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Microsoft

Is Vista driving computer prices down again?

After the release of Vista we saw prices for desktops and laptops rise nearly 15% for equivalent Windows XP computers. Since Vista's release, the sales numbers for computers and Vista itself have been dismal and retailers are not happy. I opened up my local paper today at breakfast and found that Office Depot had three decent laptops on sale for under $900 all with 1 GB of RAM. One was $699. We haven't seen those kind of prices on laptops since before Christmas. It makes me wonder if Microsoft is giving some kind of incentive to manufacturers to lower their prices in order to help drive sales.

True Vista capable machines are just now being announced

If you bought a brand new computer with Windows Vista on it, you can probably expect your next computer to also have Vista on it too.

The first generation of Vista powered computers has mostly been under powered. Even with dual core processors and a gigabyte of RAM most computers with Vista perform at an acceptable speed at best.

This week Intel and AMD each announced new processors that will run at speeds double that of systems currently on the shelves. Why do we need that much speed? Vista.

AMD and Intel each made mention that the new processors will have the power that Vista demands. In other words each company essentially said that current processors are under powered when it comes to the demands of Vista.

Is it not ok anymore to be content with what we have?

I have had Windows Vista and Microsoft Office 2007 sitting on my desk for more than three weeks now. I spent nearly $300 buying the stupid products so that I can install them on my machine, but I haven't. It's not because I haven't had time…I just have no burning desire to go through with the change yet. My Windows XP machine is running awesome, I like the configuration of my system and just don't want to upset the apple cart yet. I still occasionally turn on my backup machine that is running a beta version of Windows Vista, but I have only used it about ten times since I installed the beta version last September. 

Turn off file sharing when connecting to wireless while travelling

Disable unprotected File Sharing on Windows XP Home

If you use Windows XP Home Edition, then you should avoid sharing files over the campus network and make sure that file sharing is disabled on your computer. NOTE: File sharing is enabled by default when Windows XP Home is installed onto your computer. Since Windows XP Home does not support password-protected file sharing, any person or virus will be able to access your computer without your knowledge if file sharing is enabled. Follow the instructions below to disable unprotected file sharing.

Sorting the Mail – Video Tip

Sort MailWouldn't it be nice if you could sort your email by the date it was received or by the name of the sender?

If you use Microsoft Outlook Express (or Outlook), Mozilla Thurnderbird, or most other email systems), you can quickly sort all of your mail. AOL finally added this feature for its members just last year. As an added bonus, this tip will work with any computer or operating system.

 

To sort the mail:

  1. Click ONE time on the desired heading of your email list. For example, to sort your messages chronologically, click once on the date heading to sort from oldest to newest.
  2. Click again to sort from newest to oldest.
  3. To sort your mail by the sender, simply click on the "From" heading at the top of the email list.
  4. To sort by the subject of the email, click one time on the "Subject" heading at the top of the email list.
  5. As in Step 1, if you click a second time on a column heading, the sort direction will reverse.
  6. You can even click on the "paper clip " at the top of the email list to quickly find messages that have attachments.

That's it! Simple, clean and useful…give it a try!! Watch the video below to see this tip in action.

Microsoft Word Features You Might Have Overlooked

Most computer users (myself included) never get close to using everything a piece of software has to offer. Microsoft Word is a great example of this theory. You could work with Word for years and never know all the power that it is possible of yielding. This week, I'm going to point out what I think are some of the features you are likely to use if you knew about them. Thesaurus

Sure you know how to use Word's spell check, but did you know you have access to a pretty good thesaurus as well. Here's how:

1. Highlight a word
2. RIGHT Click on the word
3. Click Synonyms from the menu
4. If you like one of the suggestions, click on it and it will replace the original word for you.

Dummie’s Books and Idiot’s Books

DummiesI don't hate many things (except lima beans), but I despise the Dummie's and Idiot's line of books. Why? At least three reasons:

1.  Philosophically, I believe that buying any of these books plants a seed in your head that you are not intelligent enough to figure out a subject (you can now get this abomination of a series on everything from marriage to cooking, and computers to stamp collecting). I believe that NO human being is incapable of learning and learning does NOT start with admitting that you are dumb. Dumb (in the sense of these books) is defined as "not having the capability to process data". By that very definition, it is a waste of money to buy the books in the first place. The entire premise is counter productive to learning.

Why haven’t software companies adapted to Vista yet?

It is no secret that I am not a big fan of Vista, however I understand that Microsoft isn't going to move backwards so Windows users will gradually have to adapt to the new OS.

While consumers can take their time making the transition to the new Windows, there is no excuse for software designers who have dragged their feet in becoming Vista compatible.

Although Vista has been out on the shelf for only a couple of weeks, it has been out in beta form for several months. Software designers have had sufficient time to had sufficient time to update their programs for Vista compatibility.

Microsoft Uninstaller Cleanup Utility

When you have a program that won't unstall, read through this page , install the program it links to and follow the directions.

This program removes all of the install information from the Windows registry. From this point you should reinstall the program and then unstall it the normal way.