cialis rebate title=”http://downloads.zdnet.com/abstract.aspx?kw=FileMenu+Tools+%28exe%29&tag=nl.e530&docid=870197″>FileMenu Tools
Lets you customize the context (right-click) menu of Windows Explorer. Adds built-in utilities to perform operations on files and folders and adds customized commands.
cialis reactions border=”0″ alt=”SmartClose” title=”http://ct.zdnet.com/clicks?t=72868587-fcda8243b2af06197976dd4e0ab0dea0-bf&brand=ZDNET&s=5″ hspace=”7″ vspace=”3″ width=”130″ height=”105″ align=”left” /> SmartClose will automatically close all running programs, disable the screen saver, and halt all other processes that can interrupt without asking.
Do you save more energy keeping your laptop plugged in during use, or should you use your charger only after the battery runs out of juice?
It’s a complicated question, with even more complicated answers, since different manufacturers give slightly different answers: Lenovo and Dell reportedly say your battery should be fine if your computer stays plugged in; HP says you should remove the battery if you are running on AC power for weeks at a time; Apple suggests you should unplug and run off the battery every once in a while.
So who’s right?
Assuming you use the same energy plugged in and not, you’re probably better off staying plugged in, because energy is lost in the process of charging the battery, storing the electricity, cialis purchase and then powering the computer from the battery, according to Leibenluft.
A report (.pdf) prepared by the Natural Resources Defense Council five years ago estimated that running a laptop from AC power is about 20 percent more energy-efficient than doing it off a battery.
But that was five years ago, ages in tech time. Leibenluft reports: “Even if battery charging systems have improved since then, common sense suggests that using AC power requires less energy.”
The article takes the green angle, noting that just by using a laptop (and not a desktop), you’re already saving money, since laptops are far more efficient and require less energy to manufacture than their boxy counterparts.
If you contend that keeping a laptop plugged in damages the life of the battery, it’s an even tougher call: Batteries require an awful lot of energy to manufacture, and there’s an environmental cost to recycling a spent one, so what’s worse in the long run?
But that’s the global view. What about the energy bill you pay for at the end of each month?
The final tally can also be affected by this caveat: most laptops are set up to use less energy when they aren’t plugged in, since battery life is at a premium, so as soon as they start receiving AC power, they’re more inclined to kick it up a notch, performance-wise (brighter screen and so forth). So if you’ve never touched your laptop’s power settings before, chances are it uses more energy when it’s plugged into the wall.
So who’s right in this debate? It’s still unclear, and the vampire suck of your computer’s power adapter only makes matters worse.
Sure, Windows 7 is still in the pre-beta phase, meaning the user-interface elements still will be tweaked considerably before the product is released to manufacturing. But Thurrott raises a number of points that left me nodding my head in agreement.
I am a Windows user by choice, not simply because I blog about Microsoft. When I saw the recent demos of Windows 7 — with its JumpLists, AeroPeek, AeroSnaps and lots of other eye candy — I was torn. I want some of what’s coming in Windows 7, such as fewer UAC prompts, simpler backup and restore, better peripheral handling. But I really do not care if I get more fancy bells and whistles that just clutter my desktop.
Thurrott blogged:
“Windows 7 basically takes Windows one step closer to the design aesthetic of the Mac, where form is valued over function. I’m not sure this is the right strategy. Simplicity, taken in isolation, may seem like a good idea. But I’m afraid that in Windows 7, Microsoft is sacrificing too much in its bid to be more like Apple. And it’s the users of Windows who will pay the price.”
If you are a PC user like me, you definitely will pay the price. I value ease of use far more than fancy graphics. The two don’t have to be mutually exclusive — and given the direction Microsoft ends up taking once it provides testers with the Superbar — maybe they won’t.
(Given Beta 1 of Windows 7, which many are now expecting around January 13, is supposed to be feature-complete, I’m expecting we’ll get to see what the Superbar will look like real soon now. Me? I still think we might see Win 7 Beta 1 on or around December 17, but in either case, it’s not too long until we see the latest Windows 7 look and feel.)
If I wanted a Mac-like environment, I’d buy a Mac. I want an computing environment that helps me get my work done and doesn’t require a how-to manual to figure out which icon does what. Maybe Microsoft could introduce “Windows 7 Luddite Edition” cialis professional vs cialis for those of us who value function over form?
What’s your take? Do you think Microsoft is too focused on making Windows 7 in Mac OS X’s image?
On a related note, for more Windows 7 analysis — in podcast form with yours truly and The Register’s Software Editor Gavin Clarke — check out the latest edition of “MicroBite.”
Two pieces of malicious software affecting Apple's Mac OS X appeared this week: a Trojan horse with the ability to download and install malicious code of an attacker's choice, and a hacker tool for creating backdoors, according to security vendors.
The Trojan — called 'OSX.RSPlug.D' by Intego, the Mac security specialist that discovered the threat — is a variant on an older piece of malicious code but with a new installer, Intego said.
"It is a downloader, and it contacts a remote server to download the files it installs," Intego said in an advisory. "This means that, in the future, the downloader may be able to install payloads [other] than the one it currently installs."
In other respects the Trojan is similar to previous versions of RSPlug, which first surfaced in October 2007, Intego said. It installs a piece of malicious code known as DNSChanger, which routes the user's internet traffic through a malicious DNS server, leading users to phishing websites or pages displaying advertisements.
The Trojan is found on porn websites posing as a codec needed to play video files, a technique used to trick the user into downloading and installing it.
Intego said OSX.RSPlug.D has been widely confused with a separate threat publicized this week by several security firms. That threat is called OSX.TrojanKit.Malez by Intego and OSX.Lamzev.A by other vendors, including Symantec and Trend Micro.
OSX.Lamzev.A is a hacker tool designed primarily to allow attackers to install backdoors in a user's system, according to Intego. However, the company dismissed the tool as a serious threat because a potential hacker has to have physical access to a system to install the backdoor.
"Unlike true malware and Trojan horses, OSX.TrojanKit.Malez requires that a hacker already have access to a Mac in order to install the code," Intego stated.
Other antivirus vendors noted that Lamzev cialis professional tadalafil could be disguised as a piece of legitimate software and used to trick users into creating the backdoor themselves.
Lamzev is not related to RSPlug, despite several high-profile reports confounding the two, Intego emphasized. "This hacker tool has nothing to do with the RSPlug Trojan horse," Intego stated.
Security vendors have long warned that the Mac platform is not as secure as some users might like to believe. Apple had not responded to a request for comment at the time of publication.
