TruXter Tech News

From Wired Gaming Section

Other games this year to come out are

Alan Wake will be released on May 18.

Crackdown 2 will be released “later this year.”

Dead Rising 2 will be released on August 31.

Dead Rising: Case Zero, a downloadable Xbox Live exclusive game that tells the story between the sequel and the first game, will be released prior to Dead Rising 2’s launch.

Fable III will be released this holiday season. (Read our eyes-on preview of Fable III.)

Lost Planet 2 will be released on May 18.

Splinter Cell: Conviction will be released on April 13.

If you already have Halo 3, wait till May and you can play the beta of of Halo 4.

Noticed this at work the other day.

Now if you go to cmd and type in explorer.exe it pops open windows explorer. for ever that has been the trick to get your task bar back. now it does not. It just opens windows explorer. so if you get a crash and lose your taskbar, you must reboot. Or figgure out what in the heck the taskbar is now called.

I assume this is a follow up to removing the progman.exe functionality.

See my trick for ever was to change my start up and replace the registry line from startup/explorer.exe to startup/progman.exe.

This reduced teh amount of resources my machine used, back the day when windows ran like crap and computer parts where crap.

This is teh same on xp sp3 , windows vista, and windows 7

I have no idea when or how this all came about. but i noticed it at work while over a span of 4 days I had different co-workers come to me and say “hey I lost my taskbar” we had to reboot them all one by one to get the task bar back. because typing explorer.ese solved nothing.  it’s like an auto update or a strange mass virus ?  I feel like I am being tamed by m$

Day 2
Auto desk did not install directly, had to do sp2 update for autodesk/ autocad 2007
video card is an 5200 pci-e Nvidia bfg.
Scrolling within Autocad is smooth, no hesitation as my dell computer with 8500 pci video card seems to lag and work in spurts.

Printing with Autocad to the Ricoh Aficio m wp2400, came out very well.
line weights  fine, antialliasing is fine and smooth

directory mapping via cross network is the same.

switching through desktops and backgrounds, umm.. these people.. um to be nice and prevent my sponsors from dropping me
let’s say the people who made the themes, lived in the sixties, and chewed on small peices of paper, and or plants that
grew on cow dung.. these desk tops are weird!!

ESC 9  installed fine, no patches needed, no updates needed.
Peach Tree 2010 install.
Error notice was “there was an error”  gives a phone number.
We continued install anyway.
Got notice “change firewall” and “change virus scan”
We just selected “um Ok”
Setup status is fine. looks like 30-45 minutes.

install of peachtree 2010 on windows 7 is faster than peachtree 2009 on xp.

Had error with “Crystal reports” failed to execute the install/setup  file.

Peach Tree installed, but when we started to run it, and sign in to the peachtree server, it said “not compatible with current version of esc” well that blew all the earlier great goings. Now we are updating Esc. For now there is no update for ESC9  to comply with Peach Tree 10

Windows 7, Day one of the workplace testing.

Day 4 Testing Windows 7 at work

Day 1

Splash screen

We use an Intell(R) Pentium(R) p4 2.81 GHZ with 1.5 G Memory

Full format deleted all partitions Let 7 control partitions
Our install of course was the 32 bit version of Win7

Splash Screen says Windows(R) 7 Ultimate, that was free one year from Microsoft’s(R) website. Thanks guys. We appreciate that.
Boot up was fast , about 17 seconds.
3 printers and one plotter on the network.
We have the goal to test all drivers and handling of certain used machines.
At first boot we saw all printers, but when we started the test page to print, there was no printers in the list.
We are now manually installing drivers. Last we tried with vista, the drivers would not install. with seven The Gestetner 525 installed within seconds. Smooth. We now go back and try the Lanier LD122. Next will be Ricoh Aficio mp w2400 Plotter copier

. Server Driver spoiling, is not an option , finds drivers on the server and installs them. Be sure and install the drivers. Twain untested as of yet. Scanner issues will come.
Test page 1 on Gestetner now. print was good on Gestetner.

printed one test page on network win7

Testing windows 7 printing color

We have now consumed 10 gigs of storage. So far we have not installed anything Except printer Drivers

Windows typical keystrokes working as we try.
Loading Symantec Endpoint 11 Work Station Virus Scanner and Firewall To test compatibilities.
noted incompatibility issues, we selected “install anyway”. . So far no prompt for install and no shortcut in quick launch for Symantec, nothing in programs area either, it has been 7 minutes since we started . We are restarting manually to see if we get a boot error.
after reboot, no sign of Symantec.
They did make it clear that Symantec was made for Win Xp, Win 7 is x86/32 bit
Offered to check solutions online, Note is “no solution found” Incompatible. Now we try the 64 bit version of Symantec to see if there is a difference.
Right off we get the “ehh dude, it might not work, doesn’t work for anyone else” notice.
This time it did create the directory for symantec, but quickly uninstalled it. and said that it was interrupted and nothing was modified.

Next we try installing Symantec Server sbe11

More testing to come throughout the week. We want this on our work machines pretty bad. Interesting point, Win7 Identified that the version we have we got from the symantec website, even though it said we had compatibility issues. hmm odd.
Over the next few days we will check Symantec’s site for help on the issue/matter.
We do find a help saying “copy to desktop, run lusetup.exe, reboot, run setup.exe” and all should be good ?????
Maybe ???? Tomorrow we will see.

We install Mozilla Fire Fox 3.0.10 , No Thunderbird today.
good , no notice of compatibility issues. We import nothing, because explorer is a clean install. FF as default.
Install is fine. Fire fox is running well. No issues.

Day one is complete, next tests tomorrow, More writing.

Day Two of Windows 7 Workplace Test.

From Life Hacker:

First off, i have to say, the screen shots are remarkable.

Reader Dylan Boom shows how to mix operating systems environments with style in his Mac Meets Windows Dual-Desktop. Dylan is running OS X with XP in a virtual machine, and each system is completely customized to form a beautiful transition between Mac and Windows. Frankly, neither system puts the other to shame. Here’s a rundown of all the hardware, apps, and tweaks Dylan made to both operating systems to pull off this pleasant coexistence:

Check back with Life Hacker:

for full specs.

Sorry for the lack of creativity, i am currently at work right now and don’t have a bunch of time. But I do like the article. I don’t like mac, but i love seeing mac people want to use another operating system. Kinda proves how useless a mac is.

If you have no idea what I Mean. Read This.
As a tech guy who works for a company with the word “Tech” In it’s name. As a tech guy who owns two websites with the word ” Tech” in their name. I have to point out an issue I noted when watching the commercial.

There is an issue they do not point out. I can directly point out which of the people they showed in the interview where not techy people. And I can point out the ones they picked because they looked like the stereo typical “computer geek looking” people. Fat guy, Oriental, middle eastern,skinny white guy with glasses.

First off, No tech knowledgeable person could for one minute sit in front of a computer with an unexplored operating system, without diving head first into exploration. No knowledgeable techy person would ever  accept an operating system as “fast” form watching someone else use it, or watching a video of someone else use the operating system.

Typically there is a blank look in someone’s face when they are bsing you into believing they know  more about computer than they really do. They also keep their hands near their face or wrench them with an anxiety of “please let me leave, I just signed up for a random survey  and figured I could bs my way through it, I had no idea it was about computers. Please just pay me and get this over with so I can leave.” .

Some of the people in the video, they just show a briefing of them, but no show of reaction, either those people are  just people who looked like nerds so they used them, or, those nerdy people really where nerdy and  ended up  ragging the operating system, so they didn’t show much of them.

It is clear the crowd was selected.

I myself have the operating system on the computer I am using. I really do like and enjoy allot of the features, But I also turned off a mess-load of useless resource hogging items off  Meet Black Viper.

I have followed black Viper’s instructions, for many of operating systems.

I hope you see what I noticed and raise a stink saying ” Hey I am observant, not an idiot” .

Listening to THE LINUX ACTION SHOW

I found that Microsoft has put down a huge fund for apache development.

Crazy stuff. Will they buy it out? Will they steal ideas? Will they do a fair deal and actually contribute and not expect much in return?

Over the years I have watched the pc video game section dwindle down to almost nothing.

Ten years ago it was two rows in the electronics section at Wal~mart. Now it is half a row, at the ones that even carry pc. That of course is after they share the rack with software, and some psp accessories. At Game Stop , pc games had a whole wall 4 years ago, and two racks on the floor. Now , pc gaming is one side of a floor display rack.

It’s not even the whole rack. Just one side. It seems that the console companies have made a great push and have nearly removed all of the pc games. You must figure that the most popular operating system, has one of the two dominant consoles, you can see why game makers don’t make pc video games.

now I quote myself from the gtaforum.com  thread.

On the left side of the rack is like two pins to hang psp junk on.
On the back is a bunch of console accessories ( well you know
a handful of the stuff none really buys like game sleeves and
cloth controller warmers) on the right side is new releases mixed
with current popular for 360.

I find it a disgrace.
The display shows a video game that is older than 4 years old.
a video game that is now the stereo type of all pc gamers.

When I walked up to the counter to confirm, the kid asked me
“well what are you looking for?”
I responded ” something I haven’t played before”

Are we being dumbed down?  are we being reduced of our resources?  there could be a whole lot more to it than just ” no one plays games on computers anymore”  google.

*****Updated *****
Piracy is a fact.
But pc gaming piracy being a fact is an exaggeration.
There are not near as many people out there willing to dl a video game for a pc
as there are ones who are willing to dl one for a console. I know a bunch of people
who use me as their computer guy, yet they had someone else crack their xbox
so it will play burned games and directly run iso from an emulated drive.

Come on, what other reason you need a 180 gig hd on a fricken console?????

See console companies throw up this big stink “make games for us to stop piracy”
but really in the end, it’s just a smear campaign to get to the top of selling lists.

Go to any game shop in the usa, you will see that if they have pc games, it is one tiny
rack on the floor. If you are lucky, pc games are both sides of that rack. don’t count
on it though. Ok you can raise your fist in triumph and scream d2d or steam.

But, how many games are available through microslops xboxlive? I know you can sample
but can’t you also buy?
If microslop stopped pc gaming on their o/s platform, it in theory would only solidify the sales
for their console. This of course would allow them to raise their price as high as they want.
Oh wait, they thought it was time already a couple years ago. Would have worked too if not
for the red ring of death.
Now the price is way down where it should have been to begin with. We all know the quality of
consoles suck, but look at who the target market is. people who know nothing of tech and live
by the code of “it’s expensive so it must be good”. When in fact the cooling sucked because of
no actual direct flow of air on the cpu heatsink and hardly any cooling for the video. the video
was next to the power source absorbing any heat that can dissipate from the power source.

See it’s all marketing. sure they can’t just come out and say “gaming on pc sucks, we rule buy our stuff”
it has to be gradual, kinda like a slow brain wash. one commercial shows it being easy, another
commercial shows it being small and pretty, then a mention of “unique” disks for games, it sounds
solid…
It’s just sales. and pc gaming is being pushed off the planet by it. deal with it. understand that
computers will upgrade slower and technology will nearly run at a trickle.
why? because we aren’t going to be here to say “hey the game would run smoother if you just blah blah”
Our kids will be dumbed down.
reduced to three buttons to mash and graphics only as good as they are now.
*****Updated *****

Microsoft said late Tuesday that it will no longer charge a fee for PC game players who wish to connect with each other over the company’s Games For Windows Live online service.Games For Windows Live is “now offering completely free online multiplayer” service, Microsoft said in a statement posted on the service’s Web site. The company previously charged a monthly fee of $7.99. However, the emergence of several free online gaming services may have prompted Microsoft to drop the monthly charge.

.

.

Microsoft introduced the Games For Windows program last year in an effort to bring console-like dependability to the PC gaming market. Titles bearing the Games For Windows logo are guaranteed to be playable online or offline on systems that meet certain specifications, according to Microsoft

Source: http://www.informationweek.com/news/windows/operatingsystems/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=209600008&subSection=News

I will be passing this on to my kid. I found this on Digg.com

Off the bat, I have to tell you, I do not have the fastest or the best machine in the world.
I have a machine that is at the max processor and ram for the motherboard’s capability.
Here are the specs for the machine I am using.
Sis 755 A-2 Motherboard
Sempron 3400+ 64 bit Processor
Nvidia 7600GS 512 mb
2 Gigs kingston 3200 ddr Memory
Sony cd/dvd burner
500 watt power supply

Ok for the past 7 or 8 years, The way I have benchmarked computers and operating systems Would be by playing Grand Theft auto III.
Of course I have since then added vice city and San Andreas to the mix. But GTAIII Is the benchmark for me. If you do not like the game sorry
But please hang with me on this.
For a long time I fought trying to make my computers strong and sturdy enough to handle the demands this game calls out. Computers these days are actually strong enough to handle these demands.
After the install of just straight vista drivers I went to pcpitsop and did my first benchmark of my machine. The score was pathetic. I kind of knew what would happen after I installed gtaIII, But I go ahead and start the game. Before the load screen I get a notice saying that there is some sort of dll missing (sorry all, I did not write it down) . I then hear the game start up but minimized in the task bar. I click the notification and the game takes over the screen. I see this look that took me back to the days of 256 megs ram and nvidia 440 on a 800 meg processor. This game looked wretched. But what do you expect with o/s drivers and not vendor drivers? Well since it’s a newer o/s than XP, I would expect better results than xp, not similar to win 98 on a crap machine. Very pixilated simi laggy but not as laggy as you would think with the way it looked.
After the drivers had been installed I start GTAIII again. Again it gave me the notice of missing dll. When the unnamed player in gtaIII walked out of his hide out I noticed artifacts. The garage was covered with imaging from the walls adjacent to the Entry to the garage. The player had openings so you could see through him in many places. I moved on and walked into the garage and drove the banshee down the ocean blvd to check how the game (typically) lags (with bad bad drivers or bad hardware) as you drive under objects, like the over head train, and trees and bridge. The game was very jaggedly laggy and objects where not being displayed properly.
After the gtaIII test I tried the other two Grand Theft Auto games and got the same mess. I swear the game looks better and plays better on linux with just the linux basic drivers, but the lag is way worse on Linux.
So I did searches for help forums and the like. I found that allot of people with the 7000 series nvidia video cards had similar issues. I never found a solution that worked. No, using older drivers did not help. Until sis/ecs releases more than one gart driver I am pretty much stuck in the same spot.

I did notice that the fonts on websites looked a bit bigger than when on xp.
As much as I enjoyed the looks of Aero (makes me think of Ubuntu) I decided to try turning it off. I used Black Viper’s tips from his tweak site .
The game did not change. and my bench score on pcpitstop only went up 10 points from the first test with base drivers.

Vista test was done 3/29/08. So please wait a few months before you tell me they fixed the operating system. I did try all online update and nothing got better that I could witness myself.
I am now back on xp and my machine runs three times a fast. using the same direct version as I used on vista.. 9.0c