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Posts Tagged: Microsoft

Microsoft Plans to Release Free AntiVirus Program

photo credit: aroid

Thankfully and mercifully, Microsoft is discontinuing the horrible OneCare security product they sold the past couple of years. However, Microsoft announced today that a new security product, code named Morro, will appear as a free antivirus product later this year.

In the story below, Microsoft states that the new antivirus product will be based on the current OneCare underpinnings. As usual, I will reserve full judgment until the product is released and tested, but I won’t be switching my recommendation from AVG, Avast or AntiVir unless this new product clearly blows the doors off these already established and respected products.

NewsFactor Network | Microsoft Confirms Plans to Release Free Anti-Virus Service.

Windows 7 Will Launch in October

It appears, from this article, that Microsoft has chose October 22 as the official release date for Windows 7. After testing Windows 7 for the past 5 months, I can honestly say it is heads and tails above Windows Vista. However, I still stand by my previous comments that most basic computer users would be far better off with an Apple computer or an inexpensive computer running Linux because they both require far less security hand holding and maintenance than Windows.

I hope that Microsoft follows through on their promise of better security with Windows 7, but only time will tell.

Operating Systems – Windows 7 Will Obliterate Vista Frustrations in October.

Internet Tips / Riding Shotgun with Rick / Tech News — 6 Comments
1
Jun 09

Bing Search Engine

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the new Wolfram Alpha search engine and it was news fodder all over the web for nearly 2 weeks. This week, Microsoft’s new Bing search engine is getting a lot of press.

At first glance, the Bing search engine looks clean and fresh. Searching is ultra-fast and easy to read. Like Google, however, the Bing search engine also presents many ads at the top and sides of the search results. In fact, the layout of Bing and its results eerily (or blatantly) match that of Google.

The true test of this new search engine will be the results it provides. I will test it from time-to-time, but it will take awfully good search results to tear me from Google.

What about you? Have you tried Bing? What are your thoughts on its design and results?

General Computer Tips — 5 Comments
15
May 09

Learn Minesweeper & give Solitaire or FreeCell a Break – Video Tip

minesweeperss Solitaire seems to be a game that is synonymous with computers. Microsoft planted the game in Windows not only for entertainment, but also for new computer users to learn mouse skills (click-and-drag, double-click, etc). Some computer users have branched out to FreeCell and like it better than Solitaire.

However, have you tried playing Minesweeper?

Minesweeper appears difficult upon first look. And yes, it does require some brain power, but isn’t that partially the purpose of our computers…to use our brains? If you do like a challenge and using logic give Minesweeper a try.

The object of the game is to avoid the ‘mines’. You do this by first making a random guess and clicking one time on the board. If you are lucky, you didn’t hit a mine (some say that you can never hit a mine on the first click, but I have).

Now you have to use the clues the game gives you to figure out where the other ones lie. The clues come in the form of a number (usually 1-5). The number indicates how many mines border that particular square. One hint to commit to memory is that one square (if it is not along the edge), borders eight other squares. Keep that in mind and like FreeCell, every game is winnable.

It is much easier to Continue reading →

Riding Shotgun with Rick / Tech News — 2 Comments
13
May 09

Microsoft Promises greater compatibility with Windows 7

Windows Vista was hammered from its beta versions all the way through to its release and even to this day for lack of compatibility with hardware and software. Today, Microsoft announced that more than 10,000 hardware and software vendors are working with Microsoft during the development phase of Windows 7 to help assure a quality launch of Windows 7 later this year.

Will Windows 7 be better prepared for the public than Wndows Vista was? It appears they are on the right track, but only time will tell.

Microsoft Promises 10,000 Windows 7-Friendly Products — InformationWeek.

Application Tips — No Comments
13
May 09

Use keyboard shortcuts to save time editing text – Video Tip

Save some time when editing any type of text document (email, word processing document, blog, etc) by learning these keyboard shortcuts:

Press Home to get to the beginning of a line
Press End to move to the end of a line
Press Ctrl + Home to get to the top of a document
Press Ctrl + End to get to the end of a document
Press Ctrl + Up Arrow to get to the beginning of a paragraph
Press Ctrl + Down Arrow to get to the end of a paragraph

Watch the video below to see these shortcuts in action. You can also search my site for “keyboard shortcuts” to find other handy keyboard shortcut tips.

BONUS TIP: Microsoft Word only keyboard shortcut:

When you open an existing Microsoft Word document, Word places the insertion point at the beginning of the document by default. However, if you would like to move the cursor to the location it was in when you were last working on the document, simply press Continue reading →

Riding Shotgun with Rick / Tech News — 1 Comment
11
May 09

Microsoft confirms Windows 7 release by the end of 2009

Microsoft opened up today and said they plan on releasing Windows 7 in time for the holidays. No firm date was given, but that statement means that manufacturers would need Windows 7 in hand no later than September or early October in order to start selling it in November/December.

As I mentioned multiple times before: if you are in the market for a Windows based computer and don’t absolutely need it now…wait for Windows 7.

Microsoft confirms Windows 7 coming this year | Beyond Binary – CNET News.

Riding Shotgun with Rick — 2 Comments
10
May 09

Comparison of Windows 7 vs. Ubuntu 9.04 install

I had the opportunity today to install both Windows 7 RC 1 and Ubuntu 9.04 on my Toshiba laptop today. The laptop has an Intel Core2Duo processor, 4 GB of RAM and 160 GB hard drive. Here are the results:

	Windows 7 RC1	Ubuntu 9.04
Install time	21 minutes including 2 reboots	19 minutes no reboots
Boot time	54 seconds	36 seconds
Shut down time	20 seconds	8 seconds
Post install work required	Approximately an hour to install Antivirus software, Office, decent browser, PDF reader, and all subsequent updates (and I had the install files on a flash drive).	None, AV software not needed, Office software and PDF reader installs with OS.
Hardware recognition	Everything worked except the card reader, but after first set of updates the card reader worked	Everything worked immediately.

Overall, both operating systems felt snappy, as they should with 4 GB of RAM. I will continue to test and report on both operating systems, but thought the install information was interesting.

Riding Shotgun with Rick / Tech News — No Comments
5
May 09

Windows 7 released by August?

Before I left for my work saving and fixing computers, I started the massive download for Windows 7 RC 1. The download is nearly 2.5 GB! This weekend, I will install it on my laptop and give you a full report in the upcoming weeks.

This news story indicates that we might see the commercial release of Windows as early as August of this year. I want to see Microsoft release a quality product, but I also think it would be a good move on their part to try and release Windows 7 in time for the 2009 school year and have momentum going into the holidays. But then again, we are talking about Microsoft who seems to stumble more lately than soar.

NewsFactor Network | Windows 7 Could Be Released as Early as August.