Vista SP2 frees up disk space
After running Vista SP2 beta on one of our test systems since March, we decided to remove it and install the final release version that appeared last week. To our surprise, after the tediously long process, we found that about 30GB of extra free space was available on the 250GB C: drive - it had increased from 58GB to 88GB, a handy amount of useful space.
Netbook confusion remains as Microsoft backtracks on Win7 Lite
Confusion still reigns in the netbook arena, with Microsoft reported to be backtracking on its decision to limit the devices to three running application under the Windows 7 starter edition. The same site also says Microsft had made it impossible to change the Windows 7 wallpaper but has thought better of it.
Techarp, apparently drawing on information from computer manufacturers, says there will be starter editions designed for two categories, a netbook and a small notebook PC, as well as a special edition for China. Microsft defines a netbook as having a screen diagonal of 10.2in or less.
Techarp says limitations on graphics and touch capabilities on netbooks have been removed.
Microsoft is keeping mum on the subject but with at least three open-source projects - Android, Intel's Moblin and Ubuntu - targeting the new formats it must be wary of allowing its rivals to gain critical mass in a potentially huge new market.
The fixation on categories - netbook and small notebook - has more to do with software pricing than technology. The cheaper the hardware gets, the higher the software costs as a proportion of the selling price, and the more likely it will be that people will choose open-source if Microsoft does not cut its prices. Hence the idea of a Windows 7 Lite, which allows the company to undercut its own products on price.
Microsoft has no option but it's a risky strategy, especially as people may have different expectations of emerging true portables and don't necessarily want a "pocket Windows". This is especially so as first generation non-x86 formats are likely have the edge over Wintel products on portability and battery life (see below).
Apple, which broke one mould with the iPhone but has so far ignored the new formats, could also spring a surprise; but it is not chief executive Steve Jobs's style to go downmarket and any Macnetbook is unlikely to be challenging on price.
Meanwhile, Lenovo has launched a 12.1in machine using nVidia's Ion platform, which couples a GeForce 9400M graphics processor and Intel Atom processor on a Pico-ITXe motherboard. Ion gives the IdeaPad S12 (pictured above left) the performance of a gaming machine capable of playing HD movies to an external display using an HDMI link. It is described as a netbook, contrary to Microsoft's definition, which just goes to show that where the marketing men lead, the public is not always sure to follow.
Microsoft makes your PC talk in its sleep
Windows 7 gets scary
No this isn't a pic from the trailer of of some cheap budget horror flick, but one of the desktop wallpaper images bundled with Windows 7 RC1. What on earth were the developers eating?Mcafee: How to spot Conficker
What is the Conficker worm?
Conficker first surfaced late last year, taking advantage of a security flaw in Microsoft's Windows operating system to spread itself. Microsoft provided an emergency fix for the vulnerability last October with Security Update MS08-067. However, because many systems were not patched or properly protected with security software, Conficker has slithered onto as many as 12 million Windows computers, according to some estimates.
Some experts believe that one variant of the worm, Conficker.C, may activate on April 1 and start another assault on Windows computers. Computers infected with Conficker become part of an army of compromised computers and could be used to launch attacks on Web sites, distribute spam, host phishing Web sites or other criminal activities. Additionally, once it is on a computer, Conficker digs itself in by attempting to deactivate security software and sabotaging tools to remove it.
How do I know if I'm affected?
"One of the symptoms of this worm is that it blocks access to Web sites of Internet security companies," says Dave Marcus, of McAfee Avert Labs. "A pretty good indication of whether your computer has been infected is to try and visit McAfee's Web site: www.mcafee.com. If the site won't load, you will need to clean your infected computer by searching for McAfee? Avert? Labs Stinger tool on the Internet. You should also install Microsoft's patch to prevent the worm from reinstalling itself."
As Conficker blocks popular security Web sites, including www.mcafee.com, users should search for "stinger virus removal" on the Internet, if they are unable to obtain it from McAfee's Web site. Alternatively, users may transport the Stinger tool via a USB stick from an uninfected computer.
McAfee has released a free tool that will help assess multiple computers for the presence of Conficker. This new tool, termed ConTest, may be downloaded at no charge at http://www.mcafee.com/us/enterprise/confickertest.html
Removing Conficker and preventing re-infection
Anti-malware solutions will clean the infection and use behavioural detections techniques like buffer overflow protection to prevent future infections. This is important because Conficker can propagate via portable media such as an infected USB drive. As the drive is accessed, the system processes autorun.inf and executes the attack. And finally, ensure all computers have Microsoft Security Update MS08-067 installed.
For more information on the Conficker worm and how users can protect themselves, visit http://www.mcafee.com/us/threat_center/conficker.html
UI designers hate lefties
Using a smartphone over the weekend led me to realise that I am completely handicapped when it comes to using computers and gadgets. The problem? Being left-handed.
During a meeting with Logitech last week, I was treated to seeing the company's latest gaming mouse, taken through a demonstration of how different functions could be assigned to its myriad of buttons, which as a gaming addict, I could really make good use of. However, the reality is that I can't use any of these mice, as I hold the mouse in my left hand, which means my thumb doesn't hover over the extra buttons. If I want to use them, I need to clumsily press my little finger on the button, which is not only unnatural, it could lead to some form of RSI.
I've learnt to accept that premium mice are all designed for right-handers. After all, only ten per cent of people are left-handed, so no peripheral company bothers with what they see as a tiny market. I counter that many other lefties also desire a mouse that works for them, and since none exist, the first company to release a quality left-handed mouse could get a lot of sales.
I've been moaning about this since I bought my first 'gaming mouse' but only recently have I noticed that other gadgets are designed with right-handed people in mind.
Mobile devices are a perfect example. I never realised that the reason I find smartphones rather clunky is that I'm simply not holding them correctly. On Windows Mobile 6.1, the Start Button is located in the top left of the screen. I usually hold the device in my left hand and then use my right hand to press the screen. In doing this, I am reaching across the device with my hand obscuring the screen. When I tried holding the device in my right hand, everything became much easier. I think the OS must have been made and tested by right-handed people who may not have realised the layout wouldnt be intuitive for everyone.
There must be plenty of other examples of products which have been designed with the assumption all its users will be right-handed, although for many of them, it isn't obvious there's a problem at all. It only becomes apparent to me when I use the device the correct way and find it much simpler to operate.
Vista SP2 release candidate appears
Those of you who installed the Vista SP2 Beta a few months ago may today notice that Vista has decided to downloada a new update ('Uninstall Tool for Vista Service Pack 2'). This runs automatically after download and tries to remove the SP2 beta from your PC. In our case, it was accompanied by a blue-screen failure on Stage 3 of the process, but it completed successfully on reboot.
The reason for the uninstall is that the Release Candidate is now available for download from the Microsoft download siter (although not yet via Windows Update). Note that 2 reboots are needed before the 'Evaluation Version' text from the beta on your desktop is removed.
There's no indication when SP2 will appear on Windows Update, although rumours are that it could be as early as May.
More new features for Windows 7
The Engineering Windows 7 blog is describing a whole bunch of new features in Windows 7 that didn't make it into the recent beta release. These will appear in the forthcoming release candidate (RC) which some people are saying could appear as soon as April.
Many of these new features are quite significant (such as multi-touch support for the software keyboard), which just goes to show exactly what 'beta' really means. No doubt there'll be even more tweaks before we see the final release.
The leaves are falling off Photosynth
Well that's what Microsoft's new Photosynth website - just released from its long beta phase - keeps telling us. Photosynth is now live for users to create their own 'synths', although every time we try to view one we get the bizarre message pictured here. Usually followed by IE7 crashing.
To create a 'synth' (a funky stitched-up 3D view of a photo collection), you need to upload between 5-300 photos (yes, upload - don't dig out your high-res pics just yet) of your subject using the Photosynth desktop application and let Microsoft's servers do all the grunt work. Oh, and you need a Windows Live account to sign in as well.
It's a fascinating technology, but one that seems to be in desperate search of a useful practical application for the masses.
Leo and the lion of Lyons
Obituaries of David Caminer, who has died at the age of 92, have focussed on the fact that he was the world's first systems analyst. But his death also revives memories of Leo, the world's first proper business computer.
Leo emerged from the heady days immediately after World War Two when a bankrupt Britain could spare few resources for the development of new-fangled computers. It was an early example of the kind of co-operation between universities and business that later produced Silicon Valley in the US and the cluster of technical companies around Cambridge University that has been dubbed Silicon Fen.
Lyons Corner Houses were in those days as much a feature of British life as Tescos or Boots are today. They provided good affordable food and to keep prices down the company had been a pioneer in what was then called scientific management.
Lyons early on spotted the possibilities of computing and partly financed Maurice Wilkes's Edsac computer at Cambridge, in return for help in building a computer to help run its business. The circuitry on Leo 1 was almost identical to that on Edsac.
Mike Hally recalls in his book Electronic Brains (Granta, £15.99, ISBN 1-86207-663-4) how the first program in 1951 valued all the goods produced at Lyons bakeries. It was a relatively simply task that some thought to trivial to computerise. But Caminer felt the team need experience doing live work on time.
It was the first ever business application. Soon Leo was doing everything "from clock-in to payroll"; Caminer's team had virtually invented business computing from scratch.
So how was that the UK got in first? Wilkes generously acknowledged in a 2003 interview with me how much he owed to a free exchange of knowledge with US pioneers, and that American projects took longer because their aim from was to produce general-purpose models that could be sold on the open market.
Edsac was built specifically for use by researchers at Cambridge, not as a commercial project, and so it was easier to cut corners. Leo was produced initially for specific purposes by one company, though later models were sold to other companies.
Lyons was so well known as a caterer and tea merchant that it had a hard time being taken seriously as a computer company, even though it spun its computer operations off as Leo Computers in 1959.
But it would anyway have had a hard time fighting off the clout and marketing expertise of IBM, which had actually come late to computing. After a series of mergers Leo Computers eventually became part of ICL.
Hally says Caminer was bitter about government short-sightedness, particularly in not granting a contract to calculate the effects of tax changes. Caminer told him: "We had minimal government support. They simply didn't realise that business computing would become vastly more important in volume than scientific computing. If they could find some scientific computer with time to spare to do the tax tables, then they went there if they were saving a few bob. It was very sad."
