Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (March 10, 2010)
SIX - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, March 10,2010 An in depth look at Windows 7 By Pat Struthers Need to know for Win dows 7... Hardware consid erations: New hard drive, new video, 2 Ghz proces sor, 2GB o f RAM. If you already have a screen/key- board/m ouse, this (+W 7) could be built for as little as $400, as all o f you are prob ably aware. If the computer is less than five years old, it can probably be upgraded to this level, and will run W7 fine. Printers and other hardware - this began with V ista, b u t m any m a n u facturers, because o f M i crosoft’s new, more rigid, software guidelines, didn’t bother to write new soft w are for their products. This is particularly true for 64-bit versions o f XP/ Vista/W7. If it worked in XP, that was good enough; cynically, they figure you will soon be buying a new (printer, etc.) anyway. Any Vista comput er will run W7 faster and better. Windows 7 is just a re-written version o f Vista with some extra features. If your computer has less than 1.5GB o f RAM, I recom mend an upgrade to at least 2GB, but I would anyway even if you kept Vista on the computer. Adding 1GB of RAM shouldn’t cost more than S30-S50. Software consider ations: If you are using an old DOS/W indows 95/98 program, don’t expect it to work. It might with W7 Pro or Ultimate, but W7 works better and faster because M icrosoft threw aw ay a vast amount o f backwards- compatibility junk. As stat ed above, M icrosoft’s new software guidelines are very strict, and Vista and W7 en force those guidelines. How well an old program works will depend on how well the manufacturer complied with M icro so ft’s recom m en d atio n s in the past. Many old programs have or will fall by the wayside. 32-bit or 64-bit? All 32-bit flavors o f Windows limit your RAM to -3.5GB. Most people don’t need this much but who knows what the future might require. 64-bit drivers and software have to meet much more stringent standards, and do not inherit the types of backward-compatibility problem s the 32-bit ver sions might have. W indow s 7 b e n efited from the rocky start 64-bit XP and Vista had. 99% o f the hardware that works in W7 at all will work w ith the 64-bit version. The 64-bit flavor costs no more than 32-bit. In fact, a purchased license works for both versions, will be slightly faster, and has a better upgrade path. Also, most viruses are targeted very specifically at 32-bit XP and will not work right on 64-bit W indows. This may change in the future, as W64 becomes a bigger target. Hopefully, M icro soft has learned something from the security problems with XP. They are ahead of the game with 64-bit W7, and if they stay on the ball they might be able to keep ahead. What is new in Windows 7? -B etter org an izatio n for users. -Libraries - easier to or ganize docum ents, even across networks -Windows Explorer is use ful again -Taskbar and tray - easier to do more than one thing at once -B e tte r se arc h in g - can search for web pages, docu ments, and applications -Pretty! - Nicer media stuff. Why are ‘pretty’ and ‘nice’ important? I have actually gone back to using a lot of Windows apps that I learned to despise in XP. Now they actually work, they are nice to look at. And now Mac users can’t say their OS is better looking. -Voice recognition - clunky but works -Better ‘standards’ support. I use many, many, programs that are Open Source or ported over from Linux. All o f them work better in W7 than they did in W2K or XP. -Less ‘optional’ software. Microsoft has ‘unbundled’ a lot of the applications that used to come w ith W in dows, making them a free dow nload instead. These include the Live Essentials and S ecurity E ssen tials packages. -Better and more flexible maintenance tools. -More flexible and secure networking -More flexible power man agement -A utom atic disk d efrag ment -Much improved hardware detection and driver instal lation -Automatic backup (Profes sional) -File and folder encryption (Professional) -BitLocker drive encryption (Ultimate) -More stable, better secu rity, Harder to break, easier to fix. Recommendations: Just say “N o” to Vista. If you are going to by a new PC o f any kind, and you d o n ’t have old hardware or software you need to work, there is no Parents for Parents Committee to host St. Patrick’s breakfast for ages 12 and under. This fundraising event will help sponsor a speaker that will be coming this spring. T he P a re n ts for P aren ts C om m ittee was formed through the HES PTC from a group of par- T he P a re n ts for Parents Committee will be hosting a St. Patrick’s break fast on Saturday, March 13, from 7-10 a.m. at the Senior Center on Main Street. The price is $6 for ages 13 and over and $3 HES celebrates Dr. Seuss’ birthday ents that were struggling with parenting decisions. The goal is to provide par ents with opportunities to learn ways to parent more effectively. The com m it tee’s hope is that parents never feel that they are alone with these struggles and to provide empower ment to each other. Past projects have included: the Smart Hearts Fair and Career Fair, speak ers such as Mac Bledsoe and M ichael Sedler, and P aren tin g w ith D ignity question. Buy a Windows 7 PC, period. The Vista fiasco paved the way for better hardw are, as well as train in g the softw are manufacturers to build bet ter software. W7 benefits from all o f that. You can buy the cheapest possible new computer and it will run W7 very nicely. If you have a Vis ta PC that just isn’t quite stable, or else you happen to have an extra $ 100 or so to spend on it, you should upgrade. All the hardware w ill w ork, and you will have a faster and m ore stable computer when you are done. Which version for what? Home: If you have basic needs, do not need to be able to run badly w ritten W indows 95/98/ XP programs, don’t need to connect to a Domain. $105-5150 Professional: Auto mated backup and restore, file and folder encryption, XP emulation mode. $ 140- $ 200 . Ultimate: Full drive encryption, m ulti-lingual capabilities. $180-5300. U p g rad es ( d o n ’t recommend doing this....): XP Home, Vista Home - W7 Home, $60-$75; XP Pro, Vista Biz - W7 Pro, $75-$ 105; Vista Ultimate - W7 Ultimate, $120-$200. Optional software (Live Essentials and Se curity Essentials): Secu rity Essentials - excellent anti-spvw are and system policing; Live Mail - re placement for Outlook Ex press; Live Messenger - the latest version of Messenger; M ovie M aker - a good starting video editor and DVD burning tool; Family Safety - a free monitoring/ content filtering; Photo Gal lery - a picture and album organizer. How to buy? Best way is alwasy to buy the OEM version, use the M icro so ft Easy Transfer program (and also do a good backup to some thing else), and do a fresh install. ‘Upgrades’ always end up inheriting problems from the previous setup. OEM can be pur chased mail order. ‘OEM ’ means that Microsoft will not take support calls from you. That is your (the ‘man ufacturer’s) problem. Retail versions are much more expensive; the best way to get them is to buy them directly from Mi crosoft’s online store. You can have them send you the disk, or just purchase a product key and download an install image and bum a DVD. Census office opens in Heppner DVD classes. The commit tee will continue to bring more of these opportunities to the area in the hopes to bring families and commu nity closer. For more informa tion about the comm ittee or upcoming projects, con tact any o f the following members: Jessica Lehman, Molly Rill, Nicole Mahon ey, Lisanne Currin, Brandi S w een ey , K ay F o w le r, Carri Grieb, Matt or Kami Combe, Sherry Matteson or Andrea Fletcher. KUMA Coffee Hour keeping the tradition alive Heppner Elementary School celebrated Dr. Seuss’s birthday and National Read Across America Day on March 2. The K-6 grade students and many parents were entertained with two songs from Mrs. Stone's choir class, a poem recited by Mrs. Allen's class, and a reading of “Horton Hatches an Egg'' by Mrs. Allen. Then the students read Dr. Seuss books for a half hour in small groups. Picture are: Back Row (L-R)- Mrs. Allen, Patrick Collins, and Naleah Stone; Front Row (L-R) - ZaBrena Masterson and Logan Waddell. -Contributed Photo Come and join the fun and tradition o f Hep- pner’s Wee Bit O ’ Ireland entertainment on Saturday morning, March 13, at 10 a.m., upstairs at the Elks Club in dow ntow n H ep pner. The broadcast is live on the KUMA Radio Show and is the longest running trad itio n o f the c e le b ra tio n . Jim F arley started the St. Patrick’s Cel ebration by having KUMA b ro ad cast live from his Ford Showroom 28 years ago. The broadcasters have changed over the years, however, there is still the music, the jokes, and the leelkeiid!!Ä> ;áásiLIPaluick'sM family histories all in tact. The Irish Singers, featuring John Doherty and Mike Duffy give us tradi tional Irish songs to clap along with, and sometimes to jo in in on the chorus singing. A featured event o f the morning is the Brogue Contest. People from the audience are encouraged to come up and tell their favorite (clean) Irish story and try a brogue at the same time. The winner gets $50 in gold coins, with second place getting $30 and third place receiving $20 in gold coins. Come and join the tradition on Saturday morn ing. The US census has opened an office in Heppner at the St. Pat rick's Senior Center. The office will be staffed by John Renfro and will be open 1-4 p.m. every day except Thursday and Sunday to answer the public's questions about the upcoming census. “We will help people fill out census forms that will be delivered by hand to each house in the next week,” Renfro said. The office will open through April 15, 2010 he said. Photo by Autumn Morgan M.C. Creative Arts and Crafts to hold annual St. Pat's sale M o rro w C ou n ty C reative Arts and Crafts will hold their annual St. Pat’s sale at Les Schwab store front from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday, and 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday. Among those sell ing will be: Mary Ella John son w ith crochet cotton rugs; Dennis Wall and his wood items and hand-tied flies; B everly M cC loud Kiwi Italian Soda $Z for Z4 oz Chocolate chip Mint Frappe $ 3 for 1 6 oz Irish Creme Latte fZ.75 Peppermint patty Mocha $3.75 Espresso Specials- S t P a trick’s Schedule Friday, March 12 yam-ypm Saturday, March 13 8am- 6pm Sunday, March 14 8am- 3pm M ember I- l)l( -a See all f/jg n e » W 8r&eris miocK ^p\ants When experience & knowledge in mortgage lending matter to you, come talk to us! We’ve been serving our eastern Oregon rural communities for over 65 years. We’re experienced! We’re knowledgeable! We’re local! r Large Selection of St. Patrick’s Day Ite m . k* Party • Press up • Cards • Decorations New Sweat Shirts & Long Sleeve ft T-shirts for St. Patrick’s Day ^ IHiM iï Ihm CaU Melissa Lindsay ê Mortgage Manager BEO Mortgage Division 1 877 472-6217 New Hours- Monday -Friday Opening 7:30 am! **> « » *-*? « 217 North Main • H appnar • P hono 878-9158 • Floral «7« »428 Serving Heppner, Lexington A lone Rx 9 avn- 6 >pm Closed 1 -Z lunch ______ Saturday 9 am- 6 pm ____ - - www.beobank.com [You can even apply online!) \ I with wool rugs, hot pads, dish cloths and coasters; R o b ert R eed w ith b ird houses, small folding tables and m iscellaneous wood items; M ona Shade with colorful rugs; and M olly Day w ith p ain tin g s and painted feathers. Raquel Herra will be selling tamales. Also, the paintings o f Sherrill Parrot will be on display. I
