THE

LIST

This newsletter tracks new information, and improvements in existing information, on the Windows Support Center, my website supporting Windows desktop systems and leading application software. I also include small, useful items that might not find a permanent place on the site, but that I would like to pass along, and anything else I feel like writing!

Click here to subscribe. If you subscribe, you will receive email notification when there is a new issue of the newsletter. (You will not receive the newsletter itself by email. That’s why I call it low-tech.) My intention is to provide a new and further way to serve the 50,000 people per month who visit my site. Previous newsletters are available online, and their content searchable through this site’s search engine. Enjoy! — Jim Eshelman

NEWS & VIEWS

HOW I SPENT MY WINTER VACATION

During the last week of November, I flew north to Borg Central to have my annual Borg implant servicing <vbg>.

For those of you who have never worked for Sun and don’t know Lunix-speak, that means that, as Microsoft’s guest, I spent several days on the Redmond campus along with about 400 other Microsoft MVPs. You may have read about the event already, because the computer news media had quite a lot of coverage on it. Not all of their coverage was accurate, but, well, that’s the news media for you! (Hey, I’m a journalist; I can say things like that.) One advantage of so much news coverage is that it made it easier to sort out what we can all say in public about the event since, on the one hand, there’s an NDA involved and, on the other hand, the press has already spilled the beans on most of the interesting stuff. So, as long as I don’t mention Off..., uh, dot, er (ahem), that is, a couple of particular forthcoming projects, I’m sure I’m fine. So yes, I was there. As proof, and since some of you have been asking (I have no idea why!) for a picture of me, here’s one taken the first night (with MS-MVP Alex Nichol, left), courtesy of Word MVP Dian Chapman. Microsoft is always a gracious host, and they really went out of their way not only to fete us, but also to gives us generous access to many of the technical people who design and control the products we support, as well as the management team that controls current products and future direction.

Here’s a joke — except, it’s not really a joke, because it’s true — that was often repeated by MVPs attending the summit. Q: “How do you make the day of a Microsoft product manager?” A: “Tell them the five things that are most wrong with their product.” Seriously! (And with only one exception I saw.) The Microsoft corporate culture is based on self-criticism. There is no sense of self-satisfaction or resting on laurels. They solicit criticism and input almost aggressively. Why, then, is there a prevailing sense that Microsoft is unmoved by the outside criticism so often leveled at it? My guess (and it’s only a guess) is that the outside critics are amateurs by comparison! Microsoft, internally, is far harsher on itself than all of the outside complainers and moaners put together. One has to be this way, if one wants to keep pushing the envelope of making products better. And, they do want this very much.

One personal gain for me: I finally conceptually understand .NET! (Yay!) If there’s enough interest, I’ll try to write something about it in a future issue. Let me know. Another terrific thing is that Microsoft upper management made itself very accessible to us in general sessions. Bill Gates spent an hour with us (I was told that this is the only event in Microsoft history where he has delivered the keynote address), half of which was open for direct questions. What’s Gates like? As I had long suspected, he’s a kid in a candy store. (And he owns the candy store!) He’s a playful geek who really loves technology and what it can do. Yes, he has long had the power to shape much of society’s direction, and he loves being able to do that. (Honestly, wouldn’t most of us love being able to do that?) And, by the way, make no mistake about it, the directions Microsoft plans to unfold in the next five years represent even more of a social-cultural revolution than a technological one. I love watching that kind of stuff — had I not gone in the life direction I did, social anthropology is probably what I would have done instead — and it will be very intriguing to watch happen. The 1960s science-fact-and-fiction vision of 21st Century life may not be with us yet, but a whole lot of it isn’t very far down the track — for good and for bad, methinks. (Though I don’t think I’ll fly one of the new Microsoft Flying Cars until after Service Pack 1 comes out.)

Detractors complain about Bill Gates’ arrogance and the scope of his power. Frankly, I didn’t see any arrogance disproportionate to the power he genuinely wields. What I did see was someone who has a vision and knows that he can make it come about. He opened by acknowledging that conventional wisdom is pessimistic, in today’s economy, about the development of technology in the next few years. Gates is not pessimistic about it at all — and with good cause. As he pointed out, he has Microsoft’s $5 billion research and development budget at his beck and call, and both can and will tell the people who work for him to make things happen, with full expectation that they will do it. He is firm in his conviction that this is the “Digital Decade,” and that truly great things will be unfolding technologically in the next eight years.

Still, as great as it was to have second row seats to see and hear Bill G. express his current social-technological vision (and, FWIW, it has always been his sense of vision that I have liked most about him), in many practical ways this was minor compared to the hours that immediately followed, when Vice President Jim Allchin and other senior staff listened and responded to every question we could throw at them — and didn’t shy from any of the tough ones. (They flinched at a few, but didn’t shy from any of them <g>.) A lot got accomplished that morning, aside from the fact that I learned a lot simply from listening carefully to their answers.

I was the last person in line for questions, and was very happy to get a solid, pragmatic result for Windows users. Regular readers of The E-List may recall that last issue I wrote about the ending of Microsoft’s telephone support for Windows 95. While mentioning other avenues of support that would continue, I wrote:

One area where I... have not yet been able to get a clear statement from anyone inside of Microsoft, is the issue of Win95-related downloads... Both the Windows Update Site and the Microsoft Download Center have important Win95 resources. In the past, Microsoft has removed a product’s downloads from these sites when its successor was released...

I put this issue before Jim Allchin, asking if I could tell Win95 users that Microsoft would leave the downloads in place. He thought a brief moment, then answered with a decisive, “Yes.” The downloads stay.

In addition to these general sessions, there also were smaller training sessions, provided by MS engineers. But, more stories would take almost as much time to tell as it took to live them, and I think this is enough for you to get a picture of the event. I hope it is needless to say that training opportunities such as this improve my ability to provide useful information to those of you who visit this site.

Oh, one last thing (speaking of this Web site). I get a lot of questions about whether Microsoft knows anything about this site, and whether they are comfortable with it. (I get about the same number of letters alleging that I’m a Microsoft yes-man and adorant as I get alleging that I must hate MS a whole lot for all the snotty things I say about them! BTW, neither is true. I must be doing something right if I generate both assessments!) Anyhoo, I can now say with certainty that not only does Microsoft know about this site, they love it. In November, a link to this Windows Support Center was added to Microsoft’s Expert Zone page under Windows XP-related communities. In December, they then named us their Featured Site for the month. My sincere thanks to Mr. Tony Hynes at Microsoft for this honor. I suggest all of you interested in Windows XP visit the Expert Zone pages and check out the other great Win XP sites that are listed there.

I GOT MY REPORT CARD: A+

For those readers who have been kind enough to express interest in my job hunt, and for those who are in a similar unemployed place in the current economy, let me share with you a bit of good personal news: This last week I took the two tests (OS and core/hardware) for CompTIA’s A+ Certification and, well, I passed.

It is now official that I know as much about computers as a typical technician who has worked with them for six months!

We live in difficult economic times. (You probably knew that, right?) I had never, in the past, concerned myself with obtaining formal certifications because, in the past, they had not been that relevant in the workplace. Experience really did win out over a crash course and a short exam. But things aren’t that way anymore. When iSearch closed and I began checking posted jobs, to my dismay I discovered that about 95% of the technical support, help desk, and similar IT positions required some sort of certification even to get past the initial resume screen. Without this, the resume wasn’t even getting looked at. So, I’ve taken advantage of this time to get a piece of paper to go with my 20 years of experience in diverse areas of computer support. Without the paper, the rest of my resume hasn’t been worth much. (Well, it’s gotten me some nice, friendly emails from many of you — which I appreciate — but that’s about it.)

So, please wish me well as I again hit the streets and start looking the first week of January. Next stop: With a little intensive review, I’ll be moving toward an MCP test, en route to taking the whole MSCE battery. Fortunately, I’m interested in the subject!

GEORGE HARRISON: Dark Horse Gallops Into the Night
(25 February, 1943 — November 30, 2001)

I cannot, in this special issue, fail to say something about the passing of one of my personal heroes, and one of the 20th Century’s most powerful cultural influences, George Harrison.

By “powerful cultural influence,” I am not speaking only of his years with the Beatles. That would have been enough to give him the nod. But it barely scrapes the surface.

Harrison was instrumental in introducing and sponsoring talent as diverse as Ravi Shankar and Monty Python. He was the first musician to play the sitar on a rock & roll album, and possibly the first to play it on any mainstream Western recording. Though he certainly didn’t introduce Eastern religion to the West, his highly visible embracing of it in the 1960s and thereafter perhaps did more to solidify its importation and cultural establishment than even the groundbreaking Buddhist journal of Bhikku Ananda Metteya (Englishman Allan Bennet) early in the last century. Harrison not only talked the talk, but also walked the walk, actively dedicating his life to the relief of suffering. He invented the benefit concert (which later became a mainstay of socially consciousness pop musicians everywhere) three decades before his former bandmate organized the recent Concert for New York City. And oh (my sweet Lord!), could he play the guitar!

John Lennon is most credited for the high level of social consciousness that marked the last half of the Beatles’ existence, but it would appear to have been Harrison who ignited Lennon’s latent potency. Biographers seem to agree that it was George who first openly opined that Bob Dylan’s music had always stood for something, and perhaps theirs should, too. And, from that point on, it did. The Beatles weren’t in any sense the first ’60s band with a social conscience, nor were they the first to permit an awakening psychedelia to impact their music; but, once they embraced both of these directions, it was a done deal. The world was forever changed, and for the better.

Deeply introspective, and on a life-long ravenous quest for God as he knew Him, “the Quiet Beatle” also had a quiet yet persistent impact on the spiritual undercurrent of late 20th Century music. It goes beyond the naked adoration of My Sweet Lord or the hungry innocence of Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth). It’s hard to say what the mechanism of his effect was. In some ways, it was just the fact that George Harrison was among us.

I am not a music columnist. I shan’t attempt a musical critique, which every other writer in sight is doing right now anyway, and which every other fan is as able to do to their own tastes as well as I. It is the man and his heart that I honor. You already know that Frank Sinatra called Something “the greatest love song written in the last 50 years,” and that, post-Beatles, George routinely worked with some of the most incredible talent of the last 40 years. Not everyone in the music industry could pull in Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, and Elton John as studio musicians for one album (and Jeff Lynne as producer), then turn around and get Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne, and Roy Orbison to join him for the next. But George could, and did.

And when he died, he died with grace, the climax of his life-long spiritual quest. He died here in Los Angeles, and I would have been at one of the vigils except that I was out of town. (Understandably, George didn’t seem to feel the need to consult me on the matter.) In fact, I was in Redmond at the time. My friend Ron Martell gave me the news before my first cup of coffee on Friday morning. A brief moment of silence came naturally. It wasn’t entirely surprising; we already knew his cancer was progressing and that the end was near.

In this special Christmas Eve issue of The E-List, as the solsticial Sun begins its northward turning to bring a season of longer days almost universally recognized as one of renewal, rekindling, and healing, I offer the following words, taken from the writings of the man I call St. George of Liverpool. You probably don’t need to be told where they come from.

Little darling
It’s been a long cold lonely winter
Little darling
It feels like years since it’s been here
Here comes the sun
Here comes the sun
And I say it’s alright...

Without going out of my door
I can know all things on earth
Without looking out of my window
I could know the ways of heaven
The farther one travels
The less one knows
The less one really knows
Arrive without travelling
See all without looking
Do all without doing...

My sweet lord.
Hm, my lord. Hm, my lord.
I really want to see you
Really want to be with you
Really want to see you lord
But it takes so long, my lord.
My sweet lord.
Hm, my lord. Hm, my lord.
I really want to know you
Really want to go with you
Really want to show you lord
That it won’t take long, my lord.
My sweet lord.

Hari Hari, George.

WE’RE A HIT WITH GAMERS

On the evening of December 7, I was surprised to see that the site hits for that day had lept past 63,000 — a dramatic increase, and something that never happens on a Friday. The next night the numbers nearly doubled, leaping comfortably past 100,000 hits for Saturday, and increasing even further on Sunday to a peak of 116,174 hits per day. It took about a week for this effect to wear off. What was most interesting was where the hits were occuring. The extra hits were nearly all on my Windows 98/ME Memory Management page. Always a consistent but unexciting performer (usually responsible for 3-5% of the hits to the site), at this month’s peak this one page was pulling over 50% of all hits to the site!

What was the attraction? Well, it seems that one of the major game boards had discovered that the ConservativeSwapFile tweak at the end of the memory management article made an enormous difference on Win98/ME computers playing the game Shadows of Luclin. These gamers are serious folks! Over 200,000 extra hits came in over five days’ time above the usual daily averages. One visitor named Dorothea wrote me,

Rest assured, all gamers will burn incense tonight and give sacryphice in your name. May your picture hang in Gamers Hall of Fame forever!...:p        — A Most Grateful Gamer

So, for a few days we got to be one of the hottest gaming sites on the Internet — without there being a single game on the site! (Not even Minesweeper!) I’m not quite sure how to top this without, say, starting a porno page! Unfortunately, I’m not sure nude pictures of MS-MVPs would be that much of a draw. (Well, most of us anyway. Except for a specialty market, I suppose. <vbg>) But now you know: Some of the most demanding systems testers in the world say that the ConservativeSwapFile tweak is a lifesaver when you need aggressive responsiveness. And just in time for Christmas!

Feedback

Happy computing, everyone!

Jim Eshelman

THE NECESSARY LEGAL STUFF
DISCLAIMER: Any information given in this newsletter, or on any other part of the Windows Support Center website, is researched by me and believed to be accurate. However, I cannot guarantee, and do not guarantee, that all the information provided will work on all computer systems, for all users, all the time. Also, I sometimes make mistakes (that’s life!), and it is possible I made one or more of them here. All information herein is offered as-is and without warranty of any kind. In other words, I rely on the best information sources I can, and do my best to get it to you accurately; and, thereafter, you take your life in your own hands if you trust me on it. Neither James Eshelman, this site, outside contributors to this site, people quoted on this site, nor my cat is/are responsible for any loss, injury, or damage, direct or consequential, resulting from application of any information presented here.

The E-List. Copyright © 2001 by James A. Eshelman. All Rights Reserved.

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