AllThingsD » Windows XP

Letting Go of Gmail

Walter S. Mossberg — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 01:05:37 +0000

Is there a way to delete a Gmail account?

Yes. First, go to your Google accounts settings page, found at http://tinyurl.com/bm78c8y. Next, click on “Products” at the lower left.

A page will open listing all the different Google products you use. Click the small “Edit” link next to the words “Your Products.” When the next page appears, find the phrase “Delete a Product” at the upper left and click on the link that reads “Remove Gmail Permanently.” Follow the instructions.

Google’s text on this page says “Within two business days of your request, your…mailbox will be closed and all its contents will be permanently deleted.” However, Google warns that: “Residual copies of deleted messages and accounts may take up to 60 days to be deleted from our active servers and may remain in our backup systems for an additional period of time.”

Is it possible to route Comcast cable channels from the Comcast box through the new Roku 3, which has earphones you plug into its remote? We want to use earphones while on our noisy workout machine.

Roku says the answer is, unfortunately, no. A company official explains: “The earphones are for Roku streaming only. We don’t offer a pass-through of other video inputs,” such as video from your cable box.

I have a four year old Dell Inspiron running Windows XP. I am planning to buy a new Dell desktop with Windows 7. How can I transfer all my data files (about a hundred) and program files from the old one to the new one without reinstalling all the programs from the original CD. Some programs were downloaded.

Windows 7 includes a utility called Windows Easy Transfer that moves files, email, pictures, and settings, from an older PC to the new one. But it doesn’t transfer programs. You can learn more about it at http://tinyurl.com/n2zoz6. In general, moving programs from one machine to another on Windows is tricky.

However, a company called Laplink makes a product called PCmover that claims to move over both data files and programs. You can learn about it at http://ww2.laplink.com/pcmover/.

Email Walt at mossberg@wsj.com

At $40, Microsoft Charging Far Less For Windows 8 Than Past Updates

Ina Fried — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 19:11:05 +0000

Microsoft said on Monday that an upgrade to Windows 8 from recent past versions will cost just $40 — much less than Redmond has charged in the past.

The $40 price applies for those running Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7, and who download it from Microsoft’s Web site before the end of January. A version at retail stores will cost $70, at least through Jan. 31, Microsoft said in a blog post.

Microsoft is characterizing this as a special promotion and not its official pricing for the software. The company has run limited-time offers in the past with new Windows versions. With Windows 7, for example, it offered three copies of the software in a “family pack” for $150. The promotional pricing for Windows 8 can be used to purchase up to five copies for $40 apiece.

The company would not say what its pricing will be once the promotion ends, nor what it will charge for the full copies of the software needed for running it on virtual machines (including when using Windows on a Mac).

Microsoft hasn’t given a firm date for the arrival for the major Windows update, but it has issued a near final “release preview” version, and said it is aiming to have it on new PCs and retail shelves by the holidays.

Apple has been leading the way toward cheaper operating system upgrades, charging just $20 or $30 for recent updates, including Lion and Snow Leopard.

Microsoft always has incentives to get existing users to update to the latest version of Windows, although this time around it quickly needs as large a base as possible to encourage developers to create new-style Metro apps that only run on Windows 8.

Typically, most users of a new version of Windows come from those buying a new PC, though it gets a nice boost to its bottom line from the initial boxed sales of a new Windows version.

Depending on which version of Windows is being moved to Windows 8, users will have the option of doing a clean installation or keeping their past files and applications. With Windows Vista or Windows XP, only a user’s personal files will be maintained, and programs will have to be reinstalled.

Waiting for Windows 8

Walt Mossberg — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 02:24:14 +0000

I am in need of a new computer. I currently run Windows XP. When is Windows 8 due and should I wait for it? Should I just buy a new computer now with Windows 7 and upgrade to 8 when it arrives?

Windows 8 will likely be released in test, or beta, form, early in the year, and then in final form by the 2012 holiday shopping season. Whether you should wait depends on how badly you need a new PC. One thing to bear in mind if you do buy now is that while Windows 8 will work fine with a keyboard and mouse, its slick new user interface is designed for a touch screen.

What is the difference between the AMD and the Intel microprocessor chips?

They are different designs from different companies, though Intel is the dominant brand by far. In broad strokes, Advanced Micro Devices’ chips have often claimed better graphics performance and have generally been less expensive. But most computer makers choose Intel, which has lately focused intensely on better battery life without compromising performance.

For average consumers, the most important factor is that Windows runs fine on both, and a typical user doing typical, low-stress tasks might find it hard to distinguish between roughly comparable chips made by the two companies. So, if you are on a budget and an AMD-based machine you like costs less, you are safe to go with it.

I read your article about using Boot Camp to run Windows on a Mac and it was extremely informative. But I did not understand how to create the drivers needed to make Windows recognize the particular features of the Mac hardware.

Apple’s Boot Camp Assistant program, which is used to set up the Windows installation on a Mac, includes a step in which you download and store the drivers on either a CD or DVD, or an external USB drive. This is software Windows needs to properly operate the Mac’s keyboard, mouse, trackpad and camera.

If you just follow the steps in the Assistant software, you should be able to download and install these drivers, which Apple calls Windows Support Software. It’s a good idea to print the Boot Camp installation guide before you start, an option that appears on the first screen of the Assistant program.

Email Walt at mossberg@wsj.com.

Microsoft: Every Current Version of Windows Has a Gaping Hole in It

Arik Hesseldahl — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 22:40:36 +0000

Software giant Microsoft said today that it’s looking into a new vulnerability that affects every version of Windows currently supported. This is one of those zero-day vulnerabilities that come out of left field once in awhile and can be used by hackers to create troublemaking attacks.

According to a post on Microsoft’s corporate security blog, the vulnerability resides in something called MIME HTML or MHTML, which allows certain Web content to be rendered in a browser or other applications, such as an email program. As with so many other vulnerabilities that have come before it, an attacker sends you an HTML link to trigger a script in Internet Explorer that could do bad things, like collect user information.

The easiest fix? Use Firefox or Google’s Chrome browser, which are unaffected. But for those devoted to IE, Redmond is suggesting that people turn off the ability to handle MHTML until a fix is ready. How to do that? There’s a helpful FixIt button, in yet another blog post on the subject, that downloads the software needed to enable the temporary measure.

The vulnerability was first disclosed on a Chinese Web site last week. So far, there’s no evidence that anyone has gone to the trouble of carrying out an attack using this method, but hey, with zero-day vulnerabilities, you never know.

In 4G Race, Verizon Pulls Ahead With Pricey Speed

Walter S. Mossberg — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 02:03:48 +0000

One of the biggest technology trends in 2011 will be the expansion of new, faster cellular networks called 4G, or fourth generation. These networks promise a big increase in speed and capacity to handle the surge in streaming video, audio and Web surfing from hot-selling devices like super-smart phones and tablets, as well as from laptops. But you’ll have to buy new phones, modems and other connected consumer devices to get the higher speed they offer.

[ See post to watch video ]

Wireless carriers and handset makers will be touting their 4G plans and compatible devices at this week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, but it will be a couple of years before 4G networks in the U.S. achieve the same coverage as the current standard, called 3G.

The move to 4G from 3G began last year, with Sprint leading the way and Verizon Wireless joining in the last few weeks of 2010 with a limited deployment. But 2011 will see the service spreading to more and more cities, and is also expected to see the entry of AT&T. T-Mobile hasn’t announced an actual 4G network rollout, but is instead relying on a souped-up version of 3G that it is marketing as 4G because it claims it can deliver similar data speeds with its approach.

I’ve been testing the 4G network of the latest entrant, Verizon, in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., which is one of 38 metro areas (plus 60 airports) where the company turned on its 4G network in December. My verdict is that it’s wicked fast—the fastest 4G network I’ve tried—but also potentially costly. In my tests, with a laptop modem, it proved dramatically faster than Verizon’s 3G network, and recorded speeds on a par with some land-line Internet connections.

But 4G from Verizon won’t be cheap. For laptop modem users, at least, Verizon is charging $50 a month for up to 5 gigabytes of data use and $80 monthly for 10 gigabytes. If you run over, the company will bill you $10 for every extra gigabyte. Such data limits aren’t new, but, with 4G’s much higher speeds, users may find themselves sending and receiving more data more often, and thus breaching the limits more regularly. For instance, in my tests, I was easily able to download a nearly 600 megabyte TV show, something I wouldn’t even try with a 3G modem. That one download would have eaten up more than 10% of my monthly cap under the $50 plan.

Verizon’s first LTE laptop modem, the LG VL600, has a flip top that reveals the USB connector.

Verizon’s variant of 4G uses a different underlying technology than Sprint’s. It’s called LTE, for Long Term Evolution, and is also the 4G system being adopted by many other cellular operators around the world, including AT&T. (Technically, this first version of LTE isn’t considered true 4G by the engineering standards body that rules on such matters, but that makes little difference to consumers looking for faster connections.)

The company says it chose LTE because it is not only fast, but is less prone to interference, can provide better battery life, has less latency, or lag, and can better handle multiple users simultaneously. The LTE system doesn’t affect voice calls on Verizon’s network—it’s only for data, and operates in tandem with the current voice network.

Verizon claims its new network is up to 10 times faster than its 3G network and says consumers will see speeds of between 5 and 12 megabits per second for downloads and between 2 and 5 mbps for uploads, in “real-world, loaded network environments.”

As of this writing, Verizon doesn’t offer an actual LTE-capable smart phone, only LTE USB modems that plug into laptops. But the company is expected to offer a sneak peek at CES this week of several LTE phones that will roll out in the coming months, as well other planned LTE devices, from a variety of manufacturers. Again, I want to stress that your current Verizon phone or laptop modem can’t be upgraded to work with LTE. You’ll need a new one.

For my tests, I used Verizon’s first LTE laptop modem, the VL600 made by LG of Korea. It sells for $100 after a $50 mail-in rebate with a two-year service contract. This modem can handle data over slower 3G networks, if you happen to stray out of one of Verizon’s 4G service areas. For now, it works only on computers running Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7. But the company says it should have Mac-compatible LTE modems in a month or so.

To use it, you have to first install, from an included CD, a new version of Verizon’s cellular modem software, VZAccess Manager. Older versions won’t work. My test machine was a Lenovo ThinkPad X301, which worked fine with a Verizon 3G modem. Installation was relatively quick and smooth, though I was immediately instructed to download an updated version of the software, so I had to go through it twice.

I disabled Wi-Fi on the ThinkPad, plugged in the LTE modem and ran 10 tests using the popular Speedtest.net website. The results were impressive. Verizon’s 4G network averaged just a shade under 16 megabits per second for downloads and 6.6 mbps for uploads. That was 15 times the download speed, and 13 times the upload speed, of a Verizon 3G modem I tested immediately afterward using the same method in the same location.

To relate these speeds to real-world scenarios, I downloaded from iTunes a standard-definition episode of the TV show “The Good Wife”—a 588 megabyte file—in just seven minutes, instead of the two hours or so iTunes predicted it would take when I was using the 3G modem. I streamed several long videos, including two in HD, from the Web, and they played smooth as silk.

But there are caveats. For one thing, hardly anyone is using this new Verizon network yet, and it’s likely to slow down as it gets crowded, especially with smart-phone users. Secondly, laptop cellular modems typically deliver faster speeds than phones, so my results don’t necessarily predict phone or tablet performance.

Also, speeds can vary by city and distance. My tests were mainly conducted against a server in my local D.C. area. But I also tried a few tests against a server in San Francisco and only got about 6 mbps download—within Verizon’s claims, but much slower.

Still, if you can afford it, and if it works well in phones and tablets, Verizon’s new LTE network could be a great boon to your digital lifestyle.

Find all Walt Mossberg’s columns and videos at the All Things Digital website, allthingsd.com.

Transferring Files to Windows 7, iPad Multitasking and Tablet Alternatives

Walter S. Mossberg — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 21:10:28 +0000

How do I migrate all the contents of my old IBM computer running Windows XP to my new Acer computer running Windows 7?

If you mean to include everything, including your programs and not just your data files, I’d suggest using a utility program designed to automate and simplify the process using a cable that connects the two machines.

Two of these are PCmover by Laplink, which starts at $30, and Parallels Desktop For Upgrading to Windows 7, by Parallels, which starts at $40. More information is at http://bit.ly/VZMVP and http://bit.ly/9fov2k.

Will the forthcoming multi-tasking feature you mentioned for the iPad be a software upgrade or will it require a new device?

It will be a software upgrade, a new version of the operating system—due in November—that is similar to the ones periodically introduced for the iPhone and iPod Touch. It will include other features, including wireless printing. Sometimes such upgrades don’t work on older versions of a hardware product, but as the iPad is in its first generation, it should work on any iPad.

I want to buy a tablet but how do I find one that looks as good as the iPad but offers the out-of-home coverage of my BlackBerry? My community is a dead zone for AT&T wireless, which is the only carrier for the iPad.

BlackBerry PlayBook: One of a wave of iPad alternatives on the way.

I suggest you watch and wait over the next six months. A number of iPad competitors are on the way.

Many will use Google’s Android operating system and some will be sold with cellular data connectivity from carriers other than AT&T.

In addition, Research in Motion, which makes your BlackBerry, has just announced a forthcoming tablet called the BlackBerry PlayBook. The device will use the cellular connectivity in BlackBerry phones.

You can find Mossberg’s Mailbox and Walter Mossberg’s other columns, free online at the All Things Digital website, http://walt.allthingsd.com. Write to him at walt.mossberg@wsj.com

Moving Data to a New PC and Syncing iTunes to Other Smartphones

Walter S. Mossberg — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 22:35:47 +0000

I will be getting a new laptop with Windows 7 Home edition. My current laptop runs XP. What is the most efficient and least painful way to transfer my personal files and programs?

Windows 7 has a transfer assistant, but it moves only files and settings. LapLink has a program, PCmover (http://bit.ly/bETKDz), in versions ranging from $30 to $60, which moves everything. Parallels offers the program Parallels Desktop for Upgrading to Windows 7 (http://bit.ly/9L1Er9), which is either $40 or $50, depending on whether you want an included cable.

I have an iPhone but am contemplating switching phones. I have a MacBook and all my music is in iTunes. Is there another smartphone that will sync my music with iTunes?

The Palm Pre and Pre Plus can work with certain versions of iTunes, though not necessarily the latest. Apple (AAPL) and Palm have gone back and forth, with Apple disabling Palm syncing as it brings out new versions. If you use an older version of iTunes, it may well work. There are products that will sync iTunes music to a variety of smartphones. One is doubleTwist (doubletwist.com). It runs on PCs and Macs and supports Android, Palm, BlackBerry and other devices. Another product that can sync iTunes music to various non-Apple phones is called The Missing Sync (markspace.com). Note that, as far as I know, even if you get iTunes music onto a non-Apple phone, any copy-protected tracks you own won’t play.

Windows XP Closer to Immortality

John Paczkowski — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 14:41:42 +0000

Windows XP has been around for nearly a decade. And it will be another decade before it’s finally retired for good. Microsoft has given the OS yet another reprieve.

The company had planned to end XP downgrade rights with the release of Windows 7 Service Pack 1, which went into beta today, but it has reconsidered in light of the fact that 74 percent of its enterprise customers still use the OS. So today, Microsoft (MSFT) moved that end date further out once again. “Our business customers have told us that removing end-user downgrade rights to Windows XP Professional could be confusing, given the rights change would be made for new PCs preinstalled with Windows 7, and managing a hybrid environment with PCs that have different end-user rights based on date of purchase would be challenging to track,” Microsoft said in a post to the Windows Blog. “Going forward, businesses can continue to purchase new PCs and utilize end user downgrade rights to Windows XP or Windows Vista until they are ready to use Windows 7.”

In other words XP downgrade rights will continue until the end of the Windows 7 life-cycle. That means OEMs could still be selling XP-equipped PCs two years after the introduction of Windows 8, expected by early 2012–astonishing when you recall that the company originally planned to cut off sales of XP on Jan. 30, 2008, one year after Windows Vista debuted.

Microsoft: We're Selling Seven Copies of Windows 7 a Second

John Paczkowski — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 13:54:19 +0000

It took nearly a decade, but it appears that Microsoft (MSFT) has finally developed a worthy heir to Windows XP. Evidently, Windows 7 is proving the commercial success that Windows Vista never was.

At the company’s annual meeting last fall, CEO Steve Ballmer claimed the operating system had sold twice as many units as any OS in a comparable timeframe, though he didn’t offer a hard number. Now, four months later, we have one: Microsoft has sold 150 million copies since the October 2009 launch. And that, as the company notes, makes Windows 7 the fastest-selling operating system in history, with seven copies of Windows 7 sold every second.

If there was pent-up demand created by the poor reception for Windows Vista, Windows 7 seems to have released it–in both the consumer and enterprise markets.

Windows 7 Users "Very Satisfied," but Consumers Still Love XP

Jennifer Valentino-DeVries — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 23:11:56 +0000

Early adopters of Windows 7 are “very satisfied” with the program, but nearly half of consumers surveyed said they saw no reason to upgrade from Windows XP, according to two reports released Monday by Forrester Research (FORR)

The report on Windows 7 users could be good news for Microsoft as it tries to improve customer satisfaction after problems with Windows 7’s predecessor, Vista. But Forrester points out that Microsoft still has “hurdles to leap” in getting people to upgrade.

Windows launched in October of last year and showed strong early sales. The survey used in both Forrester reports was conducted in December and gives a further indication that consumers see Windows 7 as an improvement. More than 80 percent of early adopters rated their satisfaction with the operating system as a 4 or 5 on five-point scale, compared with less than 75 percent for Windows systems overall.

Read the rest of this post on the original site

VirnetX Sues Microsoft a Second Time

John Paczkowski — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 12:10:49 +0000

Now that a Texas jury has found that Windows Vista, Windows XP and Office Communicator infringed its patents, VirnetX Holding has set out to prove that a few other Microsoft products do as well.

Two days after winning a $105.75 million jury verdict against the software giant, VirnetX has filed a new complaint claiming Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 infringe those patents as well. Those products hadn’t yet been released when VirnetX first went after Microsoft, so the company is now circling back, hoping to collect damages for their alleged infringement.

“This is a tactical and procedural post-trial action to ensure and protect our property rights as we proceed to final resolution with Microsoft,” Kendall Larsen, VirnetX president and CEO, wrote in a March 18 statement.

Microsoft (MSFT) has vowed to appeal the first verdict, which it described as “legally and factually unsupported,” and took a similarly dim view of the latest VirnetX assault. “Microsoft respects intellectual property, and we believe our products do not infringe the patents involved,” Microsoft flack Kevin Kutz told the Seattle Post Intelligencer. “Moreover, we believe those patents are invalid. We will challenge VirnetX’s claims.”

To that end, the company has petitioned the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to re-examine the VirnetX patents, evidently with some success. In a preliminary review, the USPTO has found all but one of the VirnetX claims invalid. This doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll be rejected, but for Microsoft, it’s a step in the right direction.

No, the Microsoft Browser Ballot Will Not Include an "I'm Feeling Lucky" Option

John Paczkowski — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 16:26:59 +0000

Microsoft will begin rolling out its “No Browser Left Behind” scheme in Europe next week, offering Windows users a choice of Web browsers, as stipulated by its antitrust settlement with the European Commission.

And so, beginning on Feb. 22, Windows users in the U.K., France and Belgium will be presented with a ballot screen offering them an opportunity to swap out Internet Explorer for one of 11 other browsers from rivals like Mozilla, Apple (AAPL), Opera and Google (GOOG).

“The browser choice screen software update will be offered as an automatic download through Windows Update for Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7,” Microsoft (MSFT) Vice President and Deputy General Counsel Dave Heiner explained in a blog post announcing the move. “The software update will be installed automatically, or will prompt you to download or install it, depending on which operating system you are running and your settings for Windows Update.”

Once that’s done, users will be shown a ballot screen offering the option of installing one of the listed browsers, learning more about them or postponing the browser choice to a later time. Simple enough–assuming that automatic updates is enabled and that they actually care about browser choice.

If that’s the case, many probably dumped IE for an alternative long ago, right?

Anyway, as I said, a limited ballot screen rollout begins next week with full-scale deployment across the rest of Europe a week later, potentially reaching some 170 million PCs. It will be interesting to see how many of them end up switching to a new default browser.

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magicJack: Cheap, Way Overhyped, But Really Works

Walter S. Mossberg — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 02:06:20 +0000

When I see a high-tech product that’s advertised mainly via frequent hard-sell TV ads, as if it were a diet pill, I tend to assume it can’t be very good, especially if its price is absurdly low. So, I haven’t paid much attention to a product called magicJack, a small $40 adapter for your computer that claims to let you make unlimited domestic phone calls over the Internet with your home telephone free for a whole year—and for just $20 a year thereafter.

But after receiving reader requests to review magicJack, I decided to do so. To my surprise, it worked pretty much as advertised. It has a few drawbacks, and extra fees for added services, such as vanity phone numbers. But I found magicJack easy to set up and easy to use, and it yielded decent, if not pristine, call quality. I even tested customer support—a source of complaints online—and found it friendly, fast and responsive.

[ See post to watch video ]

MagicJack looks like an oversized USB flash drive. On one end is a standard USB connector for the PC; on the other is a standard phone jack to plug in a phone. It’s compatible with PCs running Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7, as well as with all Intel-based Macs. It works with both corded and cordless phones, and comes with software for dialing, though you can also dial directly from a connected phone.

The low annual fee covers calls to and from any phone on any telephone network—landline or cellphone—not just phones connected to computers or to other magicJacks. The only restriction is that the numbers called must be in the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands. You can also buy low-cost prepaid international minutes, or take your magicJack abroad to make free calls home. You can move it among different computers and locations.

MagicJack can also be used without a phone handset, via a computer headset or the computer’s built-in microphone and speakers.

YMAX’s magicJack

There’s nothing new about Internet phone calling. Companies like Vonage and Skype have been doing it for years. But magicJack is different. It emphasizes calling to and from phones on regular wired and wireless phone networks, and its prices for calls to and from such non-Internet-connected phones are much lower.

For instance, the lowest plan advertised on Vonage’s (VG) Web site for calling regular phones in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico is $17.99 a month, or about $216 a year, versus magicJack’s $20. And Vonage gives you only 500 minutes a month, while magicJack sets no limit. Skype charges per-minute or monthly fees for calls to regular phones and an added fee to receive incoming calls.

The maker of magicJack says its low prices are possible because the product is produced by a privately held Florida company called YMAX, which is also a phone carrier. The company also runs ads inside its software. You can buy the device at a wide variety of stores, even drugstores and convenience stores.

I tested magicJack on both a PC and a Mac. The software resides inside the magicJack itself and installs each time you connect it.

In my tests, I made and received calls on both computers, using a single landline phone and using a cordless-phone system in my house after plugging its base station into the magicJack. In the latter case, I could make and receive calls from cordless phones all over my house. I exchanged calls with both landline phones and cellphones from the magicJack.

The call quality was good, except for a few times when the connection got scratchy for a second or two. Most of the people I called said they couldn’t tell I wasn’t on a regular call. The system offers voice mail, call forwarding and conference calls, and you can save contacts.

A couple of times I didn’t get an immediate dial tone, and had to hang up and try again.

The biggest downside of the magicJack compared with regular phone service is that you have to be running an Internet-connected computer, with a magicJack installed anytime you want to make or receive calls. Also, as with all Internet phone systems, you have to register your address with 911 emergency systems.

With magicJack, you get a new phone number. The company says it is working on allowing you to port your existing landline number. You can keep your landline number for use on some phones or when you’re not using magicJack.

I found magicJack worked better on Windows than on the Mac. At one point, magicJack customer support had to send me software to patch the Mac version. But the company claims it is fixing that with a new Mac version coming soon.

YMAX also says it plans to roll out this year a Skype-like service that won’t require any magicJack hardware, just a PC or an iPhone. It also plans a new version of magicJack to turn cellphones into wireless magicJack handsets.

I don’t know if those diet pills in the TV ads work. But magicJack does.

Find all of Walt Mossberg’s columns and videos online, free, at the All Things Digital Web site, walt.allthingsd.com. Email him at mossberg@wsj.com.

Erasing Computers for Donation, Office on Netbooks and Installing Windows 7 on an iMac

Walter S. Mossberg — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 21:43:03 +0000

I have an old but serviceable Apple eMac that I would like to give to charity. I have deleted all my files (I think) but am leery of having some of my personal info still retrievable. Would deleting and reloading the OS be of value, or are there other steps to take?

A: For peace of mind, you should use a secure file-wiping utility and erase the entire drive using it. Then, presuming you have the original disks, you can reinstall the operating system.

A file-wiping utility erases files, and then overwrites the portions of the hard disk they occupied, as well as free space on the drive, multiple times, usually with zeroes, so the original contents can’t be recovered.

I don’t know which version of the Mac operating system you have, but the original disks that come with most Macs contain a program called Disk Utility that can do this, if you select the “Erase” option and then the “Erase Free Space” option. You will have to first boot the computer up from the operating system disk.

I just got a netbook and need a free or cheap package to read, edit and create Word, Excel, PowerPoint-compatible files. Would Open Office or Google Docs work? I am open to using an online package.

A:Yes. In my limited testing of both, they have done a good job with typical, basic Microsoft Office documents. I can’t say how they’d perform if your documents are especially complex, but, as the programs are free to use, it’s certainly worth a try.

Can Windows 7 be installed on an iMac? Since many of my old files are from a Windows XP computer, would it be better for me to just purchase and load a copy of Win XP on my new iMac instead of trying Windows 7?

A: Windows 7 can indeed be installed on an iMac. Both the Parallels and VMWare Fusion programs that create virtual Windows computers on Macs now support Windows 7.

As for the data files from your Windows XP computer, there is no reason they shouldn’t run in programs under Windows 7 unless they require some older Windows program that isn’t compatible with Windows 7.

However, if you install Parallels or Fusion, you can also opt to set up two virtual Windows machines, one with Windows 7 and one with Windows XP. The only downside is that you’d have to buy and install copies of both versions of Windows.

I should also note that most common file types, like MP3 music files, text files, Microsoft Word files, and JPG picture files, can be handled by Mac programs without installing Windows.

You can find Mossberg’s Mailbox, and my other columns, online for free at the All Things Digital web site, http://walt.allthingsd.com.

Sales of Windows Through China’s, Ahem, "Local Distribution Network" Will, of Course, Continue…

John Paczkowski — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:45:42 +0000

Well, this is ironic: Microsoft has been found guilty of violating intellectual property rights in a nation where 82 percent of all software is pirated, a nation that is home to a counterfeiting syndicate that in 2007 was busted for manufacturing and distributing more than $2 billion worth of counterfeit Microsoft software.

A Chinese court has ordered the software giant to stop producing and selling versions of its Windows OS that include Chinese fonts developed by a local software company. Microsoft’s (MSFT) use of two Chinese fonts developed by Zhongyi Electronic, a Beijing-based software company, was not covered by the licensing agreement between the two, the court found, and therefore infringed on Zhongyi’s rights. And so Microsoft must pull from the shelves Chinese language editions of Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003.

“By winning this case against an internationally well-known company like Microsoft, it shows that China, although still a developing country, is taking positive steps to protect intellectual property rights,” an attorney for Zhongyi Electronic told Reuters.

Microsoft, for its part, insists its agreement with Zhongyi covered its use of the fonts at issue and plans to appeal the decision. “Microsoft respects intellectual property rights,” the company said in a statement. “We use third party IPs only when we have a legitimate right to do so.”

And if Microsoft should fail in its appeal? Well, piracy is so rampant in China, a court order preventing the company from selling certain versions of Windows isn’t exactly going to hamstring Microsoft’s business. “The majority of operating systems in the market today are illegal copies, and the ones that are Zhongyi-related have an even smaller share of the market,” Analysys International analyst Edward Yu explains. “So I don’t think it will have much impact on Microsoft’s business.”

Netbooks That Are Easier on the Eye

Katherine Boehret — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:07:40 +0000

Like clockwork, retailers were ready for Microsoft Corp.’s (MSFT) Windows 7 release last week with new desktops, laptops and netbooks, those inexpensive, smaller laptops that have become popular in the past year. Included in this selection of netbooks are some that improved the poor screen resolutions that have plagued these tiny PCs.

[ See post to watch video ]

Screen resolution isn’t the same as the size of the screen itself. Rather, it is related to the number of pixels—or distinct dots—on a display, and an indication of how much material can be seen on the screen without scrolling. A higher-resolution screen allows you to see more of a Web page, spreadsheet or list of emails than a lower-resolution screen, even if both are the same physical size.

Because higher-resolution screens cost more, most netbooks come with low-resolution screens to keep prices down. But poor resolution combined with a small netbook screen results in frustrating visuals, like Web pages that display just a small portion of their contents, forcing you to scroll down or horizontally to see the rest of the page.

This week, I tested two Windows 7 netbooks with unusually high-res screens: Hewlett-Packard Co.’s (HPQ) HP Mini 311 with an 11.6-inch screen and a resolution of 1,366-by-768 pixels, and Nokia Corp.’s (NOK) Booklet 3G with a 10.1-inch screen and a resolution of 1,280-by-720-pixels. Both these small computers display the bulk of most Web pages without any scrolling necessary—a big relief on a netbook.

Though high-resolution screens make these netbooks easier on the eyes than others, I still had trouble adjusting to their shrunken features. I liked typing on the HP Mini’s generous keyboard, which H-P says is 92 percent of full size. But its touchpad buttons felt stiff and uncomfortably located at the edge of the computer. The Nokia Booklet had the opposite problem: Its touchpad and buttons worked fine, but its tiny keys made me feel like I was typing on a kiddie computer.

Nokia’s Booklet 3G has a long battery life and sleek design.

Nokia is a bit more of a newsmaker here, because when the Booklet 3G (nokiausa.com) comes out in mid-November, it will be the first foray by the Finnish mobile-device company into the laptop space. Best Buy (BBY) began taking advance orders for them this week. It costs $300 if purchased with AT&T Inc.’s (T) two-year Data Connect plan, which costs $60 a month for five gigabytes of data and allows users to toggle back and forth between two kinds of wireless connections, cellular 3G and Wi-Fi. If purchased without the AT&T plan, the Booklet 3G costs $600—a lot for a netbook—including only Windows 7 Starter, the low-end version of the new OS, and one gigabyte of memory.

The thing most people will notice right away about Nokia’s netbook is that it seems to take its design cues directly from Apple Inc. (AAPL) Like the MacBook Pro, the Nokia Booklet 3G is made from a single piece of aluminum, and its keyboard is made of black Chiclet-style keys. Its edges are rounded and smooth. I used one with a glossy black lid, but it will also come in shades of ice white or azure blue.

Nokia boasts that this netbook’s battery will last for 12 hours; after running it through a harsh test with its screen cranked up to the brightest setting, Wi-Fi on, music playing on a continuous loop and all power-saving features turned off, it ran for almost eight hours straight. This means that under normal circumstances, the battery might last for a remarkable 10 hours.

The Booklet 3G that I used differs from Nokia’s final release version in a few ways: Mine wasn’t loaded with AT&T’s Connection Manager software, which enables switching between Wi-Fi and 3G; it lacked the Nokia Social Hub software, which the company says allows users to track social-media feeds and text messages; and the GPS wasn’t yet connected to the U.S. map data server. My Booklet 3G included Ovi Suite, a Nokia-designed software program to bridge the connection between some Nokia smartphones and the Booklet 3G, like iTunes for the iPhone or BlackBerry’s Desktop Manager. But the software I had wasn’t the final version.

Unlike Nokia, H-P is no stranger to netbooks, having released nine of its Mini models in the past year. The HP Mini 311 (hp.com/go/mini) costs $400 when purchased with Windows XP and costs an additional $50 when loaded with Windows 7 Home Premium. The Mini that I tested costs $474 because it also had two gigabytes of memory rather than one gigabyte.

The H-P model is a little bigger all around compared with the Nokia, with an inch-larger screen; it weighs 3.22 pounds compared with 2.76 pounds for the Nokia. Both felt relatively thin and light, and I carried them home together from my office with ease. The HP Mini 311 had H-P’s subtle Black Swirl pattern on its lid—a faint pattern of silver swirls noticeable only at certain angles. It also comes in White Swirl.

I ran the same battery test on the HP as I did with the Nokia, and it lasted four hours and 15 minutes, giving it roughly six hours of juice under normal circumstances. H-P estimates that the Mini 311′s battery will last for six hours and 25 minutes.

I didn’t run into any problems while installing and using several programs on each of these netbooks, including Windows Live Essentials, Mozilla’s Firefox browser, Picasa 3, TweetDeck, Adobe (ADBE) Reader and iTunes. The HP Mini felt more responsive and, in fact, loaded some programs a little faster, but it had twice the memory.

Both netbooks have slots for memory cards, HDMI ports for connecting to HD screens and three USB ports. And they come with built-in Web cams, a common feature on netbooks.

A cold start on both the Mini 311 and Booklet 3G required roughly the same amount of time: one minute and eight seconds for the H-P, and a minute and 12 seconds for the Nokia. But restarting was a different story. While playing a song in iTunes, running three Web pages in Firefox and using TweetDeck, I selected Restart. The HP Mini 311 took a minute and 20 seconds while the Nokia took nearly two minutes.

Even without the AT&T discount, the Nokia Booklet 3G’s extra-long battery life and sleek design will be worth the extra money for some people—just beware its tiny keyboard. The HP Mini 311 is a good all-around netbook with a comfortable keyboard for typing. No one will be disappointed by the terrific screen resolutions.

-Edited by Walter S. Mossberg

Write to Katherine Boehret at mossbergsolution@wsj.com

Apple Ads' New Target: Windows 7 (See the Videos!)

Kara Swisher — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 02:56:34 +0000

Here are the three new Apple (AAPL) commercials trying to take a smack at the launch of Windows 7 (MSFT), the new operating system software from Microsoft.

The “Get a Mac” advertising features the PC and Mac guys, as usual, but are quite a bit meaner than usual.

The first, titled “Broken Promises,” is a series of flashbacks to promises made about earlier Windows versions, complete with flip sunglasses.

The second, “Teeter Tottering,” has a Windows user switching over to Mac instead of upgrading from Windows XP. “I could stick with what I know, but what I know is pain and frustration,” she says. Ouch!

The third commercial, called “PC News,” has the PC guy as a television anchor, talking to a reporter at the Windows 7 launch, to disastrous results.

Here are the new videos (and you can see all the Apple ads here):

Windows 7 Upgrade Made Easy

Katherine Boehret — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 22:16:03 +0000

Windows 7, Microsoft Corp.’s new operating system due out next week, is giving the company a lot to be happy about. By early reports, it’s fast, easy on the eyes and fixes most of the problems that plagued its predecessor, Vista. But while Microsoft (MSFT) employees are doing the dance of joy, some consumers are confused and scared about the prospect of upgrading their computers to Windows 7.

[ See post to watch video ]

The upgrade from Windows XP to Windows 7 is particularly daunting because it requires first wiping the computer’s hard disk to perform what’s called a “custom” or “clean” install. This clears out the old operating system—as well as all of your programs, files and settings. To save personal files, XP users must back them up first, typically on an external hard disk, then transfer them back. Programs, however, will be lost altogether, so users must re-install these using their original CDs or installation files, and then also re-install all the program updates they’ve accumulated over the years.

People upgrading to Windows 7 from Vista may have it easier. In some common cases, they can upgrade to Windows 7 “in place,” which means they can save programs, files and settings right where they were. But since Vista was such a dud, many Windows users still use XP.

This week, I tested a program that tries to make the upgrade to Windows 7 just as easy for XP users as it is for some Vista users. I tested Laplink Software Inc.’s PCmover Windows 7 Upgrade Assistant (http://bit.ly/JeafI), a $15 program that saves programs, files and settings on the computer in a place that won’t be affected by the installation of Windows. This eliminates the hassle of using an external hard disk or re-installing programs. The company uses the analogy of a moving van to load up your computer’s information, storing it locally until it can be unloaded again on the same PC with a new operating system.

I tested this program using an Acer Aspire One netbook running Windows XP. It took me two hours from start to finish, a three-part process of installing the Upgrade Assistant, installing Windows 7, and then re-installing the PCmover program. I followed instructions and the process of upgrading was really quite easy, showing me the programs and files (photos, videos and documents) I had on my old operating system.

Afterward, I did have to dig around on my computer a little bit to make some adjustments, like fixing Apple’s (AAPL) iTunes music program so it opened in Windows 7. And I found it a little annoying that, throughout the process, the Upgrade Assistant tried to get me to buy more software programs, like RegistryBooster and DiskImage, by saying the programs would better prepare my old PC for the switch.

Laplink’s $15 PCmover Windows 7 Upgrade Assistant helps smooth the way for some XP users to upgrade to Windows 7.

The Upgrade Assistant also works with PCs running Vista. Microsoft offers an in-place upgrade option from Vista to 7, but this mainly works for people transferring from an identical version of Vista to an identical version of 7, like Windows Vista 32-bit Home Premium to Windows 7 32-bit Home Premium.

This program won’t magically fix every upgrade issue you face. If you bought your computer many years ago, it may not be able to run Windows 7 at all, because the hardware may be insufficient.

Another problem is that most netbooks and some laptops don’t come with built-in disk drives, making it a challenge to install Windows 7, since it comes on a DVD. I had to call around town to find a Radio Shack selling an external DVD disk drive that plugged into my Acer netbook via a USB cord.

Some security software programs, like that from McAfee Inc. (MFE) and Symantec Corp.’s (SYMC) Norton Antivirus, may not transfer over to Windows 7, though you should be able to manually install them after the migration.

When first installing the Upgrade Assistant, you can choose to do a full migration (files, settings and programs); just move files and settings; move files only; or perform a custom migration. You also can specify which user accounts to include or exclude and you can opt to exclude certain types of files, like temporary files.

After the PCmover program assessed the contents of my PC, it explained that it was packing my content into a “moving van”—a file for holding the content—and offered to break the moving van’s content into smaller parts for people who have storage limitations while transferring.

It’s a little nerve-wracking to think about transferring your computer’s entire contents over without being able to see where the files are going. At least on an external hard disk, you feel like the files are stored on something tangible and accessible—even if some step in the migration goes terribly wrong and the laptop never starts again, however unlikely.

After installing Windows 7 and then re-installing the PCmover program, I was finished. The next time I turned on the PC, a program called StartUp immediately started to run. This appeared to show me a list of programs that automatically ran on my old operating system but which PCmover disabled from running automatically on Windows 7. A quick step allowed programs that I selected to automatically run again.

One thing to note as you upgrade from Windows XP is that your PC may not be equipped to deliver the full Windows 7 experience. Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor Beta, Microsoft’s own tool, analyzes what will and won’t work properly when the newest version of Windows installs. The Upgrade Advisor warned me that Windows Aero, the name used for some of the gorgeous visuals in Windows 7, wasn’t capable of working with my netbook’s graphics adapter. Sure enough, Aero’s ability to show tiny, pop-up previews of programs that are running in your taskbar as you hover over them didn’t work. Instead, the names of the files and programs appeared in text-only preview panes.

The downloadable version of the Upgrade Assistant is now $15 for one license to use on one PC—a special pre-release price before Windows 7 is available Oct. 22. After that, the downloadable version will cost $20 from Laplink.com for one license to use on one PC. If you would rather not download this program, it also will be available for purchase in retail stores by the end of October. Of course, you also will have to buy a copy of Windows 7; the version most consumers will want is called Home Premium and it costs $120 as an upgrade.

If you are considering Windows 7 and you are currently using Windows XP on a relatively new PC, a simpler and better-organized migration process is worth the nominal price of Laplink’s PCmover Windows 7 Upgrade Assistant.

Edited by Walter. S. Mossberg

Write to Katherine Boehret at mossbergsolution@wsj.com

Countertrend: H-P Says Please Print Often

Katherine Boehret — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 23:18:02 +0000

If your company makes printers but general trends are leaning toward using less paper and moving digital content to e-readers and smartphones, what can you do? Hewlett-Packard’s solution is to find new ways to get people to print more.

The $399 H-P Photosmart Premium All-in-One with Touch-Smart Web (hp.com/go/touchprinting) will print, copy, fax and scan like other all-in-ones. But it connects to the Internet using built-in Wi-Fi and displays customized Web applications on its 4.33-inch touch screen. These apps are designed to promote printing in any way possible, including photos from Snapfish, Sudoku puzzles, movie tickets from Fandango, coupons, maps from Google (GOOG) Maps, coloring-book pages and news articles—all without using a computer.

[ See post to watch video ]

The print apps are part of the new H-P App Studio, H-P’s (HPQ) answer to the flurry of app stores—Apple’s (AAPL) App Store, RIM’s (RIMM) BlackBerry World, Android Marketplace, Palm’s (PALM) App Catalog and Microsoft’s (MSFT) Zune Marketplace—that ease the process of downloading onto mobile devices. A “Get More” icon on the printer’s touch screen presents descriptions of available apps. There are currently 15 available for download onto your printer, and more will be added in coming months.

The Photosmart All-in-One connects to Web apps that promote printing of everything from photos to tickets.

This printer is designed to work with more than just the H-P App Studio. A downloadable tool called the H-P Photo Print Gadget installs on computers running Windows 7 or Vista (not Windows XP) so people can drag and drop photos to it for printing. PlayStation 3 owners can capture and print screen shots as evidence of their game success. And a long-available free app in Apple’s App Store called H-P iPrint Photo lets iPhone and iPod Touch owners send photos to this and other H-P printers.

The goal of this product is obviously to get people to print more, and in my case, it worked. I used more paper in a week of testing the Photosmart Premium All-in-One than I normally print out in three weeks at my office. The printer quickly churned out dual-sided pages with photos in rich colors.

But the concept of adding apps to a printer while also asking people to become more paper-reliant seems like one step forward, two steps back. I could see this concept working on a thin, stylish printer that could fit neatly on an entryway table, making it a cinch for people to grab maps, movie tickets and coupons on their way out the door. But this is a large, all-in-one machine that takes up some serious space.

And if this all-in-one is truly meant to work without a PC, it should do a better job of letting you interact with pages, like zooming in on a document to preview before printing. In the current document preview screen, the text is too small to read. Likewise, the Google Calendar app printed a nice one-page calendar month view, but I couldn’t zoom in on the print preview to see specific appointments. This forced me to print the page to see its contents, using more ink and more paper.

Other apps are shamelessly begging users to press Print. A Toys and Crafts app made by H-P itself includes paper dolls with cut-out clothes that can be snipped and folded to stay on the doll’s form. For the doll’s face, kids are encouraged to use a photo of themselves that–surprise, surprise—they can print using their all-in-one.

Coupons.com supplies two apps—one for coupons and one for recipes. I browsed through 87 product coupons in my ZIP Code and marked those that I wanted to print using a small check-box on the touch screen. Pressing “Print” compiled three coupons on one piece of paper. Recipes from Coupons.com printed with brightly colored photos of the end result; I’m looking forward to following one for Curried Chicken Salad.

For now, the Google Maps app isn’t ready for prime time: It prints only maps, not directions. H-P says it’s planning to add directions but wouldn’t say when. And a Nickelodeon app couldn’t load on my printer. Some apps took from 10 to 30 seconds to load—precious time when you’re running out the door.

One of the smartest apps, Tabbloid, lets people assemble a personalized tabloid-style print-out of news from a variety of sources like Daily Kos for politics and FanHouse for sports. But this assembling must be done on a computer, thus negating this printer’s no-PC approach. I chose from a list of 10 topics including automotive, celebrity, politics and sports and created a printable Tabbloid that, with one click, was sent wirelessly to the corresponding app on my printer. I printed it out to read during my commute.

I liked using the Photosmart Premium All-in-One’s generous screen for touch gestures like flicking left-to-right through a carousel of icons that represent apps. An on-screen keyboard appeared when I had to type in passwords for things like my Snapfish account.

H-P says it will introduce other products with TouchSmart Web capability and access to the HP App Studio, and one hopes these products will include low-end printers rather than expensive all-in-ones. The apps on the H-P Photosmart Premium All-in-One with TouchSmart Web are user-friendly, but I’m not convinced they’ll incite people to print more things more often.

Edited by Walter S. Mossberg.

Write to Katherine Boehret at mossbergsolution@wsj.com

Cheap Windows 7 Headed for College Campuses

Nick Wingfield — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 21:19:23 +0000

Microsoft (MSFT) is about to find out whether it can prevent further defections to the Macintosh among college students by charging less for Windows 7 than a typical textbook.

On Thursday, the company announced on Twitter that college students in the U.S. can upgrade their PCs to Windows 7 Home Premium edition for only $29.99, as long as they have a genuine copy of Windows XP or Vista already installed on their systems. That’s a quarter of the $119.99 Microsoft currently charges everyone else for an upgrade to the same version of Windows 7.

The details about the offer are on a special Web site Microsoft set up. There are a couple of catches: Customers have to have a dot-edu email address to prove they’re affiliated with a college, and their $29.99 buys them a version of Windows 7 that they can download Oct. 22 when the operating system becomes available, not a DVD.

Read the rest of this post on the original site

Home Delivery: The New York Times Serves Up Some Malware

Peter Kafka — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 19:57:37 +0000

Here’s a front-page story the New York Times (NYT) would rather not be running: The paper is warning readers to be aware of bogus ads running on its Web site.

The paper says “some readers” have seen unauthorized pop-up ads promoting antivirus software on NYTimes.com, and warns visitors who see the ad not to click on it but to restart their browsers instead. While the Times doesn’t spell this out, the newspaper has likely had its site hijacked by a “malware” scammer who is trying to trick visitors into installing pernicious software onto their hard drives.

MediaMemo reader Tim Minter passed along an image of the pop-up below (click to enlarge). Here’s his description of the way it appeared on his desktop:

The ad hijack[ed] my computer. Say I’m reading an article (the Clean Water Act was the one that caught me). It then redirects my browser involuntarily to sex-and-the-city.cn. That site then redirects to the ad I screen-captured.

At no time did I click anything. That’s what is so nefarious about this malware.

Thankfully, since I run OS X, I knew immediately it was malware (seeing WindowsXP on a Mac where that’s not installed is suspicious).

You generally have to travel farther down the Internet publishing food chain to find this kind of bogus ad–go hunting for porn and/or illegal downloads, for instance, and you’ll find plenty of this stuff.

But Web advertising is still a wild and woolly place, and this type of thing still plagues high-end publishers too. Sometimes it’s the fault of ad networks the publishers use to move their unsold inventory; sometimes the bogus ads are bought directly from the publishers themselves.

I’ve asked both the Times PR staff and ad tech team for additional information about the ads, but haven’t heard back yet. Still, you have to give the paper credit for flagging this on its front page at all.

UPDATE: The Times’ explanation: A hacker duped the paper by buying the ad directly from the paper’s sales staff, then disguising it as a legit ad for a week.

Keeping Files In Sync

Walter S. Mossberg — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 22:02:02 +0000

My wife and I each use a different Windows laptop, so we end up having documents scattered between them. We back up data using a wired external hard drive, not knowing what has been saved where. Is there a solution that can allow file sharing and keep my files, my wife’s files, and the backup files synced up?

There are networked hard drives from several manufacturers that can back up both laptops wirelessly and allow sharing. One I reviewed recently is the My Book World Edition from Western Digital. Another approach would be to use a Web-based synchronization service. My favorite of these is called SugarSync, from a company called Sharpcast.

SugarSync can automatically, and almost instantly, synchronize files in folders you select among multiple computers, while also backing them up to a password-protected Web account. SugarSync starts at $5 a month or $50 a year for 30 gigabytes of files, and goes up in price based on the amount you use. The company offers a free two-gigabyte account and a free trial of larger accounts for 30 days. More information is at sharpcast.com.

I have been a Windows user for may years but have wanted to change to Mac. Yet every article I read says that Quicken, which I depend upon heavily, will not run—at least reliably—on a Mac, even with the Windows-compatible software. Is this true?

The native Quicken version for the Mac is a less capable program than the Windows version, and doesn’t use the same file format, which makes importing Windows Quicken files a tedious and imperfect process for many users. Intuit, the maker of Quicken, is promising a new, much better native Mac version early next year that it claims will solve these problems, but I haven’t tested it, so I can’t verify that pledge.

However, in tests I have run periodically, Quicken for Windows ran just fine on a Mac equipped to run Windows and Windows programs. This was true when I used either Parallels or Fusion, which allow you to run Windows programs on a Mac simultaneously with Mac programs; or when I used Boot Camp, which converts the Mac into a full-fledged Windows machine, with Apple’s operating system turned off.

I plan to get a new computer after Windows 7 is released in October, to replace my old Compaq running Windows XP. Will I have difficulty moving my files to the new one?

You shouldn’t have much difficulty with your personal data files. Microsoft is building in an Easy Transfer program to move personal files to a new Windows 7 PC. But the Microsoft program won’t move over your programs. You will have to reinstall all your programs, which means finding your installation disks or installer files and re-installing all the updates from that have occurred over the years. A company called LapLink is promising to sell software it says will automate the entire process, including moving programs, to spare you this re-installation burden. But it isn’t out yet, and I haven’t tested it with Windows 7.

You can find Mossberg’s Mailbox and my other columns at the All Things Digital Web site, http://walt.allthingsd.com.

Snow Leopard, Windows 7 and Netbooks

Walter S. Mossberg — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 21:56:01 +0000

Am I correct that my iMac G5 can’t use Apple’s new Snow Leopard operating system? And, if so, why isn’t this just as bad as Microsoft’s making it hard for Windows XP users to upgrade to its new Windows 7 operating system?

Yes, you are correct. Snow Leopard is the first Apple OS version that runs only on Intel-powered Macs, and your iMac runs on the G5 processor, which isn’t an Intel chip.

As for the comparison with Microsoft’s policy: In one way, Apple’s approach is much worse. It is totally cutting off some of its user base from the new OS, including some folks with machines as little as 3 years old. Microsoft isn’t making it impossible for XP owners to move to Windows 7— it’s merely making it so painful, tedious and complicated to upgrade that many non-techies who want Windows 7 may give up and feel compelled to buy new PCs. On the other hand, Apple’s policy affects a smaller proportion of its customers. Only about 20% of its users still use older, non-Intel-based Macs. By contrast, Microsoft’s policy affects a much greater percentage of Windows users, since, despite its advanced age, Windows XP is still the most commonly used version of its OS.

A few years ago Microsoft used a code name of Longhorn for the operating system which ultimately was released as “Vista.” Will Windows 7 have a real name upon release?

The real name of Windows 7 is: Windows 7. It’s not a temporary code name, like “Longhorn” was. The product will be officially called Windows 7 when it comes out on Oct. 22.

Is it possible to connect a netbook directly to a larger PC to transfer data? The data I am interested in would be Word documents, Excel files, a limited number of photos and music files, and other personal files.

While I haven’t tested it, I assume that, since a netbook is just a small, cheap, standard Windows laptop, you could use Microsoft’s built-in file-transfer utilities to accomplish this, provided you use the right cable. In Windows XP, the operating system on most netbooks and most other PCs in use, this is called the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard. In Vista, and the forthcoming Windows 7, it’s called Windows Easy Transfer.

You can find Mossberg’s Mailbox, and my other columns, online for free at the All Things Digital Web site, http://walt.allthingsd.com.

Apple Changes Leopard’s Spots

Walter S. Mossberg — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 02:01:13 +0000

For a company known for breakthrough products with cool features, Apple this week is doing something unusual: It is introducing a key product with very few new features that are visible to its users. This new release, the latest major version of the Macintosh operating system, looks and works almost exactly the same as its predecessor, but has been heavily re-engineered under the covers for greater speed and efficiency, and to add future-oriented core technologies.

The new software, called Snow Leopard, succeeds Apple’s 2007-vintage Leopard, which I regard as the best computer operating system out there, and markedly superior to its main rival, Microsoft’s Windows Vista. Snow Leopard goes on sale Friday, Aug. 28, and will be pre-installed on all new Macintosh computers.

[ See post to watch video ]

The company, which often proclaims its new releases as revolutionary, has been very low key about Snow Leopard. For many months, Apple (AAPL) has made it clear the new OS wouldn’t sport new eye-popping features, but would instead be focused on what it calls “refinements” and “fine-tuning.” Perhaps its biggest new feature is something only a minority of Mac owners will ever use: built-in compatibility with Microsoft’s Exchange corporate email, calendar and contacts service.

Snow Leopard is priced accordingly, at just $29 for people upgrading from Leopard. That’s $100 less than what Leopard cost. And it’s $90 less than what Microsoft plans to charge upgraders for the main consumer version of its next version of Windows, called Windows 7, which is due out Oct. 22. Windows 7 is also an iteration on its predecessor, rather than a revolutionary new product, though it has some nice tweaks and will be a more dramatic improvement due to Vista’s failings. I’ll have a full review of it closer to its release.

I’ve been testing Snow Leopard on three Macs—an older desktop and a laptop of my own that I upgraded from Leopard, and a new MacBook Pro laptop Apple lent me for testing with Snow Leopard pre-installed. I found Snow Leopard easy to install, faster than Leopard, compatible with my most commonly used software and peripherals, and filled with a number of small, useful refinements and additions.

One delightful change: Snow Leopard takes up less than half the room on a hard disk that Leopard did, and Apple says the average user who upgrades will free up about 7 gigabytes of space. On my 2008-vintage MacBook Pro, I gained back a whopping 14 gigabytes.

But I also encountered a number of bugs and glitches, and a few incompatibilities, including a wildly wrong guess by Snow Leopard about which driver to use for an older, lightly used printer on one of my upgraded Macs. (It did fine with my main printer.)

Overall, I believe Snow Leopard will help keep the Mac an appealing choice for computer buyers, and I can recommend it to existing Mac owners seeking more speed and disk space, or wanting to more easily use Exchange. But I don’t consider Snow Leopard a must-have upgrade for average consumers. It’s more of a nice-to-have upgrade. If you’re happy with Leopard, there’s no reason to rush out and get Snow Leopard.

For some current Mac owners, Snow Leopard isn’t an option. About 20% of them are still using older models that aren’t powered by the Intel (INTC) processors Apple currently uses. Snow Leopard simply won’t work on these machines, including models designated as G4 or G5 and sold as recently as 2006.

And, for owners of Intel-based Macs who are still using the older Tiger version of the Mac OS, Apple is officially making Snow Leopard available only in a “boxed set” that includes other software and costs $169. The reasoning is that these folks never paid the $129 back in 2007 to upgrade to Leopard. But here’s a tip: Apple concedes that the $29 Snow Leopard upgrade will work properly on these Tiger-equipped Macs, so you can save the extra $140.

Here’s a quick rundown of what I found in testing Snow Leopard:

Installation

Snow Leopard comes in one version, rather than the multiple operating system versions favored by Microsoft (MSFT). And that single version handles hardware and software based on both a standard computer technology, called 32-bit, and a newer one, called 64-bit, which can use much more memory and is faster.

Both my desktop and laptop Macs converted to Snow Leopard quickly and smoothly, in about 45 minutes each. Unlike the upgrade process Microsoft is requiring to get to Windows 7 from Windows XP, the Snow Leopard upgrade preserves all your files, settings and programs where they previously existed, right down to your desktop icons and wallpaper. No disk wiping, file moving, or program re-installation is required. And, as noted above, you actually gain disk space, because Apple has slimmed down the OS and also automatically removes or compresses old system files (not your personal data) that are no longer needed or used often.

However, I did run into a couple of minor problems: on one of my Macs, a screen saver displaying certain of my photos didn’t work after the switch. Other photos did work. Apple says this is a bug it will fix.

Speed

After changing to Snow Leopard, my Macs worked faster. I already considered them pretty speedy, so the overall effect wasn’t mind-blowing. But Snow Leopard’s built-in programs, like Mail, the Safari browser, and the Finder—Apple’s equivalent of the Windows Explorer—have all been rewritten behind the scenes, so these and other specific features are now a lot quicker. I found that email folders stuffed with thousands of messages opened almost instantly, and copying files was noticeably faster, even when the destination was on the Internet or a network. The Safari 4 browser, already very fast with Leopard, is even speedier under Snow Leopard, especially on more complex Web sites that use a popular technology called Javascript.

New Features

True to its word, Apple has built few new features into Snow Leopard, and, except for Exchange (explained below), these are small. One touted feature is called Dock Expose, which allows you to see small versions of all the open windows in any running program by clicking on its icon in the Dock at the bottom of the screen. But this is mostly a reworking of a feature that already has been on the Mac.

Apple’s QuickTime video player has been upgraded, with a clean new interface for playback, and the new ability to record and trim videos. Icons can be more easily enlarged, and you can preview the files they represent, even playing videos in miniature or paging through multipage PDF or PowerPoint files.

My three favorite tweaks, barely mentioned by Apple:

“Substitutions,” which is like the auto-correct feature in Microsoft Word, but extends the concept to Apple’s email and other programs;
the ability for Snow Leopard to automatically reset the time zone on the Mac’s clock based on your location while traveling;
and a new built-in function in QuickTime that allows you to record videos of actions you take on the Mac’s screen.

Exchange

Although Exchange is a widely used Microsoft server product, employed by many, many companies to manage employees’ email, calendars, and contacts, it isn’t built into Windows. To use Exchange, you have to buy add-on software, usually Microsoft’s Outlook for Windows PCs. It also hasn’t been built into the Mac OS, and usually required Mac owners to buy Microsoft’s Entourage program. But, with Snow Leopard, Apple is building Exchange right into the operating system, so it works with Apple’s free, built-in email, calendar and contact programs.

With the generous help of my company’s IT folks, I tested this feature, and it worked very well. All my corporate information flowed into Apple’s programs, very quickly, and I could search the company directory, check the calendars of people with whom I wished to schedule meetings, and more.

However, Apple makes setting up this new feature look simpler than it is. In most cases, I believe, it will require the time and cooperation of corporate IT personnel, who will need time to learn it—especially since, at many companies, relatively few of these folks are Mac experts. In my case, an Apple employee had to help my IT colleagues and me to get it going. But you likely won’t have that aid.

Compatibility and Glitches

Commonly used third-party programs, like the Mac versions of Microsoft Office, the Firefox browser, and Adobe Reader, all worked fine in my tests after the upgrade. But a few things didn’t. Apple admitted I had found a few bugs and said that some software makers will have to upgrade their software because the programs rely on under-the-hood components that have changed in Snow Leopard.

VMware’s Fusion program for running Windows simultaneously with the Mac operating system worked, and I was able to use Windows. But it was a bit glitchy. VMware (VMW) provided me with a forthcoming new version tailored for Snow Leopard’s changed underlying architecture, which worked perfectly.

A Cisco (CSCO) program used to connect to corporate virtual private networks caused one of my test machines to completely crash, a rarity on Macs. But Snow Leopard now contains the same Cisco VPN connector as a built-in feature, and that worked perfectly.

Snow Leopard didn’t properly recognize my older-model Verizon (VZ) cellular modem card, though I was still able to use the card by digging into Apple’s network preferences screen. Apple says this is a bug it will fix.

As noted above, Snow Leopard didn’t work at first with an older networked printer on one of my test Macs, and thought it was a laser printer instead of an inkjet. I did get it working, by manually selecting a different printer driver, but Apple admits this is a bug it will have to fix.

Finally, the Time Machine backup file on one of my Macs stopped working. With my permission, Apple examined the file using a diagnostic tool and claimed it had become corrupted a couple of months ago, before the upgrade, and that Snow Leopard merely exposed the problem. I have no way of knowing if this is true, but Time Machine did work perfectly on the two other test Macs.

Underlying Technologies

In addition to greater 64-bit capability, Snow Leopard has two other big under-the-hood additions. One, called Grand Central Dispatch, makes it easier for developers to write programs that make better use of the multiple “cores,” or processing units, in modern processors. The other, called OpenCL, makes it easier for developers to offload some non-graphics tasks to today’s potent graphics chips. These are very important, especially for power-hungry tasks like video production and high-end gaming, but Microsoft is building similar capabilities into Windows 7, and they won’t really matter on either platform until third-party developers make use of them, which will take time.

Bottom Line

Apple already had the best computer operating system in Leopard, and Snow Leopard makes it a little better. But it isn’t a big breakthrough for average users, and, even at $29, it isn’t a typical Apple lust-provoking product.

Find Walt Mossberg’s columns and videos online, free, at the All Things Digital Web site, walt.allthingsd.com. Email him at mossberg@wsj.com.

New Operating Systems and DriveSharp

Walter S. Mossberg — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 23:02:39 +0000

I enjoyed your columns on Windows 7 and Snow Leopard upgrades, but I’m wondering about the case of a Mac user who runs both platforms, e.g., Leopard and Windows XP or Vista?

Such a user would be able to upgrade to, and run, both new operating systems on the same Mac. Microsoft says Windows 7 will be licensed to work within a virtual machine on a Mac—a faux Windows computer—just like XP and Vista can. Apple also plans to offer Windows 7 drivers for its hardware after the new Microsoft system comes out on Oct. 22, so that users who wish to use its Boot Camp system for running Windows on a Mac can use the new Windows.

You can choose to keep running older versions of Windows on Macs equipped with Snow Leopard, or, presumably, run Windows 7 on Macs that still run Leopard. But note that if you do upgrade a copy of Windows to Windows 7 running on a Mac—even if it’s in a virtual machine—you must follow the same, sometimes painful, process that faces owners of standard Windows computers.

I am color blind and am wondering if the DriveSharp driving improvement software you reviewed last week involves identifying colors as part of the learning process.

Yes, it does. Both of the program’s training exercises, which hone users’ abilities to track multiple moving objects and to expand their fields of vision, do rely to some extent on distinguishing colors.

You can find Mossberg’s Mailbox, and my other columns, online for free at the All Things Digital web site, http://walt.allthingsd.com.