Product Reviews Windows XP

•Popup Advertisements Good or Bad
Popup Advertisements - Good or Bad?   by Richard LoweI'll bet you've visited a site only to be plagued by one, two, three or even more popup windows appearing to annoy you. Some poorly designed sites even pop up those same windows each time you visit a new page, making simple navigation a horrifying experience.Some webmasters believe in popup advertisements. They believe that their sales or signups (newsletters) are substantially higher when they use popups. And, guess what, they are often...

•Product Reviews Internet Explorer
   by Richard LoweWhen I began surfing there was no world wide web, and the concept of the internet was much looser and not nearly as well defined as today. There really was not even the concept of a web browser at all. Instead, there were dozens of much simpler, more specific browsers, each designed for a single purpose.I miss those days long ago, before Netscape and Internet Explorer came along. There was a little more magic, I think, and a larger sense of exploring the unknown wilds of...

•Microsoft s Licensing Model sigh
Microsoft's Licensing Model (sigh)   by Richard Lowe One of my biggest, most important responsibilities in my day job is ensuringthat we have purchased all of the software licenses that we require. It'smy job to ensure that we are 100% legal at all times - which fulfills one ofour corporate goals to be a completely ethical company.Most companies make it very simply for me and my staff. If I want to licenseNorton Antivirus, all I need to do is count the number of machines on whichthe product is...

•Turn About On Certification
   by Richard Lowe On October 11th I was reading my email as usual when I opened one whichstated something so unbelievable that I had to read it three times. I willadmit the news was nothing compared to the events going on in the rest ofthe world (the September 11th terrorist attack and aftermath). However, itwas very welcome nonetheless.Microsoft has changed their policy on retiring certifications.If you will remember, over a year ago Microsoft had announced that theWindows NT 4.0...

•Which Web Server
?   by Richard LoweIf you've been lurking in the various forums and newsgroups devoted to webmastering, you could hardly fail to notice the heated debate going on at this time. No, it's not which is the best browser. This debate is about web servers. More precisely, which one is better: Apache or Internet Information Server (IIS).To tell you the truth, I've used them both (and a few others as well) and the simple plain truth of the matter is these two web server platforms are really...

•Microsoft s amp amp W2K MCSE Policy
Microsoft's ^@&^#&@ W2K MCSE Policy   by Richard LoweLike over 800,000 other people, I spent an incredible amount of time andeffort studying to be an MCSE (Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer). I tooksix classes, studied several books from cover to cover, took practice testsand used the knowledge in my job and on my own time. Why did I do all ofthis? Because I wanted to have one of the most prestigious certifications inthe field - the MCSE!For those of you who don't know, the MCSE consisted...

•Windows XP Safe and Secure
?   by Richard LoweMicrosoft has come under fire lately because of their habit of releasing software which has serious flaws, most especially problems with security. Unfortunately the criticism is justified and verges on the criminal: flaws (implementation bugs as well as just plain silly design decisions) have resulted in literally tens of billions of dollars in damage and losses worldwide.Don't believe me? Think of all of the viruses that have devastated not hundreds, not thousands, not even...

•DHCP
   by Richard LoweAt my day job, we were tasked with creating a Windows NT 4.0network from scratch with only minimal training on the operatingsystem. We were experts at working with OpenVMS and MacIntoshsystems, but none of us had ever seen Windows NT before. In thosedays long ago we were very cocky, and very naive - how hard couldit be to set up a new TCP/IP network? After all, we had masteredDECnet and Appletalk, could IP be any harder?We soon learned the error of our ways - TCP/IP is far...

•Sins of The Internet Mousetraps and worse
Sins of The Internet: Mousetraps (and worse)   by Richard LoweOne common unethical web technique is called mouse trapping, which is often used in conjunction with another highly immoral practice called page jacking. In it's simplest form, mouse trapping merely consists of redefining the back function so that it does not return to the previous page. Instead, some other function is performed.A mousetrap is extremely simple to create. You've seen the simple ones all over the place. You click on a...

•PcAnywhere
   by Richard LoweIf you've ever managed or had to deal with more than one computer system, then you've undoubtedly wanted to be able to control one remotely at one time or another. In my job, my staff and I manage about a thousand computer systems (servers and workstations). Our staff is small and busy, and even taking the time to walk over to a local system can sometimes be a hassle. There is so much to do and no time to do it in.On top of that, our systems are spread all over the country,...