In Depth: How to turn your old PC into a home media server
Although many council recycling depots will now accept electronic equipment, if you can put your motley collection of old CPUs and motherboards to good use, then so much the better.
So, the idea is to turn an old PC into a media server – something that will allow you to listen to and watch your music and video from any networked PC in your house, and can preferably be hidden away out of sight.
If you've chosen to reuse an old PC then the chances are it already has a version of Windows installed on it. Although it's possible to use Windows XP in conjunction with Windows Media Player as a media server, it's not a particularly flexible option and in our experience it's pretty flaky, too.
There's also the fact that Windows tends to become increasingly unstable unless it's rebooted every few days.
The alternative is to go for a free solution, and Linux is the obvious choice. Although many people are put off by the mere thought of the OS, distributions such as Ubuntu are now easy to use, and while you may need to venture to the command line once in a while, we've tried to keep that to a minimum here.
Using Linux also means that you should be able to reuse the Windows licence associated with your old PC elsewhere, provided it's only been activated once.
1. Install Ubuntu
Head to www.ubuntu.com, download the ISO image for Ubuntu (currently at version 9.04) and burn the image to a CD. On your media server PC, change the BIOS settings to boot from CD, pop the disc in and let the Install wizard run its magic.
EASY LINUX: Using Ubuntu for your media server is simple, effective and free
You'll need to enter some basic information, such as your name, the name of the system (as it will appear on the network) and a password. Once the installation has finished, Ubuntu will probably grab some updates, after which you're ready to start setting things up.
2. Install MediaTomb
For this project we will be using MediaTomb, which is a UPnP server application for Linux. It will allow you to share media with any compatible device on your network, including Windows PCs, Macs and even an Xbox 360 or PS3.
MEDIA DATABASE: Install MediaTomb from Ubuntu's package manager to get started
Thankfully a ready-made package is available for Ubuntu 9.04, so you don't need to do any command-line installing. Go to the top bar and click on 'System | Administration | Synaptic Package Manager'.
Type MediaTomb into the Quick Search box and tick the three entries shown to mark them for installation. Next, click the green 'Apply' tick and MediaTomb will download and install.
3. Choose file locations
Now you need to choose where to store your media, so click on 'Places | Home Folder'. Like Windows, Ubuntu uses dedicated folders for music, pictures, documents and videos. It makes sense to use these rather than creating new ones.
DEDICATED FOLDERS: The default options in Ubuntu should suffice but you can add more if you like
The only reason you would want to do that would be if you wanted to use a small drive for the OS installation and then a larger or external drive for media storage. If this is the case, make a new folder in your chosen location; you'll assign it the appropriate function later on.
4. Configure MediaTomb
Now it's time to venture onto the command line; click 'Applications | Accessories | Terminal' to open it. Now type sudo gedit/etc/mediatomb/config.xml to edit the MediaTomb configuration file. You will be prompted for the administrator password you created when you installed Ubuntu.
TWEAK IT: You can enable PS3 streaming and other features at this stage
There are a few lines you may want to change in this file, depending on how you decide to manage your media collection. If you want users to be able to log in to the interface, change the 'no' value in the '
If you want to add support for streaming to a Playstation 3, change the line '
5. Add your media
It's time to switch over to your Windows PC and use the network browser to find your Linux media server. It will show up as a UPnP device, which – unless you've changed its name – will be called MediaTomb. At this point you need to add some media to the database, so rightclick on the MediaTomb icon and choose the 'View Device Webpage' option.
LOAD IT UP: Adding you media is a simple process and once you're done, that's pretty much it
The interface is pretty basic, but you can click on the 'Filesystem' link and use the tree to navigate to the folders where the media is stored on your PC – 'filesystem/home/username/music' for instance. Click on the Music folder to highlight it, then click the plus sign with arrows around it to add the folder's content to the database.
You now need to choose a scan method – either None or Timed (ignore Notify). If you select Timed, you also need to set an interval in seconds at which the folder should be rescanned to check for new files. You should choose a full, recursive scan so that all your folders are added. Repeat the process for your pictures and video files.
6. Play your media
Now that you've added some media content to MediaTomb's database, you can play it through Windows Media Player or VLC, or stream it to your Playstation 3. Open Media Player and go to the Library screen. Under the Other Libraries tab, you should be able to see a listing for MediaTomb, with dedicated categories for music, pictures and video.
UNIVERSAL ACCESS: You can now listen to your music on any machine on your home network
Simply click on 'Music' and Media Player will list all of the content, helpfully categorised into artists and albums. Now you can access your media collection from any network-connected PC or games console in your home!
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Review: Iolo System Mechanic 9
Unlike many other tweaking tools, System Mechanic 9 does a great job of explaining what steps are being taken to help improve system health and performance.
It uses a constantly updated database of 'tune-up definitions' which makes it possible for the program to apply new tweaks as they are discovered.
For fans of the set-it-and-forget-it approach, there are plenty of automated tools that can be relied upon to keep things in good order.
Those who prefer to get a little more hands-on will also be happy to see the presence of numerous manual tools which can be used to carry out tweaks in a more tailored fashion.
Aside from the effectiveness of the app – and System Mechanic 9 noticeably improved the performance and stability of a number of PCs running Windows XP, Vista and 7 – the amount of detail provided about the issues found is laudable.
The number of tools on offer is also impressive, and they complement the utilities built into Windows.
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Review: Kodak Zi6
Another high-definition 1,280 x 720 camera, the Kodak Zi6 boasts a similar pop-out USB connector to those featured on the Flip devices.
It comes supplied with two pre-charged AA batteries and a mini-charger to recharge them when flat, which is ideal for a device designed to be carried around all over the place.
The Zi6's picture quality is the best of this type of video recorder, though a little more intensity in the colour department would've been good. It even offers a macro mode for filming close to your subject.
Audio quality is uncommonly high too, with a decent degree of volume, though our only complaint is that it does pick up a little too much background noise at times.
The Zi6 has only 128MB of internal memory, but you can expand this with an SD or SDHC card. There isn't one in the box, but they're phenomenally cheap these days, so this shouldn't pose too much of a problem.
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In Depth: 10 game-changing tech ideas that didn't change the game
Back in the early '90s, virtual reality seemed like the greatest thing ever. By simply bolting a ton of electronics to your head, dosing up on motion sickness pills and looking utterly ridiculous as you waved your arms around and tried to get used to the feeling of your eyes seeing movement but your legs being locked to the ground, you could enter a whole new world.
A whole new 3D world rendered on an Amiga, admittedly, with no tactile feedback. But still, we were impressed. Virtual reality was clearly the future of gaming. Except it wasn't.
A mix of unimpressive games and phenomenally expensive kit quickly put an end to things. The technology simply wasn't good enough – not just the VR, but also the computers that were serving up the games – and mainstream interest started to fade.
What might have been the future quickly became just a fad, and VR became no more than a footnote in the history of gaming. These days, augmented reality – laying artificially-generated images over real-life ones using tools like GPS – has taken over as the next big thing. Will it work? Ask us in 2020...
We've dived into the archives to bring you this collection of some of the other game-changing technologies that never had their shot.
In many cases, they were technologies ahead of their time. In others, they were simply bad ideas, getting attention only because of media hype and big names like Microsoft being slapped onto the title.
All of them are interesting, however, and some are even worth remembering – although perhaps not for the right reasons...
1. The 3DO Blaster
Gaming technologies tend to be the most exciting innovations of all, even if few of them actually come to pass. The 3DO Blaster was a particularly interesting one – an ISA card that, when coupled with a specific CD drive, would turn your PC into a fully-fledged 3DO. What's a 3DO? Exactly.
It was a major flop as a console, with few genuinely memorable games to its name. The concept of being able to literally turn your PC into a different machine was an interesting one, however. Of course, virtualisation and emulator tools mean that that's now possible in other ways. Sadly, we all had to wait over a decade for the tech to catch up.
2. Keyboard and mouse killers
Nothing's beaten them yet, but there's a long line of corpses from systems that tried. Speech recognition, new ergonomic layouts, trackballs, tablets... it's only with multitouch that we've seen a system that actually stands a chance, and even then, it's not going to take over for precise control.
OLD TECH NEVER BETTERED: You still can't beat the humble keyboard for controlling your PC
As for keyboards, QWERTY is king, no matter how much Dvorak fans still protest. The closest we've seen to a reinvention there is the splitdesign for RSI suffers. All the other designs, from foldout cloth keyboards to snazzy laser ones that project onto your table, simply haven't picked up steam.
3. Physics cards
Unlike many of these technologies, physics cards were clearly doomed from the start. The basic idea stemmed from the classic maths coprocessor found back in the days of the 386 – which bolstered the computer's maths ability for complicated calculations – and the now standard 3D graphics accelerators.
The problem was that changing the physics of a game will always be a much bigger issue than working on the graphics or other elements, meaning that companies wanting to use a physics card were limited to things like bigger explosions or isolated clutter instead of widespread game changes.
Without mass acceptance of the physics technology, no games were written to take advantage of it. And without the games, there was no incentive for users to buy the hardware.
The solution? 3D graphics accelerators taking over. And indeed, this is what's happened, leaving the dedicated physics cards behind.
4. New interfaces
Love or hate Windows, it's the only game in town. Failed attempts to change the metaphor have included the friendly Microsoft Bob (which turned the desktop into the rooms of a cartoon house and put a smile on it), similar projects like the Packard Bell Navigator (same idea, less cartoony) and, worst of all, the 3D desktops.
ARE YOU SERIOUS?: Microsoft Bob was a highly inefficient interface and one of the company's most infamous flops
Oddly, nobody wanted to wander around something like the infamous 'it's a Unix System' scene from Jurassic Park, or have every application on different sides of a cube.
Microsoft did finally bring us 3D desktops in Vista, but only to harness the power of modern graphics cards in order to deliver a slicker 2D interface.
5. Thin clients
It's an appealing idea: why buy a full-fat PC when you can buy a glorified screen and just hook into one? Put simply, because you probably want to do things on your PC. The cost of modern laptops makes the thin client largely pointless, although it depends to some extent on what you want to do.
Cloud computing means that a system that can access the web can potentially do everything you need. Nivio is the first to really throw out the PC and still let you use Windows. As for Microsoft, its big push into this market ended in 2004 with the cancellation of a project called Mira in favour of its subsequent interest in...
6. Tablet PCs
A combination of high expense, poor usability and general bad marketing torpedoed these Star Trek-style pads. While still using the Microsoft Origami moniker, they looked stylish, interesting and futuristic.
Once released as Windows Ultra Mobile PC, everyone lost interest. Uncomfortable controls on a slippery screen meant that the whole system only worked if you could twist the screen round to get a keyboard.
TOUCH REVOLUTION: Tablets and UMPCs are still sold and work well, but are awaiting their turn to shine
Instead of becoming a cheap internet platform, these expensive devices shot themselves right out of the market (except for a few niche cases). Like thin clients, however, they may be in for a resurgence now that both touchscreens and laptop technologies are getting cheaper.
7. Virtual money
Ecommerce is big business, but thankfully virtual currencies have died a death. Sites like Beenz and Flooz wanted us to put aside our boring old money in favour of stupidly named new ones.
They worked by either rewarding us in their fake-dollars for doing things like signing up to a website, or enabling us to order real products without needing to break out the Visa card.
The scheme made some sense in the days when everyone thought online shopping meant giving a million hackers access to your bank details, but that level of paranoia didn't last long. A number of companies still do very similar things, mind.
Wouldn't you rather buy something on your card than fill a virtual wallet with 2,000 Microsoft Points for an 800-point purchase? So would we. Hopefully, the nail in this coffin will be banged in good and hard soon.
8. Self-destructing DVDs
What could be more environmentally sound than a DVD that just stops working? DVD-D was intended to shake up the rental market, with discs containing a chemical that would stop them being readable after about 48 hours. DIVX (not the codec) was almost as silly.
Its discs didn't break, but locked you out after 48 hours unless you called a number to reactivate it. Thankfully for landfills everywhere, neither took off. Although piracy remains very popular.
9. Videophones
Here's a rare case where the technology is all there and ready. We can still videophone via Skype and most MSN clients if we want to, but it's become apparent that most people simply don't want to.
It's one thing to see a family member or lover who's on the other side of the world, but nobody wants to have to check their hair or remember to grab a towel if the phone rings while they're in the bath.
10. Smelly games
iSmell. The name says it all. Wouldn't you love to be able not only to explore new worlds, but smell them too? Answer: no. Not many games take place in flower shops and bakeries, but there are a lot of sewer levels out there. These are quite atmospheric enough, thank you very much.
Other attempts to make the gaming experience more realistic include chairs that punch you in the back, vests that do the same (using motors) and an arcade machine known as the Painstation, the original version of which would burn and flay your hand for losing a game of Pong. Call us wimps, but we'll pass.
And then there's SoftRAM...
SoftRAM was a revolutionary product – a software-based way of doubling your RAM that was released in 1995. There was just one problem: it was a scam. The software didn't work, to the point where the American FTC intervened and forced a recall. Still, if it had worked...
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Review: KEF iQ70
Conceived and designed in Maidstone, Kent, but manufactured somewhere in China in order to keep the selling price competitive, the iQ70 carries an official price of آ£800 per pair and is closely related to the iQ50.
Indeed, viewed in isolation it would be difficult to identify one from the other, though placing them side by side clearly shows that this more costly model has a slightly larger enclosure and the next size up in main drivers – 165mm rather than 130mm.
The Uni-Q driver that gives this model its name is a variation on the co-axial theme, positioning a tiny 19mm tweeter on the pole-piece in the centre of the bass/mid driver's 120mm polymer cone.
The Uni-Q driver has been steadily developed since the 1980s and the particular innovation in this latest variation is a 'tangerine waveguide' around the tweeter. This consists of eight small vanes extending inwards from the outside edge of the tweeter dome, an arrangement that helps the dome more closely approach the pulsating sphere ideal.
Other improvements for the latest generation include re-mapped crossovers and a new bass driver with a 115mm 'dual composite' cone. A front port provides extra bass reinforcement and shaped foam bungs are supplied to block this if desired, though in practice this seems unlikely.
The enclosure back and sides form a continuous curve, which looks attractive, should improve overall stiffness, and avoid focusing internal lateral standing waves. The front panel is very gently curved, too.
At standard price the enclosure is finished in walnut, dark apple, or black ash vinyl woodprint; real wood veneers are available for an additional آ£200. A moulded black 'bump' covers much of the top surface, matching the curve of the Uni-Q driver frame.
The speaker is supplied with an attractively shaped moulded plinth. This feels a bit lightweight, but holds the spikes securely in place and also helps the speaker's overall physical stability. Twin terminal pairs come connected by wire links (rather than brass strips), which is another worthwhile bonus.
Sound quality
Although the in-room measurements show ample output throughout the bass region, even when the speakers are positioned well clear of walls, the iQ70 still somehow manages to sound a shade small and a bit weak in serious bottom end drive and authority. There seems no obvious explanation for this, but it does suggest that a little wall reinforcement might be beneficial and that the port bungs are unlikely to be helpful.
Although the overall character is mostly smooth and well balanced, it only serves to make the measured peak in the upper midband that much more obvious. At low listening levels it might be considered something of a bonus, as it tends to emphasise detail and vocal articulation.
Start winding up the volume, however, and the speaker begins to start sounding a little aggressive and less comfortable, while the slightly pinched and nasal voice coloration becomes more obvious and intrusive.
The top end sounds smooth, sweet and attractively open, stereo images are precisely focused and any enclosure colorations as such seem to be very well under control. While the basic dynamic range is good, dynamic expression and vigour did seem a little weak.
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Review: Focal Chorus 726V
Although both the Focal 800V and 700V ranges have similar basic enclosure shapes and driver types, there are also numerous detail differences. A fair chunk of the آ£400 price difference between 726V and 826V lies in the elimination of the 826V's costly separate alloy plinth.
Instead, the 726V comes with spikes that fit directly into the base of the enclosure, reducing the overall stability. Furthermore, the spikes themselves have thumbwheel lock-nuts that are difficult to tighten and keep tight.
This آ£949 726V is the largest of the 700s, one step up from the 716V that we reviewed way back when. Wrapped in 'black ash' vinyl woodprint (with Amati and Wenge options), it has tapering side panels, so that the main internal faces are not parallel.
The whole thing is not only quite compact, standing less than a metre tall, but also feels very solid, weighing a hefty 23.5kg, thanks in part to the thick panels and the addition of further internal bracing.
A full three-way design, Focal manufactures all its drivers in France and all three cone drivers have 165mm cast alloy frames and 120mm diameter paper cones coated with 'Polyglass' micro-spheres, though the midrange unit has a different dust-dome arrangement.
Focal's familiar inverted-dome tweeter has an aluminium/magnesium alloy diaphragm and is mounted in a rigid cast chassis at the top edge of the enclosure, unobstructed by the V-shaped grille.
The speakers come with little perforated metal grilles protecting the tweeter diaphragms and these are easily removed for best quality. A large-diameter front port provides reflex bass loading and signal is applied to a single terminal pair.
Sound quality
Best kept well clear of any walls, the combination of twin 165mm bass drivers, plus a 40Hz-tuned port ensures that there's ample bass output here. Indeed, if anything there might well be a bit too much – not really deep bass, rather a mild excess of the warmth and richness that's usually associated with the mid and upper bass.
But this is more of a characteristic than a flaw, as the bass sound quality remains agile and informative. It drives the music along with enthusiasm and a fair amount of dynamic gusto, without adding the sort of delayed reaction effect that results from cabinet colorations, although orchestral textures can show a touch of thickening too.
This isn't the smoothest or most neutral performer, but it is impressively lively and expressive, working particularly well when operating at modest loudness levels. Some might find its overall character a little too bright, either for personal taste or a particular system and it's true that the sound did show a tendency to become a little edgy and aggressive as the volume was wound up high.
Boxiness is well controlled and stereo images are spacious, if slightly compromised in focus and depth. Timing and dynamic range are both good and dynamic expression is comfortably above average. On balance, the 726V must rate as a fine all-round performer at a very realistic price.
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Interview: 'If a logo works at 16px, you've cracked it'
Opera's new senior designer Jon Hicks tells Oliver Lindberg of .net magazine why he left freelance life behind and explains the creative process behind Opera 10's user interface
.net: How did you land the job at Opera?
John Hicks: Last May, Opera was looking for designers for its browsers. I didn't need a new job because business was good for Hicksdesign, but I was drawn in. As a browserphile, I'd worked with Firefox, Camino and the early stages of Flock, and Opera was open to the idea of remote workers.
I was very impressed when I visited the company. Not only did I love Oslo, I got on well with the people I met. They offered me a role, but it seemed too hard to leave the freelance life of Hicksdesign and I turned them down. I then had the weekend to think it over again and, luckily, I wasn't too late.
.net: What were your main considerations when you approached the Opera 10 UI?
JH: The main considerations were to make it feel native, while still defining a consistent Opera 'look'. For example, on Windows the default theme scrollbars are directly copied from Vista, but use a muted blue colour scheme.
I've shied away from the bright blue, glassy appearance of Vista and instead followed the lead of Windows 7 with its smoother gradients. I've also put in a lot of work on the Mac version to make it feel more at home. It's a very difficult balance, though!
OPERA ON MAC: The simplistic design of the new Opera interface is simply gorgeous in the OS X environment
.net: What have been the biggest challenges since you joined Opera?
JH: In a sense, I've worked remotely for clients for seven years, but remote working full-time for Opera is different. When you're not there, sitting at a desk where colleagues can drop by and talk over an idea or bug, it's harder to work for them. I've had to be very proactive to make sure I'm not forgotten!
.net: What's happening to Hicksdesign while you're at Opera?
JH: Hicksdesign has been a partnership between my wife Leigh and me for almost three years now, and it's been a limited company for one and half. Hicksdesign still exists, it's just that I work full-time for Opera while Leigh handles her work (mainly print design), as well as running hicksmade.com.
.net: Which piece(s) of work are you most proud of and why?
JH: The new mascot for MailChimp is my current favourite. Not just for the end result, but for the process, too. That project was a dream from start to finish, with The Rocket Science Group being among the best clients I've ever worked for.
It didn't end with handing over the final vector files, either; they kept in touch and let me know how they were using it. Judging by the number of work enquiries I've had since, asking for similar work, I'd say it was one of my most successful, too. Sometimes it doesn't come together so easily and you don't always end up with a piece of work that you're proud to show in your portfolio, but that time I did!
.net: Which stage of your work process do you enjoy most, and why?
JH: The start is my favourite part. The air is full of possibilities and you can get a real buzz from the creative process, sketching and brainstorming, trying out every idea, no matter how odd it seems at the time. My motivation dwindles the longer the project goes on, especially on sites where the last stages are debugging in Internet Explorer!
.net: How would you describe your style?
JH: Someone I worked with in my publishing days paid me what I consider to be the greatest compliment. She told me that I had a "lightness of touch" (steady now!) that was evident in my designs. I'm not sure if anyone else sees it that way, but if I had to pin down a style, I'd say it was that.
.net: What makes a good logo or icon?
JH: Simplicity. If it works at 16px, you've cracked it! For icons, there's more of an element of following convention. Icons are used for interaction, so they need instant recognition. If it's an icon to represent 'home', then make it a simple symbol of a home. Don't add detail or borders, which create noise and slow recognition time. Creating it at 16px makes sure you get the salient points across concisely.
.net: How do you feel about your work, specifically branding and logos, being altered?
JH: I try to have a thick skin about it, and I'm better than I used to be, but it still upsets me. I remember completing the logo for Rails, only to discover that the logo had then been passed to the community and subsequently altered. It wasn't too drastic: the rigid 'r' was made into a sweeping curve, but I would rather have made the changes myself, based on community feedback. I guess that's the open source nature of Ruby on Rails.
.net: Where do you look for inspiration?
JH: Going for a walk, reading a magazine, doodling, blogs – too many sources to mention. I collect everything I can and keep it in a folder on my desktop. I then view and tag these with an application called Leap.
.net: What are you currently working on? What's in the pipeline?
JH: Apart from the last push to finish Opera 10, I've been working on the next versions of the Desktop and Mini browsers. I have a few non-Opera projects launching soon, such as the educational resource dnadarwin.org and a new site for segpub.com.au.
.net: What's the most bizarre request you've ever had from a client?
JH: I'm not sure if this really counts as 'bizarre', but shortly after the Firefox logo launched, I had a lot of requests for animal logos. The best one was for 'Burning Monkey Software', who wanted a (wait for it) monkey with its tail on fire, wrapped around a CD. I politely declined!
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Google seeks power by building solar mirrors
Over the years, many have accused Google's healthy profits as being little more than the product of smoke and mirrors, so they'll probably be pleased to see the search and advertising giant getting into actually building real mirrors.
The move is part of Google's work on solar thermal technology, where the sun is used to heat materials that go on to produce steam to drive turbines and generate electricity.
Unusual materials
As part of that, the company is working on new mirror technology for focusing the sun's rays cheaply and efficiently.
Google's Bill Weihl explained to Reuters: "We've been looking at very unusual materials for the mirrors, both for the reflective surface as well as the substrate that the mirror is mounted on."
Government cash
If it can come up with the basic hardware needed, the next stage will involve testing, then – most likely – persuading governments to get involved to invest in making the technology viable on a large scale.
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Recording industry seeks piracy lock on phones
Not content with suing music fans for copying their favourite music, the record industry has decided to go one step further and may install piracy-checking software in the music players themselves.
That's one possible plan under discussion by the Recording Industry Association of Japan, which is trying to form a consensus with various industry bodies and mobile phone operators.
Little snitch
The notion is that the RIAJ would work with the phone companies to get verification software on every handset. It could then 'phone home' every time the audio player is activated to check if a track was bought legally or not.
Inside sources say not only is such a move possible because the phone networks dictate what software appears on handsets in Japan, but that it's highly likely to be up and running by 2011.
Non-conformers beware
Exactly where that leaves people wanting to listen to ripped versions of CDs they own or even their own recordings is unclear, but we'd wager a hefty sum on them being left out in the cold.
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PS3 Slim selling like hot cakes in Japan too
We've already seen UK sales of the PlayStation 3 jump as soon as the new hardware hit the shops, so it's no surprise to hear that sales are booming in Sony's home territory of Japan too.
The slimmed-down PS3 sold 151,783 units in Japan during its first three days on sale – that's up from around 1,000 per week across the country just before the revamped boxes rolled out.
Others far behind
Given that the old model PS3 had been bumping along at under 10,000 sales a week before the new gear was announced, Sony must be mightily pleased with the latest numbers.
By way of comparison, the Wii from Nintendo was the second-best-selling console on 21,000, with the Xbox 360 far behind on just 7,000 sales for the full week to 6 September.
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Speedy 802.11n Wi-Fi finally gets finished
If you're the owner of any equipment with an 802.11n Wi-Fi chip onboard, you most likely don't care that the wireless standard is now official, but it's at least nice to know.
Two and a half years after the Wi-Fi Alliance agreed on a draft specification as a place holder and seven years after 802.11n was first mooted, that draft has now been accepted as the final version.
Nothing to see here
In reality, all it means is that future 11n products will be compatible with existing hardware – in other words, there are no changes to the draft.
So, if you're intent on buying a few more antennas for your wireless setup and aiming for that 300Mbps Holy Grail 802.11n is supposed to be able to reach, then knock yourself out – they'll be good for years to come.
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