Microsoft - More Anti-Competitive Practices

Microsoft using its position to stifle competition again?  The MSi u114 netbook has hybrid storage  (HDD and SSD), hence you could have the installed Windows XP on one, and the purchaser could put Linux on the other. Microsoft is demanding that MSi withdraw the machine by the end of June. Microsoft has virtually killed off linux on the netbook, a computer format that only exists because Linux made it possible, yet Microsoft still is not happy that there is still a little potential competition.

Update

Apricot Picobook Pro netbook

A few weeks ago I took delivery of an Apricot Picobook Pro netbook. I bought this computer as a device for occasional use away from the home, i.e. quick e-mail check when camping etc. At home I have several desktops, which are mainly salvaged machines, but they serve me adequately. Hence, I opted for this portable  8.9" machine, with reasonable specs.

Installing Opera.

The first thing I do with any computer, whose operating system does not already include it, is to install Opera (my favourite web browser). Flash (9 r124) and Java work straight from the box. I loaded up Firefox, and downloaded Opera 9.64. I tried to install Opera but the program manager would not work. I then had to register SUSE Linux Enterprise with Novel, before I could get on with adapting the machine to my liking. I have installed Open Suse on a machine for a friend, and found Novels almost proprietary software registration annoying. The range of software included is good, and it did not need a lot of supplementation. 

Day To Day Usage.

At first I found the mouse pad and keys difficult to use because I am not used to laptop use, but they became practical. The keyboard is small but works, and I do not find it to hard to use even with my large hands. Using a USB mouse alleviates any problems. The wifi search seems to find wireless networks without any problem. Everything works well, with the exception of the webcam which does not seem to have any software – I'll sort that out someday. Boots up, closes down without any crashes in-between. I did have one question, which I guessed the answer too, but e-mailed Apricot support rather than work it out – they replied within the day. Although there is not a CD drive my USB CD drive allows me to play cds and boot up with other live distros (runs great with Puppy Pups). Battery life about three hours constant surfing.

Never having had a netbook before it has found new uses I had not expected. The other day it was a photo album which was passed around relatives, just as you would with a hard copy album. Although I have not used it yet, the SD card reader is a nice addition to the Pico.

All in all the Suse based Apricot Picobook Pro netbook/sub laptop is a practical portable machine which is well built and well worth its purchase price.

PS I have been using it with a USB keyboard and VGA connector / standard CRT monitor, and the Via chip works plenty fast enough for day to day desktop computing.

Nintendo DSi Browser

I have always liked the idea of browsing on the Nintendo DS, alas the browsing experience on the DS Lite was not brilliant, and so ours was hardly used, even though it was quite an expensive add on. The browser was slow, crashed our router, and often just refused to load.

On the 3rd of April the DSi will be released in the UK. The DSi comes with a version of Opera already installed. This is good because as an integral part of the machine it means that Nintindo have had to take the browsing experience more seriously. This article talks about the development of the DSi browser. 

Hopefully this time browsing on the DS will be the joy it should have always been.

New Counter - ShinyStat

I have always like the look of the ShinyStat counter - although it does seem a little awkard to get detailed information (once the icon has been clicked, you need to click the "Visits+" icon to get additional information). In the free version you get:

Page views
Visits per hour
Visits per week
Browser
Operating systems
Colors/Resolutions
Total referrer
Search engines
Search keywords
Sites
Countries

Additional options are available with paid versions.

ShinyStat certainly looks good, over time I'll see how it performs.

First Person Surfed in via a Search Engine

On Wednesday the first person to arrive at this blog via a search engine dropped in - details from ExtreameTracking (browser is Opera 10, but extreme do not log Opera 10 yet):

Visitor 189-54-242-210-nd.cpe.vivax.com.br IP Address 189.54.242.210
Date 25 Feb, Wed, 22:04:53 Net Speed Cable/DSL
Organization Vivax S/A Browser Other/Unknown
Continent South America Operating System Windows Vista
Country Brazil Screen Resolution 1280x1024
State / Region Sao Paulo Screen Color 32 Bit (16.7M)
City São José Dos Campos Javascript Enabled


Referrer http://www.google.com/search?hl=pt-BR&client=opera&rls=en&hs=G8R&q=comparative+%22opera+10%22+x+firefox+3+x+IE+8&btnG=Pesquisar&lr=
Search Engine Google
Keywords comparative, opera, firefox

I had been wondering how long it would take to be found via Google. A month and 4 days, about what I'd expected, but I was not expecting the virst search engine visitor to come from Brazil. The web if very definately world wide.

Does Anyone Still Use Galeon?

Does Anyone Still Use Galeon? I came across this question recently. On reflection I think it could be better reworded as, does anyone still measure Galeon usage?

To test this I opened this blog with Galeon 2.0.2, and Ubuntu.

Only Extremetracking correctly identified Galeon, the rest stated that it was Firefox 2. Even Bravenet which lists Galeon on its browser page got it wrong.

Browser miss-identification is a factor which can put me of a browser. You take the trouble to patronise something, and then its counted as something else. That's pointless. If you voted Labour and your vote was given to the Conservatives (or vice versa) that would be upsetting.

Related to Galeons usage, or not, I find the Ubuntu program manager star rating for programmes popularity annoying. It gives Galeon as 4 stars (5 stars is the most popular), but Opera as 1 star. You are not telling me that more Ubuntu users use Galeon than Opera, and greatly so.

My First Use of Chrome

I tend to collect browsers, but have not used Chrome because Google did not see fit to release a nix version. However, I was passing our local T-Mobile shop and noticed their demo Think Pad had Chrome installed, so I decided to give it a spin.

Opened up this blog, fine, clicked a link, and then it froze.

Obviously with this omen Chrome is not intended to be my new browser!