Here are the weekly statistics for the real estate market in Vista, CA (Single Family Homes Only)
While Windows 7 is quite an improved little beast, it's the annoying glitches that dent the experience.
Our daughter started University in September, and as dutiful parents we got her a lovely shiny new Dell laptop. A couple of weeks later it was dead, refusing to start. So I tried various things (the joys of distance computer support), with the suspicion that the MBR (Master Boot Record) was corrupt. No joy, even with doing various repairs from the Vista discs etc. I then tried to get the Dell Factory Image Restore to run, but the option had disappeared - cue more try this, try that... etc. No dice.So I handed her over to Dell support, who appeared to be very helpful, and talked her through reinstalling Vista from the installation discs. However, what they didn't do was then call back after the installation had finished to get all the Dell specific drivers in place, and she neglected to mention this to me. She also didn't say that she was getting loads of error messages and popup appearing.What I did get was a plaintive call one Sunday morning, saying that her "laptop keeps dying",a nd ever since she installed Adobe Reader the Internet wouldn't work, Word docs wouldn't open etc. Hmmmmm. Here we go again. Anyway, she was coming down to visit, so she brought it down.No idea what had happened, but there were all sorts of Registry Cleaners and other free/adware on it, so I suspect the "Install Adobe" link she used was suspect.So I decided to see if I could get the Dell System Recovery thing to work, as I knew than then at least it would be a proper clean sheet, with everything installed that was needed. I could still see the recovery partition, but you can't run the recovery app from within Vista. And the way to launch into Dell's Recovery application is via pressing F8 on startup - which requires a specially modified MBR that offers the extra option. So some Googling, and it seems a common problem - but huzzah - it seems that there are various apps around like this - http://www.goodells.net/dellrestore/fixmbr.htm - to copy the relevant part of the MBR and copy it over the suspect one. I have a Dell laptop with Vista, and I have seen the Dell F8 option before now, so we should be good to go. So this meant setting up a USB stick as a DOS bootable drive, so I could go in and run the utility. This means I'll need to be able to read the NTFS drives - nifty app called NTFS4DOS comes to the rescue here. So all seems good, but then it appears that MY laptop's lost its Dell specific recovery option - GOODNESS knows why, but I suspect I've been messing with it so much to get the other laptop running I've managed to do something silly to mine too. So that was a no go, too.However, here's another method that DOES work, so long as that partition is still there with all the utils - and the original image, of course!Boot from the Vista DVD, and get to the command prompt. Change to the partition that contains the recovery stuff - I think in my case this was the D: drive - by just typing d: [enter].Type path=d:\windows;d:\windows\system32 [enter] - where d: is the drive in question.Now go to the tools folder - cd \tools [enter]Now type pcrestore [enter], and the factory restore tool will launch - follow the prompts, and you should be away!
Using Windows is like living in a communist bloc nation circa 1981. And don't change it.
I admit it: I'm a bigot. A hopeless bigot at that: I know my particular prejudice is absurd, but I just can't control it. It's Apple. I don't like Apple products. And the better-designed and more ubiquitous they become, the more I dislike them. I blame the customers. Awful people. Awful. Stop showing me your iPhone. Stop stroking your Macbook. Stop telling me to get one.
Seriously, stop it. I don't care if Mac stuff is better. I don't care if Mac stuff is cool. I don't care if every Mac product comes equipped with a magic button on the side that causes it to piddle gold coins and resurrect the dead and make holographic unicorns dance inside your head. I'm not buying one, so shut up and go home. Go back to your house. I know, you've got an iHouse. The walls are brushed aluminum. There's a glowing Apple logo on the roof. And you love it there. You absolute monster ... read the full story here
GUARDIAN
Mac users - you will love this! It's the reason why I left Windows a long time ago!
18 cool things Windows 7 does that Vista doesn't
The stuff that makes the upgrade worthwhile
By Aditya ChandrasekharThursday at 00:00 GMT | Tell us what you think [ 38 comments ]
Update: read our full Windows 7 Ultimate review and our full Windows 7 Home Premium review.
From Windows 3.1 to Windows Vista, the Windows operating system has taken many giant leaps. And while Vista received a lukewarm reception from some users, Windows 7 is likely to be remembered for addressing those criticisms.
In fact, there aren't many changes to the overall look of Windows 7 when compared to Windows Vista. Instead, Microsoft seems to have paid attention to the feedback it received and created an OS that is not only stable, but also very capable.
So what is new in Windows 7? Here are 18 cool things Windows 7 does that Vista doesn't.
1. Shake 'em away
Ever had 10 Notepad, two Powerpoint and 50 Outlook windows open? Want to minimise all of them except the most important one? In Windows 7, you can grab the top of the window and shake it about to scare away all of the other open windows. Simple.
2. Jumplists
Jumplists are a new feature that give you the option to view a list of recently accessed files by application, even when the application isn't open, by right-clicking on the application's icon in the taskbar. It also allows you to quickly access a favourite playlist without opening your media player. Jumplists can also be found integrated into the Start Menu.
TIME-SAVER: The Jumplist for Windows Explorer – pretty useful
START HERE: A Jumplist integrated into the Start Menu
3. A step forward in previewing
In Vista, hovering over a minimised window on the taskbar would provide a preview of the window. In Windows 7, a similar preview pops up which also gives the option to close a window (within the preview), along with a full-size 'peek'. You can also press Win + T to scroll along previews in the taskbar.
PREVIEW PLUS: A smaller preview, along with a full-size 'peek' with the ability to close the window
4. Snap into place
Simply drag your window to the left or right edge of the desktop to snap and resize the window to one half of the screen. Drag the window to the top to maximise it. A pretty neat idea made neater by the use of the keyboard shortcuts (Win + respective arrow keys). No longer do you have to frustratingly position the mouse at the edge of the window to resize it.
5. XP Mode
This time, you do not have to slap your head that same way when Vista would not run an XP application. For those XP applications that do not work under Windows 7, you can download XP Mode free from the Microsoft website and run XP applications in an emulated XP environment in Windows 7. Imagine Parallels on Mac OS X without the need to fish out money on an extra OS.
6. An easier and quicker way to adjust multiple displays
Do you constantly connect your computer to different external monitors or projectors, especially at work? Try Win + P, and duplicating or extending your display to the other monitor takes just a second. Win + P presents you with an Alt + Tab style menu, which is ideal if you give a lot of presentations at work on your laptop.
7. A personalised Stage for your device
With the new 'Device and Printers' button on the Start Menu, devices which are connected to your computer can have their own Stage. This Device Stage presents supported devices with a photo-realistic render and a link to the vendor's website, along with other updates and useful information (such as firmware updates and manuals).
8. (Almost) eliminate the notification area!
What, I can even get rid of the clock and volume icons? Yes. Click the arrow that gives access to the overflow icons in the notification area and click 'customise'. Select each icon and click 'hide icon and notifications' to remove it. Clean.
QUIETER: Stop all those notifications – but you might want to keep the clock there
9. Problem Steps Recorder
The 'Problem Steps Recorder' lets you record a particular problem you are having with your PC so you can send it to someone who may be able to help. Click 'Record', and a screenshot is taken with every mouse click, allowing comments to be added in between if required. These screenshots (and comments, if any) are placed in a well-formatted HTML document that is placed inside a zipped folder on your desktop - ideal to be attached to an email.
A PROBLEM HALVED: Simple, yet so effective. Send this to tech savvy friends or even manufacturers
So while Windows 7 may not right all of Vista's wrongs, it is absolutely superior to its predecessor. It has three years of improvements, so it can't help but be better. But if you hated Vista's UI, you're going to hate Windows 7's. Worse, in fact, because 7 forces you to use the new Start menu and taskbar, with no possibility of reverting to the old behaviour. If your applications didn't work in Vista, they almost certainly won't work in 7. Sure, 7 has some virtualization tools to help, but this was always possible in Vista too. If you felt Vista was too big and too slow, well, 7 isn't going to provide much joy there, either. Marginal improvements, perhaps, but nothing more.
The above quote, from the closing summary, sure doesn't sound impressive. Still, the entire review (it's long and detailed) is positive overall.
The reviewer thinks Vista got a bad rap. Even though he agrees Windows 7 is actually "Vista R2", he likes it a lot.
Can we truly say adios to Windows Vista now that Microsoft's new operating system is finally released? If a bunch of positive reports is anything to go by, then it looks like Windows 7 is gonna change the hearts and minds of users who have been experiencing headaches with Vista.
And for those Windows XP users who have been reluctant (and wise) not to switch over to the pesky Vista, maybe Windows 7 will give them the opportunity to do so. The majority of them held back from migrating to Vista because they are aware that it has issues with software incompatibilities. Vista, since its launch less than three years ago, has gained notoriety as an abominable operating system that left users cold. It's a bug-infested OS as claimed by many users. So much so, newbies dare not touch it and the experts are simply annoyed by it. So what are the prospects for people to upgrade to Windows 7 in the next 12 months? With Windows 7, has Microsoft redeemed itself after the Vista debacle?> Is Windows 7 the new cool that Vista isn't?
