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Saturday, November 4, 2006

Windows Vista

Paul Thurott has been writing a “Road to Gold” special remembering the long road to the final release version of Windows Vista on his site SuperSite for Windows.

There’s a new user interface in Windows Vista that is very aesthetically pleasing called Aero.

There are now “gadgets” that can be please in the Windows Sidebar.

There will now be built-in Windows Calendar, better Windows Movie Maker, and Windows Mail applications.

Microsoft and PC manufacturers are offering Windows Vista upgrade coupons.

There are five versions of Windows Vista: Business, Enterprise, Home Premium, Home Basic, Ultimate. Most people will want Home Premium.

Microsoft has listed the system requirements for Windows Vista.

Steve Gibson states that we’re in a rough, bumpy ride for Windows Vista. His #1 advice is to wait a while before getting Windows Vista to wait for patches and such to be released.

Noon-1p

Q Sam from Los Angeles - Using a laptop with multiple monitors

You can do that, but it will cost you. Driving two monitors requires two separate video cards. If you want to drive two monitors, a laptop is not a great idea. For desktop machines, look at Dell. The only thing I have against HP is all the crap they put on. My general experience is that Dell computers are very good. Make sure you have a dual head video card.

Q Gary from Los Angeles - Problems with faxes

You cannot improve your transmission quality. Try out eFax which will transmit the faxes digitally. Fax technology is very primitive. I think that unless there is a problem with your fax machine or your lines, there’s nothing you can do.

Q Chuck from Burbank - Retrieving unsaved files

Word does keep temp files as you’re working. You may be able to recover the files from these temp files. The more work you do after the unsaved files, the higher chance there is that the temp files have been written over. It’s probably not worth it anymore though.

Q Al from Torrence - Hard drive speed vs. CPU speed

Because these processors are so fast, they are often waiting for the hard drive. The first thing I would do is get a 5400rpm drive.

Q PowerPC applications

Don’t worry about it. PowerPC will still be supported for at least another five years. Stick with the G5 for a while.

Q Stan - Computers taking forever to boot

He wants to know if he should switch to Ubuntu. Yes Ubuntu will be much faster to boot up.

1–2p

Q Steve - Xdrive

The main problem with Xdrive is that it takes a while to upload to the Internet. Another problem is that some of these online backup services can go belly up. However, it seems like Xdrive has a plan.

Q Scott from Orlando - Mac Pro

I’m very happy with a Mac Pro. It is a high end machine. It’s not a computer, it’s a workstation. It is a very upgradeable machine. There are five drive bays. The next generation chip is also 100% compatible with the current motherboard. You get what you pay for.

Q Gene from Irvine - Running Visio in Linux/Macs

Try out Wine. I would suggest going to feashmeat.net to look for linux-based applications. Google around.

Q Christian from Long Beach - Building your own PC

I think in the long run, you build a computer for personal satisfaction. Also, you have no warranty. For video cards, look at Nvidia or ATI. The current champion for speed is Nvidia. Dual core is a very good tool for multitasking. If I were building a computer I would go with a Core 2 for sure.

Q Bob - Cameras to record video

The Canon SD10 is a pretty recent camera. VGA quality is the standard. For smooth video, you need 30fps.

Q Matt from Van Nuys - Hosting solutions for remote clients

That’s a case of going to a company that offers dedicated servers with reseller capabilities.

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