Taking baby steps to become more familiar with a new operating system can be as simple as revamping the OS already in use on your computer. It begins with unlearning Windows-born behavior to free up your mind for a new way of doing things.
For Windows users, software installation is nearly always accomplished from some sort of simple GUI installer. The idea is basically to keep pounding away on the "next" button until the installer alerts its user Read the rest of this entry »

Here's a preview of what to watch for from Microsoft at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next week. Look here for full coverage starting at 6:30 pm Wednesday, when I will post on the news set to be announced during Ballmer's keynote.
At a dinner in Santa Clara, Calif., in early September, Microsoft Corp. CEO Steve Ballmer boasted of Windows Mobile's standing in the smart phone market: Over the past year, he said, smart phones with Windows Read the rest of this entry »

Here's a preview of what to watch for from Microsoft at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next week. Look here for full coverage starting at 6:30 pm Wednesday, when I will post on the news set to be announced during Ballmer's keynote.
At a dinner in Santa Clara, Calif., in early September, Microsoft Corp. CEO Steve Ballmer boasted of Windows Mobile's standing in the smart phone market: Over the past year, he said, smart phones with Windows Read the rest of this entry »

Many computing advances in 2008 occurred outside traditional desktop and laptop machines. Some happened in devices once labeled "peripherals," such as smartphones and digital cameras, while others took place entirely on the Web.
Start with smartphones, the kind of computer that an increasing number of people carry with them every waking moment. Apple's
got the headlines, but 2008's bigger phone story was the
's App Store.
) showed what clever Read the rest of this entry »

People who bought the SPF-85H 8-Inch Digital Photo Frame from Samsung for either personal use, or to give it away as a Christmas present, were unpleasantly surprised to have their anti-virus software complain about a worm in the bundled software. Samsung confirmed the incident and issued an update to the affected application.
to all of its customers that purchased the said devices between October and December 2008. "The alert involves the SPF-85H Read the rest of this entry »

(and cheap PC-to-landline calls), it's yet another program to install, and yet another drain on my system's already strapped resources.
, which offers Skype-like calling capabilities but requires no special software. Instead, it works right inside your browser--any browser, on any system (Windows, Mac, or Linux).
All you need is a microphone (the one in your Webcam will do) and/or headset. You can make free calls to other Gizmo users, toll-free Read the rest of this entry »

Samsung looks like being the next company to support Google’s bid to enter the mobile phone market.
It seems likely that Samsung will introduce next year a mobile phone which runs Google’s Android open source operating system.
This is further evidence that Google’s mobile phone bid is starting to build a serious head of steam in the industry.
Earlier this week, The Android phone operating system
in the form of ARM, Ericsson, Read the rest of this entry »

July 23, 2008 (Computerworld)
may have a lock on the Sexiest Gadget Alive title for 2008, but in the frumpy and boring world of things that matter to enterprise IT managers, it's no pinup.
, primarily through its licensing of Microsoft Corp.'s ActiveSync technology, the 3G and its iPhone 2.0 software remain less competent and less tested than its
counterparts.
"From an IT support standpoint, you want a hardened device, something you can fire Read the rest of this entry »

Here's how to save and still access files or e-mails
created by software you no longer use or that's no longer supported.
1 Using Windows Explorer, create a separate descriptive subfolder, such as "OLDMAIL" or "OLDGRAFIX," and transfer all the files to this location that you wish to save.
2 Locate, download and install a free, or shareware, reader of files in this older format (such as .MBX, used by some e-mail software programs). Be sure to Read the rest of this entry »

You can configure SRP rules from the Group Policy Object (GPO) settings. SRP rules are in the User Configuration\Windows Settings\Security Settings\Software Restriction Policies container. In your case, I advise you to configure an SRP hash or path rule for restricting user access to certain programs. Because your home computer isn’t joined to a Windows domain, you must use Local GPO (LGPO) settings to set up the restrictions.
The main disadvantage Read the rest of this entry »