Tech world awaits Apple's new tablet computer

APPLE’S EXPECTED announcement of a tablet computer at the end of the month is the subject of fevered anticipation in the tech world. As a result, firms at CES were keen to show their own tablets and slates before Apple gets out of the traps.

The industry has gone down this route before – Microsoft had a tablet version of Windows XP which ran on notebooks that had a touchscreen and stylus, but they never took off.

The current crop of tablets, which Shawn DuBravac, director of research with the Consumer Electronics Association is dubbing “Tablet 2.0”, is a very different beast.

DuBravac says the CEA’s research has shown there is a “void in the screen spectrum”. While there are plenty of screens under 5in, such as those on mobile phones and GPSs, and while notebooks, desktop PCs, and TVs look after the space above 15in, there is nothing in between.

As a result, there is a gap for highly portable devices with screens of 8-15in, and this is only partially being served by mini-netbooks.

The new generation of tablets will look more like e-book readers such as Amazons Kindle but will have a touchscreen a la the iPhone. In fact, much of the speculation around Apples tablet is that it will be a larger format iPhone.

The most high-profile response to Apples imminent launch was from Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer. At the end of his Wednesday night address he briefly showed off what he called a slate PC from HP, which uses Windows 7 and was running Amazons Kindle e-book software.

But details were sketchy other than it will be available this year. The brief demo also included similar devices from Archos and Pegatron.

“Theyre more powerful than a phone and almost as powerful as a PC. Perfect for reading, surfing the web, and taking entertainment on the go,” said Ballmer.

While we wait, manufacturers have refinements of the current tablets, basically touchscreen netbooks, with HP, for instance, announcing the TouchSmart tm2 notebook that transforms from notebook to tablet with a twist of the screen to fold it on top of the keyboard.

It goes on sale here next month with prices starting at €799.

Lenovo provided a potential half-way house with the IdeaPad U1, a notebook with a detachable screen that can operate as a tablet on its own.

The question, of course, is: where would you use a tablet? Would you just carry it around the house or would you bring it to work or college as well? The devices are small enough to fit into a ladys handbag but certainly not a shirt or jacket pocket.

And what will all this mean for the nascent e-book market, since tablets will be able to act as an e-book reader and do so much more?

It looks like 2010 will see a genuinely exciting new category of computer hit the market.

Nokia to promote online platform

NOKIA IS to hold an event in Dublin next week aimed at attracting developers to its online application store. The Ovi Store platform, unveiled last May, provides a place where Nokia phone users can buy and download applications directly to their phones.

Nokia Ireland’s Shane O’Brien says some of Europe’s best digital agencies and developers are in Ireland. “Even though the Irish community is quite small . . . there are some really good applications and content out there, not only local but also international.

“We have the Ovi Store as a platform and what we really want to do is introduce it to developers. We want to show them the process to develop for the Ovi Store and give them an idea of the support we can give to developers.”

This support ranges from loan phones to test applications to marketing and digital support, promoting content through the appropriate channels.

Developers will also have the chance to meet Nokia’s local team, in addition to Forum Nokia’s business development manager Benjamin Roszczewski and Nokia Finland’s chief engineer in its web technologies division Petro Soininen.

Developers who have already worked with the Ovi Store will also be on hand to share their experiences.

“It’s pretty much an open floor to create a discussion around how to develop for the Ovi Store,” says Mr O’Brien.

The event will take place on January 13th in the Radisson Blu Royal Hotel in Dublin city centre.

Nokia says there has already been considerable interest and, while numbers are limited, Mr O’Brien says they will do their best to accommodate everyone.

The mobile application market is competitive and growing all the time. Earlier this week, Apple announced the number of applications downloaded from the App Store had reached three billion, with more than 90,000 applications in the store.

Google’s Android Market, meanwhile, has 18,000 applications.

Tech titans Apple and Google square up to each other

Both Apple and Google are wandering out of their core competencies into each other’s territory, writes DANNY O'BRIEN

THIS WEEK felt like one of those moments in a science-fiction movie when the two main characters are popped into a mind-swapping machine. On Monday, Apple bought mobile advertising company Quattro, reportedly for $275 million (€192 million). On Tuesday, Google announced the Nexus One, its long-rumoured self-branded mobile phone. Apple got into advertising. Google started selling its own phone.

What is going on here? Both companies are wandering out of their core competencies into each other’s territory. Google’s cash cow is advertising; Apple’s is increasingly its mobile-phone division. Both risk annoying their own customers.

Google was long assumed not to be entering the mobile hardware market, for the good reason that its Android smartphone operating system depended on the goodwill of phone companies and other hardware manufacturers which would not take well to competition.

Apple’s foray into controlling advertising in the mobile market is bound to make its effective partners – developers creating apps on its iPhone platform – nervous.

On the other hand, Google and Apple are both old hands at trampling out of their comfort zone, straight into those of their soon-to-be ex-friends, and winning. It is long-forgotten now, but along with “don’t be evil”, one of Google’s original rules was to do one thing and do it well. That one thing was search. The rule was almost immediately broken when Google decided to do advertising and e-mail and then video, and then applications, and so on.

Apple Inc used to be Apple Computer, and kept out of the music, consumer electronics and phone markets – until it stormed all three.

What is significant about this week’s news is not the phone companies, the mobile advertising resellers and other slightly shell-shocked gangs. It is that Apple and Google are lining up against one another.

Compare these announcements to Microsoft’s damp-squib keynote by a greying Steve Ballmer at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week. Ballmer announced very little in the way of new products, services or software from Microsoft. He did mention HP’s new range of “slate” computers, but that was widely seen as a limp pre-attack on Apple’s expected announcement of a tablet-sized product later this month. What he praised was Bing, Microsoft’s frontal attack on Google’s search engine, which has been around far too long now, and failed to make a dent.

Bing and the slate computer do not feel like real forays against these big names. The old attack dog seems to be retreating increasingly into its safe domains of the Xbox and Windows updates, while lamely batting one paw outside its den.

Meanwhile, on the vacated yard, Apple and Google nervously circle one another, trying to work out exactly who is destined to take what in the new and emptier high-tech landscape.

In these kinds of battles, no one actually wins. Google doesn’t take all, and Apple doesn’t triumph. The battle is all about where the armistice is signed, and what innocent bystanders get hurt in the few real fights.

Right now we’re in the phoney war stage. No one has really noticed that Apple wants to do advertisements. Android and the Nexus One are not taking market from the iPhone; they are gouging out what remains of the iPhone’s competitors.

But sooner or later, there is going to be live fire between these two. There have already been some minor preparatory spats. Google has been the most upfront, by proposing a Google Voice application for the iPhone (which was rejected by Apple). The attack was successfully repulsed, and Google did not care enough to push harder.

Apple, too, has tried a few times to sidle into Google’s arena, and failed even on its own terms. It is significant that, while Apple’s designs do wonderfully in the “real” world, their internet offerings, such as .Mac or the original iPhone Web application model, have never really caught fire. People talk a lot about Apple on the internet, but you don’t see much Apple presence on the internet.

The real final battles between giants do not take place in the marketplace: they take place in the proxy world of the courts and regulatory space.

When Microsoft and Sun locked horns, it was in a lawsuit over Java. When IBM fell, it was because it was torn apart by the US courts.

So that is my prediction for the next decade. Apple or Google will find itself tripping over some legal or regulatory bind. While there will be no trace of the other in the lawsuit (neither company would be so gauche or so desperate to sue the other), the case will present an opportunity for the other, which it will take.

Perhaps Google will get hit by anti-monopolistic (or anti-American) regulation in the EU. Perhaps Apple will find its phone strategies being undermined by network neutrality and open hardware rules in the US.

Either way, come 2020, both these companies will still be around, and around each other’s necks, like boxers in the final rounds. And from somewhere will come a new contender who will exploit their obsession with each other and take whatever prize fight the next decade has to offer.

Twitter in hiring mode, many openings for software engineers

NEW YORK: Popular micro-blogging site Twitter is expanding headcount and has many openings for software engineers.


Twitter is looking to hire people for as many as 27 key positions in the company, which had started operating from a garage in 2006.

Twitter has sprang on popularity charts with a number of celebrities, including Britney Spears, India's Shah Rukh Khan and US daily The New York Times using the service and scores of people using it for dissemination of information.

It is looking for people in areas right from software engineering to product and technical operations; administrative department to managing media services to take the company to the next level of growth.

"We are a hard-working team looking for a few key people to help take us to the next level," Twitter said on its website.

The company, as per information available with its website in April last year, has about 120 employees.

Twitter offers micro-blogging which allows users to send short text messages, among others, on various multimedia platforms.

The net working site is searching for 13 people for software engineering positions, which includes four vacancies for monetisation, four at IT and website operations and two each at business development and administrative departments.

In addition, Twitter is looking at one each for the post of data analyst and interaction designer among others.

"Twitter is looking for new members of our technical staff to work on cutting edge monetisation projects," the company said.

In April, the company had opened vacancies for as many as 13 people, most them were for the post of software engineers.

Security lapse compromises Facebook privacy

he security loophole is an embarrassment for the site which, last week, unveiled new ways to restrict access to personal profiles.

Facebook's recent upgrade to its privacy controls was rendered defenseless thanks to a security lapse that recently compromised the privacy of personal photographs on an individual's Facebook profile. The loophole is a major embarrassment for the popular social networking site which, last week, had unveiled new ways to restrict access to personal profiles. According to a report, users were still able to circumvent these new additions and pull photographs of members whose personal profiles had been protected by privacy settings. Reacting quickly to the reports of this lapse, Facebook claimed to have fixed the bug within an hour. A spokesperson for the company said that the company gave utmost importance to privacy and that it would continue to make enhancements to the site. Given the increasing popularity of social networking sites like Facebook, this latest lapse is another warning to millions of users who put sensitive information and pictures in their profiles. There have been instances where the information posted on social networking sites have been misused. With more and more people logging on websites like Facebook, Orkut and MySpace, the security aspect has become extremely important and sensitive issue for those who frequent these sites on a daily basis. The Facebook flaw is a grim reminder of the price one may have to pay for networking online.

Facebook Axes Suicide Machine Access

Facebook has axed users' access to Web 2.0 Suicide Machine, a service that helps users to sign out forever from other social networks. Few days ago, even Facebook got into the list of the social networks which Suicide Machine lets you unplug from. Hence, Facebook has axed Suicide Machine website's access to Facebook as measure, reported CNET. So you can get rid of the 'distracting' social networks and Facebook is no more in that list.

A Facebook representative said in a statement, "Facebook provides the ability for people who no longer want to use the site to either deactivate their account or delete it completely. Web 2.0 Suicide Machine collects login credentials and scrapes Facebook pages, which are violations of our Statement of Rights and Responsibilities. We've blocked the site's access to Facebook as is our policy for sites that violate our SRR. We're currently investigating and considering whether to take further action."

Suicide Machine website offers a service to users for unplugging themselves from popular social networks like Twitter, Linkedin and MySpace. Suicide Machine service uses a custom script that not only deletes the user profile from the respective social networking service but also deletes/breaks connection with every friend linked. This means the service removes all your friends from the profile and also makes it totally unusable.

Gordan Savicic, Suicide Machine's chief euthanasia officer, responded when questioned of breaching Facebook Terms:
"No, not from our point of view. We are just offering a service to users who want to drop out of Facebook. According to Facebook's terms of service, they should actually not threaten us but the people who commit suicide -- 'You will not share your password, let anyone else access your account, or do anything else that might jeopardize the security of your account' http://www.facebook.com/terms.php?ref=pf -- And again, we are neither 'hacking' into their servers, nor scraping their pages. We only store the profile picture and the name of the user! This is actually possible without even logging into Facebook."

Suicide Machine believes everyone who uses social networks should be able to commit social network suicide and thereby offers it service.

Google Wave, iPhone and Android will be heavily attacked in 2010

From the crystal ball of Roel Schouwenberg :
Google Wave, the iPhone and Android mobile phones will come under heavy cyber attacks in 2010.

Schouwenberg, a senior malware researcher at Kaspersky Lab Americas, predicts Google Wave will grab headlines in coming months -- but not necessarily for emerging as the next killer online networking app. Instead, he says, Google Wave is likely to become a top target of cyber criminals.

"Attacks on this new Google service will no doubt follow the usual pattern," Schouwenberg soothsays. "First, the sending of spam, followed by phishing attacks, then the exploiting of vulnerabilities and the spreading of malware."

Schouwenberg also anticipates a sharp rise in attacks on the iPhone and Android mobile platforms, following the successful probe attacks of 2009. "The first malicious programs for these mobile platforms appeared in 2009, a sure sign that they have aroused the interest of cybercriminals," he says.

Android users, in particular, seem ripe for plundering. "The increasing popularity of mobile phones running the Android operating system, combined with a lack of effective checks to ensure third-party software applications are secure, will lead to a number of high-profile malware outbreaks," he says.

Schowenberg's prescient orb also tells him that the overheated race between Google, Microsoft Bing, and Yahoo Search to incorporate Facebook and Twitter posts in search results -- in real time -- is destined to aid and abet cyber criminals' deployment of phishing scams, banking Trojans and cutting-edge intrusions. "Malware will continue to further its sophistication in 2010," he says.

Convert Physical Machines to Virtual with Disk2vhd

The Windows Sysinternals group at Microsoft has released Disk2vhd that is a free physical to virtual converter. Disk2vhd allows you to create VHD (virtual hard dive) files from physical drives on your computer while your system is online. The VHD files generated can be used in Microsoft Virtual PC or on Hyper-V server and you will have an instant clone of your machine running virtually. This is perfect for duplicating a production server for a development virtual machine that you can use on a different computer.

Below is a Microsoft screenshot of a copy of Window Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V system running in a virtual machine on top of the system it was created from.

After you have it downloaded, extract the zip file and run disk2vhd.exe.

ow just specify the VHD file name and location and check the drives you want to convert to a VHD. Each physical partition will be saved in a separate VHD file.

Click Create and the process will begin. On my computer it took about 45 minutes to copy the drive into a VHD file because of a large amount of data.

Once completed copy the VHD files to any computer with Microsoft Virtual PC, Hyper-V or any virtualization app that supports VHD files. Then just setup a new virtual machine to point to the existing VHD files.

Windows 7 Manager Tweaks The OS To Your Liking

Just got a copy of Windows 7 and you're looking to bend it to your will? Then you'll want a copy of Windows 7 Manager ($40, 15-day free trial), which lets you tweak, customize, master and improve just about every aspect of Windows 7. Whether you're looking to tweak security, improve optimization, clean your system, master your network or more--and whether you want the 32-bit or the 64-bit version--you'll find something here.

Yamicsoft's Windows 7 Manager lets you tweak just about every aspect of Windows 7.

Though it covers a lot of territory, everything is laid out cleanly in Windows 7 Manager. Click what you want to improve, such as Security, Network, Optimizer, and so on, and you'll come to a screen full of options. In some cases you won't need to know anything about the innards of Windows 7, because sets of wizards guide you through the task. In other instances, you'll need to have some technical background, because you have to make choices among check boxes--for example, if you want to accelerate your network connection, you'll need to understand terms and technologies such as Maximum Transmission Unit (TMU) size, TCP/IP Timeout Life (TTL), and "Enable SackOpts."
The amount of control Windows 7 Manager gives you is extraordinary. Want to change the mouse hover time before a pop-up displays? You can do that. Want to manage what programs run at startup? You can do that as well. You can also repair hardware and software problems, optimize your broadband connection and more.

The same developer makes a similar program for Windows Vista, called Windows Vista Manager, which looks and works very much like Windows 7 Manager. Anyone who used Windows Vista Manager will very easily make the switch to Windows 7 Manager; the interface and functions are very similar.

The program doesn't come cheap, though. You'll most likely only want to pay for Windows 7 Manager if you want to do a great deal of customization.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2010

WISHING ALL THE READERS OF THE BLOG
A HAPPY NEW YEAR 2010
THANK YOU!

101 Tech Tips and Tweaks for Windows

Hello Guys, so here we are...the last day of the year

so Im ending this year by giving all u tech ppl some tips and tweaks...

Performance Tech Tips (1-12)

1. Turn off or reduce system restore to save hard drive space
2. Altering page files
3. Clean out prefetch folder
4. Set priority for individual programs
5. Cleaning up unwanted startup programs
6. Defrag your hard drive
7. Disable unnecessary services
8. Disable the Disk performance counter(s)
9. Turn Off Windows Indexing service
10. Increasing desktop Graphics Performance
11. Check and set the DMA mode on your drives
12. Smooth out your mouse movement      

Useful Tech Tips for Windows (13-30)

13. Resize screen fonts on the fly in Internet Explorer
14. Mouse Sonar
15. Quick back and forward commands in Internet explorer
16. Mount a new hard drive as a folder in your C: drive
17. Enable clear type
18. Create a keyboard shortcut to a folder or program
19. Use remote desktop to connect to your PC from anywhere (XP Pro only)
20. XP Powertoys
21. Backing up or transferring your email manually with outlook express
22. Running legacy software in Windows XP
23. Compressing files and folders to save space
24. Open explorer window from current command prompt directory
25. Using Quick Edit in the Command Prompt
26. Select 'No to all' when copying files in XP
27. Bypass the recycle bin when deleting a file
28. Create a link to shutdown your PC
29. Hosting online games through the Windows XP firewall
30. Rename multiple files simultaneously

Security, privacy and recovery tips (31-44)

31. Use the Windows 2000-style secure logon screen
32. Hiding shared folders with $
33. Using advanced file security settings in Windows XP Home
34. Create a password reset disk
35. Applying a password to the 'administrator' account in XP Home
36. 'Rolling back' a faulty device driver
37. Disable simple file sharing (XP Professional only)
38. Using the Windows XP firewall
39. Turn autocomplete off in IE
40. Using the Windows XP repair installation process
41. Add, Clear or remove the 'my recent documents' menu
42. Creating a desktop shortcut for locking your computer
43. Giving a password to the 'Guest' user account
44. Use system restore when you cannot boot your system normally

Customizing Windows XP (45-58)

45. Stop Windows messenger from running
46. Run command prompt utilities successfully from shortcuts
47. Remove the XP desktop theme
48. Change start menu style
49. Add my computer and other missing icons to your desktop
50. Change the picture in the welcome screen
51. Add items to the 'Send To' right click option
52. Automatically run programs when starting Windows XP
53. Create a screensaver from your pictures
54. Modify autoplay for different types of CD
55. Different folder types with XP
56. Using 'my computer' as a toolbar
57. Enlarge and resize the quicklaunch bar
58. Disable desktop cleanup wizard

Essential advice for Beginners (59-80)

59. Stopping desktop ad popups
60. Displaying hidden files and folders
61. Convert Your drives to the NTFS file system
62. Formatting a hard drive partition larger than 32 Gigs with FAT32
63. Finding your IP address and other information with IPCONFIG
64. Update your machine automatically
65. Logging in as the 'Administrator' account
66. Update your drivers
67. Check your PC for spyware and other nasties
68. Show the quicklaunch bar
69. Locking the desktop
70. Using the Windows Scientific calculator feature
71. Accessibility tools
72. Set a new home page in explorer
73. Remove the annoying dog from the search screen
74. Change the look of your mouse pointer.
75. Email attachments are the most common vector for viruses.
76. Keyboard shortcuts
77. Set monitor refresh rate
78. Set power options
79. Creating shortcuts
80. Create passwords for all your user accounts!

Registry tweaks For performance (81-93)

81. Backing up and restoring the windows registry
82. How to edit the windows registry (before other reg tips)
83. Keep Windows operating data in main memory
84. Disable the DOS 8.3 naming convention to save system resources
85. Stop the 'last access update' from taking up system resources
86. Clear the Page File (virtual memory) when shutting down XP
87. Get Rid of XP's annoying balloon tips
88. Adding additional Icons to 'my computer'
89. Speed up the Start Menu
90. Display message on startup
91. Set the default download directory for Internet Explorer
92. Change the size of thumbnail pictures
93. Opening a Command Prompt to a Particular Directory from Explorer

Miscellaneous registry tweaks (94-101)

94. Disable error reporting on program crash
95. Automatically close non-responsive programs
96. Permanently bypass the recycle bin when deleting files
97. Show administrator account on welcome screen
98. Enable/Disable Active Window Tracking to Mouse Movements
99. Launch Programs at Login Without Using the Startup Folder
100. Force windows XP to reboot upon crashing
101. Disable admin shares

Google Announces Android Event for January 5th

Looks like the rumors, photos, and leaks have been proven right. Google has announced an Android-focused press event for Jan. 5, and the smart money's on the release, or at least announcement, of the search giant's own phone, the "Nexus One," which the Boy Genius Report hears will indeed be sold directly by Google. It's looking to be an interesting second year for the Android.

Gmail, Google Reader, Wave And Voice Notifier For Google Chrome

The extension development for Google’s web browser Google Chrome seems to be in full swing with new extension being uploaded daily to the official extension repository. Extension support is still limited to Google Chrome 4 which is currently only available as developer releases. Many experts assume that the development of extensions will get another boost once version 4 of the web browser is released officially by Google so that the general public can download and install the browser.

One Number is an interesting extension for the Google Chrome browser that acts as a notifier for the four Google services Gmail, Google Reader, Google Wave and Google Voice. It places a single icon in the web browser’s toolbar that displays the number of unread messages as one number.

The main benefit of this approach is that it saves up space in the Chrome toolbar if several Google services are used regularly (the extreme would be a reduction to one icon from four).

All four Google services are monitored by default. The options can be used to disable checks for specific services.

The first step after installation is to log into a Google account by left-clicking the icon in the toolbar and selecting the Log In link there.

The login redirects to the Google account login on the Google website.


The same menu contains a link to the options which can be used to disable and customize specific services (changing the color code or excluding their unread count from appearing in the number that is displayed in the toolbar) as well as server query intervals, timeouts and misc toolbar colors to indicate if multiple services have unread messages.

One Number is a Google service monitor that can be helpful for Googleholics who use at least two of the services that are currently supported by the Chrome extension (it’s also good for monitoring only one service but that would defeat much of its purpose).

The extension is compatible with Google Chrome 4 and can be downloaded from the official Google Chrome extensions website.

Google tells media to tap into YouTube

Media groups would be better off handing their online video activities to Google's YouTube video-sharing site than pursuing home-grown efforts such as Hulu.com and the US cable industry's TV Everywhere

initiative, according to Google executives.

"At some point in time it becomes an economic choice by the content owners. It's a matter of core competencies," Nikesh Arora , Google's president of global sales operations and business development, told the Financial Times.

Mr Arora said media industry efforts to replicate cable television's business model online through TV Everywhere were "clever". The initiative, which is undergoing trials, aims to offer a full channel line-up to proved cable subscribers.

However, Mr Arora questioned traditional content owners' ability to be successful content aggregators online.

"When all that happens, they will still have to figure out how to sell advertising," he said, arguing that specialist online advertising networks such as Google AdSense could do a better job than broadcasters' traditional sales teams.

Four elements were required to deliver online video advertising revenues: content creation, technology, advertising production and advertising sales.

Mr Arora said that after last year's acquisition of DoubleClick, the online display advertising group, "we are playing in three of the four".

David Eun , Google's vice-president for strategic partnerships, said Hulu , which generates "a lot of traffic" from its YouTube channel, and TV Everywhere were at early stages.

Google was talking to members of the cable industry about TV Everywhere, he said, and "we'd love to figure out a way of being part of it".

High Windows 7 satisfaction spurs corporate IT spending

One in five IT buyers say OS accelerated PC purchase plans; 93% satisfied with Microsoft's latest

Windows 7, just two months on the market, is accelerating the pace of corporate computer buying, market research firm ChangeWave said.
Part of the reason may be that 93% of the IT professionals polled said that their company is satisfied with the new operating system, a one percentage point increase over a similar survey in July.
The results of ChangeWave's November poll of more than 1,700 U.S. corporate IT buyers wasn't a total surprise. "Previous ChangeWave surveys found companies deferring their PC purchases in anticipation of Windows 7," said director of research Paul Carton and researcher Adam Golub in an entry to the ChangeWave blog Tuesday. "The latest results show the opposite now occurring."

Nearly one in five respondents said that Windows 7 is making their firm quicken the pace of their normal computer upgrade cycle over the next six months. While only 3% said that Microsoft's new operating system had caused "significant acceleration" of upgrade plans, 6% said it had had resulted in a "modest acceleration" and 10% said it had created a "slight acceleration."

About 10% of the corporate IT buyers polled said that their company had already bought PCs with Windows 7 installed.
Microsoft launched Windows 7 Oct. 22, when the OS debuted in retail boxed copies and on new PCs. The successor to the problem-plagued Windows Vista has been available to Microsoft's volume license customers since August.
As ChangeWave said in July, Microsoft's timing of Windows 7 was "fortuitous" because U.S. corporate PC buying plans began to rebound before its release. The research firm's November poll showed that the rebound was strengthening, giving PC vendors -- and Microsoft, which makes most of its operating system income on the back of new PC sales -- reason for optimism.

According to ChangeWave's polling, 22% of the IT buyers said that their company plans to increase its spending during the first quarter of 2010, a four percentage point increase since a similar poll in August. Only 21% said that their firm would reduce IT spending, also a four-point change.
The last time more IT buyers said their company would be increasing spending than others predicted a spending decline was November 2007.
Microsoft, again because of Windows 7, will be one of the big beneficiaries of that increased spending, said ChangeWave. More than a quarter of those polled (26%) said that their company plans to boost its spending on Microsoft products in the next quarter, up from just 16% in August and 10% last February.
It doesn't hurt that companies are almost universally happy with Windows 7. Of the IT buyers whose companies already use the new OS, 37% said their firm was "very satisfied" with the operating system, while another 56% said their company was "somewhat satisfied." Those numbers were slightly better than the results of a July survey ChangeWave did with users running Windows 7 previews.

But Microsoft's success with Windows 7 does not seem to be hurting rival Apple, Carton and Golub said. "Planned Mac buying has hit a new high in the latest survey, with 10% saying their company will be buying Mac laptops and 7% desktops in the first quarter," they wrote. The 10% for Mac notebooks is a record in ChangeWave's surveys, which have tracked IT buyers' plan-to-buy responses for Apple hardware since mid-2005.

Microsoft could keep XP if customers want it: CEO

Microsoft could re-think plans to phase out its Windows XP operating system by June 30 if customers show they want to keep it but so far they have not, Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said.

"XP will hit an end-of-life. We have announced one. If customer feedback varies we can always wake up smarter but right now we have a plan for end-of-life for new XP shipments," Ballmer told a news conference on Thursday.

Microsoft (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research) has announced that it will stop licensing Windows XP to computer makers and end retail sales by June 30.

Ballmer said most retailers sold computers with Vista, the latest version of its Windows operating system, and most consumers were choosing to buy Vista.

Some consumers have complained they were unable to buy XP at retail stores, or as consumers. They say that in order to get XP they must buy their computers as small businesses.

"In the business environment, we still have customers who are buying PCs with XP" because information technology departments often have to work with old machines, Ballmer said.

Vista requires high-speed central processing units installed only in newer machines.

Ballmer was also asked whether the company would appeal against an 899 million euro ($1.42 billion) antitrust fine imposed by the Brussels-based European Commission in February.

The Ugly Side of Vista SP1 vs. XP SP3

With Windows Vista and Windows XP concomitantly available on the market, the Redmond company inherently catalyzed the comparison between the two Windows clients.

But the fact of the matter is that the benchmarks, comparisons of features, capabilities, market shares and security vulnerability measuring contests performed since Vista became available have managed to hurt Microsoft's Windows business where it counts more. In the end, the repercussions of the constant Vista RTM vs. XP SP2 which grew into the smackdown of Vista SP1 and XP SP3 have unfavorably impacted the Windows client total revenue and operating income.

On April 24, Microsoft published its financial results for the third quarter of the 2008 financial year, and the picture is bleak to say the least when it comes down to the Windows client division, including both Windows Vista SP1 and Windows XP SP3. "Client revenue decreased during the three months ended March 31, 2008, primarily reflecting revenue of approximately $1.2 billion recognized during the third quarter of the prior fiscal year upon the January 2007 release of Windows Vista to consumers," Microsoft stated.

In the quarter ended March 31, 2008, Windows client revenue amounted to just $4,025 billion, having plummeted no less than 24% compared with the similar quarter of the past year. Back at the end of March 2007, Windows client accounted for no less than $5,274 billion in revenue, which translates into a difference of $1.2 billion. Operating income dropped 26% from $4,204 billion in Q3 2007 to $3,097 billion in Q3 2008.

"Client revenue increased during the nine months ended March 31, 2008, primarily reflecting licensing of Windows Vista. During the three months ended March 31, 2008, OEM revenue decreased $1.1 billion or 25%, primarily reflecting revenue recognized during the third quarter of fiscal year 2007 related to the technology guarantee program, partially offset by a 5% increase in OEM license units," Microsoft added.

Microsoft continues to see the largest portion of Windows client revenue coming from operating system copies that ship preloaded with OEM computers. Even though machines from original equipment manufacturers saw an overall growth of just 8% to 10% worldwide, Windows OEM revenue jumped by $1.3 billion or 14%. However, Vista sales, even with the advent of Service Pack 1, failed to match those of the Vista RTM. And the fact that, as of April 21 Windows XP SP3 RTM is added to this equation, does not deliver good signals for future market performances of the Vista SP1 client.

As Windows XP Deadline Looms, OEMs Turn To Vista Downgrade Rights

Microsoft (NSDQ:MSFT) may be preparing to discontinue sales of Windows XP, but some OEMs have found a way to circumvent the software giant's June 30 deadline.

In yet another sign of the market's resistance to Windows Vista, Dell (NSDQ:Dell) Computer, Hewlett Packard (NYSE:HPQ), and Sony on Wednesday all confirmed plans to exercise the downgrade rights Microsoft offers with OEM versions of Windows Vista Business and Vista Ultimate in order to continue offering XP-equipped PCs to their customers.

Downgrade rights, which Microsoft also offers to volume licensing customers, give users the ability to roll back to the previous version of the product they're using. Downgrade rights have existed since 2001 for Windows, but many Microsoft partners say they've been seeing a recent uptick in the number of customers exercising downgrade rights to roll Vista back to XP Professional.

HP will sell PCs pre-installed with XP Professional on its business desktops, notebooks and workstations until July 30, 2009, a spokesperson for the Palo Alto, Calif.-based vendor said in an email to ChannelWeb.

"After June 30, 2008, if a customer already has the XP image and license, HP also can also install that customer's image on their Vista Business systems through our HP PC Customization Services," the spokesperson said.

Dell, Round Rock, Texas, plans to offer Windows XP Professional pre-installed on new PCs for customers that buy Vista Business or Vista Ultimate "for as long as Microsoft supports it," according to a Dell spokesperson, who declined to offer a more specific timeframe.

A Microsoft spokesperson said OEMs have been given the right to provide downgrade media for Windows XP with new Windows Vista Business and Windows Vista Ultimate PCs until January 31, 2009, which is also the cutoff date for system builders.

OEMs appear to have different approaches to dealing with the time costs of performing the downgrade from Vista to XP Professional before shipment.

Microsoft Reports Record Third-Quarter Revenue

Microsoft Corp. Today announced third-quarter revenue, operating income and diluted earnings per share of $14.45 billion, $4.41 billion and $0.47, respectively.

Operating income and earnings per share results included a charge of $1.42 billion, or $0.15 per share, for the European Commission fine. Income taxes were reduced by $0.15 per share for the resolution of a tax audit.

“Our third-quarter results demonstrate the benefit of our diversified business model,” said Chris Liddell, chief financial officer of Microsoft. “Our broad span across geographies, product categories and customer segments is a tremendous asset and supports our outlook for double-digit revenue, operating income and earnings per share growth for this fiscal year and also for fiscal year 2009.”

Entertainment and Devices revenue for the quarter grew 68% over the comparable period last year driven by robust demand for Xbox 360 consoles. Cumulative console sales surpassed 19 million during the quarter, up 74% from a year ago. Server and Tools revenue growth of 18% added to its string of consecutive double-digit revenue growth quarters, which now stands at 23.

“The breadth of our product offerings and our ability to provide solutions across a range of customer and partner needs paid off again this quarter. The third quarter also kicked off the largest enterprise platform launch in our company history, which highlights Windows Server 2008, SQL Server 2008 and Visual Studio 2008,” said Kevin Turner, chief operating officer of Microsoft. “These new products strengthen our ability to help business customers and partners save money, optimize their people, processes and technology, and position IT as a strategic asset for their businesses.”

Troubleshooting

You can troubleshoot common (and not-so-common) issues with Windows XP. We're here to help.

I. How to Troubleshoot Hardware Problems with Device Manager:

Windows XP works with countless different printers, scanners, digital cameras, and other devices. It does so with the help of drivers, unique software programs that help your operating system communicate with individual pieces of hardware. If your computer starts to freeze, crash, or if a hardware device stops working, you can troubleshoot the problem with the Device Manager.

Device Manager shows you how the hardware on your computer is installed and configured, and how the hardware interacts with your computer's programs.

You'll typically use Device Manager to check the status of your hardware and update device drivers on your computer. Advanced users who have a thorough understanding of computer hardware might also use Device Manager's diagnostic features to resolve device conflicts and change resource settings.

Note :You may need to be logged on as an administrator or be a member of the Administrators group in order to use some or all of the features in Device Manager. If your computer is connected to a network, network policy settings may also prevent you from completing this procedure.

To access Device Manager:
•Right–click My Computer, click Manage, and then click Device Manager.

To view the status of a device:

1.Open Device Manager.

2.Double–click the type of device you want to view.

3.Right–click the specific device you want, and then click Properties.

4.On the General tab, under Device status is a description of the device status.

If the device is experiencing a problem, you’ll see the type of problem in the Device status box. You might also see a problem code and number and a suggested solution. If you call a support line, this number can be useful for determining and diagnosing the problem.

For information on how to resolve hardware device problems, click Troubleshoot to start the Hardware Troubleshooter.

To install a new driver from Device Manager:

1.Open Device Manager.

2.Double-click the type of device you want to update or change.

3.Right-click the specific device driver you want to update or change.

4.Click Update Driver to open the Hardware Update Wizard. Follow the wizard instructions.

Note:If you install a new driver and your system becomes unstable, you can easily uninstall the driver and reinstall the old driver with Driver Rollback. For more information, read How to Roll Back a Device Driver.

To uninstall a device:

1.Open Device Manager.

2.Double–click the type of device that you want to uninstall.

3.Right–click the specific device you want to uninstall, and then click Uninstall.

4.In the Confirm Device Removal dialog box, click OK.

When you're done uninstalling the device, turn off your computer, and remove the device from the computer.

Note :Many devices on the market today are Plug and Play, which means when you plug the device in your computer will recognize it and automatically prompt you to install the drivers you need. You won't usually use Device Manager to uninstall a Plug and Play device. Simply disconnect the Plug and Play device from your computer. You might have to restart your computer. Check the device manufacturer's instructions for more information.

Product documentation:

For further information about using Device Manager, see the Windows XP documentation. To access documentation while using Device Manager, press F1 on your keyboard to go directly to the Device Manager section.


II. Automatic Updates Fix Compatibility Problems:

Keeping Your System Current:

Updating an operating system when you install new drivers, add new hardware or software, or encounter setup or security bugs can be a major problem for the user and the OS vendor. For the user, it often means sorting through a bewildering list of patches to figure out which one you need, and then determining what other patches to apply (and in what order) before you can apply the original one. The OS vendor has the problem of supporting this less-than-friendly process. Not only does it need to deliver the right patches to the people who need them, but it also needs to integrate them into the OS installation media and documentation. Windows XP includes two new features that make this process essentially painless for the user and for those who support the user—Dynamic Update and Automatic Updates. Dynamic Update occurs during setup, and the Automatic Update feature works to get updates into the system after it's up and running.

Dynamic Update:

Dynamic Update is a new feature built into Windows XP Setup that automatically checks for new drivers, compatibility updates, and security fixes while Windows XP is being installed. All that's required is that you have a working connection to the Internet. During installation you can choose to have Dynamic Update check for updates: then it automatically downloads any device or application updates and uses these replacement files instead of the files on the installation CD, ensuring that you've got the latest updates available.

By updating your installation files on the fly, Windows XP can quickly integrate new, certified device drivers, critical security fixes, and compatibility updates, which ensures that the system you install doesn't immediately need to be patched and that your brand new video card is recognized and supported just as soon as there are certified drivers available for it. Dynamic Update is an important step in making computers more reliable and easier to use.

Automatic Update Feature:

While Dynamic Update works during the initial installation of Windows XP, the Automatic Update feature works after installation to ensure that critical security and compatibility updates are made available for installation automatically—without significantly impacting your regular Internet use.

Automatic Updates work in the background when you are connected to the Internet to identify when new updates are available and download them to your computer. The download is managed so that it doesn't impact your Web surfing, and will pick up where it left off if the download is interrupted. When you install Windows XP, you'll be prompted to set up Automatic Updates (see the notification settings in Figure 1), and you can choose your options:

•Automatically download the updates and then be prompted to install them. This is the default, and recommended for most users.
•Notify you before downloading, and then notify again after they're downloaded before installing. This option makes sense for users who travel and want to control when they perform the download.
•Disable AutoUpdate.

Notification settings:

When the download has completed, you'll be notified that it's available and be prompted to install the update. You can install it then, get more details about what's included in the update, or let Windows XP remind you about it later. Some installations may require you to reboot, but some will not. Click the Details button to see what's in the update, and if a reboot is required. Even if a reboot is required for the update to be activated, you'll control when the reboot happens.

Automatic update notification:

The real beauty of AutoUpdate is that it's painless. You don't have to do anything until the update is downloaded to your computer and available, and the actual installation is almost equally painless.

Windows Update:

Finally, a word on Windows Update, the online update system that is included with Windows XP. When you add new hardware in Windows XP and Plug and Play can't find a driver locally, it searches Windows Update for a driver if you're connected to the Internet. If you're not connected, it even prompts you to connect. It also searches for updates for your computer's operating system and software. Be sure to install any Critical Updates: they're designed to protect your computer from known security problems. Here's how Windows Update works:

1.When you enter Windows Update, click Scan for updates.

2.Browse through the available updates in each category, and click Add to select the update of your choice. You can also read a full description of each item by clicking the Read more link.

3.When you have selected all the updates you want, click Review and install updates, and then click Install Now.

Note: Some updates may require that you restart your computer. Save your work and close any open programs before beginning the installation process.


III. Restore Your Computer's Performance with Windows XP:

If your computer seems slower than it used to be, it probably is. My one-year old Dell laptop is much slower now than when it was new. Over time, computers get slower for a variety of reasons: files become disorganized, unnecessary software consumes resources, unused network drives slow startup, or too many programs automatically run at startup. Larger, serious issues can dramatically slow your computer's performance too. You may have a virus or need to troubleshoot problems by clean booting.

Fortunately, Windows XP includes tools to clean your computer and restore its performance. As I write this column, I'll be cleaning up my own computer and explaining how its performance improves. I'll cover Backup, Disk Cleanup, Disk Defragmenter, Add or Remove Programs, and the System Configuration tool.

Back Up First:

Back up your computer before you run any system tools or do any troubleshooting. This is not just an over-cautious warning. Some of the steps I recommend in this column can cause pre-existing but hidden problems to surface, which may keep your computer from starting. Windows XP includes Backup, a tool that helps you protect your data.

To open the Backup or Restore Wizard:

• Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Backup.

For information on how to use this tool, see Ed Bott's column, Backup Made Easy and the Microsoft Knowledge Base article, How to Use Backup to Restore Files and Folders on Your Computer in Windows XP.

Before I make any changes, I'm going to time my computer to see how long it takes to restart. That way I know which of the changes helps the most. My computer took about three minutes to shut down, restart, and then open my e-mail client and browser. Of course, I hope to improve the computer's overall performance, but the time it takes to restart is easiest to measure.

Clear Out Forgotten Programs:

The first step in tuning up your computer's performance is to remove any unnecessary programs. I install new programs all the time. Sometimes I'm thrilled with the new program and I continue to use it. Other times, it doesn't do what I hoped, and the program sits on my computer consuming resources and hurting performance.

Follow these steps to remove unneeded programs:

1.Click Start, and then click Control Panel.

2.Click Add or Remove Programs.

3.Scroll through the list and examine each program. Windows XP lists how often you use a program and what day you last started it. As shown in Figure 1, the Age of Mythology Trial is a good candidate for removal from my computer. Though I liked the game, I haven't used it recently and it's consuming a lot of disk space. You shouldn't remove anything labeled as an Update or Hotfix, however, because they improve the security of your computer.

4.Click each program you no longer need, click the Remove button, and then follow the prompts to uninstall it.

You may have to restart your computer after removing a program. After your computer restarts, repeat the steps above to remove more programs.

Free Up Wasted Space:

Removing unused programs is a great way to free up disk space, which will speed up your computer. Another way to find wasted disk space is to use the Disk Cleanup tool by following these steps:

1.Open My Computer, right-click Local Disk, and then click Properties.

2.On the General tab, click the Disk Cleanup button. Disk Cleanup will spend a few minutes examining your disk.

3.The Disk Cleanup dialog box opens. As you can see in Figure 2, it found almost three gigs of space on my computer that it could free up!

4.Select the desired check boxes in the Files to Delete list, and then click OK. Disk Cleanup will spend several minutes clearing space.

5.If you have more than one hard disk, repeat this process for each hard disk listed in My Computer.

You can save yourself some time by automating the disk cleanup process. For more information, read the Microsoft Knowledge Basic article, How to Automate the Disk Cleanup Tool in Windows XP.

Defragment Your Computer:

I hate newspaper articles that start on the front page but continue somewhere in the middle of the newspaper. I could get through the article much faster if it was printed on consecutive pages like a magazine article. Files on your computer can either be fragmented like a newspaper, or unfragmented like a magazine. Over time, more and more files become fragmented. When a file is fragmented, it takes longer for the computer to read it because it has to skip to different sections of the hard disk—just like it takes me a few seconds to find a page in the middle of a newspaper.

You need administrator privileges to defragment a drive or volume. Although fragmentation is complicated, it's easy to defragment your computer by following these steps:

1.Open My Computer, right-click Local Disk, and then click Properties.

2.On the Tools tab, click Defragment Now. The Disk Defragmenter opens.

3.Click your first hard disk, and then click Defragment. As shown in Figure 4, Disk Defragmenter will work for at least several minutes, though it may take several hours.

4.If you have more than one hard disk, repeat this process for each hard disk listed starting at Step 3.

My laptop's files were not terribly fragmented, so defragmenting them didn't speed it up much. However, after defragmenting the hard drive on my desktop computer, Windows and other programs started about 20% faster!

Disconnect Unused Network Connections:

If you've ever had a network with more than one computer, you probably found it useful to share files between the computers by mapping a network drive. Network drives allow one computer to read and write files to another computer's hard disk as if it were directly connected. I use network drives all the time, and for me, they were the most significant source of slowness.

The problem with network drives is that Windows XP will attempt to connect to the network drives when Windows starts. If the remote computers don't respond immediately, Windows will wait patiently. Additionally, some programs will attempt to connect to the network drives when you browse for files and folders. If you've ever tried to open a file and had to wait several seconds (or minutes!), it's probably because the program was trying to establish a network connection—even if the file you are opening is on your local computer.

I am not as patient as Windows, and I'd rather not wait for unused network connections to respond. To reduce this problem, disconnect any unused drives by following these steps:

1.Open My Computer.

2.On the Tools menu, click Disconnect Network Drive.

3.Select the network drives that you no longer need, and then click OK.

After I disconnected the network drives on my computer, my computer was able to restart in 1 minute, 45 seconds—about 40% faster!

Remove Autostart Programs:

The next step in restoring your computer's performance is to identify any unnecessary programs that start automatically. Often, programs configure themselves to run in the background so that they appear to start quickly when needed. Some of these programs show an icon on your taskbar to let you know that they're running, while others are completely hidden. These autostart programs probably won't noticeably slow down your computer as it starts up, but they will steal away trace amounts of memory and processing time as your computer runs.

Windows XP comes with the System Configurationtool (Msconfig.exe), an excellent way to manage the startup process. To start it:

1.Click Start, click Run, type Msconfig, and then press Enter.

2.On the Startup tab, you'll see a list of all the programs and processes that are set to run when Windows XP loads.

3.Speed up your overall start time by clearing the check box next to any item you think you don't need.

4.Click Apply, and then restart your computer for the changes to take effect.

My favorite way to examine autostart programs is to use the Autoruns freeware tool from Sysinternals. Autoruns lists every program that will automatically start and allows you to quickly delete the link to the program. Many autostart entries are important parts of Windows XP, including Userinit.exe and Explorer.exe. So you should not simply delete everything that you don't recognize. Instead, you should look up each entry at Paul Collins' Startup Applications List to determine whether you want it to start automatically.

For example, Figure 5 shows Autoruns revealing a file called nwiz.exe that is set to start automatically. I visited The Startup Applications List, typed in nwiz and discovered that it's used to set my desktop layout preferences. I'd like to keep this functionality, so I won't delete it.

I also found a file named Wzqkpick.exe. After reading the description at The Startup Applications List, I decided I don't need to load that file automatically. I deleted the link using Autoruns by right-clicking it and then clicking Delete. This procedure works best for advanced users of Windows XP. If you aren't sure a program is unneeded—leave it!

The Startup Applications List may provide instructions for removing the startup program. If available, you should follow those instructions instead of deleting the link by using Autoruns.

How to Fix Bigger Problems:

Many of the Windows XP Performance and Maintenance newsgroup users are experiencing serious, sudden performance problems. One day, their computer was fine and the next it was painfully slow. This type of problem is often caused by a computer virus or failing computer hardware. The suggestions in this article probably won't fix those types of problems. Instead, perform a virus scan on your computer. If that's not the issue, you should contact your computer vendor's technical support team for additional assistance. The troubleshooting process for this type of problem requires the knowledge to examine the computer's performance on a process-by-process basis, and usually includes a "process of elimination" phase where drivers, services, and hardware are removed/replaced one-by-one until the problem disappears. There's a very good chance that the computer won't start at all at some point in this process, so it's best to have support during the process.

Searching for "Windows XP Performance" on the Internet turns up a large number of performance tweaks. Some of these are useful, but most should not be attempted unless you understand exactly what you are doing. In particular, many of the tweaks that claim to improve your performance may only help under very specific circumstances. For example, in our own Windows XP Performance and Maintenance newsgroup, one user recommended disabling Internet Connection Firewall to solve a performance problem. Even if this did improve performance, it would leave the computer vulnerable to attacks from the Internet. I'd rather have a slightly slower computer than a hacked computer!

IV.Using Microsoft Online Crash Analysis:

If you experiment with beta software or bleeding-edge hardware, you've probably experienced an error that Windows XP is willing to call "serious." The message shown in Figure 1 appears when Windows XP has been forced to take drastic measures to protect your computer. If you choose to report the problem, technical information about the problem is collected and sent to Microsoft over the Internet. This is called error reporting.

If you have an Internet connection, you can report program errors and system errors to Microsoft. If an application experiences an error that it is not prepared to handle, Windows XP stops the application and prompts you to send an error report. If a piece of hardware or the software that communicates with the hardware (the driver) tries to do something that could corrupt your computer, Windows XP shows you a blue screen and restarts the computer. In the case of system errors, the message shown below in Figure 1 appears after your computer restarts. Then you're given the chance to track the error report using the Microsoft Online Crash Analysis (MOCA) Web site.
Uh-oh. It's time to visit the Microsoft Online Crash Analysis Web site

This column explains what's in error reports, where they go, and how they are used. If you don't play with new technologies and haven't run into error reporting, you may still be interested in finding out more about the Microsoft bug-fixing processes.
What an Error Report Contains

If you do see an error message, you should make sure you're connected to the Internet and then click the Send Error Report button. Windows XP puts together a short message that describes the error you experienced, along with other information that helps Microsoft support personnel identify and resolve the problem. That message is then encrypted and sent across the Internet to Microsoft. For more information, see Error Report Contents Information.

The information in the error report contains general Windows XP data such as your operating system version and language, and the type of failure that occurred. Depending on the type of failure, more detailed technical information about the cause of the problem may also be included to enable software developers to analyze it.

By default, error reporting is turned on in Windows XP. See the Knowledge Base article, How to Configure and Use Error Reporting in Windows XP, for more information.

How Microsoft Uses Error Reports:

Microsoft gathers the error reports that customers send, analyzes them, and uses the aggregate information to determine which problems are causing the most suffering. Steve Ballmer points out in Connecting with Customers that about 80% of problems are caused by 20% of bugs. The error reporting information enables Microsoft developers to identify the most serious bugs and resolve them first. So, if you submit your error reports, there's a better chance that the bug that caused your error will be fixed in the future.

Immediately after you choose to send your error report, you will be taken to the Microsoft Online Crash Analysis (MOCA) Web site. In most cases, you can see details about the type of error that you've experienced before you send the report to MOCA. After you send the report, a response from MOCA will include steps to help solve the problem and sometimes a link to updated drivers. Depending on the specific error, it may even suggest a way to prevent it from happening in the future. For example, if you experience an error while using Windows XP and choose to send the error report, MOCA will analyze it. If MOCA determines that the error was caused by a problem that was resolved by an updated device driver, MOCA will provide a link to the Microsoft Update Web site.

The screen shown in Figure 2 shows the results of the MOCA analysis after I had an error while using a new piece of hardware. MOCA correctly identified the problem as being related to the device driver, and provided a link where I could download an updated driver.
Microsoft Online Crash Analysis can tell you what went wrong and how to prevent it

Track Your Error Report:

If you experienced a blue screen, you will be given the option to use MOCA to track the error. It's a good idea to track the errors, because you can return to the Microsoft Online Crash Analysis site later to see if a problem has been fixed, as shown in Figure 3. Since MOCA uses the .NET Passport to identify you, Microsoft support personnel can even contact you if they need more information. Although you can send error reports after an application fails to have your error analyzed by MOCA, you can only track error reports using Microsoft Online Crash Analysis if the problem resulted in a blue screen, which is also known as a stop error.
Tracking your errors is a great way to prepare for a call to technical support.

If your problem was caused by a non-Microsoft component, such as a hardware device driver created by a third-party, you should still send the error report. MOCA analyzes these errors, too. The data that MOCA collects is forwarded on to the company responsible for the driver, so that they can resolve the problem you're having. Depending on the manufacturer, you may even be able to download the updated drivers using Microsoft Update after the manufacturer has fixed the problem. For more information about how hardware and software vendors and Microsoft partners use this data, see the Windows Quality Online Services: Advantages of Using Windows Error Reporting.

Note: If MOCA tells you that the problem was caused by a device driver, it's probably caused by a piece of hardware that you've recently installed or upgraded. To get the most up-to-date driver, visit Microsoft Update or the manufacturer's Web site.

Addresses Privacy Issues:

Microsoft goes to great lengths to protect your privacy when you submit error reports. The error report does contain a small portion of the contents of your computer's memory and the address your computer uses to connect to the Internet. However, Microsoft will never track the error report back to you personally—unless you specifically choose to track the error report. Further, Microsoft carefully guards this error reporting information, and only individuals actively working on fixing problems have access to the information. For more information, see Error Report Privacy Information.

Tired of Seeing Error Report Messages?

A friend of mine once covered up the Check Engine light on his dashboard because he was tired of seeing it lit up. Obviously, this was a bad idea, because hiding the notification of a problem only serves to ensure it won't be fixed. Sending error reports is one of the most important things you can do for the health of your computer. The more error reports Microsoft receives for a particular problem, the more likely it is the problem will be fixed. However, if you've got a problem that keeps appearing and you'd rather brush it under the carpet, you can turn off error reporting so it doesn't prompt you anymore by following these steps:

1.Click Start, right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.

2.On the Advanced tab, click Error Reporting.

3.Click Disable error reporting and clear the But notify me when critical errors occur check box.

I hope you never have a serious problem with Windows XP, but if you do, you should send in your error report. If the problem has already been resolved, you'll get instructions for fixing it. If the problem hasn't been fixed, you'll let the folks at Microsoft know that there's a problem. Submitting your error report may even result in Microsoft releasing an update to solve your problem!