Category Archives: Miscellaneous

Interesting Internet Finds – November & December 2012

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Introduction

In the course of going through the more than 200 news feeds, I often run across things that I think might be of interest to other user group members.

The following are some items I found interesting during the months of November and December 2012.
(Long URLs shortened with the Google URL shortener

First appeared in the January 2013 issue of Boca Bits.

Titles And Links

Shockwave keeps crashing. What can I do to fix it?
http://goo.gl/8ZVzs

I’m drowning in spam. What can I do?
http://goo.gl/a133b

How to back up your Samsung Android phone to PC
http://goo.gl/aYaVX

The Assumptions You Make About Your Slow PC (and Why They’re Probably Wrong)
http://goo.gl/Th9aw

HTG Explains: What’s the Difference Between CC and BCC When Sending an Email?
http://goo.gl/2nFTx

15 WordPress User Errors That Make You Look Silly [Infographic]
http://goo.gl/mFI8i

3 changes you should make in the Options dialog box of PowerPoint
http://goo.gl/Z5Wb3

HTG Explains: What You Can (and Can’t) Do on the Desktop in Windows RT
http://goo.gl/Dbf3o

Rid Your PC Of Outdated Bookmarks, Duplicate Files, Broken Shortcuts & Empty Folders [Windows]
http://goo.gl/BNNUG

Related articles

 

Windows 8 to Windows 7?

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English: Chris Pirillo PNG with a transparent ...

English: Chris Pirillo PNG with a transparent background (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

I was going through some post regarding Windows 8, and ran across Chris Pirillo’s Locker Gnome post Should You Downgrade from Windows 8 to Windows 7?. The post was a response to a question regarding the purchase of a new PC without a touchscreen, and whether it would be a good idea to downgrade to Windows 7.

In the post, he compares Windows 8 to Vista beginnings, but the best part is the advice quoted below.

What I would recommend anyone do is to try the new operating environment out for a few days to see if it works for you. There are plenty of people who prefer Windows 8 to Windows 7, and better is — and will always be — relative.

I think that is good advice, no matter what new OS is being discussed.

**********

What do you think?

Have you tried Windows 8 yet? If so, let me know whether you are going to stick with it, or prefer to downgrade to something more familiar.

Note: I have not yet experienced Windows 8, but intend to check it out in the near future.

Related articles

 

Microsoft Windows 8 – Information from Windows Secrets

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Introduction

At the December 19, 2012 general meeting of the Boca Raton Computer Society, Richard Miller (Director, Special Interest Group moderator, and Past President) presented “Windows 8: An Introduction”.

Richard’s introduction to Windows 8, was very informative, but the next morning I received my weekly newsletter from Windows Secrets.

Windows Secrets

I subscribe to the paid version of the Windows Secrets Newsletter, which has an article entitled “Eight simple steps for setting up Windows 8” in its paid content which is very informative also in the paid content.

However, for those who do not subscribe to the paid content, there are several good articles in the free subscription I think should be of interest to anyone thinking about moving up to this new operating system:

Step by step: How to safely test-drive Win8

In this article Fred Langa describes how to run the Windows 8 Consumer Preview using Oracle’s VirtualBox on a Windows 7 PC.

This article breaks the setup process into three major steps: installing an Oracle VirtualBox VPC on a Windows 7 system, setting up a new VPC within VirtualBox, and tweaking and tuning the setup to run Windows 8 Consumer Preview. When you’re done, you’ll be able to start exploring the new operating system with almost zero risk to your current setup. (Any change to a Windows system includes some risk. Make sure your PC is fully backed up before taking these steps.)

Win8 Boot guide: Your first hour with the new OS

In this article Woody Leonhard gives a run through of some Windows 8 basics. Make sure to read the assumptions and warnings from Woody in the first section before going through anything else.

This one-hour orientation takes into account all three major Windows 8 input methods: touch screen (which might work on your machine), keyboard (a very big help, even if it isn’t literally required), and mouse/single-point trackpad. If you have a multitouch trackpad, and its driver is working correctly — by no means a foregone conclusion — the trackpad should behave much like a touch screen.

 Conclusion

I have subscribed to the paid version of Windows Secrets Newsletter for years, and will continue to do so, as I always find great information, from people I have learned to trust, in each issue.

Even if you only sign up for the free subscription, you will be getting valuable information regarding all things Microsoft.

Question

Have you already tried out Windows 8?

If so, what do you think about it? If not, why not, and will you in the near future?