If you leave your computer running 24/7 (24 hours a day, 7 days a week), you might be interested in determining the amount of uptime that has accumulated since your last reboot. Luckily, it's very easy to find that information in both Windows XP and Vista. Let's take a look!

Tracking Uptime in Vista

To find Vista’s uptime, right click on your taskbar and select Task Manager.

Now, with the Task Manager open, click on the Performance tab and you'll see the amount of uptime listed under the System cialis free offer section.

Tracking Uptime in XP

To find the uptime in XP, go to Start, Run, type in "cmd" and then click OK.

That will bring up a command prompt. Type in “systeminfo” (without the quotes) and then hit Enter. It will take a few minutes for the analysis to complete and get your results, but when it's finished, you'll see your uptime listed in days, hours, minutes and seconds.

Find your uptime today!

Does Linux have what it takes to meet the needs of the corporate desktop? Jack Wallen thinks so. Here’s his list of office apps that can handle everything from word processing to project management to data backups.

Let’s face it: Without a good set of office applications, your workday will be a waste of time. Productivity requires the right tools, and contrary to what some people think, Linux has everything you need to get you through the day without a hitch. We’re going to look at applications that will satisfy everyone in the organization — from HR to marketing to the front office.

Note: This information is also available as a PDF download.

#1: OpenOffice

This one goes without saying, offering word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, database management, drawing, and Web page editing. Add to that the ability to read and write Microsoft Office files and export to PDF and Flash (among other formats), and you have a complete office suite that should meet every need your office has. The OpenOffice user interface has little to no learning curve, so users will hardly know the difference between Microsoft Office and OpenOffice. OpenOffice is also cross-platform capable, with installation binaries for Linux, Solaris, Windows, and OS X (both Intel and PPC).

#2: Evolution

This is the Linux version of Outlook. Another one-stop shop, only this time it’s all about the PIM. E-mail, calendar, contacts, tasks, advanced searching, desktop integration, shared vCards, junk filters, encryption, LDAP support, iCal support, and much more. And if your company uses an Exchange server, you’re in luck because the Evolution Connector will be able to keep you connected. Evolution tends to be the default e-mail client for the GNOME desktop, but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy Evolution on KDE (or any other window manager.)

#3: Scribus

This is desktop publishing at its open source finest. Scribus can do almost anything Adobe  Acrobat can do — minus draining your wallet. Scribus does layering, opacity, ICC color management, CMYK color separations, and versatile PDF creation. With this tool, your newsletters, press packets, fliers, books, manuals, etc., are done in-house and on the cheap. I have used Scribus on numerous projects ranging from simple fliers to complex books.

#4: Gnucash

Gnucash is one of the best accounting packages available for Linux. It uses double-entry bookkeeping and is a suitable replacement for individual accounting as well as a small business accounting. Gnucash is one of the only accounting packages that is available across most all platforms (Linux, Solaris, UNIX, OS X, and Windows).

#5: OpenProj

This is the open source replacement for Microsoft Project. OpenProj has an equivalent user interface and functionality similar to Project and is interoperable with Project. OpenProj is released under the CPAL (Common Public Attribution License) license and is available for Linux, OS X, 32-bit Windows, BSD, and UNIX-like operating systems. OpenProj does require Java.

#6: Meeting Room Booking System

MRBS is a Web-based booking system for meeting rooms but can be altered to suit your needs. Although I wanted to include only applications that could be installed locally, I felt it necessary to include this application simply because it’s so useful. For corporate environments that have multiple rooms to book, this small-footprint application is perfect. It can also be modified for use as an appointment book, too. MRBS can do repeated bookings, reports, DAY/WEEK/MONTH views, multiple authorization levels, and multiple language support. The installation is simple but requires both a Web server (Apache) and a database server (either MySQL or Postgres).

#7: GnoTime

Formerly GTT, GnoTime is a desktop application that tracks time spent on projects and offers time-based invoice generation. Numerous reports can be generated (Journal, Activity, Daily, Status, To Do, Invoices, Query, Primer, New Reports, Edit Reports), and the interface is simple to use. GnoTime also includes a diary entry editor for each project. With GnoTime you can embed simple SQL queries into report templates. In addition, GnoTime benefits from autosave. So in the rare event your Linux desktop crashes, your data is safe from loss. GnoTime runs on Linux, UNIX, and OS X.

#8: GIMP

I realize that graphics software isn’t always included in lists of necessary office software — but if your office does any of its PR or marketing in-house, graphics tools are a necessity. And when using Linux, GIMP is the de facto standard for graphics creation and/or manipulation. GIMP is to Linux what Photoshop is to OS X and Windows. But GIMP goes Photoshop one better because it’s cross-platform ready. You can install GIMP on Linux, OS X, or Windows. It features a customizable interface, photo enhancement, digital retouching, cialis dosage side effects hardware support, a huge range of file format support, plug-in support, its own scripting language, filters, and a host of other outstanding features.

#9: Pidgen

Many corporate businesses have started regarding instant messaging as a legitimate form of interoffice (or inter-cubicle) communication. And Pidgin is one of the finest of the instant messaging clients. Pidgen works with nearly all of the instant messaging services and can have multiple accounts configured. It’s released under the GNU License, it’s free, and it works on Linux, UNIX, Windows, and OS X. Pidgen supports file transfer, typing notification, spell-check, buddy pouncing, away messages, etc.

#10: K3b

What office doesn’t back up data? None, if they employ safe business practices. And the CD offers one of the safest means of data backup. K3b makes backing up to CD simple. Not only can you do multiple backup types (audio, data cd, data dvd, copy cd, iso cd, iso dvd), you can save the backup information to a file. If you do the same backup regularly, all you need to do is open up the particular backup file and click burn. (No more having to drag and drop or hunt for particular files/folders to back up.) K3b can also blank CDR-Ws, retrieve TOCs, and write cue/bin files. K3b is available only for Linux and has been optimized for KDE.

This short list includes software that can easily handle much of your day-to-day office needs and do it on the Linux operating system. The software listed here is simple to use, reliable, (mostly) scalable, and business ready. Of course, this is a generalized list. Far more specialized office-type software is available on the Linux platform. One of the best places to look for such software is in your Install Software tool, such as Synaptic or Yumex. (The tool you have will depend upon the distribution you use.) Fire that tool up and look through the various categories (a good place to start is the “Office” category) to find what you need.

Linux is an outstanding platform for the office. It is flexible, cost-effective, reliable, secure, and enjoys a small learning curve. So if you’re doubting Linux can take over your office software needs, doubt no more!

By Diana Huggins

Windows XP includes many different features that make it accessible to all different types of users. One such feature is the Narrator, which uses Text-to-Speech (TTS) technology to enable Windows XP to play back printed text in a pre-recorded spoken voice. This can be very useful if there are users on the network who have vision impairments and difficulty reading the text that is displayed on the screen. In this article I will outline how you can configure Text-to-Speech in Windows XP and then use the Narrator to read the text that is displayed on the screen.

This blog post is also available in PDF format in a TechRepublic download.

Text-to-Speech in Windows XP

A sound card and speakers are all you need to make Windows XP talk to you. This is because Microsoft Windows XP is capable of playing back text in a spoken voice. This technology is referred to as Text-to-Speech (TTS). Not only is this technology useful for a person with visual impairments, but it is also useful for someone who is working on multiple tasks at one time.

Windows XP makes this possible through a built-in driver called a TTS engine that is able to recognize text. It can play displayed text back using a pre-generated voice. Although it is a very useful technology, the engine included with Windows XP provides limited Text-to-Speech functionality, but you can obtain third-party engines from other manufacturers. In any case, let’s take a look at how you can configure the TTS engine included with Windows XP.

Configuring speech properties

Configuring TTS is very straightforward. Open the Speech folder within the Control Panel. The Speech Properties dialog box will appear, as shown in Figure A. It allows you to control various TTS settings.

Under Voice Selection, you can select the voice you want to use. By default, there is only one voice available in Windows XP called Microsoft Sam. Additional voices can be downloaded from various Web sites.

Figure A

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Configure speech properties in Windows XP.

Once you have selected a voice using the drop-down arrow, you can preview the voice by clicking the Preview Voice button. Assuming that the speakers are already connected to your computer, the voice will read the default text displayed in the Use the Following Text to Preview the Voice field. Alternatively, you can type in specific text to preview by highlighting the existing default text and typing in the text you want read.

Along with selecting a specific voice, you can also control the speed at which the voice reads text. By dragging the slider you can increase or decrease the voice speed, although the default value of Normal tends to be fine for most people.

By clicking the Audio Output button, you can select the audio output device (Figure B). From the Text to Speech Sound Output Settings dialog box, select from one of the two options: User Preferred Audio Output Device or Use This Audio Output Device. By leaving the default Use Preferred Audio Output Device option selected, the audio device used for all other sound is also used for TTS. Conversely, if there is more than one audio device installed on the computer, you can specify a separate audio output device for use with your speech programs.

Figure B

Select the Text To Speech output device.

The Text To Speech Sound Output Settings dialog box also includes a Volume button. This allows you to control the TTS volume. When you click this button, the Master Volume dialog box will appear, as shown in Figure C, allowing you to adjust the volume output levels.

Figure C

Configure the text-to-speech volume.

As you will now see in the next section, once you have configured all the text-to-speech options, you can have Windows XP read the text on your screen using the Narrator.

Configuring the Narrator

Windows XP includes its own TTS utility called the Narrator. If you require a TTS utility, keep in mind that it is limited in functionality. First of all, it is designed to work with a specific set of programs that include Control Panel programs, Notepad, WordPad, Internet Explorer, Windows Setup, and the Windows desktop. This means it may not work for other programs. Second, the Narrator is only supported on the English version of Windows XP.

To start the utility, press [Ctrl][Esc], press [R], type narrator, and press [Enter]. You can also configure the Narrator to start automatically each time you log on to the computer. Open the Utility Manager by pressing the [Windows Key][U]. Select Narrator and place a check beside the Start Automatically When I Log In option. As you can see, the Narrator is configured to start automatically when you launch the Utility Manager.

Once you open the Narrator, a dialog box will appear, as shown in Figure D. As you can see, it can be configured to perform several different TTS functions that include:

Figure D

Configure the Narrator to perform Text-to-Speech functions.

The Narrator dialog box includes a Voice button that can be used to control voice settings. As shown in Figure E, voice settings for the Narrator include Speed, Volume, and Pitch. Once you have configured the appropriate values, click OK to return to the Narrator dialog box.

Figure E

Configure Narrator voice settings.

With the Narrator settings configured, your speakers turned on, and the volume turned up, you can minimize the Narrator dialog box, and Windows XP will be ready to talk to you. Depending on how you have the Narrator configure, you should hear the pre-configured voice read the text that appears on your screen. For example, if you are working in Microsoft Word, the Narrator will repeat the text as you type. You can turn off the Narrator at any time by clicking Exit from the Narrator dialog box and clicking Yes when prompted.

Troubleshooting Text-to-Speech in Windows XP

Troubleshooting can be a difficult task, especially if you have not worked with a specific technology before. When it comes to troubleshooting Text-to-Sspeech problems, there are a few points that you should keep in mind.

• Use the Preview Text button from the Speech Properties dialog box to verify that the TTS engine.
• Open the Utility Manager to check the status of the Narrator program.
• If you do not hear any sound and you are using external speakers, make sure they are turned on.
• Check the Master Volume dialog box to make sure that muting is not enabled.
• Verify that the speakers are properly connected to the computer. You may need to check the documentation that came with the speakers for the proper procedure.
• Use Device Manager to check the status of the computer’s sound card. If necessary, reinstall or update the drivers for the device.

Now your computer can talk back to you too

Windows XP includes built-in technology to make it more accessible for users who are blind or who have vision impairments. The Text-to-Speech engine can read text on the screen using a pre-generated voice. Windows XP includes a default voice called Microsoft Sam. Other voices are available through third-party manufacturers.

You can hear your computer talk using the Narrator. This is the built-in Text-to-Speech utility that is included with Windows XP. It is designed to work with common programs that come with Windows XP, such as Internet Explorer and WordPad. You can launch the utility by typing narrator using the Run command. The Narrator provides limited Text-to-Speech functionality, but third-party programs are available from various manufacturers.

February 6th, 2009

Posted by Ed Bott

I’ve been spending most of my time lately conducting in-depth research into how Windows 7 works, in preparation for my next book. In the process, I’m discovering stuff that simply doesn’t become apparent to a casual tester. Case in point: Back in 2007, I looked at Windows Vista Home Basic and determined that it could run well on an older machine with limited resources, including 512MB of RAM. I never tried it with Vista Ultimate, nor would I have bothered. And since I don’t have that 2002-vintage test machine set up, I haven’t repeated those tests with Windows 7.

Earlier this week, I fired up a virtual machine running Windows XP SP3 so I could test upgrade scenarios with Windows 7. I couldn’t do a straight XP-to-Win7 upgrade, so I added a new virtual hard drive and installed Windows 7 in a dual-boot configuration. After making a few notes on how the setup process worked, I put the VM aside and went on to other work.

Windows 7 Ultimate x64 uses less memory than you might think

A few hours later, I went back to that new Windows 7 installation to look at a few details, and that’s when it struck me: This virtual machine was configured with a mere 512MB of RAM, and yet I hadn’t noticed any slowdowns during setup or in operation. Even more startling, I realized that I had inadvertently installed the 64-bit edition of Windows 7 Ultimate in this VM. But the most eye-opening moment came when I looked at Task Manager’s performance tab. I’ve pasted a screen grab of the memory gauge here.

The x64 edition of Windows 7 Ultimate running on just over 200MB of RAM? That was a pleasant surprise. I was also surprised to see that this clean install was using less than 9 GB of disk space in this VM. With my curiosity piqued, I configured a new VM using the same settings and did a clean install of Vista Ultimate, giving me a good baseline for comparing XP to its successors. Here are the stats for all three operating systems, with memory usage measured after all update operations had completed and the system had been idle for at least one hour:

Or, in graphical terms, with the raw numbers normalized so that XP=100:

Windows 7 uses less RAM and disk space than Vista

As you can see, on this low-resource configuration Windows 7 uses dramatically less RAM than Vista, and also has a smaller hard-disk footprint. A few configuration notes can help put these results in perspective:

• For XP, the installation includes Service Pack 3, plus all available updates including Internet Explorer 7, Windows Media Player 11, and Windows Search 4. The only non-Windows application installed on this system is Firefox.
• For Vista, the installation was of Ultimate Edition (x86) with Service Pack 1 and all available Critical and Recommended updates. No third-party software was installed.
• For Windows 7 Beta, I used Ultimate x64 edition. As with the Vista installation, I accepted any Critical or Recommended updates and installed no third-party software.

The numbers and charts don’t really tell the full story, though. With identical configurations, Windows 7 was dramatically faster at starting up and shutting down than Vista, and some routine tasks that would grind the Vista machine to a halt completed without incident on the Windows 7 machine.

Just for comparison’s sake, I reconfigured each system to include 1024MB of RAM. With the extra RAM available, the delta between the Windows 7 and Vista VMs narrowed dramatically, although the 64-bit edition of Windows 7 still used less RAM than Vista. On the Vista system,. this upgrade made a noticeable difference, whereas the Windows 7 system performed about the same.

Clearly, the Windows 7 development team has taken a close look at performance and disk footprint when resources aren’t abundant. I suspect that when Vista was being designed, this was an afterthought, with the notion that cheap RAM and hard disks would make those machines obsolete. They didn’t account for netbooks or for the impact of solid state drives, which offer capacities that are much smaller than equivalent rotating media.

Why does Windows 7 use so much less disk space than Vista? A very small amount of the savings (much less than I expected) is in program code. The biggest savings is from the preallocated volume shadow storage space, which holds System Restore points and backs up files via the Previous Versions feature. On my Vista virtual machine, this feature was using more than 4.6 GB of disk space. Under Windows 7, the system reserved less than 400 MB.

This attention to performance when resources are less than expected on a modern desktop PC potentially has positive implications for netbooks and other cheap PCs. I might have to haul that old 2002-era Pentium 4 out of mothballs and see how it handles Windows 7.

There has been a lot of discussion on Microsoft Windows Home Server and its merits on TechRepublic lately. One of my favorite features of Windows Home Server is the ability to securely connect to your machines remotely. In this tutorial, we will show you how to configure this feature in Windows Home Server.

This blog post is also available in PDF format in a TechRepublic download.

We will begin by opening the Windows Home Server Console from the Desktop and clicking Settings to open the window shown in Figure A.

Figure A

cialis cheapest price align=”justify”>These are the Windows Home Server Settings.

Next, click on Remote Access and select Turn On Web Site Connectivity, as shown in  Figure B.

Figure B

Turn on Web Site Connectivity in Windows Home Server.

Now that the Web Site Connectivity is turned on, three ports are open on the Windows Home Server firewall. They are the following: port 80, port 443, and port 4125. These ports are opened so that your Windows Home Server can accept incoming requests from the Internet.

Port 80 will accept Web requests, port 443 is for SSL requests (of course), and port 4125 is for remote desktop proxy requests.

Now your Windows Home Server will perform tests (Figure C) to see if it can automatically configure your router using Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) architecture. Please make sure UPnP is enabled on your router in order for it to be successful. Most routers today have this turned on by default (Figure D).

Figure C

Perform router testing for Remote Access.

Figure D

Router testing is in progress.

My initial test shows that the router is not configured for remote access (Figure E). Click the Configure Router button to configure your router automatically using UPnP.

Figure E

Router is not configured for Remote Access.

Once you click the Configure Router button, you will be prompted with the dialog box shown in Figure F. Click Yes.

Figure F

Configure port forwarding.

Once the configuration is complete, another check takes place (Figure G) and green checks throughout indicate a proper configuration.

Figure G

Router has passed tests and is properly configured.

We can now move on to configuring a domain name for our Windows Home Server. Click Setup under the Domain Name box (Figure H), and a wizard will walk you through creating a Windows Home Server domain name.

Figure H

Click Setup to configure a domain name in Windows Home Server.

The first window you are presented with is the Welcome splash screen (Figure I), which prompts you to sign in with your Windows Live ID. At this point, you can create a Domain name such as Lastname.homeserver.com or whatever suits you (Figure J).

Figure K shows a properly configured domain name.

Note: With Windows Home Server, you are getting a free SSL certificate. This is a great plus when using Windows Home Server.

Figure I

The Welcome splash screen appears.

Figure J

Secure access to Windows Home Server.

Figure K

The domain name is working.

Important note: If your router does not support UPnP or pass the tests, you will need to manually forward the following TCP ports from your router to the IP address of your Windows Home Server. Again, these ports are 80, 443, and 4125.

The best way to test the configuration is to use a wireless mobile card or modem connection or simply go to your buddy’s house and connect to his network. Of course, if all else fails, you can test from your internal network as well.

Once you are connected to a network other than your own, open up the browser of your choice and type in the Web address (URL) to your Windows Home Server. Take for example, https://stevejobs.homeserver.com. You will see your login page, as shown in Figure L.

Figure L

The Windows Home Server login page appears.

Next, click Log On (Figure M) and enter your credentials. You can also test this internally from your network. It is OK to test both inside and outside your network. I would rather know it works so when I am traveling, I have no connectivity issues.

Figure M

Enter your login credentials.

As you can see, you now have access to your Windows Home Server (Figure N). You can remotely access your computers and the shared folders you created. You also have the ability to upload pictures and files by using drag and drop. It is actually a great product once you have everything completely configured.

Figure N

You can now access your files.

Let’s now walk through connecting to a computer remotely. First, click on the Computers tab, and all your computers that are available for connection will be listed, as shown in Figure O. Simply click on the computer name to connect to that computer; it is that simple.

Figure O

These computers are available for connection.

Finally, if you click on the Shared Folders tab (Figure P), you can see all your folders that allow you to download and upload information. Once you are finished with your remote use, you can log off.

Figure P

Access your Shared Folders in Windows Home Server.

Windows Home Server is a very innovative product that enables the average home user to easily manage the arduous task of backing up computers and files from multiple computers. It also allows you to easily access your computers and files remotely. In this tutorial we have shown you how to configure remote access to a Windows Home Server for your home network.