Tech Blogs

NTEXT vs NVARCHAR(MAX) in SQL 2005 May 28, 2009

Posted by Bilal in Microsoft, SQL Server 2005.
Tags: 2005, database upgrade, databse, ms, NETXT, NVARCHAR, NVARCHAR(MAX), SQL, sql 2000
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I recently profiled a sproc that makes heavy use of the TSQL SUBSTRING function (hundreds of thousands of times) to see how it performs on a SQL 2005 database compared to a SQL 2000 database. Much to my surprise the SQL 2005 database performed worse…dramatically worse than SQL 2000.

After much researching it turns out the problem is that the column the text was stored in was an NTEXT, but SQL 2005 has deprecated the NTEXT in favor of NVARCHAR(MAX). Now, you’d think that string functions on NTEXT would have the same performance on 2005 as it did on 2000, but thats not the case.

Ok, so NTEXT is old badness, and NVARCHAR(MAX) is new goodness. Then the next logical step would be to convert the column to be a NVARCHAR(MAX) data type, but here lies a little but very important gotcha.

By default NTEXT stores the text value in the LOB structure and the table structure just holds a pointer to the location in the LOB where the text lives.

Conversely, the default setting for NVARCHAR(MAX) is to store its text value in the table structure, unless the text is over 8,000 bytes at which point it behaves like an NTEXT and stores the text value in the LOB , and stores a pointer to the text in the table.

So, just to recap, the default settings for NTEXT and NVARCHAR(MAX) are completely opposite.

Now, what do you think will happen when you execute an ALTER COLUMN on a NTEXT column that changes the data type to a NVARCHAR(MAX)? Where do you think the data will be stored? In the LOB structure or the table structure?

Well, lets walk through an example. First create a table with one NTEXT column:

CREATE TABLE [dbo].[testTable]( [testText] [ntext] NULL ) ON [PRIMARY] TEXTIMAGE_ON [PRIMARY]

Next, put 20 rows in the table:

INSERT INTO testTable SELECT 'hmmm...i wonder if this will work'

Then run a select query with IO STATISTICS:

SET STATISTICS IO ON SELECT * FROM testTable SET STATISTICS IO OFF

Now, looking at the IO stats, we see there was only 1 logical read, but 60 LOB logical reads. This is pretty much as expected as NTEXT stores its text value in the LOB not the table:

Table ‘testTable’. Scan count 1, logical reads 1, physical reads 0, read-ahead reads 0, lob logical reads 60, lob physical reads 0, lob read-ahead reads 0.

Now, lets alter the table to be an NVARCHAR(MAX):

ALTER TABLE testTable ALTER COLUMN testText NVARCHAR(MAX) null

Now when we run the select query again with UI STATISTICS we still get a lot of LOB reads (though less than we did with NTEXT). So its obvious that when SQL Server did the alter table, it didn’t use the default NVARCHAR(MAX) setting of text in row, but kept the text in the LOB and still uses pointers lookups to get the text out of the LOB.

Table ‘testTable’. Scan count 1, logical reads 1, physical reads 0, read-ahead reads 0, lob logical reads 40, lob physical reads 0, lob read-ahead reads 0.

This is not as expected and can be devastating for performance if you don’t catch it, since NVARCHAR(MAX) with text not in row actually performs WORSE than NTEXT when doing SUBSTRING calls.

So how do we fix this problem? Its actually fairly easy. After running your alter table, run an update statement setting the column value to itself, like so:

UPDATE testTable SET testText = testText

SQL server moves the text from the LOB structure to the table (if less than 8,000 bytes). So when we run the select again with IO STATISTICS we get 0 LOB reads.

Table ‘testTable’. Scan count 1, logical reads 1, physical reads 0, read-ahead reads 0, lob logical reads 0, lob physical reads 0, lob read-ahead reads 0.

YEA! This is what we want.

Now, just for grins, what do you think happens if we change the NVARCHAR(MAX) back to NTEXT? Well it turns out that SQL Server moves the text back to the LOB structure. Completely backwards from what it did when converting NTEXT to NVARCHAR(MAX).

Source: Making Stuff Faster

OpenFileDialog.SafeFileName March 10, 2009

Posted by Bilal in .NET, C#, Microsoft, VB, Visual Studio 2005, Visual Studio 2008.
Tags: 2.0, dotnet, OpenFileDialog, SafeFileName, SP1, VS2005, VS2008
2 comments

I had developed an application in VS2008 with .NET 2.0 . The application was deployed using the VS2008 deployment project with .NET Framework as pre-req. AutoCAD 2009 was already installed on all the client machines so the pre-req conditions were satisfied so .NET Framework was not skipped during the installation of the application.

Later on, I made a clean installation of WIN XP SP3 on my development machine. I skipped VS 2008 because I could not find its proper usage. VS2005 was sufficient for me.

Today, I got the a request for some updates in the application. For this purpose, I converted it to VS2005. On building the application is got the error about OpenFileDialog.SafeFileName. It was really a strange thing as the application was working smoothly on all the client machines.

SafeFileName returns only the File Name from the whole path. Although, I got the problem solved by doing some string operations:
String safeName = opdg.FileName.Substring(opdg.FileName.LastIndexOf("\\") + 1); // 1 has been added to skip the \

I Googled about it and it was disclosed that this property is available in .NET Framework 2.0 SP1 which is installed along with VS2008.

Missing Items in Visual Studio 2005 Menu February 22, 2009

Posted by Bilal in .NET, C#, Microsoft, SQL Server 2005, Tips & Tricks, VB, Visual Studio 2005.
Tags: 2005, Bug, Menu Item, Resharper, SQL, Visual AssistX, VS.NET
1 comment so far

I noticed some missing menu items in the VS2005 (like clean, rebuild, and many others) but i continued by using the commands from other locations; until I got stucked! I wanted to export a form as a template but the Export was not available in the File menu.
The details of my environment are:

WIN XP SP3
VS 2005
SQL Server 2005
Visual AssistX
Resharper

Since, I installed Resharper for the first time, the first option that came to my mind is that its due to Resharper. I tried to explore different options in the Resharper and VS specially the Key Mapping but no result. I was only left with the option to uninstall Resharper and I did it. But to my surprise, the problem was still there.
In such a situation, I call my rescue agent GooGle. The first suggestion provided by the agent worked well and my problem was solved.
I had installed SQL Server 2005 for the first time (initially, I was using SQL 2000 as per client requirements) but I don’t considered it bcoz it’s a Microsoft product and it was least expected to interfere in the scenario. I was WRONG. This problem occurred due to a bug in it.

Here is the solution provided by Microsoft.

Hope it will also solve your problem if u faced such an issue.

15 Windows Explorer Alternatives January 31, 2009

Posted by Bilal in Uncategorized.
1 comment so far

Windows Explorer, the default file manager for Microsoft Windows,
hasn’t really changed all that much over the years. Below you’ll find
reviews, screenshots and links to download ~~10 11 12 14~~ 15 different alternatives.

If I haven’t included your favorite file manager (for Windows..) in
this list, by all means please leave a comment below or feel free to contact me. I’d be more than happy to include it.

Update: I’ve done another 10 Windows Explorer reviews.

Name	Cost	Trial?	Rating (x/5)
A43	free	n/a	***½
Ac Browser Plus	$21.00	yes	**
CubicExplorer	free	n/a	***
Directory Opus	AUD $85.00	yes (30 days)	****
ExplorerXP	free	n/a	***
Far Manager	$25.00	yes (40 days)	***½
FileMatrix	24.00	yes	***
freeCommander	free	n/a	***½
PowerDesk Pro/Standard	$39.95/free	n/a	**¾
Servant Salamander (2.5)	$30	yes (30 days)	****
SpeedCommander	37.95	yes (60 days)	***
Total Commander	$34	yes (30 days)	****
XPlorer	free	n/a	***½
xplorer²	19.95	yes (21 days)	***
XYplorer	29.95	yes (21 days)	****

A43

Requirements: Windows 2000, Windows XP

Download: http://www.primitus.us/a43/

Features:

Integrated text editor with unlimited size. Dynamic highlighting for the web.

Integrated zip/unzip features. Simply drag-n-drop files or click a
button. You can also turn your zip archives into self-extracting
archives the same way.

Integrated file search to quickly locate and jump to those lost files.

Integrated quick launch area for fast access to the programs you use the most.

Favorite buttons to quickly open those often used folders.

Dual-pane view for those that demand speed in file management.

Requires no installation, no data is written to the system
registry. A43’s configuration information is saved in a local .ini file.

Keep it on your pen/jump drive and take it where ever you go.

Thoughts:

A43 took up about 18mb of RAM after using it for 5 minutes. It dropped
down to 3mb of RAM after 15 seconds of not using it. Its response time
was very quick while renaming, moving and copying files. The
drag-and-drop zip/unzip and rar/unrar feature is pretty neat – if I
made zip files often I would find this very helpful. Also, you can fit
A43 on a floppy and take it with you to use on any PC (doesn’t require
an installation). The built-in text editor was easy to use, as was
‘quick launch’ section. The ‘file filter’ feature (use wildcards to
sort files) is well located and works exactly as you’d expect. Between
the features and the price, this is a file manager that I won’t delete
right away.

Screenshots:

default view	easy unzipping

Tools list	bottom pane – quick launch

image preview

Ac Browser Plus

Requirements: Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP

Download: http://www.konradp.com/products/acbplus/

Features:

ACFAT – find a file in a second! This service can index a chosen
drive, and so you can query this index in a second, more: drive
indexing.

Quick viewers.

Editorial Renaming. Rename files with ease, just like in a text editor.

Zip as folders, packing, unpacking with ease

Adding comments to files and directories

Script templates. You can write scripts (visual basic scripts,
batch scripts- .bat, or anything else), which can be executed in the
context of currently selected files or folders (thanks to the script
templates).

Multi Window Interface.

Smart Renaming.

The font color, and other font specifications can be defined by the user, separately for every files extension.

Hot Point – a small red rectangle on each file shows you the file properties, and quick view (images, text and multimedia).

File Finder

Thumbnails’ view

Ability to follow the links while searching files.

Quick Access Bar – Displaying most frequently used folders and
allowing you to filter out items from current file browser window

Keyboard shortcuts known from Norton Commander and Windows Explorer.

Thoughts:

Lots of features, but the interface feels very “Windows 95″ at times.
If it was free I would consider leaving it installed and maybe try it
out for a while longer. Because some of the other file managers are as
feature-rich (or more so) and have a more consistent (and at times much
more attractive) interface, I can only give it two stars out of five.

Screenshots:

easy to view detailed info	helpful scripts

purchase to change background	thumbnail view

extra navigation	ac browser plus options

CubicExplorer

Requirements: Windows 95 (untested), 98, ME, NT (untested), 2000, XP, Vista (works, not supported yet)

Download: http://www.cubicreality.com/ce/download

Homepage: http://www.cubicreality.com/

Features:

Tabbed browsing

Bookmarks

Text editor

File search

Thumbnails

Free disk space labels

Empty recycle bin button

Support for multiple languages

Thoughts:

Here’s why I gave CubicExplorer 3 stars instead of 2 or 2½ – it has
potential, and it’s free. Since it’s not even at version 1.0 yet (0.77a
as of 10/13/06), it can only get better (right?). Unfortunately, the
0.77a has been around since March of this year, and the forum indicates
that work on .80a started a while ago (but it’s still not out). With
all of that said, the Quick View feature is something that I would use,
frequently. Showing actual html code when an .html file is selected,
rather than a ‘preview’ of the web page, is ideal for me. The built in
text editor is excellent for stashing snipits of text, html, web page
addresses etc, and allowing that text to be a tab is fantastic. While
this version has too few features for me, I will certainly give the
next one a try.

Screenshots:

default view	CubicExplorer prefs

Text as a tab	Quick View files

Directory Opus

Requirements: Windows 95/98/ME or NT4/2000/XP

Download: http://www.gpsoft.com.au/DScripts/Download.asp

Homepage: http://www.gpsoft.com.au/Index.html

Features:

Powerful File Manager & Explorer Replacement

User-definable File Display Views

User-definable Toolbars, Menus, File Types

Advanced built-in Image and File Viewers

Built-in ZIP and Advanced FTP

Visually Synchronize Files & Find Duplicates

Advanced Search and Rename Functions

More Configurable than any other program

Easy Slideshows…and much more..

Thoughts:

Directory Opus is a great File Manager. There are a lot of features and
options, and nearly every aspect of this program is customizable. It
really is an Explorer replacement, and it offers to do so during the
installation – so when you open any folder, Directory Opus will launch.
The built-in FTP client works exactly as you’d expect. The many
different view options are easy to access and just “make sense”. While
in use, Directory Opus took up 28MB of memory on my system. The instant
that it’s minimized, its memory use dropped to 1MB. If I used Windows
more often, I would gladly pay the $85.00 to purchase this software. In
fact, the next time I have a day job that requires Windows use, I will.

Screenshots:

quick ftp connect	contextual (and excellent) auto-help

thumbnail view	extra (audio) file info

nag screen	id3 editing

huge “file” list	replace Windows Explorer

ExplorerXP

Requirements: Windows 2000, Windows XP

Download: http://www.explorerxp.com/index.html#download (scroll to the bottom)

Homepage: http://www.explorerxp.com/

Features:

Tabbed interface

Easy access to My Computer, Recycle Bin , My Documents & Desktop

Drag & Drop with Explorer, the tab bar and special folders on the main toolbar.

Multy rename tool – allows to rename multiple files in one step.

Displays folder size information and the real size of compressed files & folders.

Folder Size Cache – greatly improves the speed of the folder size calculations between sessions.

Advanced copy/move.

Unicode support.

USB devices support.

Clean – recursively removes files that match given list of extentions or wildcards.

Groups – A group is a collection of folders, which users are able to access quickly or drag & drop files to them.

Configurable keyboard shortcuts.

Small download size – only 410 KB.

Thoughts:

Pretty straight forward Explorer-like File Manager. While it doesn’t
have as many features as many of the other reviewed file managers, it
is free (for non-commercial use) and makes a great “first” upgrade for
beginners. Anyone who has used Windows Explorer for more than 5 minutes
will feel right at home using ExplorerXP.

Screenshots

default view	two windows

ExplorerXP prefs	command list

Far Manager

Requirements: Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000 or XP

Download: http://www.farmanager.com/download.php?l=en

Homepage: http://www.farmanager.com/index.php?l=en

Features:

Far Manager is a program for managing files and archives in
Windows operating systems. Far Manager works in text mode and provides
a simple and intuitive interface for performing most of the necessary
actions: viewing files and directories, editing, copying and renaming
files and many other operations.

Customize it – Far Manager has a multi-language, easily
configurable interface. File system navigation is made easier through
the use of color highlighting and file sort groups.

Your task – your way. The functionality of Far Manager is greatly
extended by external DLL modules – plugins (made possible by a special
set of interfaces – the Plugins API). For example, archive support, the
FTP client, the temporary panel and the network browser are all
implemented as plugins included in the standard distribution of Far.

Thoughts:

Far Manager is a pretty old-school File Manager. Mouse support is
provided, but this is a File Manager for keyboard commandos. Very cool plugins
add great extra features (FTP, email, Winamp control etc). I’m not sure
that I’ll pay for this File Manager, but I will be using it until the
40 days is up before I decide.

Screenshots:

Far Manager default view	execute a command in Far

select multiple files	built in text viewer

search in Far

FileMatrix

Requirements: Windows 98, ME, NT4 SP6, 2000, XP or Vista

Homepage: http://www.gardenerofthoughts.org/ideas/filematrix/index.htm

Features:

Basic. Extensive integrated help (configuration and help wizard,
hints), between 1 and 10 columns for navigation in directories, 30 sets
of columns called boards for organizing sets of directories, directory
tree navigator, thumbnail pictures, drag-and-drop between columns and
boards and to / from other applications, skins, special graphical
effects.

Advanced. 20 containers (which are lists of files that can store,
for example, the results of a search), picture converter (including the
ability to normalize pictures to a specified size), media player (with
the possibility to resume playing later), mouse gestures with a user
interface called mouse menu, file hover information (which includes a
thumbnail and a played media clip), text search with ranking (like an
online search engine), steganography integrated with the viewer /
editor (noise management included).

Thoughts:

FileMatrix is quite unique among all of the other File Managers
reviewed in this article. The interface is much different than the
typical explorer-style manager. The use of “boards” and “containers”
makes viewing and grouping files a snap. If you’re tired of the
same-old-file-manager, give this one a try. And be sure to make use of
the included Wizards and help files – they will really come in handy.

Screenshots:

thumbnail view	right-click options

tools options	image converter

config and help wizard (very helpful!)	nag screen

freeCommander

Requirements: Windows 95, 98, ME, NT (from version 4.0), 2000, XP, Vista (?)

Download: http://www.freecommander.com/fc_downl_en.htm

Homepage: http://www.freecommander.com/

Features:

Dual-panel technology – horizontal and vertical

Optional tree view for each panel

Built in file viewer to view files in hex, binary, text or image format

File viewer inside archives too

Built in archive handling: ZIP (read, write), CAB (read, write), RAR (read)

Nested archive handling

Easy access to system folders, control panel, desktop and start menu

Copy, move, delete, rename files and folders

Wipe files

Create and verify MD5 checksums

File splitting

File properties and context menu

Calculation of folder size

Folder comparison / synchronization

Modification of file date and attributes

Folder / program favorites

File searching (inside archive too)

File filters for display

User defined columns for detailed view

Support for Tortoise icons

DOS command line

Multiple language support

Thoughts:

‘Easy access to system folders’ is one of the features that first
jumped out at me. My immediate thought was “why isn’t that in all file
managers?” I may have overlooked it in some of the others, so I
certainly won’t say that this is the only one that has this feature.
“Size of folders” (not enabled by default) does slow things down – as
freeCommander calculates and displays the folder size. With that said,
it’s very handy to try and figure out where your hard drive space has
gone, and easy to get to when you need it. The image preview was a bit
slow for me compared to most of the others. The screenshot feature
allows you to chose between image types (bmp and jpg) and even adjust
the quality. I think the biggest drawback to freeCommander is the lack
of built in FTP support, and I suppose it’s not that big of a deal.
This program, though free, is donation-worthy.

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Screenshots:

quick access to System Folders	freeCommander prefs

Extras menu	Quick access to Programs

default freeCommander view

PowerDesk Pro/Standard

Requirements: Windows 98, ME, NT4, 2000, XP, or 2003

Download: http://www.shop.avanquest.com/usa/trial_form.php?pid=686

Homepage: http://www.v-com.com/product/PowerDesk_Pro_Home.html

Features:

Dual pane operation

Layout Manager

Add Notes to Your Files!

Customize Your File Folders with Color

File Info column

MP3 Collection Management

Thoughts:

OK here’s my beef.. It’s not a bad File Manager at all. It’s very
customizable, has all of the features you’d expect, but the ones you
really want to try (add notes to files, ftp, sync folders) are only
available in the Pro version (which there’s no trial for). The Standard
version is free, but has a ‘nag’ bar that takes up too much screen
real-estate. I would much rather a 10 day fully-functional demo version
before I decide to lay down $40. Also, they added me to a mailing list
when I specifically said I did not want to join (you must provide an
email address to download the demo).

Screenshots:

horizontal view	file filter

PowerDesk Standard options	Tools list

customize the toolbar

Servant Salamander (2.5)

Requirements: Windows 95, 98, ME, NT 4, 2000, or XP

Download: http://www.altap.cz/download.html

Homepage: http://www.altap.cz/

Features:

This is a list of the main features for version 2.5 RC1. All details/features for v2.5 can be found here, and v2.0 here.

Better Wildcard Selecting Files And Directories Against Windows Explorer

Calculate Occupied Space: Disk Space Usage Analyser

Change file or directory date, time, attributes: read-only system hidden

Change Case of Files and Directories Names: lower, upper

Batch File Converter: convert coding CP1250, CP852, IBM EBCDIC, ASCII

Copy File and Directory Names (Filenames) to Windows Clipboard

Directory Size, Folder Size: total size of directory, disk usage information

Drive Information: Disk Label, Size, Space, and File System Analyser

Filter Files (Filenames) by Names Using Wildcards, Hide File Names

Find Files and Directories, Find Duplicate Files, Find Hidden File

Make Directory File List, List Files and Directories, Save to Text File

Quick Search: Focus File or Directory (Folder) Name

Shared Directories: View List, Explore Shares, Stop Sharing

Skip and Overwrite files confirmations during Copy and Move operations

Thumbnail Images, display photo thumbnails for our image gallery

Keyboard Shortcuts for Servant Salamander

Copy newer files: overwrite older and skip other existing files

Move or copy files in queue, queuing file operations

Copy, Move, Rename, Delete Files and Directories in Windows

Email Files as Attachments in Windows, Pack Large Files

Pack files and directories, Open, Browse, and Unpack archives

Compare Directories, Files by Size, Date, Time, Attributes, and Content

Shortcut Target: opens directory containing the target of a shortcut

NTFS Compress and Uncompress, NTFS Encrypt and Decrypt

Regular Expression: Find Files, Grep Files, Rename Files, Viewer

Thoughts:

At the suggestion of a number of commenters, I downloaded and installed
Servant Salamander 2.5 RC1. It’s another Norton Commander-style
inspired file manager, and a pretty great one at that. It has every
feature you’d expect, and then some. The plug-ins allow for features
that go above and beyond a file manager (screenshots, encrypt and
decrypt, sftp/scp etc). The ability to set a ’skill level’ is a great
idea. Executing commands is not only easy, but the command window
doesn’t automatically close once the command has been executed! As it
stands right now, I can’t pick a “winner” between Servant Salamander
and Total Commander. I’m quite sure that it just comes down to personal
preference. If Norton Commander-style file managers are your thing, I
would strongly suggest you try both Total Commander and Servant
Salamander, and decide for yourself which is best. If you’re on a
limited budget, go for freeCommander. When the demo versions expire, I
plan on buying either Total or Servant – I’ll update this after I
decide.

Screenshots:

default view	Servant Salamander plug-ins

Servant Salamander prefs	set a user level

map network drives	execute commands

SpeedCommander

Requirements: Windows 95/98/98SE, Windows ME, Windows NT 4, Windows 2000, XP, 2003, Windows XP/2003 x64 Edition

Download: http://www.speedproject.de/enu/download.html

Homepage: http://www.speedproject.de/enu/speedcommander/index.html

Features:

Proven Two Window Technology

Extensive Archive Support

Add-In Interface

Macros

Enhanced FTP Functions

Native 64-bit Version for Windows XP/2003 x64 Edition

Thoughts:

Lots of features (built in browser is cool) and very snappy response
times. Macros are simple to use. Worth checking out, but the price is a
bit steep. If I had an x64 version of Windows I would be anxious to try
out this app.

Screenshots

default view	View options

File options	Run a command

Preview files	Launch apps

Total Commander

Requirements: Windows 95, 98, ME, Windows NT 4.0,
Windows 2000, and Windows XP. 16bit version available for Win 3.1.
Another for Windows CE and the Pocket PC.

Download: http://www.ghisler.com/download.htm

Homepage: http://www.ghisler.com/

Features:

Direct access to Network Neighbourhood

Supports Drag & Drop with Explorer/the Desktop etc.

Command line for starting of programs with parameters, simply by
typing the program name or by pressing ctrl+enter or ctrl+shift+enter.

Configurable button bar and Start menu (User-defined commands) to
place your frequently used DOS or Windows programs into a drop-down
menu. The actual directory and/or the file under the cursor can be
delivered to the application.

Configurable main menu.

Built in file viewer (Lister) to view files of any size in hex,
binary or text format, using either the ASCII- (DOS) or the ANSI-
(Windows) character set. The line width and font size can now be
changed. You can even view files inside archives! New: Support for
Unicode UTF-8 format.

Bitmap viewer in Lister, additional formats through Irfanview (see addons).

HTML- and Unicode-Viewer in Lister.

Parallel port transfer function (direct cable connection), works between Win95/98/NT/2000/3.1 and DOS!

Thumnbails view shows preview images in file lists.

Custom columns view allow to show additional file details.

Total Commander comes in the following languages: English, German,
French, Italian, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Dutch, Spanish, Czech,
Russian, Polish, Hungarian, and now also Hebrew, Greek, Afrikaans,
Catalan, Turkish and Ukrainian

Built-in FTP client supports most public FTP servers

Archives are handled like subdirectories. You can easily copy files to and from archives.

Extended copying, moving, renaming and deleting of entire trees (Enables deleting “full” directories).

Thoughts:

Having only used it for about 30 minutes total (so far), take these
comments with a grain of salt. Total Commander appears to be the
fastest file manager in terms of response times. I asked it to
calculate the size of 14 folders (that contained a couple hundred
files) and it immediatley
gave me the answer. The hard drive didn’t clunk away trying to count
files, it just happened. As the screenshots below demonstrate, Total
Commander looks very old school (though there are many options to
customize the look and feel). As the name implies, it’s styled after
Norton Commander, and as you’d expect it can be completely controlled
via the keyboard. At $34 USD I’m curious to compare it to Free
Commander (see comments at the bottom). I reserve the right to bump
this up to 4 stars after I look at Free Commander

Screenshots:

Total Commander prefs	default view

FTP view	customize the button bar

calculate file/folder sizes

XPlorer

NOTE: a number of folks have mentioned that XPlorer
may include a trojan (AVG catches it as Trojan Horse Generic10.AEGX).
I’ve removed the download link, but left the URL available if you want
to copy and paste it into your browser and try downloading it/living on
the edge.

Requirements: Windows 95, 98, ME, NT 4.0, 2000, XP, 2003 or Vista

Download: http://guti.webcindario.com/static.php?page=XPlorer (scroll to download section)

Features:

True multitabbed interface with independent combo, tree and list for each tab.

Blazing fast program execution.

Small footprint, can be run from floppy disks, USB devices, hard disks, …

Quick startup time.

High productive interface, almost every command is accessible optionally by keyboard.

Internal file viewer.

Internal file editor.

File toucher.

Command prompt here feature.

Split files in fragments.

Join fragment files.

Clean unneeded files.

Select files by wildcard selection.

Show files by filter.

Thoughts:

Arguably the most Windows Explorer-like of all the reviewed File
Managers, XPlorer is certainly better than the default Windows
Explorer. Here’s my only real complaint – when you delete a file, it
remains ‘visible’ in the list of files until you refresh the screen.
And you can only refresh by hitting F5 on your keyboard (no
right-click, no Edit > Refresh etc). That one annoying ‘feature’ is
enough for me not to use it (I replicated this problem on 3 different
Windows XP machines). If that kind of thing doesn’t bother you, by all
means check this one out because it’s not bad otherwise.

Screenshots:

default view	right-click options

Xplorer options	File list

xplorer²

Requirements: Windows 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, 2003

Download: http://zabkat.com/x2down.htm

Homepage: http://zabkat.com

Features:

Shell namespace explorer

Tabbed dual-pane interface

Instant preview of files

Browsing flexibility

View & edit text files

Extended file information

Search for files everywhere, using arbitrary criteria

Find text within office, Adobe PDF and other documents

Manage files from many folders simultaneously

Compare and synchronize folders

Discover and cleanup duplicate files

Execute DOS commands and scripts

Customizable user interface

Help and assistance where you need it

Individual folder settings

Visual filters and selection engine

Advanced file management

Robust file transfers

Throughts:

The ability to search for files everywhere, with Omni-Finder, is
actually very cool/powerful. The built-in Help is very useful, as it
explains all of the features (and how to use them) clearly, with
illustrations. At first glance xplorer² appears fairly average, digging
deeper shows it to be a powerful File Manager.

Screenshots:

default view	preview window

Tools list	System navigation

Commands via a container

XYplorer

Requirements: Windows 95, 98, NT, ME, 2000, XP or Vista

Download: http://www.xyplorer.com/download.htm

Homepage: http://www.xyplorer.com/index.htm/

Features:

Tabbed Browsing

Searches in Tabs

The Address Bar accepts not just folders, but also files, URLs, and search terms

The Tree and List offer a suite of (partly revolutionary) highlighting options to increase visual grip.

Catalog: Your favorite locations reside deep down in some heavily nested structures? Lift them to the surface!

Panel: The hideable tabbed panel at the bottom provides quick
access to information (file properties and previews) and action (Find
Files, Reports).

Find Files: XYplorer is a file manager featuring a high-end search engine

Save your current search settings to a template for later re-use.
Very handy with complex search patterns or distributed search locations.

New in 5.20 Breadcrumb: Ctrl+Backspace will pop up the coolest
breadcrumb you can get. It takes no screen space, is 100%
keyboard-driven, and takes you up and down relative to your current
location.

New in 5.20 Drop-Text-To-File: You can drag & drop a
selectable text or data chunk from any other application onto a folder
in XYplorer, where it will be automatically converted into a *.txt-file
or an *.rtf file, depending on the content.

My Network Places, Server Management: Network servers are internally stored and remembered between sessions!

Instant Preview of image (incl. PNG, JPEG, GIF, TIFF, ICO and many
more, using high-quality resampling for shrinking/zooming), audio, and
video files (displaying detailed media information).

Thumbnails of image files can be shown right in the details view, introducing the unique “Mouse Down Blow Up” functionality.

Instant Preview of installed and uninstalled TrueType and Type-1 font files (displaying detailed font information).

Instant Preview of Office files, and of HTML, MHT, PHP files (including configurable server mappings) with printing option.

larger list of features here

Thoughts:

Wow. It only took a couple of minutes of looking around to see some
features that I’d never seen before (drop text to file, ctrl+backspace
breadcrumb) – and some that I’ve seen before but never this detailed
(see the “Rename Special” screenshot below). If you click and hold the
left mouse button on an image (in the Preview area) it enlarges until
you release the mouse button. Very cool. XYplorer appears to have a
slighly larger memory-footprint than Directory Opus (the only other
Explorer-style file manager that I gave 4 stars), but it is less
expensive.

Screenshots:

default view	Rename special

hover info	Tools menu
XYplorer prefs	customize the Toolbar

Source: SimpleHelp.net

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Five Things That Suck About Working in IT September 8, 2008

Posted by Bilal in Uncategorized.
add a comment

5. There’s often a bad inheritance

This item comes courtesy of TechRepublic member ken.mccrohan of Virginia. He described it as “Previous CIO/Net Admin/Developer chose a vendor [or] spec’d a system [or] wrote some code, then leaves, and you are tasked with fixing their mess or worse, explaining their choices.” This is so common it’s practically a cliche.

I know lots of IT pros who have been faced with cleaning up a bad situation left by a predecessor. Sometimes it’s just a matter of the new techie having a different approach than the old new. Other times it can be a situation where the previous techie was disgruntled or disengaged and didn’t perform very well in the final months before leaving the company. And sometimes, there’s a reason why the previous IT manager is no longer with the company, and cleanup is simply part of your mandate.

4.You have to repeatedly prove yourself

You can say this about a lot of jobs, but the situation is especially acute in IT because IT usually involves keeping systems up and running 24/7/365 as well as a lot of project work. Member Locrian_Lyric stated, “You are only as good as your last project. As soon as that’s done, you have to prove your worth all over again, if not constantly.” He also added, “Your value lasts only as long as the current management. If there is a new CIO, CTO, or other higher up with a ‘new vision’ update your resume, you are going to need it.”

3. You can work yourself out of a job

Since IT is primarily about streamlining business processes, if you do it well enough by implementing and developing the right technologies then you can eventually decrease the headcount of the IT department — and sometimes even make your own job obsolete. The problem is that some IT managers realize this and so they make decisions based on their own self-preservation rather than what’s good for the business. However, the best IT managers will always do what’s best for the business, even if it makes their own job obsolete. They know that producing great results will help redefine their role in the company or provide a strong resume-booster to land another job, if needed.

Another similar challenge is when the IT department is so good and so well organized that the company’s IT infrastructure runs smoothly and people in the company start to wonder if it could run itself and they question whether they really need so many IT pros to run it.

Along those lines, member langbobr wrote, “It has always seemed to me that if you (as an IT professional) are doing the job right… nobody even knows what you do. If everything [in] IT is working, people wonder why you’re there.”

Member talawrence added, “I’ve worked for places that think you don’t do anything because nothing ever breaks. They do not understand all the good work being done to prevent meltdowns. I get frustrated when people also refer to the Y2K problem as over hyped. I know I worked many 18 hour days leading up to Y2K.”

2. It’s tough to find good help

If you’re a CIO or an IT leader, the most challenging part of running an IT department is finding good people to hire. Some IT folks scoff at this idea because there have been plenty of IT pros laid off since 2001 and so there are still unemployed IT workers looking for new jobs. Nevertheless, we repeatedly hear from IT leaders and their recruiters that they have a very difficult time finding IT workers to meet their requirements.

TechRepublic member Michelle wrote: “It’s been a challenge to find great IT people who are easy to work with, don’t have an ego the size of our mother earth, can read & follow instructions, & can communicate well via e-mail & IM.”

One CTO in the San Francisco Bay Area recently told me that he can easily find mediocre developers but it’s tough to find really good ones. And, he noted, “One good developer is worth as much as three mediocre developers.” That’s because the good ones know how to get things done while the mediocre ones require a lot of management, hand-holding, and code-fixing.

1. Users confuse IT with magic

TechRepublic member Eric from Colorado pointed to the problem of “Wildly unreasonable expectations, i.e. IT=magic.” He wrote, “Non-technical end users think you are a graduate of Hogwarts instead of some place in the real world. Typical end-user expectation: ‘I would like access to the last 10 years of my email, with all attachments, instantly searchable and with no performance lag – and I expect you to make this happen on my Pentium II… Anything less means you’re an utter incompetent.’”

Member msims added, “Users tend to … see the department as just one big computer system and forget that there are human beings who work there day and night weekends and on call who only have one head, two hands and two legs who can only do as much as they can.”

Flip side

Member MavMin2 advised IT professionals not to get too caught up in the things that make it tough to work in IT. He said, “When all else fails, say [to yourself], ‘It beats unemployment and soup lines.’” He also added, “In the military we had a saying that a griping soldier was a happy soldier and there are a lot of happy soldiers on”

Source: TechBlogs

Five things we have learned from Bill Gates July 11, 2008

Posted by Bilal in Microsoft, Tech News.
Tags: Bilgates, Last Day, Microsoft, Tech News
1 comment so far

Whether or not you are a fan of Bill Gates, it is impossible to deny the impact he has made on the spread of computer technology across the planet during the past three decades. Since Friday June 28, was Gates’ last day as a full-time Microsoft employee, this is the perfect time to look back at five of the most important lessons we’ve learned from the meteoric, tumultuous, and lucrative career of the world’s most famous software engineer.

5. Geeks can be businessmen, too

Before Bill Gates, computer programmers were mostly considered to be a necessary evil for businesses. They were stereotyped as misanthropic weirdos that you stick in dark corners in the back office. However, Gates, became the most successful businessman on earth — if you judge business success by profits — and almost singlehandedly transformed the term “geek” from an insult to a badge of honor in the process.

4. You don’t have to be first to win

Gates and Microsoft rarely got to the party first with new technologies and innovations, but they were simply better at bringing technology products to the masses than anyone else in the industry. Internet Explorer is the most famous example, but Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Word, and Microsoft Excel are also great examples. Microsoft was merely better at executing. It didn’t hurt that Microsoft often had the most resources, but Gates and Co. showed over and over again that they knew how to best take advantage of those resources.

3. Computing will spread everywhere

In the 1980s when the computer was still mostly a novelty, Gates expressed his vision that there would one day be “a computer on every desk and in every home.” That vision has nearly become a reality in the U.S. and it’s in the process of coming to fruition across the globe. Plus, Gates’ vision of the computing experience has continued to inspire the industry in general as well as Microsoft’s product plans — from the smartphone to the Tablet PC to speech recognition to the touch-based interface.

2. Arrogance breeds failure

In the movie Pirates of Silicon Valley, the Bill Gates character says to Steve Ballmer, “Success is a menace. It fools smart people into thinking that they can’t lose.” He was referring to IBM and the fact that it let Microsoft sneak in and steal the thunder in the launch of the PC. A decade later, Microsoft’s own success and arrogance led to its anti-trust defeat to the U.S. government. But Microsoft also remained humble and paranoid enough to always be on the lookout for the next small company that might do to it what it had done to IBM. Some of the most popular targets in its cross hairs: Apple, Netscape, Linux, and Google.

1. Software matters

The one message that Bill Gates spent his career reiterating was that software matters. Gates and Microsoft always believed in the magic of software to create amazing digital experiences. When “Micros-Soft” (as it was originally known) first launched in the 1970s, the computer business was all about the hardware. It was Gates and his vision of what people could do with computers that moved software to the center of the computing experience.

Constansts in C#: const VS readonly July 1, 2008

Posted by Bilal in .NET, C#, Uncategorized.
Tags: C#, compile time constants, const, Constants, readonly, runtime constants
1 comment so far

Pop quiz: What’s the difference between these three declarations? And, more importantly, when should you use each one?

private const int _Millenium = 2000;

private static readonly

 DateTime _classCreation = DateTime.Now;

private readonly DateTime _InstanceTime = DateTime.Now;

The first creates a compile-time constant, the second creates a run-time class constant, and the third creates a run-time object constant. While developing a typical program you’ll use all three constructs, so it pays to understand the difference. This article will explain the differences between these three constructs and show you when to use each.

Compile-time Constants

Let’s begin with compile-time constants. The symbols you define for compile-time constants are replaced with the value of the constant at compile time. Therefore this construct:

if (myDateTime.Year == _Millenium)

compiles to the same IL as if you had written:

if (myDateTime.Year == 2000)

The compiler replaces the symbol with the value of the constant. This is the main point to compile-time constants: These symbols don’t exist in the IL, only in your C# source. Once compiled, you have the same IL as if you had used the numeric constants in your code.

This implementation of compile-time constants places other restrictions on declaring constants and assigning values to them. First, compile-time constants can only be used effectively for primitive types, enums, or strings. Primitive types are the built-in integral and floating-point types. These are the only types that allow you to assign meaningful constant values as part of the initialization process.

The only constant value you can assign to reference types is null. The reason for this restriction is that you cannot use the new operator when you assign a constant value. In other words, the following construct won’t compile:

private const DateTime _classCreation =

  new DateTime(2000, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0);

In practice, this restricts us to value types and strings. Any other reference type must be null. User-defined value types simply won’t work at all. For example:

struct MyStruct

 // ...

private static const MyStruct _s;   // Doesn't compile.

So, a compile-time constant can only be used for primitive types. The IL generated for a compile-time constant contains the value, not the symbol. The value is “burned in” at compile time.

readonly Values

readonly values are also constants, in that they cannot be modified after the constructor has executed. readonly values are different, however, in that they’re set at run time. You have much more flexibility in working with run-time constants. For one thing, run-time constants can be of any type; as long as you can assign them in your constructors, they will work. I could make readonly values from DateTime structures; I could not create DateTime values with const.

Secondly, you can use readonly values for instance constants, storing different values for each instance of a class type. As we saw at the start of this article, the value of _instanceTime is different for every instance of the object being created.

The most important distinction is that readonly values are resolved at run time. The IL generated when you reference a readonly constant reference the readonly variable, not the value.

Decisions, Decisions

The main difference between const and readonly fields is in their flexibility. Suppose you’ve defined both const and readonly fields in an assembly named Infrastructure:

public class UsefulValues

  public static readonly UsefulInteger = 5;

  public const AnotherUsefulInteger = 10;

Then, in an assembly named Application you reference those values:

for (int i = UsefulValues.UsefulInteger;  i < UsefulValues.AnotherUsefulInteger; i++)

 Console.WriteLine("value is {0}", i);

If you run your little test, you see the following obvious output:

Value is 5

Value is 6

…

Value is 9

Time passes and you release a new version of the Infrastructure assembly with the following changes:

public class UsefulValues

  public static readonly UsefulInteger = 105;

  public const AnotherUsefulInteger = 120;

You distribute the Infrastructure assembly without rebuilding your Application assembly. What do you suppose happens?

You’ll get no output at all. The loop now uses the value 105 for its start, and 10 for its end condition. The const value of 10 was placed into the Application assembly by the C# compiler. Contrast that with the UsefulInteger value. It was declared as readonly; it gets resolved at run time. Therefore, the Application assembly makes use of the new value without even recompiling the Application assembly. Simply installing an updated version of the Infrastructure assembly is enough. The point here is that updating the value of a public constant is really an interface change. Updating the value of a readonly constant is easily upgradeable.

Using readonly constants will also generate a smaller assembly. Every time you use a const value, the compiler inserts the value of the constant. When you reference a readonly value, the compiler references that symbol. Repeatedly storing the actual values in the IL will result in a larger assembly than repeatedly referencing the same location. This particular argument does not apply to strings because .NET replaces duplicate strings using a process called string interning. The result is that const strings generate more or less the same IL as readonly strings.

Are there any advantages to using const over readonly? Yes; constants can be used in places where readonly values cannot, namely attributes. You can use const values as the parameters to attribute constructors; you cannot use readonly values, or variables. So, when you define objects to use when constructing attributes, those values used for attribute parameters must be const; readonly doesn’t work. Figure 1 shows an example of a simple attribute to tag classes with their state.

[AttributeUsage (AttributeTargets.Class)]
public class ClassStateAttribute : Attribute
{ 
 [Flags]
 public enum CodeState
 {
 Experimental = 0x01,
 Stable = 0x02,
 Released = 0x04
 }

  public const CodeState Release2Upgrade =

 CodeState.Released | CodeState.Experimental;

  public readonly CodeState TheState;

  public ClassStateAttribute (CodeState s)

 TheState = s;

 [ClassState (ClassState.Release2Upgrade)]

public class NewCode

 // Etc.

Figure 1: A simple attribute to tag classes with their state.

You could not, however, rewrite it using readonly values, as shown in Figure 2.

 [AttributeUsage (AttributeTargets.Class)]

public class ClassStateAttribute : Attribute

 [Flags]

  public enum CodeState

 Experimental = 0x01,

 Stable = 0x02,

 Released = 0x04

 // Won't work:   Only constant values can be used.

 // Not read only.

  public static readonly CodeState Release2Upgrade =

 CodeState.Released | CodeState.Experimental;

  public ClassStateAttribute(CodeState s)

 TheState = s;

 [ClassState (ClassState.Release2Upgrade)]

public class NewCode

 // Etc.

Figure 2: Readonly values won’t work on our simple example.

The readonly type doesn’t work to initialize an attribute. The actual value of the object must be available at compile time for the attribute to get created correctly. Therefore, only values declared as const (or enums) can be used in this instance.

I always get questions about the relative performance of const and readonly values. Frankly, I’ve never been able to measure any difference between the two; for any operation I’ve tried, they are equivalent. The table in Figure 3 summarizes the different use cases I’ve discussed, and offers my recommendations.

Usage	readonly	const	Comments and Recommendations
Primitive constant	Yes	Yes	Use const. Primitive types that will never change should be const.
Release Dependent const, primitive type	Yes	Yes	Use static readonly. Any constant value that might change should be readonly, not const.
Other constants	Yes	No	Use static readonly. It’s the only one that works.
Immutable members	Yes	No	Use (instance) readonly. It’s the only option, and immutability is enforced by the compiler.
Enumerated values	No	Yes	Enumerated values must be const.
Values used to construct attributes	No	Yes	These must be constants.

Figure 3: Recommendations for the use cases discussed in this article.

Conclusion

There are some small performance gains to be realized from using const instead of readonly, but you give up quite a bit of flexibility. You’ll need to recompile every assembly that uses a const value. In the case of readonly you need only update the definition. This flexibility greatly overrides the minimal performance gains from using const as the key. Minimize your use of const to attribute parameters and enums. Everything else should be declared readonly instead.

Source: ASPNETPRO

Firefox 3.0 – Download Day – Set a Guinness World Record June 18, 2008

Posted by Bilal in Firefox, Tech News, Tips & Tricks, Updates.
Tags: Fastest Browser, Firefox, Firefox 3.0, Firefox Download Day, mozilla, World Record
add a comment

With more than 15,000 improvements, Firefox 3 is faster, safer and smarter than ever before.

http://bitcast-b.bitgravity.com/mozilla/static/en-US/img/tignish/firefox/feature-bg-newfeatures.png

Waiting for what….? Download Now.

Want to know some Tips & Trick about new Firefox??

Download Day is here!
Set a Guinness World Record
Enjoy a Better Web

Mozilla is organizing a “Download Day” to promote Firefox 3.0 and set a Guinness World Record for the most downloaded software in 24 hours. Sounds like a good deal, right? All you have to do to help us set the record for the most software downloaded in 24 hours is get Firefox 3 now – it’s that easy. We’re not asking you to swallow a sword or to balance 30 spoons on your face, although that would be kind of awesome.

Please download Firefox 3 by 11:16 a.m. PDT (18:16 UTC) on June 18, 2008. That’s 11:16 a.m. in Mountain View, 2:16 p.m. in Toronto, 3:16 p.m. in Rio de Janeiro, 8:16 p.m. in Paris, Madrid, Berlin, Rome and Warsaw, 10:16 p.m. in Moscow, and June 19, 2008 at 2:16 a.m. in Beijing, 3:16 a.m. in Tokyo and in Lahore Thursday 12:15 a.m.

http://www.spreadfirefox.com/files/images/affiliates_banners/180x150_02c_en.png

Do we have to reach a specific number of downloads in order to set the record?

This is the first record attempt of its kind so there is no set number. We’d really like to outdo the number of Firefox 2 downloads on its launch day, which was 1.6 million. Let’s shoot for 5 million–the sky is the limit!

Go ahead…. Download Now

STILL Not Ready to download ………………??? Want some more details, okay check this:

Download The Fastest Browser Ever…!

120 Run Commands In Windows XP May 31, 2008

Posted by Bilal in Tips & Tricks, Windows, XP.
Tags: RUN commands, Tips & Tricks, Windows XP
add a comment

Click the “Start” button and then “Run” to open up the window where you can write the following commands called as “Run” commands in XP.

Accessibility Controls – access.cpl

Accessibility Wizard – accwiz

Add Hardware Wizard – hdwwiz.cpl

Add/Remove Programs – appwiz.cpl

Administrative Tools – control admintools

Automatic Updates – wuaucpl.cpl

Bluetooth Transfer Wizard – fsquirt

Calculator – calc

Certificate Manager – certmgr.msc

Character Map – charmap

Check Disk Utility – chkdsk

Clipboard Viewer – clipbrd

Command Prompt – cmd

Component Services – dcomcnfg

Computer Management – compmgmt.msc

Control Panel – control

Date and Time Properties – timedate.cpl

DDE Shares – ddeshare

Device Manager – devmgmt.msc

Direct X Troubleshooter – dxdiag

Disk Cleanup Utility – cleanmgr

Disk Defragment – dfrg.msc

Disk Management – diskmgmt.msc

Disk Partition Manager – diskpart

Display Properties – control desktop

Display Properties – desk.cpl

Dr. Watson System Troubleshooting Utility – drwtsn32

Driver Verifier Utility – verifier

Event Viewer – eventvwr.msc

Files and Settings Transfer Tool – migwiz

File Signature Verification Tool – sigverif

Findfast – findfast.cpl

Firefox – firefox

Folders Properties – control folders

Fonts – control fonts

Fonts Folder – fonts

Free Cell Card Game – freecell

Game Controllers – joy.cpl

Group Policy Editor (for xp professional) – gpedit.msc

Hearts Card Game – mshearts

Help and Support – helpctr

HyperTerminal – hypertrm

Iexpress Wizard – iexpress

Indexing Service – ciadv.msc

Internet Connection Wizard – icwconn1

Internet Explorer – iexplore

Internet Properties – inetcpl.cpl

Keyboard Properties – control keyboard

Local Security Settings – secpol.msc

Local Users and Groups – lusrmgr.msc

Logs You Out Of Windows – logoff

Malicious Software Removal Tool – mrt

Microsoft Chat – winchat

Microsoft Movie Maker – moviemk

Microsoft Paint – mspaint

Microsoft Syncronization Tool – mobsync

Minesweeper Game – winmine

Mouse Properties – control mouse

Mouse Properties – main.cpl

Netmeeting – conf

Network Connections – control netconnections

Network Connections – ncpa.cpl

Network Setup Wizard – netsetup.cpl

Notepad notepad

Object Packager – packager

ODBC Data Source Administrator – odbccp32.cpl

On Screen Keyboard – osk

Outlook Express – msimn

Paint – pbrush

Password Properties – password.cpl

Performance Monitor – perfmon.msc

Performance Monitor – perfmon

Phone and Modem Options – telephon.cpl

Phone Dialer – dialer

Pinball Game – pinball

Power Configuration – powercfg.cpl

Printers and Faxes – control printers

Printers Folder – printers

Regional Settings – intl.cpl

Registry Editor – regedit

Registry Editor – regedit32

Remote Access Phonebook – rasphone

Remote Desktop – mstsc

Removable Storage – ntmsmgr.msc

Removable Storage Operator Requests – ntmsoprq.msc

Resultant Set of Policy (for xp professional) – rsop.msc

Scanners and Cameras – sticpl.cpl

Scheduled Tasks – control schedtasks

Security Center – wscui.cpl

Services – services.msc

Shared Folders – fsmgmt.msc

Shuts Down Windows – shutdown

Sounds and Audio – mmsys.cpl

Spider Solitare Card Game – spider

SQL Client Configuration – cliconfg

System Configuration Editor – sysedit

System Configuration Utility – msconfig

System Information – msinfo32

System Properties – sysdm.cpl

Task Manager – taskmgr

TCP Tester – tcptest

Telnet Client – telnet

User Account Management – nusrmgr.cpl

Utility Manager – utilman

Windows Address Book – wab

Windows Address Book Import Utility – wabmig

Windows Explorer – explorer

Windows Firewall – firewall.cpl

Windows Magnifier – magnify

Windows Management Infrastructure – wmimgmt.msc

Windows Media Player – wmplayer

Windows Messenger – msmsgs

Windows System Security Tool – syskey

Windows Update Launches – wupdmgr

Windows Version – winver

Windows XP Tour Wizard – tourstart

Wordpad – write

sendto – Open SendTo folder in XP

msinfo32 – System Information

control userpasswords2 – Local machine accounts

Source: Takveen

Mozilla Firefox 3.0 RC1 Released May 21, 2008

Posted by Bilal in Firefox, Updates.
Tags: Firefox, mozilla, Updates
add a comment

Two emails from the Hardware 2.0 mailbag:

What’s “sneaky” about the install process for Firefox 3??? If you can’t or don’t want to read the screens than that’s your problem!
I think it’s interesting that while you tore into Apple for making Safari available through the Apple Software Updater to iTunes users you choose to give Mozilla a get-out-of-jail-free card and only label this malware-like move as “sneaky.”

First, some background. As most Firefox users will be aware, the choice as to whether Firefox was set as the default browser used to be set at the time when the browser was first run (this was true of Firefox 1.5, 2.0 and 3.0 beta – I can’t remember further back than 1.5 though … maybe someone else can remind me if the process was the same). Starting with Firefox 3.0 RC1 the default browser setting has been rolled into the install routine. As expected, the option is pre-checked:

So, why did I call this sneaky? Simple - because it caught me out, and not many things catch me out! I’ve carried out hundreds, if not thousands, of Firefox installs and handled each and every beta release of Firefox 3.0 and the install process has become second nature to me. This time, it caught me out and I only spotted what had happened when Internet links on my desktop that had previously been marked by the Big Blue E suddenly changed to the Firefox logo. Sure, I probably should have been paying more attention, but I wasn’t. I guess I trusted Mozilla.

So why has the Firefox development team gone and made this change between the beta of Firefox 3.0 and the Release Candidate? Simple, it’s because the old method made it far too easy for people to download Firefox, even install Firefox, but to then forget about it and never even run it. Also, when people are faced with a dialog box asking a simple Yes/No question, I guess that people were being conservative and choosing not to make Firefox the default browser. The only reason to change this process now would be that Mozilla feels that this move will help it turn some of those downloaders that aren’t committed to running Firefox into regular users.

Mozilla’s own product planning document for Firefox 3.0 states that one of the objectives for the browser should be to “continue to increase usage share and broaden the Firefox audience” – seems like this change in the install routine is one way that Mozilla plan to use to increase market share.

Is this move deceptive? No, I can’t say that it is, especially compared to Apple’s move in pushing Safari through the software update mechanism. I don’t like it, and this move offers yet another reason for me to hate the entire browser industry, but it’s no deal-breaker. Browser makers only care about one thing – market share. It’s all about a fight for market share, and in this big land grab the users are caught in the middle.

That aside, I’m still on track to make a complete switch over to Firefox 3.0 as soon as it hits final release. It’s an excellent browser.

Source: ZDNET

older posts »

	Mr.macdesperate on 15 Windows Explorer Alter…
	Bilal on OpenFileDialog.SafeFileName
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Tech Blogs

NTEXT vs NVARCHAR(MAX) in SQL 2005 May 28, 2009

OpenFileDialog.SafeFileName March 10, 2009

Missing Items in Visual Studio 2005 Menu February 22, 2009

15 Windows Explorer Alternatives January 31, 2009

Five Things That Suck About Working in IT September 8, 2008

5. There’s often a bad inheritance

4.You have to repeatedly prove yourself

3. You can work yourself out of a job

2. It’s tough to find good help

1. Users confuse IT with magic

Flip side

Five things we have learned from Bill Gates July 11, 2008

5. Geeks can be businessmen, too

4. You don’t have to be first to win

3. Computing will spread everywhere

2. Arrogance breeds failure

1. Software matters

Constansts in C#: const VS readonly July 1, 2008

Compile-time Constants

readonly Values

Decisions, Decisions

Conclusion

Firefox 3.0 – Download Day – Set a Guinness World Record June 18, 2008

120 Run Commands In Windows XP May 31, 2008

Mozilla Firefox 3.0 RC1 Released May 21, 2008

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