-=PCTechTalk=- Dim Vista

I loved it!!!

Dim Vista 
By Stephen Manes, Forbes 03.12.07 

Windows Vista: more than five years in the making, more than
50 
million lines of code. The result? A vista slightly more
inspiring 
than the one over the town dump. The new slogan is:
"The 'Wow' Starts 
Now," and Microsoft touts new features, many filched
shamelessly from 
Apple's Macintosh. But as with every previous version,
there's no wow 
here, not even in ironic quotes. Vista is at best mildly
annoying and 
at worst makes you want to rush to Redmond, Washington and
rip 
somebody's liver out. 

Vista is a fading theme park with a few new rides, lots of
patched-up 
old ones and bored kids in desperate need of adult
supervision running 
things. 

If I can find plenty of problems in a matter of hours, why
can't 
Microsoft? 
Most likely answer: It did--and it doesn't care. 

Example: If malware somehow gets into your machine, Windows
Firewall 
will not stop it from making outbound Internet connections
to do its 
evil deeds. 
If you turn off that firewall in favor of a better one, the
Windows 
Firewall control panel will admonish: "Your computer is
not protected; 
turn on Windows Firewall." But the Windows Security
Center will 
correctly tell you that a firewall is on and that you
shouldn't run 
two at a time. Call it convistancy. 

Gaffes like this make you wonder if security really is
improved as 
much as Microsoft claims. You'll still have to add your own
antivirus 
software, a new Vista-ready version at that. And Vista's
irritating 
and repeated warnings about possible security breaches don't
always 
mean what they say and are usually irrelevant. You'll take
them as 
seriously as the boy who cried wolf, making them useless as
defensive 
tools. 

As usual, things Microsoft was touting last time have
mysteriously 
gone away in favor of putative new wonders. Windows XP's
heralded 
"task-based interface" often let you perform
actions by picking them 
from a list. Now many of those actions have
disappeared--except where 
they haven't. 

Likewise, Control Panel options have been totally rejiggered
yet again 
for no apparent reason. You can still use the Classic panel
view 
that's been available since time immemorial, but several
items have 
been confusingly renamed out of sheer perversity. 

The new desktop search features are a mess, thanks in part
to 
inscrutable indexing defaults and options. A "quick
search" panel at 
the bottom of the Start menu lets you find results, whether
in a 
file's name or its contents. 
But on one machine--oddly, the fastest I tested--it was far,
far 
slower than using Start's regular search option. Though that
option 
finds folders like Accessories, quick search doesn't always.
And if 
you click away to do something else while you wait for
answers, Vista 
abandons the "quick search" and makes you start
over. 

Windows Mail is a mild reworking of Outlook Express whose
big new 
feature is a spam filter that in my tests flagged nonspam as
spam and 
vice versa an unacceptable 10% of the time. The bare-bones
word 
processor WordPad used to be able to open Microsoft Word
files. No 
more. What possible rationale could there be for
"fixing" that, except 
to force users to shell out for the real thing? 

Potentially exciting improvements keep coming up short. The
speech 
recognition system's clever design lets you control the
computer via 
voice and dictate into programs like Word. It did pretty
well at 
understanding me even when I used a less than optimal
built-in 
microphone instead of a headset. But my enthusiasm turned to
dust when 
the software for correcting inevitable mistakes locked up 
repeatedly--even when it understood what I was saying. 

Many touted improvements, like the Web browser and media
player, have 
been available for XP for months. One minor winner is
Vista-only: file 
lists that update their contents automatically. You no
longer have to 
hit View and Refresh to see files added since you last
opened the list 
window. Macs, of course, have done this for years. 

The new Mac-like ability to show thumbnails of documents and
running 
programs is cute, but it doesn't always work--typical of a
level of 
fit and finish that would be unacceptable from a cut-rate
tailor. Only 
in Windowsland will you find howlers like a Safely Remove
Hardware 
button for memory card readers that happen to be hardwired
into your 
computer. 

Still with us: program crashes, followed by the machine's
refusal to 
shut down until you lean on the power button awhile.
Thereafter you 
may be subjected to ugly white-on-black text from CHKDSK, a
DOS-era 
program that issues baffling new reports like "44
reparse records 
processed." 

Should you upgrade your current machine? Are you nuts?
Upgrading is 
almost always a royal pain. Many older boxes are too wimpy
for Vista, 
and a "Vista-ready" unit Microsoft upgraded for me
could see my 
wireless network but not connect to it. The diagnostics
helpfully 
reported "Wireless association failed due to an unknown
reason" and 
suggested I consult my "network
administrator"--me. Yet I've connected 
dozens of things to that network, including other Vista
machines, a 
PlayStation 3 and Microsoft's own Xbox 360. 

My recommendation: Don't even consider updating an old
machine to 
Vista, period. And unless you absolutely must, don't buy a
new one 
with Vista until the inevitable Service Pack 1 (a.k.a.
Festival o' 
Fixes) arrives to combat horrors as yet unknown. 

I suggested to one Windows product manager that if the
company were 
truly serious about security, Vista might offer a simple way
to delete 
files securely and eliminate all traces of identity and
passwords so 
you could safely pass the machine on or sell it years from
now. His 
reply: "Does any other operating system do that?"
That tells you all 
you need to know about Microsoft. The real slogan: "No
innovation 
here." 

As Bill Gates winds down his roles at Microsoft, Windows
Vista may be 
the chief software architect's swan song. It's a shame his
legacy is 
something so utterly unimaginative, internally discordant
and woefully 
out of tune. 

Stephen Manes ( smanesforbes.com ) is cohost of PC World's
Digital Duo, 
which appears weekly on public television. Visit his home
page at 
www.forbes.com/manes .

Regards,

Bob -- the "Keyboard Cowboy"
     ,,,,
     ԿԬ'
 Cincinnati, Ohio
Scottsdale, Arizona
-----------=============<<0++0>>=============---
--------

One nice thing about egotists... they don't talk about other
people.

--  Stephen Wright

-----------=============<<0++0>>=============---
--------
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Ahahahahahahaha

Well I know at our house we've been dual booting to Ubuntu
or Mint to =
get
everyone use to linux.  After XP's support (another laugh)
goes away we =
will
be an all linux family.  I've also been dual booting my
client's PCs for
free if they request it.

Dave=20

-----Original Message-----
From: pctechtalk-bouncefreelists.org
[mailto:pctechtalk-bouncefreelists.org] On Behalf Of
Bob - "The =
Keyboard
Cowboy"
Sent: Monday, March 12, 2007 5:25 PM
To: PCTechTalk - Freelists
Subject: -=3DPCTechTalk=3D- Dim Vista

I loved it!!!

Dim Vista
By Stephen Manes, Forbes 03.12.07=20

Windows Vista: more than five years in the making, more than
50 million
lines of code. The result? A vista slightly more inspiring
than the one =
over
the town dump. The new slogan is: "The 'Wow' Starts
Now," and Microsoft
touts new features, many filched shamelessly from Apple's
Macintosh. But =
as
with every previous version, there's no wow here, not even
in ironic =
quotes.
Vista is at best mildly annoying and at worst makes you want
to rush to
Redmond, Washington and rip somebody's liver out.=20

Vista is a fading theme park with a few new rides, lots of
patched-up =
old
ones and bored kids in desperate need of adult supervision
running =
things.=20

If I can find plenty of problems in a matter of hours, why
can't =
Microsoft?=20
Most likely answer: It did--and it doesn't care.=20

Example: If malware somehow gets into your machine, Windows
Firewall =
will
not stop it from making outbound Internet connections to do
its evil =
deeds.=20
If you turn off that firewall in favor of a better one, the
Windows =
Firewall
control panel will admonish: "Your computer is not
protected; turn on
Windows Firewall." But the Windows Security Center will
correctly tell =
you
that a firewall is on and that you shouldn't run two at a
time. Call it
convistancy.=20

Gaffes like this make you wonder if security really is
improved as much =
as
Microsoft claims. You'll still have to add your own
antivirus software, =
a
new Vista-ready version at that. And Vista's irritating and
repeated
warnings about possible security breaches don't always mean
what they =
say
and are usually irrelevant. You'll take them as seriously as
the boy who
cried wolf, making them useless as defensive tools.=20

As usual, things Microsoft was touting last time have
mysteriously gone =
away
in favor of putative new wonders. Windows XP's heralded
"task-based
interface" often let you perform actions by picking
them from a list. =
Now
many of those actions have disappeared--except where they
haven't.=20

Likewise, Control Panel options have been totally rejiggered
yet again =
for
no apparent reason. You can still use the Classic panel view
that's been
available since time immemorial, but several items have been
confusingly
renamed out of sheer perversity.=20

The new desktop search features are a mess, thanks in part
to =
inscrutable
indexing defaults and options. A "quick search"
panel at the bottom of =
the
Start menu lets you find results, whether in a file's name
or its =
contents.=20
But on one machine--oddly, the fastest I tested--it was far,
far slower =
than
using Start's regular search option. Though that option
finds folders =
like
Accessories, quick search doesn't always. And if you click
away to do
something else while you wait for answers, Vista abandons
the "quick =
search"
and makes you start over.=20

Windows Mail is a mild reworking of Outlook Express whose
big new =
feature is
a spam filter that in my tests flagged nonspam as spam and
vice versa an
unacceptable 10% of the time. The bare-bones word processor
WordPad used =
to
be able to open Microsoft Word files. No more. What possible
rationale =
could
there be for "fixing" that, except to force users
to shell out for the =
real
thing?=20

Potentially exciting improvements keep coming up short. The
speech
recognition system's clever design lets you control the
computer via =
voice
and dictate into programs like Word. It did pretty well at
understanding =
me
even when I used a less than optimal built-in microphone
instead of a
headset. But my enthusiasm turned to dust when the software
for =
correcting
inevitable mistakes locked up repeatedly--even when it
understood what I =
was
saying.=20

Many touted improvements, like the Web browser and media
player, have =
been
available for XP for months. One minor winner is Vista-only:
file lists =
that
update their contents automatically. You no longer have to
hit View and
Refresh to see files added since you last opened the list
window. Macs, =
of
course, have done this for years.=20

The new Mac-like ability to show thumbnails of documents and
running
programs is cute, but it doesn't always work--typical of a
level of fit =
and
finish that would be unacceptable from a cut-rate tailor.
Only in
Windowsland will you find howlers like a Safely Remove
Hardware button =
for
memory card readers that happen to be hardwired into your
computer.=20

Still with us: program crashes, followed by the machine's
refusal to =
shut
down until you lean on the power button awhile. Thereafter
you may be
subjected to ugly white-on-black text from CHKDSK, a DOS-era
program =
that
issues baffling new reports like "44 reparse records
processed."=20

Should you upgrade your current machine? Are you nuts?
Upgrading is =
almost
always a royal pain. Many older boxes are too wimpy for
Vista, and a
"Vista-ready" unit Microsoft upgraded for me could
see my wireless =
network
but not connect to it. The diagnostics helpfully reported
"Wireless
association failed due to an unknown reason" and
suggested I consult my
"network administrator"--me. Yet I've connected
dozens of things to that
network, including other Vista machines, a PlayStation 3 and
Microsoft's =
own
Xbox 360.=20

My recommendation: Don't even consider updating an old
machine to Vista,
period. And unless you absolutely must, don't buy a new one
with Vista =
until
the inevitable Service Pack 1 (a.k.a. Festival o'=20
Fixes) arrives to combat horrors as yet unknown.=20

I suggested to one Windows product manager that if the
company were =
truly
serious about security, Vista might offer a simple way to
delete files
securely and eliminate all traces of identity and passwords
so you could
safely pass the machine on or sell it years from now. His
reply: "Does any other operating system do that?"
That tells you all you
need to know about Microsoft. The real slogan: "No
innovation here."=20

As Bill Gates winds down his roles at Microsoft, Windows
Vista may be =
the
chief software architect's swan song. It's a shame his
legacy is =
something
so utterly unimaginative, internally discordant and woefully
out of =
tune.=20

Stephen Manes ( smanesforbes.com ) is cohost of PC World's
Digital Duo,
which appears weekly on public television. Visit his home
page at
www.forbes.com/manes .

Regards,

Bob -- the "Keyboard Cowboy"
     ,,,,
     =D4=BF=D4=AC'
 Cincinnati, Ohio
Scottsdale, Arizona
-----------=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D<<0+
+0>>=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D-----------

One nice thing about egotists... they don't talk about other
people.

--  Stephen Wright

-----------=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D<<0+
+0>>=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D-----------
--
Please remember to trim your replies (including this
sentence and =
everything
below it) and adjust the subject line as necessary.

To unsubscribe or change your email settings:
http://ww
w.freelists.org/webpage/pctechtalk

To access our Archives:
ht
tp://groups.yahoo.com/group/PCTechTalk/messages/
http://
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--
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To unsubscribe or change your email settings:
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http://
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I heard yesterday that MS is extending the support for Win
XP...........dang good thing <chuckle>
Regards,

Bob - "The Keyboard Cowboy"
     ,,,,
     ԿԬ'
Cincinnati, OH
Scottsdale, AZ
-----------=============<<0++0>>=============---
--------

"How come we choose from just two people for president
and 50 for Miss America?" 

-- Unknown 

-----------=============<<0++0>>=============---
--------

On Monday, March 12, 2007, 3:34:16 PM, you wrote:

DJW> Ahahahahahahaha

DJW> Well I know at our house we've been dual booting to
Ubuntu or Mint to =
DJW> get
DJW> everyone use to linux.  After XP's support (another
laugh) goes away we =
DJW> will
DJW> be an all linux family.  I've also been dual booting
my client's PCs for
DJW> free if they request it.

DJW> Dave=20

DJW> -----Original Message-----
DJW> From: pctechtalk-bouncefreelists.org
DJW> [mailto:pctechtalk-bouncefreelists.org] On Behalf Of
Bob - "The =
DJW> Keyboard
DJW> Cowboy"
DJW> Sent: Monday, March 12, 2007 5:25 PM
DJW> To: PCTechTalk - Freelists
DJW> Subject: -=3DPCTechTalk=3D- Dim Vista

DJW> I loved it!!!

DJW> Dim Vista
DJW> By Stephen Manes, Forbes 03.12.07=20

DJW> Windows Vista: more than five years in the making,
more than 50 million
DJW> lines of code. The result? A vista slightly more
inspiring than the one =
DJW> over
DJW> the town dump. The new slogan is: "The 'Wow'
Starts Now," and Microsoft
DJW> touts new features, many filched shamelessly from
Apple's Macintosh. But =
DJW> as
DJW> with every previous version, there's no wow here,
not even in ironic =
DJW> quotes.
DJW> Vista is at best mildly annoying and at worst makes
you want to rush to
DJW> Redmond, Washington and rip somebody's liver
out.=20

DJW> Vista is a fading theme park with a few new rides,
lots of patched-up =
DJW> old
DJW> ones and bored kids in desperate need of adult
supervision running =
DJW> things.=20

DJW> If I can find plenty of problems in a matter of
hours, why can't =
DJW> Microsoft?=20
DJW> Most likely answer: It did--and it doesn't care.=20

DJW> Example: If malware somehow gets into your machine,
Windows Firewall =
DJW> will
DJW> not stop it from making outbound Internet
connections to do its evil =
DJW> deeds.=20
DJW> If you turn off that firewall in favor of a better
one, the Windows =
DJW> Firewall
DJW> control panel will admonish: "Your computer is
not protected; turn on
DJW> Windows Firewall." But the Windows Security
Center will correctly tell =
DJW> you
DJW> that a firewall is on and that you shouldn't run two
at a time. Call it
DJW> convistancy.=20

DJW> Gaffes like this make you wonder if security really
is improved as much =
DJW> as
DJW> Microsoft claims. You'll still have to add your own
antivirus software, =
DJW> a
DJW> new Vista-ready version at that. And Vista's
irritating and repeated
DJW> warnings about possible security breaches don't
always mean what they =
DJW> say
DJW> and are usually irrelevant. You'll take them as
seriously as the boy who
DJW> cried wolf, making them useless as defensive
tools.=20

DJW> As usual, things Microsoft was touting last time
have mysteriously gone =
DJW> away
DJW> in favor of putative new wonders. Windows XP's
heralded "task-based
DJW> interface" often let you perform actions by
picking them from a list. =
DJW> Now
DJW> many of those actions have disappeared--except where
they haven't.=20

DJW> Likewise, Control Panel options have been totally
rejiggered yet again =
DJW> for
DJW> no apparent reason. You can still use the Classic
panel view that's been
DJW> available since time immemorial, but several items
have been confusingly
DJW> renamed out of sheer perversity.=20

DJW> The new desktop search features are a mess, thanks
in part to =
DJW> inscrutable
DJW> indexing defaults and options. A "quick
search" panel at the bottom of =
DJW> the
DJW> Start menu lets you find results, whether in a
file's name or its =
DJW> contents.=20
DJW> But on one machine--oddly, the fastest I tested--it
was far, far slower =
DJW> than
DJW> using Start's regular search option. Though that
option finds folders =
DJW> like
DJW> Accessories, quick search doesn't always. And if you
click away to do
DJW> something else while you wait for answers, Vista
abandons the "quick =
DJW> search"
DJW> and makes you start over.=20

DJW> Windows Mail is a mild reworking of Outlook Express
whose big new =
DJW> feature is
DJW> a spam filter that in my tests flagged nonspam as
spam and vice versa an
DJW> unacceptable 10% of the time. The bare-bones word
processor WordPad used =
DJW> to
DJW> be able to open Microsoft Word files. No more. What
possible rationale =
DJW> could
DJW> there be for "fixing" that, except to
force users to shell out for the =
DJW> real
DJW> thing?=20

DJW> Potentially exciting improvements keep coming up
short. The speech
DJW> recognition system's clever design lets you control
the computer via =
DJW> voice
DJW> and dictate into programs like Word. It did pretty
well at understanding =
DJW> me
DJW> even when I used a less than optimal built-in
microphone instead of a
DJW> headset. But my enthusiasm turned to dust when the
software for =
DJW> correcting
DJW> inevitable mistakes locked up repeatedly--even when
it understood what I =
DJW> was
DJW> saying.=20

DJW> Many touted improvements, like the Web browser and
media player, have =
DJW> been
DJW> available for XP for months. One minor winner is
Vista-only: file lists =
DJW> that
DJW> update their contents automatically. You no longer
have to hit View and
DJW> Refresh to see files added since you last opened the
list window. Macs, =
DJW> of
DJW> course, have done this for years.=20

DJW> The new Mac-like ability to show thumbnails of
documents and running
DJW> programs is cute, but it doesn't always
work--typical of a level of fit =
DJW> and
DJW> finish that would be unacceptable from a cut-rate
tailor. Only in
DJW> Windowsland will you find howlers like a Safely
Remove Hardware button =
DJW> for
DJW> memory card readers that happen to be hardwired into
your computer.=20

DJW> Still with us: program crashes, followed by the
machine's refusal to =
DJW> shut
DJW> down until you lean on the power button awhile.
Thereafter you may be
DJW> subjected to ugly white-on-black text from CHKDSK, a
DOS-era program =
DJW> that
DJW> issues baffling new reports like "44 reparse
records processed."=20

DJW> Should you upgrade your current machine? Are you
nuts? Upgrading is =
DJW> almost
DJW> always a royal pain. Many older boxes are too wimpy
for Vista, and a
DJW> "Vista-ready" unit Microsoft upgraded for
me could see my wireless =
DJW> network
DJW> but not connect to it. The diagnostics helpfully
reported "Wireless
DJW> association failed due to an unknown reason"
and suggested I consult my
DJW> "network administrator"--me. Yet I've
connected dozens of things to that
DJW> network, including other Vista machines, a
PlayStation 3 and Microsoft's =
DJW> own
DJW> Xbox 360.=20

DJW> My recommendation: Don't even consider updating an
old machine to Vista,
DJW> period. And unless you absolutely must, don't buy a
new one with Vista =
DJW> until
DJW> the inevitable Service Pack 1 (a.k.a. Festival
o'=20
DJW> Fixes) arrives to combat horrors as yet unknown.=20

DJW> I suggested to one Windows product manager that if
the company were =
DJW> truly
DJW> serious about security, Vista might offer a simple
way to delete files
DJW> securely and eliminate all traces of identity and
passwords so you could
DJW> safely pass the machine on or sell it years from
now. His
DJW> reply: "Does any other operating system do
that?" That tells you all you
DJW> need to know about Microsoft. The real slogan:
"No innovation here."=20

DJW> As Bill Gates winds down his roles at Microsoft,
Windows Vista may be =
DJW> the
DJW> chief software architect's swan song. It's a shame
his legacy is =
DJW> something
DJW> so utterly unimaginative, internally discordant and
woefully out of =
DJW> tune.=20

DJW> Stephen Manes ( smanesforbes.com ) is cohost of
PC World's Digital Duo,
DJW> which appears weekly on public television. Visit his
home page at
DJW> www.forbes.com/manes .

DJW> Regards,

DJW> Bob -- the "Keyboard Cowboy"
DJW>      ,,,,
DJW>      =D4=BF=D4=AC'
DJW>  Cincinnati, Ohio
DJW> Scottsdale, Arizona
DJW>
-----------=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D<<0+
+0>>=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
DJW> =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D-----------

DJW> One nice thing about egotists... they don't talk
about other people.

DJW> --  Stephen Wright

DJW>
-----------=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D<<0+
+0>>=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
DJW> =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D-----------
DJW> --
DJW> Please remember to trim your replies (including this
sentence and =
DJW> everything
DJW> below it) and adjust the subject line as necessary.

DJW> To unsubscribe or change your email settings:
DJW> http://ww
w.freelists.org/webpage/pctechtalk

DJW> To access our Archives:
DJW> ht
tp://groups.yahoo.com/group/PCTechTalk/messages/
DJW> http://
www.freelists.org/archives/pctechtalk/

DJW> --
DJW> Please remember to trim your replies (including this
sentence
DJW> and everything below it) and adjust the subject line
as necessary.

DJW> To unsubscribe or change your email settings:
DJW> http://ww
w.freelists.org/webpage/pctechtalk

DJW> To access our Archives:
DJW> ht
tp://groups.yahoo.com/group/PCTechTalk/messages/
DJW> http://
www.freelists.org/archives/pctechtalk/
--
Please remember to trim your replies (including this
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