Traffic Circle 2.0

Thanks to the fine men and women of the Southwest Indiana PC Users Group, I’ll be talking about using styles and templates to make your documents easier to edit and better looking. Whether you use MS Word, OpenOffice, or WordPerfect to write your letters, grants, reports, or shopping lists, you’ll want to attend the meeting. Guests are welcome, and memberships are encouraged!

See you this Sunday, February 17, at 2PM at

Evansville Central Library’s Browning Events Room B

 200 SE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd
Evansville, IN 47713

I’ll be signing copies of my latest book, Maximum PC Microsoft Windows Vista Exposed: an Insider’s Guide to Supercharging Windows Vista, and I’ll have copies of this book and others available at attractive prices. I hope to see you there!

The creator of nLite, which can be used to customize and shrink a Windows XP installation image, is at it again. This time, Vista gets the treatment with the new vLite utility. I take it for a spin here.

One user reported it was the only way he could install the 64-bit version of Vista to his nVidia 680i-based system. It’s an impressive utility!

Hardware Tip of the Day 

When you add more memory to your notebook computer, make sure you take into account the cut that integrated video takes from system memory.

Windows Tip of the Day

Different folders have different default views, but you can customize them to make them work the way you prefer.

I’ve just completed my “30 Hardware and Windows Tips in 30 Days” series at InformIT.com, the umbrella website for Que Publishing, Peachpit, and other book imprints in the Pearson Education family.

Most of these tips are self-contained, but a few of them are ‘to-be-continued’ two-parters. I’ll be featuring a hardware and a Windows tip each day over the next couple of weeks.

Hardware Tip of the Day

Have problems with slow writing speeds with some types of DVD or CD media? Poor system stability? Problems with your CD or DVD drive recognizing new types of media? The solution is simple: get a firmware upgrade for your DVD drive.

Windows Tip of the Day

Tired of Windows Update rebooting your system at the worst possible times? Don’t like removing updates you never asked for and never wanted anyway? Put yourself in charge of Windows Update (XP, Vista).

Tune in tomorrow for another hardware and another Windows tip.

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Speaking of Windows, you can now preview my forthcoming book Unleashing Microsoft Windows Vista Media Center. It’s available as a Rough Cut from the InformIT website. A Rough Cut is an unfinished version of the book that gives you an opportunity to see how the book is progressing. You can preview the book online or via PDF or preorder the book – all at a significant savings off the cover price.

The home networking chapter from my book Maximum PC Microsoft Windows Vista Exposed: an Insider’s Guide to Supercharging Windows Vista is now available online.

Windows Vista’s networking features are among the biggest changes compared to Windows XP, and this chapter will help you understand how to master new features like the Network Center, network mapping, setup and management of wireless networks, helping Windows XP and Windows Vista coexist on a single network, and network troubleshooting. Whether you’re already using Windows Vista or planning to take a look at it this year, it’s a must-read.

Q: What’s even better than Windows Vista SP1 RC?

A: Windows Vista SP1 RC Refresh, of course!

Just days after being released to beta testers, Microsoft has now rolled out an improved version of Windows Vista SP1 RC, the Refresh version. Learn how to get it (available only via Windows Update) as easily as possible here.

If you’ve been waiting for a good reason to try Windows Vista, Service Pack 1 (now available in its Release Candidate version) is that reason. It provides huge improvements in reliability, performance, and features. I’ve been running it for about a month on my laptop (a two-year old single-core Turion 64) and it’s solid, reliable, and faster than before.

If you’re considering taking Windows Vista for a spin (you can grab a 30-day trial of the Enterprise edition that runs under Virtual PC 2007), check out these new articles available at InformIT.com:

• Gaming with Windows Vista: Playing Games Through the Games Explorer; discover how the Games Explorer lets you manage your gaming experience and keeps the kids away from games for grownups
• Upgrading Your PC for Vista – Beyond RAM, CPUs, and Graphics; learn how to turn Vista into a multimedia powerhouse

Answer: they’re three of the most obscure products developed by a certain West Coast technology company:

• Mach 10 was a processor board upgrade for the IBM PC
• Booster was a mouse, clock, and memory upgrade for the IBM PCjr
• Bob was a short-lived friendly front-end for Windows 3.1 and Windows 95

And that company was Microsoft (or, as in early ads, MicroSoft). With Microsoft founder Bill Gates riding off into the sunset this week after his final keynote address at CES, I figured it was time to rediscover some of Microsoft’s strangest products ever. Have other nominees? Let us know.

Many thanks to the men and women who attended my talk on Windows Vista SP1, “What’s In It for Business?” yesterday at Owensboro’s Colby’s Restaurant. The Greater Owensboro Territory Information Technologists (GETIT) asked a lot of great questions about Windows Vista and SP1. Some also purchased my new book Maximum PC Microsoft Windows Vista Exposed – a great gift for Vista users.

Both GOTIT and its sister organization in Evansville, GETIT, sponsor outstanding speakers on technology issues monthly. Check out upcoming events at the GETIT/GOTIT information page hosted by the Evansville Public Library’s website.

Windows Vista users: 

If you’re looking for a way to…

• Get your hands on over 450 updates and hotfixes
• Improve reliability and performance
• Make your system more secure

… you need Windows Vista SP1 RC - today! You can use it until the final SP1 release comes along, and this near-final release provides a lot of relief for nagging Windows Vista problems. Find the links you need here.

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Get yourself up to speed on Vista or help a Windows newbie out – pick up a copy of Maximum PC Microsoft Windows Vista Exposed today. It’s available at Amazon.com, and has recently received a 5-star review:

I have just finished this book, and was very impressed with how it opened my eyes to Vista…I would recommend this book to anyone new to Vista.