IT News & Technology update

Why people really don't switch to Linux

Opinion -- Over in the DesktopLinux forums, people have been talking about why -- if Linux is so darned great -- don't people give up Windows and move to it.

The usual suspects show up. There aren't enough applications. The right application isn't available. You still have to use the command line for some things. Some equipment doesn't have drivers.

There's some truth to those, and some nonsense.

The real reason people don't use Linux on their desktops, though, is that it's not already there. They stick with what they know. It's really that simple.

Don't buy that because it's too simple-minded? Look around. As I write this on May 17, 2007, the AAA is reporting that gasoline prices hit a record high for the fifth straight day. The average price for a gallon of self-serve unleaded gasoline in the U.S. is now $3.114. It will be higher tomorrow.

So, everyone is looking for alternative means of transportation, right? They're switching to hybrid cars, yes? Or, at least, they're not driving as much, correct? Wrong, wrong, and wrong.

The AAA's survey of Americans travel plans found that a record 38.3 million will be traveling 100 miles or more over the Memorial Day holiday. That's up 1.7 percent from last year.

Why? Because not only do we love our gas-guzzling, mobile money pits, most of us don't even seriously think about switching to a hybrid. Heck, from what AAA is telling us, we don't even consider cutting down on optional driving.

It's the same thing with Windows. It's what powers our PC. Oh, some of us use alternatives like Linux-- but so what? Some people use biodiesel, but how likely are you to see someone driving next to you on the freeway with it fueling their engine?

Or, looked at another way, the vast majority of cars sold today run on gasoline. You can get one that runs on an alternative fuel, but when you go to get a new car at a dealership, what do you see? Acres and acres of the same old internal combustion engine-powered cars.

It really is the same thing. People grumble about the price of gas, people grumble about the pain of keeping Windows patched. People go to buy a car at a new car dealership, CarMax, or AutoTrader, and they come out with a gas-powered car. People want a new PC so they go to CompUSA, Direct Buy, or Circuit City and come out with a Vista-powered system. It's just the way it is.

I know that today there's no common job you can't do on a Linux PC. I know that when people say "Linux doesn't have the right application for me" they're wrong 99 percent of the time.

I also know that most desktop Linux users will need to go to a shell to type in commands as often as their Windows-using brothers and sisters will need to manually adjust the registry. And yes, some equipment doesn't have Linux drivers that work very well. On the other hand, have you you tried running Vista with an NVIDIA video card lately?

The difference, the real difference, is that people are used to dealing with Windows problems. They -- sort of -- know that "Windows security" is an oxymoron, and that Vista is a pig of an operating system that won't run on most older systems. But, it's "the devil they know."

Linux may be better, but they don't know Linux. They can't just pick up a phone and buy Linux from a vendor they already know.

That last scenario is about to change, though. By month's end, Dell will be offering consumer PCs with Ubuntu pre-installed.

Dell supporting desktop Linux isn't going to change the world overnight. But, just like Toyota's Prius opened the door for the better hybrid car alternative -- 51 MPG highway, folks -- Dell is opening the door for the better Linux PC alternative.

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“Halo 3” to Make Entertainment History on Sept. 25

Countdown begins for what promises to be bigger than any movie launch in history; beta preview and collectible Zune-Halo 3 edition digital media player add to early excitement.

LOS ANGELES — May 15, 2007 — In a year when Hollywood is launching its biggest blockbusters ever, a video game is set to conquer them all. “Halo^® 3,” the final chapter in the groundbreaking “Halo” trilogy, is set to shatter day-one entertainment sales records when it is released worldwide beginning Tuesday, Sept. 25. Created by legendary developer Bungie Studios and exclusive to the Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system, “Halo 3” will set a new standard for interactive storytelling and social gaming by engaging consumers worldwide in Master Chief’s epic battle to save humankind. “Halo 3” will be available to audiences around the world starting Sept. 25 and will release in Europe on Sept. 26.

“‘Halo 3’ is much more than a video game release; it’s the biggest entertainment event of the year,” said Peter Moore, corporate vice president of Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Business. “On Sept. 25, we intend to deliver a finale that will go down in entertainment history and leave people around the world with an experience that will be shared and enjoyed for years to come.”

Fueling the early buzz around “Halo 3”, Microsoft unveiled the multiplayer beta on the eve of its release at a star-studded event in Hollywood. Beginning tomorrow, May 16, Microsoft Game Studios will kick off the “Halo 3” multiplayer beta, which provides audiences worldwide with an exclusive, early look at some of the multiplayer elements of “Halo 3” on Xbox LIVE^®. Adding to the excitement, Microsoft is also announcing a special edition Zune™ digital media player inspired by the hugely successful “Halo” franchise. On shelves next month, the Zune-Halo 3 edition comes loaded with a collection of “Halo” content, including videos, soundtracks, trailers, ads and artwork.

In November 2004, the world’s view of video games changed forever with the release of “Halo 2,” which generated a record-setting $125 million in sales within the first 24 hours and changed the way people think about interactive entertainment. Three years later, it remains the most-played game on Microsoft’s Xbox LIVE online gaming and entertainment network, with nearly 1 billion hours of online gaming logged to date.

The unveiling of the “Halo 3” launch date comes on the eve of the release of the “Halo 3” multiplayer beta, which will debut to audiences worldwide via Xbox LIVE on May 16 at 5 a.m. PDT and run through June 6 at 11:59 p.m. PDT.* The “Halo 3” multiplayer beta will provide audiences worldwide with an exclusive early look at some of the multiplayer elements of “Halo 3” on Xbox LIVE. Gamers who are interested in experiencing the multiplayer beta of “Halo 3” can still participate through the purchase of the critically acclaimed, Xbox 360-exclusive title “Crackdown™,” which was launched in February. Starting May 16, the specially marked copies of “Crackdown” will act as a key for gamers to participate in the “Halo 3” multiplayer beta. In addition to giving gamers their first opportunity to get their hands on the new levels, weapons, vehicles and game types, the multiplayer beta will also provide valuable data that Bungie will use in continued development.

The “Halo” franchise has expanded beyond video games into The New York Times’ best-selling books, graphic novels, collectible merchandise and now a new, special edition Zune digital media player. Encased in collectible packaging, the Zune-Halo 3 edition digital media player comes pre-loaded with artwork, trailers and music from all three “Halo” games, as well as an exclusive new episode of “Red vs. Blue” from the fan-adored machinima creator Rooster Teeth Productions LLC. The Zune-Halo 3 edition (estimated retail price $249) will be available exclusively at GameStop starting June 15.

About Bungie Studios

Bungie Studios was founded in 1991 with two goals: to develop games that combine brilliant technology, beautiful art, intelligent stories and deep gameplay, and then sell enough of those games to achieve its real goal of total world domination. Over the past 10 years it has produced games such as the “Marathon Trilogy” and the first two “Myth” games, hailed as classics by critics and gamers around the world. Bungie’s “Halo” franchise is an international award-winning action title that has grown into a global entertainment phenomenon, selling more than 14.7 million units worldwide, logging nearly 1 billion hours of multiplayer action on Xbox LIVE, and spawning action figures, books, a graphic novel, apparel and more. Bungie is currently at work on “Halo 3,” which represents the third chapter in this “Halo” trilogy and is slated for release in 2007. More information on Bungie can be found at http://www.bungie.net.

About Microsoft Game Studios

Microsoft Game Studios is a leading worldwide publisher and developer of games for the Xbox^®® operating system and online platforms. Comprising a network of top developers, Microsoft Game Studios is committed to creating innovative and diverse games for Windows (http://www.microsoft.com/games), including such franchises as “Age of Empires^®,” “Flight Simulator” and “Zoo Tycoon^®”; Xbox and Xbox 360 (http://www.xbox.com), including such games as “Gears of War” and franchises such as “Halo,” “Fable^®,” “Project Gotham Racing^®” and “Forza Motorsport^®”; and MSN^® Games (http://www.games.msn.com), the official games channel for the MSN network and home to such hits as “Bejeweled” and “Hexic^®.” and Xbox 360 video game systems, the Windows

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Why unified communications bring out the best in VoIP

Unified communications (UC) is the new buzzword in the IT industry, but what does it really mean? Do you need VoIP to implement UC or vice versa? How is UC helping to drive the adoption of VoIP in the business world? Deb Shinder answers these questions as she explores the relationship between VoIP and UC.

Unified communications (UC) -- also called unified messaging or UM -- is the new buzzword in the IT industry, but what does it really mean? In some cases, it depends on whom you ask; vendors tend to put their own spin on the definition depending on what they're trying to sell you. But by most definitions, UC refers to the ability to integrate different types of communications -- including voice mail, e-mail, faxes, instant messages, and video conferencing -- into one common interface and/or repository.

That said, there are many ways to implement a unified communications solution in an organization. In its simplest form, it provides a way for users to access their faxes and voice mail messages via their e-mail clients. More sophisticated implementations provide advanced features such as the ability to hear e-mail messages read to you over the phone as well as the ability to dictate a reply and send it as an e-mail, instant message, fax, or audio message.

You don't necessarily need VoIP to implement UC; you can use the regular phone system. But VoIP does make it easier: VoIP services already include mechanisms for forwarding voice mail to e-mail, Find Me Follow Me (FMFM) functionality, and other features used in a UC system. In addition, you get more scalability and better integration with VoIP than with UC-type products that rely on traditional phone services.

Combining an asynchronous communication type such as e-mail with a real-time communication type such as telecommunications presents some challenges. However, it gives users far more flexibility and allows each of them to receive, process, and send messages in the way that works best for that individual.

Using UC in the business environment

Not surprisingly, UC has taken off more quickly in the enterprise environment than in the small and midsize business (SMB) world. Although it simplifies life for end users and can also reduce operational and maintenance costs and overhead, the initial implementation can be a bit costly and complex for smaller businesses. However, as competition in the field increases and costs for UC products decrease, VoIP-based UC is catching on with SMBs.

Some of the standard features of a UC system can greatly increase productivity, especially in companies that rely on daily (or more frequent) communications with customers, partners, vendors, and within the company. A UC system can give users the ability to:

• Use the same device and interface to access e-mail, voice mail messages, faxes, etc.
• Set priorities on messages or callers so users can retrieve high-priority messages and act on them more quickly.
• Respond to a message without exiting the messaging system, or forward a message to someone else within a single call.
• Send voice messages as e-mail attachments to other users, including setting up automatic forwarding so an assistant or other designated person will always get a copy of the user's voice mail.
• Send messages to multiple persons by making a single call.
• Use text-to-speech translation to have e-mail messages read to the user over the phone.
• Answer e-mail messages by dictating a reply over the phone.
• Access information about new fax messages over the phone.
• View fax messages from an e-mail client on any computer or mobile device.
• Forward faxes to others as e-mail attachments.
• Get notification of new voice mail messages, e-mail messages, or faxes via pager or cell phone.

Another important feature of a good UC system is the ability to locate the user wherever he or she is available via one phone number. The FMFM feature will ring different numbers (e.g., office, home, cell) in specified order or allow callers to opt to leave a message instead, which the system then delivers immediately to the recipient's cell phone, PDA, laptop, desktop computer, etc. Recipients can designate a different number for use during different time periods (e.g., after-hours, weekends).

Users can screen their calls, choosing which ones to answer immediately and which to send to the voice mail system. In addition, they can access messages via their e-mail accounts using POP, IMAP, or HTTP (i.e., Web-based mail).

On the administrative side, the repository for all these different types of communications is a messaging server, which typically uses LDAP-based directory services for identifying and authenticating users.

Vendor support for UC

Major equipment vendors such as Cisco Systems and software vendors such as Microsoft have gotten into the UC game. For example, Cisco's UC software is its Unified Open Network Exchange (uOne). Of course, there are many other vendors that offer UC solutions, especially at the enterprise level.

As you might expect, Microsoft based its UC solution on its Exchange e-mail server software, Office Communications Server 2007 (OCS) -- the successor to Live Communications Server -- the Office Communicator client software, Microsoft Office 2007 applications, and the Outlook e-mail client.

OCS 2007 integrates voice, video, instant messaging, and data communications into Office, and it also supports VoIP and smart phone devices. You can conduct video conferencing with Microsoft RoundTable, a device that incorporates a panoramic video camera and microphone with software for conducting online meetings.

Users with mobile devices can use Office Communicator Mobile to provide a similar interface to Office Communicator on the desktop. And users can use Office Communicator Web Access when they must work from a public computer or another device that doesn't have client software installed. Again, the Web interface is similar in appearance and functionality to Office Communicator 2007.

Summary

The growing adoption of VoIP makes it easier for companies to implement unified communications, and the increasing recognition of a need for UC within the organization is a force that's helping to drive the adoption of VoIP in the business world. The two technologies complement one another -- and while they aren't inseparable, it's a case where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

The VoIP/UC combination is quickly becoming the standard for managing communications in large businesses. Like other technologies such as Internet access, Web presence, and so forth, it's likely that this will eventually become the standard throughout the business world.

Want more tips and tricks to help you plan or optimize your VoIP deployment? Automatically sign up for our free VoIP newsletter, delivered each Monday!

Deb Shinder is a technology consultant, trainer, and writer who has authored a number of books on computer operating systems, networking, and security. She currently specializes in security issues and Microsoft products, and she has received Microsoft's Most Valuable Professional (MVP) status in Windows Server Security.

No Comment | Posted in » Microsoft, Software, Voip, Windows vista  

Tweaking Windows XP for Performance, Step 6

FINAL STEP

6. Restart!

Finally after doing all this tweaking you should restart and see how much faster it goes! Another thing I want to mention is to always defrag reguarly or else performance will slowly degrade.

7. New start up times

The results may not seem very impressive, but this IS on a very outdated machines. Your results will differ depending on how fast your machine is. After tweaking XP on my main rig the startup time went from one minute to get to the logon screen to a mere 20 seconds!

8. Last Words

If you don't want MSN Messanger to start at startup simply logon to your accout and go to tools --> options to disable it. If you don't have an account, as it won't let you change the options without first logoning on to an account. Click on the Start Button --> run and type in "regedit", then go to,

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Currentversion\Run

Delete the key that says,

MSMSGS - REG_SZ - "C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe" /background

And Another thing, if you're the only person that uses the computer you can easily disable the fast user switching feature by going to My Computer --> Control Panel --> User Accounts

A new windows will pop up, on the menu to the left click on "Change the way users log on and off" and finally, unselect the "use welcome screen" option --> apply option

9. Conclusion

I hope this guide helped you out and made your computer just a little faster. Because Windows XP comes with so many useless things you can easily disable them to increase performance. The performance isn't with a price though. There won't be any "eye candy", fading folders or menus, previews of pictures and mp3's, and no more Windows Themes. In other words it won't look nice and pretty with all the effects turned off, but it won't really matter once you realize just how much faster things are!

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Tweaking Windows XP for Performance, Step 5

STEP 6

5. Windows Services

One of the most crucial components of Windows. In this section of the guide we'll disable unnecessary servies. I really don't want to explain what each and every service does as it would take quite some time. If you curious here's a link to a fantastic website that's all about Windows services and what each service does, click here. What I'm going to do is list all the services you can safely disable without worrying it'll screw up windows, all the services you should leave at manual, and the services you should always leave at automatic.

A. First of all right click on the My Computer icon and click on Manage, a new window will pop up on the left is the menu, go down click on the plus for "Services and Application" to expand the menu. Last, click on the little icon with the gears named services.

B. To disable a service right click on it's name --> properties. I new window will pop up and with a description of the service, startup type roll down menu, and buttons to stop/start/ pause/resume. Simply select "disable" from the "start up type" menu to disable a service.

C. Services you can safely disable:

*1 = If you only have one computer in your network you can leave this service disabled. If you have more than one computer in your network, at least ONE of the computers in your network must be running this service in order for computers to show up when you go into My Network Places --> Entire Network --> Microsoft Windows Network --> Name of workgroup.

*1b = Needed for verifying updates downloaded from Microsoft (Windows Update, DirectX, Service Packs, etc...)

*2 = If you're using DHCP in your network, leave this service at Automatic.

*3 = If you have more that one person (e.g. family computer) using the computer you'll be tweaking leave this service on automatic.

*4 = Need lots of help? Leave this service on automatic instead of disabled.

*5 = Leave this service on automatic if you like XP's integrated CD burning feature.

*6 = Leave on automatic if you use ICS to share a connection with other computers on your network

*7 = Have a printer? If you do leave this service on automatic or else you won't be able to use your printer at all.

*8 = If you have a removable device in your computer leave this service on automatic.

*9 = Use Smartcards? If so leave both on automatic?

*10 = The psychotic paranoid type who thinks his/her computer is going to die at any minute people should leave this service on automatic.

*11 = If you use Remote Desktop leave at Automatic.

*12 = Leave at automatic if you use a UPS.

*13 = If you have a scanner attached to the computer and use it, leave at automatic

Continued to final step..

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Tweaking Windows XP for Performance, Step 4

STEP 4

4. Getting rid of all the extra programs Windows XP installs

4A. Double click on My computer --> control panel --> Add/remove Programs. To the left of the Add/remove Programs window there are three options, choose the last one "Add/Remove Windows Components"

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Tweaking Windows XP for Performance, Step 3

3. Increasing file system browsing

Another thing XP has changed is the way the folder icons look. It used to be small icons for the all the drives and the controll panel now it's made up of rather large icons that consume their fair share of the system resources.

3A. To prevent the large icons from taking up too much system resources start by clicking on the view button --> list

3B. Next click on the view button again --> status bar.

3C. Double click on my computer, a window will pop up, at the top of the window click on the tools button --> folder options.

A. General tab, you won't need to do anything here.

B. View tab, it's comprised of two sections, folder view and advanced settings. In the advanced sections area start by making sure you have the same settings as listed below,

After you're done checking and unchecking all of of those options, click on apply button at the bottom of the window, then at the top. Click on the "Apply to All Folders" button to apply the same settings to ALL windows folders. Click on the X to close the window. You won't need to do anything else on the other tabs.

Now browsing through the Windows file system should be immensely faster.

Continued to Step 4...

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