Windows Vista VS Windows XP

I repair and service computers for both home and business users so I believe I can give an objective opinion about a number of computer users that use Windows. I do handle some Mac calls as well but they don’t require the maintenance that PCs do. I should also tell you that I run Vista Ultimate on one of my PCs, and the other 3 of my PCs I run XP Pro, and I don’t plan to change that.

Moving and copying files from one XP to another is a snap! In Vista it takes longer and there are more obstacles. Vista is harder to network and it’s even harder to file share for the average user. I try to tell people that it’s more secure, and I believe that to be true, but XP has been on new computers for over 5 years, so people are comfortable with it and it does easily what people want it to do. If it’s that hard to use then people say it isn’t worth it.

Dell has begun shipping new systems with XP on request, so I’ve been recommending Dells to my customers who ask me what to buy. Microsoft has extended sales and support of XP another six months due to customer demands. I think Microsoft waited too long to release Longhorn/Vista. This past 5 years have allowed users to become set in their ways.

On the other hand, there are good things about Vista, but they don’t outweigh the value of XP. My customers want to be safe online after all, so I tell them to keep whatever version of Windows they use updated, use a hardware firewall whenever possible and stay away from the obvious danger zones, such as email attachments and downloading things they’re not sure about. I warn them about the bot-nets controlled by hackers that will use their PCs for evil under their very noses. I also tell them about the Linux Ubuntu OS and how it’s a great backup operating system to have when they need it.

Most users don’t want to know about all these things, they just want to use their PCs in peace. On one hand they should know these things if they’re going to be surfing the web, but I will use the automobile as a metaphor. I drive it every day to get where I’m going. I’m a good driver and would like to think I’m safe. I watch myself in bad neighborhoods. I’m familiar with the combustion engine and I know what makes it work, but when something goes wrong I just want it fixed and the details don’t really matter. So I’m not so very different from my customers. What do you think?

Podcast of the Year & Star Trek XI

First of all, congratulations to Leo Laporte of the TWIT podcasts for winning Podcast of the Year! It’s been my favorite podcast for a few years now and no one deserves it more!

The latest rumors of the new Star Trek film suggests that Romulans visit the City on the edge of Forever and use the Guardian portal to go back in time and kill James Kirk to bring down the Federation. This plot has been used in both Star Trek Episodes and in Star Trek: First Contact, and this time uses that plot to bring about changes in the timeline in an attempt to reboot the franchise. Sources say that even the design of the Enterprise is being changed, which worries me. Sure, start with new actors, but change the Enterprise? That means my vast DVD collection of every Trek Episode and Film will be alternate timelines? My models of the Enterprise and other Starships will disappear? Older Spock visits younger Spock to warn him about what is happening, even before he meets Kirk?

Don’t get me wrong, As a serious Trekker, I hope this film does great because the future of the franchise depends on it. If it flops, there will most likely be no more trek projects for years to come, if any. I hope JJ Abrams succeeds in this reboot because I need NEW TREK. Every once in a while, in the middle of the night, I pop in a Trek Episode, sometimes DS9, Voyager, TNG, TOS, even the animated series and Enterprise! I’m at the point where I’ve seen them all too many times. I even have the Star Trek New Voyages DVDs, which are quite entertaining! I’m hoping Of Gods And Men will come out this year. There are just not that many quality SciFi series out there now that Stargate SG1 has ended its 10 year run. I love Galactica, and Stargate Atlantis, but I’ve been a Trekker since the 60s. We owe a lot to Star Trek and many geeks don’t even know it. Spock would grab discs out of the main computer and use them all over the ship on the show, and now we can do the same, thanks to fans who made that happen in developing the modern data processing technology we use today. Every one carries a communicator/cell phone, there’s even a modern tricorder. Spock had a PC in his quarters, and because of that, so do I!