An explosively popular aspect of personal computing is "burning" CDs. In the past, I have discussed using CDs for archival storage, and described a variety of backup software utilizing CDs as the media, and the importance of the proper storage of the discs.
It seems that most users use the "limited edition", "lite", or "OEM" software that comes with their computers or aftermarket CD drives. For those people, I urge you to check the software publishers' websites for free software updates, as there have been some substantial upgrades released.
On my computers I had been using the Adaptec CD software that came with my aftermarket drives (updated at the new Adaptec site at http://www.roxio.com), as well as separate software packages for backing up data, and another title for fully functional music CD ripping and MP3 conversions. Recently however, I found an all-in-one package from the little known publisher "Stomp", which will be this column's "Jack" this week. I am now using the Stomp software, instead of the Adaptec that came with my drive.
Stomp is a privately held, five year old company out of Costa Mesa, California, producing a comprehensive line of eight CD software and utility titles. In addition Stomp produces a line of accessories including a "Clutter Buster" monitor mounted organizer to help straighten a computer desk (something I very badly needed), and light weight and inexpensive "DiscSavers", an effective substitute for CD and DVD jewel cases. Software is available in either PC or Mac formats.
Stomp's flagship product is their "Click'N Burn Pro" a comprehensive package of CD burning and related utilities. In one reasonably priced box is a simple to use, but very powerful music CD program that can interchangeably read, rip, convert, and write music CDs to and from any major format including MP3, WAV, WMA, or music CD tracks. Music from a variety of sources can be recorded directly to CD. In addition to processing music CDs, it also has the ability to write video CDs playable on most DVD players, which can be a huge money saver when compared to the price of the DVD writers now coming on the market. Of course standard data can easily be written and managed as well. Included is a CD copy utility, designed for fast and accurate backups of any music or data CD. Some of the other helpful utilities included are CD labeling software (for printing professional looking CD labels and jewel case jackets), music editing software, Veritas Simple Backup for making and managing backups of the hard drive, and Veritas DLA which is used to enable CD-RW discs to be formatted and function like a floppy or hard drive with its own drive letter. As a bonus, five of Stomp's DiscSavers are also included in the box.
I found Click'N Burn Pro on the shelf of several of our local stores for under $50, about half the price of the "Giant" market leader Easy CD Creator 5 Platinum. There is also a $20 "competitive" rebate from Stomp, which is good thru March, 2002, for users of prior versions of Click'N Burn or almost any other competitive product, making this "Jack" a true "Giant Killer". More information can be found on Stomp's website at http://www.stompinc.com.
Last week, our "Jacks" were excellent but lesser known antivirus products. Since writing that column, one of the listed "Giants" came out in a new version. McAfee just introduced VirusScan version 6.0. This new VirusScan is not just an updated antivirus program resolving some of the negative issues I brought up last week, but also includes an integrated firewall to help prevent hackers from gaining access to your computer while online. I found it in our local "club" store bundled with McAfee's Quick Clean version 2.0, a very capable hard drive cleaner, designed to remove useless files, cookies, internet debris, and other useless data from the hard drive. The bundle was $39.95, with a $40 rebate. Free, not including sales tax, was a very hard price for any "Jack" to beat. As I have said in the past, there is absolutely no reason, especially price, for all computer users not to have a modern antivirus program installed and properly updated.
It has been well documented in a multitude of published reviews that in most applications, an AMD Athlon chip will outperform a similar clock-speed Intel chip, sometimes up to a 20% advantage, while selling for less. Simply, this means that the AMD chip processes data more efficiently than a comparable Intel chip. The traditional naming convention for CPU chips has been their "clock" speed as a rough indication of their power, the higher the clock speed, the faster the chip. In terms of marketing, this traditional nomenclature has put AMD chips at a disadvantage, as AMD chips mostly outperformed Intel chips with the same indicated speed. AMD is attempting to resolve this discrepancy by implementing a new naming scheme for its new "XP" chips. Rather than labeling the chips with their speed, AMD is labeling their chips with a number indicating the speed of the Intel chip that they compare to in processing power. For example, according to an article published by ZDNET, the new Athlon XP 1800+ chip outperforms Intel's 2GHz Pentium 4 chip, even though the XP 1800+ runs at 1.53GHz. Pricewatch, http://www.pricewatch.com, shows the Pentium 4 2ghz chip selling for (best price) $515, while the AMD XP 1800+ is selling for $216, almost $300, or about 60% less than the Intel chip! With the older and slower chips on the market, AMD still undercuts comparable Intel chips, but with a less spectacular savings.
To be fair, again according to ZDNET, AMD chips do not always outperform their Intel competitors. Generally the Intel Pentium 4 outperforms the AMD chips when utilizing graphic intensive games such as "Quake 3", but the AMD chips outperformed the Pentium 4 at productivity applications, such as word processing and e-mail.
Similar comparisons have been published for the slower and older AMD Athlon and Duron chips, when compared to competing Pentium and Celeron chips. AMD often beats Intel in both price and performance. For the record, seven of my family's eight computers have AMD chips (one notebook has a Pentium 3 chip), and have performed well at prices lower than comparable Intel based machines. By the time you read this, I should have finished building another computer, the new one for my personal use, as I pass my current computer on to one of my daughters. It will have a fast AMD Athlon chip in it. AMD, this week's "Jack", continues to beat the "Giant" Intel.
In "Jack" Part 2, I discussed some of the smaller antivirus software publishers that had products possibly superior to the heavily promoted market leaders. Last week, as an addendum, I mentioned how our local "club" store had one of the antivirus market leaders "free" after rebate. I received several emails from readers informing me that there is possibly even a better deal. Grisoft, an American owned, Czech Republic-based publisher of anti-virus software for computer systems, with 11 years of experience, is offering its excellent AVG antivirus software free, for personal use. I researched the reviews on AVG, and found that they were generally very positive, and that it often outperformed both market leaders. Limited support, but unlimited updates are provided for the free version of the AVG software. A commercial version of AVG is available for server use, as well as a "premium" personal version, with unlimited technical support. The free version of AVG, as well as functional trial copies of the premium and server versions are available for download from http://www.grisoft.com. As I have said here several times in the past, there is absolutely no excuse for not having an updated antivirus program installed and running on any computer.
HOAX WARNING - in recent days, I have been inundated with emails alleging that a "friend of a friend" was warned by her Afghan boyfriend to stay away from the malls on October 31. While there are several variations of the message circulating on the Internet, other versions similarly worded but with a British twist, are circulating in the UK. All of the major hoax and urban legend sites have debunked the letter, and the FBI recently commented publicly that they had researched the allegations, and could find no truth in the warnings. Please, before sending such warnings to everyone in your address book, as the email asks, check out the accuracy of the statements. Some good hoax and urban legend sites are http://urbanlegends.about.com, http://www.snopes.com, and http://www.truthorfiction.com. Avoid embarrassment, and avoid causing unnecessary fear. Also avoid the senseless economic damage that these hoaxes can cause. Check them our before forwarding. It is as simple as that.
People forward these messages to others, often everyone in their email address book, hoping to protect them from harm. In many cases, these emails may do more harm than good. Not just do they fill up our email boxes with clutter and junk, but they also foster fear, spread terror, and do economic damage to innocent businesses. Even worse, they may become a "self fulfilling prophecy" as they give ideas to copycats who then turn the hoax into a reality.
Hoaxes can also be used to spread hatred and suspicion. One popular hoax, widely circulated in the mid-east and among vulnerable domestic individuals, was that the Israeli Mossad (spy agency) was behind the WTC attack, and the proof of it was that during the evening of September 10, and the early morning of September 11, the Mossad called 4000 Israelis and Jews employed in the WTC, and told them not to go to work on Tuesday. This is a well-documented falsehood, but widely believed by the gullible and those predisposed to anti-Semitism. Another case of an internet rumor fostering suspicion and hate.
In a lighter mode, some of these hoaxes and urban legends have spawned feature movies and prime time TV shows, showing the hoaxes in a reality format. A quality program, "Law & Order", a few years ago did a show about a man drugged by a prostitute, and having his kidney stolen while passed out. The show followed a script based on a widely distributed urban legend. The problem is that this exposure makes hoaxes seem more credible.
There are a variety of excellent and credible websites that have a positive reputation for researching and either debunking or verifying the accuracy of questionable emails. One of the first of the established and reputable websites to compile, investigate, and disseminate the truth about the WTC and Pentagon's tragedies was Snopes at http://www.snopes2.com/rumors/rumors.htm. Using an easy to understand color code, ranging from red indicating totally false, to green being totally true, Snopes has uncovered some amazing truths and half-truths among the blatantly false hoaxes. Some of the interesting, but possibly unbelievable facts circulating in cyberspace vary from a riveting pro-American editorial in a Romanian newspaper; to posters bearing Sesame Street's "Bert" appears on posters carried by supporters of Osama bin Laden. Other facts that may fall in the "stranger than fiction" category include the winner of the FOX reality TV show "Murder in Small Town X," a New York city firefighter, was killed during rescue efforts at the World Trade Center. A Canadian K-9 police officer, on a temporary disability leave, was suspended after traveling to New York to help search for survivors of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. While at "ground zero" he and his dog rescued, alive, a WTC survivor. His suspension created such a public outcry, that he is likely to be reinstated. In another real incident, a United Airlines pilot delivered a pre-flight speech in which he instructed passengers how to overpower any hijackers that might be aboard. A Starbucks store really did charge ambulance workers $130 for three cases of water intended for the injured during the search and rescue at the World Trade Center. Following a public outcry, the President of Starbucks sponsored a media event where he personally presented a reimbursement check for $130 to the New Jersey ambulance squad.
In the false category, there is no "Klingerman Virus", there was no detailed Nostradamus prophecy predicting the attacks on the WTC (it was written two years ago by a Canadian college student as a part of a paper showing the gullibility of readers); Osama does not own Snapple; there was no camera found with a photo of a NYC tourist on the WTC observation deck showing the inbound airplane (the observation deck was not yet open, and the angles and directions on the widely distributed photo are all wrong).
There are dozens of other WTC related emails being widely circulated alleging to have exciting warnings of pending doom or spectacular news or rescues. While a few have been true, and some even half true, the majority are totally false. Before forwarding to everyone in your address book, check out any email you receive asking you to forward it to everyone. Avoid the embarrassment of perpetuating a hoax, as well as the economic damage, hatred, and terror that the continued dissemination of these hoaxes can create. Some of the excellent hoax and urban legend sites are http://urbanlegends.about.com, http://www.snopes.com, http://www.truthorfiction.com, and http://hoaxbusters.org.
Think and research before you forward.
While reviews of Windows XP have shown some marked advantages, especially its resistance to "fatal errors", and the ability to shut down one crashed program without requiring the rebooting of the computer, there are still some very controversial issues with XP that may warrant some consideration before spending about $100 to upgrade from an earlier Windows version to XP.
Much of the technical computer press has had the opportunity to thoroughly evaluate XP. It is slick in appearance, and has a fresh new look and feel. It can better perform many functions than earlier Windows versions. It is designed to be more secure then 98, ME, NT, or 2000, with many security holes patched. Microsoft claims that XP is ready to handle the latest hardware and software technologies on the market, and Microsoft is mostly correct.
As is typical with Microsoft, any major new software release is wrought with controversy, and XP is no different. One of the first issues is Microsoft's anti-piracy effort. While it has always been illegal, it was very common for individuals to purchase one retail copy of the Windows upgrade version, and install the software on more than one computer at home, such as a desktop and a notebook. While discouraging the practice, as it deprived Microsoft of sales revenues, Microsoft tended to look the other way. This illegal, but widely accepted software piracy, helped make Windows the standard that it has become. With XP each retail copy can be installed on only one machine. Microsoft now requires an activation code for each copy of XP; if the software is not activated by phone or online, it will cease to function after 30 days. The activation key is generated by taking a snapshot of the key hardware components in the computer, and generating a large, coded number. This is matched against an embedded code in the software, and a unique key is generated. While it does indeed prevent installation on more than one computer, it creates other problems for the home or small office user. If more than a few items in the computer are upgraded, such as adding memory, changing the video card, or any of many normal hardware changes, the key will change, and XP may cease to function, requiring another call to Microsoft.
As stated earlier, XP includes several new security enhancements, intending to make it more secure against hackers while online. XP includes a firewall. Published tests indicate that while the XP firewall is less effective than most of the third party firewalls on the market, including the free ones like Zone Alarm, it also interferes with and blocks some of the other integral XP features, such as instant video messaging, and remote support. It is expected that in typical Microsoft fashion, a "service pack" will be released to address these bugs.
With the explosive use of wireless networking, XP includes integral wireless network support complying with the 802.11b standard. Tests in the computer press however indicate that while XP is designed to seamlessly integrate with wireless networks, many major makers of 802.11b hardware still do not have fully functional drivers for XP. Though the equipment may work flawlessly with Windows 98 or 2000, it often fails to function properly with XP.
The issue of hardware drivers, basically proprietary programs that make hardware work with software, is another current weakness of XP that will eventually be resolved. Many hardware makers do not yet have drivers for XP. Without those drivers, the hardware, such as scanners, modems, video cards, etc., will not properly function, or not function at all. While most of the major makers currently have or are preparing XP drivers for their current hardware, (the XP install disk contains a large library of drivers), much older hardware still in wide use will either receive XP drivers at a later date, or not at all. With the recent massive shakeout in the computer industry, there are many fine products still in wide use for which their manufacturers are out of business; it is highly unlikely that XP drivers will ever be available for these products.
XP is also a memory and resource hog. Tests indicate that 256megs of memory should be a minimum. Since most memory is currently cheap, adding memory before installing XP may be a good idea for many.
XP will do everything possible to get users to register for Microsoft's ".Net Passport" and Hotmail services. While ".Net Passport" is currently free, a MS executive has been widely quoted in the press (and it is in the license agreement) that MS may charge a monthly fee in the future. Pundits suggest that users get the "passport.com" email account rather than the Hotmail account. MSN plans to sell advertising to reach its registered XP users, and the default is "opt-in". Reports indicate that MS has already signed up over 300 vendors who will access the registration lists. There is no single "opt-out" method to stop all of the "spam" advertising, but MS will allow the user to opt-out individually to each advertiser.
MP3 has become a popular music format, with literally millions of users using the format for a variety of purposes. In order to avoid MP3 licensing fees, XP dropped built in MP3 support. A "fee-based" plug-in for the built in Windows Media Player is available. A variety of third party MP3 players are also available, but MS is trying to encourage the promotion of its own Windows Media format, rather than the current MP3 standard.
The entire system overhead comes with a performance price. In identical machines, when compared with Windows 2000, testing shows that XP is 25%-30% slower in performing the same tasks, while consuming significantly greater resources. One other possible source of inferior performance may be the default settings created by XP, which defaults to the older ATA/66 hard drive speed, rather than the faster ATA/100 common on most newer hard drives.
If your computer is more than a few months old, and seems to work okay with Win98, NT, or 2000, there is no pressing need at present to switch to the newer XP. Save your money or add more memory or a faster hard drive. This may be a better way to improve your performance than spending money on XP.
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