However, Radtech Software Technology, a Durban-based online media company, has officially taken charge of the TechZone franchise, and overhauled it into what is now Byte Lounge, a digital lifestyle blog that offers news, reviews, views and how-to’s on the world of technology.

Byte Lounge is very much alive and active, and is updated on a regular basis by the same blogger who started and ran TechZone Online, Rahul Dowlath. Essentially, it is very similar in nature to TechZone, but the quality of the content has been greatly improved, and we sincerely hope that you’ll enjoy reading it.

So, to keep up with trends in the online world, visit the digital lifestyle blog Byte Lounge today!

URL: http://www.bytelounge.blogspot.com/

Also, don’t forget to subscribe to the RSS feed on Byte Lounge to get all the great content delivered directly to your favorite RSS reader.

What’s even more exciting for us “Windows fanboys” is that Microsoft has reportedly begun work on the new OS (operating system), and Milestone 1, the name of the very first build of Windows 7, with development version 6.1.6519.1, has already been completed (on December 20, 2007).

Here’s a screenshot of the Desktop of Windows 7 Milestone 1:

(click image to enlarge; source from Wikipedia “Windows 7″ search).

However, if you’re a first-time user to MXit, you’ll need to register via your mobile phone (it’s free, don’t worry).

So, click through to http://www.mxit.com/mxitpc/ to get yourself a copy!

So, if you need a question relating to technology answered in a matter of days, look no further than the official TechZone Advice Corner! Click through to visit the page….

Now, recently, I’ve been in discussions with Bryan on what projects TechZone should undertake in 2008. Well, we came up with some interesting ideas, and here’s a preview of what might be coming soon to T|Z! (Mind, these are just ideas, and therefore they’re not set in stone! We value our readers advice, and therefore you’re welcome to make suggestions using the comment control.)

• TechZone Tech14

“Unleash The Power of Technology”. Tech14 will be an online “conference” (or discussion, for want of an apt description) using Google Groups. Basically (as the name suggests), the discussion will last for 14 days (two weeks), where you are invited to participate in discussing certain topics.

There will also be a “Developer’s Showcase”, where aspiring software developers can showcase their latest creations to the world.

No date has been confirmed for Tech14, however visit the blog regularly for further updates.

• BeatBox Studio

BeatBox will allow anybody to create their own music by use of preset loops. A way of chilling out and taking a break from reading all the amazing articles on TechZone!

• Writer’s Block (working title)

Writer’s Block, an idea by Bryan, is similar to the Developer’s Showcase which is planned for Tech14. However, this will be a place for developers, programmers, coders, call them (us) what you want… to hang out, speek Geek and share our creations and ideas with the world wide coding community. The title is a codename, but tell us what you think about it, and maybe we’ll just use it!

So, that’s about most of the ideas that we’ve been discussing at our “important” TechZone Online meetings. There were other ideas and issues that were discussed, most of which were admin. Look out for some of these features, downloading soon to a computer near you!

-Rahul Dowlath

A number of games were available to us consumers at launch, such as Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Spiderman 3, The Simpsons Game etc. However, many of the popular titles, like the much coveted (and highly anticipated) Super Mario Galaxy are nowhere to be found in popular tech retail stores.

The question I find myself, and other gamers, asking, is “where are the ‘real’ games?” Ok, so Zelda is a killer game… but we want Mario and Super Smash Bros. Brawl!!

So, I think it is quite clear amongst the gaming community of South Africa: if the Nintendo Wii is to gain any foothold (and by that, I mean a rather strong userbase), then the “big” titles need to be brought in, such that it is able to attract the vast userbase that Nintendo had hoped for (and, I must say, was quite successful at doing so).

Firstly, Vista is overpriced. If you, like me, want to get the full and proper version of Vista (“Ultimate” – why couldn’t there just be ONE version?!), then you’re going to have to fork out about R4000 (South African Rands). And that’s EXCLUDING the numerous hardware components you’re going to be forced to buy (even so Vista will still run sluggishly).

So, the question I think all tech geeks are asking themselves right now is, “Will Microsoft wake up and smell the coffee, and realise that Vista is going all wrong, or will they continue to hide this fact?”. Well, as most of the aforementioned geeks would’ve noticed at the recent Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Microsoft played very low-key regarding their flagship OS. Advertisements around CES by Microsoft only mentioned “Windows”, and not “Windows Vista”, meaning that the Redmond giant was marketing the entire Windows brand (which includes Live, Spaces, Messenger, Mail etc.), and not Vista, their primary product (and primary concern).

This leads many to think that Microsoft is already heading towards the next version of Windows, codenamed “Windows 7″. Apparently, if rumours are to be believed, they’ve already begun work on the OS, and it’s slated for release sometime in 2010.

Windows 7, I believe, will have to be something so mind-blowing, that it’ll be able to win back the thousands (and counting) customers that Vista has driven away. A key issue that I believe Microsoft should address, is the GUI. Yes, Vista looks great. In fact, it looks AWESOME! But can it really do anything? Nope. Well, not unless you scream at it, and even (possibly) get close to punching your PC’s screen. Windows 7 will have to maintain the GUI of Vista, but add more functionality to it. It’ll have to be remarkably robust, and versatile – meaning, we won’t have to spend thousands upgrading our systems to handle it.

And, I seriously hope Microsoft will get the message – “cut down on so many variations!!” I mean, there’s like 6 different versions of Vista, as opposed to 1 “ultimate” version of Mac OS X, Windows’ prime competitor. Hopefull the Redmond will release Windows 7 in just (hopefully) 1 version.

And, the Air boasts an impressive 80GB hard drive, or 64GB solid-state drive. Wow. But, I’m not to impressed with it’s CPU speeds of upto 1.8Ghz… hmmm, maybe it’s because of the size of the thing!

Anyway, you can see pictures of the MacBook Air, read more about it, and even watch the cool official advert and guided tour, direct from Apple’s official website, at www.apple.com. Impressive stuff from Apple… Yet again!

As with almost every year, the Internet and subsequently the blogosphere, is filled with rumours of what the Californian-based electronics company has to offer for the new year.

Well, three of the rumours have caught my attention, partly because they are something that I desire in a Mac, and partly because they will just make Macs even more killer than they already are . These are: a new, wafer-thin MacBook, solid-state (i.e. Flash) memory for the MacBook (instead of a Hard Drive) and 3G for the iPhone.

Probably the most prominent rumour is flash-based memory for the MacBook. Now, there could be a LOT that us, as customers to Apple, would benefit from this. Main amongst these, is faster boot-up times. Coupled with the Intel chips in the MacBook, solid-state memory would make the small notebook one of the fastest on the market.

Another benefit, would be added protection to the notebook. Because there would no longer be any moving parts in the internal workings of the MacBook, if you were to drop it, it wouldn’t break that easily. Neat, eh?

Well, I guess we’ll just have to wait for MacWorld to find out….

Although lacking the graphics and multimedia prowess of the Xbox 360 and Sony PlayStation 3, the Wii Console is the most original in terms of gameplay, with its innovative motion-sensitive remote-style controller. You can visit www.nintendo.co.za, and www.wii.com to learn more about it.