Windows computing Tips for the Unwary

 

Antonia J Jones 10 March 2007

 

 

Antonia J. Jones is Professor of Evolutionary and Neural Computation at Cardiff University, Wales UK.

 

 

Quick Guide Tips:

 

Microsoft Vista

 

Microsoft have shot themselves in both feet and (despite their deep pockets) in the end may never walk again. The problem is Vista, which took huge resources to develop, devotes so much effort to Digital Rights Management (DRM) - which let's face it consumers really don't want - that the system is absolutely anti-user (see Schneier, Peter Gutmann and - I hate to say 'I told you so' - Vista's long goodbye). There are other reasons for starting to think that users interests are about the last thing Microsoft have on their mind, now - just like trojans and spyware - they give you updates even when automatic updating is turned off!

 

Moreover, in the arms race of DRM this is a ludicrous objective - someone will always find a way around it (see Alex Ionescu's Blog). Schneier thinks the courts will have to intervene and he may be right. My own view is that Microsoft have become so self-confident that they believe they can corral the consumers into the hardware/software DRM enclave and thereby take over the entertainment industry. I just can't see users putting up with that. We are talking about a generation who grew up with the Internet, PC's and hacking. Ironically, a generation that Microsoft were largely responsible for creating. Open Source software based on Linux is so obviously the way to go that eventually consumers will bite the bullet and say "enough is enough".

 

I have used Windows XP for the last few years and have had a lot of frustration, fun and learnt a lot - but upgrade to Vista - never! You can't put a finger up to the consumer and get away with it forever... and this is where I for one draw the line.

 

Here is a taster from Peter Gutmann's analysis...

"Vista's content protection mechanism only allows protected content to be sent over interfaces that also have content-protection facilities built in. Currently the most common high-end audio output interface is S/PDIF (Sony/Philips Digital Interface Format). Most newer audio cards, for example, feature TOSlink digital optical output for high-quality sound reproduction, and even the latest crop of motherboards with integrated audio provide at least coax (and often optical) digital output. Since S/PDIF doesn't provide any content protection, Vista requires that it be disabled when playing protected content [There is SCMS, but that has all the effectiveness of a “Keep out” sign]. In other words if you've sunk a pile of money into a high-end audio setup fed from an S/PDIF digital output, you won't be able to use it with protected content. Instead of hearing premium high-definition audio, you get treated to premium high-definition silence."

So start thinking Linux! You could do worse than look here. It won't completely solve the hardware problems created by DRM but hey, eventually open source (or leastways DRM-free) hardware will come along - never underestimate market forces!

Firefox

 

I recently got around to doing what I should have done a long time ago and started trialing Firefox, which is an alternative free web-browser for Windows. Within a week all the machines on my network had it installed! It's a whole different and totally exhilarating experience compared to Internet Explorer. You have to try it! It's easy to install, easy to use, and much more effective at blocking the hated pop-ups. One of the really excellent aspects of Firefox is the extent to which it can be tailored and the vast number of specialized AddOns and Extensions available. These are incredibly easy to install. My favourites right now are:

 

Customize Google (increases your privacy and enhances the Google experience - be sure to look at the set up features).

 

Adblock Plus (blocks more ads effectively). Incredibly, website owner Danny Carlton wants to ban Firefox users because he says 'Ad blocking is theft'. On the contrary, one can make a good case that 'Advertising is theft'. Look at it like this: if I want to buy something, I search the net for the best product of its type. Why bombard me with Ads for things I don't want to buy? All this accomplishes is to put up the price of the products I do buy - ergo by advertising  (other than describing your product accurately on a website) you are stealing from me. The billions spent on advertising represent money down the drain and are a complete waste of resources. All those in the advertising industry should go out and get constructive, useful jobs.

 

HostIP.info Geolocation Plugin (nice to know where the site you are looking at actually is - hover over link).

 

ShowMyIP (tells you your actual IP in case you lost track with all the IP spoofing you are doing).

 

Unplug (allows you to save embedded audio/video content - e.g. youtube).

 

Fasterfox (helps makes Firefox run even faster and more smoothly - this links in to the next section).

 

Optimizing Firefox

 

I found an interesting Noreply Wiki article here that suggests ways to speed-optimize Firefox. From that I found Prio a really excellent free enhancement for Windows Task Manager (this also rapidly got installed on all the machines), and the SG TCP Optimizer also free. I'll expand the description of these tools later, but I have found them very useful and so far have had no problems.

 

Privacy - some steps in the right direction..

 

An absolute must have if you want to surf with a little more privacy, leaving minimal electronic footprints: the Tor, Privoxy, Vidalia  suite is extremely easy to install in Firefox. Look here. Description and theory etc. coming soon.