Friendly Computer Repair

Short url’s like the ones used on twitter are starting to become more common in spam messages. One reason may be because they can mask the actual web address. Friendly Computers thinks this information may be useful to you:

In yet another piece of anecdotal evidence of the increasing threat from shortened URLs, e-mail security provider MessageLabs said on Tuesday it saw a dramatic spike in the number of spam e-mails that include truncated Web addresses.

Shortened URLs, which allow spammers to hide the real Web address from Web surfers and are commonly used on social media sites like Twitter where message character length is restricted, began a sharp rise last week and now appear in more than 2 percent of all spam caught in the company's spam trap, according to MessageLabs.

"Usually when we see a spike of this nature it tends to indicate that a spammer has found some method of automating the creation of these short URLs," said Matt Sergeant, a senior antispam technologist at MessageLabs.

The many URL shortening services make it more convenience to post long URLs on sites like Twitter, but they also make it easy for attackers to lead Web surfers to sites hosting malware.

A major spam botnet called Donbot has aggressively moved to using this technique, Sergeant said. Donbot appears to be primarily focused on displaying advertisements, but could be linking to sites that drop malware onto visitors' computers too, he said.

Spam-filtering software can block spam from getting into inboxes and programs like Long URL Please and shortText make it easy to see what the real URL is.

 

Source: http://news.cnet.com/security/?tag=hdr;snav

When you think of the Ultimate operating system, you would think it would come with every feature that you could possibly need. Friendly Computers read that this might not be the case. Take a look at the article below and decide for yourself.

At the risk of piling on, I'll join the chorus of those who wish Windows 7 Ultimate was, well, more ultimate--offering truly important features that aren't in other versions of the new OS. While I don't think having an "Ultimate" that really isn’t will be the undoing of the House of Gates, I can tell you I won't be buying it.

I did, however, based on previous experience, purchase a copy of Windows Ultimate, because it was the upgrade for Windows XP Pro and required for the network I was running at the time. A business network I was running at home, mind you.

Having switched to a mix of Macs and PCs, I don't run that network anymore so Vista Ultimate doesn't get me anything and when I upgrade to Win7 it will mostly be by doing clean installs--that is if I upgrade my XP machines at all, which is becoming more and more doubtful.

Microsoft will have to prove to me that Win7 won't slow down my XP boxes before I will even consider upgrading. It's more likely, I think, that Win7 will arrive at whatever pace I replace older machines with newer hardware.

When I do that, I will be much more careful about choosing the proper version of Windows 7 with the new hardware than I have been in the past. I might be willing to go as far as Professinal, but the enterprise features that define Ultimate, such as BitLocker, drive encryption, aren't worth the money, at least not to me.

And, did I mention that Mac OS X comes with drive encryption as a standard feature included in the one-and-only version Apple sells to users? (I am not including the Mac OS Server since it's not a user OS).

I think Windows 7 may finally get Microsoft over the impasse that Vista created. My testing, and that conducted by those I trust, makes me look forward to its release. But, OS upgrades aren't nearly as important as they used to be and, without built-in apps to upgrade, Microsoft is at a disadvantage to Apple in getting my upgrade dollars.

The more I think about it, the less interested I am in doing any XP conversions to Windows 7. And if I can talk myself out of upgrading that easily, it's a bad sign for Microsoft.

The good news: I probably will be replacing some hardware and will be happy to find Windows 7 on-board. Windows 7 Professional, or less, that is.

 

Source: http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/167974/windows_7_ultimate_edition_not_so_ultimate.html

Getting all the dirt and grime out from the inside of your keyboard can be a grueling task. Friendly Computers found an interesting article that provides 10 ways to de-grossify your keyboard. Read more below…

1. Use an air compressor

Get rid of the mysterious sticky stuff under your keyboard with compressed air equipped with an extension nozzle. Turn the can at a 45-degree angle and spray between the keys. Tap and shake the keyboard and then repeat spraying. Finish by cleaning the piled up grime with a damp cloth.

2. Use isopropyl alcohol

It's easy to use isopropyl alcohol (never ethyl alcohol because you might remove the printed letters/numbers) with a damp cloth and Q-tips to remove the built up dirt. Always use a cloth rather than applying the alcohol directly to the keys.

3. Use a USB vacuum cleaner

USB vacuum cleaners to do the hard part of sucking up potato chip and pretzel debris. Just plug into your USB port and use the thin keyboard tool to make your keyboard look like new again. Also includes a built in LED light.

4. Use CyberClean

CyberClean makes cleaning fun! Just take the yellow gel blob that looks like Play-Doh and press it over the keys to lift out dirt and bacteria. The patented sticky formula from Switzerland even kills germs on contact. It's also good on cell phones and any other potentially infectious surface.

5. Remove all of the keys

This tip is for folks with a lot of patience. First make a copy of your keyboard layout and turn your computer/keyboard off. Next, remove the keys with a screwdriver. Clean out what's underneath the keys and then clean each key with a damp cloth and Q-tip.

6. Clorox Wipes or household disinfectants

If you eat at your keyboard or type with dirty hands or if multiple people use your keyboard, you need to protect yourself daily with Clorox or a disinfectant spray (on a cloth) to control the germ invasion.

7. Use the dishwasher

Yes, it does sound extreme, but it works if you want to save time and don't need your keyboard for a few days. Wash the keyboard using only water and remember to remove all of keys. Then let it dry out for two or three days.

8. Use Post-it Notes

If there's an ample supply of Post-it Notes around, they'll come in handy when you want to clean your crumb-filled keyboard fast. Just turn the sticky edge of the Post-it towards the hard-to-remove specks and voila!

9. Use a hairdryer

Using a hairdryer is great for general dusting and debris-clearing. It also saves time. Just point it at the keyboard and go with the heat on or off. Can be used with or without the compressed air can.

10. Use Scotch Tape

Using Scotch Tape or another brand of transparent tape can help you quickly remove dirt and crumbs. First give the keyboard a good shake and then start applying the tape.

Source: http://www.inc.com/ss/how-clean-your-keyboard?slide=0#1

Friendly Computers found this awesome article on how to get songs and photos off your iPod and back onto your computer. Check it out!

Apple's iTunes software makes it dead-simple to copy music onto your iPod, but when it comes to moving files in the opposite direction--from the iPod to your computer--there's no obvious solution. I get an e-mail on this topic at least once a week, usually from someone who's had his laptop stolen or watched helplessly as his hard drive crashed. After an incident like that, it can be a relief to know your music collection (or at least part of it) is backed up on an iPod.

Of course, relief can quickly turn to frustration when you plug that iPod into a new computer and can't figure out how to grab those files. Worse yet, iTunes will sometimes prompt you to erase the iPod if it's not recognized. Saying yes will only end in tears.

To be fair, iTunes isn't completely useless when it comes to pulling media off your iPod. Under the iTunes File menu, there's an option for "Transfer Purchases From iPod" that will work to pull any content purchased through the iTunes Store back to your computer. It's a nice place to start, but to get the rest of your content off your iPod, you'll need to download some additional software.

There are two, very useful, and very free applications out there that will transfer the rest of your music, videos, playlists, and metadata off your iPod and back to your computer. In truth, there are dozens of programs that can accomplish the same thing, but for the sake of simplicity, we'll stick with these two since they're free, easy to use, and work with all models of iPods and iPhones.

Depending on the type of computer you're transferring to, download Pod to Mac or Pod to PC from Download.com. If you're looking to get photos off your iPod, go ahead and download Pod Photo Transfer (PC only), as well.

To see how the process works, CNET's Tom Merrit made a handy video that walks you through the steps for retrieving files from an iPhone. The process is identical for iPods, so don't feel left out when Tom says "iPhone"--just overdub it in your mind with the iPod model of your choice. For a few extra iPod media transfer tips, check out our CNET slideshow.

 

Source: http://reviews.cnet.com/transfer-ipod-songs/?tag=smallCarouselArea.4

Friendly Computers read that the Chinese government is is delaying the enforcement of internet filtering software. Read below for more details:

 

China has indefinitely delayed enforcement of a requirement that PC makers preinstall Green Dam-Youth Escort software that experts believe would have screened not just Internet pornography but also some online political content.

Green Dam allows users to specify categories of sites to block.

(Credit: University of Michigan)

The reprieve, announced by China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, according to reports in The New York Times and the Associated Press, came just one day before the preinstallation rule was to go into effect.

But thus far the reprieve appears temporary: the ministry said the delay will give computer makers more time to comply with the rule, and the government also will continue to equip school and cybercafe computers with the software, according to the New York Times report.

Experts have warned that the Green Dam software poses security risks, and last week, the U.S. Trade Representative protested that Green Dam violates World Trade Organization rules

PC makers had been cagey about their plans to comply with the rule to install the software. Technical and other objections must be weighed against business concerns, and China is a large and growing market. Companies that deal directly with Internet content have been in the hot seat for years, and Google has had to wrestle with new Chinese censorship requirements this month.

 

Source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10275778-38.html?tag=mncol;title

Friendly Computers read that Microsoft has already met their quota on free beta security downloads. Read below to find out more:

Well, that didn't take long.

A day after making available a free beta of its Microsoft Security Essentials software, Microsoft has stopped offering new downloads, saying it has reached the number of participants it was looking for, at least here in the U.S. The software maker had said it was only looking to initially have about 75,000 downloads of the product, formerly code-named Morro.

"Thank you for your interest in joining the Microsoft Security Essentials Beta. We are not accepting additional participants at this time," Microsoft said in a posting on its Web site. "Please check back at later a date for possible additional availability."

Microsoft Security Essentials is the free product that Microsoft promised it would create last year, at the same time the software maker said it was discontinuing its paid Windows Live OneCare product.

The program hits the antivirus basics, including built-in and customizable scan options, a scheduler, automatic definition file updates, a real-time defense shield, and rootkit protection. It's also similar to other free products on the market, such as those from AVG and Antivir.

Download.com's Seth Rosenblatt contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.cnet.com/security/?tag=hdr;snav

Most people use social networking sites such as Twitter and Myspace and worry about their account security. Keeping our computers protected is one of the most important things when doing anything online. Friendly Computers found out that there is a new plug in which will scan links and notify you of any potential threats associated with that link for Twitter. Read below for more information:

Finally, there's a tool that can help prevent people from clicking on URLs that appear to come from friends on Twitter and other social media sites but which lead to sites hosting malware.

Web security firm Finjan began offering this week a free browser plug-in dubbed SecureTwitter that warns users when they encounter a malicious URL in Twitter, as well as in Gmail, Blogger, MSN, social networks MySpace and Bebo, news aggregators Digg and Slashdot, and the Google and Yahoo search sites.

SecureTwitter scans the Web pages that the URLs lead to in real time to analyze the code, as opposed to querying a database of blacklisted URLs, as other safe Web browsing services do, Yuval Ben-Itzhak, chief technology officer at Finjan, said on Thursday.

Green checkmark icons appear next to URLs that are deemed safe and red "X"s for URLs to sites with code that could be a virus, a Trojan, or other malicious program. Yellow question mark icons appear next to URLs that lead to a page that was not available for scanning by SecureTwitter for some reason.

SecureTwitter appears to be the first safe browsing service that scans URLs within applications and not just in search results or browser address bars.

In a quick test of the service I didn't find any warnings for malicious URLs on the various sites, but it did put a yellow question mark next to URLs that appeared at the top of my Gmail page that linked to legitimate CNN articles, for some reason.

I would love to have SecureTwitter warn me about URLs in Facebook, but Facebook requires people to log in to see profiles on the site, which means the company would need people's passwords to access those pages. Since the other sites do not, Finjan could easily scan the URLs on those sites without needing access to private information like log-in credentials, so that's where the company decided to focus their efforts, Ben-Itzhak said.

The service would have protected followers of venture capitalist Guy Kawasaki, whose Twitter feed automatically re-distributed a malicious URL from an un-moderated section of a user-generated news site earlier this week.

It also would protect people against the kind of worm attacks that hit Twitter in April in which people who clicked on the name or image of someone whose account had been compromised by the worm got infected and re-broadcast the malicious message.

And SecureTwitter could protect Twitter users against a clickjacking attack, which also hit the site this year. In these attacks, clicks are basically hijacked and users forced to do things they don't intend to, such as redistribute malicious Twitter updates.

 

Source: http://news.cnet.com/security/?tag=hdr;snav

Here at Friendly Computers we post a lot about computer viruses. We sometimes forget that not everyone knows exactly what a computer virus is or how they work. Below is an article that helps explain what computer viruses are and how to protect yourself from them:

It has been about 26 years since the creation of the first computer virus. Today, the number of viruses has increased to over 250,000, and each one has the potential to damage your computer and your business — damage that ranges from bothersome to devastating — and can be very costly.
Companies are hit on average with 113 virus infections every month for every 1,000 PCs they own, according to an ICSA Labs survey.
According to a 2006 FBI report on computer viruses, “dealing with viruses, spyware, PC theft and other computer-related crimes costs U.S. businesses a staggering $67.2 billion a year.” Every business, large or small, needs to protect against computer viruses. If you download files from the Internet or share files with outsiders, you stand a chance of getting a computer virus.
How does a business guard against this threat? First, it’s helpful to understand what a computer virus is. A good definition is offered by Amer Neely in “Virus Protection Rx for Your PC”: A virus is a program that attaches itself to other programs and/or disks and makes copies of itself whenever it can. It is vandalism by computer. Most viruses cause damage, either by design or accident; others merely become a nuisance by putting messages on your screen.
The important thing to remember is that someone wrote the program on purpose. Viruses do not appear out of thin air or by accident. In all cases, you will have to scan your hard disk and all your external disks and remove the culprit.
Viruses attach themselves to other files that are “executable.” This means any file that can be loaded into your computer’s memory and “run.” Files ending in .exe, .com, .sys, .dll and .ovr are some common PC extensions for executable files. Image files (.jpg; .gif) are not good hosts for a virus, since they are not executable. Audio files and video files are other “safe” types. A compressed file, such as .zip, by itself is not dangerous, but it may contain an executable file, which carries a virus. If this file is extracted and run, the virus will infect your system.

Basic virus protection

Some common symptoms that could indicate your system is “infected” by a virus are:
• Unusual messages or displays on your monitor
• Unusual sounds or music played at random times
• A changed file name
• Missing programs or files
• The creation of unknown programs or files
• Files that become corrupted or suddenly stop working properly
• E-mails sent out to people on your mailing list or contact list without your knowledge
Don’t wait until you have these symptoms to take action. The consequences could be alarming. Here are some basic tips that you can use immediately to start the fight against harmful computer viruses:
• Keep up to date with critical software patches. The most damaging viruses in recent years have all been spread through software vulnerabilities that were patched at least months, and often years, before the virus was unleashed.
• Don’t open attachments that you did not expect to receive, especially if the person has not signed his or her name inside the message — and do not forward them.
• Delete all messages from unknown origins without reading them.
• Buy a virus protection program and keep it up to date. New viruses are detected and created daily and you must continue to update this software. Download the anti-virus update on a weekly basis.
• Use the latest versions of Web browsers. Virus writers are ingenious in a twisted way. They are always coming up with new attacks, oftentimes exploiting weaknesses in commonly used software. Software developers play a cat-and-mouse game, constantly trying to patch the holes with software upgrades and service releases.
• Set your security settings on “medium” or “high” for your e-mail reader and browser.
• Make sure you enforce a rigid backup schedule. If all of the above methods fail you and your data is gone, you must have a backup to save the day.
Keep in mind that these suggestions are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to protecting your business from the serious threat of computer viruses. Virus protection should be an integral part of IT planning. Since it can be very complex, it should be handled by knowledgeable, highly trained IT professionals.

Source: http://nhbr.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090619/INDUSTRY06/306199998/-1/INDUSTRY

Many computer manufacturers will be offering upgrade coupons with new computers running Vista so that they can be upgraded when Windows 7 is released. Friendly Computers found out that there will most likely be a charge for the voucher. Read below for all the details:

Fujitsu will charge for Windows 7 upgrade vouchers when it begins offering them shortly to people that buy a PC ahead of the operating system's October 22 launch.

Many PC vendors will offer the vouchers, in the hope that customers won't put off planned PC purchases until Windows 7 ships. A similar program was offered for Windows Vista, while Apple has also offered free OS upgrades to some of its customers.

Fujitsu said it will launch its program before the end of June, probably this Friday. Microsoft has scheduled a news conference in Tokyo on that day.

The company is one of Japan's biggest PC vendors and also has a sizable business in Europe. Several other PC makers around the world have also confirmed they will take part in the voucher program, including Hewlett-Packard and Taiwan's Acer, Asustek Computer, Gigabyte Technology, Micro-Star International (MSI), and Shuttle.

The companies are levying a charge on users because they have to pay Microsoft to include upgrade coupons with PCs. The coupons will cost the PC makers between US$9 and $15 to include with PCs although end-users will likely be charged a higher price, one Taiwanese company said.

The PC industry needs all the help it can get right now.

Global PC shipments dropped by a record amount in the first quarter of this year. Total shipments were 66.5 million units, down 8.1 percent on the same period in 2008, said iSuppli last week. The fall was entirely in the desktop segment, which saw shipments drop 23 percent versus a 10 percent increase in the laptop segment.

 

Source: http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/167087/fujitsu_to_offer_windows_7_upgrades_but_not_for_free.html

Despite numerous attempts to steer people away from Windows XP and toward Windows Vista (and soon Windows 7), Friendly Computers just discovered that Microsoft is once again extending the life of XP by allowing those who purchase a new machine to downgrade to Windows XP until 2011. Read more below…

Following sharp criticism from analysts, Microsoft has quickly backed away from its previous announcement that placed a six-month limit on XP downgrades after the release of Windows 7. Michael Silver of Gartner earlier in the week described the limitation as potentially causing a "real mess," as the software maker typically provides a wider time frame for enterprises to transition between operating systems.

Many business with large-scale XP deployments might not be ready to switch to Windows 7 until late in 2010. Six months of downgrade availability following the October launch window would force the companies to be ready by April.
Silver argues that any systems requiring XP, but acquired after the deadline, would need to be purchased with Vista Ultimate or Vista Business for downgrade rights. To transition directly to Windows 7 the companies would need to purchase additional upgrade licenses.
In response to the criticism, Microsoft has extended the time-frame to 18 months or "until the release of a Windows 7 service pack, whichever is sooner," according to Computerworld. Despite the slight policy adjustment, businesses will be in the same situation if Microsoft manages to slip an SP1 update in the first shortly after the OS launches.

Source: http://www.electronista.com/articles/09/06/19/xp.downgrades.to.2011/

The talk about Windows 7 is that it is suppose to be the best Windows operating system yet. Friendly Computers found this article which touches on some improvements Microsoft should make:

Windows 7 is clearly Microsoft's best operating system yet. But it's far from perfect. Here are four ways Microsoft can improve it by "borrowing" features from Mac OS X.

Use Expose for window handling

Windows 7 introduces some nifty new window handling features, such as Aero Peek, but it doesn't go nearly far enough. It should borrow from Mac OS X's Expose, which lets you do things like see all of your open windows neatly displayed with a single keystroke, display open windows as thumbnails, and so on. It's more than just eye candy --- it improves productivity as well.

Replace the Control Panel with System Preferences

The Mac's System Preferences feature is a model of simplicity. It organizes all of the operating system's features into a handful of icons, organized by category, that gives you easy access to customization. The Control Panel is a far messier piece of work. Windows 7 should simplify the way you customize it and use an organizational tool like the Mac OS X's System Preferences in place of the Control Panel.

Ship better built-in applications

Mac OS X ships with some very good applications that would be worth buying on their own right, such as iPhoto, iMovie, and iWeb. Microsoft is moving in the exact opposite direction with Windows 7 --- it's stripping out most applications, so that even Windows Mail won't be part of the operating system any longer. That's the wrong direction. Microsoft should instead beef up the applications that come as part of Windows.

Use Mouse Gestures

Windows 7 will have some touch-enabled features, including rudimentary touchpad gestures. But it should go whole hog and use far more. On my Macbook Air, for example, I can scroll through documents, right-click, go forward and backward in my browser and more without lifting my hands from the touchpad. I'd like to be able to do the same thing in Windows 7.

Source: http://blogs.computerworld.com/four_things_windows_7_can_learn_from_mac_os_x

Friendly Computers wants you to know that versions Windows 7  will have touch screen capability. This will be a very useful feature for netbooks, which have limited space and screen sizes. Check it out below:

While current netbooks are already rapidly capturing the attention and credit cards of savvy travelers, the addition of multi-touch support in Windows 7 could be the spark that sets off a firestorm of netbook purchases later this year.

Touch is one of the most exciting, yet least discussed features of Windows 7. Although most people associate multi-touch features with Apple’s iPhone and iPod Touch products, the idea has existed for years and Microsoft conceptualized multi-touch for the Microsoft Surface tabletop computer as far back as 2001. If you use an iPhone, then you already know how to use multi-touch. If you already own a netbook, you’ll want to hock it on Craigslist when the Windows 7 netbooks featuring multi-touch displays hit the market.

While most computers can benefit from the use of this technology, netbooks are a special case. First of all, their tiny keyboards and touchpads beg for a heavy dose of human-interface assistance. Additionally, the limited real estate afforded by their small screens is an obvious candidate for pinch-style zooming and for scrolling with a simple and intuitive flick of the finger.

The cost of adding capacitive touch-screen functionality to diminutive screens will be much less than with laptop and desktop monitors with their relatively large surfaces. The Touch feature set is only available with Windows 7 Home Premium and higher Windows editions, which adds to the overall cost; however people buy netbooks as much for portability as for price. People purchasing based on size and features and will be willing to spend the extra $100 or so for significantly improved usability

A few touch-screen netbooks already exist, for example Dell’s education-focused Latitude 2100 is available with an optional touch screen. Also on the market are the relatively pricy Gigabyte Touchnote series of tablet-style convertible touch-screen netbooks. While these single-touch computers can be useful for a number of things, to really take advantage of the new Windows 7 features, you’ll need one that can recognize the input from multiple fingers, not just one. Capacitive multi-touch LCD panels are currently being manufactured in quantity, and I expect to see netbooks with them launched on the same day as Windows 7

Some netbooks, like the Lenovo S10, feature a multi-touch trackpad as an upgrade option. This is a great feature, but touching the actual image you’re manipulating is vastly more intuitive on a small device.

Touch-enabled netbooks will likely have massive appeal for business users. Much like the iPhone allowed users to competently navigate non-mobile optimized Web sites on a 3.5-inch display; multi-touch netbooks will enable business users to organically and quickly navigate spreadsheets and word-processing documents on 8.9- to10.2-inch displays. People will be able to zoom in and tap on a cell to modify a formula much more quickly and with less frustration than they can with a shrunken keyboard and touchpad. The laptop can now stay its docking station while the netbook travels comfortably inside a briefcase.

 

Source: http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/166726/windows_7_will_give_netbooks_the_magic_touch.html

When camping with your Mac or any electronic device, you should be especially careful not to let the device get damaged. Moisture, Dirt, Heat, etc all can do a number on electronics. Friendly Computers found these tips that may be helpful on your next outing with Mother Nature:

After having just returned from the Bonnaroo Music Festival in Manchester, Tennessee I wanted to share a few tips about what to bring if you plan to bring your Mac (and iPhone for that matter) on a camping trip.

Moisture is the enemy of all electronics. When in the great outdoors it’s essential to keep your PowerBook/MacBook in a cool, dry and safe place, especially during those dewy early morning hours. I keep my MacBook Pro packed away in a quality bag and locked in the car. It’s much drier than sitting in a tent and harder to steal. Remember to vent the car periodically during the heat of the day to keep temperatures down and to keep your bag out of direct sunlight.

Bring batteries galore. If you’re going to be tenting and without access to reliable power, batteries are going to be critical. I brought two fully-charged MacBook Pro batteries and that barely got me through two days. If I had my druthers I would bring five fully-charged MBP batteries so that I didn’t have to worry about charging them. The problem is that this gets pricey at $130 a pop. If you purchased one of Apple’s new fixed-battery MBPs changing batteries isn’t an option, so you’ll have to start looking for an outlet after about 7 hours.

Pictured above are some of my road-trip stalwarts that I don’t leave home without. Starting in the upper left corner and going clockwise:

• Kensington 120 watt notebook DC power adapter ($99) with the Mike Gyver’s MagSafe adapter ($80) is great for keeping your MacBook charged while driving. I reviewed both in August 2007.
• FastMac’s IV iPhone battery ($80) is still the best of breed and the included LED light comes in handy when camping. I gave the FastMac IV a Best In Show award at Macworld Expo in January 2009.
• If you’re a dual iPhone family and driving long distances, a dual-USB 12-volt USB charger is practically a must — along with a second 12-volt outlet. The Dual-Port Car Charger (minus dock cables) costs $12 from RichardSolo.
• I brought 2600mAh Solar Battery Charger (about $24 on eBay) as a backup, but didn’t end up using it on this trip.
• CableJive iStubz ($15 for two) compact dock cables for charging and syncing iPhones and iPods. Pictured in a clear organizer pouch (US$6-10) from Tom Bihn.
• A 3G card from a reliable provider is critical if you plan to actually get online with your computer. Don’t rely on AT&T’s craptastic 3G network to be reliable in places in the woods like Manchester — especially during a festival with 80,000 people at it. My favorite is the Verizon Wireless USB760 Modem ($50 plus 2-yr. agreement of $40 or $60/month) which slaps into my MacBook Pro’s USB port and allows me to get online using OS X’s built-in driver in the Network Control Panel. Also pictured in a clear organizer pouch (US$6-10) from Tom Bihn.
• A white Photon Micro-Lite II keychain flashlight ($8 on Amazon) on a lanyard is critical for any outdoor activity after dark. It will help you avoid puddles and stumps and possibly help you find your car keys. It’s a no-brainer, get one for everyone in your party.
• A Nitecore D-10 flashlight ($60 from 4Sevens) is probably my best upgrade from last year. It’s 130 lumens and runs off lithium AA batteries which are much cheaper than the CR123 batteries required in other flashlights.

Source: http://blogs.zdnet.com/Apple/?p=4138

Friendly Computers found more tips on how to keep your computer running smooth. Check them out below:

This is going to sound crazy - and it is, but it works. You can get a big performance increase by wiping out your Windows and reinstalling it from scratch.

That's the tip of the week. But for those of us who have tons of applications on our computer and tons of data that we don't want to lose, we can do one or all of the following.

If your computer is slow to start up, then you want to examine what is starting up and remove some of those programs from the startup. For example, many printers put in little applications that check ink levels and scanner settings. You may not even have that printer anymore, yet there is a startup program.

Another thing that happens is that your registry gets bloated. There are some good registry cleaners that will reduce the size of the registry by getting rid of entries in programs or drivers that are no longer part of the system. CCleaner (www.ccleane r. com) is one tool you can use.

You should also clean out your deleted items, both in your recycle bin and in your e-mail's deleted items. This will increase your disk space and decrease the number of files that have to be looked at by the operating system.

It's also a good idea to go through your music, pictures and documents to make sure you only keep what you really want. Are you really going to ever listen to that old album from the '20s? But I digress.

Another way to speed up your computer is by running a "defrag." There's a program under the maintenance or system tools that will defragment your hard drive.

This puts the files in order on the drive to speed the disk access. It makes a difference for program files to be contiguous on the hard drive when they start up.

Also, some smart defragmenters will put the most-often used programs in the middle of the drive, so it takes the read heads less time to go to the beginning of the program. One program you can download is Defraggler (www.defraggler.com).

Finally, as we talked about last week, adding more memory to your system will increase your computer's performance. In some instances, it can increase by 200 percent the speed of your applications. Of course, if you have enough memory now and add more, it won't get you any speed benefits.

For Windows XP and Windows XP Home, you don't need more than three gigabytes. For the new 64-bit Windows XP or 64-bit Windows Vista, the more memory, the better. We recommend 8 gigabytes.

The new Windows 7 is coming out later this year. There are developer editions that are being tested and it looks like an early winner. I will do some digging, but I'm hopeful that it isn't just the next version of Vista.

 

Source: http://www.southtownstar.com/business/harmening/1619864,061409harmeningcol.article

Some PC retailers will be offering upgrade coupons for Windows 7 soon. They hope that by doing this more people will continue to purchase computers and no wait for the release of Windows 7 in the fall. Friendly Computers thinks you may be able to use this information:

Some PC vendors and sellers will begin a coupon program on June 26 to entitle people who buy premium versions of Microsoft Windows Vista to upgrade to the new Windows 7 operating system when it arrives later this year, but the upgrade offers may not be free. Offers will vary by vendor and retailer.

Three Taiwanese PC makers plan to provide a coupon for a free Windows 7 upgrade to anyone who buys a new desktop or laptop PC loaded with Vista Home Premium, Vista Ultimate or Vista Business between June 26 and the time Windows 7 launches globally on Oct. 22, according to executives from the companies. They requested not to be named in this story for fear of harming their business relationship with Microsoft, because the software giant has not yet announced the timing of its Windows Upgrade Option (WUO) program.

PC vendors will have to pay between US$9 and US$15 per PC to include an upgrade coupon with a new computer, said an executive at one Taiwanese PC maker. People will use information on the coupon to download a copy of Windows 7 from a Microsoft Web site once the software is on sale, he said, and Microsoft will also send the holder a copy of the operating system on a disc.

Another executive said the upgrade coupons will be good from June 26 through Jan. 31, 2010 and are meant to encourage people to buy new PCs ahead of the Oct. 22 launch date for Windows 7.

PC makers fear consumers and businesses may put off buying a new desktop or laptop until Windows 7 formally launches in October, causing a downturn for PC sales this summer. The upgrade program is aimed at keeping PC sales steady over the time.

Microsoft has not announced a date for when its Windows Upgrade Option program will begin, said Amelia Agrawal, director of public relations at Microsoft Asia Pacific, in Singapore. However, she pointed out that the upgrade offers will vary by PC manufacturer and retailer.

A Taiwanese executive also said he feared the upgrade program will hurt sales of netbooks because they come with Windows XP instead of Vista. Netbooks are among the hottest sellers this year for PC makers due to their small size, long battery life and low-cost. But XP users will not be offered an upgrade coupon.

Information from the Taiwanese executives matched most of the information in a memo from U.S. electronics retailer Best Buy, leaked last week.

Several companies in Taiwan plan to offer Windows 7 upgrade programs, including Acer, Asustek Computer, Gigabyte Technology, Micro-Star International (MSI), and Shuttle.

Hewlett-Packard will participate in the Windows Upgrade Option program but won't disclose details until Microsoft formally announces the start date, said Ann Finnie, public relations manager in HP's personal systems group, in an e-mail.

Chinese PC maker Tsinghua Tongfang will not offer upgrade coupons since few of its machines offer eligible versions of Windows Vista, a company representative said. She said she did not know the launch date of the program.

 

Source: http://www.pcworld.com/article/166563/windows_7_upgrade_programs_will_start_soon_vary_by_vendor.html

Windows 7 user accounts may have a flaw that may run scripts in the background under admin settings. Friendly Computers thinks this may be helpful to you:

It seems clear to me that combining an Admin accounts with Windows 7’s “low nag” User Account Control (UAC) setting is a bad idea. Problem is, Admin accounts and “low nag” UAC settings will be the default for millions of people buying Windows 7-based PCs.

The problem with systems running with these two settings is that it’s possible to use a code-injection vulnerability to silently run code or other applications with administrative privileges behind the user’s back. Even Windows super-guru Mark Russinovich acknowledges that a problem exists:

Several people have observed that it’s possible for third-party software running in a PA account with standard user rights to take advantage of auto-elevation to gain administrative rights. For example, the software can use the WriteProcessMemory API to inject code into Explorer and the CreateRemoteThread API to execute that code, a technique called DLL injection. Since the code is executing in Explorer, which is a Windows executable, it can leverage the COM objects that auto-elevate, like the Copy/Move/Rename/Delete/Link Object, to modify system registry keys or directories and give the software administrative rights. While true, these steps require deliberate intent, aren’t trivial, and therefore are not something we believe legitimate developers would opt for versus fixing their software to run with standard user rights. In fact, we recommend against any application developer taking a dependency on the elevation behavior in the system and that application developers test their software running in standard user mode.

The follow-up observation is that malware could gain administrative rights using the same techniques. Again, this is true, but as I pointed out earlier, malware can compromise the system via prompted elevations as well. From the perspective of malware, Windows 7’s default mode is no more or less secure than the Always Notify mode (”Vista mode”), and malware that assumes administrative rights will still break when run in Windows 7’s default mode.

So, a problem exists, and not only is it something that malware authors could use but we could even see software developers using the trick to make their product less naggy than the competition. The solution is to change default settings, something that most people out there in Computer Land won’t even know is possible.

Another flaw is to assume that just because someone is running Admin account, they would accept all prompts thrown their way anyway. The problem with this is that the current settings allow a behind-the-scenes code injection to stealthily mess around with a system.

It seems to me that Microsoft has backed itself into a corner. It tried to make UAC less naggy, but by doing so introduced some serious vulnerabilities. The only advice it can offer to counter these vulnerabilities is that users should change default settings. Why not just make these more secure settings the default? Because it would break stuff. Like I said, Microsoft is backed into a corner.

My view is that Microsoft should make Standard user the default user on systems. Sure, it would break some stuff, but eventually something has to change because the current situation can’t last forever. It’s clear that Admin accounts are a security vulnerability in the hands of those who don’t understand what it means to be running Admin accounts.

 

Source: http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=4627

If you use MS Money for your day-to-day accounting then you may want to read this. Friendly Computers learned that Microsoft will be discontinuing the software, but will continue to offer support through 2011. See the details below:

Microsoft plans to stop selling Microsoft Money, its venerable, but not market-leading personal finance program, CNET News has learned.

The software maker has been notifying financial institutions and plans to announce the move to customers over the next 24 hours via a posting on its Web site and a notification in the software. Although Microsoft will stop selling the product at the end of June, it plans to support it through January 2011.

After that point, people can continue to use the product, but they will no longer be able to get automated data feeds from their banks, credit card companies and other financial service providers.

Last year, Microsoft stopped selling Money at retail stores, offering it only by Internet download. The company also said it would stop doing annual updates, but said at the time it planned to continue offering the product.

Microsoft's Adam Sohn said the company now plans to halt sales of the product at the end of the month. A variety of factors led the company to change course.

"It's a mix of what's going on in the market, what makes sense for long-term for us and a little bit on consumer behavior," said Sohn, a director in Microsoft's Online Business Services unit.

The discontinuation of Money is one of the more high-profile product cuts made in the wake of the company's cost-cutting efforts, which began in January. Microsoft said in March it was largely discontinuing its Encarta encyclopedia and has also scrapped its Windows OneCare antivirus product.

As of Wednesday, Microsoft had made no mention of its plans on the Web site. Rather it was offering to sell Money for $59 and featured a link for financial institutions to get more involved in the product.

Sohn said that the company plans to continue selling Money through the end of the month and hasn't made a plan to offer refunds to recent buyers of the product. Those who have recently bought the product, he said, still have a good while to get the value from it. (Microsoft will support Money slightly longer for those who have recently bought the product, per its licensing terms).

Plus, he said, some people will continue to use it even after the automatic services stop. At that point, consumers will have to manually download information from their banks and other service providers. "After Jan 31, 2011, the product will work," he said. "It just wont have the rich-services back end."

Although Microsoft will support current partners pushing data to Money users, it won't be adding any new institutions. It will, however, let current partners re-brand themselves.

The software maker also plans to continue its MSN Money Web site, although Sohn said the company opted not to try to recreate the full Money program on the Web. Competing with Intuit and Mint
Microsoft has long been chasing Intuit's Quicken. Microsoft even tried to buy Intuit in the mid-1990s, but the Justice Department blocked the move.

In subsequent years, Microsoft has continued the product but also has continued to trail Quicken's sales. More recently, Money has also faced a new wave of Internet-based competitors, such as Mint.com and Intuit's free Web-based Quicken Online program.

The company has been trying for years to grapple with massive changes in the consumer packaged software market as much of that business moves online.

Although its core Office and Windows products remain strong sellers at retail, the company has opted to scale back in other areas, particularly in the purely consumer arena.

In addition to canning Encarta, Microsoft also stopped selling its Digital Image Suite product after the release of Windows Vista.

Source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10261742-56.html?tag=newsLeadStoriesArea.1

Friendly Computers found out some more information about the highly anticipated new Windows 7. See what we found out below:

 

It's official: Windows 7 is practically done. The code paths are being frozen as we speak, and the final bits should be arriving on Oct. 22, just in time for the holiday shopping season. Of course, savvy users will have Windows 7 well before that date (think mid-July). The myriad torrent sites will see to it that anyone who wants to will be able to run the RTM (release to manufacturing) bits this summer; whether or not they'll be able to activate them in the absence of an RTM product key is another matter.

In almost every sense, Windows 7 is finished. Whatever happens between now and the RTM a few short weeks from now will be entirely cosmetic -- some tweaked branding here, a bug fix or compatibility shim there. So, given my extensive history with the product, starting with the much-maligned PDC build and running through the latest leaked builds, I thought it time to revisit the OS in light of my nearly seven months of continuous use.

Here, in a nutshell, is what I think of Windows 7:

Usability: Much has changed since build 6801. Back at PDC, Microsoft had still not enabled the the full range of Windows 7 UI revisions. For example, the new Task Bar was MIA, as were many of the Windows 7-specific Aero goodies. And although some clever users were able to work around these limitations -- by hacking the build to allow these still unfinished features to be accessed -- the net result was uneven at best.

Fast-forward to today and the new Task Bar now feels like an old friend. Most of the more glaring kinks have been worked out, and -- as of build 7137, anyway -- it is as reliable and predictable as the old Task Bar. Likewise, the myriad Aero features. In fact, when using these latter builds taken from the Windows 7 RTM branch, it's very easy to forget you're running a pre-release OS. Add to this the fact that the new UI represents a leap forward in usability (even the Mac fanatics are giving it some begruding respect), and it's hard to imagine anyone sticking with Vista once Windows 7 ships.

Compatibility: After some well-documented stumbles with the early pre-beta builds, Microsoft has done a good job of cleaning up Windows 7's compatibility story. Nearly all of my critical tools run reliably on build 7137, and the popularity of the public beta release has prompted many developers to rush any required fixes to market. The result is an end-user landscape that looks a lot more hospitable than the one that Windows Vista walked into nearly three years ago.

Then there is the matter of Virtual Windows XP Mode. I made my opinion clear a few weeks back when I declared it to be a kludge solution. And recent experience has shown just how confusing and frustrating this feature can be. This past weekend I picked up a new PC at Costco with plans to use it as a temporary development system while in the United States (I work overseas normally). The HP system has a quad-core CPU, 8GB of RAM, and a 640GB hard disk. Yet it cannot run Virtual XP Mode due to the software's requirement that the CPU support Intel's VT extensions (which this chip inexplicably does not).

Place the blame where you like -- with Intel for creating too many SKUs with brain-dead feature sets, or with Microsoft for tying its solution to a technology that is far from ubiquitous -- but the fact remains that this otherwise uber-powerful system can't run a simple Virtual PC session. Go figure.

Performance: Windows 7 is faster than Windows Vista ... but not by much. My own testing shows that these latter builds are, at best, 3 to 5 percent faster than Vista SP2 on linear tasks, like the OfficeBench test script. And Windows 7 is still a good 20 to 15 percent slower than Windows XP, although multicore systems help to mitigate this advantage somewhat.

However, Windows 7 defintely feels more responsive than Windows Vista, especially on low-end hardware. I've been running Build 7137 for weeks now on a lowly HP Mini 2140 netbook, and I can say with confidence that it works well. I rarely find myself complaining about the performance of the OS -- this, thanks to improvements in background service behavior and a more intelligent kernel scheduler.

Overall, Windows 7 is shaping up quite nicely. Will it succeed in wooing the masses away from Windows XP? Probably ... eventually. But in the meantime, it allows Microsoft to close the door on the ugly, half-baked Vista era. And as a long-suffering Vista user, I say it can't happen soon enough.

Source: http://www.infoworld.com/d/windows/windows-7-shaping-quite-nicely-617?page=0,1

While Microsoft is getting ready for Windows 7, Apple is comparing the new OS to their new version of Leopard. Apple claims that Windows 7 is essentially “the same old windows”. Friendly Computers found this information which may be useful to you: 

AN FRANCISCO--While Microsoft is trying to position Windows 7 as an exciting new version of the operating system, Apple on Monday tried to characterize it as the same old Windows.

In a keynote speech at the Worldwide Developer Conference here, Apple's Bertrand Serlet said the underpinnings of Windows 7 include the same complexities that have been in the past versions of the operating system.

"That's Windows 7," he said. "Fundamentally, it's just another version of Windows Vista."

Serlet tried to draw a contrast between Windows and what Apple is doing with Snow Leopard, the next version of its own operating system. "We've come at it from such a different place."

But while his rhetoric suggested a fundamental difference, Serlet actually characterized Snow Leopard in some of the same ways--as a better version of the existing Leopard operating system.

"We love Leopard," he said. "We are proud of Leopard."

The goal of Snow Leopard, he said, was really "to build a better Leopard."

There are other similarities between what Apple's and Microsoft's efforts. Among the new features in Snow Leopard is a feature that adds the Expose window--previewing feature to the Dock--not unlike the Aero Peek feature that Windows 7 has as part of its new task bar.

In fairness, there are some key differences between what Apple is doing with Snow Leopard compared to what Microsoft is doing with Windows 7.

Windows 7 is largely focused on improving the look and performance of the core Vista engine, while Snow Leopard goes more under the hood, aiming to better handle 64-bit processing and multicore capabilities.

Apple is also trying to boost its Windows compatibility story by adding Exchange server capability to Snow Leopard. According to Apple, all the user has to do is fill in an e-mail address and password, and the software will "auto-detect" the Exchange Server and make the user's calendar and mail available in Mac OS X's iCal and Mail programs.

The biggest pressure from Apple, though came on the pricing front. Serlet said that Apple will ship Snow Leopard in September and charge just $29 for Leopard owners to upgrade.

Microsoft has hinted that it will offer a cheaper upgrade for Vista users to move to Windows 7, but has not announced details.

 

Source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10259248-56.html?tag=newsEditorsPicksArea.0

Many of the annoyances from Visa have supposedly been corrected in the new Windows 7 operating system. Friendly Computers found this list which explains some of the features that are making this the “Vista Perfected” operating system:

Many of my friends and readers adamantly refused to make the switch to Windows Vista when it came out. Some who bought new machines with Vista installed immediately “downgraded” the OS. A few proclaimed that they would give up XP only when you pried it from their cold, dead hands. But even in the last category, many of them are impressed with what they’ve seen in the Windows 7 beta.

While some tech pundits are saying 7 isn’t really all that different from Vista — and indeed, one of the attractions for Vista users is that 7 can generally use the same drivers and run the same apps as Vista — the consensus among anti-Vista folks I know who’ve tried the 7 beta seems to be that the new operating system is “Vista done right.”

Here’s why I think you’ll see many of the XP diehards happily embracing Windows 7 when it’s released.

 

1: UAC has mellowed out

User Account Control in Vista is like living with an overprotective mother — when you’re 30. It’s constantly popping up to warn you of impending danger, even when you’re just trying to take a look at Device Manager or perform some other innocent task. It hovers over you and nags you constantly: “Are you sure you want to do that?” Like Mom, UAC has our best interests in mind, but it can drive you nuts in the name of “security” — especially when you consider that it doesn’t really define a security boundary. (For more on that, see Mark Russinovich’s TechNet Magazine article “Inside Windows Vista User Account Control.”

Windows 7 doesn’t do away with UAC, but it does give users options regarding its behavior. By reducing the number of unnecessary and redundant UAC dialogs, making the prompts more informative, and providing users with more control over UAC, Windows 7 maintains many of the benefits of the feature without intruding on users’ computing lives so much that they turn the whole thing off in frustration.

2: Explorer is no longer a pane in the behind

In a misguided attempt to alleviate the need for horizontal scrolling, Vista made the left navigation pane in Windows Explorer a constantly moving target. As you move your mouse, it will automatically scroll back and forth. My husband calls this auto-scrolling feature the “whack a mole” phenomenon because of the way the contents of the pane seem to dodge back and forth.

You can avoid the auto-scrolling by dragging the pane to make it wide enough to accommodate the entire tree, but that isn’t a good option on a small screen, such as the one on my compact VAIO notebook.

In Windows 7, the navigation pane stays still, so you no longer risk getting seasick from all the swaying back and forth.

3: Graphics cards coexist peacefully once more

In XP, we could use pretty much whatever graphics cards we wanted for multiple monitors. I had a machine with three cards installed: an NVidia, an ATI, and a Matrox. XP would stretch my desktop across all three monitors attached to those cards. When I upgraded that machine to Vista, I found that I no longer had multiple monitors. Some research revealed that to use multiple graphics cards, they would have to all use the same driver. That meant I couldn’t use cards from different vendors together. I had to shell out a few bucks to get more ATI cards before I could use all my monitors again.

According to reports, Windows 7 has added support for multiple heterogeneous graphics cards from different vendors. Now this probably doesn’t mean you can combine ATI and NVIDIA cards in an SLI-configuration, but it sounds as if we can have our multi-vendor multi-monitor setups back.

4: Clutter and bloat are reduced

Vista was perhaps the culmination of Microsoft’s efforts to be all things to all users. Along with the built-in applications we got with XP, Vista added a contacts program, a calendaring program, a photo editing program, and so forth. While some users appreciate all these free applications, many others have been annoyed by the “extras” they don’t need or use. If you’re planning to install Office with Outlook, there’s no need for Contacts and Calendar. And if you have your own favorite and more powerful graphics applications, such as PhotoShop, there’s no need for Photo Gallery. The extras just clutter up your Programs menu and take up space on the hard disk.

With Windows 7, Microsoft has removed a number of the extra programs and now offers them as free downloads from the Windows Live Web site. This way, those who want them can have them, and those who don’t won’t have to deal with removing them.

5: Boot performance is better

Another common complaint about Vista has been the inordinate amount of time it can take to boot up. This might not be an issue for those who leave their systems on all the time, but if you turn off your computer every night, waiting around forever for it to get started in the morning can turn into a major annoyance.

A Microsoft spokesperson indicated that the company’s goal for Windows 7 is a 15-second boot time, whereas three quarters of Vista users report boot times of more than 30 seconds. Although the beta of Win7 may not have achieved that 15-second mark yet for most users, the majority of beta testers I’m hearing from say it’s substantially quicker than Vista on the same hardware. That’s been my personal experience, as well. Since it is still a beta, it’s not unrealistic to hope that continued tweaking will get that time down further before the final release.

6: Notifications can be fine-tuned

In XP and Vista, you can disable the balloon notifications in the system tray, but what if you’d like to continue to get notifications from some applications but not from others? Windows 7 allows you to customize the behavior by simply clicking the little arrow next to the tray and selecting Customize. In the dialog box, choose which icons you want to appear in the tray. For each application, you can select whether you want to display notifications or hide them, as shown in Figure A.

Figure A

Windows 7 gives you much more control over those notifications in the system tray.

7: Security messages are consolidated

In Vista, you have several security-related icons in the system tray, and you might have notifications popping up from each one. To make changes to security settings, you may have to open several applications. In Windows 7, all the security messages have been consolidated into one icon. When you click it, you’ll see all messages related to firewall, Windows Defender, Windows Update settings, and so forth, as shown in Figure B.

Figure B

Windows 7 consolidates all security-related messages in one system tray icon.

By clicking the Open Action Center link in the message box, you can make the changes that are recommended or (for example, in the case where you have an antivirus program installed but Windows doesn’t recognize it), you can select the option to turn off messages regarding that application, as shown in Figure C.

Figure C

You can make changes or turn off particular security notifications in the Action Center.

8: Side-by-side windows auto-size

Most of the monitors sold today come in a wide aspect ratio that’s better for watching movies, which is also handy for displaying two documents side by side on the screen. With Vista, though, you have to manually size those docs. Windows 7 has a cool new feature by which you can drag windows to each side of the screen and they will automatically size themselves to each take up half the screen when you let go of the cursor.

Even better, if you drag the window back away from the edge, it goes back to the size it was before. How cool is that?

9: Home networking gets simple

For home users without a lot technical know-how, networking has been made simpler in Windows 7. A new feature called HomeGroup allows all Windows 7 computers on a network to share files, printers, and other resources more easily. Thanks to Libraries (collections of certain types of files, such as music, photos, or documents), you can access files anywhere on the HomeGroup network as if they were stored locally, and you can search across the whole HomeGroup.

Windows Media Player in Windows 7 can stream the music and videos on one PC in the network to another, and even play back songs from iTunes libraries on other computers.

Connecting to a wireless network is also easier; now you can click the wi-fi icon in the system tray and select a network from the list, instead of opening up a separate dialog box to make the connection.

10: Taskbar preview really works

In Vista, you can hover over a taskbar button — for Internet Explorer, for example — and see that three instances of IE are open. You see the open pages stacked as shown in Figure D, but they’re so small that it’s difficult to really tell which page is which.

Figure D

The Vista taskbar preview gives you an idea of what your running application windows contain.

In Windows 7, the preview feature has been enhanced so that it becomes an extremely useful function. Now when you hover over a taskbar icon, you get actual previews that are placed side by side and are large enough for you to identify (Figure E).

Figure E

In Windows 7, you can actually tell what’s in each of those preview windows.

And that’s not all. If you’re playing a video in one of the windows, that video plays in the preview window, too. And if you right-click the IE icon in the taskbar, you get a list of your IE history files, as shown in Figure F. You can just click any of those and go immediately to that page.

Figure F

Source: http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/10things/?p=536