WINDOWS - WinXP vs Win7

As I said in my previous post, I was forced to go to Windows 7.

I have found that Microdunce has 'broken' features in Win7:

[Send to]:  This is the first broken feature I ran into.  In WinXP you can put any shortcut in your [SendTo] folder and it will work when using the Context Menu [Send to] option.  NOT in Win7, you cannot use normal shortcuts in your [SendTo] folder.

POINTERS:  In WinXP you can set custom pointers sourced from anywhere, any CUR file.  In Win7 ALL pointers must be in C:\Windows\Cursors.  This means you have to copy cursors/pointers from your other sources to that folder for any Pointer Customization to hold on next boot, ALSO you should save a the DEFAULT cursor theme.

SOUNDS:  In Win7 there is no "Start Windows" sound listed.  "Exit Windows" is listed.  Luckily I found a utility to change the "Start Windows" sound.  Now tell me, what is the logic of NOT having "Start Windows" listed?


I consider features 'broken' if any change makes it HARDER to use Windows.

I will add more 'broken features' here as I find them.

WINDOWS XP - The Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit (EMET)

Now that SECURITY support for ordinary users of Windows XP is ended, here's an alternative way to protect WinXP.

Note that Microsoft Updates (which you should be using instead of Windows Updates) will still update some Microsoft software, like the "Malicious Software Removal Tool."  What stops is security updates to WinXP itself.

The alternative protection is Microsoft's The Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit (EMET)

WARNING:  The EMET is NOT for amateurs.  If used incorrectly it can cause problems with WinXP.  But if you use Recommended Settings on installation, and the Quick Profile Name [Recommended Security settings] it should be safe.

Note that EMET is for all versions of Windows and some features are not available in WinXP.

Here's a screenshot of my EMET GUI:

With WinXP SEHOP & ASLR are not available.


There Software Profiles you can [Import].  I imported Popular Software.

From the support page in above link:

What is the Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit?

The Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit (EMET) is a utility that helps prevent vulnerabilities in software from being successfully exploited.  EMET achieves this goal by using security mitigation technologies.  These technologies function as special protections and obstacles that an exploit author must defeat to exploit software vulnerabilities.  These security mitigation technologies do not guarantee that vulnerabilities cannot be exploited.  However, they work to make exploitation as difficult as possible to perform.

EMET 4.0 and newer versions also provide a configurable SSL/TLS certificate pinning feature that is called Certificate Trust.  This feature is intended to detect man-in-the-middle attacks that are leveraging the public key infrastructure (PKI).

Are there restrictions as to the software that EMET can protect?

EMET can work together with any software, regardless of when it was written or by whom it was written.  This includes software that is developed by Microsoft and software that is developed by other vendors.  However, you should be aware that some software may not be compatible with EMET.  For more information about compatibility, see the "Are there any risks in using EMET?" section.

What are the requirements for using EMET?

EMET 3.0 requires the Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0.
EMET 4.0 and 4.1 require the Microsoft .NET Framework 4.0. Additionally, for EMET to work with Internet Explorer 10 on Windows 8, KB2790907 must be installed.

The Microsoft Download page for EMET.  You should download both the Setup and Guide.

Note that EMET is just a GUI that makes setting various Windows options easier.

Also, I did try with DEP [Always On] (Maximum protection settings) but that prevented 2 of my boot-time apps from running, like MiniMinder.  So I changed back to the settings you see in my GUI screenshot.

WINXP - Updates to Continue for Big Business For a Fee

More proof that Microdunce does not care about peon customers.  They are just another greedy company who cares only about profits and not serving customers who bought their product.  I would be willing to pay $50/year for continued WinXP Updates.

This strategy is recently confirmed by several banks making the Updates For Fee deal with Microdunce to protect their ATMs running WinXP.

"Microsoft will still patch Windows XP for a select group" by Gregg Keizer, PCWorld 9/1/2013

Excerpt

Just because Microsoft doesn't plan on giving Windows XP patches to the public after April 8, 2014, doesn't mean it's going to stop making those patches.

In fact, Microsoft will be creating security updates for Windows XP for months—years, even—after it halts their delivery to the general public.

Some will pay big for support

Those patches will come from a program called "Custom Support," an after-retirement contract designed for very large customers who have not, for whatever reason, moved on from an older OS.

As part of Custom Support—which according to analysts, costs about $200 per PC for the first year and more each succeeding year—participants receive patches for vulnerabilities rated "critical" by Microsoft.  Bugs ranked as "important," the next step down in Microsoft's four-level threat scoring system, are not automatically patched.  Instead, Custom Support contract holders must pay extra for those.  Flaws pegged as "moderate" or "low" are not patched at all.

"Legacy products or out-of-support service packs covered under Custom Support will continue to receive security hotfixes for vulnerabilities labeled as 'Critical' by the MSRC [Microsoft Security Response Center]," Microsoft said in a Custom Support data sheet.  "Customers with Custom Support that need security patches defined as 'Important' by MSRC can purchase these for an additional fee.

"These security hotfixes will be issued through a secure process that makes the information available only to customers with Custom Support," the data sheet promised.

Because Microsoft sells Custom Support agreements, it's obligated to come up with patches for critical and important vulnerabilities.  And it may be required to do so for years: The company sells Custom Support for up to three years after it retires an operating system.

Custom Support and the XP security updates that result have been one reason why some experts have held out hope that Microsoft will backtrack from retiring XP next April.  Their reasoning is straightforward: Microsoft will have patches available—its engineers won't have to do any more work than they already committed to doing—so handing them out to all would be a simple matter.

Or not.  Most experts have said that the chance Microsoft will prolong Windows XP's life run between slim and none.  And giving away patches to everyone risks a revolt by those big customers who have paid millions for Custom Support.

But Microsoft does have options.  Here are our suggestions:

Continue patching for free

If Windows XP remains a major presence, as it appears likely, with projections as high as 33.5 percent of all personal computers at the end of April 2014, Microsoft could decide to continue patching the aged OS with free fixes for critical vulnerabilities, maybe even those rated important.

Such a move would be unpalatable to Custom Support customers, but Microsoft could renegotiate the fees—unlikely—or remind those companies of the program's other benefits, which include access to support representatives, as well as to prior patches and hotfixes.

Patch critical vulnerabilities under attack

Microsoft could selectively patch only the critical bugs that are being exploited by hackers.  Presumably, that would be a subset of the complete XP patch collection assembled each month.

Some analysts have picked this option as a possibility.  Last December, Michael Cherry of Directions on Microsoft posed just such a situation.

"Suppose ... a security problem with XP suddenly causes massive problems on the Internet, such as a massive [denial-of-service] problem?" asked Cherry at the time.  "It is not just harming Windows XP users, it is bringing the entire Internet to its knees.  At this time there are still significant numbers of Windows XP in use, and the problem is definitely due to a problem in Windows XP.  In this scenario, I believe Microsoft would have to do the right thing and issue a fix ... without regard to where it is in the support lifecycle."

Charge users for XP patches

Although Microsoft would much rather book revenue from the sale of a newer OS, it may realize that some will refuse to upgrade, and try to make money rather than give away fixes.

It's unlikely that Microsoft would be able to charge $200 annually for post-retirement patches, as it does with Custom Support customers, but it may be able to get away with $50 a year for individuals and small businesses, perhaps with a maximum machine cap at, say, five PCs per customer.

Traditionally, Microsoft's not charged for support, but it could cast this as a special situation caused by the longevity of XP, which was due to the delay of Vista and secondarily, that OS's subsequent flop.  In late 2007, when Microsoft extended XP availability to OEMs by several months, it cited Vista's delayed launch for the unusual move.  (It added another extension in 2008 that kept XP alive on new "netbook" PCs, the then-popular class of cheap laptops, until mid-2010.)

And Microsoft has talked up a transformation to a "devices-and-services" company; a pay-for-support plan would mesh nicely with the latter half of that strategy.

UTILITIES - A Better System Information for Windows

I've posted about this utility a long while back but they just came out with a 2014 version.  In my opinion this utility is worth the price.

SIW or System Information for Windows

SIW is an advanced System Information for Windows tool that analyzes your computer and gathers detailed information about system properties and settings and displays it in an extremely comprehensible manner.

SIW can create a report file (CSV, HTML, TXT or XML), and you can run it in batch mode (for PC Inventory - Software and Hardware Inventory, Asset Inventory, Software License Management, Security Audit, Server Configuration Management).

The System Information is divided into few major categories:

• Software Information:  Operating System, Software Licenses (Product Keys / Serial Numbers / CD Key), Installed Software and Hotfixes, Processes, Services, Users, Open Files, System Uptime, Installed Codecs, Passwords Recovery, Server Configuration.

• Hardware Information:  Motherboard, CPU, Sensors, BIOS, chipset, PCI/AGP, USB and ISA/PnP Devices, Memory, Video Card, Monitor, Disk Drives, CD/DVD Devices, SCSI Devices, S.M.A.R.T., Ports, Printers.

• Network Information:  Network Cards, Network Shares, currently active Network Connections, Open Ports.

• Network Tools:  MAC Address Changer, Neighborhood Scan, Ping, Trace, Statistics, Broadband Speed Test

• Miscellaneous Tools:  Eureka! (Reveal lost passwords hidden behind asterisks), Monitor Test, Shutdown / Restart.

• Real-time monitors:  CPU, Memory, Page File usage and Network Traffic.

SIW (Technician's Version) is a standalone utility that does not require installation (Portable) - one less installed program on your PC as well the fact that you can run the program directly from an USB flash drive, from a network drive or from a domain login script.

Client Platform:  Windows 8.1 / Windows 8 / Windows 7 / Vista / Windows XP / 2000 / Media Center / Tablet PC / WinRE / BartPE / Winternals ERD Commander

Server Platform:  Windows 2012 (R2) / Windows SBS 2011 / Windows Server 2008 (R2) / Windows Server 2003 (R2) / Windows Server 2000

NOTE:  This is not freeware.

Screenshot of my home desktop rig (click for larger view)

I have the Technician's version, yearly subscription.

You only get SIW.exe which is the entire utility (NOT an installer).  When you first launch it you get a dialog to enter your registered name and license key, it then generates a siw.key file which must be in the same directory as SIW.exe for it to run.  This means you just copy both files to a USB stick and you can run it from there.  Of course, to run it on your system you create a folder and move the files there then create a shortcut (I used the System Tools category) to run it.

WINDOWS - A Better Start Menu

This post is about my suggestion on a way for users to have a better Start Menu in Windows.

To summarize, instead of having all applications listed under [Programs] in the Start Menu (WinXP), have categories of applications. Here's my Start Menu:

As you can see, I have expanded to my [Games], [Adventure & RPG] category.

How did I do this? Edit the Start Menu folder:

In my opinion, this type of Start Menu is much simpler to navigate that dumping everything under [Programs].

Also, the shortcuts in this scheme are only those needed to run the app, or those related and used regularly. (how may times are you actually going to use the "Uninstall" shortcut, so why have it?)

Also, after installing applications and coping the needed shortcuts to my scheme, I move its [Programs] entry to a [Smenu] folder I create in the home-folder of the app so I do not loose what the install created.

You can do this in Windows 7 where Start Menu folder paths are:

• Win7 User Start Menu:
  C:\Users\profile-name\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\
• Win7 All Users Start Menu:
  C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\ (normally this is a hidden folder)

Give it a try.

HARDWARE - My Home Computer Systems

OK, time for more bragging about my computers.

DESKTOP:

(click for better view)

• Manufacturer: MICRO-STAR INTERNATIONAL CO., LTD


• Model: MS-7222


• North Bridge: VIA P4M800 Pro/P4M800 CE/VN800/CN700 Revision 00


• South Bridge: VIA VT8237 Revision 00
  


• CPU Name: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4CPU 3.00GHz Hyper-Threading


• CPU Socket: Socket 775 LGA


• Max CPU Speed: 1500 MHz


• Maximum Memory Capacity: 1024 MBytes


• Maximum Memory Module Size: 32 MBytes


• Memory Slots: 2 (= 2gb memory)


• Memory Type: DDR2


• Disk C: 55 GB Available, 80 GB Total, 55 GB Free (Internal IDE HD0)


• Disk D: 166 GB Available, 217 GB Total, 166 GB Free (Internal IDE HD0)


• Disk E: 2718 MB Available, 19077 MB Total, 2718 MB Free (Internal IDE HD1)


• Disk F: 4 GB Available, 18 GB Total, 4 GB Free (Internal IDE HD1)


• Disk H: 51 GB Available, 149 GB Total, 51 GB Free (External Firewire)


• Disk J: 321 GB Available, 485 GB Total, 321 GB Free (External Firewire partition)


• Disk K: 398 GB Available, 445 GB Total, 398 GB Free (External Firewire partition)


• Video Card: nVidia Corporation GeForce 7900 GS 512mb AGP


• HP DVD Writer 1035r (Internal IDE)


• Memorex Recorder 1394/USB20 Drive IEEE 1394 SBP2 Device (External Firewire)

LAPTOP:

(click for better view)

CPU: 2x Intel(R) Pentium(R) Dual CPU T3400 @ 2.16GHz

Memory: 2021MB (278MB used)

Operating System: Linux Mint 10 Julia

Kernel: Linux 2.6.35-32-generic (i686)

Compiled: #67-Ubuntu SMP Mon Mar 5 19:35:26 UTC 2012

C Library: GNU C Library version 2.12.1 (stable)

Default C Compiler: GNU C Compiler version 4.4.5 (Ubuntu/Linaro 4.4.4-14ubuntu5.1)

Display Resolution: 1280x800 pixels

OpenGL Renderer: Mesa DRI Mobile Intel® GM45 Express Chipset GEM 20100330

DEVELOPMENT: x86/MMX/SSE2

X11 Vendor: The X.Org Foundation

WINXP - Corrupted Icon-Cache UPDATED

At work there was a WinXP Pro SP3 system that had the wrong icon for C:

After much hair-pulling I found the cause was the user had placed Setup.exe AND an Autorun.inf file in the root. This caused the C: icon to change to the icon for Setup. Deleting both files from the root was the main fix, but had to also fix the Icon-Cache file.

Also, the Icon cache can be corrupted by other causes that the one above.

IMPORTANT: The Icon-Cache is NOT actually needed! My home and work WinXP desktops to not have one and they work just fine.

Here's how to get rid of the need for the Icon-Cache:

You disable the offline file replication in Windows XP

Open My Computer, select [Tools], [Folder Options], [Offline Files] tab, then UNCHECK the Enable Offline Files check box.

(click for better view)



Here's how to rebuild your Icon-Cache if you have wrong desktop/Favorites icons:

Rebuild the Icon-Cache file by deleting it

1. Delete the hidden file Iconcache.db

WinXP each user has their own file
C:\Documents and Settings\User-Name\Local Settings\Application Data\Iconcache.db

Win7 and Vista, see
%userprofile%\AppData\Local


2. IMPORTANT - Close down all explorer.exe processes using the Task Manager
(Or else it will create a faulty file during logoff/restart)


3. Use the Task Manager (CTRL+SHIFT+ESC) to launch the explorer.exe again
(Or press CTRL+ALT+DEL to perform a restart/logoff)


4. When the Windows Explorer (explorer.exe) starts again, it will recreate a correct Icon-Cache file

Also note that Icon Phile, mentioned in previous article, will work for changing individual Desktop Icons. It also includes a tool to rebuild the Icon-Cache.

WINDOWS - Window Management Utility

This post is about WindowManager by DeskSoft

WindowManager helps you to improve your work flow by remembering and restoring the position and size of your programs and windows. Many programs don't remember their position and size between sessions and even Windows explorer does not always restore windows to their last position. This is where WindowManager steps in and makes sure your windows are placed exactly where you want them every time you open them. WindowManager even allows you to lock the position and size of any window, so that it will always open at the same spot no matter where you move it. The window handling is fully customizable and you can set up special rules for your favorite or most frequently used windows.

Key Features:

• Remembers and restores the position and size of your recently used windows


• Supports explorer windows, programs, dialogs, etc.


• Special rules for moving or sizing only, etc.


• Ignore list for preventing position or size change


• Fully customizable


• Now with full Windows 7 and 64 bit compatibility

Supported operating systems:

• Windows XP


• Windows XP x64


• Windows Vista


• Windows Vista x64


• Windows 7


• Windows 7 x64


• Windows Server 2003


• Windows Server 2003 x64


• Windows Server 2008


• Windows Server 2008 x64

NOTE: I have tried this utility and found that it interfered with ONE window on my WinXP system. It caused the window to open in the minimized mode EVERY TIME even though the shortcut was set for normal mode. I tested this by disabling the utility, then the window would open as expected. I have removed it from my system. This is by no means saying that other users MAY find the utility works for them, especially if you NEVER use the [Save] option.

WINDOWS - CD/DVD Disappears From My Computer

This is a "this has never happened to me before" post.

I have an internal DVD-RAM drive (DVD Recorder, multi-foremat) and when I opened My Computer I noticed that it was missing. All my other drives (internal and external) did show.

I've had this DVD drive for years with no problems.

So, what to check:

• Rebooted and checked BIOS to see the DVD drive listed


• Used Device Manager, under DVD/CD-ROM drives to see list (see screenshot)

My HP DVD Writer was listed in both places.

Normally this drive was listed as G: but there was no such drive in My Computer.

Solution:

Open Disk Management (in Computer Management) and scroll-down to where your CDs are shown in the right (see screenshot). Each drive SHOULD have a Logical Drive Letter assigned.

I found that one CD/DVD drive had no Logical Drive Letter.

You right-click on the drive on the right panel, select Change Change Drive Letter and...., then (in this case) [Add] a drive letter. The dialog will show the next available letter.

In this case it showed G: which is what my HP DVD Writer should have been. Clicked [OK] and my DVD displayed AFTER I closed Computer Management.

(click for better view)


Note that this screenshot was taken AFTER I reassigned my HP DVD Writer as G:, and CD-ROM 0 is actually my external DVD-Recorder.

FIREFOX - Possible Windows Error Dialog on Launch

This is about an occasional problem with the Firefox browser.

This problem happened to me after:

1. Upgrading from Firefox 6 to Firefox 7


2. Then after installing a new Add-on

I did some research on the Firefox Support Forum I found the solution.

The problem is getting a Windows error dialog when Firefox cold-launches using your [Favorites] menu. By "cold-lunch" I mean when Firefox is NOT already running.

(click for larger view)


I stress this is a Windows dialog that appears BEFORE Firefox opens.

This is the fix found on the support site and it does work:

Firefox Win Error Fix

Registry Editor (regedit)

CAUTION: Editing the registry incorrectly can damage your system. Do not attempt these steps if you are inexperienced or uncomfortable using the Registry Editor.

BEFORE making changes, from the tree hierarchy on left of REGEDIT, backup the "open" folder for EACH entry listed below by righ-clicking the folder and using [Export]. Save the result as the branch-name but change "\" to dashes.

NOTE: Make the changes in the order they appear on the tree. (order shown here)

Use the directory tree hierarchy to navigate to the following and DELETE the "ddeexec" registry key:

1. HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\FirefoxHTML\shell\open\ddeexec


2. HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\FirefoxURL\shell\open\ddeexec


3. HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\HTTP\shell\open\ddeexec


4. HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\HTTPS\shell\open\ddeexec

After making the changes and closing the Registry Editor, Log Off then Log On.

Now use your [Favorites] menu to launch a site. The Windows error dialog should not appear.

Note that others have had this problem, and why it happens is not known.

WINXP - Make Icons Display Quicker

In Windows XP every time you open My Computer to browse folders XP automatically searches for network files and printers. This causes a delay in displaying your icons. This also applies to your [Start] Favorites menu.

You probably see the "default" windows icon and as you scroll it changes to the correct icon. This is how to stop that...

1. Open My Computer


2. Click on the Tools menu and select Folder Options


3. Under Folder Options, select the View tab


4. Uncheck the very first box that reads "Automatically search for network folders and printers"


5. Click [Apply] or [OK]

You should see a dramatic increase in speed when Windows displays your icons.

NOTE: I've tested this on 2 WinXP desktops and it works.

WINXP - Changing Registry Entries

This article is about changing Registry entries, especially using filename.reg downloaded from WEB sites.

First, the WARNINGS:

1. If it ain't broke, don't fix it DEFIANTLY applies to the Registry


2. If you are NOT technically-incline, DO NOT DO THIS


3. Do NOT trust downloaded filename.reg files, open them in NOTEPAD FIRST and see what they change


4. Make a backup of the Registry Branch from the tree (left-pane) BEFORE executing the REG-file, using the [Export] option, and assign a unique filename (see example below)


5. Only AFTER you have a backup of the Registry Branch being changed, execute the filename.reg


6. Backing up the Registry Branch also applies to any manual changes you make

EXAMPLE file disablerefresh.reg:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
"NoNetCrawling"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer]
"Max Cached Icons"="12000"

The Registry Branches that should be backed-up in from example file above, are (see example screenshot)

• HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\


• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer

(click for better view)

SOFTWARE - Oracle's NON-Support of OpenOffice

"Oracle Demonstrates Continued Support for OpenOffice.org" Oracle Press Release 10/13/2010

News Facts

• Further demonstrating its commitment to the OpenOffice.org community, Oracle today announced that it is participating in the ODF Plugfest, being held in Brussels, October 14-15.


• On the fifth anniversary of the Open Document Format (ODF) becoming an International Standard, Oracle applauds the community and OASIS for its efforts and renews its commitment to the ODF-based OpenOffice.org productivity suite.


• Oracle’s growing team of developers, QA engineers, and user experience personnel will continue developing, improving, and supporting OpenOffice.org as open source, building on the 7.5 million lines of code already contributed to the community.


• Oracle demonstrates its commitment to OpenOffice.org with new versions of this free product in collaboration with the community – OpenOffice.org 3.2.1 and OpenOffice.org 3.3 Beta – both representing advances in features and performance advancements with the introduction of new tools and extensions. Significant community contributions include localization, quality assurance, porting, documentation and user experience.


• Oracle’s ongoing support for OpenOffice.org reinforces its commitment to developing software based on open standards, providing IT users with flexibility, lower short and long-term costs and freedom from vendor lock-in.


• By investing significant resources in developing, testing, optimizing, and supporting other open source technologies such as MySQL, GlassFish, Linux, PHP, Apache, Eclipse, Berkeley DB, NetBeans, VirtualBox, Xen, and InnoDB, Oracle is invested in their future development and contributing back to the communities that produce it.


• With more than 100 million users, OpenOffice.org is the most advanced, feature-rich open source productivity suite, and continued contributions through www.openoffice.org will only improve this already popular software. Oracle views ODF as critical to providing OpenOffice.org with a complete, open, and modern document format, empowering interoperability and choice on the desktop.


• Oracle invites community participation in the OpenOffice.org conference, ODF Plugfests, and discussion groups, and welcomes contributions to the code base.

Bold-blue emphasis mine

Typical corporate behavior. NOT understanding that OpenOffice.org WAS an open-source community, NOT corporate owned. They think their engineers can do a better job than the open-source community that originated the software, the same arrogance that Microsoft demonstrates.

Note my previous post on this subject.

WINXP - Utility Recommendations

Have 2 new Utilities to recommend.

• WinBootInfo from GreenVantage


(click for better view)

The screenshot shows you most of what you need to know about this utility (especially the summary block in the middle). The printed report is just as good.

There is one drawback. GreenVantage uses a funky authorization key process and getting them to answer is a hassle.


• Icon Phile (freeware)


This is an oldie but goody. Allows you to change icons shown by Explorer (My Computer) even those that normally cannot be changed (like the icon for TXT file types).

The screenshots on their page says it all.

NOTE: The download is a ZIP file that contains the entire utility. You copy or extract the contents to a folder of your choice (C:\Program Files\IconPhile for example), then create a shortcut to run it.

SOFTWARE - OpenOffice News

"New bid for freedom by OpenOffice" by Sue Gee, I-Programmer 9/28/2010

The open source community behind the free OpenOffice productivity suite is to create an independent Document Foundation and to rebrand its software as LibreOffice.

This move is being seen as an attempt to distance itself from Oracle which has so far declined to donate the OpenOffice brand to the project.

According to the new foundation's first official press release:

"After ten years' successful growth with Sun Microsystems as founding and principle sponsor, the project launches an independent foundation called The Document Foundation, to fulfill the promise of independence written in the original charter"

The Document Foundation has received support from almost the entire OpenOffice programming community, including Novell, Red Hat and Google, leaving only Oracle with the original OpenOffice repository. The Foundation said that it had invited Oracle to become a member of the new organization, and to donate the brand it acquired with Sun Microsystems 18 months ago but that until a decision is reached the LibreOffice brand will be used to refer to the Document Foundation's software development efforts.

Speaking for the group of volunteers involved in the development of OpenOffice, Sophie Gautier, former maintainer of the French-speaking language project said:

"We believe that the Foundation is a key step for the evolution of the free office suite, as it liberates the development of the code and the evolution of the project from the constraints represented by the commercial interests of a single company."

The beta of LibreOffice is available for download on the Document Foundations website and developers are invited to join the project and contribute to the code in the new friendly and open environment, to shape the future of office productivity suites alongside contributors who translate, test, document, support, and promote the software.

I was wondering if this sort of thing would happen when Oracle bought Sun Microsystems.

Oracle = big-money business NOT interested in supporting non-profit open source community.

UPDATE

"Oracle kicks LibreOffice supporters out of OpenOffice" by Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols, ComputerWorld 10/19/2010

Well, that didn't take long. When The Document Foundation (TDF) created LibreOffice from OpenOffice's code, they let the door open for Oracle, OpenOffice's main stake-owner, to join them. Oracle's reply was to tell anyone involved with LibreOffice to get the heck out of OpenOffice.

This isn't too much of a surprise. Oracle made it clear that wouldn't be joining with The Document Foundation in working on LibreOffice.

What I did find surprising is that Oracle turned a fork into a fight. In a regularly scheduled OpenOffice.org community council meeting on Oct. 14, council chair and Oracle employee Louis Suárez-Potts wrote, "I would like to propose that the TDF members of the CC consider the points those of us who have not joined TDF have made about conflict of interest and confusion ... I would further ask them to resign their offices, so as to remove the apparent conflict of interest their current representational roles produce."

These OpenOffice.org council members, who are also TDF leaders, include Charles H. Schulz, a major OpenOffice.org contributor for almost ten years; Christoph Noack, co-leader of the OpenOffice User Experience Project; and Cor Nouws, a well-known OpenOffice developer with more than six years of experience in the project. In short, these aren't just leaders — they're important OpenOffice developers.

They haven't declared yet what they'll do to this de facto ultimatum. It seems to me though that they have little choice but to leave. Certainly Oracle wants them out as soon as possible. Suárez-Potts wrote that he wanted a "final decision on your part" as soon as possible. "It is of [the] utmost importance that we do not confuse users and contributors as to what is what, as to the identity of OpenOffice.org -- or of your organization."

I can understand how Oracle wants to quickly define this matter as Oracle vs. everyone involved with LibreOffice. But it's a really dumb move.

The Document Foundation wasn't so much about setting up a rival to OpenOffice as it was about giving an important but stagnant open-source program a kick in the pants. OpenOffice was and is good, but it's not been getting significantly better in years. TDF wanted to change that.

Oracle thinks it's more important to fight with some of the people who could have been its strongest supporters than try to work with them. Dumb! Cutting off your nose to spite your face is always a mistake.

Of course, this is all a piece of Oracle's "my way or the highway" approach to all the open-source programs it inherited from Sun. Oracle may support open source in general, but it's doing a lousy job of doing what's best for the its own open-source programs.

This is going to come back to haunt Oracle. I fully expect for LibreOffice to replace OpenOffice as the number one open-source office suite and chief rival to Microsoft Office within the next twelve months.

I agree with Steven's last statement. Oracle corporate leaders are just dumb. They just don't understand that open-source means that they do NOT own the source-code for the software. The source-code belongs to the community.

IE8 - How to Save the Window Size

Internet Explorer has had this really annoying problem on NOT saving the its window size for a long time and it's incredible that Microsoft has not fixed it yet.

To "fix" this problem (same as in IE 7 and IE6):

1. Close all Internet Explorer windows except for one.


2. Right-click on any link in the page and select "Open in New Window."


3. Close the first browser window using the [X] in the upper right corner in the title bar.


4. Resize the window manually by dragging the sides to fill the screen.
   
   Note: Do NOT click the Maximize button, you have to do it manually.


5. Hold the [Ctrl] key and click the [X] in the upper right corner in the title bar.

I've verified this works.

SECURITY - The Bad Idea From Intel

"Intel's walled garden plan to put A/V vendors out of business" by Jon Stokes, Ars Technica 9/14/2010

In describing the motivation behind Intel's recent purchase of McAfee for a packed-out audience at the Intel Developer Forum, Intel's Paul Otellini framed it as an effort to move the way the company approaches security "from a known-bad model to a known-good model." Otellini went on to briefly describe the shift in a way that sounded innocuous enough--current A/V efforts focus on building up a library of known threats against which they protect a user, but Intel would love to move to a world where only code from known and trusted parties runs on x86 systems. It sounds sensible enough, so what could be objectionable about that?

Depending how enamored you are of Apple's App Store model, where only Apple-approved code gets to run on your iPhone, you may or may not be happy in Intel's planned utopia. Because, in a nutshell, the App Store model is more or less what Intel is describing. Regardless of what you think of the idea, its success would have at least two unmitigated upsides: 1) everyone will get vPro by default (i.e., it seems hard to imagine that Intel will still charge for security as an added feature), and 2) it would put every security company (except McAfee, of course), out of business. (The second one is of course a downside for security vendors, but it's an upside for users who despise intrusive A/V software.)

From a jungle to an ecosystem of walled gardens

For a company that made its fortune on the back of the x86 ISA, the shift that Intel envisions is nothing less than tectonic. x86 became the world's most popular ISA in part because anything and everything could (and eventually would) run on it. And don't forget Microsoft's role in all of this—remember the "Wintel" duopoly of years gone by? Like x86, Windows ended up being the default OS for the desktop software market, and everything else was niche. And, like x86, Windows spread because everyone who wanted it could get it and run anything they wanted on it.

The fact that x86 was so popular and open gave rise to today's A/V industry, where security companies spend 100 percent of their effort trying to identify and thwart every conceivable form of bad behavior. This approach is extremely labor-intensive and failure-prone, which the security companies love because it keeps them in business.

What Intel is proposing is that the entire x86 ecosystem move to the opposite approach, and run only the code that has been blessed as safe by some trusted authority.

Now, there are a few ways that this is likely to play out, and none of these options are mutually exclusive.

One way should be clear from Intel's purchase of McAfee: the company plans to have two roles as a security provider: a component provider role, and an end-to-end platform/software/services provider role. First, there's the company's traditional platform role, where Intel provides OEMs the basic tools for building their own walled gardens. Intel has been pushing this for some time, mainly in its ultramobile products. If anyone is using Intel's ingredients (an app store plus hardware with support for running only signed code) to build their own little version of the App Store ecosystem, it's probably one of the European or Asian carriers that sells rebadged Intel mobile internet devices (MIDs). It's clear that no one is really doing this on the desktop with vPro, though.

Then there's the McAfee purchase, which shows that Intel plans to offer end-to-end security solutions, in addition to providing the pieces out of which another vendor can build their own. So with McAfee, Intel probably plans to offer a default walled garden option, of sorts. At the very least, it's conceivable that Intel could build its own secure app store ecosystem, where developers send code to McAfee for approval and distribution. In this model, McAfee would essentially act as the "Apple" for everyone making, say, MeeGo apps.

In the world described above, the x86 ecosystem slowly transitions from being a jungle to network of walled gardens, with Intel tending one of the largest gardens. If you're using an x86-based GoogleTV, you might participate in Google's walled garden, but not be able to run any other x86 code. Or, if you have an Intel phone from Nokia, you might be stuck in the MeeGo walled garden.

A page from the Web

None of the walled garden approaches described above sound very attractive for the desktop, and they'll probably be rejected outright by many Linux and open-source users. But there is another approach, one which Intel might decide to pursue on the desktop. The company could set up a number of trusted signing authorities for x86 code, and developers could approach any one of them to get their code signed for distribution. This is, of course, the same model used on the Web, where e-commerce sites submit an application for an https certificate.

This distributed approach seems to work well enough online, and I would personally be quite happy to use it on all my PCs. I would also love to hear from users who object to this approach—please jump into the comments below and sound off.

Pick any two

Obviously, security has always been a serious problem in the wild and woolly world of x86 and Windows. This is true mainly because Wintel is the biggest animal in the ecosystem, so bad actors get the most bang for their buck by targeting it. So why has Intel suddenly gotten so serious about it that the company is making this enormous change to the very nature of its core platform?

The answer is fairly straightforward: Intel wants to push x86 into niches that it doesn't currently occupy (phones, appliances, embedded), but it can't afford to take the bad parts along for the ride. Seriously, if you were worried about a particular phone or TV being compromised, you just wouldn't buy it. Contrast this to the Windows desktop, which many users may be forced to use for various reasons.

So Intel's dilemma looks like this: open, secure, ubiquitous—pick any two, but given the economics of the semiconductor industry, "ubiquitous" has to be one of them. Open and ubiquitous have gotten Intel where it is today, and the company is betting that secure and ubiquitous can take it the rest of the way.

Of course, my post title is my own opinion of this idea (note my bold-blue highlight above).

INTERNET - Internet Explorer 9

"Review: IE9 May Be Best Version Yet" by Jim Rapoza, InformationWeek 9/16/2010

Excerpt

That's because, while IE 9 is much improved over previous versions of IE, very few of the new features in IE 9 are new to the current browser market. In fact, most of the new features in this beta release are simply a matter of IE catching up to Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Opera.

Humm..... Didn't Microsoft claim the same for Vista?

Lets see how much WANTED old features they made hard to enable. Not all of us want the fantasist thing on the block. AND will it work well with WinXP?

WIN XP - Power Point Presentation to Movie

This post is about ways to convert a Microsoft Power Point Presentation to a movie.

I wanted to do this on occasion but did have the means 'till now. My problem is I do not have Microsoft Office on my system at home. I use Open Office Suite (open-source aka freeware).

I found a Convert PowerPoint To Video: Guide To The Best Free Services page which lists applications for conversion.

Problem, most I tried REQUIRED Microsoft Power Point Presentation to be installed to work.

The exception (NOT requiring Power Point) was Xilisoft PowerPoint to Video Converter.

It worked quite well, and does not need Power Point because it loads MS Power Point Reader as a plug-in.

There ARE drawbacks:

• I HAD to buy the Personal version (vs Free) because I didn't have Power Point installed


• It is a real resource hog once conversion starts, don't use ANY other application

This is just one Power Point Slide Show I converted.