I was reading this interesting (and bravely-titled) post on cross-browser testing earlier and scrolling down this memory-jogging infographic detailing the history of modern web browsers when I got to the bottom where Chrome came into existence and thought back to that day in early September 2008 when Chrome was first leaked then announced and the internet went wild. Now where was I that day?

I was deep inside the heart of Microsoft UK. And the reaction was priceless.

On Sunday night, the SD card in my phone became corrupt when I plugged it in to my PC (I don’t know why) – but that’s a story for another day. It was when I was fixing it that I realised about how Windows, in the past 5 or 6 years, has moved gradually into a truly consumer-space operating system.

What do I mean by this?

Well think back to the days of Windows XP. It really was the do-it-all operating system – developers could get right down into the system internals and hack around as they pleased with their apps, and you could get a lot of applications which bypassed OS components to perform functionality for you; in this case, formatting bad memory cards.

Earlier today I talked briefly to some students at Reading about some great websites for getting hold of software they will need for their degrees at much reduced costs to what they would normally have to spend.

I’ve collected those links below, so drop in and have a look to see what you can get!

Ben Nunney (@bennuk) is the new guy at Microsoft UK in charge of the UK Microsoft Student Partner (MSP) programme (and the Imagine Cup – but more on that another day).

You may have heard me mention the MSP programme before, as I have been involved quite heavily for the last 2 years. This year, if you are a student and studying at a Uni somewhere in the UK, you too can get involved!

As well as being a fun- and cheese-loving and an all-around nice chap, Ben has put his considerable videographical talents into bringing you this excellent video describing the main idea around why you would want to become an MSP: