GuruNews, Volume 9 Number 39, 10-22-09

Thu Oct 22 17:56:41 PDT 2009

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Vol. 9, No. 39                           

10-22-09

1 Windows 7 enters the fray  

2 Goodbye Vista

3 Windows 7, Apple news, Nook debut

4 Good fences make good screen neighbors

5 IE crashes

As of today Windows 7 is finally here.  It’s been trumpeted almost since the release of its predecessor, the phenomenal flop Windows Vista, and the trumpeting may actually be justified.

After the abysmal failure and universal hatred of Vista, Microsoft seems to have actually listened to users and basically made 7 what Vista should have been.  It’s the smoother, faster, more stable and far less annoying upgrade users were led to expect three years ago.

One of the most reviled “features” of Vista, the User Access Control service that popped up every time you scratched your nose to ask if you really wanted to do it, has been toned down to a much more reasonable level.

It boots faster, has much better support for existing hardware and is all but automatic when finding drivers for hardware.  The upgrade process is even fast and all but painless, something Microsoft has never actually achieved before.

A few things you can look forward to are the new Home Group, which pulls together access to both local and network content for easy access to videos, music, etc.; AeroPeek, which makes windows transparent when they aren’t active, and Jump Lists, which are customizable and link all your most used or favorite links or applications together in one place.

You can also “dock” open windows to the sides of the screen, making it much easier to view two different pages or documents simultaneously with just one monitor.

Windows 7 is not without it’s weirdness, however.  For instance, there is no bundled email client.  Since Windows 95 you’ve always gotten Outlook Express (called Windows Mail in Vista) but not in 7.  You can still download and install a client for free, but it isn’t there by default.

Another oddity is the fact that Control Panel is still pretty wonky.  Microsoft had this right years ago and decided to break it with Vista, and 7 carries on that sad tradition.  Just put it back the way it was for gosh sakes!

All in all it looks good, but I wouldn’t rush right out and buy the upgrade or a new PC to get it just yet.  There are bound to be some serious problems in the first few weeks.  There always are with new or radically updated OSs.  And corporations will likely want to do extensive testing before they roll it out, especially when the network implementation in that environment also involves upgrading the servers to Server 2008 R2.

If Microsoft is smart they will continue allowing XP downgrades until corporations start migrating to 7, and I think it will be at least six months before we see that switch.  And that assumes nothing catastrophic happens during the roll out with home users.

Daniel has bunches of links below so you can read more…

Kevin Mefford, Editor

microdome at seidata.com 

Terry Wise

www.ratland.com

Tech News of the Week

Windows 7 hit the shelves today, and from what I've already seen of
it, I like it.  Not going to tell everyone to run out and buy it, but
it looks like it's going to fix some nagging issues from what we have
now in Vista.  That said, here are some links to quench your thirst to
see about Windows 7 from all sorts of vantage points:
Microsoft's site:

 http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/default.aspx
PC Magazine's total coverage: http://www.pcmag.com/Windows_7/
Story about the Amazon pre-ordering Windows 7 versus some of the
biggest book sales: http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/44377/140/
Which Windows 7 version is right for you:
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-31012_7-10379487-10355804.html
Deals and promotions on buying Windows 7:
http://tinyurl.com/yfy5mft

As I'm fond of doing equal time, Apple announced a bevy of new
products this week as well.  The "Apple Tax" is slowly fading as Apple
is starting to use more standard components like other computer
manufacturers do:
Apple's new iMac, Mac mini, and MacBooks, as well as their new Magic
Mouse: http://www.apple.com/hotnews/
How the "Apple Tax" is being repealed:
http://tinyurl.com/yjkl87c

I'll wrap it up (because Kevin is probably looking at me, asking when
the links will end) and introduce you to the newest in e-book
technology, the Nook, by Barnes & Noble:
http://tinyurl.com/yzd6bfo

Daniel A. Williams

daniel at thepcgurus.com

Download of the Week

Ever think about organizing your desktop by fencing it off?  "Fences" does exactly that. It fences off parts of your desktop and devotes them to certain things, such as applications, Web links, folders, recent items, files and documents, and more. That way, instead of having to search through your disorganized desktop for an item, you just go to the appropriate fenced area and find it immediately there. It's free here: 

http://tinyurl.com/yjplw2k 

Carlita Lupino

Cards57 at gmail.com

Email Question of the Week

Q:  I'm running Windows XP and trying to launch Internet Explorer, latest version.  I click on the icon and the browser page tries to load.  It says it's connecting but nothing else happens.  Eventually it says it is not responding.

If I tell it to end program, the CPU usage goes to 100% and after a couple minutes it ends.  If I then click on the IE icon again the program goes ahead and loads properly.

I can also get it to load properly by just ignoring the "not responding" page, leaving it up there, and clicking on the IE icon again.  It will load properly, on top of the "not responding" page.

I use a cable modem and a dial up modem.  The problem happens with both.

Have you heard of this before?

A:  That usually happens from either a bad plug-in to the browser or some known issues between IE 8 and security programs that use the Restricted Sites Zone (like Spybot or Spyware Blaster).

You can try going to Start/Programs (or All Programs)/Accessories/System Tools/ and using Internet Explorer (no add-ons) for a couple of days.  

If that stops it then you can open IE normally and click Tools and Manage Add-Ons and disable anything you don't use.  You'll have to experiment to figure out what causes the problem but it's just basic trial and error.

If it continues go to Control Panel/Add-Remove Programs and uninstall Windows Internet Explorer 8.  You'll get a warning about all the programs that may not work, just ignore that and uninstall it.  That will roll it back to the last version and should fix it.

Hope that helps and keep us posted...

Kevin Mefford

microdome at seidata.com

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