Recent Posts

551

General Software Discussion / Re: Neowin reviews Windows 8 - Leave your pre-conceived notions at the door

« Last post by Carol Haynes on October 27, 2012, 03:32 AM »

Because to build your own software from the ground up for large tasks is beyond most individuals, would take a life time and cost a fortune. You need software compatibility at the very least and the trouble with that is that is installation requirements need to be known in advance - unless you want Linux to descend into a much worse version of DLL hell that Windows has suffered over the years,

552

Living Room / Re: Selling Something? Go to Jail! That's copyright infringement... :-/

« Last post by Carol Haynes on October 26, 2012, 02:20 AM »

Make everything donation ware - you donate $10 to me and I will 'give' you XXX !

Or are they going to outlaw altruism too?

553

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows 8 prices seem to have been announced during period to 31st January

« Last post by Carol Haynes on October 26, 2012, 02:18 AM »

I went non-pro System Builder 64-bit with additional 30 USD off (valid through 2012-10-25?) of 99.99 USD:

  http://www.amazon.com/Windows-System-Builder-DVD-64-Bit/dp/B0094NY3R0/
 (see attachment in previous post)

-ewemoa (October 25, 2012, 11:20 PM)

Why? Why pay $60 more than you need to?

554

General Software Discussion / Re: Neowin reviews Windows 8 - Leave your pre-conceived notions at the door

« Last post by Carol Haynes on October 25, 2012, 11:02 AM »

People talk about MS trying to be like Apple- but on the desktop, MacOS isn't locked down, nor confined to the AppStore.  In fact, several of their largest software providers don't use the App Store at all.  Just thought I'd point that out.

-wraith808 (October 25, 2012, 09:54 AM)

But how long before the iOS and MacOSX merger that is evolving?

If Apple have any sense they will trumpet themselves as the open platform desktop option and maybe start reducing prices to compete with business Windows boxes - as time goes on they will clean up. IMHO MS are going to back themselves into a corner if they aren't careful.

555

General Software Discussion / Re: Neowin reviews Windows 8 - Leave your pre-conceived notions at the door

« Last post by Carol Haynes on October 25, 2012, 05:37 AM »

On locked scale and the patent fights, I think apple wins any day. I don't think microsoft will be as successful like them with appstore and stuff. It took apple 3 years to push people for dependency on ITunes store and app store. MS can't push people that quickly with Windows 8. It will take some years and some biased media news to push people to use MS app store for purchase.

-mahesh2k (October 25, 2012, 05:23 AM)

Depends how quickly major developers make the move to the new interface and the AppStore. Utlimately if not-Metro works as well as some think it will on tablets there is a good chance MS could gain market share rapidly - most of the reviews see a lot of advantages of not-Metro over iOS - and for me not having to depend on iTunes is a major draw. Even Apple fans who use Windows boxes hate iTunes on Windows. I think Apple deliberately make it suck to try and move people to Apple hardware.

556

General Software Discussion / Re: Neowin reviews Windows 8 - Leave your pre-conceived notions at the door

« Last post by Carol Haynes on October 25, 2012, 04:19 AM »

I havent used 8, but it seems to me there's a share of reaction against it because of the [very understandable] fear that MS might be planning to abandon the desktop.

-tomos (October 24, 2012, 03:10 PM)

That is precisely what they are doing and that is precisely their intention.

They want new users to switch the computer on and find internet, email, facebook etc. right there in front of them and never have to click on Desktop at all - hell on ARM tablets Desktop won't exist.

This is all pretty clever from MS - the next stage in the game is 'you have used Windows 8 on a PC why not make your next purchase a tablet - you don't really need all the other stuff that comes with a netbook, laptop or desktop computer ... oh and hey, we have you covered MS Now run the shop so you know everything you want is easy to get and we also make the hardware."

Microsoft's slogan by the time Windows 9 or 10 appear (depending on how much crap they take over Windows 8 ) will be "Microsoft - locked in like Apple".

Businesses will put up with crap for so long but eventually they will move - if for no other reason than MS will phase out support for Windows desktop products at some point. In the meantime they will still be coughing up corporate subscriptions for old versions of Windows and old versions of Office (so why should MS care). I wouldn't be surprised if MS at some point doesn't change the corporate licensing to force the move to the latest version of windows and office ('so we can provide the best support') - given that they unilaterally rewrite EULAs and contracts all the time.

We have to accept that MS is getting out of the operating system and office software game and moving into the consumer/service/subscription business with a manufacturing arm (pun intended).

We can all squeal and squirm as much as we like.

Personally I am quite pleased I will reach retirement age before all this comes to full fruition but I pity anyone working in the IT industry over the coming decades. The 80s saw the death of big industry in the west, I suspect the next 20 years will see the death of information technology (as a business) in the west - everything will be locked into two or three large conglomerates and most of the work will be outsourced to suicide camps in the far east.

When are western governments going to notice that the west is gradually losing all forms of income apart from loans from China ?

557

Living Room / Re: Selling Something? Go to Jail! That's copyright infringement... :-/

« Last post by Carol Haynes on October 24, 2012, 08:36 PM »

Working on this principle no-one can sell anything unless they own the IP rights to the object.

That means no shop can sell a book or anything else because the shop has to buy the product in order to sell it to their customer. On that basis the shop is the first purchaser and cannot pass the goods on!

I suppose Apple would be more than happy to be the sole supplier of iPads etc. but I am not sure Amazon etc. will be happy!

558

Living Room / Re: Amazon closes woman's account and wipes her Kindle

« Last post by Carol Haynes on October 22, 2012, 04:53 PM »

If Amazon trade in Europe there is a single European Market and they are violating it by discriminating against EU citizens from other EU states. It is perfectly legal for any EU citizen to purchase from any EU trader and the trader has to treat EU customers on an equal footing.

-Carol Haynes (October 22, 2012, 01:24 PM)

Norway isn't a part of the EU, is it?

-wraith808 (October 22, 2012, 03:13 PM)

True. I hadn't realised that ... but:

Following Norway's decision not to join the EU, it became one of the members of the European Economic Area which also includes Iceland and Liechtenstein (all former members have joined the EU and Switzerland rejected membership). The EEA links these countries into the EU's market, extending the four freedoms to these states. In return, they pay a membership fee and have to adopt most areas of EU law (which they do not have direct impact in shaping).

(See http://en.wikipedia....f_the_European_Union)

The 'four freedoms' are described here: http://en.wikipedia....rket_(European_Union)

So Norway is covered by EU Single Market trading laws (I am no lawyer but that is the way I read it).

559

Living Room / Re: Amazon closes woman's account and wipes her Kindle

« Last post by Carol Haynes on October 22, 2012, 01:24 PM »

If Amazon trade in Europe there is a single European Market and they are violating it by discriminating against EU citizens from other EU states. It is perfectly legal for any EU citizen to purchase from any EU trader and the trader has to treat EU customers on an equal footing.

Having said that she must have registered her account from Norway so Amazon must have accepted her application and address.

I have Amazon accounts in the UK (where I live) and in the US, Canada, Germany and France (and IIRC Japan) - and ALL of them are linked by Amazon so that my delivery and payment details are shared between sites. All of those websites have happily allowed my UK address to be registered.

There are certain things I cannot buy in some markets because of trade restrictions (eg. I cannot buy view on demand TV or digital music products from the US Store). I suppose they might have a legitimate cause for complaint if I tried to circumvent their regional restrictions - but having said that they are quite happy to distribute materials outside markets illegally themselves. Look at the trading license on a US DVD or BluRay and it more than likely says it cannot be sold, lent or hired outside North America but Amazon happily break that rule - presumably because there is no mechanism for manufacturers to track those products!!

560

Developer's Corner / Re: There's Apple in my Microsoft

« Last post by Carol Haynes on October 20, 2012, 02:38 PM »

Carol made a joke (I think it was Carol)

-wraith808 (August 08, 2012, 11:25 AM)

Sounds like me ...  

But was it a joke 

561

General Software Discussion / Re: How Windows 8 hopes to change everything - and likely not for the better.

« Last post by Carol Haynes on October 18, 2012, 04:38 PM »

You calling me rude?   Or am I just paranoid? 

562

General Software Discussion / Re: Why I switched from Thunderbird to The Bat!

« Last post by Carol Haynes on October 18, 2012, 10:55 AM »

PST files getting large is not good but why not use something like MailStore to archive everything over a year old? It is a great archiving system with instant access to all your old email with a super fast search engine and the emails can backed up easily to optical disks or an external device. Best of all the home version is free.

I actually quite like Windows Live Mail (which is basically Outlook Express with built in hotmail and a ribbon). Ignore the temptation to login to a Live/Hotmail account and just use it like OE - seems to work fine.

563

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows 8 prices seem to have been announced during period to 31st January

« Last post by Carol Haynes on October 18, 2012, 09:29 AM »

Amazon are selling standard and N versions in the UK - been the case since Vista and the EU court case. The case didn't stop standard versions being sold but N versions had to be available too. Last time I looked on Amazon Win 8 Pro upgrade was £49.99 but Windows 8 Pro N version was £158.99

Perhaps time for another court case as the N version should be the same price or cheaper (since it lacks a number of features like WMP and Internet Explorer).

564

General Software Discussion / Re: How Windows 8 hopes to change everything - and likely not for the better.

« Last post by Carol Haynes on October 18, 2012, 09:26 AM »

The irony is I do sell MS products - but I can see LibreOffice becoming a favourite for my clients! Can't help feeling sheeple power will start to become effective as all these subscriptions start costing more than the electric bill!

565

General Software Discussion / Re: How Windows 8 hopes to change everything - and likely not for the better.

« Last post by Carol Haynes on October 18, 2012, 03:02 AM »

Can't help wondering when the UEFI legal challenges will start, esp. in the EU.

If MS are really going to coerce a lockdown to cut out all competition I cant't see it going without challenge.

What no one has answered is if Windows baulks outside warranty what will users do? Given that OEM support is the responsibility of the OEM for Windows how many manufacturers are going to resolve problems without the current approach of "wipe it clean"? If they effectively lock out all boot time tools there may not be much choice. Not that they care, but what is going to happen to third party support businesses?

566

General Software Discussion / Re: How Windows 8 hopes to change everything - and likely not for the better.

« Last post by Carol Haynes on October 17, 2012, 05:32 PM »

How long do you give UEFI before it is hacked?

567

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows 8 prices seem to have been announced during period to 31st January

« Last post by Carol Haynes on October 17, 2012, 05:29 PM »

Has anyone looked at the lovely shiny new Windows 8 N-editions?

Fantastic offer - only 3+ times the normal price. I am sure they will be snapped up very quickly - grab yours while you can!

568

General Software Discussion / Re: How Windows 8 hopes to change everything - and likely not for the better.

« Last post by Carol Haynes on October 17, 2012, 10:51 AM »

I still think MS hope to dump the legacy desktop by Windows 9 (or failing that Windows 10) - they are already pushing Office 2013 as a service in not-Metro. Once Office has moved to not-Metro what is left on the Desktop for MS? Big businesses (like Adobe etc) will play along and move to not-Metro just to keep in with MS but the millions of small developers will be left floundering or having to cough up a large part of their profits to MS.

Trouble is Joe Public don't care - they are already moving into the computers as an appliance mode of thinking.

The whole process is going to garner a lot of support from MPAA etc. who will no doubt push to use streaming DRM delivery in not-Metro and iTunes to be the only channels for media delivery in future. They don't care that many people don't have the bandwidth to stream HD content but they will achieve a long-held dream - no desktop apps for playing media and the ability to cut off MS and Apple if they don't restrict the apps you can load onto not-Metro or iOS.

What is the betting Apple replace OSX with iOS within the next few versions?

The article following your article is also a concern:

Because no software can ship on this future platform without it going through the Windows Store, the team that built Skyrim would have to send it to Microsoft for certification. Then Microsoft would tell them if they could ship it.

Do you know what Microsoft’s answer would be?

I do. It would be “no”.

This is not speculative, it is certain. Skyrim is a game for adults. It has a PEGI rating of 18. If you read the Windows 8 app certification requirements you will find, in section 5.1:

Your app must not contain adult content, and metadata must be appropriate for everyone. Apps with a rating over PEGI 16, ESRB MATURE, or that contain content that would warrant such a rating, are not allowed.

And that’s the end of it. No Skyrim for the Windows Store, unless of course the developers go back and remove all the PEGI 18-rated content.

569

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows 8 prices seem to have been announced during period to 31st January

« Last post by Carol Haynes on October 17, 2012, 10:44 AM »

No offers on Amazon UK - in fact they only seem to offer Pro Upgrades at £50 at the moment.

Has MS made it clear yet what happens to WMC when you upgrade from Win 8 Standard to Pro - does the 'upgrade' delete WMC ?

570

Living Room / Re: Remember to make full drive image backups

« Last post by Carol Haynes on October 15, 2012, 08:22 AM »

Paragon still provide WinPE start up disks but not prebuilt. You have to download and install Windows AIK from MS then use Paragon's tool to build the disk. Previously they provided an ISO prebuilt. You can also burn a Linux startup CD version but I prefer to use WinPE with pure windows systems as I have had a few issues with Linux based boot CDs in the past.

SyncBack Pro, SE or even free provide a good solution for making mirror backups, even across a network.

I still use FileHamster for versioning.

571

General Software Discussion / Re: Software to restrict wireless internet connection to other devices at X hours?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on October 15, 2012, 03:29 AM »

If they are connecting directly to the router (and from your previous answer I suspect you are not using Internet Connection Sharing, a feature of Windows connection manager, on the 'server') there is not much you can do from a networked computer to block access.

If you are using a genuine server (not just a standard windows box) you could configure it to be the DHCP server and DNS server (and disable those features in the router) and flush connections between certain times on the server and turn off the DHCP/DNS servers so that no one can connect. That would be fairly straightforward to do with the scheduler because it would only require three command lines so you could set up a batch file to switch off and another to switch on again and schedule their execution.

If your server is just a windows box on the system I suspect the easiest ways to achieve what you want are either buy a router that supports the features you need or buy a timer switch to use in the mains socket to switch off your router between certain hours (they work just like a central heating timer).

By far the simplest solution is to replace the router with one that does what you want.

572

Living Room / Re: Remember to make full drive image backups

« Last post by Carol Haynes on October 15, 2012, 03:03 AM »

why specifically recommend image-based backups?

Both types of backup are useful but with incremental and differential options for image based backup - plus image mounting to retrieve files it can satisfy all needs with just image backups.

The big question is 'do you trust the software to produce faultless images'.

In the case of Acronis I no longer do - I have seen too many failed backups, too many images fail to validate.

Experience so far with Paragon has been good - plus it has the option of backing up offline (using the Windows based recovery disk) if you do come across online issues (which I haven't).

Acronis allows mounting of images in both R/O AND R/W - the latter I think is particulalry stupid and I would never trust Acronis to 'touch' files in images via Explorer - seems like the ideal way to kill an image. I have never really understood why they thought this feature was necessary.

Paragon allow R/O mounting and I don't see any reason why this should damage the image since you are not making changes to the file.

The biggest issue with image files AFAICS is, assuming they are produced without error, the problem of a single bad block appearing on the hard disk rendering the whole image unusable. I have seen no mention from any of the major software houses on mitigation for this issue and when you are talking about images potentially in the 100s of Gb soor or later there is going to be a block error.

573

Living Room / Re: Remember to make full drive image backups

« Last post by Carol Haynes on October 15, 2012, 02:54 AM »

Wouldn't that be 4kb and 512byte sectors? Interesting if that's preventing a backup utility from working.

-f0dder (October 14, 2012, 07:05 PM)

Sorry yes - brain addled!

574

Living Room / Re: Remember to make full drive image backups

« Last post by Carol Haynes on October 14, 2012, 06:10 PM »

Why would they want to offer file level recovery from a partition image?

-40hz (October 14, 2012, 05:35 PM)

One of the things I like about Paragon is that you can 'mount' the images as read only drives and recover individual files and folders using normal Explorer methods. This can be handy - but I take your point that file backups are best done with appropriate tools.

I used to like that feature in Acronis but have given up using their bloated bugfest sometime ago when they caused me a lot of embarrassment with clients having recommended their tools. Ever since Acronis TrueImage Workstation 9 it has been a disaster with inconsistent (and random) VSS errors, corrupt archives, random errors with no explanation. They keep adding features - I just wish they could get back to basics and do the simple things well again.

575

Living Room / Re: Remember to make full drive image backups

« Last post by Carol Haynes on October 14, 2012, 02:30 PM »

By the way if you rely on Windows 7 backup for imaging I discovered it no longer works on 3Tb drives (or any drive that has a 4mb block size). Seems Windows backup is optimise for 512kb block size.

Very annoying as a customer just bought a 3Tb Seagate drive to do backups.

It is supposed to be fixed in Windows 8.

FWIW Paragon Free Backup and Recovery seems to do a good imaging job, though it lacks a lot of the subtlety of their paid offerings.