Microsoft Announced Project Natal At E3

Microsoft recently announced project Natal (Neonatal? Who comes up with their project names?), a "controller free" video game interface. Very, um, interesting. Though maybe a little premature.

I guess the idea is to out-Wii the Wii, so to speak. Best of luck with that. The video looks impressive, but computer companies--and Microsoft is no exception--have a track record of releasing great looking videos for cutting edge technology projects that never really pan out, for whatever reason. I'm just not expecting "Natal" to really change gaming any time soon, or even get purchased by a large majority of X-box users.

In truth, it probably is the future of gaming. Just not tomorrow's gaming, or the day after tomorrows. Maybe a decade. Maybe more. And expect a company like Nintendo to really get it right, while Microsoft spends all the money getting the market ready.

If and when it gets to market, I anticipate a lot of complains, and a lot of unhappy gamers. Just sayin'.

Windows Seven is Closer, But Not Yet Here

Since last time I talked about Windows 7, Microsoft has put up a preview page (or, at least, I can find it now).

Will it be better than Windows Vista? Sure. Will it solve all the security problems and viruses and bot-nets in the world? No. But, the fact is, you could do something about now, whether you're using Windows Vista, Windows XP, or something even older (though, unless it's Windows 2000, you really shouldn't be).

But, no matter what, you've still need virus protection. Thank goodness we happen to have a great Internet Security Suite, AVG 8.0 Internet Security (OEM) for only $15.55. As of this posting. Yay for us! And lucky for you, if you don't already have an Anti-Virus Suite.

It's historically been less bloated and more efficient than Symantec Nortion 2009 Internet Security (which we have for only $19.95, if you want that) and 10 bucks cheaper than Kaspersky 2009 AntiVirus 3 User Full Version OEM.

It's Google Chrome

Recently, Google released it's new web browser, Google Chrome. Unfortunately, Chrome isn't yet available for the Mac, despite being based on Apple's Webkit, which seems odd, but I know they are planning on getting around to it. Eventually.

There are concerns about Chrome. If you listen to Security Now with Steve Gibson, you'll know it's not a secure browser, and lacks features. And Steve Gibson reveals more Chrome security flaws in Episode 162 of Security Now.

That having been said, I like it. It's clean, simple, and handles huge web pages better than any other browser at there. It also has a fast Java Script parsing engine, the V8 Java Script engine.

But that's not nearly as handy as being able to open of huge files better than any other browser out there. Much better than Safari, better than Firefox, better than Opera, and even better than the best browser at handling large web pages before chrome, Microsoft Internet Explorer 7.

By the way, I should take this opportunity to mention, this week only (that is, as of the week of this posting), we are offering Microsoft Office 2007 Home and Student OEM for only $79.97. Now, that's a great price for Microsoft Office.

What else was I saying? Oh, yes. Chrome opens up huge web pages better than any other browser. A hundred megabyte web page slows Explorer down to a crawl for me, but Chrome handles it. I can scroll up and down, select text within the browser, and operate JavaScript menus on that huge page--something that is almost impossible to due in Internet Explorer, and definitely impossible in anything else. 

I should say, I do a lot of in house development, so my scripts while processing database files can generate huge web pages, depending on what information I have the script display. The more I can display, the handier it is, and with Chrome I can display an awful lot. Occasionally, when opening up a web page with 200 mbs of images displayed, I've gotten an error, but I consider that minor. On the whole, it works great, and I'm glad for it. 

Unfortunately, it currently doesn't search the content of text boxes on a page when doing a find, which Internet Explorer does do. Sigh. One day, there will be an all-in-one browser. One day.

Have I mentioned Software Supply Group carries a variety of AC adapters from laptops and notebooks?

I know I've told you we carry quite a few Peachtree Accounting products from Sage Software.

I've also mentioned that we carry quite a bit of anti-virus and network security products from Panda. Which is cool.

And Kaspersky. With a name like Kaspersky (I keep wanting to type Kazpersky or Kazperski or Kazperzky or anything but the right thing), the internet security has to be good. 

And don't forget Symantec Endpoint Protection, Norton Internet Security 2008, and Norton Systemworks. More specifically, we've got Norton SystemWorks 2008 standard edition for just $32.77. Beat that with a brickbat!

No more news on TR2N! I'm waiting. I've got Google News set up to let me know. But nothing yet. One day.

I Miss My TRS-80 Color Computer

I miss my first real computer. I miss reading my thick, bound Rainbow Magazines. Or Hot CoCo Magazine.

If I ever get too nostalgic, thanks to modern technology, I can go work on a Color Computer right now, by going to the JavaCoco Emulator, a TRS-80 Color Computer emulator that runs in Java. I can program it in Microsoft BASIC (the great-great-grandpappy of Microsoft's Visual Studio 6.0), just like I used to in the old days, and it works the same way. There were a number of editing functions that were related to the editing BASIC programs using the CTRL key, and they all seem to work with the Java Applet. Pretty cool. No way to really open or save programs, but there are plenty of real software emulators and CoCo ROMs out on the internets.

If you happen to go there (to the Java Applet), you'll happen to notice the "UNDER LICENSE FROM MICROSOFT" that happens to accompany the emulator. I looked at the screen almost every day for years, and if I had--during that time--invested, say, $500 in Microsoft, I wouldn't be worried about money right now. Because that Microsoft stock would be worth a million bucks, or nearly, depending on exactly when the investment happened. Which wouldn't be too shabby.

And, doomsayer predictions to the contrary, and Microsoft's stagnant stock price to the contrary, Microsoft ain't going anywhere. Could global business run without Microsoft Software. Critics aside, Windows Vista is not only a much better product that it is given credit for being, but it's selling well, and Microsoft is raking in the money. Also, it might be nice to point out that Microsoft's market cap is about 250 billion, which is about 100 billion higher than Google or Apple's, to name two.

Microsoft's Window Server products dominate the server landscape, and will continue to for the forseeable future. Microsoft SQL is becoming the dominant commercial SQL database, as Oracle treads water. Microsoft Office dominates the productivity software landscape, and does anybody think that Star Office is going to displace Microsoft Office software any time in the near future? No? I didn't think so.

Certain markets are weaker for Microsoft, sure. Windows Mobile is big in the mobile device market, but competing against the Apple iPhone and RIM's Crackberry--I mean, Blackberry and Google's upcoming Android platform, Microsoft isn't going to be to mobile what Microsoft has become to the enterprise. But that's okay. Sure, Microsoft has the Zune, but they also have the X-Box. Apple may be making inroads, but Microsoft still owns the enterprise. And Microsoft owns most of the global desktop and laptop operating system market. So, when it's all said and done, I still wish I have invested a few pennies in Microsoft, back in the day.

TR2N (Or, Tron 2 For the Geekspeak Illiterate) Is on the Way

Comic-Con 2008 is over, and the most important announcement made at the show? It wasn't even in an announcement.

It was a surprise trailer for Tr2n (or, Tron 2), a 26-years-later sequel to Disney's classic Tron. While it didn't get great box office the first time out, the popularity of Tron has grown over the years, becoming a cult classic. And then, of course, there are folks like me who liked it from the very beginning, and still love it to this day.

Just search for Tron on YouTube and see what you find. Tron Guy.Fan projects like this. Tron-like music videos. And don't forget Cardboard Tron.

While we still can't be completely digitized into the computer and become a program, and talk to, say, Microsoft Office like we're talking to a co-worker in the next cubicle (btw, here's my vote for the modern-day equivalent of the Master Control Program). What would Power DVD 7 from Cyberlink look like? I dunno. I just hope, when they do make it--and, based from the cheers I heard on the bootleg cell phone footage of the teaser they ran at Comic-Con, actually doing it is a no-brainer--they don't make it cutesy with lots of references to things like FaceBook, MySpace, Google, Web 2.0, etc. I hope it takes place in the original world of Tron . . . updated, of course, given 26 years have passed since the original Tron and Tr2n.

And, though we can't get you into the computer to have you hob-knob with you're software, we can still get you great software at great prices. Like Norton Anti-Virus 2008 for only $15.84, as of this posting, of course.

Taking Care of Business

There are lots of solid software tools for taking care of your business and managing your personal finances, and we have some great prices on them. Microsoft Money Plus Premium is just such a product and, as of this posting, we've got it for $45.95. It consolidates your banking, credit and investment accounts in one place and provides plenty of tools for assessing how much you are really worth (debt vs. equity) and may help you end up with more equity and less debt. And for $45.95, that's a bargain.

Not sure where you're going with your business? Then you might give serious thought to Palo Alto Software's Business Plan Pro 11, 2008. Hundreds of sample business plans, wizards for quickly building your business plan, and toolks to automatically organize and collate a "bulletproof" business plan and (this is important) output it in the preferred format of banks, investors and the Small Business Administration (SBA). It's a great business tool, and we have it for only $67.95 as of this posting.

Need to do the books? Check out Quicken 2008 Home and Business Retail. Great for the self-employed and contractors who need to keep track of business and personal expenses and income in one place. And we've got it for $52.95, as of this posting.

The Market for Older Software, Part Deux

Like, for example, Microsoft Windows NT 4.0. Why is there still a market software? Because, believe it or not, some people still need it. They have vertical applications that only run on this software, or they've got machines in service that can run later-rev software without problems, etc. Yes, there is still a market for Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Workstation, and we've got it for a great price: only $19.95. For as long as we have it in stock. Which probably won't be forever, because I'm not kidding: people still need this stuff, and sometimes will snap up 100 copies at a time. So, if you need NT 4.0 Workstation, pick it up now. We've got it in stock, and for only $19.95. Did I say that already?

But that's not all . . .

Even better, we've got Microsoft Windows 95 2.1 OEM with USB for only $17.49. Are people still running Microsoft Windows 95? Still buying it? Yes, there are markets for Windows 95. Most of them international, and a few in obscure vertical markets domestically . . . but people still need it, and still buy it. And, with the advent of Windows Vista, you will see later generation OSes like Windows '98, Windows 2000 (my personal favorite) and Windows XP holding on for even longer than venerable classic OSes like '95 and NT Workstation 4.0.

Only $17.49, as of this posting, for Windows 95 OEM with USB. Only $19.95 for Windows NT Workstation 4.0. As of this posting. And as of this posting, we've still got 'em in stock. Get 'em while the gettin' is good.

We've Got Some Great Deals on Microsoft Office 2007 at SoftwareSupplyGroup.com

Like Microsoft Office 2007 Basic OEM (S55-01347) for only $173.99, as of this posting.

I use Office 2007 every day, and I confess I'm not a big fan of the revised interface. But Excel 2007 offers the ability to open much larger files, and given I was dealing sometimes with spreadsheets with over 200,000 rows, I needed something that could open them. I believe the old limit was something like 56,000 rows--well, whatever it was specifically, that's gone in Office 2007 Excel. It'll open anything, of almost any size.

The search is blazing fast in Outlook 2007, but required that I install Windows desktop search for XP (since I'm still using XP), and download this patch from Microsoft, and run it.

While I'm not a big fan of the new Office 2007 toolbar that was supposed to be the "next big thing" with Office 2007 (while obvious improvements, at least in my opinion, were left out), being able to open huge spreadsheets and search my giant .pst file in Outlook quickly made it for me a very worthwhile update.

We also have Microsoft Office 2007 Professional (269-11094) for only $299.95 each (0r $297.95 each if you buy more than 10), which includes all the big productivity apps from Microsoft: Access 2007, Excel 2007, Outlook 2007, PowerPoint 2007, Publisher 2007, and Word 2007. Alas, no Microsoft Project (why don't they support Project anymore?)

All prices in this post are as of this writing. We often drop prices--and, occasionally, we have to raise them. If you've been wanting to upgrade to Office 2007, I'd suggest you move now.

Wholesale and reseller inquiries are always welcome, BTW. Call us at 866-437-0287 and ask for more information.