IT in the City

Browser Issues with Gmail Contacts & Calendar

Jeff Smith — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:49:21 +0000

Lately, I’ve heard from several users that they’re having trouble bringing up their contacts and/or calendars in Gmail. They’re premium user accounts and generally have no issues–but in contacts they will sometimes get a “blue screen” or an error from Firefox talking about redirection loops in calendar. Sound familiar to you?

The solution so far is to clear your cache in IE or Firefox and then log back in to see your data. Hopefully, there’s a google fix coming soon but until then it’s just a browser clear away if you have issues.

In Firefox, try Tools > Clear Recent History and in IE go to Internet Options > Browsing History > Delete.

Welcome, Microsoft. Seriously.

Jeff Smith — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:55:24 +0000

Being primarily a Mac guy I haven’t had the opportunity to say this in quite in while–Windows 7 is actually a great release and a worthy upgrade from, well, anything else Windows related.

It’s performance is right on, compatibility with apps and drivers is well done, and stability couldn’t be much better. So there. If you’ve been on XP for a few years (or eight), or even Vista and finding it a little lacking, then it just might be the best move you can make to improve your computing experience this year.

Final Windows Security Essentials Now Available!

Jeff Smith — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:23:21 +0000

Time to renew that AVG, Norton or Trend Micro? Well, you’re just in time. Microsoft has now released their final version of Windows Security Essentials software. Both AV and malware protection–for FREE. Just head on over to http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials and download all you want. XP, Vista and Windows 7 versions are all set to go. It’s good, it’s safe and it’s FREE.

Windows 7 Release Candidate Available Now

Jeff Smith — Tue, 05 May 2009 15:46:46 +0000

If you’re using the Windows 7 beta software, or just want to try out the new Windows 7, you can now download the Release Candidate directly from Microsoft. The old keys will expire soon and generally require a fresh install of 7 so if you’re up for it check it out here. http://tinyurl.com/crxlpq

Windows 7 to offer “XP Mode” for Compatibility

Jeff Smith — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 03:18:57 +0000

Well, this time I think MS has got their thinking cap on straight. We’re told that in the next version of Windows (Windows 7) we’ll see a new virtualized copy of Win XP SP3. That’s some good news for folks that need an XP environment for some of their legacy applications that just won’t run under Vista or Windows 7.

They say it’s only going to be available to users of Windows 7 Pro and Windows 7 Ultimate, but we’ll see, right? It finally feels good that Windows 7 might just break enough older software to make a substantial move forward.

This is a step Apple has been doing for years with quite a bit of success. They’ve changed processors: remember 68k to PowerPC? They’ve changed OS’s: of course you remember OS9 to OSX, right? Well, all of this was done with a similar compatibility layer so your old software would continue to work. It just ran in a “sandbox” to keep it in it’s own environment. 68k and PowerPC code resided in a “fat” binary–so both types of code could be in one executable file. In OSX, OS9 programs would run in a virtualized OS9 layer called “classic.” This let you move straight on to new stuff without hanging your old software out to dry.

Bravo Microsoft. Now let’s see the final Windows 7! See the original at http://tinyurl.com/djm9z2

IE8 coming to Windows Update near you

Jeff Smith — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 20:11:46 +0000

So have you tried the new IE8? No? Still on IE7, or perhaps IE6? Never fear–the newest version of Internet Explorer is going to be available on Windows Update soon and although it’s opt-in (meaning you can skip it if you like) I think it’s a winner.

It’s been available as a download for a while now but like most I’ve been just fine with IE7 and I’m not usually up for beta software so I hadn’t tried it much yet.

Some say it’s faster than IE7 (I get mixed reports) and certainly the rendering is good enough. If you haven’t tried it out then give it a shot. Your next web experience might be just a little better for it.

Microsoft Office 2010

Jeff Smith — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 20:06:34 +0000

So Microsoft recently announced that Office 2010 will be out next year (scheduled release for first half of 2010) but the question I have is: Do we need another version of Office? Well, let’s take stock. Most of you out there are probably running Office 2003 (or gasp, 2000). Do you start Office every day and think, “you know, I should really upgrade this software”? Probably not. It works, it’s reasonably quick, and it gets the job done. Most of you might not have even seen the new “ribbon” interface in Office ’07.

So why not? Why haven’t you taken the plunge?

Well, it’s probably about three things: cost, cost and features. Cost twice, because especially right now we need every dollar we can get just to keep the lights on–so who’s about to shell out for yet-another copy of Word, Excel, PowerPoint or Outlook? Not many.

So if cost is going to stay about the same, the other issue is features. Don’t we have enough in Word 2003? I mean, most of us probably don’t even use ten per cent of the features we have in there–so why would you upgrade? Microsoft has let us know, on the feature front, that this version of Office will be the first 64-bit edition. So what now–bigger Excel sheets or 16gb of email in my personal folders file? My guess is that one won’t draw the crowds like you’d think.

I’m waiting for the web-based version of Office. When that ships, I think it’ll be the killer feature we’re all looking for. Hopefully, we won’t be waiting long.