Five ways to live with Windows Vista

So you just got a new PC with Microsoft's Windows Vista, or upgraded your old machine with the new operating system...and everything is different. Here are a few quick tips to become familiar with Microsoft's Windows Vista fast.

1 Add a Gadget to your Sidebar
Tired of the boring Gadgets, like the standard CPU meter, sitting on the right side of your screen? Just download new ones.
Surf to gallery.microsoft.com/sidebar/vista.as px for a list of the most popular Gadgets to add to your desktop. These include App Launcher, which gives you instant access to your favourite programs like that Battlefield 2142 game.

2 Search for a programme
The Start menu in Windows Vista is slightly different from Windows XP in that icons are so tightly packed together as to seem rather messy.
It could be that Microsoft is forcing users to go about firing up programs the new way - by using Vista's fast search feature. This means you type 'Photoshop', instead of scrolling through the menus for the photo-editing program. Takes a little getting used to, but the new way is actually faster.

3 Using Google as default search engine
Instead of using the Microsoft-prescribed search engine in Internet Explorer (MSN), you can specify Google or Yahoo.
In the browser window, click on the search toolbar and select 'More providers'. This lets you select Google and Yahoo as the default search engine.

4 Sort pictures by tags
You can cope with the hundreds or thousands of pictures on your computer by tagging them with meaningful data in Vista. For example, you can tag a group of pictures of that Bali holiday under 'Bali' and quickly retrieve them with a search for the term 'Bali'. Or search by date.

5 Move songs and picturesinto another disk
If you have two hard disks, you can keep your songs and pictures on the second hard disk.
To do this, drag the default Pictures and Music folders onto your second hard disk. When prompted, agree to copy the files over. You can also right click on the designated folders and select Location. Choose a folder on the second hard disk.

- By Alfred Siew

9 new cellphones from Motorola

Motorola New Cellphones

The Razr2 V8 with its snakeskin design, is a potential holiday gift.

Motorola, badly in need of hit products to spark a turnaround, announced nine new cellphone handsets last week to be available this quarter.

Among them is a luxury version of the Razr2, the latest successor to its once top-selling model.

The Razr2 V8 is being touted as a potential holiday gift with gold plated accents, snakeskin texture, ultra-slim design and storage of up to 1,000 songs among other features. It costs US$250 (S$367) to US$300.

The company said four of the seven new W-series phones - the W160, W180, W213 and W377 - feature FM radio which requires headphones. Six of the handsets contains Motorola's proprietry CyrstalTalk technology, which automatically adjusts audio for clear calls in noisy environments.

'These devices are designed for consumers who are purchasing their first mobile, for those who simply want to talk and message on an easy to use phone or for those who are looking to upgrade to a simple phone,' said Mr Stu Reed, president of Motorola Mobile Devices.

The company also introduced the Moto U9 a lightweight phone and music player with a clamsheel design and stereo Bluetooth wireless technology, a two-megapixel camera with 8x zoom and text messaging capabilities.

Know your new buzzwords

Here are some broadband terms you will see more of

FTTH

This stands for Fibre-to-the-home. Unlike current broadband technologies that rely on copper cables - like phone lines - in the final stretch or 'last mile' of the connection, FTTH calls for a fibre-optic cable to be run right into homes.

The downside, though, is cost. Despite falling prices for fibre optics, it is costly to hire skilled workers to lay cables into each individual apartment.

For users, there is also the added cost (of a few hundred dollars) of a modem-like device called a termination module.

GPON

Pronounced 'G-Pon', or short for Gigabit Passive Orbital Network, the term refers to a fibre-optic network that uses unpowered optical splitters. These 'split' a single optical line into several lines to serve multiple apartments.

This reduces the amount of fibre-optic cables used and is likely to be the technology that telcos will deploy for FTTH.

Metro-E

Short for Metro Ethernet, this is a technology that involves hooking up users with (copper) Ethernet cables - the network cables that are common in offices and homes now.

Broadband service providers offering Metro-E broadband usually install a network point - similar to what you get in the office - in the wall. From there, you can connect to your PC's Ethernet port at speeds of up to 1Gbps without using a modem.

But these speeds are achievable if the cables do not run more than 100m. To overcome this, network switches have to be installed in telecom rooms in each building. And these switches require fans to cool, adding to the cost.

Security for your PC

F-Secure Internet Security keeps your PC safe from cyber attacks.

Internet security is vital if you surf the Web, but if you are not IT-savvy, how do you keep your PC safe? F-Secure Internet Security 2008 suite has all the necessary tools to help users defend themselves from unsavoury elements while surfing the wild wild Net.

The program comes with various tools such as virus and spyware scanners, rootkit scanners, anti-Spam for e-mail messages, anti-phishing and firewalls - essential tools for protecting the PC.

A pleasant surprise was the option to scan the computer without installing the software: the option quickly presented itself when I inserted the installation disk into the PC.

The program also gets itself up and running without much trouble, and scans and quarantines viruses and spyware without too much fuss. And it continually scans all files and e-mail messages while you work or surf, so you have peace of mind.

The other notable feature is the Parental Control tool. The tool can categorise PC users under parents, children and teenagers, allowing parents to limit access to certain webpages on the Internet for each category. Parents can apply time limits on PC usage.

Because it is password-protected, children cannot access the application and change the settings. As a similar parental control feature can be found in Windows Vista, Windows XP home users will find this product useful.

However, the program requires the user to uninstall pre-existing security tools that reside in the PC before it can be installed. This is somewhat limiting, I feel, because I prefer 'the more the merrier' approach, which gives me more options and protection on how to tackle the slew of spyware and viruses.

Also, updating F-Secure virus and spyware definitions (database of virus and spyware) is really a pain as I had to try for nearly two days to get a response from the server via the program. And when I did get a response, it took a long time for the file to be downloaded. Totally unacceptable.

- By Wilson Wong, a freelancer and gadget enthusiast.

FINAL SAY

An all-in-one product that will be welcomed by those who want hassle-free protection from malicious Internet activities. The Parental Control feature is a bonus.

Computer Peripherals

The G15 has six programmable macro keys, where you can dedicate specific instructions to individual keyboard keys.

More often than not, a fully customisable mouse stays merely on the wishlist of hardcore gamers. But this dream may be a reality with Logitech's G9 Laser Mouse.

The nifty gadget takes customisation to a whole new level, with features that allow you to modify practically every part of it, giving the best personal form and feel. One of the G9's as-you-like-it features is its interchangeable grips which deliver long-lasting comfort and precise fingertip control, to give that winning edge when gaming.

Even its weight can be altered. You can choose from hundreds of weight settings and manually add up to 28g in the mouse. Gamers can also create different profiles via a range of settings including its specified keyboard macros and dots per inch (dpi) settings.

# The G9 is out at all authorised dealers for $169.