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One
on One Computer Consultants (www.1on1cc.com)
New Computer Technologies and General InformationMicrosoft VISTA Preparing for Service Pack 1 (SP1) Release Unfortunately, Microsoft hasn’t been too talkative about the release of their VISTA operating system’s SP1 release. One group of thought is that calling attention to the need for a service pack might make consumers wait a little longer before moving to the new operating system. SP1 is supposedly loaded with performance enhancements including 25% faster file copying on the same machine, 45% faster file copying from another computer, improve the reading time of large graphics file by about 50%, and resolution of many of the most common causes of crashes and hangs in Vista, especially those involving Windows Calendar, Windows Media Player and a number of other drivers included with Vista. A Florida-based company, Devil Mountain Software, tested VISTA with the beta (test) SP1 versus Windows XP with beta SP3 and XP was the overall winner. Software Licensing Costs to DropResearch firm Gartner predicts that software vendors will be challenged as IT departments look to reduce costs as they have with computer hardware and services. Gartner has identified major trends converging to change software delivery models. These include growing interest in open source software; business process outsourcing; software as a service; low-cost development environments, such as China and India, combined with modular and service-oriented architectures; the emergence of third-party software support; the rise of Chinese software companies; and the expansion of the Brazilian, Chinese, and Indian markets. Gartner also predicts that a fourth of all new business software will be delivered by software as a service by 2011. Virus/Spyware/Spam Warning & UpdatesTop 20 Security Risks for 2007 The SANS Institute just released their report of the top security risks, which are divided into 6 categories; client-side vulnerabilities, server-side vulnerabilities, security policies, application abuse, network devices, and zero-day attacks. The client side category covers web browsers, office software, email clients, and media players. If you are using Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, you should read that section and make sure that you have all of the security updates installed. To read the report, go to: http://www.sans.org/top20/ Movies and Music Downloads Hide Viruses Beware of web sites offering free download of movies and music. The large files can easily hide viruses that can infect your system. A Chinese security firm recently reported that free downloads of the Ang Lee’s spy thriller, “Lust, Caution”, was infected with a virus that stole passwords from infected systems.
For “free” on-line security scanning of your computer go
to the bottom of the 1on1cc.com home page and select from a variety of
providers. "Free" Software DownloadsOxygenOffice Professional This Office suite is based on OpenOffice.org, but contains more extras like templates, clipart, photos, samples, and VBA support. The gallery includes over 3400 graphics, including both clipart and photos. The templates are divided into 10 categories, and there are over 90 fonts. Because it is based on the OpenOffice.org project, it can handle most MS Word, MS Excel, and MS PowerPoint documents. Go to: http://sourceforge.net/projects/ooop/ Password Safe I’ve been amazed at the number of people that store their passwords in unsecured files like MS Excel. If someone has access to your computer or even worse, steals your computer, then they will have access to your passwords and the information that they protect. “Password Safe” is a free password manager program that allows you to store and organize all of your passwords in one safe, encrypted file protected with one password. Go to: http://passwordsafe.sourceforge.net/ Tips & TricksHoliday Computer Gift Ideas Portable Hard Drive They’re great for computer backups and taking all of your data with you. It makes good sense to take you backup data away from your computer, even out of the building. In case of a disaster like a flood, fire, or theft, your data is safe and secure. You can pick up a Western Digital 60GB with a USB 2.0 connection for about $65.00. USB Flash Drives Prices have drastically fallen for these alternatives to portable file storage. Getting one with “U3” capabilities will even let you run “U3 compatible” software. With 4 GB USB U3 Smart Flash drives priced around $40, they would make a great gift for that portable person in your life. For a list of available software, go to: http://software.u3.com/softwarecentral.aspx?skip=1 USB Hubs With all of the devices that are using USB to connect to your computer, it might be a good, inexpensive option. Most people have a digital camera, USB Flash Drive, iPod or MP3 Player, or External Hard Drive and not enough front panel USB ports to support all of those devices. Some hubs are priced under $10.
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