Technology Metro

Everyone wants to make their operating system their own and to do this you have to either use a skin which will take up lot of memory as you will have to install some third party software (Wincustomize of some other similar softwares). The easiest and the fastest way to customize your computer is to place a set of icons which doens’t need any special software. Just download the set of icons you like and set them as you might want to. Downloading a free icon is not that hard, there are lots of sites that offer free download of icon packs and also some paid ones. Apart from using these icons in your computer, you can apply it to your own software, websites or anything whatsoever you want to do.

FreeIconsDownload is one of the free icon downloads sites and there will be no legal issues if you want to use it in your software or websites as all of the icon sets found at FreeIconsDowload are royalty free. Free Icons download has very exclusive collection which you can not find on the popular icons website and most of the all the quality of icons are really great. There are more than 15 categories in which icons are divided as well as you can also list icons as most download icons. They have a huge collection free icons on offer. I searched around this site for quite a while and I really liked the Social Bookmark Icons. I think I am going to use these icons on this blog. I am thinking of removing the big one that I have right now and use the Social Bookmark Icons set I found at Free Icons Download.

There are lots and lots of Linux distros and almost all of them are free to use. Linux Red Hat is one of the few paid Linux distros. Well, you might have heard of the name Ubuntu when there was a talk of Linux OS. That is because lots of people use Ubuntu because of its simple interface and user friendliness. I used to use Fedora Core on my desktop which I had made into a dual boot system with Windows XP installed on it. It was quite hard working with Fedora Core (Free linux distro based on Red Hat) as it was not as simple. Then I heard of Ubuntu and I checked it out. After a week of downloading using Bittorrent (I have a 64Kbps net connection ) the wait was finally over. I deleted Fedora Core from my hard drive and installed Ubuntu instead. Since then, I have never used another Linux distro. I am fairly new to Linux and Ubuntu made it quite simple for me to use a Linux OS. If it weren’t for my internet connection, I would still be using Ubuntu as my main OS (couldn’t configure PPPoE connection, got some unexpected errors). I think it was a one of problem and it might have been caused by my network card (don’t know for sure).

Well, if you want to try out Ubuntu for yourself you should start by downloading Ubuntu for free. I recommend you use download it by using Bittorrent. If you have a slow internet connection like mine, you are better off buying a CD or you can order a free Ubuntu CD here. It will take ten weeks for delivery thoug . After you get hold of an Ubuntu OS, you can install it on a partitioned hard drive (will be quite difficult for novice Linux users) or follow an installation process just like other windows softwares. This won’t mess with your boot loader or anything so for a trial use, this is the best option. There is a special software inside the ISO file or the Ubuntu CD which lets you install and uninstall Ubuntu in a few click of a mouse button. If you are satisfied with it, then you can install it on your hard drive with a dual boot system.

Ubuntu has a lot of must have basic softwares that comes pre-installed so there is almost no need to download other softwares. The latest version of Ubuntu that is available to download is called Gutsy Gibbon and soon there will be another Ubuntu version release. All versions of Ubuntu is provided for free. Actually, Ubuntu was developed for the continent of Africa as not a lot of people there can afford to pay for an operating system and there was almost no user friendly Linux distro available which a computer novice could use without much knowledge. The newest version is called Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron and an ISO file was released for beta testing just on 20th of march 2008. Currently there are four variations of Ubuntu are

Ubuntu is an African word meaning ‘Humanity to others’, or ‘I am what I am because of who we all are’. It will always be free of cost, including the updates and new versions. Ubuntu is available for PC, 64-Bit and Mac architectures. You will need a PC or any other computer with at least 256 MB of RAM which is required to run the desktop install CD. Installing Ubuntu requires at least 4 GB of disk space. The most recent full release of Ubuntu is 7.10 Gutsy Gibon which you can directly downloaded here.

You can wait for another 30 days or so for the new release of Ubuntu called Hardy Heron 8.04. I have to say this, Ubuntu is one of the most usable Linux distro and also economical if you can’t afford a Operating Systems like Windows XP or Windows Vista which costs a fortune. I will be downloading the Hardy Heron Ubuntu release and use it on my Dell Vostro 1500 laptop. I will write another article on Ubuntu Hardy Heron when it is out of beta stage.

Windows Vista is the newest edition of Microsoft operating system released. I have read a lot about Windows Vista but I haven’t personally used it. I still use Windows XP and I am comfortable with it. If I were to upgrade to Windows Vista, I will surely need to upgrade my hardware which would cost me a lot of cash. I am more than satisfied with Windows XP and I don’t have any intentions of upgrading to Windows Vista any time soon, unless it is absolutely necessary. Windows Vista takes up too much RAM and too much processing power and if I were to upgrade to Windows Vista now, I would surely have to upgrade RAM or use ReadyBoost feature which is not that great to tell you the truth as a flash memory is much slower than a RAM.

For a new users, they would definitely need a lot of vista help as lot of things are different in a Windows Vista Operating system if you compare it with Windows XP excluding the obvious one (Visual look). The minimum RAM requirement for Windows Vista is 1GB but you will need atleast 2GB of actual ram for a Windows Vista to perform up to par. Well you can find a lot of useful information about Windows Vista on this vista forum. Did you know Windows Vista was actually known as Windows LongHorn when it was in the development state!!

For a person who has just upgrade from Windows XP to Windows Vista, this Windows vista forum might be a helpful place to look for information and/or converse with other people who also use Windows Vista. There are lots of version of Windows Vista and it can be quite expensive to upgrade. To be accurate there are five versions of Windows Vista.

• Windows Vista Ultimate
• Windows Vista Home Premium
• Windows Vista Home Basic
• Windows Vista Business and
• Windows Vista Enterprise

Windows Vista Ultimate edition has it all so if you want a full Vista experience from both media and business world, you should choose Windows Vista Ultimate.

Not a lot of people know about ReadyBoost, well I didn’t know about it till now. I use the Windows XP operating system and ReadyBoost is only available on Windows Vista OS. ReadyBoost is quite a useful feature, you can speed up your system by using the Ready Boost feature on Windows Vista. Usually people install more RAM to increase their PC’s speed but it can be a bit of a hassle to install new RAM. RAM is costly and there might be another problem while upgrading your RAM - there might not be any more RAM expansion slots left to install it in.

Ready Boost is the cheapest way to increase performance on Windows Vista. Windows XP used the hard drive as additional RAM or “Virtual Memory” when all of the actual RAM is used up, this can really affect the performance of a PC. The system becomes sluggish as it takes time to read/write data on a Hard drive compared to RAM. Virtual Memory function is still available on Windows Vista but Microsoft has added a new feature called Windows ReadyBoost which uses Flash memory as RAM. Flash memory is a lot faster than hard drives whilst transferring data so using Flash memory makes a lot of sense. People who use Windows Vista can easily boost their system performance without having to install a RAM in the motherboard. Using the Windows Vista ReadyBoost feature is really easy, just plug-in flash memory via a USB port and go to the properties of the flash memory you just plugged in on “My Computer” and tweak the ReadyBoost settings there (You can even use a SD Card if you have a memory card reader). Allocate as much space as you like on your flash drive and apply the settings. That’s it, you have just increased the performance of your system with the new ReadyBoost feature. I still have no plans of upgrading to Windows Vista any time soon.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ReadyBoost

I don’t know much about Windows Live OneCare 2.0 as I haven’t used it but it seemed like a good deal so I decided to post it. Amazon are selling a Windows Live OneCare 2.0 package for $30 and there is a $30 mail-in rebate offer, so you will be getting the Windows Live OneCare 2.0 package for free after rebates. Here is a direct link to Windows Live OneCare 2.0 at Amazon. Don’t forget to look at the $30 Mail-in rebate, print this pdf file and fill in the information and mail it to the address in it after purchasing Windows Live OneCare 2.0 at Amazon for $30. You will have to mail the rebate offer in before 45 days of purchase to be able to get your $30 back.

Windows Live OneCare 2.0 is great for protecting your computer against hacking attacks, virus, spyware, malware threats. A Windows Live OneCare includes

• Antivirus & antispyware
• Online ID protection
• Firewall
• Multi-PC management
• Printer sharing
• Backup and restore

There is a 90 days free trial offer at Microsoft’s official Windows Live OneCare, so you might want to try that out before ordering one from Amazon. Windows Live OneCare 2.0 software package will work on both Windows XP and Windows Vista operating system so no worries there. Windows Live OneCare 2.0 is out of stock right now but it will be still available to order and Windows Live OneCare 2.0 will be in stock on February 3 anyways. The shipping will be free of cost and will be taken care of my Amazon. Your Windows Live OneCare 2.0 package via Super Saver Shipping.

Microsoft is launching a promotional event to showcase their new software. The first of the series of events will take place in Los Angeles, California on 27th of February. To attend this Microsoft event, you can register online for free and it doesn’t take that long to register. Registrations are still open for the first show that will take place in Los Angeles and it is free to register. Every person who attends this Microsoft event will get a free copy of Windows Server 2008, Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 and Microsoft SQL Server 2008. So if you are interested in getting a free copy of these softwares, go ahead and register for the upcoming Microsoft event.

At this event, you can test drive all these three systems for yourself, talk to the software experts who were involved in making all these softwares and have a Q&A session with them. At the end of the show you will be handed Windows Server 2008, Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 and Microsoft SQL Server 2008 edition softwares for free.

Product giveaway kit good only for attendees of 2008 Launch Wave event, events that are targeted towards IT professionals. Limit one launch giveaway kit per person. All kits must be claimed at the event. This offer is non-transferrable and expires on May 22, 2008 while supplies last. Offer is not redeemable for cash.

To be eligible to attend this Microsoft Software launch even, you need to be at least 18 years old. Other than than, there is no restrictions. Remember, this even will start on February 20th 2008.

Desktop Search softwares can be a very useful tool if you have a lot of files stored in your hard drive. There are some Desktop Search Software already available for users. One of the most used desktop search software is from google called Google Desktop. There are lots of great functions available on Google desktop like widget functions besides the desktop search function. Google desktop is a great desktop search tool but it lacks the design factor.

Ergo has recently released a desktop search software. This software is geared towards Vista user and only work on Vista computers, it doesn’t even work on Windows XP. This is one of the bad things from my point of view. Ergo is a fairly new software and it is still in beta phase. From what I read and saw on Ergo’s site, this Windows Desktop Search looks pretty promising. The looks of Ergo’s desktop search software for Vista OS is just great and is perfectly suited to Windows Vista platform from the visual stand point. I use Windows XP and I have not really thought about moving to Windows Vista just yet. There are still some bugs on Vista and another factor that kept me from upgrading to new OS is, I will also have to upgrade some of the hardware on my computer. Windows XP is working out for me just fine so I won’t be upgrading to new operating system until I absolutely have to. Why fix something thats not broken, right?

If you have Windows Vista installed on your computer, why not try Ergo’s new desktop search tool. You can download it from their website for free.

As we all know, Symantec the makers of Norton Anti-Virus software charge a subscription fee for using their software and updates. I had one on my Laptop but the subscription ended a month ago. I got a six month subscription for free to Norton Antivirus when I bought my laptop. Well to tell you the truth, other Anti-virus softwares do a very effective job and you don’t have to pay for it. I never like Norton Anti-virus but for the users who want to continue using Norton Anti-virus without paying the subscription fee, there is a free Norton Antivirus download available. This Norton Anti-virus software is provided for free, courtesy of Google.

Some months ago you could only use the Norton Anti-Virus and update the virus definition files for six months without paying the subscription. Now you can use it for life, all definition updates are free for life too. Learn how to download free Norton Anti-virus, there is a step by step guide to how to download, install and update Norton Anti-virus software. If you have any problems downloading the software, refer to the help section of free-protection.com. This Norton Anti-Virus software can be installed and is compatible on both Windows XP and Windows Vista systems so there won’t be any problems if you have Windows Vista.

Here is a snippet from Symantec’s Press release.

With Norton Security Scan, users have an easy-to-use tool that scans their PC specifically for viruses and spyware. In addition to the scan feature, the Google Pack version of Norton Security Scan removes all existing viruses, trojans and worms found on a user’s PC and provides them with helpful tips on how they can further improve their PC security…

Well this version of Norton Anti-virus (Norton Security Scan) doesn’t offer the total protection provided by other paid Norton Anti-Virus softwares but this will definitely do the job and what more, you can use it for free. Including the Norton Security Scan, you can download other softwares that are included in the Google Pack.

We have become so dependent on technology that we can’t function without it. I am one of those persons. We all use hard drives, CD’s , DVD’s and other storage devices to store important data. Sometimes without any notice, the storage drive all of a sudden can become corrupt. I and most of the people who use these devices has had these kind of problems. One of the worst place to store your data has to be a CD or DVD as even a little scratch can corrupt part or the whole CD. Well recovering those data is not that hard, even if you format your storage drive, most of the data can still be recovered if you use the right tools. For simple data recovery like getting back a deleted file, you could use a moderate data recovery software but for more complex data recovery, you will need to use a high end tool. Even Windows XP has a kind of a data recovery or most appropriately a backup of your drive called system restore. There are some other Free Data Recovery Software available on the web which has much more options and functions than the default system restore tool which just restores all the files to the previous backup image of your hard drive. Recovering Data from a RAID drive can be a bit difficult if the hard drive has a physical problem, only professionals can recover data from it. Data recovery from a flash is drive quite simple and can be done with the help of just a software.

Don’t worry if you have accidentally deleted your pictures from your drive including your recycle bin, there are some Free Data Recovery Software available online which can be used to get back your important files. When you find out about it, stop using your hard drive, download a data recovery software (save it in a flash drive and run it from there if possible). If you have an NTFS hard drive you could use a free data recovery software called NTFS reader which runs on DOS so there are no worries of windows using your hard drive to store temporary data. You can find this software at ntfs.com. NTFS reader is a freeware. If you don’t know what you are doing, then it is best you leave it up to the professionals to do it for you. Check out, bestpricecomputers.co.uk, you will find some interesting articles that are related to data recovery and computers in general.

Every online store needs an easy way for shoppers to purchase and make payments for products. For this, a shopping cart software is very vital as it makes it easier for customers to add products to their cart, check out and make payments easily. Without a shopping cart, an online store would be a failure. Since the boom of E-Commerce, new shopping cart softwares has been popping up regularly but some of them are very hard to use for the online shop owner. Even some cpanel hosting provides a shopping cart softwares but doesn’t provide other vital services like a merchant account which is vital for accepting credit or debit card payments online.

Ashopcommerce also provides a shopping cart software which is hosted by them, so you will also be able to run an online store from it. That is their main product but they also provide other vital services for online stores like a merchant account for processing credit card payments, design a layout for your online store, register a domain if you need one and one of the most important stuff for an online store, promoting your store on the web and search engines to bring customers to you online store. If you are not sure about their shopping cart software, try out their free 10 day trial plan without any obligation to purchase it afterwards. You won’t have to provide your credit card information to signup for their trial plan. They are one of the top ecommerce software providers in the United States so there won’t be any problems with their service.