Sophos is getting good publicity for its latest sales pitch virus test on Windows 7. This tells us: We grabbed the next 10 unique samples that arrived in the SophosLabs feed to see how well the newer, more secure version of Windows and UAC held up. Unfortunately, despite Microsoft’s claims, Windows 7 disappointed just like … Continue reading Sophos Windows 7 anti-virus test tells us nothing we don’t already know
I’ve installed the new Delphi from Embarcadero. I want to enthuse about this product, as a long-time Delphi enthusiast, but a few things have dampened my zeal: 1. The install on Windows 7 64-bit was not totally smooth. First Avira Antivir claimed that a file installed during setup, called convert.exe, contained a virus (not the … Continue reading Delphi and C++ Builder 2010 are out
I have just done Windows 7 RTM in-place upgrades on two systems, one running Vista Ultimate x64, and the other running Vista Business x64. Why do an in-place upgrade? Simply because it is much less time and effort than a clean install. Actually, the “less time” bit needs qualification. The in-place upgrade takes several hours; … Continue reading In-place upgrade adventures with Windows 7
A contact suffered a trojan infection on his Windows XP machine the other day. He was alerted to the infection by Windows Defender, but the Remove or Quarantine actions offered by Defender did not work. If he removed the trojan, it reappeared on the next reboot. The installed AVG security suite sat there unconcerned. I … Continue reading Search for virus help highlights lack of authority in Google, Wikipedia
Windows 7 makes it easy to adjust the settings for User Account Control, the system protection feature introduced in Vista. You can access User Account Control Settings from Control Panel, whereupon you see a slider with four settings: 1. Always Notify 2. Notify me only when programs try to make changes to my computer – … Continue reading Windows 7: why you should keep User Account Control at the highest level
A new feature in Windows 7 has been announced as part of the Release Candidate rollout. Called XP Mode (XPM), it lets users run applications in a virtual instance of Windows XP itself, for excellent compatibility. Although not part of the retail Windows 7, XPM will be a free download or may be installed at … Continue reading New in Windows 7 RC: Windows XP Mode, Remote Media Streaming
While working on a Windows 7 piece recently, I tried to write a description of what happens when you click on an icon in the Windows 7 taskbar. Trouble is, there are so many contextual variations that it is hard to describe concisely. Here’s what I’ve got so far.
In Windows 7, Microsoft has made further efforts to make the desktop more usable. There is a "peek" feature that makes all running applications temporarily transparent when you hover over the Show Desktop button. If you click the button the apps all minimize, so you can interact with the desktop, and if you click again … Continue reading The computer desktop is a faulty abstraction
The second part of that statement interests me as much as the first. ZDNet’s Adrian Kingsley-Hughes ran some informal tests on XP vs Vista vs Windows 7 beta 1 (as leaked, I presume), ranking them in order for a number of tasks. The results show that in general XP is slower than either Vista or … Continue reading Performance: Windows 7 fast than Vista, Vista faster than XP
I hate this Program compatibility Assistant in Vista. Why? First, because it applies settings whether you like it or not. There’s no option to say, “I was happy with how it ran, just leave it alone”. Second, because it does not tell you what it has done. Sure, there is a link that says, What … Continue reading Vista’s mysterious compatibility settings: what do they do?