« April 2007 | Main | June 2007 »
Are you ready for ReadyBoost?
ReadyBoost was the Vista technology that caused me the most confusion until it was explained properly (see below), and now I've finally got to try it out.
What surprised me was that Vista only considered one one of the three new USB keys I had received last week to be fast enough. No preference was given to the press release on the key that was and worried companies should be reassured that as USB keys can be used for both file storage and ReadyBoost, no press releases were harmed in the making of this post.
To be honest I didn't feel that the computer was much faster than before but I haven't done much testing, partly because I nearly broke the USB key while moving the notebook. One step forward, two steps back....
The source of the confusion.....
Microsoft described ReadyBoost as a way of upgrading the memory in a computer using a USB key. This is not really very accurate, in actual fact, it improves hard disk performance. Files are written to the USB key as well as the hard disk so they can be accessed quickly. USB keys outperform hard disks when reading lots of small files, although they suffer when copying large amounts of continuous data. Microsoft assures us that no data is lost if the USB key is removed unexpectedly and is encrypted to prevent data being stolen
What's on your monitor?
Back in the days when computers used to provoke reactions of 'It's far too complicated for me to use', I used to ask a simple question. Do you use a digital watch? Most people said yes, and so most people were using a computer, albeit a very simple one.
The same applies to Linux as I was reminded by reading this post by Steven J Vaughan-Nichols. I won't deny it, Linux can be very scarey, sometimes justified, sometimes undeserved reputation. The fact is the moniker Linux is a little misleading as is Windows. Some cash machines use Windows 2000; get some money out and you use Windows. Many webservers use Linux; use Google and you use Linux.
Perhaps the question that should be asked is the actual interface that we use. Do I have a preference for Windows 2000 just because the interface was clean and quick. Windows Vista is more secure with more features but the badly designed (for me at least) interface results in slow operation and much searching for basic features.
The drawback for most people is not what Linux does but how they interact with it. I've just been looking at a little home server and it is excellent. Everything is accessed over a web interface so the fact that it runs Linux is by the by for ordinary users. You get all the advantages but without the difficult interface.
The Windows link? An awful lot of time has been spent with the Vista interface, both by Microsoft before launch, and with those of us who are frustrated by it. But, crucial as it is, it is not the only reason to choose an operating system. Some people on the forum has expressed a desire to go back to Windows 98 because the simple interface is more efficient for them.
If this is the biggest frustration for Vista, don't forget that the display properties allow you to select Windows Classic, the interface used by Windows 2000 and 98. Just spare a thought for those of use who can't change back because we take a lot of screenshots....
Paying for software upgrades
While continuing the repair work on Windows XP on my notebook, I thought I would give Partition Commander a crack of the whip. I reviewed this back in October and was quite impressed. It works in two ways, either installed in the same way as any other program in Windows or as a bootable disk.
The latter option didn't work as it couldn't find the hard disk let alone edit the partitions so I went back to Vista and tried to install it. Sadly this didn't work either as it complained of an unknown version of Windows and refused to start.
A little research on the VCOM site revealed that a Vista upgrade was available but only at no cost for those who bought it after 6 December 2006. Too late for me (and lets face it, I didn't exactly buy it either). I recognise that quite a lot of work is probably needed to make software like this compatible with a new operating system, but it is still galling to be expected to pay more money for an upgrade of this type.
There was nothing for it but to resort to a free alternative GPartEd. This is a Linux based disk utility that comes on a Live CD. I've used it before but this time it only made matters worse and Windows XP completely gave up, refusing to show any files in Vista.
The moral of the story. Always, and I mean ALWAYS, make a backup before messing around with partitions. For once I can be smug about this, but not much, because I nearly got badly burnt.
Please don't be stupid
This is the kind of story that makes me despair of mankind. A security expert set up a Google Ad-word add offering a malicious download and an amazing 409 people clicked on it out of the 259,723 who saw the advert, around .16 per cent.
We've said it before and we'll say it again, please think before you click on a link. I run the K9 web filter for this very purpose. Not to screen my web viewing (well maybe just a little) but to make me stop and think before visiting a website that may be dangerous, or attract the attention of our systems department. You can download it from our Downloads pages.
Creative blames Vista for Linux driver delay
One thing about testing Vista on a notebook is that there has been no surround sound to enjoy but from what I've heard the situation is little different on desktop computers, even those with impressive sound cards. This is because Vista handles sound in a completely different way to XP and the new software was not finished in time. Creative did released some software called Alchemy that brings back the surround sound capabilities. There is also some more technical information on the cause of the problem.
Now it seems that this situation is affecting Linux users as well due to the amount of time that Creative is expecting to spend on updating their drivers.
I'm sure this will come as frustrating news to many as there are several distributions of Linux around now devoted soley to recording and editing music and media. These include Ubuntu Studio and MusicGNU+Linux.Although I don't use either on a regular basis, our podcasts are recorded and edited with Audacity, an open source audio editor.
Finding good drivers has always been the greatest hurdle in my way of using Linux. Well that and the unfortunate incedent with my notebook, I wrote about yesterday.
Good news and bad news about file security3
Now, I don't want to sound like I'm ungrateful, but I've just been able to persuade Windows Vista to open an important file that had been marked as private in Windows XP. After an unfortunate incedent with a notebook, a linux CD and a duck (ok I made the last one up), Windows XP stopped working and Vista refused to give permission to open the file. Eventually, thanks to the help of Dave from IT Week, I've been able to open the document and start work on it again.
On an intellectual level, the reluctance of Vista to open this file is a good thing (bear with me). I had marked my files as private because I work on the train a lot at the moment and I get paranoid about someone making off with the notebook and all my writings. The whole point of formatting hard disks with NTFS is to make sure that only the people with the right permission can access files and folders.
On a personal, please-don't-make-me-write-that-review-again, level, it was frustrating beyond belief. I hate having to do work again as it goes against my principles.
So I'm left very torn. Happy that my work is safely back in my hands but concerned about keeping it out of the hands of nefarious types. Encryption is probably the next logical step but then there might really be no recourse in the event of an accident. I had an encrypted zip file that went bad. Of course, a proper backup routine would help there. And with the problems described above too......
Hibernate options in Vista
Thanks to a programmers forum called CodeProject.com I have found a simple way to turn hibernation on without all the messing about in Control Panel that got me so frustrated.
Full details can be found on the Microsoft Knowledge Base but the process is as follows.
- Clock on the Start button and type cmd into the search box
- Right-click on Command Prompt and select Run as Administrator
- In the command prompt window type powercfg.exe /hibernate on and press enter
- Type exit and then press enter again to quit the window
What seems rather ironic is that we seem to be approaching a situation where it is easier to change settings from the command prompt that it is in the graphical interface. If you can remember all the commands that is.
New Windows Live Mail software on the way?
It looks like the days of Outlook Express (and even Vista Mail) may be numbered with the announcement of the new Windows Live Mail desktop client. Not good innings for Vista Mail as it has only been around for a matter of months.
As far as I'm concerned this is not a moment too soon as Outlook Express looks rather poor in comparison with free alternatives such as Thunderbird both in terms of security and features.
Finding out information on the Mircosoft Live website is challenging, not least because for some reason they have decided to give the same name to both the web and desktop versions but I have downloaded it and my first impressions are favourable. The interface is much closer to Outlook than Outlook Express with vertical columns for the email list and preview.
It also gets my vote for having an integrated RSS readerStill I'm in favour of the RSS feed reader. RSS is one of my favourite technologies as it makes it really easy to keep track of new articles on a large number of sites.
Getting it out of the box
I first found this post by Robert Hoekman about his trials getting Vista out of the box quite amusing but it made me think how easily otherwise good products can be ruined by a small error. He knows about the importance of making things easy for people as he makes clear in the excellent book, Designing the Obvious.
UAC is a good idea, really
Anyone who has used Vista for a little while will have come across the User Account Control window that pops up at various intervals. This seems to have caused quite a split between those who like it and those who think it should never have been included. This was true, even before most of us journalists got our hands on the final beta. Even the concept caused spirited discussion.
For the record, I don't entirely like it, but I think it is an important step in the right direction. Windows has not had the best record on security and the way different people can use the same computer is one of the root causes. Without proper rules, there is no easy way to keep files private and safe. It's one thing when that file is a Word document, but it's very serious when the file in question is critical to the operation of Windows.
Windows XP had the means, but the method for home users left a lot to be desired. One of the reasons behind UAC is that you should be able to use the computer as an ordinary user rather than an administrator. The comparisons are hardly new but worth making, both Mac OS and Linux (with their common heritage) have their greater security as a result of limiting what users can do.
So, please don't turn UAC off, just remind yourself each time it appears that your computer is safer for it.
Waiting around for defrag
In general, the most irratating queues are those when there is no knowledge of how long the wait is going to be. This now appears to be the case with Windows Disk Defragmenter.
The version that was supplied with Windows XP had a couple of coloured bars showing the state of the hard disk so you could see how the defragmentation process was going. There was also a rough % indication. Neither were perfect but at least you know whether it was time to get a coffee or do the filing.
Windows Vista does away with both of these. Instead there is a helpul message "This may take from a few minutes to a few hours". I really wonder why people bother writing statments like this.
Still it gave me enough time to blog about it.
For those that are interested, I decided to start a manual defragment job because I was trying to reduce the size of the Windows partition. The wizard would only reduce a 56GB partition with 36GB free by a measily 3GB. That disk does contain the paging file and other system bits and pieces but it does sound like Vista is being rather untidy with it's files.
Continued Power Woes in Vista
Once again I'm writing a post about my frustrations with Vista and power options. On reflection it may seem obvious but when adjusting settings that MAY affect power, always adjust them in the state you want them applied to.
An example should make this clearer. Having read elsewhere on the web that Lenovo has created a bespoke power plan for it's notebooks that disables Aero Glass I decided to do likewise. I'd felt that Vista used more power than XP on the same notebook and constant use of 3D graphics seemed like an obvious culprit.
The snag is that I disabled Aero Glass when I was working with the power cord connected. When I turned the notebook back on this morning on the train, Aero Glass was back again in all its limited finery. When I got into the office and turned the notebook on again, this time with the power connected, Aero had gone again.
My irratation is that there is nothing to suggest that Aero Glass settings have any relation to power settings. I think there may be many puzzled users on support lines wondering why settings are changing back and forth without realising that it is because of whether the notebook is connected to the mains or not
Upgrades at gunpoint
I've been told that the key to being a good salesperson is to be able to explain the benefit of whatever you are selling. We read a story the other day suggesting that Microsoft has gone for this in a big way with backups for selling upgrages to Windows Vista.
If the confusion of the many versions of Vista was not agony enough, they are not really different; it just depends which features are enabled. Or, in this case, fully enabled.
Shadow copy is a feature in Windows Vista that saves previous versions of files. It's useful because at some point we've all accidently pressed the keyboard shortcut for save rather than undo, in my case just after deleting large swathes of text by mistake. Depending on the software in use, saving a document prevents undoing. Result, lost work and heartache.
So, keeping automatic backups of files is a good thing but only enabled in Windows Vista Ultimate. Sorry, that's not entirely accurate. You can only retrieve the backups with Ultimate, other versions make the backups but don't tell you or let you retrieve them.
What price do you put on your work? On the other hand, I'll put money on some enterprising soul writing some software to extract the backups. I'm just hoping they make it open source.
Dell to offer choice between Windows and Linux
Something tells us Michael Dell may be coming off Bill Gates' Christmas card list. If returning Windows XP to the list of options for new computers wasn't enough, we heard today that Dell is going to start offering the Ubuntu version of Linux on selected notebooks in the US very soon.
That Dell is able to do this at all shows how big and confident the company has become. When I have spoken with other manufacturers on the subject of alternative operating systems, I was told that the terms of their license agreement with Microsoft forbid them from selling computers without an operating system. And by that, they mean Windows.
Now the official line from Microsoft is that a computer sold without an operating system is destined to be used with a pirated version of Windows. So maybe Microsoft will be satisfied because the computers are quite obviously not going to have a pirated copy of Windows installed.
No, somehow I can't quite believe that.
