Software utilities

Maybe you need to run Internet Eplorer 6 (IE6) under Vista, either for compatibility with older web applications or for web development or, if you ‘re insane, to use it instead of IE7 or Firefox (recommended choice). Well, you can download this file, directly from Microsoft, that emulates a Windows XP SP2 with IE6. There are also images with IE7 or IE8 Beta 1.

Have fun!

Poor poor thing. I almost feel like singing him a lullaby and rocking him ever-so gently ‘til he falls asleep with his thumb in his mouth and a drool a mile long.

But I won’t.

‘cos …well….I think he’s got a gazillion million millions stuffed in his pillow for comfort.

You made the decision to leave, Billy Boy, so what’s with the choked-up speech and the misty eyes? You’re not dying, you’re just leaving, moving on. Change is necessary as you very-well know, Billy. All you have to do is look at all the different versions of Windows, Office, yadda-yadda-yawn, you’ve piled out to know that what I’m saying is true. One minute, it’s Windows 2000, then it’s XP, then it’s Vista. If we can live through those dramatic versions/changes, then you, my friend, can live with the almighty big one you’re about to embark on.

Imagine all the things you’ll have more time to do now. You could go on a holiday. Ever heard of that, Billy Boy? Hol-i-day?

No, not the song by Madonna, dufus.

Well, a holiday is when you jump on a plane (erm, in your case, I guess it would be one of your private jets) and go to a place where you can leave the world behind, relax, reflect and have fun. I heard the mangoes are really good in the Caribbean. Greece is heaven on earth. And Brazil will make you smile all over.

So how about it, Billy Boy? Go on a holiday and thank the heavens that you still have enough of your life (and your money) to enjoy the journey ahead (whichever path you choose to take).

It’s not the end, old man – it’s just the beginning.

You’ll be fine, Billy Boy. We’ll miss ya, but you’ll be fine.

Just fine.

.

Ole Billy Boy Gates has said that Windows 7 won’t be as bad as Windows Vista. (You’ve got to give it to the lil guy. At least he’s admitting it was crap).

I didn’t know Windows made computerized crystal balls too, though. If so, I want one….just so I can smash it on the floor Greek-wedding style. How does Billy Boy know MicroSoft(intheHead) Windows 7 won’t be as bad as Vista? I mean, there’s a first time for everything, isn’t there? I bet they had the same high hopes for baby Vista before it was born (until it came out with hair not quite the same colour as its dad’s).

Gates is apparently all excited about it as it’ll need ‘lower power, take less memory’ and ‘be more efficient’. I say: don’t count your 7.1’s before you 7’s, my friend.

I managed to totally avoid Windows Vista. I tend to take my time on version releases before using them. I’ve seen enough teething problems, sweaty palms and trauma in people’s eyes over sudden system/software failures – so I wait them out for as long as I can. Windows Vista will be one of those operating systems that I DEFINITELY won’t be on my deathbed wishing I’d used. I have no regrets whatsoever. None. Nada.

So, will I use Windows 7 when it comes sashaying along? Well…it depends on whether it’ll turn out to be Vista’s 1st cousin …or a very distant one. It would need to take the best of Vista (‘cos I’m sure Vista wasn’t entirely crappy) and add more jelly babies to it. I would need to see more people cart-wheeling down the street with flowers behind their ears, kitted out in pink ‘I Heart Windows 7’ t-shirts, to be convinced that Win 7 is worth buying (into).

Until then, I’ll just sit tight.

Principied technologies produced a few reports on speed tests for Windows XP and Vista.

From these tests it seems that Vista SP1 and XP SP2 have comparable speed on office tasks. Difference is around half a second for most of the tests, and only 9 out of 128 tests resulted in a difference of 1 sec or more; XP led in 8 of them. Vista SP1 was more responsive than XP SP2 and Vista after rebooting. Vista and Vista SP1 had substantially the same performance. Similar results were derived for home tasks, with comparable results from all the 3 systems. Home tasks included using Adobe Acrobat, Office Professional 2003 and Word (Adding and resizing a JPEG image was one of the tests). Office tasks ranged from using Excel (document management, charts, data handling) to advanced use of Word and Powerpoint, to Acrobat document management.