Posted 11/10/2009 at 01:50:51pm

I wonder what percent of the security plug-in flaws were a result of the microsoft plug-in that the user did not have to approve.  You know the one they just got around to removing after 8 months....

Posted 10/02/2009 at 10:42:59pm

Puppy linux is the sweetest low footprint OS.  It is awesome at hardware detection.  I run it regularly on a amd 400 processor laptop to listen to podcasts in the kitchen.  It is also comes with a lot of lightweight tools.  It is quite a fun os.

Posted 10/02/2009 at 10:31:15pm

I and many others have been running ubuntu 9.04 on a arm based Zaurus.  It has given new life to a linux based pda.  Nothing sweeter than a micro laptop running a full linux distro that has a touch screen, keyboard and swivel display.  Battery life is up to 8 hours.  It is really just for the geeks among us right now.  Search on omegamoon if you are curious.  The author calls it zubuntu. 

Posted 09/10/2009 at 01:44:29pm

Reading the comments is like watching Fox News (misinformation news).  Funny that Microsoft seems more like Fox than MSNBC.

I have put linux on know nothing computer owners pc's when they cannot produce a license and they need a OS.  With very little work on my part to set them up they have no idea that they are not running windows except that I tell them so.  They do not use their computers in such a way that requires them to know what is underneath the hood.   Driver problems are universal, but even a lite distribution like puppy does a remarkable job of hardware recognition.  So stop with the old issues.  

Windows 7 is a good OS, but it has a different look and feel than XP (95).  Many of my customers are going to struggle with the new look.  Now is really the best time to switch since they and I are going to re-learn the UI.  So I would have no problem telling people to run whatever OS they want.

Posted 09/10/2009 at 12:57:59pm

Is Best Buy on board with this employee manipulation?  That is what is potentially wrong here. M$ and Best Buy convincing employees to not give the customer what is best for their needs.

This article and past practices by Microsoft all point to a company that appears to  believe in crushing adversaries / taking peoples patented work and bribing goverments.  Just look at the voting in the document standards.  They take the approach that by the time we pay the fine or settle with patent owners M$ will have made 10 times as much.  Apple may have some of the same tendicies.

   I work on computers day in and out.  Cutomers ask me what is best.  I tell them the truth.   Wait for windows7 if you have "must have" windows only applications.  If you want something that just works without you having degree in geek 101 than an apple may be in your future.  Linux works great for people who just email and surf or have old hardware. 

 I do not own a mac, but I do work on them.  I run linux as a base os and win in VM to avoid the bugs that abound in the machines I repair.  

Posted 03/03/2009 at 10:56:53am

Malbytes is great.  I have used it many times.  Spybot however does pick up stuff that Malbytes misses.  Also if you keep spybot up to date it stops most stuff from getting on in the first place. 

Posted 03/02/2009 at 11:13:38am

Windows 7 and people who do not maxiumpc. Starting with xp my customers prefer me to set it up like 98 (classic). Vista was different enough that I reccomended that those looking for a new pc check out Mac's. Since they had to learn to use a new user interface anyway, those that could, did switch. I have not had to do a single system restore on a Mac thus far.

Ubuntu is so very near being ready for the home user. If public government would adopt open systems, as they should, adoption of linux would boom. The user interface on netbooks and more cloud computing makes the need for Windows and OSX nil in the coming years. VM machines can handle any legacy needs.

I am reading and writing this thread on a old p3 128mb ram compaq laptop. I have 5 tabs open in my seamonkey browser (ever missed that netscape look?). I notice no speed issue (well maybe a little) doing this and also have another window in the background with a shell and text editor. How is this possible...Puppy linux.

Most days I begin my day on a treadmill using this setup to do mail, read news and get some exercise. I just hit 2.5 miles

Posted 02/07/2009 at 03:00:53pm

I have done contract work at large government agencies that are still 90% 2000.  What nonsense.  I still think that as they upgrade their hardware they should move to open source.  With the current state of hardware and the ease of using VM to run legacy applications there is little reason for our employees (government) to run Vista or Win7.  I have worked on their systems for decades and before they jumped to win95 they were running Unix and X windows.

So Steve B I agree with you that the public sector should upgrade, but to something that is more secure.

Posted 01/28/2009 at 10:30:53pm

I to got sent to Amazon from Daily Cup of Tech.

I was able to get it here

http://www.savefile.com/downloadmax/408393

 Also I mispoke - everything does run off usb drive.  Some Antivirus does not like ProductKey and sees it as a hack.

Always thought this was a mainstream package that eveyone knew about.  It also has a a menu that loads in the tray to run the programs fron if you wish.

Posted 01/22/2009 at 01:23:18pm

A tool that I always have on the thumb drive is PC Repair System 1 (Windows).  It was put together on Daily cup of Tech.

http://software.techrepublic.com.com/abstract.aspx?docid=772815

It is 37 apps for computer repair.  I use driveimage xml often, product key, SIW and others as needed.   Not all of these run directly from the drive, so that needs to be considered.