Growing Pains
The computer industry is still very young. In fact, the first computer for individual users and small business came on the
market only 29 years ago.
As the industry develops, we are seeing more
commonality between systems. The Internet is the prime example;
regardless of the operating system or computer manufacturer, the
Internet appears and operates the same. Hardware is also becoming
more generic whereas power supplies, memory and other parts are (mostly)
universal.The downside
But as the industry evolves older systems are being left behind forcing the users to
upgrade their computers. Examples are
Norton version 2006 no
longer supports Windows 95, 98 or ME and Microsoft Office which will
load only on Windows 2000 and XP machines. There are many more
similar problems.Businesses
Some older DOS based applications do not run correctly
under the Windows XP operating system. Small businesses may find the
need to upgrade their software to run on new computers and this is
especially painful if they are running proprietary software.
All too often we find these proprietary software
manufacturers holding businesses hostage. If the manufacturers
offer upgrades at all, they are charging a small fortune. A
few continue to milk their cash cow and are not even offering
upgrades. Instead, if the customer has a computer failure, they
may offer rebuilt older computers and current software at
outrageous prices.
And other problems...
Hackers and viruses are public enemy #1. This of
course, leads to the need for security software on any
machine that connects to any network, especially the
Internet. So more and more we are seeing email problems due to antivirus
and security applications,
but not just with the local security applications, Internet providers' spam
filters are stopping many messages as well.
See July 05 "Lost Messages"
Getting all these applications and systems to work
together is becoming increasingly difficult on some computers. For
a yet unknown reason, we have seen problems on two brand new, identical
computers where the antivirus/security application will block email on
one machine but not on the other.
Popup blockers are yet another problem. Just about
every toolbar you load has one. Recently we cleaned up a machine
that had 4 different toolbars, 3 of them with popup blockers, and
that was in addition to the Internet Explorer's blocker. No wonder
McAfee didn't update properly!
Despite all these problems...
The industry really is headed in the right direction.
Computers are becoming easier to use and have the capability one could
only dream about just a few years ago. But
it is a long road ahead and we just began the journey. Microsoft One Care
Microsoft will
soon
release One Care that will include some of the features listed
below.
We are not yet sold on Microsoft having even more
control over our computer so for now we will stay with Norton
however having, all of this automated and in one package makes
good sense.
Long overdue for Windows, this package will
include data backup to CDs, DVDs and external hard drives.
Other features One Care will include:
- Protection Plus includes antivirus and
firewall protection and automatic updates, as well as antispyware
functionality powered by Windows Defender, to help protect the
PC and the customer.
- Performance Plus delivers regular PC tune-ups
to help maintain computer performance and reliability.
- Help and Support provides effective help when
needed through a variety of modes, including email, phone, and
chat, with all service support coming from PC care experts at
Microsoft for no additional charge.
Windows Limited Users
If you have children and you have (wisely) set them up as
limited users, you know already they are prohibited from changing most
computer settings and deleting system files. And while limited
users generally
cannot install software or hardware, they may have access to programs already installed on the computer
but there are common exceptions!
- QuickBooks for example will not run under a limited
user account.
- Norton has problems with limited users
but fortunately there is a fix.
More information here.
And there are many other applications that may not
work correctly.
Here is a Microsoft article on this subject.
|
