I read with interest your ‘Next generation broadband’ article in the May 2007 issue. There are a few points that you have missed, however, regarding the use of 3G as an alternative. Quoting from T-Mobile’s website:

“Already a customer and don’t want to commit to a price plan? Not a problem, simply add the Web’n’Walk monthly option to your current Flext or U-Fix £25 plan and pay just £7.50 a month extra”.

So if you already have a 3G T-Mobile phone on a monthly plan you can get the 3G service for £7.50 extra. I have a USB Bluetooth dongle (£8 from Ebay) for my desktop PC, so as long as my phone is near my computer I have internet access. So there’s no need to get a laptop just to be able to use a 3G PC Card. With Windows XP SP2, the combination of dongle and 3G phone works perfectly. This works out quite cheap for 3GB per month, so it’s another option for readers to look at.

Eduardo Batalha

Posted by on April 5, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (1)

I have read with great interest the many letters over the past few months relating to Windows Vista and Office 2007. It is frustrating, as a keen user, to see such strong views against Microsoft’s new wave of products. JE Jones writes in the May issue of annoyance with driver support in Vista. Microsoft has shipped an unprecedented number of drivers on with Vista and many, many more via Windows Update.

The responsibility of producing such drivers is on the manufacturer and many have risen to the challenge, of course in some cases lack of support is seen as a way of forcing people to buy new equipment.

Microsoft has consistently provided huge levels of backwards compatibility from one version of Windows to another, something which is unseen in many parts of the industry. If people want progress then it will always come at the expense of compatibility to some extent or another. Another example of this issue is Robert Shooter’s letter in May’s issue. He notes that the default format in Office 2007 is not supported by any other software package on the market.

Wrong! Microsoft has made read/write converters available for previous versions of Office, and there is no reason why others cannot create their own for Open Source software. In addition, Office 2007 can be configured to automatically save all files in the previous format.

The OpenXML file format in Office 2007 provides a huge improvement in stability and usability for both businesses and consumers and should be welcomed. Microsoft has made a huge step forward in its latest releases, bringing usability and ergonomics to a new high. Improvement can sometimes be painful, but let’s embrace it, not complain about it and enjoy the new experiences on offer.

Daniel Murfin

Posted by on April 5, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (2)