Please note that I will not discuss each of the points presented in that Wikipdia page, therefore my paragraph numbers will be incomplete. Other than that, some sections overlap one another. I will use the page as a guide to, well, guide us through Windows Vista. Let's start.
As you will notice, I did not attach any screenshots to this review. There are so many good screenshot galleries out there that I find it rather over done to duplicate all those.
The machine used for this review is a Dell Inspiron 6000 with a Pentium M 1.73Ghz, 512MB of DDR2 RAM, and an Ati Radeon x300 with 128MB of dedicated video RAM. For notes on the installation of Vista on this machine, please read the first impressions article.
1. User Interface
1.1 Windows Aero
I have already said quite a bit about the flashy effects that come with Windows Vista. Microsoft has clearly restrained itself with the effects; they are not used during every little task, and they are unobtrusive. After only a few hours of usage, you actually forget they are there; however, as soon as you switch 'back' to XP or something similar, you do miss the effects. This is because unobtrusive as they may be, the effects do add visual cues as to what is happening on the screen. For instance, when you close a window in Vista, it dissolves while falling slightly backwards. This is an extra visual aid.
Compare all this to all the new technological gadgets on the new Mercedes S class, more specifically, the night view cameras. The S class has two night vision cameras on the front of the car, which will, at night (obviously) display its images on a screen right behind the steering wheel, greatly enhancing what you can see on the road, making it much easier and safer to drive at night. Now, this is typically one of those features which many people will claim are pointless, but at the same time, all the people who actually used it, will say they never want to go back to a car without this extra safety precaution. Vista's Aero effects fall into the same category.
Microsoft actually put more thought into Aero than many anti-Microsoft people will want us to believe. For instance, when an application is incompatible with Aero (all applications using Java, such as Azareus), Windows will automatically turn Aero off, switching back to Aero Basic. When you close the application, Windows will turn Aero back on. Nice touch.
The main drawback, of course, of Aero is that it requires a DirectX 9 compatible card. A substantial group of people will need a new graphics card for this, but I do not see this is a problem, since most people will get their hands on Vista via OEM channels anyway (meaning, when they buy a new computer).
1.2 Shell
The new Explorer interface is, as far as I'm concerned, the least successful change in Windows Vista. Explorer is a very messy application to use now; buttons and widgets everywhere, and it is kind of hard to find out which does what. To give you an idea, the sidebar on the left side can show two things: a directory tree, or a 'Favourites' section (links to common folders such as Pictures and Music). The problem: they can overlap. When you open the tree view, which is basically a drawer opening upwards, it draws over the favourites section, which is just, well, weird. Why not do what everyone else is doing, and simply give a drop-down menu or tabs or something, so that you can select which of the two you want, instead of trying to cram both of them into the same tiny space?
Another problem, as noted in the superficial look, is that for one reason or the other, almost every folder on your computer will default to a detailed listview, which is just plain overkill; it makes the individual folders too hard to distinguish, and it shows way too much irrelevant information, which will distract you from whatever you want to do (manage files, probably). This also makes dragging a box around multiple items problematic, since clicking whatever point in the row of an item will make you drag the item, instead of drawing the selection box.
Basically, I want an option which will allow me to set the icon size/detail level system-wide, after which I can tune individual folder's settings. And lo and behold, it's there: click the 'organize' button on the toolbar, click 'folder and search options', go to the 'view' tab, and click 'apply to all folders', which will make every folder look like the one currently open. Good.
The 'breadcrumbs' style location bar is a definitive improvement, as it makes navigating through deep directory structures much easier. The 'stacks' feature, which allows you to create stacks of files based on whatever you want (i.e. stacks of pictures based on date taken), is not what I had expected of it. When I tested the really early Longhorn builds in 2003, this feature actually had visual cues in the stacks (the more files in the stack, the larger it was), but in Vista, this is not the case. The stacks are basically glorified directories. Not a feature as useful as it could've been.
1.3 Search
Vista's search does what it is supposed to do. It searches files, finds them, and lists them. The biggest problem remains the fact that the actual start menu contents get replaced by your initial search results. If you press enter after entering your query, an Explorer window shows you all the results, including tabs to see the results per file type. You can obviously save the query; however, when you open this query later, Vista will not give you the search pane (which allows you to view by filetype, as mentioned). You'll have to enable it by hand; not a showstopper, but sloppy, still.
1.4 Sidebar
Vista's new sidebar is not at all much different from other, similar implementations in other operating systems. The sidebar can house gadgets (or widgets or applets or replicants or whatever you prefer), but the gadgets can also be dragged onto the desktop.
What I like about it is that the sidebar and its gadgets are always visible, so you are not forced to interrupt your workflow if you want to look them. Apple's Dashboard widgets are only visible after hitting a shortcut key, and this interrupts your workflow (only cli magic enables you to permanently display widgets on the desktop in OS X). In Dashboard's defense, the Microsoft implementation does lack a bring to front shortcut key or button.
Of course Vista's sidebar has one major disadvantages: lack of gadgets. The gadgets database is still fairly empty, and the ones that are there, are of debatable quality (especially in the visual department). I am sure that after the consumer release of Vista, the amount of gadgets will explode, but for us early adopters the sidebar remains pretty empty.
I feel compelled to touch on the originality issue often being referred to on the net. Is Sidebar similar to Dashboard? Yes. Is Dashboard similar to Konfabulator? Yes. Are all of those similar to Microsoft's Longhorn sidebar, which I first used in 2003? Yes. Are all of those similar to BeOS's replicants? Yes. You get the idea.
2. New and upgraded applications
Obviously, Vista comes with the latest release of Internet Explorer, version 7. I have already expressed my thoughts on Internet Explorer 7, and those complaints generally remain for Windows Vista. It is not a bad browser per se; it just is not my thing, and this is mostly caused by the highly confusing interface. The browser is my most-used application, and hence I want an interface that leaves me with little to desire (to give you an idea of how far this obsession goes, the fact I cannot remove the 'Go' arrow in Firefox 2.0 was almost a breaking point for me).
Windows Mail, however, is a completely different story. This is a really good email client, and it inherits the best feature Microsoft ever devised from Outlook 2003: the vertical preview pane; I refuse to use email clients that do not have this feature (save for BeOS's BeAM). For the rest, Windows Mail has a very clean interface, which focuses completely on the task at hand: reading and sending email. Contacts and emails are now individual files, meaning you can manage both using Explorer. Annoyingly, emails are given gibberish numeric names, meaning you can only know what an email is about by hoovering over the .eml file, showing a tooltip which will give you the subject field.
Problems remain with Outlook Express, err, Windows Mail; especially creating rules directly from a message is very cumbersome (it refuses to copy the information from the selected message, meaning you have to manually enter all your filtering conditions). Another annoyance is that even though I tried to set all fonts on incoming messages to a standard font, lots of messages still display custom fonts. Other than that, the junk mail filtering is a bit too enthusiastic at times.
Windows Photo Gallery is nothing to write home about; it does what it is supposed to do, and that's it, basically. It is surely no match for Apple's iPhoto, so let alone it being a match for Google's Picasa2 (the best in its class, if you ask me). Picasa2 is faster than Windows Photo Gallery, it has a cleaner interface, and it supports Picasa Albums; the choice is easy if you ask me. Photo Gallery badly misses export features; it cannot export photos to the popular photo sharing sites (Flickr, Picasa Albums, etc.). This is really a bad thing, and I hope Microsoft improves upon this issue in a service pack or update.
Windows Media Player 11 shines on Vista. The application is to the point, and centrered around what really matters: content. Where I could easily get lost in pre-11 version of the application, Media Player 11 is much more user-friendly and usable. Nothing revolutionary (it's just a media player), but I enjoy using it much more than iTunes 7 (which is, I'm sorry to say, a really bad application (slow, buggy, and just plain weird), especially compared to the outstanding version 6).
Since this is Ultimate I am using, I also have the new Media Center installed. Windows XP Media Center Edition may very well have been Microsoft's best product user-interface wise (Office 2007 might be better though), and this trend continues in this new version. It is very difficult to explain exactly why MCE is such a good interface; the only way of ever understanding this is to actually use it for a while. It simply makes so much sense.
3. Security and safety
3.2 User Account Control
Security-wise, Microsoft touts various improvements in Windows Vista. The biggest and most visible of those is User Account Control; this means that whenever anything tries to do something that requires administration privileges, the user must specifically allow this. Any user, even those with admin rights, run in standard user mode all the time now, meaning that a malicious program cannot just install itself anymore to system directories or similar places.
Is UAC annoying? Yes. Is it any more annoying than entering your password each time you need to do something admin-related in, say, Ubuntu? No. At least Windows Vista allows you to edit system files and directories without launching a file manager window as root; Vista will just prompt you to grant admin rights when trying to edit system directories. Of course you can turn UAC off, but that really is a bad thing to do if you ask me.
If you want to know more about security features in Windows Vista, the related Wikipedia article is a good starting point. Many of the measures are technical changes transparent to the user, which is a good thing.
5. Audio
The audio department is where Windows Vista really is far ahead of any other mainstream operating system. The new audio stack allows for a feature I have only ever previously seen in BeOS: per process control of audio volume. Gone are the days where you could get a heart attack from MSN Messenger when someone sent you a message while you were listening to loud music. In Vista, you just set the volume for Messenger lower than for Media Player, and gone is that problem. A major advance, and surely something I would like to see in OS X and Linux.
8. Mobile computing
On my laptop, Vista is a much better fit when it comes to mobile computing than XP ever was. The biggest improvement is that sleep now actually works; when using XP, waking from sleep would regularly fail. It was a known issue on the Dell support forums, but a working fix was never found (although I must say I stopped monitoring the thread after a few weeks). The problem was not hardware related, as sleep/wake in Linux worked just fine (ironically). It's good that this apparent bug in Windows is now fixed.
In the first look article, I mentioned how the various test and beta builds of Vista had a huge bug in the bcm43xx driver; it would randomly disconnect, refusing to work for literally hours on end. This problem now seems fixed, and wireless networking is working perfectly. A bit of a nuisance, though, is that after waking from sleep reconnecting to a wireless network takes fairly long. My Macs reconnected in mere seconds, while in Vista this process can take up to and well over 30 seconds.
One of the really big mysteries in the final Vista build is the apparent lack of syncing with Windows Mobile devices. I have an iPaq Windows Mobile 2003 device, and upon attaching the device, an autoplay dialog pops up asking me what I want to do (browse device, sync media files, import pictures), but there is no option to actually sync the things that matter: contacts mostly, in my case. I tried to use the Sync Center, but my device refuses to show up.
After asking Google for advice, I found out you needed to manually download the third beta of the Windows Mobile Device Center before you can really do anything with your Windows Mobile PDA and Vista. Installing went fine, and everything seems to work; however, it became clear quite quickly that the Mobile Device Center only supports syncing with Outlook, and not Windows Mail or Windows Contacts. Unacceptable, if you ask me, and something that needs to be fixed before Vista goes to consumers.
Some words before the conclusion
Many of the features and improvements mentioned in the Wikipedia article are directed to developers, and probably deserve a review of its own, done by a developer. Other changes are too abstract to put into a review, and hence have been left out. All in all this review has only touched on so many features; there are many more to be found in Windows Vista but somewhere you have to draw the line, as a reviewer. If your pet feature was excluded, feel free to explain why it should have been included in the comments section.
Conclusion
After a few weeks of intensive usage (I haven't even touched my various other machines and installations), I think I have a pretty clear picture of what Vista has become. I had my serious doubts about the system, caused not only by its many delays, but more so by the highly debatable quality of the many test builds released by Microsoft in the past years.
When I first tested what was then called Longhorn back in 2003, I wrote a review of it for OSNews. The final line of that review read: "People might say that this release is just XP with a new coat. They are completely right, in my opinion. But darn, that new coat looks nice." That line is completely misplaced for this final build of Vista, no matter how much anti-Microsoft folk who never used Vista in the first place want you to believe. Vista is a huge step forward for the Windows world.
How does Vista stack up compared to its competition, most notably, Mac OS X? Well, feature-wise, they are pretty much on-par, if you ask me. Stability- wise, XP was already on par with OS X, and left little to improve upon. In the looks department, it all depends on your taste, of course. I like the Glass theme better than I like the Aqua look, but that is so totally personal it is irrelevant for this discussion. Security-wise; now that is where only time will tell. On paper, they seem to be on par, but theory is always different from practice. When it comes to personality, I would still say the Mac has the advantage - clearly.
In total, Vista is a pretty convincing argument for buyers of computers to stick to the Windows side of the pond. Assuming the security will turn out to be as good in the real world as it is on paper, Vista will enable buyers to stick with what they know, using all the same applications they are used to, but all in a much better interface and many other features many users will certainly appreciate.
All in all, I am impressed by Windows Vista, and I will surely move my two Windows installations to Vista (obviously leaving the XP partitions in tact). Windows Vista is better than XP, and definitely more than just an improved look as many say.
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Windows Vista Reliability Tools
I am sitting in a Microsoft TechNet event presented by IT Pro Evangelist Matt "All my mates are at TechEd" Hester. Matt is covering the Windows Vista Startup Recovery Tool. This tool is accessed by booting off of a Windows Vista installation DVD. Any version will work as all the versions contain the same bits. The install key determines which version gets installed. Once you boot up to the install screen there is a hyperlink at the bottom to launch the Startup Recovery Tool (SRT). You are then presented with several options from which to choose to diagnose your problem. You can repair the startup files, restore from a previous recovery point, restore from a complete PC backup and even diagnose potentially bad hardware. I don't know for sure but it looks like a lot of the tools have been leveraged from the Winternals acquisition. This tool can certainly save you a lot of time in what would normally be a multi-hour exercise in frustration.
Matt is next highlighting the "previous versions" feature in Windows Vista that saves previous versions of all files through the Shadow Copy feature first introduced in Windows Server 2003. Now it is available at the client level automatically. This feature is not available in all versions of Windows Vista, and will consume roughly 3-5% of your hard drive space.
Some of the new auto-diagnostic features included in Vista are:
Resource prevention exhaustion
Hardware failures
Networking problems
Client performance degradation
Corrupted system file recovery
Program compatibility assistant
Unbootable system
Matt just showed a great video clip of a little girl washing her mommy's laptop in the kitchen sink. Priceless. I personally have been training my kids since birth that the laptop holds a special place of honor in the household and should never be touched!
Now Matt is highlighting the Problem Reports and Solutions features in Vista. You can access a control panel of all the reported crash and hang data that Vista collects and analyzes in the background. Vista then uses this data to look for updates and hot fixes to present to you for problem remediation. In previous versions of the OS this data was collected but never exposed to the user for their benefit. The reliability monitor has a nice "health" timeline view that shows warnings and errors over time in a graph view. You can then select points in time and see what happened on the system.
A great demonstration of some of the new features in Vista: predictable, resilient, recoverable, proven and maintainable.
Source:Windows Vista Reliability Tools
Matt is next highlighting the "previous versions" feature in Windows Vista that saves previous versions of all files through the Shadow Copy feature first introduced in Windows Server 2003. Now it is available at the client level automatically. This feature is not available in all versions of Windows Vista, and will consume roughly 3-5% of your hard drive space.
Some of the new auto-diagnostic features included in Vista are:
Resource prevention exhaustion
Hardware failures
Networking problems
Client performance degradation
Corrupted system file recovery
Program compatibility assistant
Unbootable system
Matt just showed a great video clip of a little girl washing her mommy's laptop in the kitchen sink. Priceless. I personally have been training my kids since birth that the laptop holds a special place of honor in the household and should never be touched!
Now Matt is highlighting the Problem Reports and Solutions features in Vista. You can access a control panel of all the reported crash and hang data that Vista collects and analyzes in the background. Vista then uses this data to look for updates and hot fixes to present to you for problem remediation. In previous versions of the OS this data was collected but never exposed to the user for their benefit. The reliability monitor has a nice "health" timeline view that shows warnings and errors over time in a graph view. You can then select points in time and see what happened on the system.
A great demonstration of some of the new features in Vista: predictable, resilient, recoverable, proven and maintainable.
Source:Windows Vista Reliability Tools
Vista voters continue to trickle in at polls
VISTA --- About halfway through today's special election in Vista, voters were trickling in at the polls to decide whether Vista should adopt a type of municipal constitution called a charter.
The measure, Proposition C, is the only item on today's ballot and officials had predicted that voter turnout would be low.
County Registrar of Voters Deborah Seiler said this afternoon that as of 10 a.m., the highest turnout at any polling place in Vista had been 20 voters. "The turnout looks like it's going to be pretty low," she added.
"We're looking at a turnout well below 20 percent, which is somewhat low for a stand-alone city election, but not necessarily," Seiler said. She said turnout for special city elections can vary widely depending on what issue is on the ballot.
By about 1 p.m. today, roughly 30 people had voted at a polling station at New Community Church in downtown Vista. Precinct inspector Leo Schumacher said he thought the station would probably see 80 voters by the end of the day, compared to the 450 people who voted there in November's general election.
Vista has 31,654 registered voters in the city, with about 8,000 of those classified as permanent absentee voters. About, 3,500 absentee ballots had been returned by today's election, Seiler said.
Polls in Vista opened at 7 a.m. and will close at 8 p.m. County officials said they expect to have an unofficial count tonight and a certified result by the end of the week.
For proposition and polling station information, visit County of San Diego - Registrar of Voters, or call 858-565-5800.
The measure, Proposition C, is the only item on today's ballot and officials had predicted that voter turnout would be low.
County Registrar of Voters Deborah Seiler said this afternoon that as of 10 a.m., the highest turnout at any polling place in Vista had been 20 voters. "The turnout looks like it's going to be pretty low," she added.
"We're looking at a turnout well below 20 percent, which is somewhat low for a stand-alone city election, but not necessarily," Seiler said. She said turnout for special city elections can vary widely depending on what issue is on the ballot.
By about 1 p.m. today, roughly 30 people had voted at a polling station at New Community Church in downtown Vista. Precinct inspector Leo Schumacher said he thought the station would probably see 80 voters by the end of the day, compared to the 450 people who voted there in November's general election.
Vista has 31,654 registered voters in the city, with about 8,000 of those classified as permanent absentee voters. About, 3,500 absentee ballots had been returned by today's election, Seiler said.
Polls in Vista opened at 7 a.m. and will close at 8 p.m. County officials said they expect to have an unofficial count tonight and a certified result by the end of the week.
For proposition and polling station information, visit County of San Diego - Registrar of Voters, or call 858-565-5800.
Vista voters continue to trickle in at polls
VISTA --- About halfway through today's special election in Vista, voters were trickling in at the polls to decide whether Vista should adopt a type of municipal constitution called a charter.
The measure, Proposition C, is the only item on today's ballot and officials had predicted that voter turnout would be low.
County Registrar of Voters Deborah Seiler said this afternoon that as of 10 a.m., the highest turnout at any polling place in Vista had been 20 voters. "The turnout looks like it's going to be pretty low," she added.
"We're looking at a turnout well below 20 percent, which is somewhat low for a stand-alone city election, but not necessarily," Seiler said. She said turnout for special city elections can vary widely depending on what issue is on the ballot.
By about 1 p.m. today, roughly 30 people had voted at a polling station at New Community Church in downtown Vista. Precinct inspector Leo Schumacher said he thought the station would probably see 80 voters by the end of the day, compared to the 450 people who voted there in November's general election.
Vista has 31,654 registered voters in the city, with about 8,000 of those classified as permanent absentee voters. About, 3,500 absentee ballots had been returned by today's election, Seiler said.
Polls in Vista opened at 7 a.m. and will close at 8 p.m. County officials said they expect to have an unofficial count tonight and a certified result by the end of the week.
For proposition and polling station information, visit County of San Diego - Registrar of Voters, or call 858-565-5800.
The measure, Proposition C, is the only item on today's ballot and officials had predicted that voter turnout would be low.
County Registrar of Voters Deborah Seiler said this afternoon that as of 10 a.m., the highest turnout at any polling place in Vista had been 20 voters. "The turnout looks like it's going to be pretty low," she added.
"We're looking at a turnout well below 20 percent, which is somewhat low for a stand-alone city election, but not necessarily," Seiler said. She said turnout for special city elections can vary widely depending on what issue is on the ballot.
By about 1 p.m. today, roughly 30 people had voted at a polling station at New Community Church in downtown Vista. Precinct inspector Leo Schumacher said he thought the station would probably see 80 voters by the end of the day, compared to the 450 people who voted there in November's general election.
Vista has 31,654 registered voters in the city, with about 8,000 of those classified as permanent absentee voters. About, 3,500 absentee ballots had been returned by today's election, Seiler said.
Polls in Vista opened at 7 a.m. and will close at 8 p.m. County officials said they expect to have an unofficial count tonight and a certified result by the end of the week.
For proposition and polling station information, visit County of San Diego - Registrar of Voters, or call 858-565-5800.
Switch to Vista? It's a headache, say IT chiefs
Time and complexity are putting UK IT managers off migrating their organisation onto Microsoft's Vista operating system.
New research has found nearly half of IT managers (49 per cent) will take more than 12 months to fully migrate their organisation onto Vista - once preparation, testing, rollout and post-migration issues have all been taken into account.
David Bradshaw analyst at Ovum told silicon.com: "It is a big project to go onto Vista. I'm not entirely surprised by [the research]. That's the kind of timescale I would expect."
Vista: all the coverage...
♦ Vista - when will business take the plunge?
♦ Gates: Vista selling faster than XP
♦ Tesco.com takes stock with Windows Vista
♦ CIO Jury: IT chiefs not yet planning for Windows Vista
♦ Blighty Vista "overcharging" attacked
A further 45 per cent say the whole process would take six months or more, with just six per cent saying the process would take less then three months.
Just three per cent of respondents said they are planning to migrate their corporate systems onto Vista immediately.
As well as time, the sheer complexity of migration was cited by 62 per cent of IT managers as putting them off a move to Vista.
The research also shows IT staff are concerned about post migration issues such as downtime - leading to loss of productivity - and user questions about personal settings or applications wasting support staff time.
Because of this, Bradshaw suggested, IT departments may wait for staff to start using Vista at home to reduce the number of user issues emerging following migration. However, some companies such as Tesco.com have already taken the plunge and migrated to Vista.
The research was carried out by Vanson Bourne on behalf of Enteo Software and covered 100 IT managers from companies of 1,000 employees or more.
The CNET Networks UK Business Technology Awards are now open. Tell us how you excel and you could be taking your place on the stage with the best in technology and business. Enter now at http://www.cnetnetworks.co.uk/awards/
New research has found nearly half of IT managers (49 per cent) will take more than 12 months to fully migrate their organisation onto Vista - once preparation, testing, rollout and post-migration issues have all been taken into account.
David Bradshaw analyst at Ovum told silicon.com: "It is a big project to go onto Vista. I'm not entirely surprised by [the research]. That's the kind of timescale I would expect."
Vista: all the coverage...
♦ Vista - when will business take the plunge?
♦ Gates: Vista selling faster than XP
♦ Tesco.com takes stock with Windows Vista
♦ CIO Jury: IT chiefs not yet planning for Windows Vista
♦ Blighty Vista "overcharging" attacked
A further 45 per cent say the whole process would take six months or more, with just six per cent saying the process would take less then three months.
Just three per cent of respondents said they are planning to migrate their corporate systems onto Vista immediately.
As well as time, the sheer complexity of migration was cited by 62 per cent of IT managers as putting them off a move to Vista.
The research also shows IT staff are concerned about post migration issues such as downtime - leading to loss of productivity - and user questions about personal settings or applications wasting support staff time.
Because of this, Bradshaw suggested, IT departments may wait for staff to start using Vista at home to reduce the number of user issues emerging following migration. However, some companies such as Tesco.com have already taken the plunge and migrated to Vista.
The research was carried out by Vanson Bourne on behalf of Enteo Software and covered 100 IT managers from companies of 1,000 employees or more.
The CNET Networks UK Business Technology Awards are now open. Tell us how you excel and you could be taking your place on the stage with the best in technology and business. Enter now at http://www.cnetnetworks.co.uk/awards/
TweakUAC for Windows Vista
User Access Control (UAC) is probably the most hated feature of Windows Vista--if you want to really call it a "feature." Upgrading to Vista, every application you use or install "needs your permission to continue," and you have to click "allow" or "deny" a thousand times in order to get anything done. Unfortunately, you're left with a horrible choice: you can either disable UAC entirely, and forfeit the protection it offers, or keep it active and suffer through the waves of dialog boxes with every installation. TweakUAC offers a solution to this conundrum.
The application is free, and allows you to temporarily disable and enable UAC at will, so if you're going to be doing a lot of application installations or if you're rebuilding your system, you can use the app to suppress the dialogs while you work. Best of all, turning on "quiet mode" doesn't require a reboot, so you can continue working, without being bothered.
When you're finished your installations, you can open TweakUAC again to turn UAC back on. TweakUAC is a stand-alone app, meaning you can take it with you from computer to computer, (especially good on a USB key, if you're an IT system administrator) and it doesn't need to be installed on the target computer.
The application is free, and allows you to temporarily disable and enable UAC at will, so if you're going to be doing a lot of application installations or if you're rebuilding your system, you can use the app to suppress the dialogs while you work. Best of all, turning on "quiet mode" doesn't require a reboot, so you can continue working, without being bothered.
When you're finished your installations, you can open TweakUAC again to turn UAC back on. TweakUAC is a stand-alone app, meaning you can take it with you from computer to computer, (especially good on a USB key, if you're an IT system administrator) and it doesn't need to be installed on the target computer.
Top 5 Windows Vista System Utility Gadgets
Windows Vista gadgets can do more than show the weather and keep you updated on the latest news. The Windows Vista Sidebar can also be used to install gadgets that are useful as system utilities that keep track of the resources Windows Vista is using.
Windows Sidebar gadgets have been created that can keep track of how Windows Vista is using your CPU, memory, hard drive and network resources.
Below are some of the best Windows Vista Sidebar gadgets available that can be used to help keep track of system resources:
1) CPU Meter Gadget
The CPU Meter Windows Vista Sidebar gadget displays two dials - one that tracks your system's CPU usage and another that tracks physical memory usage, both in percentage format. This is a pretty basic Windows Vista gadget in that there are no fancy options, but it does what it does well.
The CPU Meter gadget is included with Windows Vista. Just open the Gadgets window from your Windows Sidebar and double-click on CPU Meter. It will instantly be added to your Windows Sidebar.
If you like to keep track of how much memory and CPU is being used at any given time, give the CPU Meter gadget a try.
2) DriveInfo Gadget
The DriveInfo Windows Vista Sidebar gadget monitors the free space available on one or more of your PC's hard drives. It displays the free space in both GB and percentage. The DriveInfo gadget is very easy to configure and is an especially attractive addition to your other Vista Sidebar gadgets.
The DriveInfo gadget is available as a free download from the Windows Live Gallery. Just click Download to Sidebar and follow the instructions to add the gadget to your Windows Sidebar.
If you frequently check the free space available on your hard drives, the DriveInfo gadget will definitely save you some time.
3) Wireless Network Gadget
The Wireless Network Windows Vista Sidebar gadget is a very useful gadget if you connect to the world via a wireless network. It monitors both your wireless network's strength and security. The Wireless Network gadget is well designed and will fit well on your Sidebar with your other attractive gadgets.
The Wireless Network gadget is freely available from the Windows Live Gallery. As with the other gadgets available at the Windows Live Gallery, just click Download to Sidebar and follow the instructions to add the gadget to your Windows Sidebar.
4) Memory Meter Gadget
The Memory Meter Windows Vista Sidebar gadget monitors everything about your system memory. It displays the the total amount of memory, amount of memory remaining, and the amount and percentage of memory currently being used by Windows Vista.
The Memory Meter gadget is also freely available from the Windows Live Gallery. As with some of the other gadgets mentioned in this list, just click Download to Sidebar and follow the instructions to add the gadget to your Windows Sidebar.
If your memory usage is something you need (or like) to watch, the Memory Meter Vista Sidebar gadget will really come in handy.
5) Uptime Gadget
The Uptime Windows Vista Sidebar gadget keeps track of how long your Windows Vista system has been powered on. That's all it does. It resets every time the system is restarted.
The Uptime gadget is also available as a free download from the Windows Live Gallery.
System uptime trackers are useful to show how stable (or unstable) an operating system is since an unstable or error-prone system will usually need restarted on a regular basis.
Windows Sidebar gadgets have been created that can keep track of how Windows Vista is using your CPU, memory, hard drive and network resources.
Below are some of the best Windows Vista Sidebar gadgets available that can be used to help keep track of system resources:
1) CPU Meter Gadget
The CPU Meter Windows Vista Sidebar gadget displays two dials - one that tracks your system's CPU usage and another that tracks physical memory usage, both in percentage format. This is a pretty basic Windows Vista gadget in that there are no fancy options, but it does what it does well.
The CPU Meter gadget is included with Windows Vista. Just open the Gadgets window from your Windows Sidebar and double-click on CPU Meter. It will instantly be added to your Windows Sidebar.
If you like to keep track of how much memory and CPU is being used at any given time, give the CPU Meter gadget a try.
2) DriveInfo Gadget
The DriveInfo Windows Vista Sidebar gadget monitors the free space available on one or more of your PC's hard drives. It displays the free space in both GB and percentage. The DriveInfo gadget is very easy to configure and is an especially attractive addition to your other Vista Sidebar gadgets.
The DriveInfo gadget is available as a free download from the Windows Live Gallery. Just click Download to Sidebar and follow the instructions to add the gadget to your Windows Sidebar.
If you frequently check the free space available on your hard drives, the DriveInfo gadget will definitely save you some time.
3) Wireless Network Gadget
The Wireless Network Windows Vista Sidebar gadget is a very useful gadget if you connect to the world via a wireless network. It monitors both your wireless network's strength and security. The Wireless Network gadget is well designed and will fit well on your Sidebar with your other attractive gadgets.
The Wireless Network gadget is freely available from the Windows Live Gallery. As with the other gadgets available at the Windows Live Gallery, just click Download to Sidebar and follow the instructions to add the gadget to your Windows Sidebar.
4) Memory Meter Gadget
The Memory Meter Windows Vista Sidebar gadget monitors everything about your system memory. It displays the the total amount of memory, amount of memory remaining, and the amount and percentage of memory currently being used by Windows Vista.
The Memory Meter gadget is also freely available from the Windows Live Gallery. As with some of the other gadgets mentioned in this list, just click Download to Sidebar and follow the instructions to add the gadget to your Windows Sidebar.
If your memory usage is something you need (or like) to watch, the Memory Meter Vista Sidebar gadget will really come in handy.
5) Uptime Gadget
The Uptime Windows Vista Sidebar gadget keeps track of how long your Windows Vista system has been powered on. That's all it does. It resets every time the system is restarted.
The Uptime gadget is also available as a free download from the Windows Live Gallery.
System uptime trackers are useful to show how stable (or unstable) an operating system is since an unstable or error-prone system will usually need restarted on a regular basis.
VS.Php 2.3 for Windows Vista
Jcx.Software today announces the release of VS.Php 2.3 for Visual Studio 2005, a PHP integrated development environment (IDE) for Microsoft Visual Studio 2005.
June 4, 2007 ( PowerHomeBiz ) - Miami, FL --- Jcx.Software today announces the release of VS.Php 2.3 for Visual Studio 2005, a PHP integrated development environment (IDE) for Microsoft Visual Studio 2005. VS.Php 2.3 adds support for Windows Vista and Visual Studio Service Pack 1 for Visual Studio 2005. VS.Php 2.3 new features focus in providing developers with the ability to work easily on existing PHP applications hosted on remote sites.VS.Php 2.3 also upgraded the support for deploying local projects faster and more efficiently. It also added support for deploying files using FTP over SSL. Another key feature in VS.Php 2.3 is the ability to import projects from a remote server. The wizard lets the developer download the entire Php application from a remote server and allows working on the project locally. The developer can choose to deploy the files back to any remote server.
Jcx.Software founder J. Rivera explained: �VS.Php 2.3 allows developers to work on existing remote sites easily and pain free. Developers no longer have to worry about editing files over a command shell window or editing files locally and copying their changes via FTP. VS.Php lets you work on remote files like if they were locally. Our focus is to make developers productive with easy to use tools.�
�With this announcement Jcx.Software demonstrates continued commitment to bringing the power of Microsoft Visual Studio to the PHP community,� said Brian Goldfarb, group product manager in the Web/Client UX Platform & Tools Team at Microsoft Corp. �By making optimal use of Visual Studio, VS.Php provides an all-in-one IDE to PHP developers that allow them to build dynamic web applications faster and ensure quality throughout the development process.�
VS.Php 2.3 comes in four different editions:
VS.Php 2.3 Standalone Edition VS.Php 2.3 for Visual Studio 2005 VS.Php 2.3 for Visual Studio .NET 2003 VS.Php 2.3 for Visual Studio .NET
Founded in 2001, Jcx.Software is a leading provider of Php tools for the Microsoft Windows platform.
Upgrading from 32-bit to 64-bit Windows Vista
We had the first of our 'Ask the Expert' sessions this morning (you can still register for the others, here!) and there were a load of great questions - some even had us stumped!
One of the questions that we were asked was around upgrading from Windows XP to Windows Vista Business, but on different architecture, so from x86 (32-bit) to x64 (64-bit). Initially, I thought this couldn't be done, and would require a clean wipe, and a reinstall with the full Vista version rather than the upgrade version. I was a little bit wrong...
This KB Article: Installation choices for 64-bit consumer versions of Windows Vista details the ways you can upgrade from x86 to x64, in a number of different scenarios. In response to the actual question, to go from x86 XP to x64 Vista Business, you need to do the following, but before this, there are a few pre-requisites:
You need to have purchased the Windows Vista Upgrade (Or Full version) - in this case, we'll be using Vista Business 32-bit Upgrade. You will then have to access the 64-bit version (unless you are running Ultimate, as this ships in the box) from here.
After you get hold of the editions, x86 and x64, follow these steps:
Back up all the data and the settings by using Windows XP Backup.
Note You can also use Windows Easy Transfer. This back up program is available on the Windows Vista DVD. However, you must use the version that is on the 32-bit Windows Vista DVD if you want to use Windows Easy Transfer to back up a 32-bit version of Windows.
Insert the 64-bit version of Windows Vista into the system DVD drive, and then restart the computer.
Start Windows Vista Setup from the DVD when you are prompted. Note You must start Windows Vista Setup by starting the computer from the Windows Vista 64-bit DVD. The installation package will not run on a 32-bit operating system.
When you are prompted during Windows Vista Setup, remember to select Custom as the installation type.
After installation is complete, you can restore the data from its backup location.
OK, so that was pretty straightforward - if you want any further info on 32-bit upgrades on their own, you can read this KB Article here: Installation choices for consumer versions of Windows Vista (32-bit only)
One of the questions that we were asked was around upgrading from Windows XP to Windows Vista Business, but on different architecture, so from x86 (32-bit) to x64 (64-bit). Initially, I thought this couldn't be done, and would require a clean wipe, and a reinstall with the full Vista version rather than the upgrade version. I was a little bit wrong...
This KB Article: Installation choices for 64-bit consumer versions of Windows Vista details the ways you can upgrade from x86 to x64, in a number of different scenarios. In response to the actual question, to go from x86 XP to x64 Vista Business, you need to do the following, but before this, there are a few pre-requisites:
You need to have purchased the Windows Vista Upgrade (Or Full version) - in this case, we'll be using Vista Business 32-bit Upgrade. You will then have to access the 64-bit version (unless you are running Ultimate, as this ships in the box) from here.
After you get hold of the editions, x86 and x64, follow these steps:
Back up all the data and the settings by using Windows XP Backup.
Note You can also use Windows Easy Transfer. This back up program is available on the Windows Vista DVD. However, you must use the version that is on the 32-bit Windows Vista DVD if you want to use Windows Easy Transfer to back up a 32-bit version of Windows.
Insert the 64-bit version of Windows Vista into the system DVD drive, and then restart the computer.
Start Windows Vista Setup from the DVD when you are prompted. Note You must start Windows Vista Setup by starting the computer from the Windows Vista 64-bit DVD. The installation package will not run on a 32-bit operating system.
When you are prompted during Windows Vista Setup, remember to select Custom as the installation type.
After installation is complete, you can restore the data from its backup location.
OK, so that was pretty straightforward - if you want any further info on 32-bit upgrades on their own, you can read this KB Article here: Installation choices for consumer versions of Windows Vista (32-bit only)
Intel's 975X Expess gets the "Bearlake" upgrade
Intel will unveil the high-end version of its Bearlake-family next month – the Intel X38 Express. The new Intel X38 Express replaces the 975X Express, which launched over a year ago with Intel’s Presler Netburst processors. The new chipset introduces new features to Intel’s high-end enthusiast and workstation platform such as PCIE 2.0 and DDR3 memory.
New to the Intel X38 Express is support for dual full-speed PCIe 2.0 x16 slots. The dual PCIe 2.0 slots are compatible with AMD’s CrossFire technology for multi-GPU graphics processing. Motherboard manufacturers are also free to equip Intel X38 Express based boards with a third physical PCIe 2.0 x16 for triple-play physics. Due to chipset limitations, the third physical PCIe 2.0 x16 slot has lesser lanes, with most manufacturers opting for four lanes.
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DDR3 is the only officially supported memory for the Intel X38 Express. Intel touts DDR3-1333 memory for X38 Express motherboards. DDR2 memory support has been removed officially from the X38 Express, however, the memory controller can still function with DDR2, just without Intel validation. The DFI LANParty X38-T2R will pair DDR2 support with the Intel X38 Express chipset.
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The Intel X38 Express also supports upcoming Intel Penryn-family dual and quad-core processors with front-side buses up to 1333 MHz. The new Penryn family is Intel’s first 45nm processor family, expected to launch in Q4’2008 with the Xeon-family. Desktop Penryn-family Core models will launch in early 2008.
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ASUS, Biostar, DFI, Gigabyte, Intel and MSI have X38 Express-based motherboards on display at Computex 2007. ASUS plans to release an X38 Express-based workstation board. The upcoming ASUS P5E3 WS Professional pairs the X38 Express with the ICH9R south bridge. The board supports dual-channel DDR3-1333 memory, with no mention of ECC support. The P5E3 WS Professional does not have a third physical PCIe 2.0 x16 slot. ASUS opted for a vanilla orange PCB with the P5E3 WS Professional.
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Biostar is preparing the TX38D3-A7 Deluxe with three PCIe 2.0 x16 slots. Two of the PCIe 2.0 x16 slots operates at full speed while the third slot has four lanes. Biostar also adds one PCIe x1 and two PCI slots into the mix. The TX38D3-A7 also features onboard power and reset buttons for the tweaking-inclined.
DFI has two X38 Express-based models in the pipeline – the LANParty X38-T2R and the X38-T3R. The two models differ in the memory support department. The LANParty X38-T2R supports DDR2-800 memory while the X38-T3R supports DDR3-1333. The upcoming X38-T2R and X38-T3R feature genius BIOS and CMOS Reloaded technologies. New to the LANParty X38-T2R and X38-T3R is the DFI Bernstein 8-channel theater-level audio solution.
Gigabyte is taking the same route as DFI, with two X38 Express based motherboards – the GA-X38T-DQ6 and GA-X38-DQ6. Both boards have similar feature sets, with the GA-X38T-DQ6 offering DDR3 support while the GA-X38-DQ6 supports DDR2. Gigabyte takes DDR3 further than other manufacturers by claiming support for DDR3-1600 memory. Gigabyte has opted to equip its GA-X38x-DQ6 motherboards with two PCIe 2.0 x16 slots. New to the Gigabyte X38 Express-based motherboards is the Realtek ALC889A high-definition audio codec, offering a 106dB signal-to-noise ratio.
Intel also plans to join in on the X38 Express festivities with the successor to the D975XBX2 BadAxe2. The new DX38BT Bonetrail features three physical PCIe 2.0 x16 slots. The DX38BT is the only motherboard currently on the Computex show floor without an elaborate heat-pipe cooling setup. Instead, Intel sticks with a simple aluminum cooler.
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Lastly is MSI with the X38 Diamond. MSI manages to squeeze four physical PCIe 2.0 x16 slots into the X38 Diamond. Two of the PCIe 2.0 x16 slots are full-speed while the other two slots are half-speed. MSI also squeezes in support for DDR2-800 and DDR3-1333 memory on the same board.
Expect Intel to officially launch the X38 Express next month, coinciding with the upcoming Core 2 Duo E6x50-series.
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