Issue 29, June 2011

Windows 7 surpasses XP, Vista
Windows XP used to be the king of the hill and Windows Vista launched with a lot of chatter. However, Windows 7 seems to have the upper hand in performance and security and is quickly gaining devotees.

When it came to PCs, it used to be an XP world. At its peak in January of 2007, the Windows eXPerience operating system, commonly known as XP, held a 76.1 per cent market share, according to data from W3Schools, a web developer’s portal.

Now PC users have many choices. Since launching XP, Microsoft has rolled out Windows Vista and Windows 7, with Windows 8 rumoured to be coming in 2012.

People who buy new computers are given Windows 7
but they can revert to Vista or XP
Windows 7 have a cutting tool...not so with XP prof which I have.

I can CUT screen prints in Paint...but not resize...any comments on that please?

I'm keeping this computer that has XP for as long as I can. As long at it runs I'll use it. When the day comes that I need a new computer I'll get what I think has the best windows edition if it is available. But I would never consider changing the windows edition it comes with. I've heard too many horror stories on people trying to do that. I would never attempt it. Its too risky. I know some computer experts can do it but I have never done it before and would not risk crashing my computer trying to change editions. It ain't easy.


If you want to resize pictures this program will do it. Its does a lot more than just resize pics, a hell of a lot more. Its my main picture viewer and editor.

Its a free program, you can read about it and download it at the link below:


http://www.irfanview.com/

im not sure they still do it, probably not, because its been a couple years, or more when my nephew, ordered his dell , it did not come with xp but u could order it special with xp and i guess not vista at the time, so my nephew ordered the one he runs now with xp,, but like i said dell built it that way, i doubt they still do it, since 7 has became popular, take care

No they don't make brand new computers with XP anymore. I got mine about a month before they stopped making them. I ordered mine online from Dell. If I had waited much longer I would have had to get Vista. Now there is windows 7 and next up is 8.

Who knows, by the time I need a new computer they might have windows 20.. lol

Any windows edition if its XP, Vista, windows 95 or windows 7 or any of the other editions doesn't mean that much to most people that are good on computers. Of course they like the edition they use the most because they are familiar with it. You just have to learn the new platform with other editions and its a pain in the ass... What windows does by changing editions is they are trying to make things more convenient for you. They want to sell a new product so they pretend like its a new way to work the net and computers and that its a breakthrough in technology to get people excited about it. Its a marketing strategy... The truth is I can do anything windows 7 can.

Its all about what programs you have and learning them that make things happen. A windows edition no matter what it is, is just cosmetics, a different design. But also changes like Vista made can make errors in its functionality. It backfired on Microsoft that time. Vista obviously wasn't created to better the performance of a computer, trying to do better than XP. It was created (Vista) to give people the illusion they were buying a better product. The fact of the matter is people were crying out to the media and anyone who would listen that there new vista computers were not working right. Certain things simply did not work right. Vista was a total failure. They tried to rewrite some of the errors but eventually conceded they messed up and not live up to making a better edition than XP. So they created Windows 7 in an attempt to redeem themselves from there previous disaster..

I still maintain Vista was sloppy created for the only reason to make Microsoft more money by telling people they outdid XP. Which they didn't do.

All you need is the right programs to do what you want to do on any edition.

actually my nephew has put i think its Linux on his computer now he has a friend that is really good on pcs, he also has linux burned to a dvd, and put it on his dads computer, it seems to run much faster, i guess lots more simple, but all they do is look at web sights, like for heavy machinery and read email,,but he got his with xp after u and me got ours by a few years, but he had to have it special ordered, but that was like 3 years ago, or there abouts, he had to ask to have it put on when he ordered it, like i said i think u cant even order it special now,

Yes I know what he did. I did the same thing. When I ordered my computer from Dell I had to specifically ask for windows XP. Otherwise they would have sent me vista. At that time stores were no longer stocking computers with windows XP. Stores starting stocking vista. But! you could still order a computer from the Dell factory with XP. That's how I got my XP computer. When placing my order the order taker asked a lot of questions about if I wanted any extra RAM added to it, or if I wanted a floppy disk drive..etc And many other details. My PC was built to my selection of features. Biggest issue I had was that its has windows XP NOT VISTA. If they send me vista I'm sending it back to them. I made damn sure I was getting XP. Stores didn't sell them anymore. Now you can't even order a computer with XP from the factory. You can probably still get vista and windows 7.

http://www.irfanview.com/.

I have heard of the above. But will not download at this time, infanview is a little invasive for anyone not knowing about how to change defaults. Infanview will change what your pictures open with.
I am not ready to learn this. I am happy with fax viewer.

I have a lot on my mind with Brian who has just had (yesterday) major surgery for Bowel Cancer....caught it in time..thank goodness, not spread to the Liver.
people please have the test which is offered. MRI Scan found it. Tumour in the intestines.

serif link
Not sure what that is? I just wanted a simple cropping tool for screen prints for some one who does not have Paint.Shop.Pro. Adobe photoshop is too advanced for them...but I have myself dabbled a little in Photoshop.

YES! Vista was a total flop. I am staying with XP Prof.....people still like that one.
I have heard that Windows 7 does not allow you the control that you have with XP.....not sure what is mean by that.

Maybe a re-conditioned XP can be obtained if required.

well you originally said you wanted to know how to re-size a picture or "screen prints" (same thing just a pic on the computer), not crop it, now you are saying you want to crop it. BTW, Windows paint can crop and resize, I don't normally use it for that because http://www.irfanview.com/ makes it a much easier process. Paint is a pain in the ass. I can pump out 50 resized pictures in 10 minutes or less using irfanview. Microsoft Paint with all there annoying steps you need to do in order to resize or crop I might get 10 done in 10 minutes. Paint is not a great tool for resizing or cropping pics. Its good for drawing (painting) on things but there are better program for pics. I give paint the credit as being good at drawing on pics.

Heres a link to a site that explains how to crop using paint on windows XP.

http://www.updatexp.com/image-cropping.html

Heres a link that explains how to resize using paint on windows XP.

http://dan.hersam.com/2005/01/18/resizing-photos-in-windows-xp/

Hope Brian is doing better.

You are quite right I said re-size.
I wanted to Re-size and CROP out parts not needed.
Have not viewed the two sites you have given me yet...I thank you for your help.

If people have a question it is much easier to deal with, if a screen print is shown.

Yes I suppose Paint maybe good for drawing, I can't really draw. But I can paint in oils.
I see art in dabs of colour...I love colour ... depth & texture.

I messed around with the tools in Paint before I went on to P.S.P.

Yes Brian dealing with his life threatening Cancer is not easy.
He has an epidural in the spine for Morphine, for the pain after the op. (Regional anaesthesia)

when he comes home he will not be able to do much.

Yes Brian will be O.K. Every day he will improve.

my thoughts and prayers will be with Brian, glad u said it was caught early, i get colostomy's on schedule, they found one benign polp. 6 years ago,, and removed it, the dr said it take a polp about 5 years to turn into cancer, i since have had another test like a year ago or 2 and it was clear and no polps, i will have another after 5 years from the time of the last, i have a very good gastro DR.. again my best to brian, i know u must be having tough times, i went through this all with my dad, tough, also men at 50 they need to get their prostate checked, and a psa blood test, i had to start earlier since my dad had prostate cancer. i stoped letting my regular dr do this and now let a urologist do it. but again all my best . take care

candy u can change what opens things on ur pc, but i agree i hate when any program trys to take over ur pc, and change what opens things, but most software does , when i installed Nero it took over my pictures opening , but i like the way it does it so i left it... but i know ur mind is on more important things now, again , take care

When you're installing irfanview it asks you if you want to make it your default picture viewer. If you do click yes, if not click no. Its simple installation, no tricks. I started out saying no I didn't want to make it my default viewer, then later changed my mind and made it my default viewer. I did that in the "Options" section of the program. It was easy. I came to understand it was the best viewer I ever seen. You can change the background color all your pics are viewed on. You can assign a color as your default picture background color, so any pic you click that you have saved on your computer will show on the background color. I made mine black. Any pic I view on my computer opens with irfanview on a black background. As opposed to an offensive gleaming bright white background...lol I hate white backgrounds, they are so boring and sterile.

When irfanview opens your pic you not only see it perfectly on whatever background color you choose, but also you can edit the pic till your blue in the face and save your changes.

Some programs give tons of ads while you are installing, things like yahoo tool bars and things you didn't ask for. You have to uncheck the boxes of the things you don't want, then proceed.

But irfanview doesn't hit you with all of that. They are a class act.

You know discussions about Brian's health is best talked about in the lounge or General Thoughts. Just a thought. Be nice to leave this topic about computers for the readers sake, and stay on topic in this computer section of the forum..

u r right the topic of Brian should be in the lounge..i was thinking of copying and pasting any follow on's to the lounge. but if you can do it ...it would be best for the records.
i just blurted it out because of stress. i did not mean to worry u all.
i happen to like discussing anything medical.

MMmmmm that appeals to me.

(When irfanview opens your pic you not only see it perfectly on whatever background color you choose, but also you can edit the pic till your blue in the face and save your changes.)

i find black backgrounds can be dreary and even startling.
perhaps an off white colour. (like Egptian White)
i dislike bright white and have turned my colour right down on my monitor to only 25 per cent approx.

I use to like the program Picasso until they changed it. I thought it became more complicated.
also I questioned if I wanted my loads of pics duplicated on C Drive.
I take many photos and delete more than half and keep the best.
I was having to delete in Picasso as well.

I stand corrected on anything I said. lol

lol

Well its all personal taste, I like dark backgrounds so I use them. I think its more pleasing to the eyes as opposed to white backgrounds.

personal taste black background.....i knew you would come back on me for that.
i was waffling and did not mean to offend.
i prattle under stress so does brian. he talked non-stop after his op.


HEY u have not painted your bedroom walls black...it's been done...

Allo Allo Nero is something I not know about Rosco?

Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus, Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus

kinda rolls of the tounge when uttered aloud.

lol no it didn't offend me I didn't take it that way. My house walls are white, I mean for web designing I like dark backgrounds. However for some sites I can understand it calls for a regular white background. Some sites you don't want to make it too groovy. Like news sites or government type sites..etc Sometimes white is the appropriate color.

I want to add I like a lot of color, and color shows up best on a dark or black background. All media be it videos or pictures look better on a dark background. All images look better on black.

Also with irfanview you can change the background color of what the image will be displayed on to match what background of the website you will be adding it to so you can see what its going to look like before you upload and add it to a site. Like a forum for example. You can see beforehand what it will look like and make changes if needed or dismiss the whole idea because it won't look good no matter what you do on that websites background color. Great tool for web designing. Black basically makes everything look better. But if you put an image that was designed and made to go on a site with a white background and you put it on site with a black background, it may look out of place and not good. Some images were designed to blend in with the sites background color. So, if your image has a white background don't expect it to blend in. You will see all 4 borders. Transparency can be accomplished with combining the image background color itself, with the website background color. There are other was to get transparency on an image that will work on any background color. But as a general rule of thumb, if your image background matches the websites background color the image background will appear transparent.

Remember that black horse animated gif image you posted once that had a transparent background? You could not see the horse because it was black and the image background image was transparent. Then I took the same horse image with the transparent background and put it on a blue background so the horse can be seen. You can't put black images on the forum if the background is transparent. And the same thing with a white background site. You can't put a white image (horse) with a transparent background because you won't be able to see it if the colors match.

White backgrounds are limited by attractive color that can be added. Like font colors and link colors. In other words, color doesn't look as good on white as it does black. Black background amplifies colors much better and is cleaner. Yes I'm talking about websites not house walls. lol :)

Candy Cottingham wrote:Allo Allo Nero is something I not know about Rosco?

Nero is a video software, a customer in the store told me to get it, walmart had one left, its was years ago, but it does exactly what i want it to do, and i know how to use it, it does open my pics but thats not why i got it, i have a dual layer burner, but dual layer disk cost more, im sure many softwares do this, i just took this guys advice, most things i burn are to big for a regular disk and regular burning, , but nero has whats called
NERO RECODE, it recodes what im about to burn to fit onto a regular disk,, i have used it for many years the same program, works great,

Hi Rosco
Nero!
What do you burn to duel layer disc?
I assume it might be films or music.

Reminds me of the old tape recorders that had two layers on the tape.

How many megs gigs or terrabytes does the disc hold when it
Recodes to a normal disc. amazing.

Normal discs are 700 megs.

i have never did the dual layer burning,i have never checked the size, but the software says fit to target, if it is real big, it will tell me the quality will be like 80 something percent but i have never been able to tell any difference in that and one that says 100 percent quality,its film i dont know how much u can push it, but it will do a 3 hour vid on to a disk,thats as big as i have ever had to try,

I would think putting the material that you want to burn in a zip file would decrease the size considerably, unless its video. Video doesn't break down as well as pics. You won't save much space putting videos in a zip file. rosco's program that does dual layer burning I know nothing about so I won't comment on that.

I will say this, space isn't something I worry about because I have a big harddrive and still have plenty of space. More than I will ever use. Its not a issue for me. But I still keep an eye on it as everyone should.

its not duel layer burning , its software that recodes so u dont have to do duel layer burning, but recodes it so it fits on a regular disk, it has several steps, i have to use another software on it first, and it puts it in a folder i make, then nero burns it from that folder, and its all vidio,, it has several steps it goes through., it has to anaylize it, then recode it, then it will burn it, and u tell it how many copies u want, after the first one all the rest dont have to go through the steps , u just keep changing out the disk and it just burns ,then i delete the folder off the hardrive, its to big for the recycle bin, so it ask do i want to delete, and i click delete all,

Ok I know what you mean now. You're talking about burning a DVD I believe. Yes they recode to fit your disk size. What happens is it analyzes your disk size and makes changes in the quality of the video in which it is burned to, to fit the disk size. Slower at times to fit the disk to make sure it all fits. That's normal. I usually don't make mine to long so it keeps a high quality playback throughout the video. That's just what I normally do. I can see a longer movie or video needing extra time and the program handles it fine. Never can tell it changed somewhat the quality. Its not noticeable in most cases.