If you have Vista running on your machine and you don't like it, there are two obvious paths you can take to get rid of it: you can upgrade to Windows 7 if possible or you can install Windows XP.
If you follow this blog, you know that I am very happy with Windows 7 on one of my laptops. I upgraded it from Windows Vista. You also know that Microsoft will support Windows XP until 2014. So let's take a look at the 2 options.
1) The first thing I'd recommend is to download the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor. It's from Microsoft and it is free. You can download it here: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/get/upgrade-advisor.aspx. Download it and run it and see what it has to say about your machine. If it seems like you get good news and your machine can run Windows 7, first make sure you have at least 2 GB of RAM and, if you do, I recommend you purchase Windows 7 Home Premium. This is what I did and I LOVE it. I did not have 2 GB of RAM, so I purchased a second GB and, although I'd probably recommend 4 GB for anyone, my machine runs just fine for me with 2 GB, so maybe yours will too.
2) If the upgrade advisor does not give you good news about the possibility of upgrading to Windows 7, keep in mind that you can always install Windows XP. Do you have a Windows XP installation CD that came with the machine?Some did just as a backup. If not, do you have an old one from a prior machine that might work on this Vista machine? That would be ideal. If you don't have one, you may be able to buy a copy on Ebay or from a friend or a local computer shop. Ask around. You would likely be a lot happier with XP on your Vista machine.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Microsoft's Ballmer admits Windows Vista "was just not executed well"
Like anyone needed him to tell us that! I feel for those of you still stuck with it.
From Computerworld:
Microsoft's Ballmer admits Windows Vista "was just not executed well"
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
A Social Network to Grow On
This is from the Wall Street Journal and may be of interest to those of you with kids under 10 or so.
"Right this second, parents around the country are arguing with their children about using the computer—in particular, whether they're old enough to start accessing social-networking sites like Facebook. Parents worry about how kids behave with each other online and if they're interacting with strangers. A new site being launched Wednesday aims to ease those worries by providing training wheels to young kids looking to social network.
Togetherville (Togetherville.com) is designed to function as a safe, kid-centric social network. The site guides kids ages 6 through 10 on how to communicate online with others, using canned responses and parental participation. Togetherville links into Facebook so parents who use the popular social-networking site can have a say in who their children are connecting with and can even interact with their kids online."
"Right this second, parents around the country are arguing with their children about using the computer—in particular, whether they're old enough to start accessing social-networking sites like Facebook. Parents worry about how kids behave with each other online and if they're interacting with strangers. A new site being launched Wednesday aims to ease those worries by providing training wheels to young kids looking to social network.
Togetherville (Togetherville.com) is designed to function as a safe, kid-centric social network. The site guides kids ages 6 through 10 on how to communicate online with others, using canned responses and parental participation. Togetherville links into Facebook so parents who use the popular social-networking site can have a say in who their children are connecting with and can even interact with their kids online."
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Seagate to Release 3TB Hard Drive
I really thought my Western Digital 1TB My Book was the cat's meow and would last me forever. I was wrong. Besides, a techie like me loves to get the latest and greatest and try it out.
My new favorite web site for tech news is Maximum PC, found at http://www.maximumpc.com.
It's been rumored for a while, but Seagate has now confirmed they will be releasing a 3TB hard drive later this year. This isn't just the usual upping of platter density to achieve a higher capacity. In this case Seagate had to overcome some fundamental problems in computing.
In modern computing systems, there is a logical block addressing (LBA) limit of 2.1TB. The LBA system can't address a capacity larger than that due to the fact that it assigns an address to each 512 byte block on the hard drive, causing it to run out of address space at 2.1TB. Seagate is using a new Long LBA format, but it requires a supporting OS.
According to Seagate, 64-bit versions of Windows Vista and 7 will work, but XP will not. In fact, XP systems may only see 990MB of the drive. Another caveat is that these drives will not work as boot drives, just as secondary drives. Current master boot record partitions are limited to 2.1TB, and the fix would be more complicated.
No one thought that LBA would be a limiting factor when it was developed in 1980, but here we are. No pricing information was available, but we imagine it will sell at a premium at first. Would you buy a 3TB drive? Or are a few smaller ones fine by you?
My new favorite web site for tech news is Maximum PC, found at http://www.maximumpc.com.
It's been rumored for a while, but Seagate has now confirmed they will be releasing a 3TB hard drive later this year. This isn't just the usual upping of platter density to achieve a higher capacity. In this case Seagate had to overcome some fundamental problems in computing.
In modern computing systems, there is a logical block addressing (LBA) limit of 2.1TB. The LBA system can't address a capacity larger than that due to the fact that it assigns an address to each 512 byte block on the hard drive, causing it to run out of address space at 2.1TB. Seagate is using a new Long LBA format, but it requires a supporting OS.
According to Seagate, 64-bit versions of Windows Vista and 7 will work, but XP will not. In fact, XP systems may only see 990MB of the drive. Another caveat is that these drives will not work as boot drives, just as secondary drives. Current master boot record partitions are limited to 2.1TB, and the fix would be more complicated.
No one thought that LBA would be a limiting factor when it was developed in 1980, but here we are. No pricing information was available, but we imagine it will sell at a premium at first. Would you buy a 3TB drive? Or are a few smaller ones fine by you?
Monday, May 17, 2010
Acer Anxious to Release World's First Chrome OS Netbook
Wow, sorry if I sound like a litle kid, but this is really cool!
This comes from Maximum PC
According to reports, Acer will beat the competition to the punch with a netbook built around Google's upcoming Chrome OS platform. If all goes to plan, Acer will show the netbook off at the Computex Taipei show that runs from June 1 through 5.
Acer hasn't confirmed or denied the reports, although the company previously stated it would be one of the first hardware makers to push a Chrome OS device out the door. In case you haven't been following, Google's Chrome OS, which was announced last year, is entirely browser based and features near-instant bootup with a heavy emphasis on cloud-based applications.
While Acer will likely be first, it won't be the only company with a Chrome OS netbook in the coming months. Samsung Australia said earlier this year that it will launch a Chrome-based netbook before the end of 2010, and both Asus and Lenovo are expected to have hardware available as well.
This comes from Maximum PC
Posted 05/17/10 at 12:17:24 PM by Paul Lilly
According to reports, Acer will beat the competition to the punch with a netbook built around Google's upcoming Chrome OS platform. If all goes to plan, Acer will show the netbook off at the Computex Taipei show that runs from June 1 through 5.
Acer hasn't confirmed or denied the reports, although the company previously stated it would be one of the first hardware makers to push a Chrome OS device out the door. In case you haven't been following, Google's Chrome OS, which was announced last year, is entirely browser based and features near-instant bootup with a heavy emphasis on cloud-based applications.
While Acer will likely be first, it won't be the only company with a Chrome OS netbook in the coming months. Samsung Australia said earlier this year that it will launch a Chrome-based netbook before the end of 2010, and both Asus and Lenovo are expected to have hardware available as well.
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