WEBVTT - Windows 7 Overview 0:00:00.320 --> 0:00:02.880 Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera. 0:00:03.200 --> 0:00:08.920 It's ready. Are you get in touch with technology with 0:00:09.039 --> 0:00:17.880 tech Stuff from how stuff works dot com. Hello again, everyone, 0:00:17.920 --> 0:00:20.400 welcome to tech stuff. My name is Chris Poulette, and 0:00:20.440 --> 0:00:23.400 I am the tech editor at how stuff works dot com. 0:00:23.600 --> 0:00:25.560 Sitting across from me, as he always does on the 0:00:25.560 --> 0:00:29.000 occasions on which I podcast, is senior writer Jonathan Strickland. 0:00:29.040 --> 0:00:33.440 Hey there, so, um, the number seven, the number seven, 0:00:33.520 --> 0:00:35.920 number seven. Don't jump ahead, We've got listener mail to 0:00:36.000 --> 0:00:43.040 deal with. Okay, let's do that. Then this listener mail 0:00:43.120 --> 0:00:46.760 comes from Ted. Ted says, so when are we getting 0:00:46.760 --> 0:00:49.239 the low down on Windows seven? As a user, I'm 0:00:49.280 --> 0:00:52.320 loving the new OS is as better OS than XP 0:00:52.479 --> 0:00:55.200 and Vista, and finally starts to rub off the black 0:00:55.240 --> 0:00:58.680 eye for MS. So when are you going to tackle 0:00:58.720 --> 0:01:03.080 the elephant in the room. M thanks and chat later, Ted, Well, 0:01:03.120 --> 0:01:06.080 we don't tend to tackle elephants. They're very large. Yes, 0:01:06.120 --> 0:01:09.080 they tend to charge. Yes, we can take away their 0:01:09.080 --> 0:01:13.200 credit cards. We will. Someone left a footprint in the 0:01:13.240 --> 0:01:18.400 butter we will. Um. We will, however, tackle Windows seven. Yeah. 0:01:18.560 --> 0:01:20.559 I should point out too that this is a little 0:01:20.560 --> 0:01:25.280 difficult for us, simply because UM, as a group that 0:01:25.360 --> 0:01:29.039 typically does not do product reviews. UM, we don't have 0:01:29.080 --> 0:01:31.880 a review copy of Windows seven in the house, although 0:01:32.480 --> 0:01:34.919 both of us have had the chance to mess around 0:01:34.959 --> 0:01:38.480 with the preview version that Microsoft released last year. We 0:01:38.520 --> 0:01:40.760 have a test machine that we use for stuff like 0:01:40.800 --> 0:01:45.160 that and lenox um, so you know, in a way, 0:01:45.200 --> 0:01:46.880 we have had the chance to mess with it some, 0:01:47.120 --> 0:01:49.000 but we haven't had a chance to really mess with 0:01:49.080 --> 0:01:52.360 the full version. Yeah, and part of that is because 0:01:52.960 --> 0:01:55.639 the office as a whole has not moved Windows seven, 0:01:56.080 --> 0:01:58.080 so we don't have access to it on our work machines, 0:01:58.400 --> 0:02:01.760 and neither Chris nor I have purchased a computer since 0:02:01.800 --> 0:02:04.640 Windows seven went gold and uh, and I'm using a 0:02:04.680 --> 0:02:07.600 Mac at home. So I mean, we just haven't had 0:02:07.600 --> 0:02:09.480 a chance to use it in our personal lives really, 0:02:09.960 --> 0:02:12.280 but there's been a lot out about it, so we 0:02:12.280 --> 0:02:16.320 can talk about it. Uh. First of all, would you 0:02:16.400 --> 0:02:19.440 say that, when based upon what you've read and the 0:02:19.520 --> 0:02:24.200 limited experience you've had, that Windows seven is a huge 0:02:24.440 --> 0:02:29.560 jump over Windows Vista. Well, in doing some research for it, 0:02:29.600 --> 0:02:32.120 I wanted to see what other people were saying, because 0:02:32.320 --> 0:02:35.079 you know, even frankly even if it was we were 0:02:35.240 --> 0:02:37.079 they were asking us just about our own experience. I 0:02:37.120 --> 0:02:39.920 would still want to see UH sort of temper that 0:02:39.960 --> 0:02:42.160 with some of the other reviews that I've read online 0:02:42.200 --> 0:02:45.400 and get a feel for what other bloggers and professionals 0:02:45.400 --> 0:02:48.600 were saying about it too. Um. Based on based on that, 0:02:48.760 --> 0:02:51.760 I would say that people in general seem to agree 0:02:51.880 --> 0:02:56.640 that UH Windows seven is a very good interface. Yes, um. 0:02:56.680 --> 0:02:59.480 I even talked with with our I T professional who's 0:02:59.520 --> 0:03:02.600 in the office. Um. He said in his opinion that 0:03:03.360 --> 0:03:07.440 Window seven is the second best OS that Microsoft has 0:03:07.440 --> 0:03:11.320 ever released. You know, I didn't ask, I was afraid 0:03:11.360 --> 0:03:18.799 to ask. But program Well, the problem is too that 0:03:19.000 --> 0:03:22.040 people Vista still has a very you know, as to 0:03:22.200 --> 0:03:24.640 point out, sort of a black eye, although you know 0:03:24.680 --> 0:03:27.160 by now people don't complain about it nearly as often 0:03:27.160 --> 0:03:29.359 as they used to. Well, it's because it's been some 0:03:29.600 --> 0:03:33.160 time and upgrade it. Well yeah, but it's still not 0:03:33.480 --> 0:03:35.760 I think the bells and whistles, plus a lot of 0:03:35.800 --> 0:03:38.600 the machines on which people were trying to install it 0:03:38.600 --> 0:03:40.520 at first, you know, may not have been able to 0:03:40.520 --> 0:03:43.960 handle it, whereas newer computers with it UH pre installed 0:03:44.400 --> 0:03:47.040 are ready and you know, it wasn't such a big 0:03:47.040 --> 0:03:49.800 deal for people who were on Vista, But most people 0:03:49.840 --> 0:03:52.640 I've seen who have upgraded to Windows seven seemed to 0:03:52.680 --> 0:03:55.200 really like it. I think for people who's stuck with 0:03:55.280 --> 0:03:58.680 the Vista platform and who continued to patch it and 0:03:58.960 --> 0:04:03.120 updated as they became available, probably have come around to 0:04:03.120 --> 0:04:05.840 to thinking that Vista is not really as bad as 0:04:05.880 --> 0:04:08.040 everyone was making it out to be. Now. When it launched, 0:04:08.400 --> 0:04:12.240 it certainly didn't have the support or the the versatility 0:04:12.400 --> 0:04:15.680 that people expected, particularly when it came to things like 0:04:15.760 --> 0:04:20.200 driver issues, drivers for things like video cards and sound cards, 0:04:19.560 --> 0:04:23.000 and and just peripherals. Yeah, people were having problems with 0:04:23.040 --> 0:04:25.800 their computers crashing. They would have all these peripherals that 0:04:25.839 --> 0:04:29.640 worked perfectly when their machine was running Windows XP, but 0:04:29.680 --> 0:04:32.560 when they upgrade Windows Vista, suddenly they would get all 0:04:32.560 --> 0:04:35.640 these notifications that things weren't working correctly or the or 0:04:35.640 --> 0:04:39.479 the computer would crash. Um. And as we said, you know, eventually, 0:04:40.080 --> 0:04:42.039 over time, Microsoft was able to address a lot of 0:04:42.040 --> 0:04:45.440 these problems through patches, but the damage had already been done. 0:04:45.480 --> 0:04:48.320 That that the early perception was just that Vista was 0:04:48.400 --> 0:04:53.080 not a strong operating system and that it had too 0:04:53.200 --> 0:04:56.400 much stuff stripped out of it during the development process, 0:04:56.880 --> 0:04:59.120 which is true. There were quite a few features that 0:04:59.160 --> 0:05:02.000 were supposed to be Windows Vista that ended up being 0:05:02.040 --> 0:05:05.240 pulled before it went gold, and so that has prompted 0:05:05.279 --> 0:05:08.120 some folks to say that Windows seven is really what 0:05:08.320 --> 0:05:11.560 Vista should have been the whole time. Well, I will 0:05:11.920 --> 0:05:17.360 give you some more evidence that people like Windows seven. Um. 0:05:17.480 --> 0:05:21.640 Then Windows Vista took about a year to get ten 0:05:21.680 --> 0:05:25.279 percent of the market. Uh, Windows seven did that in 0:05:25.400 --> 0:05:30.640 three months. Apparently so many people were waiting for uh 0:05:30.640 --> 0:05:33.160 an upbring system that wasn't Vista, that they were very 0:05:33.160 --> 0:05:36.520 willing to jump from XP directly to seven. Yeah. Well 0:05:36.560 --> 0:05:39.279 this this was this is based on an article I 0:05:39.279 --> 0:05:43.920 read in All Things d by John Paskowski. And um, 0:05:43.960 --> 0:05:46.839 you know, basically, one in ten computers as of the 0:05:46.880 --> 0:05:53.159 end of January, we're using uh Windows seven. Um. And 0:05:53.360 --> 0:05:55.120 as a matter of fact, another article I read and 0:05:55.200 --> 0:05:59.159 seen it um said that Microsoft is, as a result 0:05:59.200 --> 0:06:03.520 of the success of Window seven, enjoying record profits. Um. However, 0:06:04.520 --> 0:06:07.960 that's for people who are actually buying the operating system 0:06:08.040 --> 0:06:10.960 from Microsoft. So people are upgrading to Windows seven, but 0:06:11.000 --> 0:06:13.640 they're not necessarily buying new machines with Windows seven. On 0:06:13.680 --> 0:06:17.080 it because PC manufacturers with Windows seven are not doing 0:06:17.080 --> 0:06:20.120 as well. Um. I think that's a result of the economy. 0:06:20.160 --> 0:06:22.280 Of course, a PC, a brand new PC is much 0:06:22.320 --> 0:06:24.560 more expensive than a copy of an operating system, and 0:06:24.600 --> 0:06:28.000 a lot of people might be looking at netbooks, which 0:06:28.600 --> 0:06:31.240 some netbooks do run Windows seven, kind of stripped down 0:06:31.320 --> 0:06:33.600 version of Windows seven. It's not the same one that 0:06:33.640 --> 0:06:36.080 you're going to find on a fully fledged desktop. But 0:06:36.200 --> 0:06:40.520 you can also find netbooks on running the Linux operating system, 0:06:40.560 --> 0:06:43.000 and um, pretty soon you will see some running the 0:06:43.080 --> 0:06:47.680 Google Chrome OS. But that that means that often the 0:06:47.720 --> 0:06:51.080 Linux ones tend to be priced lower than the Windows ones. 0:06:51.480 --> 0:06:54.440 Not by a whole lot, but every little bit tends 0:06:54.480 --> 0:06:56.960 to help. So I think a lot of people just 0:06:57.360 --> 0:07:01.599 and have have purchased Linux machines instead of Windows machines 0:07:01.880 --> 0:07:04.320 when it comes to the netbook market, although some of 0:07:04.360 --> 0:07:08.240 those same people end up being dissatisfied when they realized 0:07:08.279 --> 0:07:11.160 that the Linux machine doesn't do everything they expected it 0:07:11.200 --> 0:07:14.200 to do. It's no fault of Linux, really, it's more 0:07:14.240 --> 0:07:16.320 of not a lack of education on the part of 0:07:16.320 --> 0:07:19.640 the consumer where they just think, oh, this is a computer, 0:07:19.800 --> 0:07:22.600 that means that this can do blah blah blah, And 0:07:22.680 --> 0:07:25.240 that's not always the case. It is often very dependent 0:07:25.280 --> 0:07:29.040 upon the operating system, the processor, the memory of the computer. 0:07:29.520 --> 0:07:32.160 All that kind of stuff definitely takes a place apart 0:07:32.240 --> 0:07:34.600 and what the computer can and cannot do. But I 0:07:34.600 --> 0:07:37.080 think in the average consumer's mind they just think computer. 0:07:37.280 --> 0:07:40.000 That means I can do this, um, and when they 0:07:40.040 --> 0:07:41.920 get something that can't do that, they get frustrated and 0:07:41.920 --> 0:07:45.480 then go and return it. But at anyway, yes, it's 0:07:45.480 --> 0:07:48.400 true the Windows seven machines that are on the market 0:07:48.440 --> 0:07:51.760 now just haven't been moving very quickly. But again, the 0:07:51.760 --> 0:07:54.000 the economy bright plays a very large factor in that, 0:07:55.880 --> 0:07:59.880 and it's generally if you're if you're interested in and purchasing. 0:08:00.080 --> 0:08:02.760 So now I mean, I'm sorry, Window seven. Uh, there 0:08:02.760 --> 0:08:06.240 are there. It seems like there was some confusion at 0:08:06.280 --> 0:08:09.400 the very beginning of what versions we're going to come out. Well, yeah, 0:08:09.680 --> 0:08:11.720 before before it launched, we had heard that there were 0:08:11.720 --> 0:08:14.000 going to be six versions. Yeah, and I think there 0:08:14.040 --> 0:08:17.160 I think there still are. It's just that o M, 0:08:17.480 --> 0:08:20.160 which is original Equipment manufacturer. They you know, they come 0:08:20.200 --> 0:08:24.520 pre installed on systems like netbooks and other computers. Right, 0:08:24.600 --> 0:08:26.280 that would be like like the netbook would be a 0:08:26.320 --> 0:08:28.640 stripped down version, like I said, but you could get 0:08:29.240 --> 0:08:33.520 Windows seven Premium, or or Windows seven Ultimate or Windows 0:08:33.520 --> 0:08:36.360 seven Professional. I think are those those are the main 0:08:36.440 --> 0:08:39.880 three for if you were if you're looking at upgrading 0:08:39.880 --> 0:08:42.880 a desktop, and I think in most cases, Windows seven 0:08:42.920 --> 0:08:45.959 Professional would be more than what most people would need. 0:08:46.320 --> 0:08:48.520 I don't seem I don't see a whole lot of 0:08:49.320 --> 0:08:52.880 value to Windows seven Ultimate for the average user. I mean, 0:08:52.920 --> 0:08:57.360 for for real power users maybe, but for most people 0:08:57.520 --> 0:09:00.240 myself included, I include myself in this group. I don't 0:09:00.240 --> 0:09:03.760 see any need to go beyond Windows seven Professional. Yeah. Yeah, Well, 0:09:03.760 --> 0:09:06.360 the Home Premium is the most stripped down of of 0:09:06.440 --> 0:09:11.079 the three, and it's um and it lacks a lot 0:09:11.120 --> 0:09:14.800 of the features. It's basically just the rudimentary version, you know, 0:09:14.840 --> 0:09:17.600 for the average computer. I guess um it doesn't have 0:09:17.640 --> 0:09:22.240 the XP mode, which that's that's uh, one of those 0:09:22.280 --> 0:09:26.480 modes that a lot of businesses really essentially demanded. I think. 0:09:26.520 --> 0:09:28.440 I think the reason why that mode is in there 0:09:28.960 --> 0:09:34.079 is that's Microsoft's nod to corporate the corporate world. Because 0:09:36.360 --> 0:09:39.400 the XP is one of those proven platforms and a 0:09:39.400 --> 0:09:42.400 lot of businesses still use XP. I can think of 0:09:42.440 --> 0:09:45.000 one that's very close to us right now that still 0:09:45.120 --> 0:09:48.319 uses the XP operating system run many of its computers, 0:09:48.920 --> 0:09:51.120 all of them. We have a few, uh, we have 0:09:51.160 --> 0:09:53.559 a few Mac based computers. There are a couple of 0:09:53.600 --> 0:09:57.000 people with the newer laptops who have Vista. Really. Oh 0:09:57.040 --> 0:09:59.520 and then we also have a one Linux machine. Yeah 0:09:59.520 --> 0:10:01.920 that's true, probably more than more than one, but one 0:10:01.960 --> 0:10:05.560 that went actually so um. But at any rate, yes, 0:10:05.640 --> 0:10:08.960 we we mainly depend upon Windows XP machines. And there 0:10:08.960 --> 0:10:12.760 are a lot of companies out there that have proprietary 0:10:12.800 --> 0:10:16.959 software it was specifically designed with Windows XP in mind. Now, 0:10:17.000 --> 0:10:20.839 these are these are companies. Sometimes they have hundreds of employees, 0:10:20.840 --> 0:10:23.640 each of whom has a computer. That's big business. So 0:10:23.920 --> 0:10:26.880 if Microsoft had not built in some form of XP 0:10:27.000 --> 0:10:30.360 compatibility where you could run in XP mode, uh, they 0:10:30.440 --> 0:10:35.600 might have risked dis you completely counting out that whole 0:10:35.600 --> 0:10:38.640 section of the market. But by building in the XP capability, 0:10:38.920 --> 0:10:42.080 you allow these these companies to come in and say, well, 0:10:43.000 --> 0:10:45.520 we should get we should upgrade two Windows seven. Uh 0:10:45.600 --> 0:10:48.200 that I'll make most of our processes go more smoothly. 0:10:48.440 --> 0:10:51.240 And for the stuff that is proprietary and legacy, that 0:10:51.280 --> 0:10:53.280 has to run XP. We still have XP modes that 0:10:53.320 --> 0:10:57.520 we can still run it now. Um. Yeah, that that's 0:10:57.600 --> 0:11:01.000 the case too, especially for out of large companies, at 0:11:01.080 --> 0:11:04.600 least in my experience, that they get to supporting a 0:11:04.600 --> 0:11:07.800 particular OS, they've got it, they've got it downpad. If 0:11:07.840 --> 0:11:10.400 they need to push out an update system, why they 0:11:10.400 --> 0:11:12.640 can do that without having to worry about who's on what. 0:11:13.440 --> 0:11:16.560 Um And some you know, especially very very large companies, 0:11:16.600 --> 0:11:19.280 are really slow to migrate. UM. I worked for one 0:11:19.280 --> 0:11:22.000 company a few years ago where they were actually two 0:11:22.000 --> 0:11:25.640 os is behind the current just because they had everything. 0:11:25.960 --> 0:11:29.640 It all worked, and I kind of uh, I mean 0:11:29.679 --> 0:11:31.760 said said is that sort of seems in a way, 0:11:32.080 --> 0:11:34.520 especially if you love the you know, seeing what's on 0:11:34.520 --> 0:11:37.079 the cutting edge, you know, you have to appreciate that. 0:11:37.400 --> 0:11:39.680 Put your shoe feet in the shoes of you know, 0:11:39.760 --> 0:11:41.320 the person you have to manage all that and go 0:11:41.600 --> 0:11:44.080 you know what, if it just works right, why why 0:11:44.480 --> 0:11:46.480 make the risk of moving to a new operating system 0:11:46.520 --> 0:11:49.559 that's both expensive and not guaranteed to work. Yeah, those 0:11:49.600 --> 0:11:52.000 are two big risks there. And uh yeah, so it 0:11:52.040 --> 0:11:56.719 makes sense from a corporate perspective, But going back to consumers, UM, 0:11:56.800 --> 0:11:58.760 that's a lot easier because then you're just dealing with 0:11:58.760 --> 0:12:01.800 with one machine. You know, a handful of machines in 0:12:01.840 --> 0:12:04.439 your house. Yeah, you're not having to convince some some 0:12:04.559 --> 0:12:08.320 person in charge of the entire uh whatever you wanna 0:12:08.320 --> 0:12:11.960 call it, I T department, whatever, whatever particular department oversees 0:12:12.040 --> 0:12:15.600 the the computer purchases for your company. Uh, you don't 0:12:15.600 --> 0:12:17.200 have to sit there and think about that. On a 0:12:17.320 --> 0:12:20.840 scale of this is gonna affect two machines or whatever, 0:12:21.320 --> 0:12:25.199 it's usually going to be two or three at most. Um. 0:12:25.240 --> 0:12:28.679 There's some some nice elements to Windows seven that make 0:12:28.760 --> 0:12:32.280 it attractive to consumers, one of which is that Windows 0:12:32.280 --> 0:12:37.199 seven was optimized for machines that have multi core processors. Yes, 0:12:37.520 --> 0:12:40.080 now that's something that Windows XP does not have. You 0:12:40.120 --> 0:12:42.920 don't it's not, Um, it's not optimized in that way. 0:12:43.200 --> 0:12:44.800 So that means that if you have a machine with 0:12:44.840 --> 0:12:48.400 a multi core processor, uh, the Windows seven operating system 0:12:48.440 --> 0:12:50.800 is built in such a way that it will use 0:12:50.880 --> 0:12:53.800 that to the best of its ability. And that uh, 0:12:53.960 --> 0:12:55.880 just because you have a multi core processor doesn't mean 0:12:55.880 --> 0:12:59.400 it's gonna run a particular program better than another computer. 0:12:59.480 --> 0:13:01.760 It has to be the program has to be designed 0:13:01.840 --> 0:13:04.840 to run on a multi court processor. Yes, it does, 0:13:05.040 --> 0:13:07.120 and in this case with Window seven, that means that 0:13:07.160 --> 0:13:10.160 you get things like faster load time. It shuts down 0:13:10.200 --> 0:13:14.360 faster than Vista. Um, and it does have a really 0:13:14.840 --> 0:13:19.400 pretty snappy booting and shutting down sequence compared to uh 0:13:19.440 --> 0:13:23.760 TO specifically compared to Vista. Also compared to my Windows 0:13:23.920 --> 0:13:27.240 X being machine which now approximately takes four days to 0:13:27.280 --> 0:13:30.120 shut down. Yeah. Yeah, I find that the longer you 0:13:30.240 --> 0:13:35.120 use a machine, the more digital crud accumulates, and it's 0:13:36.040 --> 0:13:43.120 bits and bites. Yes. Um, So there are all other 0:13:43.160 --> 0:13:45.319 things that are added into Windows seven. They're the home 0:13:45.360 --> 0:13:48.959 Groups Oh yes, which is a home Groups is a 0:13:48.960 --> 0:13:52.480 a product from from Microsoft that's supposed to make it 0:13:52.559 --> 0:13:56.320 easier to set up a home network. Um. Home networks 0:13:56.320 --> 0:13:58.920 are really not that difficult to set up, but it 0:13:59.000 --> 0:14:02.199 can be a little intimidating for someone who is not 0:14:02.400 --> 0:14:06.120 used to working with computer networks. Well, home Groups takes 0:14:06.160 --> 0:14:08.800 a lot of that out of the equation. It does 0:14:08.800 --> 0:14:10.640 a lot of the thinking for you. There is one 0:14:10.720 --> 0:14:15.160 major downside to home Groups. Yeah, it works with Windows 0:14:15.160 --> 0:14:20.440 seven machines and yeah, so if you are running multiple 0:14:20.440 --> 0:14:24.920 computers on different operating systems, the home Groups option isn't necessary, 0:14:24.960 --> 0:14:27.360 isn't gonna necessarily work for every machine in your house. 0:14:27.880 --> 0:14:29.920 It'll work for anything that's running the Windows seven and 0:14:29.960 --> 0:14:32.120 you can still network the computers. It's not like it 0:14:32.160 --> 0:14:35.560 prevents you from networking. It's just that the the tool 0:14:35.680 --> 0:14:42.160 itself won't be applicable in that case. Um. It's uh. Also, 0:14:42.640 --> 0:14:46.320 it's also better designed with as to work with direct 0:14:46.480 --> 0:14:51.840 x ten UM standards, which is that's mostly used in gaming, 0:14:52.200 --> 0:14:56.000 it's used for video cards and sound cards and uh. Again, 0:14:56.360 --> 0:14:58.560 one of the problems with Vista was that whole driver issue. 0:14:58.840 --> 0:15:01.320 The Microsoft really took a good look at that when 0:15:01.360 --> 0:15:03.480 they were designing Windows seven to try and avoid as 0:15:03.520 --> 0:15:06.360 much of that as possible. Sometimes it's impossible to avoid 0:15:06.400 --> 0:15:11.360 that because you know, unlike Apple, Microsoft is not in 0:15:11.400 --> 0:15:16.480 the business of designing computers from scratch. They don't they 0:15:16.480 --> 0:15:19.080 don't build every single element that goes into a computer. 0:15:19.480 --> 0:15:23.120 They're designing an operating system. That's it. It's it's the 0:15:23.880 --> 0:15:27.160 platform that exists between the hardware and all the applications 0:15:27.160 --> 0:15:29.960 you want to run. Um. They're not the ones building 0:15:30.000 --> 0:15:32.120 the video cards, sound cards, all that kind of stuff, 0:15:32.200 --> 0:15:34.520 and they don't dictate what goes into a computer they 0:15:34.520 --> 0:15:38.040 have you know, they might work with developers to make 0:15:38.040 --> 0:15:42.320 sure it works properly, but they don't. They don't demand 0:15:42.520 --> 0:15:44.880 that you use a specific video card or sound card, 0:15:45.720 --> 0:15:49.400 whereas a different there's another company that's taking a very 0:15:49.440 --> 0:15:55.040 different approach. Yes, you're you're thinking of Apple Cane, And 0:15:55.520 --> 0:15:57.520 I'm not saying that one approach is better or worse 0:15:57.560 --> 0:15:59.960 than the other, by the way. No, Actually they both 0:16:00.080 --> 0:16:02.720 have their good points and their bad points. Um. You 0:16:02.760 --> 0:16:06.280 know there's that diversity that the diversity of uh, you know, 0:16:06.320 --> 0:16:10.640 the PC, the traditional you know, Windows Slash Linux, not 0:16:10.800 --> 0:16:13.520 a Mac PC that has you know, you can you 0:16:13.520 --> 0:16:16.000 can build your own you know, put your own case together, 0:16:16.400 --> 0:16:18.440 throw whatever graphics card you want to in there with 0:16:18.480 --> 0:16:20.840 a motherboard and you know, put it, put all the 0:16:20.880 --> 0:16:24.000 guts together. The thing is, you know, while that it 0:16:24.080 --> 0:16:28.800 can be inexpensive, very inexpensive. You have to get all 0:16:28.840 --> 0:16:32.480 the drivers for that. Sometimes they don't support it. For example, 0:16:32.600 --> 0:16:34.960 actually on our test machine here's an example. Um I 0:16:35.040 --> 0:16:38.960 install installed the newest version of a Buntu Linux and 0:16:39.240 --> 0:16:42.240 Windows seven the test release we got last year, neither 0:16:42.280 --> 0:16:44.160 of which had a driver for the sound card on 0:16:44.160 --> 0:16:49.080 that um sound does not work on that machine gradually updating. 0:16:49.320 --> 0:16:52.320 Actually the one who did recognize the sound card and 0:16:52.320 --> 0:16:55.000 I'd given up trying. I had, as of this podcast, 0:16:55.040 --> 0:16:57.480 tried the Windows seven to see if they've actually uh 0:16:57.640 --> 0:16:59.560 done this is this is an old Dell machine actually 0:17:00.080 --> 0:17:03.440 probably a couple of years old now, um, and uh, 0:17:03.760 --> 0:17:05.480 you know, you figure it was recent enough where they 0:17:05.520 --> 0:17:07.000 would do it, but they had, you know, they just 0:17:07.040 --> 0:17:09.359 hadn't gotten around to releasing the driver as part of 0:17:09.359 --> 0:17:11.600 the main software. And of course they're a third party 0:17:11.640 --> 0:17:14.760 people who will write, especially with the Linux community. They 0:17:14.800 --> 0:17:18.280 are all sorts of developers who are working with that UM, 0:17:18.320 --> 0:17:23.320 who may or may not be interested in putting something together. UM, 0:17:23.359 --> 0:17:25.800 but from Microsoft. In a lot of cases, you know, 0:17:25.800 --> 0:17:27.760 it's either from them or one of the major like 0:17:27.800 --> 0:17:31.680 the sound card manufacturer, who's interested in in writing those drivers. Right. 0:17:31.800 --> 0:17:35.080 And And to get back to the argument of of 0:17:35.119 --> 0:17:39.920 controlling everything versus versus just taking a hands off approach. UM. 0:17:40.000 --> 0:17:43.160 One of the pros of the hands off approaches that 0:17:43.320 --> 0:17:47.720 you get machines in a variety of price ranges, so 0:17:47.880 --> 0:17:52.680 you could buy a computer running the same operating system. 0:17:52.720 --> 0:17:54.600 You can look at a selection of them, all running 0:17:54.640 --> 0:17:57.639 Windows seven the same version of Windows seven at different 0:17:57.720 --> 0:18:00.399 price points and different capabilities, and you're gonna see that, 0:18:00.480 --> 0:18:03.200 you know, a very wide range. You might see something 0:18:03.200 --> 0:18:05.040 that around the four dollar level, and there may be 0:18:05.160 --> 0:18:09.280 others that are two thousand or more depending upon the specs. Uh. 0:18:09.520 --> 0:18:12.480 The other approach, the Apple approach, you're going to have 0:18:13.280 --> 0:18:16.200 fewer choices. You're gonna it's usually a tiered choice and 0:18:16.240 --> 0:18:20.480 you may have three or four options, but it's uh, 0:18:20.640 --> 0:18:22.639 you're not going to find a cheaper version of the 0:18:22.720 --> 0:18:25.280 same kind of machine from someone else. It's all through 0:18:25.320 --> 0:18:28.280 one company. But on the flip side of that, it's 0:18:28.320 --> 0:18:30.680 pretty much guaranteed to all work together because it was 0:18:30.760 --> 0:18:34.520 designed that way. Yeah. So because the developer of the 0:18:34.600 --> 0:18:38.600 operating system is also the manufacturer of Hartwell their contract 0:18:38.600 --> 0:18:41.040 the manufacturer of the hardware. So it's one of these 0:18:41.080 --> 0:18:44.879 five chips, it's one of these seven hard drives. You know, 0:18:44.920 --> 0:18:46.760 we're pretty much sure that we have a driver for that. 0:18:47.320 --> 0:18:50.080 So back to Windows seven. Yeah, one of the cool 0:18:50.119 --> 0:18:55.280 features is the home media stuff, which it incorporates very well. 0:18:55.320 --> 0:18:57.960 So if you wanted to use your computer as a 0:18:58.000 --> 0:19:01.520 media PC, um whether or that means to you just 0:19:01.600 --> 0:19:04.920 watching media on your PC directly or even networking it 0:19:05.000 --> 0:19:08.439 with your television. UH so hooking your your PC up 0:19:08.440 --> 0:19:10.359 to your TV so that your PC becomes kind of 0:19:10.359 --> 0:19:14.119 a a media server. Really, the Window seven comes with 0:19:14.160 --> 0:19:17.400 that capability built in. UM, if you I think it's 0:19:17.520 --> 0:19:19.639 I'm not sure if Premium has it. I know the 0:19:19.680 --> 0:19:24.200 professional does. But if you if you just run the software, 0:19:24.240 --> 0:19:27.440 you can do things like connect kind of like a DVR. 0:19:28.080 --> 0:19:31.080 You can pull content from the web and uh and 0:19:31.200 --> 0:19:34.800 stream it to your television. UM. It does require that 0:19:34.840 --> 0:19:37.320 you hook your computer up to your TV, which is 0:19:37.320 --> 0:19:40.320 a step that some people find intimidating. It's getting easier 0:19:40.320 --> 0:19:42.640 and easier, especially when you find a machine that has 0:19:42.760 --> 0:19:45.040 h d M I boorts and all you really need 0:19:45.080 --> 0:19:47.239 is an HDMI cable and the right software and then 0:19:47.240 --> 0:19:50.520 you're ready to go. UM it's getting so easy now 0:19:50.560 --> 0:19:53.760 that I think that the average consumer could very easily 0:19:53.800 --> 0:19:55.920 set up a media PC and his or her own 0:19:55.920 --> 0:19:58.840 home with uh, you know, just just by buying the 0:19:58.920 --> 0:20:01.719 right machine. Back in the day, it meant that you 0:20:01.760 --> 0:20:05.920 had to know your way around different codex and uh, 0:20:06.080 --> 0:20:11.840 different networking solutions. UM it's much easier now. So that's 0:20:11.880 --> 0:20:13.840 one I mean that and that we we started to 0:20:13.840 --> 0:20:16.639 see that in Windows Vista. They incorporate a lot of 0:20:16.680 --> 0:20:19.960 the home media stuff and Windows Vista. But again it 0:20:20.200 --> 0:20:23.119 just when upon launch was not the most stable or 0:20:23.119 --> 0:20:28.000 reliable service. Yeah. Yeah, um, and the interface has changed 0:20:28.240 --> 0:20:31.639 pretty substantially too. I mean there are there are a 0:20:31.680 --> 0:20:35.399 lot of benefits to using Windows seven over some of 0:20:35.400 --> 0:20:38.800 the earlier versions. One of the things, as a person 0:20:38.840 --> 0:20:40.960 who's probably been using a lot of guests, Yeah, I've 0:20:40.960 --> 0:20:43.880 been using a Mac longer than I have Windows, although 0:20:43.920 --> 0:20:46.720 I've used both for many many years now. Um, I 0:20:46.760 --> 0:20:49.679 really like the fact that UH, as opposed to the 0:20:49.800 --> 0:20:52.800 XP machine that I use every day, Windows seven basically 0:20:52.840 --> 0:20:56.080 has one instance of a particular program in the task bar. Now, 0:20:56.080 --> 0:20:58.119 when you mouse over that, you can see a preview 0:20:58.160 --> 0:21:01.120 of all the different UH windows that you have open 0:21:01.160 --> 0:21:05.400 in that. So if you have for for word documents open, 0:21:05.480 --> 0:21:08.080 it's basically one instance of word and you can you know, 0:21:08.240 --> 0:21:10.320 easily find it just by mousing over that. And which 0:21:10.359 --> 0:21:13.760 I think, Uh, you know, I've had I've had laptops 0:21:13.760 --> 0:21:16.000 with small screens and when you have multiple documents open 0:21:16.000 --> 0:21:18.440 and they're they're all you can you can barely tell 0:21:18.440 --> 0:21:21.520 what it is at the bottom that always frustrates. Yeah, 0:21:22.800 --> 0:21:25.359 but this is far more elegant and a lot more streamlined, 0:21:25.359 --> 0:21:28.119 although you know, there is that trade off when you 0:21:28.160 --> 0:21:31.120 can see which what is in you know the name 0:21:31.160 --> 0:21:32.840 of whatever it is that you have opened, and you 0:21:32.840 --> 0:21:34.359 can go, okay, well that's the one I want to 0:21:34.359 --> 0:21:37.359 click on, just when it gets so out of hand 0:21:37.640 --> 0:21:39.520 on some of the earlier versions. But I really, I 0:21:39.600 --> 0:21:41.600 really like that. That's one of those things that I 0:21:41.680 --> 0:21:45.000 just found easy and it's um, you know, just using 0:21:45.560 --> 0:21:47.639 the operating system on a day to day basis, you know, 0:21:48.160 --> 0:21:51.560 editing articles, doing research podcasts and things like that. UM, 0:21:51.600 --> 0:21:56.360 I've noticed that, you know, it's easier to find preferences. UH, 0:21:56.480 --> 0:21:59.879 different menus are make make a lot more sense to 0:22:00.040 --> 0:22:02.840