One of the many neat new features of Windows 7 are themes. If you’ve installed Win7 to try it out you should right click on the desktop and select “Personalize” and check out some of the options (if you’ve not got the Release Candidate to try out you should grab it from here).

I’ve been using the excellent theme pack from my old boss Mike Swanson and it gets quite a few comments from people who stop by my office or see me running it in coffee shops.

Today I was reading Hugh’s post on Cube Grenades and it got me thinking. I already have his art on my business cards and an original print that will be hung in my office as soon as I can get it there and it got me thinking…

I already have the gapingvoid widget on my blog and it provides an endless stream of conversation pieces so I wondered if I would be able to combine the idea of themes and social objects (and share it in the cube grenade spirit).

A quick search found Long Zheng’s post on RSS powered desktop slideshows and from there it was just a matter of finding the RSS feed for Hugh’s widget and so for you to enjoy I present my Gapingvoid Cube Grenade theme for Windows 7 – just download it, unzip and double-click on the theme file (the “clean one features less adult language) to install it. You should see your desktop background go black and after a few moments it’ll start downloading images for the slideshow (set to rotate randomly every 30 minutes). If you click on Personalize on the desktop you can adjust the timing and change it from “fill” to “tile” or other layout options.

Enjoy, and please share and create your own themes with your favorite content :)

(Update: the download now contains two theme options, the default and a “clean” one that only features cartoons with less adult language)

There’s a lot of hype at the moment about Splashtop, Hyperspace, Presto and other “instant on” Linux desktops that are supposed to give you access to everything you possibly need without having to wait for Windows to start.

As I was planning to reformat my laptop soon I thought I’d try them out and see if the dream was actually real for either me or my family. Sure, I work for Microsoft but before joining here I used OSX and various Linux client configurations so I’m open minded. I have also been using Win7 for quite a while so I set that as the bar.

Splashtop

First up was Splashtop. Sadly there’s no end user configuration for that. You have to have hardware with it installed on. If anyone wants to lend me a netbook with this on to have a play with I’d love to see how it stacks up, but I suspect it’ll face the same problems I encountered with the other two.

Hyperspace

Hyperspace was the first one I could actually install and play with. Installation is pretty simple for the end user considering that it re-partitions your hard drive and makes itself the default OS. I’d really have liked it to give me the choice what I wanted as default and you should be aware that re-partitioning on the fly can be pretty dangerous (and the uninstaller did not remove the redundant partition automatically which was a real pain)

The desktop in Hyperspace is heavily locked down. There is a fixed toolbar that includes some apps I would never use and links to sites I’d never visit. If the product was free and made money based off the click-thoughts I could accept it but as this actually expects me to part with money I don’t think that’s okay.

Installing other apps seemed to be pretty limited so if you want a different Instant Messenger client or browser you’re probably out of luck. There doesn’t seem to be a native mail client so if you’re not online and able to do everything in the cloud you’ve got a fast booting paperweight.

Oh, and USB mice are not supported so you’d better like your trackpad!

Ease of installation was great, but on the whole the downsides were too much given that startup wasn’t that much less than the fully functional Win7 build on the same machine.

The limitations are such that I didn’t even want to put this in front of the family as an option. While I’m sure Rhiannon would have been able to play games there’s no integrated iPod experience.

Presto

Xandros Presto was a lot more pleasant an experience overall. The installation was, like Hyperspace, pretty straight-forward though it has the advantage of not creating its own partition, it installs into the existing Windows NTFS file system. It doesn’t make itself the default OS so you have a few seconds after a reboot to choose it otherwise your normal Windows desktop starts up.

Uninstall was equally clean (though I have since re-installed it!)

Similar to Hyperspace again this isn’t free, though there is a trial period so you can kick the tires. Xandros have been in business for quite some time with a user friendly Linux distribution with an integrated applications catalog that makes it easy to find, try and buy applications. They’ve followed the same model here but it’s more flexible than the other options.

There is a default toolbar docked with some apps already loaded but their forums show you how to get to the underlying OS to change, reconfigure and generally do what you need to do – always assuming there isn’t a GUI app that you can download from the catalog to solve the problem.

The biggest issue I have with Presto is that the app catalog offers older versions of some of the apps I wanted to use. Evolution Mail and the Exchange Connector for instance were not current enough to connect to our Exchange server (though the IMAP/Gmail connector worked fine) and there’s no link to Chrome as an alternative browser. I was however able to install the Moonlight Linux port of Silverlight without any problems and the pre-installed Flash version was okay for casual games.

Because Presto runs from the same disk partition as Windows I was able to access files from the main operating system which was a bonus.

… but is it worth 30 seconds?

Both Presto and Hyperspace start up about 30 seconds quicker but seem to have significant functionality issues that mean unless what you want to do is web based, and you have a connection, there’s not much advantage.

The Linux desktops are getting better but still lag behind OSX and Windows in usability (especially the later Win7 builds) and while Presto does let the user under the covers to tweak you’re really heading down the rabbit hole into another world if you’re just looking for a simple solution.

Because they’re stripped back they are fast – performance was great, but as most real operations are going to be web bound that’s not really a huge selling point.

I didn’t notice significantly better battery life with either of the solutions. Maybe if they were installed on a Flash drive and the hard drive spun down totally we’d see some benefit. Hardware issues like the lack of a USB mouse, wired ethernet not working properly and lack of support for the full screen resolution on my laptop makes me think that they’re not quite there yet…

With Win7 having much better support for low end hardware I think the choice for an operating system for low end machines (or quick startup) is going to become much more hotly contested in the future than it is today where the competition is Vista.

One of the simplest forms of exercise is walking, and the experts tell us that we should aim for 10,000 steps a day as part of a healthy lifestyle. People who use a pedometer tend to walk more than those who don't (on average around 2000 steps or about a mile) so getting a pedometer would be a smart idea.

I've been using an Omron HJ-720ITC (one of the few pedometers that has a USB connection to sync with your computer) for some months and a combination of their desktop app to keep a record for me and gtFtr to manually publish my steps (when I can remember) to help my friends encourage me to keep stepping in the right direction.

Now I've found a better way to track and share my progress though, and it uses a platform that's designed to securely hold medical data and share it under my control - Microsoft's HealthVault.

As a family we're starting to explore ways that HealthVault can let us consolidate the various medical records that at the moment are just hidden in filing cabinets around the house but we love the way we can also use it for day to day type activities...

One of the basic functions of HealthVault is that it allows 3rd party applications to be permitted access to certain data types - for instance the WalkMe application can read my pedometer data that is uploaded to HealthVault via the Connection Center (a simple application that runs in my system tray - once configured with my credentials you just need to plug in the pedometer, wait until it tells you it's grabbed the data and then unplug it and the data gets uploaded automatically).

In addition to letting me analyze my data when I’m using the application, WalkMe keeps my shared widgets and data up to date by automagically syncing with HealthVault (via a secure mechanism called "OfflineWebApplication access").

WalkMe lets me review the data in different ways to track my progress, set goals, compare to friends and ... if I want ... share my progress publicly using a variety of widgets or even an RSS feed.

If you're looking for some suggestion for routes to walk or help getting started you should check out the MSN RouteTracker which can also use HealthVault to help you keep track of your progress, and use Live Search Health to get some general fitness ideas.

Give WalkMe a try, and check out the rest of HealthVault while you're there. The service is in pretty early beta stages so your input can make a lot of difference right now so make sure you leave some feedback as to what features you'd like to see added or improved (or vote on some of my requests!)

I'm planning to wear my pedometer this year to MIX in Vegas. Wonder how far I'll walk around behind the scenes at that event - check back here to see the numbers change ;)

Although I started my adventures in programming in Assembler (65c02, 68000) it was probably the discover of BASIC (I still remember it stands for "Beginners All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code"!) that showed my that computers could be fun (nerd alert!)

I used various forms of BASIC on a wide range of machines - Atom, BBC B, MSX, Oric, RML, ZX81 etc - before PCs became a more regular feature in my life and QuickBASIC was often a quick and easy way to get things done in the days of DOS. With the rise of Windows Visual Basic became the de facto way that many developers were first introduced to programming.

Time passed and the development environment got more complex and VB "grew up", gained some object oriented type features and became a member of the .Net family of languages. It was no longer an easy starting point for new developers - and languages like C# and Java became more prominent.

Well, that simple, easy to get started concept is back. And in keeping with the aim the name says it all - Small Basic. It's not trying to be big and clever, but as a good way for kids to get started and see results quickly.

In it's default form there are only 15 keywords - but even so it's petty capable. The development environment features all the things you'd expect from a modern platform such as Intellisense and context sensitive help. The neat this though is that it's an extensible environment so other developers can add features and capabilities to the base product to help it grow.

Check it out at the MSDN DevLabs (the same folks who bring you PopFly), read more at their blog and don't forget to check out their "Hello World"!

I wonder how long it'll take me to re-write "snake" ;)

I run a variety of operating systems at home and at work. Windows XP, Vista and even OSX and Ubuntu all have their place in my life. The latter two are more curiosities - I get very little real value from either of them.

Although I use the latest and greatest at work (often dogfooding very early builds to help give feedback on problems so you don't have to!) I also have a couple of machines at home still running WinXP. One because the hardware wasn't up to Vista and  the other because, even with SP1, Vista offered no real benefit.

With Windows 7 though I think that's going to start to change.

At PDC today the audience got their first glimpse of Windows 7 in the keynote presentation, and they even got the bits to install and kick the tires as part of "the goods"

While there are a number of great reviews popping up so I won't just repeat the details but just add some personal observation.

It's quick. Startup and general usage is significantly better than Vista, and WinXP feels just plain clunky after using Windows 7 for a few days. I hope this trend improves as we get closer to release and it doesn't get bogged down with extra "stuff" we don't need.

It runs with a smaller system footprint. The performance increases are part of this, but it installs and runs just fine on my UMPC whereas to get anything working right with Vista I had to manually kill a bunch of services and turn off themes before it became responsive enough to be useful. The touch and gesture support just works!

I feel like I'm in control. With Vista I never felt like I was empowered to make decisions about my workspace. With Windows 7 I have control over little things like what order programs appear in the toolbar, what icons appear in the systray and even what the "shutdown" button does (I make it "sleep" instead).

Things just work. Bearing in mind this isn't even classified as a beta yet, but it's stable enough that I'm using it every day and things are just working. I have only found one application that I wanted to use that wouldn't run first time - but turning on compatibility mode for the application and seconds later I was up and running.

The great thing for developers is anything you build now for Vista should pretty much work when Windows 7 is released (for instance you get touch control pretty much for "free" with the updated mouse drivers).

For people wondering if they should switch from WinXP to Vista or wait... if you have capable hardware you should make the switch now and take advantage of the platform (especially with SP1 available and SP2 on the way) - don't listen to the naysayers who've not actually used it!

I remember the leap from Windows 2000 to Windows XP for the significant improvement in my user experience. I'd say we're in for the same sort of leap again. I don't want to go back to Vista or WinXP again.

I hate passwords. I love the security they bring but having to remember them, manage them and above all type them in on some of the devices I use drives me to distraction.

While it’s not a perfect solution I have found one tool that allows me to use my Windows Mobile phone as a secure physical token to control access to my PC.

The Rohos Logon Key is one of the best sorts of utilities. It’s almost invisible once you set it up!

It allows you to store a “key” that you can use to unlock your PC on a USB Flash key, a memory card, a YubiKey or best of all (if your PC has Bluetooth support) a bluetooth equipped Windows Mobile phone or other smartphone.

When you have installed the utility and defined a key simply making it available to the machine will log you in – so by plugging in a USB key and entering the PIN, or placing the Mobile Phone in proximity so the ID can be read.

No more typing, fumbling and cursing!

You still need to update your password on a regular basis (as it can still be used to log in without the device) but it means you can choose longer, more complex and hard to guess ones without having to learn to type them every time.

It doesn’t help with things like syncing the changed password to your phone (for instance if you need it to access your Exchange server for Outlook Mobile via ActiveSync) or if you need to type passwords into web or network logins… maybe one day.

Oh, and the USB support does also include provision of an encrypted partition for you to store files on so even if you lose the key your data is still protected.

WinXP had some power schemes, and Vista improved on the power management options for desktops and laptops. But they were all pretty geeky, you had to know what was going on and to do a good job of getting it set up right there are a bunch of places you needed to go to install things.

Steve Clayton has just reminding me that Microsoft, Climate Savers Computing Initiative and Verdiem have made available Edison as a free download.

Edison (an application we’ve been testing at home for the last 90 days) is a free installation to help you optimize power usage on your PC as we all strive for a greener computing experience.

Download it and give it a try – every little big helps :)

Windows Zero Configuration is a real boon to the world of WiFi connectivity. I let WinXP and Vista take care of connecting to the right router and managing all that "stuff" for me and I've never given it a thought.

However, I've started using a different VoIP solution at home and for various reasons it's not plugged into a wired machine but living off a WiFi connected box (if I can work out the audio driver issues on the server it's going back to there, but I might end up having to wire the machine it's on at the moment)

So... what's the problem?

It was a tricky one to find... Every minute or so on a call I'd get a moment of total silence. I couldn't hear anyone, and no-one could hear me. Weird huh? That's what I thought.

So I started investigating. Lots of diligent diagnostics and pleas to the internet search gods and eventually I got a pointer in the right direction.... every 60 seconds Windows ZeroConf checks the health of the connection... sadly that has an impact on the communications to the router:

Reply from 192.168.10.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.10.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.10.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.10.1: bytes=32 time=944ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.10.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.10.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.10.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64

So what's the answer?

Well... in WinXP you need to kill the ZeroConf service (hit "Start", then "run" and type "Services.msc" and hit enter. Search for "Windows Zero Configuration...." and hit the "stop service" button) - or if you have a driver/management program for your WiFi card use that instead.

In Vista it's a little tricker

• Open a command prompt using run as administrator.
• Make sure the WLAN service must be running first. If it isn't type net start wlansvc.
• Type in netsh wlan set autoconfig enabled=no interface="name of your wireless network here" (with the quotes)
• If you need to see the name of your wireless network first, type in netsh wlan show settings

or (and if you have a group policy set that won't let you run that command) you can try this WLANOptimizer utility.

However there is a downside of turning off ZeroConf.... in my case when the machine that's running as the VoIP host loses the WiFi connection for any reason you have to restart the service, let it reestablish the connection and then shut it down again!

Hopefully, as this impacts both VoIP users and gamers (who need good ping times) we'll see a hotfix for Vista or someone will write a cool utility that softphones can trigger when in a call to stop ZeroConf doing it's check (perhaps extend the refresh interval to an hour from start of call or only if the connection drops or some other rule)

Oh, the VoIP solution I'm using is MagicJack. It's early days yet, but the quality blows Skype out of the water. If you're thinking about getting one check out the unofficial forum for some really good advice.

Looks like I'm not the only Windows Home Server fan out there. Bill Gates has one as well - and I suspect he's got some more toys in his house as well

Video: Microsoft Home Server HP Comercial

Recently I've needed to transfer files, 10 or 12 times a day, from the machine I'm working on to a local server and also a remote FTP site. It was painful and inefficient (had to have multiple windows open, FTP kept disconnecting... just no fun).

I did a quick search on the web and found UpRight from Otaku Software. I'd tried one of their products before (TopDesk, an OSX Expose like utility for Windows) and thought it was really well done (but I got a second monitor instead!).

According to their write-up it looked straight-forward and simple

UpRight significantly simplifies file transfer, allowing you to:

• Upload to files and directories to FTP servers, Amazon S3, and local and network directories.
• Select which files and directories to transfer using wildcards and regular expressions.
• Move or copy files and directories during transfer.
• Display, email, or copy to the clipboard a configurable message after each upload.

so I thought I'd give it a go... and after using it for a week so far I think it's worth a look.

Now, it's not perfect...

• I'd like so see support for uploading directly to my Windows Live Skydrive and the Silverlight Streaming Service as well as the already supported Amazon S3 service (normally a real pain to get single files uploaded to)
• I'd love to be able to associate specific settings/defaults for particular files (eg always upload the file to a particular subdirectory within the defined FTP site) - as it is you have to define a destination for each directory or subdirectory
• I could see a use for being able to upload a file to more than one place (in my case copy to both a local network drive and a remote server)
• and just a set-up thing... when defining remote FTP destinations a way to log on and navigate the file structure rather than having to remember the exact path would be very neat.

Those comments aside ... I love the ease of use - once you've set up a destination it's two clicks to get a file there.

I didn't think I'd have much use for the actions you can perform after a move, but I've become a fan of the fact I can script it to put the path and filename into the clipboard so I can check it in a browser with no more typing.

I've been using it this evening to push files both to my local server then when they are debugged to the live box, also to move stuff quickly and easily to my Windows Home server... saves me opening two windows and drag'n'drop (and I always lose windows when I'm trying to do that... maybe I do need TopDesk after all!).

Oh, quick up-date: just installed a trial on my wifes machine as (a non technical user) show now uses it to uploads pictures to our family site (public and the Windows Home Server) - FTP scared her, this ... is just like computing should be.