Is Microsoft the Big Bad Wolf,
or your Best Friend?
Do you ever visit Microsoft’s website?
If you don’t, you are missing out on a veritable goldmine of useful information
– and other great stuff!
It seems like Microsoft bashing isa popular thing to do, but I suspect
that it’s because the biggest target is the easiest to hit.
I say that because I’m in danger of sounding like a pro-Microsoft advocate here, even though they truly do seem to put a great deal of effort
into helping you out. That being said, I’d like to point
you towards some features that they offer that you may not be aware of that just
might make your life a whole lot easier!
First, there’s the knowledge base. I am surprised at the
number of people I encounter who use Windows based computers all the time, but
are unaware of the knowledge base and what it can do for you. Just in case
you’re one such person, here’s a quick overview.
To get to the knowledge base, go to
www.Microsoft.com, in the
left margin, mouse over or click on "Support" under "Resources", mouse over and
select "Knowledge Base". That’s it!
Microsoft’s knowledge base in a huge database of information
pertaining to Microsoft products. The web page you use to access this
information is a simple search form. If you have a question about, or a
problem with, a Microsoft product, go to the page, select the product involved
and type in your question, or keywords about the problem. You will be
amazed by how much information is there, and how frequently you can find the
solution to your exact problem. If you don’t find it on your first try,
change your keywords and try again. Like any search facility, the more you
use it, the more you become familiar with its workings and the more success you
have using it.
By the way, the other option under "Support" is the support home
page. If you haven’t been there either, you need to go and take a look
around. The product you already have in the computer is only a part of the
story!
And now, another freebie! From Microsoft’s home page, click on
"Windows" under "Product Families". This takes you to the main Windows
page. On the right, under "Windows XP" there’s "Windows XP home page".
By the way – there’s also a shortcut using Microsoft’s neat navigation mechanism
right in the address bar: type the product name after the site name like this:
www.microsoft.com/windowsxp That’ll take you right there too.
Now take a look under "Top Downloads" on the right. Click
on "Powertoys". See that list? Read those descriptions and enjoy!
Let me highlight a couple of them for you. First, there’s
"Tweakui". While this little tool has been around for a long time, this
version, customized for XP, enables you to EASILY reconfigure a great variety of
system settings. It’s also just as easy to turn them back if you don’t
like them! So go ahead, play around!
Another, and one which I’ll close on for all you web developers
out there, is the HTML Slide Show Wizard. This powertoy is just great!
Download it, install it and run it. Point it at a folder full of pictures
you have, provide a name for a slide show to hold them, tweak the options if you
wish and click finish. In a few moments, a folder is created named with
the name of your slide show, located where you told it to be (the default is "My
Slide Shows" inside "My Documents" – which seems fine to me!) and containing an
entire slide show in HTML! All your pictures are resized to make them
uniform (unless you told it not to) and all the navigation options you need are
provided. Simply take the entire folder and add it to your website. Done!
Your Slide show is now on the web! You can’t expect anything easier than
that, can you? And it’s free!
Enjoy!
