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(
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See all f/jg
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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
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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.
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