I've only been using Ubuntu Linux about a month, but I think it has real potential at saving many of you a lot of money and giving you more peace of mind. I put together this short introductory video of Ubuntu so you can see what it is all about and give you a glimpse as to what its capabilities are.
I have been so busy lately, that I haven't had much of a chance to play around with my Ubuntu Linux (alternative to Windows) machine. Last night, I updated to the latest version of Ubuntu Linux 7.04 for free. Compare that to the minimum of $179 you would pay for the basic version of Vista. I was motivated to do the update not only because I promised I would learn more about Linux, but also because Dell released a story yesterday announcing their plans to sell Linux laptops and desktops computer starting this summer. It seems that Microsoft keeps getting hit day-after-day. Where will they be in 5 years? They certainly don't have the stature today that they had 5 years ago.
For literally years, I have been hunting for an easy to deploy, safe remote control system for computers. I wanted a tool that would allow me to easily access customer's computers so I could help them with their problems from wherever I might be. As you know from our video tips, a picture and voice is worth a thousand words. As hard as we work to properly illustrate and write our tips over the years, the video tips have exceeded our expectations and most importantly your expectations.
Now, I am aim to bring the next step in the evolution of my business and quest to help people with their computers. Yes, it will be a part of my business and thus a charge will be involved, but I will be able to log into a users computer (the user always initiates the sessions) and actually see and be able to explain what might be going wrong with their computer. Problems that I attempt to solve through email or over the phone often result in long, drawn out affairs that don't always result in resolution. However, if I can physically see what a computer user is looking at, the problem can often be solved in a matter of minutes.
I've been trying to think of a way to formulate this question into our weekly poll, but is just won't work. Instead, I'm asking you straight away to post a reply to this article telling us what your favorite tip or story from our web site is. Not only will it be educational for us to find out what people like about the site, but you will also bring some older tips or stories up to the front again for our new visitors.
Please post a reply below and either copy and past the link to your favorite tip or story, or the title of the tip or story. Also, if you have time, write a quick note on why you like that particular tip.
Ha, ha! I'm still laughing and smiling at this one. I've been talking a lot recently about Vista because there is so much to say and it is the current version of Windows we have now.
Anyway, the picture you see in this article is not only the Windows Vista logo, but it is also the default replacement of the familiar start button in Windows Vista. The reason I bring it up and have been laughing for two days is that I guess the official term for it in Vista is the "Windows Orb". If you read a tip for Windows Vista (probably not on this site), that says click on the "Windows Orb", what they are referring to is the "Start" button that no longer says start, it's just the picture of the new Orb.
512mb of RAM is not enough for Windows Vista…any flavor. Vista has been out almost three months now, and I have setup almost a dozen Vista machines. Thankfully, they are rolling out slowly. All the machines I setup, until today, came with 1 GB (1024mb) or 2GB of RAM. And although not blazing, the computer's ran at an acceptable speed.
I just finished spending nearly 2.5 hours setting up a laptop with Vista Basic and only 512mb of RAM. It was painful. Normally, I can clean all unwanted and trial software (crapware) from a new computer, install and update AVG Antivirus, optimize the startup and Internet settings, shut off unnecessary special effects, setup email and test both email and the Internet all in under 1.5 hours. This little laptop required extraordinary wait times to get anything installed or uninstalled. Very frustrating.
Some computer users who encounter my rules of email sometimes pass off my thoughts as being too strict. Unfortunately, I know it isn't true. Today, for the upteenth time, I worked with a customer who has had her email address for less than a year and already is inundated with more than 75 spam per day. Luckily her Internet provider has a decent spam filter, but she still has to put up with a lot of unwanted spam. The only thing she uses the email address for is correspondence with some family, friends, and two religious oriented weekly email newsletters.
Tedd, our computer bargain guru, ran across this article today at MSNBC.com and forwarded it to me. Basically, it concretley demonstrates the ongoing failure and low adoption rate of Windows Vista. Dell, due to lackluster Vista sales and monster customer demand, will give consumers a choice between XP and Vista on many of their machines.
Choose XP.
My family has been Internet banking since early 2000. We moved to an Internet only bank (no physical banks anywhere that we can walk in to) because we were ready to start paying bills online and get our account information online. At the time, our large overhead bank, Wells Fargo, actually charged customers $9.95 per month to have the privilege of online banking. After some research, we settled on an Internet only bank with no physical banks, just a web site, great customer service, high interest rates, and free online banking. Their site has changed only slightly over the years and we have never regretted the decision.
Our regular listeners hear us talk about this subject often, but it bears repeating as much as we can talk about it for your data's safety and your sanity. Backing up to CD's is a multi-step process and all the steps need to be followed for it to go right.
CD's work great for archiving data that won't change. This includes pictures, music, your finished novel, etc. CD's should only be burned ONE time. CD-R's have the capability of being written to many times, but this also increases the likelihood of problems with the CD. Burn them once and store them in a safe place.