Check if your system is ready for Windows 7 with Upgrade Advisor

Whilst no-one wants to think about the cold October days yet, they’ll be here before we know it. With Autumn comes Windows 7, and if you’re planning on installing it on your PC, you’ll probably want to make sure that everything you’re currently running will stay hunky-dorey. You can do so with the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor Beta, which also wins the award for software with the most unnecessarily long name.

The software will give you its conclusions and suggestions after it's finished checking.

Once downloaded and installed, you’ll be able to run it. It will then spend some time pottering around your computer, deciding what Windows 7 would get upset about if you were to install it. It will then advise you as best as it can about how to avoid the upset in the first place. It assesses: whether the PC meet the system requirements; whether your devices will function correctly; and whether there are any software incompatibilities.

Each item listed will show either a pleasing green tick which means “It’ll be fine, but run Windows Update after installing just to be safe”, or a slightly more scary-looking orange exclamation mark road sign which translates to “Oh dear, looks like that might not work. But it might still run, albeit with a few issues.” There are few tailored descriptions for incompatibilities – most just warn that the item might quietly implode if you upgrade, and advise that you seek an update from either Microsoft or the company who makes the software to avoid aforementioned implosion.

It’s still in beta, but in the final release it would be nice to receive more in-depth information about the incompatible items rather than just a stock definition for all of them. Even if you don’t find the software or device feedback useful, at least it will confirm for you whether your PC is capable of running Windows 7. You can download it from www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/upgrade-advisor.aspx.

Windows 7 RC Review

I’ve been testing out the release candidate (RC) of Windows 7 in a virtual machine on my desktop PC. Therefore from the outset I’d like to point out that it won’t be performing as well as it could due to the limitations of the type of install used. However, I have still been able to use the operating system; sample its new features; and make a decision as to whether it’s worthwhile upgrading.

The software I’ve been using is Sun Virtualbox, a review of which should be coming soon.  This is free software which allows you to run operating systems inside others. I had to assign a certain amount of RAM and video memory which the machine could use. The limitations of this resulted in me being unable to sample the visual Aero features (which mostly just  makes things looks pretty) of the operating system, but the functionality was still intact. I’ve split the article up into sections. Within each is a commentary of what has changed and my observations and comments about the changes and features.

The Taskbar

Programs of a similar type are automatically merged into one icon.

The taskbar has been the same for yonks. Since Windows 95 very little has changed. XP brought with it taskbar grouping for when you had lots of the same window, and Vista added pretty little previews. Windows 7 goes further, and by default overhauls the taskbar. The most noticeable change is that the items now show as only icons. This saves on space. In addition, windows and tabs of the same application are rolled into one icon. For example, if I have ‘Documents’ ‘Music’ and ‘Pictures’ open at the same time, they’ll all be rolled into one icon which represents Windows Explorer. Hovering or clicking on the icon will result in a list of the windows contained within that icon. Had I been able to use Aero, shots of the windows would have appeared, making it easier to identify each. I would then be able to click on the image of the window to blow it up to full size. This is especially useful for web browsing, when you’re likely to have many tabs open. These are all available from the one icon on the taskbar.

Right-clicking on an item causes a program-specific list of documents or functions to appear.

Jump Lists is another addition. Right-clicking on a running or pinned item on the taskbar will result in a menu with common options and recent documents appearing. For example, right-clicking on Wordpad results in a list of recently saved documents, for Internet Explorer, it results in my most commonly visited webpages, and a couple of common options which are predetermined – ‘new tab’ and ‘inprivate browsing’. This addition saves time by cutting out the step of having to load or maximise the application, and then perform the action – you can perform it directly from the taskbar. Whilst this may sound unimportant, the time saved should begin to add up as the new features become ingrained in your work-flow.

I also found great excitement in the fact that when downloading a file in Internet Explorer, the icon changes its background to a moving status-bar, showing you how the download is progressing without the need to open IE’s download dialogue. The same also applies when copying or moving files. A minor addition, but a spiffing and potentially time-saving touch.

The Start Menu

A search for "Mouse" shows much improved results.

The Start Menu has also improved. Its now sports a much more accurate and fast search box, which makes finding things much easier. For instance, searching for ‘Mouse’ in vista would result in a single link to the mouse properties settings, followed by any documents related to ‘mouse’. In Windows 7, various other options are given, such as help topics related to

Commonly used websites and predefined features are listed for IE.

troubleshooting problems with your mouse; related windows options; and tasks related to the mouse. Searching was incredibly fast despite the limitations of the virtual machine, so it should be even faster on a properly installed operating system.

Another new feature in the Start Menu is the quick access. This works in a  similar way to the aforementioned jump-lists which are used on the taskbar. A small right-facing arrow appears next to applicable applications. Clicking this shows a list of recent documents and/or common tasks. Again, this saves you extra clicks by putting the most common actions there for you. It also prevents you having to remember the name of and find the files you’re looking for, since they’re listed there for you. You can also pin documents to the list. This allows you to retain quick access to files you’re using often.

Document Libraries

An example library containing contacts, favourites, and downloads.

I must admit that I was a bit confused by this feature when I first looked at it. On the surface, it doesn’t look much different from the ‘Documents’ ‘Pictures’ ‘Music’ etc directories which have existed from XP onwards. However, there is a difference and it’s a great addition to the OS. The library features allows you to group in other folders without them actually being there. So I can create a library which contains a folder for my contacts, and all my outgoing emails. They won’t actually exist within the library, but you’ll be able to see all the content. You could do this yourself by copying over every file that you want to be there, but libraries keep track of the specified folders and link to the content within without you having to do anything.

You can view the documents within each folder added to the library without actually opening the folder. That’s spiffing because it saves you browsing through a bunch of folders and subfolders to find the file you’re looking for. You could have it tucked away in a chain of dozens of folders, but if you specify that folder or a parent folder to be listed in a library, you’ll always be able to access to the files quickly and easily. A good use for this might be when working on an extensive project or piece of work. You might have lots of different folders for this project, but you can group them all and see all the files in a library for your work. The implementation of libraries could be better though. The process of creating one could do with some simplification, since it involved creating a library then changing its properties to add in folders.

Redesigned Applications

The ribbon has been added to Wordpad, making it nicer to use.

Windows has come with built-in applications such as Wordpad and Calculator since the 95 and 3.0 respectively. In that time very little changed, but they’ve received a bit of an overhaul in Windows 7. Wordpad got jealous of the ribbon feature of Microsoft Office 2007 and swiped it for itself. Whilst its functionality is still very limited when compared to fully-fledged word-processors, it’s much nicer to use now and will suffice for quick lists and notes.

Calculator has also undergone some changes. It still looks basic from the outset, but now has options which let you add additional functions such as unit conversion or common calculations – such as leases.

Homegroup

I don’t feel it’s worth going into detail with this feature, but I will discuss it very briefly. The reason I don’t think it’s worthwhile spending a long time on it is that it’s not compatible with XP or Vista PCs. Homegroup is a feature added with Windows 7 designed to make it easier to share files and media with other computers on your network. It also tries to increase security by generating a unique password which must be given to those who you wish to allow to join your network. This acts as a double-layer of security in that anyone who wishes to join your network must first have the encryption key, and then they’ll need the Homegroup password. Unfortunately, XP or Vista computers in your home won’t be able to connect to a homegroup. I think it’s a shame that they haven’t made it compatible, as it would improve home networks and alienates those of us who will still want to run computers using older operating systems.

Snap

Two windows snapped to the sides of the screen.

You may often find yourself working with two windows side-by-side, such as writing a Word document whilst researching a topic on the Internet. To put these two next to each other in XP or Vista you’d need to restore them and then manoeuvre them manually untill they’re nicely placed. Windows 7 introduces Aerosnap which fixes this. You can drag an application to the left or right hand of the screen, and it’ll automagically fill that half. Dragging the title-bar to the top of the screen will cause it to maximise. You can drag them back away from these positions to make them jump back to the way they were before.

Improved User Account Control

Users can set their own UAC level.

One of the biggest gripes associated with Vista was User Account Control (UAC). Many find it obtrusive and annoying with its constant nagging about changes that you’re trying to make to your PC. This resulted in some users switching it off completely, potentially leaving themselves less secure. Windows 7 improves upon this by allowing the user to choose the level of security which UAC applies. It implements a slider which can be moved up and down to increase or decrease how active User Account Control is. By default, it’s set to alert you when programs try to make changes, but not when you try to change something.

Summary

Is it worth upgrading? Whilst there’s a plethora of new additions which add up to make Windows 7 worth the investment, and there are other features which I could have also reviewed, such as the ability to emulate Windows XP so you can still run your older applications (Ultimate only), the improvements are only quite small small, so it may not be worth upgrading your Vista or XP machine unless you can’t bear them any longer.

I’ve been testing out the release candidate (RC) of Windows 7 in a virtual machine on my desktop PC. Therefore from the outset I’d like to point out that it won’t be performing as well as it could due to the limitations of the type of install used. However, I have still been able to use the operating system, sample its new features, and make a decision as to whether it’s worthwhile upgrading.

The software I’ve been using is Sun Virtualbox, a review of which should be coming soon.  This is free software which allows you to run operating systems. I had to assign a certain amount of RAM and video memory which the machine could use. The limitations of this resulted in me being unable to sample the visual aero features (which mostly just  makes things looks pretty) of the operating system, but the functionality was still intact. I’ve split the article up into sections, within which is a commentary on what has changed and my observations and comments about the changes.

Redesigned taskbar

The taskbar has been the same for yonks. Since Windows 95 very little has changed. XP brought with it taskbar grouping for when you had lots of the same window, and Vista added pretty little previews. Windows 7 goes further, and by default overhauls the taskbar. Windows and tabs of the same application are rolled into one icon. For example, if I have ‘Documents’ ‘Music’ and ‘Pictures’ open at the same time, they’ll all be rolled into one icon which represents Windows Explorer. Hovering or clicking on the icon will result in a list of the windows contained within that icon. Had I been able to use Aero, shots of the windows would have appeared, making it easier to identify each.

Jump Lists are another addition. Right-clicking on a running or pinned item on the taskbar will result in a menu with common options and recent documents appearing. For example, right-clicking on wordpad results in a list of recently saved documents, for Internet Explorer, it results in my most commonly visited webpages, and a couple of common options which are predetermined – such as ‘new tab’ and ‘inprivate browsing’. This addition saves time by cutting out the step of having to load or maximise the application, and then perform the action – you can perform it directly from the taskbar. Whilst this may sound unimportant, the time saved should begin to add up as the new features become ingrained in your workflow.

I found great excitement in the fact that when downloading a file in Internet Explorer, the icon changes its background to a moving status-bar, showing you how the download is progressing without the need to open IE’s download dialogue. A minor addition, but a very nice and potentially time-saving touch.

Add tabs to your desktop with WindowTabs

I have obsessive-complusive organisational needs. If things are related to the same topic, surely they should be together? Window Tabs comes to the rescue by adding a tab to the top of every application. These tabs can then be dragged around to group them with other applications or documents which are of a similar content. This allows you to have a group for each different thing you’re working on or looking at.

Three grouped windows and the WindowTabs option box showing some excluded applications

The software is a very quick install, and as soon as it’s finished the tabs pop up on top of your currently running programs and files. They look quite like Chrome tabs, and they work in a similar way too. You can click and drag one to move it about, and let go when it’s sitting next to a similar tab. The provided screenshot provides an example of three grouped items which share the same subject. In addition, I’ve shown the options window.

There are probably some applications which you don’t want to have tabs appearing at the top. Such as your web browser, because it already includes them, or other applications which you’ll probably never want to group with other files or programs. I’ve chosen to exclude Spotify as well, since I don’t see it fitting into a grouped category as its purpose is different.

Three is the magic number. This is the basic, free version, so it doesn’t let you have anything more than three items in each group. That means if you’re working on lots of documents, spreadsheets and other such jazz all related to the same thing, you won’t be able to group them all together. Unfortunate, but at least it’s free.

The application will work under XP and Vista, and it should be okay under the Windows 7 RC, too. Try it out and see what you think. I personally haven’t kept it, since I use multiple desktops for different areas (see the previous article about Virtuawin). In addition, I think the tabs look out-of-place when compared to the way Windows looks. I think they ought to blend in with the Windows’ themes, rather than looking like Google Chrome’s tabs. If you come to the same conclusion as me, it’s a very easy and quick uninstall, so no worries there. Grab it from www.windowtabs.com if you want to give it a go.

Organise your desktop with Stardock Fences

Whilst I do my utmost to keep the desktop on my laptop in pristine condition, the desktop on my other PC can sometimes get a build-up of shortcuts and quickly saved files. I have found a rather nice solution which can organise desktop icons into translucent mini-windows which can be easily moved, altered, and hidden at will. This solution takes the form of Stardock Fences.

Example fences and creating a new fence. Click to enlarge.

The software serves two functions. The first and foremost of these is the ability to add sections to your desktop where you can group similar shortcuts. For instance, you may have shortcuts to your projects or work folders. You could make a fence for ‘Projects’, and within that you can collect all the shortcuts related to your work. The same can be repeated for all other categories that you wish to create.

The process of creating a ‘fence’ is easy – just hold the right mouse button, and drag a square. A label will then pop up which asks you if you’d like to create a new fence. Clicking it will cause a fence to fill the space you selected. You’ll then be prompted to name the fence. Finally, you can then drag shortcuts from your desktop, Start Menu, or folders into the new fence. You can remove them from the fence just as easily – simply by dragging them elsewhere. Alternatively, if you decide you want them scattered around disparately again, you can drag them back out and then delete the fence.

The other nifty feature of Fences is the ability to hide your desktop icons quickly and easily. Double-clicking on your desktop causes your icons to quickly fade out to nothing. This allows you to keep your desktop clean and simple, which helps you to look professional and avoid getting confuzzled. As soon as the boss is gone, you can double-click once more to have them appear again. You can nab this application from www.stardock.com/products/fences.

http://www.stardock.com/products/fences/

Compress and extract with 7-Zip

Try to contain your excitement as we take a brief tour of an application designed to let you compress your files, and extract archived files you download from the Internet. Never before has a more enthralling piece of software been written about than 7-Zip.

Okay, so it’s not exciting, but it is useful. Whilst most compressed files or sets of files come in Zip packages which can be opened by Windows’ built-in extractor, sometime they’ll be compressed in different formats, such as 7z, Tar, or RAR, which can’t be opened by Windows’ built-in tool. In addition, if you want to transfer large files or groups of files, compressing them would be a spiffing idea to make the transfer faster and prevent the person at the other end getting huffy about the wait. So, 7-Zip serves two purposes – unzipping most compressed files, and allowing you to zip up files in different ways.

Once downloaded and installed you’ll be able to do two new things. Don’t let the excitement get too much for you – contain yourself. The first will appear to you in some eerie black-magic style when you right-click on a compressed file. A new option will be available on the context menu which contains the options for extracting a file or files.

‘Extract files’ will allow you to choose the location, whilst ‘Extract here’ will plonk them in the folder you’re currently in. You can also compress files from this menu. However, if you’re looking to reduce the size of more than a few files, you might find loading up the full program more effective. Load it in the usual way – it should have plonked itself in the Start Menu under ’7-Zip’.

Selecting files for compression.

You then see an interface which lets you navigate around your folders. You can select folders and files that you want to compress and then click the ‘Add’ button to make the compression window pop up. You can also hold down the ctrl key to select multiple files. If you want to compress files into one package that are currently scattered around all over the place, your best bet would be to copy or move them to a single folder, and then select that and have 7-Zip compress it for you. You don’t have to worry about losing your original files, because it creates separate compressed copies of the selected items.

7-Zip is pretty nifty. It’s fast and light-weight and allows you to extract an array of different types of files. You can also compress your own files into a number of different filetypes. Considering you’d have to pay for alternatives such as Win-Zip and WinRAR, it’s worth it. You can grab it from www.7-zip.com.

Customise your PC with UxStyle

If you’re like me then you like to make your PC your own. Customisation with Windows PCs is fairly limited – out of the box you don’t have much choice with regard to themes. For this reason, many alternative solutions have popped up over time. These range from commercial applications to slightly dubious and potentially dangerous file changes. Having read a recent article, I’ve come across an alternative solution which is safe and seems to work rather smashingly. UxStyle allows you to use custom themes without paying a penny or involving yourself with altering Windows’ files.

Alduin theme for Windows XP. Many others are available if this doesn't tickle your fancy. Click to view larger.

With regard to the UxStyle website, don’t be put off by the rather abrupt homepage – the developers have an incredibly dry sense of humour, which has the nasty side-effect of making you run a mile in fear that the software will make your PC explode. Fear not, for it won’t. After downloading and installing the software, you won’t actually notice anything different. However, it does run a service in the background which beats Windows into submission and allows you to install custom themes on XP, Vista, and Windows 7 . The latter may be more prone to getting upset by the software, though. The aforementioned service should set itself to run at startup, this will let you apply custom themes and keep them for the next restart.

Despite the claims to the contrary with the “Talk to us, let us laugh at your problems” button, the developers are actually very helpful, and on the forums I was able to find a solution to the problem I was having. It had already been asked by someone else and solved promptly by the developers. Their solution worked, and my problem is now fixed. A party followed.

“Where do I get these custom themes?!” I hear you cry. There is one primary spiffing source – Deviant Art. Within the category of visual styles you can find many user-created themes ready and waiting for download. These will ususally need to be unzipped since they were compressed to make your download faster. If you’re not able to unzip the packages with Windows’ built-in unzipping software, you can use the free 7Zip. An article about this will follow shortly. I’ve been very impressed with the breadth and quality of themes available out there – ranging from simple colour changes to full-blown appearance overhauls, such as making your Windows PC look like a Mac. In addition to user-created themes, UxStyle is planning on adding a theme manager with the product soon, which will include themes and extra customisation options.

When you download a theme, you need to copy the files to Windows’ theme directory. This is located at C:\Windows\Resources\Themes .  Some themes just come with the Visual Style file; others come with additional shell files. Create a new folder in your themes folder for the theme, then copy in the style theme. If it also has an accompanying shell folder, copy this over too. This is less confusing than it sounds, but if I haven’t explained it well, there are better instructions given by Lifehacker below:

• .Theme files must be in the /Themes/ folder, not within any subfolders.
• .MSStyles files must be in their own sub-folders. If the style name is NewStyle.msstyles, then sub folder in /Themes/ must be /Themes/NewStyle/
• If your style pack came with a shellstyle.dll, that also goes within it’s own subfolder, i.e. /Themes/NewStyle/shell/
• If you have any problem with loading a style or theme, go back and double check for spelling and capitalization. The names are case sensitive. If a file has a combination of upper and lower case letters, the folder name you place it in must be spelled exactly the same

If you have difficulty with the above, I’m more than happy to provide screenshots or a video to show it. It makes more sense when you look at your own folders. The themes are applied in the same way as default Windows themes – through the appearance properties window.

I haven’t noticed any negative side-effects from using the software, and I’ve been enjoying theming my XP desktop, which acts as my testing machine. I was dubious about doing it to start with, but it seems to be fine. I’ll be moving onto changing the themes on my beloved Vista laptop next. However, it should be noted that the software is still in beta, and you may encounter a glitch or two. You can download the software from www.uxstyle.com, and the forums are at www.uxstyle.com/talk. Happy skinning!

Bad news for European to-be Windows 7 users

Windows 7 in Europe will come without Internet Explorer. On the face of it, this might sound like good news – chances are you use a different browser and aren’t much of a fan of IE. However, this has other much more detrimental effects on European users such as me.

Firstly, a brief overview of the situation. The EU ruled that Microsoft should include a choice of browsers to their consumers. This would pose programming and security issues to the operating system however, and of course, Microsoft aren’t exactly going to be thrilled about adding competitors’ products to their operating system. You may remember when the EU also insisted that Microsoft provide a version of XP without Windows Media Player. Unsurprisingly, only about 3 people bought it. So, taking the example from what the EU wanted them to do last time they get their knickers in a twist, Microsoft is shipping ‘Windows 7 E‘ to Europe, Croatia, and Switzerland at the release on 22nd October 2009.  However, the EU isn’t happy because this time they wanted Microsoft to provide users with a choice of which browser(s) they wanted to install.

Now, why is this bad for consumers? Let’s start with the lesser of the two evils created by this senseless chain of events. Shipping an operating system without a browser sounds absurd – it is. The Internet plays and ever-more vital role in today’s technological world, and we need to be able to access it. We’ll have to resort to burning a browser installer file to a disk or copying it to a USB drive in order to install it on Windows. Alternatively we could go through awkward FTP commands to download a browser directly. This seems like a giant leap backwards. The EU has succeeded in creating extra hassle for the consumer, all the while waving the flag in our name, under the reason that consumers should have a choice, and the Internet shouldn’t be held back by a monopoly. At this stage, I’d like to point out that anyone who wants to is more than welcome to download a browser of their choice by navigating to their website. It’s not like Microsoft prevents us from choosing our own software.

If that first evil frowns at you, then this one will give you a positively scathing evil stare. Due to the removed Internet Explorer, you won’t be able to run an upgrade installation to your Vista machine. This means you’re going to need to back-up all your data, install, and then transfer it back over. In addition, you’re going to lose all your programs and their settings, because these won’t be kept during the installation. Again, thank the EU and Microsoft for being unable to reach a sensible conclusion.

The EU’s actions may have been, at a stretch, admirable, if it weren’t for the fact that OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) are still going to be able to install Internet Explorer when they build or sell new PCs. This means, everyone who buys a new PC with Windows 7 will have it come with IE, but everyone who wants to upgrade their current PC has to go through the hassle of moving all their data and reinstalling all their software due to the EU’s ill -thought-out decision. Their plan was to give users choice when it came to browsers, but they’re still going to be receiving a new PC with IE8 installed by their OEM, whilst those of us who want to update our existing PCs have to go through a huge amount of unnecessary hassle.

Check websites with SiteAdvisor and WOT

Most of us download a lot of stuff from the Internet – ranging from free trials of software, to handy little widgets. We’re also likely to do a fair bit of shopping online too, ranging from buying doorhandles to DVDs. However, if you’re looking to buy something obscure – stuff that’s not stocked by the usual trustworthy sources – you may find yourself on a more obscure website, and unsure of its integrity. McAfee SiteAdvisor and Web Of Trust are ready and willing to help you out of such situations.

For the purposes of keeping this article clear and preventing either me or you from getting confused, I’ll try to focus on the two separately, reviewing and giving a brief guide to both of their websites and the browser addons.

An example of a page checked by McAfee SiteAdvisor. Click to enlarge.

SiteAdvisor is run by McAfee, the renowned and largely trusted security software company. The website allows visitors to type in a website address, and it will pull up a page with information about the site requested. This will consist of the company’s own tests, which includes testing the links and downloads, and reviews from users. A rating will also be given which gives you overall advice about the trustworthiness of the website. You can also add your own review to help other users who check the same URL as you. If the site is not listed, the submission will be placed in a queue to be checked by McAfee’s systems. Unfortunately this can take quite a while, so it’s not worth waiting around for it to be checked before your very eyes.

A browser addon is also available. This places a mark next to search results

The SiteAdvisor addon checks search results as well as notifying you of the safety of the webpage you're currently on. Click to enlarge.

which either notifies you that the website is fine and safe, potentially risky, or dangerous. There will be a faded grey icon if the item has not been checked. The SiteAdvisor item will also sit at the bottom right of the browser’s status bar, notifying you of the safety of the website you’re currently on. It can be clicked for more information.

The second website and addon which I’m looking at is ‘Web Of Trust‘ (WOT). This alternative to SiteAdvisor is far more community-based, relying on the reviews of consumers. These reviews consist of sliders where the website is rated on different categories, namely: trustworthiness, reliability, privacy, and child safety. In addition, users can submit a text review of the website to provide any additional feedback or information. These reviews are aggregated to provide an average rating in each of the above listed areas.

An example ratings page from Web of Trust. Click to enlarge.

WOT’s website works in a similar way to SiteAdvisor’s in that they both allow the user to input a website address to have it checked. However, WOT does not use testing systems to determine the safety of downloads and links. It does, however, have a large number of users who rate websites. The system of a linear rating in each area is also a far better method that McAfee’s mainly text-based reviewing system.

Like SiteAdvisor, Web Of Trust also sports an addon, which can be installed

The addon allows you to easily rate websites. If you have rated it low or it has been rated as dangerous by other users, you will receive a warning to protect you. Click to enlarge.

into your browser. It also checks results from search engines against its database to give you an overall rating. However, it surpasses McAfee’s offering in terms of making it incredibly simple and easy to see other users’ feedback and add your own. A simple button is added to the browser. This will remain green when the website is safe; will change to orange when there’s a risk; and turn red when there’s real danger. Upon clicking this button, a box will pop down which shows the average ratings in the different categories. Sliders are also present to allow you to add your own rating of the website, in addition to an optional text review.

Overall judgement on which is better is quite tough. McAfee is better in the sense that it they use systems to check the websites – scanning downloads and checking the websites which it links to. However, Web Of Trust is much better on the community front. It’s easier to check websites on the fly and add your own rating by clicking the button to check the average ratings of different people. Overall, I would suggest checking webistes with both before downloading or buying anything. However, if you’re going to use one of the addons, I would highly recommend opting for Web of Trust over McAfee.

Visit McAfee Siteadvisor at www.siteadvisor.com and Web Of Trust at www.mywot.com. You can check websites and/or download the addons from these sites.

Most of us download a lot of stuff from the Internet – ranging from free trials of software, to handy little widgets. We’re also likely to do a fair bit of shopping online too, ranging from doorhandles to DVDs. However, if you’re looking to buy something obscure – stuff that’s not stocked by the usual trustworthy sources – you may find yourself on a more obscure website, and unsure of its integrity. McAfee SiteAdvisor and Web Of Trust are ready and willing to help you out of such situations.

For the purposes of keeping this clear and preventing either me or you from getting confused, I’ll try to focus on the two separately, reviewing and giving a brief guide to both of their websites and browser addons.

An example of a page checked by McAfee SiteAdvisor. Click to enlarge.

Starting with SiteAdvisor. This is run by McAfee, the renowned and largely trusted security software company. The website allows visitors to type in a website address, and it will pull up a page with information about the site requested. This will consist of the company’s own tests, which includes testing the links and downloads, and reviews of users. A rating will also be given which gives overall advice to users about the trustworthiness of the website. You can also add your own review to help other users who check the same URL as you. If the site is not listed, the submission will be placed in a queue to be checked by McAfee’s systems. Unfortunately this can take quite a while, so it’s not worth waiting around for it to be checked before your very eyes.

A browser addon is also available. This places a mark next to search results

The SiteAdvisor addon checks search results as well as notifying you of the safety of the webpage you're currently on. Click to enlarge.

which either notifies you that the website is fine and safe, potential risks, or dangerous. There will be a faded grey icon if the item has not been checked. The SiteAdvisor item will also sit at the bottom right of the browser’s status bar, notifying you of the safety of the website you’re currently on. It can be clicked for more information.

The second website and addon which I’m looking at is ‘Web Of Trust‘ (WOT). This alternative to SiteAdvisor is far more community-based, relying on the reviews of consumers. These reviews consist of sliders where the website is rated on different categories, namely: trustworthiness, reliability, privacy, and child safety. In addition, users can submit a text review of the website to provide any additional feedback or information. These reviews are aggregated to provide an average rating in each of the above listed areas.

WOT’s website works in a similar way to SiteAdvisor’s in that they both allow the user to input a website address to have it checked. However, WOT does not use testing systems to determine the safety of downloads and links. It does, however, have a large number of users who rate websites. The system of a linear rating in each area is also a far better method that McAfee’s mainly text-based reviewing system.

Like SiteAdvisor Web Of Trust also sports an addon, which can be installed into your browser. Like SiteAdvisor, it checks search listings against its database to give you an overall rating. However, it surpasses McAfee’s offering in terms of making it incredibly simple and easy to see other users’ feedback and add your own. A simple button is added to the browser. The button will remain green when the website is safe; will change to orange when there’s a risk; and turn red when there’s real danger. Upon clicking this button, a box will pop down which shows the average ratings in the different categories. Sliders are also present to allow you to add your own rating of the website, in addition to an optional text review.

Save money on calls with Say No To 0870

This will only be relevant to British, and potentially European visitors. Sorry to international interlopers!

Calls to 0870 numbers can cost up to 10 pence per minute, and if you’re waiting in lengthy queues to talk to a human, this could prove rather costly. A knight in gleaming white armour comes to save you from this beast, a knight by the name of ‘Say No To 0870‘.

An example search for Sainsbury's brings up various phone numbers.

Aside from having a deliciously rhyming name, the site is really very useful; if not as aesthetically attractive as one might like. The key feature of the website is the ‘Search to find an alternative number’ link, which takes you to a page where you can either search a particular number, or for a company. For example, if you’ve been told to phone 0870 123 456, then you can simply enter this number in the search field, and it’ll trundle through the database to see if it’s got it there to find you alternatives. Or if you need to contact a company, and don’t want to use their costly number, input the name and watch as a list of useful numbers comes up.

When searching for a company, you should receive numbers for the different departments of the company. The usual paid-for numbers will be provided, in addition to redirect numbers, and with any luck, freephone numbers. The example screenshot with this article shows a large listing of numbers for a company search. The ones of particular interest here are those in the ‘Freephone’ column.

A nice little website, one which should sit patiently in your bookmarks until such a time when you need to call a company, but don’t want to pay their rip-off fees. Get your cheapskate self over to www.saynoto0870.com to begin saving your pennies.

Prepare stationery with Printable Paper

We’ve all been there – you need to use some obscure paper to complete an assignment or a piece of work. Or you’ve run out of lined paper because you hardly ever buy any since you’re such an obsessive computer user? Printable Paper comes to the rescue in such dire straits!

Select your paper, click print, then watch your printer as the magic happens.

The smashing fellows there put together paper in the form of PDF documents, so you should be able to open them on any computer, even if you’re stuck in a library or another such location containing a selection of out-dated computers. There’s a large selection of paper which you can open or save to your computer, and then print out to your heart’s content. These documents add lines, squares, or patterns to plain A4 paper. Just print the document as you would usually, and you’ll receive a nifty patterned piece of paper to use for whatever your purpose is. You can then turn the piece over, load it back in, and print on the other side if you want it double-sided, which you probably do, don’t you?

I’ve stopped specialist or lined since I now just print anything I need either from this website, or from my printer’s built-in functions. The small ‘Printable Paper’ logo is a little bit of a pain, so I wouldn’t use the stuff on any professional documents, but for any other function it seems rather spiffing. The ability to upgrade to a paid subscription to get rid of the aforementioned logo might be a good addition. Pad over to www.printablepaper.net, bookmark it, and return when you need some paper!