TNPC Newsletter
by Dan Butler
When it rains it pours. Last week I told you my main system died. After setting up a new PC and cleaning up the cable mess behind my desk my Linux server was dead too. Fortunately the Linux machine just needed a power supply. My Windows machine was not so fortunate. I replaced the machine.
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This issue some quick initial observations on Microsoft Vista, TNPC
drawing winners, and an interesting product I have been playing with.
Don’t miss the P.S. at the bottom of the letter.
You can read past issues at the blog:
http://www.tnpcnewsletter.com/blog/category/newsletters/tnpc/
Share your opinions at the TNPC Discussion forum:
http://www.tnpcnewsletter.com/discuss/
Our drawing winners for January are Jeri L. and Anne B. Their
prizes are already on the way. Details on the next drawing soon.
I wasn’t planning on upgrading to Microsoft Vista. The new Windows
PC forced my hand. Vista was installed on the PC I purchased. Do I
like it? The jury is still out. It is taking a bit to find how to
do the tasks I have done for years. The graphics are pretty. Vista
likes a *lot* of RAM. Plan on at least one gigabyte.
My previous system was a very solid Windows 2000 box. I just plain
died.
I have been making blog entries on what is happening with my
install. You can keep up with those here:
http://www.tnpcnewsletter.com/blog/category/vista/
I would appreciate your comments if you have upgraded or started
using Vista. Just post them to the blog.
So far several of my favorite programs refuse to run:
- Time & Chaos v.6 from Chaos Software
- WS-FTP Professional 2007 from Ipswitch.com
- Perfect Keyboard Pro from Pitrinec.com
- Morders v2 (ties in to my online shopping cart)
issues here and there but no show stoppers. I have a few more items
to install before my regular working environment is in place.
The only hardware problem so far has been my Labtec webcam. After
struggling a bit with that I headed up to the Logitech support
forums and found steps to get the camera working. The steps were
not intuitive by any means and were posted by someone other than
Logitech support. Thank goodness for clueful users.
Next I had a bit of trouble getting my network functioning
correctly. Vista doesn’t want to connect to my Samba shares over on
the Linux machine. Now don’t get scared by the techno-jargon. That
is just how my system is set up. Again I found some help at a blog.
Now I have a couple of gripes. First there is an incessant
“Security Advisor” that pops up when you try to do something that
might mess with your system settings. That is all well good, but I
wish it would recognize you are doing administrative tasks and let
you specify a time period that your approval is good for. Ten
minutes or so would be ideal. The way it is now I think the feature
trains you to ignore the warnings and just click on them by
default. Not a good habit to develop.
Security Advisor is also very vague about what you are agreeing to
do. Usually all you see is a “Yes/No” choice. I would like some
details on exactly what I am agreeing to allow or disallow.
Microsoft has done one thing that I find totally clueless. They
have completely eliminated the old Windows style help systems. Any
older programs you have may run but you will be unable to view the
help files. When you try to view a help file you get a nice pop-up
explaining why you cannot view the help you want and then finally a
link to Microsoft’s web site so you can download the system
separately. Only one problem – there is nothing to download at the
time I am writing this.
It is bonehead moves like this that make it hard to believe that
Microsoft is not just making things difficult on purpose. I did
find a way to get older help files working. That is over at the
blog as well.
That is all for now. Have you had any experiences with Vista yet?
Share them at the blog:
http://www.tnpcnewsletter.com/blog/category/vista/
In my opinion the bottom line on upgrading to Vista – stick with XP
or 2000 if you are already there. If you are upgrading go with
Windows XP for now. Or consider switching to a Macintosh or Linux
machine if your software needs allow it.
~ Dan
P.S. What have you been doing while you are reading this
newsletter? Here are some cool ways to get fit and loose weight
*while* you read your email and go about your normal activities. It
is a cool product and worth checking out:
http://zcat.com/qpp/x.php?adminid=8&tid=36
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Copyright 2007 Dan Butler
All Rights Reserved.
ISSN: 1522-4422
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