Mac Versus PC

You’ve seen the Mac versus PC commercials put out by Apple. These commercials, like many advertisements, aren’t entirely truthful and often perpetuate myths. Can’t we all just get along?

We work on Macs, but don’t get to do a lot of work on them simply because there aren’t that many Macs out there compared to Windows computers. Only 5% of computers are Macs while 93% are PC’s. Don’t misunderstand, Macs are good computers.

You’ve probably heard people with Macs say how much better Macs are than PC’s. Let’s look at some of these claims and see if they are true.

1. Macs don’t need security software (anti-virus, anti-spyware, etc) because they are not susceptible to infections.
   
   This is mostly myth but partly true. Mac’s are just as susceptible to infections as Windows PC’s are. It’s just that Windows PC’s have been the primary target of infections simply because there are a lot more Windows PC’s out there than there are Mac’s. There are a few infections that are now targeting Mac’s, but not many. So the chances of a Mac becoming infected is fairly small right now. In 2008, Apple released a security bulletin recommending that all Mac owners use anti-virus software on their Macs. If you have a Mac, you should have good security protection.

2. Macs are more reliable than PC’s.

   Again, this is partly a myth and partly true. When you talk about the reliability of a computer, there are two major components to consider. Hardware and software. In terms of hardware, a recent report by Square Trade reported on the number of warranty claims on 9 different laptop manufacturers. The one with the least number of warranty claims was not Apple. In fact, Apple was number 4. In terms of hardware, Macs are good, but are not any more reliable that PC hardware.
   �
   Reliability in terms of software refers primarily to the operating system. In this case Mac OS versus Windows. If you exclude problems with Windows there were not caused by infections, then Mac OS is slightly more reliable than Windows. More than half of the problems we see on Windows computers are caused by infections. And as we mentioned before, Macs are not much of a target for infections because there aren’t as many of them out there.

   If Macs were targeted by infections as much as Windows, I think we would see just as many problems with Macs as we do with Windows. So in a nutshell, Mac hardware isn’t more reliable than Windows hardware, but Mac OS is a little more reliable than Windows because it’s not targeted by infections as much.

3. Macs are better for media related activities (audio and video production for example).
   
   This is a myth. Anything you can do on a Mac, you can do on a PC. Software manufacturers rarely produce a version of their software only for the Mac. Why? The PC market is just too big to ignore. So once again it goes back to market share.

4. The same software available for Windows is available for the Mac.
   
   This is mostly myth but there is a workaround for most programs. A program written for Windows won’t run on a Mac PC as is. For a program to run on a Mac, it must be written for the Mac unless you run a Windows emulator. Running a Windows program under a Windows emulator on a Mac works for a lot of programs, but not for all of them. It especially doesn’t work with games. And programs running under an emulator run slower. By the way, Mac OS emulators are available for Windows if you wanted to run a Mac program on a Windows PC.

5. PC’s and Mac’s cost about the same.
   
   This is a myth. Mac’s generally cost more to purchase. Replacement parts for them cost more. It’s more expensive to repair them and it’s harder to find people who work on Macs. All of this adds up.

Don’t get us wrong. We have nothing against Macs. They are very good computers. We like them. We aren’t telling  you not to purchase a Mac. We just wanted to set the record straight.

If you currently have a PC and you are considering purchasing a Mac, please be aware of the following:

1. There are a lot of differences in the way they work. There will be a learning curve going from Windows to Mac.

2. Make sure you get good Virus/Spyware protection for your Mac.

3. Data from your PC can be migrated over to your Mac. We can do that for you.

4. Be careful purchasing printers and other devices. Make sure they are compatible with the Mac. Most are compatible, but not all of them are.

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We have had Office 2007 now for a few years and in June of this year we will get the newest version.  You guessed it, Office 2010.

We thought we would tell you a little bit about it.

The biggest news, if you can believe it, is that there will be a free version. That’s right. A free version which will be called the “Starter Edition”. The Starter Edition of Office 2010 will include only Word and Excel. These versions of Word and Excel will have limited functionality and will also include advertisements. In addition, the Starter Edition will only run on Vista and Windows 7. If you don’t mind the advertisements, the free version might be fine for many home users who just need to do basic editing with Word and Excel.

I don’t want to bore you with a lot of details of the new features, but I will tell you that if you have Office 2003 or 2007, there really isn’t a compelling reason for you to upgrade to the 2010 version. If you purchase a new computer after Office 2010 comes out, you will at least get the Starter Edition of Office 2010.

Pricing for Office 2010 will be $149 for the Home and Student edition, $279 for the Home and Business edition, and $349 for the Professional edition.

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We thought you might be interested to know that sales of Windows 7 have been very good. In fact, in less than a month after Windows 7 was released, there were already more computers out there running Windows 7 than there were Mac OS X.

In case you are interested, as of December 2009, 93% of computers run Windows, 5% are Macs, 1% run Linux, and the other 1% includes several operating systems you probably never heard of. During 2009, the percentage of Windows computers went up about 1.5%. Macs went down about 0.5%, Linux remained fairly stable, and the “other” category went down about  1%.

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Lately, there has been an outbreak rogue security programs. The ones we have seen lately include Personal Security, Security Took, Internet Security 2010, and others. In case you aren’t familiar with the term rogue security, it is basically an infection that pretends to be a security program (anti-virus, anti-spyware, etc.). A rogue security program will sneak onto your system. It will then tell you that your computer is infected and then tell you all you have to do is pay for the “Security” software and it will remove it for you.

The rogue security program is right about one thing. Your computer is infected. But the rogue security program is the infection. All of those infections it’s telling are on your computer probably aren’t there.  If you decide to click on the link to purchase the rogue security program, it will take you to a website where you can enter your credit card and pay for it. Once you do this, they have your credit card number and will keep charging it until you cancel your credit card.

Luckily, once a rogue security program is discovered, it only takes a day or two before their website is shut down. Once that happens, if you click on the link to purchase the rogue security program, you’ll find that you can’t. Of course, once the website is shut down, they build a new one somewhere else, but the rogue security program you have on your computer doesn’t know the new website.

In addition to telling  you your computer is infected, some rogue security software will show a screen similar to the Windows Security Center telling you your computer is not secure and once again giving you the option to purchase it. Many of these types of rogue security program will stop other programs from running. Specifically, any program that might be able to remove them. This particular rogue security software is a little different in that when it stops something from running, it pops up a message that looks like it’s from a firewall saying it stopped an infected program from running.

Most of these rogue security programs will also hijack internet explorer. If you try to go to a website to find information about personal security or to a website that contains security software, it will display a message saying that the website you tried to go to is unsafe. Or sometimes they just redirect you somewhere else.

These infections generally spreads through infected websites and through email, but can also be spread through Adobe PDF files. On a website, it might tell you a newer version of flash is required to view the website and prompt you to download the latest version of flash. But when you click to update to the latest version of flash, it actually installs the infection.

No doubt this same infection has already begun spreading with a new website and possibly a new name. We have seen lots of these types of infections in the past with varying names and different tricks up their sleeves, but

To avoid these types of infections, follow these rules.

1. Make sure you have good, up-to-date, unexpired security software. The 2 products we recommend are Vipre and AVG.

2. Never click on a link in an email. If you get an email from an institution that you do business with and that email has a convenient link in it, don’t click on it. Instead, go to that institution’s website manually.

3. If a website prompts you to install or update something, do not do it. Instead, manually update it yourself. Here’s how.

   If you want to update flash, shockwave, or adobe reader, go to www.adobe.com. In fact, we recommend you go and update all three of these right now.

   If you want to update java, go to java.com. We recommend you do this right now.

   If you are prompted to install a CODEC or a special player, don’t do it. Whatever music or video you were trying to watch, go find it somewhere else on the web.

If your computer does become infected, we can of course remove it for you. But we sincerely hope your computer does not become infected.

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As technology advances, older technology is replaced by new technology. It’s the way of things. Before computers came along, if you wanted to write a letter,  you either had to had write it on paper, or use a typewriter.  When computers first came on the scene, you would write a letter on your computer, print it, and mail it through the US Mail. Then when the Internet became more accessible to most people, you quite printing it and mailing it and instead sent email. Then many people moved from email to instant messenger. As most people got faster internet service, you could then use programs like Skype to communicate with other people with voice and video on your computer right over the internet. Thanks to the Internet, stamp sales are way down.

This type of thing has happened over the years with technology. The horse and buggy was replaced by the car. The train was, for the most part, replaced by airplanes. The list is very long.

Let’s look more closely at the types of technology that the internet has replaced in the last ten years or so.

• Printed Reference Materials and those who sold them

  When you wanted information, you went to a printed encyclopedia, dictionary, thesaurus, or other similar reference material. While Dictionary’s and thesaurus don’t get out of date that fast, encyclopedias did. Often, the encyclopedia you were using was several years old meaning the information in it was outdated. You also had to contend with Encyclopedia salesmen coming to your door trying to sell you more up to date encyclopedias.

  When home computers started becoming popular, you could then purchase encyclopedia programs on CD that you could run on your computer. They were cheaper than the old printed encyclopedias and you didn’t have to contend with salesmen, but just like printed encyclopedias, the information in them was stale when you first got it and became outdated. Then came the world wide web. Now you can go to Google or Wikipedia or encyclopedia.com or any other of the many places to get the information you need. And that information is usually up to date.

  The Yellow Pages falls into this same category. It’s still around, but used much less than it used to be. At some point, it will go away.

• Faxing

  Fax machines used to be the best and quickest way to send a document. You could overnight them, but that was, and still is, expensive. When computers first started becoming popular, fax modems became a popular substitution for fax machines. But the technology was still limited because it still revolved around the idea of printed documents. Then as the faster internet speeds came, you could simply create a document on your computer, attach it to an email, and send it to someone.

  Fax machines are still around, but you are finding fewer and fewer of them as time goes by. One thing that has kept the fax machine around longer are multi-function printers that can fax in addition to print. But I suspect that in 10 years, fax machines will be very rare.

• Paper Checks

  Although paper checks are still used a lot, its declining fast. It seems strange for me to say this since most of our clients pay us by check. It’s going to be many years before checks are gone, but they are on their way out. You can pay your bills online. You can pay by credit card, of course. You can often set it up so that a vendor can simply take what you owe directly from your bank account.

• Printed Newspapers, Magazines, and Books

  Newspaper circulation is way down. So are magazine subscriptions. During the next 10-15 years, more and more newspapers and magazines will fold. With devices like Amazon’s Kindle, books will start to decline as well.

• Bulletin Boards

  When you hear the term bulletin board, you probably think of a cork board with papers pinned on it. But if you were into computers in the 80′s and early 90′s like I was, then you might think of a computer bulletin board. The Internet certainly hasn’t replaced the cork bulletin board, but it has totally killed the computer bulletin board.

  Back before the internet was available to the average person, we did have modems. If you could find the telephone number for a computer bulletin board, you could have your computer call it. Once you got on a bulletin board, you could upload or download software or read and post messages. The hard part was finding a bulletin board’s phone number.

  As the Internet became more popular, especially to those who worked at corporations, the bulletin board was replaced by Gopher. Gopher was basically a bulletin board on the internet. Think of it as a text only version of the world wide web. Gopher didn’t last long before the web came along. Computer Bulletin boards and Gopher were great in their day, but they were basically stepping stones to the internet and to the world wide web.

• Video/DVD rental

  This is another one that isn’t gone yet, but like several others on this list, it’s going fast. I’m sure you have probably head of NetFlix. It’s a company where you can get online, tell it what movies you would like to see, then they mail you the DVD. After you watch it, you mail it back and then they mail you the next one on your list.

  Have you ever wondered about its name?  The name NetFlix doesn’t sound like a good name for a company that mails DVD’s. That’s because mailing DVD’s is just a stepping stone to where things are going and the founders of NetFlix knew it. And it’s starting to happen. With NetFlix, you can now watch movies, online, on your computer. BlockBuster is offering similar services. You can also purchase devices that you hook up to your TV and to the internet. These devices allow you to watch NetFlix movies online right on your TV without a computer. And now they have Internet ready TV’s that have this built right into the TV.

  While we are on this subject, we might as well talk about cable and satellite TV. You can watch movies online, but can you watch cable TV online? Not really. A lot of companies are working towards that, but we have a long way to go. You can, however, watch a lot of TV shows online. But it’s after the fact, not live as they are being aired. I can picture a time, however, where there is very little airing of TV shows. Shows will be created and released on a certain date and a certain time. At that time, you can download or view them over the internet. There will always be some live programming for news and things like that, but they will be delivered over the internet for the most part.

This is just a very small fraction of this list, but you get the idea. Basically, the Internet is a way to communicate. I think some day, the vast majority of all communication will use the Internet. I think some day cell phones will just be internet devices and the wireless technology used for cell phones today will be history. But before that happens, the Internet has to grow up and beef up. But that’s a story for another day.

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If you haven’t tried using the wheel on your mouse, you are missing out on a real time saver. You can use it to scroll down without having to move the mouse over to the scroll bar. If you don’t think your mouse wheel scrolls down quickly enough, you can change the settings on it to make it scroll faster. Just go into the Control Panel and find your mouse settings. Click on the Wheel tab and you will see the settings for your mouse wheel. The standard is for it to scroll 3 lines for each click of your wheel. If you want it to scroll faster, just increase the number of lines. I like 10 myself.

If you have more than one program running like I usually do, I might look at one of them and start scrolling the mouse only to find that one of the other windows is scrolling. This happens because the mouse wheel only works on the currently active window. So, to make the mouse wheel work on the window I want it to work on, I have to click on that window to make it the currently active window. Then I can use the mouse wheel to scroll down.

This kind of limits the usefulness of the mouse wheel. But have no fear, there is a free and easy fix to this problem. It’s called WizMouse. This free utility can be downloaded and installed for free. Once you have it running, all you have to do is hold the mouse pointer over the window you want to scroll, and then you can use the mouse wheel to scroll that window, even if it’s not the currently active window. Until I tried WizMouse, I didn’t realize what a pain it was to have to click in a window just to scroll that window down.

If you are interested in downloading and installing WizMouse, click on the link below.

 http://antibody-software.com/web/software/software/wizmouse-makes-your-mouse-wheel-work-on-the-window-under-the-mouse/

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Have you evern gotten a screen that looks somethign like this:

This is what is often called the Blue Screen of Death, often abbreviated BSOD. You can get this type of screen on any version of Windows. Windows will display this screen if it encounters a critical error that prevents Windows from continuing to operate. This is also referred to as a system failure.

It sounds pretty bad, and it can be, but just because your computer gets one BSOD doesn’t mean it’s a death sentence for your computer. In fact, it’s not unusual for a computer to get a blue screen every once in a while. But if your computer gets a BSOD frequently, or every time you turn your computer on, there may be a problem.

If your computer shows the blue screen of death, here’s what to do.

If this is the first time you have seen this screen in a while, just reboot. You will have to press and hold down the power button for about 5 seconds to force the computer off. Then wait a few seconds and press the power button again to turn the computer back on. If your computer comes back on and works fine, don’t worry about it. Again, it’s not unusual for a Windows PC to get a BSOD every once in a while.

If you have gotten a BSOD on your computer in the last few days, then you should stop and write down some of the information on the screen. In the example above, you would want to write down PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA. You would also want to write down the stop code which is the first number after “STOP:”. In this case, 0×00000050. You don’t need to write down the numbers in the parenthesis after the stop code.

Notice that in this example it shows a file name at the top and at the bottom of the blue screen. In this example, that file is SPCMDCON.SYS. Not all BSOD’s will have a file name listed, but if yours does, write it down.

It’s possible that the BSOD may only flash on your screen for a second and then your computer will reboot. Some manufacturers set Windows this way. When this happens, it is still possible to get the information that would have been displayed on the BSOD. Assuming the computer will boot up. You can change this setting by going to the Control Panel and double-clicking on System. Now click on the Advanced tab and then click the Settings button in the Startup and Recovery sections. Then remove the checkmark next to “Automatically restart”.

If your system is getting a BSOD frequently, or gets one every time it boots up, or is in a constant loop of rebooting over and over, then once you have written down the information from the BSOD, press and hold the power button for about 5 seconds to shut the computer off. Then call us and give us the information.

A BSOD error can be most anything. Could be a software error. Could be a driver problem. Could be a hardware problem. The information on the BSOD may tells us exactly what the problem is, but more often than not, it only gives us an idea. Most of the time, to discover the root problem and fix a BSOD requires that we bring the computer back to our office and run extensive tests.

But don’t worry. Most BSOD errors are software, drivers, hard drive, or memory, all of which are fixable at a reasonable cost. The exception are problems with the motherboard or the processor. Still fixable, but often not worth the cost.

So to summarize, if you get a BSOD every once in a while, reboot and don’t worry about it. If you get one frequently or every time you boot your computer, write down the pertinent information and give us a call. 

This is what is often called the Blue Screen of Death, often abbreviated BSOD. You can get this type of screen on any version of Windows. Windows will display this screen if it encounters a critical error that prevents Windows from continuing to operate. This is also referred to as a system failure.

It sounds pretty bad, and it can be, but just because your computer gets one BSOD doesn’t mean it’s a death sentence for your computer. In fact, it’s not unusual for a computer to get a blue screen every once in a while. But if your computer gets a BSOD frequently, or every time you turn your computer on, there may be a problem.

If your computer shows the blue screen of death, here’s what to do.

If this is the first time you have seen this screen in a while, just reboot. You will have to press and hold down the power button for about 5 seconds to force the computer off. Then wait a few seconds and press the power button again to turn the computer back on. If your computer comes back on and works fine, don’t worry about it. Again, it’s not unusual for a Windows PC to get a BSOD every once in a while.

If you have gotten a BSOD on your computer in the last few days, then you should stop and write down some of the information on the screen. In the example above, you would want to write down PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA. You would also want to write down the stop code which is the first number after “STOP:”. In this case, 0×00000050. You don’t need to write down the numbers in the parenthesis after the stop code.

The screen shot above may be hard to read, but it shows a file name SPCMDCON.SYS. Not all BSOD’s will have a file name listed, but if yours does, write it down.

It’s possible that the BSOD may only flash on your screen for a second and then your computer will reboot. Some manufacturers set Windows this way. When this happens, it is still possible to get the information that would have been displayed on the BSOD. Assuming the computer will boot up. You can change this setting by going to the Control Panel and double-clicking on System. Now click on the Advanced tab and then click the Settings button in the Startup and Recovery sections. Then remove the checkmark next to “Automatically restart”.

If your system is getting a BSOD frequently, or gets one every time it boots up, or is in a constant loop of rebooting over and over, then once you have written down the information from the BSOD, press and hold the power button for about 5 seconds to shut the computer off. Then call us and give us the information.

A BSOD error can be most anything. Could be a software error. Could be a driver problem. Could be a hardware problem. The information on the BSOD may tells us exactly what the problem is, but more often than not, it only gives us an idea. Most of the time, to discover the root problem and fix a BSOD requires that we bring the computer back to our office and run extensive tests.

But don’t worry. Most BSOD errors are software, drivers, hard drive, or memory, all of which are fixable at a reasonable cost. The exception are problems with the motherboard or the processor. Still fixable, but often not worth the cost.

So to summarize, if you get a BSOD every once in a while, reboot and don’t worry about it. If you get one frequently or every time you boot your computer, write down the pertinent information and give us a call.

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.NET (pronounced DOT NET) is a basically a library of routines that a program may use. Sorry if that’s too technical. In laymen’s terms, there are some functions that a lot of different software applications might want to use. Instead of each programmer reinventing the wheel, a framework like .NET provides a standard set of functions that a software programmer can use. If a software program uses any functions from .NET, then .NET must be installed on a computer where that software is installed or that software won’t work.

There are currently 5 different versions of .NET (1.0, 1.1, 2.0, 3.0, and 3.5) with 4.0 on the way. Because each of these versions of .NET is different, a program written using a specific version of .NET must have that specific version of .NET installed on any computer that software is to run on. For example, if a particular software package was written using .NET 2.0, then .NET 2.0 must be installed on any computer that wants to use that software. If a different software package was written using .NET 1.1, then .NET 1.1 must be installed on any computer that wants to run that software. You can have several versions of .NET on your computer at the same time.

Microsoft regularly releases security updates for these .NET versions. As we have told you many times before, it’s a good idea to install all of the security updates from Microsoft in order to keep your computer secure. The problem here is that Microsoft has done a very poor job with .NET updates. Updates for .NET often fail to install. And it seems to be getting worse.

You may have an update for .NET that keeps trying to install on your system over and over and keeps failing. When this happens, you basically have two options. One option is to call us and have us fix it. However, it can take 30 minutes to an hour to fix .NET problems. So the question becomes, is it worth fixing? In most cases, the answer is no. If you have software that you need to run and it requires a certain version of .NET with certain updates, then you may have no choice.

If you decide it’s not worth it to fix this on your computer, the next question is, “How do I stop the .NET update from constantly trying to install?” The answer is to hide the update. The method for hiding an update varies depending on which version of Windows you have.

How to Hide an Update in Windows XP

1. Double-click on the yellow shield in the lower right-hand corner of the screen near where the time is displayed.

2. Choose Custom Install and click Next.

3. Click on the box to remove the checkmark next to the update you want to hide and click Next.

4. XP will give you the option not to be notified about this update again. Click to put a checkmark in the box and click the button to finish.

How to Hide an Update in Vista or Windows 7

1. Click on Start and then click on Control Panel

2. Type “update” and then click on “Windows Update”

3. Click on “View Available Updates”

4. Right-click on the update you want to hide and choose “Hide Update” from the pop-up menu.

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