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If you haven't downloaded the beta for Windows 7 yet, you're getting a small extension to the window of availability. Microsoft will be closing the beta program for new users on February 10th with a few exceptions.

If you start the download before the 10th you'll get until the 12th to finish the transfer. The same goes for those who have already downloaded the trial, but haven't yet received product keys. Those users are good until the 12th.

"We are at a point where we have more than enough beta testers and feedback coming in to meet our engineering needs, so we are beginning to plan the end of general availability for Windows 7 Beta," said Brandon LeBlanc, an official Microsoft blogger.

Demand for the beta has been very large, especially after Vista's poor reception among PC users. Personally, I think most of Vista's problems come from running it on machines that aren't fast enough. I'm not saying Vista is faster than XP... it isn't, but I generally don't share in the Vista hate.

As I reported from CES, I don't think Windows 7 is matching OS X on user-interface, but early benchmarks appear to show increased performance over Vista. The full version of Windows 7 is expected to be released toward the end of 2009 or in early 2010.

Have you been running Windows 7? I'm curious what you think of the new OS and how it stacks up against XP, Vista, and Apple's OS X. Let me know!

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Microsoft's Communications Manager Scott Armstrong, walks us through the latest iteration of the long-running web browser Internet Explorer 8.

Find out what's new, what's familiar and what to expect.

Internet Explorer 8 Walkthrough

Looking for something the youngins/siblings can play?

Sony Online Entertainment Creative Director Laura Lynn McWilliams sat down with us to rundown the full details on the kid-friendly, highly accessible MMO Free Realms. Coming for the PS3 and PC you can decide for yourself with the walkthrough (and interview after the cut) if this could be the kiddie version of Warcrack.

Free Realms SOE Walkthrough

Free Realms SOE Interview

Come on now, a new year, a new President... and you've seen how Barack rolls. Get with the "next-gen" of gears & gadgets and deck out your ol' reliable set of wheels with the latest in car gear. We scour the automotive tech floor at CES 2009 for the best in car tech including:

• a rear-mounted camera,
• a heat-vision camera,
• PS2 mobile entertainment system,
• FLOW TV system
• and the sickest-looking Rock Band 2-mobile.

Latest in Geek Car Technology 

Before we kick this off, I want to give a shout out to Raymond Padilla for giving me yet another negative Sony story to write. He loves throwing me to the fanboys. Now, onto the story:

We already knew Sony was going to post its first operating loss in 14 years and the company expected losses of $1.1 billion. That figure has now been revised to a whopping $2.9 billion. At over 100% more than its original estimate, Sony cites the strong performance of the yen and lowered worldwide demand for its products as the culprits.

As previously mentioned, it looks like Sony will be fast-tracking its planned restructuring, which would cut 16,000 jobs by March 2010. The games division (PlayStation) was also cited for underperformance and is expected to lose $338 million.

This is quite a turn from a little over 10 days ago when the number was $1.1 billion. Oh, and before we go any further, I'm going to remind everyone that although Sony's games division is involved, this is so far from a "LOL PS3 vs. Xbox 360" argument. In fact, the main reason appears to be stalling sales of Sony's BRAVIA line of HD televisions. In fact, Sony will be closing one television plant in Japan, as well as cutting design employees by 30%.

Back on the gaming side... With analysts continually pointing to a price-cut for the PS3, it just may not be possible at this point. Sony doesn't make a profit on the PS3 hardware yet, and probably doesn't want to start losing even more money for each unit sold. This is a dilemma as they definitely need to grow their install base in the U.S., but can't afford the financial hit right now. I don't think we'll be seeing a price cut in April, especially since that's just 1 month after Sony's 2008 fiscal year ends in March.

Anyway, I'm sure you guys will find someway to talk about Killzone 2 (FEBRUARY 27th!!!!!!11!one1!) anyway, but hopefully that got it out of the way. FORE!

Tim Ng, Associate PR Manager at Capcom, spoke with us while we were in Las Vegas for CES 2009 about the move to the next generation for the old favorite, Bionic Commando. We get to see a little of the game, as well, which is nice, because it reminds you of just how cool it is.

Check out the video, and discuss.

Remember when we were in Las Vegas, at CES? Well, we got the skinny on DC Universe Online from Creative Director Jens Anderson while we were there, and he told us all about the game, how to create characters that remind you of others in the universe, and why it might not be the best idea to start by punching Superman in the face.

Check it out and let us know if you're excited.

Steve Jobs recently stepped aside as CEO of Apple, taking five months off to deal with health problems stemming from his battle with cancer. If you've been following Apple's stock price, it tends to rise and fall with the health of Jobs.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (ask your dad) will be conducting a review of Apple's reveal of Jobs's health to determine if they attempted to manipulate their stock price by concealing or timing the release of information.

An SEC review, however, does not mean guilt is assumed and no one is saying that yet. In fact, Apple stock price has actually gone up since the SEC review was revealed. Wacky, huh?

Hit the jump for in-depth financial analysis from the only "person" that understands how the stock market actually works: Dr. Snuggles.

*Disclaimer: Dr. Snuggles a cat and anything he says should not be taken as advice for investments in the stock market.

Does anyone else think it is wrong that a man's health plays into a company's stock price? Are we then, at this point, betting on a man's life? What does that make us? Human? (Ed. Note: He thinks he's people!).

“The company has used him and made him a public figure to increase the value of Apple,” said John Dienhart, professional ethics professor at Seattle University. “If you take the good from that, then you have to take the bad.” A valid point, but does the fact that Jobs is Apple's CEO require him to reveal his health to investors? He's not running for President!

In fact, isn't the SEC revealing that they are investigating Apple's practices going to affect the stock price in some way? Shouldn't these be secret? Have they become what they seek to destroy?!

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More roll-over material from our CES 09 coverage, we've got Capcom setting up a Street Fighter IV tournament as Sony takes on Microsoft which takes on Capcom... and so on and so forth. Things (unfortunately) stay civil yet the community members involved share their thoughts on Capcom's next-gen remake.

The real-world site of the brawl took place at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas.

Street Fighter IV CES 09 Tournament

At this year's CES, we found a whole lot of gaming peripherals we hadn't had the chance to put our hands on before, but got to see and use while we were in Las Vegas. With the help of our old friend John Walsh, we put together this package on what we thought were the best ones out there, and now you can check them out as well.

Let us know what you think of these. We know some of them are a little pricey, but if you had the money, you'd be all over them. Admit it.

The iTunes App Store, which has been running since July 2008, has now hit 500 million application downloads. As EngadgetMobile notes, it took Apple two years to hit this milestone with music downloads from iTunes. People love applications.

If you had any doubts about the fact that the App Store is the iPhone's killer app, put them to rest. This number includes both paid and free applications, but it's definitely making some developers money (see: Trism developer).

There are over 15,000 applications available in the App Store, but none of them are Saito's Gabo, which was completed but shot down by Apple. I'm still mad about that.

Let this be a note to Google, Palm, and RIM. This is how you build a platform that's greater than just a smartphone. Sure, open source platforms are better than closed source platforms and you might have an app store... but you need apps to sell. Developers flock to the platform that will make them money.

Either way, there are a lot of great applications. What are your favorites? Mine are Tweetie (Twitter), Facebook, iTalk, Pandora, Galcon, and Scrabble.

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Welcome to the Tech News Countdown, hosted by Alison Haislip. Every Friday, Alison brings you the top 5 tech stories of the week so be sure to watch the show. Otherwise, she'll be sad and you don't want that, do you?

This week Alison brings you the latest in the world of technology.

Here now, is the Tech News Countdown.

Give it a watch and tell us what you think in the comments section. You can also cast your opinion in the Tech News Countdown forum.

Subscribe to G4's Tech News Countdown Podcast by clicking your preferred service:

Our latest offering from our CES 09 Golden Goose, is a large helping of off-screen cam footage of Ensemble Studios' Xbox 360 RTS, Halo Wars. Relax, enjoy.

Halo Wars hits the 360 March 3rd.

Halo Wars CES 09 Cam Footage

CES '09 is the gift that keeps on giving. Now a full week behind us we're still grabbing goodies from the first major geek convention of the year. Join us this time as we grab an interview with Free Radical President Kelly Zmak,  who shines a big ol' spotlight on their genetically-mutated action game Prototype.

Mr. Zmak details:

• The backstory & game lead Alex Mercer
• More details on why Free Radical wants you to be O.P.-ed
• How story progression will be handled
• Three different types of gamers (Collectors, Actioners, Explorers) and how the game will cater to each
• and more...

Get your "morph on" this Summer on the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.

CES '09: Prototype Interview

Soulja Boy is my favorite person. He's a gamer. He's maybe the biggest Internet celebrity in the world. And he will almost certainly "Superman that hoe." What's not to like?

G4 caught up with Soulja at this year's CES and brought back this exclusive interview where Soulja describes how he became famous, as well as when his cartoon series airs. He even gives some hints about the upcoming Soulja Boy video game. (Spoiler Alert: It's coming out in 2009.)

Check it out below. 

Are you planning on playing the Soulja Boy video game?

For more, drop in on Soulja Boy's internet kingdom.