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By Jim Conant CUGG’s monthly board meetings always involve some chatting about what’s late and hot in computers and programs. Valuable tips from recent meetings included a good, free virus protection program and useful, open source software. FREE VIRUS PROTECTION CUGG President Frank Whiteley has had good results using the free AVG virus protection program. You can download it free from www.grisoft.com. Frank has a number of his Greeley Net customers that use it. It seems to catch viruses as well or better than the for-pay programs. CUGG'er Dick Maxfield is another happy long-term user. XP TIPS If you are migrating to XP, replacing the operating system now on your computer with XP, be aware that you will have to reinstall all your application programs. Some of them may not run on XP; you’ll need to go to their websites to see if there’s an XP upgrade. Also, some of your hardware won’t run on XP. My Visioneer 3100 scanner wouldn’t. Visioneer has no plans to offer downloads that will make it work with XP. Hello, new scanner. XP assigns every user an “account” – a separate username/password login. Each account has its own desktop setup and its own email and data files, which can be shared or kept private. This makes for a complex directory tree, for those who are used to DOS directories and folders. To simplify, you should set up three accounts for yourself. Establish one as an “Owner” account, allowing you to install programs; a second, “Administrator” account, allowing set up of some privileges like file sharing; and a “power user” account for your data. Before you make changes to your XP set up, set a restore point, so you can go back to it if something’s not working after the change. SPEED UP YOUR DIAL-UP CONNECTION Many dial-up ISP’s now offer the Propel accelerator, a plug-in to your web browser to speed web surfing, making it 5 times faster. They usually charge $3-$5 per month for it. You can try it and subscribe to yourself at www.propel.com. It also includes a pop-up blocker. FREE, OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE THAT’S REALLY GOOD Lots of good open source software works with windows, and is free.: Open Office , a suite of word processing, spreadsheet and presentation software; GIMP, image editing and management software; Mozilla, a web browser. You can easily load Linux, the open source operating system, to a computer and have access to many useful and interesting programs. Or, you can buy a Linux desktop for $199 at Wal-Mart (monitor not included) and have a great computer for someone else in your family, or to experiment with yourself. Jamie Leben, Eric Moore and Frank Whiteley will explain and demonstrate a number of interesting open source programs at our November 8 meeting. To get an idea of what’s available, go to this website: http://www.lycoris.com/press/199pc.php Here’s an excerpt of what you’ll find there: Desktop/LX Surges onto $199 Walmart.com PCs Redmond, WA - November 18, 2002 -- Lycoris renews its commitment to value and is now offering $199 Desktop/LX Certified Microtel PCs on WalMart.com. Lycoris Desktop/LX has made headlines as the well-made operating system alternative to Windows. Heralded as the "best bet" for a Linux desktop by Chris Taylor of Time Magazine, Desktop/LX combines ease of use, one click software access through the Iris Software Gallery, and comes pre-installed with thousands of dollars worth of software, such as an image manipulation program that can edit Photoshop files. After undergoing the rigorous Desktop/LX Certification process to ensure consumer satisfaction, the $199 Microtel PCs are available for purchase at WalMart.com. This value oriented PC allows, home users, businesses, and schools to purchase this high-quality alternative to Windows pre-installed on desktop PCs at a price they can afford.
The new $199 Desktop/LX Certified MicroTel PCs include the Desktop/LX operating system Desktop/LX also includes the following incredible software features without any additional downloading:
All this software is included for the $199 price with no hidden charges or additional fees. With Desktop/LX, you get peak performance from your $199 Microtel PC the moment you power it up. Another added feature of Desktop/LX is unlimited access to the Iris Software Gallery for each Desktop/LX computer, where users can download hand-picked software with one click. Choose from categories like Internet and Networking, Productivity, Games and Puzzles, Pictures and Photos, Music and Movies, Accessories, Desktop and Appearance, and System Tools. Desktop/LX makes installing new software easy and fun. "Desktop/LX includes quite a bit of software because we don't think you should have to spend time downloading megabytes worth of software just to make you computer useful. We also include unlimited access to the Iris Software Gallery rather than charging people for software they could find on the Net anyway," states Jason Spisak, the Lycoris Marketing Director. "It's just a convenience and we include that in the price of the software for Desktop/LX users." There’s more to the information on this site. If this sparks your interest, go catch the rest of it at : http://www.lycoris.com/press/199pc.php All CUGG members are welcome at our Board Meetings. Much to be learned and discussed there! Best to
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