Month: May 2009

If you didn’t like what I said, or you think that I was nitpicking, consider this. Many PC users have been running XP since it was introduced. I know that there was some resistance at first because it looked different and stuff had been moved about, BUT everything ‘Windows’ was there. A five year active life is a long time for an operating system, long enough for users to get stuck in a rut, perhaps. When Vista came along, it should have taken all that XP was and run ahead with it. Vista was everything that XP was and more; … Continue reading Re. Windows FAQ (the previous article)

Round colorful thingummybobber here: 1.. Where is the START button? We believe that the START button was far too recognizable as a feature of XP, and so we decided to give it a new look. Also, we wanted to make it more of a challenge for support people to give a description of what you would first click on for access to the rest of Windows. 2.. Where is ALL PROGRAMS? Having set the first challenge as per above, we thought that you might be getting into the swing of it. So, rather than present you with a cascading list … Continue reading Windows 7 FAQ..

Basically, files fragment because any time a file is edited and bits added either directly by the user or indirectly by the system, the file size may not fit the original saved space. In the case of the Windows filing system, the file will be saved elsewhere or the extra cluster(s) used to hold the changes will be dropped in an available free space. This is how the filing system works in the simplest way I can put it. Remember the Windows 98 defragmenter? The little blue squares? Each square represented one cluster, and what you saw was a representation … Continue reading Defragmentation – size matters..

I have mentioned the need for a killer application which will revitalize Windows. Well, back in 1992, there was just such an animal, and it was one of the first Windows programs which captured the imagination of home computer users. I am talking about a personal information manager made by a small British software company called Threadz. It was given the look of a File-o-fax, you may know it better as Lotus Organizer, and it still holds the title of being the best selling PC program ever, I think. Essentially, it was a database in a very neat, easy to … Continue reading Capturing the imagination..

Some recent quotes I have seen.. “Too bad they won’t offer those of us with Vista a free upgrade. I guess if I’d lived in the right time period, I’d have bought an Edsel, too.” “IT SAID WINDOWS XP 7 IS COMING MAYBE IN THE FALL. IT WONT BE SOON ENOUGH. VISTA JUST SUCKS, SORRY” “It’s still Windows and it’s still bloated.” Funny thing is that people who criticize Vista generally can’t actually pinpoint what is wrong with it. Oh sure, there are articles on the Internet dating back to the early days, but then is not now. The majority … Continue reading Software is the scapegoat..

I have been preparing an older XP machine for Windows 7 recently, and it brings back memories from 2006/7. In fairness, the machine in question is a good performer running XP, but is in the bottom 20% of desktops according to PCPitsop. The processor is an AMD 1.6 mobile type, memory is 1.25gb, video is an ATI Radeon 9250 128mb, and the hard drive is an 80gb WD IDE, but this is the kind of machine which a user somewhere is going to try to upgrade to Windows 7. Running the Windows 7 Upgrade advisor, it passes the processor and … Continue reading Windows XP to 7.. Is it time yet?

It is easy to see why Ubuntu & Co. does no good. If something is given away for free, the general perception is that the product is crap. If a Microsoft operating system was offered at half the regular price, more people would buy it than would download Ubuntu or PC Linux. For some, obtaining a cracked version of a Microsoft operating system would be better. So, when some people download a Microsoft operating system from a torrent, they think of it as getting a valued product for free. The laughable part is the Windows 7 RC is available through … Continue reading Free doesn’t cut it..

For the last two or three years, I have used a 19” LCD monitor as my primary display alongside an 18” Dell P990. Three months ago, the LCD monitor started to play up. It would lose colour brightness occasionally, but one day decided it was not going to display anything at all. The common thinking is to dump a broken LCD monitor. The trouble is that it seems very wasteful, and the last thing that a landfill site needs is yet another toxic backlight. So I decided to take the repair route and, not being too adept at electronics repairs, … Continue reading LCD Monitors

It’s all here.. http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/windows7/default.aspx I wonder how long it will be before Vista is wheeled out to the dumpster. Judging by the content of the above blog, it will be at around the same time that the leaves are falling. I will keep my copy under lock and key. Nobody is taking mine to a landfill site. It has been good to/for me and, like any good friend, I am not about to say goodbye any time soon. Windows 7 has almost everybody raving. Yes, it is ok, but come on!! It isn’t all things to all people and when … Continue reading Windows 7 RTM’ed by August?

‘Mike’s Window’ is written in Windows Live Writer which is running in Vista 64. This is the OS which everybody loves to hate. I do have Windows 7 64bit  RC installed too but I prefer Vista. This is my production PC.. Biostar T6100-939. AMD 64 3500+ (single core), 4 x1gb Kingston value RAM, MSI nVidia 6600 256mb, WD 320gb SATA II, WD 160gb SATA II, WD 80gb IDE 7200rpm, LG DVD –RW/+RW 16x, LG CD 52x, NEC 1.44mb FD Not state of the art by today’s standards, but it will play Halo and Fable with maximum detail enabled. It is … Continue reading High End? Not exactly..