater than 1366 (horizontally) and 768 (vertically). Minimum native color depth is 32bits. Minimum 720p

Screen

Camera

Ambient light 130k lux capable with dynamic range of 560k sensor Accelerometer 3 axes with data rates at or above 50 Hz USB 2.0 Connect At least one controller and exposed port. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 + LE (low energy) Speaker, microphone, magnetometer and gyroscope. If a mobile broadband device is integrated into a tablet or convertible system, then an assisted GPS radio is required. Devices supporting near field communication need to have visual marks to help users locate and use the proximity technology. The new button combination for Ctrl + Alt + Del is Windows Key + Power.

Other

2013 Microsoft Terms Privacy Developers English (United States)

Windows 7
Windows 7 is the second newest version of Microsoft Windows, which is an operating system for computers. Microsoft says Windows 7 is faster, more reliable and more compatible, and that it is a refinement of the previous version named Windows Vista. The beta version of Windows 7 was released on January 9th, 2009, and the release candidate was released on May 5th. The final version of Windows 7 was sent to PC makers on July 22nd, 2009, so that they have three months to change it and include it with their computers. Windows 7 was released to the public on October 22nd, 2009.

Development of Windows 7
First, a version of Windows codenamed Blackcomb was planned as the successor to Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. Big features were planned for Blackcomb, including an emphasis on looking for data and an advanced storage system named WinFS to enable such situations. However, an interim, minor release, codenamed "Longhorn" was announced for 2003, delaying the making of Blackcomb.[5] By the middle of 2003, however, Longhorn had gotten some of the features meant for Blackcomb. After three major viruses exploited flaws in Windows operating systems within a short time period in 2003, Microsoft changed its development priorities, putting some of Longhorn's major development work on hold while they made new service packs for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. Development of Longhorn (Windows Vista) was also "reset", or delayed in September 2004. A number of features were cut from Longhorn.[6] Blackcomb was renamed Vienna in early 2006, [7] and again to Windows 7 in 2007.[8] In 2008, it was announced that Windows 7 would also be the official name of the operating system.[9][10]

New and Changed Features

Windows 7 includes a number of new features, such as touching the screen, supporting virtual hard disks, being faster on multi-core processors and the taskbar is the biggest improvement. The taskbar allows users to pin most frequently used programs. Also, the glass user interface, Aero, has been improved. Windows 7 has removed Ink ball, Windows Ultimate Extras, the classic Start Menu, Windows Mail, Windows Movie Maker, Windows Photo Gallery and Windows Calendar. Windows Mail, Windows Movie Maker, and Windows Photo Gallery were replaced by Windows Live Essentials. The Windows Live Essentials are not included in Windows 7. They have to be downloaded.

Editions

There are six main editions of Windows 7. The four main editions of Windows 7 are: Starter Home Premium Professional Ultimate Two editions were not released worldwide. They are Home Basic, which was only released in emerging countries, and Enterprise, which is only available in Volume Licensing, and Software Assurance

Technologies
The word technology refers to the making, modification, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems, and methods of organization, in order to solve a problem, improve a preexisting solution to a problem, achieve a goal, handle an applied input/output relation or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, including machinery, modifications, arrangements and procedures. Technologies significantly affect human as well as other animal species' ability to control and adapt to their natural environments. The term can either be applied generally or to specific areas: examples include construction technology, medical technology, and information technology. The human species' use of technology began with the conversion of natural resources into simple tools. The prehistorical discovery of the ability to control fire increased the available sources of food and the invention of the wheel helped humans in traveling in and controlling their environment. Recent technological developments, including the printing press, the telephone, and the Internet, have lessened physical barriers to communication and allowed humans to interact freely on a global scale. However, not all technology has been used for peaceful purposes; the development of weapons of ever-increasing destructive power has progressed throughout history, from clubs to nuclear weapons. Technology has affected society and its surroundings in a number of ways. In many societies, technology has helped develop more advanced economies (including today's global economy) and has allowed the rise of a leisure class. Many technological processes produce unwanted by-products, known as pollution, and deplete natural resources, to the detriment of the Earth and its environment. Various implementations of technology influence the values of a society and new technology often raises new ethical questions. Examples include the rise of the notion of efficiency in terms of human productivity, a term originally applied only to machines, and the challenge of traditional norms. Philosophical debates have arisen over the present and future use of technology in society, with disagreements over whether technology improves the human condition or worsens it. Neo-Luddism, anarcho-primitivism, and similar movements criticise the pervasiveness of technology in the modern world, opining that it harms the environment and alienates people; proponents of ideologies such as transhumanism and techno-progressivism view continued technological progress as beneficial to society and the human condition. Indeed, until recently, it was believed that the development of technology was restricted only to human beings, but recent scientific studies indicate that other primates and certain dolphin communities have developed simple tools and learned to pass their knowledge to other generations.

Stone Age
The Stone Age was an ancient time period when people made tools from stone. Wood, bones and other materials were also used for tools, but stone (especially a kind of stone called flint) was used to cut things. The period began with the first stone tools, about 2.7 million years ago. Some groups of people were still in the stone age into the 20th century. They also killed animals for food and clothing. The time after the Stone Age is the Bronze Age, named after the metal bronze. The Stone Age ended when people discovered the art of smelting (making metals). The first metal was copper, followed by bronze. People probably began using bronze instead of just stone in the Middle East sometime between 3000 and 2000 BC. The Stone Age is divided by archaeologists (people who study relics) into three sections: Paleolithic ("old stone"), Mesolithic ("middle stone") and Neolithic ("new stone"). Pottery was invented during the Neolithic Stone Age. Some people also believe the art of writing began in the Neolithic Stone Age. The Palaeolithic [1] is a prehistoric era distinguished by the development of stone tools. It covers the greatest portion of humanity's time (roughly 99% of human history) on Earth, from about 2.7 million years ago to about 20,000 years ago. It was followed by the Mesolithic and Neolithic cultures Yes, Pakistan had a Stone Age.

Richard Leaky
Richard Leakey (born 19 December 1944 in Nairobi, Kenya) is a politician, paleoanthropologist and conservationist. He is second of the three sons of the anthropologists Louis Leakey and Mary Leakey.

Life
A high school dropout, Leakey discovered his love of paleontology when he led an expedition to a fossil site he had discovered while flying. Frustrated by the lack of recognition he received for his accomplishments (due to his lack of qualifications) Leakey left for England to catch up on his education. However, after six months, Leakey returned home to continue his safaris. He never completed his degree. In 1965 he married Margaret Cropper. Their daughter Anna was born in 1969, the same year that Richard and Margaret divorced. He then married his colleague Meave Epps in 1970 and they had two daughters, Louise (born 1972) and Samira (1974).[1] Leakey was diagnosed with a terminal kidney disease in 1969. Ten years later he became seriously ill, but received a kidney transplant from his brother Philip and recovered to full health.[1] In 1993, a small propeller-driven plane piloted by Richard Leakey crashed, crushing his lower legs. Both legs were later amputated. Sabotage was suspected but never proved. In a few months Richard Leakey was walking again on artificial limbs. Leakey said in his autobiography that he is an atheist.[2]

Teenage entrepreneur
Richard chose to support himself, borrowed 500 pounds from his parents for a Land Rover, and went into the trapping and skeleton supply business with Kamoya Kimeu. Richard was already a skilled horseman, outdoorsman, Land Rover mechanic, archaeologist and expedition leader, he learned to identify bones. All these skills pointed to a path he did not yet wish to take, simply because his father was on it.[3] The bone business turned into a safari business in 1961. In 1962 he got a private airplane pilot licence and took tours to Olduvai. It was from a casual aerial survey that he noted the potential of Lake Natron's shores for paleontology. He went looking for fossils in a Land Rover, but could find none, until his parents assigned Glynn Isaac to go with him. Louis was so impressed with their finds that he gave them National Geographic money for a month's expedition.[4]chapter 18 They explored in the vicinity of Peninj near the lake, where Richard was in charge of the administrative details. Bored, he returned to Nairobi temporarily, but at that moment, Kamoya Kimeu discovered a fossil of Australopithecus boisei. A second expedition left Richard feeling that he was being excluded from the most significant part of the operation, the scientific analysis.

Expeditions led by Richard Leakey Koobi Fora

During the Omo expedition of 1967, Richard visited Nairobi and on the return flight the pilot flew over Lake Rudolph (now Lake Turkana) to avoid a thunderstorm. The map led Richard to expect volcanic rock below him but he saw sediments. Visiting the region by helicopter, he saw tools and fossils everywhere. In his mind, he was already planning a new enterprise. In 1969 the discovery of a cranium of Paranthropus boisei caused great excitement. A Homo habilis skull and a Homo erectus skull, discovered in 1972 and 1975, respectively, were among the most significant finds of Leakey's earlier expeditions. In 1978 an intact cranium of Homo erectus was discovered. Leakey and Donald Johanson were at the time considered to be the most famous palaeoanthoropologists, and scientifically their views on human evolution were differing, a scientific rivalry that gained public

attention. This culminated at the Cronkite's Universe talk show hosted by Walter Cronkite in New York in 1981, where Leakey and Johanson held a fierce debate on live TV show.[5]

West Turkana
Turkana Boy discovered by Kamoya Kimeu, a member of the Leakeys' team in 1984 was the nearly complete skeleton of a Homo ergaster (though some, including Leakey, call it erectus) who died 1.6 million years ago at about age 9-12. Leakey and Roger Lewin describe the experience of this find and their interpretation of it, in their book Origins reconsidered (1992). Shortly after the discovery of Turkana Boy, Leakey and his team made the discovery of a skull (known as 'Black Skull') of a new species, Australopithecus aethiopicus (or Paranthropus aethiopicus). Richard shifted away from paleontology in 1989, but his wife Meave Leakey and daughter Louise Leakey still continue paleontological research in Northern Kenya.

Conservation
In 1989 Richard Leakey was appointed the head of the Wildlife Conservation and Management Department (WMCD) by President Daniel Arap Moi in response to the international outcry over the poaching of elephants and the impact it was having on the wildlife of Kenya.
The department was replaced by Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) in 1990, and Leakey became its first chairman. With characteristically bold steps Leakey created special, well-armed anti-poaching units that were authorized to shoot poachers on sight. The poaching menace was dramatically reduced. Impressed by Leakey's transformation of the KWS, the World Bank approved grants worth $140 million. Richard Leakey, President Arap Moi and the WMCD made the international news headlines when a stock pile of 12 tons of ivory was burned in 1989 in Nairobi National Park. Richard Leakey wrote about his experiences at the KWS in his book Wildlife Wars: my battle to save Kenya's elephants (2001).

Politics
In May 1995 Richard Leakey joined a group of Kenyan intellectuals in launching a new political party the Safina Party, which in Swahili means "Noah's Ark". "If KANU and Mr. Moi will do something about the deterioration of public life, corruption and mismanagement, I'd be happy to fight alongside them. If they won't, I want somebody else to do it," announced Richard Leakey. The Safina party was routinely harassed and even its application to become an official political party was not approved until 1997. In 1999, Moi appointed Richard Leakey as Cabinet Secretary and overall head of the civil service. Moi's hand was forced: the international donor institutions insisted as a pre-condition for the resumption of donor funds. Leakey's second stint in the civil service lasted until 2001 when he was forced to resign again.

Later activities
Leakey joined the Department of Anthropology faculty at Stony Brook University, New York in 2002.[6] He is currently a Professor of Anthropology at Stony Brook, where he is Chair of the Turkana Basin Institute. In 2004, Richard Leakey founded and chaired WildlifeDirect, a Kenya-based charitable organization. The charity was established to provide support to conservationists in Africa directly on the ground via the use of blogs. This enables individuals anywhere to play a direct and interactive role in the survival of some of the worlds most precious species. The organization played a significant role in the saving of Congo's mountain gorillas in Virunga National Park in January thehighly vulnerable population.In April 2007 he was appointed

interim chairman of Transparency International, Kenya branch2007 after a rebel uprising threatened to eliminate

Mary Leakey
Mary Leakey (6 February 1913 9 December 1996) was a British archaeologist and anthropologist, who spent much of her life working in East Africa, in Tanzania and Kenya. She discovered the first fossilized Proconsul skull, an extinct primate. They had a mixture of Old World monkey and ape characteristics, and their position in the evolution of the apes is still not clear. Leakey also discovered the robust Zinjanthropus skull at Olduvai Gorge. For much of her career she worked together with her husband, Louis Leakey, in Olduvai Gorge, uncovering the tools and fossils of ancient hominins. She developed a system for classifying the stone tools found at Olduvai. She also discovered the Laetoli footprints. In 1960 she became director of excavation at Olduvai and subsequently took it over, building her own staff.[1] After the death of her husband she became a leading palaeoanthropologist, helping to establish the Leakey tradition by training her son, Richard, in the field.[2]

Excavations
Leakey served her apprenticeship in archaeology under Dorothy Liddell at Hembury in Devon, 19301934, for whom she also did illustrations. In 1934 she was part of a dig at Swanscombe where she discovered the largest elephant molar known at the time in Britain, but needed assistance to identify it.[1]p47 The years 1935 to 1959, spent at Olduvai Gorge in the Serengeti plains of Northern Tanzania, yielded many stone tools from primitive stone-chopping instruments to multi-purpose hand axes. These finds came from Stone Age cultures dated as far back as 100,000 to two million years ago. The Leakeys unearthed a Proconsul africanus skull on Rusinga Island, in October 1948. After Mary's husband died, she continued her work at Olduvai and Laetoli. It was here, at the Laetoli site, that she discovered Hominin fossils that were more than 3.75 million-years-old. She also discovered fifteen new species of other animals and one new genus. From 1976 to 1981 Leakey and her staff worked to uncover the Laetoli hominid footprint trail which was left in volcanic ashes some 3.6 million years ago. The years that followed this discovery were filled with research at Olduvai and Laetoli, the follow-up work to discoveries and preparing publications.

Louis Leaky
Louis Leakey (L.S.B. Leakey, 7 August 1903 1 October 1972) was a Kenyan archaeologist, anthropologist and naturalist. His work was important in establishing human evolutionary development in East Africa. He also played a major role in creating organizations for future research in Africa and for protecting wildlife there. Leakey was the third of the three great anthropologists of British origin who made Africa their home: the others were Robert Broom and Raymond Dart. He started a tradition of palaeoanthropological inquiry in Kenya. His own family carried on the 'family firm'. Several of them became well-known anthropologists and fossil hunters. Louis took part in national events of British East Africa and then Kenya at critical times. In biology he asserted Charles Darwin's theory of evolution unswervingly, and set about to prove Darwin's hypothesis that man arose in Africa. He was also a devout Christian.[1]chapter 3 [2]

Palaeoanthropologist par excellence Vindication at Olduvai

Louis and Mary spent all the time they could at Olduvai Gorge, starting in 1951. So far they had discovered only stone tools. A more extensive excavation came in 1952. They found what Louis termed an Oldowan "slaughter-house", an ancient bog where animals had been trapped and butchered. Louis was so carried

away that he worked without his hat and his hair was bleached white from the sun. They stopped in 1953. In 1955 they excavated again with Jean Brown. She related that he preferred to be called Louis, was absentminded, once had everyone looking for spectacles that were around his neck, wore pants with the buttons off and shoes with holes in them, charged about everywhere and once collapsed unconscious. He was completely happy.[1]chapter 12 In 1959 they decided to excavate Bed I. While Louis was sick in camp, Mary discovered the fossilized skull OH 5, which Mary called "Our Man", and became "Dear Boy" and "Zinj." The question was whether it was a previous genus discovered by Robert Broom, Paranthropus, which Broom had taken not to be in the human line, or a different one, in it. Louis opted for Zinj, a decision opposed by Wilfrid Le Gros Clark, but one which attracted the attention of Melville Bell Grosvenor, president of the National Geographic Society. That contact resulted in an article in National Geographic,[3] and a hefty grant to continue work at Olduvai. Zinj was far older than anyone had imagined. Scientists swarmed to Africa. Louis had proved Darwin right.[1]chapter 13

The Leakey circus

In 1960, unable to leave the museum except on weekends, Louis appointed Mary director of excavation at Olduvai. She brought in a staff of Kamba tribesmen, instead of Kikuyu, who, she felt, took advantage of Louis. The first, Muteva Musomba, had kept her children's ponies. He recruited Kamoya Kimeu among others. Mary set up Camp 5 under Jonathan's direction. He was 19. From then on she had her own staff and associates. Mary picked and sieved at the site from early morning dressed in old clothes, chain smoking cigarettes, always surrounded by her Dalmatian. She and Louis communicated by radio. On weekends he drove non-stop at high speed the 357 miles between Olduvai and Nairobi. The teen-age boys, Richard and Philip, were on site holidays and vacations. Their home in Nairobi was a circus, figuratively speaking, when they were there. Dinner guests were frequent. Important guests stayed for weeks if they could stand it. They shared the quarters and the dinner table with the Dalmatians, hyraxes, a monkey, a civet cat, an African eagle owl, tropical fish, snakes, such as vipers, and a python. The extended families of twenty African staff lived in cinderblock huts in the yard. Mary had switched to cigars and the ashes often fell into the food. Both Louis and Mary cooked. Louis never stopped talking; his stories were endless. He literally ran through the day, making long lists of things to be done, which he never completed. He drove recklessly through the streets of Nairobi, often reading and writing as he drove.[1]chapter 5 There was another side to the Leakey family. Louis was a notorious womanizer. He was faithful neither to Frida nor to Mary. Mary tolerated this behavior well until his relationship with Rosalie Osborn, 1954/55, threatened to break up her marriage.[1]chapter 17 The two fought constantly, upsetting the boys. After Richard nearly died in a fall from a horse, Louis broke with Rosalie for the sake of the boys.

Floruit
Jonathan achieved some brief fame before he quit palaeoanthropology altogether. He started his own site, "Jonny's site" in the Leakey lingo, FLK-NN. There he discovered two skull fragments without the Australopithecine sagittal crest, which Mary connected with Broom's and Robinson's Telanthropus. The problem was its contemporaneity with Zinj. Mailed photographs, Le Gros Clark retorted casually "Shades of Piltdown".[4] Louis cabled him immediately and had some strong words at this suggestion of his incompetence. Clark apologized.[1]chapter 14 In 1960 Louis, his son Philip and Ray Pickering discovered a fossil he termed "Chellean Man", as it was in context with Oldowan tools, the first such find. After reconstruction Louis and Mary called it "Pinhead." It was subsequently included with Homo erectus and was in fact contemporaneous with Paranthropus, which on that account cannot have been in the human line. For many years Louis believed erectus was the user of the tools and Australopithecus was not. In 1961 Louis got a salary as well as a grant from National Geographic and turned over the acting directorship of Coryndon to a subordinate. He created the Centre for Prehistory and Paleontology on the same grounds,

moved his collections to it, and appointed himself director. This was his new operations center. He opened another excavation at Fort Ternan on Lake Victoria. Shortly after, Heselon discovered Kenyapithecus wickeri, the species name from the owner of the property, which Louis promptly celebrated with George Gaylord Simpson, who happened to be present, aboard the Miocene Lady with Leakey Safari Specials, a drink made of condensed milk and cognac. In 1962 Louis was visiting Olduvai when Ndibo Mbuika discovered the first tooth of Homo habilis at MNK. Louis and Mary thought it was female and named her Cinderella, or Cindy. Phillip Tobias identified Jonny's Child with it and Raymond Dart came up with the name Homo habilis at Louis' request, which Tobias translated as 'handyman'.[1]chapter 16 It was seen as intermediary between gracile Australopithecus and Homo.[1]chapter 16

Leakey's Angels
One of Louis's greatest legacies was fostering field research of primates in their natural habitats. He understood this helped to unravel the mysteries of human evolution. He chose three female researchers: Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Birute Galdikas. They were dubbed 'Leakey's Angels'. Each went on to become an important scholar in the field of primatology