It’s been week of a big announcements for Microsoft who yesterday kicked-off their Professional Developer’s Conference and announced that the next release of Microsoft Office will finally include an online version you can use via a browser. According to ReadWriteWeb Microsoft say it will be a “lightweight version” but that it will “still have rich functionality and be comparable to Google’s suite of online office applications.” Quite ironic that Microsoft are looking to emulate Google’s own emulation of their office suite in the form of Google Docs - perhaps this is another example of how far off the pace Microsoft are nowadays. In a survey however, ReadWriteWeb found that almost half of all respondents still use Microsoft Word as their main word processing app so Microsoft could still gain lost ground IF the online version proves as good as the offline one.

In the same breath, Microsoft also unveiled an early developer preview of Windows 7. As both myself and Elena have already found, it looks very much like Windows Vista so no big surprises there. According to Download Squad, the new OS features a revised taskbar which allows you to perform actions directly by clicking on applications a la Dock in Mac OS (they surely wouldn’t copy Mac OS again would they?). You can also apparently maximize a window by just dragging it to the top of the screen.

One big plus is that according to their report, it does seem to use less RAM than memory-guzzling Vista. You can find some preview screenshots taken from the Microsoft Conference in this Flickr gallery.

Can Windows really be replaced by an identical yet free open source alternative? Last year, James briefly introduced an operating system called ReactOS which is a free open source operating system that runs most Windows programs and applications. Potentially, it could replace Windows completely as a free alternative to Microsoft’s behemoth. However, is it really reliable enough for you to toss your copy of Windows in the bin, or is ReactOS still very much a work in progress?

ReactOS has actually been in development for 10 years. Even now, it’s still under Alpha stage so the immediate answer to the above question is obviously a resounding “No”. However, it’s clear that the potential is there and signs are that it may not be long before ReactOS has Microsoft quaking in its boots or reaching for its lawyers. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s been only 20 months since Vista was launched worldwide, and Microsoft is already nearly finished on a new version of Windows. I’m not sure if such a short period of time between two versions of an operating system is something positive or not, especially after the lack of enthusiasm generated by Vista after its release. In a way it feels like Microsoft is in a hurry to make up for a faulty, irritating OS that’s often regarded more as a visual theme for XP than as a really new computer management system. Vista issues apart, the truth is that Windows 7 has started to fill up pages all over the web with its new features and functionalities. It’s easy to understand: talking about the possible future characteristics of an upcoming OS is sometimes more exciting than analyzing the OS itself!

So what does this new Windows 7 include? But wait… why on earth is it called Windows 7 anyway? If you count all Microsoft OS releases since Windows 3.1, numbers don’t seem to balance. The explanation is in fact quite easy:

• Windows 3.0, 3.1 and 3.11 were the first public versions of Windows, and they used version numbers as part of their official names.
• The following version, Windows 95, was then officially Windows 4.0. Windows 98 and Me were just minor updates of that fourth version (4.10 and 4.90 respectively).
• The next step is Windows 2000 - that is, Windows 5 – followed by Windows XP which was again a minor update (5.1).
• Then there it comes Windows Vista, which obviously corresponds to the sixth version of Windows.
• And finally Windows 7, which was used as a codename for this version but which has finally become the official name for the next Windows version.

As for new features in Windows 7, I’m afraid it’s going to look very similar to Vista. We had the chance to look at some leaked screenshots a few weeks ago, but Microsoft apparently forced the publishers to take them down.  In general terms, the new Windows 7 File Manager is going to be an evolution of Windows Vista’s shell and will allegedly include a new menu system based on the Office 2008 “ribbon” toolbar. Read the rest of this entry »

Having made a recent and extremely satisfying conversion to Mac, I couldn’t deny that a piece of Windows still tugged at my heart. I mean, Mac has won me over like a fool in love but me and Windows spent many many years together and although the relationship was often abusive, there was a lot of love there at the end of the day. I admit now that I did “knock you about” a bit during a particularly tough time Windows but I only did it because I loved you so much.

Then I discovered Parallels and it was almost like having an affair with two operating systems at the same time - I was having my cake and eating it - like some sort of operating system love triangle. Parallels for me is the final nail in the coffin for Windows. It runs any version of Windows embarrassingly effortlessly within the Mac OS environment and it leaves you almost pitying Windows in a way. It’s like the Mac is saying, “You’re so weak and insignificant now that I can run you like I would a Commodore 64 emulator” or something. Using Windows in Parallels is very much like that - the Parallels window is like a tunnel to an ancient universe when the whole world used an archaic old system called “Windows”.

Like everything else on the Mac, setting up Windows in Parallels is insanely easy. Installing Windows in Parallels is fast, simple and if you don’t like it, you can rid of it in a few clicks of the mouse. Even better, you can install as many versions of Windows as you want - Windows XP, Vista or even 98 and 95 if you so want and access them instantly at any time. No more Shut Downs either - you can simply stop the Parallels virtual machine and restart it when you want and be returned to exactly the same screen with all your applications opened as you left them. Read the rest of this entry »

When you start using a new program there’s always a testing period during which both the program and you as user must adapt to each other in order to build the perfect working partnership. This usually involves tweaking the program’s settings to make it suit your tastes and needs.

The same applies to operating systems. Windows, for example, includes three particular characteristics that are enabled by default on installation but which I personally find quite annoying. Here they are, and here’s also how to get rid of them:

• Hiding known file types extensions. Common file extensions such as JPG, EXE, MP3 and others are hidden by default. I don’t really get the point of doing this. Is it meant to make Windows easier to use? Because I think it only makes things more confusing and complicated. So if you want to bring those extensions back, open any File Explorer window, go to Tools > Folder Options and click on the View tab. Search for the “Hide extensions for known file types” option and disable it.
• Grouping similar windows in the taskbar. You only need to open two or three Explorer windows to realize that something is wrong with your toolbar. The problem is that all the windows from the same application are grouped by default under a single taskbar button. While this may save up space, it makes minimized windows much harder to manage! If you want to recover them, right-click anywhere on the taskbar, select Properties and uncheck “Group similar taskbar buttons”.
• Cleaning up unused icons on Desktop. Every two months the desktop cleanup wizard will pay a visit to tell you how many of your desktop shortcuts you haven’t used for a while. If you feel you don’t need to be told off like a child, go ahead and disable this wizard by right-clicking anywhere on the desktop and choosing Properties. Then click on the Desktop tab and press the Customize Desktop button. Look for the “Run Desktop Cleanup Wizard every 60 days” option and uncheck it.

Before showing you how to create a system restore point, I guess I should explain what a restore point is anyway. System restore is a Windows native service that enables you to recover your computer from any harmful situations, be it caused by a virus, an application or misuse of the system’s tools.

Windows creates system restore points automatically by default, but it’s also a good idea to create them by yourself, for example before installing a program you’re not sure about or tweaking Windows Registry.

To create a system restore point in Windows XP, open the Start menu and go to All Programs > Accessories > System tools > System Restore. Then follow the wizard’s instructions and you’ll be able to create a restore points in a couple steps. To create a system restore point in Windows Vista, right-click the My Computer icon on your desktop and select Properties. Then click on the System Protection tab, make sure the System drive is selected and click on the Create button.

From now on, whenever you have problems with Windows XP or Vista, you’ll be able to use these restore points to get your computer back to its fully functional stage.

In previous articles, we’ve often dedicated time to extolling the virtues of Linux. However, as with Windows and Mac OS X, there are plenty of reasons why the OS with the penguin mascot might not be the best choice for your PC.

Here are our top 10 reasons why you should leave Linux to the geeks and stay loyal to your current OS.

1. Because you’re happy with your current OS

Open source software is all well and good, but when you think of what we actually do with our PCs (reading email, browsing the web, listening to music), there are equally good solutions available for Linux, Windows and Mac. So, why change?

2. You don’t need to know how to build a car if all you want to do is drive

If you can build, program and understand source code then you’re highly-skilled and well done to you. But not everyone wants to do that, nor does everyone have the time to learn. If you can turn on your PC, click a couple of icons and access your favourite programs with no fuss, that’s enough.

3. So as to not look like a geek

All those tech terms might sound cool to someone already using Linux, but let’s face the truth: almost nobody in your circle of friends knows much about this kind of stuff, and you sound weird when you start talking about Gnome, Gimp and Synaptic.

4. Plenty of software, but what about quality?

There are hundreds of applications for Linux but at the end of the day, how many do you really need? We’d rather have one (easy-to-install) program that works perfectly than dozens of tricky, complicated apps that only ever do half of what they’re meant to.

5. The terminal is the Antichrist and wants to destroy us

Linux has changed considerably, and in most cases everything is done via windows and mouse clicks. But the terminal is still there, lurking in the darkness just waiting for the moment when you’ll have to use it, so it can respond with messages like “Incorrect command! I don’t know what you’re saying to me…install more packages while you still have space, I’m telling root! Mount point! Mount point!”. Don’t do it. You can lose your patience and your friends if you spend too long in the Terminal Zone. Read the rest of this entry »

What does it take to change the appearance of your Vista computer? Is there a way to play around with the taskbar’s transparency level? A while back Nick gave us some tips on how to tweak transparency on Windows XP.  Elena also came up with the Transbar application and explained how you could use it in XP. In the following video we show you how you can make your Vista taskbar transparent with Transbar and give you a few quick tips on changing the appearance of your desktop. Enjoy!

It’s a crazy situation - and one that you feel only Microsoft could have created - but there are many users who feel that Windows Vista is so bad, they’ve actually gone to the effort of replacing it completely with Windows XP. It’s a controversial step that shouldn’t be taken lightly because Microsoft have now discontinued production of XP.

However, if you’ve decided you just can’t take Vista resource hogging, sluggish performance and software incompatibility issues anymore, here are some steps to downgrade to XP. Windows doesn’t allow you to install an older version of it over a newer one so normally, downgrading would involve a lengthy and drastic blanking and reformatting of your hard drive. However, here’s how to do it in 6 steps without having to reformat anything at all.

1. Backup your entire hard drive - Just in case - I recommend using Norton Ghost.

2. Get an XP installation CD - You’ll either have to buy this or borrow it from a friend.

3. Insert the disc into your drive - You’ll be prompted if you want to to “boot from disk”

4. Press “R” while XP is booting - Enter your admin password to get the XP Recovery Console

5. Prepare your hard drive - Type the following commands remembering to press Enter after each one: “fixboot, fixmbr, cd \, ren windows winvista, exit”.

6. After restart boot from the XP CD - Continue with XP setup normally and you’re done!

The only thing that’s left to do is manually move all of your old folders and documents from the old C:\Winvista folder to your new C:\WinXP folder. Of course, you’ll also have to install any programs or applications again but this is a far more expedient and hassle free way of downgrading to Vista without formatting your hard drive.

Windows XP includes three color schemes you can choose from to customize the system’s native visual theme, namely blue, silver and an olive green that nobody I know has ever used. But what if you grow tired of this theme? You can download additional styles from many different online resources, and use them to give your XP a fresh look.

The problem comes when these themes don’t come from official Microsoft sites and are not signed by the Redmond firm. This doesn’t mean they’re dangerous at all; it’s just that they have been created by third-party designers who don’t work together with Microsoft. These themes therefore are not signed for Windows, and don’t work properly: they show glitches, dark spots and shadows that end up ruining the final appearance.

So if you want your newly downloaded themes to look perfect on Windows XP, you need to patch the uxtheme.dll file first. Simply download the UXTheme Multi-Patcher tool and run it. Your Windows theme will go back to a basic, gray design and you’ll eventually see this window:

Press the Cancel button (and the Yes button on the following dialog window), go back to the UXTheme Multi-Patcher interface and click on OK. Then restart your system and you’ll be ready to apply whatever visual theme you prefer, signed or not. See how my Windows XP looks like with the Vistamizer style!

Searching in Windows has always been painfully slow but Microsoft have just announced the launch of Windows Search 4 which aims to bring searching up to speed with applications such as Google Desktop. Windows Search 4 uses the same indexing style approach that Google Desktop does meaning that your data is always indexed and instantly searchable. Search results are now returned in seconds rather than minutes under Windows older search tool.

Be warned however - the indexing file can be huge especially if you have a large amount of data on your PC so make sure you have plenty of disk space free before installing Windows Search 4 otherwise you’ll find it locks up your system before finally warning you that your disk space is low. In this release, Microsoft have finally ensured that you can also index and search encrypted files which was something missing from previous versions.

This is something that should have already been included in Vista and is yet another area where Microsoft are adding and completing aspects of the system that should have been ready before it was released. I don’t quite understand how tools such as Google Desktop and Copernic Desktop Search have been on the market for years now and yet Microsoft have only just been able to implement such a basic feature into their operating system.

You can see Windows Search 4 in action here.

Just when you thought that things probably couldn’t get worse for Windows, Windows 7 looms on the horizon. Due to be released sometime in 2010, it’s supposed to be the next big Windows evolution (Hmm, where have I heard that before?). As Tom reported last week, Microsoft have announced that within 40 days Windows XP will no longer be on sale. I read about this in utter amazement in view of the numerous compatibility problems Vista has had and the disappointing reception it’s been given by the public. It’s almost as if Microsoft are taking a gun to users’ heads and saying, “Right, you’re going to like Vista or else so just buy it and shut-up!” and putting to death one of their more successful operating system.

As Tom pointed out, Windows XP was a genuine improvement on earlier versions of Windows which felt tinpot in comparison. XP felt and looked more solid, crashed less often and was generally much more intuitive to use. Vista offered none of that - in fact, I’d argue that in trying to be clever and changing age-old Windows descriptions here and there, in some areas they’ve actually succeeded in making it more difficult and annoying to use in places. That’s not to mention the frustrating incompatibility issues and the fact that it hogs at least 512MB of RAM. Anyone buying a new PC which boasts a huge amount of RAM thrown in should bear in mind that Vista will occupy a significant proportion of it - a ludicrous situation considering it’s just an operating system not an application!

The big question now is will Windows 7 be what Vista should have been? If initial news is anything to go by, then the answer is almost certainly not and might even give those home users wondering whether to change to Mac even more reason to do so. One look at one of the preliminary screenshots (above) to come out of Windows 7 and the word “Vista” springs immediately to mind. Aesthetically, there look to be few improvements and Bill Gates has made no secret of the fact that any “enhancements” will basically be ironing out those issues that Vista has been saddled with saying Windows 7 will have:

The ability to be lower power, take less memory, be more efficient, and have lots more connections up to the mobile phone, so those scenarios connect up well to make it a great platform for the best gaming that can be done, to connect up to the thing being done out on the Internet, so that, for example, if you have two personal computers, that your files automatically are synchronized between them, and so you don’t have a lot of work to move that data back and forth. Read the rest of this entry »

I remember when I first used Windows XP. As a poor student in 2001, I wasn’t likely to upgrade to the new OS and instead had the glorious Windows 98 SE installed on my laptop, a device with the physical characteristics of a London telephone directory made of black lead. So it wasn’t for a few months that I actually got to grips with XP, on a new machine at the company I’d started working for between classes.

From the beginning, XP represented a clear improvement on its predecessors. Its massively improved user-interface, for example, made XP feel like an operating system made by a company that finally understood something about what users wanted. Other new features like smart new graphical effects, fast user switching, faster startup and so on really added to a general feeling that XP was good.

Then the years started to pass. And some of the things I hadn’t worried too much about back in 2001 started to look like major problems. Security, especially, became a concern and it didn’t feel like Microsoft was doing anything to deal with the problem. I remember doing the research for a decent free firewall (ZoneAlarm), anti-virus (Avast!) and anti-spyware tool (Ad-Aware). And all the time I wondered why Microsoft themselves weren’t providing this protection. Also, the user-interface, which had once seemed like a bright new world of smart usability, began to feel sluggish and out-dated. XP crashed all the time.

As more time passed, and I ventured upon my 3rd or 4th reinstallation of XP, I started to tire of the system. I was using it all day at work by now and felt that I’d rather have something different to come home to. The obvious alternative was Ubuntu Linux, which seemed to offer vast security improvements, lots of interesting new software to try and a more, ahem, attractive price tag. Ubuntu is… alright. But the number of things an intermediate level user can do with it are, unfortunately, limited. Read the rest of this entry »

One of the big innovations in Windows Vista was the addition of transparency to the operating system. Transparency can help in a number of ways. Not least, it allows you to see what’s behind certain Windows or folders without having to minimise everything. It’s also highly useful if you need to hide a program window that you don’t want others to see while it runs on your system. And of course, it looks quite cool too. Although many people still prefer to use XP over Vista, it doesn’t feature the transparency features Vista does but you can add them using various utilities and plugins.

To start with, you can make the XP toolbar transparent with Transbar as Elena explained a while back. Transbar features a slider so that you can control the level of transparency that suits you and your desktop and you’ll be surprised how radically it changes the look and feel of your working area. Meanwhile Vitrite is aimed at adding transparency options to your windows. It utilizes a dormant transparency function in Windows XP that allows you to click on a window and by holding down the Ctrl and Shift keys, select the level of transparency you want between 1-9.

If you want to add transparency to only a certain part of the screen, then ChaosCrystal is an excellent choice. It allows you to use a cross hair to select an area of the screen you want to target and then drag a transparency box over the area that you want to make transparent. Finally, if you’re looking for something more comprehensive, that includes more than just transparency tools, then XP Visual Tools offers a range of XP customisation options including new desktop templates and transparency features for everything ranging from folders to windows.

If you’d like to have the Vista look on your computer, there are two main options: either you buy Microsoft’s latest Windows version and go through the usual pain of migrating to a new operating system, or you use a Vista theme. The latter is probably the best choice for those who are not particularly interested in having Vista, but rather in taking advantage of its visually appealing interface.

After trying a few Vista themes, I came up with Vistamizer as my favorite one. It’s very easy to install and also fairly complete, meaning it includes not only graphic material but also a few software tools that resemble the most popular Vista functionalities, such as the sidebar, the Aero transparency effect or the toolbar thumbnails. In case you’ve decided to give it a go, here’s a basic how-to.

Download Vistamizer and launch the file. After a few windows (including the EULA among other stuff) you’ll be asked whether you want a “normal installation” or a “Vistamized Windows ISO”. Simply select the first option.

Now here comes the best part. It’s time for you to decide which elements you want to install and which not. The installer includes a short explanation about each item but unfortunately it’s in German, so I’ll try to shed some light on it:

1. SysRestorePoint: this option creates a system restoration point. It should be checked in all circumstances, just in case something goes terribly wrong.
2. Files: Edits data from Windows native apps, games, Windows system files and also the login and logout screens.
3. Other: This option dds all the graphical eyecandy, such as icons, cursors, fonts, screensaver, sounds and the likes.
4. Apps: Lets you choose which apps you want to install to emulate some of Vista’s functionality. They’ll make your PC look really exactly like Vista, but be aware that they’ll also use up loads of system resources.
5. Links: Adds Vista shortcuts.

Once you’ve made your selection, click on Next and Vistamizer will start its job. When the installation is finished you’ll be asked to reboot the system, only to find a beautiful Vista welcome screen when your computer runs again. Also, remember that if you ever grow tired of your visual them, you can easily uninstall it from the Control Panel. Thanks to the restoration point you’ll be back to your good ol’ Windows XP in no time.

Oh, and if you’re looking for more Vista themes, check out Nicks post about the top 5 Vista themes for XP.