Virtual Help

My brother had a typical problem today. He purchased a computer with Vista. The night he bought it, he really liked it. All pretty, and gussied up with it's eye candy. But, Vista's like pretty girls back in the 50's. You can look, hoot and holler, and they'll even wink at you. But don't you dare try to do anything with her. She's not that kind of a girl. Back then, girls had there own version of "Cancel or Allow".

My brother found out that a very important program problem Vista shares with Linux; a lot of programs don't work on it. The one he needed didn't work with Vista.

Unfortunately, it doesn't work with Linux either. But, that may be turning around soon. According to an Evans Data Study, developers are shying away from developing programs for Vista. Instead, more programs for Linux are being developed. I'm betting my future endeavors on it.

A week or so ago, I wrote about a problem with Quickbooks needed for a small business. Quickbooks doesn't support desktop Linux, and most small businesses need Quickbooks. At least, that's what their accountants and advisors tell them. Rightfully so probably. Quickbooks is an excellent product, and the Open Source alternatives don't match the abilities. Not yet at least. Programs like GnuCash may eventually be super powerful, but Quicken and Quickbooks are the name to beat.

Hopefully, the Evans folks are right, and solutions for Linux are lining up as I write. Hopefully, I'll have my ducks lined up, and the IT suitors will be knocking on my door.

We did solve my brothers problem. I had him load VMware player on his Vista machine, use easyvmx.com to make a .vmx file, load a Windows XP version on, then load the necessary program he needed to work. So far, it's worked. I run XP on my Ubuntu laptop when I need to for school. It actually runs faster in VMware than it did natively. Go figure!

(Yes, I'm experimenting with Larger font size)

Learning Experience

Yesterday, I helped a new small business owner out with an Ubuntu system. A Dell GX60, 512 mb ram, 20 GB hard drive, with Ubuntu 7.04 Feisty Fawn OEM installed - with extras added for a small business. Everything worked fine till I got to the business. The keyboard didn't work, the mouse was bouncy and sticky, and the wired connection wouldn't connect. One of those tech times when nothing works right. And, to top it off, I forgot to sudo oem-config-prepare the computer for the user!

The business owner had a nice Dell Inspiron 5100 laptop computer that she originally intended on using, but it just wasn't working for her. This is actually typical of Windows XP Laptop owners.

Windows XP Laptop users generally have these problem:

• Almost no system updates are ever done - Even if the automatic updates are set to 'on', they don't happen because the owner has the computer off at 3am in the morning. If you own a Windows XP Laptop, check for updates DAILY! At least every Tuesday.
  
• No hardware driver updates are ever done - Sometimes Microsoft will push some hardware driver updates out, but not too much. Unless the computer has a manufacturers program that automatically updates and install fixes, the user never checks for them. Check for your specific computer drivers on the company website - Especially for computer two years old or older. And, especially check for a BIOS update. If there is, use it! If you're using Ubuntu, most likely it's the only update you really need.
  
• Anti-Virus software gets update, but the Anti Spyware doesn't - And the Anti Virus programs, especially Norton, seems to miss things. You need to have at least two Anti Spyware programs: Windows Defender and Spybot Search and Destroy. In my experience, both have found things the Anti Virus programs missed. Update your Anti Virus and Anti Spyware programs daily, and run them at least ever other day.

At the very least you can keep your system up-to-date. Checking for system updates on Tuesdays is very important. Microsoft puts out updates and security fixes on the third Tuesday of the month (I think). Malicious experts wait for those updates to come out, the learn and practice the exploits. They know that less than half of Windows users will do the updates.

Both laptop and Desktop Windows XP users should completely reinstall their system every year. If you are a serious user, every six months. Laptop users should probably reinstall every six months anyway.

To continue my Learning Experience: I should have checked out the equipment before I left the house. The keyboard was an eMachine keyboard, and they tend to work only with eMachines -if at all. I still have no clue on why the internet wouldn't work. Weird.

This experience also brings me to another point: Until there is a Linux version of QuickBooks, or at least a viable alternative, Linux won't be useful in a small business. GnuCash just doesn't cut it -at least for less tech savvy businesses. A small tech based business would probably be able to work with Linux, especially Ubuntu. But a company that isn't tech savvy won't have much use for it.

The only way to get more of the business type software made for Linux is to get more Linux boxes out. As Free Geek, Dell, and System76 get more Ubuntu boxes out, and as more people install it as an alternative to Windows Vista, It will eventually get there.

Windows Vista Alternative