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The Rife Report March 2010 |
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Explorers in Win7; Updates Arriving! Along with another flurry of flurries in the final week of February (Hey, it is Canada and it is winter - what did you expect?) - came not one, but two emails from friends who finally decided to move from Vista to Windows 7. Each had queried me on the new OS and I dutifully sent my thoughts accompanied by an URL to this site so they could refresh on some of my reviews. 
Each now happily says everything went well with the installation - that they are very happy with Win 7, that it was indeed stable and yes, they found many new and useful goodies in their new Operating System.
Microsoft has already called Windows 7 the fastest selling operating system in history. Looking at the calendar, February 22 could have been called Win7's 4-month birthday. The final retail version of the software became available retail October 22, 2009. Backing up the Microsoft statement, a research outfit, Janco Associates, reports that Windows 7's market share zoomed to 12.5 % since it was released. That is twice as much as Vista's 5 % share was, a full seven months after it was released. Back in January, Microsoft reported that Windows 7 had sold more than 60 million copies worldwide. The expectation is that Win7 sales now at 80 million, will pass Vista's total sales in June. Win 7's rave news and reviews come as Vista loses its market share. It's a similar situation with XP. That OS slid to 66.3 % at the end of February, down 1.46 percentage points, a new single-month record.
To anyone not familiar with the Release Candidate, it will expire June 1 this year. At that time the desktop wallpaper turns black and you get a notification on it saying your copy of Win 7 is not genuine. This is all to suggest it is time to reinstall a prior version of Windows or move to Win7. The Win7 team reminds everyone that to do this you must do a custom (clean) install to replace the Release Candidate. For more details about replacing the Release Candidate, see KB 97767. For yet more information, visit the Win7 Forum. Nope, this won't be a book-length description of what to look for as you begin clicking in Windows 7, merely my view of some Win7 preliminaries. For example: Win7 has NO email app in its bundle. You have to go online and download one or more of the Windows Live applications. Among that page's many choices, merely click on the "learn more" hotlink under the feature you like, to go to that apps' homepage. And no, you don't have to sign up to Windows Live to get the free downloads. The direct route to Live Mail, the new "Outlook Express" is here. In Live Mail you can organize multiple email accounts (Hotmail, Yahoo! Mail Plus and Gmail) in one place so you can receive email in one place, in separate folders. In Live Mail you can poke through favourite net sites and blogs, even check or add RSS feeds - all without leaving Live Mail. Win7 does contain Internet Explorer 8 (which can be disabled). As most responsible PC users must realize, going on the internet (using IE8, for example) can leave one open to virus or malware attacks, so another necessity for the Win7 system is solid anti-virus security software.  Microsoft came to the rescue with what some call the best freeware product in this field: Microsoft Security Essentials. If you have a secondary PC not running Win7, MSE also runs on XP and Vista (32-bit and 64-bit) and on Win7 (32-bit and 64-bit) . One thing - to install, your system must pass the Microsoft Genuine Validation check to assure you're running a legitimate, licensed copy of Windows. Another point, MSE wants Microsoft downloads to be on automatic (duh!) - the software updates itself without notice to you. If you prefer otherwise, you have a problem. 
Reviews were mostly positive: PCWorld noted its "clear-cut" and "cleanly designed" tabbed user interface. However, it found some of the settings to be cryptic and confusing, such as what to do when malware is found. The default to use "Microsoft Security Essentials' recommended action" with no explanation of that action except in the help file.
PC Magazine praised MSE's small installation package (about 7 MB, depending on the operating system) and its speedy installation. On the downside, the full installation occupied about 110 MB of disk space, and the initial update took 5 to 15 minutes. Paul Thurrott on his Supersite for Windows said: "I use the free Microsoft Security Essentials on all of my PCs and recommend that you do as well. The built-in firewall and anti-spyware / malware controls in Windows Vista and Win 7 are adequate for my needs." History - Microsoft Security Essentials free software (previously code-named Morro) was released on September 29, 2009. It replaces Windows Live OneCare, a commercial subscription-based antivirus service and the free Windows Defender, which only protected users from adware and spyware. When Microsoft announced Morro / MSE back in 2008, Symantec and McAfee shares fell by 9.44 and 6.62 percent. Microsoft shares also fell 6 percent. Redmond said: "MSE will not directly compete with other paid-for antivirus software; that it was "focussed on the 50 to 60 percent of PC users who don't have, or won't pay for, antivirus protection, anti-malware protection." Symantec, McAfee, and Kaspersky Lab dismissed the new competitor. Symantec said OneCare offered "substandard protection," and implied MSE would only be the same. McAfee said: "With OneCare's market share of less than 2 %, we understand Microsoft's decision to shift attention to their core business." Kaspersky said: "Microsoft continued to hold a very low market share in the consumer market, Beyond the war of words none sat still. Symantec started a free service Norton Safe Web . The company says: "Our servers analyse Web sites to see how they will affect you and your computer. Then, using the Norton Toolbar installed on your PC, we let you know how safe a particular Web site might be before you view it. If you need to find out more about how a Web site might behave, we provide more detailed information right here on Norton Safe Web." Back in the DOS days, some users liked Norton Commander. It had a dual-pane interface, so copying files from one folder or drive to another was just so easy compared to Windows Explorer. I really liked it. As time passed what had been a DOS file manager became, with the arrival of Windows 95, Norton Commander for Windows. That was 1996. Version 1.02 added Win98 support. Version 2.0 added support for Windows 2000 and XP. The last version 2.01, was released in November 1999. Symantec acquired Peter Norton Technologies in 1990 and a different approach was initiated. Norton Commander disappeared and a new team developed a file manager-cum-program manager labelled Norton Desktop for Windows, designed for Windows 3.x. It was at that point that I switched to Altap Salamander, now Servant Salamander with no regrets. That was 1997, Salamander's first freeware release from Petr Solin's small development team in the Czech Republic.  Salamander's side-by-side view remained so popular among users that Altap still has an early version, 1.52, available years later as freeware. The freeware supports only 2 file formats (just happens to be those I use) and actually works well in Windows 7 and Vista. The current versions, 2.5 and 2.0, support 95 and 45 file formats respectively (way more than what I need) and cost $ 37 US, but you can get a 30-day trial . Switching back to Win 7, you can use its Aero Snap feature to create a simulated dual-pane interface with Windows Explorer with four keystrokes: [Windows]+E [Windows]+[Left Arrow] [Windows]+E [Windows]+[Right Arrow] Even simpler - press and hold down the [Windows] key and then press E, [Left Arrow], E, [Right Arrow].  There's yet another way even simpler way that I found while diddling with Windows 7's taskbar. After creating two Explorer windows on your desktop by hitting [Windows]+E twice, use your mouse and cursor to left click on the taskbar, then in the jump list that opens, right click on the line Show windows side by side. Voila! A two-pane explorer view. Mind you it is NOT a default dual-pane. However in recent email from a reader in Scotland, I was told of Total Commander, yet another Norton Commander looking file manager, that he likes. This one was developed by Ghisler in Germany and currently is in version 7.50a.  Total Commander (formerly Windows Commander) is shareware, which means you get a full-blown version free for a 30-day trial period. After that it costs you $ 38 US. The home site is here. When you register, you receive the latest version on CD, plus a quick reference card with an overview of all TC's functions and keystrokes. If you set Windows Updates to work automatically there was / is lots going on behind your back. The Win7 anti-piracy updates promised by Microsoft before the end of February started arriving as I write. Labelled the "Windows Activation Technologies Update for Windows 7," they are designed, Redmond says: "to detect more than 70 known activation hacks." They also are meant to detect pirated copies of Windows. The update won't be automatic (unless you've set things that way). It is marked "Important." You can get more information about the activation update in Knowledge Base Update 971033 on the Microsoft support site. Many other "out of band" (not on Patch Tuesday) updates for XP, Vista and Win7 were also released, some obscure foreign language fixes. There are also new compatibility updates for Vista and Win7, enabling applications that previously didn't work or work well on those systems to function better. There are also some Media Center updates, including one for DVD playback and another for tuner-compatibility issues. There's a sleep / hibernate update for computers running certain Intel processors and Daylight Saving Time updates as well.  On February 17, Symantec released Norton 360 v4.0, an upgrade to its all-in-one security suite which now has applications for ipad, iphone and android to give users access to their files anywhere. The company said: "With smartphone use predicted to account for nearly half of all mobile phone sales worldwide by 2013, Norton introduces its first beta application for the Android and plans to introduce its first beta applications for the iPad and iPhone in the next few weeks. "After downloading the free application of their choice from the iPhone App Store or the Android Market, consumers who have stored data online with Norton 360 or Norton Online Backup can access and share their documents, music, photos or videos directly from their device." More next month when I get to see it in action. 
On February 23, Corel Corp., in Ottawa released CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X5, the newest edition of their award-winning package of professional graphics applications. Corel says: "With more than 50 new and enhanced features, CorelDRAW X5 includes major enhancements to asset management, colour management, web graphics, a wide variety of learning resources and more content than ever before." The download and trial versions are available immediately. The product ships before the end of March. More, again when I get to see it in action. FYI - According to my sources within Corel, the company is "typically on a 18- to 24-month release schedule. The last launch of CorelDRAW was in January 2008 and WordPerfect Office in April 2008." Thus CorelDRAW X5 is right on schedule. That suggests that WordPerfect X5 could perhaps arrive by April 2010. |
I know that some readers tested (as did I) early betas and the Release Candidate of Win 7. I also realize that some of you may still be using the Release Candidate. Microsoft keeps track of its testers and recently sent an email reminder that "It's time to replace the Release Candidate. Starting March 1, your PC will begin shutting down every two hours. Your work will not be saved during the shutdown." 
and we don't expect the exit of OneCare to change the playing field drastically." AVG said we have: "believed in the right to free antivirus software for the past eight years."