The Inquisitr » windows

Should Microsoft be thinking about making their own PCs?

Steven Hodson — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 18:47:27 +0000

This is an idea that is sure to get all kinds of Apple fans rolling on the floor laughing their asses of while struggling to get words like copycat and loser out through their guffaws. Not too mention that the anti-Microsoft crew in general will be hauling out their smartass dictionary out to fill out posts about how this is a dumb idea and will never work.

The thing is it could work and it could be the best thing to happen to both Microsoft and the PC market. I first heard the idea broached on a recent Cranky Geeks show with John Dvorak where he brought up the idea along with some sound reasons as to why Microsoft should seriously consider the idea, as well as writing a post about it. At the same Mike Elgan at the IT Management blog had a post where he outlined sever reasons as t o why he liked the idea as well.

His seven points are

The Windows and Office ain’t what it use to be
Microsoft is a great hardware maker
Microsoft needs to manage the transition to multi-touch PCs
Microsoft needs to be a bully again
Microsoft needs to lead the market again
Making PCs will make Windows better
Selling PCs will help maintain Windows and Office profits

One of the things that has Apple regain its forward momentum the way it has is precisely for some of the same reasons the Mike Elgan gives above. This is nowhere more apparent that in the way that Mac OS X is a great operating system. It is exactly because Apple owns and controls the whole hardware software process that OS X in most peoples eyes a better operating system that Windows.

The other advantage that this gives Apple is that they can dictate what the hardware if going to be and then the software is written to play to the strength of that hardware. In Microsoft’s case it has always been a matter of having to be compatible with every kind of hardware produced by hardware manufacture.

This causes innumerable problems for the company as it is very rarely that when things go wrong that the hardware manufacture is blamed. When ever you see anyone going off on a rant about the problems they are having with their computer it is typical against Microsoft. If suddenly the video isn’t working, or some other piece of hardware is screwing up no-one points their finger at the video card manufacturer or hardware manufacture – it is primarily pointed at Microsoft.

A good example of this was with the launch of Vista. Both ATI and nVidia dragged their feet getting updated drivers out and this caused nothing but grief for users, and Microsoft because everyone looked to them to blame. Some manufacturers even said that they weren’t going to be delivering Vista drivers for the products.

In a lot of ways it would make sense for Microsoft to take a page out of the Apple play book and I have a feeling that if we did given the company’s excellent hardware product line they already have adding computers to it would be a big bonus for users. The interesting thing is that people are talking like this would be something totally new for Microsoft setting their current hardware line of keyboards, webcams, and mice. In fact since just before Vista was launched Microsoft has been looking at the computer hardware end of things.

As part of the lead into the Vista launch Microsoft made available a Vista Industrial Design Toolkit to over 70 PC manufacturers that contained much of their thoughts about the future of computer design and aesthetics. In addition they hired the Carbon Design Group to come up with some mock-ups of PC using the toolkit. I remember catching wind of this for the first time via Long Zheng’s blog and then drooling a bit over the actual mock-ups from Carbon.

>Here are a few shots of their desktop computer idea

As well they did a mock up for Windows Home Server 2008

The more that I thought about this especially in light of Elgan and Dvorak’s interesting posts on the idea I have to admit I’m warming to the concept. It definitely could throw a whole new light on PCs and Windows.

What do you think? Good idea or bad?

Windows 7 Student Upgrade Kit Fails To Install, Microsoft Offers Refunds

James Allen Johnson — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 03:30:26 +0000

I’m sure Apple will have a heyday with this little bit of news, it appears the download friendly Windows 7 Student Upgrade has been failing on Windows Vista 32-bit systems. A problem established due to an ISO error included with the download.

According to Engadget the issue is occurring because the ISO file that is suppose to execute is actually being read as a .EXE file and several bundles. As users attempt to install the upgrade the system eventually outputa a bunch of nonsense about how the 64-bit upgrade is trying to install on a 32-bit system.

Microsoft is offering refunds to anyone who purchased the $29 upgrade. If you really don’t want to deal with a refund DownloadSquad is showing users how to create a CD out of the downloaded files, although ludites may want to avoid the process.

Malware served up based on operating system

Steven Hodson — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 13:10:00 +0000

While the stick yer head segment of Mac users will almost certainly find some reason to spout their typical rhetoric about Mac’s being impervious to viruses, trojans and other such evil goodies that isn’t stopping the malware writers from improving their odds of getting you to install their crap. One of the newest tricks apparently is for the website you are visiting to detect which operating system you are running and then serve you up a nasty package for that OS.

Ivan Macalintal from Trend Micro recently came across a new variant of the DNS changer trojan that checks for which operating system is behind the browser and then will offer up the appropriate Windows or Mac installer.

This follows a similar finding last month by McAfee, which spotted the same tactic being used at sites that try to trick the user into installing a browser plug-in supposedly needed to view online videos: The bogus plug-in was offered as a ".exe" file for Windows visitors, and a ".dmg" installer file for those who browsed the site with a Mac.

Meanwhile, Symantec warned last week that it had detected several blogs that were advertising free, streaming online copies of movies that were just released in the theaters. The lure is once again a fake video plug-in, followed by either a Mac- or Windows-based version of the DNS Changer Trojan.

Source: Security Fix :: Malware Writers: Will That Be OS X, or W?

Most of these new and more dangerous delivery systems are coming at us via blogs and websites that pander to those looking for video and software that they would normally have to pay for.

The reason for this is that by making the visitor think they need some new type of codec to view some questionable video it makes them more willing to install whatever is offered up to them. This is just taking the whole social engineering up a level or two.

image courtesy of Security Fix

The coming Windows 7 tsunami: OMG which version do I get?

Steven Hodson — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:00:00 +0000

Just to clarify – this post is meant for all those windows users that are looking to upgrade to windows 7 when it finally hits the market. It isn’t meant for penguin lovers or apple tart fans so don’t bother with the snide comments because you are only showing how silly you are. Now – let’s move onto the point of this post.

The presales of Windows 7 have started, OEMs are gearing up new machines that will come with Vista installed but some free upgrade coupons for when Windows 7 is finally released in early fall. The question that a lot of current Windows users are going to be asking themselves is which of the three different versions should they get. I know because I’ve been asking myself the same question and thanks to Ed Bott I have a much clear idea of the route to take.

First off only a miniscule number of people are going to need the Ultimate package and chances are you aren’t in that group. I say this with some confidence knowing my own usage of Windows and the fact that 99.99999% of Windows users would be wasting their money by getting it.

This leaves picking between Windows 7 Professional and Windows 7 Home Premium. The decision in my opinion would have been a lot easier if Professional had been called Windows 7 Corporate because in all reality 90% of the Windows consumer market will never need the features in this version.

Which leaves us with the Home Premium version as the best choice for the consumer market, but to clarify the reasons why let’s have a look at what Professional brings to the table and why Home Premium will do just fine for you.

Memory: Professional supports up to 192GB of RAM whereas Home Premium supports up to 16GB of RAM. I would suggest that 16GB of RAM is more than enough for just about any home or small business use and that anymore is pretty well overkill.

Presentation Mode/Network Projector: This feature isn’t included in Home Premium and really I don’t think, outside of some rare cases, that general consumers would miss having the feature.

Encrypting File System: There are enough third party utility programs out there that if this is an important need it doesn’t mean that you need to spend the extra money for Professional. Three examples for this type of software are

TrueCrypt – free

SafeHouse Personal – $29.99

Intercrypto – CryptoExpert 2009 Professional – $59.95

Windows XP Mode: There is some confusion as to what this is but really for the most part this isn’t something that the larger consumer market is going to need. If you would like some clarification about what it is I would suggest reading Ed Bott’s post on the feature. If you to think you need it just remember that chances are you already have a legitimately licensed copy of XP so all you really need is some virtualization software. Some possible virtualization software choices you have are:

Virtual Box – free

Microsoft Windows Virtual PC – free

VMWare ESXi – free

Backup to Network: When it comes to good backup software that will provide you with all kinds of alternatives of where you can backup your disk images or data, so really this isn’t something that should be a selling point to get Professional. Some software alternatives are:

Acronis TrueImage – $49.99

GRBackPro – $59.00

An online option is Carbonite – $54.95 per year

Offline Files: With native Microsoft options like Live Mesh or Live Sync this isn’t a selling point for getting Professional.

Remote Desktop Host: Again there are more than enough third party utility programs out there that cover this so it isn’t a feature that you need to consider as a buying point of Professional. A couple of examples of available software are

Crossloop – free

TeamViewer – free

That pretty well covers any of the possible features that might make you have to make a decision about whether to get Professional or Home Premium. On the whole though I would say that for the vast majority of consumers out there the Home Premium would be the most logical choice. The other two options are pretty well overkill and won’t provide you with anything you really need to justify the price you will pay.

My thanks to Ed Bott for an excellent post clarifying the differences and for the graphic breaking down the differences.

Microsoft strips IE from European version of Windows 7

Duncan Riley — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 08:00:03 +0000

Microsoft will ship a European version of Windows 7 without Internet Explorer (IE) in response to an EU anti-trust investigation.

The EU filed a Statement of Objections against Microsoft in January that alleged that Microsoft’s practice of bundling IE with Window breached EU Antitrust laws. The EU claims that IE in Windows harms competition between web browsers, undermines product innovation, and reduces consumer choice.”

An EU only version of Windows isn’t a first for Microsoft, who have previously shipped Windows XP and Vista without Windows Media Player due to similar EU antitrust concerns.

According to CNET, OEMs will have the option to add the browser back in, ship another browser, or ship multiple browsers. “The E versions of Windows 7 will include all the features and functionality of Windows 7 in the rest of the world, other than browsing with Internet Explorer,” Microsoft said in a memo. “Computer manufacturers will be able to add any browser they want to their Windows 7 machines, including Internet Explorer, so European consumers who purchase new PCs will be able to access the Internet without any problem. Consumers will also be able to add any Web browser to their PCs, to supplement or replace the browsers preinstalled by their computer manufacturer.”

Twitter from Windows Media Center

Steven Hodson — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 22:06:49 +0000

It seems these days there isn’t anything that you can’t post messages to Twitter from.

Computer. Check.

Cell phone. Check.

Media Center. Check. Huh?

Yes folks you can now post to Twitter while you are watching something on your Windows Media Center courtesy of MCE Zone and their free TwitterMCE plug-in. With the plug-in you can post messages, view your recent Twitter messages, your friends messages or your followers messages on Twitter.

There are some limitations and what I would classify as a minor irritant. When you type in your message and click Update TwitterMCE will popup a confirmation dialog to make sure that you want to send it. To me this would be extremely irritating and is something that I would strongly recommend they re-think.

Other than that like the guys over at Hacking Windows 7 Media Center said “this could lead to some interesting television related tweets coming from the Media Center community soon”. Here are some screen shots courtesy of HW7MC of the plugin in action.

A Windows Twitter & Facebook client to watch

Steven Hodson — Sun, 10 May 2009 03:07:49 +0000

I make a lot of fun about the number of Twitter clients that are churned out at a non-stop pace equating to a modern “Hello World” programming exercise. I have also tried most of them as either new ones are made available or existing ones are updated. One can get kind of blasè about them all after a little while but every once in awhile some nice comes along.

Such is the case with the newest client to hit the web from Sobees called bDule. This client however is for Windows users only who have the .NET framework installed which will limit its appeal to a point. With that disclaimer out of the way bDule is a rather interesting client in that it supports both Twitter and now Facebook and it allows you to select from a wide array of templates to display your timelines in.

When you run the client for the first time you will see this template selection dialog (which you can change later)

Once you have selected the template you want to use the main user dialog will be displayed allowing you to now select what you want displayed in each of the different parts of the dialog. In this one I selected a typical email panel display and loaded up Twitter in the largest of the three panes

Then added a Twitter search panel at the top right

And finally I added in my Facebook credentials for the last available pane

I decided to try another layout to see how it looked but this time selected one that put the Twitter search along the bottom of the display

The only unfortunate thing with bDule is that is suffers from the same memory hogging that we are use to with the AIR Twitter clients. Sobees’ does say that this is only an Alpha release so time will tell if they can get a handle on the problem and bring the memory under control.

Other than that this looks like a rather interesting addition to the ever growing repository of Twitter, and now Facebook, clients.

[hat tip to Go2Web20]

No more making fun of Windows security for Mac users

Steven Hodson — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 21:11:06 +0000

If there has always been one constant in the on-going my operating system is better than yours head butting that happens between Windows and Mac users it has been over the issue of security. Mac users have loved being able to lord over us poor ol’ Windows users how they don’t need to worry about things like malware and viruses. This obnoxious attitude hasn’t been helped either by Cupertino running ads pointing out how Mac users don’t need to worry about such silly things as viruses. As Brian Krebs says in a post about this today

Just under three months ago, I asked an employee at our local Apple store whether I needed anti-virus for my MacBook, and was told not to bother, that it was not necessary. I wonder if this means Apple will stop running television ads saying Mac users don’t have to worry about malicious software?

This of course is in total contrast to a technical note that Apple has added to its support site where they say the following

“Apple encourages the widespread use of multiple anti-virus utilities so that virus programmers have more than one application to circumvent, thus making the whole virus writing process more difficult.”

The support advisory even goes on to recommend some possible anti-virus utilities for the Mac faithful to install on their oh so secure machines

Here are some available anti-virus utilities:

· Intego VirusBarrier X5, available from the Apple Online Store
License: commercial

· Symantec Norton Anti-Virus 11 for Macintosh, available from the Apple Online Store
License: commercial

· McAfee VirusScan for Mac
License: commercial

For years Windows users have had to suffer the better than thou abuse from Mac users and now; as more than a few Windows users have said – myself included, the tables have indeed turned. So all you Windows users out there bookmark that Apple advisory. Then the next time some Mactard starts making fun of you because of things like viruses and how they don’t have to worry about such mundane things – slap them with that link.

Neener Neener – it looks good on them.

Mac users make me chuckle

Steven Hodson — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 18:53:20 +0000

Mac users are a snobby bunch - especially when it comes to security. It’s not that their sense of security isn’t well found given its niche user base in years gone past. However that will change as more and more of the Windows horde begin to experiment with the dark side (as we call it).

The saving grace for both Mac and Linux has been twofold with the first being it was never a real marketplace target for virus writers who want as much bang for their buck as they can get. The second is that due to the nature of its Unix base it requires a lot more savvy and social engineering skills to infect Mac’s than the majority of virus writers are willing to invest.

But I always get a kick out of reading posts like the one I read today from Chris Pirillo where he dived into his FriendFeed fanbase to find out their thoughts on things like their favourite antivirus, spyware and malware tools (ya gotta admit it’s an easy way to come up with a post at the drop of a hat as well). It is no surprise that within the first few reply to his question out comes the Mac fandom proclaiming that using the Mac was the best security solution. Out of the 23 replies 4 touted the Mac as the best defense, 5 gave their Windows line of defense and the rest was pretty well the usual bickering that will always happen (and get your question/post a lot of attention) when a subject like this comes up.

As much as a chuckle as I might get from watching this type of expected conversation the reality is that Mac users can rest easy if they want in the belief that they are invulnerable to the same type of attacks that have plagued Windows users but that will change. The further the Mac moves away from its niche market and into the general computing populace the higher its profile will become in the marketplace and at that point you will see things change. The higher the profile the more of a target it will become for the serious virus and trojan writers and they don’t screw around like the script kiddies.

In the meantime I’ll just keep looking for these types of conversations when I need a good laugh to brighten up my day.

No related posts.

New Windows Ad: The Problem With Macs

Duncan Riley — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 00:11:10 +0000

A Mac user runs into a spot of computer trouble

(via Mona on FF)

No related posts.

Microsoft to highlight everyday Windows users in new campaign

Duncan Riley — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 09:50:18 +0000

Not long after news broke that Microsoft had dumped Jerry Seinfield from the current $300 million Windows campaign, the New York Times reported that the second stage of the campaign would highlight everyday Windows users, such as Eva Longoria, Deepak Chopra and Pharrell Williams, sharing with the world how they love and use Microsoft products.

The new phase of the campaign will include a head on challenge to Apple’s Mac vs PC campaign, complete with a John Hodgman clone (pic top left) saying that he’s a PC and a stereotype, before the everyday people share their stories. Other everyday people to feature in the campaign include scientists, fashion designers and shark hunters, the sort of people average folk can relate to.

As I’ve said previously, I’ll hold back on my judgment until I see the ad, and it can’t be any worse that the first phase. At least this time there’s a message…sort of Marketing 101 for first year marketing students who don’t take crack.

Microsoft

Microsoft says Seinfield, Gates ad a winner

Duncan Riley — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 04:43:17 +0000

Microsoft has responded to criticism of its Jerry Seinfield Bill Gates advertising campaign by saying that the ad is a winner, telling the Wall Street Journal “It’s exactly what we were trying to achieve, which was to drive buzz.”

Other experts are supporting the campaign:

“The initial reaction might be on the fence or leaning negative but the ad did its job,” says Dean Crutchfield, a brand consultant. “Most companies would have to spend a billion dollars on advertising to get this kind of attention.”

“The fact that they have the blogs, the business community and mass media talking about it means they hit a nerve,” says Allen Adamson, managing director of the New York office of Landor Associates, a corporate branding firm owned by WPP Group.

Now if this wasn’t a Microsoft commercial I’d agree with all those points: people are talking about the ad, it has created buzz, and the idea that there is no such thing as bad publicity holds true. But we’re not talking about another company, we’re talking about Microsoft. A multi-billion dollar organization with 80-90% marketshare on computers, the default standard in office software, and a range of other things. You can’t go anywhere on the planet without running into something from Microsoft, and very few have never heard of the company, going to zero percent in the developed world.

This isn’t a company that needs buzz, that needs people talking about a zany ad that says nothing. Microsoft has brand awareness. What Microsoft needs to do is change people’s perception of the brand, to make people think positively about the company, and this ad fails to deliver.

Where was the key message? where was any message for that matter? Do people think more positively about Microsoft after the ad because Jerry Seinfield and Bill Gates like cheap shoes?

It is, as I’ve said previously, too clever by half. The fact that the Journal’s experts think that the ad is a huge hit proves the point, because there are times where the ad world has lost touch with reality. This ad resonates for all the wrong reasons, and the buzz doesn’t address the key messages Microsoft needs to deliver.

Will it yet deliver in follow up spots? Microsoft is betting that it is, and until we see the ads, we have no way of knowing. On the bright side, the campaign can only improve, but perhaps that’s the point I’m missing: perhaps it is suppose to start bad so that we see a transformation of Microsoft from the cheap shoes of Windows to something cooler and more desirable. We will see.

Google Chrome Day One: Enough Already!

Duncan Riley — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 07:02:17 +0000

And so it was fortold, that in its 11th year Google would step forward and deliver Chrome, and the world of browsers would never be the same. If you’ve been monitoring the Crunchmemeosphere today, that’s what you would have heard, a browser that will kill Windows, kills the operating system, and kills rogue CIA agents.

I’m possibly the only person left in the tech community who hasn’t tried Chrome. It wouldn’t install under Crossover Office and my legal Vista install under VMWare Fusion has decided that it can’t be used because the copy is illegal…the very reason I switched to being a Mac user in the first place. I could do a fresh install, but I’m not feeling compelled to do so, so I’ll just wait until the Mac version is eventually released.

There is however a pile of news out there already on Chrome. Our coverage: Google Chrome, Google Chrome anti-competitive? and Google Chrome and Firefox.

The good

The good news, delivered by Matt Cutts, is that Google Chrome isn’t as anti-competitive as we’d first thought. You can swap out search engines, or even start searches with live.com or yahoo.com to search elsewhere, but lets be honest: very few people will be swapping this out and ultimately it’s pushing Google build-in. Still, at least there’s an out of sorts so the anti-competitive cry can’t be too loud.

General reviews tend to be positive. Quick, handles javascript well, nice layout etc..

The bad.

Stupid and/ or fanboy coverage. Two strong streams: this is an Internet Explorer killer, and this is the end of the Operating System.

It’s not an Internet Explorer killer. Think about it logically: Internet Explorer users already have better choices, and yet people are still using IE6. If they were going to abandon the Microsoft product for something else, most would have done so already. IE7 isn’t as bad as some make out, but it’s not brilliant either. Internet Explorer users fall into four fields. Corporate lock-in, where the corporation standardizes around Internet Explorer. Stupidity, where they either don’t realize that there are alternatives, are unable to download an alternative; Old age: my mother prefers Internet Explorer because it’s a safe choice for her and it’s what she knows; or Grumpiness, which is basically Steve Hodson. These people aren’t about to download and switch to Google Chrome. As I wrote previously, the biggest switch will be from Firefox users, who are smart enough and think about their browsing experience to the point that they are both aware of competitors and willing to try them out.

On the OS side Mark Rizzn Hopkins says it best on Mashable: Chrome is Not a Windows-Killer. The occasionally reasonable Drama 2.0 also argues along the same lines, noting that you can’t have Google Chrome without an OS.

Conclusion

Yay! It’s exciting! Google has a browser! Yay!

Sorry, carried away in the spirit of the occasion for a second. Competition is always good as it promotes innovation, a point previously demonstrated when Internet Explorer ruled the waves and browser development went to sleep for several years, only to wake when Firefox hit a double figure market share. Google couldn’t impress Walt Mossberg, so if they can’t impress god, there is still work to be done. I’m willing to give it a shot when it comes to the Mac, but in the mean time, enough already. It’s a browser built on Apple’s open source WebKit that helps the search market’s near monopolist lock in more people. When it starts whistling dixie, and delivering me multi-million dollar Adsense checks, then I might get excited.