Practical Technology

Linspire, the San Diego, Calif.-based Linux distributor, is continuing to build up its CNR (Click-N-Run) software installation system with partnerships with Ubuntu parent Canonical and the Ubuntu-based Linux Mint distribution. Linspire recently announced that its beta CNR service now supports the Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron release and Linux Mint versions 4.0 and 5.
The CNR client [...]

What can I say? For me, XP SP3 was the cat’s meow, the best Windows client operating system ever. But, for other people ‘upgrading’ to XP SP 3 is like being fed to a roaring lion.
They’re seeing endless, and I mean endless-reboots. Many can’t even escape to the relative safety of Windows’ Safe mode much [...]

Sometimes, no matter how much you try to protect your computer, you need to get down and dirty with the hardware. Sometimes it’s the obvious. I never cease to be amazed at how many PC problems turn out to be loose cables or-the shame of it all!-an unplugged electrical cord. But, others times, it will [...]

Despite alleged voting irregularities, Microsoft’s OpenXML format for office documents seems on its way to standardization.
According to multiple observers, Microsoft’s OpenXML is on its way to becoming an ISO standard.
The three sites that have been following the International Organization for Standardization re-vote on the OpenXML standard—Command Line Warriors, Open Malaysia and ConsortiumInfo—are all reporting that, [...]

If you need to repair PCs, even if you don’t use Linux as a rule, you should have a Linux repair CD. These self-booting Linux distributions give you all the software tools you need to bring all but the deadest computers back to life. The best of these distributions is, hands-down, SystemRescueCd.
I’ve been using SystemRescueCd [...]