Windows 7: first impressions

Wednesday, November 5th, 2008

I’d reached that point where I needed to nuke my Windows install. Everything was just taking too long, the hard disk was whirring away almost constantly, and it was taking up to two minutes just to answer an email.

I knew perfectly well that it would be obscenely stupid to install Windows 7 on my main work machine. This isn’t even proper beta software; it’s aimed at developers so they’ve got something to work on.

The only reason the Windows 7 install disc was sitting to my left, tempting me with its shiny ways, was because Barry Collins, our esteemed news, features and online editor, had spent last week at PDC – Microsoft’s Professional Developers Conference.

So I did the responsible thing, backed up all my data, fished out a Windows Vista install disc, and congratulated myself on not giving in to temptation.

And then I thought: “sod it”. In went the Windows 7 disc, out went all sensible thoughts about working responsibly, and two rather tedious hours later I had a fully working Windows 7 system sitting before me.

And do you know what? It’s brilliant. (more…)

Ubuntu disappointment and data disasters

Tuesday, November 4th, 2008

Ubuntu 8.10 made its appearence this week, and while everybody was busy touting the network manager’s new-fangled ability to handle mobile broadband connections, what nobody seemed to be mentioning was that it doesn’t actually work very well.

The networking manager is brilliant. It’s a nice clean interface that shows you all the internet connections on your computer, whether that’s Wi-Fi, mobile broadband or any other. It works fantastically well for Wi-Fi, putting Vista’s overly fiddly version in the shade. 

Mobile broadband is an entirely different matter, though. We have three USB dongles in the office – hangovers from our mobile broadband comparison feature. Of the three, Ubuntu refused to recognise the O2 dongle even existed, and while it acknowledged the BT dongle, it had absolutely no idea what to do with it. In fact, lucky number 3 was the only one that worked, but it worked beautifully. We just plugged it in, selected the 3 option and off we went. No need to install software or drivers of any sort. Great stuff, but country to popular opinion, one out of three is actually bad. (more…)

So, why do you hate Windows Vista?

Monday, October 27th, 2008

Windows Vista looks destined to go down in history as the latter-day version of Windows ME – an operating system that added some visual fluff to its predecessor’s solid workings, while somehow mucking up its usability.

But I’m not convinced by this. I’ve been using Vista in anger since the day of its release, and have long since given up Windows XP because I found I got most things done much more quickly with Vista in place.

So it came as a bit of a culture shock when, this weekend, I had brief cause to fire up a netbook. And although there are lots of things that Microsoft royally messed up in Vista, this drummed home to me just how basic XP is in comparison. (more…)

Microsoft blows ad campaign

Friday, September 19th, 2008

Absolutely, utterly, flaming typical. 

Let’s examine the content of my last post, praising Microsoft for the bravery of its Seinfeld-led ads.

“Ifind myself thoroughly engrossed by the antics of television’s latest odd couple,”  Said I. “Even Jerry Seinfeld, who I’ve never “got” is acutally making me chuckle, and ten years too late I find I’m no longer a social pariah.”

Microsoft’s response: to immediately drop the surreal comedy and Seinfeld in its latest ad. And this.

“It would have been so easy, and so futile, to have engaged in a tit-for-tat campaign against Apple’s incredibly smug, if succesful, Mac vs PC ads. And Microsoft would have lost, badly.”

Microsoft’s response: to clone John Hodgeman and engage in a tit-for-tat campaign against Apple, going on to tell us what we already knew. That not every PC user is a socially, inept geek and Windows is used by lots of very different folk. 

And finally, “It’s always awkward watching a celebrity flog something they know nothing about”

 Well one out of three isn’t bad. There’s still no mention of Vista though.

 MIcrosoft claims it was always heading this way. Which if we break it down means it was always going to pay Jerry Seinfeld $10 million to appear in two adverts. That it was always going to abruptly change the focus of the campaign after carefully building the foundations for something else entirely. That if the web had thrown a massive love-in for the early adverts, they would have been dropped just the same. 

Yeah, that sounds about right. For the record, the last advert bored me to tears and became exactly the thing I was praising Microsoft for avoiding. To that end, from now on, unless the ads return to something interesting I’m going to do the one thing Microsoft doesn’t want any of us to do – I’m going to stop talking about it. 

Microsoft mischief makes mockery of Apple ads

Friday, September 12th, 2008

All aboard, all aboard, it’s the Microsoft advert train again, next stop comedy.

That’s right, Microsoft has rolled out the second television spot in its Vista-marketing blitz, and good news comedy chums, it’s even more surreal than the first one. Again there’s no mention of Vista, but then there simply isn’t time as Bill and Jerry move into an everyday ordinary home to experience the life of normal people. Anybody familiar with the antics of shortlived Nickleoden wonder show Pete & Pete will feel right at home in this latest slice of Microsoft madness, in which cause, effect and logic are rather wonderfully torn asunder.

(more…)

In defence of THAT Vista advert

Monday, September 8th, 2008

I might as well lay my cards on the table. My favourite ever comedian is Spike Milligan, though Chris Rock’s early stuff leaves me gasping for air, praying for a lull so I might breath between belly laughs. My favourite ever sitcom is Arrested Development, followed by Frasier – both of which are so mind-bogglingly brilliant, a choir should start a lament every time we mention their passing.

I like my comedy to come from unexpected angles, I appreciate bad jokes told well, and comedians who charge at the truth without fear of what will happen when they hit it – stand up Bill Hicks and Richard Prior. I’m laying all this at your feet, because I’m about to use it as a crash mat.

You see, the Vista advert made me laugh, and more importantly I think it’s a good piece of marketing.

(more…)

Moving to Windows 7 will be just as bad as moving to Vista, says Microsoft

Thursday, June 5th, 2008

Forgive me if I have misread the ‘Business Value of Windows Vista‘ paper that Microsoft has published in an attempt to convince the corporate user to switch to Vista now instead of waiting for the arrival of Windows 7 instead. However, the way I read it, it seems that Microsoft, when it says users jumping from XP to Windows 7 will have “a similar applications compatibility experience… as exists moving to Windows Vista from Windows XP” are actually saying that both migrations are pretty dire.

(more…)

Windows Vista in helpful message shocker!

Thursday, May 29th, 2008

I’m not the world’s biggest Vista fan. I don’t have it on my desktop machines, but I do on my laptops since even I’ll admit its suspend & resume is far more reliable than XP’s (or Ubuntu’s, or Fedora’s for that matter). One of the things I truly hate about it though, is the networking configuration interface. It never fails to lead me round in circles no matter how much I use it. It’s like a maze with moving walls and it gives me the willies.

So imagine my surprise today when it actually did something useful. (more…)

Windows 7: 582 days and counting

Wednesday, May 28th, 2008

Microsoft has broken its vow of silence over Windows 7, with Steve Ballmer claiming that the new operating system will arrive by “late 2009.” Read our news story to find out what’s coming in Windows 7 here.

That gives Mr B and the Microsoft engineers precisely 582 days (thank you Online Conversion.com) to get the operating system out of the door, or once again face ridicule for slipping deadlines.

On such a tight deadline (Vista took six years, remember) it’s patently obvious Microsoft isn’t ripping up Vista and starting again. Although the Vista Team Blog claims Windows 7 is a “major release”, it also reveals that the “the long-term architectural investments we introduced in Windows Vista and then refined for Windows Vista SP1 and Windows Server 2008 will carry forward in Windows 7.” There will be no new kernel either, with Microsoft even claiming that any hardware capable of running Vista will work fine with Windows 7.

(more…)

Having fun with Windows’ networks-diagnosis tool

Monday, May 19th, 2008

It could be that I’m incredibly unlucky, or it could be that the built-in Windows network repair tool is entirely hopeless. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve used it, but can remember with absolute certainty how many times it’s worked: none.

The most recent time I optimistically pressed the ‘Diagnose and repair’ link was this weekend, when it came up with the entirely unhelpful message that the reason for my faulty wireless network was because a cable wasn’t connected into my Ethernet port. A big thank you to the Microsoft error dialog writers for that one.

In the end, I had no alternative: I had to resort to the time-honoured reboot. Even that didn’t work. Nor did rebooting the router. In fact, it was only when I called my dad and talked the problem through that he pointed out the error must be a software setting somewhere. This, I should shamefacedly admit, was after I’d swapped out the router and all the connecting cables.

It took me a princely 24 hours to solve the problem, and with a better diagnosis tool I reckon that would have been 24 seconds. Surely it’s not beyond the ken of Microsoft to build a tool that works out the two bits of a network that aren’t connecting as they should?

So am I just unlucky? Are other people out there having success with it?