News and other tidbits that Chad Cloman finds interesting enough to share
Ars Technica has a review of the new features in the beta version of IE8. The primary change is better adherence to web standards, which really only matters to developers—the other features are pretty minor.
Link: http://arstechnica.com/…
Amidst cries of, “It’s about #$@#% time,” Microsoft has released documentation specifying the binary file formats used by MS Office.
Link: http://www.microsoft.com/…
(via Slashdot)
A computer shop in New Hampshire had this sign in its window: “We remove Vista. We install XP.” Service pack 1 for Windows Vista will be released in March, so hopefully it will improve things.
Link: http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/…
(via Engadget)
This tip from Kim Komando tells how to easily log in to a password-protected Windows computer. Just goes to show the importance of physical security.
Link: http://komando.com/…
Ever wondered how to make “My Computer” open in a double-paned Windows Explorer window? Well, here’s the shortcut that does it (and yes, that’s a double colon):
explorer.exe /e,::{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}
I’m guessing that the web developer community, like me, is excited to hear that IE8 will pass the Acid2 test. But there has been concern expressed about the various “modes” that IE8 will support.
The basic problem is that web developers write their code to work around (or take advantage of) bugs in the various IE versions. When Microsoft fixes these bugs in subsequent releases, the effect may be to break existing sites. And in the case of Internet Explorer, we could be talking about breaking millions of sites. Web browsers, including non-Microsoft ones, have dealt with this via a method known as doctype switching, where the browser will render the page in one of three modes (quirks, standards, and super-standards) depending upon the DOCTYPE value. When developing IE8, however, Microsoft realized that doctype switching was insufficient for their purposes. Assuming that each new browser release would have unique bugs and quirks, they needed some way of informing future releases of IE that the web page had been coded against a specific version. So they came up with a new method that uses a META tag to determine which browser mode to use.
The META tag, which is described in the linked article, will specify the highest browser version against which the web page was coded. Thus if you set it to IE8, for example, when IE9 (or IE10, or IE11) comes out, you can be assured that your page will still be rendered as if the browser were IE8. Each subsequent version of IE will be capable of rendering the older versions with all their bugs, based on the META tag. If the META tag does not exist, then the current IE7 doctype switching method will be used.
Link: http://arstechnica.com/…
Update: After a significant amount of web community uproar, Microsoft has changed its mind and decided to use the latest standards mode by default. Thus IE7’s standard mode is no longer the default.
This article by Kim Komando has some good tips regarding what to look for in a new computer that runs Windows Vista. Vista, by the way, was named the year’s biggest tech disappointment by PC World.
Buying a New Windows Computer
By Kim Komando
You can still get computers that run Windows XP. But Vista, whatever its faults, is the future. We’ve used Vista all year in the office. It has worked fine.
Vista requires a more powerful machine than XP. That means you may have to spend more than you planned.
There are several versions of Vista. Vista Home Basic is just that—basic. Skip it. Go with Home Premium or Ultimate.
Home Premium and Ultimate give you a much better experience. You’ll be able to see all the improvements in Vista’s design. There are also more features in these editions. For example, they both include Media Center. To learn more about the different versions of Vista, read my buying guide.
With Vista, you’ll need plenty of RAM. The minimum you’ll need for Home Basic is 512 megabytes. For other versions of Vista, you’ll need 1GB. I would double this. Otherwise, be prepared to add more RAM later. This is particularly true if you’ll do photo or video editing.
You’ll also need plenty of graphics power. That’s due to Vista’s Aero interface. The minimum amount of video RAM you need for Vista is 128MB. Again, I would double this.
Buy a computer with a dedicated graphics card. The card will have its own memory.
Cheaper computers have the graphics system built in to the motherboard. This is called integrated graphics. If you buy a computer with integrated graphics, the system RAM will also be used for graphics. This will slow down your machine.
Things are different if you’re buying a laptop. You may opt for integrated graphics to improve battery life. Also, it will be more difficult to find a laptop with a dedicated video card. If you go with integrated graphics, settle for no less than 2GB of system RAM.
You may want to add RAM later. Make sure the laptop will accept more RAM. Some top out at 2GB.
Most people focus on the processor when buying a computer. These days, chips are powerful enough that most will do just fine. However, I’d stay away from the budget chips—Intel Celeron and AMD Sempron.
I would go with Intel’s Core 2 Duo or AMD’s Athlon 64 X2 dual-core chip. With laptops, buy AMD’s Turion or Intel’s Core 2 Duo Mobile.
Don’t worry too much about processor speed. Any of these processors will be fast. But if you can get a deal on a faster chip, go for it.
Hard drive capacities just grow and grow. If you’re buying a desktop computer, the hard drive will probably be 160GB or larger. This is more than adequate—unless you�re doing video editing. With laptops, hard drive size is more limited. I would aim for 80GB or larger on a laptop.
A CD/DVD burner is also essential. Fortunately, it should be standard on most computers you’ll see.
Also, the computer should have plenty of USB ports. Some laptops only have two; I would shoot for three or four. Memory card readers are also a nice touch. However, they’re useless if they don’t accept the cards from your gadgets.
Once you get your new machine, you�ll need to set it up. Vista has a tool that will help you transfer data easily. It’s called Easy Transfer. I have a tip that explains it.
Copyright 2008 WestStar TalkRadio Network. Reprinted with permission. No further republication or redistribution is permitted without the written consent of WestStar TalkRadio Network. Visit Kim Komando and sign up for her free e-mail newsletters at: www.komando.com.
Apparently the first service pack for Windows Vista does not improve its performance. In related news, Windows XP SP3 will provide a speed boost of about 10%. Both speed tests, however, were done with pre-release versions of the service packs and may not apply to the final releases.
Link: http://pcworld.co.nz/…
(via Slashdot)
This post should only be of interest to web developers. With Windows Vista, Microsoft decided to update the core web fonts that are used by pretty much everyone. Sigh… Developers will want to install the new fonts on their non-Vista systems—the Slashdot article’s comments have several ways to do this. In addition, CSS font lists should be updated to include the new “C” fonts at the front of the list. There is a matrix in the linked article showing which fonts should go where.
Link: http://www.hunlock.com/…
(via Slashdot)
Whenever I install Windows updates, a message keeps popping up every 10 minutes or so asking me if I want to restart. The linked article tells how to make it go away.
Link: http://lifehacker.com/…
UPDATE: There is now a free program that will make the change for you.
Apparently there is still a strong demand for Windows XP, despite Vista having been available for the last six months. I personally am totally satisfied with XP and see no reason to upgrade.
Link: http://www.sciam.com/…
(via Kim Komando)
Windows Vista, we hardly knew you. Microsoft has announced the next major Windows version, code-named “Windows 7”, to be released in 3 years. Maybe we can keep using WinXP until “7” comes out, thus completely circumventing Vista.
Link: http://news.com.com/…
(via lifehacker)
