Don’t do windows anymore…

October 17, 2007 By - Leave a Comment

After years of systems support in both small and large environments with windows, mac, netware and linux I have made a choice.  I don’t do windows anymore.  I have found that all systems are frustrating and at times don’t behave well, like when your dog pees on the carpet.  But after a good yell and those puppy-dog eyes you learn to forgive.  Not the Bill Gates Bull Dog.  I have recently switched over to a job that is mostly Mac system support.  I love it!  I clone machines, in a heart beat, run an entire OS off a portable hard drive or CD, and numerous other tricks you can’t do with windows.  Let’s face it there just too fragile.  Linux and Mac OS X are in the same ball park and everything I mention here can be done with Linux.

Now comes Vista, which in Spanish means View, a Window with a View… HAHAHA.  So, the only view the user is getting I hear is a frustrating one. I tested vista in beta and got nothing but a headache, it crashed, never worked, none of my programs worked from Windows XP and the reply from everyone around me was “that’s to be expected, its beta and its a new product.”  When Mac OS X came out I beta tested it in 2000 while I was working for a media company, they were working on the NASADAQ Market site in Time Square and needed to render the globe.  This globe was the size of a couple stories and curved.  So, the rendering on a G4 I believe with SCSI hardrives and fast graphic adapter said it would take around 90 hours.  I was testing mac os x and put a classic os 9 environment on top of it, ran the same program on a G 3 without the SCSI hardware and did the same rendering in only 40 hours. Of course this was only BETA.  I did have other issues with the Mac OS X beta but the machine ran smooth, applications did load, things copied and most of all backwards compatibility seemed to be working just fine.

What sparks me to write this is that everyday a new bug is found in Windows Vista yet more people are using the product.  I think people have to start making the move off Vista and onto Linux or Mac OS X.  The time has passed Windows if Microsoft can not make a product that is stable enough to work efficiently.  I could go into all the little details as Microsoft Certified Professional that I’ve seen over the years but it really isn’t worth it, it’s just a crime to see a company that’s products don’t even work properly on its on operating system then blame the consumer. So, educate yourself and see a whole new world out there.

Article on copying issue with Vista: http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=829 

Consumer group demanding XP over Vista 

Filed Under: Apple, Rant Tagged With: , , ,

Who needs to pay for recovery disks if you got a MAC?

August 31, 2007 By - 2 Comments

question apple

It seems the PC world has another scam up there sleeves. To save them money they have the consumer make recovery disks. This just means the Manufacture is trying everything these days not to do their job. I always hated the concept of having a recovery partition and having to make your own disks, why can’t the machine work right out of the box? What this means is you have a choice of making the disks (an hour of your time before using the computer) or actually paying the computer company that you just bought the computer from for a CD. This of course doesn’t happen on a the Apple’s MAC computers. I also find that Dell doesn’t seem to charge anymore for the media, but I could be wrong. Are the computer companies trying to make things more difficult then they have to be? They seem to be able to package the AOL disks pretty well. This article in PC World really pissed me off — http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,136496/article.html — Where it seems the large retails stores are profiting from the apparent Recovery Disk issues by forcing customers to buy the retails stores recovery disks, claiming it is the only way to recover your computer if something goes wrong.

Now I have dealt with both Apple and many PC vendors. Dell has been the only company that I haven’t seen the recovery disk issue come up with, but you have to check a box to get the disks. Why don’t do they give you the disks like Apple has for years? Why is Apple the only one that has stayed constant and gives a proper and simple restoration procces if things go wrong. For example I had two computers that the hard drives failed. An iMac and a Dell. The iMac took less then two hours to format, install the OS from recovery 1 disk and be back online with updates and all. The Dell took half the day and I had to put different disks in, plus find updates online. If I wasn’t as technical as I am, I would of given up and paid someone to figure it out.

It seems to me that the Microsoft Windows world maybe the basis of the Chaos for the recovery disk and getting back up and running quickly without spending a huge amount of money. Issues happen with computers, whether its a PC or a Mac, however what counts is how long it takes to recover and of course how much extra in time and money it takes to have those recovery disks available when that time comes. Always backup your data and if your on a Mac keep those original recovery disks in a safe place.

Filed Under: Advice Tagged With: , , , ,

Don’t have to say anything bad about Microsoft…

June 25, 2007 By - 2 Comments

Well, the truth is I don’t have to say bad things about microsoft since someone else has really summed it up. As a MCP (Microsoft Certified Professional) I have seen some interesting things on the Windows Operating System. Over the years it just seems to get worse. I haven’t even tried Vista yet since when I looked at the beta it froze during the installation.

Now these guys over at … Microsucks… — Love the Name — Have some good reasons why MS is so bad. Now before you read, realize that the business world does depend on these products and majority of users run there home-based systems off of Microsoft products. There are a ton of alternates and those are getting better by the day, but the list is very true.

And here are the reasons why Microsoft is so bad: http://fuckmicrosoft.com/content/whatsbad.shtml

Filed Under: humor, Technically Foreign, Technology Tagged With: ,

Are Apples breaking Windows again?

May 30, 2007 By - Leave a Comment

For a long time electronic companies have made computers. Toshiba, Sony and Panasonic have been doing a good job with their computers as electronic companies can do. For a while now the tables are turning. Dell, Microsoft and Apple are just a few who have entered the consumer electronic market. But the head to head battle that has been going on for thirty years is Apple and Microsoft. They are taking the battle out of the office and dorm rooms and into your living room and morning commute.

So the question really is, which products are better? I can be opinionated, but lets look at some interesting things. Microsoft has announced a new computer called “Surface” today. Now this is a very cool and new wave of computing that has been in development for a long time. The demo this morning on NBC was almost a large scale version of the iPhone demo done in January by Apple’s Steve Jobs. Now all will agree that this type of touch interface will be the next jump in the industry and both parties have the approach.

Apple approach: Building something small, a portable computer for the size of your hand. The iPone is the start of many things to come that uses this new Touch Screen technology. The iPhone which is coming out in June has been known and talked about since January when it was first revealed. Now the interface allows multiple touching, increase pictures, select and move things around by touching. The first consumer product with this technology will be the iPod.

Microsoft approach: Now since everyone knows about the iPod it was only a matter of time that other companies use this technology and take it in other directions. Now Microsoft’s “Surface” is a pretty big computer under a table. This will be the first of a generation of table-top computers with full interaction. The table-top or ‘Surface’ would interact instead of a keyboard and mouse. Now touch screen computers have never been very popular because multi-touch wasn’t around. Now Microsoft’s approach is to give this to companies, restaurants and other service like industries. The demo Bill Gates gave was a restaurant, the menu in front of you and you visually select you meal. Then when paying you place you credit card on the table, select the items you want to put on the credit card and drag them over.

Overall the technology for a more hand friendly interface is here. We will be interacting with our computers and gadgets in a whole new way with this and many other new technologies on the way. The thing is its the same based technology and both companies will package it with a different name and brand. This is what makes things confusing in the wonderful world of Tech.

Apple will make it to the consumer market first with a portable version of this technology we may say they started this new trend. Since there won’t be a consumer version of ‘Surface’ for many years Apple has plenty of time to create a consumer multi-touch entertainment computer that works great with Apple TV and the iPod. I personally think that Microsoft is still playing catch-up to Apple’s baked goods.

Filed Under: Apple, gadgets Tagged With: , ,

The Bad words of Computer Security Part 3 – Software Updates

March 8, 2007 By - Leave a Comment
There is a lot of words for Software updates including, Vulnerabilities, patches, versions and bugs. Software and your Operating system need to have the latest version, otherwise you risk your computer to cyber attacks. For example if your using an outdated version of Firefox (a web browser) and enter a site that attacks a certain bug which has been known and fixed in newer versions then even if you have an Anti-virus program you can get attacked. The simple rules:
  • Make sure your Operating system is always up to date. Schedule your machine to automatically update your software. Next make sure that all your applications are up to date. This use to be a very hard one but has gotten much easier. Before you would have to compare each verison of your software or goto each software and see if they have an upgrade button and click it once in a while. Today a lot of software like Firefox and Thunderbird will automatically install new updates and inform you when these have been done. Also There is a software inspector that inspects your computer for all out dated (vulnerable) software. This is the secunia inspector. Click the button below to inspect your computer and make sure all your software is up to date. This should be run every month.
  • Run the Secunia Software inspector to make sure your computer is safe.
If you follow the first part of the serious about passwords, the second part about Viruses and this part about updating your software there will be a 99% chance of your computer getting taken over, infected and your identity stolen over the Internet. These are simple rules and are equivalent to changing the oil in your car.
Filed Under: Advice, Internet Tools, Security, Technically Foreign Tagged With: , , , , ,

Rotten Apples Broken Windows

October 8, 2005 By - Leave a Comment

I have been asked many times, “which is better the MAC or Windows PC?”. There is no true answer to this debate. However, people who are computer dysfunctional may find Apple’s Macintosh computers easier to use. Apple always uses the latest technology, they never keep older technologies. Meaning that there systems will last much longer, of course this also means the initial investment is more. Apple has an innovated way of thinking and designing their machines. Simple. If you work on a Windows at work with customized business software it may be hard to find Mac version. If your looking for a cheap PC to write documents and cruise the web then windows is the best way to go. Apple computers and devices are really for those looking for the latest technologies which are geared towards the artistic and creative persona.

Filed Under: Advice, Technology Tagged With: , , ,
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