With more and more people using Windows Vista now, I am finding a wide range of opinions coming my way. Some love it, and actually use their computers more now that they have Vista instead of XP, others have gone and bought another copy of XP to just get rid of Vista entirely.

Personally, I hate it. I can’t seem to keep the systems that have Vista running happily, and they are painfully slow. The westXdesign network consists of 2 desktops and 5 laptops. Both desktops are running XP professional, and are by far the most reliable of the Windows-based systems we have ever run. They usually work just like you expect them to - which means you walk, up, sit down, and it works. Aside from the blue screen of death that occurs a lot more often than is acceptable, they get the job done. One of the laptops is my MacBook Pro with Leopard. I never have to do anything at all to get it to do what I want. Never have. Doubt I ever will. But Macs are a whole different story, and most of you don’t use a Mac, so on the nightmares: the 4 Windows Vista laptops. Various hardware manufacturers, various configurations, all with 2 gig or more of memory and at least core duo processors. Yet that ALL are slower to respond than the oldest of the 2 desktops, which is just a P4 with bare minimum memory. And none of them want to play nicely on the network with the rest of the computers OR the network attached storage. And forget the shared printers. What good is Vista if a basic user can’t get it to work with a simple home network, not to mention something more sophisticated in a business environment?

What has your experience been with Vista? Love it or hate it, I’d like to know more about how users are adopting Microsoft’s newest nightmare.

Whoa. 2008? What happened to July-December of 2007? I find it very hard to believe that 6 months got away so fast, and I never noticed it until now. Let’s see if I can get back on track!

The newest project at westXdesign includes not only a web site, but promotional video, song samples, and marketing for west Texas dunebilly band the Thumpin’ Puppies. Basic site design is done, and the 2007 Promotional Video is online. The next step is to get the albums available for purchase online, and some samples of their music. I’ll continue to post updates as things are completed, but since this is such a big project, and because I am SO happy to be doing the online marketing for my favorite band, I thought I’d post this to get you introduced to their site and work. Visit them at thumpinpuppies.com

If you haven’t seen Windows newest operating system in action, you might want to visit Windows Vista Test Drive. Before we begin looking at it, there are a few important things to keep in mind. First, the test drive is only available to the US and Canada. You have to use Internet Explorer 6 or better in order for it to work, and you’ll need a plugin as well as a decent broadband connection.

When you visit the site, you can choose between small business and medium/enterprise editions. We’ll look at the small business edition. After entering an email address, your system will be checked to be sure you have JavaScript enabled, are using IE6 or better, and if the plugin is installed. If not, you need to install it before proceeding. The installation will open in a new window. When it’s complete, you can close that window and go back to the test drive.

It’s not like sitting at a Vista computer and using it, but you’ll be able to learn about many of the functions and features Vista has to offer. For example, when you select “Efficient’ from the main menu, you will see a list of some of the features of Vista. Select ‘Test Drive’ to see it in action. Another window will open, which is more like an actual Vista desktop. Follow the tasks given in a step-by-step format on the right of the desktop to try a few of the major functions. Even though this is a business version of Vista, you will get a pretty good idea of what the home edition will look like if you buy a new computer, or are considering upgrading your existing system.

My opinion? If you are buying a brand new system with Vista pre-installed, it’s fine. But don’t go out of your way to upgrade your existing system right now. Vista is still very new and the upgrade process isn’t as smooth as I’d like. In the long run, it is more stable, but we need more time for the hardware and software manufacturers out there to produce drivers and code that work well with Vista.

After talking with quite a few novice users, I have found that all of them are more comfortable using Vista than any other previous version of Windows. The interface is more intuitive for them, and they are more confident in what they are doing. More advanced users seem to have a harder time. I think that’s just due to the fact that we are used to working with Windows in a certain way, and finding files and programs in that way, and we have to re-learn the Vista way.

Server problems should all be completely resolved now. Thanks for waiting this out with me, and hopefully now we can get back on track…

My host is experiencing some server problems, and as you have noticed, the site has been unavailable off and on for quite some time. I am hoping to have this resolved very very soon, so PLEASE bear with me. The host is hoping to have all reliability restored. I’ve been with them for many years now, and this is the first serious issue I’ve had. I know it is frustrating, but I promise it will be better than ever very soon now! Well, at least I HOPE it will be! In the meantime, because of these issues, please use this email address to contact me instead of my westxdesign address:

renee.gaylor[at]gmail[dot]com

Thanks again for your patience!!!

“Blog” is a combination of the words ‘web’ and ‘log’. People who write blogs are bloggers, and the act of writing is calling blogging. It’s kind of like an online diary or newsletter. What makes a blog different is the ability for the blogger to update their posts easily, and for visitors to comment on the entries. Each blogger has their own ‘voice’ or tone, and the way they view their subject matter. Blogs are usually updated very regularly. What you are reading here is a blog!

RSS feeds (see yesterday’s post for more about RSS feeds) make it easy for users to subscribe to a blog, and then they can read new articles without having to visit the site regularly. The greatest thing about blogs is how specialized they can be. There are blogs available on every conceivable subject, meaning you can find and subscribe to any topic that interests you. You can contribute to the ‘blogosphere’ by creating your own blog, as well. There are many free services you can sign up for and begin blogging today:

Blogger
LiveJournal
WordPress
Vox

The web has always been a place for people to share ideas and post their views and comments, but it hasn’t always been easy. Today, the web has become much friendlier, with the popularity of such sites as MySpace and Wikipedia. The software behind these types of sites makes contributing, and taking part, in the online community easy and more personal for users. Even novices are finding their way into the social community of the new web.

Socialization on the web takes place through the many ways users can build communities if friends and family who share the same interests or views: sharing of pictures and videos, conversations through comments, and online ‘presence’ streams through such sites as Jaiku or Twitter.

Over the next few days, I’m going to cover some of the sites and tools that I find fun, useful, or just plain interesting. But before we get too far, an important tool to understand is content syndication or RSS Feeds, and a general defining of the term “Web 2.0″

Web 2.0 is a term often applied to a perceived ongoing transition of the World Wide Web from a collection of websites to a full-fledged computing platform serving web applications to end users. Ultimately Web 2.0 services are expected to replace desktop computing applications for many

Web 1.0                     Web 2.0
Britannica Online           Wikipedia
personal websites           blogging
publishing                  participation
directories                 tagging
stickiness                  syndication

It means distributing your resources onto the internet network. Think of it as the Internet Operating System. Almost everything you use your computer for now will done online, without software installed on your computer. And many tasks you don’t use your computer for can be done more efficiently online.

Web 2.0 Meme map from “What is Web 2.0” by O’Reilly

In the 1.0 model, you bookmarked a web site you found interesting, and maybe you remembered later to return to it and check for new content. Today, syndication is major part of almost all regularly updated sites. Syndication is accomplished through RSS Feeds.
The technical acronym for RSS is “Really Simple Syndication”, it was created to syndicate news, and be a means to share content on the web. A great (simple) explanation of RSS can be found at “How to Explain RSS the Oprah Way”

So, to make RSS much easier to understand, we’ll say RSS stands for: I’m “Ready for Some Stories”. It is a way online for you to get a quick list of the latest story headlines from all your favorite sites all in one place.
Suppose you have 50 sites that you like to visit regularly. Going to visit each site everyday could take you hours. With RSS, you can “subscribe” to a the site, and get “fed” all the new headlines from all of these 50 sites in one list, and see what’s going on in minutes instead of hours.

That one place where your RSS list is created is called an RSS Reader, and it gathers all the headlines from all the sites you have subscribed to.

To “subscribe” to a site’s RSS feed simply means that you are telling that site, “Yes please. Send me your story headlines.” It’s like subscribing to a magazine or newsletter. Instead of getting a magazine or email, you will just get a list of headlines sent to your RSS reader. If the headline looks interesting to you, all you have to do is click on the headline and you’ll be sent to the whole story.

In order to subscribe to a site’s RSS, all you have to do is click on an RSS symbol like one of those shown in the diagram above, or a text link of the words “Subscribe to our RSS feed”.

If you’d like your RSS list to be accessible from any computer or mobile device you may have like a PDA, laptop, or cell phone, some popular RSS readers include

MyYahoo
MyMSN
MyAOL
Google Reader
Bloglines
NetVibes

And many popular email programs have the ability the add RSS feeds, as well. Then, when you check your email, you’ll get your subscription feeds as well.

Another use of RSS feeds is for you to consolidate all of your own online presence streams, comments, and networks into one, such as importing all of your blog posts, Jaiku postings, photos, videos, music, and friends onto one consolidated site such Virb, Zude, or PageFlakes. (we’ll cover these later in the week…)

Feel free to add to the conversation with your comments or questions. And if you have a favorite social or aggregate site we don’t mention, please share it with us!

The newest site developed by westXdesign is a very very simple, one-page version of the flyer produced by the coordinators of the Shining Star Motorcycle Rally.
Sometimes, all that is needed is another venue for people to find information about you, your organization, or an event. This site in particular will add more information about who is performing, and when, as well as vendors. This type of information can’t be updated in their print advertising, but new and updated information can be found at the site. So, even though they aren’t going with a big, interactive web site, the ability to provide updates is crucial.
If you have been thinking that you don’t have a need for a web site because of various reasons, consider what the Shining Star Rally is doing, and how it is helping them promote their event more easily.

For individuals and businesses just beginning to work online, the process of building a web site can be daunting. Here is a quick and dirty tutorial to help you better understand what it is you are doing, or what you are hiring someone to do for you.

1. First you will need a Domain Name. Example: www.your_business.com. Your domain name must be unique. It is registered with companies such as register.com or Network Solutions and the cost varies, anywhere from $9.95 to $25 per year. You may register your domain name for any number of years in advance. Sometimes your domain registration is included in your hosting costs (see #2). There are different extensions available. Some of the most popular are: com or biz for commercial type sites such as most businesses (com is more popular), org for organizations, and net for networks. When you register a domain name, the server you are hosting the pages on is registered with it. this enables other computers on the internet to know where your web site is located.
2. Hosting. Your web site must reside on a web server. There are many companies that offer hosting, including your local internet service providers. Costs on hosting can range from $9.95 to $50 or more per month.
3. Design. If you are not creating your own pages, you must employ a web site programmer/designer. Design and set up costs vary greatly, from $20 per page, $50 per hour, or even $1,000 or more per site.
4. Promotion. Once your web site is available, it is not automatically found through search engines. This is a 4th process to getting your site up and running. Your web site address and information must be provided to each of the major search engines. The quality of the design and the meta information provided by the designer will greatly determine your success here. In the beginning, the most effective way to get visitors to your web site is to include your web site address in all advertising, business cards, etc. Having your site return in online searches may take many months. Other methods that are very often employed to help promote the site and it’s ranking include having other sites link to you, participating in other forums related to the site to help establish you as a leader in your field, and ensuring that your content is always fresh and relevant.

You could be dealing with 3 different entities when setting up your web site: domain registrar, hosting company, and designer. To make the process easier, select companies that will take care of your domain registration, hosting services, and design for you in one place. Designers all have their own styles and personalities, and the ability to work closely with the designer to get what you want is very important.