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December, 2001 Diablo Blue Page 11 |
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retail outlets. The estimated MSRP for StuffIt is $29.95, and a special competitive upgrade offer of $14.95 is available to owners of other compression utilities. For more information visit StuffIt online at www.stuffit.com. Registered users of StuffIt 5.5, DropStuff, and DropZip(tm) for Windows qualify for a FREE upgrade to StuffIt 7.0 for Windows. For more information visit the Aladdin Systems upgrade site: www.aladdinsys.com/support/updates.html#stuffit. SPECIAL PRICES AT THE USER GROUP STORE! User group members can purchase StuffIt 7 for ONLY $14.95 from the Aladdin User Group Store. Go to: www.aladdinsys.com/support/usergroups/ugvalid.html and use the code: PCUG 1001 FREE upgrade for registered owners of StuffIt 5.x: go to: |
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DOS Programs: Every legacy application I tried worked. A 1988 version of FoxBASE+ 2.10, WordStar 7.0, Norton Commander, and even a 1984 copy of Autodex 1.0, something few of you could possibly remember. More intriguing is Win XP's ability to run these programs better — faster and with more stability — than Win 9x. Why? Who knows, folks, magic maybe, but it does. I had trouble with only one program — an early Windows version of Ventura Publisher. It turns out that even the current version of VP won’t run under Windows XP. Advice: Read MS's “Reliability Improvements” article that explains why XP's more stable than Win 9.x. It’s at www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/techinfo/planning/reliability/prevention.asp. Then read “Windows XP Application Compatibility Technologies,” a very comprehensive article that explains how to tweak apps so they'll run in XP. Play special attention to the QfixApp, a tool that gets you to the database of compatibility fixes included with XP. www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/techinfo/planning/appcompat/default.asp. Drivers and Upgrades: My Turtle Beach Santa Cruz sound card wouldn't work with XP. Advice: As with any Operating System upgrade (excluding Amiga and GEOS), dig out the drivers and upgrades before you start the upgrade. If you can, burn them onto a CD-ROM. Networking: Lots, lots easier than in Win 9.x with one proviso...you'll have to dump NETBEUI on the other PCs in the network. Win XP relies totally on TCP/IP. Advice: Hone up on your networking skills or hire a consultant to up to speed. Read MS's “Home and Small Office Network Topologies” at www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/techinfo/planning/networking/topologies.asp. Internet Explorer: IE 6.0 doesn't support Netscape-style plug-ins. The only one I missed-and was annoyed with MS's removal of — Apple's QuickTime player. That meant I couldn't play MOV videos. MS's claims it's for security. I say it's hogwash and a way to lock out Apple. By the time you read this, MS and Apple have probably tweaked the QuickTime Player to support ActiveX controls for IE 6. Advice: If the QuickTime player doesn't work, find the patch on MS's site. Getting a Jump: One good place to see if your PC is ready for XP is with PC Pitstop. They have a neat-o XP test site that examines your PC's operating system, CPU speed, BIOS version, amount of memory, available hard drive space, and video capabilities. The results tell you how your machine matches up to XP's minimum and recommended requirements. The tool is available for you to try at www.pcpitstop.com/xpready. MS also has many good articles if you're a tinkerer. The “Consumer Desktop PC Design Checklist for Windows XP” provides technical details for building a new PC for XP. www.microsoft.com/hwdev/pcdesign. You might want to continue using W2K while experimenting with XP. Read “Multibooting with Windows 2000 and Windows XP” www.microsoft.com/windows2000/techinfo/administration/management/mltiboot.asp. I'll have more to say about my XP upgrade experience next month. Steve Bass is a Contributing Editor with PC
World and runs the Pasadena IBM Users Group. Write to him at
steve_bass@pcworld.com. |
