Thank you for all of the emails over the last couple of weeks regarding the past year in review.  Keep in mind you can find all the articles online at DNRonline.com and my site, DoubleClicks.info if you want to catch up.

Many emails asked about the Android Market link (market.android.com).  Before starting you should note that I work for Ntelos Communications, Waynesboro, VA, USA (that should make disclosure folks happy).  I have used Windows, Blackberry, iPhone (not as much) and now Android phones.  Android phones are currently my preferred flavor.  Keep in mind Android is the name of the operating system (created by Google) not the actual phone manufacturer, etc.  Again, that is opinion and I am sure there are a bazillion people out there who would argue with that statement.  But, I write the column…

The above mentioned site is the default Google site for apps available for this type of phone.  You can get free apps and some that can cost from less that one dollar to several dollars.  Of course, there are also free apps which are missing the enhanced features you pay for if you get the "Pro" version.  For instance, a game may have two adventure levels for free but if you purchase it you will get all 30 game levels.  There are games, business, utilities, entertainment, education and any other type of applications/programs you can imagine.

According to Distimo (bit.ly/ygIsBD), a company that watches of the stats of mobile apps, as of December, 2011, there were 400,000 Android apps in the marketplace.  Of those applications over 270,000 were free. 

In addition to the Android Market there are many other places to get apps.  You can search for apps online or go to specific sites.  Here are the other two sites I frequent. 

My number two favorite after the default market is the Amazon "Appstore for Android" (amzn.to/x2w2F5).  Many of the apps in the market at Amazon and everywhere else are repeated in each site online; however, prices may vary and some are only available at specific sites. 

Why is Amazon my #2?  If you log into the Amazon site you can get one free app every day.  I check the site most every day and have 250+ apps; however, I have only installed about ten of them.  I have the rest in reserve for future use, testing or forgetting about them.  If you buy one (for $0) you do not have to install it on your phone or tablet at that time; or ever.  Some of them are junk but some of them are excellent.  One that currently costs $9.99, "OfficeSuite Pro 5" I got free several months ago.  This application is basically an office program that will allow you to view, create and edit Microsoft Office files, i.e., Word, Excel and PowerPoint files with your smartphone. 

The final site I like is called 101 Best Android Apps (101bestandroidapps.com).  This is where new apps are released by developers before they are officially approved by Google for the Android Market. 

Wikipedia says that the approval process for apps is that Google, "…places some restrictions on the types of apps that can be published, in particular not allowing ‘sexually explicit material’, ‘Violence and Bullying’, ‘Hate Speech’, ‘Impersonation or Deceptive Behavior’, copyrighted material (without permission)…"

The 101 Best Android Apps site mentioned above allows many of the unapproved ones to be downloaded to your phone as an .apk file (similar to .exe for Windows).  Warning, be very careful when loading an .apk file as it could contain harmful code…check out the reputation of the developer first! 

Tags: android, apps, Blackberry, disclosure, free apps, google, iphone, microsoft, operating system, phone manufacturer, preferred flavor, smartphone, windows, year in review

Last week we were looking at some tricks you can do with your Windows 7 taskbar.  Today let’s see how to actually add a task to the taskbar.

To add any program which is installed on your computer to the taskbar, first find the program you want to add.  Do this by clicking the Start button and All Programs. Scroll to the specific program you want to add and right click on the icon.   The dropdown menu will include several different choices but the two you need to pay attention to here are, "Pin to Taskbar" and "Pin to Start Menu."  If you choose "Pin to Taskbar" it will add the program icon/link to your taskbar.  If you do not like where it is located on the taskbar it is easy to move.  Click the icon and drag it to the location on your taskbar you prefer.

Obviously, you can also add the program icon to your Start Menu.  If you choose that one the program will be added somewhere near the top of the menu list when you click the start button.  Again, you can click and drag it to slide it to the location you prefer on the menu list.

Now, how about "Jump Lists?"

Jump Lists are lists of recently opened items like websites or documents folders depending on which program you used to open them last. You can use a Jump List to open these items, and you can also pin favorites to a Jump List so you can quickly get to the items you use every day.

They are found on the taskbar and in the menu.   Again, this depends on what programs you have added to the menu or what programs are currently running.  On the Start menu jump lists appear for programs you’ve pinned to the Start menu and programs you’ve opened recently. Note that not all programs use jumps lists so they may not appear.  However, most of the main programs will have them.  Jump Lists can include recently opened items and any you have added or pinned there.

The same jump list items will appear in the start menu and the taskbar no matter which way you access them.  So, if you pin an item to a program’s Jump List on the taskbar, the item also appears in that program’s Jump List on the Start menu.

Using this quick access feature is easy.  To view a Jump List for an application, click start, point to the pinned program near the top of the menu list, point to the item and click it.  It then opens up. 

To add an item to the jump list, click start, hover the program in your start menu, hover the item you want to pin, click on the little "push pin" icon and click "Pin to this list". To remove the item follow the previous directions and click the "push pin" icon again.  Next choose, "Unpin from this list."

Follow the same process on the taskbar but start by hovering and then right-click.  Now practice your new productivity in Windows 7.

Tags: applications, choices, dropdown menu, folders, jump list, menu list, pin, program icon, programs, start button, taskbar, unpin, windows

Last week I mentioned that Family Safety is one of the applications you get if you choose to install Windows Live Essentials (WLE). Here is a very short description of all the apps which come with a full installation of WLE. If any of them sound appealing try it, if not ignore them.

First go to “explore.live.com,” scroll down the page and click, “Windows Live Essentials” then you will be taken to the main page. Here you will see each of the applications available and a short blurb on each.

Messenger is Microsoft’s “chat” or messaging client which is used to send text messages in real-time to other people who are online. They can be online via either their computers or phones.

Live Photo Gallery allows you to edit photos, share those photos, and even movies, online. I wrote an article for Microsoft last year about using Photo Gallery to create panoramas at http://bit.ly/cflZcw.

Movie Maker is a neat little app that will let you take your digital pictures and turn them into a movie with music, sound effects, and transitions. You can also do a little movie editing and publish them online. I have used this along with other programs to create a couple of YouTube videos. Search there for “dblclx” to find them.

Next is Live Mesh which I have written about several times over the past three years. It provides “cloud” storage and auto-backup capabilities for your files.

Live Writer is a program mainly for bloggers and there is Family Safety, both of which I have covered in detail over the past several months.

Live Mail is the replacement program for Outlook Express. It is a good application for email. I highly recommend it if you don’t have Outlook or Thunderbird already in place for your personal email access.

The last four parts of Live Essentials are really just add-ons for other programs. First is Messenger Companion, which adds a couple of extra features to Messenger’s chat program. The most appealing one gives you the ability to add comments directly from within Microsoft Internet Explorer (MSIE). I am not an online “chatter” so I have not really used this other than to test for a short period. The second add-on is Bing Bar which adds a toolbar to MSIE for searching, checking your email, etcetera while surfing the web.

Finally, the last two are Outlook Connector Pack and Silverlight. The connector pack allows you to add Hotmail.com, Live.com email accounts and Messenger to the full version of Outlook. Silverlight is an add-on which allows special video, audio and/or interactivity to be run on your MSIE browser. Silverlight is worthwhile if you go to a site requiring it. However, so far it isn’t widely accepted throughout the net-world.

Note: When you start the install for WLE select the link that says, “Choose the programs you want to install.” You can then select ANY of the above applications. If you choose the other link you will install all of the applications on your system.

Tags: applications, apps, edit, Essential, family safety, free, mesh, messaging, microsoft, movie maker, music sound, panoramas, pictures, several times, short blurb, sound effects, text messages, transitions, windows, youtube videos

Several weeks ago I mentioned a application when talking about Ubuntu called, VirtualBox.  I had a couple of people writing asking if there was a program like VirtualBox they could use to run Ubuntu, Windows XP or another operating system on their Windows 7 computer.

Guess what?  There is and it is called, "VirtualBox", (virtualbox.org) the exact same program.  There are different downloads for Windows, Mac, Linux (Ubuntu) and Solaris (another free operating system) depending on which operating system your uses as its base system.

What VirtualBox does is really simple; however, how it does it is quite complicated.   This article may be for more advanced user so if you feel you are more advanced (not sure what the definition is) then read on.  If you do not feel you are a more advanced user, then come back next week for a more "universal" discussion.

Let us pretend that you run Microsoft Windows XP on your computer.  Over the past month or so you read my articles concerning Ubuntu and you would like to try it out.  You have run it off of a CD and found that it was a little too slow for you.  You would like to run it off of your actual computer to really find out how good/bad it is.  The other, currently more likely scenario is that you use Windows 7 on your system and you would like to run XP for some "trust issue".  Either way, VirtualBox, www.virtualbox.org, is where you need to look.

As long as you have a licensed (if a license is needed although one is not needed for Ubuntu) installation disc of that additional operating system you can install it on your computer.  It will allow you to run that operating system on your computer while your original OS is also running.

At present, VirtualBox runs on Linux (Ubuntu), Windows, , Macintosh and OpenSolaris hosts and supports the ability to run Windows (NT 4.0, 2000, XP, Server 2003, Vista, Windows 7), DOS/Windows 3.x, Linux (2.4, 2.6 and all Ubuntu like OS), Solaris, OpenSolaris, and OpenBSD.  If you have never heard or do not care about any of the items mention in this paragraph re-read the last sentence in the third paragraph above.

Basically you start your computer as you normally would.  Next, you start VirtualBox and choose to run the OS you previously installed.  It will open a window that starts what looks like another computer running.  However, this window will be running the "other" OS.  If you go to DoubleClicks.info I have posted a picture showing what it looks like when you are running Windows 7 as your host (native OS) and Ubuntu 10.10. The graphic is provided by VirtualBox.com with a couple of edits by me.

If you are looking for something like this, give VirtualBox a try.  There are several other free applications out there that offer almost identical features; however, this one is the easiest to set up and use…in my opinion.

[Screenshots are from VirtualBox.org.]

Tags: actual computer, BSD, downloads, free, free operating system, Linux, mac linux, microsoft, microsoft windows, open, solaris, trust issue, ubuntu, virtual, virtualbox, windows, windows xp

Last week I introduced you to Ubuntu which is a free operating system, but I asked you to wait until today before installing and running it on your computer.

Ubuntu is licensed as Open Source software, which means that it can be used, distributed, shared and edited by anyone, at no cost. Here are some of the other neat things that Ubuntu offers.

Let us pretend that you would like to try out Ubuntu but are a little apprehensive about installing it on your computer and then finding out that you hate it. Ubuntu has that situation well in hand.

Once you have downloaded it for free from “ubuntu.com” and burned it to a CD (or ordered a free CD, they request a $10 donation) you can run it on your computer without installing it. That way you can see if you like it before it is installed. There are instructions on how to do all of this on the site. However, to run it from the CD, without touching your computer’s current system, get your computer to boot to the CD and choose to try it directly from the CD. This will give you the opportunity to see what it will look like and exactly how it will run – all from the CD. Once you remove the CD from your PC and restart your system it will run just like it did before you ever heard about Ubuntu.

I will tell you that it works great from the CD but it will be much faster and more efficient once it is installed. There is another option you can choose for installing this operating system. You can set it up to run alongside your Windows system. It will walk you through the set up, which takes about 15 minutes. When you reboot you will be asked if you want to start Windows or Ubuntu. This will allow you to use either system at your discretion.

I also mentioned last week that you get Firefox automatically installed. If you currently use Firefox you will see very little difference. If you don’t currently use FF…Why not? In my opinion it is far superior to any other browser software out there today. I have used it on windows for years and you can get it free at mozilla.com.

The last thing I will mention today is that OpenOffice (openoffice.org) comes preinstalled with Ubuntu also. That means you get a word processor, electronic spreadsheet app and a presentation software that all mix seamlessly with Microsoft Office products. Not only do they blend with MS Office, you have almost the same functionality. This is also free!

This column was written and emailed to the DNR using Ubuntu. Did I mention it is free?

Tags: CD, current system, free cd, free operating system, install, open source, open source software, openoffice, opera, png, replacement, ubuntu, windows

I have been written to by several of the "Double Click" readers as to why I have not mentioned Microsoft Windows 7 very often.  The answer is that there are about 50 bazillion other geeks out there, who have written about it relentlessly since it rolled out to the public in October, 2009.  I figured I would let the clamor die down some before I started.

Today I come out of hiding with W7 (get used to the abbreviation, it saves column space). 

I will start with the question that I usually get first. "Do you use W7, yet?"  Yes, I do, everywhere!  I have been testing the pre-launch versions of W7 for about a year now.  I have been using the final version since it launched. 

All of my computers run this new Operating System (OS) including my wife’s notebook, save one.  I still run Vista on my home desktop because that computer has more software and data on it than any of the others.  Rebuilding that particular machine will take several days to get "just right". Procrastination wins! 

The next most common question I get is, "Should I switch to W7?"  That really depends on you.  If you are not happy with your current OS (Vista?) and you have the extra money, sure go ahead and make the change.  If you do not have any complaints, why fix it if it ain’t broke? 

That being said, I will as good as guarantee that if you do go to W7 you will like it.  It looks similar to Vista. However, it is much faster since it uses less system resources.  It has many very positive features that you will like.

When conversing about W7 the next question usually is, "What do you like best about the OS?"  My wise guy answer is, "Everything."  However, the primary element I enjoy was also present in Vista; though, it did not function nearly as well…the search feature.

Say for instance I want to run Excel.  I can click the orb (used to be called the start button when it was rectangular) or press the Windows key on my keyboard and just type, "excel".  A menu list is generated with everything on my computer that has "excel" in it.  The Excel program is at the top of the list.  All I do is press the Enter key and Excel starts right up. 

If I know that I have a file with the words, "Windows 7" in it.  I just type it, like I just did, and three files are listed.  Three columns which I wrote; one each in April and June of 2009 and the one you are reading now.

That is a great, efficient and very speedy way to work.  So thanks, Microsoft, for that as well as the additional features we will be talking about in the future.

Tags: excel, microsoft, orb, Ron Doyle, vista, windows, windows 7, xp