Epsoft Newsletter - December 2002

Please note that Epsoft Computer Services will be closed for the Christmas break from 21st December 2002 to 1st January 2003. If you have any urgent enquiries during this time you are welcome to contact me on 0411 301 569. We hope you have a very pleasent Christmas and a happy new year.

There are a number of misconceptions regarding software licencing, I have brushed on this issue before but Microsoft's new product activation has highlighted some of the problems.

The general rule has not really changed much, it has always been one licence per computer. However, in the past it has been relatively easy to install a single licence on multiple computers. Unless your were audited, nobody would ever know about it. Now with product activation, each installation must be activated via the internet or by phone so multiple installations are impossible.

As always, some clever hackers have found away around product activation but for the rest of us we are now forced to purchase the correct number of licences for our computer systems. When you look at the price of software these days it can add up very quickly. There was a time when software only accounted for about 30% of the overall cost of a computer system. Today the situation is almost reversed with software accounting for closer to 60%.

Product activation seems pretty fair at first but problems can occur later on when you have to re-install or if you upgrade your computer substantially. If you only change one or two components, product activation will recognise this and allow your Microsoft products to continue functioning. If you change too many components though, you will have to re-activate your product. This might not be too bad for a single user system but for a business running several computers this can become a pain.

Product Activation is here to stay though so we had better get used to it. If you are currently using multiple installations of a single licence you should prepare yourself for some expensive upgrades in the future. You will need to purchase the full version of any product that is not currently licence, rather than a discounted upgrade.

The cheapest way to purchase software is with a new computer system. These products are called OEM versions (Original Equiment Manufacturer). They are exactly the same as the full package but they generally don't come in a fancy box and they are substantially less expensive. If you are considering upgrading your hardware in the near future I would make any software purchases at the same time and ask for the OEM versions of Microsoft Windows and Office products.

If you are unsure about your current licencing arrangements we can do a software audit for you. Basically, we go through your computer systems and list all the products you have installed. We then count up the number of licences you have and give you a report showing all this information, highlighting deficient licences. You can then either remove the product from unlicenced systems or purchase extra licences as necessary. This service is confidential, we do not report back to Microsoft or any anti-piracy organisations.

If you would like more information please contact us or visit the following web sites:

Looking for a cheap alternative to Microsoft Office? Need to be able to read and write Word documents? There is a product available that works with Word and Excel documents...and it's free!

OpenOffice.Org 1.0 is a free download from http://www.openoffice.org but it's around 51mb so dial-up users can forget it. It includes all the main features of Word and Excel, you can read and write both formats, and you can install it on as many computers as you like. If you don't need all the extra bells and whistles OpenOffice is a very viable alternative to Microsoft Office.

If you want more, you can purchase StarOffice 6.0 which is the commercial version of the same product. StarOffice also includes a database which OpenOffice lacks but it's about a tenth of the price of Microsoft Office so it's well worth a look.

DVD writer are coming down in price but there are still questions about DVD formats. The latest player from Sony supports both DVD-RW and DVD+RW. Don't worry too much about what the difference is unless you're seriously ready to buy one! Just know that there is more than one format and do your homework before you purchase a DVD writer.

DVD players are not new but they have dropped substantially in price over the last twleve months. Most now support CDR, CDRW and MP3, many are also multi-region too. Previously, you either had to buy a quality DVD player that ONLY played DVD's, or a cheap player that did everything but the quality wasn't great. Now you can get the best of both worlds for under $400

15" flat panel displays can now be had for under $700 which is a big difference from $2000+ last year! When choosing a new display remember that the viewable area of a 15" flat panel is 15". The viewable area of a regular 17" monitor is only a bit over 15". Ie, a 15" flat panel display has about the same viewable area as a 17" monitor. Incidentally, Regular monitors have also dropped in price, you can pickup a 17" for around $300 but expect to pay closer to $500 for a decent one.

With cheaper RAM now available, MP3 players are becoming quite good value for money and comparable to CD walkmans. They never jump or skip either. Having said that, modern CD players are also much better with great anti-skip technology.

When it comes to your computer's performance, the raw CPU speed is not as big a factor today as it was a few years ago. Now, other components such as your hard drive, RAM and video card are just as important. For games especially, the video card can make a huge difference to your system and a reasonable one is not that expensive. A cheap nVidia TNT2 card costs less than $100 and will make your 3D applications fly.

Cordless keyboards and mice have obvious advantages but battery life is an issue. I have had a cordless optical mouse for about 2 months now and I'm already on my third set of batteries. However, for me, the freedom of cordless is worth the price of a few batteries. A cordless keyboard is probably less important unless you like to sit back and type in your lap. Optical mice use light instead of a ball to sense your mouse movements. They work on almost any flat surface and don't require constant cleaning like ball mice.