Ladies and gentleman, welcome to the second half of 2009! I know many of you out there have been waiting patiently for this period, because this is when it all happens. What exactly happens, I hear you ask? Launches!

The previous three months have been what we call the “Dry Season”. Just as heavy rain is seasonal, so are games, computer parts, and leaps in technology. I don’t know why exactly it is like this, what with every single  company deciding to release their products at the same time. It’s like rush hour in Joburg every single day; you’d think these people would have learned by now that leaving at the same time every morning means you won’t go anywhere fast; and it’s the same with these companies. Surely releasing products in the Dry Season means you’ll sell more, don’t you think? But I’m getting carried away here. So, what can we look forward to?

If you are running Build 7000 of Windows 7, chances are that it is shutting down as you read this. If not, you can all rejoice in the release of Windows 7 in retail stores around the world on October 22. Mark your calendar for this month, it’s going to get really hectic! Around this time we can expect Nvidia and ATI to release their DX11 graphics cards, and it’s expected they will also have transferred successfully to the 40nm process. Intel will also, by this time, have a working sample (and press releases galore) of a processor on the 32nm fabrication process. If it’s anything like the 45nm generation, we’ll have a lot of fun with these babies.

This is MSI's P55 motherboard, which made its debut at CES 2009. Pricing is expected to be in the R1800 - R2200 range, firmly planting it in the reach of most mainstream buyers.

In October as well, Intel will be releasing the Core i5 range and the P55 chipset designed for the new range. Sporting dual-channel DDR3 memory and an integrated memory controller, i5 is the successor to the Core 2 Duo range and will likely be priced at the same levels. What’s confusing about this though, is the new strategy Intel has in store to differentiate their chips for consumers. Is it better? I don’t really think so. It’s supposed to be easier for consumers to understand, but honestly it even took me a while to catch on – I’ll cover it in my next column. We’ll still see some new LGA775 processors from Intel, although these are probably going to be revisions of current chips more than anything else.

I might as well mention AMD: they’re also releasing a bunch of new processors as well as some revisions to their mobile chip offerings. Seacom is also landing and being tested this month! Neotel, the company that was in charge of the Seacom landing in South Africa, will be one of the first to release its new pricing structures in the coming weeks, as well as services in cities where there previously was no coverage.

So, there’s something for everyone to look forward to.  I can’t wait for my copy of Windows 7, along with my new laptop and… God of War III!