Practical Technology

for practical people.

March 15, 2010
by sjvn01
5 Comments

CrossOver Linux 9: Run Windows apps without Windows

Some Linux users insist that anything you can do on Windows, you can do better on Linux. While there’s some truth to that, many of us have Windows applications that make completely leaving Windows close to impossible. That’s where CodeWeavers’ latest version of CrossOver Linux comes in.

CrossOver Linux 9 (code-named Snow Mallard) and its Mac brother, CrossOver Mac 9, let you run many popular Windows applications on Linux or Mac OS X. Supported Windows applications include Microsoft Office (from Office 97 to Office 2007), Internet Explorer 6 and 7, Outlook 2002 to 2007, all current versions of Quicken up to 2010 and QuickBooks up to 2004, and some versions of Photoshop and Photoshop CS. Based on my experience with CrossOver, which goes back more than a decade, I’d say this new version supports about 20% more applications (at a level that most users would find usable) than the last one.

CrossOver is based on the open-source project Wine, an implementation of the Windows API on top of the Unix/Linux operating system family. Wine is a mature project involving almost 17 years of work to get Windows applications to run on Unix and Linux systems.

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March 12, 2010
by sjvn01
2 Comments

Here come Linux’s iPad clones

You can pre-order an Apple iPad starting today, March 12th, but seriously, do you really want to? I mean, I get why you’d want an iPad. I’d like one too. But, when I consider that there are soon going to be literally dozens of cheaper, Linux-powered iPad devices on the market, I find it a lot easier to resist putting $499 on my credit card.

I tell a lie though. The Apple iPad isn’t really $499. Just adding a power-cord to the iPad will cost you $29.00 No, I’m not making that up. Really Apple, you couldn’t throw in a power cord? Shame on you.

On top of that, Apple will be including DRM (digital rights management) on eBooks and other iPad content. I really, really hate DRM. I have this old-fashioned idea that when I buy a book, be it an eBook or a paperback, I actually own it. As we already found when Amazon deleted already bought and paid for books on the Kindle last summer that’s not the case.

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March 12, 2010
by sjvn01
6 Comments

Beyond Backup: Windows 7 Mirroring Software Compared

Ever have a hard drive burn out completely? I have. It’s no fun. It’s even less fun when you discover that while your backup brought back all your files, it didn’t do such a hot job on your applications, Windows registry, and drivers. You know — all the stuff that spells the difference between a good-enough PC and a PC that works exactly the way you want it to.

And, needless to say, if your business needs to roll out anywhere from a few dozen to a few thousand PCs with identical-to-the-last-detail software loads, then drive imaging (also called disk mirroring) software is your friend.

Drive-imaging programs work by making a byte-by-byte duplicate of the full hard drive or selected partition. This way, if your drive does go to that big bit-farm in the sky, you simply slide in a new hard drive and have a working clone of your PC back up and running. Or, if your PC turns out to be as dead as a Norwegian Blue Parrot, you can restore your working system to a new computer with relatively little fuss or muss.

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March 12, 2010
by sjvn01
0 comments

The Microsoft good news/bad news Patch Tuesday

Is there a worse IT job in the world than being a Microsoft security fixer-upper? First, you have to deal with the fact that Windows itself is insecure by design. That’s bad enough. But, then when you do get something right, like this week’s Patch Tuesday pack of patches, you’re hit on the same day with a new and major Internet Explorer zero day security hole!

First, the good news. The big news in this latest lot of patches is that several significant security holes in Excel were fixed. Having been in offices where Excel spreadsheets flew back and forth over e-mails faster than cars passing someone going 55MPH on the interstate this is a good thing. Sneaking malware into documents and spreadsheets isn’t as common as it once was, but it’s still common enough that making Excel a wee bit more secure counts as a must upgrade in my book.

Then, on the moderately bad news side, Microsoft elected not to fix a bug in an add-on to PowerPoint. The specific problem was in Producer 2003, a PowerPoint 2002 and PowerPoint 2003 add-on that allows them to play .mswmm (Windows Movie Maker Project) movies and animations.

Jerry Bryant, a senior manager for the MSRC (Microsoft Security Response Center) explained that Producer 2003 wasn’t fixed because, “Our standard approach is to produce updates that can be deployed automatically for all affected products at the same time but Producer 2003 does not offer a means for automatic update.”

So what is the answer if you’re one of the few people using Producer 2003? I quote Mr. Bryant, “uninstall the application.” That will go over well.

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March 10, 2010
by sjvn01
1 Comment

The Linux Foundation Store: Linux gets silly

Except for Tux, the Linux penguin, Linux fans have a reputation as a rather dour, serious lot. Now, the Linux Foundation, the nonprofit organization dedicated to growing Linux, has launched a new Linux merchandise store featuring a new line of exclusive and original T-shirts, hats, mugs and other items that reflect “geek culture.”

Of course, there’s been geek culture t-shirts and such for sale before. ThinkGeek has long been a favorite of mine for buying presents for my friends who like t-shirts with Wi-Fi detectors on them and the like. What caught my attention about the new Linux Foundation stores is rather than just trying to copycat ThinkGeek’s lines or just offer generic corporate “logo T’s,” they’re trying their own take at geek pride clothes and gear.

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March 10, 2010
by sjvn01
1 Comment

Windows XP’s built-in Wi-Fi Security Hole

When I’m really, really bored at an airport, I’ll start looking around the local Wi-Fi networks with WireShark. This is an outstanding network protocol analyzer. Usually it’s used for checking out what’s really going on in your business network. Of course, if you know what you’re doing you can also use it on Wi-Fi to see just how awful everyone’s security is around you. But, that’s a story for another day. Recently, I noticed that I kept seeing “Free Public Wifi” APs (access points) showing up. I assumed it was someone trolling for innocents wanting to be infected with malware. I was wrong. It’s actually a much more interesting Windows XP security flaw.

A friend of mine pointed me to what was really going on. If you want to know more of the details, I recommend this article Free Public WiFi SSID. The short version is that Windows XP includes a utility, WZC (Wireless Zero Configuration). This was superseded in Vista and Windows 7 by WLAN Autoconfig. In either case, the idea is to make connecting to Wi-Fi APs easy.

The problem is that they make it a little too easy.

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