Home & Small Office Computer Guide

It’s all smoke and mirrors

Back in September I reported on Vista pricing and delivery and at that time Microsoft were trumpeting the news that Vista Home and Vista Professional would hit the shops at the same price as the Windows XP equivalent.

Well now it seems that Microsoft may be engaging in a little bit of smoke and mirrors. Jim Wong, the corporate vice-president of Taiwan based computer maker Acer, is reported as saying that the basic versions of Vista are so basic that no one will want them.

According to Mr Wong the versions of Vista that home users and businesses will buy comes at an extra cost of around 10% over the basic version. So bascially we can expect to pay more.

Some components get older faster

The laptop I use when I need to escape from the office and work outdoors or in another part of the house is almost three years old and yesterday, without any warning at all, the hard drive died. It blue-screened on shut down and when I tried restarting it failed.

So off it went to the computer shop where our partner diagnosed a some corrupt sectors in a critical part of the hard drive. Fortunately I store almost no data on the hard drive of the laptop so nothing was lost except some time. 

It seems that laptop hard drives have a tendency to fail around the three year mark so be warned, if you keep important data on your laptop’s hard drive make sure you back it up regularly and if you can avoid storing data on an older laptop’s hard drive then do so because it can all be lost in the blink of an eye.

But is it worth downloading?

I downloaded IE 7 last night and installed it on two of my computers. The actual installation took some time because Microsoft wants to check your computer before it actually goes ahead and does anyting and that became a little tedious.

IE7 automatically imports your bookmarks and any toolbars you may use (I use the Google toolbar) but you may find that it then adds things to those toolbars and the end result can look rather clunky. I ditched McAfee SiteAdvisor on the PC that I installed IE7 on because it pushed the toolbars out of shape.

The user interface is definitely not as user-friendly as it was om IE6. Instead of a neat row of buttons and text links across the top it has a few small buttons on the right hand side of the screen that are combined with  drop-down menus.

IE7 does have tabbed browsing at last but it doesn’t seem to do it as well as Firefox does. IE7 also gives you access to various extensions - just as Firefox does - but from what I read those extensions aren’t as useful - or extensive - or as free as the extensions for Firefox are.

Security and Speed
There are some added security measures for IE7 which may or may not prove useful. One is an anti-phishing filter that scans websites before they load in the browser window. You can turn that filter on or off and I will probably end up turning it off because it certainly slows the loading time way down and I already find it annoying that the filter wants to test sites that I own and that I know are not likely to want to take control of my computer.

The Bottom Line
Just about everything I have said here is based on my personal preferences and experience and that means that you may have a totally different experience with IE7 than me. However, in my humble opinion, I don’t see IE7 as being worth raving about and it’s not something that I would suggest anyone rush out and download.

But if you want to try it for yourself then you can download IE7 here

You’ve paid for the operating system so you can transfer it to a new machine right? Think Again!

CNet is reporting that Windows Vista is coming with new licensing terms that will severly restrict the number of times you can transfer the operating system to a new machine.

With previous Windows systems there was no limitation on the number of times you could transfer the operating system to a new machine but that’s all about to change.

When you buy Vista you’re not actually buying the software, you’re buying a license to use the software and that license will only allow you to move the operating system to a new machine just once.

And don’t think that you will be able to sneak your way around the provisions of the license because Microsoft’s Software Protection Platform will catch you and shut Vista down.

You can read the full story here

It even incorporates voice recognition technology

LXE Inc., a leading manufacturer of rugged wireless computers that improve the performance of supply-chain execution applications, today introduced a new addition to its line of wearable, “hands-free” computers – the HX2 wearable computer. The HX2 computer is a small, light-weight data collection computer designed to be worn on an operator’s arm or waist so that both hands are free to more effectively and efficiently perform warehouse inventory moves, including piece picking to carts, containers or conveyers; case picking; parcel moves; and broken case activities.

For a wearable computer to be embraced by the market it has to be both comfortable and easy to use. The unit’s innovative arm bands that secure both the unit and its battery keeps the wearable computer in the ready position at all times by preventing the unit from rotating around the operator’s arm – a common complaint among existing wearable users. The adaptable arm bands can be worn close to the elbow or near the wrist – whatever is the operator’s preference.

The compact HX2 wearable computer has an extraordinarily bright and crisp color display for easy viewing in any lighting conditions and from any angle – no longer is there a need for the wearable computer to be “front and center” to be read. And the large, backlit keys have been carefully designed for use in high-speed picking environments. The keys are fully mappable, so customers can customize them for specific applications.

Both the HX2 computer and its ring scanner accessories were designed with safety in mind. The entire HX2 wearable computer system features breakaway connections at multiple points and a low-profile, smooth design to resist snagging on common warehouse fixtures and equipment.

The HX2 wearable computer is driven by the latest Windows® CE 5.0 operating system and an Intel® XScale® processor. It features an 802.11 radio with Bluetooth, so customers are prepared for the real-time business opportunities of today and tomorrow.

The HX2 wearable computer also includes LXE’s ToughTalkTM technology. ToughTalk technology is LXE’s specialized combination of LXE’s trademark ruggedized system design, advanced audio circuitry and noise canceling techniques, which enable the HX2 wearable computer to support today’s industrial-grade voice recognition applications. With the HX2 computer, customers can run both their voice logistics applications and their traditional barcode scanning applications on the same unit.

The rugged HX2 wearable computer will be available early 2007. More information on the HX2, including high resolution photography can be found at http://www.lxe.com/

Cherry Electrical Products has introduced its new 6240 Series compact keyboard with an integrated touchpad and IP 54 spill and dust resistant key field for harsh environments. Typical applications include rack mount systems, test & medical equipment, automotive service, kiosks and transportation/warehouse distribution facilities and others.

The new 6240 Series features an enhanced, 109-position full QWERTY key layout in a compact, 14-inch form factor, combining maximal space efficiency with uncompromised alphanumeric data entry. The integrated touchpad ensures easy curser navigation with minimum desktop footprint.

The keyboard has yellow status LEDs for improved visibility in rooms with artificial light. The additional keys include a “double-zero” key, as well as Copy, Paste, Cut and Undo for easy function calls in Microsoft® Windows® operating systems.

The 6240 Series compact keyboard is offered in black and light grey and comes standard with a USB 2.0 interface. It measures 14.17” X 7.80” X 1.50” and weighs 3.09 pounds. The G86-62401EUADAA keyboard is readily available from stock.

For detailed information regarding the 6240 Series compact keyboard, contact Cherry Electrical Products, 11200 88th Avenue, Pleasant Prairie, WI 53158. Tel: 262.942.6500. Web: www.cherrycorp.com.