Software
The effect of anti-virus software on system performance
I have been pointing out for years that anti-virus programs can really slow down your system. I have often named Symantec’s Norton software as one of the worst offenders. Then Symantec supposedly rewrote its software and the product was said by reviewers like PC Magazine to be much less intrusive. However, Adrian Kingsley-Hughes has just [...]
What to do if the mouse dies
In a couple of older posts, I discussed how to exit your computer if the mouse dies. But perhaps you have some work going on that you do not want to lose and need to do some operations before turning off the computer. Windows comes with an accessibility feature called MouseKeys that will let you [...]
Discussion of firewalls and open ports
For a good discussion of what firewalls do and how to test your protection go to this “Gizmo” Richards article. Richards writes:
Firewalls play a vital role in defending your computer from attack and form an essential part of your computer’s security setup.
But is your firewall actually doing its job? Are you sure it’s effective?
These are [...]
32-bit vs. 64-bit Vista
To follow up on the previous post, I refer you to this eZine article. It gives a discussion of the compatibility of 32-bit programs on 64-bit Vista and states:
One nagging worry with installing the 64-bit version of Windows Vista is will it run old 32-bit programs. I would like to reassure you that in [...]
The 64-bit era is coming
Add another decision you have to make when you next buy a PC- whether to go with a 64-bit version of Windows. Somewhere down the road, 64-bit systems will be mostly replacing the current mainstream 32-bit systems, just as 32-bits replaced 16-bits. There are numerous advantages to using 64-bits but most current software is 32-bit. [...]
Best free security software
You can defend your computer against malware with one of the commercial suites and pay subscription fees every year or you can use some of the many free applications. PC World has put together a list, The Security Tools You Need. An even better place to go is the Tech Support Alert list.
RealPlayer needs patching again
RealPlayer is not one of my favorite applications but if some readers are using it, they should apply the security patches discussed at ZDNet’s Zero Day blog. The download is at this RealPlayer link.
Flaws in anti-virus programs
It is my contention that typical anti-virus products leave a lot to be desired. A ZDNet post, Approximately 800 vulnerabilities discovered in antivirus products, doesn’t improve my opinion:
In what appears to be either a common scenario of “when the security solution ends up the security problem itself”, or a product launch basing its strategy [...]
Software development at crossroads?
As has been noted before, software programmers have not yet adjusted to the multi-core processor. Writing code that uses many simultaneous processes is not at all like traditional coding. Ars Technica reports on the challenge that faces programmers:
Intel has bad news for software developers. It’s been hinted at already, but now the company has stated [...]
Firefox 3.0 features
Lifehacker has two articles on the new features of Firefox 3.0. They are at these links:
Top 10 Firefox 3 Features
Power User’s Guide to Firefox 3