Most useful Vista feature

David Pogue, author of Windows Vista: The Missing Manual, says (in this podcast interview) that the new feature in Vista that people will use the most is the new instant search on the Start Menu, see the screen shot. Scot Finnie and Preston Gralla were also impressed by Vista's Search Features, but were less impressed by the variety and inconsistency between them. There's Start --> Search, which shouldn't (but will) be confused with, the Search box that's right on the Start menu, and then there's also Advanced Search. And the results are not always the same in the normal and the advanced versions.  Another complaint they have is that indexing speeds up the searching, but not everything is indexed.

Most useful Vista feature

David Pogue, author of Windows Vista: The Missing Manual, says (in this podcast interview) that the new feature in Vista that people will use the most is the new instant search on the Start Menu, see the screen shot. Scot Finnie and Preston Gralla were also impressed by Vista's Search Features, but were less impressed by the variety and inconsistency between them. There's Start --> Search, which shouldn't (but will) be confused with, the Search box that's right on the Start menu, and then there's also Advanced Search. And the results are not always the same in the normal and the advanced versions.  Another complaint they have is that indexing speeds up the searching, but not everything is indexed.

Do we need the monolithic OS?

Vista came out this week. I haven't checked the release version yet, even though Microsoft were kind enough to send me a copy. And before you ask, yes, I will be installing on an iMac!But as I sit here contemplating the one hour installation time, I wonder whether we really need large monolithic operating systems anymore, and I include Vista, Mac OS X, Solaris and most of the full releases on Linux. For me, I spend large periods of my time in a brower with web applications, both in terms of interfaces to online systems and my own applications. I am, for example, writing my blog post right now in a blogging environment that is part of the rest of my self developed intranet, where I also read my news, manage my diary, run my projects and read some of my email.

Do we need the monolithic OS?

Vista came out this week. I haven't checked the release version yet, even though Microsoft were kind enough to send me a copy. And before you ask, yes, I will be installing on an iMac! But as I sit here contemplating the one hour installation time, I wonder whether we really need large monolithic operating systems anymore, and I include Vista, Mac OS X, Solaris and most of the full releases on Linux. For me, I spend large periods of my time in a browser with web applications, both in terms of interfaces to online systems and my own applications. I am, for example, writing my blog post right now in a blogging environment that is part of the rest of my self developed intranet, where I also read my news, manage my diary, run my projects and read some of my email.

Do we need the monolithic OS?

Vista came out this week. I haven't checked the release version yet, even though Microsoft were kind enough to send me a copy. And before you ask, yes, I will be installing on an iMac!But as I sit here contemplating the one hour installation time, I wonder whether we really need large monolithic operating systems anymore, and I include Vista, Mac OS X, Solaris and most of the full releases on Linux. For me, I spend large periods of my time in a brower with web applications, both in terms of interfaces to online systems and my own applications. I am, for example, writing my blog post right now in a blogging environment that is part of the rest of my self developed intranet, where I also read my news, manage my diary, run my projects and read some of my email.

Do we need the monolithic OS?

Vista came out this week. I haven't checked the release version yet, even though Microsoft were kind enough to send me a copy. And before you ask, yes, I will be installing on an iMac! But as I sit here contemplating the one hour installation time, I wonder whether we really need large monolithic operating systems anymore, and I include Vista, Mac OS X, Solaris and most of the full releases on Linux. For me, I spend large periods of my time in a browser with web applications, both in terms of interfaces to online systems and my own applications. I am, for example, writing my blog post right now in a blogging environment that is part of the rest of my self developed intranet, where I also read my news, manage my diary, run my projects and read some of my email.

Vista: day two

My work day finally over, I found myself with a terrible decision to make: Go to my weekly rock climbing date with my girlfriend or go straight to my computer and wrestle with my new Vista install. Ah the trials of being a well-rounded geek. Not being completely insane I went rock climbing … and then stayed up late when I got home poking at Vista.Upon arriving home, my girlfriend sat down to check her email, I thought about telling her that it was futile and a bluescreen was imminent, but I decided to let her discover this for herself.  "Oh cool, you installed Vista!" she said, my girlfriend too is a well-rounded geek. Vista started up, she clicked on her profile and … nothing happened. She smiled at the UI enhancements, checked her email and said good night, have fun playing with Vista.

Vista: day two

My work day finally over, I found myself with a terrible decision to make: Go to my weekly rock climbing date with my girlfriend or go straight to my computer and wrestle with my new Vista install. Ah the trials of being a well-rounded geek. Not being completely insane I went rock climbing … and then stayed up late when I got home poking at Vista.Upon arriving home, my girlfriend sat down to check her email, I thought about telling her that it was futile and a bluescreen was imminent, but I decided to let her discover this for herself.  "Oh cool, you installed Vista!" she said, my girlfriend too is a well-rounded geek. Vista started up, she clicked on her profile and … nothing happened. She smiled at the UI enhancements, checked her email and said good night, have fun playing with Vista.

The Trouble with Vista

It isn't the features you can see in Vista, or the lack thereof -- it's the priority shift at Microsoft's core.

DST: How to get IT vendors to give you the right time of day

With Daylight Saving Time going into effect this year on March 11, IT vendors are scrambling to prepare patches, work-arounds and other fixes for their products. Here's what some major vendors are doing.

Daylight Saving Time: When clocks spring forward this year, will IT fall down?

Daylight Saving Time will arrive this year earlier than it has in the past -- at 2 a.m. on March 11. Companies are scrambling to make sure their IT operations will be ready.

Digitizing American history

The project involves scanning books and other works from the Civil War and other eras that have until now been thought too brittle for handling.

Why search is a developer's most powerful tool

About 25% of a developer's time is spend searching for information. It's time well spent, though -- finding reusable code can get a project done on time and with high-quality results.

Forget Deep Blue, IBM Labs does mashups, wikis, Second Lives

IBM is out to prove it's as hip as any Web 2.0 startup and showed off some of those changes at an event called "Made in IBM Labs Day" that showcased several dozen research projects cooking in its research labs.

Vista Home license forbids virtualization

Although Microsoft forbids Vista Home editions running with products like Parallels and VMware, the use of Boot Camp is okay.

IBM, Lawson team up to target SMBs

Like many of their rivals, the companies see the small and midsize market as a huge source of future revenue and one without clear market leaders.

Oracle rolls out E-Business Suite 12

Oracle officials yesterday took the wraps off the next generation of the company's flagship E-Business Suite, version 12, saying it should be an easier upgrade for customers than was its predecessor.

MySQL's IPO and disruptive pricing (and g'astronomy)

Rabbits. White rabbits. It's IT Blogwatch: in which MySQL disrupts Oracle's game. Not to mention bad science on kids' food packages...Matthew Aslett talked to MySQL CEO, Marten Mickos:Open source database vendor MySQL AB is preparing itself for an initial public offering, and could even be ready to go public before the end of the year [said] CEO Marten Mickos ... it has long been predicted that MySQL would follow the likes of Linux distributor Red Hat with a public offering. Now entering its twelfth year, the company has built up just less than 10,000 paying customers, and an installed base estimated to be close to 10 million.

MySQL's IPO and disruptive pricing (and g'astronomy)

Rabbits. White rabbits. It's IT Blogwatch: in which MySQL disrupts Oracle's game. Not to mention bad science on kids' food packages...Matthew Aslett talked to MySQL CEO, Marten Mickos:Open source database vendor MySQL AB is preparing itself for an initial public offering, and could even be ready to go public before the end of the year [said] CEO Marten Mickos ... it has long been predicted that MySQL would follow the likes of Linux distributor Red Hat with a public offering. Now entering its twelfth year, the company has built up just less than 10,000 paying customers, and an installed base estimated to be close to 10 million.