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Getting to know Windows 7? Here are 20 ways to get around the interface and make it act the way you want.
Editor's note: An earlier version of this story was written when Windows 7 was still in beta. Now that the final version has been released, we've overhauled the story, updating some tips, eliminating others that are no longer relevant, and adding seven new tips.
Look for the to find the new tips.
Just got your hands on Windows 7 and want to bend it to your will? No problem. We've got plenty of tips, hacks and secrets to keep you busy for a long time, including automatically opening Windows Explorer to a folder of your choice, speeding up taskbar thumbnails, finding hidden desktop themes, forcing User Account Control to
act the way you'd like, keeping your Explorer searches secret from others, and more. So check out these tips. If you like them, we'll keep more coming...
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Editor's note: The author was not satisfied with the way he expressed himself in the article as it originally appeared, and so he has rewritten it extensively. The article below is substantially different from what was posted on Dec. 1, though the overall message remains the same. As the author told us, "I believe the message is important enough to get it right."
A couple of months ago, the author wrote "The unspoken truth about managing geeks" to illustrate how common, fundamental flaws produce stereotypical behaviors among IT professionals. These flaws have a source, he writes in his current column, and they cost an incalculable amount of time and money.
Garbage
Back in the fifth grade, I was in a school musical, The GIGO Effect, in which the evil Glitches attempted to corrupt a computer named Mabel with "dirty power." The point of the show was that technology is unable to produce intelligent results without intelligent direction, a truism encapsulated in the formerly popular
computer acronym GIGO, "garbage in, garbage out." I don't think any business leaders are inclined to get their insights on running IT from a bunch of singing fifth-graders, but they could do worse (and generally do, to tell the truth). Intelligent direction is a product of competence, which IT professionals view as a
mix of technical knowledge, creativity and judgment. Everyone prefers competence. Everyone wants to do the right thing. But just as IT pros act and react logically according to their perceptions, so do the executives who employ them. Both approach
IT with the same intention, but the outcome -- for lack of a better term -- sucks. And it sucks more as time goes on. Don't take my word for it; ask...
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Among them: AT&T loses its iPhone exclusive deal.
Looking at smartphone growth by the numbers, it's a cinch to predict that sales will continue to boom in 2010. But the real story of the smartphone's future is not in the numbers. It's a personal one told in many different ways by many smartphone users. One such user, John Davis, has been a physician for many years.
He owns a new Droid smartphone, purchased at a Verizon Wireless store near Boston in November. Davis cites many reasons for buying a Droid, the main one being that it is the closest thing to Apple Inc.'s fantastically successful iPhone that runs on the Verizon network. Having been a Verizon customer for years, Davis said he trusts the
Verizon network more than he does the one offered by AT&T, the wireless carrier with exclusive rights to the iPhone in the U.S. Aside from some initial voice echo problems, Davis sees the Droid as being...
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These outdated tech terms really show your age; we’ve put together a list of alternatives. Welcome to the world of cloud computing, the smartphones and the virtual desktop.
If you’re old enough to understand the reference in this headline—George Carlin, anyone?—then you’re old enough to need a refresher course when it comes to talking about technology. We’ve put together a list of outdated tech terms, phrases that you shouldn’t be using at work anymore because they will make you seem old. This is
especially true if you’re looking for a new job. For example, on an interview, you should be talking about "cloud computing," not "ASPs" even though they are basically the same thing...
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Lust, gluttony, greed, anger, envy, pride, and sloth -- Microsoft's new OS suffers from each deadly sin. Here's what you can do to minimize the toll each sin takes.
The seven deadly sins -- for centuries, they've shaped the imaginations of poets, priests, and politicians, while giving the great unwashed a frame of reference: Do these things and you'll burn for sure! When it comes to software, few products have inspired as much debauchery as Windows. From lust to sloth to envy, Microsoft's
flagship OS platform has proven to be a source of manifold transgression. Zealots have praised it, and pundits have cursed it, while those of us in the IT trenches are forced to actually live with it...
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Steve Jobs once said that Microsoft stole Windows from Apple, but both sides have snatched plenty of ideas over the years.
Although Mac fanboys and Windows zealots don't like to admit it, the fact is that both Windows 7 and Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard contain features that originated in the other OS. Some features were stolen so long ago that they've become part of the computing landscape, and it's difficult to remember who invented what. Two of
Windows 7's most touted new features -- the task bar and Aero Peek -- are clearly based on Mac OS X's Dock and Exposé. Apple's copying of Windows is less recent, such as cloning the Windows address bar in 2007's Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard as the path bar. But the borrowing goes For example,...
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Nine more real-world disasters courtesy of your network's weakest link.
Nothing can screw up a well-managed network faster than the people for whom you built it. Whether it's user error, optimistic expectations, or simply that bastard Murphy, IT's job is rarely predictable. Lucky for you, there are lessons to be learned from others' misfortunes. So rather than wait to make your own
forehead-shaped dent in the office wall, familiarize yourself with the screwups detailed below. It will make you that much more prepared to safeguard your IT environment from the ever-evolving boneheaded tendencies of those you serve...
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My oh my, how things have changed. These 25 vintage tech ads are guaranteed to take you back - and, in most cases, remind you how truly terrible our tastes once were.
Ads are kind of like your awkward teenage years. Think about it: When you're actually experiencing them, every second feels an angst-ridden eternity. Look back a couple decades later, though,...
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We scoured the Web for the world's wackiest USB-powered gadgets to dress up and differentiate your desktop or cubicle - and annoy entertain coworkers.
These 20 gizmos, from cubicle stink-busters to toasters that print the morning news on your breakfast, could lower the stress quotient at even the highest-pressure offices...
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Getting along with people sometimes requires speaking their language, especially in the workplace. One of the ways employees try to emphasize their smartness is with specialized vocabulary.
Due to the nature of a lot of people’s work, technical language and terminology often is necessary, but buzzwords tend to make you sound pretentious. On the other hand, if you are working on a team full of buzzword-addicted co-workers, you’ll need to fit in. Here are some explanations for not-so-common workplace lingo, so next
time you are at the water cooler or in a meeting, you’ll understand what’s going on:...
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Microsoft's Windows 7 launch is just three weeks away.
It might seem like a long time to some, but for the rest of us, the time has come to prepare for the new operating system. Part of that preparation involves determining what software we should install to augment the experience. Everything from security software to fun, photo-editing tools should make that list. But picking them can be
difficult. How do we know which music application to choose? Which video-editing application is ideal for the new Windows 7? Answering those questions might be more difficult than we think. That's precisely why we here at eWEEK have compiled our own list. We want to help you make those tough choices. So without further ado, join
eWEEK as we point out 10 applications that you'll definitely want to install when Windows 7 hits store shelves on Oct. 22...
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She has the eyebrows of a Roman Emperor. She has the square shoulders of one of his centurions. And she walks like a bouncer who had one too many years in the NFL.
When Susan Boyle stepped onto the stage of "Britain's Got Talent" this past weekend, the audience laughed and the judges could barely stop their cheeks from bulging through a guffaw. Here was a self-confessed, never-been-kissed, unemployed
47-year-old Scotswoman who, when she saw herself on television, said she was mortified that she "looked like a garage." She told the judges she wanted to be a professional singer. Simon Cowell (yes, he) looked like he wanted to ask her to clean his car. She insisted she wanted to be like Elaine Page, a diminutive English
singer who has starred in "Evita," amongst other musicals. The audience choked. Then Susan Boyle began to sing. Frankly, she hasn't stopped...
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