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Windows 7 logo

Windows 7 Released Today

It’s here – for the first time since 2007, Microsoft will release a new Operating System. The newest version of Windows is arriving today (October 22, 2009). I’ll be giving you some of the more important details about this new version of Windows and some of the implications of your choices.

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Be careful where you buy a computer!

Here’s the problem – they sell you a computer with what they call “OS License Only”. This computer is shipped to you with a blank hard disk, no CD-ROM of Windows to install with and simply a sticker on the outside case of the system to install with. You are not given the option to have the CD shipped to you – nor are you given details on the history of the computer or that copy of Windows.

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Microsoft Outlook 2007 Logo

The Case for a Free Outlook 2010

The recent fighting, twitter movement, and protests over the support of HTML in Outlook 2010 had me thinking what Microsoft would need to do to set themselves apart and really do something special. Microsoft needs to offer Outlook 2010 (Without Word HTML rendering) for free when they release the 2010 version of their Office product.

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Free Network Diag: The ICSI Netalyzr (help us, help you)

One of the more challenging aspects of working with network connections is the ability to test the health and usability of connections. Today, connections are available in all sorts of ways and locations. Often with this sort of ubiquity, we’re not able to tell if this Internet connection is going to be reliable. The ICSI Netalyzr is one such utility that can help in gathering more details.

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How To: Securely Erasing USB Connected Hard Disks

The conventional methods of destroying data on a disk all relate to connecting the drive physically to a computer and using some sort of bootable media with an application on it to destroy data on the connected hard disk in a secure manner. This is the conventional way. I wanted a method that would be faster and more versatile than this, so I attempted to look for a free way to destroy data securely on an externally connected USB disk in Windows.