Microsoft announces their next version of Windows

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Windows 8

A couple of days ago, I decided I would give Windows 8 a try and installed the Consumer Preview on VirtualBox. In fact, I am writing this post on Windows Live Writer 2012 on Windows 8.
Here are my initial thoughts about Windows 8 after spending a few hours with it.
The Good

• Desktop UI (User Interface) is very similar to Windows 7. The glass taskbar from Windows 7 is still present.
• Integration of Microsoft products. In order to sign in, you need a Microsoft (or Windows Live or Hotmail) ID. Once you enter your Microsoft ID, your calendar, mail, pictures and other data is automatically populated.
• The task manager has been redesigned to give you tons more information about processor, network and hard drive usage.
• The Windows Explorer has gotten it’s biggest makeover since Windows XP. Like many other Microsoft products, it is equipped with the new Ribbon interface. It gives you the ability to perform many functions with only a few clicks.
• The Desktop UI is only slightly different than Windows 7. There are no rounded corners, only square edges. Overall it’s not much over a change, but still nice to look at.

The Bad

• In order to install the touch friendly Windows 8 apps, you need to use the Store tile. I tried it and it was slow and painful to browse. Thankfully you can still download the latest version of your favorite program and run it like before in the desktop.
• Windows Media Player no longer has DVD playback support, so you cannot play DVDs out of the box. However, you can download VLC to enjoy your films.

The Ugly

• Microsoft announced that you will not be able to boot directly to the desktop. This means that every time that you boot up, you are forced to see the new Start Screen covered with multicolored tiles.
• As far as I know, there is no way to turn off the Start Screen. For computers that do not have touch enabled screens this will become annoying very quickly. To understand what I mean, make all the icons on your screen an inch square.
• No Start Button. This is my biggest gripe. Hitting the Start button pulls up the Start Screen, which is a pain to use.

Conclusion
There are some nice features in Windows 8, but there are also some real pains. I think that Microsoft spent way too much time trying to make Windows 8 touch and tablet friendly by default. These features should be optional to desktop and laptop users. It is almost like they are forcing touch technology on you. Since I just installed Windows 7, I will not be upgrading anytime soon and I would not recommend that anyone rush out and do that either once Windows 8 comes out in the Fall. Wait for Windows 9 to see if they come to their senses.

How to Search Your PC Instantly

    Have you ever been in a hurry to find a file?  Ten minutes minutes before the meeting and you need to find the video clip you were going to show.  If you use Windows, you would pull up Windows search, type in the title, and wait for it to search through all the files on your computer.  Depending on how many files that you have, this may take quite a while. 
    There is a small, powerful alternative to Windows Search that will find what you are looking for in a matter of minutes.  It is called Everything.  This program is less than 400 kilobytes in size.  It installs quickly and indexes you computer in a matter on minutes.  Whenever you create an new file, the index is complete.  It works on Windows 2000, XP, 2003, Vista, 2008 and 7.  (Since Vista and 7 have an improved search function build into the Start Menu, it is ideal for any pre-Vista Windows OS.
    One of the drawbacks of Everything is that it only searches the file and folder names, not their contents.  But if you remember a little bit of the title, you can probably find it.
    So, go ahead and use this tool.  You can download Everything here: http://www.voidtools.com/.

Tutorial: Creating and Burning an Image File

    Creating an image file is the best way to copy and backup discs.  (I am talking about discs that you have legal right to copy.")  Here is a quick run through of how to create and burn an image file.

    The first thing you need to do is download a good disc burning software.  The best I know of it call ImgBurn.  You can find and download it here: http://www.imgburn.com/.

    Once you have downloaded and installed ImgBurn, open up the program either from the Start Menu or Desktop.  Once it comes up, it will look a little intimidating for a first timer, but after using it a little while you will get a handle on it.

 

    To start creating an image file, put the disc to be copied in you computer and click “Create image file from disc”.

 

    Once the new screen comes up, check the contents of the “Destination” section to make sure the image file will go where you want it.  (Ideally, you should put it on your C drive in a file names “image files.")  Be sure to check and make sure that you have enough space on your C drive to do this.  The size of the image file is on the right under “size”.

 

    Once you have made sure that you have enough space, click large button on the lower left of the top window.  The copy process will now start.

 

    When it is finished, it will play a tune to let you know.

 

    Now to burn the image file to a disc.  Click “OK”.  Now click “Mode” and select “Ez-Mode Picker”.  This will return you to the main screen.

 

    Now click “Write image to disc”.

 

    In the new window, select the image file by click the file under the “Source” section.

 

    Select and open the image.  Insert the appropriate disc (CD or DVD) and click the button in the lower left of the top screen.  (Make sure that “Verify” has been selected under “Destination”.  This will ensure that you copy is correct."  If it ejects that disc and pulls it back in, don’t worry.  It is verifying the disc.)

    Congratulations!  You have finished burning the disc.  To create another, click “OK”  and click the burn button again after putting in a new disc or you can set how many disc you want to make.

    If you have any questions, please leave a comment below.

I Hate Tape Drives

Recently a tape drive broke down.  I realized one thing: I hate tape drives.  I’m not saying this to be funny, I officially hate tape drives.  They are harder than hell to get working.  It it hard to find drivers for, especially for Windows NT 4.0.  We go through these things like crazy.  The darn things keep breaking down because there are so many moving parts. 

I am looking forward to the day that computer hardware does not have any moving parts.  This means that they will last longer and will not have to be replaced as often.  But until then, we have to suffer through … tapes drives.

Hackers Zeros in on Apple

For many years, Windows has been the target for the majority of the hacker community.  Because of this many alternative operating systems claimed that they were safer than Windows.  The truth of the matter is that there are just too few people using alternative operating systems to make it worth it for hackers.

Look at it this way.  About 90% of people who use computers use some version of Microsoft Windows.  Apple’s Mac OS has 9.61% of the operating system.  The other less than 2% is split among the many versions of Unix and Linux.  Why would a hacker waste his time breaking into an operating system that .5% of people use?  It’s more logical to do something that would cause the most amount of damage and open the most number of computers to pillage.

That said, hackers are either getting tired of Windows or the security is getting better because Apple has been coming under more attacks in recently.  There have been several bugs that targeted Mac OS.  In recent news, it has been announced that Apple’s browser, Safari, is vulnerable.

The annual hacker contest Pwn2Own is almost here.  Charlie Miller, last year’s winner, said that Apple’s Safari would be “easy pickings”.  He predicted that 4 people would be able to crack the browser.  This does not bode well for Apple, especially in light of their recent release of Safari 4 beta.  This is also bad news for Windows people who use Safari.  It will give hackers a back-door into Windows.

My advice: Apple should stop boasting about the performance and features of both their operating system and browser.  Instead they should hire some of these hackers to help them tighten up security in their products.