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The Rife Report October 2009 |
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Microsoft's Free Security; Radeon 5870 Launched Acronis is a tad ahead with the newest version of its superb backup product - it is labelled TrueImage 2010, and it's only October 2009! All kidding aside, the software has been in beta testing for several months and on September 15th, the latest version was released for public consumption.  Having used the utility for several years as my primary backup tool and believing strongly that an image backup is the most secure method of doing this vital bit of computing, particularly when the image is moved off site (whether on an exterior hard drive or a DVD set), I found the new version's user interface new and clean, but retaining a similar look, thus maintaining its ease of use. No steep learning curve. It is worth knowing that the new version will install directly over last year's version. I'm unsure how far back in version age / years this ability extends, but you can always uninstall your old version, then install the new model. By the way, if regular cut-and-paste of long product keys bugs you, why not try the keyboard shortcut - click and highlight to copy the long key, click your mouse icon in the blank space, then hit Ctrl-V. Here's what Acronis TrueImage Home's new user interface looks like  And for comparison, below is last year's - one you may be more familiar with  With the new software installed, I began comparing how Acronis TrueImage Home 2010 works. Backup testing began on a hard drive partition containing a working installation of Vista SP2 - first using last year`s newest build and then Acronis' 2010 model. The 80 GB partition held 18.40 GB of Vista data. Last year`s software completed the backup in 8.04 minutes, using normal compression to create an 8.35 GB file. When the 2010 version was used, the backup took only 3.5 minutes to create a similar compressed file - LESS THAN HALF THE TIME! Other partitions were tried with comparable results.  Acronis TrueImage Home 2010 is actually version 13.0.5055 of the software, but the retail world hates an "unlucky" No. 13 on a product, so following tradition (remember Corel's WordPerfect X change?) Acronis changed to a date format this time. Thus it is Acronis TrueImage Home 2010. A new addition to Acronis TrueImage Home 2010 is Nonstop Backup. The company calls it "near" Continuous Data Protection - once turned on, it makes automatic, incremental backups of your system every five minutes "allowing complete roll back to any point in time." When this feature is started the first time, it makes an image backup of the partitions or disks selected for protection. Afterward, it makes what Acronis calls "deltas," (the differences between the last backed up version of a file and the new one).  I found the Nonstop Backup feature not too compelling, but it will be useful to some. I already have Centered Systems Second Copy7, to maintain valid "to date" data copies on a timed interval, to selected locations and in normal type (not compressed and requiring a special browser for seeing and recovery). See the web site. True Image 2010's bootable rescue disk when created and then placed in your DVD-CD player, will boot into its version of Linux to work outside Windows - all as usual, very efficient. But it has a new tab on its interface, labelled Acronis System Report.  When clicked it creates three extremely detailed text files. You are asked to plug in something (a thumb drive or whatever) to an USB port on your system so that the Zip file can be exported and saved. You can, of course, extract them to look at the files for your own information. But, according to my source at Acronis, the Zip file was intended for any "rare occasions" in which a user has problems so that information can be sent on for "advanced troubleshooting by their technical support team." Acronis has also instituted another method of collecting information called the Customer Experience Program (CEP). When you instal Acronis TrueImage Home 2010, you are invited to join CEP as in the window below.  If you choose to participate, the program automatically collects information about your hardware configuration and the way you use Acronis products. Data collected is analysed to improve the products. Of course you can decline the invitation, by clicking no. You can also change your mind and by going into the program via Tools & Utilities>Options>Feedback> - once again you can join or quit CEP at any time. Full details are available in the same window, where it says learn more, or online. Acronis recently opened its beta testing program to the public. For all the information on this plan click here. The Acronis TrueImage Home 2010 home page is here, where it can be purchased for $ 49.99 US. Or, you can get a 30-day full feature trial copy.  Microsoft Security Essentials frequently needs definition updates for itself (but can update itself), while Defender still alerts Vista and Win7 users in the background through Windows Update (when it's set to explicitly notify prior to updating). Microsoft Security Essentials will run only on genuine Windows PCs (your PC must pass a validation test as part of the instal process). Microsoft says it is meant "for consumers who are unwilling or unable to pay for real-time security software." The download runs on the following varieties of Windows: XP SP2 or SP3, Vista and Windows 7 including Windows XP mode on both x32 and x64 PCs. And yes, you MUST remove all other security software before installing Microsoft Security Essentials. Computerworld's Preston Gralla, who has been using the beta on several test beds for months, found it "takes up little RAM and system resources. . . it is well designed and easy to use . . . though it isn't perfect. . Malware scans were a bit on the sluggish side, taking longer to scan than a number of competing products." He added a caution: "Less clear, though, is how effective it is against all threats you might face." To which I might add that free may be good, but you get what you pay for. I like to be secure and pay for that assurance through top-ranked software. Gralla also noted that the announcement shook up free antivirus makers, leading some to wonder if Microsoft would ultimately end up dominating that particular arena. Microsoft Security Essentials is available for download here. To check on what Microsoft means by "genuine " Windows PC, see here. AMD/ATI released the first member of the Evergreen family of graphic processor units, the company's new line of DirectX11 based GPUs on Sept. 23. The code-named Cypress cards, now named Radeon HD 5870 and 5850, are now appearing in retail stores.  If you have the desk space and the wallet wherewithal, you can expand your visual real estate up to three displays and get lost in the action with Eyefinity Technology. Multi-display gaming is not new to gamers, but it isn't something really easy to accomplish - but AMD's new technology changes all that within even the most demanding applications. These video cards are the first to deliver full support for Microsoft's DirectX 11 (it is in Windows 7), but the cards will also work in Vista and supposedly also soon in Linux. They enable rich, realistic visuals and superb high-definition gaming performance so you can dominate your opposition. But it does come at a big-time cost - just over $ 400 at my local store for the 5870 and just under $ 300 for its little brother (I saw the latter price only at an online site at this time of writing, but the 5840 is due shortly). If you think these costs are high, consider what doing it with crossfire would be! For geek readers - the 5870 features 1600 stream processors divided among 20 SIMDs, 80 texture units, and 32 ROPs, with 1 GB of GDDR5 on-board connected to a 256 bit memory bus. The 5870 is clocked at 850 MHz for the core clock, and 1.2 GHz (4.8 GHz effective) for the memory, giving it a maximum compute performance of 2.72 teraflops. Load power is 188 W, and idle power is just 27 W.  AMD's people admit the 5870's primary target is to accelerate 3D PC games and bring an enjoyable gaming experience to the enthusiast. They also point out that few current games support Direct X 11, so it is a shot in the dark. But these GPUs are fast, actually doubling speed in both DX9 and DX10. Chris Angelini and Fedy Abi-Chahla of Tom's Hardware UK tested the 5870 and say it: "consistently beats Nvidia's GeForce GTX 285, trades blows with the Radeon HD 4870 X2, and is sometimes able to sneak past the GeForce GTX 295." Of course there are still questions about the 5870, hinging on the fact that the very applications for which they're designed, have yet to be released - a huge risk for both ATI and early adopters who have no idea how the products will perform in apps not yet for sale. Nonetheless, the 5800 series is a tech marvel and if AMD / ATI carries through and brings OpenCL applications to their GPUs, Nvidia faces a rough go with no answering product even off the drawing board. |