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Sunday, February 8, 2004 |
Random thought:
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The best operating system?Until about 3 years ago, I'd never owned a Mac. In general, I thought that Windows was a better operating system than the Mac's operating system. When I bought the Mac, with the first release of OS X set up so that the machine could boot to the older System 9, I decided that I had been right, at least as far as System 9 when compared to Windows XP because System 9's memory management and some other critical system characteristics were no more advanced than what Microsoft had in Windows 3.11. Compare OS X to Windows XP and it's a different story. Both are strong, robust operating systems. If Apple doesn't have the best operating system on the desktop now, it's certainly close. I still prefer Windows machines because some of the applications I use are Windows only. But there's another option.
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| * | "Microsoft OS X" does not exist. It is a fictional name I am using in this otherwise factual report. Attorneys from both Microsoft and Apple should just relax. Thank you so much for your kind attention to this disclaimer. |
No, this neat little trick is accomplished by an application called Window Blinds. It works with any reasonably current version of Windows to make the operating system look the way you want it to look. Even if you want it to look like a Mac. If you're still running Windows 95, this is not a product for you, but it does function with Win98, WinMe, WinNT, Win2000, and WinXP.
Window Blinds is one of a (somewhat dizzying) array of applications from Stardock, a Livonia, Michigan, company that has spent several years making Windows look better. It's either free or $20 (or more) depending on what you want to do. The freeware version does much of what the $20 version does, although some features are disabled. It also displays a shareware banner once a day when you boot the computer. The $20 version enables a few extra tweaks and gets rid of the advertising screen. If you'd prefer to pay $50, you get the amazing Object Desktop application that lets you not only change the appearance of Windows, but to add new features to the desktop.
In fact, the primary problem with Object Desktop is that it contains so much stuff. That's an odd complaint. It isn't actually a complaint, except that there's so much in the package that it's hard to decide where to start. Object Desktop includes WindowBlinds, IconPackager, ControlCenter, WindowFX, SkinStudio, ObjectBar, WinStyles, and DesktopX.
If you're someone who loves to tinker with the interface, you definitely want Object Desktop. If your goal is simply to change the appearance of one or more applications (or the entire operating system) Window Blinds will meet those needs. And the Stardock website offers lots of choices -- enough that you could change what Windows looks like once a day and not run out of possibilities for a long, long time.
Some of my favorites are the packages (I don't want to call them "themes" because Window Blinds goes far beyond what you can accomplish with themes) that mimic other operating systems: My Windows computer can look like a Mac, like a Next machine, Linux running Gnome desktop, Windows Longhorn, Windows for Workgroups, Red Hat Linux, Amiga, BeOS, and more. Pick several and tell your friends you have all these operating systems installed in your computer. (If you can't have a little fun at the expense of your friends and your computer, what's the point of having friends or a computer?)
Starting with Windows 2000, Microsoft make it possible to replace parts of the operating system with parts made by someone else. For earlier versions of the operating system, Window Blinds is limited to "skinning" applications, a process that can slow the operating system. With the more modern versions of the operating system, Window Blinds actually replaces operating system components with its own pieces. Stardock says the replacements are at least as fast as those provided by Microsoft and can be faster. I can tell you that I have seen no performance reduction.
As for why you might want to do this, consider ...
In other words, we customize things to make them more comfortable, more suitable to our tastes, easier to use. If you use a Windows PC but want some of the controls to perform the way Apple has designed them on a Mac, why not! If you'd prefer to make your PC look like an Amiga, what's the harm? Or if you just want your computer to change with the seasons, why shouldn't you.
The applications from Stardock can make your computer easier to use. They'll certainly make your computer look more the way you'd like it to look. Sounds like a good deal to me.
Technology corner rating for WINDOW BLINDS |
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EIGHT CATS: Window Blinds gets lots of cats just because it's fun to use. I like variety in what the computer looks like. This is the fastest, easiest way to accomplish that. Those who opt for Object Desktop will need to spend some time studying the FAQs and the how-tos that are on Stardock's website, but what you get in return for your time is an operating system interface that is precisely designed to do what you want it to do. On the downside, the "how-to-use" information is a little difficult to comprehend and sometimes (rarely) odd things happen to pieces of the inferface. |
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For more information, see the Stardock webiste.
A lot of spam peddles "prescription drugs without a prescription" or offers "generic" versions of drugs for which no generics exist, or promise their "doctor" will provide a prescription without ever seeing you. Any of these ploys should immediately raise suspicion. The very fact that you've received the spam message (often with intentional misspellings to avoid spam detection) suggests that the person making the offer is nothing more than a crook, but let's say you don't care about that.
Wouldn't it be a good idea to at least find out where the spammer is? Here is a list of some recent spam addresses on messages that offered prescription drugs without a prescription, along with information about the address provided when the domain name was registered:
If you're still not concerned about dealing with these folks, go ahead. It's your funeral.
A domain with "com" in the name is often assumed to be in the United States, but this is not always the case. Com domains may be registered from nearly anywhere. The same holds true for "net" domain names and most others. If a domain name ends in "to", it is assigned to Tonga, but there's not much Internet infrastructure in Tonga.
Before buying from a website, I always check several things. Is there a physical address? A real phone number (not just an 800 number, which can easily be faked)? How about a link from the Better Business Bureau? If it's a company I've never heard of, I want information. Among the easiest information to obtain is the name and address on file with the registrar where the domain was registered.
For domains ending in "aero", "arpa", "biz", "com", "coop", "edu", "info", "int", "museum", "net", and "org", you can use the InterNIC "whois" service -- www.internic.net/whois.html, but InterNIC doesn't handle any domains registered to non-US top-level domains (TLD).
What if the domain name ends in "ru" (Russia) or "ie" (Ireland)? Maybe "bw" (Botswana) or "nz" New Zealand? Many countries offer a whois look-up service, but it's often faster and easier to use the "Universal WhoIs" from England: www.uwhois.com/cgi/domains.cgi.
You may also want to download the free "Sam Spade" program from www.samspade.org/ssw/, which is helpful with common US domains and faster than going to any external whois function.
Using Sam Spade, I placed a whois request on "medsavings4u.net". A similar report would have been returned by either InterNIC or the Universal WhoIs site:
domain: medsavings4u.net
status: production
organization: BPI
owner: Mike Jameson
email: mike@customer-svc.com
address: PO Box CR-56766
address: Suite #1213
city: Nassau
postal-code: ---
country: BS
admin-c: mike@customer-svc.com#0
tech-c: mike@customer-svc.com#0
billing-c: mike@customer-svc.com#0
nserver: bp3-br.medcapsule.com 200.99.17.43
nserver: bp4-br.medcapsule.com 200.99.17.43
registrar: JORE-1
created: 2003-08-24 01:37:07 UTC JORE-1
modified: 2004-01-13 23:58:49 UTC JORE-1
expires: 2004-08-23 21:36:47 UTC
source: joker.com
db-updated: 2004-01-23 01:07:53 UTC
The amount of information you get from a whois lookup varies depending on the registrar, but at the very least you'll find out where the owner of the name is -- or at least where the owner says he is.
You may also find an administrative contact, although spammers often provide bogus information. Even if the information is valid, it's probably not a good idea to write to the spammer and thereby not only provide your e-mail address but also prove conclusively to the spammer that you read mail sent to that address.
The security patch last November from Microsoft was supposed to take care of the "spoofed URL" problem. It didn't. Two months later, Microsoft finally released another patch that was supposed to take care of the problem. I thought it did, but apparently it didn't.
In certain circumstances, a spoofed URL can still take Microsoft Internet Explorer to a dark alley on the Internet where it can be hijacked. And not only that, the "fix" managed to break access to some sites that people have paid for access to. This is because Microsoft eliminated all support for the username:password@hostname syntax in http URLs in the Internet Explorer browser.
The problem with doing that is that some websites that offer paid access to private areas (and NO, this is not just something used by porn merchants) the user is forbidden access to the site.
Microsoft may be perceived to BE the primary computer security problem, and there is some justification for that point of view, but the company really is trying to do a good job.
For example, let's say you're not a dyed-in-the-chips geek and let's say that all you really want to do is protect your computer from the creeps out there. You'd like some information about how to accomplish the tasks and having the information in readable plain English would be a plus.
Microsoft does that with a website called "Microsoft Security Protect your PC" Web site at http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect . Select your operating system and follow the path laid out by Microsoft. You can let Microsoft make changes for you (what they recommend) or make the changes yourself (what I recommend). Security may seem like a scary topic, but this site does a good job of explaining what you should be doing, how to do it, and why it's important. By performing the tasks yourself instead of letting Microsoft do it, you'll learn.
The site covers firewalls, computer updates, and antivirus software. Take some time today to investigate!
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Privacy Guarantee:I HATE SPAM and will not sell, rent, loan, auction, trade, or do anything else with your e-mail address. Period.
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As if you didn't already get enough weather on the radio! Annoying legal disclaimer
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