How do you plan to get Windows 7?

Windows 7 may be Microsoft’s most anticipated product ever. It builds on Windows Vista’s positives, and eliminates many of that OS’s negatives. It adds new functionality, too—all in a package that is less resource-hungry than its predecessor. It always seems that you hear about the good deals on these products right after they are over. I purchased an Upgrade Version of Windows 7 Home Premium back in July from Amazon.com. Happy I did since it was tax free, with free shipping and a bargain at $49.99. It came with the 64-bit and 32-bit media, so I can still chose before install. The product arrived a week after the launch.

I attended a Developer/IT professional Microsoft Launch Event for Windows 7. It was held in a large Theater and at the end of the event we all got a copy of Windows 7 Ultimate- for free! I gave mine back right away since the 32-bit OS was not as desirable to me as the 64-bit OS. The Microsoft Team will ship a 64-bit version of Windows 7 Ultimate to me within the month.

I bought a new Dell Laptop and had it configured with Windows Vista Ultimate 32-bit with an Windows XP Professional 32-bit downgrade. Since it was purchased after June 26, it came with a Windows 7 Ultimate 32-bit Upgrade, that will ship free from Dell.

As you can see, there are many inexpensive ways to get the Windows 7 OS product if you alreday have a Windows PC. I’m sure in the coming weeks; I will lean all about the joys of upgrading to Windows 7. My 4 year old HP Laptop is running the Windows 7 Ultimate Release Candidate without issues and the “custom” upgrade-essentially a clean install-was really painless. It expires next June, so I should be ready by then to either retire the system or buy a full copy of the new OS. Or maybe install the Home Premium version on a Netbook and use it as a Media Center.

And whether or not you're upgrading from Vista or skipping it altogether and moving up from Windows XP, you'll need to know how to make the most of it in your environment.

1. Pick Your Edition. Most business users do not need the more expensive Ultimate Edition; stick with Professional unless you specifically need BitLocker. If you are not a business user, the Home Premium Edition will do fine.

2. Upgrading? Go 64-bit. As the second major Windows release to fully support 64-bit, the x64 architecture has definitely arrived on the desktop. Don't buy new 32-bit hardware unless it's a netbook. Now if they just could make applications for 64-bit, someday.

3. Use Windows XP Mode. Yes, it's only an embedded Virtual PC with a full copy of WinXP—but it's an embedded Virtual PC with a full copy of Windows XP! This is the first profoundly intelligent use of desktop virtualization we've seen—and a great way to move to Windows 7 without giving up full Windows XP compatibility.

A Netbook is the Ideal Internet Companion.

Whether computing within your home, around town and campus, or across the country, the ultra-portable Laptops referred to as Netbooks keep you connected, supporting both built-in Wi-Fi and some even have Mobile Broadband options. The Intel Atom processor chip, graphics, and other Windows XP-based hardware provides the performance you need to surf the web and use your standard productivity software apps -- but is light enough to carry everywhere at under 3 lbs. It syncs files, photos and videos easily with your primary notebook or desktop PC whenever connected to the same network with the integrated SyncablesTM application. After initial setup, the bundled SyncablesTM software can update files between the netbook and primary PC systems in the background for a truly seamless experience.

There are many similar models from most laptop PC makers; my comments are based on the HP Mini 110:

UltraMobile Performance

Based on an architecture that optimizes internet access and basic communication, Intel Atom processors power the Mini's reliable, energy-efficient performance. The LED anti-glare widescreen display reduces both system weight and reflections that can distract from the visual experience. The 92% of full-size keyboard also improves weight without sacrificing comfort. Integrated 802.11b/g wireless LAN enables wireless access within range of a hotspot. The Mini 110 is designed to optimize ultra mobile performance.

Connection Comfort

You depend on internet access more than ever for e-mail, instant messaging, video chats, social networking, shopping, banking, research and so much more. The Mini 110 makes it easy to stay connected everywhere you go. The built-in webcam and Skype keep you close to friends and family. Its near-full-size (92%) keyboard is more comfortable for most than the thumb keys on smartphones and PDAs. The 10.1" diagonal LED widescreen display provides an expansive viewing area compared to other mobile devices. The Mini helps keep you connected and productive at your convenience.

Take a Break

Stream video or playback files loaded from your primary PC via SyncablesTM software, a USB drive or the internet. Connect to a larger display via the VGA port to share with others. Let Pandora Internet Radio lead you to artists likely to become new favorites on your playlists. Use Snapfish to share photo albums online with family and friends and to create personalized cards, memory books, posters and more in a few simple steps. Enjoy casual gaming by Wild Tangent online or off. The Mini 110 keeps you entertained everywhere you go.

Software

Security and Support
• Symantec Norton Internet Security 2009 (including 60 days complimentary live update)
• Syncables Mobile Desktop 5
• Back On Track Recovery
• LifeLock (identity protection)
Multimedia
• Adobe Reader
• eBay
• HP Document Viewer
• Windows Media Player 11
• Adobe Flash Player
• HP Games Powered by Wild Tangent
• Pandora Internet Radio; Snapfish
Productivity and Finance
• HP Battery Check
• Microsoft Works 9.0
• MS Office Home & Student Edition 2007 - 60Day Trial
• HP Help & Support
• HP User Guides
• HP Wireless Assistant
• HP Mobile Broadband Setup Utility
• Sun Java Virtual Machine
Internet Solutions
• AOL (internet portal)
• AOL AIM (instant messaging)
• Skype (instant messaging, voice & video calls)
• MSN Toolbar
• Internet Explorer 7

Are You Being Served?

What's the most under-rated Windows Operating System? It's Windows Home Server by Microsoft! I'm just starting to familiarize myself with the products functionality, but I already like what I see. I just purchased an HP LX 195 MediaSmart server and it's great.

It may help your family get control of their digital life in an affordable, easy-to-use Server. It lets you automatically back up and protect digital photos, as well as centralize digital media and content so it's easy to share. And you'll enjoy your media whether you're at home or away.

It's an Automatic backup that will automatically manage daily backups, virus protection, media collection, and power management, all behind the scenes. I'm using it to automatically back up multiple computers, running 3 different Microsoft OS versions.

It stores up to 600GB of photos, songs or hours of video. And you can get an integrated additional protection by backing up your server to an on-line back-up service like Amazon S3!

Designed for digital media, it can allow you to access your media anywhere with an Internet-connected computer, by streaming music and photos to any computer, while you're at home or away. It also helps in organizing and sharing music libraries for play throughout your home.

The setup, scheduling, and support is easy. Just plug it in, connect it to your wireless router, and load the software on your PCs. Then schedule the server to copy and centralize Windows PC media files and libraries (including iTunes and playlists).

If needed, you can expand your storage capacity by adding external hard drives via four USB ports on the back.

Apples and Oranges; or Mac versus Microsoft

This Christmas, the family audio players were upgraded. The home Music Library has grown larger with monthly downloads from eMusic subscription and converting my old analog files to digital media. So what was I waiting for?

I bought two solid-state SanDisk Players that were refurbished and sold online from Buy.com. Both of the units work with Windows Media Player (WMP) 10 and later in a manner similar to iTunes for the iPod devices.

· The first was a Sansa e250 player that is comparable in size and features to the iPod Nano, and allows a MicroSD expansion slot to add music in addition to the device built-in 2GB flash memory. The battery is replaceable and it allows with Windows Media Player (WMP) 10 and later to synch files onto the player in “MSC” mode with Windows explorer (“MTP” mode selection does not work the same as “MSC”). The method was not described in the user manual, but after reading the Sansa player forum and some trial and error effort, I figured that the music tags and album art could not be transferred onto the device any other way. SanDisk provides separate downloads for the media converter software for transferring photo and video items to the player. This player was under $30.

· The second player was a similar Sansa c240 player with 1GB of flash memory, that has a smaller display than the e250 and some mechanical differences in the controls based on a less expensive Sansa product line. It seemed to work out of the box, but I discovered that some issue kept interrupting the playback and I had to return the item for replacement. This one has a MTP mode that works very nicely. SanDisk provides separate downloads for the media converter software for transferring photo and video items to the player. This player was under $20.

I bought my daughter a purple Apple iPod Nano 16GB solid state player and I bought a refurbished iPod Classic 160GB hard-drive based player for myself.

The new 4th generation iPod Nano comes in vibrant colors and a new curved aluminum and glass design. With just a few clicks, the new Genius feature finds the songs on your iPod Nano that go great together and makes a Genius Playlist for you. Thanks to the built-in accelerometer, you can rotate iPod Nano to flip through album art with Cover Flow. Watch movies and TV shows in widescreen. And view photos in either portrait or landscape. Shake to shuffle. Just give iPod Nano a shake and it shuffles to a different song in your music library. The crisp, bright picture makes watching movies and TV shows amazing. For those about to rock, the nine colors and the curved, all-aluminum and glass design are high fashion; so don’t put the iPod nano down. It’s beauty is not just skin deep; the new Genius feature turns the iPod Nano into a highly intelligent, personal DJ. It creates a playlists by finding songs in your library that go great together. You can also shake, shuffle, and roll; just shake and it shuffles to another song in your library, thanks to the built-in accelerometer. Turn it sideways and view album art in Cover Flow. I had to upgrade the home computer to iTunes 8.01 from version 7.5 and was impressed with the ease that it all came together. It was almost $200 with an added leather case.

The sixth generation iPod was coined with the suffix "Classic" by Steve Jobs. The sixth generation Classic dramatically improves battery life, claiming up to 40 hours of music playback and 7 hours of video playback. So I bought a refurbished iPod Classic 160GB hard-drive based player at a substantial discount from the Apple Store on Black Friday (day after Thanksgiving) to replace my 4-year old iPod photo 60GB player, that was near capacity (the additional capacity was a planned upgrade for viewing Photos and Videos in addition to music playback). During the Let's Rock Apple Event on September 9, 2008, the thicker 160 GB models were discontinued in favor of a thin 120GB version. The remaining Classic 160 GB models were sold at heavy discounts over the holidays. I noticed the front plate of the iPod is now made of anodized aluminum instead of polycarbonate plastic, and the "Signature iPod White" has been replaced by black or silver. This means that white is not a color option for any iPod in the iPod family. The sixth generation Classic also introduces a completely overhauled user interface, incorporating more graphics and Cover Flow. Apple released a firmware update, 1.1.1 for the iPod Classic, to among other things, improve the sound quality. Another update, 1.1.2, corrects bug fixes, another minor update. It was $250 with an added leather case. The Outlook calendar synch didn’t work, so I resorted to manually adding the calendar items in “disc mode” by saving them to the iPod calendar folder as “.ics” files as an external drive. I needed to upgrade my laptop iTunes software to support the iPod Classic, but chose to use the iTunes 7.6.2.9 from iTunes 6.4 based on the player requirements and features that the classic supports. In searching for this version, I discovered that iTunes does not allow deprecated software to be downloaded from Apple.com, so I searched and found a copy of the deprecated software on a different server not affiliated with Apple. The install went without a hitch. A security issue with QuickTime required a separate download to update this version.

I converted my recorded TV shows from Windows XP Media Center and Pocket DVD Studio Video saved as Windows Media Video format by using the Roxio Easy CD/DVD Creator Suite version 9 to convert the video formats to something only an iPod or iTunes can play. Usually, it’s a format of H.264 video, up to 768 kbps, 320 x 240, 30 frames per sec., Baseline Profile up to Level 1.3 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 kbps, 48 KHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats as automatically selected during conversion.

I had converted my Audio Compact Discs some time ago, but the metadata tagging software that is part of both iTunes 7 and WMP 10 are significant improvements over the older RealPlayer One and MusicMatch 7 versions. I was pleasantly surprised to find that latest RealPlayer 11 contains a flash video converter that allows downloading YouTube videos to the hard drive so they can be played while offline or using the a playlist library in RealPlayer. I still use my old MusicMatch Plus version 8 to rename media files and tag music on the home network drives; and it remains an agile software product that can quickly execute batch processes across the network and build remote music library files with compatibility that the newer players don’t seem to have. Yahoo has purchased MusicMatch and wants me to shell out another $20-30 to “upgrade” a product that I have paid for three times already. It’s hard to justify the expense, when the features are provided as standard in the other software media players I already own.

The Windows Media files created from some cassette tape analog media recordings I digitized in the Windows XP Microsoft Plus! Digital Media Edition (DME) of the Analog Recorder were initially saved as Windows media Audio (WMA) files. I had converted these using the Windows Audio Converter, now bundled free with WMP 10 and later. I chose the mp3 format and ripped them at 192kbps. I was unpleasantly annoyed when I discovered that the folders were protected so I could not properly share the music files across the home network. I had to delete and recopy every music folder that contained the converted files, because some copy protection on the folder prevents you from just using the Windows File Manager to reset of the folder permissions, as one would normally expect. Despite the delay, I finished the file conversion project in time for a successful Christmas day, with both players fully charged and playing away Christmas tunes.

Linking to Online files and Web Content

Google Mail and Google Docs are excellent Services. I set my e-mail to auto forward to GMail and backup those really important docs on Google Docs. You can have an online calendar using Google Calendar and then set it to remind you via a text message to your cell phone.

I set up Windows live SkyDrive to store and share documents, photos and possibly organize events. This is easily access by those hotmail accounts

I even set up a web portal on Office Small Business just to see how that could be used.

Some other file sharing services are offered with the Western Digital My Book World Edition-a hard drive that has on line back-up to an ethernet connected Hard drive using a service via MioNet. Dell has a reasonably priced Online back up too. I got 10GB free for a year with a Vostro Laptop purchase.

Windows Live FolderShare beta

a free service that you can use to keep your files synchronized (The process of uploading and downloading information between two or more computers so that the information on each computer is identical.) between your computers, share files with friends or colleagues, and download your files from any computer that's connected to the Internet.


Cruzer® Titanium Plus

Buy one of these and you get the Cruzer® online backup service.

6 months FREE online backup service
For the next six months our free automatic online backup service will allow you to enjoy a complete piece of mind when you store files on your Cruzer® Titanium Plus flash drive.

Automatic and Secure
The service will automatically back up any file on your Cruzer® Titanium Plus to a secure online storage location.

Easy and Accessible
Your data can be restored in a snap. Access and restore your files any time from the web by Cruzer® online backup service

Taxes and rebates again...

Before the end of 2007, I had my tax software and all of the usual free stuff (after rebate). Noticed that the "deals are fewer" and the tax software offered less add-ons. Many of the items that H&R Block Tax Cut gave rebates on (Will Power, it's Deductible) are in the box are not offered.

The new offer is to have them give you a "second look" by a tax professional. I usually buy the one that has the e-file fees already in the bargain, so the free after rebate e-file is also not required. This year was just rebates for Norton AntiVirus and Microsoft Money. Staples had a nice "easy rebate" worth $10 off, that was nice and paperless.

Hopefully no one is waiting for a deal to do their taxes for last year!

Is U3 4U?

The computer in your hand may be smaller than it appears! Just a quick note that your next computing platform could be smaller than you expected. Software is readily available to use on the little "flash memory" drives that rivals the functionality of the bloated applications on your computer. You may be surprised to find out that many of these are free or at a much lower cost than the desktop products they could replace.

U3 is a mobile computing platform that allows you to carry your applications on a USB drive and launch them on any PC. So wherever you go –your office or home, an internet café or business center – you can take your favorite software as well as your data files. With U3 technology, a USB drive is more than a storage device – its’ a smart drive.

SanDisk has a new Cruzer Titanium Plus USB flash drive offers an automatic and seamless online back up option with device password protection and hardware AES encryption so you can easily access your files on the device or online.

You'll still need some desktop computing platform, and not every Operating System is supported, but for a decent Office Suite, Antivirus, Password Manager, or Utility application, it's hard to beat the price!