With Summer Will Come Windows 7: Upgrade Considerations For XP and Vista Users

Microsoft's next Windows Operating System, Windows 7 will be released sometime this summer (expectations are July). Whether you're using Windows XP or Windows Vista, you'll have the option of upgrading to Windows 7 (instead of having to purchase a full clean install package), and of course licensing cost and upgrade path will be different for XP vs. Vista.
Common sense dictates that Windows XP users will have more issues to consider than will Vista users, since hardware and driver compatibility gaps are bigger and more numerous with XP than with Vista. As far as pricing for the upgrade paths from either XP or Vista, nothing is announced yet, but prevailing opinion is that users of XP will pay more to license Windows 7 for upgrade than Vista users, but still not as much as full retail price for a new copy of Windows 7.
If you'd like to find out more, here's a really informative article over at Ars Technica.

Coming Soon: My first impressions of a design & publish software; Canvas 11, Do you Twitter and Tweet?

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Find PDF Copies of Owner's Manuals at OwnerIQ

For every gadget, appliance, and machine there is an owner's manual. You've probably got a few dozen laying around your home (or stashed neatly away in a file for easy reference). If you're like many people, you probably have fewer manuals than you should...because we're human and sometimes we lose things. Maybe you're one of the proud few who've never lost an owner's manual in your life (good for you). Whichever the case, you'll want to consider popping over to OwnerIQ, a website that lets you download owner's manuals in PDF format for free.

So Owner IQ is an obviously good idea for those looking to replace the manual they misplaced, that's a no-brainer. It's also a good idea to get a PDF copy of manuals you already have, especially larger, more complicated manuals that are much easier to navigate as a PDF than a booklet. Think of those feature-rich high-end electronics you own, and the massive owner's manuals they came with.

When you go to the site, you might as well register then and there before doing anything else. Why? Because once you've located the owner's manual you need, you'll be required to create a free account before you download the PDF. It does make sense, because the site lets you build a collection of manuals into a little library. This means if you lose the PDF copy you've downloaded, you just get another one. Once you've registered, select the specifics from the four drop-down menus to find your manual. Easy as that.

Of course, you have no guarantee that you'll find the specific manual you're looking for. However, the collection is building constantly, and as more people are using the site, the likelihood of finding the owner's manual you seek increases.

Coming Soon: My experience with imo.im, First impressions of Media Monkey

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Online Instant Messaging Client: Imo.im Startup Looks Good

Yes, I just talked about instant messaging clients a week ago with my post about Digsby, but I just got some info about another one, and it looks pretty promising. In fact, this looks so good I have to share it here before I've put it through the paces myself.
There's a web-based instant messaging startup called imo.im in its alpha testing stage (not a final release version) that's now available for anyone to use. Since it's an online service, there's nothing to download and install; no resource-hungry IM application sucking memory on your machine. Imo.im supports AIM, Google Talk, ICQ, Jabber, Windows Live IM (MSN Messenger), Yahoo, Skype, and MySpace IM. It integrates these popular messaging services with voice and video support too, not just texting capabilities. The latest additions to the feature set make imo.im comparable to other popular messaging clients; you can edit contact icons and display names, "star" your favorite contacts for quick reference, block/unblock contacts, move them between groups, find contacts online or off, and of course there's the option of signing in as invisible. I should also note that imo.im has multiple language support is available; including but not limited to Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Italian, Macedonian, French, and Turkish.
As I stated above, I have not yet given imo.im the benefit of my practical usage. I will be doing exactly that over the next few days, and I will report back with my results.
In the meantime, you should give it a try as well, come back and make comments to let me and the other readers know what you think. Head over to imo.im. When you get there, take advantage of the helpful links at the bottom of the page before diving right in...a little info goes a long way.

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Tips: Get More Mileage From Open Source Software

If you've seen some of my earlier posts on open source software, you'll see I'm a big fan. I encourage everyone to look for open-source alternatives to the sometimes ridiculously expensive paid software out there. It's not because I'm cheap (I prefer frugal anyway), but because I prefer to have my opinions and feedback considered as a user (an area that's sorely lacking with most paid software customer support).
In the spirit of being helpful, here are a few tips to get some major mileage out of that open source software you're thinking of installing.

Explore
Before you actually decide to download and install, you should do your homework. You would definitely do this for software you're going to pay for, so there's no reason not to inform yourself. Is it useful to you? What can you do with it? How does it work? Asking these questions of open source is important for productivity, but also ensures you don't install a bunch of software that's just going to take up space. It's also important to explore because open source is usually more feature-rich than paid, and may be more efficient to use. Once you've installed it, look through it again to see what features you missed before, and learn how to use them.

Use the Community
Your new open source software comes with a community of developers (who actually write and code the software), testers, and users like you. I've noticed that these open source communities are usually much more active, involved, and centralized than their paid software counterparts. Explore these communities, ask questions and make suggestions.

Update Regularly
Unlike paid license software, which commonly languishes for months and months before issuing significant updates/service packs, open source updates more often with more significant improvements. Take advantage of this, and check on a regular basis (you'll get to know the usual pace once you've used it for a while).

Spread the Word
Are you really loving that open source application? Talk about it, tell your friends, co-workers, family. Chances are they don't know about it, so spill the beans...most people will appreciate the fact that you shared such a good thing with them.

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Amazon Kindle 2: A Great Idea For Books Just Got Better

I love a good book. If it's an engaging fiction or a truly interesting non-fiction, I'm a captive page turner until I finish. And, part of my love of books has always been the mechanics of that page turning, the ink on paper, a good reading font, etc. However, I also appreciate technological developments. And Amazon, the worlds largest online bookseller who merged books with tech, giving us the Kindle Wireless Reader over a year ago..are about to unleash the Kindle 2.

The Kindle's straightforward purpose of downloading, storing and displaying a book with easy-to-read text hasn't exactly taken the world by storm yet, but the Kindle 2's improvements over its predecessor may change that.

The Kindle 2 is roughly the same height and width, yet definitely thinner, the display resolution has been sharpened and improved, and the page refresh speed has been punched up a bit. It will download a book in 60 seconds from a selection of over 230,000 books, and can store more than 1,500 of them. It does offer newspapers, magazines, and even blogs over its wireless connection as well.

The Amazon Kindle 2 will be released Tuesday, February 24 with a retail price of $359. I know it sounds a little steep (definitely out of my league right now), but considering the benefits of such a device, it's worth considering for serious readers.

Find out more by visiting Gizmodo's First Hands-on with the Kindle 2, then head over to the Kindle 2 page at Amazon.

Coming Soon: Desktop docks for PC users, Gmail keeps cranking out new features, An online fix for lost product owner manuals

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iTunes Alternatives: Media Monkey and Songbird

I think it's safe to say that most folks who store music digitally use iTunes, and if not, know about it. Some people may even think it's the only digital music option (no joke). I use it myself, but recently I've found a couple of alternatives that I had not heard of before, and maybe you haven't either. Maybe, like me, you've been satisfied with iTunes (or whatever you use) and had no reason to look for alternatives. There are two in particular you should check out: Songbird and Media Monkey. They both have functionality similar to iTunes (like their compatibility with iPods and similar devices), though each has a couple of extra features that might sway you.

Songbird
I stumbled across Songbird a couple of months ago while I was looking for something else (as good finds sometimes happen). I discovered that it has customization features, like skins and layout, and since it's open source, there are all kinds of third party widgets you can add to it to make it your own (no surprise, since it's a Mozilla product). After I downloaded it and began using it, I found out there's just one thing: as of this post, there's no equalizer so the sound quality leaves something to be desired. The last time I checked the issue, a suitable equalizer was in development, so I would keep an eye on this. Head over to the Songbird website to Check it out.

Media Monkey
I haven't tried this one out yet. A buddy of mine told me about it, so I decided to get the info. I'm probably going to end up getting this one. First, there is a free version and a paid (Gold) version. Media Monkey's main draw is that it supports huge music collections. How huge? Try 10,000+ tracks. Reportedly, iTunes becomes very sluggish when you fill it with a large collection like this. Media Monkey is designed for serious collections, and this is reflected in the advance tagging and searching options it offers, both in the free and Gold versions. Interested? Take a look at Media Monkey.

Coming Soon: Docking your desktop on Windows, Windows 7 upgrade paths announced

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My Current Instant Messaging Client...Digsby

If you only use one or two instant messaging applications, such as Yahoo Messenger or Windows Live Messenger, this post is probably not for you. If you find yourself spending several minutes starting up all your IM apps only to have them cluttering up the notification area of your taskbar, you might want to use an IM client. Don't know what that is? It's a third-party application that will handle all (or most) of your separate IM services.
There are lots and lots of IM clients out there. Some of the biggies are Trillian, Adium, Pidgin, and Miranda IM (to name a very few). I have tried Pidgin and Miranda myself, and while these two are loved by many, I have found myself getting along pretty well with one called Digsby. My preference may defy logic, since a widely held opinion is that the other IM clients I mentioned are superior to Digsby in many ways. However, at present I like what I like...and I'm liking Digsby.
Why? Mostly the "eye candy" and ease-of use (trademark preferences of novices like us). There are various options for skins in the main window, conversation windows, and even lets you customize chats with specific IM buddies. Another useful feature is tabbing in the conversation window, allowing you to carry on multiple IM conversations without having separate windows cluttering up your screen. Additionally, Digsby has an email notification feature much like the one you're used to in each of your separate IM services, letting you view the message right from the main window.
So what does Digsby support? It will handle AIM, Windows Live IM, Yahoo Messenger, Google Talk IM, ICQ and Jabber; for email it covers Hotmail, Yahoo Mail, Gmail, AOL Mail, and serves as an IMAP/POP as well. Last, but not least, you can also use it for messaging on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and LinkedIn.
All this functionality comes with a price. Not money, because Digsby is free to download. The sacrifice I'm talking about is resources...Digsby eats up a lot of RAM, even for an instant messaging client. For example, I have four separate IM accounts (each linked to an email account) on my Digsby. When it's running (which is most of the time), it uses around 20MB of RAM...that's quite a bit. You'll have to decide if the convenience and functions are worth its hogging of resources.
Check it out if you're consistently running more than one or two separate IM windows at a time. And as always, educate yourself before downloading.

Coming Soon: What's on my desktop, Online Publishing, Tips for freeware productivity

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Two Great Freeware Disk Utilities: AusLogics Disk Defrag, CCleaner

Not long ago, I found that there are loads of useful freeware utilities out there. I know that many Windows users are content with the default utilities found in the "System and Maintenance' menu of Windows Explorer...that is, if they take it upon themselves to perform upkeep.
In the interest of learning to do things for myself, I stumbled across a couple of awesome software utilities for Windows hard disk maintenance. And both of them are free to download. Now, since we are tech novices here, I'm going to give you my advice: Before you actually download, install, and use these or any other utilities...educate yourself on what it does, how to use it. The sites linked below have lots of useful information you'll want to look at, and you'll also want to remember that friendly search bar in your browser.

First up, CCleaner. It has been said that the name used to be "Crap Cleaner," but that the C now represents the C drive on a computer (the most common letter designation for the hard drive).
Since I'm not a hardcore techie, and you're probably not either, I'll put it in understandable terms. It cleans your hard disk; removing the temporary files that build up every time you download and/or install software, move files, change files...almost anytime you do anything. As you can imagine, all those temporary files (most of which are unnecessary) begin slowing down your performance because they're lurking all over the hard drive. Besides removing those temporary files, CCleaner also has an uninstall tool, a startup menu tool (to make your machine start a little faster), and a Registry Integrity Tool (I'm still learning about this one). It's recommended that CCleaner be used regularly. That can mean once a day, once a week, whatever...of course, the longer between cleanings, the more you'll notice the sluggishness creeping back into your computer's performance.

Great, now you've gotten rid of all that crap. Follow it up with Auslogics Disk Defragmenter. Why? Because even temporary files leave holes when they get deleted. And don't forget about all the things you've consciously and purposely deleted recently. Those applications you've uninstalled and the spaces left when you move files, blah, blah, blah. This particular disk utility works a bit better than the default available on Windows. All you really have to do is open it up and turn it on. It's a nice and easy follow up to CCleaner.

I'll say it again: Educate yourself. In using these utilities or any other, a little research goes a long way. If you don't know what something is, look it up.

Coming Soon: Amazon Kindle 2 is here, Checking out Media Monkey, Chris Pirillo and Geeks.com

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Windows 7 Is Coming...And It's What Vista Shoulda/Coulda/Woulda Been

Okay...You've been using Windows Vista for a while (I'm a year and a half into it), and it's been okay, right? Some have complained about Vista's system-hogging, that it's slow in the startup, or that there were too many changes from Windows XP. If you've been using it for a while, you've either gotten used to it or you've third-party software to tweak performance more to your liking.
But wait! What's that on the horizon? Could it be? YES! It's a new Operating System from Microsoft Windows, and it's called (at least for now) Windows 7.
I've been watching this for a few months now, which is more than most novice tech geeks can say. I've seen it released for "public beta testing" over the last month (purportedly the largest OS public beta test EVER), and the consensus is rolling in from all over the Tech Geek Universe that Windows 7 is everything (or almost everything) that Vista should have been. I actually thought about participating in the public beta test of Windows 7, going as far as to read a post on Gizmodo/Lifehacker about dual booting two Operating Systems. Alas, even though I understood the instructions, and realize that a dual boot does not run both at the same time, I'm not confident that 1 GB of RAM on my Laptop is enough of a cushion. So, I will wait patiently for the Final Release of this new OS.
What's so great about it? The folks at Microsoft have trimmed down the RAM usage for Windows 7, and they've also introduced a slew of new User Interface elements that are slick, more customizable, and actually useful. Oh, and news that will make many Vista users weep tears of joy: They've made User Account Control more friendly; allowing you to decide how attentive/intrusive it is...so you don't have to turn it off to keep it from popping up unnecessarily.
The latest news right now is the information that Microsoft has released regarding the versions that will be available. As soon as Techies began participating in the public beta test, and noticed that the beta was labeled "Windows 7 Ultimate," speculation ran wild that Windows was going to release too many different "flavors" of Windows 7 like they did with Vista (You know...Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Enterprise, Ultimate, and Super-Duper Deluxe With Whipped Cream And A Cherry On Top). All kidding aside, there will be several different versions, but Microsoft is doing better with which versions will even be available to which market. To cut to the chase, we average end users will only need to know about Windows 7 Home Premium and Professional; though anyone who wants Ultimate will be able to get it...it just won't be advertised in the mass market. The Enterprise version will be peddled to the Corporate world, and the Starter version (made almost exclusively for developing markets outside the U.S.) isn't of interest to the average consumer. I'll be keeping up with Windows 7 developments, because from what I've seen, this will be the one to get. I'll bet even those who've wisely clung to Windows XP will finally have a real reason to update.

Want to learn More? Hit Gizmodo's "Complete Windows 7 Coverage" Post.

Coming Soon: You don't have to be a geek to use system tweaks, Songbird vs. iTunes, Oh, how I love Digsby!

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