PC tech support: Apple shines, say our readers

Which computer company is tops in terms of free tech support? Don't expect it to be anyone on the Windows side of the computer world.

Our latest survey on computer tech support, conducted by the Consumer Reports National Research Center and drawn from our readers' personal experiences with 10,000 desktop and laptop computers, finds that Apple owners have much to smile about. Apple's tech support was able to solve Mac problems more than 80 percent of the time, according to those surveyed who used Apple's support.

Overall, however, the news isn't stellar when it comes to using tech support to fix annoying computer problems. According to those surveyed, problems were solved for only about 60 percent of those who actually had to contact a manufacturer for help. What's more, many computer makers' free technical support policies end in a year or less. (One notable exception is, again, Apple. Free phone support runs out after 90 days, but you can get unlimited support at Apple stores—if you live near one.)

As such, salesmen will try to pitch an optional, extra-cost "extended" service plan. Our general advice is to skip such pricey extended service warranties. But if you absolutely need the hand-holding or know you'll travel everywhere with your laptop, you might want to consider one—especially since our latest report on extended service plans for computers (available to subscribers) finds that a few companies' extended plans do offer significantly better tech support compared to their limited free services.

ConsumerReports.org subscribers also have online access to more information, including which laptop tech support and desktop tech support scored among the lowest in our readers' satisfaction (Hint: It's a top-selling computer maker) and how to get free computer help.

Microsoft cuts prices on Vista

Price alert: Microsoft is dropping prices on certain versions of its Vista operating system, starting with the release of Service Pack 1 in mid-March.

The upgrade version of Vista Home Premium will drop from $159 to $129, although pricing for the full version will remain the same. The full version of Vista Ultimate will drop from $399 to $319, and the upgrade version goes from $259 to $219.

You can already get a better deal on Vista from Amazon.com, where the Home Premium upgrade is selling for $95 and the Ultimate upgrade for $195.

But that's only a good deal if you want Vista. There are plenty of XP users sticking to that older, tried-and-true operating system, and plenty of Vista users "downgrading" back to XP themselves.

—Donna Tapellini

Vista to XP: The world's most popular downgrade

One year after Microsoft Windows Vista hit the market, public response to it has been underwhelming. True, most buyers of new Windows-based home computers get Vista pre-installed by default; but that's not exactly the same as beating down the door for Vista's glitz.

Meanwhile, many techies, IT departments, and just plain home users are either holding off upgrading or actually converting back from Vista to XP, thereby introducing a backward-looking term into the forward-looking world of technology: downgrading. At the tech forums on Microsoft's Web site, for example, you'll find a hefty number of posts dedicated to doing just that.

With retail sales of XP now scheduled to end by June 30, a movement to save Windows XP has formed. At SaveXP.com, created by the IT publication Infoworld, more than 75,000 people (as of early February) have signed a petition to Microsoft demanding that Windows XP be kept available indefinitely.

Here are kinds of Vista gripes cited by people arguing to save XP:

XP’s Encore

XP loyalists take heart -- if you’ve been hesitant about buying a new system because you don’t want Vista, take a look at Dell’s Web site. The company is offering four Inspiron and two Dimension models with XP as an optional operating system. Gamers or others looking for high-end systems will find XP on a few XPS systems.

Since the launch of Vista, several manufacturers did keep a few XP PCs on hand, but they were oriented toward business users. Dell is the first we’ve seen with consumer systems. The XP-based Inspirons are the 1405, 1501, 1505, and 1705; the Dimensions are the E520 and E521; the XPS systems are the 710s. You can choose from XP Home and XP Pro for the Dimensions and Inspirons; the XPS 710s also let you purchase XP Media Center Edition.

You have to dig around to actually find the systems. From the Home & Home Office Notebook/Desktop shopping page, look for the logo on the right side of the page that asks, “Still looking for XP?”; or go to Dell’s Ideas in Action page, which is where Dell announced the program. It has links to the Inspiron and Dimension models.

The company says it made the decision based on extensive customer feedback. The lesson: If you want something, speak up. You just might be heard.

-- Donna Tapellini

How reliable is Vista?

Did you ever have the feeling that something wasn’t quite right with your PC? Vista’s Reliability Monitor can validate your intuition and help you diagnose your computer’s ills. Or, if your PC is in the pink, it will tell you that as well.

The Reliability Monitor tracks failures that occur over time, then ranks your system on a scale of 1 to 10 (10 is best). A graph depicts the status of your system day-by-day. But you get more than numbers and a pretty picture: Daily listings of events like hardware and software failures paint a more detailed picture of problems that may have affected your system’s operation at a particular time. The events tracked by Reliability Monitor are:

• Software (Un)Installs: Software installations and removals including operating system components, Windows updates, drivers, and applications.

• Application Failures: Application failures, including the termination of a non-responding application or an application that has stopped working.

• Hardware Failures: Disk and memory failures.

• Windows Failures: Operating system and boot failures.

• System Clock Changes: Significant changes to the system time are tracked in this category. (This appears only when a time change occurs.)

• Miscellaneous Failures: Failures that impact stability and do not fall under previous categories, including unexpected operating system shutdowns.

To view the Reliability Monitor, click the Start menu, then right-click on “Computer” and select “Manage.” In the Computer Management console, click on the arrow next to Reliability and Performance in the left pane, then on the arrow next to Monitoring Tools, and then on Reliability Monitor.

You’ll see your system’s daily score at the top right of the screen. Recent failures are weighted more heavily than past failures, so you’ll see improvement over time once a reliability issue has been resolved. Icons below the graph point you to instances that were problematic: Yellow triangles with an exclamation point indicate minor problems; an x inside a red circle represents major troubles. Vista updates the Reliability Monitor once a day as long as the system was turned on.

The Reliability Monitor is more than just a tool for confirming how things are going. If you’re porting older applications to a new computer, or running them for the first time on Vista, Reliability Monitor can show you what’s going right and wrong. It’s also useful for tracking down errors and troubleshooting problems. As a first step, check the category the problem occurred in from the list above. Or click on specific dates to see determine when problems began. For example, Reliability Monitor might report that errors in a software program started occurring only after your last update. If the Monitor shows that hardware memory errors began after you installed more memory, you can check to see whether the new memory is faulty.

A low reliability number doesn’t mean system failure is imminent. If you see a 1.29 on your Reliability Monitor—as we did on a home system—don’t panic. In our case, that low number began climbing back up, albeit slowly, as problems resolved. What caused the score to drop in the first place was the gradual installation of old applications onto the new system, as well as attempts to patch problems, use incompatible utilities, and install hardware that lacked Vista patches. In fact, that system’s score has risen back to 7.22.

As with any new operating system, you’ll probably encounter some rough spots with Vista, especially at first. Reliability Monitor can help you get through them and maintain your computer into the future.

--Richard Fisco, Senior Project Leader

Vista check: An OS tool confirms startup pains

As with using any new computer operating system, pioneering Microsoft's new Vista OS is an activity with high potential for failures, troubleshooting, and cussing. And unlike any other OS before it, Vista comes with a tool that allows you to monitor how well (or how poorly) Vista is working on your computer.

We've been running the tool, known as Vista Reliability Monitor, on a new desktop since the beginning of February. It uses a scale from 1 (worst) to 10 (best). According to Microsoft, the Monitor's score considers how well the system has handled time changes and software uninstalls. It also scores a full range of failures, including those by applications that stopped working and/or were terminated; the hard-disk or memory; and Vista itself.

The score for our PC, shown in the screen shot (click for a larger view) above, is currently 3.07 and has gone lower than that--as low as a dismal 1.29. The low score reflects the unfortunate reality of new operating systems, as well as the (admirably) tough way the Monitor scores Vista performance.

New OSs never work with every peripheral and piece of software right off the bat. Some components do make the transition from old OS to new seamlessly; we had no trouble with our PC's printer and external USB hard drive, for example. But many more don't work or play well with the new system, at least at first. If you load applications that aren't yet compatible with Vista, the Monitor takes note and responds by lowering the index score. Trying stubbornly to reload those applications just to be certain they don't work further degrades the score. The same applies to trying out supposed updates to the application that also don't work and using (obviously unsuccessfully) hardware that doesn't yet have working Vista drivers.

Utilities like disk defraggers, antivirus software, and firewalls are especially notorious for failure to work with new OSs. With Vista, Microsoft has built the utilities you'll likely need, except for antivirus, into the new OS, but in versions that are less full featured than the third-party versions, and you may want to pay to upgrade the Vista versions (which generally aren't available yet).

Consumers of a new OS, then, are to some degree trapped in a corporate technology tussle. Microsoft may say it's up to the third-party hardware and software makers to have all their applications, drivers and firmware updated for the new OS. The third parties may counter by saying the new OS should be able to run all the existing software and hardware with no updates necessary.

What does our test (and the above reality) mean if you're poised to go Vista? They add to the good reasons not to rush into using the new OS. If past OSs are a guide, the landscape will change for the better. More drivers and application fixes will invariably arrive through Vista's first year, culminating in the first service pack, probably in the second half of 2007. By then, the hardware and software manufacturers should have most if not all of their products Vista-compatible.

Already have Vista, or can't wait to buy a new PC until the bugs are worked out? You may then want to use Monitor to confirm (or challenge) your feeling that all is going well, or badly. I'll cover how to use the tool in another blog entry soon.

-- Richard Fisco, Senior Project Leader

How to keep your new Vista PC safe

If you’ve installed Vista on your PC or are planning to do so, it’s important to update your security software as well. In fact, if you have a current subscription to security software, check your vendor’s Web site to make sure there is a Vista version currently available—not all the security-software vendors have Vista software ready.

Although Vista is being touted as a more secure operating system, you still need to take additional steps to protect your data. For starters, you don’t get antivirus software with Vista. The antispyware bundled free with it, Windows Defender (we tested the beta version last summer), did not score as well as other programs.

Different providers are using different methods to help their subscribers keep up to date. In addition, how you do so will depend on whether you’ve bought a new PC with Vista installed or upgraded your old computer with Vista. Keep in mind that if you bought a new PC and want to transfer a subscription from your older system, you’ll probably have to remove the software from the old PC first, and you’ll most likely need a key number to get the new version. If you’re upgrading a current PC to Vista, some vendors, including Symantec, recommend updating your security software before you switch to Vista.

Here’s the latest from a sampling of security-software providers:

BitDefender
BitDefender Antivirus 10, Antivirus Plus 10, and Internet Security 10 are all Vista-compatible and free to current subscribers. Check the site at http://promo.bitdefender.com/vista.php.

Computer Associates
The only CA product currently Vista-ready is its antivirus software. Antispam should be available mid-February, and others will follow during the month of March. Check the CA Web site at http://home3.ca.com/stcontent/vistaready/index.aspx for the latest additions and update instructions.

F-Secure
F-Secure currently has beta versions available for its Internet security suite as well as its antivirus software. Final products will be available online in May and in stores in June. Subscribers will be eligible for free upgrades. For more info, go to http://www.f-secure.com/vista/consumers/.

Kaspersky
Kaspersky’s Anti-Virus and Internet Security are both available for Vista. Current subscribers can download them free at http://usa.kaspersky.com/vista/.

McAfee
You need to be a subscriber of the 2007 version of any McAfee software if you want to run it on Vista. Upgrades to the Vista-compatible versions are free to current subscribers.

If you’re a McAfee user who bought a new Vista PC, uninstall the McAfee software from your old system if you want to use it on your new one. Then log on (using the e-mail address and password you set up when you originally bought the software) to http://us.mcafee.com/root/myaccount.asp to download a Vista version for your new system.

For McAfee subscribers who upgrade their existing system to Vista, McAfee software will automatically upgrade to a Vista-compatible version. The exception: subscribers who manually install McAfee updates will have to download the Vista upgrade themselves.

Symantec
Norton Internet Security 2006/2007, Norton AntiVirus 2006/2007, and Norton Confidential are all available for Vista. The Symantec site at http://www.symantec.com/home_homeoffice/themes/vista/compatibility.jsp has more information on Vista-compatible products.

Users who subscribe to the 2007 versions of Internet Security and AntiVirus should uninstall the old Norton software and download the trialware from Symantec’s Web site. You’ll need your product key (available in your Norton Account, the CD-ROM sleeve, or the confirmation e-mail if purchased online). The trialware will automatically be converted to an activated product with your remaining subscription. If you have the 2006 versions of those products, go to www.symantec.com/07upgrade for an assisted upgrade.

Trend Micro
Trend Micro Internet Security 2007 (formerly PC-cillin), Trend Micro AntiVirus plus AntiSpyware 2007, and Trend Micro HouseCall all work with Vista. If you are currently subscribed to Trend Micro Internet Security PC-cillin 2005/2006/2007, go to http://esupport.trendmicro.com/support/viewxml.do?ContentID=EN-1034344 for instructions on how to change to the Vista software.

Zone Alarm
Zone Alarm products are not currently Vista-compatible. A company spokesperson says a beta should be available for ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite in the next couple of weeks, with the final product likely being released in April. ZoneAlarm subscribers will be able to upgrade free when it’s available.

-- Donna Tapellini

Digging up a few more Vista deals

Even though the hype surrounding the launch of Windows Vista and the new version of Office has died down, you can still get some good deals. Here are a few we found recently:

Staples is offering free, in-store installation with the purchase of Vista Premium, Ultimate, or Business until March 31. You can also get any version of Office 2007 installed free.

You can upgrade free to Vista Home Premium if you buy certain Dell desktops or notebooks with 1GB of memory. Those include the Dimension E520, E521, or C521, and the Inspiron 1501, E1405, E1505, or E1705.

Save a few bucks on software at Costco, where you can pick up the Vista Premium Upgrade for $144.88 (it’s $159.99 at BestBuy.com) or Office Home and Student 2007 for $122.22 ($149.99 at BestBuy.com). Sam’s Club has comparable prices.

If you bought a computer pre-installed with Office 2003 after October 26, 2006 (and up until March 15, 2007), you can upgrade to Office 2007 for free (plus processing costs and shipping and handling). Visit this Web site for more info.

-- Donna Tapellini

Windows Vista's firewall: cracked plaster?

We've just confirmed what some bloggers have been telling savvy users: Microsoft Windows Vista's outbound firewall is not very effective out of the box.

Windows Vista, according to Microsoft's features list, has a greatly-improved Internet firewall that can block both inbound and outbound unauthorized communication. (XP's firewall only blocked inbound.) The importance of outbound blocking is made clear by looking at the growing number of "zombie" PCs on the Internet, linked in "botnets" controlled by spammers and other miscreants to send out thousands of spam messages, act as servers for criminals, or steal personal information.

A good outbound firewall must assume that a "Trojan horse" program — one that sends an "I'm here, ready to be controlled" message to an attacker — might get on the PC through some unprotected breach, such as software downloaded from a shady website, a USB thumb drive, or another PC on a home network. With that assumption, the firewall should block communications from any program that's not in its list of known, trusted programs, notifying the user that a new program is trying to "reach out" to another computer, and asking the user to explicitly allow or deny it to do so, hopefully supplying enough information to let the user figure out if it's a good or a bad program.

Vista's outbound firewall has no mechanism for this. The only way you can block a bad program is to know it's there (unlikely in the case of a Trojan horse), know its exact name and where it is on your hard drive, then go into an obscure interface in Vista's Computer Administration Control Panel and enter that information. If a malicious program renames or relocates itself (common in the case of malware), your blocking will be rendered ineffective. Vista doesn’t warn you of any of this.

The best firewalls use two built-in lists of programs — those that are OK to allow outbound communications, and others that are definitely not: keyloggers, dialers, mailers, spambots and the like. At the least, a firewall should block any new program it doesn't know about and give the user some help in setting up a rule to block or allow it. Vista's firewall fails this basic requirement.

So, even for Vista users, our usual computer security advice stands: For an extra measure of security, especially where others may use your PC or home network, use a third-party firewall. Most of the major security software companies offer firewalls, or suites containing a firewall. If you use one, be sure to turn off Vista's firewall, as the two may conflict.

— Dean Gallea

Upgrade your operating system — without Vista

If you’re not inclined to plunk down $100 or more for Windows Vista, you can give your XP-based system an overhaul easily and without spending a penny:

Download Internet Explorer 7. This version of Microsoft’s browser adds tabs to your searches. More importantly, it addresses several security issues with features like a phishing filter and malware protection. You can pick it up free here.

Grab the latest Windows Media Player. Vista places a lot of emphasis on creating, storing and organizing your photos, videos, TV shows, and music. You can set up a simplified media library with Version 11 of Windows Media Player. Download it free from here. 

Knock out spyware. Windows Defender comes with Vista, but you can download it free for XP and IE7. It will scan for and remove spyware; Microsoft also claims if provides real-time spyware protection, meaning it looks for certain behaviors and modifications of your system that could be caused by spyware. Here’s where you can download Windows Defender. 

Get gadgets and a sidebar. Vista adds a sidebar to your Desktop, where you can organize gadgets (applets like weather reports, newsfeeds, clocks, live Webcams, and more). You can create a similar set-up using Google Desktop or Yahoo Widgets.

Do universal searches. You can search your e-mails, call up a Control Panel application by typing a keyword in a search box, find an item on your Desktop, and perform a variety of other searches all from one search box in Vista. You get much the same functionality using Google Desktop.

— Donna Tapellini

A Vista PC for the rest of the house

 

HP built its new all-in-one desktop, the TouchSmart IQ770 ($1,800), with your kitchen in mind, as well as your family room, dining room, bedroom ... you get the idea. Loaded with features that emphasize entertainment and family living, it’s also the first PC we've gotten with Windows Vista preinstalled.   

The TouchSmart has more connections than we've seen yet on a home computer, including six USB ports, two FireWire ports, Bluetooth, Ethernet, and Wi-Fi (a, b, and g). For watching TV and listening to music, there's an analog A/V input, analog and digital surround sound out, analog and digital (HD) TV tuners, a remote control, and an FM radio tuner. 

At the heart of this PC is the HP SmartCenter, a convenient touch-screen user interface that borrows a lot of its look and feel from Windows Media Center, within which it runs. The main screen shows time, date, local weather, and a small slideshow of your pictures. From here, you can launch other functions, such as TV and music players, using just your finger on the 19-inch, 1440x900-pixel monitor. You can also jump to the normal Media Center interface, drop to the Windows desktop, or use a Web browser. 

There’s a family message center that uses electronic “sticky-notes” to communicate and remind. You can also record your voice or draw onto notes and attach them to calendar dates. There were a few rough edges; it was a bit slow to launch, and we couldn’t play a voice-note directly from the calendar, but the program could be useful. 

The TouchSmart’s Vista Home Premium OS runs in full Aero mode, transparent windows and all. You can operate this PC with your finger thanks to a screen mode that expands the size of buttons, icons, and control elements on the screen, even on normal Windows programs. The SmartCenter interface even lets you pop up a keyboard on the screen for one-letter-at-a-time text entry into notes, but the keys are arranged in alphabetical order rather than the traditional QWERTY layout. 

Though adequately sensitive to our fingers, the touch-screen was sometimes off target, and there wasn’t a way to recalibrate it, as far as we could find (though we're still looking), but we got used to the quirks. You can tilt the glossy screen up and down to fit underneath a cabinet. But you can't turn the screen to avoid glare, or rotate it to the left and right, an inconvenience if you want to watch TV while cooking on the stove. It proved fairly resistant to fingerprints, and could easily be wiped. 

The TouchSmart takes up a lot of countertop space, similar to a large microwave oven, measuring about 22 inches wide, 14 inches deep, and 18 inches high. You can store the wireless keyboard under the front panel (but not the wireless mouse), and there’s enough space behind the screen to fit a snapshot printer, with the prints coming out through a slot below the screen. 

TV pictures looked good, with a bit of the noise artifacts common to PC-based TV images. Through the Media Center features, you can record and store programs, and pause and rewind live TV. Speakers lacked bass but otherwise sounded good. Waking up the computer from sleep mode took only a few seconds, one of the improvements Vista provides over XP. 

The TouchSmart, as with most HP PCs we’ve tested recently, is loaded with promotional software from HP and its commercial partners. Fortunately, you can uninstall it and remove unwanted icons and links. HP supplies a 60-day antivirus subscription, and a number of content-creation and editing applications. But it’s not set up for home office work; you’ll need to install some productivity apps for that. 

To see how well it would handle a sophisticated PC game, we installed Quake 4. It was eminently playable, if not quite as smooth as the high-end gamer PCs we’ve tested. But the TouchSmart is a powerful PC, and seems to pack in a lot of features for the price. It runs on a Turion 64 X2 processor with 2 GB of RAM. Other specs include Nvidia GeForce Go 7600 512 MB graphics, a 300 GB hard drive, DVD-RW, memory card reader, microphone, wireless keyboard and mouse, and a bay for HP’s accessory Pocket Media Drive that can serve as a backup drive. 

As far as using it in the kitchen, we just wonder how long the keyboard will last before crumbs start getting embedded under the keys! 

— Dean Gallea

Intel's new chips a reprieve for Moore’s Law, but what about Windows users?

Intel’s announcement on January 27 of the “biggest change to computer chips in 40 years” promises that Moore’s Law, which says that computing power doubles every 18 months, will continue for years to come. That’s good news for Intel, computer makers, and, in some respects, consumers. Tomorrow’s computers, powered by 45-nanometer transistors (devices so small that 2,000 can fit on the head of a pin), will be even better at displaying YouTube videos, rendering digital photos, converting music into mp3 format, and the like. Smaller computers should also become more powerful and use less energy, thereby extending the battery life for whatever portable devices we use in 2012.

Still, it’s ironic that Intel’s announcement coincides with the release of Microsoft Windows Vista, the first new Windows version in five years. Since digital computers first arrived more than half a century ago, software capabilities have always lagged behind the hardware. Vista is a case in point: Its user interface is catchier than earlier Windows versions, though it is merely playing catch-up with Apple’s OS X. Vista is supposedly more secure than Windows XP, though makers of antivirus and antispyware software are producing Vista-compatible versions, suggesting that they expect to stay in business for the foreseeable future. Even Microsoft itself is selling a service, OneCare Live, to protect people from its own operating system’s expected flaws. And recent news suggests that the spam epidemic, far from waning, is on the rise again, even though technological solutions exist that could put a big dent in spam.

Truth is, the requirements for the proper care and feeding of Windows computers — from keeping the computer in tune to keeping intruders out— are way beyond the interest level and free time of most non-technophiles. Equipping computers with even more powerful, compact, and efficient processors provides sufficient horsepower for changing that. But a far better experience for computer users won’t come to pass unless, and until, Microsoft becomes far more aggressive about improving computing for the majority of consumers.

— Jeffrey Fox

Software shopping on Vista Eve

Walmart’s 22-cent sale and other marketing marvels

Should auld operating systems be forgot
And never brought online
Should auld OSes be forgot,
As for Vista we wait in line
(with apologies to Robert Burns)

Having blown the lucrative holiday season by shipping the consumer version of Windows Vista a mere five days before Super Sunday, Microsoft tried to make amends to retailers today by throwing a coming out party in Times Square with a live appearance by Bill Gates. All that was missing was a Waterford ball dropping at 11:59 to mark the arrival of, well, January 30.

Meanwhile, online retailers are busy making up for lost time and profits by offering discounts on boxed versions of Vista and Office 2007, support services to take the sting out of upgrading from XP, and new PCs with Vista pre-installed.

Some online deals I came across are reminders that caveat emptor applies as much online as it does in brick-and-mortar stores:

• Renowned discounter Walmart is offering a deal on Vista Home Premium, Full Version that was breathlessly described as “below the manufacturer’s suggested price, so we cannot show it here.” To see the price, I had to add it to my cart. So what was Walmart.com’s price for a product that lists for $239? An astounding $238.78 — a full 22 cents below list (see image above). That doesn’t include an estimated shipping cost of $4.97, bringing the total to $243.75. Even with the shipping, Walmart.com may be cheaper than buying local, but not by much. Walmart’s discount on Office 2007 Standard Upgrade was even more minuscule—just 8 cents below the $239 list (not including shipping).
• For those looking to upgrade from XP, I couldn’t find the upgrade version of Home Premium at Walmart’s site. But Samsclub.com is selling it for $144.88, while Compusa.com was charging $159.99 with free shipping. A major shopping bot listed prices at several other online retailers ranged from $155 to $179, in some cases with free shipping. It pays to shop around.
• For $19.99, anyone who brought their PC in to Circuit City by 3 pm today and bought a copy of Vista or Office 2007 can pick up their computer, fully upgraded, at the store just after midnight tonight. Were people that desperate for Vista that they’d drive back to their local Circuit City at midnight? Presumably, anyone who took this offer had created a backup copy of all important files on their hard drive and thoroughly researched the Vista-compatibility of their printer, scanner, and other peripherals before taking the plunge.
• CompUSA is offering, until March 31, an “experience guarantee” to anyone who has Vista installed in-store or at home by CompUSA. If you don’t enjoy Vista, the store will uninstall it, reinstall your original operating system, and refund your purchase. The fine print warns: “Our guarantee does not cover data loss,” so you’d better do a thorough backup beforehand. Any restoration has to be done with 14 days of installation and you are responsible for restoring data, files, settings, configurations, drivers and applications, which can be time-consuming. I almost forgot: CompUSA says it doesn’t guarantee that Vista will be compatible with all your hardware or applications.

— Jeffrey Fox

Take Vista for a test drive without leaving home

Want a firsthand look at the features behind the Windows Vista hype without making a midnight run to the computer store? You can take Microsoft’s new operating system for a quick test drive by going to www.vistatestdrive.com. The site installs a browser-based tool that allows you to control a Vista-based "virtual machine" over the Internet.

You can follow Microsoft’s script, which lets you try out about 18 features, including gadgets, Sidebar, search, and the calendar. You can also explore on your own. 

The test drive actually uses the Vista Business version, but it still covers some of the Vista highlights you might be interested in. You won’t see Aero, however, or some of the other new graphical features. 

You’ll need Internet Explorer 6 (or later) and a broadband Internet connection. You should set your monitor’s screen resolution to at least 1024 x 768. One caveat (and it’s a big one): If you have a slow Internet connection, don’t bother taking the test drive. The virtual machine needs a lot of bandwidth, and it crawls on a slow connection.

— Jeffrey Fox

XP after Vista: Act now if you want this "classic"

So where do all those “old” Windows XP systems go once Vista is released? There will still be a few out in the stores once Tuesday rolls around, and you might be able to get a good deal on them. But you should probably move quickly.

Take Best Buy, for example. A spokesperson for the electronics retail chain told us they will have “a few” XP systems available after the Vista launch. He wouldn’t be specific about sales or promotions, but it’s not hard to figure that they’ll want to unload whatever remaining inventory they have.

For online buyers, the availability of XP systems will depend on the brand. Toshiba plans to keep selling XP units on its Web site for at least the near future. Dell, on the other hand, will stop selling XP-based home systems on Tuesday (business systems will still be available with XP).

One thing you won't have to worry about, though, is support from Microsoft. The company recently announced that it was extending its "Mainstream Support" for Windows XP Home Edition and Windows XP Media Center Edition until April 2009 and "Extended Support" until 2012. That should give you plenty of time to wait out any early Vista bugs — or hold off until you buy a new PC. That said, XP-based computers won't be around much longer, so if you want one, you should probably buy one sooner rather than later. Your best bet for a good deal: Try the retail stores first.

— Donna Tapellini

Podcast: A brave new year for electronics?

No doubt about it. The CES and MacWorld trade shows generated a lot of buzz. In this edition of the Consumer Reports Electronics Podcast, our editors and experts analyze the big news from both shows and how these announcements will shape the products in consumer electronics and computers we'll see this year.

Here's a rundown of this 25-minute-long podcast, with links relevant to the topics discussed:

1. A brief introduction
2. At 2 minutes into the show, Paul Reynolds and Jim Willcox discuss HDTVs, including:
   Pricing
   Advanced display technologies such as SED, LED, and OLED
3. At 11 minutes 40 seconds into the show, Donna Tapellini, Dean Gallea and Tom Olson discuss Computers, including:
   New operating systems such as Windows Vista and Apple's Leopard
   Apple's iPhone
   Novel uses of Windows Vista's SideShow feature
   Advances in wireless network connections
   DigitalFreedom.org, a Web site advocating "consumer rights" to digital media and technology
   MyGreenElectronics.org, the industry's efforts to promote recycling and enviornment-friendly electronic products

We obviously couldn't cover all the important news from the trade shows and still keep the podcast to a managable length. So feel free to browse our posts and you'll read some great coverage about new portable GPS navigation units, the failing attempts to end the battle over high-def DVD formats, and unique new products, including a Mac "tablet," a USB device that captures handwritten notes, and a new thin digital camera with a powerful but unobtrusive zoom lens.

You can download the current podcast directly to your hard drive by right-clicking this link — or just click here to subscribe. 

Tell us your thoughts about this podcast by e-mailing us at: podcaster "at" cro.consumer.org.

We look forward to your responses and we hope you'll check in regularly for the latest posts.

— Paul Eng, Web Senior Editor

Untangling the pre-Vista web

It’s chaotic out there if you’re shopping for a new PC. Whether you’re a bargain hunter or someone in need of a new computer right away, you could experience some confusion as you try to figure out which operating system you’ll ultimately be running.

That’s because Microsoft is a few short weeks away from releasing Vista, the latest version of Windows. If you’re buying a PC now, before Vista’s release, you need to carefully plan your purchase if you intend to upgrade later. There’s a coupon program called Express Upgrade that will entitle you to some version of Vista when it’s available. The upgrade will most likely be free, but there are some instances where you’ll have to pay for it, either a nominal shipping fee of about $10 or even $100 for the actual upgrade.

We visited several retail chains and Web sites to try to sort things out. Here’s what we learned.

Computers are supposed to be labeled "Vista Capable" or "Vista Premium Ready," depending on which version of Vista they’re configured for. But not all PCs are correctly labeled. A salesperson at a major retail chain told us that at least 20 percent of the systems for sale are missing the label that lets you know they are Vista Capable or Vista Premium Ready.

Even if the label is there, you need to be aware of which version of Vista you’re going to get under the upgrade program. Whether you’ll receive Vista Basic, Premium, or Business with your coupon will depend on the computer you buy and its hardware and operating system, as well as the way the individual manufacturer set up the upgrade program and maybe even the retailer.

Our advice: If you don’t want Vista, you should be able to save $100 or even $200 on a new XP system as retailers try to sell off old inventory. Savings could increase as Vista’s January 30 release gets closer. You can get many updated features even without getting Vista. For example, get the Media Center Edition of XP for entertainment features, and download Internet Explorer 7 for safer browsing. Of course, always make sure you’ve installed good third-party security software with a two-way firewall.

If you must buy immediately, plan for an upgrade to Vista Home Premium. (For most people, Vista Basic doesn’t offer enough to justify the upgrade.) Look for a system with the Vista Premium Ready label that’s equipped with XP Media Center Edition (or XP Pro, if you want Vista Business). Get at least 1GB of RAM and a third-party graphics card with 256MB of memory. Integrated graphics might be a bit more risky, but many options work fine, including Intel 950 or ATI 1150. Then check with both the retailer and the manufacturer before you buy to make sure you’ll be able to upgrade that system to Vista Premium. Microsoft has a Web site that takes you to various manufacturers’ Express Upgrade program details.

Don’t forget to fill out and submit or mail your Express Upgrade coupon. And be prepared to wait as long as a month or two after Vista’s release for your upgrade to arrive.

Finally, if you don’t need a computer right away, hold off for a few months. By then, most drivers should be updated and some of the bugs common with new operating systems should be settled.

— Donna Tapellini

Macworld: Gadgets, lawsuits, and Microsoft's micro-presentation

When you attend a show like Macworld, it's very unlike the CES experience because there is a different focus. Despite the Apple name change, and the firm's gaining ground in the consumer electronics market, the Macworld Conference itself is still very much about software — innovative, creative application solutions for office, home and play. This is what one sees most on the show floor at Moscone Center, lean and hungry developers vying shoulder-to-shoulder with established software giants for the Mac consumer's dollar. Then, of course, come the hardware peripherals and the "accessories" for Apple products, from Mac hardware "modding" (see picture) to protective cases for your iPods, to designer bags to carry them all. There's tech books, there's food, there's even a place to get a massage. "Gadgets", as we've come to understand them, are fewer in number here than at a trade show like CES (unless of course you think an external hot-swappable 4-disk mini-RAID unit counts as a "gadget" — I might). But with diligence, one does run across the occasional gem.

However, with all the news late yesterday and much of today being dominated by Cisco's lawsuit against Apple over trademark infringement, I spent my morning yesterday asking the Mac faithful their collective take on the whole business. There were people stopping by the Mac user groups tables and other public areas only too happy to talk with me. Most of those I spoke to, however, barely suppressed a yawn over the story. To them, lawsuits come and go; it seems to come with Apple's territory (remember "Rendezvous" that later had to become "Bonjour?"). While many were willing to concede a legal point or two to Cisco, I sensed no general hostility toward the company. But would anything blow up in Steve Jobs' face? Probably not, opined most. There would be some more legal posturing and press releases, then the back-room dealing would begin anew, papers would be signed, some money might change hands, and it all quietly goes away. If Steve ends up renaming the thing, he'll make everybody think that was his idea all along, another example of the Jobs Reality Distortion Field.

CES: Microsoft's serving platter for content

As I mentioned earlier, Microsoft introduced a new product at Bill Gates' keynote event on Sunday. It's Windows Home Server, a platform for a network-connected box containing a huge amount of hard-drive storage. The idea is that the box will store all the content — music, pictures, video — a household wants to share among its PCs and media players, as well as a managed backup of all users' documents and data files.

Since then, more details have been disclosed, both through official Microsoft channels, and via blog postings from some of the WHS developers.

The HP Media Smart Server (pictured) will be the first WHS product to market, scheduled for release in the second half of this year. The best guess I could get on its price was "about $500," so we're talking about much more than a backup drive. This is a product for a multi-computer household.

The Windows Home Server operating system, which is still in beta, is slated for release June 22. Unlike all other versions of Windows, it's not meant to be accessed through the usual keyboard, mouse and monitor; in fact, there isn't even a way to connect them. If needed, the user configures the server through a web interface, called the Windows Home Server Console, similar to the way routers and some backup drives are configured.

CES: Vista's SideShow takes center stage

Just about every PC we've seen at CES is running Windows Vista (the version released to volume-license customers in November). In case you missed it, you can read and watch our Vista First Look here. Then, if you want to watch Sunday's Bill Gates keynote presentation, Microsoft has posted a video here. (You'll have to wait -€” or fast-forward -€” through the opening promo spot.)

It's inevitable that Windows users will migrate to Vista, at least when they purchase their next PC. There are some compelling reasons for doing so, including such new tools as Vista's desktop Sidebar, which contains "gadgets," small programs anyone can write to add functionality to Windows (similar tools, such as Google Desktop and Apple's Dashboard are already available to users of other operating systems). Building on the Sidebar is SideShow, a set of tools that allow gadget programmers to use additional, small displays attached to the PC or in connected devices. I didn't realize the versatility of this feature until I visited the huge Microsoft booth at CES and saw a showcase of SideShow examples.

The first SideShow example (above) represents what we were expecting to see on some Vista laptop lids, this one an Asus model. It displays the date, time and other information even when the laptop is in standby mode, using very little power. There's a small menu navigation pad to interact with the display, selecting the information you want to see, as well as an "off" switch.

The next SideShow (at left) is a speaker that doubles as a Media Player for music, showing the playlist and some buttons to control the player.

The Gates of Vista

No Consumer Electronics Show would be complete without Microsoft's annual dog-and-pony show, in the form of a keynote by none other than Chairman Bill Gates. On Sunday evening, the lines began to form hours before they opened the Venetian's huge ballroom to media and exhibitors.

Gates' presentation was peppered with phrases like "the digital decade" and "connected experiences", with Vista — Microsoft's new version of Windows, due January 30 — taking center stage, poised to provide "the key element that's missing" to tie home computing to entertainment and mobile information, because "they've got to work together!"

But none of that is new: Microsoft has been trying to promote its vision of a Windows-centered, highly-connected lifestyle for years. Vista is now the vehicle that the company hopes people will use to "connect up to services" — Microsoft-speak for subscription-based products offered by them or by "partners." Microsoft's Justin Hutchinson showed a couple examples: Office Live — an online workgroup communications service aimed at businesses — allowed him to "roll back" a Word document to a previous version. Audience members chuckled as he said, "it's better than going back in time," an obvious reference to Apple's expected introduction at this week's MacWorld of "Time Machine," a roll-back scheme to be included in Mac OS 10.5 "Leopard." Hutchinson then used some "rich" (a favorite Microsoft adjective) photo editing tools to add life to an illustration, and linked an address to a Windows Live satellite mapping website that allowed a cool 3-D "flyover" of the Las Vegas strip.

Those things are incidental to Vista, though. So what things were revealed about Vista itself that we hadn't seen yet? Well, Ultimate Extras, for one. These are applets that will be downloadable — presumably for free — by purchasers of Windows Vista Ultimate, the fanciest version of the OS. One, called "Groupshot," allows users to easily merge the best parts of two similar, but imperfect photos into one ideal one. Another lets you use a full-motion movie clip — not just a still picture — as your Windows desktop background. Whether these treats will entice consumers to pay the steep additional price for Ultimate remains to be seen.

Gates introduced a new product called "Windows Home Server", a network-connected box looking like a small desktop computer containing a lot — maybe terabytes — of storage managed by a special version of Windows. The idea is that the box will store all the content — music, pictures, video — a household wants to share among its PCs and media players, as well as a managed backup of all users' documents and data files. This could be a useful extension of simpler network drives, such as those we reported on a few months ago. HP is slated to be first to market, with its HP Media Smart Server scheduled for release in the second half of this year.

We waded through a heap of glowing demos of "connected entertainment," which Gates said that consumers want (so it must be true). We did see a clip of the new Halo 3 computer game that demonstrated impressive physics (gamer parlance for the realism in the motion and interaction of moving objects) using the new DirectX 10 programming interface now beginning to be supported by new graphics processors under Vista.

Finally, as is his trademark, Gates walked us though a fanciful "home of the future" in which cookie recipes are projected on a kitchen counter in response to plopping down an RFID-chipped bag of flour, and an entire bedroom wall is changed on command from a seashore to a racetrack to grandma's wallpaper, complete with a clock and a hanging picture in motion. Quite far in the future, we'd say, in contrast to Vista, which will be here this month.

— Dean Gallea

Technorati tags: gates, microsoft, vista, ces, windows

CES: A sneak peek at some gadgets

'Twas the weekend before the start of CES and all throughout Las Vegas, every creature was stirring — even the mouse!

Pardon the bad pun on a holiday classic, but that is often my impression of the "behind-the-scenes" work that I observe regarding the day or two prior to the annual CES event.

It seems every single carpenter, electrician, handyman, trucker, sign-hanger, and computer networking technician is racing to convert the estimated 1.7 million square feet of exhibit space of both the Las Vegas and Sands Convention Centers into the massive electronics circus that so many of us in the press and the industry expect every year.

Still, amid the bustle of construction and other preparations, there are some pretty nifty things to report. At CES Unveiled (a pre-show event for members of the press only), a few dozen selected companies showcased some of the latest and pretty innovative products that will be on the show floor.

These three products in particular caught my eye as examples of some of the expected trends (discussed earlier in our Electronics Podcast) we're tracking here at the show and beyond.

Not to mention, they're very unique — if not quirky.

A laptop with a view for Vista

Microsoft's new Vista operating system will offer a lot of new features and capabilities for PCs. One of them is SideShow, the ability to display brief bits of information — calendar appointments, e-mail, to-do lists — on a secondary screen.

ASUS claims it will be one of the first laptop manufacturers with a model ready for Vista's SideShow. Company officials say the W5Fe's second screen will enable mobile workers to stay on top of their e-mail or display maps and navigation information while the laptop remains closed. ASUS hopes the W5Fe, which will be available around when Vista ships from Microsoft at the end of January, will help propel the company beyond "boutique" status, as makers of PC gear and specialized laptops aimed at hardcore geeks.

PCs: Vista news expected at CES

Both Microsoft, which makes the operating systems used in most personal computers, and Apple, which provides its own OS for its Mac computers, will be rolling out new operating systems this year. CR's Tom Olson will be sharing his expectations for Apple's upcoming OS X 10.5 Leopard, which will likely be a centerpiece of MacWorld next week.

Here’s what I’ll be watching for at CES, where Windows Vista, the new Microsoft OS, promises to be among the big stories:

• Hybrid hard drives (planned by Hitachi, Seagate and Samsung), which will be required for laptops to be certified for use with Vista Home Premium. These use a flash-memory buffer, so the hard drive only needs to work when that buffer is full. The idea is to better control power consumption and save battery life while maintaining fast data access.
• Sideshow, a small display built into your laptop’s case or another location that lets you view certain items like a calendar, address book and instant messages.
• Quad processors, which are already showing up in high-end gaming PCs for about $4,000.
• More powerful integrated graphics to accommodate Vista’s Aero interface.
• Vista’s improved security features, and how security software vendors will be accommodating them. Vista will have a two-way firewall, better control over software installation, Service Hardening to block malicious software, and BitLocker to encrypt the hard drive. Microsoft was also recently looking into several reported security flaws in Vista.
• New consumer entertainment devices that work closely with Vista’s features or with Intel’s “Viiv” features that are preinstalled on some new PCs.

Aside from Vista, I'll be looking at the newest products for networking computers in your home wirelessly, and for interacting with your computer. Stay tuned.

— Dean Gallea, program leader in computer testing

Technorati tags: windows, vista, ces, viiv, intel, microsoft, hybrid

Electronics Podcast: CES & MacWorld Preview

This is a special edition of the Consumer Reports Electronics podcast, covering the coming Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas and the MacWorld Conference & Expo in San Francisco.

As previously noted, both shows will showcase exciting new consumer electronics products, computer gear, and other digital devices that manufacturers and retailers will introduce to consumers this year and beyond.

Starting Jan. 8, we'll have a staff of reporters and analysts at both shows, posting about the latest developments and announcements here on this blog.

In the meantime, hear what our experts think will be the big news at CES and Macworld.

Here's the rundown for this 25-minute long podcast episode:

1. A brief introduction 
2. HDTVs: More features, lower prices, more competition? (at 1:58 into the show)
3. New Windows for PCs, new "Leopard" for Macs (at 8:26)
4. Mobile devices: Smaller, lighter, more powerful, less flaws? (at 18:34)

Click here to listen to this episode, or click here to subscribe.

You can also download the current podcast directly to your hard drive by right-clicking this link.

Tell us your thoughts about this podcast by e-mailing us at: podcaster@cro.consumer.org

We look forward to your responses and we hope you'll check in regularly for the latest posts.

— Paul Eng, Web Senior Editor