I say, “Not”!  And this article from TechRepublic writer, Debra Littlejohn Shinder gives my reasoning exactly.  I am especially in agreement with the even numbered items in the list.

I would add an 11th reason to the mix and that is I never want the first version of anything.  That includes tech stuff, cars, phones, etc.

The engineers and developers never consider every option and everything you and I can do with the device.  I have found that the 1st of anything is usually the poorest of the versions with more issues.

I would like to add that even though I have been reading the TechRepublic site for years to great techie benefit, I will have one of my articles appearing there within the next month or so.  It does require a membership to read all of the information and articles there.  However, it is free and I have never gotten spammed from them.

They send me updates on the specific parts of the site that I want to receive them for.

Tags: Apple, computer, desktop, iPad, iPod, Mac, not ready for prime time, storage, zune

Several of you continued the USB line of thought from the last column and mentioned portable applications.  I thought I had written about these years ago.  However, after a search of over 750 columns I’ve written I realized that I had not mentioned them, so here we go.

A quick definition is needed here for what portable applications are and how are they used.

A portable application is a “stand alone” program that does not need to be installed on a computer’s hard drive.  When you install a regular program there are files that are written all over your computer.  For instance, many entries may be made in your windows’ registry file along with other folders somewhere else.  A portable application is installed in one main folder and no other entries are written anywhere else on the system.  This is like a step back in time.  In the DOS days and the originating days of windows all programs were installed like this; however, things are now different.

The first and predominate portable applications site is called, appropriately enough, “Portable Apps“.  If you go there you can install the basic program on your USB stick and it will provide a lot of good “little” programs.  It creates a menu system so that when you plug your USB stick in it will pop up and you can run your portable applications from there.

There are three different Portable Apps from which to choose.  The differences are in size and  what programs you get with each one.  The first choice, “Platform Only” will only install the basic program.  I don’t find this one to be very useful.  It  is only 1.3MB in size but it doesn’t do much to help you out.

The other two installs are called “Suite Lite” and “Suite Standard”.  These two are respectively 150MB and 355MB in size.  The minimum recommended sizes for your USB device is 256MB and 512MB, again depending on which version you choose.

Each of the larger versions include most of the Mozilla apps like the FireFox browser, Thunderbird email, a messaging program, an antivirus program and several other apps.  The difference between the two is that the larger version includes Open Office Portable version.  That is an excellent substitute for Microsoft Office on a budget…it is free as are all of these apps.  You can look for other portable programs online too.

Why would you want to install these or a USB stick?  You go to a friend’s house and want to do some work on your newspaper column or your personal budget.  You can perform everything you need to on your USB stick after plugging it into their computer.  None of your information is left behind on their computer since you have used your portable “system” to do your work and store your files.  You can check your email, surf the web, etc. without leaving behind any of your private information on someone else’s system.

It provides a good use for your USB thumb drive other than using it for storage only.  There are other portable app sites online – Google for them.  Even so; “Portable Apps” is the first, and in my opinion the best.

Tags: computer, Firefox, google, iPod, memory, Portable Applications, Ron Doyle, thumb drive, usb

This is the first Double Click column of 2010!  It is hard for me to believe but this is the beginning of the ninth year I have had the honor and pleasure of writing Double Click for all of my readers.  I am happy to continue as long as you like.  Please shoot me an email occasionally to let me know!  As usual…for my first column of the year and at the request of many emails I received, we will look at all of the Internet sites I mentioned last year.  So sit back and get your fingers ready.  By-the-way, if you are a clicker you can go to the DoubleClicks.info site and read the column the day it is published in the paper and actually click the links.

Here they are in their order of their appearance with short descriptions if needed.

• Open Office, a good free Microsoft Office substitute.
• Windows Live Mail, Microsoft’s free online email application.
• Thunderbird, another free email application.
• Avast!, a free antivirus and anti-spyware program.
• Windows Defender, Microsoft’s free application to protect your computer against pop-ups, slow performance, and security threats.
• Spyware Blaster, another app to protect against spyware, adware, browser hijackers, etc.
• Advanced System Care 3, free program used to maintain ands keep your computer running smoothly.  Note: some readers reported issues with this although it has worked well for me.
• Cuil.com, GoodSearch.com, Yahoo.com, Google.com, Live.com (now Bing.com) & Melzoo.com, various search engines (you know my favorite if you have read the column much).
• MySpace.com, Facebook.com & Twitter.com, three of the most popular social networks (twitter.com/rondoyle is the one that I use).
• Microsoft.com, the name says it all.
• Google Toolbar, the best of many browser toolbars, others mentioned; Alexa, AOL, Ask, Dictionary.com, Dogpile, eBay, MSN, Yahoo and Groowe).
• Google Desktop Search, Google application which enables you to very quickly and accurately search your local computer.
• TrueCrypt, application that allows you to encrypt your files for security purposes.
• Wallpaper Changer, allows you to change your desktop background at a specified interval. If you have Windows 7 you no longer need this.
• OnlineConversion.com, converts between most any type of measurements.
• Carbonite.com, Mesh.com & SkyDrive, cloud file storage; last two are owned by MS and are also free.
• Netflix & Blockbuster, DVD and digital movie rental sites.
• PayPal, eBay, iTunes , online payment and purchase sites.
• Hallmark & Dayspring, online e-card companies.
• Hamachi, a free hosted Virtual Private Network service that can securely connect computers on a network.

Next week we will visit part 2 of last year’s links.

Tags: 2009, google, internet, iPod, last year, microsoft, new computer, newspaper column, Ron Doyle, twitter, Urban Legend