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Living with Windows 7

admin — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 10:31:19 +0000

I’ve been living with the release candidate of Windows 7 now for a couple of weeks now at home. To be honest, I’m so impressed that it’s got to the stage that going to work and having to use Windows Vista again has become a chore. If you missed my article last week on obtaining and downloading this free pre-release (test) version of the new version of Windows from Microsoft then check out www.thisissouthdevon.co.uk or www.computerarticles.co.uk for a copy.

Unlike the change from Windows 3.11 to Windows 95 or from Windows ME to Windows XP there are no revolutionary changes. Windows XP users will notice the most difference in terms of the look and feel of the software as visually it looks very similar to Vista, perhaps just a little more intuitive.

Using this software you get the impression that finally Windows may have ‘come of age’ with this release. When pitched against this new release, Windows XP looks clunky, badly aged and flawed by comparison and although visually Vista holds its own a little better, in terms of performance it still looks as though the wheels are about to fall off. I wasn’t against Vista as much as some others however I will admit that due to the fact it was hungry for resources you always got the impression it was about to ‘fall over’ as soon as you started doing anything slightly demanding.

I’m running the 64-bit version of Windows 7 on a relatively new laptop and the comparisons against Vista are startling; faster start up times, less hard drive access, greater stability and even improved battery life. Although I’m unsure whether it would be faster than XP or not, it is worth bearing in mind that this eight year OS never really gained momentum for 64-bit support and as such it could possibly do with being retired even if just to wave in a new, faster era of 64-bit applications.

Ignoring the arguably most important developments in terms of speed, security and stability, it is the little changes and additions that I appreciate most. I like the ability to ‘peek’ back at the desktop by hovering down the bottom right hand side of the start menu, the auto preview when you flick between applications using & and the rotation setting that can be used to change your wallpaper automatically every couple of minutes.

Visually it looks gorgeous; the semi translucent taskbar and menu headers along with various other visual effects make the OS look a lot less flat than XP. Although it’s not a million miles away from Vista, it is certainly more ‘polished’ and due to the noticeable speed increases it doesn’t give you the nagging impression your machine is crawling to a halt as a result of a few visual effects.

I also love the way you can ‘pin’ applications to the taskbar. For example, if you pin Firefox to your taskbar area then the icon will always be visible next to the start menu in what would have been traditionally been the ‘quick launch’ area. The similarities end there however as when you click this icon it the application launches but doesn’t create a new group within your taskbar; the quick launch icon essentially becomes the menu group if you wish to click back to your Firefox session or launch another instance of the browser. Windows 7 handles multiple instances of one application by ‘stacking’ the icons within the taskbar rather than relying on the incredibly inefficient grouped application menus used in XP and Vista.

Computing Myths

admin — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 16:27:05 +0000

Back in the day when I used to repair PC’s I used to hear some fantastically misinformed facts regarding PC’s and thought that when I retired from that industry and switched to selling consumables that these days would be over. Unfortunately, I then invited my good friends at Switch Computer Support to share our building and now I simply hear these myths from their customers rather than mine.

I have heard a great number of these myths in my time so I’m afraid that debunking them will involve a two part article which will continue next week.

Turning off your PC daily to save power shortens its life.

This is possibly the most popular myth floating around and, as such, it’s the one that makes me most irate. The logic behind the argument is that if you turn your PC on and off again on a regular basis that the constant cooling and heating of the components puts them under undue stress and hence shortens their operational life. Whilst this is true to a limited extent, and although this figure is extremely imprecise, a typical modern PC should be able to handle several tens of thousands of on/off cycles. This means theoretically you could turn your PC on and off half a dozen times a day and it would last close to two decades before someone could blame the damage on your power cycling.

Think of all the money that would have been saved on power over that twenty year period and let’s face it, would you really be bothered if the price you had to pay for turning your machine off was that you might have to get it repaired half way through the 2020′s?

You need to drain your laptop battery completely in order to achieve the maximum charge.

This is quite a common misconception that also fools many mobile phone users. I used to know someone who spent approximately half of their life with a flat battery on their mobile as they insisted on fully exhausting it every time to preserve the battery life. Historically, the belief is sound as many older style laptop and mobile phone batteries including the nickel cadmium and nickel metal hydride varieties did suffer from a battery ‘memory’ which meant unless they were periodically discharged your battery life would start to suffer. Fortunately, the more modern lithium ion and lithium polymer batteries don’t suffer this memory effect so, please, recharge whenever it is necessary.

Memory confusion

An extremely common misconception is that there is only one major form of memory in a typical computer simply referred to as ‘the memory’ by those in the IT industry. Whilst I concede the fact that this would indeed be quite convenient, I’m afraid I have to confirm that there are in fact many different types of memory.

Fortunately, for all intensive purposes, we only have to worry about two; the RAM (Random Access Memory) and the hard drive. RAM is the relatively small amount of high speed memory the computer uses as a temporary storage whilst it is working – think of it as a working area used for loading, displaying and manipulating applications and data whilst the computer is turned on. When the computer is turned off the data in this memory is lost so typically it will be stored on the hard disk which is a much higher capacity albeit much slower device.

When you next proclaim that your computer needs more memory it is imperative that you are sure of which you need to avoid looking the fool. If your machine is running slow due to a lack of memory then it is most likely the RAM that is being referred to. If you need more space on your computer to store MP3′s then it’s likely that it is the hard drive that needs to be replaced with a larger unit.

Centrino

admin — Sat, 29 Apr 2006 14:54:46 +0000

A popular technology at the moment and one that has been heavily advertised in the press is the Intel Centrino standard which is used to provide laptops with an all in one solution consisting of processor, chipset and wireless connection.

After hearing one to many people describe Centrino as a processor I thought it was long time I took a look at exactly what this technology consists of and what it has to offer the average laptop user. The fact people see this technology so simplistically isn’t really too surprising as has been implied in Intel adverts that Centrino is a processor.

Centrino is a combination of the words ‘centre’ and ‘neutrino’ and is simply a marketing term to describe three technologies sold together in the same machine – these include:

- Pentium M Processor – This is a small and light processor that uses a relatively small amount of power which makes it ideal for use in a laptop machine as cooling needs are reduced and battery life is improved. Of course there are many different versions of the Pentium M Processor including just recently a Dual Core variant.

- Intel Chipset – Several chipsets can be provided for the laptop to qualify as a ‘Centrino’ machine. Whichever chipset is chosen will be provided by Intel and be designed to have low power consumption.

- Wireless Network – The specifications for this particular component are changing constantly as wireless networks are evolving very quickly. Suffice to say that an Intel wireless network card is necessary for a laptop to be considered ‘Centrino’

Basically we have established that Centrino is in fact a group of technologies and not just one component and together these do offer the average laptop user a few advantages:

Integrated Wireless Technology:

An essential part of any modern laptop which allows you to connect to either your home network via a wireless connection or a number of Internet ‘hot spots’ around the world. These hotspots can be located in cafes, airport lounges, hotels and many other locations.

Mobile Performance

The Pentium M processor is surprisingly quick; especially the dual core version which has received good reviews in the press just recently. The processor has the ability to combine operations and works to anticipate instructions that will be issued to it in the future based on past behaviour.

Whilst none of the Intel mobile processors are yet 64-bit it should be pointed out that this technology should be covered by Intel in late 2006 which coincidentally is also around the same time as the new 64-bit version of Windows is released.

Good battery life

Because the processor uses such a small amount of energy it requires little cooling and generates only a small amount of heat which will result in improved battery. To conserve power the processor also slows itself down when not required meaning that it is not running at full speed even if you are just writing a Word document.

It should be pointed out that although Intels rivals AMD do have a mobile processor of their own that they haven’t gone down the route of marketing an ‘all-in-one’ solution. Personally I find this quite surprising as Centrino have already gained a huge market share due to the average man in the street now wanting this technology by name due to the extensive advertising.

It’s not often that I give Intel praise but in this instance the three components working together do appear very competent and anybody looking for a new laptop should certainly consider making sure it conforms to the Centrino standard.

Internet on the Move

admin — Sat, 21 Apr 2001 14:04:39 +0000

Over the past 14 weeks, we have explored how to access the Internet and accomplishing many useful tasks using your home PC. This is all very well, but should you wish to work on the move, you are restricted to just a few options: First off, laptop computers. These are reducing in size almost daily, they allow you to perfectly emulate your home PC, unfortunately their battery life is usually too short for long journeys and they still weigh in at around 2½ kilos. The second option is a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), until recently these have been quite primitive and related very little to the PC you would have been using at home, however a new breed of these PDA’s make use of the improving technology in colour displays, handwriting recognition and the Operating System on the device.

For the last couple of weeks, the guys at The Carphone Warehouse have loaned me possibly one of the most state of the art PDA’s on the market, the Compaq iPAQ H3630 for me to play around with and test for review in Click.

The machine is soon ready for use straight out the box. After reading the quick start guide included, I discovered how to activate the iPAQ and then it was just a case of hitting the on button to get started as the machine was already fully charged. The colour screen lit up and an obvious Windows dialog box appeared asking me to check the settings so that the machine could be personalised, this only took around a minute and then I was allowed in to the main menu. As I stated above, the machine uses an Operating System very much like the version of Windows that you will find on your home PC, because somewhat unsurprisingly, the software that powers the iPAQ happens to be Microsoft Windows CE (Compact Edition). This means that many of you that have used a Windows machine before should have no problems getting the hang of this little device. The only stumbling point that I had was the lack of any real manual to accompany the machine to fully explain features like the handwriting recognition which take a bit of getting used to. This isn’t a major point, as help is available over the Internet, on the CD provided with the machine or through the help files loaded onto the Compaq iPAQ however it still would have been nice to have a comprehensive source of reference.

To look closer into the handwriting recognition, once explained the system becomes extremely easy to use; I wouldn’t like to write a novel using it, but then again, I wouldn’t want to write a novel using pen and paper either. For quick e-mails and letters it is perfect as it means that the machine doesn’t have to be unnecessary large to accommodate a QWERTY keyboard.

The iPAQ includes an Infra Red port that allows it to communicate wirelessly with another compatible device such as an Infra Red printer or a mobile phone if you want to get onto the Internet using the machine. This would be done by simply selecting connect and then your mobile will automatically dial up your Internet Provider and communicate the data effortlessly back to the PDA.

Other features include a Dictaphone for taking memos that can be stored on the machine or sent via e-mail. Should you wish to play back your memo, an extremely clear but small speaker is embedded in one of the larger control buttons. Additionally, to conserve battery power the backlight is automatically controlled by the PDA so that if you are in a light area it is deactivated, and in contrast if you enter a completely dark room, the backlight will be set to its maximum setting.

A cradle to attach to your home computer is provided in the package so that at any time the PDA can be docked and all information can be backed up off of it, or even information sent to it from the main computer. The cradle also acts as a charger.

Software included in the package consists of the standard Windows CD features such as solitaire, notepad, media player, calendar etc., but the system also includes the pocket versions of Microsoft Word, Excel, Internet Explorer and Outlook.

To summarise, the main plus point for anybody who is thinking about buying this machine is, as you have probably gathered by now, its incredibly small size – To think that they have managed to construct a complete Windows CE machine equipped with all the features and technology that I have detailed above into a package that weighs just 170g and is around the same size as an empty wallet, is, to me simply amazing.

What is the downside? Well, the machine costs £449.99. This includes everything that I have detailed above such as the docking cradle. You also get a protective leather case and a tough plastic protective cover for your money – the package is comprehensive. This price however may be too high for people who may just be looking for an organiser. The Carphone Warehouse will however match prices off the Internet (conditions apply) and so I would suggest that if you are considering purchasing one that you try it out first in their store on Union Street, Torquay.