Archive for December, 2006

Security Advantages of Windows Vista

Tuesday, December 19th, 2006

As with all of the models that came before Windows Vista, this operating system naturally makes people wonder if they are going to be safe running a Windows Operating system. However Windows Vista was designed and programmed with security and protection as the number one concern. Microsoft made a number of changes to existing programs, improved user controls, and used state of the art encryptions to give its users the strongest protection available.

Some of the most important changes that Microsoft created when they were working on Windows Vista were centered on their internet browsing application Internet Explorer. The new version of internet explorer is at the top of its game for internet security and protection. IE 7 comes with a built in malware detector, anti phishing features that help protect users and their information from internet fraud, stronger active X controls to prevent Trojans, and automatic security updates to ensure user safety. On top of all that IE 7 was redesigned so that it no longer interacted with Windows explorer as this presented several severe vulnerabilities for the Windows operating system.

User controls have always been available on the previous versions of the Windows operating systems but these controls did not offer any middle ground to the users. The user could basically either have unlimited access to the computer or they could not access anything at all. Windows Vista has addressed this concern by making it possible for users to have more controls over what the other account holders are able to access.

The encryption of the Windows Vista operating system was a great move by Microsoft as this will prevent hackers from easily gaining access to your computer’s system files to cause damage. The encryption also makes it more difficult to create viruses for the Windows Vista operating system and it is hoped that with these safeguards the amount of viruses released for Windows Vista will be minimal.

Legal investigation concerning LCD monitor prices

Monday, December 18th, 2006

An investigation taking place in three countries concerning secret agreements between manufacturers to arrange artificial prices, is extending over the LCD displays market.

Japan Fair Trading Commission confirmed that is investigating a so called agreement between LG.Philips LCD, Samsung Electronics and Sharp to keep an artificial pricing over LCD displays.

LG.Philips announced that the American justice department and South Correa Fair Trade Commission are making similar investigations.

A joint venture company between Seiko Epson and Sanyo Electric, specialized in small LCD displays for mobile phone is also under investigation. According to some information published in press, the investigations are about prices that were established a few years ago.

LG.Philips, a joint venture company between LG Electronics and Royal Philips Electronics, has announced that will cooperate with the authorities. So did Samsung.

According to the analysts, the investigation would concern some actions undertaken a few years ago.

The correan press agency Yonhap speculated that the investigation would concern the period 2003 – 2004, when the LCD display manufacturers were having a better control over the market.    

Upgrading to Vista will increase PC components costs with 20 percent

Sunday, December 17th, 2006

Consumers know that the price to upgrade from Windows Xp to Windows Vista Business is 199 dollars (for software only), but maybe they don’t know that Vista also requires a hardware upgrade.

 

According to iSuppli, an average desktop PC that runs Windows Xp contains components worth a little over 500 dollars. For an average PC that runs Vista, the cost will raise to a little over 600 dollars, which means 20% cost increase. Because this is the cost of components and not the final price of the PC, users will pay significantly more than 600 dollars to acquire a Vista-ready system.

 

A big part of the additional cost is the memory. Although Microsoft stated that 512 Dram memory will be enough to run Vista, iSuppli thinks that at least 1Gb will be necessary to run it in optimal conditions. That means doubling the memory costs, according to iSuppli.

 

There are a series of hard choices to be made before migrating to Windows Vista, according to iSuppli. Acquiring a new computer with pre-installed Vista might solve the headaches, justifying the price of a new computer.

Taking Care of Your PC

Friday, December 15th, 2006

A computer is an important piece of equipment and more than anything it should be treated as an investment. However while almost everyone takes care of the maintenance on their homes and cars, the majority of people neglect their computers which can results in hefty service fees and the unneeded replacement of computers. People often don’t think about all of the important information that is stored on their computers that they could risk losing if they don’t take proper care of their computers. The major things you need to ensure you are doing to take proper care of your computer are system backups, and cleaning your hard drive.

Backing up the information on your computer is a very important step if you want to ensure you aren’t going to lose any information taking care of your computer. While it isn’t likely, it is possible to lose files when you are defragmenting your hard drive. This usually happens when the defragmentation program encounters a problem or you close the program before it has finished its tasks and the files it was working on are usually lost. The easiest method to use when you are backing up your hard drive is to purchase an external hard drive so that you can have a duplicate copy of your entire hard drive in a safe location.

Taking care of your hard drive can drastically extend the life of your computer while also ensuring that it is running at an optimal speed. You should try and defrag your hard drive at least twice a year and possibly more depending on how much usage the computer is receiving. Defragging a computer takes all of your files and places them in sequence on your hard drive so that you do not have large gaps of memory in between files. This allows your computer to assess information more quickly and results in faster load time for files.

Why Clean Your Registry

Friday, December 15th, 2006

Registry problems are the number one cause for computers crashing and they also drastically reduce the speed of your computer. There is nothing more frustrating than having your computer crash or freeze when you are in the middle of something and the majority of these crashes are directly related to registry problems. Have you ever wondered why your computer works so well when you first purchase it but over the months and years it continues to get slower? The registry contains all of the information for your computer and over time it becomes cluttered like you would not believe and this results in your computer needing more time to locate the information that it is looking for.

Your registry starts out as a neat and tidy filing system but over time as you add and remove programs, install or remove new hardware, and drivers the registry becomes clogged with useless information that slows down your computer and that can potential cause serious problems for your operating system. When a program or a piece of hardware is removed from your system useless information or files are left behind in your registry and you will need a registry tool like 1clickpcfix to correct the problems within your registry.

1clickpcfix is a registry repair and cleaning software that works seamlessly with your computer to prevent crashes and to drastically increase the processing speed of your computer. Using software like 1clickpcfix can not only save you from having to pay for expensive computer repairs but it can also save you a vast amount of time but increasing the productivity of your computer whether it be for work or for play. Running 1clickpcfix is a quick process that will save you from losing work due to computer crashes and prevent you from feeling frustrated when you are using your computer.

Mozilla is working on Firefox 3

Friday, December 15th, 2006

Mozilla wants that web developers and its own tester community to receive the first alpha version of Firefox 3, named Gran Paradiso Alpha 1.

Firefox will include a series of major changes. This version will use version 1.9 of the Gecko engine, which is not yet released. Gecko 1.9 is in development since before the release of Firefox 2.

Although Gran Paradiso uses the latest Gecko version, the user interface is the same as Firefox 2 at this time.

Going on Gecko 1.9 also means that Firefox won’t run on Windows 95, 98 or ME and neither on Mac OS 10.2

Among the other new features is an updated threading model. Later in the development process, the user interface might get improved, as well as navigation features, bookmarks and security.

Mozilla intends to release the final version of Firefox 3 until the end of the next year. Gran Paradiso Alpha 1 runs on Windows, Mac and Linux operating systems. Mozilla warns that in this stage, it should be used only by developers and software testers.

Buying For Windows Vista

Friday, December 15th, 2006


The highly anticipated Windows Vista operating system is expected to completely change the way that people look at Microsoft. This new system features so of the best security, easiest user interface, and other great features that makes Windows Vista a must have for any computer guru. However there are some specifications that your computer must meet in order to be able to run the new Windows Vista operating system. Some of the most important requirements include a separate graphics card and quite a chunk of hard drive space.

The main advantage you will receive when you purchase a computer that is capable of running Windows Vista is the improved security. This was a key issue and the primary goal for Microsoft when they were creating this software to help combat Trojans, viruses, and spyware attacks on their operating systems.

Graphic Cards

The requirement of an off board graphics card is needed in order to be able to run Vista Aero which is the new design of Windows graphical user interface. This requirement limits the lower end computers from being able to run Windows Vista without upgrading to a graphics card that is separate from the motherboard of your computer.

Some of the other requirements for Windows Vista include a processor that process at a rate of at least 800 MHZ but 1 GHZ is recommended for ideal use. The hard drive space required for the new Windows Vista is much higher than that of Windows XP and needs almost 15 gigs of free space to install the program properly.

Despite all of these needed requirements Vista is going to completely change the way a users feel about the Windows operating system. Some of the programs that are included with this great system include Windows Mail, Windows Calendar, a photo gallery, DVD maker, and the latest version of Internet Explorer which boasts a tabbed browsing feature similar to Mozilla Firefox and a much tighter security system.

IBM and Yahoo are joining forces to compete against Google

Thursday, December 14th, 2006

Yahoo joined forces with IBM and hopes to challenge the position currently occupied by Google and Microsoft on the market of company search services.

The search product of IBM, Omnifind, allows organizations to search through its own documents. The new partnership will allow IBM to extend Omnifind to include web searches through Yahoo.

The IBM strategy is to increase its popularity among smaller companies. For Yahoo, which is behind Google on the online advertising market, this is an opportunity to increase its presence on the company search market, currently dominated by Google, Autonomy, Microsoft, SAP and Oracle.

 

The new product will be called IBM OmniFind Yahoo Edition (OYE).

 

The software, which will be free to download, offers basic search functions using a familiar interface for millions of Yahoo users. It will index up to 500 000 documents or webpages, offering support for 200 document types and 30 languages.

Microsoft accidentally released a patch

Thursday, December 14th, 2006

Microsoft advised it’s users that the patch for the Mac version of Office was release by mistake through the update service.

The company recommended to those that installed the patch to remove it, although they didn’t announce a date when a final version will be available.

An official of Microsoft Security Response Center said that the posted updates were pre-release codes classified as part of tests for a later release.

The codes wore released before the testing process was over, due to human error. Microsoft also announced that will take measures so such mistakes will not happen again.

Toshiba releases the largest smallest harddisk

Tuesday, December 12th, 2006

Toshiba announced the release of what seems to be the 1.8 inch harddisk, with the largest storage capacity in the world. To achieve such performance, the HDD employs perpendicular magnetic recording.

The Toshiba harddisk, although it has the dimensions of a bank card, it offers 100 GB of storage space unformatted. The HDD unit, MK1011GAH, contains two platters of 50 GB and four writing/reading heads. The rotating speed is 4200 rpm, with an access time of 15ms.

Mass production of the harddisk will begin January next year, according to Toshiba.

Toshiba MK1011GAH

Image showing the small size of the harddisk