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"Vista That Works"

Continued from page 1

By Erica Naone

Thursday, January 15, 2009
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Sneak peeks: In Windows 7, holding the cursor over the icon for an active application pulls up thumbnail images of the open windows.
Credit: Microsoft

Anyone who wants to make an operating system has to wrestle with the same problems, says Ed Chi, area manager and senior research scientist for augmented social cognition at the Palo Alto Research Center. As computers have become more powerful, users keep more windows open, he says, and designers have been working on how to organize the clutter. Chi says that the thumbnail previews and other improvements to Windows 7's interface will definitely increase users' ability to select the correct window quickly. However, he cautions, it may not increase their productivity, since designs that encourage people to keep a multitude of windows open may help distract them from the tasks at hand.

Windows 7 also continues Microsoft's foray into touch-screen interfaces, previously demonstrated by products such as the Surface, its touch-screen table computer. Kirk Godkin, Hewlett-Packard's manager of business desktops for North America, says that many of the software vendors that he works with are excited at the prospect of an operating system that is engineered to accommodate touch. (At CES, HP announced its dx9000 TouchSmart Business PC, which supports touch as well as the traditional keyboard and mouse.)

But Bederson says that he sees touch-screen computers as a minor market for Windows 7. The much more important thing, he says, is that the operating system is significantly faster than Vista. That means that many people with slower computers, who were unwilling to switch to Vista, will be more likely to upgrade to Windows 7. "It's Vista that works," Bederson says. "They fixed the problems, and they polished it up. Good for them."

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Comments
  • Vista
    I purchased a laptop pre-loaded with vista. To my intense irritation I realised that the the Office suite was only available for a 6 month trial, was unfamiliar and was an additional purchase.

    Though I'm not the most technical computer person around I decided to give the latest version of Ubuntu a bash.

    Works beautifully with all the functionality that an average Joe like me requires i.e. internet, email, Office suite equivalent (Open office) and media players. I had to download a few programs e.g. VLC but it's no issue if you have some bandwidth available and there's an easy Add/Remove applications option on the drop down menu that checks the net for open source software that's available and carries out the installation for you!

    I've NEVER used a linux OS before but I was highly impressed.

    I can't really think of any good reason why anyone would bother with Vista. Oh, and Vista is a resource hog too. And Ubuntu's free.
    Rate this comment: 12345

    asogan
    01/15/2009
    Posts:9
    Avg Rating:
    4/5
    • Re: Vista
      I agree that Ubuntu is a great option primarily because it is open source and is free. However, I disagree that Ubuntu is end user ready yet. I have been using and propagating Ubuntu for a long time now. The following aspects are still "pain areas" for end users. (I am not talking about the technical folk)

      1. Connecting to a Wifi network.
      2. Setting up PPPOE. Initiating and terminating net connections.
      3. Out of the box support for MP3, Video CD etc. I understand MP3 is a proprietary format and hence is not bundled with Ubuntu. However most users want to be able to play MP3 and expect a Video CD to play automatically when it is inserted into the drive. Downloading a codec is extra work.
      4. Let's admit it, the Linux versions of instant messengers have a prehistoric feel to them.

      Most of these are not Ubuntu's problem. However from the end user perspective, these are the roadblocks that prevent him/her from having a Wow experience. On the other hand, Windows 7 works just fine - is eye candy and has a great interface.

      Guess the mindset of Ubuntu as well as the supporting software teams should change to ensure it has a larger footprint in the future.
      Rate this comment: 12345

      Venuvedam
      01/15/2009
      Posts:1
      Avg Rating:
      4/5
      • Re: Ubuntu
        Linux Is Making Me Insane
        Grappling with Ubuntu, the free, open-source operating system.
        By Farhad Manjoo Posted Friday, October 24, 2008 - 9:35am

        http://tbm.thebigmoney.com/articles/0s-1s-and-s/2008/10/24/linux-making-me-insane
        Rate this comment: 12345

        jojo99
        01/15/2009
        Posts:9
        Avg Rating:
        4/5
        • Re: Ubuntu
          If your having trouble I can help.  I'm an expert at Ubuntu and linux.  You can look me up on fixya.com under weaponx69 or if they let you see my email on this site, just drop me an email.
          Rate this comment: 12345

          weaponx69
          01/17/2009
          Posts:2
          Avg Rating:
          5/5
          • Re: Ubuntu
            i like Ubuntu, however, i am having trouble
            getting the resolution on the monitor.
            i have a mx440 nvidia card and cannot get it
            to go higher than 800x600. the nvidia software
            wants to run under root, so i used sudo, still
            no go.  Please help and if at all, step by step

            tarang.
            please email to tpatil@yahoo.com
            Rate this comment: 12345

            tpatil
            01/18/2009
            Posts:1
            • Re: Ubuntu
              I have the same card at home. There recently was a drop in support for the proprietary geforcemx440 through ubuntu channels.

              We must remember that this is in no way ubuntus fault... as long as there will be closed source drivers, there will be very little to be done for integration with open sourced applications.

              That being said. It is now supported by an open, reverse engineered driver which, I believe, provides 2d and a limited 3d accelleration. If you are determined to get the proprietary couterpart working, read the following carefully.

              As stated by nvidia a : thttp://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86/1.0-9755/README/appendix-a.html

              Below are the legacy GPUs that are no longer supported in the unified driver. These GPUs will continue to be maintained through the special legacy NVIDIA GPU driver releases.

              The 1.0-96xx driver supports the following set of GPUs:
              NVIDIA chip name Device PCI ID
              GeForce2 MX/MX 400 0x0110

              You will therefore need to install the nvidia 1.0-96xx driver manually OR use a script to automate the job. I used envy and it worked like a charm.

              You can get envy through your prefered package manager (it is available in repositories). For the sake of simplicity I will post a step by step guide using the terminal. (aptitude can be replaced by the more common, but less efficient apt-get)

              1. sudo aptitude update
              2. sudo aptitude install envyng-core
              3. Ctrl-Alt-F1 to change TTY (NOTE : this should change your screen to a console, to bring back to your visual interface, Ctrl-Alt-F7)
              4. Log in
              5. sudo envy -t

              Go through the program choosing nvidia as your card and the proper legacy driver (1.0-96xx) as discussed earlier.

              6. Reboot

              I hope this was usefull for some... if you have any questions you can contact me at r o c k o njo {a t} h o t m a i l . c o m
              Rate this comment: 12345

              furthur
              01/18/2009
              Posts:1
      • Re: Vista
        Really?
           You having trouble with those things.  Most of the things you mentioned worked out of the box with all the computer I installed it on.
        Rate this comment: 12345

        weaponx69
        01/17/2009
        Posts:2
        Avg Rating:
        5/5
    • Re: Vista
      "I can't really think of any good reason why anyone would bother with Vista."

      Because it works well, and it has available a vast selection of useful applications, from word processors to Blu-ray players. And it may be resource hungry by 1999 standards, but it runs well on today's entry-level hardware (i.e. Athlon64 3000+, 1gb RAM, 160gb HD).

      I set up two senior citizen PC neophytes with Vista x64 systems, and they love them.
      Rate this comment: 12345

      rdunnill
      01/15/2009
      Posts:1
      Avg Rating:
      4/5
  • Win7
    Like Vista, are they still going to have 6? different variations to choose from?  That was a pretty stupid marketing decision from the getgo which soured a lot of people on Vista initially.
    Rate this comment: 12345

    jojo99
    01/15/2009
    Posts:9
    Avg Rating:
    4/5
  • Win7
    Just came across this:

    Mark Russinovich: Inside Windows 7

    http://channel9.msdn.com/shows/Going%20Deep/Mark-Russinovich-Inside-Windows-7/ (45 minutes long)
    Rate this comment: 12345

    jojo99
    01/15/2009
    Posts:9
    Avg Rating:
    4/5
  • vista that works
    i don't know a thing about computers, but when i bought the intel mac, all my problems were solved.

    what is the boot time? That is the question for me. Why can't i buy a program that only boots for the internet, with greater speed?

    Why doesn't microsoft do the mac thing and switch to a Unix base?

    I feel like the guy that bought a toyota years ago and continues to buy Japanese cars, despite improvements in American cars. It will take a super product for me to switch back to the PC...

    Moderate improvements are not a selling point with me.

    Anyway, i'm a dummy with computers.So, my questions may sound dumb... are they???? or are these points valid???
    Rate this comment: 12345

    rhansing
    01/15/2009
    Posts:37
    Avg Rating:
    3/5
  • reheated osx?
    I just read the guys comments above me and i agree with him on the point he made about about macs. I too switched to a mac in february of last year and have to admit that the gimmicks that windows is trying this time around have been on a mac for quite a while. the cursor movements to the corners of the screen to be used as an aid to get rid of all the windows or make them transparent is just one of the few things that i can see, that were already on a mac 4 years ago. just an observation.
    Rate this comment: 12345

    camdaddy09
    01/15/2009
    Posts:37
    Avg Rating:
    3/5
  • Looks like more form over function
    Is this OS going to give my video renders a 30% longer render time over XP or Linux?  Will render times be faster(one can only hope, but I expect newer tech to be better not worse!!!)?
    Rate this comment: 12345

    dnoonie
    01/16/2009
    Posts:4
    Avg Rating:
    4/5
  • [no subject]
    Linux Journal has a review of Windows 7:
    http://www.linuxjournal.com/content/windows-7-linux-users-perspective
    One comment that caught my eye:
    "...seems to resemble the KDE desktop..."
    Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
    Rate this comment: 12345

    bugme
    01/17/2009
    Posts:29
    Avg Rating:
    3/5
  • My Biggest Prob with Vista was DRM
    There are certainly a lot of issues to be worked out in Vista, but for me, by far the worst was the DRM stuff. It would not allow me to play DVDs anymore on my DVD player that had no problem playing them when I used XP. I'm personally not making copies of movies or anything like that.

    My personal opinion is that Microsoft should not become the self-designated police officer of an initiative that is still being so hotly debated. I wish that instead of fighting the desire of so many people to make their own copies of movies and music, the industry would embrace it more and find ways of using this tendency to market their media content better. It seems to me that the software industry has benefited from giving away free software for years now. Why couldn't the RIAA and MPAA find more ways to make their content work the same way and offer people more legal alternatives to illegal copying.

    I haven't seen the Windows 7 release yet, but I hope it is not as strict about DRM as Vista was.
    Rate this comment: 12345

    CStroliaDavi...
    01/19/2009
    Posts:5
    Avg Rating:
    4/5
  • [no subject]
    I agree that Win7 is a great improvement over Vista, but the real question is, what does either one bring to the table to change people over from XP?  I see no new applications/file system improvements, only eye-candy, new ways to do the same thing and a boot-speed improvement.

    I'll stick with XP until EOL, as candy and boot-up speed are not things that make me want to spend money.  (I also dual-boot linux.  Once all of my apps are available there, I'll totally switch away.)
    Rate this comment: 12345

    krispy
    01/23/2009
    Posts:1
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