The Vista I see!

Vista is to be Microsoft’s next generation operating system. The English word vista is a synonym for sight or view. Synonyms are different words with similar or identical meanings and are interchangeable. Now thanks to Wikipedia we have a clear understanding of what Microsoft has intended for Vista to be.

I have not personally installed or for that matter ever used Vista, however I have read lots of reviews, and viewed screenshots and videos via the Internet. And thanks to Bernie, the CBWUG members were presented with a live working version of Vista RC1.

First off Vista lives up to its name, lots of visual effects and eye candy. Thanks to Aero you have visual effects such as glass-like interface elements that you can see through. A live thumbnail is displayed when placing the mouse pointer over a taskbar item, showing the content of that window. Windows Flip and Flip 3D allows you to flip through open windows providing a live thumbnail of each window. A new feature called Instant Search helps you find and start almost anything on your computer. Just type in a word, a name, or a phrase, and Instant Search will start your program, hopefully the one you wanted.

Vista contains a number of new security features that are designed to make Vista-based computers more secure. User Account Control is one way to improve security of your computer by giving you the ability to decide if software is allowed to make changes to your computer. Users normally run in a limited user mode and are ask for permission to do administrative task in Vista.

Windows Sidebar is a pane on the side of the Windows Vista desktop that organizes gadgets and makes them easy to access. Gadgets are mini-applications that sit in the Windows sidebar. Gadgets can connect to the web and deliver weather information, news updates and other useful web information. Gadgets can also have any number of purposes not web related such as games, sticky notes, and a clock.

I must say Microsoft has done a great job of integrating a lot of visual effects and security into Vista. While this may be new to Vista and Windows users, those of us that have been sampling the other operating system have already been blessed with these visual effects and better security.

Vista is hardware hungry; to fully get all the visual effects that Vista has to offer, you will need a very powerful computer. If you think you have a computer that has the power to run Vista, simply go for an upgrade. Before you run to the store and grab Vista and dive into an install, I would suggest downloading and running Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor. After running Upgrade Advisor, you may be surprised to find you computer is not as powerful as you thought.

Your other options are buying a Windows Vista Capable PC or a Windows Vista Premium Ready PC. Which one do I want? Here’s the scoop! Computers with the Windows Vista Capable PC logo will deliver the core Windows Vista experiences such as security, and Instant Search but may not provide Aero features. PCs meeting the Windows Vista Premium Ready requirements can deliver the Windows Aero visual effects.

Your last and most likely the best option, just wait and purchase a new PC with Vista pre-installed, everything should work. If things don’t work, all is not lost; you can make friends with some guy in India.

Now comes the fun part, what version of Vista do I want? Here’s how it works, Microsoft has made one Ultimate version and disabled certain features in the Ultimate version to create the other versions. Here are your choices: Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, and Ultimate. Home Basic is for low-end hardware or for users that have very limited needs. I would stay away from Home Basic; it’s cut to the bare bone necessities. Business is just what the name implies, has little to offer most home users and is lacking in multimedia features; I’ll bypass that version also. Looks like we are left with just two options, Home Premium and Ultimate. I think most users will find Home Premium will fill their needs with a modest price tag and most wanted features, however more green means the Ultimate computing experience, in Windows that is. The Complete PC Backup imaging tool and the BitLocker drive encryption feature are disabled in Home Premium. I guess Microsoft knows that most home users never backup or encrypt their data anyway. The Ultimate version is the only choice for serious Windows users.

Carolyn is a serious Windows user and I’m serious about getting X.org and the X Window System working on a Linux box. Well you guessed it, our next computer will have Vista Ultimate Edition!

Just Google it....

Google says no to Googling on MSN or Yahoo. Google is a trademark identifying the search technology and services of Google Technologies Inc. Google and Googling is not a generic term meaning to search for information on the Web. Sorry folks, you can't say "Log onto MSN search and Google it." This is kinda silly but all companies try to protect their trademarks. Microsoft has trademarked Windows, so even though Linux has a Windowing system, you must refer to it as X, X Window System, X Version 11, X Window System, Version 11, or X11. Because X Window System is a trademark of X Consortium, Inc. it's off limits to Microsoft. Now can I legally call my Linux computer running X Window System my Xbox? Oh well, it's mine and I'll call it whatever I want.

The Rocky Road Ahead

Are things really that bad at Microsoft? Humm..... let's take a look!

Bill Gates is stepping down as Microsoft's chief software architect and plans to work at his charity foundation. Microsoft also has announced some executive shuffling across various product groups.

In recent days there has been criticism of its security software (OneCare Live) and anti-piracy program (Windows Genuine Advantage). It's clear Microsoft has dropped the ball in these areas.

On June 29th Microsoft announced it is laying off 214 U.S. salespeople. Oh well, what do they need salespeople for anyway? If you buy a new OEM computer you get Microsoft Windows whether you want it or not! This is commonly known in some circles as the Microsoft Tax.

Microsoft is also have problems shipping it's products in a timely fashion. Windows Vista has been delayed until early 2007. Nobody know when it will ship but rumors has that it's still buggy and not ready for the consumer. Office 2007 is not doing any better. Office 2007 was also delayed to early 2007, but Microsoft representatives have recently admitted that Office is behind schedule entirely. Now, let's put the icing on the cake. The new WinFS file system that was part of Windows Vista has been completely removed from Vista. It was reported that it would ship later as a standalone software component to Vista. Oops, now Microsoft no longer plans to ship WinFS as a standalone software component. Instead, portions of the underlying technology will be included with the next release of SQL Server. Looks like the WinFS file system is going belly up.

What does all this spell? Well spelling was not my best subject in school. If I did spell it out some would call me a Linux advocate.

You can always tell a Linux user.... you just can't tell them much.

Security without encryption....

Think your credit card transactions are secure... think again! MasterCard and Visa have developed what is known as the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard. Presently your data is encrypted when you swipe your card. Because this encryption requirement is causing so much trouble for merchants, MasterCard and Visa have decided to write a new set of rules that will replace encryption with other types of security technology. Relaxing encryption requirements is not good. It basically means that if a hacker hacks the system, they get your data. Encryption is the ultimate measure of security. So why is MasterCard and Visa writing a new set of security rules without making encryption a strong requirement? Save money for the merchants! In doing so they are putting your personal data at risk. What to hell... save Wal-Mart billions of dollars, you the consumer only stand to loose your life savings.

Ice cream anyone?

MooBella, a nine-employee company in Taunton, Massachusetts has developed a machine no larger than a Coke vending machine that instantly makes a scoop of ice cream from fresh ingredients stored within.

On the machine's front is a computer screen running on a Linux operating system. It displays menus of possible flavors and allows the user to create any combination, such as low-fat coffee ice cream with Oreo cookies. If the machine runs out of a flavor, it stops putting it on the menu and sends a message via a wireless Internet connection to MooBella asking for a refill.

Now I know what you're thinking, Windows can do the same thing. If a Windows machine runs out of a flavor, what would you get? You guessed it, a "Blue Screen of Death."

Good news... bad news!

Google has confirmed it is working on a desktop Linux project called Goobuntu, but declined to supply further details, including what the project is for. Now we all know this has nothing to do with the fact that Google missed earnings expectations on Tuesday for the first time since it went public in August 2004. Its shares went down almost 20 per cent at one point in after-hours trading and slicing billions of dollars off its market capital.

Here's the question Google investors are asking: What's my stock going to do? Here's the question Linux enthusiasts are asking: Will Google make Linux as popular as the Google search engine?

Humm... If I had the answer to those questions, I wouldn't be typing this crazy blog. Only time will tell!

RTFM

Thunderbird 1.5 was released on Thursday, January 12. It's got some great new features that include automatic updates, anti-phishing protection, inline spellchecking, saved search folders, podcasting, RSS improvements, and the ability to delete attachments from messages. Now those new features would be great if I could get it to load.

After quickly downloading the 6.0 MB file and double clicking it; it extracted and the installer started to work and I was soon greeted with the message, "Installation successful." Now it's time to take a look at all those new features. Wrong! It just would not load. I tried every known trick to get it to load to no avail. I reinstalled my old version and it loaded like a champ. OK, it's got to be a bad download, corrupt file you know. No such luck, after a new download and install, same thing won't load.

OK it's now 2:00 a.m. It's now time to RTFM. I went to the Thunderbird site and scanned the page for clues as to what might be the problem. Buried in the Release Notes page and under known issues there was the one sentence I need to read. "Prior to installing Thunderbird 1.5, please ensure that the directory you've chosen to install into is clean and doesn't contain any previous Thunderbird installations." How dumb can I be? After a complete un-install and install of Thunderbird 1.5 in a clean directory, that entire new list of features loaded instantly!

Surface-conduction Electron-emitter Display anyone!

Will your next flat-panel HDTV have surface-conduction electron-emitter display (SED)? This type of display is currently under development by Canon and Toshiba. It works similar to a CRT but consumes about 50% less power and has a thin flat-panel like a LCD, which is only an inch or two thick. It looks like Toshiba intends to move their 40-inch plus displays to SED technology. The announcement came at the Consumer Electronics Show this week. Recent articles have said the SED units will be priced around Plasma and LCD if not higher. I think I’ll stick with the good ole CRT for now.

Take this shovelware and shove it!

All the major PC manufactures are loading their systems with limited-time or limited-feature versions of standard commercial applications. Microsoft Office 2003 is one of their favorite applications to include, but will require a $400 to $500 registration fee to continue working past the 60 day trial period. Let's face it folks, this is no more than shovelware dumped on the hard drive to make it look like a great value. Many consumers purchase these systems thinking they are getting a fully licensed copy of Microsoft Office, when in fact they are only getting a bloated system.

How do you protect yourself? Read the fine print and don't take the word of a sales clerk. If this is the software you want, simply register, and pay the fee and your set. However don't feel you have to buy this pre-installed software. If you choose not to purchase the software use the Control Panel's Add or Remove Programs applet to un-install and remove the bloat.

Now is the perfect time to give Open Source software a try. OpenOffice.org 2.0 is a free, full-featured office suite that can open and save in Microsoft formats or AbiWord 2.4.1, an award winning, small, fast, full-featured and cross platform word processor similar to Microsoft Word.