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ZDNet Author Biography: Ed Bott is an award-winning technology writer with more than two decades' experience writing for mainstream media outlets and online publications. He's served as editor of the U.S. edition of PC Computing and managing editor of PC World; both publications had monthly paid circulation in excess of 1 million during...; more about Ed Bott »

ZDNet Resources

21 months later, Vista is still more secure than XP: Last October, roughly one year after the release to manufacturing of Windows Vista, I did a comparison of how well Windows Vista was living up to its promise of being more secure than its predecessor, Windows XP. My data source was the Microsoft Security Bulletin Search page, where I tallied...; Tags: Security, Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Windows Vista (Longhorn), Microsoft Windows XP, Microsoft Windows, Operating Systems, Software, Ed Bott; Blog posts 2008-07-25
First hints of Microsoft's "fight back" ads appear: A new ad at Microsoft.com tries to make the case for a fresh look at Vista by pointing out that "at one point, everyone thought the earth was flat." Aligning its most vocal Vista critics with the Flat Earth Society is a clever way to get people's attention, but can...; Tags: Advertisement, Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Corp., Microsoft Windows Vista (Longhorn), Microsoft Windows, Operating Systems, Software, Ed Bott; Blog posts 2008-07-21
Sony's amazing crapware-free PC: Sony is finally taking on its crapware problem. For the past two months, I've been using an astonishingly light and agile Sony VAIO notebook and loving every minute of it. The best part of all was that this machine was absolutely, completely, unequivocally crapware-free, which meant I was able to...; Tags: Sony Corp., Sony Vaio, PC, Microsoft Windows Vista, Option, Fresh Start Program, Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Windows Vista (Longhorn), Tools & Techniques, Desktops, Operating Systems, Software, Management, Hardware, Ed Bott; Blog posts 2008-07-21
Has Microsoft pulled the plug on Windows Easy Transfer Companion?: More than two years ago, Microsoft purchased Apptimum, Inc., which had developed two system utilities for transferring programs and settings from one computer to another. Roughly six months later, around the time Windows Vista was released to corporate customers, Microsoft announced that it would release the software under a new...; Tags: Team, Microsoft Windows 7, Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Corp., Microsoft Windows, Operating Systems, Software, Ed Bott; Blog posts 2008-07-18
Windows Update versus Ubuntu Update: A few months ago, Steve Ballmer publicly noted that Windows Vista was "a work in progress." That inspired a predictable outpouring of Vista-bashing. After all, look how many updates Windows Vista has had since it was first released. Obviously, it was a disaster, or there would have been no need...; Tags: Ubuntu, Microsoft Windows Update, Operating System, Update, Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Windows Vista (Longhorn), Operating Systems, Software, Ed Bott; Blog posts 2008-07-15

How should Microsoft fight Vista criticism? "We're sorry" is a good start: On this week's EIC-squared podcastLarry Dignan asked me what I would do to fix Vista's tarnished brand if I were in charge of Microsoft's marketing for a day. OK, I'll take the job, but on two conditions: First, I want face time with Steve Ballmer and Steven Sinofsky. Second, I...; Tags: Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Corp., Service Pack 1, Frank Shaw, Microsoft Windows Vista (Longhorn), Operating Systems, Microsoft Windows, Software, Ed Bott; Blog posts 2008-07-10
Why you'll have a long wait for Microsoft's next OS: The recent buzz over Microsoft's efforts to build a completely new OS from scratch has led to some wild speculation. As my colleague Mary Jo Foley has reported, Microsoft already has an all-star team that's working on a next-generation operating system. It's called Midori, and Mary Jo's sources say it's...; Tags: Operating System, Microsoft Windows NT, Microsoft Corp., Midori, Microsoft Windows, Operating Systems, Software, Ed Bott; Blog posts 2008-07-07
Nothing stealthy about this Windows Update update: For years, Microsoft has occasionally updated its Windows Update client software automatically on systems that are configured to check for updates. This has been true even when Windows Update is set to simply check for (and optionally, download) updates but not to install them. That decision led...; Tags: Microsoft Windows Update, Update, Microsoft Windows, Operating Systems, Software, Ed Bott; Blog posts 2008-07-03
Microsoft Equipt: good deal, lousy name: Microsoft Equipt is a subscription-based combo of Office Home and Student 2007, Windows Live OneCare, and the cloud-based Office Live Workspace service. It worked great when I beta-tested it earlier this year, and at $70 a year for three PCs it's a good deal for most home users. So how...; Tags: Circuit City Stores Inc., Microsoft Corp., Microsoft Office, Office Suites, Software, Ed Bott; Blog posts 2008-07-02
Microsoft to ratchet IE8 security another notch in Beta 2: Sometime in August, Microsoft plans to release Beta 2 of Internet Explorer 8. Yesterday, I spoke with Austin Wilson, Director of Windows Client Product Management at Microsoft, about some of the security-related changes due in this milestone, and got a preview of the changes announced today. Here are some details...; Tags: Microsoft Internet Explorer 7, ActiveX Control, Microsoft Corp., Beta, Site, Web Browser, IE8, Microsoft Windows, ActiveX/COM/COM+/DCOM, Phishing, Web Browsers, Security, Operating Systems, Software, Software Development, Software/Web Development, Spam And Phishing, Internet, Ed Bott; Blog posts 2008-07-02
Intel stays behind the curve ... again: Intel's decision to continue using Windows XP instead of migrating to Windows Vista is being spun as a stunning rebuke to Microsoft and a rejection of Windows Vista. Except that there's nothing new here. The same thing happened in 2002, when Windows XP was shiny and new. Corporations like Intel...; Tags: Operating System, Microsoft Windows Vista, Intel Corp., Inquirer, Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Windows XP, Operating Systems, Software, Ed Bott; Blog posts 2008-06-26
Good Microsoft wins one: Back in April, I contrasted Good Microsoft, which released its Live Mesh service for public consumption, with Bad Microsoft, which decided to pull the plug on its MSN Music customers who had purchased DRM-protected music files from its store. It took a couple months, but it looks like Good Microsoft...; Tags: MSN, Microsoft Corp., Music, Digital Rights Management (DRM), Security, Ed Bott; Blog posts 2008-06-19
10 top Vista tweaks, part 2: As I noted in the first installment of this series, some of my favorite productivity-enhancing techniques don't involve custom code or registry edits. Instead, they involve learning how the basic building blocks of Windows work, and then rearranging those components to cut steps out of the tasks you perform most...; Tags: Sleep, Desktop, Search, Network, Microsoft Windows XP, Tweak, Window, System Restore, Microsoft Windows Vista, Shortcut, File, Computer, Start, IFilters, Network Location, Search Criteria, Default Option, Citeknet Website, Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Windows Vista (Longhorn), Operating Systems, Software, Ed Bott; Blog posts 2008-06-17
10 top tweaks for Windows Vista, part 2: Ed Bott lists his favorite performance-enhancing, time-saving tweaks for Windows Vista. In this, the second installment in a two-part series, Ed shows how to improve Windows Search, how to get System Restore and shadow copies working at peak efficiency, and how to add shortcuts to favorite network locations, websites, and...; Tags: Ed Bott, Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Windows Vista (Longhorn), Operating Systems, Software, Windows Vista, tips, tweaks; Image galleries 2008-06-16
10 top tweaks for Windows Vista: The best ways to enhance performance and productivity with Windows are usually fairly simple. They don't require registry edits or custom code; instead, they involve learning how the basic building blocks of Windows work, and then rearranging those components to cut steps out of the tasks you perform most often....; Tags: Program, Folder, Desktop, Network, Toolbar, Backup, Microsoft Windows Vista, Quick Launch, List, Icon, File, Links, Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Windows Vista (Longhorn), Operating Systems, Software, Ed Bott; Blog posts 2008-06-11
10 top tweaks for Windows Vista, part 1: Ed Bott lists his favorite performance-enhancing, time-saving tweaks for Windows Vista. In this installment, first in a two-part series, learn how to work smarter with installed programs, tweak the taskbar and the Start menu, set up fast and easy backups, get one-click access to common network tasks, and fine-tune Windows...; Tags: Ed Bott, Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Windows Vista (Longhorn), Operating Systems, Software, Windows Vista, Hardware, Peripherals, tweaks, tips, performance, productivity; Image galleries 2008-06-11
Windows Home Server gets a big bug fix (and much more): That noise you just heard from outside Seattle was a collective sigh of relief, as Microsoft announced that it has released a public beta version of Power Pack 1 for Windows Home Server. It's more than a service pack, with at least two significant new features (client support for x64-based Windows machines and...; Tags: Microsoft Windows Home Server, Microsoft Windows, Backups, Operating Systems, Servers, Software, Hardware, Ed Bott; Blog posts 2008-06-09
Fixing Windows Vista, Part 5: Faster, smarter search: In previous installments of this series, I discussed the virtues of a clean Vista install, some useful User Account Control workarounds, top tools for troubleshooting, and the wisdom of shutting off Windows system services. Today's fifth and final installment is a little different from its predecessors, in that it focuses...; Tags: Microsoft Windows Vista, Index, Microsoft Windows Explorer, Windows Search, Microsoft Windows, Operating Systems, Microsoft Windows Vista (Longhorn), Software, Ed Bott; Blog posts 2008-06-05
Debunking yet another bogus malware study: Here we go again, with yet another round of bogus reporting about the extent of malware infections in the United States. This morning I read a report by Nick Farrell of The Inquirer, which was accompanied by the screamer headline One in Four US computers infected. It links in turn to a much longer...; Tags: Adware, OECD, Malware, Computer, Badware, Spyware, Adware & Malware, Cyberthreats, Spyware, Viruses And Worms, Productivity, Security, Ed Bott; Blog posts 2008-06-02
Dear Microsoft: Please get UAC right this time: Alex Eckelberry of Sunbelt Software vents, intelligently, about Windows Vista's UAC conundrum: UAC could certainly have been handled better. It does something the security industry has been well aware of for a long time — it creates the "cry wolf" problem of popup fatigue (people turn off or ignore...; Tags: Dialog Box, Permission, Window, Control Panel, Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Corp., UAC, Microsoft Windows Vista (Longhorn), Construction, Advertising & Promotion, Operating Systems, Microsoft Windows, Software, Marketing, Ed Bott; Blog posts 2008-05-29