Bing Makes Gains on Google

By DustinPosted on

The search engine, and everything else company, Google is starting to lose more market share to the new Microsoft search engine, Bing. What will Google do to up the ante and get some of those converts back? Who knows… Personally, I think a lot of it is based on demographics. I know a lot of older people use Yahoo search, as it is what they know. The younger crowd uses Google, and the in-betweeners use Bing. They do share a lot of similarities, but it’s that little extra that makes people switch. Anyone can make a search engine, but it takes talent to make one that improves your daily life (maps, phone numbers, pricing, images, etc.). You aren’t just looking for sites that list the terms in the search, you’re looking for information on the terms. Search Engines have a lot of room to grow and improve, and the competition is breeding a lot of new innovation in the market.

Microsoft’s Bing online search service gained usage share in the United States for the ninth straight month in February, according to market researchers at Hitwise and comScore. Google still dominates the market, with about 68 percent of all searches. But Bing now accounts for over 10 percent of searches and, unlike with Google, its share is actually rising. (In second place, Yahoo controls about 15.7 percent of the market.)

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New Hard Drive Technology Will Hurt XP Users

By DustinPosted on

Starting next year, a new standard in hard drive technology will hurt some XP users. While it’s not really a new technology, it is a different way of doing things. Hard drives format using 512 byte sectors, whereas the new format will use 4K sectors. This means that there will be less unused space on hard drives, helping increase capacity over time. Windows Vista and 7 are already set up to use the new 4K hard drives.

Because XP was coded in a time before this standard switch was under consideration, the Windows OS could see compatibility problems at worst, and speed drops at a minimum. Some advanced drives will be able to emulate the older sector sizes for compatibility, but still, those building their own computers or trading up on hard drives may see notable performance problems. If you’re a devoted XP user facing down the future of storage, tell us how you plan to adapt in the comments

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Microsoft Recommends 32-bit Office Installation

By DustinPosted on

It seems like the shift to 64-bit may take a bit longer than expected. Microsoft has been slowly migrating from 32-bit to 64-bit with its operating systems, Exchange Server, and now with Office 2010, its applications. All is not great Wonderland, however. Microsoft itself has recommended that users not upgrade to the 64-bit version if they use Office add-ons.

I have been using the 64-bit version of Office 2010 for some time now, and have had no issues with any of the applications. I do not use many add-ons, though.

This quote came from the Microsoft Office 2010 Technology Guarantee FAQ page.

Yes, 64-bit Office 2010 product upgrades will be available. However we strongly recommend most users install 32-bit version of Office 2010 on both 32 and 64-bit Operating Systems because currently many common add-ins for Office will not function in the 64-bit edition. The 64-bit installation of Microsoft Office 2010 products will be available for users who commonly use very large documents or data set and need Excel 2010 programs to access greater than 2GB of memory. There may be technical issues with the 64-bit version and in order to install a 64-bit version of Office 2010 product users must have a 64-bit supported operating system on their PC.

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More IT Departments Heading Towards Windows 7

By DustinPosted on

Most IT departments skipped over Vista, but are now looking at upgrading their old XP machines to Windows 7. Finally, IT departments are waking up to the new technology. Vista wasn’t that bad, but it sure did fail in the enterprise market. Windows 7 has improved quite a bit, not only on the consumer front, but in the corporate front as well. There are a lot of reasons to upgrade from Windows XP, the major one being the age and relatively insecurity compared to the new OS.

Thomas, CIO at Pella Corp., says his IT team began beta testing Vista’s successor a year ago as an upgrade path from Windows XP. By October, just two months after Windows 7 launched, the Pella, Iowa-based window and door manufacturer had 225 Windows 7 clients up and running

Office 2010 Tech Guarantee FAQ

By DustinPosted on

PC World has published a FAQ on the free upgrade program for Office 2007 users to upgrade to Office 2010. If you are wanting to take advantage of this free upgrade, and haven’t purchased Office 2007 yet, read this FAQ so you can do it right and get your copy of 2010.

Thinking about purchasing Microsoft Office, but you want to wait until Office 2010 comes out of beta? Don’t bother; just pick up a copy of Office 2007 between now and September 30, and you’ll be eligible to get a free upgrade to Office 2010, thanks to Microsoft’s Technology Guarantee Program.

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Denon Adds Windows 7 Support to A/V Receivers

By DustinPosted on

Not only am I a computer fanatic, I am also a huge home theater fanatic. I get annoyed going to peoples homes and they brag about their new 73″ big screen TV as they run a standard definition (480i/p) to a non-calibrated TV. On top of that, they have a HTIB (Home Theater in a Box) surround sound package with the speakers randomly set around the room. Yikes. But, for us audio/videophiles, Denon is releasing Windows 7 compatible receivers. I’m a fan of Denon, I love their products. Very high quality, at a good price. Not super high end, but great for us demanding consumers with a budget.

The Denon AVR-4810CI, AVR-4310CI, AVR-3310CI, and AVR-990 have all passed compatibility tests for Windows 7, along with the company’s ASD-51W and ASD-51N networked iPod docks. The compatibility means that Windows 7 users will be able to connect their Windows 7-based computers to the receivers, and stream their computer-based content to their home theater systems.

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Install and Customize Windows 7 on a HP Netbook

By DustinPosted on

I had the pleasure of using an HP Mini 1000 with Windows 7 last week. My Mother bought one, and immediately removed XP to put Windows 7 on it. Of course, she did it without any help or input, which is amazing. She did do a few little things that I would have done differently. The Netbook only came with 1 GB of RAM, which she needs to immediately upgrade to 2 GB, in my opinion. She installed 7 Ultimate version. That’s a bit overkill on a simple little netbook. But, it works like a dream. I was extremely impressed at the speed. I was going in with low expectations with that little CPU and only 1 GB of RAM. But, that thing flew! Even running a couple of applications (Word 2010, Firefox and Paint) it was quick and responsive.

Another awesome feat: she used the built in Windows Easy Transfer to move files over from her old laptop. Flawlessly, no errors. My Mom knows the basics of computers, and is pretty good at figuring things out. But, the way she went through the upgrade on that Mini impressed even me. Great job. If she can do it, I’m sure anyone can do it! Windows is a lot easier than people give it credit!

This article may be a week too late for her, but it has some valuable information for making the transition to Windows 7 on an HP Mini 1000 easy as apple pie.

I previously reviewed the HP Mini 1000 and not only found a lot to like, but it has become my standard traveling machine, allowing me to leave the MacBook behind, most times. It

Windows 7 Service Pack 1 Sooner than Later?

By DustinPosted on

If sources are correct, Microsoft may be releasing a service pack before the minimum 22 months they claimed they would wait. According to some, they would be better off waiting to announce a service pack than releasing one early. If there are serious issues that plague the operating system, not only performance, but security related, they need to be remedied. If that involves a simple patch, or a full blown service pack, it needs to be done.

TechARP.com, a Malaysian Web site that has nailed previous service pack schedules for both Windows XP and Vista, said unnamed sources had originally pegged a 22-month development schedule for Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1). But Microsoft has since changed its mind, reportedly to address an unknown number of “serious” performance bugs.

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Jumplist Feature to Make Life Easier

By DustinPosted on

I saw this over at Paul Thurrott’s site, Supersite for Windows, and thought I’d pass it along. You can access the Run as Administrator, Property sheet and more for a program on your Jumplist. It comes in extremely handy when you want to run it as Administrator in a hurry, without going through the Start menu.

When you right-click a shortcut in any modern Windows version and choose Properties, you’re presented with the Property sheet for that item, which provides a number of options that you can configure and use each time the underlying application (or document or folder location) is run. In the case of applications, there are some key options you can configure here on a shortcut-by-shortcut basis, including what kind of window is opened (maximized, normal) and even advanced properties like “Run as administrator.”

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Same Game on Xbox, Phone and Windows

By DustinPosted on

This is great. I’ve been waiting for something like this. The game can be started on your PC, then you can finish it when you load it up on your 360. Easy to program and port to other platforms. I’m sure that some gamers will complain that they lost because they were using a gamepad and their competitor was using a mouse and keyboard. I would love to play on the PC, while someone else was using an XBox. A lot of games are available for both, and it’d be nice to play with a much larger community.

It’s the same code running on all three platforms. That is, it’s a single project in Visual Studio, and the three platforms share 90% of the code, with each platform having input-specific code. In other words, the same game can run on an Xbox 360 and be controlled by a controller, on a Windows PC by a keyboard, and on a phone using the touch screen and accelerometer.

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