As much as I like to rant about how Windows 8 is probably going to be a bit of a disaster – and I’m certainly not alone there in the tech community - I do actually really want it to be awesome. I still run my home network with the reliable Windows Home Server 2011 at the core; I love my Windows Media Center as the best PVR yet (there’s certainly no Apple TV in this house); and rarely a night goes by when I’m not on my Xbox.

I want to be surprised by Windows 8; I want to be pushed into a new paradigm of home computing, one that feels futuristic with it’s bold colors and simplistic interface; I’m fully prepared for that. This is the premise of Windows 8, and I decided to try out the recently released Consumer Preview build to just get a taste of what’s coming.

Please bear in mind, the consumer preview is not the final build. What I say here may not necessarily apply to Windows 8 once it’s released.

The Invisible Start Menu

I already knew about the hotspot in the bottom right. Most users won’t know that at first, though perhaps its a minor point if it only takes a few seconds to learn. With any luck, there’ll be an auto playing video tutorial to show them new features and changes. Hover there and click to bring up the Metro start screen.

I figure if there’s one hot corner there must be more, so I try top right. It brings up some kind of search or utility bar. One of the option is to “share”. I try clicking it, only to be reliably informed my desktop has nothing worth sharing on it. FINE.

Apps

Since all my apps were transferred, I figure the old Windows 7 Snipping Tool is in there somewhere. No luck from the initial start screen, but the search button from the top right hotspot reveals the option to narrow down by apps, so I try that. “screen“… “snip“… “grab“… no results for any. Then I scan the list of apps, helpfully arranged in no particular order across the screen. Sure enough, there’s the snipping tool. A search bug I guess, no worries. It turns out to be useless for taking snaps of the Metro interface though, as it kicks me back to the desktop every time. Random freeware to the rescue.

I install a few apps and start playing around with the default ones. This is by no means a comprehensive list, just a few that caught my eye.

Weather: Nice enough, but even though it figures out my location, it doesn’t seem to know we Brits use Celsius, and it sure as hell isn’t 50 degrees right now, or I’d be fried. I wonder if perhaps the settings button from the top right hotspot applies in the context of apps, and sure enough, it lets me change it to Celsius. I doubt my mum would figure that out though.

Xbox Live Games: locked out for UK users, apparently. Oh well.

Maps: knew my rough location, but even a search for “London” showed zero results. I’m guessing UK users don’t have maps enabled yet either.

Finances: looks nice, but customization seems to extend to adding your own stocks to the watch list, which took me ages to figure out in itself. Now I get some useless foreign market info on my home screen tile. Like most of these default apps, it seems rather vacuous.

Quitting Apps

… is just not the done thing in Windows 8, apparently. I understand though – it’s a paradigm shift, that’s cool. It’s still frustrating to this power user. Metro apps don’t even have a back button in most cases – you hover in the bottom left and click back to the start screen, leaving the apps there as they are.

At some point, my mouse hit the top left and that thing appeared –  thumbnails of all the running apps. At least, all except the one you’re using now. Right clicking revealed an ominous close, as well as the option to “Snap to” left or right. To close the running app then, I switched over to another running app, opened the task switcher, and right clicked on the previously running app. Whatever.

Snap to splits roughly 1/5 of your screen space and gives it to the app selected. I can’t figure out if you can still interact with it, but it seems to vary by app. I tried to drag out the snapped bit to cover 1/2 of the screen – that could be useful –  like two browser windows. No such luck – it just becomes the main 4/5 window space, snapping the existing app to the other side of the screen. I’m not quite sure what you’d use this for to be honest, but after a little research I see others have snapped their email there.

The content of metro apps start screen tiles appears to be fixed; there are no options to display a specific stock instead of the 3 random markets it chooses for you, for instance. Perhaps this feature will come as apps develop.

General Interface

The general desktop dialog boxes for everyday apps strike me as childish; like a lightweight Linux or something. They’re not pretty, not at all. Does 10 years of progress mean nothing to you Microsoft?

Switching back and forth between the desktop and start menu is surprisingly speedy, but at the same time really quite jarring. It feels like two distinct layers, two separate desktops. At least it’s quick – like a blast of adrenalin given to a heroine user lost in an overdose of garish colors.

I try out the USA Today app to finish off my hour of testing. It looks gorgeous, and there’s a lot of content on the screen. Unfortunately, you have to actually scroll right to get to the other hidden stories. And I don’t just mean scroll your mouse wheel and it assumes right, I mean you literally have to put it into 2d scroll mode. Bug?

One click gets me to all the videos, so I enjoy a short clip about some Americans enjoying a new 24/7 muffin shop:

There’s no discernible way to jump back to the main story halfway through the video though.

The app is nice for sure, but to be honest it’s really no more than a well designed website, sadly missing key bits of an intuitive interface – like a back button.
Finally, I trim my start screen to the apps I actually want:

Snap Judgement

After an hour of using it, I still get frustrated by the start screen hotspot. When you hover, a large tile-like button comes up – instinct tells me I can loosen up my grip on the mouse and click on the middle of that tile for the start screen to appear, but no. Move away from that single pixel in the corner, and you end up clicking on Internet Explorer instead, or simply clicking away and having to do it again. It still takes me two or three clicks to get it spot on. Hopefully they can sort that out.

Generally, it’s all quite snappy. Launching Metro apps for the first time takes far too long, but in terms of resource usage it outperforms Windows 7, so for many people that alone will be a good reason to upgrade.

Metro, though? I’m sorry, I really did want to like this. The apps feel like tacky widgets made of JavaScript and not much actual substance to them. Early days yet, I’m sure. The whole Metro UI strikes me as being great on a tablet, a real contender to Android and iPads. It’s a snappy and touch-tastic simplistic interface for single purpose apps – assuming those apps come and developers get on board.

But on a desktop machine? Like Vista Gadgets and OSX Dashboard Widgets, I do not want this crap. Unfortunately, it takes the forefront and is burned into the core. It is the entire start menu, and it pervades every interaction on the desktop experience. It’s not an optional extra, a bonus interface for those with touch screens. The desktop is shoved aside for legacy apps, and rudely beaten into a corner by Metro, and I don’t like it one bit. If I could slice this obnoxious tumor of an interface out and simply have a speedier Windows, I would make this Windows OS of choice right now.

There’s still time Microsoft. You can still fix this.

View full post on MakeUseOf

All the codecs you need for Windows 7 to play AVIs, DVDs and more!

View full post on FileHippo.com

All the codecs you need for Windows 7 to play AVIs, DVDs and more!

View full post on FileHippo.com

class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/microsoft_flight_intro.jpg?323f2c" />The next iteration of Microsoft’s answer to flight simulations, href="http://www.microsoft.com/games/flight/">Microsoft Flight, has finally been released for free on the Games for Windows platform. In December we reported that MS had put out a href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/microsoft-flight-pilots-beta-testing-news/">call for beta testers, and now development team Microsoft Studios has deemed the “freemium” title ready for public consumption.

It won’t cost anything to play, instead there will be an ever expanding selection of downloadable content (DLC) that can be purchased to expand the players in-game options. The first batch of DLC includes a second world war P-51 Mustang ($7.99), the Maule M-7-260C single prop aircraft ($14.99) and the Hawaiian Adventure Pack ($19.99) which includes the Vans RV-6A aircraft and some tropical islands over which to stretch your wings.

The re-imagined simulator allows players to customize the controls based on skill level so the game is fully playable with a standard mouse and keyboard setup. Those of you itching for take-off might want to check out the minimum and required specifications before downloading the Games for Windows client and proceeding with the 1.43GB download required to play:

Minimum:

• CPU: Dual Core 2.0 GHz
• GPU: 256 MB card capable of shader 3.0 (DX 9.0c compliant)
• HD: 10 GB hard drive space
• OS : WinXP SP3 or newer
• RAM: 2.0GB

Recommended:

• CPU: Dual Core 3.0 GHz
• GPU: 1024 MB ATI Radeon HD 5670 or 1024 MB NVIDIA GEFORCE 9800 GT or equivalent
• HD: 30 GB hard drive space
• OS : Win7 SP1 64-bit operating system
• RAM: 6.0GB

style="text-align: center;"> width="500" height="281" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/q-JluDG-OSE?fs=1&feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>

Expect Microsoft to regularly add new premium DLC to keep the title afloat over the coming months.

Download: href="http://www.microsoft.com/games/flight/">Microsoft Flight @ Microsoft.com

style="text-align: left;">Have you tried Microsoft Flight yet? What do you think? Is “freemium” the best direction for MS to take? Leave your opinion in the comments below.

Source: href="http://www.microsoft.com/games/flight/">Microsoft Flight

View full post on MakeUseOf

class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/webserver.png?323f2c" alt="windows web server" />With an obsession with all web-based “things”, it should come as no surprise that I am obsessed with lightweight, yet highly-functional Windows web servers.

Not long ago, I href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/setting-up-multiple-portable-xampp-webservers-usb-drive/">covered XAMPP mostly because I was searching for a portable web server that I could use to develop and test changes for the design of my blog. I came across XAMPP after reading href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/install-windows-web-server-pc-xampp/">Dave’s article describing how to set it up on a PC. Since the blog has developed a fair level of traffic, the last thing I want to do is mess with the design, accidentally take the site down, and then damage the reputation of the site.

For the most part, XAMPP has served me well, but I’m always on the lookout for a competitor service that will do everything XAMPP does even better. I’m happy to say that I’ve discovered yet another lightweight web server application that fits that bill – called the href="http://www.uniformserver.com/">Uniform Server.

Running The Uniform Web Server

Before I jump into telling you about the Uniform Server software, I should explain why I didn’t just stop looking when I found XAMPP.

The reason is that, while it installed a PHP/MySQL-based web server that could mirror my blog well – setting it up, configuring and maintaining the service wasn’t quite as streamlined as I would have liked. While it does come with the Admin PHP app for setting up MySQL, it is not quite as easy to configure the PHP install if you want to.

Uniform Server, on the other hand, does everything XAMPP can do, plus it gives you much easier access to configure and tweak settings as you see fit. It also allows you to enable Perl scripting if you so desire.

To set up Uniform Server, just download the ZIP file and place it on the USB device or PC directory where you want to store your web server files.  In that root folder, you’ll find Start_as_program.exe and Start_as_service.exe. Running the program will launch the server configuration app.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/uniformserver2.png?323f2c" alt="windows web server" width="407" height="272" />

It’ll also prompt you to immediately change your root MySQL password for better security. Once you’re done this, you’ll find yourself back on the main server setup screen of the program. Just like XAMPP, when you want to activate your web server, just click “Start Both” and both the Apache web server and your MySQL database will activate on http://localhost.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/uniformserver3.png?323f2c" alt="set up a web server" width="399" height="281" />

If you go to http://localhost/index.php before placing your own files in the /www subdirectory, you’ll see the following page. This is how you know the server is functioning properly the first time.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border-image: initial; border-width: 1px; border-color: black; border-style: solid;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/uniformserver5.png?323f2c" alt="" width="521" height="566" />

On the Uniform Server app, click on the “Server Configuration” button to see all aspects of the web server that you can modify from within this app. This is a bit different than previous releases of The Uniform Server, which used to use a web-based admin page for all of these configuration settings. Now it’s all done through this locally run, non-browser based app.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/uniformserver6.png?323f2c" alt="set up a web server" width="403" height="236" />

As you can see, from this app you can configure a list of server settings, without ever having to mess around with trying to track down the right config files on the web server. This app will find them all for you.

For example, click on the “Apache” button to see all of the Apache web server settings you can access and change, as well as the log files you can view all from here.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/uniformserver7.png?323f2c" alt="set up a web server" width="401" height="349" />

Click on PHP to access PHP settings you can alter on this server. This is really nice, especially after the experience I had trying to modify PHP settings on my XAMPP server. Never having done it before, it was a pretty frustrating experience. With The Uniform Server, it’s all laid out here for you. You’ll still need to know how to make the changes, but at least you won’t have to waste time hunting down the right ini and config files.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/uniformserver8.png?323f2c" alt="your own web server" width="398" height="350" />

Click on “Edit Basic Configuration” to see all of the PHP settings you can quickly alter straight from within this app – no file editing required. It’s all menu-driven.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/uniformserver10.png?323f2c" alt="your own web server" width="580" height="369" />

Also, doing MySQL DB backups is also included within the Uniform Server app as well. This is nice, because I have a built-in app on my web hosting account with InMotion Hosting that allows for a one-click DB backup – so it’s really nice to have that same feature with my locally installed version of my blog as well.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/uniformserver9.png?323f2c" alt="your own web server" width="403" height="372" />

For me, the fastest way to test such a “lightweight” web server service to see if it is fully capable is to run the WordPress install script on top of the local web server install. In my opinion, if it can pull that off, then it can probably run just about any PHP-based blog out there.

So, using the Uniform Server app, I launched phpMyAdmin (I didn’t have to figure out where the tool was located), and created a test MySQL database table with a new user. Finally, I copied down the latest version of WordPress, edited the config.php file with the db name and user, and then ran the install script from http://localhost/wp-admin/install.php.

The install script ran on the local Windows web server without a single glitch. Very nice!

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border-image: initial; border-width: 1px; border-color: black; border-style: solid;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/uniformserver12.png?323f2c" alt="windows web server" width="563" height="461" />

The bottom line is that after running all of these tests, I’ve decided to switch from using XAMPP to using Uniform Server instead. It’s just easier and faster to set up and configure.

Have you tried both XAMPP and Uniform Server? Which do you prefer? Do you know of any other lightweight web servers that work better? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

href="http://image.shutterstock.com/display_pic_with_logo/292820/292820,1306658012,7/stock-photo-server-and-globe-d-concept-78157120.jpg" rel="nofollow">Web Server image Via Shutterstock

View full post on MakeUseOf

All the codecs you need for Windows 7 to play AVIs, DVDs and more!

View full post on FileHippo.com

If you’re running Windows Vista and were worried about the 5-year support ending soon, you can now relax. Microsoft has extended its consumer support for Windows 7 and Vista to 10 full years after the OS’s official release date.

Traditionally, individual consumers have enjoyed 5 years of Mainstream support for their Windows product, in which time they received major upgrades, bug fixes, security patches, and more. Businesses enjoyed this same Mainstream support, but also the Extended support which lasted for 5 more years and included only security updates.

Although Microsoft has not made a big deal out of the change, individual consumers will also enjoy the 10-year Extended support from now on, meaning support will end on November, 2017 for Vista users and on January, 2020 for Windows 7 users. As a result, support for Vista will not end later this year as it was meant to.

Support for Windows XP, however, is still planned to end on 2014, more than 10 years after the OS was first released. Do you still use XP? Will this extension of support convince you to upgrade, or is it better of waiting for Windows 8?

Source: ZDNet

View full post on MakeUseOf

Through the use of sticky notes, I feel like I’ve been able to just about double my daily productivity. Being able to have physical reminders that nagged for certain tasks to be completed was a real help when I used pen-and-paper notes. The days of pen and paper are over though, and I’m at my computer a lot more often than I am at a work desk. Eventually, I found that pinning notes to my desktop was just as effective a strategy and I’ve been doing it ever since.

Using the hott notes sticky notes program for desktop, it doesn’t take more than just a few clicks to get your ideas and priorities out onto the screen and in your face. Start using sticky notes now and you’ll wonder how your life functioned without them.

Upon downloading hott notes, you’ll be quick to see how straightforward and simple it is to use the program. Hott notes has a lot of configuration and customization options.

The General tab allows you to update basic configurations, such as startup options, animations, and tray icon actions.

The second tab is for appearance. If you’d like to change the program-specific text, check out these settings.

The next tab will allow you to configure your hotkeys for Hott notes.

The final tab deals with automated backups. I’d recommend leaving these settings as the default.

As for the notes themselves, they look nice on the screen and aren’t incredibly obtrusive and overpowering. Here’s a quick shot of a few notes that are sitting on my desktop right now:

They’re really easy to use and very efficient. After creating a note (which can be achieved by double clicking the tray icon), that task is also automatically added to your notebook. Your notebook is just a summary of tasks that you’ve completed or need to complete. Using this tool could really help for those of you with bad memories (like mine).

When creating a new note, you can configure many different things. You can make each note look different through font effects or you can assign your own saved theme to a note. You can also edit a note’s opacity (or transparency).

Another really solid feature is setting alarms. With alarms, you’re able to configure your sticky notes much like you would do a calendar. If having these stick right to your desktop doesn’t catch your attention effectively, the alarm surely will.

By default, the alarm will take the note into focus, cause it to shake around a bit, and play an alarm noise. I don’t even use Rainlendar anymore, hott notes has completely replaced it because of the alarms feature.

Have you looked through the features and Hott notes doesn’t sound like your cup of tea?  OK then check these other articles on the same subject:

• Stickies – The Best Way to Keep Sticky Notes On Your Windows PC
• 5 Little Useful Sticky Notes For Linux
• PNotes – Fast, Lightweight, Open-Source Sticky Notes Program For Your Desktop/USB Flash Drive
• Corkboard: Quickly Create, Save & Edit Sticky Notes As A Group

Let us know what sticky notes program for the desktop that you use, in the comments below. Or maybe you’re someone who doesn’t like sticky notes for working? If so, tell us why.

View full post on MakeUseOf

All the codecs you need for Windows 7 to play AVIs, DVDs and more!

View full post on FileHippo.com

In two recent articles on Windows Explorer, I explained advanced settings and shared tips and tricks to improve your experience with the Windows file manager. To conclude this article trilogy, I will show you how you can add missing features using Windows Explorer add-ons, for example tabs, an enhanced copy process, and a tool to restore desktop icons.

Add Tabs With QTTabBar

Most of us have got used to tabs ever since tabbed browsing became cool almost a decade ago. Although Microsoft eventually gave in to the competition and has been offering tabbed browsing since the release of Internet Explorer 7 in 2006, they apparently never considered offering this feature for their file manager. Fortunately, a nifty software developer named Paul crafted an add-on to fill the gap.

QTTabBar adds an additional menu bar to the Windows Explorer interface, with buttons for advanced opening and closing of folders, a copy tool, an additional search field, and a list of recently closed folders. All options can be accessed separately using the [TAB] key. The folder tabs sit on top of that menu bar. Tabs can be re-arranged using drag & drop.

QTTabBar is available for Windows XP through Windows 7.

TeraCopy

Windows Explorer is notoriously unreliable for copying large amount of files. The transfer can be slow, the procedure buggy, and if only a single file acts up, the whole process auto-aborts. Alternatives, such as using the command line or a backup program, are intricate and counter intuitive.

TeraCopy was designed to dramatically improve this process. The tool integrates with the Windows Explorer right-click menu, can be used to copy files per default, copy and move large amounts of files at the best speed possible, and transfers can be paused and resumed. Also, bad files don’t cause the whole process to abort, rather they are skipped and listed when the rest of the transfer was completed.

TeraCopy was previously reviewed on MakeUseOf here – Move or Copy PC Files Lightning-Fast with TeraCopy

Also see the following articles for potential alternatives:

• UltraCopier – An Alternative Multi-Platform Batch File Copier
• Copy Multiple Files On Your Computer With RichCopy

Desktop Restore

Doesn’t it drive you nuts when your neatly organized desktop icons are all dislocated when your desktop resolution is changed, for example after connecting to an external monitor or a projector? This used to drive me up the wall. Meanwhile, I no longer keep icons on my desktop. However, if you don’t fancy accessing file and folders via the QuickLaunch bar or other tools, Desktop Restore is a must have.

Desktop Restore records the exact positions of all your desktop icons and allows you to restore the layout, should your icons become scrambled. The tool integrates in the desktop right-click menu. You can easily save and restore current layouts. Via the Custom Layout Save/Restore menu option, you can switch between layouts at different desktop resolutions, as well as save or restore the layout data to or from a file.

For an alternative, check out this program: Restore Your Desktop Icons’ Position With Desktop OK

You will find more desktop-related apps in this article: 5 Little Desktop Apps You Should Check If You Mutlitask

StExBar

StExBar is my +1 add-on. It is potentially useful, however, it did not prove compatible with QTTabBar. It adds another toolbar with advanced features to the Windows Explorer toolbar. You can read a full review of the tool here: The Ultimate Extension for Windows Explorer

Other Tools

Not strictly add-ons, but tools to improve the Windows Explorer open file dialogue are PlacesBar Editor and Places Utility. They enable you to change the default folders shown in the dialogue window.

Both tools were reviewed previously:

• 4 Easy Ways to Customize Common Dialog Box on Windows XP
• Use the Places Utility to Customize Locations in Open File Dialogue Box

Do you think it’s worth extending Windows Explorer with add-ons or would you rather replace it with an alternative file explorer? Which Windows file explorer are you using?

View full post on MakeUseOf

All the codecs you need for Windows 7 to play AVIs, DVDs and more!

View full post on FileHippo.com

Last week we were interested in your tweeting habits, and asked you how often you share on Twitter. We wanted to get an idea of how frequently people tweet, and found out the surprising fact that more than %40 of you don’t tweet at all.

Out of the 145 readers who voted, 19% don’t even have a Twitter account, 23% have an account but never tweet, 23% tweet 1-5 times per week, 19% tweet 1-5 times per day, 7% tweet 6-10 times per day, 5.5% tweet 11-20 times per day, and 3.5% tweet more than 2- times daily.

Full results and this week’s poll after the jump.

While not a whole lot of readers voted, it was still surprising to find out that so many of you are not big on tweeting, with a staggering 65% who tweet 5 times a week or less. In a world so consumed by Twitter and hashtags, it’s interesting to see such results.

This week’s poll question is: What Do You Think Of Windows 8′s Metro UI?

Microsoft Metro UI is not entirely new, with early glimpses of dating back to earlier versions of Windows Media Center and Zune, but with Windows Phone 7 and Windows 8, Microsoft made sure we all heard of and knew what Metro UI is. Metro is a design language which is based on certain principles such as specific fonts, use of tiles and text for navigation, and more, and by utilizing in in Windows 8, Microsoft is trying to go in a completely different direction. This UI has gotten mixed reviews (although more good than bad), with some people thinking it’s the best thing since Windows added a Start button, and others hating the thought of having that as their main operating system. Where do you stand?

What is it about Metro UI that you like or don’t like? Do you think it’s good on some products but not on others? If so, which? We’re waiting for your comments.

View full post on MakeUseOf

You may be taking your Skype instant messaging and video calls or your iPhone FaceTime for granted, but way back before the standalone IM client was even an idea, there was one major solution: IRC (Internet Relay Chat).

I’m not even going to pretend. I was 5 or 6 years old back in 1995 so this is well before my time, too. In the age of social networking and Internet 2.0, web-based chat rooms are practically dead. They’re all but done with; on the endangered list. Still, IRC is the most popular server/client chat protocol in the world. Maybe the rooms aren’t as active as they were 10+ years ago, but we’ve still got a pulse!

Some boredom and curiosity mixed well together and I’ve rediscovered IRC just recently. Now, I’d like to show you how to use my favorite IRC client, HydraIRC. There are a lot of multi-IM clients (like Trillian) that support the IRC protocol, but nothing really beats the efficiency and oldschool feel of a standalone chat client. You’ve probably heard of mIRC, the most popular IRC client, but here’s a few reasons why I love Hydra:

• It is portable. Download the ZIP and extract it to wherever you like. Put it in your Dropbox or on a flash drive. Portable applications beat out self-installing packages every day of the week.
• It is lightweight. mIRC is a little bulky for me.
• It is free. Everyone loves things that are free.
• It supports everything that you need in an IRC client: multiple servers, DCC, event logs, channel monitoring, an extremely flexible GUI, and more.

You can check out some more, official screenshots at the official HydraIRC website.

Anyway, rusty IRC legend or complete newbie, let’s get you started. Get HydraIRC downloaded. Next step is to figure out where you want to chat and what about, right? You want to go into the File menu, then New Server. Hydra comes preloaded with loads of the most popular IRC servers.

Now it’s on you to pick the network (and associated server) that you want. You can either query up Google and learn a bit about each, or experience can guide you. FreeNode has tons of channels for coding, tech support, general hacking, networking, and things of that nature. EFNet is your oldschool “general” server. QuakeNet and GameSurge are for gamers, and so on.
For this example, let’s go ahead and go on GameSurge. Double click GameSurge, click the IRC server that expands beneath it, and then click OK to connect.

Every server consists of many channels (or rooms). Upon connecting, the Channel List window will pop up. If it doesn’t, you can click into the Channel menu and then Channel List. Click Populate List and after a second, you’ll have a list of every channel on the server. Click the Users header once and you’ll have sorted the channels by the most users. Scroll through, see if there are any you may be interested in, and then click Join.

This is how you join an IRC server and a channel (the easy way). There are hundreds and hundreds of servers out there and thousands of channels. There’s probably an active channel for just about any subject that comes to mind. It’s good to have it sitting in your taskbar for idle moments in between tasks.

If you need any help or want to dive deeper into the subject, let’s chat in the comments. If you really like IRC chatting, consider setting up your own IRC channel and read our post on that.

View full post on MakeUseOf

Despite the many reasons why people preach the use of Linux, actually going through with the switch is a completely different story. I know this only too well as I went through the exact same process before everything came together and I fell in love with Linux. However, I have to admit that it took a while with numerous attempts at using Linux for more than a week.

It’s not that Linux is hard to use or understand, but it simply doesn’t fit the Windows mindset that most people have. Expecting to do everything in Linux exactly like in Windows is where problems start appearing, which can easily deter a good number of users. Thankfully, there is now a Linux distribution that could make the process a whole lot easier.

About Zorin OS

Zorin OS is a Linux distribution based on Ubuntu, but besides identical packages and base system there are some major differences between the two. One of the major goals of Zorin OS is to offer a user interface that is similar to that of Windows, making Windows users feel more comfortable when they use Zorin OS. I must say that Zorin OS does a pretty good job with it.

Downloading

You can download the ISO for Zorin OS by going to this page and downloading their “Core” ISO. The developers also offer lite and educational variations for you to download, but in most cases you’ll have the better experience with just the core. This review will focus on the Core edition.

Additionally you’ll find a Premium page where they offer you Ultimate, Business, Multimedia, and Gaming editions, which is mostly just the Core software with many additional applications for that type of system. The effort it takes to put all those extra programs into the ISO is why they charge for those editions.

Once you have your downloaded ISO burned onto a CD, written to USB, or ready to go for VirtualBox, you can boot straight into the live environment. Loading shouldn’t take very long, and in no time you’ll be presented with the Zorin OS desktop.

Desktop

As you might recognize, the default look for Zorin OS mimics Windows 7 quite well. There are only a couple of shortcuts found on the desktop, and in the taskbar you’ll find the Start menu on the left (with Zorin OS branding, of course), the icon tray on the right, and then in the middle you’ll find the cool looking buttons that show which programs are currently open (do those even have a technical name?). Overall, it looks very much like Windows 7, which is very impressive.

Start Menu

If you actually click on the Start menu, you’ll see a lot more Windows 7-esque goodness. The Start menu, which appears to be GnoMenu with an appropriate theme, looks extremely similar to Windows 7′s Start menu. Keeping a small Linux touch, however, all programs in the left side of the menu are organized into the regular categories that regular Linux users are familiar with. There is also no “Recent Programs” list as is in Windows 7.

Look Changer

So all this stuff that looks a lot like Windows 7 is great for someone coming from Windows, right? Well what if they’re trying out Linux because Windows XP is starting to become very dated for an operating system? No need to worry there either. In the Control Center, there is a button called Look Changer, which will open a new window where you can choose between a Windows 7, Windows XP, and regular Linux Gnome desktop. With Windows XP available too, switching to Zorin OS is even easier for more people.

Default Applications

Zorin OS also comes with some pretty interesting default applications. Instead of Firefox as the default browser as is the case in all major distributions, Zorin OS chose Chrome in part due to its ever-increasing popularity. Many will enjoy this, while those that don’t will simply need to install their browser of choice. Not a hard thing to do. Zorin OS also includes Nautilus Elementary over Nautilus, which offers a tweaked user interface for a cleaner look. As for everything else, the usual applications that you would expect are included.

Conclusion

This interesting Linux distribution has some great incentives for Windows users to try out the Linux side of computing. Aside from all the differences between itself and Ubuntu, the rest is business as usual, letting you get work done like a pro.

What do you think about Zorin OS? Is it the best way for Windows users to try Linux? Let us know in the comments!

View full post on MakeUseOf

All the codecs you need for Windows 7 to play AVIs, DVDs and more!

View full post on FileHippo.com

Last night I inadvertently deleted 17GB of data with a mis-press of Shift+Del, causing a classic “oh sh*t!!” moment. I’d chosen to “permanently delete” the folder, skipping the Recycle Bin and instantly freeing up some space on my drive.

This is great when you’re playing file janitor for a day, cutting, copying and inevitably deleting files and folders you no longer need. Unfortunately getting the data back isn’t quite as easy as a trip to the Recycle Bin. You’ll need some recovery software, something like Pandora Recovery. Breathe. Relax. Let’s recover some data.

A Few Things To Remember

When a file is deleted, Windows usually sends the item to the Recycle Bin where it is marked for deletion but still very much on your drive. Once you’ve emptied the Recycle Bin the file is seemingly lost. Shift+Del is simply a handy shortcut to skip the Bin and zap a file.

However, just because the file or folder has been deleted does not mean your data has been destroyed. When a file is “deleted”, Windows simply marks that section of the hard drive as free, writable space. Provided you’ve not filled up the drive a few times, it’s very likely you’ll be able to recover those files.

This does of course mean that old hard drives, memory cards, flash drives and any other rewritable storage medium is subject to the same rules. If you format and sell an old SD card there’s every chance the buyer could attempt a recovery and enjoy your holiday snaps too. Regardless of how likely it is that someone would do this, it’s still very much possible.

Install Pandora Recovery

Assuming you’ve just lost a couple of vital documents, you’ll probably want to protect the medium they were stored on. Don’t write to the drive, don’t move or copy items and ensure you have at least enough free space on a separate drive for the files you want to recover.

Recovering files to the same drive that you are recovering from is possibly going to end in tears as your files have now been marked as free space, meaning it’s possible that you’ll overwrite the same files you’re trying to cover and lose your data. Don’t do it – recover to another drive and then put your files back where they belong.

If you’re recovering from your system drive then it’s probably a good idea to not install Pandora in this location, in case you overwrite the data. If you’re reading this without the need for an immediate recovery then ask yourself if you’re better off installing the software before you genuinely need it. Otherwise, choose another partition or better still prepare a portable USB install on another PC. It is also possible to buy a ready-to-rock USB version of Pandora for around $20.

You can grab Pandora here, choose Download.com as a mirror and click the Direct Download Now link below the CNET Installer link. CNET Installer will attempt to install crapware on your PC (you have to agree, but it’s quite a confusing dialogue) in addition to the Ask.com toolbar you should probably refuse in the main installer.

Once Pandora is installed or available as a portable app you’re ready to recover.

The Recovery Process

Recovering data with Pandora is fairly simple, and the first thing you’ll see is a wizard that attempts to guide you through the process. Follow the wizard and after choosing a drive you’ll be asked whether you want to browse for deleted files, search or conduct a deep surface scan.

Browse is great if you know where the data went missing from, and probably returns the quickest results. If you’re after a particular file then searching either for a matching name or simply by extension like *.avi or *.jpg will yield results. If your drive has been formatted, has corrupted file tables, is a removable/flash storage medium or everything else has failed then a deep surface scan is your best option.

You can easily skip between the functions in their respective tabs, and the recovery process is identical for all three methods. Once you have located a file or folder you would like to recover simply right click and choose Recover to… from the menu.

A dialogue box will pop-up requesting a location to store recovered data, remember: if you’re recovering from an external hard drive – copy to your main drive. If you’re recovering from system drive – recover to a USB or external drive. Do not write to your source drive.

Depending on how much data is being recovered you may have to wait a while. Recovering 17GB of video took me about 45 minutes, whereas a small file (documents or images) takes seconds. Once you’re done you’ll hopefully see something resembling the screen below.

Conclusion

Remember, if you can’t find your data with a search or browse then a deep surface scan is highly recommended. I deleted a few files to test the program and not only did it find the images I purposefully deleted but a lot of old music, video and image files from before my last format.

If you’ve tried Pandora Recovery and are still having problems then all is not lost. Maybe you’ll have some joy with another recommended recovery program. There is also a detailed FAQ regarding Pandora here.

If you have any thoughts on this or other data recovery tools then add your comments, below.

View full post on MakeUseOf