J. A. Powell, Jr.
W2K
Not much has happened in the computer world since my last epistle ... except for the release of a minor operating system called Windows 2000. Microsoft came out with a replacement for its Windows NT operating system a month ago and in my never-ending quest for computer information for the Macon Bar, I decided to upgrade my computer.
In the past, whenever Microsoft has come out with a new operating system, it would take days to install and get the bugs out. Then about six months later, Microsoft would come out with a patch to fix most of the bugs. In spite of this, I decided to go forward with this upgrade solely to benefit my brothers and sisters in the bar.
With this experience, I gritted my teeth and decided to install Window 2000 on a spare test computer in our office. I first ran a program that tested the computer and its software to determine if it can handle 2000. It reported back that there were a couple of programs that may not run on it but that 2000 should load fine.
I started the install expecting to spend the next week struggling to make it work. I left for lunch, and when I returned, the install was finished. The computer worked. All but two programs ran perfectly. Most amazingly, it no longer crashes. I have one particularly buggy program that is guaranteed to crash Windows 98 at least once a day. So far, Windows 2000 has snapped its virtual fingers at this program. When the program starts to act up, Windows 2000 merely shuts it down and continues along its merry way.
I did notice a problem that I thought was a bug. When an email arrives with an attachment that is an executable (a program), I could not open it. It turns out that for security reason, Windows 2000 blocks the attachment. This feature can be turned off.
I have only been using it for a couple of months so I am still testing it. I will try to report back in the next bar letter.
Are you still dictating your letters, your secretary typing and printing it on the computer and putting it in your in box? You then make corrections, put the letter in your out box, when thirty minutes later, your secretary happens to wander in and picks up the letter and returns to her office. She then makes the corrections and returns it to your in box for your signature. Elapsed time: half a day.
I have a new and improved way of handling this little task. In the past, I have reported to you about having my secretary email the documents to me and I email the corrections back to her. She then prints the letter and puts it in my in box for my signature.
I have cut off the return email. I bought a printer for my office. Now when I finish correcting a letter, I go ahead and print it and sign it. Letters now go out in a matter of minutes instead of hours. The printer is very quiet and very fast. Give it a try. You will be amazed how quickly you can turn over letters.
Do you ever have to translate a document from one language to another? Well a web site is here to help you with that task. http://babelfish.altavista. digital.com/cgi-bin/translate allows you to type in a phrase and have it translated to French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Portugese. Also, a program can be downloaded to translate private documents. Bonito fresco cubo?
Do you work on documents at home? Do you play the floppy disk shuffle to get your documents home? Then I have good news for you.
A web site (yet another one) called www.Xdrive. com gives you a virtual hard drive on the Internet. The virtual drive appears as a drive letter on your computer at work and at home. Just store your documents on the virtual drive and they will be available at home or on the road.
The virtual drive is password protected so your documents are secure.