Bad press castle in the air is vanishing

Finally, the Microsoft campaign to reconnect with its users is taking off in a big way. "Hello I'm a PC and I've been made into an stereotype" is the curtain-raiser line of a new video in which people from all walks of life, who use PCs, are going about their lives. The best advertising, I believe, is when you don't resort to showing "how bad" the competition is in order to show "how good" you are (worse! When the competition is not actually that bad and you are not actually that good). Like I've been saying all along, Vista IS ALREADY a great product and the only reason for these ads in to counter the ghosts created by deceitful ads and preconceived notions. The New York Times reviews how Echoing the Campaign of a Rival, Microsoft Aims to Redefine ‘I’m a PC’. And that's precisely how this episode of the campaign is called.

Do you need 64-bit Vista?

No longer the choice of technology enthusiasts or power users, 64-bit PCs are becoming more and more prevalent, being 64-bit Vista one of the best choices. In the PC world this number refers to the amount of data the CPU can compute at the same time and the data which is transferred between memory and the CPU and between memory and the peripheral devices (the "data bus"). Having the ability to use more than 4G of memory is, after all, many a good reason to upgrade. The question is if you actually need all that computing power and I would say 32-bit computers are here to stay for a long time, so 32-bit is fine, but having a 64-bit Vista computer would be of course really nice! My next laptop computer might have... Read more: 32-bit and 64-bit Windows, Microsoft 64-bit computing, a broader view: which one is best for you.

In a desert of misconceptions stands out reality

Mojave (pronounced Moh-hah-veh) is a desert in south California, to the
south-east of the Sierra Nevada and north-east of Los Angeles, where there is a center of aerospace technology. Microsoft used this name to "disguise" the "next Microsoft Operating System" and show it to people who have never used Windows Vista so they can see what it can do and decide by themselves. This "experiment", that started back in July in San Francisco, revealed that 94% of respondents rated the “new operating system” higher than they initially rated Windows Vista before the demo. The reality stands out: Vista is a great OS. This blog is sort of my own "Mojave experiment."

Hello, I'm a MAC switching to Windows Vista

It just came to my attention, just by chance, that some people are actually switching from beloved, cult computer, MAC to Vista. Well, right now I don't remember what I was googling for but I stumbled upon an article (and a very nice blog, by the way) in which the author, Kate MacKenzie, a 15-year Mac veteran, tells us candidly, among other things, that Macs crash more frequently and cause more problems than ever; software and hardware. My last five Macs have increasingly become less stable, less dependable. I wrote right there a comment to that article, nothing biased, nothing fanatical (that's not me), just reflecting on her decision, with a link to this blog. It was this morning, and now, late afternoon, I have not seen it. This news, anyway, are a surprise to me. Actually, yes and no. Vista is basically practical, useful and, last but not least, also good looking. Why not?! On the other hand, it is interesting to know why Windows users don't easily switch to Mac, as the author, Adrian Kingsley-Hughes, put it "Most people looking to buy a new computer want a tool, not a religion." He got 860 comments/rebuttals/reactions! However, for some, that's what it is and when then try other avenues, they are pummeled, reproved, etc.: like this photographer, or this journalist (Vista being just released in 01/07), and other stories I don't actually care about. Really. But, how about these 50 Reasons to Switch From Mac to PC in response to a techie jester's 50 Reasons to Switch from Microsoft Windows to Apple’s Mac OS X. [Kate's blog is temporarily in my blog list, on the left].

Already meaningful, already relevant, Windows wants more attention

Microsoft has launched this week an advertising campaign that will promote and illustrate how Windows integrates consumer experiences across PCs, online and on mobile phones through Windows Vista, Windows Live and Windows Mobile. Bill Gates himself appears in a promotional video together with comedian Jerry Seinfeld, as the first and most visible sign of an ambitious effort by Microsoft’s Windows business to reconnect with consumers around the globe. This ad has perplexed some viewers and has also served as fodder for the usual biased "reviews" (e.g.) that exaggerate the initial flaws in Windows Vista in 2007, not taking into account the current and more robust SP1 version. What seems clear, though, this campaign is not about bashing the competition. It is not necessary.

SOLUTION: Uninstalling Explorer 8 Beta 1

In order to uninstall this beta version you need to go to Control Panel / Programs and Features / View installed updates, instead of the probably most obvious "Uninstall a program." A little bit more detailed instructions in one of the TechNet blogs.