Yes, GetRight. The Windows-only, paid-for, shareware download manager. Running on Linux. But before you ask – why? (more…)

Those of you who’ve been reading here a while will know I used to be a huge fan of ClearType. Huge fan! I thought it made fonts really readable.

Then, about two years ago, I started to get headaches. Big, nasty headaches. So I tried fiddling with display options – upped the refresh rate (sort-of worked, for a while), changed the colour scheme… Eventually I found if I turned off ClearType, the headaches went away. Finally, I could get back to the day job.

And then I upgraded my works machine to Windows 7… (more…)

My own personal rules for effective computing:
1. Don’t buy anything with ‘Norton’ written on it, unless the next word is ‘Ghost’.
2. Don’t buy any program without consulting osliving.com. Open source is often faster, more effective, and doesn’t provide features you don’t need.
3. Half the computer companies are brands of another. Check who belongs to whom, then use Google Shopping to find the cheapest supplier. The product and warranty will be the same, just the price will be cheaper.
4. A 2GHz AMD processor is as fast as a 3GHz Intel, but costs less than a 2GHz Intel.
5. Memory is the cheapest, easiest, and most effective upgrade you’ll ever buy.
6. Most users don’t use anything most Linux distributions won’t give you for free.
7. Free antivirus is better than no antivirus at all, but the best antivirus money can buy is no substitute for common sense.

An Indian site called Techno 360 has published what are apparently leaked screenshots of Google’s Chrome OS. Well, maybe – the site is sceptical as to their provenance due to the sleek look of them, and Google’s famed indifference to visual polish.

However I’m not so sure. With the recent upgrades to Gmail and others, it’s possible – just possible – that Google has splashed a few pennies on some designers to polish things up a bit. Well, you never know…

Windows 7 release candidate feels a bit more like a proper version of Windows – it says “Windows 7 Ultimate” on it and everything. However, it’s back to the naughty step with Microsoft, as it overwrote the MBR.

Now to be fair it is a 64-bit OS overwriting a 32-bit OS. But an “overwrite MBR” prompt would be nice. (more…)