I discovered a beauty of a soundtrack from a video game a few months back. I've been listening to it recently and one track really stands out for me. For me, this is the track that does it for World of Goo. It's haunting, dark and beautiful. It's like escaping through the toughest of situations and finally making it to a new, more promising place. Listen to the epicness of a track, "Jelly"... 
 
 
 Kyle Gabler is the composer and the soundtrack he has made free on his website, for those who want more.

Somehow a bug I believe caused many to suddenly go to the top of the forums. Unfortunately, I wasn't there to see this. It seems I was flagged by a moderator, which somehow triggered a bug bringing my topics out of the grave. I'm still not 100% on this situation. I hope I wasn't compromised. I'm too sweet and innocent to be messed with. :)

I apologise on behalf of the 'bug' that caused this minor havoc earlier. Now, where was I? Oh yes, listening to the patriotic, intense, awesome Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen soundtrack. The score soundtrack by Steve Jablonsky (The Island, Gears of War 2, The Sims 3) has some good themes, including using an excerpt from Linkin Park's New Order track, as featured on the main soundtrack.

Not sure about seeing the movie, though. I'll wait until it is released on Blu-ray disc.

Beautiful is a term you can apply to many things. From babes to cars, paintings to skylines and many more. So, has anyone played through Just Cause? I originally played it on PlayStation 2 and boy, that was one ugly game. When I finally got it on Xbox 360, it was graphically much better. The experience is great but only on a system that showcases its beauty.

If you haven't played it, try to. It's a bit flawed at points but you can overcome these things. Just Cause is a huge game (well, mainly just trees and water) and something that really appealed was its soundtrack. It matched perfectly. For me, one track stood out very well and was much different from the other tracks in the game. The soundtrack is only available through the game's files unfortunately.

So, I will showcase you a preview of Just Cause's soundtrack. This piece comes in when you are skydiving. It's just purely beautiful.

I've been test driving Windows 7 (64-bit) recently and I like it. It's pretty much Windows Vista but with some cool enhancements. Some (minor) things I like:

• Dragging open programs on the taskbar and sorting their order.
  
• The hover colour reflects the overall colour of the program's icon on the taskbar (e.g. pink for Last.fm, orange for Mozilla Firefox).
• You can see the views of programs with multiple windows. For example, I have Google and YouTube open in Mozilla Firefox. I can hover over the icon on the taskbar, which shows me a thumbnail of those windows. I still prefer using tabs though over windows. You can do this on Windows Vista too but it will only show one Window.
  
• Using and seeing themes being applied immediately. Interesting wallpapers, sounds and other settings in one package. I kinda get tired of 'Default' sounds and now they've added many more. Wouldn't mind the 'Musica' (think it was called that) sounds from Windows 98. Wallpapers often change if there are multiple ones in a theme too.
  
• A more advanced Paint program. Calculator, WordPad looks better and a bunch of other programs have been improved.
  
• Dragging two Windows to either side of the screen and having them of equal size next to each other.
• Opening a new window is simple. Just middle click on the program you have opened on your taskbar. A little quicker than CTRL N! Neat. Of course, some programs will only allow one window (such as Last.fm and Windows Media Player), so this does nothing.
• Windows XP in Windows 7 (download separate; need licensed copy of Windows XP). Not tried this but I really wanted to point it out.
  

I've been reading articles about Windows 7 and it seems whilst Microsoft promote this to be a major release, most changes seem to be minor. It looks like Windows Vista, it has user account control (the thing that pops up when making core changes) and many other elements too that were introduced in Windows Vista. It would be better as a service pack for Windows Vista. I would like to see some of these things come in the next service pack, although probably not going to happen, since Microsoft are not that nice. Although, one year of free Windows 7 - you can't complain!

If you've got Windows XP, then good for you (no, I'm not being sarcastic). That's a solid operating system and it's certainly going to be supported for some time. If you're wanting a fresh interface, enhanced security (whilst making some sacrifices) then go for Windows 7. No point getting Windows Vista now is there? Just wait for Windows 7. Suckers like me are keeping Windows Vista for a while, despite there being some interesting changes in Windows 7. Maybe I'll give in sometime.

Windows 7 (RC) is available now and you can use it for around a year, free. Around March next year, it will start to shut down on you if you haven't purchased the operating system. I have it installed on a different partition, so I can easily switch back to my other operating system. Good thing is, I can easily access my music, simply by adding the location from the other partition. Windows Media Player then picks up all those tracks, videos and organises them in your library. As for Mozilla Firefox, you can use the same profile as the one on your other operating system. So, switching back and forth keeps the same settings (and add-ons) throughout. It's a little complicated to explain but is possible. If I remember correctly, you can have this done automatically through an add-on (could just be bookmarks). Not tried any games but there could be some issues arise.

I recommend trying this out. It's very stable and available to download. It will last a year and you have the Ultimate edition. So, that's kinda cool having Windows free for a year, legally. If you're scared, then I recommend following the guide on Lifehacker (linked below). Everything is in tact on my main operating system and Windows 7 is treated separate. If you're interested in the Windows 7 wallpapers, you can download them here. I'll eventually get round to trying the new Ubuntu operating system too. Some screens to show off some parts of Windows 7...



(screenshots in gallery with larger views)


Useful Stuff

• Windows 7 - get it whilst it's hot
  
• Install Windows 7 without interfering with your primary operating system
• Minimum Requirements
  

Imagine this. Nintendo release a new, shiny white SNES for a reasonable price. OK - it may be dead in comparison to today's consoles but the SNES has a very special place in my gaming heart. Yes, I have one of those...somewhere. Sure - you've got the Virtual Console but it just isn't the same. The re-made SNES I dream of would have these existing and new features:

• Play all SNES titles from hardware; no emulation required - identical to the original console
  
• Cartridge slot for local region (adapter for other regions) - play your original cartridges and save on them
  

• Wireless controller that feels and controls like the original controller
  
• Ports for other Nintendo controllers, should the player want to use those (including SNES / Wii Classic Controller)
• Connect to your television using composite or component cables
  
• USB and memory stick slots for saving progress, downloaded titles and other content
• Online store consisting of titles from publishers who want to put their library of titles up
• Profiles that can sync online - game progress, play history can be stored remotely
  
• Frequent firmware updates - new features, more possibilities
  

That's all the features I can think of right now. Yes, this is all fake, so don't go jumping on me and hurting me badly. Things I would like to be kept simple but new features, providing they are relevant would make this something good to buy. A console that would be reasonably priced - maybe at the cost of a PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 game for this hardware. Why would you buy it, though? For me, it would be something I can easily find, something that would last a lot longer than the original console, something that just plain out looks sweet. With a few additional features, this surely has to be win?