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9626

General Software Discussion / Re: Has anyone discovered any cool Windows 7 third-party utilities?

« Last post by 40hz on November 22, 2009, 03:18 PM »

(Note: spotted this in a recent post by Ramblinrick over at his What's on My PC website. Link to original article: http://whatsonmypc.w...09/11/20/win7inabox/  )
------------------------------------------------

Yet another "training wheels" type utility called Windows 7 in a Box - but this one's a little bit different because it's completely portable and very comprehensive.



Info and download: http://www.big-daddy...m/windows7inabox.htm

From the "Windows 7 in a Box" website-

For everyone who made the big switch to Windows 7 here is the ultimate Desktop Tool. Windows7 in a Box. Windows7 in a Box was designed to help guide you through the brand new operating system from Microsoft .

Everything from Theme settings to Parental Controls. Sits on your desktop, easy to navigate, and puts an end to all the frustration of endless searching for settings.

Spyware,Adware,and Malware free.

Windows7 in a box can make the complete novice seem like a pro in just seconds.

No need to install anything.Sits on your Desktop or wherever you place it (it even runs off of a thumb drive).

Just locate what your looking for and click! It cant get any simpler than that.

Ramblinrick also pointed out another great use for this app in his article:


From the What's on My PC website-

I can see myself using this app to quickly assist other Windows 7 client users without having to go through the navigation process of locating specific settings and functions.

http://whatsonmypc.w...09/11/20/win7inabox/

Now that is a dynamite idea! I'm definitely going to start passing out copies of this little app to anybody (e.g. friends, family, clients) I'm asked to do enduser Win7 phone support for. Bound to save everyone (especially me!) some time.  

With thanks to What's on My PC for making the find.  

(Check out the rest of WOMPC when you get a chance. Very nice website!)

A few more screenshots:

 

 

9627

Living Room / Re: What books are you reading?

« Last post by 40hz on November 20, 2009, 12:42 PM »

Just finished William Kotzwinkle's The Bear Went Over the Mountain.

Dumb as the plot premise may sound, Kotzwinkle somehow manages to pull it off. One of the few books I've ever read that made me laugh out loud a few times - which greatly disturbed a pair of snooty women sitting one table over from where I was reading it. That alone would have made it worth it for me.

Great book. And a really fast read. Perfect thing for a train ride or plane trip - or for freaking out the occasional snob at your local bookstore coffee shop!  

 

From Publisher's Weekly: ...Kotzwinkle has imagined a disconsolate Maine professor, Arthur Bramhall, who sets out to write a bestseller, only to have a bear steal it, thinking it's something to eat. This is no ordinary bear, however; he has aspirations to becoming a person (they eat so much better, and with much less trouble, than bears do). What better way to establish an identity than by becoming a celebrity novelist? Soon, the bear has found a pseudonym, Hal Jam, an agent and a publisher. With his distinctively masculine presence, and a monosyllabic way of talking that reminds many of Hemingway, he's on his way to stardom with a novel that everyone agrees has its roots deep in the natural world. Soon, he has a Hollywood agent, too, and the admiration of a Southern writer whose specialty is angels; both of them succumb to Hal's exuberant love-making (since a bear normally does it only once a year, a lot of libido is saved up). A pillar of the Christian right wants Hal's support for a run for the presidency, and Hal is only too willing, since he thinks "candidacy," like most words he doesn't know, means something to eat. Meanwhile, Bramhall, ... is turning into a bear as fast as Hal is becoming human...

9628

Living Room / Re: Dual NIC use

« Last post by 40hz on November 20, 2009, 12:23 PM »

If you're going to do up a full PC to act as a router/firewall combination, tale a look at a free product called Untangle Gateway. ( www.untangle.com ).

They have two versions:

• Untangle Gateway Platform - runs on dedicated PC (needs two NICs)
   
• Untangle for Windows -WinXP version which can coexist on a regular PC (only requires one NIC)

Untangle works extremely well. And it's easy to set up and administer.

This is what I use for my home network.

9629

General Software Discussion / Re: Anyone observing bad performance overall scrolling this forum of FF on Linux?

« Last post by 40hz on November 19, 2009, 02:10 PM »

I'm good too.

Note: running on Suse 11.2/KDE w/FF3.5.5 on the desktop; and CrunchBang 8.10.02 i386 w/FF 3.5.5 on my laptop.

9630

General Software Discussion / Re: Any XP users switching to Windows 7 yet?

« Last post by 40hz on November 19, 2009, 01:02 PM »

I'm actually moving full-time linux. But win7/w2008 was ok.

-urlwolf (November 19, 2009, 12:55 PM)

@urlwolf - Just out of curiosity - which distro do you use or plan on using? 

9631

General Software Discussion / Re: Has anyone discovered any cool Windows 7 third-party utilities?

« Last post by 40hz on November 19, 2009, 12:51 PM »

It was bound to happen.

Somebody came up with a 'classic' start menu for for all those people who don't like the new one. It's called CSmenu, and it can be found here: www.csmenu.com

CSMenu v1.1

CSMenuCSMenu is a little application which acts like the classic start menu. It's designed for Windows 7, which doesn't have a classic start menu.

Check out how they even managed to include some aero bling while they were at it!

I'm not sure why anybody would want something like this. IMHO Win7's new menu system is a definite improvement once you get used to it. But not everyone will agree with me on that point - so here ya go!

9632

General Software Discussion / Re: Any XP users switching to Windows 7 yet?

« Last post by 40hz on November 19, 2009, 06:53 AM »

Re software that works on XP - will it (probably) work on Windows 7 or will it have to have been specifically updated for 7 ?

-tomos (November 19, 2009, 05:59 AM)

Most (or much) probably will, but the only way to be 100% sure is to check.

Microsoft just published a 5K+ item list. I previously mentioned it here:

www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=20651.0

For anything not on the list - or to see the most recent information - you can always go to Microsoft's Compatibility Center and do a look up. Hardware compatibility info can also be found there.

Link: http://www.microsoft...7/en-us/default.aspx

Note: While pretty much anything that works for Vista will Work with Win7, I'd rather not chance doing that with any software that messes with system functions. I'd be very cautious about using any utility app (disk tool, system tweaker, registry editor, etc.) unless the developer specifically says it is compatible with Windows 7.

Just my 2¢

<Addendum> YOIKS! - Carol beat me to it while I was composing! (And said it better than I did too. *SIGH*)

9633

General Software Discussion / Re: Linux/Unix multimedia codecs

« Last post by 40hz on November 18, 2009, 03:28 PM »

Of course, you can always click through the "kicker" dialog and download them freely if you want.

-zridling (November 17, 2009, 08:03 PM)

@Z-Man - naughty, naughty....

 

9634

General Software Discussion / Re: [rant] Seriously? Software pricing is officially nuts

« Last post by 40hz on November 18, 2009, 03:09 PM »

but the pricing for ACDSee Pro is in line with its competitors geared towards a user base who use these programs to make their living.

-Innuendo (November 18, 2009, 02:24 PM)

That may very well be true. But since I'm not a professional photographer, I'm in no position to determine just how accurate that claim is.

And the justification "this is what we charge because that's what everyone else is charging for similiar products" doesn't do much more than beg the argument for a price tag  being what it is.

But even if I'm not a pro photographer, I'm still a fairly clever person who could benefit from an explanation of how a product like this is different enough to spend this kind of money on.

Somebody like me would be very  interested in understanding just what that something is that separates the "pro" from the "consumer" version. In short, what is the unique sales proposition that differentiates it from lesser or competing products.

Not saying it isn't. I'm just saying I don't get it.

But I guess if I were a photographer, I wouldn't be asking to begin with.

9635

General Software Discussion / Re: [rant] Seriously? Software pricing is officially nuts

« Last post by 40hz on November 18, 2009, 02:31 PM »

Amen. Many users complain when a company switches from originally providing a product as a lifetime license, back when it wasn't very well known, and switch after it takes off and they have to provide more support than was intended. I truly hate when people complain about that. I also dislike lifetime licenses, in practice, as they rarely pan out and the user who bought one thing gets screwed because the company renames a product and sells it as new. Please note: Cases like AnyDVD HD I do NOT CONSIDER a violation to this because the HD addon was in fact an upgrade to the original DVD/CD ONLY product.

-Josh (November 18, 2009, 01:19 PM)

I was just thinking, they might be a lot smarter if they called what they were offering something like a charter user or early adopter special license offer. This makes it very clear that the what's being offered is a limited-time reward for being an early purchaser of the product.

When you say "lifetime", most people think "for as long as I want to use it." So rather than get into philosophical hair-splitting or legal chicanery, why not just call it what is really is and be done with it?

If I were making such an offer, I'd probably word it something like this:

As you may know, it's extremely difficult to get people to purchase a brand new software product.

In many ways it's similar what first time political candidates face trying to get people to vote for them. So we're borrowing a page from old-school politics by offering you a bribe to elect our candidate.

Here's the deal:

If you purchase a licensed copy of our super-duper deluxe product from us right now, we will allow you to download and use all future editions of this product at no additional charge. This offer will remain in effect for as long as we continue to release this product.

This is our way of rewarding you for taking a chance on us when we (quite frankly) need all the paying customers we can get.

Please note: this is a special offer . It may be withdrawn at any time. And once it is, it will never be offered again.

So if you're interested, now is the time to collect your bribe while it is still available.

I think something like that would go a long way towards managing customer expectations and avoid any confusion over exactly what is being offered.

9636

General Software Discussion / Re: Worst Win7 reviews (ongoing)

« Last post by 40hz on November 18, 2009, 01:35 PM »

@enar - Boy did you ever find a twit with that article you referenced.

If you look at a lot of the graphical based operating systems over the years, you can come to a couple of weird observations. One is, at its core an OS is just a menu, a menu to make it easier to start your programs. Think about it for a second.

www.associatedcontent.com/article/1460760/windows_7_review_the_worst_dos_menu.html?cat=15

OK, I've thought about it...

Just a menu? Boy does that guy ever gloss over 99% of what an operating system does.

DOS (despite its name) can't really be considered a full operating system by any modern definition. A command processor would be a much more accurate term for what DOS was.

Yet another apples and oranges comparison courtesy of somebody who hasn't a clue what he's talking about.

Just my 2¢

9637

General Software Discussion / Re: [rant] Seriously? Software pricing is officially nuts

« Last post by 40hz on November 18, 2009, 01:04 PM »

All developers deserve to be compensated and with a lifetime license, you end up spending more to support these users than what they paid originally.

-Josh (November 18, 2009, 11:28 AM)

Agree 100%. Just one more reason not to offer a lifetime license in the first place.

It's also not a question of whether or not they deserve to be compensated. (No points are given for effort or penmanship once you get out of grade school.) If they're running a business, they NEED to be compensated. If they primarily want to be 'patrons of the art,' they're better off running a FOSS project and inviting other people help them with their development efforts.
 

9638

General Software Discussion / Re: [rant] Seriously? Software pricing is officially nuts

« Last post by 40hz on November 18, 2009, 01:02 PM »

Call me cynical if you like ....

-Carol Haynes (November 18, 2009, 10:45 AM)

I think "experienced" would be a more accurate a term. 

9639

General Software Discussion / Re: Linux/Unix multimedia codecs

« Last post by 40hz on November 18, 2009, 10:45 AM »

For what Fluendo wants for the package, it seems pretty reasonable to me. Nice opportunity to get legal since you can now do so without needing to break the bank.

Here's something the proprietary software crowd might want to consider: Just ignore the people who will loudly scream that your product isn't "open" and put it out where people can buy it.

If you can provide the FOSS world with a reasonably priced and genuinely workable alternative to reverse engineering your product, you might be surprised at the number of people that would purchase your stuff.

I've seen Fluendo's DVD player in action. It's pretty nice. And for €20, it's worth it just to get support for DVD menus.

9640

General Software Discussion / Re: [rant] Seriously? Software pricing is officially nuts

« Last post by 40hz on November 18, 2009, 10:26 AM »

As annoying as software pricing can get, I still think it should be up to the developers to decide what they want to charge - and up to their customers to agree or disagree by voting with their wallets.

One point: the 25Gb online storage part of the deal is no biggy. Microsoft will provide you with a 25Gb SkyDrive account that's free for the asking. All you need is a (free) Hotmail account to sign up for it.

That being said, some people do love acdsee, so it may be worth the extra money to some people to go the acdsee route.

Since I'm not a photographer, I'm not really qualified to assess just how much superior their photoediting and workflow capabilities are when stacked up against similar programs. I used to own a licensed copy a while back. I thought it was a decent enough app, but (unlike PSP) I was never that blown away by what it could do.

What I do find interesting is that most of the glowing comments seem to come from photographers and photography magazine reviews. The reviews you read in computer circles, while also generally positive, are much less enthusiastic about acdsee's technical superiority compared to everything else out there.

I don't know if this is an indication that photographers know a lot more - or a lot less - about what's available than the 'computer crowd' does. Fortunately, there's a 30-day trial available so it's easy enough to check out the claims for yourself.

Something to think about anyway.

-----

Note: In this current business climate I'm a little skeptical about the recent proliferation of "lifetime" license offers. From an economic viewpoint, it doesn't make sense for any company that wants to remain in business to make such an offer. What often happens is they either go out of business - or pull the classic "rename the product" trick (aka the fruity loop move) to get out from under their lifetime free upgrade agreement.

Anytime I see the word "lifetime" I immediately think: Yours, ours, or the product's - whichever comes first!

 

9641

General Software Discussion / The Windows 7 Application Compatibility List for IT Professionals

« Last post by 40hz on November 17, 2009, 07:08 PM »

Microsoft released a list of compatibility data for 5543 applications last week.

Handy resource to refer to when you don't have the time or connection to web over to the Windows Compatibility Center @ http://www.microsoft...patibility/windows-7

One nice thing about this list: if it says something is compatible, you can rest fairly easy. It's only when it says something isn't that you'll need go online and check for a status update. Having the company URLs listed along with the applications is also a nice bit of info to have.

And since it's in Excel, you can easily perform various data manipulations or repurpose it for use in your own database.

Pretty sweet!

The Windows 7 Application Compatibility List for IT Professionals is a Microsoft Office Excel-based spreadsheet containing software applications which have met Windows 7 Logo Program testing requirements for compatibility with 32-bit and 64-bit Windows 7 (“Compatible – Windows 7 Logo”).

Additionally, this list contains applications with a status of “Compatible,” “Free update required,” “Paid update required,” “Future compatibility,” and “Not compatible.” Any of these mean the software publisher has stated the compatibility status but note these products have not met the Windows 7 Logo Program testing requirements.

For the latest collection of compatible applications and hardware devices, please visit the Windows 7 Compatibility Center. You can also leave feedback on compatibility and suggest new products to get added in future reports.

Download and info:
http://www.microsoft...78-aebc-186f81e29173

9642

Living Room / Re: Choosing a new PC package for a relative.. Post your recommendations

« Last post by 40hz on November 17, 2009, 06:25 PM »

i think I came across that.  i think I was being stubborn in refusing to activate it.  Screw Mcafee.

-superboyac (November 17, 2009, 06:21 PM)

Um yeah...that showed em!  

(kidding. just kidding... )

---

P.S. I don't blame you. I tend to get crotchety and go into hack mode when somebody pulls stuff like that on me too.

9643

Living Room / Re: Choosing a new PC package for a relative.. Post your recommendations

« Last post by 40hz on November 17, 2009, 06:19 PM »

I had a real problem with the Mcafee on my mom's laptop.  It wouldn't come off no matter.  I had to do all sorts of safe mode, command prompt, etc. to get rid of it.

-superboyac (November 17, 2009, 01:50 PM)

McAfee has published a how-to (Document ID: TS100507) and utility (MCPR.exe) to deal with that problem.



Link: http://service.mcafe...ent.aspx?id=TS100507

One thing that might have tripped you up is that preinstalled (OEM/crapware) copies of McAfee need to be activated before you can uninstall them. If you try to remove McAfee before you activate it you'll be given all sorts of grief.

I know. Truly weird, but that's the way they wrote it.

9644

Coding Snacks / Re: What language is the best for a new programmer to start with?

« Last post by 40hz on November 17, 2009, 05:49 PM »

@scancode - Thanks for the pointer to Euphoria. Thought I had seen them all. Euphoria is a new one for me.

(Multiplatform too! Always a big plus AFAIC. )

9645

Living Room / Re: Choosing a new PC package for a relative.. Post your recommendations

« Last post by 40hz on November 17, 2009, 12:02 PM »

What mouser did was exactly the right way of doing it.  Find out what your friend/family member wants and make sure you get that.  For everything else, keep it as simple as possible.  Nothing fancy, nothing expensive.

-superboyac (November 16, 2009, 02:18 PM)

+1 with that. There's a lot to be said for the "just enough computer for the person using it" approach.

I've recently been forced to rethink my whole build/buy decision formula. With the amount of "bang for the buck" you can get from HP or Dell, I've become somewhat disinclined to scratch-build a general purpose machine for an average user* unless I'm building multiples. Especially now since most of the big players can sell you a very decent box of chips (with correct hardware drivers, legal OS and mfg's warranty) for less than it would cost you to duplicate the same configuration on your own. The price of the OS is the tipping point in most cases.

So unless you are planning on running Linux or BSD, a Dell or HP PC will very likely be a less expensive and more practical solution than building your own.

About the only thing I'd do to 'improve' things is max out the physical RAM on whatever I bought. From my experience, the more physical RAM you have, the fewer problems the average user will encounter with the OS.

-----
*Whatever that is.

9646

Living Room / Re: Tech News Weekly: Edition 46-09

« Last post by 40hz on November 17, 2009, 11:16 AM »

But from what I've heard, it really isn't anything I can get my titties in a twist over.

-f0dder (November 17, 2009, 08:39 AM)

@f0dder- Understood. But again, it's not the what. It's the who and the why that causes me corncern.

If they had used backdoors, undocumented APIs, special drivers, or even firewire DMA memory dumps the situation would have been different.

-f0dder (November 17, 2009, 08:39 AM)

And what's going to discourage them from eventually doing just that if their present action goes completely unchallenged?  How long do you think it will be before some aparatchik decides there should be a law requiring Microsoft to furnish such tools to The Authorities? Especially now that Microsoft has put the bug in all those clueless little political heads.

Spend some time in the US if you get a chance. It's not called The Land of Dreams for nothing. Over here, our dreams have a funny habit of turning into our realities. And recently, the same can also be said for some of our nightmares.

If I'm stifling a yawn these days, it's probably because I've occasionally lost sleep thinking about some of what's been going down around here.

9647

Living Room / Re: Best tech news sites?

« Last post by 40hz on November 17, 2009, 10:45 AM »

My favorites:

ArsTechnica ( http://arstechnica.com ) - needs no introduction.

DigiTimes ( www.digitimes.com )  - daily IT news from Asia

TechSpot ( http://www.techspot.com ) - PC tech news and analysis

For Linux and FOSS:

LinuxWorld ( http://www.linuxworld.com )

LXer Linux News ( http://lxer.com )

Linux World News ( http://lwn.net )

The H Open Source ( http://www.h-online.com/open/ )

ArsTechnica's Open Ended ( http://arstechnica.com/open-source/ )

9648

General Software Discussion / Re: Has anyone discovered any cool Windows 7 third-party utilities?

« Last post by 40hz on November 16, 2009, 10:52 PM »

There are some software lists here:
http://www.sevenforums.com/software/

It'oriented to Seven compatible rather than Seven required though.

-MilesAhead (November 16, 2009, 04:36 PM)

Just out of curiosity...has anybody run into an app or utility that is Windows 7 specific - or is it too early for that?

9649

Living Room / Re: Tech News Weekly: Edition 46-09

« Last post by 40hz on November 16, 2009, 10:31 PM »

Although I can understand what you're saying Hertz Man, I can't agree. Whether some total drongo cop has access to the information this tool can present, or only the NSA does, the simple fact is that this information can be gotten.

The fact that the information exists, and can be gotten is what bothers me, not how or by whom it can be retried.

Ehtyar.

-Ehtyar (November 16, 2009, 07:50 PM)

Hiya Dr. E!

  First up - apologies to all for me being in a snarly mood when I sarcastically referred to the MS forensic package as a "backdoor exploit." (We all know it's not.) Bad choice of words on my part even if I was making a lame-assed joke when I said it.

Onward...

I don't want to get into a huge debate here (let's start a separate thread if anybody feels that need) but I think you might have missed my point just a bit.

- It's not that the information exists or can be gotten.

- It's not about cops, or the NSA, or anybody else in the government.

- It's not about the fact that comparable tools are available form other sources.

It's all about Microsoft providing such tools.

Why this is an issue for me and not for you might have something to do with the differing ways our respective national governments operate.

In the USA, our government has discovered that it can get around its constitutional "checks and balances" by allowing (possibly encouraging) private entities* to perform actions and collect information the government is not allowed to legally collect on it's own.

I can't speak for how things work in Australia. But over here, there's a very real concern when a large company like Microsoft starts providing tools to get around its own security systems without first being required (by law) to do so. Nor is this concern based on simple paranoia or goofball conspiracy theories. The major US Telcos are still under fire for the illegal and warrant-less wiretaps they performed at the request of the federal government under its previous Administration. They were so concerned about the public outrage that they sought immunity from prosecution. And not because they believed they acted within the law. (They openly acknowledged that they knew they didn't.) They argued that because they were acting at the behest of the government - the government alone should be held solely responsible if any laws were broken. Hmmm...sounds a bit like the "Just following orders" defense doesn't it?

So while this story may seem like no big deal to someone outside the US; it remains a very big deal for many within its borders.

But hey! - maybe that's why this story made the tech news over here in the first place?  

------
* These run the gamut from banks, credit agencies, ISPs, insurance companies and the telcos; all the way over to the shadowy world of 'gray area' businesses like DynCorp, KBR/Haliburton, and Blackwater Worldwide.

9650

Living Room / Re: Tech News Weekly: Edition 46-09

« Last post by 40hz on November 16, 2009, 06:22 PM »

F0d Man is indeed correct, it is basically a collection of freely available tools with a front-end so that some cop who can barely operate a computer can collect "forensic" evidence in the field and cart it back to someone who knows what the f they're doing. Really very disappointing

-Ehtyar (November 16, 2009, 05:48 PM)

Regardless of the level of sophistication present in the technology, it still speaks volumes about the mindset and motivations of the company behind it - and the overall attitude of society in general.

Tools, by their very existence, beg to be used. And the lack of knowledge on the part of the tool user poses its own set of problems. Hand a baby a hammer and everything "starts to look like a nail" as the saying goes.

Frankly, I'm amazed that the same people who get so vocal about DRM (and RIAA enforcement actions) have so few problems with something like this. Then again, maybe I shouldn't be.

I will agree on one point however, even if I do so for entirely different reasons: It really is very disappointing.