Slow Opening Excel files or Word Files over the Network

Jessy just sent this tip over to me this morning:

This is an old issue from about 6 months ago that I encountered this morning. If a user complains about slow opening or Excel or Word files check in Add/Remove Programs (Win7 or XP) for the Office File Validation Add-In update. If its there remove it and reboot. The issue will be resolved. This update causes those files to get stuck over the network when opening.

Jessy Marker

Direct Download Links for MS Office 2007/2010 Suites

Here are some quick links for downloading full setup installer for Microsoft Office 2007  suites and other related applications:

Office 2007 Direct Download Link

• Microsoft Office Professional 2007
• Microsoft Office Small Business 2007
• Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007
• Microsoft Office Standard 2007
• Microsoft Office OneNote 2007
• Microsoft Office Publisher 2007
• Microsoft Office Visio Professional 2007

You will need to provide the installed Office program a genuine and legal product key to successfully activate it.

Microsoft also publishes the trial version of Office 2010 suite products at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/try/, which allows free usage for 60 days. A free product key will be given, and user is required to activate the trial version of Office 2010 within the first 30 days after the installation to utilize the full functionality of the Office 2010. The 60 days trial period will begin only after Office 2010 is activated.

Office 2010 Setup Installer Direct Download Links

Microsoft Office 2010 (Retail Channel) Single Image

• English 32-bit (x86): X16-32007.exe
• English 64-bit (x64):X16-31970.exe.

Microsoft Office Standard 2010

English 32-bit (x86): X16-32324.exe
English 64-bit (x64): X16-32361.exe

Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010 (Retail Edition)

English 32-bit (x86): X16-32250.exe
English 64-bit (x64): X16-32213.exe

Is Java really bad for your computer’s health?

I had a couple of clients ask me about whether they should be turning off Java in their computers as has been suggested they do by the Homeland Security announcements this past week. At first the only articles that I saw was the NPR posting and no one else seemed to be talking about it. This weekend shows a torrent of opinions out there suggesting that if you don’t need Java access online business functions you should probably consider turning off Java Scripting in your browsers. If you feel that you could be a target and have critical information that could be compromised then by all means turn this off. Be aware though that this kind of issue is not just associated with Java.

Hackers also use other popular programs for their exploits as well. This is one of the reasons we suggest our CCI Security Suite Software product to insure that your system is always up to date with the latest patches and multiple anti-malware products. The response from Oracle is that the problem only exists with people that have installed the Java Development Kit and that leaves most of us out. But if you are concerned take a look below on how to turn off this feature in your favorite browser.

Chrome

Type "chrome://plugins" into your address bar. This will bring up a new tab. Find the item on the list that reads just plain "Java" and click below it where it says "Disable" in blue. Restart your browser.

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Safari

Choose "Safari" and then "Preferences" on the taskbar or hit control and comma simultaneously (⌘-,). Click "Security" on the top row of the new window. Uncheck the box that reads "Enable Java" if checked. Restart your browser.

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Internet Explorer 8,9, and 10

Go to the "Tools" menu and select "Manage Add-ons." Go to the left of the window that pops up and in the drop-down box below the heading "Show:" select "All Add-ons." Scroll down the list on the right of the window until you find a subheading under the category "Group" that reads "Oracle America, Inc." Select each item and disable it with the "Disable" button in the bottom right-hand corner of the window. Restart your browser.

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Firefox

Go to the "Tools" menu and select "Add-ons" or hit ctrl, shift, and the letter 'a' simultaneously. Select "Plug-ins" on the left-hand side of the new tab that shows up. Scroll the list on the right-hand side of the screen until you find an item that reads "Java (TM) Platform [somethingsomethingsomething]." Click the "Disable" button on the right. Restart your browser.

---

And there you go. If you really, really want to, you can uninstall Java entirely as well, though that's not necessary. You can find the official instructions for how to do so on OS X here, on Windows Vista, 7, and XP here, and on Linux (!) here.

Is A Bookless Library In Your Future?

An article published in GIZMODO brought to my attention that San Antonio is planning a new kind of library for their patrons. While my preference is to read or listen to books electronically I this isn’t what the majority of the people out want to do. Take my daughter Jennifer, every time that I bring up the discussion of how I consume my literature she tells me that she can’t do it that way. She thinks that the best thing to do on a rainy day is to lay on the couch and read a good book. My mother, after my father’s passing, is slowly shedding herself of some of the technology items that he had. One as the Nook that he used to read with. She would rather go to the library to get the book. I believe she uses it as another excuse to get out of the house and to meet and greet people. You know, socialize.

But, I am firmly in the camp of the group of people that if I can get it electronically, that is my preferred method of consumption. I like having my whole library at my fingertips. I purchase all of my technical books that way so that I can have them available on any device that is at hand. I have even convinced my wife to come over to the dark side, we both have our own kindles on the same account so we can easily acquire and share books together. Its great to see or hear about a book and have that instant gratification of downloading to your device the moment that you want it.

With the advent of the library electronic book sharing system, it has gotten even less expensive to grab that new book or old classic and to have it on your device for a couple of weeks to read it leisurely before it terms out and is brought back into the system. You don’t have to actually visit the library to do this, just sign up for a library card. (Don’t forget to send in your donations to support these kinds of services).

San Antonio’s new book-free library comes with a special name called “Biblio Tech” and they intend to open the first one in the fall of 2013. This is all a part of the a Bexar county wide project. They are not forcing you to BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) either. They plan on supplying e-readers (e don’t know which one at this date) to their patrons. This brings up the worry of theft but hopefully they will be able to work that one out as well.  The system puts a time limit of two weeks that you can have the e-reader before it goes dead, and since the library has the patron’s phone number and address in their records this should be enough of an incentive not to be negligent in returning the devices to the library.

This is an interesting new direction for the public library system to take, but there is still something to be said to going into a library to do research using the old tomes that can be found there. In Ligonier where I grew up, the town Public Library is not just a place to get a book. It is also a place to come and socialize. To get away and maybe sit down with the weekly paper or a magazine. We tend to forget in all of our running around and attempts to streamline our lives that there is something to be said in the simple browsing that you do as you walk through the shelves of books in a physical library. So as you may have noticed through this article that I have a slight change of heart from the beginning to this last paragraph on my feelings about a totally digital library, I feel that Library that still has books on its shelves is an important part of our culture but making available the ability to access books electronically is also an important future service that should have available by our libraries.

Office 2013 free Download

If you have purchased Microsoft Office 2010 between the dates of October 19, 2012 and April 30, 2013 you can get the next version of Microsoft Office for free as soon as it is available.

1. All you need to do is buy and activate Office today.
2. Sign up for an email reminder to be notified when you can redeem you offer. Sign up for the offer.
3. Download the new Office when it comes available. After you receive your email notification, return to this website, www.office.com/offer, to download the new Office.

Go to this website for more information on the products that qualify and how to process your offer.

Dragon Naturally Speaking Home Edition 2012

The home addition of Dragon NaturallySpeaking is not only an expensive but is so much more responsive and more accurate than using the built in Windows 7 voice recognition software. It makes voice dictation so much simpler and allows me to quickly and easily dictate my blog posts. I think I will be using this a lot more often both at home and in the office. It will help me and quickly getting email messages sent to allow me to create more descriptive information then I would if I were just typing them out.

The commands are very simple and straightforward and seem to be intuitive to what you are trying to accomplish. The learning curve is very short and training it for your voice which allows you to get up and running very quickly. I have noticed that the command sidebar positions itself on the screen and is best viewed on a widescreen monitor. This is something I don’t have at the office and may have to prompt me into finally replacing the screens as I have been thinking about.

I find the response is much faster than the Windows speech recognition program and I am not constantly slowing down waiting for the program to recognize what I am saying. One downfall that I have seen so far though is that Live Writer doesn’t seem to work with this program directly. So I need to create my document inside Word first and then drop it into live writer program. I am not sure that this is all that bad because I find that Microsoft Word seems to have a better grammar checker then does Live Writer. And Lord knows that I need all the help that I can get!

As a whole I am very happy with the purchase, and I think I will get very good use out of this product. If anyone else is using this program and would like to make comments on their experience with it I would love to hear from you.

Private Apps function now available in the Google Play Store for Android

One of primary focus’s at Computer Connections is with our business customers. We spend a lot of our time supporting their software and hardware integration and maximizing their mobile and desktop productivity. With the emergence of more and more android development applications for us to use the ability to add customized applications to your mobile Android devices (phones and tablets) becomes a big bonus. This makes the Android environment more friendly business environment as well as better environments for government and educational users as well.

To setup this capability all you need to do is enable it in the developer console and then you can upload applications to the Play Store. This new section will allow a user to browse, download and update internal applications without the need to sideload them. To find out more information on this jump to Google Enterprise Blog located here.

• Google Play Private Channel for Google Apps

• Sign in to your control panel
• Google Play Developer Console help center

Windows 8 touch PC demand strong

I am seeing quite a few posts lately stating that they are starting to see a demand trend towards Windows 8 machines with touchscreens. Personally I wouldn’t want a PC running Windows 8 without a touchscreen because the ability to have direct interaction with the screen greatly enhances the Windows 8 experience.

We have recently set up a four screen set up in our showroom (see the picture to the right) and it turned out beautifully. We also have an All-in-One touchscreen and even though I like looking at the four screen setup I find the touchscreen on the All-in-One to be more enjoyable to use. I can only see this as getting more important to a user when the have a laptop, convertible or tablet with Windows 8 on it.

There are some reports of touchscreen shortages that are attributed to this demand. In general a touchscreen device is more expensive than a non-touchscreen one, which tells us that people really want this capability in their new purchases. It will be interesting to see if this trend continues and if the touchscreen products will start to be produced in greater quantity and hopefully the prices will start to come down.

Let me know your thoughts!

Windows 8 Drivers for Xerox Documate Scanners

Press Release: We are seeing drivers become available for Windows 8 very quickly. Xerox sent out this notification today. If you have a Xerox Documate Scanner go to: xerox.com

Dear Xerox Documate Scanner customer,

As a registered user of our Xerox Documate scanners, we are pleased to announce that all drivers for its most popular professional and consumer scanners have been updated and deemed fully compatible with the new Windows 8 operating system. New and updated drivers are now available for immediate download.

“We are committed to giving our customers a favorable scanner experience with full operating system compatibility and our engineering team has worked diligently to ensure that Xerox DocuMate® products are compatible with the new Windows 8 OS,” said Walter Thinfen, chief information officer and vice president of support and services at Visioneer, a Xerox licensing partner.

Availability of Drivers
Windows 8 drivers for Xerox DocuMate scanners are available immediately on the Xerox Scanners.com support page. Driver support for other Microsoft operating systems can also be found at this website.

We appreciate your business and loyalty. If you have any other product inquiries, please call us at 925-251-6399, Monday through Friday 7 am to 4 pm PST.

Thank you,
The Xerox Scanner Support Team
http://www.xeroxscanners.com/en/us/support/

Microsoft Surface Pro–coming in January…

So we finally have some initial specs and pricing for the upcoming release of the Surface Pro tablets. Basic specs include your choice of either a 64 or 128 GB SSD, i5 processor, 4GB RAM, 10.6 inch 1920x1080 10 point touch screen (this is higher resolution than the Surface RT, 1366 x 768), a Digitizer Pen for Pen input, Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n), Bluetooth 4.0, 42E-h battery, (2) 720p front and rear facing cameras, microphone, stereo speakers, full-size USB 3.0 port, microSDXC card slot, Headset Jack, mini DisplayPort (that can output a 2560 x 1440 resolution), and the following sensors: Ambient light sensor, Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass.

Priced at $899 for the 64GB version and $999 for the 128GB version there are a couple things that concern me about this device. First and foremost is the short battery life. The Surface Team confirmed that it will get half of the 8-10 hour battery life that the Surface RT has. So at 4-5 hours that is really pretty poor for this type of device. Is is a powerful i5 Ivy Bridge processor so we should see good performance and with the unit only weighing in at less than 2 pounds, for many the battery life might not be an issue. However, I would have liked something between 7 or 8 hours to get one through a full day at work.

For a person on the go that wants the lightest computer  possible in a form factor that makes it great for doing intake data collection (medical) or a writer that is on the move this is something that might really work for you. I live with both my iPad and my Nexus 7 at my side pretty much 24x7. My phone is less of concern for me anymore since I have gotten a 7 inch tablet (I just slide the tablet in one of my pockets without a problem). It would have been nice if the keyboard had been included in the price but that will be something that you will need to add to your basket when you purchase this tablet. Also missing in this tablet is Microsoft Office, so you will need to add that back in as well.All in all if you are in need of tablet that will allow you to run your Windows 7 applications and want something that is light and in a tablet format then you may be a candidate for this version of the Surface.

Lenovo ThinkPad Twist

Lenovo has quite a few different offerings available with the new Windows 8 operating system and I agree with most of the reviewers out there that believe that Windows 8 is best when being used in conjunction with touch technology. So if you are looking for a Notebook and want to have the newest a greatest make this one of your must have options on the new notebook. I recently posted information on the Lenovo Yoga that is one interesting design, The ThinkPad Twist is reusing a traditional convertible PC design with the center post allowing the screen to swivel the screen to fold back onto the keyboard to give you a 12 inch fat tablet configuration. Priced from $829 to $1,129 with the primary difference in processors and the amount of RAM.

Weighing in at 3.48 pounds the Twist can easily be cradled in the crook of your arm or handled single handedly. The from factor lends itself well towards presentations which is probably why you would be considering this type of notebook in the first place. However, it is not as easy to handle as a true tablet would be which is characteristic of all 11.6 – 13.6 inch Windows 8 convertibles. The touchscreen is made of Gorilla Glass using HD IPS (in-plane switching) display for wide angle views, again great for presentations. It has a 1,366 x 768 pixel count  which is below the Yoga’s 1,600 x 900 display. I would liked to seen a little better resolution but it isn’t there. The shell construction is of Magnesium Alloy that provides extra durability and keeps it light and thin.

As with most of Lenovo’s laptops this one also has their ThinkVantage Active Protection System (APS) that uses an accelerometer to detect movement and stops the drive when a fall or similar event is detected. Rubber mounts are used for the hard disk drive to provide a little more protection. Other specs include a real Ethernet jack, two USB 3.0 ports, a mini-DisplayPort, a 3.5mm headphone jack and a mini-HDMI connector. There is  a memory card reader that is often left off of the smaller notebook systems.

Save for a few small modifications, this is more or less the same six-row, island-style keyboard Lenovo used on the X230 and some other recent systems. At this point, it's been at least six months since the company unveiled its latest keyboard design. The important thing to know is that the keys have about 30 percent more surface area than they used to. Meanwhile, the page up / down buttons have moved to the lower right area, so that they're clustered in with the arrow keys, arranged side by side instead of stacked on top of one another. It's also spill-resistant, like other ThinkPad keyboards before it. As for ergonomics, Lenovo has maintained that even though it's moved from a traditional spread to a chiclet arrangement, the keys should still offer about the same amount of pitch.

So what's new? Lenovo has added four Windows 8 hotkeys to the Function row up top. These include buttons for searching, settings, the app list and toggling between open apps. With regards to that last one, you'll see a row of thumbnails stretch across the screen, with each one representing an open program. You can click on them with your mouse or finger, of course, but you can also use the left, right and Enter keys to select the one you want. As I earlier suggested I prefer using Windows 8 with some sort of touch input device, but it's still nice to see Lenovo adding an extra option for people who prefer keyboard shortcuts. One missing feature is that the keyboard is not backlit which is something that I would have liked to seen.

Battery life is a little poor as well. Lenovo rates it at 7 hours but in battery tests using WiFi and streaming video only about 4 hours was the mean time of support. I have included a table from engadget showing some comparable system’s battery test times as well to compare their results. Other than this poor result from the battery life, a real road warrior may find this feature one that would prevent them from purchasing it. However, if long battery life is not an issue for you. then the other features add up to a very nice device.

Could the Start Button possibly come back to Windows 8

I am sure this would make a lot of people happy to see happen. Could the fact that Steven Sinofsky is out be enough of a change to make this happen? Since he is attributed to being the driving force for losing the Start Button this could be one of the results of his leaving. There are already patches provided by third party entities that bring the Desktop and Start Button back to the interface and it would be a great thing to have this as an option for corporate users. Big change isn’t good in the Corporate World because of the costs associated with retraining office workers with new programs and interface designs. Something along this line would greatly contribute to the acceptance of Windows 8 more quickly in business environments.

ASG V7 will end-of-life soon

  

Upgrade before end December 2012

Important: Version 7 of the Astaro Security Gateway (ASG) will end-of-life on 31 December 2012. On this date Sophos will stop all security patching, pattern updates, firmware updates and technical support for this version. If you still have an active installation of ASG V7 you should move to a newer version before this date.

Your migration options
You should migrate to the latest stable version of Sophos UTM 9 or ASG V8, both of which continue to receive security fixes and deliver ongoing protection for your company. For a complete list of current options, pricing, and any other questions you have please contact us at Computer Connections.

You can also take advantage of our special, limited-time opportunity to get a new appliance model at a discounted price through our Hardware Refresh Program! Speak to us to learn more.

Hardware
Hardware appliances running V7.510+ can use the option on the Up2Date menu to one-touch-upgrade to ASG V8. This brings you to the V8 platform automatically but requires further Up2Dates after the migration is complete to be on the latest version of V8.

UTM 9 is the successor to ASG V8 and includes a number of new features including the HTML 5 VPN portal and the option to add Endpoint protection. You cannot upgrade directly to this platform from ASG V7 via a one-touch operation. To move from ASG V7 to UTM 9 you will need to install UTM 9 and then restore a backup file. While your legacy configuration should import successfully, for best results you should first restore your backup into ASG V8 and then take a backup from that platform into UTM 9.

Software
Installations running an ASG V7 software appliance on their own hardware need to install an updated version and then restore a backup file of their configuration. This will apply all your settings except for log files and on-box reports. Logs can be exported in bulk from within the WebAdmin beforehand. Reports will begin anew on your updated platform as existing reports will be removed.

For further information or help upgrading please call us at 724-838-7526 and we will get one of our technical support team assigned to assist you.

Explore 100,000 Stars From the Comfort of Your Browser

Okay, if there was a question before this certainly shows how much of a geek I am. Here is a quick Stellar Map of the Milky Way that you can explore from within your browser. I could get lost in this for awhile that’s for sure. Run the site through your Google Chrome Browser for best results. 100,000 stars…

Interesting review on the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13 inch

Lenovo is definitely giving us many options with Windows 8 and Windows 8 Pro machines and here is one more example. Since CES I have been drooling over this design probably only because it is so much different. Priced in the UltraBook price range it is an interesting the mixed review that I have seen on it so far. The one thing I would hope for with this design is a more substantial hinge. In the early years when I had one of the first Microsoft Tablet/Convertibles.

Most consider the tablet function a little unwieldy which I can understand but I still come from a 15 inch display convertible that weighed in at a hefty 5.5 lbs so using a thin and light 13.3 inch unit is like heaven. If you feel that it might be a little big, think about deciding to downsize to the 11.6 inch version. Though it’s hdd is much smaller 65gb and the big difference is that is running Windows 8 RT. So if you need more power and function you have to stay with the larger unit.

Here are the basic specs:

• 360 degree dual- hinge flip design
• At 0.67" (16.9mm) thin and 3.1 lbs (1.47kg), the Yoga is the industry's thinnest convertible Ultrabook
• Powered by the next generation ("Ivy Bridge") Intel Core processor family and a Windows 8 operating system
• 8 hours of battery life
• Up to 8 GB of RAM
• Up to 128GB SSD storage (optional upgrade to 256GB)
• 13.3" screen with 1600 x 900 resolution and 10-point capacitive touch
• Design: Soft touch rubber paint on the exterior for strong grip, a leather cover on the palm rest, and side buttons designed for easier access for all usage modes
• Starting at 3.4 lbs
• Prices range from $999 to $1,549
• Expected Ship date mid December 2012

Take a look at these articles for more in depth reviews:

• Windows 8: Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga Flip - Jan. 9, 2012 by Paul Thurrott's Supersite for Windows
• Lenovo Yoga Review: This Is How You Build a PC/Tablet Freak Machine by Kyle Wagner Gizmodo
• Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13 review by Dana Wollman engadget

All in All I think that it is a buy if your are looking at this market but I have two concerns, the keyboard review and how well it will hold up and the sensitivity of the touchscreen.

Yoga 13 Tech Specs

Ultrasound gesture control for Windows 8

I caught this over at Engadget and watched the video that they provided. This looks really neat and I hope that it becomes a new addition for our PC’s and notebooks. With the addition of this type of interface you won’t need to touch your screen so it ought to stay much cleaner.Take a look at the video demo below I think you will find it interesting.

Press Release:

Elliptic Labs Launches First Commercial Touchless Gesturing Technology Using Ultrasound, Designed for Electronic Devices and Windows 8

Windows 8 Gesture Suite and SDK Available

PALO ALTO, Calif. – November 13, 2012 – Science fiction and futuristic movies stepped into reality today as a result of powerful new touchless gesturing technology from Elliptic Labs (www.ellipticlabs.com) based on ultrasound. Enabling consumer electronic devices to respond to natural hand movements all around a screen, Elliptic's breakthrough technology is the first of its kind commercially available and has been incorporated in the Windows 8 Gesture Suite, introduced today. See video here.

Elliptic is the leader in ultrasonic touchless gesturing for consumer electronic devices. Its patented, low-power, responsive new technology is superior to the limited, camera-based approaches on the market. The Windows 8 Gesture Suite enables a touchless version of all touchscreen gestures in the new operating system. Combined with Elliptic's SDK, the technology gives OEMs the flexibility to create disruptive new ways to interact with devices.

Elliptic's ultrasound technology uses sound waves and microphones to detect movement, similar to how radar detects objects. The technology is not limited to detecting movement within camera view - it detects natural hand movements that extend beyond the camera, surrounding a device screen.

"Microsoft's new Metro interface changes how consumers interact with the operating system and the design is a perfect fit for touchless gestures. Elliptic's Windows 8 Gesture Suite gives users a touchless version of the gestures they already know from a touchscreen," said Tobias Dahl, CTO and founder of Elliptic Labs.

"The future of technology lies in moving from touchscreen to gesture recognition, but to date, using cameras has proved limiting and unnatural to users," he said. "Ultrasonic gesture technology uses sensors to deliver its capabilities and extends gesture-space to all sides of the screen, ensuring that the technology is robust and - unlike cameras - can be used in dark and bright light. Our Elliptic Windows 8 gestures gives users full control of the new interface by simple intuitive gestures in 3D space, enabling a more natural and efficient way to work."

Ultrasonic touchless technology uses up to 95% less power than current camera image-based gestural systems, making it an attractive option for device manufactures around the world. Elliptic provides a Starter Kit for laptops; an out-of-the box solution that allows customers and partners to get started with ultrasound-based gestures without designing hardware. It also comes with an SDK that incorporates natural gestures into devices and delivers an extensive range of example applications. With the SDK, customer and partners can create disruptive new ways to interact with devices and applications beyond Windows 8. The set of controls allows using gestures for scrolling, selecting, rotating objects and controlling menus.

Elliptic's software is in high demand by large OEM, ODMs and component and chip manufactures that are looking to integrate new capabilities allowing consumers to interact with tablets, ultrabooks and smartphones.

Availability

Elliptic's Windows 8 Gesture Suite, Starter-Kit and SDK are available immediately. For more information, contact sales hello@ellipticlabs.com or visit www.ellipticlabs.com.

New Snagit Tutorial

I really like to talk about the products that are part of my toolbox set of applications. My thought is that if I find it useful that maybe you will also find it useful as well.

TechSmith has released a new tutorial on Snagit 11.1 that I found very useful and discussed quite a few capabilities that I had no idea existed. I use Snagit quite a bit not only during work to drop in information and pictures into my proposals and emails but also when I am creating my blog postings.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_LyJljzpfc&feature=youtube_gdata_player

So if you haven't subscribed to TechSmith's YouTube Channel you really should if you have any of their products. I have included the link below for you in case you are interested.

http://m.youtube.com/my_subscriptions?action_manage_subscriptions=1#/user/ChannelTechSmith

Microsoft Surface RT Available Storage Space

Windows RT comes with an overhead that you may not of know about. There is a reason you wouldn’t want a 16GB Surface RT tablet you wouldn’t have any storage space left over to load apps or data. On the 32GB Surface, Microsoft reports that 29GB is available. However, you will need to subtract 5GB‘s for Windows recovery tools and another 8GB’s for Windows RT, Microsoft Office and other built-in apps. That leave only 16GB’s for your use for storing music, pictures, video, documents and more apps…  On the 65GB model you will be left with 48GB that would give you a lot more breathing room.

Press Release: Visioneer Announces Windows 8 Compatibility for its Entire Document Scanner Line

So just if you were worried if you scanner investment would be for not when you moved to Windows 8 here is a message from Visioneer to assuage that fear:

Scanner drivers passed Microsoft standards of compatibility, reliability and performance
PLEASANTON, Calif., Oct. 30, 2012 – Visioneer®, Inc., a leader in intelligent imaging solutions and Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, announced today that through its development relationship with Microsoft Corp., Visioneer scanner drivers have all been tested and deemed fully compatible with the new Windows 8 operating system and are available for immediate download. Visioneer has updated the drivers for their most popular professional and consumer scanners so users can take advantage of the enhanced productivity of Windows 8.
“Visioneer is committed to giving our customers a favorable scanner experience with full operating system compatibility and our engineering team has worked diligently to ensure that our products are compatible with the new Windows 8 OS,” said Walter Thinfen, Chief Information Officer and vice president of support and services at Visioneer. “With Windows 8, Microsoft is delivering a foundation for advanced customer experiences across applications, services and devices.”
Availability of Drivers
Windows 8 drivers for Visioneer scanners are available immediately on Visioneer’s web site at support.visioneer.com. Driver support for other Microsoft operating systems can also be found at this web site.
About Visioneer
Visioneer provides a broad range of scanning solutions for the desktop, distributed and departmental document imaging markets as well as the mobile and remote business scanning segments. In 2003, Visioneer combined its leading scanner technology with the Xerox brand recognition to develop the Xerox® DocuMate® product line. Visioneer and Xerox DocuMate high-performance business scanners and imaging software solutions offer users speed, image quality, advanced paper handling and ease-of-use with exclusive Visioneer OneTouch® technology. For additional information on Visioneer and Xerox scanning solutions, visit www.visioneer.com, www.visioneer.com/company/news or www.xeroxscanners.com. For open commentary and industry perspectives visit http://www.facebook.com/visioneerinc, http://twitter.com/visioneerinc.
NOTE TO EDITORS: XEROX® and DocuMate are trademarks of XEROX CORPORATION in the United States and/or other countries. Visioneer® and Visioneer OneTouch® are registered trademarks of Visioneer Inc. All other companies and products mentioned may be trademarks of their respective holdings and are hereby recognized. Prices, features, specifications, capabilities, appearance and availability of Visioneer and Xerox products and services are subject to change without notice. © 2012 All rights reserved.

Tablets–Which do I find most useful?

It is funny that even after my bad experience last week with the Nexus 7 failing for me, I am back to using it more than I am my iPad. Each device has its own characteristics that make it more useful in different ways.

When it comes to videos and podcasts I find my iPad is a better choice most often because I have it in a nice case that holds it up at a great angle  and makes for easy viewing. I tend to use my Nexus 7 for gathering emails, working on my grocery list, calendar entries, and reading my RSS seeds while I am listening to podcasts on my iPad. It makes a great one-two punch.

Because I like the dictation functions on my Nexus 7, I use it quite a bit for doing my entry level work. It is humorous sometimes with the mistakes it makes but I can get you basic ideas down in print quickly and I can come back later to make any changes that need made.

It makes it very easy for me to sit here and discuss my thoughts and discuss my opinions quickly and easily without having to type them with my single finger typing skills that I have adopted with all of these glass keyboards. I have found that being a touch typist does not help me in this kind of situation.

I just can't find myself typing with my thumbs as I see many of my younger colleagues doing. I don't know it's my lack of motion with my thumbs or if it is just my lack of dexterity from years of typing. I do find myself massaging my hands a lot these days.

I keep looking at some of the new tablets now available and I find myself wanting to acquire them. The Microsoft Surface is very appealing but I wonder if I really need to have another tablet with a different interface and I hesitate because I am not sure I can run it through all of the functions that I would need to, to fully  evaluate  its full potential.

I think that if one doesn't make a product your primary device while you are testing it, I don't know how you can fully learn all of it's potential usefulness. I am still waiting for the Pro version of Surface to be released before I decide on which unit I will get. One of our current projects that Ken is working on is to set up a Windows 2012 server and create a VDI host for thin clients to access. The Microsoft Surface RT tablet would be a good example of a thin client for use in this case. Hence, the reason for Ken acquiring one for testing purposes.