RHFtech Help Desk

Pictures, music, video, spreadsheets, documents and applications are files on your computer. Do you ever wonder what they are and how they differ from each other? What makes a document open in Microsoft Word and a song open in iTunes? Why do files designed to run on Windows PCs like Word documents or Excel spreadsheets also run on Macs and Linux computers? What makes a file an application that a computer can run, instead of displaying lines of computer code?

File names have two parts, the actual file name and the extension. The file name might be something like “Document1” or “IMG_0317”. This is shown to us whether we are working in Windows Explorer or the Mac Finder. The extension, the second part of the complete file name, might be “.doc” or “.jpg” for the two file names above. Both Windows and Macs hide file extensions by default so you may rarely see the “.doc” or “.jpg”. They show application icons instead. But they hide whether that Word file is a “.doc”, “.docx”, or “.dotx”.

I suggest your reconfigure your computer to show the extensions. This is done via XP’s “Folder Options…” or Windows 7/Vista “Folder and search options” in Windows Explorer. Click on the Folder Options “View” tab and uncheck the “Hide extensions for known file types” box. The Mac Finder is easily configured to show file extensions. Go to “Preferences”, click on the “Advanced” tab and check the box labeled “Show all file extensions”.

Now the computer will show both a filename and the extension. This makes it easier to tell what program a data file works with. You no longer need rely upon an icon to tell you. A Word data file usually has the extension “.doc” or “.docx”. An Excel file has an “.xls” or “.xlsx” extension. A photo usually has the extension “.jpg”. Audio files commonly have the extensions “.mp3”, “.m4a”, “.m4p“ or “.wma”.

File extensions are associated with applications. This is why when you click on a data file it opens in its correct program, whether on a Windows PC or a Mac. Typically a Mac computer associates images with iPhoto, audio files with iTunes, Word files with Word or Pages, and spreadsheets with Excel or Numbers. Windows machines may use Windows Live Photo Gallery, Windows Media Player, Word, and Excel as the associated programs, respectively. Adobe PDFs are displayed by default in the Mac Preview program. Most Windows machines use Adobe Reader to open PDFs.

You can open a file in a program other than its default application. Perhaps you want to open an audio file in the VLC media player, a free media player that works on Windows, Mac and Linux computers, but iTunes is your default music playing application (Windows or Mac). If you right-click on the audio file you can choose “Open with” from the Windows Explorer or the Finder context menus. You then select a program from the list or browse for the application you want to use.

Applications (also called programs) are different than data files. They run when clicked rather than launching another program. In the Microsoft world applications typically have the extension “.exe”. Older DOS apps may use “.com”. The Mac application extension is “.app”. So iTunes on Windows is “iTunes.exe” and on Macs “iTunes.app”.

How does the original program code get turned into an application? Programmers use special applications called compilers to transform their program code in to executable applications. Programs issue commands to the computer and its peripherals. A program might tell the printer to print what you are looking at or, if you are in email application, to send the message you wrote.

Macs have an eject key on the keyboard to eject discs from their optical drives. Most Windows machines do not.

I describe below how to create a desktop shortcut to do that for Windows computers. The shortcut can be assigned to a keyboard key, pinned to the Windows 7 Taskbar or added to the XP or Vista Quick Launch toolbar.

1. Download the Nirsoft NIRCMD utility.
2. Unzip the file.
3. Three files are included in the zip. Double-click on the nircmd.exe file.
4. A dialog window will appear with a button Copy To Windows Directory; click on it.
5. Then click the OK button.
6. Open up My Computer from the Start button.
7. Find the drive letter of your DVD/CD drive. Make a note of it. You will need it in a moment.
8. Next, right-click on a blank area of your desktop.
9. Select New —> Shortcut from the context menu. The Create Shortcut wizard opens.
   
10. Type in the space labeled Type the location of the item:.

                nircmd.exe cdrom open D:

    Change the letter D to the appropriate letter for your DVD/CD drive, as noted above.

11. Now click the Next button.
12. The shortcut wizard will ask you to name the shortcut. Replace the default text nircmd.exe with something like Open DVD-CD player.
    
13. Then click the Finish button. But we are not yet finished.
    
14. Right-click on the new shortcut icon on your desktop and select Properties from the context menu.
15. Click on the Change Icon… button.
    
16. A warning dialog pops up telling you that there are no icons in the nircmd.exe file. Click the OK button.
17. The Windows default icon repository shell32.dll opens up. Select an icon. I like the one with the optical disk above the drive. Click the “OK” button.Now let’s assign a keyboard shortcut key to open the optical drive.
18. Do this by clicking on the space with the word none next to the Shortcut key: label. Press whichever key or key combination you want. Try not to use existing shortcuts like Ctrl-C (copy) or F1 (help). The F7 key seems to work fine.
19. Now one more time click the OK button.

We are now finished with creating the shortcut.

Test out your new shortcut by double-clicking on the desktop icon you created. If you did it correctly the optical drive transport tray should come out. You have to close the tray by gently pushing it in. Next test your shortcut key. I used F7 which works fine on my Windows 7 computer.

If you are using Windows 7 you can pin the new shortcut to the Windows Taskbar. Right-click on the desktop icon and select Pin to Taskbar from the context menu.

If you are using Vista or XP you can add it to the Quick Launch toolbar. Make certain you have the Quick Launch toolbar visible by right-clicking on the Taskbar and selecting Toolbars. If there is a checkmark next to the Quick Launch item in the menu it is open. If not, click on it to open it.

Now right-click on the new DVD-CD shortcut on the desktop and drag the icon down to the Quick Launch toolbar and let go. Select Create Shortcuts Here from the context menu.

Windows users shouldn’t be envious of Macs because of the eject key. Macs are big-time trouble when a disc gets stuck in their optical drives. There is no little hole where you can stick an unbent paper click to mechanically open the optical drive transport. You may have to take it in for costly repairs to remove the disc and regain use of the optical drive.

File extensions are important and useful. These are the characters that follow the final period in the file name. They are usually 3 or 4 characters long. They tell an operating system whether or not a file is an application, like Excel.exe, or the file’s associated application. The EXE extension tells Windows that the file is a program. The Mac parallel is APP. Microsoft Word documents use extensions like DOC, DOCX, or DOT. This informs the computer that they are opened with Word.

File extensions are hidden by default on new computers. I guess the smart people at Apple and Microsoft think these important bits of information will confuse a computer user like you. I disagree. They inform us about our files. Since computers have hundreds of thousands or millions of files this extra information helps us navigate.

So how do you show extensions?

Apple OS X Finder

1. Open a Finder window.
2. Click on the Finder —> Preferences… on the menu bar.
3. The Finder Preferences dialog should open.
4. Select the Advanced tab.
5. Check the checkbox Show all filename extensions.
6. Close the dialog window.

Windows Explorer (XP)

1. Open a Windows Explorer window such as My Documents.
2. Click on the menu items Tools —> Folder Options…
3. The Folder Options dialog should open.
4. Select the View tab.
5. Uncheck the Hide extensions for known file types checkbox.
6. Click the OK button to close the dialog.

Windows Explorer (Windows 7 and Vista)

1. Open a Windows Explorer window such as Documents.
2. Click on the menu items Organize —> Folder and Search Options…
3. The Folder Options dialog should open.
4. Select the View tab.
5. Uncheck the Hide extensions for known file types checkbox.
6. Click the OK button to close the dialog.

Sometimes a Windows dialog shows the Apply button next to the OK and Cancel buttons. Some people are confused by what the Apply button does. I see them click the Apply button before clicking the OK button. They think that if they only click the OK button their changes will be lost.

When you click the Apply button the computer implements your changes AND leaves the dialog window open. This allows you to make further changes.

If you ignore the Apply button and click the OK button your changes are applied AND the dialog is closed.

Clicking the Cancel buttons reverts unapplied changes to their former state AND closes the dialog.

The Windows 7 Calculator looks meek and unassuming when first opened. But it has some super abilities hidden behind its Clark Kent surface.

A quick trip to the View menu shows that can be changed into a scientific, programming, or statistical calculator.  “Okay.” You say. “That is not so exciting.”

But it does more. It also converts units. Need to convert temperature from Fahrenheit to Celsius or vice versa? How about feet to meters or liters to gallons (UK or US)? This calculator has you covered. There are lots of other preprogrammed conversion units.

But wait it does more. It also has some built-in worksheets that you might want to use. Need a mortgage calculation? It can calculate the highest purchase price you can afford, the down payment required, the monthly payment or the mortgage term in years. There is a worksheet for vehicle leases, and another calculator for fuel efficiency in either mpg (US) or L/100 km (everywhere else).

Oh yeah, there’s still more. It does date conversions too!

It does not slice or dice, and I did not see a 50 year guarantee. Maybe in Windows 8?

This is about Windows Explorer not Internet Explorer.

The new Windows Explorer in Windows 7 is one of my favorite things about Windows 7. Microsoft added some nice enhancements over the Vista version.  And Vista’s Windows Explorer was quite different, and better, than Windows Explorer in XP.

The two most obvious changes in Vista from XP were the changes to the left-side panel and the addition of the breadcrumb address bar. The breadcrumb address bar is a webpage-like navigation tool. It is a big improvement over the older XP address bar. The left side panel was changed in Vista into a combination of Favorites and directory trees for your computer and network. The Favorites area is shortcuts that you can easily add to using drag-and-drop. 

Windows 7 adds Libraries and Homegroup to the Vista-style left side panel. It also adds the Arrange by: feature to the Libraries view.  The View option—icons, lists, details, etc.— is now an icon called More options and is located on the right side of the Windows Explorer toolbar next to the Preview Pane   icon, which is a toggle switch for Preview pane on or off.

The Library Arrange by: choices vary with the type of library.

Documents	Music	Pictures	Videos

If you spend a few minutes playing with and learning about Windows 7 Windows Explorer you are likely to see what a nice utility it has become.

The Windows key is a special key that appears on a Windows keyboard. It has the Microsoft flag logo on it and may also have the word Start. A variation of it exists for the Mac keyboard. Here it is known as the Command key or the Apple key and sports a Saint John’s Arms symbol . Do you know what these keys do and when to use them?

Some of us are accomplished typists and use the standard keys without looking or thinking about them. Others cannot type and instead hunt and peck. Most of us are somewhere in between. You are probably familiar with the Control (AKA Ctrl or ctrl) and Alternate (AKA Alt, alt or option) keys and may know how and when to use them. The Escape key (AKA Esc or esc) sits on the upper left of the keyboard. Pressing Esc often terminates a running process or closes a window. Windows keyboards also have a Property key, located to the right of the Space bar, which when pressed usually calls up a context menu, performing a function similar to a right mouse button click.

The Alt and Ctrl keys appear on all computer keyboards. They commonly appear twice, on the left and right sides of the Space bar. They perform similar functions in Windows and Mac OSX operating systems, providing additional functionality when pressed simultaneously with other keys. For example, Ctrl+C in Windows copies highlighted content into a system buffer, while Ctrl+V pastes it. Ctrl+P calls the printer dialog in many applications. (Mac users replace the Ctrl key with the Command key to activate these features, e.g., Cmd+P calls the print dialog on a Mac.)

My first memory of using the Ctrl key was on a time-sharing system in the early 1970s. The terminals I worked on used paper rather than a monitor to display input and output. We loaded these terminals with continuous fan-folded paper that came in cartons. We would rip the top off the carton and then load the beginning of the paper into the terminal. We used a lot of paper. Sometimes we needed to kill instructions to the computer, perhaps we had typed in a wrong number or the paper was jammed. Ctrl+C would send a stop instruction across the telephone lines to the computer. A few years later when I began using WordStar on a PC Ctrl+C became copy and the kill function had become the unwieldy Ctrl+Alt+Delete. The Mac equivalent is the Command+Option+Esc shortcut.

The Windows key has many shortcuts. I frequently use Windows+E, which launches a Windows Explorer window, Windows+R, which launches a Run… dialog, and Windows+F, which launches a Find or Search dialog. A relatively complete list is located at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_key#Shortcuts. Windows key uses differ between Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 operating systems. Windows 7 introduced many new Windows key shortcuts.

The Mac Command key is different that the Windows key. It is used more like the Windows Ctrl. Thus, Cmd+C is copy and Cmd+V is paste. My favorite use is Cmd+Space to call up Spotlight, the OS X search utility. A comprehensive list of Mac OS X keyboard shortcuts can be found at http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1343.

I find the Windows and Property keys to be quite useful. They add consistent functionality across Windows versions and applications. The Mac Cmd key seems less well implemented, perhaps because I have used Windows for 24 years but Mac OS X for less than five years. Its function varies by application. The consequent lack of consistency makes it less useful and forces me to use the mouse rather the keyboard.

I just got an NVIDIA update for a Windows 7 64-bit computer’s video card, via Windows Update. My computer’s video card performance went from a rating of 1.0 to 6.9. And the computer’s Base score, its overall rating, went from 1.0 to 5.9.  

A system’s Base score is the lowest rating for any of the tested hardware devices.

The highest possible rating in Windows 7 Experience Index is 7.9. The highest possible rating in Vista is 5.9.

The Base score of 5.9 is limited by the primary hard drive, a 1TB Seagate 7200 RPM with a 32MB cache. I suspect if I replace that drive with a solid state drive (SSD) the computer’s , current 5.9 Base score would rise to 6.9, the video card’s current ratings.

I just sent the following comment to the Microsoft employee, Alex Kochis, Director, Genuine Windows, responsible for the Windows Genuine Advantage program. (It should be named Windows Genuine Pain-in-the-ass Program.)

I am a TechNet member and a Microsoft Partner. I am running Windows 7 Ultimate RTM (64bit). Windows 7 reports that "Windows has been activated".

I keep getting alerts "You may be a victim of software counterfeiting…"

I am not. Your god awful Genuine Advantage software is in my face and only because you don’t know what you are doing. I once had a Vista machine terminated by your servers going down. I am more than a little tired of this.

I am frustrated and angered by your incompetence. Either get this right of go away but stop annoying me.

Steven Sinofsky versus x Steve Jobs

The User Interface (UI) is the point at which we interact with all sorts of devices. System designers control the UI. They hope to create a positive, seamless User Experience (UX). The UX is a feeling based upon the ease and pleasure we experience in performing common or infrequent actions. Apple’s iPhone and iPod Touch have a great UI that delivers a marvelous UX. Newer automotive UIs break established automobile control practices placing the uninitiated at sea. That is not a good UX for them.

Snow Leopard (SL) is the latest iteration of the Mac operating system. Windows 7 (W7) is Microsoft’s. The SL UI is little changed from Leopard, its predecessor OS. There are subtle tweaks that many users will not notice or access.

The W7 UI enhances the Vista UI. Vista implemented significant UI changes from Windows XP, most noticeably a redesigned Start menu and Windows Explorer window. W7 adds some neat eye candy via its Aero features that are fun to demonstrate and to use, and make the UX better. The redesigned Taskbar and the addition of Jump Lists to Start menu and Taskbar application links are a big change from Vista or XP.

Menus/Shortcuts

Apple separates application shortcuts from its menu bar. These may appear on the desktop, the Dock or in the Application folder. The menu bar is a relatively static object that displays whichever application has the system focus, even if it has no exposed or open window.

Many users do not appreciate what an unwieldy bit of UI the Dock is because it is great eye candy. It has bouncing, zooming icons and the Genie effect when we minimize windows. This entertains but masks the Docks deficiencies. It takes up a significant part of the window. Its functionality is non-obvious and is limited.

The W7 Taskbar and Start menu are more integrated. You can pin application or document shortcuts to either one. Aero Peak makes it easy to navigate to different windows or tabs within an application or across applications. The Taskbar consumes a small amount of the screen. (Advantage: Windows 7)

File Manager

Finder is the Mac file system application. It is kludgy by comparison to Windows Explorer. You can only resize the Finder window from one location, the lower right corner. Windows Explorer has 8 places for resizing, the 4 corners and the 4 sides. Finder has 4 views: Icons, List, Columns and Cover Flow. Windows Explorer has 8: Extra Large, Large, Medium and Small Icons, List, Details, Tile and Content. It also has a very useful breadcrumb navigation menu and links to favorites, libraries, Homegroup, Computer and Network locations. (Advantage: Windows 7)

Search

Search in both operating systems is robust and mature. Apple has Spotlight , which appears on both the Menu bar and in Finder windows. It is simple to access Spotlight by pressing the "CMD key + Space". Spotlight search is almost instantaneous and incredibly accurate.

W7 improves on the Vista Start menu search bar . It is faster and more accurate. It is a little bit slower than Spotlight but as accurate. It is easier to configure Spotlight preferences than Windows search. (Advantage: Snow Leopard)

Media

I find it easier to play or view media on Snow Leopard. But I don’t like the limitations imposed by Apple on how many and what machines with which I can share my iTunes.

I like most of the Windows 7 media applications better. I suggest you try the new Zune player application to see why.  Also Windows 7 lets you network your media files with any machine you want without limit. (Advantage: Tie)

Networking

x

Macs used to be much easier to network than Windows. W7 changes this. Its network wizards are easy to use and understand. Homegroup, networking 2 or more W7 computers, is simple. W7 is not as good at connecting to Macs as SL is at connecting to Windows. (Advantage: Tie)

Conclusion

x

I find the Windows 7 UX more pleasing than Snow Leopard’s. I think you will too.