Practical Technology

for practical people.

November 8, 2012
by sjvn01
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Windows 8 is a one way street for consumer PC users

PC companies call it downgrading, but many users just call it being sensible. You buy a new computer, and instead of using the bleeding edge operating system it came with, you move to an operating system you trust. With ordinary Windows 8 on Hewlett-Packard (HP) consumer PC, or any other vendor’s retail PC, though, you’re stuck with Windows 8.

HP’s Windows 8 FAQ reads, “Downgrading is supported only for HP commercial desktop and notebook products.” That is to say systems that come with Windows 8 Pro. In any case, “HP does not recommend downgrading on any HP consumer desktop and notebook products. After October 26, 2012, HP consumer desktop and notebook products will ship only with Windows 8.”

Why? Because “Windows 7 will not be supported on these new platforms, and no drivers, apps, or Windows 7 content will be available through HP. If users choose to downgrade their HP consumer desktop or notebook system, HP will continue to support the hardware but if there is an issue where HP diagnostics are required OR it is determined that the loaded software or upgrade operating system is causing the issue, HP may suggest returning the system to the original Windows 8 OS that shipped with the computer.”

In short, if you downgrade  anyway,  HP is saying you’ll be your own. Good luck with that.  

Windows 8 is a one way street for consumer PC users. More >

November 7, 2012
by sjvn01
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VoIP and instant messaging problem looming: Skype doesn’t support IPv6

Skype, despite built-in advertising and no privacy guarantees  is still a very popular Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and instant messaging (IM) client. Indeed, Microsoft is replacing Windows Live Messaging with Skype. Skype has another problem that’s becoming increasingly troublesome: It doesn’t support Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6).

This is rather odd. Windows 8, and earlier versions of Windows, support IPv6.  With the last IPv4 addresses vanishing, more and more businesses and groups are moving to IPv6 and most MIcrosoft applications have long supported the next generation Internet protocol. By staying stuck in the IPv4 lane, Skype will not only become unusable for smoe users, it’s also becoming an obstacle to IPv6 adoption.

Cameron Byrne, Technical Staff Architect at T-Mobile, observed on the IPv6 Internet operators list that “Yet another year goes by, and Skype still remains one of the most popular apps, and thus its IPv4 dependence blocks meaningful IPv6-only adoption. Skype is the poster child of IPv4 dependence.“

VoIP and instant messaging problem looming: Skype doesn’t support IPv6. More >

November 6, 2012
by sjvn01
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Big-time gaming coming to Linux

As wonderful as it is to use Linux on a desktop PC, gaming on Linux has been one of its weakest points. Yes, there are many Linux games but nowhere near as many as on Windows. That’s changing. Valve, creator of the popular Steam game engine, has released its Steam for Linux Beta client.

Avid gamers have heard of Valve. It’s the publisher of such favorite games as Grand Thief Auto, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.

Today, the company said it had launched a limited access beta for its new Steam for Linux client. It also includes Big Picture, the beta mode of Steam, designed for use with a TV and controller

The Steam for Linux Beta client supports the free-to-play game Team Fortress 2. Over two dozen other Steam games are also now available for play on Linux. 

“This is a huge milestone in the development of PC gaming,” said Gabe Newell, Valve president and co-founder in a statement. “Steam users have been asking us to support gaming on Linux. We’re happy to bring rich forms of entertainment and our community of users to this open, customer-friendly platform.”

Big-time gaming coming to Linux. More >

November 6, 2012
by sjvn01
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CBS finally comes to Hulu

There are some CBS shows, such as The Good Wife, that I absolutely love. Unfortunately, I don’t have a local CBS station for over-the-air (OTA) reception and trying to push CBS Internet TV from a PC to my televison isn’t easy. In the end, I’ve just ended up subscribing to seasons via iTunes and watching them with my Apple TV. Now, CBS has finally made a deal with Hulu. Well, Hulu Plus really.

And, unlike ABC, Fox, and NBC, you won’t be able to watch some network prime-time shows the next day. Instead, Hulu Plus subscribers will have access to more than 2,600 episodes from library series such as “Medium,” “Numb3rs” and “CSI: Miami,” as well as classics such as “Star Trek,” “I Love Lucy” and “The Twilight Zone.” More recent shows will only be available the year after they’ve hit the airwaves. In short, I can forget about watching the current season of The Good Wife over Hulu or Hulu Plus.

CBS finally comes to Hulu. More >

November 5, 2012
by sjvn01
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Android tablets beat out Apple iPad mini’s graphics

Lots of people may have bought Apple’s new iPad mini, but that doesn’t mean that they bought the best 7″ tablet. When it comes to the display, graphics expert Raymond M. Soneira, president of DisplayMate, found that the two most popular 7″ Android tablets, the Amazon Kindle Fire HD and Google Nexus 7, had better displays.

After running a comprehensive series of DisplayMate’s Mobile Display Technology Shoot-Out tests, Soneira found that while the “iPad mini is certainly a very capable small Tablet, but it does not follow in Apple’s tradition of providing the best display, or at least a great display – it has just a very capable display. What’s more, the displays on existing mini Tablets from Amazon and Google outperform the iPad mini in most of our Lab tests.”

Why didn’t the iPad mini measure up? According to Soneira’s analysis, “Some of this results from constraints within the iPad product line, and some to realistic constraints on display technology and costs, but much of it is due to a number of poor choices and compromises.”

Android tablets beat out Apple iPad mini’s graphics. More >

November 5, 2012
by sjvn01
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HP doubles down on Linux

At LinuxCon Europe in Barcelona, Spain, the Linux Foundation, the non-profit organization dedicated to accelerating Linux’s growth, announced that HP “is making a strategic, long-term investment in Linux by upgrading to Platinum membership. Other Platinum members include Fujitsu, IBM, Intel, NEC, Oracle, Qualcomm Innovation Center, and Samsung.”

HP doubles down on Linux