Notes on 7: day 1
AmbiguicCoherence
Let me start by saying I’ve been a little lax with throwing up my posts. I’ve been a little too busy with my real job to really get into this. I’ve got a handful of posts written, two or three security things that i’m working on, besides that anti-virus that I kinda let slip through the cracks. Which takes us to here. _____
Windows 7 Beta.
I’ll do a paragraph to long paper write up when I’m done. But, I figure for now, I’ll just throw my notes up as a journal. In my experience, Beta versions for software usually fall apart in a virtual machine. I had trouble with Longhorn back when and I expected to have trouble with 7. Nope. Worked perfectly. The beta has started off on the right foot, and here we go for the first 1 hour of experiencing after installation (which only took 40 minutes).
For marketing/business strategy. Good job Microsoft, you are lucky I hate the
marketing strategies of apple more that I will volunteer to participate in this
beta.
No errors loading it in VMware 6.5
Recognized as Windows Vista x64 Edition
Installation similar to Vista:
Layout, Copying, Expanding, Installing : in only 40 minutes
Took about 45 minutes to install. However, I was running a
lot of other things in the background, plus I only dedicated a small portion of
RAM to the virtual session.
Not impressed by the fish background. Maybe, I just don’t understand the
significance. (dumb)
“windows 7. for testing purposes only. Build 7000”
First look:
As insignificant as it is. I really like the new splash
screen.
Same stupid vista “thinking” cursor. Stupid shiny circle.
Icon sets are arbitrary and everyone deals with the change
between versions. Supposed to make
things more life like, or retro or something.
Large icon taskbar.
Looks as if the notification icons for open programs are spread along
the bottom. Elementary and simple. Thoughts: right off the bat, the learning
curve should be minimal. Simplicity at
the finger tips with a similar windows feel.
I guess we’ll all have to memorize what programs go with what icons
because there are no names on any of this shit.
Breakout taskbar of notification icons versus a slide
over. I like it better, more windows
wont bunch or shift.
“solve pc issues”.
Finally. An idiots guide to completing a set up. – “action center”
Automatic activation after 3 day (good idea Microsoft)
2 click through first time set up options for IE8, unlike
the 6 or so options for IE7. I want to
open and use. … and there it crashes.. let it sit for 15 minutes, and it came
back.
And… www.mozilla.com. But the “good guess” for time left was
off. It showed until completion 3 hours
and took under a minute.
Start menu:
They fixed the shut down button. I see it. I can shut it down without digging
for it.
Everyone was talking about paint and calculator. Here they go.
Damn ribbon type of thing is laid out in paint. What ever. No big difference here, there are
only so many options that can be laid out on a menu bar. At least it doesn’t
wrap or change.
Calculator = freebie giant-button style. But it does have a unit and date conversion
tool built in. guess that’s one less
thing I have to google. There’s even a
template option for gas mileage, lease and mortgage calculation.
Sticky notes: don’t need the trial for 3M’s post it
notes.
Snipping tool? Custom
screen shot app. I guess that comes in handy.
For work, I’m use to the almighty alt+print to grab a shot of an active
window and then crop my shot using another m$ app. I will say this: I am impressed by it. Damn. As simple as it is, damn, it will come
in handy.
Right click to screen resolution. Finally, I can do what I want in a click or
two. Although I am a power use and I
know pretty much where every menu is and can tell ppl where things are
“minority report style” as I wave my hand around the air, less clicks means a
higher productivity.
Devices and printers listed in win explorer = gay.
Sure, it looks good to show a mouse or an external drive, or
even a fancy printer or fax, but all other device look like white box NAS. This is like blind-mode.
Rate your computer tool to actually get a real performance
rating on whether or not you should update hardware (they should give some
options or recommendations).
-Alright, that’s one hour down. I closed it, I’ll look at it again some time this week.
At the end of this coming month (February), I’ll write up the points that pro/con this is better than XP and or Vista.
Google Summer of Code
Robinton
If you’re not already following Google’s Summer of Code program(SoC), you really should be, and I hope to present you why I love it so much, and reasons to follow it even if you’re not a programmer.
First of all. what is it?
Summer of Code is a Google-sponsored event that allows anyone in college or post-graduate education to submit a proposal to any of the participating open source projects, and if selected, get paid to implement your project over the summer.
Why this is awesome:
Check out the project list at http://code.google.com/soc/2008. Even if you aren’t a Linux user, you’ll still see names on the list you recognize: Firefox, and VLC are some of the bigger names on the Windows platform. If you have a Linux or similar type background, you’ll recognize many of the projects as the best projects of their kind, sometimes on any platform.
So in Summer of Code, these aren’t just tiny projects (which are represented as well) but many of the finest programs the open-source community has to offer.
This offers the student a fabulous opportunity:
You’ll get real-world experience coding on something that matters, and that if you succeed, will be used by a large number of people. You’ll also have a great portfolio piece to show anyone who asks for a sample of your code.
“But I’m not a programmer!”
Summer of Code is an incredible opportunity for the non-coder as well: Many hotly requested features simply don’t happen because of several reasons. not the least of which are little interest, and no bodies. Summer of Code (SoC) presents a solution to this problem: a project simply has to list some desired features as ideas, and chances are someone who is applying will also be a fan of the idea and submit an application. Then all you have to do is wait about ~3 months for the code to be finished (or, if you’re brave, you can always try out the unfinished code), and then once a new release is made, the feature will be ready and waiting for you.
I’m not a recruiter or a hiring manager, but Summer of Code is an awesome opportunity for you as well. The students who enter are a cut above many others, because they take programming more seriously than others; then only the best proposals get invited to participate, and this ensures the individual is capable of writing short proposals that sell themselves and their ideas to total strangers in many cases. The ones who finish the process have shown themselves to be dedicated, self-starters, who can work well without supervision, and can adapt to different coding styles as needed. Their code is also available for anyone to look at, and in nearly every case, the progression of the code from rough patch to polished feature can be seen- an invaluable look at how someone learns from their mistakes and from criticism by other more experienced developers.
Having said all of that, here’s some of my favorite proposals, and why they’re cream of the crop.
Plasma Widgets on the Screensaver
You don’t even need to be familar with KDE 4 or the vision depicted by Aaron Seigo to see just how awesome this concept is: foolproof party mixes, volume controls that can be used by others so that you aren’t stuck listening to their music because they left the room and forgot to turn it off, and a way for your friends to leave you notes while you’re not at the computer, without them having access to any of your stuff.
If you’re familiar with the KDE 4 vision, you’ll realize that this demonstrates the vision better than anything else.
A multi-user networked music sequencer
This is a proposal to have a collaborative music sequencer, so that several people people can work on a piece of music together, without needing to be present in the same room. From the proposal, it’s striving to present a new way of creating electronic music, which is mostly done solo now. Being a fan of electronic music, this looks to be an exciting development.
CSS Fixes and Enhancement for WebKit
With this proposal, Webkit (basis for Safari, and related to Konqueror’s KHTML), would be raising the bar for everyone by getting 100% in the CSS 1 and 2.1 tests. With browsers becoming more and more compliant, pages can use these and other standards, confident that they work in the most popular browsers.
Generic GPU-Accelerated Video Decoding
On Windows, both ATI and Nvidia have cards that are capable of doing hardware-assisted HD video decoding by utilizing the GPU. Under Linux, there is no such luck. So this project aims to let a wide variety of cards help decode video by programming the GPU. Using this approach, a far wider range of cards will be able to provide hardware decoding of video than on Windows, where only some of the newer cards can.
I’m not a Mac user, but I do have some friends that are, and they are extremely happy with VLC since it basically beats the crap out of Quicktime; unfortunately, with the new features added in Leopard, it fell behind Quicktime on support for the new features. This should get VLC back to being the #1 player on the platform.
Vista = dookie
Ambiguic Coherence
As I said to a friend yesterday, a sales person can suggest windows vista to me, but i’d argue them down to quitting their job. Vista is a piece of dookie. (Don’t get this confused with Green Day’s Dookie, because that was a killer album). Vista is dookie. It’s like a pile of dookie stuck in the seat of your pants where it’ll remain till you manage to waddle to a bathroom to scoop it out. Dookie, like dookie dripping down your leg. Uncomfortable? You should be. Why would anyone want something like that.
Let’s all wait till the second half of 09 or even 2010 for windows 7. After all of our complaining, even if Microsoft scraps minwin again (like the crap they pulled with longhorn or vista when it was in alpha), it can’t turn out as bad as vista did. People at Microsoft who are on the front line (PR, or those a couple of steps removed from PR) won’t admit it, but those deeper within the organization have a little more freedom to admit that Vista is tainted much in the same way as Windows Me was tainted. Few people remember ME now-a-days – it came and then it disappeared through the cracks because people listened to the techies. After that learning experience, why wouldn’t they listen to the techies about vista – Shiny stuff. You put shiny stuff in front of today’s technologically aware population, and they think that it must be better some how. Little do they actually know that flashy images don’t overcome the crap code. Any such way, they’re going to spend money on it. Which is the main reason why rogue malware applications spread, and why the storm worm is so great. If it says FREE, promises anything that could be worth while, or gives you a sense of love or hope (like e-cards) you download it. I’m probably going to write something about XSS to follow up my rainbow tables explanation. So to everyone dumb, stop it, you’re dumb.
Lenovo = World’s Thinnest Laptop?
Ambiguic Coherence
Lenovo, the X300… Dimensions don’t speak the truth (see title), but the way I see it – a full featured Windows based laptop that, by +0.16 in and 0.1lbs, is far better than that MacBook Air. I’m not going to write a full post on this one – I’ll let MountSpyder do that, since he reviewed the Air (Apple Mac Book Air: Who Its Really For and Why I Want One), but I am going to list the specs:
|
$1,799 -> $3,098 Dimensions: 12.8×8.94×0.76″ 3.0lbs Processor & Memory: 800MHz FSB 2GB 666MHzDDR2 1.6GHz -> 1.8GHz Storage: 80GB 4200rpm PATA Upgrade to 64GB SSD Graphics & Display: 13.3″ WS TFT LED 1280×720 Intel GMA X3100 2nd Display – 1920×1200 Peripherals & Ports: iSight Camera Micro-DVI dongle port 78 key keyboard solidstate trackpad 1x USB 2.0 headphone jack Networking & Wireless: Builtin 802.11n Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR Battery: 37w Li-polymer - 5 hr Features: “multitouch trackpad” “smart LED display” Accessories: MacBook Air SuperDrive – DVD-RW? USB Ethernet Adapter Micro-DVI to Composite/S-video USB Modem |
$1,060.80-> $2,866.50 Dimensions: 12.5×9.09×0.92″ 3.1lbs Processor & Memory: 800MHz FSB 2GB 666MHz DDR2 Upgrade to 4GB 666MHz DDR2 1.2GHz Storage: 64 GB SSD DVD-RW Graphics & Display: 13.3 WS TFT LED 1440×900 Intel GMA X3100 2nd Display – 2048×1536 Peripherals & Ports: camera & mic VGA full keyboard trackpoint & trackpad 3x USB 2.0 Speakers & headphone jack Networking & Wireless: Wireless LAN, WAN Bluetooth Gigabit Ethernet Wireless USB + GPS + WiMax Battery: 3 cell Li-polymer - 4.3 to 10.0 hr Features: “illuminated buttons” “stereo speakers” “think light” “carbon fiber” “spill resistant keyboard” Accessories: Dock Port Replicator Extra Battery Any other Lenovo Accessory |
You decide.
Microsoft is Getting it Right
Ambiguic Coherence
The secret got out during CES. Vienna – the original undertakings of Longhorn before they changed it mid beta and Vista showed up out of nowhere. Anyway, Windows 7: Featuring minwin: a Linux like kernel. Customizable interface, plug and go packaging, security, essential interface… you get the point. Microsoft is keeping this one under wraps. ZDNet let this one through yesterday- “Why Windows 7 Might go in pieces” isn’t about things breaking, but about the customizables. If you’ve ever installed Linux, you can pick what parts you want to install. kernel drivers, what interface, security measure, etc. Set it up as a server, a workstation, or even a media center. Go to Paul Thurrott’s SuperSite for Windows to read a bit more.
I’ve been digging through sites and briefs from over the years to find more information during the last few months. A friend threw me the ZDNet link. We had a short but to-the-point conversation about it.
- It’s about time Microsoft catches up
+ yea. …[T]ook them long enough. I’m just glad they finally see the whole picture.
- … til it gets released and it’s not the whole picture.
+ yea. ‘like they forget to use water with the water color.
The Multicore Processor Battlegrounds are Heating up Again
Ambiguic Coherence
Reading my daily news updates, I ran across Intel’s latest jab into AMD’s side – 6 cores on a package by late 2008. InfoWorld and Zdnet had most of the coverage on this topic. Intel is actually threatened by the Final, long awaited delivery of the Barcelona cores (Phenom) which should arrive at the OEMs in April. Intel’s next release will be called Dunnington and use the high-K 45nm technology. The only problem I see, and my view is shared by a lot of other authors, is that there are no true Multithread applications out there that the average user will be using. Now, I should get some feedback on that one, but I do have a point. Multithread apps like Simulia’s Abaqus, Pro/E, and SolidWorks require a lot of RAM and a heck of a lot of processing power, so one chip still isn’t going to do it – Xenons, Opterons, and server racks are a different story.
Here’s the thing -There is no point (at this point in the century) to have multicore-multithreaded-same architecture processors. If Intel were to release a multi-core processor that had multiple types of cores on it, then AMD and all the other manufacturers would close its doors. It would be like it was back in the day. A math processor + a standard processor.
I see it possibly taking the form of the cell processor in the PS3, for example. They should throw in a floating point, a doubler, an integrator, one for graphics, one for physics, and one to run the counter through the asm. That looks like six to me. And I would switch sides for it. But wait, isn’t AMD trying to pull this off with Fusion and the Spider platform?!? Intel is kinda late on that too. AMD thought of it first. If you look at the pictures those other sites have on the 6-core, you’ll notice 3 piggy backed cores (take a look at my article on quad core misbeliefs). Once again, Intel needs to watch some sesame street: the number of today is 3 versus the number of today is 6. Separate cores are not the same as piggy backed cores.
In other news: Another shot at the Barcelona in the later half of 08 is the Tukwila- Another Quad core model. However, it’ll be the first processor in the world with 2 billion transistors on one chip. Sure it’ll also have an exponentially higher cache of 30MB, but besides that, and running smoothly at 2+ GHz, it’ll be a performance rival of (if not surpass) any of the Phenoms released at that time.
The Architecture of Quad Cores
AmbiguicCoherence
Intel supposedly released the first line of quad core processors. A lot of enthusiasts out there were very hesitant to agree with people when this conversation arose. This post is to give some insight to those discussions and hopefully bring some conclusion to it.
When Intel released their dual core processor, the architecture suggested a ‘piggy-backed’ core upon a standard one core package. A simpler way to describe this: one core talks to the motherboard and the second core only talks to that core, and through it to the motherboard. AMD’s dual core package was two individual cores on, each with the ability to talk to one another and to the motherboard. Intel vs AMD… speed? Is it really about clock speed? No.
For the moment, I’m going to set aside my AMD enthusiasm (which has been fading since the ATI merger) and enable the Electrical Engineer in me. Yes, I let that slip out – Electrical Engineer. Speed and performance are not dependent on a simple clock timer. It has more to do with compatibility of all hardware controllers, RAM, data transfer, etc. However, this post is not going to explain what the textbooks and white papers on my bookcase can. Having a faster clock speed (GHz) doesn’t make Intel better.
Intel Q6600 AMD 9600 Phenom
Intel’s Quad Core is a double double. It’s two piggy backing cores on one substrate. 2 separate dies. Like I described above, but there are two side by side – you can really see it too. The suspicions are true. AMD’s however, phenom errata set aside, is a true 4 cores on one die. And the first manufacturer to include an L3 cache – on die memory shared between the cores. Although I have my doubts, AMD will pull through and offer some punishment to Intel in the next two quarters if they can figure out how to fix the erratum. (Note: You can’t see the silicon die on either brand because of the thermal compound, no comment.)
You can see the difference yourself. I don’t need to explain it at any level of technical expertise. Just look at it.
Office 2007 Rebuttal
AmbiguicCoherence
The MountSpyder asked for some assistance in delaying a company wide update to office 2007.
This is what we threw together.
Innovation:
Microsoft Office 2007
“I’ve found it to be perhaps the most innovative and life-changing upgrade of any Microsoft product in the last seven years.”
In a rebuttal to someone’s plea that Office 2007 is the greatest thing since sliced bread, or the greatest thing since the $8 case of Natty for those of you going to college or just graduated or miss those days. We dismantled all seven of the attempts to show change, upgrades, and new, essential features.
First, Office 2007 provides a tabbed interface (the Ribbon) that allows many commonly-used functions (ex: inserting a picture or a table) to be accessed quickly and simply.
Office 2003 and all other versions allow you to customize the way you view menus. You have the explicit options to pick and choose which ever toolbars, buttons, and optional button text you want. If you want larger icons, you can even have that too. Looks like this feature already existed with the ‘customize toolbars’ option, which has existed since the establishment of Office.
Second, Office 2007 includes innovative citation tools that go beyond what is presently available in Office 2003 programs and would make it very easy for students to do proper citations (and give them less excuses for making mistakes).
This feature exists in Office 2003, although it doesn’t have fancy little pictures on the menu. Insert-> reference-> footnote/caption/cross-reference/index&tables. I use this on a daily basis at work when I write reports. It provides a functionality where you don’t have to relabel sections, tables, graphs, equations, or even figures: place a reference and cross reference it. If you make any changes, including deleting anything or changing anything around, you click ‘update’ and everything gets relabeled automatically – definitely not a new feature.
Third, Office 2007 provides enhanced document recovery features as compared to Office 2003. It is much easier to recover past versions of documents (especially if students accidentally save over a paper they are working on).
Any Office App crashes, you get a recovery option, nuff said. Office 2007 gives the same options but instead of being a side menu that pops up, it opens in the center of the screen – wooooow that’s exciting, i never had the ability to turn my eyes or if that was a challenge, turn my head 0.5 degrees.
Fourth, Office 2007 provides improved document and application security, helping to protect contents from infection or unauthorized disclosure.
Exploits in Microsoft Office 2007 – From Credible Computer News Websites:
http://www.betanews.com/article/New_Exploit_Could_Affect_Both_Office_2007_and_IE/1158713655
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9016279
http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=197008454
http://www.news.com/2100-1002_3-6161835.html
http://www.dailytechrag.com/story/first-office-2007-bug-awaits-confirmation/2007-02-23
http://securityvulns.com/news/Microsoft/Windows/XML-CE.html
http://securityvulns.com/news/MS/Excel/calculation.html
http://securityvulns.com/news/MS/Excel/MB/2007.05.html
Fifth, Office 2007 provides the option of running in a compatibility mode for use with existing file formats while still supporting the new XML-based formats.
Each office version is backwards compatible with the previous versions. Word97-2003 & 6.0/95 all use the same format. It’s not a new feature. Microsoft has released updates for Office 2007 that fixes an ‘upgrade’ they had to subdue older formats which has caused many problems. It was like Office thinking your whole My Documents folder was filled with viruses – people freaked out.
Sixth, formatting text and documents is streamlined in Office 2007.
Formatting is streamlined in all versions of office. You can add whatever buttons you want to those toolbars. If you just want formatting and nothing else, then get rid of those menus. This is nothing new.
Seventh, Office 2007 includes more flexible presentation options for students, making it easier for them to add interactive features to their class presentations.
You mean Microsoft PowerPoint 2007, don’t you? Yes, we’ll agree with that. Microsoft took all the third party plug-ins: animations, transitions, and sounds, and packaged them all into it. Sure, it makes it easier because you don’t have to install a plug-in. Did you know that using power point for presentations is over played? Animations and transitions take away from any sustenance of the presentation, unless the student doesn’t have any, and therefore added them in to fill time. You can download FREE third party plugins for all other versions of Office – that make things look pretty or increase productivity.
Rebuttal
Pretty colors and fancy menus do not make a program better than its predecessor
- security, ease of use, and new essential features do.
Here’s what other people had to say:
“For users new to Office, who may stumble on menus and a conglomeration of options spread across many dialog boxes in the 2003 version, the attractive user interface will probably make learning the applications easier. Advanced users who are accustomed to customizing their interface … will learn to adjust, albeit perhaps grumbling loudly along the way.
If you use Office for everyday correspondence and not for creating documents with fancy formats, or to analyze data or create budgets and update lists in Excel, Office 2007 offers little in the way of new features for the stand-alone user.
Excuses included, if it’s working well enough why try improving on it? I only use 10 percent of the features, Office is bloated, and I don’t need Microsoft Office when I have OpenOffice, which is free.
(http://www.activewin.com/reviews/software/apps/ms/office2007/)
“Microsoft was only able to ribbonize the core Office applications.”
“Office Home and Student 2007 will retail for $149 in the US, but the actually street price will likely be closer to $125. That’s a bargain, though you should note that purchasing this product does not qualify you for upgrade pricing to other Office versions, now or in the future.”
“So Microsoft is likely to have a hard sell on its hands. Becta (the British Education and Communications Technology Association) has already warned UK schools to hold off on upgrading to Vista and Office 2007. Sensibly, Becta knows that organisations would be better to wait until bugs and other issues that gradually come to light have been ironed out. Nevertheless we’re pretty gung-ho about Office 2007. It’s not just an incremental change here and a tweak there – Microsoft has overhauled the whole look and how you interact with it. It now features a chunky toolbar, known as a ribbon.”
“I downloaded Office 2007 and installed one lazy afternoon at the office. After a few minutes of using Word 2007, I was struck with the terrifying realization that I would have to learn some new terms–”home” instead of “file,” for example–and would have to relearn where to find the customize and option selections. I started to panic. I am in a small office and we don’t have the luxury of time or money to go relearning everything. We have used Office 2000 since first buying it and have seen no good reason to upgrade.
I quickly uninstalled Office 2007 and went back to Office 2000. I only lost one afternoon and the feeling of panic soon left. The change is simply too radical. Maybe we’ll dink around with it later, but for now we have work to get done.
Besides, Microsoft would let us use Office 2007 for free until February 2007, then it would be time to pay the piper. We’ll stick with Office 2000 for now. We have Open Office installed also, just in case evil things begin to happen.”!- Read overall Cnet reviews = BAD
“Forget the stupid RIBBON and FIX the THINGS THAT DON’T WORK since Office 2003 and even previously.”
“Cons:
Drastic design changes demand a steep learning curve if you’re upgrading
New interface isn’t always intuitive
Contextual tabs and style galleries can be distracting
Users of Office 2000 through 2003 must install converters to open Office 2007 files
No easy way to save work to the Web”
(http://reviews.zdnet.co.uk/software/productivity/0,1000001108,39285683,00.htm?r=2)
“First, the product is exceptionally slow. It takes PP nearly a minute to load a 50 Mbyte file. Word takes as long to load. Once loaded, many macros and plug ins do not work properly, or at all.
Second, its ‘look and feel’ is a disaster for experienced users. There are two elements to this:
1: Even when customized with third party software, the ribbon takes three clicks where one sufficed before. There seems to be no reason to ditch ten years of experience for what is on offer.
2: The interface itself is wasteful of space. The graphics are seemingly random in design and color. “Template” in PP produces something 3×4 cm on an orange background, drawing object that is tiny and grey on a grey-blue base. Many icons replicate each other: new drawing object and change drawing object. The working area jerks around spastically when sub menus are introduced. PP has a graduated background, which makes graphics look different from how they project. And so on…
Third, the innate opacity of Office seems to be taken to a higher level, It knows what you ought to want, and it will change only after negotiations. Users of e.g. Dreamweaver who are accustomed to telling the package what they want find this frustrating. Trying to import an Excel chart into PP is seamless if you want what it thinks you ought to want, but a half hour battle if you know your own mind.
One wonders what MS strategy people can have been thinking. We cannot be alone in rejecting this product. If it sits on the MS development line, then we are rejecting MS products for the longer term. This has to be a general issue. Few companies can afford the 10-15 working days it will take to recover the skills this package kills.”
(http://reviews.zdnet.co.uk/software/productivity/0,1000001110,39285683-39318833o,00.htm)
!- Screen Shot Evidence of Crap
One Step Forward, Two Steps Back
(http://byronmiller.typepad.com/byronmiller/2007/04/office_2007_one.html)
“Microsoft has continued to focus on security in Office 2007 because hackers have turned their attention from server attacks to exploiting vulnerabilities in applications, according to Joshua Edwards, a technical product manager for Office 2007.
“It’s a huge burden for an IT manager to go through all the Group Policy or registry settings, which have doubled with Office 2007, so we’re providing them with all these options,” Edwards said.
There are 6,000 Group Policy and registry settings in Office 2007, 300 of which are security settings, he said.”
!- Which means it much more vulnerable
!- read the reviews
Office 2007 adoption hurdles shared by IT managers
!- read this article
(http://searchwinit.techtarget.com/originalContent/0,289142,sid1_gci1232198,00.html)
!- registration issues
(http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=111)
!- MS and their tricks, an alternative
(http://www.linux-watch.com/news/NS4935936784.html)
!- the almighty ribbon feature
(http://www.itwire.com.au/content/view/8561/1023/)
!- compatibility mode problems
(http://www.slideshare.net/funnybroad/office-2007-compatibility-mode-confusion?order=4)
!- first security flaw
(http://keznews.com/15476=_First__Security_Flaw_found_in_Office_2007)
Apple Mac Book Air: Who Its Really For and Why I Want One
MountSpyder
Apple is making leaps and bounds into entering the long time Windows-dominated business market. Their marketing and offerings have been geared solely toward high-end users in graphic design, video editing, etc. The introduction of the Mac Air Book delivers Apple into a new world of opportunities.
As a strong business minded individual (B.S. Economics, M.A. Business Administration), I love the Mac Book Air, it is as near to perfection as possible for business-minded individuals looking for extreme mobility. Individuals, like myself, who do not need a large hard drive, are not looking for do-it-all laptops with similar desktop capabilities, and do not need the extensive functionality that these more feature enriched systems offer. Now as an avid tech user, you may be asking yourself why we would be looking for a computer without the extra features. We are not doing extensive programming or gaming, instead we are just giving presentations, surfing the web, and typing the occasional office memo. Also, in an industry where first impressions truly count, especially in a make or break sales situation or department presentation, what could be better than opening your brief case and removing a beautiful, stylish, sleek laptop? It looks good and looks sell. So now you have a computer designed for ultra-mobility, in a durable form, that provides all the basics business users crave.
However, these benefits are not without their drawbacks. For those business travelers the extremely short battery life is going to be a problem along with anyone looking to use it for an extended period of time without an outlet. The other large issue that must be discussed is the single USB port. In today’s society one would have hundreds of things to plug in, even basic business users, especially when that problem in compounded by the fact that there is no Ethernet port. As a business user the problem is most clearly found when plugging in a flash drive for portable storage but being unable to surf the web at the same time due to unplugging your adaptor that allows you to connect via Ethernet through your USB. Many of the other problems that individuals have had with the system are based around power users and those looking for greater productivity; including limited hard drive, non expandable memory (locked in at 2GB of RAM), and other lacking features. I don’t feel that this applies to the mass majority of business users, using their laptop as secondary workstations.
With the negatives being stated, at least as they apply to business users, I want one because it is a perfect secondary computer. Its portable, I am not without a plug or outlet and am willing to work with the one USB port to have the looks, the basic functionality, and the strong Apple operating system over Windows Vista. This new laptop is moving into the business realm and with the great alternative to Windows Vista systems, who can blame me for wanting one.
Final Recommendation: If you already own a powerful or feature rich desktop this is the secondary computer for you.
Other Options: If you don’t like the price, the lacking features, or you are against Apple’s Leopard Operating system check out the Fujitsu LifeBook Q2010 which has a few more features and uses Windows at http://www.fujitsu-siemens.com/campaigns/lifebook_q2010/index.html
Two Other Great Reviews:
