Linux: Ankle-biter or real threat?

If you're a Windows 98 or Windows Me user, you're an orphan. This is something Microsoft wanted to do in 2004 but put off until now to give users time to upgrade. The problem is that several million users (maybe 50 million) didn't. And now those users have an operating system that Microsoft no longer supports. And they probably also have older computers that would run Windows XP slowly, if at all.

Linux distro provider Xandros sees this as a window of opportunity and it just might work for some users.

The problem with Linux is that Microsoft Office doesn't run on Linux. Open Office does, of course, but there's no equivalent to Access (a relatively easy to use relational database) on Linux. If you don't need access to Access, though, Open Office provides most of the other features you need. Except Powerpoint. What it comes down to is this: If you need a word processor and a spreadsheet, Open Office will do the job for you.

If you need Access or Adobe InDesign or any of the other applications that aren't replicated on the Linux platform, Linux isn't for you. But if you need the basic office features, the ability to send and receive e-mail, and a Web browser -- that window of opportunity is real.

So what's Xandros doing? This week, the company fired a warning shot over Microsoft's bow in announcing a solution for the 50 million "disenfranchised" Windows 98, 98SE, and ME customers left without support and security patches.

Xandros says Windows users can "upgrade" unsupported Windows systems to the Xandros Desktop Home Edition or Home Edition Premium at half price. You'll pay full price for the operating system, but there's a mail-in rebate for half the cost. Both Xandros Desktop Home Edition and Home Edition Premium can be installed alongside ("dual boot") Windows, even on older hardware.

Is this the distro that will catch on?

Corel embraced Linux, perhaps irrationally, in trying to compete with Microsoft in 1999. It was a bad decision for Corel, but Corel's Linux was uncommonly easy to install and use. Those who have seen Xandros say it has the same ease of installation and much more functionality.

Xandros is designed to look and feel like Windows. It starts with the KDE desktop interface, but enhances it with techniques that make the distro look and feel like Windows. The Home Premium Edition includes CodeWeaver's Crossover Office 5.03 Standard Edition, which can run many Windows applications. Users have reported being able to run Office 2000, Office 2003, Quicken 2004, Itunes 5.01 (not the latest version), and Macromedia Dreamweaver MX (not the latest version) under Linux.

I've said previously that Linux should worry Microsoft in the long term. Maybe it should also worry Microsoft in the short term. This is a distro that includes a lot of features that will appeal to home and small office users: Wireless networking and virtual private networks, a music manager with Ipod support, the Xandros Photo Manager, a RealPlayer installation, Firefox tabbed browsing, and the Xandros File Manager that includes drag-and-drop DVD burning.

You'll find details at www.xandros.com.

Get Cerious: Thumbs Plus issues an update to an update

If you use Thumbs Plus from Cerious Software, you probably downloaded an installed SP1 within the past couple of weeks. Already there is an update to that. A maintenance update (build 2222) is available for ThumbsPlus 7 SP1. It resolves a problem with renaming a file in a zip folder, a bug that could cause a crash in image filtering, a failure to export keyword, and several other minor issues.

You can check the build number from the ThumbsPlus menu bar or About box. If you have build 2221 or earlier, be sure to download the patch (743 KB) from the Cerious website.

Or, if you haven't updated to SP1, download the full installer (17.4 MB) from here.

By the way, if you're still running version 6 or earlier, you can upgrade to the latest version for $10 (standard) or $20 (pro) until July 31.

Personal computing reaches middle age (almost)

Eweek Magazine this week features the top 25 products from the past 25 years. That's how long personal computers have been around. Yes, Atari and Commodore and others were there first, but IBM's first Personal Computer garnered Eweek's #1 slot for the 25 most important (not "best") products of the first 25 years of personal computing.

Here's the full list:

1. The IBM Personal Computer
2. The Mosaic Web browser
3. Apache
4. Intel's 386 processor
5. Xerox's XNS
6. The Linux kernel
7. VM Ware's x86 virtualization
8. Apple's Macintosh
9. Pretty Good Privacy
10. Compaq's portable computer
11. Adobe PDF and Acrobat
12. Lotus 1-2-3
13. Cisco IOS
14. Ashton-Tate's Dbase II
15. The Palm Pilot
16. Linksys 802.11 routers
17. Shiva LAN Rover
18. Phoenix BIOS
19. Red Hat Linux
20. Microsoft Visual Basic
21. Network General Sniffer
22. Lotus Notes
23. Windows 95
24. Microsoft Office
25. Nessus

What's missing from the list? What's in the wrong position? What's on the list that shouldn't be? The Eweek editors did a good job of reducing 25 years worth of PC history to a list with 25 entries, but some questions are gnawing at the back of my mind ...

• Where are WordStar and WordPerfect?
• Where's Corel?
• Why is one of the most non-standard, user-hostile applications on the planet (Lotus Notes) included?
• Does anybody remember using the Mosaic Web browser?
• Why is Windows XP not on the list? Although Windows 95 marked a revolutionary change, XP combined stability (from NT) and usability (from 95).
• Where's Itunes?
• Where's OS/2?
• No Flight Simulator? If an "IBM compatible" could run Flight Simulator, the machine was considered to be truly IBM compatible.
• Where are CDs and DVDs?
• Where's the original HP LaserJet printer ($3500, no memory, no typefaces) which was invented by Xerox?
• Visual Basic is on the list, so why not BASIC?
• Where's Firefox and Netscape?
• Where's Apple's OS X?
• What are Atari, Commodore, and all the other pre-IBM personal computers -- chopped liver?
• What about Borland's Turbo Pascal?
• Where are peer-to-peer networking and file sharing applications?
• Will anyone admit to using Electric Pencil?
• No mouse or graphical user interface? (Both were invented by Xerox, by the way.)
• Where are porn, gambling, and other vices?
• Where is spam?
• Where are AltaVista and Google?
• Where are MySpace, YouTube, and other image or video sharing services?

You can play, too. What else should be on the list? What's on Eweek's list that you would omit? The Eweek article is here.

Feeling big and important?

This week I received a forwarded message with 5 images. I wish I could tell you who created the images so that the right person would get credit for the work. The images compare the relative sizes of planets and stars. There was no text with the images, but the images told a story nonetheless. (And a listener pointed me to the source: http://www.rense.com/general72/size.htm.)

Earth looks right at home when compared to Venus, Mars, Mercury, and Pluto.

When you add Uranus, Neptune, Saturn, and Jupiter, the Earth seems more like a marble.

Compared to the size of the Sun, we become a speck of dirt.

But our Sun is a minor star. Consider it in relation to larger stars such as Pollux and Arcturus.

But Betelgeuse and Antares are far larger stars than our puny little sun, which is no longer visible at this scale.

Still feeling big and important?

Nerdly News

Firefox is still my favorite browser, but ...

Every time there's a security update (and there have been a lot of them) several of my favorite extensions are disabled (I show then with an X at the right) because they are not compatible with the latest version.

This is one of the key annoyances with Firefox. There seems to be an inability for developers to communicate with those who create extensions. To some extent, that's understandable because there are hundreds of extensions and most of the extensions are created by people who have other jobs.

But Talkback is Mozilla's own extension that allows users to report browser crashes (which occur all too often) to Mozilla. For developers to render their own extension inoperative is simply unacceptable. But I digress.

You need the update.

Firefox 1.5.0.5 fixes several critical problems: Crashes that corrupt memory, Java and Javascript vulnerabilities, and the ability to run rogue code on Windows, Linux, and (oh, by the way) Macs running OS X.

According to Mozilla: In certain circumstances a Javascript reference to a frame or window is not properly cleared when the referenced content goes away. This pointer to a deleted object could be used to execute native code supplied by the attacker.

This vulnerability was introduced during Firefox 1.5 development and does not affect Firefox 1.0 or Mozilla Suite 1.7

Thunderbird shares the browser engine with Firefox and is vulnerable if Javascript is enabled in mail. This is not the default setting. Javascript should never be enabled in an e-mail client and this should not even be a user-settable option.

If you have automatic updates turned on, Firefox may have already updated itself. If you're not running the latest version of Firefox (1.5.0.5) visit the Mozilla website and download it.

Making fun of spammers: Are people really dumb enough to sign up for these?

The spam's subject line said "Obtain degrees from Prestigious non-accredited Universities."

• Accredited: "officially recognized as meeting the essential requirements, as of academic excellence: accredited schools."
• Non-accredited: That would be the reverse of the previous definition.

I have no idea what these "Prestigious" (note the capital P, which the writer must feel makes it More Important) "non-accredited" "Universities" charge for their "degrees", but I've heard that they try to get several hundred dollars (or more) from the suckers who inquire.

Pretty good profit margin, that: Several hundred dollars for a piece of paper, some ink, and about half a minute of work.

Other spams this week

"Dont Loose Out!" Hello, spammer. It's a contraction. You need the apostrophe. And please learn the difference between "lose" and "loose".

• Loose: free or released from fastening or attachment: a loose end.
• Lose: to come to be without (something in one's possession or care), through accident, theft, etc., so that there is little or no prospect of recovery.

oebudVljIAGRA I know people can make sense of misspellings, but would I really want to buy a drug from somebody who apparently can't even spell it?

Your money, oak-timbered and Better Success, well-painted -- Two attempts apparently from the same person or at least from the same brain-dead spamming program.

Some of this week's random spammer names:

• Cherie Jimenez (who claimed to have a Russian address).
• Wheelchair S. Puritanism (using the address of a company that makes golf shoes).
• Dana Romano offered me a home loan from her Russian address.
• Giada Worster (who had an Emprise Bank address) was trying to sell AMBljIEN, VALIjlUM, CIALIjlS, and VljlAGRA -- I was expecting a fraudulent bank message.
• Miss Hard proposed a home loan, but seemed not to be writing from a bank.

Annoying legal disclaimer

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