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Bill Gates wants us to believe that what's good for his multiplication of OS (operating systems) on the market will be ultimately good for the whole economy. Well, for most of us who have been great Windows users both at home and at work, we know some of his products often make life easier. That's if you don't have a system that crashes in the middle of important documents. You may want to dismiss this by saying that there are other conflicting softwares running in the background. No matter what, all of the Microsoft products are here to stay. At the time, you are getting used to your Windows 98, Windows 2000 or Win ME, Windows XP comes knocking at your wallets and wanting to give you lots of pleasures.
While I don't have any immediate plans to upgrade my home systems to XP, it's a different thing when it comes to having the best tools on hand at work. In my case, the guys in the IT department have already received their new XP-loaded computers. I have been one of the first few ones to be given one. I have never stopped helping them out when they have so many projects to work on. Here is what I found out after two days of trials and installments. The following is only my personal observation and experience with XP.
What to keep in mind if considering whether to upgrade or not
For many of you, upgrading to the latest operating systems of Microsoft is a given. Many employers know that by doing so, they improve the morale of their employees. I have seen proof of this first hand. Upgrading from a more troublesome, cumbersome system to a less-prone problem system is sometimes the difference between day and night. Microsoft knows how to tap into our sense and desire to have or use new tools from time time. But some critics are asking why the company wants to crowd the market with so many softwares that do practically the same thing. Well, XP is just the top OS right now. It's the king of the hills because it comes equipped with so many freebies such as enhanced windows, media player, a built-in videoconferencing system and a remote assistance feature that lets troubleshooters patch problems from far away. XP provides you with a lot of information just so you can find out what you need to get your job done.
You will be surprised by the look and feel of XP
If you are using Windows 3.1 and Windows 95, you are out of luck. You are not even eligible for an upgrade. This means that you will either have to purchase a brand new computer or stay with what you are currently using. In a sense, that's kind some bad news for Microsoft if you consider the number of users who find themselves in this category. Many of them will probably want to wait until they can justify buying a new computer. By the way, within a few months, Windows XP will be the standard features on all new PCs. By then, they will also be affordable. So there is no need to worry unless you want the latest features Windows has to offer. Well, I am not talking to computer geeks who have to have the most recent toy and gadgets that come on the market.
What else should you know?
To use Windows XP, Microsoft says that computer users/owners must have a CD-ROM or DVD and a chip with 300-megahertz clock speed. They are talking about the likes of Intel Pentium Processor. At least, you must have 1.5 gigabytes of available hard drive. That's a lot of juicy space on your computer to afford this upgrade. It is not all of the requirements. Microsoft recommends having 128 megabytes of random access memory or RAM. If you did not do some upgrading before or over the years, can you find yourself here? Think again about why you are being singled out here. Are you hearing some message asking you to forget all about the hassles with upgrading and just buy a new computer? Well, there is no doubt that this thought would be good for the economy. The only handicap is that nobody, not even Bill Gates, could predict that the economy would be so slowed during all the years this product has been perfected. Most buyers somewhat don't find themselves in a hurry to purchase new things unless they see good value. Keep in mind that with XP Microsoft is hoping to recreate the same hunger for computers that happened when Windows 95 came out in 1995. There is no doubt that XP is the best product to come out of this company since Windows 95. But, it comes out at a time when the economy has slowed down. Buyers are somewhat skittish about spending. Bill Gates is telling them to go out and spend because in the end, it will be good for everybody. Also, everyone hopes that Microsoft will take some time before releasing the next product that will make XP obsolete in just a few months. Saturating the market with its products may turn out to be like shooting itself in the heels. Business owners, home users and Windows lovers are asking for time to love and appreciate the releases!
Benefits and weak areas of Windows XP
Based on 1-year use of Windows 2000 and the relatively brief period of experience with XP, I will say that I have not seen too much of a difference. In fact, most of our network computers will still be using Windows 2000. In the end, XP appears to be as fast as Win 2000. But that does not mean that everything is well with the new Bill Gates's baby! If you go to a webpage that has Java, it won't display as you would like it. You will be prompted to download the Java Virtual Machine or JVM. This Java file will put you right back into business. No matter what, the greatest benefits are that there is a common code base between the Home Edition and Professional versions. The only thing that gets on some people's nerves is that it comes equipped with the copy protection that may make reinstalls and upgrade somewhat difficult. I did not encounter any of these problems. However, a colleague did.
In all, to upgrade or not to upgrade?: Summary
Upgrade if your company still uses Win 95 or 98. There may have been a few crashes here and there. If you can't afford it, wait! However, if you don't want to put up with these problems, go ahead and invest in XP. If your incomes are strictly related to the types of tools you use, then upgrade. This is for guys whose line of work is software development, game creation etc. You can always take advantage of XP's sign on features. But don't upgrade if your systems don't have enough power. You nee from 300-400 MHZ processors with 128MB of RAM or 2 GB plus disk space. If you have Win 2000, there is no need to upgrade. As I previously said, some our computers will still have 2000. For sure, after this upgrade, there won't be any NT any longer.
Good luck upgrading to XP!
Visioneer OneTouch 7600 USB Scanner Review
A few months ago, on our way back from vacationing in the California's Wine Country, my wife, my children and I decided to stop at Best Buy in Modesto, CA. We had been on the road for quite some time and the kids had started to show their crankiness and restlessness. What do traveling parents have to do? It was the perfect time for a bathroom stop and have dinner.
We then decided to enter the electronics store to shop for some gadgets. We knew we needed a scanner. So we headed to the display area. Between the time it took us to locate and establish conversation with clerk, our young son had already been all over the floor checking various items that are at his reach. He was unshelving them. So I had to ask my wife to conclude the transactions once we agreed on the unit to purchase.
Fabulous desktop scanners
Even we were tired, as soon as we got home, we unpacked the scanner to set it up. While my wife was going over the manual and the quick install card, I was figuring how to install it. Then, I realized I'd better follow the instructions in the manual. I did not want to have to make mistakes and have to start the whole process all over. After making sure that the scanner was connected to the computer, I inserted the PaperPort CD for the software installation. All the while, the scanning lamp was on. The explanation is that you won't have to wait for it to warm up each time you want to scan something. The One Touch 7600 scanner's installation was a breeze.
Get started: Getting it up
In case you have some problems with the installation process, the manual gives you great information to complete the process. (Also, make sure that you check the lock button on the bottom of the hardware!) If everything goes well, once you start Microsoft Windows, (don't run any other applications) and put the CD into the CD-Rom drive, it should start automatically. No big deal! In my case, to make sure that everything went well, I went ahead and removed the program and re-installed it afterwards. Great practice if you have time!
Use the buttons to scan: Be ready to toy around with each process
What you can do with this scanner
Now, you can finally scan all of your family's, kids' pictures lying around the house. You can scan important newspaper and magazine articles to fax to friends. Scan your receipts, forms and any other texts you may have. Just remember that, on some occasions, you have to do some manual adjustments to get the desired output. This may be the downside of this scanner in comparison with others. If this is a minus for you, consider the speed at which your work is done. This scanner has a tremendous speed. You can also scan business letters, contracts, memos and homeworks for your kids. Just a few days ago, my daughter forgot her homework at school. So, my wife went to her friend's house to make copies. Our daughter's class mate had already started to work on the homework. So we had to use liquid paper on all the pages she had worked on before we could copy them for our daughter. The great thing is that we used our Visioneer OneTouch scanner to copy all these pages. The next day, our daughter turned in her homework to her teacher.
What else can you do with this useful scanner?
