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| Issue 3 - Spring Newsletter 2007 |
Welcome to the third Hillside Computer Services Newsletter. As you will probably be aware, there have been some major upheavals in the computing world, namely Microsoft releasing Windows Vista and Google’s attempts to take over the world.
Windows Vista; A Personal Experience
At the end of last month Microsoft unveiled to the waiting world their much heralded, latest operating system; Windows Vista ( I thought it was a 1970’s freeze dried, boil in the bag curry. Oops, that was Vesta). This is available in oodles of different versions depending upon what you want to do on your computer (both now and in the future).
Below are quotes from the Microsoft web site regarding their latest offerings:
Home Basic
Windows Vista Home Basic is ideal for homes with basic computing needs like e-mail, browsing the Internet, and viewing photos. Easy to set up and maintain, it enables you to quickly find what you're looking for on your PC and the Internet, while providing a more secure environment to help protect you from an unpredictable world.
Home Premium
Windows Vista Home Premium is the preferred edition for home desktop and mobile PCs. It provides a breakthrough design that brings your world into sharper focus while delivering the productivity, entertainment, and security you need from your PC at home or on the go.
Ultimate
Windows Vista Ultimate is the choice for those who want to have it all. Easily shift between the worlds of productivity and play with the most complete edition of Windows Vista. Ultimate provides the power, security, and mobility features needed for work, and all the entertainment features that you want for fun.
There are also business and enterprise editions of Vista, but they aren’t relevant to home users (a horrible term I know) and most small businesses.
Regarding pricing. At the moment the costs are from £170 ish up to £350. Quite a sum of money to be parted from. Not only that, but there are a number of lobby’s going on trying to get Microsoft to explain why Vista in the Good Old US of A is less than half the price there than here.
Anyway, unperturbed by this, I decided to dabble a tentative toe in the water. Those nice people at Microsoft provide a download called the Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor, a piece of software you download and run on your setup to ascertain:
Whether your PC is powerful enough to run Vista
What version your PC (assuming it can run Vista) would be best suited to run
What hardware and software implications there would be in running Vista i.e. would I need to update / upgrade any other hardware or software
Running the software took about five minutes and identified that the driver software for my sound card would need updating. Everything else was OK to run Vista successfully. It also stated that my PC would be suitable to run Vista Ultimate.
I should at this point say that my office PC is less than 12 months old and the specification of it was:
AMD Athlon 4400+ dual processor
DVD ROM
DVD R/W
2 GB RAM
1000 GB Hard Disk Drive (1 Terabyte)
256 MB ATI X800 GT Graphics Card
Floppy Drive
Windows XP Professional (Service Pack 2)
Having taken all this information from the Advisor on board I took the plunge to upgrade my office PC to Vista Ultimate as recommended by the Advisor and me being a bit of a power user running powerful image editing and web creation software (Photoshop and Dreamweaver etc.) I wanted to see what the implications were.
So, a couple of telephone calls later and with a hefty dent in my credit card I had ordered the Ultimate edition. I then checked various web sites about upgrading and downloading the software as identified by the Advisor.
The following day the Postman knocked on the door, parcel in hand for me to sign for. Nestling in the box was my pristine copy of Ultimate. I should add at this point that Vista comes on a DVD, so people with CD drives will need to purchase a DVD drive before hand. The Advisor does tell you this at the onset.
I spent the rest of the day backing up all of my documents, photographs, music, emails, Internet account settings, passwords etc. I then re-checked to make sure that everything was fully backed up as I was going to perform a Full Clean Installation i.e. completely wiping my hard drives clean and then re-installing my programs / data etc. I then made doubly sure that I’d got all my software together for the reinstallation - CD’s, DVD’s, along with any subsequent upgrades.
Having got everything backed up, it was time to install Vista. This actually is very easy to do. Set your PC to boot automatically to DVD from the PC’s BIOS. Put the disk in and re-boot the PC. During the installation process you are asked a couple of questions; your name, the name of your PC (so that it can be identified if you are on a PC network) and also enter the Vista registration code. As I said, all very easy. Once that was done, time for a coffee and biccies, read the paper and wait (heart in mouth, will it or won’t it work). Well it did work and forty minutes later the PC had been upgraded to Vista and I was presented with the new look Windows Desktop. So far so good.
At this point I had a quick investigate / play to see where things were, what was what etc. Well, the quick play ended up being a full day. The layout of Vista is quite different to XP - where files are stored, and how things / tasks performed is equally different, but in a weird way strangely reminiscent of Apple Mac computers. However, I was in for a shock. It transpired that my 256 MB ATI Graphics Card wasn’t up for the job of running Aero (Vista’s new graphical interface). I rechecked the Advisor and it definitely said that it was good enough to do so. A quick check on ATI’s web site said that my card would run the Aero feature and that I’d need to download new drivers. This I did and installed them only to find that my card was still not good enough to run Aero. AAARRRGGGHHH lies, lies, lies.
A phone call to one of my suppliers confirmed this to be the case and was told I would need a new Graphics Card. Yes, they had one for £89.00. I ordered it and it was delivered the following day and duly fitted and made to work without too much difficulty. Aero looks great, essentially it is a three dimensional Windows Desktop with semi transparent windows is the easiest way to describe it, but a picture paints a thousand words. For more information visit www.microsoft.com. There you’ll find a heap of information about Vista
Thus far the upgrade had taken three days and I hadn’t even installed my programs yet.
Day four dawned cloudy and rainy, actually it suited my mood as I was intent on restoring my data and getting the computer up and running. Actually this was straight forward and took me a couple of hours to achieve. The next task (the one I was dreading) was to reinstall my software. Now experience (and getting fingers burn in the past) had taught me to do this slowly and methodically.
First thing to do was install the sound card drivers as advised by the Advisor. This went smoothly. Next on the list was to install my anti virus software and get it updated and also to download any Vista updates from Microsoft. This too was smooth. At this stage I was getting suspicious. Things were going too smoothly OK I’d had a snags with the Graphics Card, but hey, c’est la vie.
I then installed Microsoft Office and re-established my Internet / email accounts. Printers were installed next. Once again no problems. This was too good to be true. I was nearly there.
My list of software to install was slowly becoming shorter. All I had to do was install my accounts software (Quick Books 2003). Here I hit a major stumbling block. It didn’t work. AAAARRRGGGGHHHH. A ‘phone call to an awfully nice lady at Quicken put me at ease. There was a work around, which she talked me through. The end was in sight.
A few more programs were installed and configured with no more glitches (thankfully). The next bit of software to install was somewhat troublesome. The Vista Advisor software had said that my CD / DVD burning software was suitable and didn’t need upgrading. It did, but I didn’t know that at the time. I installed Ahead Nero and then got heaps of error messages / blue screens and then Windows crashed. AAARRRGGGHHH. I rebooted the PC into Safe Mode and eventually uninstalled the software. A check on Nero’s web site said that I’d need to upgrade to the latest version. So I coughed up some more cash - £62.00 to be precise and bought an upgrade, which arrived the following day.
One more thing to do was installing the software for my Palm Handheld PC, where I store contact information, things to do, notes etc. I use it when at clients to make sure I’ve got all their details correct and then upon my return to my office, synchronise it with my PC. I can wirelessly connect to the Internet and collect my emails and should the mood take me, I can listen to my music through it’s headphones (a la iPod). This has worked perfectly for goodness how long and I thought that this was going to be trouble free to install. How wrong could I be? After messing around with settings and configurations I couldn’t get my PC to “talk” to my PDA, so I bit the bullet. I had a good look on the Palm web site and found hidden away from prying eyes, just the information that I didn’t need. Palm were not going to offer any support for Windows Vista and were not going to update any of their software and drivers to work with Vista. A massive AAARRRGGGHHH. I use my Palm PDA every single day and couldn't cope / operate without it. A telephone call to Palm where I vented my wrath didn’t make me feel hugely better, but at least I’d taught the guy at the end of the ‘phone a few new phrases!
That was all I needed. More expense. I haven’t got round to replacing my Palm PDA yet, but will have to in the next week. They aren’t cheap devices as there is a massive amount of technology in such a tiny box
Day five. Installed Nero 7 Premium only to be “told” during the installation that “this version is not suitable for Windows Vista”. AAARRRGGGHHH. A check on their web site (many “layers” down and I found that this was true and that there was a free upgrade to Nero 7 Premium). This “free” upgrade was in the shape of a 500 MB download. This took nearly and two hours to download and twenty minutes to install.
I was finally there. I had upgraded my less than 12 months old PC to Vista Ultimate. It had taken over five days to accomplish, which in real terms - coffee breaks, searching the web for updates and downloading updates and of course not forgetting to do some real, paid work took in the region of thirty hours to complete, loads of downloading and searching the Internet, lots of telphone calls and hassle.
Add to this the costs:
Vista Ultimate - £350.00
256 MB Vista compatible Graphics Card - £89.00
Nero 7 Premium - £62.00
Handheld PDA computer - £300 and upwards
As you can plainly see, upgrading your PC (even a relatively new, top spec. one) to Vista is an expensive and traumatic thing to achieve (especially at this early stage after its release). Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor isn’t a piece of software to trust implicitly. It did get some things wrong , but I suppose with the huge variety / amounts of computer hardware and software out there in the outside world it did a reasonable job in identifying that my PC would run Vista, which it does. One thing I wasn’t prepared for was the time scale it took in getting my PC to a good / stable working state. When I upgraded an old(ish) PC to XP when it was first released was a fairly painless and quick experience. Everything which ran on Windows 98 ran pretty well under XP. I think then that the only addition I had to make was adding some more RAM.
I’ve been running Vista for a couple of days, testing my software for problems etc. And I must admit to being pleased with it. Vista is quite a different experience to XP and takes a while to get used to. Having said that it does have a nice feel to it and has proved to be remarkably stable
To sum up briefly:
Don’t go to the trouble / expense of upgrading your PC to Vista from XP (even if it’s a new one)
If you need a new PC, it’s cheaper in the long run to buy a PC with Vista already installed (everything installed on it will work)
Windows XP will be around for a long time to come and you shouldn’t be worried that you’re going to be left stranded high and dry
Wait until things settle down
It is a very new operating system and as time goes by, software and hardware manufactures will be more attuned to upgrades and I suspect that they’ll be offering them for free or at least a minimum charge.
Regarding performance, at this very early stage, it’s difficult to tell whether Vista has any detrimental effects on my PC’s performance. It certainly boots up and shuts down quicker than under XP, though at times I wonder whether some of my applications are running a little slower. Well, only time will tell.
As post script to these events, my wife and I went to Cambridge last Saturday and on the way back home stopped off a Tesco’s to get some bits and pieces. Now I hate supermarkets so chose the lesser of two evils (only marginal) and I went across the road to PC World. They had a massive sale on, huge reductions on all things to do with Windows XP. I asked an assistant what their rationale was and was told that they (PC World) would be no longer selling PC’s with Windows XP and that was the reason for the sale. So if you were in PC World that day, I’m sure you’d have picked up a bargain.
So there you have it in a nutshell, my experiences of upgrading to Vista. Watch this space and I’ll keep you updated with the Vista Experience.
PC Security
Make sure that you have anti virus software installed
Make sure that you install the latest Windows updates
Make sure that it it is updated
Run anti virus scans on a weekly basis
Backup your work to CD / DVD regularly
Google now challenging ITV to be UK’s top advertiser
From The Times March 03, 2007 - Jonathan Richards and James Doran
Google’s UK advertising revenue has risen by 83 per cent, making the search engine second only to ITV as Britain’s highest advertising earner.
In a filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Google said that revenue from its UK advertisements had risen above $1.6 billion (£825 million) in 2006. That put it ahead of Channel 4, with just over £800 million.
ITV’s most recent figures showed advertising revenues of £1.63 billion, although Google was expected to close that gap after half-yearly results for the broadcaster indicated that revenues had fallen by 8 per cent.
Analysts estimate that ITV, which is to file its 2006 figures on Wednesday, will have advertising revenues of about £1.47 billion. Google denied that the rise in its revenues, which have nearly quadrupled in the UK since 2004, represented a threat to traditional media, saying that broadcasters stood to benefit greatly from growth in online advertising.
“The market for online ads is growing and there’s room for many players within it,” an official said.
The Internet search company also revealed that the SEC had made a formal request to investigate its tax accounting. Google said that it had received several requests for information from the SEC in March last year, but so far had not responded to the request about filing taxes.
“We believe that we properly account for our income taxes,” the company said. “We will continue to work to resolve these comments with the SEC.”
Joke
THE COMPUTER PROGRAMMER
A man was crossing a road one day when a frog called out to him and said, "If you kiss me, I'll turn into a beautiful princess." He bent over, picked up the frog, and put it in his pocket.
The frog spoke up again and said, "If you kiss me and turn me back into a beautiful princess, I will tell everyone how smart and brave you are and how you are my hero." The man took the frog out of his pocket, smiled at it, and returned it to his pocket.
The frog spoke up again and said, "If you kiss me and turn me back into a beautiful princess, I will be your loving companion for an entire week." The man took the frog out of his pocket, smiled at it, and returned it to his pocket.
The frog then cried out, "If you kiss me and turn me back into a princess, I'll stay with you for a year and do ANYTHING you want." Again the man took the frog out, smiled at it, and put it back into his pocket.
Finally, the frog asked, "What is the matter? I've told you I'm a beautiful princess, that I'll stay with you for a year and do anything you want. Why won't you kiss me?"
The man said, "Look, I'm a computer programmer. I don't have time for a
girlfriend, but a talking frog is cool."
For more information and details on any of the issues mentioned in this missive or any computing problems / queries, please contact me, and don’t forget to send me your email address if you’d like to be kept in touch with what’s happening in the computer world. Your details will not be passed on to any third party.
Happy and safe computing.
Mike Hamilton Hillside Computer Services (01284) 830830 Hillside Computer Services |
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